amelianotthepilot's Reviews (835)

…so I have never seen the show that the Fonz is from but I know who Henry Winkler is so I guess I’m not the main demographic for this but I saw it was the best goodreads book of 2023 so I gave it a listen.

He is a fantastic audiobook narrator and which makes it even more impressive when you find out he’s dyslexic and seemingly avoids reading at all costs. From this book I’ve learned that he was raised by Jewish German parents who escaped Nazi Germany and were very strict, he is dyslexic which has challenged him throughout his whole life from being perceived as dumb at school as a kid to not reading his scripts and just adlibbing everything he does. I also got the impression he is quite old fashioned and doesn’t understand women as he describes a weird moment acting on stage where he made a woman uncomfortable and he doesn’t understand why. However over all he seems like a very humble, improv talented, friendly guy.

Honestly enjoyed this way more than I expected to. It was really well written and her life is truly so complex and interesting. She struggled so much but also had so many iconic pop culture moments that were interesting to hear the behind stories of. It spans from her family background and her growing up with an alcoholic dad and pushover mom with two siblings to starting working young in a mickey mouse club and broadway to her eventual pop star career in her teens and her dramatic tumultuous relationship and abortion with JT. It’s a feminist story of how she’s been oppressed and used by everyone around her including her image being controlled by the public. 

I read this as part of an annual read along from Dec 20-31 that was promoted on BBC. However after reading it I do not understand the hype and upon asking my UK friends absolutely none of them had ever heard of it.

It is a spooky winter children’s fantasy story following a boy named Will Stanton who is the youngest of 7 kids and on his 11th birthday finds out he is an ‘old one’, a super powerful ancient magical being who is the last hope against defeating The Dark. It has many similarities with and clearly influenced Harry Potter (it predates HP by about 20 years). Both feature 11 year old boys who fight the evil dark and are guided by old men. But unlike Harry Potter, Will doesn’t actually do anything, everything just happens TO him. He also has no friends on his journey and is guided by a series of ancient adults. The main adult being Merriman who is an old all knowing wizard plot device who of course never tells Will any information and always shows up exactly when he means to (similar to Dumbledore and Gandalf). The story follows will as he collects the 6 ‘signs’ (belt buckles) in order to defeat darkness however every time he collected a belt buckle didn’t feel very accomplishing. He was handed everything and shows no initiative or heroic/adventurous behavior. All in all not a very good kids book, let alone annually rereadable.

guys what is this? y’all really serious about this?

not only is the writing terrible on multiple accounts (weird grammar mistakes that somehow got past editors, inconsistent locations and world building, lazy world building, bizarre and random character conversations, and the biggest problem: constant time jumps) but the romance is ridiculous. When met with a billion red flags our MC carries on thinking he’ll change. 

The author has said that she based Xaden off her husband, and the MC clearly seems to be a self insert which pop off good for her I guess but also the relationship is a mess. They both have horrible communication skills. Violet is delusional and self centered and too trusting while Xaden is a make manipulator who thinks he knows what’s best for her.

Nothing in this is hot even the spicy scenes are the most vanilla boring scenes I’ve ever read. 

It’s basically Divergent with dragons. I don’t mind tropes but this reaches a new level of ridiculousness. However I will say that this was marginally better than ACOTAR. 💀

I’m glad I finally got around to reading this! A hilarious age old story of a demon and an angel who realize that the beauracratic ways of their jobs working for hella no heaven respectively basically just cancel each other out so they might as well just not do anything.  Meanwhile the apocalyptic is beginning and they realize they actually enjoy living on earth and would rather it not end. 

john green had recommended this book but i thought it was only okay However he was recommending the book and I listened tot eh audiobook.

The audiobook is read by Leslie which is fun but she excessively adds little tangent stories which makes the whole book a bit messy. Her life as difficult and interesting but the book was not as funny as I’d expected and more full of life struggles, rants, and motivational speeches. There was also not as much SNL as I thought there’d be which I realize her career is more than just SNL but that’s why I was interested ngl

A gothic fantasy full of feminine rage.

It has everything of a classic gothic novel: a female who’s maybe mad or uncovering something, a spooky house with a spooky man, and a mystery to keep her there with a sprinkle of romance.

I overall really enjoyed this story. I loved the characters and the spooky gothic house. The water and drowning imagery was also delicious. I loved the feminine rage and depictions of the female experience. 

The plot was a bit obvious towards the end and the last two chapters of wrap up were boring. There were a lot of quotable lines but also an equal amount of cringey pompous lines. I loved the world building but at the same time for a stand alone novel it seemed unnecessary for a personal success plot. It followed the main character and her struggles not a political or societal change.


It follows Effy who is the first female architecture student at this university. She enters a competition to build a house in memorial for her favorite author who has recently passed away. She is invited to the house to discuss and finalize her plans only to get there and see how truly messed up and spooky the current house is. The house is on the cliff which could be swallowed by the sea at any moment. Will Effy, the creepy man owner of the house, and the other male student researching there survive or succumb to the house? 

