deepbutdazzlingdarkness's reviews
350 reviews

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

5.0

Exalted by Anna Dorn

• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

This was a hard one to rate. For most of the book I honestly thought I’d give it MAYBE 2 stars. Both of the main characters were so hateful, and not in a fun way. Dawn’s homophobia (internalized and not) was so off putting and Emily was just…exhausting and so annoying lmao. They were so unlikable and not in a fun way, but the plot twist/reveal WAS unhinged and slightly redeemed it for me. I ate this book up, I read it in 3 quick sittings, but it didn’t hit the way I wanted it to after reading and being OBSESSED with Perfume and Pain by the same author earlier this year. Still, I guess I can give it 3 stars. 

Saltwater: A Novel by Katy Hays

3.0

All Good People Here by Ashley Flowers

2.0

Man…idk how to rate this. It wasn’t bad necessarily, nicely twisty and heartbreaking but stuff like the way Margot was magically able to find Jace was incredibly contrived, the obvious similarities to the Jon Benet Ramsey case felt gross and the ending is straight up bullshit. How could it leave off with such a horrible cliffhanger? If not for that, I probably would have given it a solid 3 or so, but I’ve gotta go with a 2 instead. I did like the reveal of who the auburn-haired woman was though (even if her “kidnapping” Margot was dumb) and that part of the story was so sad.

The Stonewall Reader by New York Public Library, Edmund White

4.0

Queer Footprints: A Guide to Uncovering London's Fierce History by Dan Glass

4.0

This Girl's A Killer by Emma C. Wells

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

2.5

I kind of had the same problem with this one that I did with Between Lies and Revenge (which I DNFed), and it’s that I didn’t particularly care about or root for the main character. Like, the way she’s so ~edgy like oh I mix the blood of my victims with paint to make paintings because I’m an ~artist, the “code” she has of how she can decide whether she’s allowed to kill someone or not…idk. I kept wishing this had been gay and that THAT’S why Cordelia is so overprotective of Diane and her daughter, because it would’ve made a lot more sense and I’d have been way more into it, but alas. It wasn’t bad, but definitely not the best “female serial killer killing bad men” book I’ve read this year. 

 

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the digital ARC, all opinions are my own. 

The Price of Salt by Claire Morgan, Patricia Highsmith

4.0

Then Things Went Dark by Bea Fitzgerald

2.5

Between Lies And Revenge by Hannah D. Sharpe
Did not finish book. Stopped at 44%.

This should totally have been for me, I normally love suburban thriller type books/books about women committing crimes but I didn’t find either of the main characters enjoyable at all, especially Elle. When she literally says early on: “Usually, I'm equal parts Sherlock and Hannibal, but right now, l'm straight-up, badass Amy Schumer, in any role she's ever played” I was like ???? Are we supposed to take her seriously or not? Like she does seem like the kind of corny ass who THINKS she’s such a bad bitch but it made me cringe so hard and I couldn’t tell if the author was being self-aware about it or not. And Olivia…I’m sorry, I know infertility is a serious thing, but the whole possibly cheating husband, woman who’s desperate for a baby and going deep into debt/lying about it to him storyline is just so cliche and I don’t care. If this was gonna turn gay, I’d probably push through, but both of them seem entirely heterosexual and at 44% I’m just tired of being in these women’s POVs. Maybe I’ll finish it eventually, but for now I’m gonna put it down. 3 stars because I didn’t hate it, but didn’t like it enough to read the whole thing. 

 

Thanks to Rising Action and NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.