Finished 4 in February.
1. Dune by Frank Herbert. Probably put off reading Dune for 20 years, but wanted to read it before seeing Part 2 (I really enjoyed Part 1). I went into it with high expectations, and overall, would have to say I came away from it with a disappointing reading experience. I really liked the first part, which coincided pretty closely with the first movie. A lot going on, a lot of political intrigue (much more than the film), and a relatively fast paced story. In parts 2 & 3, the pacing slowed to a crawl and I found the ending to be rushed and anticlimactic. Saw a YouTube video the other day that described the book as ‘dense and dry’, and that is probably the perfect concise description of my experience with Dune. 2.5 / 5
2. Tidepool by Nicole Wilson was the first thing I’ve read by this author, and overall was a lot of fun. A young woman goes to the run down seaside town of Tidepool to search for her lost brother. The locals make no bones about not wanting her there. While borrowing heavily from HPL’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth, Wilson takes the original story in a whole new direction. Well paced with interesting characters, though the story did get a little repetitive in the second half. 3.5 / 5
3. If You See Her by Ania Ahlborn. Three friends visit the local haunted house a few weeks before their high school graduation, and one of the friends apparently kills himself. 20 years later, the two surviving friends return to the house, and again, one of them apparently commits suicide in the house. Will the last of the three end up joining his dead friends? Another bleak horror story by Ahlborn, who uses all the horror tropes in this one - haunted house, ghosts, and demonic possession. Really enjoyed the first third and the last third of this story. The middle part did drag a bit, but overall I thought this was another winner from Ahlborn. 4 / 5
4. Little Mutilations was a three novella anthology with stories by Jess Landry, Sofia Ajram, & Nadia Bulkin. My favorite was the urban vampire story by Landry (a young woman goes in search of her drug addicted mother and comes under the spell of an enigmatic woman). The story by Ajram was probably the most interesting, though the ending was too surreal for my taste (two friends take part in an experimental drug study with strange side effects). Had no interest in the story by Bulkin (a beauty pageant contestant starts finding unusual growths on her body).
3.5, 2.5, 1.5 - 2.5 / 5
B
1. Dune by Frank Herbert. Probably put off reading Dune for 20 years, but wanted to read it before seeing Part 2 (I really enjoyed Part 1). I went into it with high expectations, and overall, would have to say I came away from it with a disappointing reading experience. I really liked the first part, which coincided pretty closely with the first movie. A lot going on, a lot of political intrigue (much more than the film), and a relatively fast paced story. In parts 2 & 3, the pacing slowed to a crawl and I found the ending to be rushed and anticlimactic. Saw a YouTube video the other day that described the book as ‘dense and dry’, and that is probably the perfect concise description of my experience with Dune. 2.5 / 5
2. Tidepool by Nicole Wilson was the first thing I’ve read by this author, and overall was a lot of fun. A young woman goes to the run down seaside town of Tidepool to search for her lost brother. The locals make no bones about not wanting her there. While borrowing heavily from HPL’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth, Wilson takes the original story in a whole new direction. Well paced with interesting characters, though the story did get a little repetitive in the second half. 3.5 / 5
3. If You See Her by Ania Ahlborn. Three friends visit the local haunted house a few weeks before their high school graduation, and one of the friends apparently kills himself. 20 years later, the two surviving friends return to the house, and again, one of them apparently commits suicide in the house. Will the last of the three end up joining his dead friends? Another bleak horror story by Ahlborn, who uses all the horror tropes in this one - haunted house, ghosts, and demonic possession. Really enjoyed the first third and the last third of this story. The middle part did drag a bit, but overall I thought this was another winner from Ahlborn. 4 / 5
4. Little Mutilations was a three novella anthology with stories by Jess Landry, Sofia Ajram, & Nadia Bulkin. My favorite was the urban vampire story by Landry (a young woman goes in search of her drug addicted mother and comes under the spell of an enigmatic woman). The story by Ajram was probably the most interesting, though the ending was too surreal for my taste (two friends take part in an experimental drug study with strange side effects). Had no interest in the story by Bulkin (a beauty pageant contestant starts finding unusual growths on her body).
3.5, 2.5, 1.5 - 2.5 / 5
B
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