a_robin_reads's reviews
1287 reviews

That Blue Sky Feeling, Vol. 2 by Okura

emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

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Information:

• Owned book
• Reading Series
• Buddy read: Jennifer's Discord Group

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Review:

Hoped that there was more romance 

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Review previously placed on my blog:

I have read That blue sky feeling Volume 2 by Okura. This is the second book in the That blue sky feeling series. Read an owned copy. Read this for my Series TBR and for a buddy read. This is a romance manga with LGBTQ+ characters.

The beginning of this one was not the best. Was scared it wasn't going to be good. But fortunately it got better and I really enjoyed the story. Still disliked the homophobia, but it is what it is. I had also hoped for more romance, since there hasn't been any yet. So that genre is sort of a spoiler for this series. Excited to finish the series with the last volume. 

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Lose You to Find Me by Erik J. Brown

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.5

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Information:

• Storytel audiobook
• Reading Authors
• Shrek Quest 2025: read a chef/restaurant book

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Review:

Super fun restaurant book with a great romance 

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Review previously placed on my blog:

I have read Lose you to find me by Erik J. Brown. I listened to the audiobook. Read this for my Authors TBR. This is a young adult contemporary romance book.

The cover is already the best and it is exactly what the book is. Super fun restaurant parts and a romance. This author writes characters very well and I laughed a couple of times too. Story was fun, we had a good plot point throughout the book. Romance was great. 

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Cat + Gamer, Volume 2 by Wataru Nadatani

lighthearted slow-paced

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

4.0

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Information:

• Owned book
• Reading Series
• Buddy read: Jennifer's Discord Group

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Review:

This cat is the cutest 

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Review previously placed on my blog:

I have read Cat + Gamer Volume 2 by Wataru Nadatani. This is the second book in the Cat + gamer series. I read an owned copy. This is a contemporary manga.

Again, did not like this one as much as volume one. Not sure why I liked this one less then the first volume. Probably because it wasn't new anymore? I don't know. It also felt a bit too fragmented of a story maybe? Just the main character playing games and the cat reacting to that. I don't know. I have one volume left that I own and we shall see if I want to get the other volumes as well. 

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Daindreth's Assassin by Elisabeth Wheatley

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

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Information:

• Storytel audiobook
• Reading Series
• Buddy read: Jennifer's Discord Group
• Reading Goals 2025: new(ish) genres

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Review previously placed on my blog:

I have read Daindreth's assassin by Elisabeth Wheatley. This is the first book in the Daindreth's assassin series. I listened to the audiobook. Read this one for a buddy read and also to try out this genre more. This is an adult fantasy romance book.

I liked this a lot! What I especially liked were the characters. The plot was also good and I really liked the magic system. The romance had a good pace for me. Just an overall good reading experience. 

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Malice by John Gwynne

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Information:

• Storytel audiobook
• Reading Series
• Buddy read: Jennifer's Discord Group
• Readalong: Catch up book club

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Review:

Very good start to this series 

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Review previously placed on my blog:

I'm currently reading Malice by John Gwynne. This is the first book in The faithful and the fallen series. I'm listening to the audiobook. Reading this one for a buddy read and I have been wanting to read this series. This is an adult fantasy book.

This book is good, but it is also sort of hard to follow. Not that I really mind, but it does decrease my enjoyment of it. There are a lot of perspectives we are following and I don't really see the point yet why so many. The narrator narrates very well, but he does have a certain accent that is a bit hard to follow especially with names. So this is a slow read, but that's okay. I always like adult high fantasy and this is no exception, I am very intrigued. 

The confusion was there for me throughout the book. But only with certain perspectives, basically the ones that we didn't get to hear from often. I also don't have much to say about the book. It was a solid fantasy book, but not more then that. The only aspect that felt original was the giants, so hope we will see those more in future books.
 

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Spy x Family, Vol. 2 by Tatsuya Endo

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.0

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Information:

• Library book
• Reading Series
• Buddy read: Jennifer's Discord Group

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Review:

Fun again, but less good then the first one 

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Review previously placed on my blog:

I have read Spy x Family Volume 2 by Tatsuya Endo. This is the second volume in the Spy x Family series. I read a copy from the library. This is a manga.

I did not like this as much as the first one. Mainly because there was a bullying element in the book and I hate reading about that. But otherwise the story is still really fun.
 

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The Brightness Between Us by Eliot Schrefer
Did not finish book. Stopped at 37%.

Chapter 18

Spy x Family, Vol. 1 by Tatsuya Endo

emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

5.0

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Information:

• Library book
• Reading Series
• Buddy read: Jennifer's Discord Group

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Review:

This was the absolute best! 

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Review previously placed on my blog:

 

I have read Spy x Family Volume 1 by Tatsuya Endo. This is the first volume in the Spy x Family series. I read a copy from the library. This is a manga.

This was the best! I have heard great things about this series and when I saw that my library had a couple of volumes of it I was super excited. I did not know though that this was really funny! I laughed out loud multiple times. The characters were great and the whole concept is really awesome. Just really enjoyed it and excited to continue with the series. 

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Barbaarse ijsplaneet by Ruby Dixon

adventurous funny fast-paced

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

2.5

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Information:

• Kobo Plus ebook
• Book club: Booksandlala Discord

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Review:

Badly written, but very entertaining.  

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Review previously placed on my blog:

I have read Ice planet barbarians by Ruby Dixon. This is the first book in the Ice planet barbarians series. I read the Dutch ebook. Read this for a Discord book club. This is an adult romance science fiction book (smut level pretty high).

Is this well written? No, it is very simple and some things are really stupid. Is it entertaining? Yes, it definitely is so far. Very curious if I will keep liking it. It is very out of my comfort zone, but really enjoying that right now.

This was... something. This is very much out of my comfort zone, but I just wanted to try it and I have been liking female/male romance more. This book was not well written. Not well written at all. The beginning was very weird and graphic (not in the smut way yet). The rest of the book was just okay. It was pretty entertaining. The romance was sort of okay? Also weird, but sort of okay. The smut was also okay. I think it was well written enough and the author did not use annoying terms. Don't think I will continue with the series, but we shall see, maybe if I feel like it at some point. The second book is available on my ebook app, so we shall see. 

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De kerstboekwinkel by Jenny Colgan

emotional tense medium-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

2.0

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Information:

• Library book & Storytel audiobook
• Book club: Passant

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Review:

Very much a let down 

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Review previously placed on my blog:

I have read The Christmas bookshop by Jenny Colgan. I read a Dutch copy from the library whilst listening to the audiobook. Read this for my in real life book club. This is an adult contemporary romance book.

Did not like this as you can see. I thought this was going to be a cosy read, but it really was not for me. The main character just kept fighting with her sister and that was really annoying to read about. The only part I liked was the bookshop, but that was actually a very small part of the book. The romance was kind of stupid, so did not enjoy that either. There was also quite a bit of fatphobia. Would not recommend. 

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