shereadytoread's Reviews (806)

This was a fun premise but pretty boring for such a specific theme. There was very little violence in a book specifically about violence. It actually seemed to be a bit more of a tragic romance disguised as a thriller? horror? I’m not sure what you would call it. And there was one rather important subplot that falls flat and makes a 180 that is never explained? I was just bored but it’s a fast read.

I enjoyed this dive into the world of buffy. I think clearly the author loved the material, but I think it's clear that he didn't want to take a full position on the Joss Whedon allegations but that turned out as very disjointed. He spends a lot of the first half of the book praising Whedon, to then address the importance of believing the victims and the difficulty of separating the art/artist, to then end the book praising him again?

I think this book did put into words a lot of my own thoughts and reactions to Buffy, including some reasons that the series did not really appeal to me for so long, but overall I did end up enjoying it. I definitely think it's worth reading for fans of the series, and I think if you enjoy TV/Cinema history, you could honestly enjoy the book without watching the show. Obviously it spoils a lot of the show so you may want to hold off if you do want to watch the show unspoiled. 

*I did receive a free ARC and finished copy of this book from the publisher. All reviews are honest and my own thoughts.*

I got more than I expected. I loved the integration of Bronx history and community activism. The horror of this book was very real and the use of the fire and community displacement added a realistic element to the horror. Usually I hate a romantic subplot, but this one of the ones that I enjoyed. The characters made you want to root for them and the the uncertainty of the villian was a good addition. I really enjoyed this book!

A 3.5. This book is rather nontraditional on romance but I think it did a great job at showing how people end up in abuse cycles. What took me out of it is that she spends a lot of time reading old diary entries that serve as flashbacks/background. It seemed like it would have served the story more to have dual timeline set up and I had to really focus on stay on track with the diary sections. But overall I enjoyed the story. 

Overall I really enjoyed this book. The supernatural elements were great and they were woven in well. I’m not usually a fan of dual timelines but it worked well. I had this book in both print and audio (my library hold on the audio finally came). The narrators were really good. I loved the side characters that were part of both timelines. The mystery was wrapped up really well but I think the epilogue was pretty unnecessary and took away from the high stakes of the ending. I think it only ended up being a 4 instead of 5 for me because it felt like there was a little too much filler in some of the dual timeline entries of trying to connect things.