howlinglibraries's Reviews (1.85k)

S1E1: The Cardigans ★★★★★
S1E2: Junk Shop Blues ★★★★★

He carried too many of those cases inside him. Too many dead ends, too many losses.

Having read one of Cole McCade's stand-alones (a few times) and having adored it, I was way overdue on starting this series. Now that season 1 is going to be ending this summer, I figured it was a good enough reason to binge these books, and now, after just one installment, I'm kicking myself for not devouring every single episode as soon as it released. Cole is such an incredible storyteller with the most lovable characters you'll ever meet, and the tension? Off the charts.

Even if he was broad-shouldered and thick-set, he still had that look: A lean and starving wolf, haggard, elegantly feral, with eyes edged by a sharp, cutting hunger.

The fascinating thing about the Criminal Intentions series is the way it defies being boxed into a single genre. On one hand, we're following a couple of detectives who are seeking out the killer of queer college kids — so, it's a murder mystery, in part — yet on the other hand, the sexual tension and simmering slow-burn of these swoon-worthy, incredible, complex characters lands it solidly in the romance category, too. I'm rambling, but my point is, whether you love both of these genres, just one, or even neither, I feel confident that you'd be hard-pressed not to find something to love in this book. (Or, maybe you'll be lucky and, like me, you'll just love all of it.)

He was probably seeing things that weren't there. Seeing old haunts. Old shades. Old memories best left buried.

To do this review justice, though, I should probably tell you why I'm gushing so much. First, Cole's narrative voice is literally one of my favorites of all time. I'm not exaggerating in the slightest — this lovely human could write 800-page doorstoppers about grocery shopping and I'd give every single one five stars, just because his general way of describing characters, scenes, and dialogue is flawless.

There was a certain hypnotic quality to Khalaji's voice, Seong-Jae realized. Calming and steady, like being lulled to sleep by the rhythm of a great guarding beast's snarling breaths.

Second, Cole writes the most lovable damn characters. It's like every time a new character is introduced, I'm immediately head over heels for them. Speaking of those characters, the representation is to die for. We live in a world full of people from so many walks of life, so many sexualities and identities and races and backgrounds, and he writes each and every one with so much genuine care and empathy and love that it's impossible not to cherish every little detail. Malcolm is Persian-American-Mizrahi-Jewish and bi, and Seong-Jae is gay, demigray-ace, and Korean-American, for starters.

Homicide detectives weren't dealers in justice. They were peddlers of grief.

Even with the running theme of queer college kids being the victims in this book, there's so much time dedicated to discussing how tired those of us in the community are of watching each other pass, and how desperately we deserve happy endings. It's heart-breaking, but so eloquently crafted. It doesn't hurt that Malcolm and Seong-Jae are both queer men, so we're seeing this all through the eyes of detectives who understand how deep this pain runs.

What are you running from, old wolf? Are you afraid Little Red Riding Hood will catch you?

I could honestly spend days gushing about this book, but frankly, this is the point where you should close this page, navigate your browser directly to your retailer of choice, and buy this damn book (or request it from your library!). Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a series to continue reading. ♥

Content warnings for murder, gore, body horror

S1E1: The Cardigans ★★★★★
S1E2: Junk Shop Blues ★★★★★

He felt like he was all sharp edges, and he’d forgotten how to blunt himself.

Unsurprisingly, Junk Shop Blues was another flawless read from Cole McCade. I think I could gush about his writing forever, and I probably will, so bear with me, friends.

Feral. If anything the old wolf was beyond feral right now, on edge, ragged, on the verge of going rabid.

I’ve so quickly grown hopelessly attached to Malcolm and Seong-Jae, and now I feel like I can’t get enough of their interactions, watching the two of them fight this ridiculous chemistry between them so hard when I think we all can see it’s futile, even at this point in the series. While the progression between them is slow going, it’s so rewarding to watch it all unfold.

Cold, closed off, downright menacing. And fussy as hell about his coffee.

Of course, it’s not just about the romance slowly coming into play; the murder mystery was just as intriguing in this episode as it was in the first. I guessed the murderer quite a bit earlier than the characters did, but it was in a good way, where it had me sitting there fussing out loud at my kindle, “No! The other one!” (The first time this happened was the moment I realized how well Cole’s executed his goal of playing these books out like a television show, because it reminded me so much of watching CSI as a kid.)

Malcolm, he thought, was a stone shore that waves slammed against again and again. He might seem endless and immovable, but time and time again each dash of waves against rock eroded more and more of him away.

The last thing I want to touch on before I wrap this review up (so I can finally pick up episode 3!) is how well the mental health rep in this was. There’s a lot of time given to Malcolm’s issues with therapy and with the trauma both he and Seong-Jae suffer from, and the ways they find to cope. While my hopeless romantic heart was a little peeved with Malcolm’s coping at times (if you’ve read it, you probably know what I mean!), I love how flawed and genuine these characters feel and how carefully the topic is handled. Another 5-star title from Cole McCade, and nobody is surprised, least of all me.

I had high hopes for this graphic novel because it seemed like such a fun and unique concept — a guy's crush gets in a terrible accident and becomes a cyborg? Who doesn't like cyborgs? — but unfortunately, the execution was a terrible failure for me. I didn't enjoy the artwork, the storyline, and ffs, these characters were so unenjoyable! The main character takes the "nice guy" trope to the extreme, his crush goes from being this sweet, quiet girl in the beginning to immediately becoming a raging asshole, and all of the side characters are shallow and/or irritating. I don't think anything about this story worked for me at all and I don't recommend picking it up.

