The book is told from the perspective of Annie, an AI robot who is owned by a man. It follows her as she tries to grapple with ownership versus free will. It was insightful, and it made me think. It was also just a really good story. I would have been pissed had the ending gone a certain way.

3.75 ⭐️

Some stories in this collection were 5 stars. Others didn't make much sense to me. It was worth the read for N.K. Jemisen and Tananarive Due. I discovered some new-to-me authors who were also pretty good. I loved the face-eating baby aliens.

This was a gripping thriller with very good character development. I liked the dysfunctional family dynamic. I was proud of myself for suspecting the end.

The doctors weren't trying to cure these women of "hysteria" or otherwise treat it. They were making a spectacle of them for their own accolades. The book was fascinating and horrific at the same time. In some spots, it moved a little slow. The ending was awesome.

This was billed as horror, but honestly, it's just bizarre. I didn't feel like I got it. It was interesting, though.

This book was too slow for me to always stay interested. It seemed a little bit longer than necessary, and I did not connect with the characters as well as I would have liked. I did, however, appreciate a couple of the twists. Ruh was the most fleshed out character that I liked.

This was a cute, funny, farcical short story. It was just what I needed today. Fredrik Backman understands well the amusing side of human nature. It reminded me of an old, British comedy show.

It wasn't in the Litsy library. It is new.

Books. Ice cream. Tissues.

It's a cruel joke, but I can't get the gelato open, but this is how I cope.

This was a striking, compelling story about race relations and police brutality. It was written from two different points of view--the perspective of a Black woman and a white woman who were best friends. I feel like I got a lot out of this book. It was a meaty, thought-provoking story.

By the time I was finished with this book, I felt like I'd survived an exhausting slog. Maybe it's not the book's fault. I was bored by Moby Dick too. Jay is trying to MacGyver his way out of a whale and reconcile his relationship with his dead father. The book is heavy with allegory and light on the plot. It will give it some credit: it was sufficiently gross.

This is eye-opening historical horror. Ghosts play a big part in the book, but they are not nearly as terrifying as the living during the Jim Crow era. The book made me wonder how much has really changed. We still have the school to prison pipeline.

This is a fairly long book, and it is worth every page. I loved the main character, 12-year-old Robbie Stephens, and I was on the edge of my seat worried about him.

Possessive (literally and figuratively), spooky spirits in 1950s Holland. This is a well crafted, gothically influenced story, reminiscent of Edgar Allan Poe. It's also a queer romantic tragedy. The reader has to figure out what is real and what is not. I loved the ambiance, the fact that it kept me guessing, and the vicious protectiveness of the ghosts.

This book is on the level of some of Stephen King's best work, and the translation comes across perfectly. I love books that are so captivating that I get lost in them, but also are so interesting that I feel compelled to look up historical facts. I didn't know much about Argentine history before this book, but I will be a little better educated now thanks to fiction.

There were a lot of characters to keep track of. It might have been easier to have read this book in print, but I did enjoy it. Rosie, in particular, was a wonderfully flamboyant character.

Nothing could compare to The Thursday Murder Club.

If you liked the movie Thelma and Louise and you don't mind blood, I think you'll like this. This is what would happen if Thelma and Louise were vampires. It is adventurous, there are car chases and things explode. Good times and sisterhood.

Don't mess with the library! This award winning middle school librarian was disgustingly defamed, bullied online, and sent death threats in the mail for voicing her concerns about book banning at the local Louisiana public library. This only served to throw Amanda Jones further into activism. The book gave me some hope that adult minds can be changed.

This book is about the founding of the United States through slavery and its current ramifications. It is very powerful. Dozens of incredible historians and writers poured their heart and soul into it.

If we want change, we must acknowledge suffering and admit that the past ties into the present.
My knowledge has grown.

