dbguide2's Reviews (863)

 This was a new cover for an older title – and I could tell (that it was an older title). The writing let me quickly know I wasn’t going to make it further into the book. When I say that I could tell it was an older title; I mean the characters were so stereotypical. Like I can deal with a mean girl but only if she’s interesting other than just being mean. There was also too much world-building and it wasn’t done in a good way – just, pushed onto the page. I want to be interested enough to learn more about the world, not wanting to just skim read because there’s too much info dumping going on. I have the sequel (as an arc) but won’t pick it up. 

 I must just now read a Kate Alice Marshall’s adult book (her second one comes out next year I think?), which I will probably also love. Once I do that it’ll probably make KAM one of the best writers if she can write excellent Middle Grade, Young Adult, and Adult books.

When I started this book I was thinking “hmm how scary can a middle grade book get?” And then I remembered like Coraline and Monster House. I loved that just because it’s middle grade didn’t mean the scariness would be watered down. It’s scary enough for kids and any adults (me) reading this. KAM just does it effortlessly.

As always with every KAM I’ve read the characters were well-written. I loved getting to know the family. I liked how even though the parents weren’t present for basically all of the book, they were still part of the story (as opposed to being absent parents – although that’s more YA). 

I liked the agents that came and stayed with them – Agent Baxter and his husband, Agent Pendleton. They were funny and I could tell they were friends with the family (and not just coworkers) and I liked that.

My heart felt for Charlie as she always felt like she had to be on top for everything. She helped to make her siblings feel like they could act like children without realising that she’s also a child. I also liked that her parents made sure she knew they appreciated and loved her, their relationship with her was very sweet. 

Charlie’s relationships with her siblings were so sweet to see as well. I’ve mentioned multiple times in various posts that I really adore good sibling relationships. This is definitely a case for the good ones. They cared for each other and wanted to keep each other safe. And still bantered as siblings do!

The plot and the mystery was done so well (as always with her books). She makes the mystery so intriguing you certainly don’t want to put the book down! I did predict most of the plot twists but I didn’t mind it in the slightest because of how well it was done. I grew up with Enid Blyton so I’m always down for kid detectives and Charlie and her siblings were joys to follow. 

Realised very quickly on that I wasn’t going to carry on with it. I didn’t like the writing style and even though it’s a short book; it’s hard to want to carry on when you already know you won’t like the writing style.

Another issue I had was the amount of world-building I got in the very little I read. This was also the issue with the next dnf. Now, as a big fantasy reader, I’m very used to a lot of world-building. It’s the bread and butter of fantasy worlds. It has to be done in a good way. Which was not the case here, as you can see. 

Even if I didn’t know beforehand I could’ve easily picked up that this was written by a man. It’s the way he talks about everything, how he narrated through the main character’s eye. Though I dnfed this it did help me to see what I like and don’t like in adult thriller/horror novels. The fact that this had nearly nothing of what I like – says a lot, I think. I have this author’s new arc as well so I hope it’s better.

The main character was an edgy cop and I watch a lot of crime shows – I watched a lot of CSI as a kid, rewatch the older seasons of Criminal Minds because I love them. So I understand the whole ‘edgy cop’ vibe that writers like to go for (even though it’s much overdone and therefore very stereotypical). Markert didn’t write it well. Tried too hard to make the Detective Mills edgy. I just skim read when he spoke about something that I knew would make him more edgy – because I didn’t care!

The other main character was a writer and I actually preferred when the chapter focused on Mills instead of the author. Nothing really wrong with how Ben Bookman was written, I just didn’t like him at all.

The horror aspect was okay – I didn’t understand any of it, unfortunately. The plot was very confusing and was another reason for me to dnf. Even when I skipped ahead and read around I still didn’t understand anything. Actually, in my opinion, it read like it went on downhill in terms of quality. I was sad because in the beginning it felt a bit like Sinister and I love that movie so I wanted to see that type of thing here. 

 I was interested by the synopsis because it genuinely sounded like something I’d want to read but it wasn’t enough to keep me going. I really tried to push through and finish the book because it’s under 300 pages but when something happened in the book and I was like “Oh I’m supposed to be all shocked” and instead I was just.. skim reading and paging with a blank face. I liked how the author wrote for the most part – the ‘old’ sounding narration. Unfortunately then modern dialogue came in and too much of that threw me off and I couldn’t get into the book fully.

The characters were the tiniest bit interesting but it also wasn’t enough. Gris, especially, was dramatic with his words when it didn’t call for it and his figures of speech were unnecessarily dramatic as well. I’d understand and maybe like it if it were part of the character’s personality – but it didn’t seem like that. I liked Thanatos more than Gris but (once again) not enough to keep me reading. 

This is my third Kate Alice Marshall (KAM) book. First one was Rules for Vanishing (which I need to reread and review) and These Fleeting Shadows. I think Shadows is sort of the best one (so far) because I do love a haunted house + family story (it was also comped to The Haunting of Hill House – which is like one of my favourite tv shows ever). So The Narrow comes a close second to that.

I was so sucked into the book I could imagine that I was there myself – which is not technically something you actually want with a horror book. I felt connected to the characters – their personalities, their growth. I was especially pleased by how the friendship group stayed by Eden. They cared about her, they made sure she knew she was loved and appreciated – and I loved that because I really enjoy seeing positive female friendships in books.

