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bookgirlie_unbound's reviews
720 reviews
A Monsoon Rising by Thea Guanzon
adventurous
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? Yes
5.0
The Outcast Mage by Annabel Campbell
Did not finish book. Stopped at 32%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 32%.
I didn’t feel connected to this story or any of the characters. The plot was not complex or interwoven enough to need multiple points of view, so instead of making for a richer story, it made the narrative convoluted. It has a good premise but the world building was extremely weak and i think the author tried to use the multiple povs to cover that.
Kouguu no Omega by Fumi Tsuyuhisa
adventurous
hopeful
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
4.5
The Palace of the Omega was a fun read and set up future volumes for exciting adventures.
Vol. 1 caught my attention even though not much happens with the plot as the foundation was being built. The story between the Omega and the king was well handled, as when they first meet the King is clearly a minor.
The evolution of the omega as a protector of the weak in the battle against the evil brother.
Vol. 1 caught my attention even though not much happens with the plot as the foundation was being built. The story between the Omega and the king was well handled, as when they first meet the King is clearly a minor.
The evolution of the omega as a protector of the weak in the battle against the evil brother.
Metal from Heaven by August Clarke
4.0
Hidden away in the socialist utopia of The Fingerbluffs, Marnie dreams of exacting her revenge on the industry leader who ordered her family’s death. The best part of this book is how the reader is forced to participate actively through Marnie’s first-person narration, breaking the fourth wall. We the reader, are “you,” her first love lost in the same brutal killing that took away her parents. This literary trick heightened my enjoyment and investment in the book and was one of the best literary surprises I’ve encountered.
Overall, this book is solid. The plot is moderately paced, like Marnie’s assured confidence that she WILL kill Yann Industry Chauncy and does not need to rush. This has its pros and cons, as several parts of the book that I felt were excruciatingly drawn out as a way to belabor the moral and philosophical superiority of the Highwayman’s Choir and the “Hereafter”- a glorious period in which the universe is freed from the yoke of capitalism.
Readers should be aware that sex is used as an allegory for greed and overconsumption, and is omnipresent in the last third of the book. I understand its use as a literary device, and I still think the book had strong enough characters, sub-stories, and mysticism to carry on to the finish without so much gratuitous, abusive, and graphic sex. I would gladly trade several of the sex scenes for more information about the magic Marnie wields or the complex religious codes observed by the many nations and communities within this sprawling world.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Police brutality, Death of parent, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail
Boudicca by P.C. Cast
Did not finish book. Stopped at 10%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 10%.
DNF'ed due to clunky word choice and "telling not showing" the reading of the story.
Motheater by Linda H. Codega
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
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
Motheather isn't a soft book. It shouldn’t be. The effects of mining are devastating. The rage of subjugation and forced submission by capitalistic greed is bitter. The loneliness of being a powerful woman full of conviction is sharp. This book has teeth and the characters bite.
From the first pages, I was swept up in Benny’s perspective as she struggles to solve mysterious circumstances surrounding local miners’s deaths, including her best friend, in the Kiron mine. Benny’s unabashed doggedness in pursuing this truth was inspiring. The way she immediately entertains Motheather’s powerful magic as a tool to be harnessed instead of rejecting it because it is arcane and cruel won me over. I like a heroine who’s not afraid to embrace the dark and get a little dirty to achieve their goals.
Motheater is not a witch to be trifled with and oh, how I love her. She is jagged and raw. She represented Appalachia itself, as I, an outsider consider it. A unique, often mischaracterized, place many have tried to subdue filled with mystery and danger.
Coda brings to life the unique culture of Appalachia through distinct dialogue and speech patterns. Benny’s narration is so comfortable and cohesive with other aspects of the novel and is one of my favorite features of this book. The use of flashbacks fills readers in about a small portion of the oppression Appalachia has experienced without becoming a lecture. The magic is earthy without appropriating Indigenous spiritual practices and is just as brought as the wielder. I honestly could not ask for more from this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Classism
Untethered by Gloria Bottelman
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
4.0
I rarely say this, but this book needed to be longer to give the plot and characters more time to simmer and develop. This book has fantastic elements- a unique world, quality magic, and compelling characters - but many felt half-explored.
Lux is a fantastic, complex character. She takes the gifted-child with trauma syndrome to a whole new level. I love how feral and feisty she is while also being deeply compassionate.
Shaw is an interesting character too but also feels a little rushed. I want to know more about the paintings and we learn about his criminal backstory too late.
But most of all, the WOODS, the magic, the "brilliance." There is GOOD ISH here! And Bottelman really needed about 100-150 pages more to bring it all to its full, creepy, murderous glory. I want to know more about the necromantic powers, the magic, and the world.
Lux is a fantastic, complex character. She takes the gifted-child with trauma syndrome to a whole new level. I love how feral and feisty she is while also being deeply compassionate.
Shaw is an interesting character too but also feels a little rushed. I want to know more about the paintings and we learn about his criminal backstory too late.
But most of all, the WOODS, the magic, the "brilliance." There is GOOD ISH here! And Bottelman really needed about 100-150 pages more to bring it all to its full, creepy, murderous glory. I want to know more about the necromantic powers, the magic, and the world.
A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0