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hellokatya's reviews
144 reviews

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

where to begin with this behemoth?

this book was a monster to get through. it had sat on my bookshelf for months - maybe even a year - before i committed to the idea of finally getting through it.

i have admired king and his writing for quite some time now, years at this point, and had (failed) to appreciate his world building and storytelling through my read through of IT, and decided this one would get my all, which (for the most part) i succeeded in.

this book was very good — let me start there. it is a fantastic fly on the wall look into the way a “close knit” community falls apart when left to their own devices, and manipulated so heavily by a truly evil power figure. i will say that i was almost shocked by how many truly despicable characters and personalities there were in this novel. a few morally ambiguous - or more gray? - types, and a LOT of “protagonists”. it almost felt a little too skewed to the dark side, but then again, it is a king novel. it latched it’s arms around you and squeezed — it felt almost as suffocating as being trapped in the dome with them.

i do wish that there hadn’t been so many characters, or at least so much focus on some of them, and that it had been a more intimate ensemble cast. it was hard trying to remember who each person was - even with the aid of character lists -, their relations to eachother, and their role in the bigger picture. it also felt like it took away from the immersion into the evil political goals of big jim.

also a complaint is that the book should have been divided up by the passing days — not the way they were (that i honestly can’t comprehend). it only took place over about a week, which is made clear in the story, but i feel would’ve made the story much more cohesive and digestible, especially considering the length of the novel.

there is quite a lot of violence in this novel, a lot more than i had expected — especially when my first introduction and taste of this concept was the tv show. now, i did not expect it to be a carbon copy, but i was expecting more similarities than i got, and the show was much more polished and censored.

angie’s death really stuck with me for a couple days after i read it and not in a good way.

maybe i’ve just become squeamish and don’t have the stomach for it anymore, but i felt a lot of the violence could’ve been toned down, or at least spread out amongst more men — it was heavily aimed at the women and left a bad taste in my mouth.

there’s a lot of sexual violence, a lot of it implied, thank god; but doesn’t make it quite a lot easier to get through.

also the group bullying then gang r*pe of a (personally beloved) character was really jarring and left me with sorrow and a heavy heart.

in addition, i think the book could have been quite a bit shorter. as i also felt at the end of IT, the bulk of the story felt very dragged out and the ending much too quick. it all happened very quickly and felt like a quick wrap up to an otherwise very intricate and colorful world.

the use of children aliens and a box — the whole explanation as a whole — felt very underwhelming and like it didn’t make a whole lot of sense. it felt like something that could’ve been explored much further and not been a side story — especially considering that the entirety of the novel is about the dome itself.

i wanted that explored in greater detail and would still love to see that talked about in the future.

and finally, big jim. that man is the stuff of nightmares. he is so to the core horrible. i hate that man with every fiber of my being, and he deserved so much worse than he got.

his death felt very quick and painless, almost making you question if he truly died, when (per a paragraph earlier) the women had it so decidedly worse and drawn out. there is no doubt that he’s capable, so what’s the hold up?

as a whole, i loved this novel and feel so accomplished to have finished it. i think the timing was perfect, and i was able to give it the love and attention i desired. i highly recommend it, but come prepared with an iron stomach and tissues.

PLEASE read TW as every single one you can possibly imagine is included.

Content Warnings

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

this is one that i will hold dear to my heart. i adored it from the first word to the last sentence.
absolutely loved and will recommend to everyone. i regret waiting so long to pick this one up. everyone needs to read atleast once. lots of trigger warnings though.

Content Warnings

Love in the Time of Serial Killers by Alicia Thompson

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

i went into this book excited for a romance - the last book i had read felt too focused on the world, rather than on the relationship, felt like a full season of a tv show - i wanted a more focused romance.

coming out of this book, i was happy that it encompassed both aspects. i got a lot more romance, almost felt nostalgic for the world focus, and still knew what was happening around the central relationship.

i was not pleased with the ending. while this book will most definitely be put on my top 5 of the year, it could have gone so much higher - especially with the rating.

i thought the ending, phoebe deciding to cut things off with sam and focus on herself, her career, was such a satisfying and realistic ending. i didn’t want her to throw away her life dreams for a man who was only going to distract her and hold her back. she hadn’t known him long, he had Been distracting her from everything she needed to accomplish, she originally wanted a fling and made that very clear to him ⏤ there weren’t many redeeming factors for her here. she spent the majority of their time together worrying about what it was, although there was a lot of acceptance and love for herself. character growth.

maybe it’s the cynic in me, but i felt the book was more justified with them being apart from eachother and moving on. also, the declaration of love could not make me take it seriously. again, they hardly knew eachother and had only been romantically involved for a few months, most of which she was restating that she did not want and could not give what he was looking for.

i do think her journey of opening herself up to people, breaking down her walls she’s spent so long building, and becoming a better version of herself was truly beautiful.

she was a very closed off and walled up woman. she would not let people in further than she was comfortable with, and kept everyone an arm’s length away. she was not insecure in her body, but she became more comfortable with her sensuality, and it was beautiful to hear someone outside of a petite build love the way she looks and feels.

the sex scenes weren’t particularly uncomfortable, but some of the language could’ve been workshopped more. might be a bit of my homosexual preference, but i just was not super interested or particularly entertained by the sexual encounters.

i would definitely recommend this book. it was a humorous and interesting take on a romance, phoebe felt very real and well rounded. seeing her personal and academic growth put a smile on my face and a took a laugh from my mouth. there were numerous occasions that it was truly laugh out loud funny, i could not have asked for a better book at this point in my reading career.

