nyfrea's reviews
362 reviews

Die Frau in den Dünen by Kōbō Abe

challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

The Trees Grew Because I Bled There: Collected Stories by Eric LaRocca

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

This was my first book by this author and I overall enjoyed my experience with it. Not every single story worked for me, but the ones which did work, impressed me by their ...rawness and depiction of highly complicated human emotions. Sometimes it was very subtle, other times ... not so much. Definitely interesting, but it might be a miss for people who are looking for more well known and loved horror elements (Idk, creepy haunted houses woth ghosts, monsters/chainsaw action, gore and so forth😂).
No, these stories here are much closer to everyday life and deal mostly with topics such as grief and loss.

My list of each story + rating, starting with the highest rating:

• The strange things we become 5/5 --> I've got goosebumps at the end, strongest physical and emotional response
• Bodies are for burning 4,25/5
• The trees grew because I bled there 4/5
• You're not supposed to be here 4/5
• Where flames burned emerald as grass 3,5/5
• You follow wherever they go 3/5
• I'll be gone by then 3/5
• Please leave or I'm going to hurt you 2/5

Cage of Dreams by Rebecca Schaeffer

adventurous dark funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

2.75

Weyward by Emilia Hart

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Out by Natsuo Kirino

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.25

City of Nightmares by Rebecca Schaeffer

adventurous dark funny mysterious fast-paced

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

3.25

I had a good time with this book, although it didn't blow me away. What I liked, though, was the interesting concept and weirdness/absurdity in it. The underlying tone was funny while the world (or city) was dark, crazy and corrupt. Ah, and almost everyone in this city seems to be a maniac of one sort or the other😂 There are also lots of cool monsters, which was fun to read.
The writing style wasn't outstanding in any way, but engaging. This book really was a quick read.
When it comes to the characters I overall liked them, although Ness (the Main prota) was especially in the first half a bit annoying. In the second half I started to like her a bit more and I thought that the dynamics between the different characters was good.
The story (when it finally unfolded) was engaging and entertaining, but for some reason I was a bit disappointed by the end. Well, it's a dilogy, so I'm hopeful, especially when it comes to a certain someone/something^^

Murder Road by Simone St. James

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.75

Utterly boring. Unfortunately, I almost didn't like anything about this book, sorry. At least it was an easy and quick read, I guess🤷‍♀️

The Trials of Empire by Richard Swan

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense 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

4.5

This was indeed a very good and enjoyable trilogy and I'm happy that it was written!
While I gave the first book 5 stars, the last two just got 4.5 stars due to minor disappointments. 
The second book took a bit too long for my taste to set things into motion, but when it did, it was great. The third book on the other hand felt a bit ...rushed? Not really in the first half, that one was fine, but when it comes to all the things going on in the second half (and there was a lot of it), I think that it lacked a bit of depth. It is hard to explain. What I personally would have prefered, namely following certain "groups" (or just plainly all of them) and experiencing their experiences which lead  to more information in general, was simply and unfortunately not possible due to *who* was telling the story. And believe me, while I loved the perspective in the first two books, simply because it was perfectly fitting, made sense and so on, in the third book I felt for the first time that it wasn't enough, the scope of our perspective into this world felt too narrow. In my opinion, that reduced the impact of the story on the reader by ... a bit, a lot? I'm not sure, the potencial is insanely high in my mind 😂
Still, well done! The themes in this series were really my cup of tea^^

The Tyranny of Faith by Richard Swan

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Damn, I really love this series! 

Das verlorene Paradies by Abdulrazak Gurnah

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-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? It's complicated

3.75