Reviews

The Monstrous Misses Mai by Van Hoang

gaderianne's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

This book was a lot darker than I expected it to be. I don’t think it’s a bad thing - I was just expecting there to be a solution to the price of magic and … in the end Magic has a price. I actually really liked how Magic was portrayed in this book - even if I think there could have been a bit more back story / Cordi was portrayed a bit too gullible to be realistic for me. 

This book was about friendship, but also the price of success and what is it that you truly want and desire. 

laurensix's review

mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder

emdeannah's review

emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

rachelpatterstock's review

dark hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

symbra9's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I feel so conflicted about this book. The concept is wonderful, the characters are interesting, and I love magic. However the pacing was odd and left something to be desired, it was incredibly repetitive, and at many points it was terribly bland. The main character Cordi is really frustrating with how she thinks and acts. I'm assuming the point is to show her innocence and naivete but it honestly just felt very false. I did enjoy certain aspects of the book but it did not hold up for me and I was pretty disappointed with it.

rockets's review

emotional lighthearted mysterious relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

primmiiee's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

superdeetran's review

dark emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

It started slow and the middle had too much fluff. The ending went fast where it just starts to get real good. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

bookedbymadeline's review

I really wanted to like this one because I love historical settings/time periods and the concept sounded amazing! Sadly this didn’t work for me. 

The pacing was slow and writing overly descriptive. It took way too long to get to the magic, which is the whole point of the book? It’s meant to be dark and yet there’s no tension or suspense, the first 20% (75ish pages) is just minute details telling the reader everything instead of showing us. It’s also incredibly repetitive-
 I GET IT CORDI YOU DIDNT HAVE FRIENDS AND HATED THE SHOP BUT LEARNED TO LOVE IT AND NOW SEWING IS YOUR PASSION!! You don’t need to tell me every single chapter 🫠 

I DNFd this at 26% (about 92 pages) because after all this time I still couldn’t care less about the characters or what happens, just give me the dark magic and mistakes already 

eulrch's review

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5