Love Letters to a Serial Killer by Tasha Coryell

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

i absolutely devoured this novel. super easy to digest, addictive writing style, and it reignited my love for a really shitty main character.

this woman was ridiculous. the hoops she had to jump through to justify her actions and morals to herself was incredible. her macabre interests (and “care” for the women victims she obsessed over), waxing and waning interests in the main men, all the way to spending money she didn’t have to appease a man she’d never even met, withholding information from her parents, and an entire page more.

the ratings / reviews on this particular book seem to be very skewed because of the incorrect assumption that the book needs to be taken at face value, and the incapability of an audience to filter out commentary on an issue vs complacency

at some points, you have no choice but to admire how delusional our main character, hannah, had become. the way that she could truly disconnect from and cast aside anything that didn’t fit with the narrative she wanted to portray to herself is fascinating and should be studied in labs — especially to think people like her exist in spaces all around us every day!

i think this book was a great portrayal and commentary on the true crime genre / consumption as a whole - especially, again, the hoops someone needs to jump through to justify said interests to themselves, or the ways people can fully detach emotion / empathy for entertainment value — to truly remove someone’s humanity and almost view them as a character instead of a real human that went through a tragedy.

i think that’s also a big contributing factor to people not liking this book — can’t be faced with their own shortcomings.

i predicted that bentley was the killer pretty early on in my read through. i think the author did a good job trying to throw off the trail of him, while still leaving good breadcrumbs to confirm his involvement. especially not explicitly naming anyone in the captive chapters.

did the red herring about mark: pg.166 “though cindy had nothing to worry about from me, i would soon learn that she was right to be suspicious of mark” end up going anywhere??

the captive chapters, when read sequentially, didn’t make much sense after confirmation that bentley was the murderer. the author tried just a tad too hard to keep anonymity that after the fact made it feel cheap. i think the chapters should’ve been cut out completely, and that the story would’ve run smoother sans them.

overall, a really fun and silly thriller that i would highly recommend. again, i devoured and ran through this one in two days - would’ve only taken me one had i not been busy. please pick this one up (and dont be so sensitive taking it at face value — live and giggle a little)

Content Warnings

Icebreaker by Hannah Grace

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-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

3.0

i went into this book being a straight romance virgin, and having no clue or expectations for what i was getting into.
to say i was surprised when i came into (pun intended) SMUT, is an understatement. i dont know why it hadn’t crossed my mind that it was popular on booktok for that reason.
this was one i had been thinking about for the duration a few books i had read, so i went in very excited about it.
to be honest, i was not the biggest fan of the smut aspect, but the plot line was pretty okay.
my only gripes are
a. it felt like there was way too much going on and way too many characters. this one 400 page book felt like an entire first season of a tv show. very very busy
b. the relationship becoming more than what anastasia had wanted

and the pregnancy / marriage in the end

felt like a knife in the back to her character. she was completely against everything that wound up happening to her - said by her verbatim numerous times across the novel - and rubbed me the wrong way.
c.

it really took me out of the storyline hearing how “in love” and committed they were - talking about future houses and kids (even jokingly) THREE MONTHS into their relationship. have you no couth? no decorum? SOME SENSIBILITY? i just could NOT take them seriously for the life of me.

d. nate is so violent?

he was in so many arguments, fights, and altercations…. HUGE turn off and makes me worry about his emotional maturity / future with my dearest stassie.

get a grip!
otherwise: i would wholeheartedly recommend this to someone who enjoys smut and would take it a lot less seriously.. it was a fun lighthearted read if you dont read too much into it (lol).
dont think ill be venturing into the rest of the series (and books to come)

Content Warnings

The Drowning Woman by Robyn Harding

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

* 3.8☆
i read this book as a palette cleanser, and it did me so right.
i ate this book right up. it’s fast paced, sucks you right in, and doesn’t let you go until it’s done with you.
you think you know what’s happening or where it’s going, but you dont. very intricate and thought out, but still plausible.
highly recommend.

i do wish that she’d done something more with the damon plotline, but i suppose it was more of a misdirect / red herring.

Content Warnings

Pageboy by Elliot Page

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adventurous challenging emotional funny lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

3.75

i went in knowing that things were a little jumbled, but he was very Very scatterbrained in a lot of the book. the timelines were all over the place and it made it very hard to keep up. felt like a connection of short stories or essays.
overall, really enjoyed the raw display of emotion and mental health. felt like a friend opening up to you.

The Feeling of Falling in Love by Mason Deaver

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.0

this book was one i was really excited about, and i devoured it - ate it right up.
very cute cheesy love story between two teenage boys. i picked it for pride month and was pleasantly surprised for it to be even More pride worthy with a cast full of queer representation!

i will admit i got to a point where the high school romance of it all really just because a little cringe worthy, but it was a fun, quick little summer read.

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

this book was good, dont get me wrong, just not a personal favorite. it took me a while to read it because i just didn’t feel like picking it back up once i’d set it down. not sure that i’ll be reading anymore agatha but im glad i least tried one. have to read one of the classics

Your Driver Is Waiting by Priya Guns

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emotional reflective

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

3.0

i went into this book expecting different than what i got.
good book, i think the writing is a bit sporadic at times, but still good.
not sure that i understood it at the level it was meant to be, but i can still appreciate it.

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hellokatya's reviews 144 reviews

hellokatya's reviews
144 reviews