a_robin_reads's reviews
1287 reviews

Sue Boettcher's Black Cat ABC by Sue Boettcher

funny lighthearted fast-paced

4.0

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Information:

• Owned book
• The Haunted Party: read a book with a (black) cat on the cover

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Review:

Very nice illustrations

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Review previously placed on my blog:

I have read Black cat ABC by Sue Boettcher. I read an owned copy. Read this for The Haunted Party readathon for Black cat with the prompt: read a book with a (black) cat on the cover. Not sure how to put this book into a genre, it is nonfiction.

I liked this. The drawings were very beautiful. The words used were good for learning more English and they fitted the cat well. Nice tiny book. 

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Ragdoll by Daniel Cole

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Information:

• Kobo Plus ebook & Storytel audiobook
• Reading Series
• The Haunted Party: read a thriller/horror book

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Review:

Good beginning, went downhill fast 

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Review previously placed on my blog:

I'm currently reading Ragdoll by Daniel Cole. This is the first book in the Fawkes & Baxter series. I'm reading the Dutch ebook whilst listening to the audiobook. Reading this because I got the second book recently. Also reading this for the readathon I created called The Haunted Party and added this one for the prompt: scary story - get in the mood for a scary night: read a thriller/horror book. This is an adult crime mystery thriller book.

Enjoying this so far. The mystery and crime aspect is very good, enjoying that. I don't really like the characters so far, but that's not really necessary for a thriller. I really hope this author won't make weird comments about women, which happens too often in thrillers. So hope this will be a win for me.

So as was expected the author did make weird comments about women. I'm so tired of this. It was some time ago that I finished this book and can't even remember the ending, so that says enough I think. Not going to continue with this series, so unhauled book two. 

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Oktober by Søren Sveistrup
Did not finish book. Stopped at 17%.

Babel by R.F. Kuang

challenging tense slow-paced

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

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Information:

• Library book & Storytel audiobook
• Partly read
• Reading Authors
• Magical Readathon for Spells & Incantations for Distinguished: steal a book from another TBR 

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Review:

Needed more character work and a more interesting plot 

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Review previously placed on my blog:

I'm currently reading Babel by R.F. Kuang. I'm reading a copy from the library and listening to the audiobook at the same time. This is a buddy read I'm doing. Reading this for my Authors TBR and I wanted to give the book a second chance, since I tried it some time ago. Also reading this for the Magical Readathon for Spells & Incantations for Distinguished with the prompt: steal a book from another TBR. This is an adult historical fantasy book with literary writing. 

The first time I tried to read this I didn't really like it. I also really did not want a difficult book at the time and everyone said this was that. In my experience now it's not that difficult actually. It's more so a bit of a mystery you are following with the main character, which I really enjoy. The magic system is very cool. The characters are my favorite part of the book. It's still a little bit of a difficult read with the lectures that are given and information I don't fully understand, but I'm just taking my time with it. 

I did not like this enough to finish the whole book. I stopped at about 300 pages, so I am counting it as a read book. Did not give a rating, because I don't know what I would give it. On one hand I did enjoy reading it. I just really did not like how the story was going. It went in a direction I did not like. I also wanted to learn more about the characters, but the character work fell flat. The themes in the book were also just too much for me. 

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Een lui letterland by Anne Steenhoff

hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

3.5

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Information:

• Library book

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Review:

Very thought provoking book, but too short and with some books added I disagree with 

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Forest of Wonders by Linda Sue Park

adventurous 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
• Magical Readathon for Conjuration for Ordinary: bat on the cover 

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Review:

Really fun adventerous middle grade 

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Review previously placed on my blog:

I have read Forest of wonders by Linda Sue Park. This is the first book in the Wing & Claw series. I listened to the audiobook. Read this for the Magical Readathon for Conjuration for Ordinary with the prompt: bat on the cover. This is a middle grade fantasy book.

I wanted to read another book for this prompt, but I DNFed that one. It was difficult to find a good option. But when I typed bats into my audiobook app this one came up and this was a perfect pick. Super fun to find a new series that I enjoyed in this way. Also perfect of the prompt because the bat is a very much in the book as well. 

