Category: Reviews

Reviews

Night of the Mannequins Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on Night of the Mannequins Review

*A FEW SPOILERS*

This book is a contemporary horror story where a teen prank goes very wrong and all hell breaks loose: is there a supernatural cause, a psychopath on the loose, or both?

Sawyer is very resolute in his thoughts that Manny the mannequin has come to life and is now hell bent on killing them all. I have to say his reasonings behind it was quite weak and the fact that he is so almost eagerly willing to murder the rest of his friends just to spare the rest of their families gives me that hero complex vibe. I don’t know how he gets away with each of them as he doesn’t really think through each little detail of the murders and executes them pretty much out in the open with a lot of witnesses.

I feel like this is basically about Sawyer not willing to grow apart from his friends and how fixated he is on trying to maintain their connection through Manny. They used to be so close and would pull all these pranks and hang out all the time and gradually that has stopped to the point where Manny has been sitting in his garage for years. Even the reoccurring theme of the super hero movie throughout the plot he uses as a way to reinforce the validity of his thought process.

One thing about Stephen Graham Jones’ books is he kind of throws you straight into the story. I just always feel a bit disoriented when I start like I missed an introduction somewhere, it’s quite strange. You definitely have to suspend a bit of belief when reading this book but it was definitely weird yet entertaining.

⭐️3/5 stars this was a wild ride!

Reviews

Come Closer Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on Come Closer Review

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

A recurrent, unidentifiable noise in her apartment. A memo to her boss that’s replaced by obscene insults. Amanda—a successful architect in a happy marriage—finds her life going off kilter by degrees. She starts smoking again, and one night for no reason, without even the knowledge that she’s doing it, she burns her husband with a cigarette. The new voice in Amanda’s head, the one that tells her to steal things and talk to strange men in bars, is strange and frightening, and Amanda struggles to wrest back control of her life. Is she possessed by a demon, or is she simply insane?

I thought this book was highly engaging and very entertaining. Amanda comes across as quite ordinary and bland at the start of the book and then we start to see the gradual descent into acceptance that she is definitely being possessed. I feel like she goes through all the different stages of grief before she is truly taken over and loses all control.

I liked how almost realistic this book was. Amanda tries to come up with all of these excuses and explanations as to why she’s blacking out or how she might just be crazy and there isn’t a demon inside her. Matthew prompting her to get help and her actually trying and seeking a way for her to get better.

I think it was the perfect length to tell this story and the pacing was just right. It started off quite slow and unassuming and then as the plot continues and all these horrific acts occur you really start to feel the panic and overall manic nature of her descent into possession.

⭐️3/5 stars This was intense!

Reviews

Nettle & Bone Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on Nettle & Bone Review

After years of seeing her sisters suffer at the hands of an abusive prince, Marra—the shy, convent-raised, third-born daughter—has finally realized that no one is coming to their rescue. No one, except for Marra herself. Seeking help from a powerful gravewitch, Marra is offered the tools to kill a prince—if she can complete three impossible tasks. But, as is the way in tales of princes, witches, and daughters, the impossible is only the beginning.

I quite enjoyed Marra’s character. I think at the start she came across as quite naïve at times and refuses to see the world for what it is hidden away in her convent but as she became more aware of what was happening to her family and the hold the northern kingdom has on them she evolves and decides to take action. She is very much devoted to her course and won’t let her fears of other people and how she is being perceived stop her from trying to help.

The gravewitch was definitely my favourite of the characters. Her rapport with everyone around her was very entertaining and I appreciated how candid and straight out she was with Marra. She didn’t sugar coat anything and would call each of them out respectively when they were pushing themselves to much. Her knowledge of the magic within this world was highly necessary and a great way for us as the reader to learn more about it but I do wish we could of seen her wield it a lot more throughout the course of the story.

Fenris was just an ok kind of character for me. He felt a little cliché but I can appreciate how his presence was necessary to the plot line and how the story played out. He was just a little too nice and placid for me, I think if we would of seen him in action a bit more I would of liked him better. Agnes on the other hand was a pleasant addition for me. I liked how upbeat and carefree she seems and the fact that she lied about doing curses because she didn’t want to be affiliated with them even though she could be very powerful.

