596 replies to this topic

[Sanjana R]

I agree! I was just commenting on the fact that some of the true crime I've read has been more horrible and unsettling than any horror I've ever read. 

Completely agree, reading the memoirs of Ted Bundy's ex wife was so creepy. Also, IDK if reading about Mormon Fundamentalism is true crime per se, but that was even more horrifying to me 

[JimmyxxCindy4EVER]

I've seen or heard of so many examples of reality being so much stranger than fiction... Like, there was a countess in the Middle Ages who was purportedly responsible for so many servant girls sent to her going missing... It took hundreds of them not ever returning home for their absence to even be noticed, much less being investigated...

[Katia11]

Completely agree, reading the memoirs of Ted Bundy's ex wife was so creepy. Also, IDK if reading about Mormon Fundamentalism is true crime per se, but that was even more horrifying to me

Oh, for sure. For sure.

[Katia11]

I've seen or heard of so many examples of reality being so much stranger than fiction... Like, there was a countess in the Middle Ages who was purportedly responsible for so many servant girls sent to her going missing... It took hundreds of them not ever returning home for their absence to even be noticed, much less being investigated...

Yes, you are likely talking about Elizabeth Báthory. Some historians do dispute the legitimacy of the claims made against her, but there are others who don’t. It’s very interesting.

I don’t know enough about the topic to speak on that at all though. But she certainly has endured on in horror legend.

[JimmyxxCindy4EVER]

Yeah, horrific, yet strangely fascinating info...

[Jindy's_heartstrings]

All this talk of horror books reminds me that I still have not read the graphic novel I got for my birthday, Mimi's Tales of Terror.  I've been meaning to read it as I  want to get more into Junji Ito's work. I read one of his other books, The Liminal Zone, last year. It was pretty decent,but I do remember that I wasn't the biggest fan of the first short story in the book, which was a bit disappointing because that was the one I was looking forward to reading the most.  The other stories were quite good though. The illustrations were horrifying when they needed to be, so I'm hoping for that same energy in this book.  Very excited to read it

[Katia11]

ooo!!! that sounds interesting! 

[Katia11]

I didn’t realize this until tonight, but I’ve officially crossed the 200 mark.

[JimmyxxCindy4EVER]

You go, girl!! *high-fives*

[Katia11]

thanks! 

[JimmyxxCindy4EVER]

Feels great to accomplish a goal, doesn't it?

[Katia11]

Well, yea! But 200 wasn’t my goal, merely a milestone. An exciting one for sure, but I’m not done yet

[JimmyxxCindy4EVER]

Gotcha... Congrats on reaching it, then!

[Katia11]

Cozy fantasy doesn't always hit for me (though it does more often than not), but when it does, it hits RIGHTTTT

 

also, the next book on my tbr is one of my most anticipated reads of the year. wish me luck! 

[Katia11]

And I'm almost done with it! The writing is GORGEOUS, and it has all the elements of a story I would love. Longing, fighting against fate, rebelling against systems of power, sapphic knight/ witch relationship. But I'm having a little trouble with the main relationship. It's not exactly fated mates, but it has that ... taste about it, and that's not a trope I'm a big fan of. Like, I knew that going in, but I was hoping that it wouldn't rely so much on their shared past instead of building a convincing relationship in the present, but it is. I also think it could have been split into two books instead of just one. 

 

It's still a solid read, though. The world-building is interesting. The ideas are fun! And Tasha Suri writes in a way that is filled with LIFE and LONGING. But overall, I still think I prefer The Burning Kingdoms. 

[Katia11]

Ooooo. The ending redeemed it a little. Still think it could have been stronger as two books though

[Katia11]

I started The Everlasting by Alix E Harrow today. I was not expecting to finish it.

This book was lovely. This is what I was hoping for from Isle of the Silver Sea. That did manage the themes well, but something about it just fell a little short for me for some reason. Probably because I loved The Burning Kingdoms so much and was unconsciously comparing it to that series in my mind and my experience suffered for it.

Also, the knight in this book actually felt like a knight. It felt like she was a real woman with desires and weaknesses and fears.

This book buried itself in between my ribs. This questions the idea of freedom, of nations, of tales, of choices. Are our fates ours? Can we ever really be free if we love another person? What is power? How far would one person go to be willing to keep it?

Time travel is never a thing I really care for in books, because of it requires a great deal of suspension of disbelief. This was no exception to that rule. You have to suspend a lot of disbelief. But I found I wanted to do it. I wanted to let the story take me where it wanted to take me.

I did love the main romance which was the driving force between the two main characters, it was a little insta lovey, but that waned with each iteration.


The villain was a little… comic at times with how villainous and like how much of a super genius she was, but I understood her motivations.

Overall? It was romantic, heartbreaking, and just a little bit like a tale you hear whispered in the trees. By far one of my favorite books by Alix E. Harrow that I’ve ever read.

I think this is a book I will have to buy a physical copy of.