bookedbymadeline's reviews
932 reviews

The New Internationals by David Wright Faladé

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 4%.
DNFGMTI-Did not finish, gave me the ick 😂

I was not vibing with the writing style and the info dumping in the beginning. But nail in the coffin was the way the women are depicted and treated. The real world is shitty enough and that was a…choice to make your fictional male character call the female characters a c u next Tuesday, whores, and bitches in the span of a page. No thanks 🙂‍↔️ 

Thanks to NetGalley and grove Atlantic for the eARC.
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Voice Like a Hyacinth by Mallory Pearson

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dark emotional mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Thank you NetGalley and 47North for the eARC!

This was a haunting, animalistic story that explores being queer, finding your identity/coming of age, and female friendship with some occult elements. While this is marked as fantasy, I’d say it’s more horror especially as the novel continues forward!

I loved the prose and atmospheric writing! I highlighted so many quotes and could at times relate to Jo. She often times feels insecure and anxious, overwhelmed with her love for her friends and already feeling nostalgic about their time together.

The writing brought this story to life, allowing me to perfectly visualize Rotham, the characters, and their art! The characters felt so raw and realistic, each with their own unique personalities to set them apart.  I especially loved the queer love and friendships throughout the story, the affection they had for one another added to the believability of the characters and their shared history!

The horror aspects of the book were so well executed! It was unsettling and sinister, making me a bit too scared to read the book before bed without being over the top bloody/gore (which is a type of horror I don’t like). 

Their story (taking away the horror and occult elements) felt nostalgic of my own college experience and the friendships forged 💗 And finally a 5 star read for 2025!! I would highly recommend for fans of Brutes by Dizz Tate, Ethel Cain, The Craft, and/or “Weird girl” books especially if you want a book with queer, folkloric/witchy, artist vibes ✨

Rep: lesbian MC and side characters, bisexual side character, non-binary minor character, Korean side character (saz has the last name Choi)?, Indian side character, lesbian author 
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Inanna by Emily H. Wilson

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adventurous dark slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

Interesting world building with the retelling of the Epic of Gilgamesh and the myths of Inanna. Set in the ancient world of Sumer (now modern day Iraq), we get a glimpse at the first hero of literature, every day life in Mesopotamia, and the added lore of the gods, the Annunaki!

We get 3 different POVs from our main characters who are all different but connected which kept me intrigued. I also liked the occasional sarcastic sense of humor from Gilgamesh 😅 Most of the main characters had some decent development, although for some it took a really long time to get there. 

I enjoyed the first and last thirds the best, they were well paced and kept me more engaged. The first third had a nice set up for the story and I genuinely enjoyed all 3 POVs. However by the middle, I only liked Ninshubar and then in the last third I came around on Gilgamesh but Inanna lost my interest for a looong time until the last couple of chapters 🙈

Although it was easy to read and engaging enough to finish, I had a lot of issues with it that make me unsure if I want to continue the series or not:

1. The characters are pretty flat-we don’t get to know them all that well and I know it’s book 1 of a trilogy but for a 400+ page book where we spend all of our time with these 3 characters, I feel like we should know a little more about them by the end? Their actions and internal dialogue is just constantly repeated, and we don’t get a deep dive into their psyche/motivations with the occasional exception of Gilgamesh. Plus their voices all sounded the same so at times I questioned whose chapter I was reading.
2. The dialogue is stilted and unnatural, it felt so disjointed and forced at times. There were also times where an exclamation point was used for every! Single! Sentence! (I know I text and write captions like that sometimes but for a serious character that has never used them before that point, it felt wrong)
3. Too much telling over showing and repetitive-at one point Ninshubar is speaking with a man who says “I am the gatekeeper of Kur.” And she replied “I have heard of you. In temple stories. You are the gatekeeper to the underworld” NO FUCKING SHIT HE LITERALLY JUST SAID THAT!!!! 😫
4. Inanna bored the hell out of me for a majority of the book, she was the flattest character of all until the last 30 pages in which her character makes a huge shift without any lead up 
5. Inanna is out through some horrible things but it’s brushed past and doesn’t affect her. No one acknowledges it, I feel like the grooming and SA was poorly handled and shouldn’t have even happened 
6. Lastly and this is something I found out from reviews upon finishing; the trans/queer rep from the original texts has been removed from the novel (which to each their own). But the author kept only part of it in which she demonizes the androgynous/gender non-conforming nature of the minor characters, which is untrue based on the OG texts (back then being gender non-conforming wasn’t “strange” or “unnatural” at all and was quite normal and accepted, so the author made it negative just for fun and perhaps shares those views)

