Katherine
This book is such a ride. Is it perfect? No. Personally I think the ending is a bit rushed, and I could've used a few more hints towards it. But I enjoyed it so much it absolutely gets 5 stars. I went into this with no expectations. I've never seen the movie- all I knew was there was a guy named Howl and a girl named Sophie in a flying castle. I don't know what exactly I was expecting, but definitely not this! The book is hilarious while simultaneously having quite a bit of self-reflective moments. The plot is really fun and has many twists that I didn't see coming! Normally I might say they were out of nowhere, but it really works here because it's so whimsical. Extremely fun, short read, highly recommend.
This book was a unique fantasy novel with a fascinating world, intriguing magic system, and full of many tantalizing questions. It's a very strong debut novel, and I'm looking forward to seeing more from Buchanan in the future, as there are many threads left hanging for this story to continue. Sheana, our main character, is absolutely a spoiled, insufferable brat. However, I personally related to her quite a bit. As someone who grew up as a “gifted” kid, I can absolutely relate to this urge to always win, always be right. I threw a few ridiculous tantrums myself born out of anxiety and perfectionism. I wasn't on the level of how Sheana acts, of course, but I can relate to some of it. I enjoyed her journey, and I'm very interested in seeing where this story goes.
I liked this addition to the Sworn Soldier series. It has quite a bit of humor as well as horror, which was funny and I enjoyed it. The horror element being based on folk tales is always something I'm interested in; however, for this one, it was a bit of a miss. The mystery and horror in What Moves the Dead occupied much more of the book's focus, while What Feasts At Night was more limited. I would have liked to see more of the horror play out than we got. I wish more of the mystery and tension had been built up in the book, as those parts were particularly engaging. I felt the ending was a bit too simple of a solution, and while it is realistic for the folk lore aspect, it still felt that it wrapped up very quickly, like the book had barely begun before it ended. I will definitely continue the series, as I like the world and characters, but unfortunately this one did not have the same effect on me as What Moves the Dead.
I really enjoyed this book. While I am definitely not the target audience for this book and I felt it was a little too YA at times for my personal taste, I would have been ecstatic reading this as a young teenager. Even as an adult, this story is refreshing! I'm not extremely familiar with the Latinx community, but from what I could tell this was a fantastic book in terms of representation.
The positives: All of the kids in the book feel real. Even the side characters have enough depth there that you can see them as more than two dimensional characters. I loved the representation of Latinx culture, traditions, and how the magic worked in the book. I also loved the LGBTQ+ representation. I am personally not a member of that community, but I love seeing more and more books being published representing the community- and this one was excellent in my opinion. The story was executed really well! I was smiling or chuckling throughout the book, and some of the passages even got me a bit teary eyed.
The (very minor) negatives: The relationship did develop very quickly, which I don't personally love, but it works really well despite that. I also called what would happen in the plot about 30% of the way into the book, so for an adult reader (and likely some teen readers), the plot is very simple.
Overall, I'd definitely recommend this book. It's a fun, quick read with surprising depth and a general sense of joy throughout. Good job Aiden Thomas, I will definitely read your other books.
Mild spoilers ahead, but nothing directly about the plot.
This book was a really interesting read. I loved the mystery aspect to it all, and it certainly kept me guessing along the way! I couldn't put the book down after a certain point, which to me is a great sign of an engaging plot. Being a bird nerd myself, Asuka's ornithology knowledge was so great.
The characters were well written, though I wish there had been a bit more time to flesh out some of the side characters. I found all of these brilliant people so fascinating; I really wish I'd gotten more time with them! The setting and technology presented was used very well in the story. Overall, this was a fun, engaging read, though I did have some minor nitpicks with a few of the false leads and explanations.
Some mild spoilers ahead for representation and worldbuilding:
I really loved all of the nonbinary rep, as well as he/hims who could give birth! That was a really interesting aspect of this mission- all of the people selected could have a child. This was to populate the new Planet X, and they had a wide variety of sperm donors for artificial insemination. This was not a take I had ever seen before when it comes to “humanity makes a last ditch effort to colonize the stars” sci fi. I also appreciated that one of the major characters had a physical disability that did not stop her from reaching the stars, despite the rigorous requirements of the program.The DAR was really cool, I loved this aspect of living almost entirely in augmented reality. I won't get into more detail than that, but it was utilized extremely well.
