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icanreadish's reviews
275 reviews
Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte
4.0
kinda got lost in its own sauce towards the end but the first couple of stories had me cackling
very gross. give me more
very gross. give me more
Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu
4.0
did i understand what was happening all the time? no. then again, neither did the characters.
this reads like something you'd have for a roundtable grad-level discussion in a film studies or history stuff. full of interesting bits with a unique and fun style - and oh my god, something to say
this reads like something you'd have for a roundtable grad-level discussion in a film studies or history stuff. full of interesting bits with a unique and fun style - and oh my god, something to say
Tunnel of Bones by V.E. Schwab
Did not finish book. Stopped at 14%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 14%.
cleaning off desk; love the premise and set-up. may return to in fall.
Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil by Ananda Lima
Did not finish book. Stopped at 5%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 5%.
cleaning off desk ; interesting premise, not a fan of the writing style.
Words of Christ in Red by Robbie Dorman
3.75
As a lesbian who grew up in a Georgia Baptist church, Robbie Dorman could've been writing pieces of my biography in Words in Christ in Red. Brutal and brilliant, Dorman's triggered a lot of deep-seated fears religious gays have when considering the hate of neighbors. Has there ever been a more sympathetic character than Tommy?
Set in a backdrop of a southern small town, gay preacher David arrives with the mindset he's attending to a progressively religious church. From the start, though, members of the community reveal they have a violent hatred of queerness. David and his husband, Jason, are thrown into a blood soaked culture war led by Eli Parsons who, backed by the local cops, waves his bible over everyone with self-righteous fury.
There's a lot to love and appreciate here. Eli isn't sympathetic at all and his bigotry is Very There. He doesn't even toy with the notion of redemption, and he's so very, very evil. David is a fine enough protagonist and also harbors his own violent impulses, and it's a lot of fun when he lets them show through the pages. (Love a fist-fighting preacher, ok. More of that.)
Overall it's a quick, captivating read that's both horrifying and thrilling. There are some negatives - the abuse of commas, the sort of blandness between David and Jason, the lack of input from villains outside of Eli and the Sheriff, etc. I wish the southern gothic vibe was captured more clearly through settings (small churches can have like, 15 people but the most beautiful chapels you've ever seen), and I would've liked more use of religious iconography outside of the Jesus suffering on a cross (Listen - I love a crucifixion as much as anyone, and I can see why it came back so many times; but growing up stained glass windows could show so many biblical scenes and would've been equally as powerful, while still offering a sense of diversity).
A good pick for horror or gay book clubs. Thanks to Netgalley and Robbie Dorman for the advanced reader copy.
Set in a backdrop of a southern small town, gay preacher David arrives with the mindset he's attending to a progressively religious church. From the start, though, members of the community reveal they have a violent hatred of queerness. David and his husband, Jason, are thrown into a blood soaked culture war led by Eli Parsons who, backed by the local cops, waves his bible over everyone with self-righteous fury.
There's a lot to love and appreciate here. Eli isn't sympathetic at all and his bigotry is Very There. He doesn't even toy with the notion of redemption, and he's so very, very evil. David is a fine enough protagonist and also harbors his own violent impulses, and it's a lot of fun when he lets them show through the pages. (Love a fist-fighting preacher, ok. More of that.)
Overall it's a quick, captivating read that's both horrifying and thrilling. There are some negatives - the abuse of commas, the sort of blandness between David and Jason, the lack of input from villains outside of Eli and the Sheriff, etc. I wish the southern gothic vibe was captured more clearly through settings (small churches can have like, 15 people but the most beautiful chapels you've ever seen), and I would've liked more use of religious iconography outside of the Jesus suffering on a cross (Listen - I love a crucifixion as much as anyone, and I can see why it came back so many times; but growing up stained glass windows could show so many biblical scenes and would've been equally as powerful, while still offering a sense of diversity).
A good pick for horror or gay book clubs. Thanks to Netgalley and Robbie Dorman for the advanced reader copy.
Strange Houses by Uketsu
2.0
Strange Houses is an intersection between the horror I want (formatted transcripts, a 'found footage' vibe) and being the horror I hate (a 'thriller' described as horror, a show vs. tell approach). The result is just sort of meh.
Incredibly dry with little suspense, Strange Houses follow a writer and his friend's paranoid deductions about a house and the hypothetical murders which could've taken place based on the strange blueprints. It's a lot of paranoia, a lot of fanfiction-ication that I can't decide whether or not I'm supposed to take seriously, and a lot of delusion. It could've been fun if it was self aware - like if the characters knew they were being a bit wacky theorizing all the possible bloody nightmares which could've taken place within these strange buildings' homes, but the fantasy gives way to something more realistic, depressing, and nearly banal.