Huck was off thinking he was having an adventure with his buddy, Jim. But what was this whole scenario like from Jim's perspective? The consequences for him could be deadly because Black people and white people lived in two separate worlds. The book was amazing. There was never a dull moment. I thought it was brilliant. History is still tied into the now of things.

This book was cute and funny and just what I needed to counteract some of the more intense material I am reading at the moment. It reminded me of watching cartoons like Despicable Me as an adult. I recommend it for those who like fantasy and need a silly escape.

Not all books are for everyone. This book was not for me. I don't even know what I read. I thought it was ridiculous and pretentious. All over the place and going nowhere at the same time. This is what passes for high brow literature? It makes a mockery of depression and death when I think it was aiming for allegory or something. But smart people think it's genius. Rant over!

This book was told from so many different perspectives that it was a challenge to keep up with, but it was a really well plotted mystery. There's a line in the book about living to be old enough to be safe from men. That resonated with me. The victim was a teenage girl, and that was hard to take, but it brought up a lot of valid points.

This book reads more like a coming-of-age novel that happens to have a serial killer lurking in the background. It is well crafted, and the characters are lovably fallible. It's a deep dive into the late 70s, 80s, and 1990s when I was young, so I can really appreciate it.

The real horror of the gay conversion camp was the doctrine and the prejudice of the church members and not the supernatural terrors. Which was, I guess, the point. The book made lots of good points. The writing seemed just a little immature at times.
3.5 ⭐️s

I always love a character who is a bit off. Sally had good reason to be different, and I found her to be endearingly strange and refreshingly honest. The book had well fleshed out characters and a very interesting plot.

I liked the dysfunctional family dynamic in this book paired with the contrast of a Gothic horror. It kept me reading.

This book is chilling. It reads like the recovery from the survival of severe domestic abuse. The people with the courage to leave are very brave. Those who speak out against scientology are made of steel.

This was a good YA horror story that centers around racism and white privilege in the cutthroat world of a young ballerina who makes a deal with a river of blood for some recognition and power. It was a little bogged down in places, but I really enjoyed it overall. It makes me relieved I never tried to take ballet.

It's explicit. It's not for everyone. I found the book to be refreshing. Not all menopause looks the same for everyone.

Also, it illustrates the reason why I'm glad I have a short-haired dog. Read it, and you'll see.

This book was a slow burn at first, but it was fabulous. It was unique and creative. I don't know if there is anything else out there quite like it. The characters were rich and the details intricate. It made me feel like I could compose music myself. There were two very captivating storylines from different time periods.

Becky Chambers has created an ethical utopia here, as far as I'm concerned. What with the recycling of human remains and the dignity shown to sex workers, this book is on point. It manages to come across as wholesome but with a lot of swearing and casual sex. It makes the people and the aliens both seem real.

This is a feel-good fairy tale for adults. It isn't at all realistic. Boundaries are crossed that Child Protective Services would never allow these days. You can't scrutinize it too carefully, but you can enjoy the idealistic warm fuzzies if you suspend disbelief. This is a book for adults who remember being captivated and maybe even saved by books as children. Adults deserve fairy tales, too.

The characters in this book were so well fleshed out and enjoyable. I liked piecing together the little clues along the way. I thought the ending was very satisfying.

This book was bizarre and gross and a little far-fetched. So I thought it was great. 4⭐️s You definitely don't want to be eating while you are reading it. It is an appetite killer or an ingenious diet plan. Your pick.

I found myself rooting for the killer. I don't know what that says about me, but I really hoped she'd get her prize and get away with it.

This book got bad reviews, but I rated it 4.5⭐️s. I don't normally buy into amnesia stories, but the twin element and the cult factor made the book interesting enough for me to just go with it. The book was weird and mysterious. Those are facets I like on a novel.

It took me a while to fully start absorbing this genre-bending book, but once I did, I was hooked on the characters and their outcomes. The historical fiction piece was excellent. The fantasy element was left up to the imagination, and the supernatural world building was not explained as much as I would have liked.