Overall it was entertaining and I really liked getting to know some mythology outside of my usual Greek or Egyptian cultures! I would recommend if you want to explore more world mythology purely because there’s a huge gap of mythology retellings that aren’t Greek based, but do be warned about the anti-trans twisting of the original texts 

TW/CW: blood, body horror, war, infidelity, death, grief, torture, slavery, transphobia (brief), infidelity, incest, pedophilia (brief), rape (off page)

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We Do Not Part by Han Kang

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dark emotional mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin UK for the eARC! I enjoyed Human Acts from Kang so I was very excited to read more from her.

I loved the vivid descriptions of the snow, which made it feel perfect to read in winter! Kang has a beautiful way with words. Although it could be confusing at times, it often felt like a fever dream with the way some things unfolded.
okay so Inseon is in the hospital but then she reappears? How does our MC hear about this story then? Is our MC still stuck in the riverbed since she’s out in the snow? Literally had no idea what the fuck was happening!!
So I felt like it was going over my head a lot of the time 😂

It also felt like two different books the way it starts versus how it ends. I had a hard time feeling engaged throughout the middle as things dragged with the telling over showing. While I did enjoy the imagery and learning about such a heartbreaking, horrific period in history (to the surprise of no one, once again US military involvement is to blame) I think I would’ve enjoyed the book more had it been more focused?

So to summarize:
-learned new history that I now want to look into more
-love the atmospheric setting/imagery with Kang’s poetic writing
-enjoyed the first and last thirds
-slumped in the middle
-too much telling over showing
-and for those that deeply care: there are no quotation marks for dialogue (I got used to it eventually)

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The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden

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adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

4.5

What a great way to end the series!! It could slump at times but that partially could have been due to my being sick while in the middle of the book. I loved getting to know more about Vaysa and her family, Russian history, and the magical folklore of this world!

The blurb on the back about having your heart ripped out, filled with snow and Magic, then ripped out again is very accurate 😭🤭 I was sobbing at times from beginning to end so buckle up for one hell of a final book slash emotional rollercoaster; but damn also such a great story and one that makes me want to read more fantasy!!

Highly recommend if you want a fantasy series with an atmospheric setting, complex well written characters, and a magical world torn between religious belief and pagan folklore!
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Vantage Point by Sara Sligar

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 6%.
Labeled as a mystery/thriller and the synopsis also calls it a “gothic mystery”….gurl where?! It’s so painfully slow and overly descriptive. The writing style is not at all my taste and for a mystery or thriller there should be something to grab you but it’s all meandering thoughts. I couldn’t care less about these people despite being excited to read about a cursed family many reviews say it doesn’t really place much of a role.

Thanks to NetGalley and Farrar, Strauss, Giroux for the eARC 
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Happy to Help: Adventures of a People Pleaser by Amy Wilson

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 33%.
The essays are not at all concise or on theme? The beginning was relatable and definitely reflected being a people pleaser but then it sort of devolved into so many other topics. I found myself speed reading to try and understand what the point was until I realized I should just DNF. A collection that is not focused on being a people pleaser or the authors road to moving past that, which is what I went in expecting. Lots of reflections and rambling thoughts on adolescence, faith, and physical health that often left me confused, bored, and rolling my eyes.
City of Night Birds by Juhea Kim

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 8%.
I was so excited for this because I love ballet stories especially as someone who did ballet for 4.5 years. Sadly this fell flat with the writing style. It was overly descriptive, with too many similes and metaphors. I was often bored and then the deciding factor to DNF was the timeline switch; it happens with no transition and took me 2 or 3 pages to figure out that the events were set in the past.
The Wedding Party by Rebecca Heath

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dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Thank you to Netgalley and Head of Zeus for the eARC! 

