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mousereads's Reviews (2.14k)
kinda debating between 3 and 4 stars short story collections are so hard to rate lol
DNF @ 50%
AS CAWPILE:
Characters: 2 | Atmosphere: 4 | Writing: 4 | Plot: 2 | Intrigue: 4 | Logic: 9 | Enjoyment: 4
Total: 4.14 = 2 stars
AS CAWPILE:
Characters: 2 | Atmosphere: 4 | Writing: 4 | Plot: 2 | Intrigue: 4 | Logic: 9 | Enjoyment: 4
Total: 4.14 = 2 stars
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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.
AS CAWPILE:
Characters: 2 | Atmosphere: 4 | Writing: 2 | Plot: 2 | Intrigue: 1 | Logic: 2 | Enjoyment: 1
Total: 2.00
DNF at 51%. Unfortunately, this book is too long for me to maintain interest in it. The writing still needs some serious editing as of the ARC's access, and I hope that it went through it before publication. There are times the same sentence is repeated only pages apart, and the tone of voice is not consistent. Our main character Dianna is non-sensibly crass for someone who has lived as long as she has, and reads more like a 17-year-old than an adult character in an adult book. I have no issue with crass characters, but the way she behaves doesn't indicate a character who has lived as long as she does. There are convenient explanations for everything that doesn't make sense, and after a while, I couldn't help but roll my eyes at them. I found myself dreading reading the next 50%, as I really did not care about what happened to who.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
AS CAWPILE:
Characters: 2 | Atmosphere: 4 | Writing: 2 | Plot: 2 | Intrigue: 1 | Logic: 2 | Enjoyment: 1
Total: 2.00
DNF at 51%. Unfortunately, this book is too long for me to maintain interest in it. The writing still needs some serious editing as of the ARC's access, and I hope that it went through it before publication. There are times the same sentence is repeated only pages apart, and the tone of voice is not consistent. Our main character Dianna is non-sensibly crass for someone who has lived as long as she has, and reads more like a 17-year-old than an adult character in an adult book. I have no issue with crass characters, but the way she behaves doesn't indicate a character who has lived as long as she does. There are convenient explanations for everything that doesn't make sense, and after a while, I couldn't help but roll my eyes at them. I found myself dreading reading the next 50%, as I really did not care about what happened to who.
CAWPILE says this is a three star but my heart says it's a 1 star.
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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.
AS CAWPILE:
Characters: 6 | Atmosphere: 7 | Writing: 7 | Plot: 5 | Intrigue: 6 | Logic: 6 | Enjoyment: 6
Total: 6.14
Reviewing an short story collection is always tricky, especially as some stories were fantastic and others...not so much. There were some that suffered from the short story format, and others that flourished under it. This is normal for these kinds of collections, in my opinion, and makes reviewing them as a whole something I've wanted to figure out how to do effectively.
I gave each short story an individual CAWPILE rating and I think this is the best way to go about this. There was only one short story I had to skip, and this was due to the style of writing and that is was in the second person POV. That's just personal preference, though, and I'm sure the story was fine.
This collection, looked at as a whole, was entertaining and worth the read. It uses different diverse backgrounds and histories as grounds for horror telling, and this concept is played out incredibly well here. There were some stories that left me feeling disgusted in the best way, and with horror, that's all I can ask for.
I'll be putting the individual CAWPILE ratings under a spoiler to save space, but I have averaged these scores in order to get the total rating for this book.
CAWPILE:
S1: Other Fears
5, 9, 9, 4, 4, 9, 6
S2: Idiot Girls
7, 9, 8, 9, 9, 9, 9
S3: Waste Not
5, 7, 5, 4, 4, 8, 4
S4: Night Shopper
8, 9, 7, 5, 6, 8, 6
S5: Scrape
5, 4, 8, 1, 6, 1, 4
S6: Mud Flappers
6, 6, 5, 6, 4, 4, 7
S7: Churn the Unturning Tide
6, 6, 5, 2, 3, 3, 5
S8: There's Always Something In The Woods
8, 9, 7, 7, 6, 7, 6
S9: The Turning
7, 8, 8, 9, 8, 8, 9
S10: Help, I'm A Cop
4, 5, 7, 4, 3, 7, 2
S11: Miss Infection USA
10, 9, 7, 9, 9, 8, 9
S12: All Not Ready
6, 8, 8, 3, 4, 2, 4
S13: Illusions of the De-Evolved
1, 1, 2, 1, 1, 1, 0
S14: Black Screams Yellow Stars
8, 6, 8, 6, 6, 8, 6
S15: Kalkriese
6, 8, 7, 5, 6, 5, 5
S16: The Devil Don't Come With Horns
2, 4, 1, 2, 1, 1, 1
Had to DNF this story as it was hard to read with the second person POV and the writing style. This is a personal preference.
