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boilingintrigue's reviews
59 reviews
Listen to Your Sister by Neena Viel
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
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? Yes
4.5
Listen to Your Sister is the deep, rich, emotional story of three siblings working through the impact of their father's drug addiction and death. This would be difficult enough, but Calla, the eldest, has an unusual ability that brings her inner landscape to life in a real and terrifying way. A curse made out of frustration forces herself and her brothers to confront the ways that their traumas and choices have played out in each other's lives.
The book is sometimes funny, sometimes creepy, and always insightful. All three characters are believable and well-defined, but I felt like Calla was especially real and had a lot to say for herself. It can be a hard story to read, but the ending was satisfying, with the sense that an infected wound has been cleaned and can now begin to heal.
I look forward to seeing more from this author.
The book is sometimes funny, sometimes creepy, and always insightful. All three characters are believable and well-defined, but I felt like Calla was especially real and had a lot to say for herself. It can be a hard story to read, but the ending was satisfying, with the sense that an infected wound has been cleaned and can now begin to heal.
I look forward to seeing more from this author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Car accident
Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Vomit
The Starlight Heir by Amalie Howard
adventurous
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I loved the world in which The Starlight Heir is set, with its rich culture influenced by astrology, an interesting system of magic, and competing old and new religions. I enjoyed all the characters, and liked that women are free to express themselves and be sexual without judgement.
The writing is full of details that paint a lively picture of the world. There are so many descriptions of beautiful clothing, ornate architecture, and delicious food, I could feel the author's love for the world she's writing about.
That said, I wasn't clear on where and when the story was happening. The main character, Suraya, works as a blacksmith and helps her family run their inn in a small town that seems right out of historical fiction. But, the way characters speak and act is modern, especially when Suraya is with her best friend, Laleh. A conversation that references real-world literature hints that these events might take place in our world, in the future, but this possibility isn't expanded upon or mentioned again.
Suraya is summoned to the capital to participate in a cruel and deadly bride competion for the corrupt Prince Javed. The prince is looking for a specific person who bears the lost magic spoken of in prophecy, and guess who that is? His half-brother helps her escape an unwanted marriage, and the two develop feelings for each other while trying to avoid capture. I won't go into too much detail, but if you've read any YA novels, you'll see every major plot point coming from a mile away. The beauty the novel shows in its characterizations and detailed settings is let down by the lack of originality in plotting.
Suraya initially comes across as an intelligent, spirited woman, but as the plot rolls on, she misses so many obvious things, despite being beaten over the head with them (like the connection between the rebels and Roshan) that she starts to seem stupidly oblivious.
In the final chapters, she makes every bad decision known to YA protagonists, agreeing to marry the bad guy to save her loved ones while knowing he'll probably kill them anyway, believing the people trying to kill her are dead, but not bothering to check, and running away from the man who was by her side, fighting for her the entire book because she's angry over something unimportant. I was groaning.
I did enjoy the book overall, and I look forward to the sequel, but I hope the author is more thoughtful about developing the plot. If the events of the next book are developed with the same care and inventiveness as the worldbuilding, it could really be amazing.
The writing is full of details that paint a lively picture of the world. There are so many descriptions of beautiful clothing, ornate architecture, and delicious food, I could feel the author's love for the world she's writing about.
That said, I wasn't clear on where and when the story was happening. The main character, Suraya, works as a blacksmith and helps her family run their inn in a small town that seems right out of historical fiction. But, the way characters speak and act is modern, especially when Suraya is with her best friend, Laleh. A conversation that references real-world literature hints that these events might take place in our world, in the future, but this possibility isn't expanded upon or mentioned again.
Suraya is summoned to the capital to participate in a cruel and deadly bride competion for the corrupt Prince Javed. The prince is looking for a specific person who bears the lost magic spoken of in prophecy, and guess who that is? His half-brother helps her escape an unwanted marriage, and the two develop feelings for each other while trying to avoid capture. I won't go into too much detail, but if you've read any YA novels, you'll see every major plot point coming from a mile away. The beauty the novel shows in its characterizations and detailed settings is let down by the lack of originality in plotting.
Suraya initially comes across as an intelligent, spirited woman, but as the plot rolls on, she misses so many obvious things, despite being beaten over the head with them (like the connection between the rebels and Roshan) that she starts to seem stupidly oblivious.
In the final chapters, she makes every bad decision known to YA protagonists, agreeing to marry the bad guy to save her loved ones while knowing he'll probably kill them anyway, believing the people trying to kill her are dead, but not bothering to check, and running away from the man who was by her side, fighting for her the entire book because she's angry over something unimportant. I was groaning.
