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ravensandlace's reviews
577 reviews
Title: Bright Futures
Author: Alex McGlothlin
Genre: Fiction
Format: paperback arc
Series: NA
Star Rating: 4 stars
A special thank you goes to Bituminous and Book Publicity Services for providing me with a copy of this book. Please know that this does not influence my rating or thoughts on the book itself.
tw: drug use, theft, bullying, alcohol, kidnapping, murder, gun violence, death, stalking
I’m just going to come out and say it, this was a good book. I read it in one sitting before I had to leave for work. I just had to finish it, I was so hooked. I got very slight Alan Wake vibes, which was fun.. I always enjoy reading about a writer. There's just something about reading about a writer that is so fun to me. It’s like breaking the fourth wall almost.
Normally, I get so annoyed reading about other people’s very solvable problems, but in this book, I wasn’t annoyed at all. Everything just worked. I felt like David was a relatable main character. He reminds me a lot of my youth and my classmates. Most of them didn’t know what they wanted to do after graduation. David mentioned that graduation is about the death of your innocence, and boy, he wasn’t wrong about that. But anyway, David was just a great main character. I truly enjoyed being in his head and watching him try to solve how to be an adult.
One of my favorite things about this book was the story David was working on. We got bits and pieces of it, and it was so well done! It was intriguing, and I wanted more of it. I hope the author releases David’s story because it was so good, and I wanted more.
Overall, everything about this book worked, and I couldn’t be happier about that. It was easy to read. It had a very straightforward plot. It was exactly the kind of book I needed. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I highly recommend it, especially if you enjoy reading books about writers and young adults trying to find their way.
Title: Everything is Tuberculosis
Author: John Green
Genre: Nonfiction
Format: own hardback book
Series: NA
Star Rating: 4 stars
tw: child death, illness, vomit, blood, colonial violence toward native people, war, poverty, experiments on animals, racism, infidelity mentioned
As someone who has an interest in the medical field, I was so excited for this book. I learned quite a bit about tuberculosis. Granted, I didn’t know that much about TB to begin with. I’m just going to list a couple of facts and fun things I noticed while reading this book.
*The fact that you can have TB and it could never activate is mind-boggling. It’s so wild that it can lie dormant forever. Considering I know how bad TB can be. It just truly blows my mind.
* TB has been around for literally thousands of years. It's considered the oldest contagious disease according to Guinness World Records. That truly blew my mind as well. I didn’t think it had been around so long.
* Between 1985 and 2005, roughly as many people died of TB as in WWI and WWII combined. So basically this means that the death toll for TB is just as much as WWI, which was 37 million (military and civilian), and WWII, which was 15 million (military deaths).
* While this isn’t a fun fact, I learned that John Green has similar OCD to me, which is a fear of getting sick or contaminated. It was nice to learn that and not feel so alone.
Overall, this was a great book. It was so interesting to learn about TB and how prevalent it still is. It's such s shame because, for the most part, it’s treatable, but the government either won’t or can’t spend the money to treat it. But I highly recommend this book if you are interested in TB.
Title: Blood On Her Tongue
Author: Johanna van Veen
Genre: Horror
Format: eARC
Series: NA
Star Rating: 3.5 stars
A special thank you goes to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing me with a copy of this book. Please know that this does not influence my rating or thoughts on the book itself.
tw: sickness, death of a loved one, body horror/gore, the stigmatization of the mentally ill, misogyny, sexual abuse, domestic abuse, cheating, and toxic codependent relationships.
*These trigger warnings are located in the book as well. This author also took the time to get sensitivity readers for the mental illness aspect of the book. We stan a queen who cares about mental health rep!
When I started this book, I thought it was going to be like a typical possession horror story, but it ended up being way different then I thought it was going to be. While I did enjoy it, it wasn’t my absolute favorite, and I had a slight problem with the pacing of the book, which I’ll talk about later.
One of the best things about this book, though, was the body horror. This had some of the best body horror I’ve ever read about. It’s right up there with Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It had disgusting eye injuries, very grotesque descriptions of injuries and the body, and more. I was so grossed out, but I was also living for it. Just be mindful if you are squeamish. This book does not hold anything back.
