shawna_reads's Reviews (471)

"On these dark-blue waves, it is the sea who is judge, jury, and executioner. This is another realm, where forgiveness doesn't exist as on land and where spirits do not find freedom among the clouds. Here, they ride the currents of forever."

The Sea Was A Fair Master comprises of 23 short stories ranging from horror to fantasy to sci-fi. This was my first time reading a collection of flash fiction where the stories ranged from 2-10 pages. Each story tackled different themes like death, love, grief, murder, revenge, and greed. With so few words, Demmer managed to evoke some kind of emotion within each story. My favourites included:

🦈 Restroom Finds
🦈 Voodoo Child
🦈 The Snakes or The Humans?
🦈 Hangman
🦈 Graves
🦈 Noisy Neighbours

Let's be real, this is a solid collection and hard to narrow down my favourites to a few because they were all amazing (also I kind of forgot what some of them were about) 😅 I definitely recommend this book!

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, and I'll reverse back over you to make sure you're dead."
 
Cassie Baker buys a house on Cedar Street that reminds her of happier times when her mom was still alive. Now, it is the perfect place to raise her son. That is until her friend discovers dog remains buried in her backyard. Then comes the cockroaches..
 
Another dark and unsettling story by Andrew Cull. Imagine an infestation of cockroaches trying to attack you 😬 I sure as hell couldn't, but our protagonist, Cassie, had to deal with that, going from fear into go mode as she protected her son while trying to figure out what the hell was going on with her new home. From dog bones, cockroaches, and neighbours that kept to themselves, it didn't take long for Cassie to realize something sinister was going on in her neighbourhood.
 
Something about a swarm of insects always makes me feel squeamish and this book delivers it well. And, once again, Cull does a wonderful job depicting grief as Cassie reminisces about her mother. This is a quick read that keeps you at the edge of your seat. It is filled with action, creepiness, and sorrow. I highly recommend it!

"Scared is what you're feeling. Brave is what you're doing."
 
A woman has been held captive for 7 years by a man they call Old Nick and longs to escape. However, to her son, Jack, the Room is his entire world and he doesn't want to leave. Ma devises a plan to escape that is carried out by Jack, but she realizes she is unprepared for returning to the real world.
 
This is a unique story. A woman is held captive for years and bears a child, Jack. He is all she has, thus a beautiful bond is created between the two. Their relationship was so sweet, seeing how much they depended on one another and making the best of what they had. Jack was this innocent boy whose extent of knowledge went no further than the walls he was contained in.
 
Going into this book, I did not know that it was written from the 5 year old's perspective. While it did have its benefits, and I will get to that momentarily, I found it difficult to get over the fact as there were parts that felt childish and it hindered my overall enjoyment of the book. I also would have liked some chapters from Ma's perspective to understand her feelings and anxieties of entering the real world again. You get some insight from Jack's point of view, however, having her outlook would have helped the reader truly understand her emotions.
 
Anyway, I enjoyed the second half of the book more. The first half became repetitive due to Jack's only experiences being the room and his daily routines within it. The second half was captivating because Jack's experiences were limited to the room therefore his wall of safety disappeared and he had to learn to adjust to the real world - the overwhelming stimuli, meeting real life people, and creating new experiences. It made for a wonderful story and renewed hope for Ma and Jack.

"Men and women don't react in the same way. What it comes down to is this. Men are the more sensitive sex. Women are tough. Men can't take murder in their stride. Women apparently can. The fact is, if a man's committed a murder for a woman, it probably enhances his value in her eyes. A man feels differently."
 
Having gotten his car stuck in a ditch, a stranger heads to the country manor nearby to find a murdered man and his wife standing over him with a gun. The unexpected guest decides to help her come up with an elaborate story to shift the blame to an intruder. 
 
The first chapter literally opens up to the description above and created many questions in my head. Why was this man murdered? Why does the unexpected guest want to help an unknown woman? Did this woman actually kill her husband? This is where the guest walks through what could have happened to create a believable alibi, but then drama occurs as more characters are introduced - the family, the butler, the mayor whom the wife is having an affair, and of course, the police.
 
By all means, this isn't an amazing book as it is bland and the characters are annoying, but it makes for a fun, quick read. Each character has a motive for murdering their wealthy, arrogant family member, but there is twist after twist after twist causing the reader to change their mind several times on who the killer is. This is your typical, cozy whodunnit mystery.

Luke Ellis's parents are murdered and he is kidnapped. He wakes up to find himself at The Institute, where he discovers other kids who have special talents - telepathy and telekinesis. The director, Mrs. Sigsby, and her staff are dedicated to using these children for the greater good while making them undergo several treatments and experiments. Luke becomes desperate for escape.
 
I'm going to start off by saying nobody can write friendships like King. This coming-of-age story was filled with wonderful relationships and I loved most of the characters (the staff were atrocious!). Luke and Avery were my favourites, but all of them had their own personalities they brought to the table. They were put in a terrible situation and despite the horrific experiments and abuse they endured, they learned how to adapt and use the power of friendship, and their telepathic abilities, to keep them going.
 
