Take a photo of a barcode or cover
brennanaphone's reviews
651 reviews
A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas
1.0
Hahaha, it's just a terribly repackaged Christmas story! Rhys rides on REINDEER. They exchange Christmas gifts. This is the worst cash-grab of a nothingburger I have ever read.
A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas
2.0
A brief shining moment in the second book, and then we get this.
There are parts of this I really liked, mostly the parts where Feyre has to return to her abuser and navigate the complicated feelings that brings up (and process the shame and deference he so easily evokes in her). Sadly, those parts were fairly few and far between. Mostly we had to deal with Rhys's incredibly boring friends and the way they all love each other and are protected by plot armor.
**spoilers**
The "big battle" was the most pointless thing I've ever read. No one important died, just people who were nameless, or who came back, or who didn't matter. For all that these people supposedly have huge, cool powers, no one used them in any particularly clever or interesting ways. Feyre looked in a mirror that was supposed to make her go insane! And instead she was just...magically resistant to it? Because of reasons??
Man, I cannot believe I sunk so many hours into this series. I even bought the fourth and fifth books on blind faith. MISTAKE.
There are parts of this I really liked, mostly the parts where Feyre has to return to her abuser and navigate the complicated feelings that brings up (and process the shame and deference he so easily evokes in her). Sadly, those parts were fairly few and far between. Mostly we had to deal with Rhys's incredibly boring friends and the way they all love each other and are protected by plot armor.
**spoilers**
The "big battle" was the most pointless thing I've ever read. No one important died, just people who were nameless, or who came back, or who didn't matter. For all that these people supposedly have huge, cool powers, no one used them in any particularly clever or interesting ways. Feyre looked in a mirror that was supposed to make her go insane! And instead she was just...magically resistant to it? Because of reasons??
Man, I cannot believe I sunk so many hours into this series. I even bought the fourth and fifth books on blind faith. MISTAKE.
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
4.0
Every woman I know should probably read this book, and I'm as surprised about it as anyone. The first book went all in on an incredibly boring, badly written romance, which is... a choice. This book flipped the script, and I am HERE for it.
I will amend the previous statement: the last third of the first book suddenly got interesting when it introduced Rhys and made Feyre be a stone cold murderer. Did it have the worst poem/riddle ever written? Debatable, but also definitely yes. I'm getting off topic.
Please ignore all the overused adverbs and irritating dialogue tags. Bask instead in a romance where the character tease each other, respect each other, encourage each other, and genuinely like each other. Pretend the concept of "destined to be" isn't part of this either, since it GOES AGAINST THE WHOLE POINT OF THE STORY. Take heart in the self-realization of Feyre, and more importantly the way that you can invest your whole storyline and sense of self into a romance and then realize--gradually if you need to, in stages if it helps--that it was abusive the whole goddamn time. And that it's okay to leave.
Also, this book is sexy as hell because it has a VERY GOOD reason for the characters not boning down immediately but also definitely wanting to. Edge city. Very hot.
I will amend the previous statement: the last third of the first book suddenly got interesting when it introduced Rhys and made Feyre be a stone cold murderer. Did it have the worst poem/riddle ever written? Debatable, but also definitely yes. I'm getting off topic.
Please ignore all the overused adverbs and irritating dialogue tags. Bask instead in a romance where the character tease each other, respect each other, encourage each other, and genuinely like each other. Pretend the concept of "destined to be" isn't part of this either, since it GOES AGAINST THE WHOLE POINT OF THE STORY. Take heart in the self-realization of Feyre, and more importantly the way that you can invest your whole storyline and sense of self into a romance and then realize--gradually if you need to, in stages if it helps--that it was abusive the whole goddamn time. And that it's okay to leave.
Also, this book is sexy as hell because it has a VERY GOOD reason for the characters not boning down immediately but also definitely wanting to. Edge city. Very hot.
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
2.0
Okay, shh shh shhh. This book is terrible. It's hugely, hilariously, objectively bad. The worldbuilding is nonsensical, the dialogue vacillates wildly between sort-of-medieval and weirdly modern, it's a dim retelling of Beauty and the Beast, every dude is roaring or purring or hissing and is also corded with muscle or whatever, and the narrator is so whiny and obnoxious that you expect at every turn for someone to pitch her out of a window.
BUT. But, my darlings, this book does something brilliant. It tells you a very bad story with a very boring, abusive, controlling male romantic lead, just like 90% of all romance novels. And then, toward the end, it starts to make you question that narrative. And the second book subverts it all entirely.
...And then it goes back to being really terrible, and the fifth one has a WILD anti-choice storyline that made me check to make sure it was the same author, but you gotta take the incremental changes where you can get them.
BUT. But, my darlings, this book does something brilliant. It tells you a very bad story with a very boring, abusive, controlling male romantic lead, just like 90% of all romance novels. And then, toward the end, it starts to make you question that narrative. And the second book subverts it all entirely.
...And then it goes back to being really terrible, and the fifth one has a WILD anti-choice storyline that made me check to make sure it was the same author, but you gotta take the incremental changes where you can get them.