Okay, so I don't read a lot of romance! I pretty much picked it up because of the title and because I love birding. But this was cute. My exposure to romance is really only through some romantasy novels, which I have mixed feelings about. Some of them I liked, but didn't love, but others rely heavily on my least favorite trope and way to cause conflict- miscommunication.
This book had none of that. It was a good, healthy, mature relationship with two middle-aged characters. Both of them have some baggage they need to work through, and that causes the main conflict of the story. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the LGBTQ+ rep in a heterosexual romance book! It was definitely “spicier” than I was expecting, with quite a bit of explicit sex, but I liked the portrayal of realistic relations and communication.
My main quibble comes from the two main characters being... very much always thinking about sex. I know that it's not uncommon, but sometimes I was a bit exasperated at the two of them being unable to think about anything else while participating in the plot set-up, which is a birding completion, especially early on when they barely know each other. There was also a conflict with the main character's daughter that, while I see why it happened, didn't quite feel like the daughter would make that choice given how she was characterized.
Also, for the bird nerds out there, I loved that all of the birds were accurate to the area (Tucson, Arizona) and 35 different species are mentioned!
TL;DR: Very cute book with a very healthy relationship dynamic and realistic characters. It does feature quite a bit of explicit sex, so keep that in mind if you want to pick it up.
I've read most of Bardugo's books, and this one is definitely the strongest. I have some minor nitpicks with the plotting, but I loved (and hated, when I was supposed to) the characters. Even minor characters stand out as their own and have development. The setting was very well done, and I liked how the main character's abilities were used. The ending worked really well, and it had me guessing at what was going to happen towards the end. That being said, the plot is a bit predictable- I called most of what happened- but the story works really well overall. Would definitely recommend this!
I enjoyed my reread of this book! I had forgotten a lot from the first time I read it, which surprised me because I remembered a good portion of the first book. I think this is because, despite a lot of Big Events happening in the book, it was harder for me to remain really invested in several of the viewpoints. There's also a lot of set up to the third book without a lot happening to finish those arcs off, which makes sense for the second book in the trilogy, but I fear it does suffer some from middle book syndrome.
That being said, it's still a wild ride and the characters are great. More of a “popcorn” type of series than one for deep meanings, but there are some interesting themes woven into the story. I still love the world-building, though I could do with some more depth to the abilities and strength of certain characters. The action is well written, but I have the same complaint that I did about the first book that sometimes action happens just to have action (not as much this time, admittedly, since most of the action did seem warranted). Overall, if you want a series with some fun characters, and a thrill ride of adventure, this is a good one.
And so goes the conclusion of the Temeraire series. I really enjoyed it, though I was slightly disappointed by one aspect. I can see why Novik didn't include it, however. It also felt like it was two separate books again, similar to the last book, with two distinct short plotlines. There's more room for a potential expansion in the world or the series than I expected- the ending is satisfying, but there is sequel potential left on the table.
The series has been great overall. A little slow at the beginning, but the last few books more than make up for it. The character work is excellent, for our main characters especially. The prose is great, though if you're not used to the more “twisty” speech of 1800s English, where they'll insult each other in very obscure ways (at least to me, an ignorant American), it can be a bit confusing at times. The plotting could be a bit repetitive, especially early on in the series, but that improved drastically as the series went on. I loved a lot of the themes- a strong undercurrent of people's rights, the discussion of tyranny, and what is truly honorable runs through the books, and all of it was done very well.
Overall, I want more!!! These characters are so great, and the world is fascinating. I'd love to see more from it if Novik wants to write more.
The penultimate book in the Temeraire series! I have to say, this was a fantastic entry, but there is one particular usage of a trope that I don't love. While I see Novik's purpose in using it, it felt like it was unnecessary, and only created drama between characters that didn't need to be there, since there is plenty going on in the world of Temeraire without that.
The characters as always are fantastic, and the world-building continues to be very strong. Plot-wise, this book has a lot going on, and it's very action packed for the series. The ending leaves off on quite a cliffhanger, so I'm glad I have the final book already!
