moodreadingmagic's reviews
834 reviews

Humor Me by Cat Shook

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

Humor Me offered me everything I wanted from another literary fiction/romantic comedy that takes place in the comedy television space and didn’t get. In my opinion, this book is so much more than a day in the life of a struggling NYC young professional. Is there romance? Yes. Is it rom-com material? At times. Akin to contemporary romance authors like Emily Henry and Abby Jiminez, Cat Shook provides a very real, and raw, reflection of trauma and grief that I think many who have suffered can understand and empathize with. 
 
Our main character, a survivor of child neglect, a byproduct of addiction, shows so many signs of unhealed trauma.  Through her various relationships,  she begins to work through said trauma after years of just existing aside it. She finds an unexpected friendship with an older family friend, and his son. Both women are suffering through grief and loss and really help support each other through their journey. I loved seeing the dynamic of our younger main character and her mother’s old hometown friend. Through this friendship, she is able to connect with parts of her mother she never saw as a child and begin the process of healing from the neglect she remembers. I’d argue the friendships in this book are equally as important as the romance in seeing our main character begin her healing journey and I loved it. 
 
I personally found myself relating very strongly with the main character and saw glimpses of a younger me struggling to build healthy relationships while remaining closed off and hyper independent. I absolutely adored the character development in this book and found myself wanting to read an epilogue set further into the timeline to see all of our main character’s hard self work pay off. 
 
I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves stories of self love as much as those of contemporary romance. 
 
Thank you to Celadon and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book; all opinions are my own 

That Night in the Library by Eva Jurczyk

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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? No

2.5

 
Thrillers are my favorite book to consume audibly, they tend to hook you immediately and I find it easier not to lose focus. That Night in the Library introduces us to a handful of students who work in a university’s library. One of the graduating students wants to perform an ancient Greek ritual in the library after hours and invites the others to join along. As part of the ritual each person must fast and then consume hallucinogens, which is where unreliable narrators enter the chat. A night of terror reigns and by the end you will find yourself wondering if any of these characters are reliable (read: they arent). 

Though I enjoyed listening to this one, I did feel like the pacing in the beginning was off; there was no real introduction into the storyline and it felt like being pulled into a story a few chapters in. I don’t feel like there was any character development and found myself struggling to remember who knew who and how which made it difficult to ascertain motive in the violence that ensues. I didn’t love the ending, mostly due to the lack of character development and the abruptness of it. I found myself wanting a little more closure or explanation for motive/plot but honestly it seemed like there wasn’t really a plot. I know this book was translated so perhaps it would have flowed better in its native tongue.

The narrator was good, she kept a fairly neutral tone with each POV which aided in the whodunit aspect of this story. That being said, there was a lack of emotion overall, even during some of the more intense scenes. I don’t know if this was intentional to make it hard to discern who was the killer (or killers) but the lack of emotion of each character just made them all very unlikeable. 

If you are a fan of thrillers, especially murder mysteries, this is a good no plot just vibes whodunit for you. 

Thank you to RB Media and Netgalley for an opportunity to review this book; all opinions are my own.  

 
Sundial by Catriona Ward

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

3.5

The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad 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? No

5.0

I was really looking forward to this one because I really enjoyed The Wishing Game. Meg Shaffer knows how to warm this cold cynical heart. As someone who has been a huge fantasy fan since childhood, I really appreciate the strong nods to flagship children fantasy stories and series (think Narnia, Willy Wonka, The Neverending Story, The Princess Bride, etc.)

The Lost Story takes place on a dual timeline, past and present, and highlights the relationship between 4 “lost” people. There is a strong nod to childhood trauma and child runaways in both of Shaffer’s books and the escapism into fantasy worlds that helps some children heal from said trauma. In a small West Virginia town, teenagers have gone missing in the vast forest on two separate occasions. A young woman, abducted and assumed to be dead, who was never found and two young boys who went missing for 6 months, assumed runaways, but returned with no memory of where they had been, or so we are to believe. These three lost souls have a relationship that transcends reality and they work together to find one other lost soul, who cannot be found until she wants to. 

