Take a photo of a barcode or cover
983 reviews by:
duskangelreads
You can also find this review and more at Dusk Angel Reads
Trigger Warning: Very in depth discussions about Rape throughout nearly the whole book
This book is definitely not what I expected. I knew this was an [b:Alice's Adventures in Wonderland|6324090|Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, #1)|Lewis Carroll|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1391204048l/6324090._SX50_.jpg|55548884] retelling but I did not read a synopsis and had not heard talk about it. I read [b:The Girl in Red|42881101|The Girl in Red|Christina Henry|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1545249589l/42881101._SY75_.jpg|66672643] by [a:Christina Henry|3409936|Christina Henry|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1417722044p2/3409936.jpg] a month or so ago and really enjoyed it! So when I was looking for something to read and saw Alice I decided why not.. Needless to say this was completely unexpected!
So at first it was a bit of a shock discovering that this was a dark gory horror retelling of [b:Alice's Adventures in Wonderland|6324090|Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, #1)|Lewis Carroll|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1391204048l/6324090._SX50_.jpg|55548884]. However after the shock I actually really enjoyed it! There were definitely some messed up parts throughout but still super interesting & I got super hooked on this one from early on.
This book was completely unpredictable even though it was loosely following the [b:Alice's Adventures in Wonderland|6324090|Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, #1)|Lewis Carroll|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1391204048l/6324090._SX50_.jpg|55548884] story line. The story was simply gripping and I found myself not wanting to put it down and just wanting to find out what crazy shit was going to happen next.
I enjoyed the 2 main characters we follow, Alice & Hatcher. They were both really well written and developed nicely over the course of the book. I also enjoyed the side characters (as characters, most of them were horrible people, let’s be real). There were such a mixture of traits in the side characters and they were very well written. I found myself absolutely hating some of then and then questions over motives. [a:Christina Henry|3409936|Christina Henry|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1417722044p2/3409936.jpg] just has a way of writing characters that make you super invested in what happens to them (whether good or bad).
My only real downfall for this book and the reason it didn't receive 5 stars was the ending. I had the same experience with [b:The Girl in Red|42881101|The Girl in Red|Christina Henry|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1545249589l/42881101._SY75_.jpg|66672643] as well. For me the ending just seems a little lacklustre. There were tonnes of build up to the end but then the end just happens in one chapter and that's it. It was a little disappointing after such an interesting and gripping book.
Overall, I really enjoyed this and definitely will be continuing the series sometime in the future. I can’t wait to see what [a:Christina Henry|3409936|Christina Henry|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1417722044p2/3409936.jpg] does with the story of the [b:Red Queen|27246122|Red Queen (The Chronicles of Alice, #2)|Christina Henry|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1453056797l/27246122._SY75_.jpg|47294674] in this dark retelling and there is also a novella bind up, [b:Looking Glass|52103409|Looking Glass (The Chronicles of Alice)|Christina Henry|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1568813269l/52103409._SX50_SY75_.jpg|70671970], available which I’m super keen to suss out. If you are into dark fantasy then I highly recommend but be warned that there is a very high trigger warning for Rape in this book…
Trigger Warning: Very in depth discussions about Rape throughout nearly the whole book
This book is definitely not what I expected. I knew this was an [b:Alice's Adventures in Wonderland|6324090|Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, #1)|Lewis Carroll|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1391204048l/6324090._SX50_.jpg|55548884] retelling but I did not read a synopsis and had not heard talk about it. I read [b:The Girl in Red|42881101|The Girl in Red|Christina Henry|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1545249589l/42881101._SY75_.jpg|66672643] by [a:Christina Henry|3409936|Christina Henry|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1417722044p2/3409936.jpg] a month or so ago and really enjoyed it! So when I was looking for something to read and saw Alice I decided why not.. Needless to say this was completely unexpected!
So at first it was a bit of a shock discovering that this was a dark gory horror retelling of [b:Alice's Adventures in Wonderland|6324090|Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, #1)|Lewis Carroll|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1391204048l/6324090._SX50_.jpg|55548884]. However after the shock I actually really enjoyed it! There were definitely some messed up parts throughout but still super interesting & I got super hooked on this one from early on.
This book was completely unpredictable even though it was loosely following the [b:Alice's Adventures in Wonderland|6324090|Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, #1)|Lewis Carroll|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1391204048l/6324090._SX50_.jpg|55548884] story line. The story was simply gripping and I found myself not wanting to put it down and just wanting to find out what crazy shit was going to happen next.
I enjoyed the 2 main characters we follow, Alice & Hatcher. They were both really well written and developed nicely over the course of the book. I also enjoyed the side characters (as characters, most of them were horrible people, let’s be real). There were such a mixture of traits in the side characters and they were very well written. I found myself absolutely hating some of then and then questions over motives. [a:Christina Henry|3409936|Christina Henry|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1417722044p2/3409936.jpg] just has a way of writing characters that make you super invested in what happens to them (whether good or bad).
