howlinglibraries's Reviews (1.85k)

It's been almost a year since I read this, but I'm trying to clear out my "review to come" shelf, so I thought I would say something short and sweet here. This was a fun, quick, steamy read with some surprisingly emotional moments — mainly centered around the characters and their own insecurities, especially Caden's — and I definitely had a good time reading it. It does rely a lot on insta-love so beware if you have issues with that, but the premise was so syrupy sweet and it's one I would reread for sure.

I've been saying for the last year, since I originally read this, that I would come back and write a full review, but honestly, the immediate post-read reaction I wrote below sums it up pretty well. I absolutely freaking loved everything about Misery and I think Annie is one of the most terrifying villains I've ever read in my life. As someone who doesn't tend to enjoy most of King's longer works, please let me know in a comment if you have any recommendations for books of his that are closer to this one in length and overall feeling!

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original "review": march 2019:
me, a week ago: I dunno man I've tried a few King books and collections and maybe they're just not meant for me

also me, a week ago: I'm gonna give Misery a try but I'm not expecting too much tbh

me, now: WHAT IN THE NAME OF ALL THE OLD GODS DID I JUST READ, WOW

Full review coming soon! Thank you so much to the eternally beloved Ellyn for buddy reading this with me and motivating me to finally give it a try!

My initial reaction "review" to this was just "Not bad." It's been almost a year since then and I really wish I'd left myself better notes to go off of than that, because I don't remember much of anything about this book... and sadly, I guess that's a review in and of itself. I remember being fairly amused by it, and it's a really quick read (that's free in the kindle store), so check it out for yourself as you have nothing to lose! That said, I just don't think it struck anything in me enough to really recommend it. I'm still leaving my original rating of 3 stars because I don't think it's fair to lower it just because it wasn't memorable.

Man... this was so good. The Night Diary is easily one of the best assigned readings I've had in my entire grad degree program, and I'm so glad it was in my curriculum because I'm not sure how quickly I'd have picked it up otherwise. This story broke my heart over and over. This little book really deserves a full review, but sadly, I didn't write it as soon as I finished reading it, and I don't feel like I can do it justice this many months after the fact — and since it pained me a little too much to commit to rereading it, I'll just say you should 100% check it out, look at some other (more thorough, and preferably own-voices!) reviews, and I absolutely recommend the audiobook if you can read it that way!

"If you were alive, would we have to leave you because you are Muslim? Would they have drawn a line right through us, Mama?"

I never get tired of a good horror short story collection, and I'd been meaning to check out a title from this writing duo for some time now, so I was pleased to finally get the chance to read this one. Many of Brhel and Sullivan's collections are "themed" in a way, so my understanding is that At the Cemetery Gates: Vol. 2 is an amalgamation of the "leftovers" of those other collections. I thought this was a really fun detail, because it left me trying to guess which collection each story might have originally been intended for.

While a few of the stories were a bit lackluster for me, overall, I genuinely enjoyed the writing in these and thought a lot of the pieces had a fun urban legend-esque vibe to them, like the kind of stories you'd swap with friends late at night. I had a few favorites that I'll detail below, but it's safe to say it was a great collection in general and I'll definitely be reading more from Brhel and Sullivan!

F A V O R I T E S:
→ With the Lights Out:
When I mentioned many of the stories being reminiscent of urban legends, this one has that vibe more than anything else. It was fun and I loved the way it felt like an homage to so many old tales — an excellent way to begin the collection.

→ The Payphone:
This story felt so unique and I loved that I had a dreadful feeling of what was coming, but not how it would manifest. Overall a fun ride to be on, and the sort of story that has you wanting to shake a character and stop them from bumbling into the terrible trap they're approaching.

→ A Hammock Camping How-to:
I found the twist in this one a little predictable, but not in a bad way; again, it struck me as that fun sort of story you'd tell your friends late at night surrounding a campfire or on a long road trip.

Thank you so much to the authors for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

#1 The Raven Boys ★★★★★
#2 The Dream Thieves ★★★★★
#3 Blue Lily, Lily Blue ★★★★★
#4 The Raven King ★★★★★
#4.5 Opal ★★★★★

“And Ronan was everything that was left: molten eyes and a smile made for war.”