Crucible of Gold 4.5/5
I really liked this one! Lots of action and political intrigue going around, and you can see the series ramping up to a finale. Of course the dragons and the exploration of the world are the best part of the series, but I liked the more serious human moments too, of the reality of the world at war.
The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne 4.5/5
Upon reread, I still really like this book! The characters are all really interesting, and the world built in this series is brutal but fascinating in how it works. The action is incredible to read, and you'll be on the edge of your seat the entire time!
My main critique is that the book feels a bit too fast paced- if you want an adrenaline rush of a book and almost non-stop action, this is the book for you! But for me personally, I love having smaller character moments built in to give the characters more time to shine and develop on their own. Overall though, it's a great read, and I'm looking forward to rereading Hunger of the Gods!
This is a solid book! It's well-paced, engaging, and has interesting characters. My main critique is that there is a little bit too much explanation of cryptography, and it gets a bit repetitive towards the end of the book. The suspense and action are excellent. I really liked the development of the plot, and you never know quite where it's going to go. Everything wraps up really well at the end. Overall it's a really satisfying read (or in my case, listen!)
This was a really weird book. An odd combination of The Thing, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and IT (and part of the reason it feels like IT is that it has A Scene. If you know you know). I appreciated the queer representation, but I will say there's a lot of different types of hate and abuse represented in this book, from homophobia to transphobia to fatphobia and more. It was most definitely creepy and horrific, so it did it's job well. The ideas here are good, and the body horror is excellent. It's just a very weird plot and I have some questions about how exactly this all worked in terms of the structure of the story- if you think about it too much it starts to fall apart a bit. I liked it but I didn't love it.
I really loved the writing and the ending especially was great. I enjoyed the love story, but unfortunately it just.... didn't give me the gut punch emotionally I was expecting from a story like this. Maybe it was too hard for me to connect to the characters? I almost wish it had been slightly longer to stretch out the relationship developing more (what can I say I like slow burn). I do think it deserves a lot of the praise it gets. Unfortunately for me I just didn't connect with it on that deeper level.
3/5
The surface level plot of this book sucks you in, and it's incredibly readable throughout. I liked the Shakespeare tie-ins, though I could have done with a little less constant quotation while the characters were talking with one another. The framing device was silly and just threw off the pacing. I thought the romantic tension between two of the characters was really obvious but it was sweet how close they were and just absolutely refused to acknowledge it. Some plot beats were incredibly obvious, and there are some really large questions I have about exactly why some things happened. The ending would've been better without the surprise “twist” at the very end, which honestly really frustrated me. But I'll give credit where it's due and say that the love and tragedy with the characters did affect me. Mixed feelings overall.
The Last Bloodcarver 4.5/5
I really liked this! The pages absolutely flew by for me. There was a little bit of downtime during the middle of the story that maybe could've been trimmed slightly, but overall it flowed really well. I really liked the characters. The magic was really interesting and I loved the blending of magic with science. I liked that despite being YA, it didn't fall into a lot of the tropes I've come to expect with that genre. This is a really strong debut! Definitely ordering book 2!
Pet Sematary 4.5/5
This is the best book I've read by Stephen King, who is usually very hit or miss for me. It's a heart-wrenching tale of grief, death, and horror. I think everyone half knows this story, but to really know it, you need to experience the horrors of grief explored here. King does too good of a job with the descriptions in this book, to the point that it got me to tear up several times. I would definitely recommend this book to those who can handle its dark subject matter.
Foul Days was a delightful read! While it certainly had its flaws, the plot was a little too convenient at times and sometimes decisions made by the characters didn't quite make sense. I really loved the world building and the layers to the characters! One thing leads to the next as our characters are always a few steps behind the villains. Would love to read more!
I LOVED this book. The characters are amazing! Dalila and Raksh are my favorites. The story twists and turns, just when you think the story is going one way something will happen to steer it in a completely new direction. This world is fascinating. I listened to the audiobook, and the narrators do a great job!
I found this one to be stronger than the first book, and the ending to be very sweet. However, there are still some major plotting and pacing issues in it. So much happens in this book compared to the first, and it felt like almost too much. A plot line or two could've been cut or trimmed to make the book flow better. Overall though, it's a sweet story and a fun duology.