starrysteph's reviews
411 reviews

The Dead Take the A Train by Cassandra Khaw, Richard Kadrey

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

3.25

The Dead Take the A Train is a whirlwind of gritty mayhem - with a LOT of cosmic gore. I mostly had fun, but never felt truly in sync with the characters, their thoughts, or how exactly magic worked in this world. 

Julie Crews is a messy magic user trying to scrape by in NYC, though even the simplest of gigs seems to get her into trouble. And when she summons a guardian angel in an attempt to protect her best friend (and forever love), she ends up unleashing a chaotic entity eager to consume every human on its path. 

Things that flowed for me: the heightened language, the grotesque creatures and bits of gore, the satirical elements around Wall Street and corporate hunger, the sprinklings of lore.
Things that made me stumble: the character/romantic development, uneven battle scenes (everyone was simultaneously overpowered and underpowered), tension that fizzled out right at the end. 
It felt like a lot of this was setup for a series, but I needed time to get to know & care about each of the characters first. I was intrigued - and found most of them likable enough - but didn’t think that anyone got a truly interesting character arc. I wanted to feel more grounded in their heads so that I would be more anxious about the infinite number of very bad things happening to them.

And we get big confrontations that never come, characters that seem to learn nothing (Julie, HOW ARE YOU THIS INCOMPETENT), and villains that don’t get their comeuppance (yet? ever?). Also there is a LOT of violence towards women if you are sensitive to that.

But there are some very fun bits of capitalist satire, two awesome supporting characters that kept me going, and some very distressing creatures (complimentary). 

CW: murder, body horror, gore/blood, violence, drug use, self harm, suicide, addiction, torture, guns, domestic abuse, cannibalism, misogyny, stalking, fire, classism

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The Unfinished by Cheryl Isaacs

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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? Yes

4.25

The Unfinished was an immersive & haunting piece of folkloric forest horror.

Avery is an avid runner - and she’s hopeful that her athleticism will lead to a scholarship so she can head to college - but her whole already-messy life is derailed when she stumbles across a strange pond in the middle of the forest. She’s always dismissed rumblings about the black water as small town myths, and feels disconnected from her Kanyen’kehá:ka (Mohawk) family.

But the black water begins to haunt her, and it’s hungry for souls. Avery’s friends and loved ones are in danger, and she may have to embrace her culture to get answers. And make a choice: heed the warnings from her Elders, or risk everything to save the people that matter most?

Avery is a compelling (and super relatable) main character. She’s got a lot of anxiety about change, and she tucks all of that away so hard it hurts. She’s still reeling from her parents’ complicated relationship and divorce, and knows that her little family has money troubles that no one will openly discuss. Avery is scared to name the things she wants (like tell her best friend that she’s in love with him) and of being vulnerable in general - just like her mom, whose fear has kept both of them from leaning into their Kanyen’kehá:ka culture.

Those are big hurdles for Avery, and her challenge is to break all those cycles of pain, but she’s also got a lot going for her. She’s determined, she’s funny, and she’s always there for her friends. She does her best to do the right thing.

I thought the supporting characters were wonderful as well. There aren’t many human antagonists here, just a lot of people with different secrets and anxieties that shape them in different ways. The whole town of Crook’s Falls tucks away trauma instead of opening up, and that wiggles its way into everyone, from Avery’s trio of best friends to her great aunt whose mind is failing her to Elders who disengage instead of risking pain.

The horror aspects were oh-so-brilliant. The atmospheric terror of the forest and the black sludge water, the changing reflections, the faceless entities that slowly shift towards you … it was genuinely scary. And there’s a memory-altering aspect that made Avery feel so, so alone at first, and that hurt. She had to lean into community in order to truly battle this thing.

I love cyclical evils, and the patterns of this one were intriguing. I feel like the book ended just a smidge too soon, and I wished that Avery had been given a true faceoff opportunity. There were also some character fates left unknown which hurt, but the ending message of truthfulness leading to genuine connection was beautiful. 

Overall, this was a great read. Especially if you like the sort of terror that tickles the back of your shoulder and disappears into the shadows, if the thought of something looking back at you from your reflection makes you tremble, and if you believe one too many stories about straying off of forest paths.

This was also the first time I had heard of Heartdrum - a publishing imprint (under HarperCollins) for young readers that is Native-focused. I’ll definitely have to check out other books published under Heartdrum!

