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nerdinthelibrary's Reviews (926)
January 2025 Reread: Nadya my beloved, I'm so excited to see you again soon π«Ά
1) Every Heart a Doorway β β β β
2) Down Among the Sticks and Bones β β β β
content warnings: violence, death, body horror, necromancy, mentions of fatphobia, racism and transphobia
representation: fat main character, japanese side character, disabled side character, trans side character, mexican-american side character, asexual side character, hijabi side character
βFor others, the lure of a world where they fit is too great to escape, and they will spend the rest of their lives rattling at windows and peering at locks, trying to find the way home.β
I loved this one so much, and it's easily my favourite in the series so far!! This installment is about Sumi's daughter, Rini, who has come to Eleanor West's to try to find her mum, and she goes on an adventure along with the protagonist, Cora, her friend Nadya, Kade and Christopher.
This book focuses a lot more on the Worlds, which I loved - we visit Nancy in the Underworld (and seeing my girl again was great) and then we go to Confection as the characters try to resurrect Sumi. There is also more explanation as to how the Worlds work and the effects that can be had from someone travelling to a world that's not suited to them.
Unlike the first two books, this one is more of an ensemble. And I loved every character so damn much. The new ones include Cora, an athletic fat girl who went to a mermaid World, Rini, who is very reminiscent of Sumi while very obviously being her own person, Nadya, who is a disabled girl who also went to a water-based World and bonds with Cora over this, and Layla, a hijab-wearing girl who is a very important figure in Confectionary (and I really hope we see more from her). Then we also have Kade and Christopher returning, who are my two faves, and Nancy and Sumi giving cameos.
I love my children and I would die for them!!
This book series is going to literally murder me, I can't believe I have to wait until next year for In an Absent Dream and then I'll have to wait for my library to get it in.
1) Every Heart a Doorway β β β β
2) Down Among the Sticks and Bones β β β β
content warnings: violence, death, body horror, necromancy, mentions of fatphobia, racism and transphobia
representation: fat main character, japanese side character, disabled side character, trans side character, mexican-american side character, asexual side character, hijabi side character
βFor others, the lure of a world where they fit is too great to escape, and they will spend the rest of their lives rattling at windows and peering at locks, trying to find the way home.β
I loved this one so much, and it's easily my favourite in the series so far!! This installment is about Sumi's daughter, Rini, who has come to Eleanor West's to try to find her mum, and she goes on an adventure along with the protagonist, Cora, her friend Nadya, Kade and Christopher.
This book focuses a lot more on the Worlds, which I loved - we visit Nancy in the Underworld (and seeing my girl again was great) and then we go to Confection as the characters try to resurrect Sumi. There is also more explanation as to how the Worlds work and the effects that can be had from someone travelling to a world that's not suited to them.
Unlike the first two books, this one is more of an ensemble. And I loved every character so damn much. The new ones include Cora, an athletic fat girl who went to a mermaid World, Rini, who is very reminiscent of Sumi while very obviously being her own person, Nadya, who is a disabled girl who also went to a water-based World and bonds with Cora over this, and Layla, a hijab-wearing girl who is a very important figure in Confectionary (and I really hope we see more from her). Then we also have Kade and Christopher returning, who are my two faves, and Nancy and Sumi giving cameos.
I love my children and I would die for them!!
This book series is going to literally murder me, I can't believe I have to wait until next year for In an Absent Dream and then I'll have to wait for my library to get it in.
January 2025 Reread: of all the worlds we're shown in these prequel books, i think i'm best suited to the goblin market but my favourite is absolutely the hooflands.
1) Every Heart a Doorway β β β β
2) Down Among the Sticks and Bones β β β β
3) Beneath the Sugar Sky β β β β β
4) In an Absent Dream β β β β β
5) Come Tumbling Down β β β β
Seanan McGuire is physically incapable of writing a bad book and for this we must stan.
1) Every Heart a Doorway β β β β
2) Down Among the Sticks and Bones β β β β
3) Beneath the Sugar Sky β β β β β
4) In an Absent Dream β β β β β
5) Come Tumbling Down β β β β
Seanan McGuire is physically incapable of writing a bad book and for this we must stan.