There's a lot of characters talking in this book - which is to be expected, since it relies mostly on transcripts of conversations and letters - but without a feeling of suspense or any descriptions giving us a certain aura, it's difficult to capture the atmosphere of the characters' world. There's a lot of heavy lifting on behalf of the reader to make this a horror.
It's not bad. This book is definitely for fans of Japanese fiction, specifically thrillers, but it lacked a lot of flavor for me. It felt like reading the script of a podcast I would've given up on halfway through and I'm never a fan ofsurprise incest
Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced reader copy.
Incredibly dry with little suspense, Strange Houses follow a writer and his friend's paranoid deductions about a house and the hypothetical murders which could've taken place based on the strange blueprints. It's a lot of paranoia, a lot of fanfiction-ication that I can't decide whether or not I'm supposed to take seriously, and a lot of delusion. It could've been fun if it was self aware - like if the characters knew they were being a bit wacky theorizing all the possible bloody nightmares which could've taken place within these strange buildings' homes, but the fantasy gives way to something more realistic, depressing, and nearly banal.
There's a lot of characters talking in this book - which is to be expected, since it relies mostly on transcripts of conversations and letters - but without a feeling of suspense or any descriptions giving us a certain aura, it's difficult to capture the atmosphere of the characters' world. There's a lot of heavy lifting on behalf of the reader to make this a horror.
It's not bad. This book is definitely for fans of Japanese fiction, specifically thrillers, but it lacked a lot of flavor for me. It felt like reading the script of a podcast I would've given up on halfway through and I'm never a fan of
Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced reader copy.
The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling
4.5
god. gorgeous, delirious, wild & rabid. disgusting - give me more. no one does atmosphere like caitlin starling, and she is at her best in this sweltering, suffocating castle. the characters are stunning, each with their individual goals and personalities, and the cast of villains are richly sinister. the plot and pace is simply delirious - i was just as confused as the characters, but not in a way which felt like i was missing something vital - and the flow is beautiful. i want to devour this book whole. i think it would be just as beautiful and enriching in a second read.
this will hit tumblr like a bong rip. thanks to netgalley for the advanced reader copy
this will hit tumblr like a bong rip. thanks to netgalley for the advanced reader copy
Their Monstrous Hearts by Yigit Turhan
3.0
Okay - so this wasn't awful. I did struggle to read through this and often stopped and started over the course of about two months. Their Monstrous Hearts is a slowwwww burn, with a very intriguing beginning, a rough and grating middle, but a beautiful end. The premise is heavily gothic, a splash of fantasy, and a taste of horror.
Here, we follow an author bogged down with writer's block and a deadline. He's broke, his apartment's a mess, his life is a ruin. A stranger appears with a golden ticket, and he goes back to an ancestral villa where he discovers what appears to be his grandmother's manuscript. There's butterflies, dead gardens, and a family mystery.
Solid chunks of the middle are the grandmother's manuscript/diary/thing. It's brutal to wade through and often comes across as padding, so I wish we could've gotten a solid edit to cut through and really shape up the story around this. I didn't jive well with the author's writing style and really didn't like the appearance of the pages - solid, huge, chunky paragraphs.
The last 20% or so was wild, the first 15% an intriguing introduction, and I loveeeee the presence of butterflies in a horror - so unique!!!!! - so I appreciate those aspects, but getting there was a challenge. thanks to netgalley for the advanced reader copy
Here, we follow an author bogged down with writer's block and a deadline. He's broke, his apartment's a mess, his life is a ruin. A stranger appears with a golden ticket, and he goes back to an ancestral villa where he discovers what appears to be his grandmother's manuscript. There's butterflies, dead gardens, and a family mystery.
Solid chunks of the middle are the grandmother's manuscript/diary/thing. It's brutal to wade through and often comes across as padding, so I wish we could've gotten a solid edit to cut through and really shape up the story around this. I didn't jive well with the author's writing style and really didn't like the appearance of the pages - solid, huge, chunky paragraphs.
The last 20% or so was wild, the first 15% an intriguing introduction, and I loveeeee the presence of butterflies in a horror - so unique!!!!! - so I appreciate those aspects, but getting there was a challenge. thanks to netgalley for the advanced reader copy
The Feeling of Falling in Love by Mason Deaver
3.0
a cute enough YA romcom, though bloated with too much dialogue ( did we really need a whole walkthrough of an uno game? )
i like it when i read YA and know i've definitely aged out of the category 🎉
i like it when i read YA and know i've definitely aged out of the category 🎉