I did enjoy the book overall, and I look forward to the sequel, but I hope the author is more thoughtful about developing the plot. If the events of the next book are developed with the same care and inventiveness as the worldbuilding, it could really be amazing.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Bullying, Infidelity, Torture, Vomit, and Death of parent
The Unwedding by Ally Condie
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The Unwedding wasn't bad, but it wasn't really good either. As the story of a woman making new friends and gaining a sense of perspective after divorce, it's successful, but as a murder mystery, it's unsatisfying. The main character, after her divorce, stays at an expensive resort by herself for what was supposed to be her anniversary. She becomes fast friends with an interesting pair her age who are vacationing together. They entertain themselves by crashing a wedding party and trying to figure out who among the guests might be secretly famous. After the weather turns bad, they end up being stuck at the resort longer than planned in increasingly harsh conditions.
Two of the guests are found dead under suspicious circumstances, and the main character and friends, plus people who knew the victims, start trying to figure out how they died. Their theorizing and investigation doesn't turn up much that's useful, but at the end of the book, the mc realizes that she knows who the killer is. She doesn't piece clues together or make logical deductions, rather she makes assumptions and jumps to conclusions, and turns out to be right. It's not a book that you can read and figure out on your own what happened. You don't know anything for much of the book, then you're told what happened at the end. If you like murder mysteries, it may not be what you're looking for. If you're more drawn to the story of a middle aged woman coping with the end of her marriage with the help of new and old friends, you're more likely to enjoy this.
Two of the guests are found dead under suspicious circumstances, and the main character and friends, plus people who knew the victims, start trying to figure out how they died. Their theorizing and investigation doesn't turn up much that's useful, but at the end of the book, the mc realizes that she knows who the killer is. She doesn't piece clues together or make logical deductions, rather she makes assumptions and jumps to conclusions, and turns out to be right. It's not a book that you can read and figure out on your own what happened. You don't know anything for much of the book, then you're told what happened at the end. If you like murder mysteries, it may not be what you're looking for. If you're more drawn to the story of a middle aged woman coping with the end of her marriage with the help of new and old friends, you're more likely to enjoy this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Car accident
Moderate: Death, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Pregnancy
The Sun Runners by James Bow
adventurous
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
4.0
This book blew me away. It's a deep, rich story of the struggle to survive on Mercury amid deprivation and unforgiving conditions, initially focused on a teenage girl who is disabled in a horrible accident while she's still trying to figure out who she is, who she can trust, and what her adult life is going to look like, and intertwining her story with that of her grandmother, who was not much older than herself when the planet lost contact with Earth, and who became one of the colony's key figures due to her leadership and scientific contributions, all of which came with heavy costs. The two women don't always understand each other, but they do love each other, and you can see many ways in which the older woman's experiences with hardship influence the life she tries to give her granddaughter, even while her granddaughter is trying to break free of the past and find her own way forward. I loved it. The biggest flaw in the book is that the shift in tone between the two stories is so jarring. Adelheid's story is grim and desperate, full of dangers like forced culls and cannibalism. Each of her sections ends in a hair-raising cliffhanger, then the next section opens with Frieda upset, despite being surrounded by luxury and people deferring to her, because she isn't treated like an adult. I felt like the structure of the book did a disservice to Frieda, because her feelings about her situation are legitimate and would make a compelling story on their own, but contrasting her problems with Adelheid's at her age makes them seem silly and trivial. It isn't until the end of the book that Frieda's story starts to match the intensity of Adelheid's, and I loved seeing Frieda come into her own, but I felt like it almost came too easy to her. The track their city runs on is damaged, which seemed like a huge problem that would almost certainly end in disaster, but Frieda and her teenage friends easily deal with it while the adults around them, with decades of experience, are lost and helpless without someone to tell them what to do. The weakness of the ending prevented me from giving it 5 stars, but I enjoyed it a lot and would recommend it to anyone.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicide, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, and Death of parent
Try Before You Trust: To All Gentlewomen and Other Maids in Love by Constance Briones
emotional
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
medium-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
3.5
This is a fictional account of the life of a real person, Isabella Whitney, who was a writer and poet during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The book begins as Isabella, 18, is about to enter service with a baroness, which will help the family greatly if she creates the right impression. I found her believable as a romantic and innocent girl who, despite warnings from her cousin, gets carried away in a love affair with a man whose family considers her an inappropriate marriage partner. I was prepared to dislike Richard, but he won me over. I could see what Izzy saw in him, and hoped for better despite knowing how it would end. I was somewhat disappointed by how much the story centers around their relationship. We don't get to see what first inspired Isabella's love of the written word, or how her skill with a pen, unusual for a woman of her time, developed with her cousin's encouragement. I was also hoping to see more of her career as a writer in London, her return to her family, and how she met and married the man who became her husband. The ending came too soon, for me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity, Sexism, Abandonment, and Classism
Minor: Sexual violence and Violence
The Antlered King by Marianne Gordon
