bites_of_books's reviews
783 reviews

Gifts From Crows by Peighton Marsh

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

A young girl befriends a crow. She has been living alone for a year after her family passed away and now that winter is on its way she must go in search of other people. It's such a great story of resilience, hope, and ultimately of believing that there is a glimmer of light out there even when everything looks the darkest. 
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Shadow Life by Hiromi Goto

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

We need more stories featuring elderly women! In this one we follow an older woman who has been sent to live in a home but she'd much rather continue being independent. The discussions around agency, responsibility by the next generation on their parents, and death, are all explored here. 

It is a quick read with great art and a really impactful storyline. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants a graphic novel that features an older woman and has a tough of magic within as well. 
The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow

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adventurous emotional sad 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

2.75

We follow Janelle, a 16-year old girl who is telling us how aliens invaded the world and started to gather humans in various places around the world to take over everything. As part of this, the aliens have banned all kinds of art, including books and music. As a true book lover, she has a hidden library from where she sneaks books to various people in her apartment complex. 
We also follow Morris, one of the aliens who is in charge of developing a vaccine that will allow the aliens to fully control the humans. 
The first thing that made it difficult for me to enjoy this story was the romance aspect. I couldn't believe that Janelle would put aside the acts of violence that have been committed towards her family and friends just because Morris also likes music. I couldn't suspend my disbelief enough. 
Overall it is a very interesting premise and a cool concept for the story, but I didn't like that the story doesn't really wrap up fully. Big questions remain unanswered by the end and that made me just dissatisfied. I would only recommend this one once there's a clear second book out there that hopefully answers my questions. 
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Frenzied by Brandon Massey

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

What a fun ride! Brandon Massey is becoming an author who I can rely on to give me a good fast paced story full of action and thrills. In this one we follow a couple of different characters as a strange illness starts affecting many people in their community, making them act violent and obsessive. 
I grew attached to the characters and also invested in what their fate would become. The gore was done so well, especially since horrific things happen to a lot of people in this book, it never felt unnecessary or out of place. A well-balanced  story overall!
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When We Were Widows by Annette Chavez Macias

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

The thing that I love about Annette Chavez Macias' books is that there are always heartfelt lessons within them. She'd previously talked about grief in Too Soon for Adios, but in When We Were Widows she tackles it from a completely different perspective. We have three generations of women, Mama Melda, Ana, and Yessica, all who became widows in sudden and unexpected ways. Each woman has a complex relationship with their grief, which stems from more than losing their husband, and I also loved how the author depicted how the lack of processing this grief affected everyone around them in some way. Then, there was the layer of Mexican-American culture and the sense of obligation to one's family (especially as the oldest daughter for Ana). 
All in all, a beautiful story wrapped in layers of grief, family, friendship, the past coming back, and more. If anything I would have loved for it to be longer so we could dive into the stories of the other characters in the book. I want to know more about Evie and Damian and just everyone. 
Thanks to the author for the eARC! I'm looking forward to adding a physical copy to my collection <3 
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Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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

4.0

This was a really comforting read in the way that it also felt incredibly human and real. Flawed humans who care for each other in a tiny community filled with book lovers, simply great. I liked the first half more than the second half but overall it was a great read. 
The Night Masquerade by Nnedi Okorafor

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? No

5.0

The end of the Binti trilogy is a beautiful roller coaster. It makes me want more of that world but also leaves me satisfied with the knowledge of where we leave these characters. 
Home by Nnedi Okorafor

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adventurous emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I'm so glad I came back to the world of Nnedi Okorafor! It's been a long time coming that I needed to continue with the Binti series and this second installment did not disappoint. 
We follow Binti as she and Okwu come back to her home for a visit and she will see what has happened since she left. However, Binti is facing mental health issues related to events from the first book and is also feeling disconnected from her culture. 
I loved the blend of cultural heritage with the science fiction elements as well as Binti's internal struggle with her mental health and her search for her own identity and where she fits between all the different cultures and places that she's now connected to. 
Highly recommend this series! On to the third one for me. 
The Faces by Tove Ditlevsen

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challenging dark mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

This one is quite strange, it is about a woman who is going through a difficult mental health episode and is taken to an institution to recover.

I don't have much to say about it, some of the writing was interesting but it never gave me anything impressive or exciting in any way. 

Overall I'm very underwhelmed by it so that's all I can say. 
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The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I had the expectation that this was an innocent children's fantasy story, and while it can be read that way, it is a lot more than what it seems. The Last Unicorn follows a unicorn who believes that she might be the last of her kind and goes in search of others like her. She finds that the world is perhaps not as kind as she expected and also not aware of her and the things that she can do. Along the way she finds companions but her connection with them is simply that, of companionship. She is very much focused on her goal of finding other unicorns and mostly ignores them, which was sometimes funny and a lot of the times sad. It is a story of hope, resilience, and destiny. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and kind of wish that I had read it when I was way younger since it would definitely have made a big impression.