morganmay's reviews
102 reviews

You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi

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emotional funny inspiring sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed this! Which is saying a lot bc I am NOT a romance girlie. Definitely a beautiful depiction of finding love after grief. 
They Never Learn by Layne Fargo

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

4.5

4.5 stars!!! I love women!!! I love feminine rage!!! Also was genuinely so surprised by some of the events which kept me on my toes! Will definitely be seeking out Layne’s other works. 
Glass by Ellen Hopkins

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

3.0

This was okay. Definitely stand by it being so compelling and interesting when I was a teen, but as an adult there’s kind of a lot of homophobia and also it does NOT seem to be written by someone who has actually experienced addiction, just someone who has watched someone else have one. 
Crank by Ellen Hopkins

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

3.5

3.5 stars. I was obsessed with this series in 10th grade, and I’m excited to see how it holds up. This was great, but I kind of wish there was more??? It’s a super easy read though which is great bc I’ve been in a reading slump. 
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

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dark hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

This is truly so validating to anyone who had dealt with grief and it is so beautiful. Thank you for sharing, Michelle. 
The Skin and Its Girl by Sarah Cypher

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 39%.
I feel like I’m 40% through and nothing has really happened yet? So I’m DNFing 
Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology by Shane Hawk, Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.

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slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

3.5 stars. Honestly this put me in a reading slump. Some of the stories were really interesting, but others just fell flat for me. Maybe I’m just not a short stories girlie. 
Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

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

4.0

Honestly this one was better than I remember 
Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin

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challenging dark sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

This book has every trigger warning you can possible think of. 

I wanted to like this so badly. But I cannot in anyway recommend this to anyone I know. I could write my own book about all of the things I felt were completely unnecessary in this book. I am a horror fan, but I don’t understand this genre of horror that is all shock factor. Why would I (or anyone) want to read 300 of just the worst thoughts you think anyone has ever thought, with little breaks for r*pe scenes OR sometimes (rarely) fully consensual sexy scenes out of NOWHERE. 
I didn’t care about any of the characters and I really wanted to!! I thought this was going to be a book where I would leave being like “hell yeah, I love (trans) women and I love when they are bad bitches who get shit done!!” And instead it was 300 pages of a group of people who are already constantly under threat, just being even more traumatized every day AND having to read these horrible thoughts the main villains are having about them. (Or horrible thoughts they’re having about each other) 
Idk. I never leave long reviews like this, but TLDR if you GENUINELY liked American Psycho or any book where you can look through the eyes and hear the thoughts of the worst person/people you can imagine, then maybe you would really like this one! This wasn’t horror to me, this was just torture p*rn with war, gore, and lots of genitalia talk.  
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad 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? No

4.5

4.5 stars! I cannot believe how much I enjoyed this when I had absolutely no idea what it was about. I laughed and cried and I truly loved every character. This is definitely a book I won’t forget.