S17: Invasive Species
5, 5, 6, 8, 9, 7, 9
S18: The Asylum
7, 8, 9, 8, 9, 9, 10
S19: Tiddlywinks
7, 7, 7, 8, 9, 7, 9
S20: Where The Lovelight Gleams
8, 7, 8, 9, 9, 7, 8
S21: It Comes In Waves
4, 9, 7, 6, 7, 6, 5
S22: The Voices of Nightingales
7, 9, 8, 8, 6, 8, 8
S23: What Blood Hath Wrought
5, 6, 8, 8, 9, 9, 8
S24: Incident at Bear Creek Lodge
8, 7, 8, 8, 8, 7, 8
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
AS CAWPILE:
Characters: 6 | Atmosphere: 7 | Writing: 7 | Plot: 5 | Intrigue: 6 | Logic: 6 | Enjoyment: 6
Total: 6.14
Reviewing an short story collection is always tricky, especially as some stories were fantastic and others...not so much. There were some that suffered from the short story format, and others that flourished under it. This is normal for these kinds of collections, in my opinion, and makes reviewing them as a whole something I've wanted to figure out how to do effectively.
I gave each short story an individual CAWPILE rating and I think this is the best way to go about this. There was only one short story I had to skip, and this was due to the style of writing and that is was in the second person POV. That's just personal preference, though, and I'm sure the story was fine.
This collection, looked at as a whole, was entertaining and worth the read. It uses different diverse backgrounds and histories as grounds for horror telling, and this concept is played out incredibly well here. There were some stories that left me feeling disgusted in the best way, and with horror, that's all I can ask for.
I'll be putting the individual CAWPILE ratings under a spoiler to save space, but I have averaged these scores in order to get the total rating for this book.
CAWPILE:
5, 9, 9, 4, 4, 9, 6
S2: Idiot Girls
7, 9, 8, 9, 9, 9, 9
S3: Waste Not
5, 7, 5, 4, 4, 8, 4
S4: Night Shopper
8, 9, 7, 5, 6, 8, 6
S5: Scrape
5, 4, 8, 1, 6, 1, 4
S6: Mud Flappers
6, 6, 5, 6, 4, 4, 7
S7: Churn the Unturning Tide
6, 6, 5, 2, 3, 3, 5
S8: There's Always Something In The Woods
8, 9, 7, 7, 6, 7, 6
S9: The Turning
7, 8, 8, 9, 8, 8, 9
S10: Help, I'm A Cop
4, 5, 7, 4, 3, 7, 2
S11: Miss Infection USA
10, 9, 7, 9, 9, 8, 9
S12: All Not Ready
6, 8, 8, 3, 4, 2, 4
S13: Illusions of the De-Evolved
1, 1, 2, 1, 1, 1, 0
S14: Black Screams Yellow Stars
8, 6, 8, 6, 6, 8, 6
S15: Kalkriese
6, 8, 7, 5, 6, 5, 5
S16: The Devil Don't Come With Horns
2, 4, 1, 2, 1, 1, 1
Had to DNF this story as it was hard to read with the second person POV and the writing style. This is a personal preference.
S17: Invasive Species
5, 5, 6, 8, 9, 7, 9
S18: The Asylum
7, 8, 9, 8, 9, 9, 10
S19: Tiddlywinks
7, 7, 7, 8, 9, 7, 9
S20: Where The Lovelight Gleams
8, 7, 8, 9, 9, 7, 8
S21: It Comes In Waves
4, 9, 7, 6, 7, 6, 5
S22: The Voices of Nightingales
7, 9, 8, 8, 6, 8, 8
S23: What Blood Hath Wrought
5, 6, 8, 8, 9, 9, 8
S24: Incident at Bear Creek Lodge
8, 7, 8, 8, 8, 7, 8
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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.
AS CAWPILE:
Characters: 9 | Atmosphere: 8 | Writing: 6 | Plot: 7 | Intrigue: 7 | Logic: 7 | Enjoyment: 8
Total: 7.57
This thriller was beyond anything I expected. Most domestic thrillers can be boring, bordering on funnily detached from the world around them. Such a Good Mother manages to avoid this by being aware of itself, with characters from both poor and rich backgrounds. Instead of leaning too heavily on untrustworthy men, we do the opposite. While there were times I wondered where we were going, and who was going to win, the ending truly floored me and I was pleased with the outcome.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
AS CAWPILE:
Characters: 9 | Atmosphere: 8 | Writing: 6 | Plot: 7 | Intrigue: 7 | Logic: 7 | Enjoyment: 8
Total: 7.57
This thriller was beyond anything I expected. Most domestic thrillers can be boring, bordering on funnily detached from the world around them. Such a Good Mother manages to avoid this by being aware of itself, with characters from both poor and rich backgrounds. Instead of leaning too heavily on untrustworthy men, we do the opposite. While there were times I wondered where we were going, and who was going to win, the ending truly floored me and I was pleased with the outcome.