readinggingerbee's reviews
199 reviews

A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson

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5.0

why did it take me so long to pick up this book? i absolutely loved it! dare i say that it is one of my favourite books? the remaining on the brides of dracula had me jumping up and down in anticipation. and gosh, the book did not disapoint at all. 

while the ' main'  relationship is everything but lovely, the ' side'  relationships are something else. i love how the author of this book started it off with a content warning note. it helped me realise in what kind of story i was going to dive into. the book is written as letters adressed to 'you', and it made the story intimate. as if i was a bystander through the years. but at the same time made sure that i got more ' feelings' for the characters with a name than the one without or as constanta wrote in her letters; "i say you don't have a name." 
The Secret History by Donna Tartt

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

3.75

i find it hard to find the right words to describe this book in the rightful way. there is so much unlikable in here that you start liking some of the points, in the right way. to be honest, i can see why so many people might like this book, but for me it felt like the pace was only getting slower and slower (it is already slowpaced after all) yes, some of the characters had backstories (other were very bland, not going to lie), but sometimes it felt like it was only to keep the story going. and to come up with a way to change the plot and bring challenges (well, it is literary fiction after all, what did i expect?) 

maybe the only reason why i kept on reading, was due to the different plottwists. some of them i really did not see coming. suprisingly, it took me about a month to get through all of these pages. it would have been longer if the pace didn't pick up somehwere in the middle...