Kyra

I really liked things fall apart by this author, and I did like Arrow of God but I did find it a bit hard to get through at some point, and I also prefer the voice of the first book over this one, I didn't enjoy reading from the white perspective as much but overall still beautiful written, and still very excited to read the final book.

This is a hard one to rate, I did enjoy it and I think it does what it set out to do well. It is gross and definitely took me out of my comfort zone but overall was good read. It in my opinion a little predictable and there were parts at the end I wasn't as big a fan of. If you like more extreme horror I think this is a good and quick read.

This is a really dark book and I highly suggest that you check content warnings before continuing to read this book.

The writing itself was really good , the main character though not really “loveable” seemed to be highly relatable to those with mental illness and who have had extreme trauma until the end. The twists aren't really ground breaking and the end was kinda meh.

I know the author has a background in clinical psychology but this book is not an accurate look at mental health, the characters are all caricatures of mental illness. And the hospital setting was wild, all the therapists in this book needed to be fired. This needs to be made more clear somewhere, people shouldn't go into this thinking it is realistic but due to her credentials being included anyone could get the wrong idea.

And the one thing I can't really get over is the depiction of people with BPD, again I know the author has a background in clinical psychology but she should have known better. They are shown as being cruel, dramatic liars, and I don't care if some of them are this is incredibly stigmatizing to people with BPD as a whole. I don't have BPD however I have close friends and family that do and this very much so missed the mark. And even though I enjoyed the other parts of this book I don't know if I'll be able to read her other work as I greatly worry about she might depict other mental illnesses.

I want to make it clear that my opinions come from being someone with mental illness, who comes from a background of severe childhood trauma, and adoption, who has not only been in hospital but who have close family that has, and on top of this has a grandmother with a PhD in psychology.

Got me from the prologue, it had a very creepy feeling, and that continues throughout the book. I think it could have been a tad bit shorter definitely some place that could be trimmed but didn't take away from my enjoyment. It was also not super graphic so great first horror book for someone getting into the genre. Would give a 4.5 so rounded up.

A great story! Read it for my science fiction class and it was really cool way of talking about the past through the future!

I loved the beginning of this book and the end, at first I thought it was going to be like a supernatural Jurassic Park, but then in the middle it got more complicated. At first when the origins of the forest is starting to be explained I didn't really buy into it and was disappointed, but by the end it had pulled me back in and I enjoyed it, especially how quickly it passed between characters creating a sense of urgency in the final action sequences. The books was written really well, the characters were enjoyable, and setting was amazing. I think if I hadn't had the expectation that I did I would have enjoyed it much more so just be aware of that and I think you'll enjoy it. Not a masterpiece but fun slasher book.
Do be warned there is quite a lot of female objectification, which was not enjoyable. 3.5/5 rounded up for Goodreads.

This was my first trip into sci-fi horror and I loved it! I loved the spooky atmosphere. One of my fears was that it would tip so far into supernatural that it wouldn't be very sci-if or vice versa, but I found it was perfect mix of a classic ghost like story and sci-fi. I really think that we stayed with one character really suited the whole story. And though the character felt a bit like “tropes” I thought it was done so well that it didn't bother me in the slightest. I cannot wait for S.A. Barnes to write more.

This was a super fun book! Felt like exactly like watching an episode of Scooby-Doo. The writing definitely had a very cartoon vibe, and the plot structure was very reminiscent of one as well. The characters were great, and though some parts were a little cheesy I think that just added to the overall style of the book!

Really enjoying these books so far, they are well written, the characters are complex and I feel like the author did a good job in how the povs were split. The world is so interesting and I wanted to keep reading about, the only thing I wish was different was that it was longer as I could easily spend a good 300+ pages on this world. And the way the previous book and this one play off each other is very smart, making sense of the last one while priming you and exciting you for the next one.

Well written, an interesting take on a historical event. It was a little slow in
some places, and there are some POVs I probably could have done without . I also found the end a bit abrupt, especially for such a slow burn book. Over all a pretty good book though and the characters I did like were enjoyable to read. I think anyone who loves horror and historical retellings would greatly enjoy it.