The Lost Story is magical, heartwarming and sad all at once; and includes a LGBTQIA romance. Alongside our four main characters, we have our Storyteller POV (reminiscent of The Princess Bride ala breaking the fourth wall throughout both timelines past and present) and most importantly the cutest fancy rat mascot. 

The Lost Story comes out on July 16th and is a perfect cozy magic realism/fantasy read for the summer. Thank you to Random House Group - Ballantine and Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book; all opinions are my own. 

 
Baby X by Kira Peikoff

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

3.5

 
Baby X is a technological thriller set to introduce a world in which the ability to create life is easily controlled by technology. Set in the future we have a multiple POV story highlighting the pros and cons of selecting your children’s traits through scientific and technological advances. The pacing is fast pace as a thriller should be and there are plenty of red herrings to try to keep you on your toes. That being said, I did find the plot to be predictable pretty early on. Despite that, it was entertaining and I found myself turning pages rapidly hoping for a good resolution, which I received. 

I listened to this story and found the narration to be great, the narrator did a wonderful job giving each POV and minor characters their own voice and let their personalities shine. 

If you’re looking for a Black Mirror type thriller this book will satisfy that itch. 

Thank you to Dreamscapes and Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book. 

 
Devil Is Fine by John Vercher

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

4.5

Have you ever read a book that is just nothing like anything you’ve ever read before? That is what Devil is Fine was for me. This genre defying novel explores heavy topics through an unreliable narrator and insane magic realism. The prose is pure poetry, I stopped to re read several paragraphs because of how poignant they were. 

If you are looking for a psychological horror that highlights racial disparities and mental health this is the book for you. For fans of Tiffany Jackson and Jordan Peele’s Get Out and Us. 

I never stopped wondering what the hell was going on in this story and still loved every weird moment of it. Hands down one of my favorite books of the year, I will definitely be checking out John Vercher’s backlist and hope to see amazing things from him in the future. 

Thank you Celadon and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book. 

 
The Hunter by Tana French

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dark mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

The Undermining of Twyla and Frank by Megan Bannen

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

In this second installment in the Hart and Mercy series we return to Eternity and Tanria to see how our marshalls and friends are faring. This story centers around Twyla and Frank, middle aged Marshalls who are partners, neighbors and life long friends. Their story takes us on a journey through friendship and love and is as adorable as TUOHAM. 
 
A contemporary romance about two middle aged people who have experienced love, family and loss and helped each other through all phases of life. I absolutely loved this, the romance was beautiful and realistic and really highlighted the fact that adults can still experience romance and new love after their families have grown and left. 
 
Also, dragons, and not the normal dragons we are used to seeing in fantasy stories. We’re talking adorable pink dragons who spit glitter at you. Yeah, I loved it. Also the return of utterly adorable talking immortal animal mail couriers. 
 
I loved this story and really hope Bannen plans to continue these installments because if I'm being honest, I need more Tanria in my life. 

Honey: A Novel by Isabel Banta

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

Honey is a knockout debut novel exploring the dark and seedy underbelly of the surge in juvenile pop artists in the 90s/00s. The story follows a trio of young up and coming pop stars and provides us a look inside the exploitation and over sexualization of teen pop stars. 
 
For fans of: Daisy Jones and the Six, I’m Glad my Mom Died and the 90s pop star culture 
 
This coming of age story tackles so many topics; traumatic childhood, addiction, sexual harassment, misogyny, behind the scenes look at how draining it is to be in the spotlight performing night after night. I also really enjoyed the nostalgia provided as someone who grew up only a year or two younger than these fictional characters watching Star search and witnessing the rise and fall of so many child stars. 
 
This is hands down one of my favorite reads of the year and I cannot wait to see what Isabel Banta gives us next, because this debut was everything. Banta has a way with her prose and her ability to paint such hauntingly beautiful emotions and perspectives, especially when it comes to sexuality and exploitation. 
 
Thank you so much to Celadon Books for providing me an opportunity to review this book; all opinions are my own. 

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0