635 reviews by:

essjay

Filter

54 reviews

Camp Zero

Michelle Min Sterling

DID NOT FINISH: 16%

Just generally a slog. 

Far North

Marcel Theroux

DID NOT FINISH: 12%

Had actually been looking forward to reading this one for a while, but just didn't like being in Makepeace's head? The casual racism and constant threat of sexual violence were just not anything I'm terribly interested in reading rn. 

The Third Hotel

Laura van den Berg

DID NOT FINISH: 26%

I might come back to this another time, bc I can tell that I'd really like it if I were more in the mood for something this depressing. 

Star Eater

Kerstin Hall

DID NOT FINISH: 19%

Pretty bummed bc I had been looking forward to reading this for a while, but it was not what I expected or wanted. 

Alpha Max: An Existential Romp through an Absurd Multiverse

Mark A. Rayner

DID NOT FINISH: 1%

Things that bothered me on the first few pages:

  • "There was a fat man wearing a silver lamé unitard" is the beginning of the first sentence. The narrator is then horrified to learn the fat man looks just like him.  He repeatedly mentions how horrified he is at how terrible this other him looks in the unitard and keeps mentioning his weight over and over.
  • North American incorrect usage of "nonplussed" which is a major pet peeve of mine. 
  • A description of a spaceship as a "shimmery cosmic scrotum of an old man."
  • "Oh not another one. Another cis?" "Do you mean heterosexual? Yes, I guess I am." Uhhhh.
  • Back to the unitard "do you mind if I [...] put on something less flaming?" Wut. 
  • "I'm wearing your funereal suit." 
And that was where I tapped out. Literally still at 1%. 

Six Feet Deep Dish

Mindy Quigley

DID NOT FINISH: 14%

I have decided to stop reading when the MC lusts after a cop. Happened particularly quickly this time. 

Mountain Man

Lynn O' Dell, Keith C. Blackmore

DID NOT FINISH: 5%

The book opens with the main character vomiting more than once, scratching his balls several times, then visiting the outhouse. Couldn't possibly imagine spending more time than I already did in his head. 

Baking Bad

Kim M. Watt

DID NOT FINISH: 8%

Something about this just wasn't landing for me. I might come back to it, but I kind of doubt it. 

Moonshine & Magic

Bella Falls

DID NOT FINISH: 14%

Reads like a really rough first draft. No one says anything, they squeak, they sneer, they pout. The dialogue is stiff, and I can't imagine reading a whole book in this MC's voice. 

State of the Onion

Julie Hyzy

DID NOT FINISH: 9%

Realized after a few chapters that I'm definitely not in the mood for this, and probably never will be.