katiedreads's reviews
515 reviews

Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark

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adventurous challenging dark tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

Considering how short this was it packed a huge punch.  Technically this was extremely well written as well as being a great story plot and concept.  The world building and history was brilliant, using world history and expanding on it in a horror/supernatural way.  The characters were so fleshed out and realistic, with real depth of emotions and back story.  This book had a lot to say and it did it elegantly, violently and with nuance.  Amazing!!
The Colour Out of Space by H.P. Lovecraft

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

4.25

Stricking and creepy, Lovecraft delivers on the atmosphere and blending horror and sci-fi.  This is easy to read, very well paced and surprisingly ages very well. Overall the tension and mystery around the tale are simple but very effective, it’s grounding in superstition around facts and the narrator is the one investigating leads a great weight to the story.  A great story for horror, classic or sci-fi beginners.
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh

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emotional sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I didn’t really enjoy this, the writing was good but other than that I didn’t really appreciate anything it was trying to do.  I understand for others this was about exploring depression, but to me it felt like glorifying depression with a tone that almost suggests if depressed people were rich enough they would just sleep their life away.  It had nothing more than that to say, no real nuance than that.  It didn’t explore the cyclical nature of depression, the internal and external impacts.  This was literally a rich girl with dead parents, a lover she lets humiliate her and a best friend she treats horribly.  And the ending my god …. such a cop out.
56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard

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

4.5

This was a very intense and tense book.  4.5 stars for me only because the origins of one of the main characters relied too much upon what could be an actual event.  Hit a bit too close.  But other than that, I enjoyed the cultural commentary on the story taking place in Covid. I think it offers a relatability of the thoughts and feelings of the characters and, in future, will offer a snapshot of what living through it was like.  The due timelines build up suspension really well and the multiple perspectives gives such unique authorial voices to the character you are absorbed into the story.  But like all mysteries it is good because of the twists and the red herrings, some you may guess but done well enough it just adds more tension and adds to the story.  Would recommend.
The Deep by Peter Benchley

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adventurous tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

The real strength of this book is the depiction of water/ocean and diving.  The world Peter creates when talking about being under water is amazing and realistic.  The atmosphere of wonder mixed with menace is amazing.  But for me that’s where this stops being enjoyable the main characters are underdeveloped and a cross between boring and annoying.  The bad guys are lazy racist stereotypes, the only character vaguely interesting is Treece.  And all in all the plot is just boring. 
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

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

4.0

Great classic Gothic Horror, it successfully combines atmosphere with classic haunted house and ghost story.  All the while with just enough ambiguity that you don’t know if the children are lying or the governess is going mad.  Classic unreliable narrator.  This very much had the atmosphere and feeling of a Jane Eyre/ Edgar Allan Poe.  My only gripe is the over done language from Henry James at times you didn’t know if the governess was w talking to a child or her lover which was just weird and uncomfortable.
The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo

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informative mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Great story, engaging and interesting mystery.  Like all great mysteries, this is Yokomizo's locked room mystery.  I enjoyed the setup, the description, and the characters.  I also enjoyed the pace of the book, fast enough that you moved through the story at a good pace, but slow enough to enjoy some back story and local history and a peek into a rural family in pre-globalized Japan.

It also name-dropped some classic western and Japanese mysteries I would be interested in picking up (it doesn't spoil them).  My only complaint is that it was difficult to follow the characters (a character tree may be a must for a western reader) and it didn't also include the names of town, places and people just H--- and D---, which is common in some translated works but it is annoying.
Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci

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adventurous funny informative lighthearted fast-paced

4.25

This is precisely what you think it is, a memoir from Stanley, but each story and experience is grounded in food.  He shares both recipes and descriptions of food and restaurants intermingled with engaging and witty stories of his life.  This is light-hearted and funny, and enjoyable.  I just wish there was some more depth and emotions from some of his past.  The depth of feeling from the chapters about Covid and his Cancer make some of the other chapters seem briefer.  
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

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

3.0

I absolutely get what the author was trying to do, and he did it.  This book was deliberate; the choices the author made were deliberate.  The shock, the brutality juxtaposition with the repetitive and boring shallowness of Bateman's life is evident from page one.   I also get that the racism, sexism and violence in the book are the characteristic of Bateman and his friends and not the author.  Overall this book vividly depicts the shallowness, greed and boredom of the Wallstreet upper classes.  It shows the vanity, lack of morals and selfishness of some of these types.  But it also vividly depicts its crazed spiral into evil and depravity of Bateman.  But I can't help but agree with the author's words in the books afterwards "People finally read the book, and they found out that it wasn't four hundred pages of torture and mutilation and advocating for the death of women.  It's just some boring novel."  It is quite dull.  The content, the tone, the dialogue even the pace of the book is all deliberate to give you an understanding of Batemen, but ultimately between small sections of uncomfortableness due to the very vivid depictions of violence, I was bored.  This provided no subtlety, no nuance, no deeper meaning or commentary on anything other than the characters on the page, and this is deliberate. I just didn't enjoy it, while appreciating from a literary pov it did everything it tried to do well.
How to Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie

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

4.25

I picked this up after recently reading sweet pea and loving it.  It is a very similar concept, I think what makes this an enjoyable and uncomfortable read is the internal dialogue.  Grace the main character is absolutely awful, selfish, hypocritical, and totally unaware.  But I would be shocked by anyone who hasn't thought some of the same thoughts as Grace in all their horrid and judgemental glory.  I was convinced that she was a female psychopath, whereas Sweet Pea felt like it was written as a male psychopath who happened to be female.  I was convinced 100% by Grace, some of the plot and character interactions were funny, witty and sad all at once.  While very enjoyable this was not a 5 star for me for two reasons, the pacing of the book could have benefited from more editing and the plot depended too much on coincidence and good luck.  But well worth a read.