CW: death (parent/child), animal death, racism, violence, chronic illness, dementia, grief, gaslighting, body horror, panic attacks, mental health, dementia, fire

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(I received a free copy of this book; this is my honest review.)

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Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Compound Fracture is a rallying cry to young queer people who never give up, a warm hug for family that is doing their best, and a love letter to hometowns that are messy, but still yours.

This is Andrew Joseph White’s first book set in our world exactly as it is now (just a handful of years ago, right after Trump was elected), and while there are extreme antagonists and ghostly moral compasses, it’s truly about teenagers fighting for (and envisioning) a better future.

Miles didn’t ask to be part of a 100-year-old blood feud. But he’s sure as hell not going to let his family continue to be beat down. Yet on the very night he decides to both come out to his family as trans AND pass along photo evidence that proves power-hungry Sheriff Davies caused a tragic car accident, he’s attacked and nearly dies.

He’s a ferocious researcher and a budgeoning socialist – and he’s obsessed with the start of the feud, when his great-great-grandfather started miners’ rebellion and ended up with a railroad spike through his head. So when a ghostly miner appears at the foot of his hospital bed, Miles is even more certain that it’s up to him (maybe with some help from his trusty dog, Lady) to break the cycle. 

Miles’ love for his home is uncomplicated and unwavering, and so much of this book felt personal & vulnerable. He challenges small-minded thinking and doesn’t accept nonsense from anyone, but there’s also a lot of compassion and care for his hometown. Plot points covered (some briefly) include opioid addiction & fear of that happening to you, access to healthcare, and the many realities of rural poverty. Though Miles feels isolated in some ways, he finds such a strong micro community throughout the book - and his parents and extended family are open and earnest to connect with him, even though they don’t quite understand. All of the characters (except a handful of villains) charmed me and felt very whole and very real.

I adored Miles’ narration! He’s full of nerves about coming out, but he’s secure in his identity. He’s smart, unwavering in his convictions, and pretty darn angry. I actually would have loved the chance to see a bit more growth from him - to see him stumble with a friend and really sit with those consequences and learn how to be better. But his mistakes are glossed over very quickly.

Let’s talk about the disability rep – I thought it was incredible. While I’m not autistic, my chronic illness comes with a lot of similar sensory issues, and I had several moments of “wait, I’m not the only one that does this?” and “AJW, kindly extract yourself from my brain”! There are also some wonderful scenes where Miles begins to discover his aromantic identity. 

I would have loved to get a fuller picture of Sheriff Davies and Noah. AJW’s antagonists are always distressingly foul, but here they felt particularly like cartoon-style villains. I also think the closing was very neat - people came together almost too quickly and there didn’t seem to be any true consequences - but sometimes it’s nice to have a happy ending.

All in all, Compound Fracture was an incredible story. There’s teeth and fangs and gore like always (but don’t worry about Lady the dog - she’s a very-alive-hero by the end of the story). There’s earnest community and optimism that maybe we really can reshape all the systemic pain of our world. There’s a beautiful reminder that trans people have always existed.

CW: murder, death (parent/child), gun violence, gore, transphobia (deadnaming, misgendering, outing), police brutality, animal cruelty/death, addiction, hate crime, grief, classism, fire, car accident, ableism, torture, panic attacks, mental illness, vomit

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(I received an advance reader copy of this book; this is my honest review.)

The Haunting of Alejandra by V. Castro

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2.0

Absolutely WONDERFUL concept - remaking the legend of La Llorona as a physical & supernatural incarnation of generational trauma passed through Mexican American women - that unfortunately lacked in execution.

This was a very dry, very choppy, very clunky book. On a sentence level, there was just no variety or flow anywhere. There were various narrators from various time periods, and they all spoke exactly the same way. These all should have been INCREDIBLY different characterizations, but even the monster’s voice was hard to distinguish! 

When there were moments of reckoning and realization, those were very plainly told to the reader through awkward dialogue. The therapy sessions in particular were painful. I like to feel like I’m in conversation with stories - like they are a breathing entity in my hands - but this felt school-essay-like in its delivery. 

The scares were great in theory, but I felt as though I was layering my own imaginative skill over bare bones to deliver on the horror aspect.

Again, this was a beautiful, clever, creative concept. And I could see what this book could have become - but it fell entirely flat for me.