Oh my god this was such a goddamn blast. Just a diverse group of cowboys riding hippos and going to blow shit up. I'm so excited to finish Upright Women Wanted and read the sequel to this.
Mini ContemporaryAThon: read a short book.
content warnings: mentions of animal abuse, violence, murder, general creepiness
I've had all three of Gillian Flynn's novels sitting on my shelves for several years at this point, and yet the first thing I read from her is a novella I read a week ago. On the plus side, this was really good so now I have way more incentive to read her full-length books.
The Grownup is a novella about a sex-worker-turned-psychic who has spent her entire life conning people out of their money, and she's damn good at it. When Susan Burke comes to see her and talks of having a troubled stepson, she sees this as an opportunity to earn a bit of extra cash, but as she becomes further entrenched in the Burke's life she starts to think that Susan might not be as paranoid as she seems.
Gillian Flynn is as successful as she is for a reason: she's a damn good writer. After Gone Girl was such a success, there was a whole mini-genre of thriller created that lasted a few short years because all of her imitators proved to have less than half of her talent (looking at you The Girl on the Train). Despite not having read any of her books before, I have seen Gone Girl and Widows, both which were written by her so I knew how talented she was, but I was unprepared for how great this tiny novella is.
I maybe made a mistake reading it while home alone because despite only being around 60 pages it's ridiculously creepy. The middle twenty-or-so pages in particular sent chills up my spine with every line as the tension really starts ramping up. The initial reveal was also amazing, though I felt like what followed diminished its impact somewhat. But then there's the final page and I was right back in, almost wishing this was longer so I could spend more time in this unsettling world.
This is one of the best stand-alone novellas I've ever read and it makes me so excited to read more of Gillian Flynn's work. If you need a quick thriller to read then this should be at the top of your list.
content warnings: mentions of animal abuse, violence, murder, general creepiness
βSo the house had been a compromise: The husband wanted vintage, Susan wanted new, so they thought this outside/inside split might settle things. But the Burkes ended up more resentful than satisfied. Millions of dollars later, and neither of them were happy. Money is wasted on the rich.β
I've had all three of Gillian Flynn's novels sitting on my shelves for several years at this point, and yet the first thing I read from her is a novella I read a week ago. On the plus side, this was really good so now I have way more incentive to read her full-length books.
The Grownup is a novella about a sex-worker-turned-psychic who has spent her entire life conning people out of their money, and she's damn good at it. When Susan Burke comes to see her and talks of having a troubled stepson, she sees this as an opportunity to earn a bit of extra cash, but as she becomes further entrenched in the Burke's life she starts to think that Susan might not be as paranoid as she seems.
Gillian Flynn is as successful as she is for a reason: she's a damn good writer. After Gone Girl was such a success, there was a whole mini-genre of thriller created that lasted a few short years because all of her imitators proved to have less than half of her talent (looking at you The Girl on the Train). Despite not having read any of her books before, I have seen Gone Girl and Widows, both which were written by her so I knew how talented she was, but I was unprepared for how great this tiny novella is.
I maybe made a mistake reading it while home alone because despite only being around 60 pages it's ridiculously creepy. The middle twenty-or-so pages in particular sent chills up my spine with every line as the tension really starts ramping up. The initial reveal was also amazing, though I felt like what followed diminished its impact somewhat. But then there's the final page and I was right back in, almost wishing this was longer so I could spend more time in this unsettling world.
This is one of the best stand-alone novellas I've ever read and it makes me so excited to read more of Gillian Flynn's work. If you need a quick thriller to read then this should be at the top of your list.
I would always see the spine of this book in the school library in primary school and for whatever reason, even when I had run out of library books to read, I never picked it up. I regret that now. This is a wonderful, charming book that I loved now but would have made my entire goddamn personality if I had read it as a kid. I can't wait to watch the film later tonight and see what Scorsese does with this fantastic source material.
