goody_reads's reviews
242 reviews

Praise by Sara Cate

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emotional funny fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Book 1 of 5. 

Really nice intro to the world of BDSM/exploring sexuality. The story is spicy but it really works with the character development. 

The MC, Charlie, breaks up with her bf and that is the catalyst for the rest of the story. She needs a job, place to live, and feels responsible for her little sister. 

LGBTQ+ plays an important role in the story. 

No “walls” or “internal goddess” or any nonsense phrases like that. 
Paris: The Memoir by Paris Hilton

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challenging dark emotional informative inspiring slow-paced

3.5

Overall I am glad that I read this book. Paris’s narrative of what happened to her at the reform schools and the subsequent legislation she is helping to pass is both horrible and inspiring. 

It is not really a well organized story though and I would have loved to see more in-depth discussion of some of the events she talked about. A lot of it was quotes or things that are easily google-able. 
Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler

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adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

3.5

This is not as good as some of her other works. Shori is a little black girl who turns out to be a young vampire. 

While the book addresses honor, social status, and racism, it also seems all too okay with apparent pedophilia. I say apparent because while technically Shori is 53, she does look like a child and the human characters just kinda go with it after awhile. 

So other than that, it’s a Hatfield v McCoys if they just hated each other due to race. 
11/22/63 by Stephen King

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.0

A time traveler attempts to live in the past to stop the Kennedy assassination. But in order to do so he must live, work, and be present in the past for years until the time comes. 

He can go back and forth between present and past but every time he does, everything resets. He continues to age while his actions have to be repeated over the course of years. 

When you go back who would you save? Where will the butterfly effect end? 

Once again this is a great King story IF you can make it to the end. He is still wordy af for no reason. 
Winterset Hollow by Jonathan Edward Durham

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adventurous mysterious slow-paced

4.0

A childhood story come to life in a mix of awe, admiration, and the realization that our histories are often whitewashed and worn down to the best versions of themselves. 

TW: blood, gore, violence 
Ward D by Freida McFadden

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adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced

4.0

I like Frieda McFadden but this one isn’t as good as some of them. A med student is trapped on a psych ward during her rotations and terrible things start happening. 

MC doesn’t know who to trust: the patients, doctor, or nurse. 

And of course there are several twists along the way. 

TW: blood 
This is Where We Talk Things Out by Caitlin Marceau

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

Loved this quick read about a narcissistic mother and her daughter trying to repair their relationship over a weekend getaway. A couple of big twists. Thoroughly enjoyable. 

TW: blood, death, injury 
Small Horrors: A Collection of Fifty Creepy Stories by Darcy Coates

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mysterious fast-paced

3.5

I love Darcy Coates. I consider her “cozy horror.”  I really liked 13/50 stories. I plan to use them in the classroom. I liked how open ended a lot of the stories are. All of them are under 6 pages. Would recommend as a palate cleanser when reading another book at the same time. 
Peril at End House by Agatha Christie

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challenging mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This series follows in much the same way as Sherlock Holmes. If you like murder whodunits this series is for you. 
ReInception by Sarena Straus

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

3.5

I won this book in a Storygraph giveaway. 

I liked this story overall. It reminded me of Feed by Anderson with a little 1984 thrown in. 

In a futuristic society we all have chips in our bodies and we can modify different parts of ourselves. We can cure things like alcoholism but also change a persons sexuality. The book is about the morality of all this. 

Of course, corruption comes with too much power. 

I didn’t find the glossary for most of the book. I felt it lacked most of the words that I couldn’t figure out with context clues. There were a couple typos in the end material. 

Overall I think I would read the sequel. I’m assuming there will be one because the epilogue sets it up that way.