The book started off slow as we were introduced to several characters and the atmosphere was building, but once we got past that, the pace picked up and I couldnt stop reading. It was filled with mystery and action, and I just needed to know what happened next!
 
The ending was a little underwhelming because you kind of knew what to expect. And one character was a little unnecessary, although it did explain the origin of the institute which I felt was important because there were so many unanswered questions. Other than that, it really didn't take away from my overall enjoyment of the story. I know a lot of people have compared it to Firestarter, but I haven't read that one yet, so I can obviously view it separately and really liked it 😄

"Sometimes you have to be a high-riding bitch to survive. Sometimes being a bitch is all a woman has to hold on to."
 
Suspected of killing her employer Vera Donovan, Dolores Claiborne tells the police her life story, going as far back as her failing marriage and suspicious death of her husband, and how she came to work for Vera and the relationship between them.
 
This is one of those books that you love tremendously, but don't really know why. At face value, all it is is Dolores sitting in an interrogation room recounting her life to the police. Sounds simple, right? However, it's all in the storytelling. King gave Dolores a voice and she flourished. She tells her story with such charisma that I was immediately captivated and wanted to know all about her!
 
Dolores is one badass motherfucker. The situations she faced made her resilient and courageous. Juggling her life between working for Vera, who you want to hate but can't help feeling bad for her, raising 3 children, and dealing with her abusive husband just to make ends meet. She makes a lot of difficult decisions to get through her tough life. Dolores is definitely a new favourite character of mine as this book has made its way in my top 10 King books!

"We are the darkest acts made light."

Kate Harker and August Flynn are the heirs to a divided city. Kate wants to be ruthless like her father, as real monsters roam the city and people pay him for protection. August wants to be human and protect the innocent. He is one of the monsters, one who can steal souls through music. When Kate returns to the city, August is sent to boarding school to keep an eye on her, but things get out of hand.

I actually enjoyed this YA fantasy. It was adventurous and dark as the monsters were hungry for blood. This book looked at morality and the lengths people would go to making the right decisions. 

There were different kinds of monsters - the Corsai, Malachai, and Sunai. August was a Sunai, one of three and considered to be a powerful weapon. His brother continuously reminded him to take pride in it and embrace the monster in him in order to help save the city and take back control. I really felt for August because he was so meek and lonely, the complete opposite of a monster. All he wanted was to be human and live a normal life. On the other hand, Kate was annoying, but I understood that her character needed to be hard headed in order to impress her father after having been sent away to different boarding schools over the years to keep her away from the mess of the city. Everyone around her viewed her as dangerous and she needed to keep up that image to survive.

The chapters go back and forth between Kate's and August's point of views which eventually came together. While at times childish, I liked the relationship that was formed between the two. From opposite sides of the battle, they needed each other in order to survive. Overall, an enjoyable book that I am completely content with and can't be bothered reading the other book in the duology 😅

"Death is faster here in this world."
 
Chua tells the story of how days have been replaced by nights after a shooting star appears in the sky in 1811 Colonial America. Chua and three other people he meets along the way will have to fight for survival as other worldly creatures suddenly appear, and they are very hungry.
 
This novella blends cosmic horror with historical figures as well as Native American mythology. As someone who isn't very familiar with Lovecraftian horror and Indigenous myths, I thought it was done well. 
 
The story reels you right in from the very first page and keeps you captivated throughout. I loved the characters, especially Chua, and the unsettling atmosphere. There are a lot of twists and turns that were unexpected and a lot of bloodshed. As it is a novella, I don't want to say anything else. If you're into cosmic horror or looking for a quick novella that packs a punch, then I suggest you pick this one up!

"Top deity ordains all living creation suffer - wasted disease or screaming wearing covered blood - then must some today all to die. Only tragedy if suffer and die during innocent. No sin, no crime, then extinction not earned."

Pygmy is a young adult from a totalitarian state sent to America disguised as an exchange student to live with a family while, at the same time, planning an unspecified act of mass terrorism. He and his fellow operatives are planning something big to take down America and its inhabitants.

This was a first time read and I cannot stress enough how much I did not enjoy it. I'm not big on politics in my books, which had its toll, but the main problem was the writing style. It is written in broken English, which made it very difficult to understand and follow along. It took awhile to get used to, but it was painful nonetheless. 

The story is told through journal entries in which Pygmy refers to himself as "operative me, agent number 67". He discusses the family he lives with, the happenings at school, and snippets of what he and his fellow operatives are up to. He also discusses his past and how where he is from (it is never mentioned where exactly), if you are intelligent and pass a test at a young age, the government will kill your parents and you become a "child of the government" where you are basically training to become a terrorist. This made it slightly interesting as you understand what Pygmy is and why he and his operatives are doing what they need to do.

Overall, I was disappointed with this one because I've enjoyed the majority of Palahniuk's books, and I just couldn't jive with this one. I had to come across a dud at some point though 😅