apollo0325's reviews
405 reviews

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

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

5.0

ABSOLUTE BANGGGGEERRRR!!!!!

I made a note during my reading about how the stereotypical alpha hierarchy has been debunked, but for Scarlet and Wolf? I will ALWAYS make an exception 💖

Also: BEST BOY THORNE HAS ARRIVED LET’S GO GIRLSSSSS!!!

Spell Bound by F.T. Lukens

hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This is the second FT Lukens book I've attempted to read, and I think I finished this one because 1) audiobook and 2) I liked the overall cast.

First, Spell Bound's plothook doesn't happen until about 55-60% of the way through the book. As you move along up to that point, there are story beats that would lead to the plotpoint presented in the blurb of the book, but this book probably could have been 100 pages less than it is. A lot of it is world building, but it's extremely basic level world building: you've got magical people and normies. The normies can't and aren't allowed to do magic because of the Magic Police. Magic Police regulates and profits off of everyone's magical dealings, and while you get snippets of that about 25% of the way through the book, it didn't feel like we saw enough of the Magic Police's impact on other magical users aside from Antonia's and Fable's businesses. If we're going to dive into more world building that is integral to the plot, it would have been nice to see more of the impact of the Magic Police's abusing of power and greed. The "lesson" of the book gets lost in the sauce because for our two MCs, the only things they care about are each other and their mentors, which is fair! This isn't a criticism of characterization but more so a criticism of Lukens' lackluster worldbuilding and morality lessons that are just like... suddenly a thing. Antonia's speech in the trial was good evidence of that because it felt very left field. We didn't explore these themes of power imbalances, corporate/political greed, and rules that only benefit the wealthy throughout the book, so for that to be the final lesson in all of this was... uhhh not great lol

Second, Lukens' characters are always VERY palatable. There isn't really any grey morality or exploration of darker themes of characters, at least on paper where we actually see it and not just hear about it. You hear about Antonia being this powerful sorcress who wanted to rule the world but now she runs a lowstakes hex business. We don't see a demonstration of power until the end of the book, but even then, you're like oh she's powerful, that's cool. What happened to the power-hungry Antonia we keep hearing about? We know she has motivations beneath everything she does, but Antonia was still palatable. Rook and Sun and even their romance is palatable. Sun doesn't like Rook at first, but they talk about how attractive he is CONSTANTLY. There's no true tension between Sun and Rook and while not every romance needs tension, the sort of hate-to-love relationships kind of require that tension. You know as soon as Sun starts talking about how hot Rook is, they'll get together pretty easily. They were adorable, but you know how this is going to turn out. Those sorts of plots aren't necessarily explored to their full extent, and even their 'miscommunication' (or lack thereof) was resolved within 2-3 chapters. Lukens doesn't really take a risk with their characters. Even in In Deeper Waters (which I STILL haven't finished reading), their characters are palatable. There's no risk. There's nothing to really excite the reader or determine if the MC/characters are even worth rooting for. I'm not trying to be mean when I say it feels like queer media written for straight people. Sun can be a bit of a hardass, but they're palatable. Fable is a rule follower but palatable. Antonia, Rook, and Maevis are all palatable. Which by the way, Antonia and Maevis honestly are the same person. I thought they were the same person when Maevis was first introduced because their voices were identical.

Last, Lukens' books aren't BAD. In the spirit of me, a food analogy: Lukens' books are like McD's french fries. They're good because there's some fun characters and interesting world building, but they aren't an entire meal. Subsisting on ONLY fries is not nutrientially smart.

Lukens' books are important though. Baby gays will LOVE Lukens' books and see representation not only normalized but celebrated. Sun takes the time to correct Rook about their pronouns, and it was really nice to see a nonbinary MC at the forefront of the narrative. Sun's and Rook's relationship is NEVER once questioned by anyone in the entire story. There is no "but you're both gUyS?!!?!" or "YOU'RE GAAAAY?!?!?!" and I think that is important to have for queer kids, especially teens. This book may not have been for me, but this book is going to be there for a young queer teen who wants to see themselves in mainstream literature.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

adventurous funny sad medium-paced

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

4.75

THIS BOOK STILL HITS JUST RIGHT!!! You’ve got: scifi futuristic stuff; a very cute slow burn; a fun quirky sidekick (i love you ikko 5ever); tragic heroine; fairytale influences. I LOVE ITTTT!!!

I will say I definitely understand why people said Meyer has some uhh… savory Orientalism in this, especially when Cinder compares her stepmom to a China doll which is not great. However, that was kind of the only thing I recall being not great? I could have missed something else though!

The narrator was really great and I love how she had a variety of voices for a bunch of characters!

Skip and Loafer, Vol. 6 by Misaki Takamatsu

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

5.0

Banger after banger 😩🤌 can’t wait for volume 7!!

Skip and Loafer, Vol. 5 by Misaki Takamatsu

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

NAO-CHAAAAAAAN, MY BELOVED!!!!!!! You mean so much to me 🥹🥹🥹🥹💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

Skip and Loafer, Vol. 4 by Misaki Takamatsu

funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

I LOVE EVERYONEEEE

ESPECIALLY MY VERY LESBIAN DAUGHTER, YUZUKI!!!

