birdbrofalcon's reviews
70 reviews

Carl's Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinniman

adventurous dark funny 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? It's complicated

4.75

Minimum Wage Magic by Rachel Aaron

adventurous hopeful fast-paced

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

4.25

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

adventurous dark funny 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? It's complicated

4.5

Kill Blue, Vol. 1 by Tadatoshi Fujimaki

adventurous funny medium-paced

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

4.25

I was a bit hesitant to try Kill Blue out. Fujimaki has made one of my favorite manga with Kuroko’s Basketball. However his other series, RobotxLazerbeam, was fairly disppointing. 

I’m super excited that Kill Blue has been a fun ride so far. Juzo is a fun protagonist to follow. A jaded hitman who gets reverted to his middle school self is a fun premise to follow. This gets even better when you find out that he never went to middle school, due to joining his organization. I liked finding him rediscover his love of learning, while still being a grouchy man struggling to relate to the classmates he has. 

The fact he is going to school for his job was interesting enough with him trying to protect his cover, but then finding out that a girl in his class might be the key to reverting him back just added more intrigue.

I’ve been reading this weekly through the SJ app since it started and so far it hasn’t disappointed. This will be a fun read for anyone wanting a mix of slice of life with some spy-lite action mixed in

The Never Hero by T. Ellery Hodges

adventurous dark fast-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

3.0

Chili Cauldron Curse by Lynn Cahoon

mysterious fast-paced

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

2.5

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing 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? It's complicated

5.0

Beauty and the Feast 08 by Satomi U

inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

3.75

Beauty and the Feast 07 by Satomi U

lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

4.0

The Earthspark by Vanessa Thurgood

adventurous medium-paced

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

2.5

The Earthspark was a ok read, that is just very predictable. The biggest issue with the book is that every thing just kinda happens. A character shows some slight jealousy for a few pages, then that’s their whole defining feature. Nienna literally won’t shut up about being a teach teacher for the vast of majority of the book, then after looking at lights decides that she should leave teaching behind. We didn’t even really see much thought process with it, but she needed to become a pathfinder for the story to continue. So that’s what she did.

This just caused nothing to feel earned. If something needed to happen, it just happened either by a split second character decision, or unexplained magic. The Earthspark wasn’t fully explained either, we are told it can do things, then it also just randomly does whatever was needed for the outcome the author wanted.

I think the premise of this story is really sound, but the execution fell flat. I might consider giving the second one a try, but it’s definitely not high on the priority list.