dorothysbookshelf's reviews
225 reviews

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

4.75

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

5.0

no plot, just vibes. incredible, incredible vibes. i absolutely adored it, the prose was so elegant and enchanting — also the ending made me cry, it was so beautiful

The First to Die at the End by Adam Silvera

3.0

cringe writing but it doesn’t try to be anything but what it is, so can’t fault it

You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron

4.0

‘you’re not supposed to die tonight’ review // gifted, #prproduct 

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆: a truly unique horror novel i would urge any horror lovers to read! thank you so much to bloomsbury for sending me this copy :)

‘charity curtis has the summer job of her dreams, playing the "final girl" at camp mirror lake. guests pay to be scared in this full-contact terror game, as charity and her summer crew recreate scenes from a classic slasher film, curse of camp mirror lake. the more realistic the fear, the better for business. but in the last weekend of the season, charity's co-workers begin disappearing. and when one ends up dead, charity's role as the final girl suddenly becomes all too real. if charity and her girlfriend bezi hope to survive the night, they'll need to figure out what this killer is after. is there more to the story of mirror lake and its dangerous past than charity ever suspected?’

i’ll be honest, i actually dnfed kalynn bayron’s debut ‘cinderella is dead’, but when i read the synopsis, i KNEW i had to give her writing another chance. after all, i love horror movies, so ‘you’re not supposed to die tonight’ was perfect for me. a love letter to 80s slasher movies? sign me up!!

my jaw actually dropped numerous times whilst reading this. like seriously, DROPPED. on the floor. i wish i could have captured the expressions on my face whilst reading this, but i’ll give you an emoji run-down:

😯🧐😥🫣😮‍💨🤢😧😱🤯☹️😌😏

i really enjoyed the self-aware narrative voice, and how the main character charity actually does all the of things that you yell at horror movie main character to do. it made the reading experience even more enjoyable

i think the gore was well-balanced for a ya horror novel. just the right amount of description to scare you without verging into adult horror level scary

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated

5.0

Icebreaker by Hannah Grace

4.0

1. i love nate but the cover illustration did him dirty
2. what colour was stassie’s hair because i swear it ranged from being called blonde to light brown😭
3. i highlighted in orange every time they said ‘fuck’ — i will update this review when i count it

I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston

3.5

‘i kissed shara wheeler’ had a fascinating premise, riffing off the tropes of many ya books such as ‘paper towns’ — however the execution was a bit messy and confusing, jumping from one event to the next until my head was throughly tired. despite this, i found that CMQ managed to achieve their goal of writing an entertaining and ‘over-the-top high school rom-com’

the narrative voice felt like an attempt at third person limited, as the narrative comments appear to be from chloe’s perspective, yet this is executed with a limited degree of success. it seems as if we are getting direct insight into chloe’s mind through the narrative voice, a direct form of contact with chloe herself. however, i couldn’t resonate with chloe on an emotional level as the use of third person at the same time as this direct form of contact feels clunky and poorly maintained. i have a feeling this book would have been a lot more enjoyable to read it it was in the first person perspective - which isn’t something i say often, as i generally prefer third person variants to first.

besides this structural fault, chloe was just an unlikeable protagonist with an unlikeable love interest, like in many cheesy over-the-top rom-coms.

chloe and shara spend the entire book emotionally manipulating those around them, playing with their hearts with the active intention to destroy each other’s lives, hurting others in the process. i didn’t enjoy that their romance was founded on an academic rivalry which went further than any feud, despite how they state that they never truly hated each other — because they sure as hell acted like they did for the majority of the book. but i can understand the appeal for this form of enemies-to-lovers, as it thankfully doesn’t fall into the bully-romance category (a trope i hate).

overall, this was an enjoyable romance and i would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of suspending their disbelief and enjoy finding the fun amongst chaos  

Small Island by Andrea Levy

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

The Last Children of Tokyo by Yōko Tawada

4.0

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75