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I was blown away by the depth and emotion of this book! The world is so vividly drawn, I loved being immersed in it. I read slowly so I could absorb all the details and really feel every scene. This book takes place several years after the first one. Hellevir is still processing the events that occured years ago. Then war begins, and her focus must shift to the present. She feels torn between her family and Sullivain, but she tries to do what she feels in her heart is right. Love is a major theme of the book, but I wouldn't call it a romance. It's more about realizing that the people you love most aren't always good for you, and finding a way to relate to them that's compassionate but also respectful of yourself. This against the backdrop of civil war, with Sullivain fighting to keep her kingdom and Hellevir acting as a healer, trying to save as many lives as possible. The ending didn't make me happy, but it felt true to the characters. I'll definitely look for more by this amazing author.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse, Torture, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
Siege of Titan by Michael G. Thomas
adventurous
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
3.5
I don't usually read military fiction, but I started and it sucked me it. The characters are good, and the action moves quickly, leaving you guessing at what's going to happen next. It comes to a satisfying ending, for the first book in a series.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Violence, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Blood
Bloody is the Night by Robin Jeffrey
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Bloody Is The Night is a fast-paced action thriller about a homeless woman who witnesses a friend's murder by a rogue werewolf. As the only witness, she's interviewed and taken into protective custody by the werewolves assigned to figure out which one of their own did this. That mystery is solved fairly quickly, and then the real trouble starts. Shaye is great as the foul-mouthed and street smart female lead. Andy and his friend Caleb have tons of chemistry as werewolf buddies who play off each other like the partners in old cop movies. The three of them are entertaining together as they stumble their way through werewolf clan politics. There's a little bit of forbidden love, but it's fast-paced, like the rest of the book. Shaye and Andy have doubts about their attractiveness to each other, being from different worlds, but they're drawn to what they see in each other while dealing with this crazy situation. The sex scenes always took place at the worst possible times and places considering that their lives were at risk. It was irritating. I don't want to read a manual on how to give a blowjob when I'm on the edge of my seat wondering if the bad guy is going to find them before they can expose him. Also, the way things came together at the end was a little too convenient. After days of trying (unsuccessfully) to kill her, the bad wolf has a supervillain moment where he explains exactly what he's going to do next, but Shaye is so scared of his threats that she waits until it's almost too late to tell anyone else about it. It felt out of character, like she temporarily lost her mind just so things would get worse, giving our MCs a chance swoop in right before disaster and be the heroes. Despite that, the ending was satifying. It tied up all the loose ends in a way that felt believable, and gave our main characters what they wanted, mostly. It was nice to see them happy after everything they went through.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Vomit, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
The Chronology of Friday by Jensen Rose Long
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
3.5
A young woman about to become a witch is murdered by her ex, only to wake up at the beginning of the same day she died. She has to figure out why he's trying to kill her and how to stop him while living the same day over and over again. This provides an interesting way for Anna to explore the mystery of her own murder, her family's history, her father's abandonment, and her feelings about her ex without long-term consequences.
At a certain point, it gets repetitive. I read through the first half of the book quickly, then I had to slow down and read in smaller chunks to remain focused. Each day is different, but there are enough similarities that it starts to drag.
I enjoyed all of the characters: Anna, Greer, Brittany, Ian, Riggs, and Anna's mother are all unique and lovable. I enjoyed the bond between Anna and her sister, the way Ian still cared for her after their breakup, and how Brittany unquestioningly helped her regardless of whether Anna confided in her. The feelings that developed between Anna and Riggs seemed sweet and real. I don't understand why it's only mentioned once, late in the story, that Brittany, Ian, and Riggs are all related, though.
Anna grew a lot. She starts out going along with what her friends or family want. After dying repeatedly and getting tired of it, she becomes more direct and take-charge, asking difficult questions and taking risks to make things happen in order to try to fix what's been done.
I appreciated all the little hints scattered throughout the days about what was going on and who was behind it. It was like being able to see one object from different angles. It took a while for Anna to piece things together, but everything fit together to make a believable whole.
I enjoyed it.
At a certain point, it gets repetitive. I read through the first half of the book quickly, then I had to slow down and read in smaller chunks to remain focused. Each day is different, but there are enough similarities that it starts to drag.
I enjoyed all of the characters: Anna, Greer, Brittany, Ian, Riggs, and Anna's mother are all unique and lovable. I enjoyed the bond between Anna and her sister, the way Ian still cared for her after their breakup, and how Brittany unquestioningly helped her regardless of whether Anna confided in her. The feelings that developed between Anna and Riggs seemed sweet and real. I don't understand why it's only mentioned once, late in the story, that Brittany, Ian, and Riggs are all related, though.
Anna grew a lot. She starts out going along with what her friends or family want. After dying repeatedly and getting tired of it, she becomes more direct and take-charge, asking difficult questions and taking risks to make things happen in order to try to fix what's been done.
I appreciated all the little hints scattered throughout the days about what was going on and who was behind it. It was like being able to see one object from different angles. It took a while for Anna to piece things together, but everything fit together to make a believable whole.
I enjoyed it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment
Minor: Addiction, Terminal illness, and Blood
Beyond the Black Curtain by Wayne Kyle Spitzer
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
An interesting and unusual adventure series set in a giant, underground amusement park whose inhabitants have forgotten about the real world. Great characters and setting. The ending is satisfying, but doesn't tie everything up.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, and Trafficking
Minor: Drug use