alex9's reviews
310 reviews

New Adult by Timothy Janovsky

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective 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? Yes

3.5

I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the second in the “series”, but I liked it more than the first.

I do wish there was a bit more animosity from Drew towards Nolan when they reconnected in the future to give it more tension and be a true enemies to lovers trope but that’s just my personal taste. I also thought I would enjoy the magic/time travelling aspect a lot more than I ended up. It fell a bit flat to me and seemed just like a plot device with no real explanation behind it or reason why it made sense to go with that specifically rather than just have an actual time jump. It seems like this was done just to have Nolan appear more redeemable and likeable, since it wasn’t technically him that turned into an asshole and caused all of those issues with Drew/his family. I would’ve really enjoyed reading a true Nolan turned into a famous asshole redemption arc though probably more than I did this. The stakes of whether or not he fixed his relationships in the future timeline never felt too pressing, since it was always implied he would just end up going back anyway.

 

A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

Reading this for third time (for class ofc) but this one felt like I got the most out of it. Last summer, I saw this performed as a play and still remembered most parts of that. I kept getting flashbacks to seeing the play while I was reading, and it really showed just me how much can be missed when Shakespeare’s works are only read rather than watching them be performed. 

Guardian: Zhen Hun (Novel) Vol. 1 by priest

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Read as part of my friend picking 5 books for my TBR for 2025!

Definitely not something I would have picked up on my own, but I’m glad I read it. This was a fun read, and doesn’t take itself too seriously. Honestly, the writing isn’t at a literary masterpiece level, but it is easily digestible and pretty funny to the point where I laughed out loud in multiple instances. The book doesn’t purport itself to be anything life changing, so I could overlook that and just enjoy the story and the extremely slow burn romance. 

I also found the mythology and supernatural aspects very interesting, although being super uninformed, at times I felt a bit lost when trying to understand what was going on. After finishing the entire book, I realized there’s a glossary/guide in the back that gives context and explains literally everything I was wondering about so that’s honestly my bad for not catching that sooner. At least I know now for the next book where to look, which I can’t wait to start reading. 

The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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? Yes

4.75

I think I’m finally becoming a romance enjoyer, which I would’ve sworn two or three years ago could never happen.
Unfortunately the title of this book (and the last shreds of my denial of publicly enjoying romance) stopped me from buying a copy of this from my local bookstore. Yes, the title is a bit funny, I will admit that now. I wish I had just gone ahead and grabbed a copy earlier instead of waiting for the ebook version from my library to become available, because it was truly fun and enjoyable.
A cute story that does require a suspension of disbelief and a willingness to overlook a lack of world building and a full magic system explanation. Hopefully more will be coming in the next book, if I can actually get up the courage to hand something titled Go Luck Yourself to the bookstore cashier. 
I also thought the MC and his brother’s different reactions to their family problems were realistic and allowed the reader to see more of who they were as characters. I wish we got more conversation between Coal and Hex about stuff that wasn’t Important Topics or flirting, but I was glad that them getting together wasn’t super rushed and they were both able to talk about things without immediately jumping into hooking up. I also enjoyed the side characters and hopefully we get to see Iris get her romance in a third book. 

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe

adventurous challenging slow-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

1.25

Read for class and I was dreading reading this book because of how boring it seemed. Somehow it was worse than I thought. Hundreds of pages of the most mundane tasks in excruciating detail, and casual racism everywhere. (I get that this is from the 1700s and that was the general attitude of the British towards racialized people so I expected it. However, reading this literally brought nothing  and was super unenjoyable to begin with, so it made reading about the racism/colonialism feel extra pointless.) I could literally not bring myself to care what happened to the main character and wasn’t interested in his story at all. There are much better classics, travel writing, survival stories, etc out there and I wish I could have read one of those instead of this absolute waste of time. 

Icebreaker by A.L. Graziadei

emotional hopeful lighthearted tense fast-paced

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

4.25

My first hockey romance (something I never thought I would pick up) but I know that the sports romance genre is getting more popular plus it was gay so I wanted to check it out. From the description, I was picturing something like the AFTG series minus the mafia ofc but it was definitely tamer and not nearly as intense. The characters were well written, the enemies to lovers romance was cute and I appreciated that important topics weren’t just glossed over but actually addressed and discussed. My biggest issue with this book was that it seemed a bit too short.

