Brittanie

I read this by each individual comic, and in the novel form, there were changed made that I'm sure are for the better. It was a decent comic, but a little boring. This is probably only for die-hard fans of the show, rather than the casual reader.

This is a little more academically driven than I wanted - I expected a book more like Mary Roach's books on death - but it was still very interesting, thoroughly researched, and well written. I could see this being used in a classroom setting but it might be a little daunting for the casual reader.

Another great book of interesting lists! Not a lot of references, though, with a few facts I was a little iffy about, but since I would use this for mere entertainment, whatever. And it is highly entertaining.

An interesting book with a paragraph on each person and their death. Some of them don't seem very fact-specific (no last names or dates) but still interesting for those with a leaning towards death and the dying. The chapters are sectioned by types of death and/or people like sports-related, near death experiences, and historical figures with a little background information from the author and their personal relation to the topic. Not the best book of this type (ie. Michael Largo's books) but still worth the time.

This is a compendium of weirdies mostly from England that was really funny and well written. I've enjoyed the other “list” books from Shaw and this was no exception. He has great humour in his writing and it kept me interested cover to cover.

Not what I expected when I ordered it. I was hoping for a list of facts pertaining to “creepy” things, but it's more a joke book of opinions about things the author finds creepy. A lot of the things were mundane items and, while the opinions on each thing were at times humerus, it was not at all what I was looking for.

One of the first books in a long time that I just didn't want to put down. For years I've loved Black's portrayal of faeries in modern American settings (namely her Tithe series [b:Tithe 46777 Tithe (Modern Faerie Tales, #1) Holly Black https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1342120818s/46777.jpg 1460966], and short stories in various anthologies) and this was not disappointing. I fall for her characters almost immediately along with the world they live in. When I finished the last page, I was left a mortal who had tasted the fae's elderflower and honey wine only to wake back up on top of the hill. This has a few clich??s and some tried-and-true story lines (Sleeping Beauty meets every crossroads selling your soul type tragedy) but in a fresh enough voice and with unique characters and portrayal of folklore monsters that you don't think about that until you try to review the book. In her epilogue, Black even lists over a dozen books that she got her information and inspiration from so while nothing in it is particularly new it's still a world woven with golden thread.

It took me a bit to get into this one because I thought it was going to be a lot darker and Conor initially got on my nerves as another whiny child protagonist. However, there's a lot of emotion behind his story and the “monster” was a great way to portray that; it's also a very visual book in both the writing and the enclosed illustrations which is always great with this type of story. While I have no personal experience with cancer or another terminal illness, I really started to feel for the characters and got a bit emotional myself when reaching the climax of the story. My favourite part is probably the illustrations, though. The cover art and the style is what made me pick up this book initially.However, I would say that it's not really for readers like myself that are used to a bit more adult level literary horror. Reading this after finishing the likes of [b:Horns 6587879 Horns Joe Hill https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1400731844s/6587879.jpg 6781405] and [b:The Child Thief 6308379 The Child Thief Brom https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1336347513s/6308379.jpg 6493440], [b:A Monster Calls 8621462 A Monster Calls Patrick Ness https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1387584864s/8621462.jpg 13492114] comes off as a bit juvenile and vapid, but that's probably just me being priggish.

A really well laid out, thrilling sci-fi novel with many surprises. Only problem I had was its ambiguous ending, just waiting for a sequel but also has a feeling like there's never going to be one. This could very well map out our future world.

Some of the stories didn't capture my attention like I hoped they would. I skipped quite a few because they didn't grip me in the first couple of pages. My favourite, and arguably the best of the collection, is the title story - 20th Century Ghosts, the second story in the collection - and I hoped for more like it. Hill is an amazing horror writer but some of these stories were not made to be read back to back, but more in a monthly publication. I'll stick to his longer novels in future.

These stories all center around Halloween, as the title suggests, but while most have horror elements, not all are scary. I was hoping for a lot more supernatural or scary stories. As with a lot of short stories, I found too many to have open endings or just unsatisfying overall. It's a decent collection and some of the stories are definitely worth your time but I had a hard time reading cover to cover.

I was pretty disappointed in this book because I was a big fan of Marr's fae stories but found the tone of this one a little too juvenile for me - the POV of the high school girl that most of the story is told from is vain and obsessive and spoiled, even though she isn't as bad as some of her “friends”. I understand that she's a rich “well bred” girl in a small Southern town but she went on and on about her scars, when they weren't really described in detail so I felt she had to be really over exaggerating and it got boring to hear her mention them to the reader and other characters at least every chapter. We get it, you're slightly disfigured - but plans of hiding from mirrors the rest of her life is just a bit over-dramatic to me.
I just couldn't relate to anyone in the story and figured out who the killer was a little more than half way through, which I hardly ever do. It did get a bit exciting towards the end but that's the point of a climax, so at least that wasn't disappointing.

Overall, a great thriller for teenage readers but I feel I'm a little too old to really enjoy it.

Many of these stories I had read on Tor previously and rated them on Goodreads, but the new stories for this collection were wonderful. “The Soldier Prince” is my favourite of the lot, blending horror and fantasy, and the reimagining of “The Little Mermaid” in the world of Grisha (“When Water Sang Fire”) was great and unexpected. Leigh's writing is poetic and these feel like true folklore tales.

