shereadytoread's Reviews (806)

This book was a fast-paced read. It is a psychological thriller, but honestly it skewed horror to me. It focuses on the horrors of gentrification of a historically black neighborhood, housing instability, lack of resources for a black neighborhood, and more. It follows a protagonist dealing with family and personal issues while wanting to preserve the culture of her neighborhood as white people move into and change the neighborhood taking horrific turns. 

What struck me is that reading through reviews and information before reading, is that many people found it either 1. unrealistic or 2. a woman overreacting to normal changes. There is such a clear divide in people's understanding of what this book is saying and the horror it is displaying. Obviously with the horror and thriller elements it takes some dramatic turns at the end, but for the majority of the book, the scares and thrills are realistic incidents which make it even scarier. 

Pros:
- Realistic (for the most part)
- complex MC with emotional ties
- psychological thriller with a steady build to the climax 
- romantic subplot that is actually justified by the plot 

Cons:
- deus ex machina 

Something I really appreciate is that the book includes a listing of additional reading material to understand the context of the book.

 

This book is the gamer/STEM book I wish I had as a teen. It follows an ambitious girl who has secretly designed an online game as a safe space for black gamers. Once someone is killed (irl), the book follows her journey of dealing with the aftermath. Dealing with a "hotep" boyfriend, being one of a few black students at her school, and balancing her "well-meaning" white peers, with her family and fellow Slay players. It delves into topics of safe spaces, segregation, solidarity, and how we interact with people whose beliefs and principles differ from our own.

 

 This book was nothing like I expected but I loved it in the end. It is a almost "a year of yes" for teens. I will say this book may not be the best for younger teens as the content is specific to a girl approaching and engaging in behaviors to figure out her transition into adulthood. There is explicit language throughout and there is semi-explicit sexual content (well still teen). I did appreciate there was specifics on protection during scenes with sexual content.

There is some problematic content that I think many other reviewers have addressed in which characters make cultural jokes that the MC disagrees with but doesn't always directly confront it. While I think the jokes are off color, I do they are very realistic to how teens engage and the difficulty of confronting friends about what they say (which eventually the MC does on some topics.)

Overall I think it's a great teen coming of age romance with a good amount of drama mixed in. The main character is real and complex with obvious care and potential but goes off track and has to reevaluate how she treats herself and others. 

The entire book just felt like ... didn't we already do this? Is she dead? Is she alive? 9 books in, it just feels pointless. Now that the girls are 18, the sexual predatory behaviors get worse and they SOMEHOW became even more unlikeable. Plot wise this book wasn't the worst, the reader gets hints and clues at "something" that happened. However the beginning of the book is essentially a repeat of book 1 as you try to figure out what happened to stop the girls from being friends. 

This is just a transcript of interviews for the most part and is pretty boring to read

 
I had no strong feelings about this book. It was the B&N Thriller pick of the month. I probably wouldn't have picked it up otherwise. It follows a movie editor as she works on a movie about a murder that took place on an island. The director is difficult and eccentric and she tries to figure out what is going on, and why multiple editors have already quit, but not before signing ironclad NDAs. Each chapter also ends with an interview portion of the characters looking back on their time

Pros:
- each character has a distinct personality which makes the story more interesting, even the supporting characters that don't play a huge part
- the mystery actually lends into another mystery which raises the suspense
- the reader is led into paying so much attention to one thing that the plot twist works out
- the book doesn't really waste a lot of time, almost everything in the book pushes the story forward, so there isn't a lot of unnecessary filler

Cons:
- the main character is the most dull character
- the interviews at the end of each chapter pretty much tell you who is already going to make it out, so the suspense is dulled
- the ending reveal makes the entire film seem like a nonsensical idea
- there is an unnecessary semi-romantic subplot that has no payoff 

So this book wasn't terrible. The issue is that it basically erases the majority of the last 7 books. There are some stakes and we figure things out, but this easily could have been a 3 book arc so most of it just feels like a waste of time. Also got a little laugh at the acknowledgements where she's writing the final book of PLL ... which actually ends up with 10 more books.

This book was an interesting concept, it follows an older sister who covers for her younger sister's killings. I read it in basically one sitting as it is pretty evenly paced. However, much of the book is simply about her sister's feelings and domestic life as the less favored sister. Very little of the thriller is actually "thrills". The MC is mostly unlikeable to me, as she seems to have no problem protecting her sister and covering up her kills until someone that she likes may be the next target. The book is also written in a rather confusing way where the chapters switch between current times and past but there is no indication of when that is happening until an age is mentioned half-way through the chapter.  The plot is interesting as it is slowly revealed additional information about their dysfunctional upbringing and why the MC feels the need to protect her sister so much. 

Where the book fails to me is there is no character development. You would assume that eventually she gets tired of protecting her serial killer sister, and tries to save a victim or out her sister or something, but that's not how it unfolds. The sister's motivations seem petty and immoral and there is no change in who she is. The character you get on page 1 is the character you have on the last page. 

Overall I enjoyed it but if you like a fast-paced thrillers with multiple reveals, this book may not be for you.

This book was difficult for me. There is a lot of heavy content combined with outlandish behavior. Overall, it is a story of 4 women bonded by friendship and is split into sections based on each person's birthday, however the POV focuses on different women from chapter to chapter so even though it is grouped, it often comes off disjointed. I wanted to love it, especially with the recent death of the author. I love the concept. I love the intention. I don't love the execution. I will say, the ending was so good (the reason I gave this book 3 stars instead of 2), but it was a long road getting there. 

Pros: 
 - wonderful display of friendship even when lines are crossed 
 - complex women who are different but it makes sense that they work together 
 - displays the difficulty of family relationships and that even loving families have their downfalls 
 - some small nuggets of life lessons 

Cons: 
 - there is heavy biphobia and homophobia throughout even when characters engage in same sex sexual encounters 
 - over the top displays of domestic violence that go without any consequence 
 - a book that is supposed to be about female friendships is so heavily focused on the women pursuing men. Almost every single conversation these women have is about the men they are pursuing 
 - all of the relationships are rather dysfunctional so there is nothing to really invest in or root for
 - the women themselves aren't especially likeable (I'm unsure if this is a pro or a con, as I hate the idea that women have to be "likeable" and "nice" 24/7 but all of them????) 

This was a great young adult thriller. 

Characters: 
The MC, Pippa is likeable. She is determined and persists despite the typical occurrence that everyone else thinks she's wrong. She understands that she is investigating a highly emotional case and manages to get information while being sensitive to the situation. She is a protagonist that is smart, cunning and cares about others. 

Plot:
This book was really interesting. It represents through a mix of case notes/logs and traditional writing. As Pip explores the crime that her town has put behind them, she meets and realizes the people she knows have more secrets than she could have thought. It is not really fast-paced but the slow build is still interesting. The book is a clear set-up for a sequel but it is introduced in a genuine way that isn't simply tacked on to the end. 

I will be waiting on the sequel to this one!