Told from 3 different character POVs-2 in first person and 1 in third person-we follow a group of characters celebrating an upcoming wedding but everyone is hiding something. I was intrigued by the mystery with the first chapter but it did take me a little while to feel fully engaged.

While I do usually enjoy unlikeable characters, I need them to be complex and have depth to them. These characters were so cliche and over the top dramatic that they were just completely unlikeable and I rooted for no one 😂 Repetitive in terms of character’s actions and inner dialogue-we learn no new information about most of them so I can’t say there was any development or depth to anyone; and at times in the middle I started to feel annoyed at their constant inability to make a change or communicate.

The writing could be a bit cliche and oversimplified, not to mention I choked on my water when the author seems to imply that calling someone a Viking is “racist” bffr 🙃 And there was one minor plot point that was never resolved and it has been bothering me ever since I finished the book.
Fiona was working with Jason and she was threatening to expose him but what has kept her from doing all this time? Was he paying her campaign money? Helping things get pushed through the council? She had to have something to gain for keeping the SA of Sophie a secret for a decade! Also really the SA was the only secret she had on him-it was alluded to that there were multiple complaints against him so what else did she know that she threatened him with? If it was “only” the SA from 12 years ago it seems unlikely Jason would stoop so low to stop Fiona as it’s something that can be labeled as “he said she said”

However all that being said it was still an entertaining, easy, and quick read! While the plot and characters were cliche and the writing could be a bit over the top, I still had a good time. Plus the plot twists were so surprising for me (as someone who guesses 99% of the twists in the first quarter of most thrillers)!

I’d recommend if you want an entertaining domestic thriller that’s easy to read, and don’t mind unlikeable rich people 😄

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Spirit Rising: My Life, My Music by Angelique Kidjo

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emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

4.0

I loved learning about Angelique’s passion for music, as well as the culture and beliefs of Benin! The book does a beautiful job of explaining the musical traditions of Benin but also Africa in general. You get a feel for Kidjo’s passion for music and how music has the power to connect people!

I learned a lot about jazz music and West African music traditions. Kidjo also explores other countries around the world and their music traditions to create traditional music mixed with the new. She crossed the West African traditions of her childhood in Benin with elements of American R&B, funk and jazz, as well as influences from Europe and Latin America.

I also loved hearing about her advocacy work and how passionate she is about social justice. I had never heard of Kidjo before but the book introduced me to a whole new world of music to explore! The book also contains photos of her performances, her family, and the people she’s worked with. Plus in the back of the book are delicious recipes 🤤 

Now the technical writing style aspects are the only reason this wasn’t 5 stars. The chapters were too long for my taste and writing style wise the stories kept bouncing all over the places and often times left me confused. I also felt like the epilogue was cut off the way it ended.

Overall it was a passionate memoir about Kidjo’s music and advocacy! I learned a lot and I’m very glad to have read this for Benin 🇧🇯 

“My dad was a Fon, which is the main ethnic group in Benin, and my mom is a Yoruba, another important one with roots in Nigeria. The Fon and Yoruba have very similar gods, but with different names.”

“Parakou is the biggest city in the north of Benin, but having grown up in the south, I had never set foot in the north of my country. In order to maintain power, the colonizers made sure that we stayed divided. When Benin gained independence, tensions grew between the south and the north. Just as in many other African countries where one ethnic group has been favored, the people in the north didn't have political power, so their interests weren't taken into account.”

“This conflict between tradition and modernity is felt all over the continent. The question is always how we can we find a third path-one where tradition is adapted to today's world without losing its identity.”
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