Overall I just needed a bit more development and time with each of the characters and on the journey. If this had maybe 100 more pages with exposition I would feel so much more grounded in the world and create more of a connection with all of the different characters. I loved the premise and the quest portion of the story but I found that I didn’t really care about the outcome because I wasn’t all that invested.

⭐️3/5 stars felt like a classic fairytale with a demon possessed chicken lol

Reviews

Vicious Spirits Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on Vicious Spirits Review

Miyoung and Jihoon are picking up the pieces of their broken lives following the deaths of Miyoung’s mother, Yena, and Jihoon’s grandmother. With the support of their friend Somin, and their frenemy, Junu, they might just have a shot at normalcy. But Miyoung is getting sicker and sicker by the day and her friends don’t know how to save her. With few options remaining, Junu has an idea but it might require the ultimate sacrifice and, let’s be honest, Junu isn’t known for his “generosity.”

The characters just didn’t seem to evolve and learn from everything that happened in the first book. It was just this never-ending cycle of each of them trying to protect each other and then getting mad that the other person was doing the protecting. They all read a lot younger than what they actually were and their conversations just didn’t seem believable or realistic to me. These are supposed to be 18-19 year old’s and yet they continue to act like angsty adolescents.

I didn’t like the fact that Somin and Junu fall in ‘love’ so quickly. Usually I don’t mind a hate to love trope but this felt so rushed and juvenile to me. Somin as a character was kind of annoying, she just took on way too much for her to handle and would put everyone else and their feelings above her own. I liked the fact that Junu called her out on this and just told her to chill out

Miyoung and Jihoon didn’t really change at all from the first book either. Even though so many traumatic things have happened to them they just seem to stay the same. I didn’t really understand why Miyoung was still holding on to her mother, from what I can remember from the first book I thought she treated her horribly and isolated her from anyone her age. I understand that it would still be traumatizing to loose the one person you depended on the most but that whole plotline didn’t really make sense to me until the end.

I still quite enjoy the lore and myths surrounding the Dokkaebi and learning all about Junu’s background and how he became one. Also learning about the Sansin and the Reapers were also really interesting to find out about. There just wasn’t enough action to keep me entertained throughout the book. The pacing was up and down and there were periods of time where all the characters were just sitting around waiting and it wasn’t very enjoyable.

⭐️2/5 stars the characters just didn’t do it for me

Reviews

Just Like Home Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on Just Like Home Review

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

“Come home.” Vera’s mother called and Vera obeyed. In spite of their long estrangement, in spite of the memories — she’s come back to the home of a serial killer. Back to face the love she had for her father and the bodies he buried there. Coming home is hard enough for Vera, and to make things worse, she and her mother aren’t alone. A parasitic artist has moved into the guest house out back, and is slowly stripping Vera’s childhood for spare parts. He insists that he isn’t the one leaving notes around the house in her father’s handwriting… but who else could it possibly be?

Vera’s character was definitely an interesting one. She keeps a lot of her secrets close to the chest and you really get a gauge for just how affected she is being back at Crowder House with her mother by how unhinged she becomes as the story progresses.

I liked the dual timelines and how they each gave us insight into what actually happened that has caused this massive rift between Vera and her mother as well as why her father killed all those people. Just the fact that Vera always reminisces about her father and talks about him in such a positive way in spite of what he did to all those men did give me pause.

The way Vera keeps emphasizing that her father built Crowder House with his own hands and she feels this sense of ownership and familiarity with it should of tipped me off to just how much of a character the actual house was but alas I was surprised. I really didn’t think that this supernatural element right at the end was necessary. I think just the horrors of what her father was doing accompanied by Vera’s warped perspective on the matter would of been enough. I think the book did a good job of leading up to that twist that if it wasn’t actually in there I would of been content anyways.

⭐️3/5 stars A little too slow paced for me!