The men were right I guess?
Considering how much I LOVED the Gilded Ones, I’m in shock. The themes of the first book are gone. The powerful female narrative was destroyed. The retcon of characters to make them trans/non-binary was shoehorned in, the relationships between the characters all felt contrived and rushed, and worst of all - the abusive, insane men of the first book were “right.” The goddesses are evil after all. They do actually eat children and apparently them thinking lowly of men makes them evil - despite what the men in Otega did to women for centuries, we’re supposed to be like “oh poor baby boys :( ignored :(“
I’m honestly destroyed. The Gilded Ones was IT for me. The Merciless One was a pathetic, tone deaf mess, the opposite of what the central themes were in the first one and putting yet more misogyny apology into …
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warriorbarrd rated The Lottery: 4 stars
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson (Tale Blazers)
A cautionary short story about the dangers of unexamined traditions and the dark side of human nature.
warriorbarrd rated Red Sister (Book of the Ancestor, #1): 4 stars
warriorbarrd rated Ghost Station: 3 stars
Ghost Station by S. A. Barnes
A crew must try to survive on an ancient, abandoned planet in the latest space horror novel from S.A. Barnes, …
warriorbarrd rated The Luminous Dead: 3 stars
The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling (The Luminous Dead, #1)
A thrilling, atmospheric debut with the intensive drive of The Martian and Gravity and the creeping dread of Annihilation, in …
warriorbarrd reviewed The Gilded Ones #2 by Namina Forna
It's been six months since Deka freed the goddesses in the ancient kingdom of Otera …
Review of 'The Gilded Ones #2' on 'Goodreads'
1 star
The men were right I guess?
Considering how much I LOVED the Gilded Ones, I’m in shock. The themes of the first book are gone. The powerful female narrative was destroyed. The retcon of characters to make them trans/non-binary was shoehorned in, the relationships between the characters all felt contrived and rushed, and worst of all - the abusive, insane men of the first book were “right.” The goddesses are evil after all. They do actually eat children and apparently them thinking lowly of men makes them evil - despite what the men in Otega did to women for centuries, we’re supposed to be like “oh poor baby boys :( ignored :(“
I’m honestly destroyed. The Gilded Ones was IT for me. The Merciless One was a pathetic, tone deaf mess, the opposite of what the central themes were in the first one and putting yet more misogyny apology into the world.
I doubt I’ll read the third. The book I loved was twisted from an empowering, awe-inspiring look at systemic misogyny and female liberation to … this.
warriorbarrd reviewed Playground by Aron Beauregard
ONCE IN A LIFETIME Three low-income families have been given a handsome retainer to join …
Review of 'Playground' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
Mmmmm not sure how I feel about this one. Interesting concept, the gore descriptions were on point BUT the author revelled in misogyny too much for me to truly enjoy most of it. It felt a lot like “I hate women and I’m going to say everything I’ve ever wanted to but it’s okay because she’s evil.”
I couldn’t connect emotionally with any of the characters, the ones given all the “screen time” sucked. I’m a cryer and if you can’t make me cry at a 7yo clutching her 9yo sister’s dismembered arm after seeing her die horribly then idk how to help you. (I know that’s not the point of horror but if you don’t care about the characters then why would you feel any sense of horror?)
warriorbarrd reviewed The ruins by Smith, Scott
Two American couples, just out of college, enjoy a pleasant, lazy beach holiday together in …
Review of 'The ruins' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
Disappointing. Hopelessness =\= horror. Frankly it was annoying and slow and I don’t know why I’ve seen so many people recommend this book.
warriorbarrd reviewed Naomi's Room by Jonathan Aycliffe
Review of "Naomi's Room" on 'Goodreads'
1 star
Some of the prose at the beginning was beautiful, but honestly it became grating by halfway and then lost all its power by the last quarter.
The suspense and atmosphere had no payoff for me; it felt like there was such a big disconnect between the fear he talked about and what was actually happening. I understand what it was doing, I just don’t think it worked and I didn’t care about the protagonist at all. It ended up a boring, violently misogynistic mess and was such a disappointment.
warriorbarrd rated House of Hollow: 4 stars
House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland
Seventeen-year-old Iris Hollow has always been strange. Something happened to her and her two older sisters when they were children, …
warriorbarrd rated Dead Silence: 4 stars
Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes
Claire Kovalik is days away from being unemployed—made obsolete—when her beacon repair crew picks up a strange distress signal. With …
warriorbarrd reviewed Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian
Review of 'Never Saw Me Coming' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Absolutely fucking amazing
warriorbarrd rated The Dark Tide: 4 stars
warriorbarrd reviewed A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay
"The lives of the Barretts, a normal suburban New England family, are torn apart when …
Review of 'A Head Full of Ghosts' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
Eh. Not worth the hype. I put this down to go to bed right before the exorcism began, so you can imagine how riveting and tense I found this book. I love unreliable narrators and switching POVs and ambiguity … normally. One or two at a time. But I felt like this book never gave me a proper payoff to anything; it faded to black so often that the tension couldn’t be maintained. Just. Eh.
warriorbarrd rated Gilded Ones: 4 stars
Gilded Ones by Namina Forna
Sixteen-year-old Deka lives in fear and anticipation of the blood ceremony that will determine whether she will become a member …