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mousereads's Reviews (2.14k)
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Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Elizabeth Lim has returned with another book weaving cultural tales into a fantasy. This story was beautiful and intriguing. The character growth Shiori experiences was fantastically done. While she holds to her moral groundings, she still actively becomes a better person. And sometimes, poison is medicine. The romance in this story is truly a semi-unrequited slow burn for the majority of it. This is one of my preferred forms of romance in books, and I loved the way it played out altogether. The ending of this book had me on the edge of my seat. I wanted nothing more than a happy ending for Shiori, her brothers, and Takkan. I really loved the way it was set up for the second book. This was a fantastic story, weaving lore, romance, and life lessons all together in the end.
“And this too, I will overcome.”
Full review will be published on July 5th, 2021.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Elizabeth Lim has returned with another book weaving cultural tales into a fantasy. This story was beautiful and intriguing. The character growth Shiori experiences was fantastically done. While she holds to her moral groundings, she still actively becomes a better person. And sometimes, poison is medicine. The romance in this story is truly a semi-unrequited slow burn for the majority of it. This is one of my preferred forms of romance in books, and I loved the way it played out altogether. The ending of this book had me on the edge of my seat. I wanted nothing more than a happy ending for Shiori, her brothers, and Takkan. I really loved the way it was set up for the second book. This was a fantastic story, weaving lore, romance, and life lessons all together in the end.
“And this too, I will overcome.”
Full review will be published on July 5th, 2021.
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Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
1.5 stars, rounded up.
This book started interestingly enough. Ella lives with a terribly predatory man, and no longer wants to be a maid. All well and good. She sees a mysterious woman and is given the opportunity for 7 wishes in exchange for her soul. Ella, who has done nothing but complain and wish for better life without actively trying to get one, thinks: “Surely I will not use all these wishes!” Questionable, but okay.
Ella is frustrating. She claims to care about the maids but fails to show that care in any way. Ella doesn’t grow much at all and remained selfish and greedy. The ending was not satisfying in any way, shape, or form. The writing felt repetitive and bordered on tedious at times. The execution of this was not fantastic.
Full review will be posted on May 28th, 2021
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
1.5 stars, rounded up.
This book started interestingly enough. Ella lives with a terribly predatory man, and no longer wants to be a maid. All well and good. She sees a mysterious woman and is given the opportunity for 7 wishes in exchange for her soul. Ella, who has done nothing but complain and wish for better life without actively trying to get one, thinks: “Surely I will not use all these wishes!” Questionable, but okay.
Ella is frustrating. She claims to care about the maids but fails to show that care in any way. Ella doesn’t grow much at all and remained selfish and greedy. The ending was not satisfying in any way, shape, or form. The writing felt repetitive and bordered on tedious at times. The execution of this was not fantastic.
Full review will be posted on May 28th, 2021
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Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
It was stated that you do not have to listen to the podcast Rabbits to read this book. As such, I went in blind. The pacing was inconsistent. Things would start to rev up in the plot, and I would be excited to keep reading. However, the plot would then fall flat again. This was disappointing and almost led to a 90% in DNF.
The story follows a consistent formula of, K and Chloe find a clue, they then look for the next clue. K loses reality or time or both, and somehow finds said next clue. Chloe asks K if he is ok. Rinse and repeat for 400+ pages and you have the book.
There is no real character development to speak of here. K and Chloe feel flat personality-wise. This story genuinely had the means to be amazing. The execution, however, stifled all of those chances.
Full review will be posted on my blog on June 18th, 2021
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
It was stated that you do not have to listen to the podcast Rabbits to read this book. As such, I went in blind. The pacing was inconsistent. Things would start to rev up in the plot, and I would be excited to keep reading. However, the plot would then fall flat again. This was disappointing and almost led to a 90% in DNF.
The story follows a consistent formula of, K and Chloe find a clue, they then look for the next clue. K loses reality or time or both, and somehow finds said next clue. Chloe asks K if he is ok. Rinse and repeat for 400+ pages and you have the book.
There is no real character development to speak of here. K and Chloe feel flat personality-wise. This story genuinely had the means to be amazing. The execution, however, stifled all of those chances.
Full review will be posted on my blog on June 18th, 2021
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Thank you to Netgalley and Scribner for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review- even though I already read it and wrote a review that I guess doesn't count because all I said was hahaha, what the fuck
Read full review: 8/21/2020
TW: SA, Animal abuse, abuse in general, body horror
Agustina Bazterrica does an amazing job of world-building in what one would consider a short standalone book. The world-building was truly part of the horror experience, and I think that that really assisted in making one squeamish while reading. The main character seemingly separates himself from society in that he doesn't want to cave into needing the "special meat". This makes him feel more like what you would think of yourself in this situation and makes the character more likable. However, by the end of the book, those feelings drastically change. My original review of this book was literally, "what the fuck", and I stand by that as the ending truly made me feel that way. Part of me would like another story in which we address that this was a government ploy to curb population, but, for the short story it was- this was an amazing, stomach-churning story.
Thank you to Netgalley and Scribner for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review- even though I already read it and wrote a review that I guess doesn't count because all I said was hahaha, what the fuck
Read full review: 8/21/2020
TW: SA, Animal abuse, abuse in general, body horror
Agustina Bazterrica does an amazing job of world-building in what one would consider a short standalone book. The world-building was truly part of the horror experience, and I think that that really assisted in making one squeamish while reading. The main character seemingly separates himself from society in that he doesn't want to cave into needing the "special meat". This makes him feel more like what you would think of yourself in this situation and makes the character more likable. However, by the end of the book, those feelings drastically change. My original review of this book was literally, "what the fuck", and I stand by that as the ending truly made me feel that way. Part of me would like another story in which we address that this was a government ploy to curb population, but, for the short story it was- this was an amazing, stomach-churning story.
