The Moody Writer

a record of penned exorcisms of my soul

Book Reviews

  • The Mad Sisters of Esi by Tashan Mehta: A Review

    Mad Sisters of Esi by Tashan Mehta has been on my TBR for a few months now and I finally read it now as part of the Asian Readathon for its Prompt #2: read an underrated book. I find myself conflicted in trying to write about this book. This was why it took so long… Read more

  • Death’s End by Cixin Liu: An Unhinged Review

    Death’s End by Cixin Liu is the book I chose to read for prompt #2 of the 2024 Asian Readathon—read a book that feels timeless. This is the last book in the Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy, I had read the first two books—The Three-Body Problem and The Dark Forest—earlier this year, but due to… Read more

  • Komi Can’t Communicate (Vols.1-9) by Tomohito Oda: A Manga Review

    Komi Can’t Communicate is the manga I read as part of the Asian Readathon this month, hosted by Cindy (details on her youtube channel) for its first and fifth prompts. The fifth—and also last—prompt of the readathon this year is to read a book with something—character, setting, story—that you would want in your next life.… Read more

  • The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo: A Much Anticipated Review

    The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo was one the most anticipated books of the year for me, for two primary reasons. Firstly, Leigh Bardugo is one of those rare authors who have earned the kind of trust from me that I will read whatever they write, regardless of what it is. I have read all of… Read more

  • Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett: A Review

    Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands is the much-anticipated sequel to the previously published encyclopaedia of faeries. It follows Emily Wilde and Wendell Bambleby—who has now been revealed as an exiled faerie king to the reader and to Emily—as they try to locate a door into Bambleby’s faerie kingdom, and Emily’s interim endeavours to construct… Read more

  • Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett: A very late re-read review

    Technically, this was supposed to be written and up here a week after the last review, but life and mental health got in the way (along with my keyboard, which stopped working and had to be sent for repairs). As much as I regret it, let us pretend only a week has passed since we… Read more

  • A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid: A Review

    I was rather hesitant to read this much-acclaimed novel—apprehensive, even. Despite all the good things I had heard of it, my last Ava Reid read—Juniper and Thorn—was disappointing enough to make me a skeptic. So, when I started this book, it was with a fair amount of prejudice. However, in my opinion, a book that… Read more

  • Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge: A Very Late Review

    I admit I am very late to the party on this one and I feel like kicking myself. I’ve been hearing of this book for years as a staple of fairytale retellings, and as someone who is obsessed with fairytales and their retellings, I take it as a personal disgrace that I hadn’t read this… Read more

  • The Dark Forest by Liu Cixin: A Review (I think?)

    How does one begin to describe Liu Cixin’s The Dark Forest? Attempting to do so feels like trying to encapsulate an entire universe of existence into a few paragraphs. Narratively, the story follows the aftermath of The Three-Body Problem as humans prepare for the Trisolarian invasion. The reader follows several new characters with the one… Read more

  • The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin: A Review

    The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin is the first novel in the ‘Remembrance of Earth’s Past’ trilogy. It chronicles the richly layered background against which humans first made contact with extraterrestrial life and the immediate consequences that follow. Spanning over half a century set mostly in China, the narrative follows various characters and sources to… Read more