This was an amazing return to the series. This is the 4th book to a trilogy but can also be read on it's own or read before the main series Darkers Shades of Magic. As anyone who's ever talked books with me will know Darker Shades is one of the series that I consistently recommend to anyone and everyone. It's such a well-crafted and interesting new fantasy world. It follows multiple characters across a multiverse of Londons each containing varying levels of magic. Black London fell to magic, White London was once extremely strong but is now barely alive, Red London is a vibrant thriving city, and Grey London is basically 1800s reality London with 0 magic. People with magic can control one element or if they're lucky, a few elements, however, there is the rare few who are Antari, a magic that transcends all magic and is able to travel between the Londons as well as other spectacular magic.
This story introduces us to new and old characters. Our old beloved characters, Kell and Antari and heir, Lila an Antari, Rhy the Red London King and brother to Kell, and Alucard the King's partner. And the new characters Tes a magical thread weaver, Kosika the White London Queen, Nadiya the Red London King's other partner.
I'm excited to see where this new story goes. I loved the introduction of Bex, a Lila in different circumstances. I loved seeing my favorite characters 7 years later while still getting a glimpse at what they've been up to. I feel like they grew with me while we've been away. it felt like coming home. I'm excited to see what happens in White London and if we will get a Ned Tuttle cameo in every book somehow (I hope so).
I loved the cartoonish-ness of when Tes practically falls into the main plot it was delicious. The new magic was so interesting and complex but still perfectly fit in with the world. I think Tes is my favorite character, I relate to her the most. 

1000 shapes - Kate Weinberg

A prequel to her novel set at a university following a female student who is having sex with her progress or who stole her writing.

This story was too short and really had no point. It read more like a first chapter for her book that I don’t plan on reading.

Pythia -Olivia Blake

A cult like university believes that their super computer predicts the future, a psychiatrist alongside priests and rabbis and a historical literature researcher are hired to help figure out what has recently gone wrong with the super computer. The story follows a legal interview that is investigating the psychiatrists involvement with the super computer and the deaths of two female students. 

An interesting dark academia story addressing relevant topics of doom scrolling and the anxiety of being alive with the current state of things.

Sabbatical - James Tate Hill

An old retired professor turns up on campus and starts harassing different professors and students. He’s clearly not mentally well and is looking for a professor who went missing. 

I did not like his writing style and the story was not exciting. It has a vaguely dark academia vibe but is more of a depressed middle aged man holden caulfield vibe. There’s only two women in the whole story and their characters serve 0 purpose. The story has no real message and just seems like the ramblings of a pessimistic man who dislikes academia.

The Hare and The Hound - Kelly Andrew

A boy receives a prophecy at coney island as a child saying that he will chase a white rabbit and end up in the clutches of a wolf and that he is a murderer. He is haunted by bunny iconography hai whole life and called Bunny as a nickname by his friends. In high school he gets in a car crash that kills a girl, now in college he meets a girl who shred uncanny similarities with a white rabbit and Bunny feels that he is slowly loosing his mind.

X House - JT Ellison

An exclusive all girls private school on a cliff side has a reputation of mysterious murders. The new professor appointed attempts to find out what is going on and save her charges. I wish it was longer this one was interesting and spooky!

One of the characters was named Amelia!

The Ravages - Layne Fargo

A sapphic story of revenge when one partner finds out the other has been cheating on her they plan a seance in their London workplace’s archives. A spooky fun little story. The namesake of the collection comes from this one.

Four Funerals - David Bell

A school shooting occurs in an english class after the student had written about a school shooting. Now the professor feels guilt. 

This one was boring tbh

The Unknowable Pleasures - Susie Yang

This one was utterly bizarre featuring a ?perhaps queer relationship between student and eccentric professor? viewed at a distance and bossed over by a female classmate. It was voyeristic and felt sorta homophobic somehow. It also didn’t really feel dark academia at all, being set in a school does not make a dark academia. The ending felt bizarre as well and was an attempt and an open ended cliff hanger but was sorta just weird.

Weekend at Bertie’s - ML Rio

Two PhD students stumble on the dead body of their professors when they are taking care of her house while she is supposed to be away. A spooky and fun little story.

The Professor of Ontography - Helen Grant 

Two university students discover a mysterious department at school that no one will discuss with them. The boyfriend decides to investigate after a night out and never returns. Spooky and interesting. 

Phobos -Tori Bovalino

A student is in a secret society going through an initiation phase. The last step to join is to kill ‘a lesser scholar’. An interesting set up over to quickly and easily.

Playing - Phoebe Wynne 

A student who plays the organ at the university cathedral is faced with playing at frequent funerals after a series of deaths.

Spooky but not shocking.

Overall I feel like this selection of authors was sort of odd. I’d only classify a few of these stories as dark academia. I’m also realizing that writing a short story must be very difficult and only a few of the authors pulled off writing captivating ones. The beginning stories were rough.