Weekly Reading Roundup: August 13th to August 19th, 2023
- maxxwellbooks
- Aug 20, 2023
- 3 min read
It’s Sunday which means it’s time for another weekly reading roundup! I read six books this week with mixed results. Read about them below!
Book #1: How Can I Help You? by Laura Sims
Genre(s): Mystery, Thriller
My rating: 4 stars
This book was deeply unsettling, which is a plus in my book. I will say, the build up was slow, the chapters were long, and the ending felt rushed and unsatisfying. I would still definitely recommend this book, but I hope this author works on pacing for future books because this just wasn’t paced evenly at all. The concept was really great and I loved the library setting, so overall it was still an enjoyable read.
Book #2: Baby Teeth by Meg Grehan
Genre(s): Fantasy, Horror, Romance, Young Adult
My rating: 4.75 stars
The prose in this book is DELECTABLE. Grehan writes with such purpose and the way in which this tale is told was beautiful and moving while also sending me into an existential crisis, which is my idea of a good time! If you are a newbie to horror and want something with little to no gore that will still sit at the pit of your stomach, I think you would like this! Similarly, if you had a Twilight phase and are gay, READ THIS.
Book #3: The One by John Marrs
Genre(s): Thriller, Science Fiction, Romance
My rating: 4.5 stars
This book was not at all what I was expecting, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I usually have a hard time keeping up with multiple POVS (this book has five different narrators) and even I had an easy time understanding! I think the fact that they are all very different stories while still having a throughline helped. I honestly couldn’t put it down. The concept was so odd and wild and creative and it was a blast.
If you can’t stomach violence or blood, I wouldn’t recommend this book for you. Compared to the other book of his I have read, Keep it in the Family (which I enjoyed but don’t recommend to pretty much anyone) it was tame, but that is not a hard bar to jump.
If you are used to reading serial killer books though, this should be fine for you!
Book #4: The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay
Genre(s): Horror, Thriller
My rating: 3.5 stars
This book had a good setup, decently good plot and then just…ended? The ending was so unbelievably unsatisfying and kind of made me hate that I decided to spend my time on it.
Now don’t get me wrong, I am on board for endings that leave you to piece things together, but this was next level.
If you are okay with what feels like a very abrupt ending directly following a lot of action, you may enjoy this.
As with pretty much every horror book, please heed the content warnings on this one.
Book #5: Bowery by Matthew Vaughn
Genre(s): Horror
My rating: 1 star
DO NOT READ THIS. I can stomach a lot but this is completely vile. The violent misogyny, homophobia, fatphobia. Just disgusting. The worst book I have ever read. No. I do not know how this man wrote all of this down and thought “yeah this is an okay thing for me to write and publish.”
Book #6: Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez
Genre(s): Romance, Young Adult
My rating: 4.5 stars
This is another book series I am rereading that I read in childhood. This was the first queer book series I ever read. It holds up and was a fun read, even though it took some time to get used to the homophobia from that era. It made me remember how much I love slow burn romance. The whole “their hands touched and electricity sparked” trope really gets me every damn time. Looking forward to finishing the series!
What did you read this week? Let me know in the comments!
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