alexiasp's reviews
96 reviews

Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood

funny lighthearted

3.0

The Six Deaths of the Saint by Alix E. Harrow

challenging dark fast-paced

4.25

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

 I feel lukewarm about it. I'm kinda surprised this won Best Sci-fi on Good Reads because it's super soft Sci-fi compared to the other choices, and it also seems neither plot nor character-driven, more like focused on the lyrical prose. Which is not bad for me (I liked Time War).

I did not expect the twist at the end with the violinist, tho the book does leave many questions unanswered, again a bit unlike your typical sci-fi. Did Gapsbery pick up the violin and go play because he knew he would do it or because it was somewhat "ordered" by the simulation?

  It wasn't exactly thought-provoking, but it was still a nice reading experience, also because it was short 

Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister

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

3.0

not objectively bad but for me it was a meh

Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky

challenging dark informative reflective tense slow-paced

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

5.0

I will never squash a spider again.

It is definitely one of the most interesting first-contact-with-aliens books; the author really describes a unique way in which the spider society functions, which is very distant from the human society, and simultaneously manages to make you care more about the spiders. 
The ending was

surprisingly wholesome

and wrapped up the story nicely. It can be read as a standalone.

The writing is very verbose, and the book overstays its welcome a bit, but I'm willing to overlook that because of the amazing ending. I inhaled the last 250 pages.

Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield

dark tense slow-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

3.0

It seems like we got so much character work and im not sure why. I was so tired of reading yet another passage about Miri’s mom. The ending was a little unsatisfying as it left a lot of things in the dark.

Like what was the eye in the deep ocean attached to?? I wanna know.

Overall it was too slow paced for my liking.

The sea imagery was beautiful, and i was only interested in Leah’s characters tbh.

The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu
Did not finish book. Stopped at 0%.

will come back later

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
Did not finish book. Stopped at 0%.

cant get into it. writing is pretty but very distant and cold. it reads too much like a summary of an epic tale. seems more fit as a fairytale meant to be told rather than read

Annie Bot by Sierra Greer

dark reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

This book is a genre-blend.
It tackles problems such as domestic and sexual abuse, power play in couples, interdependency, and toxicity in relationships through the POV of an essentially sex robot.  People fail to perceive Annie's humanity and the way that the abuse is subconsciously processed and changes her decision-making and priorities. Her owner, Doug, as you can imagine, has no self-restrictions around her because she's a robot, and you really get to see all sides of him—very much a reflection of relationships in the real world.

The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai
Did not finish book. Stopped at 51%.

The book is just ok. I was expecting to see some intricate way to find out a person’s favourite recipe (maybe some stalking of their past or something lmao idk), but no, the customers are taken in a back room and interviewed about the recipe that they want to be recreated. Which, fine, its realistic, but I wanted a bit more mystery. Also I was hoping to be taken through the whole cooking process and get some vivid imagery. However, there is always a time jump from the interview to the moment that the customer tries the re-created recipe. 

I hope this doesnt mean I dont like cozy fantasy/mystery bcs I sure do love the idea of it