This book was very enjoyable. The best part for me was the magic system. It was all about apothecary. The title and cover are a bit misleading, it doesn't take part a lot in the forest. But I did not really mind, the story was very fun. The ending was a bit chaotic and the twist not really to my taste, but I do think I will continue with the series. 

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Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Information:

• Storytel audiobook
• Magical Readathon for Conjuration for Qualified: an award winning book 

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Review:

Cool concept, exactly the right length. 

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Review previously placed on my blog:

I'm currently reading Ring shout by P. Djeli Clark. I'm listening to the audiobook. Reading this one for the Magical Readathon for Conjuration for Qualified with the prompt: an award winning book. This is an adult historical fantasy book with horror elements. 

This one is good so far, but very heavy and I was not feeling the best last week, so put it down for now and will finish it later. The start was very good and pretty creepy. Sometimes it is a bit hard to follow, especially with certain accents the narrator does. But the fantasy element is great so far and curious to see where the story will go since it is such a short book.

This was very good. I think it was the perfect length for what the story wanted to be. The whole concept was fascinating and very well thought out. Definitely can see what it has won an award. The rating wasn't higher, because I didn't fully connect with the characters and what I mentioned before with the audiobook. Nevertheless a great book, would highly recommend. 

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Wolfsong by TJ Klune

challenging emotional mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Information:

• Library book & Storytel audiobook
• Reading Authors
• Reading Series
• Magical Readathon for Restoration for Ordinary: night sky on the cover 

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Review:

The absolute best 

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Review previously placed on my blog:

I'm currently reading Wolfsong by TJ Klune. This is the first book in the Green creek series. I'm reading a copy from the library whilst listening to the audiobook. Reading this for my Authors TBR. Also reading it for the Magical Readathon for Restoration for Ordinary with the prompt: night sky on the cover. This is an adult fantasy romance book with LGBTQ+ characters.

Loving this so far. I really like the family aspect in this book. It is one of my favorite things to read about. I also like that this is more of an actual adult book from this author. What I mean by that is that there are more graphic scenes like fighting in this one. Refreshing. 

Loved this so much! The only small thing I did not like was that some things were repeated too often, which got me rolling my eyes sometimes. But other then that it was perfection and definitely a new favorite from this author. 

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Never Been Kissed by Timothy Janovsky

emotional funny 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

3.5

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Information:

• Storytel audiobook
• Reading Series
• Magical Readathon for Art of illusion for Ordinary: random emoji generator 

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Review:

Loved the movie aspect, but this felt more YA then NA 

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Review previously placed on my blog:

I'm currently reading Never been kissed by Timothy Janovsky. This is the first book in the Boy meets boy series. I'm listening to the audiobook. Reading this one for the Magical Readathon for Art of illusion for Ordinary with the prompt: random emoji generator (I got a taxi and think the cars are close enough). This is a new adult contemporary romance book with LGBTQ+ characters.

Very fun book so far, because I love the cinema and this is set there a lot. The premise of the book is good, but I do think the author could have made it better if there was a bit more mystery about who the love interest would be. This book also feels very much young adult even though the characters are in their twenties. Hope the romance will make the book better.

In the end this was a fun read, but definitely not my favorite romance book. The romance did not really get better. It was also not fully the forefront which can be nice, but here it felt too much in the background. I did really like all the characters and loved the cinema aspect. 

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Hurricane Child by Kacen Callender

challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

3.5

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Information:

• Kobo Plus ebook
• Reading Authors
• Magical Readathon for Psionics & Divination for Ordinary: favorite author's debut book 

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Review:

Good story, but a difficult read for a middle grade 

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Review previously placed on my blog:

I'm currently reading Hurricane child by Kacen Callender. I'm reading the ebook. This one is for my Authors TBR. Also reading it for the Magical Readathon for Psionics & Divination for Ordinary with the prompt: favorite author's debut book. This is a middle grade contemporary book with LGBTQ+ characters. 

So far this is great, but also very heavy to read. I hate how the main character gets treated. I think the writing style is not very well suited to a middle grade audience, it is too complex. I sometimes have a hard time following the story, so I can imagine children having even more difficulty. The story itself is very complex, but a good read so far.

In the end a pretty good book. The story itself was the best part I think. 

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