My only real downfall for this book and the reason it didn't receive 5 stars was the ending. I had the same experience with [b:The Girl in Red|42881101|The Girl in Red|Christina Henry|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1545249589l/42881101._SY75_.jpg|66672643] as well. For me the ending just seems a little lacklustre. There were tonnes of build up to the end but then the end just happens in one chapter and that's it. It was a little disappointing after such an interesting and gripping book.
Overall, I really enjoyed this and definitely will be continuing the series sometime in the future. I can’t wait to see what [a:Christina Henry|3409936|Christina Henry|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1417722044p2/3409936.jpg] does with the story of the [b:Red Queen|27246122|Red Queen (The Chronicles of Alice, #2)|Christina Henry|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1453056797l/27246122._SY75_.jpg|47294674] in this dark retelling and there is also a novella bind up, [b:Looking Glass|52103409|Looking Glass (The Chronicles of Alice)|Christina Henry|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1568813269l/52103409._SX50_SY75_.jpg|70671970], available which I’m super keen to suss out. If you are into dark fantasy then I highly recommend but be warned that there is a very high trigger warning for Rape in this book…
You can find this review and more on Dusk Angel Reads
This graphic novel was just straight out confusing. I still have no idea what really happened in this graphic novel. It was very hard to follow and didn’t have any context or really explanation as to what the heck was going on. I found my self not really following what was going on for majority of the book. There was a couple sections where I thought ‘ahh okay, I get it’ and then the next page I was back to being confused.
This is on the longer side for a graphic novel. This one is nearly 300 pages and majority of graphic novels are around 100 – 150 pages. So this had the potential to really build the world and grow the story but it simply didn’t do any of that. There is a zombie apocalypse but that is literally all we find out. I don’t think there was really any world building to this and the characters were just flat and didn’t really developed or even get fleshed out at all. I couldn’t follow what was going on in the plot so really there is nothing positive for me to really say.
Also this book kinda just ended. It didn’t wrap anything up or answer any questions at all. It feels like there should be a book 2 to explain everything but this is a standalone. So that definitely felt off.
The only positive is that the art is nice but even that left me slightly confused because when you look at the cover compared to the inside of the book it REALLY doesn’t match. The cover makes it look like it’s going to be a cute or whimsical story (well thats the vibe I get at least) and then the themes of the Graphic Novels are mental health & zombies… So I’m not sure how that fits at all.
Overall I don’t recommend this book. Nothing was explained, nothing made much sense and nothing was concluded.
This graphic novel was just straight out confusing. I still have no idea what really happened in this graphic novel. It was very hard to follow and didn’t have any context or really explanation as to what the heck was going on. I found my self not really following what was going on for majority of the book. There was a couple sections where I thought ‘ahh okay, I get it’ and then the next page I was back to being confused.
This is on the longer side for a graphic novel. This one is nearly 300 pages and majority of graphic novels are around 100 – 150 pages. So this had the potential to really build the world and grow the story but it simply didn’t do any of that. There is a zombie apocalypse but that is literally all we find out. I don’t think there was really any world building to this and the characters were just flat and didn’t really developed or even get fleshed out at all. I couldn’t follow what was going on in the plot so really there is nothing positive for me to really say.
Also this book kinda just ended. It didn’t wrap anything up or answer any questions at all. It feels like there should be a book 2 to explain everything but this is a standalone. So that definitely felt off.
The only positive is that the art is nice but even that left me slightly confused because when you look at the cover compared to the inside of the book it REALLY doesn’t match. The cover makes it look like it’s going to be a cute or whimsical story (well thats the vibe I get at least) and then the themes of the Graphic Novels are mental health & zombies… So I’m not sure how that fits at all.
Overall I don’t recommend this book. Nothing was explained, nothing made much sense and nothing was concluded.
You can find this review and more on Dusk Angel Reads
Trigger Warning: Child abuse & self harm
I was pleasantly surprised by The Price Guide to the Occult. I previously attempted The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender and couldn’t get into it at all so this was a surprise that I enjoyed this one.
Firstly, the story was a bit choppy and confusing at times. Especially when we swap time frames and jump back to her childhood without any warning at all. This led to a bit of confusion until I realised what was going on. I did enjoy that we had those glimpses into the past as they set the picture of what Fern, the MC’s mother was really like. However, I do wish they indicated that change somehow in the book by maybe putting a date at the top or even Nor’s age at the time of the event. This confusion was also present when Nor was having a dream. It took a couple pages to realise that she was not doing these things and that it was a dream..
The other small thing I didn’t like was the romance. It felt forced and a little flat and I don’t feel like it was really necessary. It would of been a lot more enjoyable if they had the focus on the friendship between Savvy & Nor rather than the romance between Nor and another character. Also what the heck was that random bit of love triangle thrown in at the end?? I get that if you are in a situation where you believe you’re about to die that you may do something unexpected but it just didn’t make sense and added absolutely nothing to the plot.
The Price Guide to the Occult was an enjoyable, quick, fun & easy read. It’s super short but packs a lot in and is fairly action packed so I found myself flying through it. I think I read it in basically 2 sittings which is quick for me even for a book just under 300 pages. I was also engaged the entire time and didn’t want to put it down. There were a couple things I didn’t understand but overall and enjoyable reading experience.
