bookswithlydscl's Reviews (639)

A Room With a View

E.M. Forster

3.75

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

3.75* - felt much more satisfying than other classics of this style

What Feasts at Night

T. Kingfisher

4.0

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

enjoyed this one more than book 1 - think i need to revisit it!

Victorian Psycho

Virginia Feito

4.75

challenging dark funny tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Just finished 'Victorian Psycho' and what a ride that was. Stomach churningly violent with genuinely laugh out loud sections this book was filled with female rage, intrusive thoughts that win out and bloody outcomes.

Jane Eyre meets American Psycho is such an apt comparator and I think fans of Du Maurier's gothic style and dark and disturbing characters with no real moral compass like Marta from Kate Griffin's Fyneshade will likely enjoy this one.

Content Warnings

The Lost Passenger: A Novel

Frances Quinn

DID NOT FINISH: 18%

I just found it intensely frustrating and annoying.

How to Seal Your Own Fate

Kristen Perrin

3.75

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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: Complicated

3.75*

A really solid follow up to last year's fantastic debut 'How To Solve Your Own Murder'.

The story this time didn't flow quite as well for me but I found the mystery to be intriguing and again the split timelines with the live action of now and the diary entries of the past worked well. It did feel a little padded at times but the final quarter was extremely satisfying and closed out the story well.

I'm not sure how another story in this format can work as it could potentially feel a little far fetched but I still would welcome another visit to this world, especially to see if the potential love story between Annie and Crane comes to anything!

Cosy mystery, dual timelines and loveable characters make this a duology (as it stands) that I've enjoyed and would read more!

Thank you so much to Quercus Books for inviting me to read a finished digital copy of "How To Seal Your Own Fate" and I offer here my honest and voluntary review.

The Penthouse

Catherine Cooper

3.25

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

3.25*

You know what you're getting with a Catherine Cooper and I always enjoy delving into her books. I truly enjoy the split timelines that build the story to get us to the present where mysteries and secrets begin to come to light. With 'The Penthouse' we're in the world of pop, reality TV and reunion shows - be still my millennial heart! I was really bought into the story and spent the whole time trying to work out what happened to 2000s girl group singer Elodie after her mysterious disappearance.

I really enjoyed the build up of the story - the potentials for what may have happened and why things were going wrong in the modern timeline, up until the final quarter and the ending just absolutely bombed for me.

I was truly disappointed that this one felt like it just didn't stick the landing and felt like it just ended suddenly and with no real sense of satisfaction for me as a reader.

Despite the ending, I enjoyed the rest of it, I was genuinely surprised at the unveiling of the who, why and how and realised afterwards that my theories were as crazy as the delusional fans on the fanboards in the story!

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction for a digital review copy of "The Penthouse" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.