drakaina16's reviews
2100 reviews

25 Days by Per Jacobsen

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dark sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Let me tell you, it was a Herculean effort of will to stop after just one chapter every day. I did end up finishing a day early, since I know Christmas will be busy for me. 25 Days is a super cool concept - a book that is also an adventure calendar. Per Jacobsen keeps the tension high, using this format. The story was pretty good, but man, that family made some CHOICES. Nevertheless, I had a lot of fun with it 3.5 stars 
100% Match by Patrick C. Harrison III

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challenging dark fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

100% Match is 100% a book that I never would have picked up if it wasn't a BoH Short Smack contender. I'm just not a fan of gross out. That being said, I not only finished it, but read it in a single sitting. Gross out is still not my thing, but I found 100% Match more entertaining than most. 3.25 stars
Within by Edmund Stone

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 28%.
This book has a severe case of "men writing women" syndrome
The Conservator's Collection: Derelict by Jay Bower, Lynch John, John Durgin

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

 Three novellas from three of my favorite indie authors? I'm all the way in! I quite enjoyed each story. All of the stories involve derelict places, and it's always so interesting to me to see how different authors interpret a theme. 4.25 stars 
Blank Space by John Durgin ⭐⭐⭐⭐.25
 Eyebiter’s Revenge by Jay Bower ⭐⭐⭐⭐
 Expiration of Sentence by John Lynch ⭐⭐⭐⭐

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The Morningstar Confession by Matthew Lutton

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challenging dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Thank you to the author for providing a review copy.

What an interesting book this is. Even though I've been a non-believer for almost as long as I can remember, I always dig religious horror. As a non-believer, I've always had a bit of sympathy for the devil, so to speak. Lucifer's confession brought up many of the questions I've asked myself and others, but the way his hatred of humanity is portrayed here is very unique. Faithful or not, there are a ton of reasons to read The Morningstar Confession. 4.5 stars
Elfquest: Stargazer's Hunt by Richard Pini, Wendy Pini

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adventurous emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Dead Eleven by Jimmy Juliano

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dark mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

While I felt the book ran a little long, I enjoyed it quite a bit. I'm a big fan of found footage-style horror books, and it worked quite well with this story. 
The Wetlands Society by Kelvin V.A. Allison, Kelvin V.A. Allison

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Thank you to the author for providing a review copy. 

This book may be the author's best yet. I adore Kelvin's books, and I find them compulsively readable. I'll pick it up, and before I know, I've blown through 100 pages. I'm always a sucker for a paranormal investigation book, and The Wetlands Society is one of the best I've read. It broke my heart a little, but I still loved it. 5 stars 
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You Can't Save What Isn't There by Paul Michael Anderson

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Thank you to Cemetery Dance for providing a review copy. 

This is a book that will punch you right in the emotions. It's about a subject I hope to never experience - the loss of a child. Following along with Calvin as he sinks deeper and deeper is not an experience for the faint of heart. You Can't Save What Isn't There is a gut-wrenching meditation on the choices we make, and how grief can make monsters of us. 4.75 stars
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With A Blighted Touch by J. Todd Kingrea

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Thank you to the author for providing a review copy. 

I'm always a sucker for the evil in a small town trope, and this book was a pretty fun example of that. There were times I felt the story didn't move quickly enough, and I never connected with any of the characters, so I wasn't terribly invested in what happened to them. But I found the story very interesting and always found myself reading a big chunk of it at a time. It doesn't rewrite the trope, but it is well-written. 3.5 stars