I can’t quite put my finger on why I wasn’t more in love with this book. I think I didn’t love it because it wasn’t quite the typical possession book. Which, normally, I would enjoy, but I think it was the pacing. There was a very dramatic event that happened in the middle, and then it was very slow up until the very end. It just seemed off to me.
I think my other problem was that I was mad I didn’t quite guess the twist, although I’m not sure if there truly was a twist. There was mention of a particular unusual mental illness, and once it was mentioned, I’m like, oh that totally makes sense! But then the book made you think something completely different, and I’m still unsure what the ending was truly about.
Overall, this was a good book, I just think it suffered from pacing issues a little bit. I was a little annoyed with the way the twist was handled. But it redeemed itself with the excellent body horror, and I’m glad I ended up getting a copy. I think I’ll reread it again and see if my opinion changes.
Title: Tress of the Emerald Sea
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Genre: YA Fantasy
Format: paperback library
Series: The Cosmere (#28)
Star Rating: 3 stars
tw: poisoning, imprisonment, blood, assault, gun violence
Normally, I take quite a lot of notes whenever I read a book. I read a lot of books, so keeping notes is critical for me so I don’t forget when I write my reviews, as I often write my reviews weeks and even months later. With this particular book, I took exactly three notes. It wasn’t that the book was bad; I just didn’t have a lot of thoughts.
One of the things that prevented me from fully enjoying the book was that I felt that you had to have read a lot more of his books to understand what was going on. I have only read the first three books in the Mistborn series, and that’s it. Some of the things in this book, like the narrator himself, made it seem like I needed to know more. When I talked to my book club group, it was confirmed that some of the characters in this book have been in other books and have backstories. So it would make sense that I needed to read more of the Cosmere to understand things a bit better.
Other than that, the book was alright. I always enjoy a book that takes place on the sea. I don’t read enough of those to be honest. The concept of the spores was neat. I would love to have more books about that. The main character, Tress, was good. I enjoyed her, although I felt she was just a little too perfect. She felt a little too unrealistic. Overall, I suppose I would recommend this book, but only if you are a huge Brandon Sanderson fan and have read more books than I have.
Title: Mayra
Author: Nicky Gonzalez
Genre: Horror
Format: eARC
Series: NA
Star Rating: 3.5 stars
A special thank you goes to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for providing me with a copy of this book. Please know that this does not influence my rating or thoughts on the book itself.
tw: underage smoking, infidelity, drugs (weed), drugging of animals, death
This book was not what I expected, and I’m kind of disappointed with it. I expected a lot more from it. The ending threw me off, and it did not fit with what the book was about. It just went in such a wildly different direction. It let you believe it was about one thing, and then it turned around and it was about something else entirely. While there were a lot of positives to this book, overall, it was the ending that disappointed me and brought the rating down a lot.
I’ll start with the positives because there are some positives to the book. Ingrid was a great main character, and I enjoyed how complex she was. Her anxiety was done so well, and it was some of the best I’ve seen. The descriptions of anxiety and how it feels were so spot on to how I feel with anxiety. I also enjoyed the flashbacks of the friendship between Ingrid and Mayra throughout the years. It reminded me of my time in high school. It was my favorite part of the book. When the friends you had weren’t always the greatest, but they were yours through it all. Oh, and I would be remiss if I didn't add Ingrid’s bisexuality. A girl after my own heart.
The real downer of this book was the ending, as I have mentioned above. It went in such a wild direction. The book had taken its time with the pacing. It was incredibly slow, but it had taken its time, building up to something. But something that happened was so weird. It wasn’t what I expected, and I was really let down. While working on this review, I read the synopsis, and I guess it did what it was supposed to, but I don’t know. The book itself built up to something different then what the synopsis said.
Overall, despite the ending, this was a good book, and I enjoyed my time while reading it. It had excellent bisexual and anxiety rep. It will take you back to the time of high school as you remember the good times and the bad times with friends who may or may not have been your friends. But overall, this book was good and creepy. I still recommend it, even if the ending was not for me.
Title: Sunrise on the Reaping
Author: Suzanne Collins
Genre: YA Dystopian
Format: own hardback book
Series: The Hunger Games (#0.5)
Star Rating: 5 stars
tw: parental loss, murder, blood, loss of infants, animal abuse, poisoning, animal death, assault, drugging, arson
Yet another book that has destroyed me, and I have no idea how to even begin to write this review. I truly struggle with writing about books I love because words just escape me. I know we all wanted Haymitch’s games, but at what cost? The cost of our sanity? Our joy? Ever since I finished this book, my heart has been breaking, and I keep thinking about poor Haymitch and everything he went through. I'm pretty sure this book put me in a huge slump. It took at least three Danielle Steel books just to get over the slump.
So the book is about Haymitch and how he won his games. While I know Haymitch went through some shit, to put it lightly, I didn’t realize just how much he truly went through and just how much he lost. I know that every Victor loses something in the Games, but that man seems to have lost every single thing. Between the Games and after, I was a sobbing mess.
I enjoyed seeing some familiar cast of characters. While the situations they were in sucked, it was nice to see some familiar faces. I also appreciated that we got some answers. I had some questions about a few characters and what had happened to them, so it was nice to get some things answered.
Overall, I don't have much to say, but this book ruined me in the best way. I still think about it quite a bit. Words cannot express how much this series means to me. I will forever cherish this book and this series. It’s a book and a series that everyone should read.
Title: The Hunger Games
Author: Suzanne Collins
Genre: YA Dystopian
Format: own paperback book
Series: The Hunger Games (#1)
Star Rating: 5 stars
tw: parental loss, poverty, starvation, extreme grief, child abuse and neglect, murder, whipping, blood, injury
I’m just going to add to my original review. So this one won’t be as long as I’ve said all I’ve needed to say in the previous review. I’m just going to list the things I love about this book and some things I noticed in this reread.
I've always loved the bond between Katniss and Prim. I would do anything for my siblings, just like Katniss.
I’m absorbing so much more in this reread than in others. I’m actively paying attention to all the details. It’s wild how, every reread, you find something new in a book.
I can’t imagine having to think that every action someone does to you is either selfish or for personal gain and not simply because they are doing it out the goodness of their heart. The amount of paranoia must be exhausting.
I have never been more in love with this series than I am right now. This was the perfect time to read this series especially considering today’s political climate. I’m glad we have these books as a reminder.
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I am so excited that this book is on Kindle Unlimited! I had been wanting to read this series again for forever, especially when the movies came out. It's one of my favorite series in the world after Harry Potter . I don't think any series will be able to top them.
So onto the actual review. I absolutely loved this concept. This dystopian society that sacrifices kids. Dear God, that sounds awful. Okay, lemme rephrase. I do not like the fact that children were sacrificed in an arena where people bet on who would live and who would die. I liked how original the concept was. (Okay, well I have to take that back, too. Stephen King actually wrote a book/graphic novel similar to this. He wrote it before The Hunger Games so I guess it's not super original....ANYWAY).
I adored Katniss. She had to grow up so fast, it broke my heart. She lives in District 12, which is basically the worst district. They are a coal mining district. It's totally unsafe and people starve and it's just not a good time. Katniss has learned to survive and keep her family alive by hunting (which is crazy illegal btw).
It's the 74th Hunger Games. Basically what this means is every year, each districts (there are 12) have to send one boy and one girl to the Capitol so compete in a bloody free for all deathmatch. They have to do this because of the rebels that tried to attack the Capitol. This was the punishment.
Katniss volunteers as tribute. A boy named Peeta is chosen as a tribute as well. I won't go into all the details but it's a fight for survival in the Hunger Games. And Katniss discovers that there is more to trying to survive.
I just can't express how much I love this series. The first book really sets the tone for some pretty intense action. I also love that it is in first person through the eyes of Katniss. She sees things in black and white. There is no grey area with her. And I love that. It's highly refreshing to see a smart and strong female character. I also love that she has emotions as much as she hates showing them. She slowly understands that it's completely okay to show emotion. I think that is something that we all can learn.
Author: Suzanne Collins
Genre: YA Dystopian
Format: own paperback book
Series: The Hunger Games (#1)
Star Rating: 5 stars
tw: parental loss, poverty, starvation, extreme grief, child abuse and neglect, murder, whipping, blood, injury
I’m just going to add to my original review. So this one won’t be as long as I’ve said all I’ve needed to say in the previous review. I’m just going to list the things I love about this book and some things I noticed in this reread.
I've always loved the bond between Katniss and Prim. I would do anything for my siblings, just like Katniss.
I’m absorbing so much more in this reread than in others. I’m actively paying attention to all the details. It’s wild how, every reread, you find something new in a book.
I can’t imagine having to think that every action someone does to you is either selfish or for personal gain and not simply because they are doing it out the goodness of their heart. The amount of paranoia must be exhausting.
I have never been more in love with this series than I am right now. This was the perfect time to read this series especially considering today’s political climate. I’m glad we have these books as a reminder.
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I am so excited that this book is on Kindle Unlimited! I had been wanting to read this series again for forever, especially when the movies came out. It's one of my favorite series in the world after Harry Potter . I don't think any series will be able to top them.
So onto the actual review. I absolutely loved this concept. This dystopian society that sacrifices kids. Dear God, that sounds awful. Okay, lemme rephrase. I do not like the fact that children were sacrificed in an arena where people bet on who would live and who would die. I liked how original the concept was. (Okay, well I have to take that back, too. Stephen King actually wrote a book/graphic novel similar to this. He wrote it before The Hunger Games so I guess it's not super original....ANYWAY).
I adored Katniss. She had to grow up so fast, it broke my heart. She lives in District 12, which is basically the worst district. They are a coal mining district. It's totally unsafe and people starve and it's just not a good time. Katniss has learned to survive and keep her family alive by hunting (which is crazy illegal btw).
It's the 74th Hunger Games. Basically what this means is every year, each districts (there are 12) have to send one boy and one girl to the Capitol so compete in a bloody free for all deathmatch. They have to do this because of the rebels that tried to attack the Capitol. This was the punishment.
Katniss volunteers as tribute. A boy named Peeta is chosen as a tribute as well. I won't go into all the details but it's a fight for survival in the Hunger Games. And Katniss discovers that there is more to trying to survive.
I just can't express how much I love this series. The first book really sets the tone for some pretty intense action. I also love that it is in first person through the eyes of Katniss. She sees things in black and white. There is no grey area with her. And I love that. It's highly refreshing to see a smart and strong female character. I also love that she has emotions as much as she hates showing them. She slowly understands that it's completely okay to show emotion. I think that is something that we all can learn.
Title: We Used to Live Here
Author: Marcus Kliewer
Genre: Horror
Format: hardback library book
Series: NA
Star Rating: 4 stars
tw: hunting, animal found in poor condition, freezing to death, homophobia, stabbing, parental death, assault on a dog, murder, blood
If you only read one horror book, you need to read this one. This book was so damn good! It had horror. It had a psychological aspect. It had the creep factor. It had everything. I promise it’s not too scary, so this would be the book for anyone who wants to dip their toes in horror. But for real, I cannot get over how great this book was. It was everything I needed in a horror book and then some.
Eve was a great main character. I saw so much of myself in her. She had anxiety and was a people pleaser, like I am. There were times when I just wanted to shake her and tell her to get it together, but because she was just like me, I was a little more understanding. You didn’t realize she was slowly losing it until it was too late. You get sucked into it with her. I truly enjoyed being in her headspace. She was just amazing, and I believed everything she said.
Thanks to my psychology degree, I was able to guess the twist. It also helped that I had just recently read an article about the twist. It wasn’t about the book, but just something that is related to the twist. If you know about rare psychological diagnoses, you might be able to guess too. Although the book works very hard to keep you guessing. Even until the very end, I was second-guessing myself, and I wasn’t sure if I had truly guessed what was happening.
Overall, I enjoyed this book quite a bit, and I can’t wait to own my own copy of this amazing book. I still think about it a lot, even though I read it months ago. It was just the perfect introduction to my horror journey. I can't wait to see what else this author has up their sleeve.
Title: The September House
Author: Carissa Orlando
Genre: Horror
Format: hardback library book
Series: NA
Star Rating: 4.5 stars
tw: death, blood, ghosts, wounds, dead birds, burnings, alcoholism, abusive/toxic relationship, child abuse, drugging, missing children, death/murder of children, body horror, mental illness resulting in hospitalization
This was such a wild book. The main character, Margaret, was so surprisingly chill about how her walls were just bleeding. Like, I would freak the heck out if my walls started bleeding, but she was just so chill. I know that’s such a weird thing to start a review with, but this fact has stuck with me throughout the whole book, and I think about it a lot. Your walls are bleeding, and you’re just like, eh, oh well. The fact that the book started with that, too, is what sold me.
While writing this review, I noticed that I guessed the twist and didn’t even realize it. I had put it in my notes and then thought nothing of it for the rest of the book. That didn’t hinder my enjoyment of the book at all. I enjoy being proven right. I guess in a way it seemed kind of obvious, but maybe that’s because I’ve watched so many horror movies and games.
Besides being a horror book, this book had some pretty tough family dynamics. When houses are haunted, they feed off that discord, so I’m not surprised that Margaret’s house was so haunted. Margaret’s daughter, Katherine, had so much anger at her childhood with an alcoholic dad. She treated her mom so horribly because of it. Which, to an extent, I understood, but at the same time, it grated on me quite a bit. But then again, I’ve never had to deal with alcoholism, so I am in no position to judge Katherine and the way she directed her anger.
The only reason I gave this book 4.5 stars instead of a full five was the ending. Without spoiling anything, the ending didn’t fit the way the whole book was. It was too happy. Normally, I don’t mind a happy ending with a horror book, but I felt this one would have been better off with a bit of a rougher ending.
Overall, this was a good book! I enjoyed it quite a bit. The haunted house trope is one of my favorites in horror, so I knew I would enjoy this book quite a bit. So if you like haunted house tropes in your horror books, then this is the book for you! Just don’t mind the bloody walls.
Title: Death’s Obsession
Author: Avina St. Graves
Genre: Dark Romance
Format: ebook
Series: NA
Star Rating: 5 stars
tw: stalking, death, dubcon, anal, double penetration, impact play, breath control, mental illness, emotionally and physically abusive romantic relationship (not with MMC), prescription drug use, alcohol and drug abuse, sibling death, parent death, cancer (off screen), PTSD, depression, anxiety, hallucinations, dissociation, traumatic events, suicidal ideation, attempted suicide (off screen), recording of sexual intercourse without consent, depiction of a violent car crash
*these trigger warnings can be found in the front of the book
So I originally was reading this book for a friend. They wanted to know if this would be considered too dark for them. I was taking great notes and everything and then I got sucked ino the story and completely forgot my mission. Which happens a lot. Just like the title, I was so obsessed with this book.
This was one of the most beautiful and profound books I’ve ever read. This book explored grief and survivor's guilt in a fantastic way. My heart bled for Lilith and how much she struggled with life after losing her loved ones. I just wanted her to be okay. While I’ve never had to deal with survivor's guilt, I have dealt with my fair share of grief. Both were done so well, and I appreciated how, even though Liltih was struggling, she had good days. Grief is linear. Some days you have good days, and sometimes you have bad days.
Letum is right up there with Diesel as a great book boyfriend. He went a little overboard with the stalking and making Lilith lose her mind a bit, but I easily forgave him. He truly wanted to help Lilith heal. Who can fault him for that. I know I can’t. I have no idea what that says about me as a person, but truthfully, I’m fine living in my delusional world in which I’m okay with fictional men stalking women.
I really loved the spicy scenes, even though I’m going to complain we didn’t get enough. I am a greedy girl, though, and I want all the spicy scenes. But I felt that they were more than spicy scenes. They felt like they were healing for Lilith. I felt like every encounter helped to heal a little bit. It made my heart so happy to know she was healing. I truly felt like Lilith was my friend. I felt connected to her in a way I don’t often do with main characters.
Overall, this was a great book, as you all might have been able to guess from my glowing review! It was my first five star read of 2025, and hopefully, it will set off the year to be a great one in terms of reading. I can’t wait to read more books by this author, and I highly recommend this book.