CW: suicide, suicidal ideation, death (parent/child), body horror, self harm, blood & gore, toxic relationship, mental illness, abuse, pregnancy, miscarriage, abandonment, sexism, racism, gaslighting, colonization, religious bigotry, xenophobia, rape (offscreen), war

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Island Witch by Amanda Jayatissa

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-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

3.25

Island Witch is a dark, moody, and very slow burn historical horror story set in 19th century Sri Lanka.

Amara is the demon-priest’s daughter, and though her family was once respected, the villagers have distanced themselves after British Colonizers started taking over her island. She’s comfortable keeping to herself and enjoying her walks in the jungle … until the vicious attacks started.

Men are mauled one after the next, and all eyes in the village are on Amara’s family. Amara believes her father is innocent and wants to clear his name, but she’s being haunted. She knows something happened to her, but she’s not sure if the supernatural entity that stalks her dreams is real or something else is messing with her mind.

There are interesting threads here - especially around colonization and classism and imposing societal expectations that lead to moral panic. Amara’s whole village almost instantly turns on her family (while still using her father’s services), even when they’ve been considered a pivotal part of the community for so long. You can see the build up to almost mob mentality.

The other major theme here is that women are never the masters of their own fates. They’re shoved around and suppressed and bullied and manipulated by the men surrounding them. There is a little bit of female rage, but honestly it’s mostly just depressing. The ending was a weak link for me - I generally wanted Amara to claim some agency and kept waiting for her to lean into her anger, but it felt like she was a puppet in her own story from start to finish without a significant character arc. 

This is a slow-moving piece - very slow. I think the writing sometimes increased the atmospheric horror and tension very well, but it also sometimes dragged and lulled in a way that kept making me lose interest. I set this book down so many times. Maybe the prologue (which was intense, supernatural, and very action-heavy) gave the book a detached start, but the pacing overall was just very strange. I also think a lot of the elements and antagonists were very predictable, and Amara was devastatingly naive.

But what kept bringing me back was the rich jungle setting and the folklore. I love monsters & myths, and the supernatural elements here were an absolute delight. I also think the exploration of the ripples of impact that colonization has in a small community were really fascinating.

Overall - fascinating concepts and a very grounded world that were weakened by uneven pacing and a slightly lackluster conclusion.

CW: death (parent), murder, rape, sexism, incest, classism, gore, body horror, nonconsensual abortion, colonization, bullying, domestic abuse, child abuse, pregnancy, infidelity, gaslighting, vomit, pedophilia, animal cruelty/death, fire

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(I received a free copy of this book; this is my honest review.)
When Among Crows by Veronica Roth

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Ohhh what a brilliant little story. It’s a modern fantasy bursting with rich folklore, an unlikely trio on a journey, and conversations around belonging & bigotry.

Dymitr is a mysterious mortal with a powerful plant who keeps his secrets & emotions tucked away. Ala is a zmora, and has watched a deadly curse hop from family member to family member until it crawls into her. And Niko is a powerful stryzgon who has what both of them need.

Our trio travels through Chicago, finding themselves in mystical layers just beneath the bustling city. They meet a variety of mythological beings and challenge each other to open up about their most protected truths, all on their way to find a powerful witch. 

This has EXCELLENT pacing, great character & world development, and a compelling 36-hour plot. I would love to read more stories set in this world. 

When Among Crows captures the joy and pain of ancestry and heritage, pockets of Poland in America, and figuring out where you stand in your family’s legacy. It’s a tale of sacrifice as magic, of surviving religious persecution, of atonement, justice, and redemption.

(Also: when I first started this I was like, “hey, I know a lot of these characters from Witcher 3!” and then it turns out Witcher 3 inspired Veronica Roth, so I feel very satisfied. I mean, and we’re both Polish.)

CW: murder, death (parent/child), blood & gore, violence, body horror, grief, child abuse, self harm (in the name of religion), religious bigotry, animal death, xenophobia

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(I received a free copy of this book; this is my honest review.)
Sun of Blood and Ruin by Mariely Lares

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

2.0

A Zorro-inspired vigilante who can shapeshift into a panther, torn between her role as the Spanish heir to the throne and her half-Indigenous identity? What a delicious concept. 

The ideas in Sun of Blood and Ruin were phenomenal, but the execution unfortunately made it a very challenging story to read & enjoy.