This review took me way too long to write, because it was just so hard to compile my feelings for this book into actual words on a screen. I paced myself and went through this book so slowly, because I couldn't stand not to savor it. It was easily one of the best books I've read all year, and has made this one of my favorite series of all time.

“It was mint and memories and the past and the future and she felt as if she’d done this before and already she longed to do it again.”

There is so much character development with my sweet babies Blue and Gansey, and they just broke my heart a million times over and re-mended it every time. I love them both so much and I love their interactions together and there is just this one freaking scene that I have probably reread six times now because I can't get enough of it and I'M TRYING NOT TO SPOIL THIS BOOK FOR YOU GUYS BUT OH MY GOD.

“In that moment, Blue was a little in love with all of them.
Their magic. Their quest. Their awfulness and strangeness.
Her raven boys.”

Then, of course, there are Adam and Noah, who are so far my least favorite Raven boys (don't throw anything at me!), but I do still love them so much I can't stand it. Adam is so full of heartache and rage and hurt, and then poor little Noah is the epitome of a cinnamon roll and I just want to hug him and fix everything.

I had really high hopes for this series for ages because so many people recommended it to me based on other books I've loved, and maybe my hype was just too much, because I found myself awfully let down. I didn't enjoy the writing itself very much. All of the characters felt a bit flat, especially Matthew; as much as I wanted to love him and root for him and even feel sorry for him, I just didn't think he was developed enough to connect to. I also struggled a lot with his wishy-washy nature about the incubi and how he'd go from hating them all and being furious one moment, to joking and smiling with them the next. I get that he's lonely and wants somewhere to belong, plus his feelings for Tarrick, but I just had a hard time buying into it.

On top of all of that, the dramatic twist at the end pissed me right off. I don't believe it, and if it was an angsty scenario I thought might clear up quickly, I might continue the series, but after looking at the synopsis for books 2 & 3, it's pretty evident I'm going to wade through several hundred more pages before it clears up. If this was a ship I was more invested in, that would be a good thing (I love a good slow burn!), but since I'm not, I don't think I can commit. Plus, book 3 has already been out 3 years and book 4 has been pushed back and doesn't have a release date in sight... Sigh.

I dunno, I really wanted to love this series but I think I'm going to quit it at the end of this first book. If the finale comes out and people really rave about it, I might continue. I'm so sad. Leave me to mourn what could have been greatness.

That was so creepy and fantastic—I loved this a lot more than Uzumaki, but even so, reading this makes me want to reread Uzumaki, too, and see if my opinion on Junji Ito's particular flavor of bizarro horror has just changed!

Vol. 1: Way Down Deep ★★★★★
Vol 2: Disciples ★★★

If you like horror graphic novels that are gruesome, odd, and graphic, Cullen Bunn's work is for you, and I think Regression might be my favorite of his releases that I've read so far. It follows a man who has terrible hallucinations, so his friend convinces him to try regressive hypnotherapy to explore his past lives. The hypnotherapy uncovers an incredibly violent and dark past that quickly rises to the surface, forcing him to do and say some genuinely awful things. It's a well-crafted graphic novel with an easy to follow storyline, and I really liked the artwork, but most of all, I thought the story itself was intriguing. It left some loose ends untied at the end that definitely had me wondering what would happen next, so needless to say, I'll be picking up Volume 2 right away.

From the reviews I read on Amazon claiming that this book was so terribly messed up and disgustingly brutal, I expected a lot more than I got, frankly, which isn't the author's fault — after all, the title is Seven SLIGHTLY Sadistic Stories, and "slightly sadistic" sums it up pretty well. It made it hard to appreciate things as much when they were simply so much milder than I expected them to be. I went into this hoping for a roaring, bloody slasher mess, and that's not what this is. Then again, if you're more sensitive to violence in horror than I am, this might definitely be more stomach-turning for you!

Altogether, I was a little bored by many of the stories and found them a little bit predictable, but I have to give the author major credit for the final story, "Zen". It took me a moment to realize what was happening there, and once I caught on, I thought it was an awesome writing choice to bring things full-circle!

3.5 stars