*Even sadder flute noises*

Well, I've come to the conclusion that I really don't have the time to run this blog. Mostly because I actually have a life now, more than I did when I started. So I'm probably not going to be posting much. I don't like feeling pressured to finish books. If I find a book I feel really strongly about, however, I might review it. Or if I find something really, really cool.

Like this! A search engine to find diverse books! V cool. I'm having a lot of fun with it.

A Thousand Pieces of You

A Thousand Pieces of You

(image from epicreads.com)

Claudia Gray

(Trigger warnings for: Mentioned drug and alcohol use, sex (non-graphic), murder, a lot of water)

Just after his invention of a reality-hopping device, Marguerite's father is murdered. With the help of one of her parent's assistants, Theo, she chases after the man she's convinced killed her father.

The summaries are getting shorter every time I write them, I swear. Also, fun fact! I picked up this book because the title reminded me of that of a fanfiction I like. The more you know.

Sad start to the review, but here goes. I honestly wasn't too interested at first. There were other books to read, and it just wasn't that gripping in the beginning. But... oh my Thoth, once it got good? It got good. The plot heated up outside of some weird revenge-thriller. Not all of it was perfect, but it was mostly pretty great.

I genuinely enjoyed the characters. Even the Love Interest wasn't defined solely by Love Interest-ability (this brings me a weird kind of joy). I don't even know how to describe it. The parents were a little Leave It to Beaver, ruffle your hair type parents, but it didn't really take away from the novel.

Also- ploooottt twiiiiistttsss? I don't think I've read such a twisty novel in a long time. And each twist was pulled off well, with foreshadowing, but not a ridiculous amount of foreshadowing. But (you people are getting so tired of 'but's in my review, huh?) the thing is, it was maybe one twist too many. Getting excited got sort of... boring. And in between twists, it didn't feel as interesting. Which is kind of sad, because they were still good twists.

The universes were great. I mean, I'm not too great (see, there it is again), but 'great' is my version of being one step behind throwing it at people and screaming 'READ IT READ IT READ IT'. The Russia universe seemed kind of like a 'royalty AU' fanfiction at first (it technically was), but once the train scene hit? Ho ho ho, dear reader, it was awesome. [Spoilers of war] But did we need the sex. [Back, spoilers, back]

Okay, I have a question. Is there a sequel? Will there be a sequel? Because the end sort of felt undone. It ended the plot of the story, but there were so many possibilities and outcomes that just need to be addressed in a second book. Or in fanfiction. Heck, the end of the book essentially gave the plot of another! Argh. Now I need to check.

Conclusion: Amazon calls it 'Book One'. So I think we're good.

And, as last paragraphs always are, the romance aspect of things. This entire paragraph is a spoiler, so if you don't want to see it, avert ye virgin eyes. I actually sort of liked the romance. It was a good romance. They both seemed to genuinely like each other, and we weren't slammed with descriptions of Paul every single time she looked at him. It wasn't super sudden either. They had known each other for a while and were friends. The angst over 'Russia Paul is dead' made sense, even if angst isn't my favorite trope in novels.

 So. Good book. Might be a little hard to get into, but worth it once you start.

(Posting on time? Ha. Ha ha ha. Ha. Luckily, I finished a couple books while procrastinating on writing this, so you might get the next one before winter ends.)

 ~Corinne

Sanctum

Sanctum

Madeline Roux

(Trigger Warnings: Pretty much everything. I'm not kidding, I tried to keep track of all of them, but this book hit almost all of the triggers I know. If you have any triggers, stay clear.)

Dan, Abby, and Jordan return to Brookline following a trail left by their previous enemy. Someone's been sending them photographs of a circus, with threatening notes scribbled on the backs. As they follow the clues, they find themselves deeper and deeper in the history of Brookline.

Haha I decided I had three sentences of patience. That's what happens. Okay, onto the review.

I seriously expected some second book syndrome. Even series I love with all my heart, I kind of roll my eyes (or glare, for the Son of Neptune). Plot twist! This book didn't have SBS! Or, in a mild enough form that I chose to ignore it. Either way, that's pretty good.

The characters stayed consistent. I mean, that's kind of like half of SBS. The characters get a wild makeover and suddenly they're just them by name. This makes it easier on me, because I can just redirect you to the first review for my feelings on the characters.

The main problem I had with this book was just the sheer overpowering Dan-ness. He did a lot, which is okay! Cool! That's the great part of a proactive protagonist! But at the same time, he did a lot. He really overshadowed the other two characters.

I loved all the plots/subplots. Horrific horror. (I'm going to admit- I don't read that much horror. It's up to someone else if it was really that scary. I thought it was.) Secret societies? Rad. They're ignored so often for things that aren't actually that scary, like zombies. I mean, secret societies really mess stuff up. And carnival horror, which have boomed for no apparent reason, since there hasn't been an actual carnival boom, totally worked.

One problem with the plot/subplots, though. I was sort of torn between it being a secret society horror or a carnival horror. Or an asylum horror (see paragraph under this one). They were all connected, yeah, but I felt like the connection to the carnival was kind of weak. Like it might simplify the novel a bit more if [Iiiii don't care if the world knows what my spoilers are] the hypnotist's stone [Goodbye, spoiler] had just been moved to a different setting and the carnival been cut off. Say, the [hello, spoilers, my only friend] hypnotist was passing through, sans carnival, and Daniel Crawford I saw him instead of going to the carnival [please wash hands of all spoilers]. I don't know. I might just be being fussy about plot matters.

Okay, I've grown and learned since I read Asylum, the first book. And I've realized something kind of great about this series. Most books relating to mental asylums portray the patients as 'evil, SCARY mentally ill ppl oh no bby so dangerous :'('. Honestly? Mentally ill people aren't scary. The wardens were terrifying. So, I'm really, really glad that there's an asylum horror that doesn't reduce the mentally ill to props. A book that's honest about the history of asylums.

Thanks

(I might as well just make the date for these things the 16th, huh. Also, short review because tttthhhhbbbbpppthbpppppp.)

~Corinne