Pantera is a warrior sorceress, but underneath that bold identity is Leonora, a charming young lady who is promised to the heir of the Spanish throne. While Pantera fights to protect the Indigenous people from Spanish tyranny on the streets, Leonora wages a war of politics inside the palace.

But Leonora knows she’s been prophesied to have a short life, and to die in battle. And when the earthquakes begin - signaling the changing of a Sun and tons of destruction - she is ready to fight until the bitter end.

There is so much happening here, from palace politics to fights in the street to ancient gods to promises of paradise to anti-colonialism escapades to a budding romance … and truly so much more. There are so many intriguing elements, especially when you bring in real (slightly and fantastically altered) history and folklore. But it turned into total chaos. 

I love a large cast of characters, and mythology, and lots of different threads. Here it felt like the writing was bubbling with excitement and attempting to weave in every single brilliant idea. I just think it needed a lot more structure, more information around the main elements (most readers won’t know the intricacies of this mythology), and someone to cut some of the excess elements.

I was not in flow with the writing and not totally aligned with Leonora as a main character. She’s very immature and adolescent, and while she definitely has a bit of a coming-of-age journey, it just felt like she was too young & too flat to shoulder all the story elements. Her realization towards the end was just so simplistic, and much of the dialogue is cheesy. 

I think I was far more into the first half, which had a lot less action, but more of a clear plot. When we get into the action scenes, people are just popping around and it felt impossible to envision what was actually going on half of the time. And then nonsensical plot twist after nonsensical plot twist after revelation after revelation after character death (!) where we’re just moving on. And the stuff between was all so murky. I wasn’t sure why this story was written and who the author’s intended audience was. 

I am so bummed. I saw the vision!!

CW: death (parent), murder, religious bigotry, colonization, racism, genocide, xenophonia, grief, war, animal death, classism, guns

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(I received a free copy of this book; this is my honest review.)
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Dating & Dismemberment by A.L. Brody

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

3.75

If you’re a lover of goofy humor and campy monster films - with a splash of romance - Dating & Dismemberment is a fun ride. 

Darla Drake is the Duchess of Death and the monster of Camp Clear Creek - that is, until one day she can’t bring herself to finish a hunt. She’s got infinite years ahead of her and can’t figure out what to do, even though her body-less mother and her pregnant best friend try to help her work through things.

A year later, she still hasn’t gotten back into the game, and arrogant Jarko Murkvale shows up to claim her territory. Darla is ready to hunt him down, but hesitantly agrees to a monster haunting competition. She thinks she’s got him nailed down, but the more time they spend together, the more she realizes that he might just be bringing her back to life.

It was cheeky - there was NO skimping on the alliteration - AND it made me smile from ear to ear quite a few times. If you need a break from the world, I’d definitely recommend picking this up.

There were a lot of mistakes in my copy (character names being swapped, details that would change from scene to scene, typos), which were sometimes a stumble while reading. I mostly shrugged them off, though. I also do think the romance could have had a little more depth. 

There’s a great blend of haunts, gore, and rivals-to-lovers drama. I loved seeing the author’s humor shine through the pages, especially with one-off sentences and creative descriptions of side characters. The writing is playful and leans into campiness, never taking itself too seriously. 

I would love to read more books in this world! 

CW: murder, death (child), violence, blood, gore, bullying, sexual harassment & almost sexual violence, grief, animal death, fire, body horror, pedophilia, cannibalism, stalking, torture, abandonment

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(I received a free copy of this book; this is my honest review.)

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Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

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challenging emotional reflective sad 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

4.25

Transcendent Kingdom was quiet and inquisitive - a beautiful piece on grief, addiction, and life in a family of immigrants. The characters felt so grounded and so real that it almost reads like a memoir, a peek inside of the pages of a journal. 

“We humans are reckless with our bodies, reckless with our lives, for no other reason than that we want to know what would happen, what it might feel like to brush up against death, to run right up to the edge of our lives, which is, in some ways, to live fully.”

Our narrator is Gifty, a neuroscientist studying reward-seeking behavior (especially in relation to depression & addiction). We hop back and forth through time as she reflects on her childhood in Alabama, her athletic brother Nana who died from his addiction after an ankle injury, and her mother who is currently unable to get out of bed. Her father - whom she calls the Chin Chin Man - left her family and returned to Ghana when she was quite young.

Gifty grapples both with the science around her family’s pain and grief and her religious upbringing. She questions faith alongside logic, wondering if the two can coexist in her life and if the draw of religion is worth it to her. Meanwhile, she flounders with friendships & romance, struggling to be open & vulnerable.