We go from winter break where the MC is still undecided about a lot of important choices straight to the summer. Also, I get that it “doesn’t matter” who got picked first for the draft at the end but I would still have liked to know (and it should’ve been Caulder let’s be real). Also, Mickey’s decision to leave school despite enjoying it so much just so that someone else could have the scholarship was a bit ridiculous and didn’t make sense. Would there be no way to turn down the scholarship money so that at least it could be used for someone else but he could still stay there and play on the team?

It felt like there was so much more of the story left to tell and I was hoping to see more of all of the side characters too. The ending being so abrupt knocked off a star for me, but I still enjoyed the story overall. 

The Perfect Stranger by Megan Miranda

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

Something about Megan Miranda’s thrillers makes them super entertaining and quick reads for me. In the Perfect Stranger, the MC acted based on instinct or her feelings sometimes, but wasn’t stupid and made for an interesting character. Her missing friend, Emmy, haunted the pages through flashbacks and lingering traces of her presence in the house they shared, despite vanishing before the story opened.

The story ended well for Leah, which I do appreciate in a thriller. However, some parts of the reveal didn’t fully track, or maybe I just didn’t understand them, like when she found out Emmy and Bethany were conspiring to steal Leah’s identity, even after Bethany was already out of jail and had a steady job in their town

but I can overlook that as it wasn’t hugely important as most of the truth had already been revealed at that point. I also loved the atmosphere and setting of this book, as it was very bleak and on edge from Leah’s home to the school where she worked, which upped the eeriness of the events. 

My Dearest Darkest by Kayla Cottingham

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This was a lot darker than I thought it would be, especially for a YA. I also got less of the dark academia and more of the supernatural than I initially expected, but I didn’t mind since the result was a pretty unique story.

I mean, veering into cosmic horror at the end of a high school coming out/secret cult/evil ghost/ritual sacrifice/mean girl clique/sapphic love story/I see dead people all in one story? Sure, why the hell not!

Together We Rot by Skyla Arndt

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.75

I had this on my want to read list for a while because I love creepy small town/forest gothic stories. Sadly, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I expected. The romance felt super rushed, as did most of the plotline. For a book that ties into the characters’ and town’s past so much, everything still felt like it moved too quickly, resulting in a loss of atmosphere and tension. I wasn’t able to get invested in the side characters, or really root for the romance between Wil and El as much as I wanted to. I think this was a good story idea and while I did like the overall plot and the main characters, I really wish the book was longer with more buildup and a bit slower pace. 

White Trash Warlock by David R. Slayton

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I was really excited to read this, especially coming off of The Last Sun and seeing this as one of the recommended books if I enjoyed that one. Unfortunately, this just didn’t hit for me. I really didn’t like the main character, and couldn’t get into the chapters from his brother’s POV.

I also did feel like it was out of character for Adam, who had past issues with authority mistreating him, to start dating a cop with literally no discussion of his job. For a book that supposedly touches on classism, how are there absolutely zero conversations about how working as a police officer ties into upholding classism? I don’t typically care if characters/LIs are cops in fiction, but if a book purports itself to discuss social issues and then only goes halfway, it takes me out of it a bit. 

There were also these random moments throughout the book that I guess were attempts to address racism but just came across very out of place. The LIs brother literally only refers to Adam throughout the entire book as “wonder bread”. I really don’t get why the difference between Vic being Latino and Adam being white needs to be emphasized so much when there is zero conversation about how Adam benefits from his whiteness surrounding pointing this out. There’s also a strange part where Vic was justifying white people opening a Mexican restaurant because the food is good and people enjoy it. If a book is going to have such surface level takes about racism/appropriation, why even bother including it?

The magic system in here also wasn’t super clear to me throughout, but given that it’s just the first book of a trilogy I’ll excuse that as something that will become more clear. Initially, I wasn’t going to continue on with the series after finishing this one but after letting it sit for a month, I think I may.