This is a hard book to rate, I really loved the hunger games as teen, and remember them fondly, this one wasn't as good. I really like the idea of learning the history of Panem and how the hunger games came to be and what not but I think following the guy who would become president Snow is a confusing choice, we all know who he is so it not really a surprise the things he does. Plus some of the stuff that I was excited to learn about ended up just feeling like fan service instead of thoughtful plot. Gets a 3.75 from me.

I had high expectations this book and it didn't really disappoint, it was a great story on exorcisms, I didn't find it very scary personally but I am a pretty avid horror fan so for someone less use to horror I could see it being quite creepy. More than scary for me it had some more disturbing parts, and in general was paced pretty well you could feel the building tension of the possession. I loved almost all the characters who seemed very real, and overall had a wonderful reading experience!

This book is beautiful written, it tells complex stories that explore a range or difficult topics like poverty, domestic violence, isolation in way that only horror can do. However I wouldn't say this is a book for the faint of heart all of it feels very very real and can be very graphic so make sure you read the content warnings before you dive in. Some stories I contected to more than others and the last one that the book is named after “The Things We Lost In The Fire” was absolutely beautifully heart breaking and I very much contected to it.

I don't know what I was expecting when I picked this book up but it was amazing , a great story, written well with fun characters and exciting places to explore in further books. Can't wait to get to the next one.

Books set in this time period are always hard to read as a Black person, there is of course tons of racism throughout the book. But it is still a worthwhile read, the characters are all interesting even if not all of them are deep to the same level a few of their POVs really make you think. The story was fun and it all came together in the end making even some of the less enjoyable sections worth it. All in all a very enjoyable experience. Closer to a 4.5

I don't really know what to say about this book, I loved most of the parts where Merry is telling the story, however the part of the blog I hated reading and found incredibly annoying. And the end was kind of nothing, it's not bad per say and I did really like Merry's narration of her family's story but the grander story really missed the mark for me.

Overall I would say this was a good book, though the details are sometimes graphic they are written very well. It starts out super interesting pulling you in, unsure what is real and what is possibly the characters mind cracking. However once it gets to the end a lot of that great build up feels a bit anticlimactic, and over all disappointing. Really like his writing but this one just wasn't what I was expecting.

This was an alright read, in the beginning it was a little slow, then it speeds up and gets interesting but by the time you get to end it feels a little bit unbelievable, still enjoyable over all though and an interesting take on the escape room/death game genre.

4.5 Carrie was definitely written differently than what I had expect based on watching the movie a years ago. But it was a good difference, I liked the way it was formatted and even though not all the characters were likeable reading from the different POVs was the easy and interesting. It's a type of book that makes you think I love stories filled with morally ambiguous characters, or villain la you feels bad for. So great read, however Mr.King sometimes over describes things that have no point, and seems to have a weird like for descriptions of women's boob sizes, which was weird and definitely took me out of it.

It's started out really good but I found myself less and less interested in the story, Jack isn't the greatest father, and the reason why he won't tell his wife his past is lack lustre. And overall by the end I was just feeling kinda meh about the story. The writing however is excellent I do really enjoy this authors writing style and will read more! 3.5

This book was fun, but overall didn't feel like it made a tons of sense, it had good bones but I wasn't able to push past some of the weird plots point. It had some moments but seeing that the second one is even longer I think I'll pass.

This was a great quick book to read, it had a tense and creepy atmosphere, it also felt fully real like something that could actually happen. The characters were all great though him being six years old in a lot of it felt a little off but I still really enjoyed it.

I also really enjoyed the time jumping around, and the order that the story was told really add to the overall creep factor.

This felt like B movie horror and not in a good way, the characters didn't feel real, more like caricatures of people and the horror/supernatural elements felt weird.

What a cool story, it's was the perfect length which made it exciting but to the point no scenes felt empty or unneeded, felt like every scene added to the story. The characters were all great and the setting was spooky and mysterious. The only part I didn't love was that it felt overly wordy and flowery in some parts though once I got into its rhythm it wasn't to bad but could have been toned down for sure. Giving it a 4.5 but rounding up for Goodreads.

Loved this for the most part, the end was definitely a bit out of blue but still interesting and enjoyable to read. I could have done without endless amount of fatphobia but otherwise a really great read. I found the characters flawed in a very real feeling way and it talks about growing up and what happens to friendships when life's expectations catch up to you.