“I would always have something to prove and that nothing but blazing brilliance would be enough to prove it.”

It’s a moving piece, with so many poignant moments and quotes. Gifty is struck with loud and subtle racism, with disparaging remarks about religion, with offhand comments about addiction. But her internal struggle is much more gripping. She writes to God in her journal as a child - and uses ‘secret’ code names for her family members - and rereads it as an adult as she interrogates her current belief system and identity.

Gifty is a young adult diving deep into analyzing her entire life, and I found that so relatable. She holds up so much to the light, both literally in her lab and in her words: grief, pain & pain relief, pleasure, family, fear, faith. It’s a very philosophical read. 

I didn’t feel ready to leave Gifty behind when the book ended, and while I certainly wouldn’t expect this story to have a neat ending, I feel like it perhaps deserved a little bit more of a conclusion.

But wow. This story was intimate, tender, and loving. It has a lot to offer and to ruminate on. It would be an excellent book club pick and a great piece to journal about. 

CW: death (child/parent), addiction & drug abuse, mental illness, grief, racism & slurs, suicide, animal cruelty/death, religious bigotry, abandonment, xenophobia, chronic illness, forced institutionalization, sexism, vomit

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Junker Seven by Olive J. Kelley

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Junker Seven is a fast-paced futuristic queer sci-fi romance that mirrors our current world all too well. It’s got grief & rage, but also community & hope.

We follow Castor, a physically disabled & autistic junker making ends meet by scavenging and selling spare parts. They stay away from the escalating transphobia and galactic revolution led by activist Juno Marcus.

That is – until they get a job offer for an unbelievable amount of money. They’ve just got to safely transport Juno across the galaxy first, and keep her safe from the Intergalactic Police Force (IPF) and the folks that support a violent political leader. 

Castor is determined to view this job as simply a job, but Juno draws everyone into her orbit. As they start to fall from her, they also can’t help but become swept into her cause … and maybe change the galaxy for the better.

I loved both main characters here. Castor has a great arc from hesitant outsider to embracing revolutionary change, and it’s hard not to root for them. They’ve got some internalized ableism and believe that being autistic means they have no choice but to be a loner, and it was nice to watch them unpack that. I thought the depictions of being autistic & physically disabled in space were thoughtful and really well written (especially moments with sensory issues). I also loved their relationship with their goldfish & the memories of their little brother they hold close.

Juno is determined and fierce, and though she’s not our narrator, we do get to see glimpses of the world through her eyes. I actually would have loved to see more of a shift from her - more compassion towards the Castors of the world. She gets there, but doesn’t totally unpack the privilege she does have and the impossible choices everyone in her world has to make.

The romance was a bit quick, but very charming! Castor and Juno balance each other well, challenge each other in the best ways, and truly care for each other. And overall, I really enjoyed the slice-of-life moments we got in between the action.

I thought the writing was solid. It didn’t blow me away (and there were a few stumbles and awkward phrasings), but it was effective. The pacing kept everything in flow for me, too. 

The politics and the world are more or less a copy and paste of our own (there are stand-ins for Trump, Fox News, Amazon, and so on). At times, it felt like space was a colorful backdrop rather than a meaningful part of the story. There are spaceships and mentions of a dead Earth, but I would have loved to see a more futuristic spin on everything. What would it mean for trans people to have higher tech available to shift their bodies? How would racism and xenophobia morph if galaxies were colonized? What does it mean for Castor to be disabled in this world - it seems like it’s not mentioned much? 

And since things were so close to our world, the ripple effects were sort of assumed. My brain just filled in things to flesh out the villain, Marwood, but we actually don’t learn much of anything about his tactics, speeches, or policies. Abortion rights are overturned during the story, and that just seemed to be Roe v. Wade but in hundreds of years (without any futuristic differences in healthcare or policy, etc.). 

The book closes on a bit of a standstill (potential legal triumphs), which was a bummer because it felt like it was building up to a true revolution. But this was definitely just one step of the story, and I feel like bigger changes are in store during the next saga.

But overall, I enjoyed the hopeful tone and the charmingly eclectic cast of queer characters. I’m curious about what comes next!

CW: death (child), transphobia, misgendering, censored deadnaming, police brutality, gun violence, mass shooting, ableism, grief, spaceship accident

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