Daijah
such a fun murder mystery novella! i had such a good time reading this and highly recommend reading in one sitting curled upby a fireplace with a blanket in december.
I enjoyed my time reading this, I just wish the characters and the world were a bit more fleshed out instead of information about them just being thrown at the reader.
catherine ryan howard's “the trap” starts off with an intriguing idea—a mystery inspired by real disappearances that had me hooked from the beginning. i was hoping for a real page-turner, but things didn't quite pan out that way by the end.
the story takes us through different viewpoints, which i thought would be exciting, but honestly, it didn't really grab me. i was often confused on who's perspective i was reading from especially in the beginning of the story. i think if you read synopsis more in-depth before you start a book, you'd be fine but i like to go in only knowing a view buzzwords specificlaly for thrillers.
lucy and nicki, the main characters, didn't come across as real as i hoped they would. lucy's hunt for her missing sister felt kinda weak, and nicki's character just left me puzzled.
at first, i was curious to see where everything was headed, but the excitement sort of fell off during the first half. the writing was nice and all, but the story just didn't come to life. the potential i saw at the start seemed just fizzled out. just when things seemed like they were picking up, it was too late to reignite my interest in the story.
i'm still kinda stuck on the big twist at the end, i could see it being a good ending but i think just with the rest of the story being so slow and boring, the ending didn't really impact me. the journey to get there was a bit of a letdown. it felt like the twist was tossed in without much connection to the slow build-up. there were parts of the story that seemed important but ended up not really mattering at all. it overall just left me with a sour taste in my mouth.
looking back, “the trap” had potential but sadly it stumbled when it came to putting it all together in a way that worked. while i give props to the author for trying something ambitious, i was really hoping for a more exciting and well-crafted story. this one could've been a real rollercoaster, but instead, it left me wanting more.
the final chapter patreon book club pick: february 2024
this was a basic thriller and (mostly) boring
actual rating: 5/5 stars
read for the tarot readathon 2023: ace of pentacles
black romance + hockey + nanny + amazing characters and chemistry + exploration of hard hitting themes = my literal perfect romance
actual rating: 4/5 stars
this was such a fun little horror novella but it also had a lot of heart surprisingly which i loved.
read for finishing up series vlog
i loved ths cozy vibes of this one just like how i did in the first book
this is bingeable, has so much depth, nuance, and commentary, and it has classic domestic thriller twists. what more could you ask for?
read for seasonal roulette readathon: spring 2024read for 24 hour readathon vlog
i appreciated this story so much and all the variety of women's issues that is told. i love elizabeth acevedo's writing but i didn't enjoy the non-linear, constantly switching perspective nature of this book.
this gave me so many fuzzy fall feelings and i just absolutely loved this. plus the commentayr on losing someone due to suicide added some much needed depth to the story. it was just so well rounded and so good.
sophie literally always delivers AND THE END?! literally stunning. i ate this up in a day. i think i loved book 1 more but this still really is that girl.
read for halloweekend: set around halloween/gives halloween vibesneil gaiman is a good story teller and i'm sure i would like this more if i didn't see the movie. the pacing of this book compared to the movie was just so off to me because everything was happening so quickly, it didn't have time to first develop coraline as a character and second give that creepy eerieness and tension the movie has. this isn't a bad book by any means especially since it's for children but it's still disappointing
this book was really disturbing as a content creator and had some scenes that made me gag but it wasn't that extreme. i just can't do bodily fluids lol
judith knows how to write books that pause my numbness and make me feel something usually the need to throw up
read for reading my most anticipated 2024 releases vlog: coming soon
i wanted so much more horror from this than i got. i've read some really great short horror and some really great ya horror so idk this one fell flat but it did. the concepts were cool but execution was lackluster.
this was a disturbing concept and the twists definietly added to that it was missing an oomph factor, and if it had that i would have LOVED this but it didn't. i still overall had a good time reading this book and the ending was shocking with the escalation of it all. the audiobook i will say is phenomenal and i highly recommend that format of consuming this story.
this is such a fun, fast-paced slasher! it was a little short so i feel like we didn't get the full explanation for the occurrences that were happening but i enjoyed the horror and the characters a lot!
it's giving dollar general version rory and jess from gilmore girls. the pick-me of it all.