Nico

Not a perfect book, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It filled my need for a mildly creepy read this spooky season.

The mystery/set up had me hooked, but I wanted more from the characters and the plot was fine. Overall a fun Halloween book.

Took me a minute to get into this book, but after about 50 pages I wanted to know more. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but there were aspects of it that I felt were more plot driven than character driven, which I enjoy in equal parts. I was also confused from time to time that I had to accept to move myself forward, but I would have rather had been fully understanding to give it five stars.

I like pretty much all shows from the BBC, so I felt like this was a book version of something you might find there plus fantasy-ish elements. I also really like Sherlock Holmes and women detective stories, and I love found family tropes. So yeah this was definitely up my alley.

What an interesting ride. Bancroft is an incredible writer and what an imagination! It is a dark yet somewhat hopeful adventure story about a man who lost his wife. I was kind of just going along following the protagonist because I was mildly intrigued and curious about where the story was going, but halfway through I was fully engaged and will definitely continue on with the sequel.

My only other read book by McKillip is Od Magic. What they have in common: individual and relationship (read: any kind) complexity in a short amount of pages. But I found Od Magic more whimsical and light, which I thought this book was going to be too. However this one has turmoil, pain and conflict - mixed with a bit of war and politicking - and geez I cried! This might not be a great sell, but if you're looking for a short, excellent book with great writing, magic, characters, animal companions, plot, and adventure pick this one up.

I relistened to the entire series after starting a River of Silver...what a comfort and joy it was to be back in this world. Absolutely one of favorite series of all time. I love the characters and politics, and I think it's one of the most realistic representations of cultural and generational hate, bigotry and trauma I've seen in spec fic.

My seventh Discworld book and one of my favorites. I thought this one was excellent. I continue to be impressed by how Pratchett writes women.

3.5 stars. This is the darkest Discworld book I've read. I definitely laughed out loud and there was the usual heart I like about Pratchett's books, but there a lot of moving parts and something amiss for me about this one.

This is a short, very witty, pretty silly and overall delightful book about a wizards and witches in the Discworld universe. The first of the “Witches” sub-series introduces you to one of my favorite witches of all time and the tale hosts a bit of adventure, questioning paradigms and of course magic.

This is the second Witches book in the Discworld universe, and I was a little disappointed with this one, but still enjoyed it. It wasn't as silly as I was hoping it would be and I had some issues with the pacing and plot. I'm on the fence between 3- or 4-stars.

I absolutely adored this book. This is my first Discworld book and I can't imagine how amazing the others will be if this is often in the middle or bottom of people's Discworld rankings. Terry Pratchett is a wizard in his own right, creating vivid characters with such clear and unique voices within 330 pages, and weaving in truly delightful humor at every turn. I learned that blue cheese can be sentient and they like to hum, who knew? On a YA level (I think this is for teens), this book sends some positive messages to young people about intentions vs harm, and taking ownership for your actions. The plot, though ending in a somewhat predictable fashion, was by no means simple. This was a magical winter read to take up during the latest snowstorms and freezing temperatures. I clearly spoiled another Discworld book or two by not starting at one of the series' entry points, but I'm okay with that.

Well I blasted through this novella today while waiting on errand things. First, I was hooked in by the opening chapter: Molly wakes up to find herself locked up in the basement and she can't remember much, but she finds her captor is herself, Molly. Then we go on a little journey that starts with a young Molly and her parents on their farm.... I really don't want to say too much because I think even the early reveal was a nice surprise.

I don't know how to sell this, I just thought it was such an engrossing journey and interesting story and premise, I recommend this for horror readers especially if they want something short. Basically, this is horror, but I wouldn't say it was scary just more horrific with LOTS of blood and disturbing things - but for me enough distanced to not want to vomit.

This is my third Thompson and he's demonstrated to me (even if I didn't love Rosewater like I loved this one or Far from the Light of Heaven) that he is an underread sci-fi author, definitely going to try to consume more sooner than later.

This started as a slow burn the payoff was well worth it. Like Malice from The Faithful and the Fallen series by Gwynne, I felt disinterested in the characters and what was happening. The difference with this book is around the half way point I was hooked. Just WOW, the stakes were really high and the book is just darker overall. I CANNOT wait to get my hands on the next book!

This was a repeated DNF starting in February. But at page 250 I finally pushed forward due to increased action and at page 400 figured out my issue: every character was in conflict with each other and this really put me off. But wow, that action really picked up and the last half was fantastic. “The Ninth Rain” felt a bit more like an adventure and mystery, while this one was a bit more character development (not in a great way) and it turned into a battle. I'm definitely excited for the final book.

Updated review: I finished the book in IRL form. I still found it very challenging to get through at times and my interest only began to peak slowly as I kept reading. I was very invested in the last 100 pages, but the ending felt rushed. I have a great respect for so much of the brilliance of the book, e.g. taking you to another world, but really showcasing the parallels of our real modern world. Unfortunately, I think the audiobook ruined much of it for me, then it took me effort to get into the writing style, with a lackluster ending. 3.5 stars.

I quit the audiobook halfway through, “reading” it at double speed. For me the narration itself was brutal to listen to as it was very monotone, but the narrator's character voices were excellent. I wanted to know more while reading and still do, so I plan to eventually pickup the actual book.

Similar premise to Harry Potter: A girl who is made to believe she is bad luck by her family learns the world is much more than it seems and is taken away. It was a great mindless read that scratched the found family, belonging and friendship itch. I really enjoyed it and was happy to immediately move on to the next books. I would recommend it for MG or younger teen readers.

4.5 stars. It took me about 100 pages to become completely engulfed in these character's lives (though I was quite curious from the start) and by the end of the book I has cried multiple times because I was so invested. This is not a plot-driven book, it reminds me of what a memoir would be like in some ways and is written beautifully. I did not read “Practical Magic” and picked this up because I love the movie and was curious about this book. If you're interested in character-driven books or magical realism, you might enjoy this one.

Wow, probably my most surprising read of the year in the best way possible. I gobbled up this audiobook in two days. It was beautiful, tragic, heart-breaking and heart-warming. This is the sequel to the Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, which read to me like an amazing episodic multi-species space crew show (read: Star Trek). This second book is not that, it's not even a continuation of the same story. This is a deep dive into two side characters' lives and it was completely unexpected. It stole my heart and A+++ for story-telling, world-building, themes and pulling on my heart strings.

I had been wanting for so long to reread books from my favorite childhood author and this year I got finally to one. It was a good nostalgia read, but I'm pretty sure not the best by Bellairs - I should have started with “The Curse of the Blue Figurine.” Sometimes I have no idea how to rate children's books, so a B- for creepy vibes. I actually think it would have been better as a winter read due to the snowy and cold atmosphere.

Exceptional.

I enjoyed this anthology. My favorite story by far is “Imposter Syndrome” by Mari Kurisato, followed by “Aliens” by Richard Van Camp and “The Boys Who Became Hummingbirds” by Daniel Heath Justice. I'm excited to now have these new-to-me-authors on my radar.

This really is a beautiful little book that almost reads like poetry. It's very sweet and manages to have some complexity of characters and their relationships within the ~70 pages.

This book (particularly in the form of an audiobook) brought me so much joy. It has a lot of heart, fun dialogue and epic adventure - what a great way to start the year. The narrator did a FANTASTIC JOB and he elevated the book in my opinion. I can't wait to pick this up way day down the road in physical form.

This was a quick listen and overall I enjoyed it. TW: There were unexpected references to child abuse and rape. Even though it's a futuristic story, you can tell it was written in the 90s.