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thisgayreads's Reviews (566)

Hidden Pictures

Jason Rekulak

4.0

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

4 / 5 ⭐️‘s

“Hidden Pictures” by Jason Rekulak

“I see her every night,” Teddy says. “She sleeps under my bed so I can hear her singing.”

I had zero plans to finish this in one sitting but that’s exactly what I did.

It kept my attention so I continued listening (audiobook) and then it got really good and I just had to finish it!

The ending 🥹

The Wicker King

K. Ancrum

4.5

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

4.5 / 5 ⭐️‘s

“The Wicker King” by K. Ancrum

“Jack kissed him so carefully that August thought he would fall to pieces. Kissed him with the weight of knowing the price of risk. Then he gazed back at August like his heart was already breaking.”

I found this book on some list somewhere because I was searching for LGBTQ books by Black Authors. Im so glad I decided to read this one.

This was a heart wrenching story of mental health, friendship and love that was way to short! I want more!

How to Sell a Haunted House

Grady Hendrix

3.0

funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

3 / 5 ⭐️‘s

“How To Sell A Haunted House” by Grady Hendrix

“You’ve become such a grouch,” she said. “Having your arm sawed off will do that.”

Where do I even start… First of all *SPOILERS* ahead so stop reading now if you don’t want me to ruin anything for you other than I thought the book was… meh. I really struggled on rating this one.

I was invested for the first 51% of this book (through chapter 20). After that it was…well, it got weird.

I don’t even know what Chapter 21 and 22 was. They were utterly useless and could have just been left out in my opinion. At the very least the transition to them and back to chapter 23 could have been much better.

I listened to the audiobook and for chapters 21 & 22 they used a new narrator. It was weird. Especially since the whole time the other narrator had been doing the narration for all parties in the book. I was listening to it at 2x narration speed and when the new narrator started I had to bump it up to 2.55x narration speed.

Chapter 23 resumed back to normal and then… along came Spider.

The imaginary dog that came to life? Huh? WTF? I mean I could buy into the puppets and dolls coming alive, at least they were tangible things but SPIDER the imaginary dog…?!?

If it wasn’t for chapters 21 & 22 and Spider, I probably would have rated this a 4.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and reviews of books but I will definitely be cautious of fellow reviewers future book reviews that gave this one 5 stars and said it was “scary”… LOL ❤️ you.

Also, yes I have read and really liked other books by this author which is why I wanted to read this one.

Hillbilly Queer: A Memoir

J.R. Jamison, J.R. Jamison

4.0

emotional sad medium-paced

4 / 5 ⭐️‘s

“Hillbilly Queer: A Memoir” by J.R. Jamison

This is a memoir but also a story of a father son road-trip to attend his fathers school reunion.

I personally grew up in a very religious family who are very fond of Trump. So many parts of this story hit pretty close to home for me.

I listened to the audiobook which is narrated by the author and was a great listen at 1.75x narration speed.

(Pub Date: 02/28/23)

This ARC (audiobook) was provided by the publisher via @Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Inheritance Games

Jennifer Lynn Barnes

4.5

adventurous mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

4.5 / 5 ⭐️‘s

“The Inheritance Games” by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

“I have a secret, I could hear my mother telling me, about the day you were born.”

This one had rave reviews so I went in with zero expectations as I always do with hyped up books. I find it makes for less disappointment.

I was NOT disappointed. It definitely kept my attention and I finished it in 24 hours. I will be reading the next book in the series VERY soon because… like… WHY did their grandfather choose her?? 🧩♟️🎳

This was a fun read and the short chapters are 👏🏼 👍👌

My Evil Mother

Margaret Atwood

3.5

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

3.5 / 5 ⭐️‘s

“My Evil Mother” by Margaret Atwood

“Change the sheets on your bed, they’re practically crawling and pick those dirty clothes up before they fester, panties are not carpets.”

“She was keeping it in a cedar box with some other penises she’d stolen; she was feeding them on grains of wheat. That’s the usual method of tending penises.”

This was short story that packed a crazy punch!

You can read or listen to this one free with Prime Reading on Amazon.

Husband Material

Alexis Hall

4.0

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

4 / 5 ⭐️‘s

“Husband Material” by Alexis Hall

“Oh, fu¢k me with a rusty coat hanger covered in sriracha sauce.”

This was another fun read. Luc and Oliver’s relationship is still messy as ever. The ending had me like… really? I love that they both were on the same page though.

I’ll be patiently awaiting the arrival of Father Material.