angelsbeforeman's reviews
1081 reviews

Angels A to Z by James R. Lewis, Evelyn Dorothy Oliver

informative medium-paced

5.0

i got that angelology autism so this was wonderful. read it in a day and it made me want to cry for hours Loved it

Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu (Novel) Vol. 8 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

The Six Deaths of the Saint by Alix E. Harrow

dark emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.5

i don't actually know why it took me so long to read this, but now that i did i can see why everyone likes it so much. it's a quick read but very good, really really beautiful especially for a short story. good writing, i don't know much about the author but i might be interested now!

The Trial by Franz Kafka

slow-paced

4.0

did i like it? yes, very much. but i like kafka. so i understand why people don't like this, cause i think you do have to be a kafka fan in some capacity to like it. i'm mostly a fan of the style and what kafka has to say in general, and i even liked this more than the metamorphosis. i suppose it was more my thing thematically. 

The Vampire by John William Polidori

dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.5

i've read better vampire literature, but this was still pretty good! i love vampires and this is a good example of classic vampire lit, and i intend to read every vampire book out there if i can. it's pretty standard thematically, which is nice, but i didn't feel particularly inspired by the writing style, so i can't give this more than 3.5 stars. 

The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

i do love it when russian authors start analysing death in their work, which is exactly why i read this. i typically like tolstoy's style, and i did here as well. i didn't love it the way i loved ana karenina, but i do appreciate that it's much shorter than ana karenina. sometimes i want to read tolstoy but not 800 pages of tolstoy, so this is quite nice 

Thieves' Gambit by Kayvion Lewis

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

would've liked this more as a tv show or something. it's exactly what you'd think based on the blurb, so it does the job well. the writing is alright, and it's a very fast paced read. that being said, the fast pace perhaps takes away from the novel overall - i feel like some characters could've been developed better if the pace was slower. but again, not complaining too much because the pace is appropriate considering the theme of the book. anyway, i once again believe i would've liked this more if it was a tv show, because this isn't what i typically look for in a book. i guess you could say it's not the author's fault, it's mine. still good, very good actually, just not my thing in the sense that i wouldn't reread ^^

Three Kings by Freydís Moon

emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.5

pretty good, but i don't like it that much purely because i'm not too into polyamory and pregnancy tropes, but i still thought it was cozy, a nice quick read, and the characters were sweet ^^

Parallel Hells by Leon Craig

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

this was really good ♡ to be fair, it's mostly because of the theme - i'm a fan of books that combine gothic elements and queer identities. enjoyed the writing style, and it's truly rare for me to not hate at least one story in a collection. but i don't hate any here! one of the main things this collection has going for it is the fact that it's not boring (to me at least) and it keeps you interesting. the pacing is good and i don't think it's too long. i'll pick ultimate favorites after i reread, but for now stories that stood out would be hags, lipless grin, no dominion, and raw pork and opium. i think raw pork and opium especially stands out because of it's uniqueness. lovely + i'll be reading more from leon craig for sure !!

Plants of the Devil by Corinne Boyer

informative medium-paced

4.5

enjoyed this !! i think i would've absolutely loved it when my special interest in witchcraft was super active, but it's good either way. the author incorporated both traditional folklore and some more modern ideas + the illustrations are really pretty and fitting ^^