nerdyprettythings's reviews
495 reviews

I think I’m not very good at cozy books. There’s a lot of cute stuff in here, but Thorne also set up some fun political intrigue that didn’t get as much attention. Also, I realize there are more books coming in this series, but at first I found one of the character names really distracting - we’ve got “just a normal average guard” MC from the Evil Queen’s inner circle and her name is REYNA. It’s hinted in this book that another descendant of the same bloodline is required to overthrow the queen. I was a teenager in the 2000s okay? I can see a chosen one coming from a mile away.
All that to say - for me this wasn’t mind blowing, but it was cute, and if you’re into picking up some low-stakes, no stress fantasy and dragons and such, have at it!
(Also - I want to reread Becky Chambers’s Monk+ Robot books now, they’re cozy but more… something)

As with all essay collections, I found this one to be a mixed bag. BUT Carmen Maria Machado talking about Jennifer's Body? perfection 

I think this collection was at its best when the authors were reflecting on the film moreso than the ones that are personal essays that more tangentially reference horror. Still, happy I read this one.

I really enjoyed the history aspect of this one in particular, the authors delved into all kinds of films and I learned a lot about the history of Black characters and tropes in horror cinema. The audio narrator is great, but I recommend checking out a physical or ebook copy along with it, because there are a lot of charts, but also references to movie posters that are worth seeing! This definitely reads academic (see that PhD?) and there are some cheesy jokes in there to try to break it up, but I don't think it's unapproachable, especially if you're a horror fan. My only beef in terms of the writing is that it's rarely focusing on a particular film, so it references some films over and over as answers or exemplars of different eras or tropes.

I finished this on Sunday and have been trying to figure out how to talk about it. I loved it - the first half of the book creates a really great creepy sense of dread. But this book is deeper than it seems, and I sort of feel like telling you about the allegory the children's TV show Mister Magic represents would spoil the story, so suffice to say I really appreciated reading a book with that representation. I got Cabin in the Woods vibes from some of this and I wanted more of some of the background info, but I really enjoyed this one! There are also Reddit and fanfic posts that are included in this book to show the impact of Mister Magic and really relatable adult looking back at childrens' memory stuff. And now I have the Barney tooth-brushing song stuck in my head.

I have mixed feelings. I enjoyed a lot about this book! Haunted house + family trauma (check the CWs for sure) + voodoo! But dear lordddd it is too long (around 600 pages). On the bright side, it was a true pleasure to discover that the audio for this backlist book from 2003 was narrated by Robin Miles! With a lesser narrator I may have skipped over the last 100 pages or so tbh but she is always so great.

This book is incredible. I learned so much about the history of the gay rights movement, especially pre-Stonewall and DC-based organizations. Eric Cervini did an amazing job of taking both a very high level view and making this feel so personal. The sort of main figure of the book, Frank Kameny, was a sought-after astronomer who was fired for being gay in 1957 and banned from working in the federal government. He spent the rest of his life organizing gay rights movements and serving as a counsel to other fired federal employees. The book also highlights a host of other characters and the related history and civil rights movements that were all fomenting at the time. Cervini also never shies away from showing where the mostly white, mostly male members of these organizations excluded and let down Black and female members of the community, and how different figures had varying priorities.
The audio is very well done, but after finishing it today I went out and bought the book to have easy access to the index and reference materials. I will be thinking about this one for a very long time.

My girl is BACK y'all!! One Perfect Couple is Ruth Ware's best book since The Turn of the Key. There will be no spoilers here since this one comes out next week! This book is set on a remote island where couples are filming a reality tv show (adding more to that trope for me this year). This is more a thrillery survival story than more directly mystery, but it did keep me guessing, and I truly was wondering how it would end (I love that Ruth Ware's characters really go through it and don't always turn out okay). Gah there are so many references I want to make that are spoilery so please tell me if you read this!

I liked but didn't love this one. I've really enjoyed Blair Braverman's episodes on You're Wrong About (and some of the info from those is in this book! but this was sold to me as thriller/horror, and while bad stuff happens in here, it's a lot more character-driven and quiet than I expected. If you go in knowing that, I think it's a good read, especially if
you're into reality show-based books (which I seem to be reading a lot of lately!)

This review is a week late but here we are! This was kind of a tough read - the MC is a girl who is taking care of her younger brother and whose mother is completely checked out after their father's death. Still, the book is so good! It's a twist of a retelling on the crane wife folk tale, and it felt like such a good modern take. I've been enjoying short stories that feel like modern myth lately, and this definitely fit. It also did a good job  of bridging the gap of "weird magical stuff is happening" and "but most people will find this odd' which made it feel very grounded and easy to read.