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

#1 Offline ★★★★★
#2 In the Flesh ★★★★★

This is one of Kealan's older titles, and it was really neat to see how much different the writing feels from his recent works, but it still has the same fun, suspenseful, and genuinely twisted vibe that I've grown to expect from all of his writing. It's a really quick story told through instant messaging records, and it's incredibly suspenseful — I guessed a handful of different possible endings while reading it, and even though I almost always guess a twist before it happens, I somehow totally didn't see this one coming.

Not a spoiler, but for anyone who needs to know, there's a content warning for

Spoiler

brief use of the r-slur, f-slur, slut-shaming, and fat-shaming language.

I read this in one sitting last night and can't stop thinking about it, almost 24 hours later. This is one of those stories that, despite its brevity, is going to stick with me for a long time to come. This was one of the most unsettling, disturbing things I have ever read, and I could not put it down.

Things Have Gotten Worse is a story told through instant messages and emails, and I'd like to start by saying this storytelling mechanism works brilliantly for this story. We only get to see the bits of each character that they allow each other to see, and because of this, I found myself curious about each woman's motives, or wondering how they would react to a scenario. As we get further into the story, many of the emails are being told after certain events have already happened, and the entire dynamic builds so wonderfully on the impending sense of dread that begins on the very first page.

There's so little I can say about this story without spoiling anything, and this is absolutely the type of book that I recommend going into without having been spoiled if you can. If you need to check the content warnings, I've added them below, hidden in spoiler tags and split between the non-spoilery and the spoilery ones. THGW is a very graphic and disturbing read, which is certainly not a bad thing in my eyes, only something that I believe readers should be aware of beforehand: this is a story you'll want to steel yourself for.

Things Have Gotten Worse is my second read from Eric, and while I immensely enjoyed Starving Ghosts in Every Thread last year, this was even better. I love the way Eric's mind works and the characters and scenarios they create, and I will be eagerly awaiting all of their future releases, because I have no doubt they're going to continue blowing my mind at every turn.

✨ Representation: Agnes and Zoe are both lesbians.

✨ Content warnings for:
NON-SPOILERY CWs:

Spoiler

homophobia, disowning by a parent, poverty/fear of homelessness, memories of childhood trauma and abuse, descriptions of child abuse/torture/murder (not involving characters in the book, told as an aside story that can be skimmed past without missing plot details if needed)

SPOILERY CWs (do not click unless you are okay with vague spoilers!):

Spoiler

animal abuse/murder, body horror, insects/parasites, implied extreme self-harm, toxic/abusive dom/sub relationship

This was absolutely delightful in every possible way.

Everyone deserves hugs and to know that someone in the world still worries about them, no matter what they’re doing, or even if they’re mad at one another.

This has been sitting on my shelf awaiting review for far too long, and I literally only kept putting off writing this up because I knew it was going to make me want to drop everything and reread it, and guess what? I was right! 100% restraining myself right now from closing out of this review-in-progress to go curl up with my kindle and relive all of the precious feels with Ruby and Aaron, because I miss them very much.

“I look at you and I can’t stop smiling. That’s all. You’re adorable.”

Straight up, this is one of the slowest-burning romances I’ve ever seen in my life, but it’s worth every moment of waiting, because you get to watch these two form the most beautiful, hilarious, wonderful best-friendship as they fall in love, and it’s just… *wistful sigh* What’s not to love about it? Seriously, it’s incredibly sappy, but if you, like me, have a tendency for falling in love with your best friend (check) and getting to know your crush through text messages and emails (also check—hi, honey!) and swooning over syrupy sweet, protective, funny types (check again!), you can’t pass this one up.

“If you think you’re going to Slytherin to my bed with those on, you’re wrong. I only allow full-fledged Hufflepuffs in there.”

This review is long overdue, and frankly, it's been long enough since I've read it that I'm going to keep this short and sweet, but I had to type up something before continuing with the series. Delia and Zach are a freaking riot — I seriously laughed out loud so many times, and even while shuffling through my highlights to pick a quote for this review, I was giggling all over again — and their romance feels so believable and fun. One of my favorite types of relationship-forming in romance novels is when the characters feel like lovers and best friends, and these two fit the bill so effortlessly.

On top of how cute the humans are, there's a baby goat that I would protect at all costs. I'm telling you, this little booger is the most adorable plot device I've ever seen. Is he necessary to the story? Of course not. Did I adore each and every single damn scene involving him? You bet I did.

The last thing I want to mention is that this is exactly how text-message romances should be written. It wasn't cringe-y or overly cheesy, and I loved that it wasn't all texts; they were perfectly capable of having interactions outside of their messaging apps, too, and those were just as precious as anything else. I can't wait to continue this series and honestly fully expect the rest of the books to be just as wonderful as this one was.

What a beautiful, sad little story.

How do you hold it inside and not let it show on your face?

You asked how I hide it all. I don't know. I guess I find it pretty easy to look like nothing is happening when everything has changed.

I know you only as handwriting on a page, and yet you might be my closest friend.

I am not alone at the party. You are at this miserable party with me. And it brings a smile to my face to be standing next to you.

Content warnings for infidelity, infertility struggles

I genuinely enjoyed this, though I should go ahead and make one thing very clear (and please don't hate me for this!): I'm not a fan of children's classics at all. This story combines multiple retellings of stories I genuinely do not care about: Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, and The Wizard of Oz. I'm seeing a lot of reviews from people who do like those stories, or at least the films, saying they hated this book, so I guess your interest in picking this up should probably weigh heavily upon which camp you fall in.

Anyways, this book's version of Alice is a mean and/or violent little badass, which is also the case in all of my favorite AiW retellings (for some reason, I hate Alice in Wonderland, but love practically all retellings of it?). Dorothy is brilliant, and Wendy is just all outta bubblegum if you know what I mean. I loved it.