A well-thought-out vampire novel with likeable characters and an exciting plot.
It's set in Mexico City with the main characters being a homeless teen/trash collector, a worn-out beat cop with a knack for killing vampires, and a sole-survivor of one of several species of vampire, many never-before-seen in the vast amount of vampire novels published in the last decade or created by the author herself. This doesn't start out as a typical YA paranormal-romance (though it certainly contains elements). The only problem I had was the unsatisfactory and kind of hurried ending. I really enjoyed the glossary at the end, don't skip that. It made me wish for a sequel but set in another place with different types of subspecies.

Covers all topics of death, focusing on decapitation, from Medieval religious relics and criminals to the Crown piked on London Bridge, to Madame Guillotine's victims of the Revolution and modern shock artists. It's sometimes a bit heavy and academic, with a propensity to repetition, but if you're at all interested in the more gory aspects of history, it's a fascinating read.

I listened to the version read by actor Tom Hiddleston. I think the book itself would have been very boring for me had Hiddleston not read it so brilliantly with different voices and perfect inflection.
If you're not interested in gypsy culture or familiar with events of The French Revolution, it can get a little confusing or uninteresting, but is well written and it seems that Gardner did a fair amount of research while writing. However, because I am both uninterested in gypsy culture and the French Revolution, it dragged a bit for me. Some of the characters seemed out of place or immature as well and no one really gripped me other than Count Kalliovski (but I've always been partial to villains).

This book was amazing. I had seen the unique cover everywhere and finally saw a hardback copy on sale at Barnes and Noble and just had to satisfy my curiosity. I'm so glad I did! This book was amazing and completely unpredictable. Filled with shock and awe as well as just a really good mystery. Totally recommend this! One of my new favourites.

This had a lot of potential to be really horrifying and did have some moments where I held my breath, but it ended up feeling like a dud. Also, it was so short and still could have been half the length with all the filler taken out with a better focus on the creepiness of the situation and not so much about the kids' every day lives.

This is a great collection. Many of the stories have very shocking, unpredictable endings that just leave you gaping at the page when you finish. A few of them move a little slow, but over all, this is a great collection. I would definitely check out more from this author.

Another book I didn't want to put down until I finished. It was very gripping and not like anything I had read before. While it has some flaws (what book doesn't) I absolutely loved it.

I agree with some of the reviews below about Don, Gary, and Rick not really being well developed enough and thrown in there merely to propel the story along. I would have liked to care more about them; I think you have to remember that it was also told from Malorie's POV and so we learn all that Malorie herself would know about them. Also, the ending - while I don't feel it was a cop-out or too sudden - didn't quite have the impact that it should have. I didn't feel what Malorie should have been feeling at finally getting to the compound and more social safety. I felt that this would also mean a whole different bunch of problems for her and her children that only a sequel (not that I want or need one) could explain. I did like how the entire book was told back and forth between flashbacks and present. It made the climax seem more dramatic.

Overall, a real thriller that I will recommend to fans of dystopian literature and/or Joe Hill, as I feel they have similar styles and tones.

I really enjoyed Christina Henry's Alice series and Lost Boy but this one lacked the suspense and action of those books and I had a hard time keeping my focus on it. I wanted to finish it because the premise was interesting and I wanted to see how Amelia would grow or overcome her situation of (literally?) being a fish out of water, but there wasn't any real character development and the last few chapters felt rushed, like Henry herself was bored with the book. I also felt her choice to make Levi near Evangelical out of nowhere in the last chapter really strange - and, honestly, I read most of the book assuming he was Jewish with a name like that and being basically Barnum's solicitor. Overall, just really disappointing.

Got this in my Loot Crate this summer (with a Loot Crate variant cover) and really liked it, though I would have been less interested if I didn't enjoy GotG so much. Nice beginning and I definitely want to read the whole series, but I'll be waiting until the trade comes out.

This was an interesting book, written as a “true story” from Jack's POV posthumously. Jack's opinions got a little on your nerves but he's written to be an insufferable prat so you feel for the people around him. The first half is a bit drawn out of a buildup but once Jack starts doubting and starts writing with what he's actually seeing/feeling, it really kicks off. Really enjoyable and satisfying read.

This book was entertaining but I had a few issues with it. Rogerson seems to be making up her own rules of Faerie instead of sticking with what's pretty well established. For one, you should never thank fae or apologize as they're empty words and can be twisted - the characters in this book say ‘thank you' or ‘sorry' constantly, even the fae. Also the obligatory curtseying by the faeries and the fact that they couldn't create a single thing, even holding a hunk of meat on a stick over fire, or they would DIE was weird and new. However, the lack of true emotion and glamour was more “accurate”. It's hard to argue about what should and shouldn't be done in an imaginary world but to completely go off the path from what's an established baseline was hard for someone who reads so many books based in or on Faerie. Besides that, the obvious and predictable romance following the fish out of water and forbidden love tropes to a tee are a little old. Overall, it was an easy, diverting read.

Wonderful narrative with characters you come to care about. The narrative was a little disjointed, especially when it jumped between narrators, but was easy enough to follow. There were a lot of shocking moments and it was hard to put down. I can't wait to see ths film adaptation!