neuroqueer's reviews
375 reviews

Overall: C

I think the author should make an illustrative cookbook. Honestly, the recipes were the most interesting parts to me. The artwork was good. 

Overall: C+ 

This book has so much potential. I love the setting and the concept. Honestly? This is the first book that I read that has a wide representation of race, cultures, disabilities and mental health. Everyone is just accepting and respecting each other regardless of who they are. I wish I could live in a world like this. The supernatural aspect was a nice addition but I'm not sure how some of the nonhuman races worked. For example: Hyde is a vampire. They have strong sense of smell and heightened hearing. Why does Pacheco, the head constable and leader of local vampire coven, not have similar abilities? If I missed something, someone let me know. 

Speaking of Hyde, their friends talk about how special and amazing they are but I don't see anything special about them. They show their perceptive abilities in some ways and they seem like a nice person but I didn't get the praise they got so much (maybe I just expect nice people to be nice people? I dunno). Also, their amazing perception is called into question for me when they

eat cupcakes that happen to be outside their door. It has the same poison that was used to kill their friend. How did they know their friend was poisoned?Because Hyde smelled the flowery poison when they found the body. So why the hell did Hyde a) not smell the poison in the cupcakes and b) not be suspious when there was an attempted murder on their life?

There is some tension between Pacheco and Hyde that is given a minor explanation that isn't expanded on. So, because of this, we should dislike Pacheco off the bat. However, he didn't come across as assholish to me? We just have Hyde and other characters' saying that he is. It felt like he was rude because people were rude to him first. After a while, Hyde's constant distate for the man was annoying and felt like getting in the way. HE IS JUST DOING HIS JOB, HYDE!

I will say Teresa is likeable and her personality complements Hyde's well. Their relationship development is cute. The other characters are fine but because of the book length, they aren't that deep or super interesting. 

The story is just surface-level. Maybe because I'm just dipping my toes into the cutesy cozy mystery genre but this is too shallow for me. We had a red herring that was never followed up with (they were introduced in the beginning and only show up at the end). There were no clues or twists to help the reader determine who the culprit was. The book just says "This person did it! Roll end credits." Maybe the problem is the books brevity? The ending feels like a rushed conclusion rather than a gratifying resolution.

I'm in the same boat as Hyde (autistic queers unite!). It was nice to see a character cut from the same cloth even if I didn't completely agree with their actions. As hard as I am on them and the story, I'm still going to read the next one. I really love the concept and maybe the next one will be better.

Overall: A
I was not expecting a book on bees to hit me in the feels but dammit it did. 

Educational and emotional...good job Mr. Hosler. 

Ran out of time on Spotify so just reading 

Overall: A-

The story follows Sadie, an unfortunate preteen who has been haunted by a ghost her whole life. The writer did a good job of capturing Sadie's feelings of longing and loneliness due to her forced isolation. Teh author also illustrated Sadie's guilt and grief for the death of her best friend. I was rooting for this poor girl. I found the plot is predictable and writing is simple but I'm not the target audience so that's expected. I still enjoyed the book and would recommend it for middle schoolers. 

Overall: C

I will start off saying that the writing in this is good. The dual timeline with Henry was intriguing (and he was probably the most decent character). The narrator did a good job. The choice of setting while not original was servicable. 

But my kingdom for interesting and likeable characters... Almost all characters was intolerable, underdeveloped or forgettable. Hannah got the most chapters out of everyone but I just really didn't care about her. After the reveal of something that she, her friend Cricket and her brother Mako did, (Yes, the two most unlikeable characters are named Cricket and Mako) all my tolerance of her flew out the window. 

This novel is overambitious and mixes various POVs, infidelity and murder. I don't think it handles the sensitive subject of rape well. It started off slow. The resolution sucked. 

I'm willing to try another Lisa Unger book because she does have writing chops. I hope this is a one off and the next one I try will be better. 

Overall: I'm actually flopping between B- and C+....

"William" is a  combination horror and sci-fi novella that was a quick listen due to length but felt like a long one due to the characters. 

The story does break up into different chapters based on the POV of the four human characters but focus is mainly on Henry.  He is a socially awkward agoraphobic robotics engineer. Out of all the characters, he is the most sympathetic. Lily is Henry's wife while Paige and Davis are her associates. The three of them can jump off the bridge. The end. 

...

Okay, I at least would say more than about Paige and Davis but not only were they cardboard cutouts, they were ANNOYING cardboard cutouts. Paige was the "snarky" best friend whose snark was just boring and unfunny. Davis is just there to fulfill one uninteresting purpose.

He is just the guy who is banging Henry's wife and doing a shit job of hiding it.

Lily is an ambitious pregnant software engineer. There is a large disconnect between her and Henry and at first, you might think it's the idea that she is getting tired of how altered her life is due to Henry's agoraphobia and reclusiveness. However you get farther into the book and nope. It's more than that. She was fine for her role. 

The story's premise is intriguing and the author does a great job of building suspense and adding drama as it progresses. The narrator did a good job at making each character sound distinct. This novella does have a twist that I did not see coming and changes how you end up viewing the story as a whole. But before that, some of the chapters were either rushed or taking too long to get to the point. 

I think I saw another review somewhere mention that this might have been better as either a short story or full length novel. I have to agree. I think more chapters are needed to get flesh out the characters a bit more (and make them a bit more palatable ???) I also so saw that someone will be adapting this to a film adaptation. As a story idea, yes this would translate well to the big screen. Directly translating this to the big screen? As much as I slagged off the characters, I can actually see it working. Mostly because we won't be in the vapid characters heads, the pacing will have to be different and perhaps the director/screenwriter/whoever can make the characters more tolerable.

Overall: A

Thrum is a novella that blends sci-fi, horror, and romance. The story follows Ami, the only survivor on her malfunctioning spaceship. She is a rescued by an alien named Dorian. The rest the story follows Ami trying to figure out what Dorian is and what caused her ship to break down and kill her teammates. 

I really liked the tense atmosphere created by the author. There is a sense of unease due to the incomprehensible machinations of the Dorian's alien ship and how it is affecting Ami. At same time, there is a sense of uncertainty as there never is a clear explanation of Dorian's motivations nor if Ami can rely on his word. The romance could be seen as forced and rushed but I could also see that occurring quickly when it's just you, your grief and one other person alone in the vastness of space. 

I enjoyed this novella a lot!