emmreadsbooks's Reviews (1.28k)

I thoroughly enjoyed the premise of this book. The idea of having a "final girl" is based on horror movies, but we never stop to think about what happens to them when the movie's over. Quincy is struggling to maintain a facade of functionality, unable to remember the events that unfolded at Pine Cottage years ago. I loved how Sager twisted the narrative and our trust of Quincy throughout the book, but I felt as though he leaned into it too much. I'm wavering between 3 and 4 stars, as I didn't feel as though there was enough of a build-up for the final turn of the screw. Additionally I felt as though the characterizations were lacking for most of the characters. But overall I still really enjoyed reading this book and would definitely pick it up again.

This is a beautiful book about creativity and the battle against doubt, envy, and procrastination. I love all of the exercises in this, though I didn't have a chance to do them yet. The concept of using your creativity in everything that you do is something that really stuck with me from this book. Combined with Felicia's well-defined writing style and her voice within the book, it was stellar.

Take a D&D party, put them in a spaceship, and let it ride...

That's what this book feels like. Through a series of connected vignettes, we learn about the ragtag crew of the Wayfarer and their relationships. I don't find this book to have much of a plot, which is why I rated it only 4 stars, but it's still highly enjoyable.

YES YES YES.

You gave me all the representation, Tracy! Fantasy books don't have to be bland white men with a savior complex, and more people should follow her example. Here we have a well-developed cast of characters, a compelling plot, and an intriguing magic system rooted in (...I swear I didn't mean to make that pun) African culture. This book doesn't shy away from commenting on the systemic racism in America and does so quite well, especially considering that it's set in the South.

Ends on a wee bit of a cliffhanger, but I'm not disappointed in the least. This had twists and turns, a bunch of action, and so much character growth - basically everything I want from a fantasy.

I enjoyed the premise of this book - middle school bullies are suddenly showing up dead under mysterious circumstances. But I couldn't bring myself to like Emily, the main character, and much of the drama in this book is caused by an inept police force. Plus the twists were highly predictable, leaving me wanting more with the ending.

I wanted so badly to like this book, but I had so many problems with it. The men weren't written well in the slightest, which gave credence to the "Men bad, women good" theme she was going for but... Honestly it was unnecessary. I found the perspective of Nico in the book to be completely extraneous and honestly would've preferred Norah's perspective. The book suffered from an overall lack of tension, despite the plot hooks that she tried to insert. It was well written, but I'm hesitant to read another book of hers.

This is one of the most gripping FBI novels I've read in a bit. I loved all of the puzzles left by The Cipher in it, especially those that I could solve on my own. The dynamics of the team and investigation felt realistic, and I realize now that's because the author was drawing on their experiences. Characters were compelling, the plot was twisty, and I was constantly guessing where we'd go next. Damn near perfect.

I don't know how I feel about this book. While I understand the point of all of the stories here, I felt as though they were all forced to be smaller to justify the general clusterfuck that happens halfway through the book. I feel as though this could've been condensed with Strange the Dreamer in some way, though I'm not sure how one would actually accomplish that.

This book is so cute, but isn't without a bit of bite. As a teen in a midwestern state, I found the high school experience to be relatable without being too cliche. Overall the plot was mostly predictable, but I can't fault it because I was squeeing the entire time. This is the perfect YA romance and a quick read too!

I truly believe that Cline learned from his mistakes with Armada. Samantha was more well-written than in Ready Player One and the pop-culture word vomit was reduced. While I don't think that a sequel was necessary at all, I do think that it performed well. There were surprises both in adversaries and in twists, though the character development in Wade was questionable. I enjoyed the ending overall, but felt that some of the quest dragged on a bit in the middle.