Eden was a great main character. I think she’s what you call a ‘quiet character’? Which is nice when you’re like me and read a lot of fantasies where characters are usually a bit… louder. But even though Eden was quiet that didn’t mean she was a pushover – which I liked to see as well.

Delphine is the other character named in the synopsis and she’s also a quiet character -but also she lives alone in a small house on school grounds so of course that’s a reason too. I liked her and then I didn’t like her (unlike Eden whom I liked from the start. She did have a full personality (so it wasn’t an issue of it not being fleshed-out), but I didn’t connect to her like I did for Eden.

I loved everything to do with The Drowning Girl. All the lore we got and then the backstory as we learnt more of it. Even how KAM managed to tie it up to the present. How sometimes stories change and are twisted – either by human design or because as time goes on; details tend to fade away. 

It’s a dual-pov with slight appearances by the youngest sister, Brianne, who’s under the sleeping curse (slight here meaning like 3? chapters at the most). So not a true multi-pov which makes sense as to why everyone’s saying dual-pov. I liked both main characters but I probably would say I preferred Sabine’s chapters more. Not to say that I didn’t like Elodie – I did. I just didn’t agree with her thoughts and actions all the time. Also (and obviously this is the whole royal vs. commoner differences) she was a bit naive now and then? She’s hasty in her decisions – which isn’t really her fault. The book is very fast-paced. Mom dies a few days before the book starts and then the youngest sister is crowned and then boom she goes to sleep. So it’s hard to fault her for making rash decisions when there are deadlines on various matters. Even though I was keeping that in mind it didn’t help me in forgiving her carelessness all that much.

This further showed in how she treated Sabine and acted around her (more of the royal vs. commoner differences). I won’t say anything really about the end of the book, obviously, but it will be interesting to see how the sequel changes in these terms. I related more so to Sabine than Elodie. Interestingly enough, even though both had siblings, I felt Elodie’s relationships with hers is more believable. Nothing entirely wrong with Sabine’s relationships with her brother and sister, it just didn’t feel as real as Elodie’s did.

I really liked how Tooley took the church and made us look at the darker side of it. Like it or not, whatever feelings you have on the church; unfortunately there is a darker side. The Chaplain in here definitely represents that. I sussed him out the first time we meet him on page and I wanted to go inside the book and just punch his annoying face. He knows exactly what to say to get what he wants and he has no problem in manipulating everyone to get his way. I wanted to drag his greasy hands away from Brianne and throw them into the ocean or something. And then, you know, might as well carry on with throwing the rest of his body in the ocean. 

It’s a fast-paced book and the action is well mixed up with the silent moments. Tooley did a good job in writing and balancing them. I think a lot of writers are usually focused on the action scenes and creating a believable romance, adding witty banter (if they choose). I think they forget that you can have silent moments and it can be good. There’s sadness in both girls – sadness that actually is the same when you look at the heart of it all. I hope Tooley carries that into the sequel. If her other books also have it that definitely makes me want to read it more.

Just… no. Awfully cringey and boring

This was a long and slow-paced book but I did it! The book is good but unfortunately on the “just okay” side of good.. This book is like… vaguely set in a slightly European country/inspired by all that. But then uhh we had the words “venus fly trap” – used as a metaphor so sort of okay but not the best metaphor that could’ve been used? I could see that the author didn’t want to do all of the research – which, like, I get as a writer because I desperately do not want to put horses into my drafts. Because then I have to think about everything that goes into it. It’s difficult. So I understand why we didn’t get a lot of mentions of their clothing or what they’re using to eat with – both which would show where it’s vaguely set in or inspired by. But I would’ve liked it anyway and maybe it would’ve changed my thinking of the book.

Most of the book was a lot of politics. And like – I don’t mind politics in books. I find it interesting most of the time, especially when tied with magic and all. But also you have to be good at writing said politics and explaining them in a way most readers can understand. Because, you know, sometimes I want to read a fantasy book but not have to deal with a lot of world-building and politics.

Quill kept putting (confusing) politics and world-building and didn’t explain it all that well. And because it was all so slow-paced, it made me less wanting to understand everything. I don’t mind slow-paced books at all. But naturally they have to be written-well in order to keep the reader interested. Which this wasn’t unfortunately.

That’s why I can’t really say a lot about the plot or politics – because it wasn’t exactly memorable. I definitely felt like Quill focused more on the characters than the plot and maybe that’s why I didn’t remember much of the plot (and more of the characters).

But, all in all, the book wasn’t too bad – I liked the main character, Ruztuv the most. I liked the fact that his 4 siblings all have Z’s in their names. And there’s a Razul and a Reoul in the book so I got confused most of the time 😄. Even though I’m very used to fantasy names, sometimes they tend to trip you up. 

Ruztuv was a good main character to follow. He cared about his siblings, which was nice to see. He had a sense of justice and wanted to keep the King safe, do good at his job. Other than that he didn’t have much of a personality. I felt like Eresthas – the King – most of his personality is King – and that’s it. 

Their relationship was nice to read (even though it’s an unequal one as one is King and the other isn’t). It is definitely a slow-burn of a one – which I was all too happy to see and read because I do like slow-burn. I didn’t mind waiting for them to finally get together. I think it helped me to like their characters more because I had to learn their persanalities before seeing the relationship.