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

1.0

I normally write reviews on my phone, but for this novel, I had to take out my laptop because I have TOO MUCH TO SAY!!!!

First of all, whoever is selecting this book as anything but slow-paced is a liar. Sorry, not a personal attack against you, but I'm pretty certain we read different books if you don't recognize this as a slow paced book. Nothing really happened until about 60% of the way through the book where we finally get a small piece of cheese from this 'mystery' and even still, the bridegroom is just fumbling around for answers with a loosely connected parallel personal story of his that we hear about for maybe 15% of the book and then receive a unsurprising answer by the end.

I understand why dual perspectives were used. Really, I do, but I have never met a more useless man since Disney's Maleficient's Prince Philip (not animated Prince Philip, my beloved). He fumbled the bag SO MANY times and he's like "My wife is fucking crazy but I love her so it's fine" BESTIE??? HELLO????? Are you good????? He was not. Azure's story was interesting, but then the Bridegroom's perspective would come and I was bored. The narrator for the audiobook for his POV was fantastic though, and I can't dock points for a good narrator. I WILL dock points because home boy was USELESS. The narrator for Azure was great too and added a lot to a boring story.

To preface my experience with the story, here is a note I made at the 55% point: Coming from Mexican Gothic to this is like eating a 4 course, 5 star meal with a nice glass of wine to a meal at Olive Garden and choosing lightly buttered noodles with warm water to drink and stale bread. If you're going to compare this book to Mexican Gothic, it doesn't hold a candle to the tension and suspense built by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.

Okay, here comes the spoiler part. Proceed to read at your own caution:

THAT ENDING??? Are you fucking kidding me?? We go from "I'm gonna shoot ur ass, get away from the glass casket" to "omg u said my real name [insert tears brimming emoji]" huh???????? That's... What?? All of the tension that was building led to a bland and predictable outcome. As soon as he said Azure's name, the book just like... The problems are resolved?? This woman lived FOR YEARS as her dead friend and we're able to just get over that? okay, I guess. Whatever.

This book was not good. I was really looking forward to it and I read Chokshi's "Once More Upon a Time" and LOVED IT. The characters were charming, it was humorously written, and I loved how quickly the story moved along. The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is the complete opposite. While the writing was beautiful, it's a wonderfully decorated cake with a bare-bones inside. Every plot point was predictable, and with such a character focused plot, we're really lacking anything of substance between Indigo and the Bridegroom, and more specifically out of the Bridegroom himself. This was such a disappointing read. I'm glad people can find enjoyment from it, but this was not it for me.

A Mirror Mended by Alix E. Harrow
Did not finish book. Stopped at 15%.

When I was reading a Spindle Splintered and read the “They’re lesbians, Harold”, I forgave it because I was like… 10 pages from the end of the novel.

So to get a “Wicked Witch of the East, bro” reference in the entirely wrong story… I can’t. I literally can’t. Sorry, Alix E Harrow. If you’re going to write a book that is very aware of modern pop culture and classic fairytales, I would suggest at least things that are 1) relevant to the story and 2) make sense to actually say. There was no reason for the MC to say that lmao,,, cringe (derogatory)

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone, Amal El-Mohtar

emotional hopeful fast-paced

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

4.75

That was one of the most cheesy and poetic romances I’ve read in a long time. The letters were so amazing, and having the dual narration added a lot to the audiobook; it was so fun to hear the letters read by the character themselves.

The world building within can be a little confusing, but if you just roll with the punches and focus on Red and Blue, you’re gonna have a great time.

Also, the fact that they said, “I would break the world rather than lose you”???? Romance ISN’T dead, besties!!

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

4.25

WOWIE what a doozy of a book!! I think I’m subconsciously drawing myself to haunted houses and creepy families and unintentionally,

fucked up fungus LMAOOO that one was a surprise! But I’m glad I was never spoiled on it despite hearing so much about this book.

I really enjoyed this very tightly knit cast, and Noemi was an interesting and flawed MC to follow. Silvia Moreno-Garcia writes women VERY well. She also does an excellent job of really placing you in this moment with these characters by describing lush/gross environments and historical contexts. Fortunately for me, there wasn’t a ton of historical fun facts thrown at you as much as Gods of Jade and Shadow.

This book had a surprising amount of sexual tension, but for me, there wasn’t quite enough horror tension. Tension in horror is my FAVORITE part of any horror media, so it made me a little sad to see that lacking. After reading What Moves the Dead, which had amazing tension all the way through to the climax and resolution, the tension didn’t really hit for me with Mexican Gothic until the climactic reveal, which was about 65-70% way through the book if I’m remembering the part correctly. It was pretty gross and I actually had to stop reading when the descriptions came out; it was awesome.

I can see why this is praised so highly by readers and why it put Silvia Moreno-Garcia on the map, not only within horror but as an amazing author.

Catalina, Noemi, and Francis are my little blorbos 💖 Catalina goes fucking HARD at the end of this and I was like get the fuck out of my way, Vergil, I’M marrying her!!! #goodforher