I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
3.0
Sad and honest. The writing style was a little more generic and less clever than the promotional stuff implied, although there were moments of genuine humor. What I admired most was the clear-eyed way she examined the abuse she suffered, and the title goes a long way to show you where she is now. Good for her.
10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World by Elif Shafak
3.0
I loved diving into Istanbul through this book, even when that meant seeing its cruelty and its indifference. The characters and their friendship and perseverance even in unkind circumstances was lovely. The framing sets you up right away for the death of Leila, so it isn't a surprise, but it does lend a poignancy to the read. The one thing I could not get past is that, after reading several of Shafak's books, I never find her dialogue natural or believable. A lot of it feels expository or clunky, often explosively dramatic out of nowhere and then back again in a flash.
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
4.0
What a delightful book. One star off just because the mystery was a little hard to follow and not the most satisfying in its payout, but honestly, the mystery was completely tertiary to what makes this book so amazing.
It's funny in that droll English way--think Terry Pratchett in the way he describes scenes and characters. More importantly, this whole series centers around elderly detectives in a retirement community. They are wonderful, distinct, beautiful characters, not punchlines, and the focus on such an undervalued demographic is delightful to see and poignant to read.
It's funny in that droll English way--think Terry Pratchett in the way he describes scenes and characters. More importantly, this whole series centers around elderly detectives in a retirement community. They are wonderful, distinct, beautiful characters, not punchlines, and the focus on such an undervalued demographic is delightful to see and poignant to read.
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
3.0
I found this book difficult to follow, and it might have been a me problem.
This was recommended to me as "Firefly but with aliens!" and so I was kind of expecting it to be a linear plot with an action-based storyline. And then it...wasn't? It was kind of this beautiful exploration of personhood told through the lens of multiple alien races and cultures. Rather than being about The Difficulties of Space, it was about an interspecies, intergalactic society that is actually functioning well.
There was plenty of humor and even a moment of real sci-fi action/adventure genius, where they find out they're being boarded by pirates, and instead of doing anything clever the captain just kind of freezes and doesn't know what to do and then gets boarded and inadvertently insults the alien pirate and gets punched in the face. It was a beautiful inversion of the usual "straight male captain saves the day" trope.
I didn't find myself caring about all the characters, honestly. I wasn't rooting for or against Jenks and Lovey, I found Kizzy a little obnoxious, and I wanted to like the Rosemary/Sissex ship a lot more than I ended up doing. Overall a solid but uneven introduction to Chambers' universe.
This was recommended to me as "Firefly but with aliens!" and so I was kind of expecting it to be a linear plot with an action-based storyline. And then it...wasn't? It was kind of this beautiful exploration of personhood told through the lens of multiple alien races and cultures. Rather than being about The Difficulties of Space, it was about an interspecies, intergalactic society that is actually functioning well.
There was plenty of humor and even a moment of real sci-fi action/adventure genius, where they find out they're being boarded by pirates, and instead of doing anything clever the captain just kind of freezes and doesn't know what to do and then gets boarded and inadvertently insults the alien pirate and gets punched in the face. It was a beautiful inversion of the usual "straight male captain saves the day" trope.
I didn't find myself caring about all the characters, honestly. I wasn't rooting for or against Jenks and Lovey, I found Kizzy a little obnoxious, and I wanted to like the Rosemary/Sissex ship a lot more than I ended up doing. Overall a solid but uneven introduction to Chambers' universe.
Matrix by Lauren Groff
3.0
Sensuous, raw, and feels ancient as an oak tree. I think the less you know about the history, the better. As much as you can feel the research Groff did oozing off the page, the real magic trick isn't that she conflated two historical Maries and made them into one superpowered abbess who created a shelter for other women, stamped out poverty in her community, and built a sect of the church with women in leadership roles. The real magic trick is that she writes like all of these people and experiences took place nearly a thousand years ago. Much like the Red Tent, it's transporting.
This is the story of a life, and in some places it skips interesting things (I wanted to know more about the Lais! I longed to see more scenes in the court with Eleanor!), but it conveys drudgery beautifully. When Marie arrived in the busted-up convent, freezing and too big for her bed and falling asleep during prayers, I wanted to put the book down just to get out of that horrible nunnery. Watching her become herself and pull the convent out of poverty was satisfying. The descriptions of the flesh--an illicit meeting between nuns, a cold night, the cracking of a tooth on an apricot pit--are vivid and deeply sensual.
This is the story of a life, and in some places it skips interesting things (I wanted to know more about the Lais! I longed to see more scenes in the court with Eleanor!), but it conveys drudgery beautifully. When Marie arrived in the busted-up convent, freezing and too big for her bed and falling asleep during prayers, I wanted to put the book down just to get out of that horrible nunnery. Watching her become herself and pull the convent out of poverty was satisfying. The descriptions of the flesh--an illicit meeting between nuns, a cold night, the cracking of a tooth on an apricot pit--are vivid and deeply sensual.
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
5.0
Captures the horrors of war, beyond the dramatic bits. The deadening of spirit and soil, the crushing of one's hope and future.