gracescanlon's reviews
724 reviews

Window Shopping by Tessa Bailey

emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Shady Hollow by Juneau Black

mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Shady Hollow struck a perfect balance between cozy fairytale and murder mystery. Cute and engaging!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Medical content, and Murder

Moderate: Infidelity, Violence, Xenophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Toxic relationship

Only the Beautiful by Susan Meissner

dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Antisemitism, Medical content, Car accident, Toxic friendship, War, and Classism

Minor: Incest and Blood

Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I found Lucy to be a refreshingly unique female main character, and relished that her personality — and how others perceived it and her — is what drove much of the story. I also enjoyed and related to Lucy and Savvy’s friendship — as a late-twenties woman, I’ve had similar friendships myself through my life.
I think my favorite thing, though, was Tintera’s use of casual, embedded misogyny and its microaggressions (from both men and women) throughout the book.

From people singing Matt’s praises for no reason, to everyone believing him and Emmett because they’re men who made statements, to using Lucy’s actions and personality against her in opposite ways they would if she were a man, to Ben’s realizing that it was his word that would exonerate Lucy and using his platform to do so,

Listen for the Lie uses patriarchy and misogyny in realistic ways in addition to their functions as story catalysts. 
I also deeply appreciated the way Tintera presented people’s treatment of those with trauma and/or brain injuries.

She toes the line between sympathy and understanding for other, also suffering characters and disgust with their treatment of Lucy, especially given she was gravely injured and had lost her best friend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Infidelity, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, and Medical content

Minor: Vomit

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe

adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Medical content, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Mental illness, Misogyny, Excrement, Vomit, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Minor: Grief

Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood

emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Daydream by Hannah Grace

emotional hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Cute cute cute! I cannot express how much I loved that the conflict came not from miscommunication, but rather from the flaws, beliefs, and ideas about themselves that Henry and Halle had. So much representation, too, without feeling performative or forced!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Medical content, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Dark and Shallow Lies by Ginny Myers Sain

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Grey, girl, love ya but man are you dumb like 60% of the time.

Dark, twisty, tense, deeply sad and intensely atmospheric — Dark and Shallow Lies is a heavy read, but worthwhile. It knocked the wind out of me completely time and time again. Sain did a wonderful job with the setting; as a Southern girl from a swamp-like area myself, I felt myself choking on the humidity and heat as much as the secrets. 

I especially liked how “full circle” the book was — specifically with uncovering the secrets and lies that poisoned La Cachette and ultimately led to so much death and pain.

Not sure I believe the “sparks” Grey feels when Zale touches her aren’t just his power rather than her body’s natural reaction to him, but he’s sweet, so I’ll allow it.

Also wasn’t a huge fan of the Hart and Elora bit, especially since he seemed so sketchy in a dangerous way throughout the book. HOW is it that almost no other reviews mention that???? There was also no real hint as to their being involved in any way, though that could be attributed to Grey’s being kinda dumb. Also their being together was kinda gross — they’ve lived as siblings for more than half their lives? It’s not like their parents are newly married, which would still have been eh but much better than two kids raised as siblings for like a decade “falling in love.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Vomit, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Confinement, Incest, Pedophilia, Slavery, Trafficking, Pregnancy, Outing, Abandonment, and Colonisation

Next of kin bonus epilogue by Hannah Bonam-Young

fast-paced

For non-book records, review text and ratings are hidden. Only mood, pace, and content warnings are visible.

The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

adventurous dark emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Medical content, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, and War