betterthanhamlet's reviews
641 reviews

Fine Print by Stjepan Šejić

5.0

Compass Rose by Anna Burke

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted 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? No

5.0

I really enjoyed the main romance here! 

Saga, Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughan

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful tense fast-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? Yes

4.0

Drowned Country by Emily Tesh

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.5

Just as fun and imaginative as the first installment, Tesh continues to tell so much story in so few pages, but without feeling breakneck or breathless. Silver and Tobias are so precious to me, and big shout-out to Silver's mother for being my other favorite character, I loved her. Emily Tesh is so good at picking up old concepts and ideas and giving them her very own spin that's thoughtful and engaging, she's an auto-read author for me now. 

Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh

emotional lighthearted mysterious relaxing fast-paced

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

4.5

Perfect old folklore woodsy vibe with truly lovable and memorable characters. Fairytales but grown up and ancient with real danger, but not a lot of gore. 

I just get the feeling that Tesh knows and sees this world so well, and I'm drawn right in with her. The "movie" played in my head the whole time and I had a blast. I love the leads, they are wonderful in their own ways. Tender and gracefully told. Amazing how much she does in how few words. Really, really good!

Withered by A.G.A. Wilmot

dark emotional medium-paced

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

2.5

The extended metaphor is a really cool idea, and I liked (mostly) how it was executed. 

There were a lot of characters who were very two-dimensional and showed up for five minutes just to get killed off. Maybe I just don't like this aspect of horror?

The romance did NOT hit for me, and I felt very few characters were well-rounded and fleshed out. They did things, but they didn't have personalities, if that makes sense. Much of the dialogue in the romantic parts was not to my taste at all.

I did not like how the body discomfort stuff was handled, but these are my own issues and it may hit quite differently for other readers.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Death of parent, Dysphoria

Foundation by Isaac Asimov

4.0

Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov

4.0

Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov

4.0

Forward the Foundation by Isaac Asimov

4.0