The author seems to have compassion for people who become embroiled in cults and also to recognize that there is varying degrees of harm. I feel more enlightened as to why people join. We're all more susceptible than I would have thought, Littens. 🤣

I enjoyed this haunting historical fiction ghost story set right after World War I in an asylum for shell-shocked soldiers. It really showed how PTSD was viewed back then. The spookiness was well integrated with the men's natural fears. I did think the ending was a bit unrealistic.

There was a lot going on in this book. Four points of view to keep track of and journal entries from 15 years past. It was fun to watch it all come together. I listened to the audio book, which had several narrators and was quite good.

#20in4 @Andrew65
#OutWithTheOldInWithTheNew
#readathon
Book 1

This is an incredibly powerful, brutal, scathing commentary on the justice system in the United States. In a startlingly realistic dystopian future, the government has taken death-row prisoners and pitted them against each other gladiator-style. The book is peppered with footnotes of horrific facts about real incidents of people executed and tortured while incarcerated. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I haven't been able to participate in a readathon for months and months, so this is a perfect way to end the year. My goal is 15 hours of reading time and finishing Chain-Gang All-Stars and Delicious Monsters and starting on The Wishing Game and The Brothers Hawthorne. Happy New Year, everyone! 🎆

#YearEnd
#20in4
#OutWithTheOldInWithTheNew

Thanks for hosting @Andrew65 ! 💕

The characters in this book are so rich and human that their life stories feel really vivid and real. It is a sentimental, complex book about family and relationships that is very well put together. It makes me wish I had sisters.

If bugs and parasites really creep you out, then this book will be your idea of horror. The house is also haunted, but the bugs really stood out for me.

It also gets into the history of the French colonization of Vietnam, which is often glossed over in American history classes.

I liked the main character, Jade. I thought she was bad ass. The book had some good coming-of-age LGBTQ themes and dysfunctional family dynamics.

This was an impressive debut novel because it dealt with death and grieving in an open and positive light. Clover is a death doula by profession who is wonderful at helping people cross over, but she is very isolated and not so great at living her own life.

Grief comes in waves for me. I liked that this book addressed it as not something a person will simply "get over" within a set period of time.

I highly recommend the audio. Leslie Jones read it herself and said she did not read it word for word, and I've heard there was added content. Listening to her was like having a conversation. It felt like she was in the room talking to me. Her story is amazing. She is amazing, and funny, and real. I was cheering her on. She is a great example of a person advocating for themselves. If swearing offends you, the book is not for you.

I really got a kick out of being in those versions of London again. I missed Delilah Bard! The world and characters have always reminded me a bit of Dickens with magic. I recommend reading the Shades of Magic series first, if you haven't already. This was a 650 page book, and I almost missed my Libby return deadline, so plan accordingly.

This took a weirdly unexpected turn, and I am really impressed that the author managed to pull it off, but the novel worked.

I recommend the audio book on this one. The narrator is Bernadette Dunne, and she's got a great voice.

This is fictionalized nonfiction. There is a lot of conjecture about small details and liberal imagination used in the fact telling. I am not usually a fan of this method of writing. It doesn't feel authentic, and it doesn't quite flow. However, it's an interesting, crazy, sad story.

I particularly recommend this book if you like Sci Fi and love cats, but my favorite parts were of the pissy, striking, foul- mouthed labor dolphins. It's funny and snarky and very John Scalzi.

This is extreme horror. It is memorable, incomparable, and even twistedly tragic. I liked it, but I would never recommend it to anyone. There were parts of the book that almost made me stop reading it altogether. They were that depraved. But I liked a female villain with such agency and audacity, and she was a fan of all of my favorite books..

Trigger warning if you're a decent human being.

I was proud of myself, I guessed right away what the ending would be and why, but it was still such a fun book. It is peppered with humor and poignant moments and one big tearjerker. These characters are drawn so amazingly well. It is so enjoyable to watch them grow, especially Joyce.