I loved that we got a prologue that really set the scene and explained the world and magic systems. For such a short book I feel like we got a tonne of world building and explanation about the magic. There were a few things that were never explained and I feel like this book was set up to have a sequel where we got more explanation but alas, it is only a standalone.
The ending was also slightly disappointing. There was tonnes of build up to this big ending and then when it came to defeating the bad guy it just kinda happened and then that was it. It wasn’t draw out and there wasn’t some big battle or anything. There was like 2 lines and it was all over. So the ending definitely felt a tad lacking compared to the rest of the plot.
Most of the major characters like Nor, Savvy, Judd and a couple others felt fleshed out and we got some background from them however there were a fair few side characters that were talked about but weren’t really given any depth. They were kind of just a name and that’s it.
Overall while this book was enjoyable there were a few things that definitely could have been improved. I feel like this book would have made more of an impact if it had been a duology rather than a standalone. There would have been more time for explanation and also a better conclusion possibly. However, that is not the case and while I did enjoy the reading experience this isn’t a favourite.
Trigger Warning: Child abuse & self harm
I was pleasantly surprised by The Price Guide to the Occult. I previously attempted The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender and couldn’t get into it at all so this was a surprise that I enjoyed this one.
Firstly, the story was a bit choppy and confusing at times. Especially when we swap time frames and jump back to her childhood without any warning at all. This led to a bit of confusion until I realised what was going on. I did enjoy that we had those glimpses into the past as they set the picture of what Fern, the MC’s mother was really like. However, I do wish they indicated that change somehow in the book by maybe putting a date at the top or even Nor’s age at the time of the event. This confusion was also present when Nor was having a dream. It took a couple pages to realise that she was not doing these things and that it was a dream..
The other small thing I didn’t like was the romance. It felt forced and a little flat and I don’t feel like it was really necessary. It would of been a lot more enjoyable if they had the focus on the friendship between Savvy & Nor rather than the romance between Nor and another character. Also what the heck was that random bit of love triangle thrown in at the end?? I get that if you are in a situation where you believe you’re about to die that you may do something unexpected but it just didn’t make sense and added absolutely nothing to the plot.
The Price Guide to the Occult was an enjoyable, quick, fun & easy read. It’s super short but packs a lot in and is fairly action packed so I found myself flying through it. I think I read it in basically 2 sittings which is quick for me even for a book just under 300 pages. I was also engaged the entire time and didn’t want to put it down. There were a couple things I didn’t understand but overall and enjoyable reading experience.
I loved that we got a prologue that really set the scene and explained the world and magic systems. For such a short book I feel like we got a tonne of world building and explanation about the magic. There were a few things that were never explained and I feel like this book was set up to have a sequel where we got more explanation but alas, it is only a standalone.
The ending was also slightly disappointing. There was tonnes of build up to this big ending and then when it came to defeating the bad guy it just kinda happened and then that was it. It wasn’t draw out and there wasn’t some big battle or anything. There was like 2 lines and it was all over. So the ending definitely felt a tad lacking compared to the rest of the plot.
Most of the major characters like Nor, Savvy, Judd and a couple others felt fleshed out and we got some background from them however there were a fair few side characters that were talked about but weren’t really given any depth. They were kind of just a name and that’s it.
Overall while this book was enjoyable there were a few things that definitely could have been improved. I feel like this book would have made more of an impact if it had been a duology rather than a standalone. There would have been more time for explanation and also a better conclusion possibly. However, that is not the case and while I did enjoy the reading experience this isn’t a favourite.
First review, where do I start??
Firstly I love a book with a strong female character who is breaking away from what she knows.
So Amani was a favourite character for me!
This was definitely a book full of twists and turns! Whilst reading I was constantly trying to think of what was going to happen next but I was never right, which I love.
There are a lot of dark concepts flying around in this book and definitely more than enough monsters hiding the dark! The world that Alwyn Hamilton created in this book was unreal, so much so that I could imagine it every step of the way. However she left enough description unwritten about certain things, like the monsters, this made you fear them as a reader and fear for the characters encountering them.
I also loved the romance that came through is this novel as our Blue Eyed Bandit (Amani) met a foreigner nicknamed the Eastern Snake.
Word also has it that this book will be the first book of a Trilogy! That will definitely be a purchase I don't even have to think about. Can't Wait!
"A new dawn, a new desert"
Firstly I love a book with a strong female character who is breaking away from what she knows.
So Amani was a favourite character for me!
This was definitely a book full of twists and turns! Whilst reading I was constantly trying to think of what was going to happen next but I was never right, which I love.
There are a lot of dark concepts flying around in this book and definitely more than enough monsters hiding the dark! The world that Alwyn Hamilton created in this book was unreal, so much so that I could imagine it every step of the way. However she left enough description unwritten about certain things, like the monsters, this made you fear them as a reader and fear for the characters encountering them.
I also loved the romance that came through is this novel as our Blue Eyed Bandit (Amani) met a foreigner nicknamed the Eastern Snake.
Word also has it that this book will be the first book of a Trilogy! That will definitely be a purchase I don't even have to think about. Can't Wait!
"A new dawn, a new desert"
