westernskynaida's reviews
118 reviews

This took me far longer than I wanted to finish it because of the different things I was hyper focusing on and life made it hard to read. But onto the book itself.

I was smiling so much during even the first few pages of this book. The humor was spot on and if you’ve ever only see the movie (2005), it makes you appreciate the movie so much more

I’ll eventually keep going with the rest of the series, but for now I’m very happy I’ve finished the first book

Man I was not expecting this book to be as good as it was. The first half of the book is kind of slow, but the exposition is needed to understand everyone’s reasoning for things

As someone who has been through their own NDE, it was definitely an interesting take on things and I really enjoyed the semantics of how that causes events in this book

It really does feel like taking the what it means to be a hero or a villain and turning it on its head. Some characters you’ll love, others you’ll probably despise. The last 60 or so pages go by SO fast. I feel like this is a more enjoyable take on the idea from the movie Unbreakable

I’m adding two new major content warnings in the review because I was really NOT prepared for that heavy of a discussion/talk of it during the first half of the book

I honestly don’t have words for how I feel after finishing that. I feel I had way more questions than answers…the world building was brilliant in this and it was definitely bleak. But I wish I could know why some things were banned and how things were as related as they were

I guess it goes along with Marcos being so disconnected from everything around him

If you want a bleak book, and are curious about all the hype? Sure, go for it…but definitely not my favorite of the bleak horror 

I’m morbidly a fan of true crime. I had heard good things about this book and found a copy at a local thrift store. I knew the premise, but didn’t know what this would entail and honestly it didn’t disappoint

Room is in the perspective of Jack, who has just turned 5 and his whole life has only known Room. The first third of the book takes place in Room and their daily life. The rest of the book involves Ma and Jack learning about how to live in Outside after being in Room for so long.

Reading from the perspective of a five year old was so interesting and very well done. There were some points that I felt were a bit…older than he was supposed to be but I believe it was explained as a plot point that all he could do was learn and that’s why he’s able to think that way.

All in all, I think this was very good. Please read the content warnings prior to reading because it’s rough…I think some of the parts of the book I forgot to breathe because I was SO invested

Now to watch the movie 

I’ve met Kendra Merritt at a couple of craft shows and at Fan Expo. I bought two of the Mark of the Least series. I had originally begun Catching Cinders but due to mental health and some physical health issues, it’s been on hold. My book club chose By Wingéd Chair as our July book. So I flew through this book.

The first 20-30 pages or so are bit slow to get into the mindset in if you’re not usually a fantasy reader, but once things pick up, they REALLY pick up.

This book is a great show for discrimination - whether it’s for the humans that we are mostly following or for the most adorable fantasy creature that I’m glad I was able to experience in this book. It also touches on grief and trying to heal from terrible things that may have happened to you.

I would definitely recommend this to someone who would like some good rep for a wheelchair user (I hope that’s the right term)

I can’t wait to continue my reading of Catching Cinders after this

This book is difficult to get my brain around but I’ll try

This has a lot of the same vibes of a modern Lord of the Flies (which I was never a big fan of), but set in a school. It’s also the story of revenge and some pretty disturbing things that occurred between the different perspectives

As far as the story, I feel this is better to go into blind (or as blind as you can) to get the right feel for things

Honestly, if you’ve heard praise for this by other people, I recommend it. But it’s definitely not my favorite 

I made it about a third of a way into this book and I considered finishing it but honestly I just kept thinking “I want to just read the Russian Sleep Experiment”

My main thoughts on this are that the doctor feels kind of Mary Sue-ish, and every female that’s in this book seems weirdly attracted to him. Which normally wouldn’t be an issue, but I was more interested in the actual experiment and not the…fluff? Filler? Whatever you want to call it

Honestly, if you’re wanting to read it - go for it but I’d personally just stick with the original Creepypasta 

I read this after reading Project Hail Mary, which is one of my favorite books I’ve read in the last year of getting back into reading. I also have never seen the movie - so I literally went into this blind because I hadn’t seen the trailer since the movie first came out. Anyways, onto my thoughts on this

While a lot of people may not enjoy the smart assery of the main character, I personally loved it. It’s part of why I loved PHM as well. This only lost a fraction of a point because I didn’t just hurry through this one because I definitely couldn’t really handle some of the slower bits

I’m looking forward to watching the movie when I can buy it. I may have some potatoes for dinner tomorrow for Mark

I’ve heard a lot of mixed things about Coates - that most books are kind of a “cozy” style

This book however was not “cozy”

I picked this up because I was trying to find some good horrors/thrillers that were mountain based. I like the premise of the trapped in a storm and there’s something/someone out there picking off the people one by one. What I wasn’t expecting was the gore fest that happened with this book

I did call something in the first 20 pages of the book, but I was second guessing that initial guess up until the last 40 pages because things were just…so paranoia inducing

All in all, definitely recommend this - especially if you’ve never read anything by Coates

This wasn’t….terrible. I can see why a lot of people enjoyed it. If definitely had some disturbing parts but I was kind of expecting…more? 

I’m not sure. But I’m happy with how it ended. It makes me want to read The Willows again