chloseencounter's reviews
79 reviews

The Ruins by Scott Smith

Go to review page

dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Bad Man by Dathan Auerbach

Go to review page

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
One Bloody Thing After Another by Joey Comeau

Go to review page

emotional funny tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

They Never Learn by Layne Fargo

Go to review page

4.5

The Shuddering by Ania Ahlborn

Go to review page

dark sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The Shuddering was my only flop of this months reading but truly it was still entertaining, especially the second half of the book. This novel was about some friends getting snowed in at a cabin and some hungry and pretty intelligent creatures lurking in the woods, (not stated explicitly but this is very much a wendigo story.) I have read two other Ania Ahlborn books at this point and this was my least favorite so far but even so, it still had all the makings of an Ania Ahlborn story, including an ending that makes your stomach drop like she’s known for. My complaints really, are that the beginning of the novel was just a bit too drawn out and the characters were not very likable. Actually the character I think the reader was supposed to hate was the one I felt most sympathy toward. This book wasn’t bad but was pretty mid compared to Ania’s other works. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Goddess of Filth by V. Castro

Go to review page

dark emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Goddess of Filth was a coming of age story about loving your friends, embracing your sexuality and pleasure free from shame, and most importantly…female rage. I really enjoyed this read, it was a very fresh take on the possession genre. Honestly, the only reason I did not rate it a 5/5⭐️ is because it could’ve been longer, which is a rare complaint from me. I could’ve spent longer getting to know the girls more outside of the two main characters and the latter half of the novel could’ve been fleshed out more. Nevertheless, this was such an entertaining story that pulled me out of a reading slump.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Fantasticland by Mike Bockoven

Go to review page

adventurous tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book was laid out in a super unique way that kept me pretty drawn in consistently. Even though this is not a story I’d usually gravitate to, this novel deserves 4⭐️ just for being so well put together and different. I found it to be super interesting that despite this isn’t exactly a chronological story, you are able to begin putting everything together using different eye witness accounts of the same events.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
My Heart Is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones

Go to review page

dark emotional sad tense slow-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

4.0

An ode to the slasher, this novel really stole my heart pretty quickly. I enjoyed the MC (and maybe related to her a little too much…) The reason this isn’t a 4⭐️ for me is that the first 100 pages and last 100 pages where so fun but in between it was rather dense. As someone who has loved the slasher genre ever since Scream graced my eyeholes for the first time, I really enjoyed exploring the mind of the MC and all the slasher input she had on the genre, but I think this could be a harder read for most general audiences. The second book in the trilogy comes out this month and I’ll be excited to see how the story continues. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Audition by Ryū Murakami

Go to review page

mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

I really wanted to enjoy this novel considering the movie adaptation is a cult classic. I have never seen the movie adaptation, though I understand there are some large changes from the book but I wanted to read it first. The concept was interesting enough but honestly 3/4 of this book was just a romance novel and even though I knew it was going to switch up I got pretty bored listening to this manipulative man talk about how in love with this young girl he was. Before the “plot twist”, if you can call it that, there was a sex scene that felt as if it was written by a teenage fan fiction author. In fact I’ve read fan fiction much less cringe worthy. The ending was lack luster, I saw it from a mile away even without having seen the movie. I still have a few books by Ryu Murakami on my TBR so I hope to enjoy those better. I’ll give the movie a try soon.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Boy Parts by Eliza Clark

Go to review page

challenging dark funny reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Boy Parts, in the most simply put way, is about an already unhinged woman taking a nosedive into actual insanity. Eileen is horrible but you also love to hate her. I really enjoyed the writing style of this book and the cheeky dialogue, some moments had me cringing in disgust but then I’d be giggling at some exchange on the next page. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings