xangemtheelibrarian's reviews
985 reviews

Kin: Rooted in Hope by Carole Boston Weatherford

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

5.0

The author wrote in her note at the end that she hoped to honor her ancestors in telling their stories through the poems she wrote as she learned to listen to them. 

She did a beautiful job. She brought each one of her found ancestors to life, each one speaking to us through her poems. This is a portrait of a family that was stolen from their home, enslaved, and despite the hardships, they rose up and became the founders of a town. This family's strength and resilience is something to be looked up to. 
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Once You're Mine by Morgan Bridges

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

5.0

I am dead. Deceased. Was not expecting to learn about myself today. That chase scene though. Y'all. 

As far as the writing style goes, there were a few awkward phrasings, but overall, it is very well written. Hayden is the stuff of fantasy. Calista is a bit of a Mary Sue with honestly some very understandable trust issues and a tragic backstory. And the ending is a cliffhanger worthy of the season finale of a TV Show. 

As far as the romance dynamics go, you've got some nonconsensual stalking and voyeurism. You have themes of obsession and "protection" via control and manipulation. Lots of tension. Hayden throws a lot of primal lines out there, and is extremely possessive. Calista, rightfully, challenges his desire to lock her in a cage throughout the entire story and I love her for it. 

Obviously thier relationship isn't healthy. Obviously it's problematic. But dark romance doesn't exist as a genre because of the wholesome vibes. I will be reading the sequel to this one, and I'm really interested to see how the issues presented in this book get resolved.
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Heal the Witch Wound by Celeste Larsen

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emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

I felt like the first two sections of this book were a little redundant. The author covers the same information over and over again, and seems to write a little defensively when including men and those outside the gender binary in Divine Feminine energy and when she discussed topics like menstruation. 

Outside of those issues, I found this book eye-opening. A lot of the emotional wounds she discusses are things I've felt and thought about myself. The lack of confidence. The fear of being true to myself. Things that, regardless of your belief in witches or not, hit most fem peeps in a masculine-dominated society.
Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw

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

4.5

Cassandra Khaw is not for the squeamish, that's for sure. This is the second book I've read by her. While I like The Salt Grows Heavy more because of its fantasy elements, I find I like how both books deal with this darker theme of love. Both feature protagonists that are dead set on keeping the person they love. I like how Khaw weaves tension into the very pages of her books: a slow descent into madness, so slowly weaving around you that you barely notice until suddenly you're choking on the supernatural cords tangled around your neck like a noose. 
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Sacred Earth, Sacred Soul: Celtic Wisdom for Reawakening to What Our Souls Know and Healing the World by John Philip Newell

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informative inspiring fast-paced

4.5

Returning to a sense of the inherent sacredness of the world around me was something I was craving without realizing I was craving it. As far as Christianity goes, this feels much more humane. I appreciate the distinction between Celtic Christianity (which enfolds Druidic wisdom into it) and Roman Imperial Christianity (the main school of Christianity we see today). As far as unlearning toxic religious ideas go, this was a good direction for me.
War by Laura Thalassa

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dark emotional 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

5.0

Yep yep yep. A sequel that lives up to book 1. It's been a bit since I'd read Pestilence, so I forgot about that delicious tension woven into these stories but I LIVE FOR IT. Break the characters' hearts. I adore it. 

A minor little spoiler though, that deus ex machina War pulled at the very end pulled me out of the story, but I am willing to forgive it for the ending we got. 
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All These Sunken Souls by Circe Moskowitz

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dark mysterious reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

Overall a fantastic anthology with a lot of excellent authors 

"Lights" by Kalynn Bayron
  • 5/5 ⭐
  • Literally one of my top 3 authors at this moment in time. This was such a stunning opening to this anthology. 
"Be Not Afraid" by Ashia Monet
  • 4.5/5 ⭐
  • This was such a unique concept! The way the main character here watches everything happening around her with detached interest, like a kid watching ants work, completed the atmosphere here.
"All My Best Friends Are Dead" by Liselle Sambury
  • 4.5/5 ⭐
  • Another absolutely incredible author with another absolutely incredible story. I had sort of managed to guess what happened to our MC, but the ENDING. Wow. 
"The Teeth Come Out At Night" by Sami Ellis
  • 3/5⭐
  • This is one of the two stories I had the most difficult time understanding. Mostly because I felt like I hadn't been given any answers at all by the end of the story. I still don't know what that thing was and I don't know why the teeth kept changing. This story in particular did have the creepiest buildup of dread though. 
"I Love Your Eyes" by Joel Rochester
  • 5/5 ⭐
  • THIS. Is everything I love about gothic horror. The mansion setting. The steady unfurling of all secrets, revealing every character's rotting core. The final bid for victory. 
"The Consumption of Vienna Montrose" by Joelle Wellington
  • 2/5 ⭐
  • Eugghhhhhhh she fucked the house. She. FUCKED. the. HOUSE. I was not expecting that in a YA Horror Anthology so it just really caught me off guard 
"The Landscape of Broken Things" by Brent Lambert
  • 4.5/5⭐
  • Ohhhh I liked this one a LOT! The concept was very interesting and fresh. I enjoyed learning more about the mystery behind why the psychics couldn't see the future anymore.
"Mother, Daughter, and the Devil" by Donyae Coles
  • 4/5 ⭐
  • This exploration of the trauma passed down to us is rife with imagery. Whether it be the teeth, the smell, the crime, the revenge... All of it is vividly written in this story 
"Papa Pearlie" by Ryan Douglass
  • 3/5 ⭐
  • Look. Dolls are creepy AF. But I am so disappointed in the MC here. Zeke did himself and his sister dirty. 
"No Harm Done" by Circe Moskowitz
  • 4/5 ⭐
  • Truly I did not see this plot coming. I was fully prepared for a doppelganger situation, and well... I sort of got it I guess! That family is absolutely nuts.
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There's No Way I'd Die First by Lisa Springer

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challenging dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

This was... vaguely disappointing.
They had a chance to kill the clown right in the middle of the book, but instead of offing him, they spent all their time trying to find which of his fingers matched the biometric lock on the front door.
After a big moment in the middle of the book, I lost all desire to root for them when they made the most awful decision they could have. At that point, I started rooting for the clown.

There's some interesting, darkly creative ways the clown kills these teenagers. The message that all of these teens were getting away with unethical things because they had money. But the clown wasn't any better once his motivations were revealed. In this story, everyone sucks. 
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Before the Devil Knows You're Here by Autumn Krause

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

5.0

This book is a lovely little tribute to fables and fairytales where beautiful things can hide the ugliest parts of us all. It serves as a reminder that the beauty of being lost means that you can be found again. That the darkness and pain of life is what makes those glimmers and joys even brighter. Catalina, our main character, is a poet, and this read poetic to me. 

Readalikes:
- The Little Snake by AL Kennedy
- The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw
- The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi 
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Off Limits by J.A. Low

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 73%.
Just got boring after they got together. There wasn't any tension anymore except with the other girls' side plots.