caroline_mclaughlin's reviews
58 reviews

The King's Men by Nora Sakavic

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I can’t believe I’m giving this book 3 stars. It’s a mess but it’s much better than the two previous and it definitely hooked me.

The Missing of Clairdelune by Christelle Dabos

adventurous mysterious 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? No

4.0

I liked this a lot more than the first in the series. The world is really interesting along with the system of magic. This one had a stronger mystery element that kept me super invested. The revelations always caught me so off guard. It would go from basic court/romance issues for one hundred or more pages and then suddenly a bombshell would appear with five reveals one after another, but this surprisingly didn’t make it feel badly paced, just intriguing. Also, I’m a big fan of some of the translations. You can tell they went for an odd level of accuracy as I’ve never heard someone truly use the word “hussy”. I did love the use of the phrase “what soup did he get himself into” though and I do plan on implementing that in my own day-to-day vernacular.

A Winter's Promise by Christelle Dabos

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

This book is fairly introductory to the series and not much truly happens over the course of the story, yet for some reason I am still incredibly intrigued. The initial vibes are dark academia fantasy meets A Room with a View or Pride and Prejudice. At this point, I know so little about the actual characters and plot but the world building is really interesting, especially as that isn’t usually something I tend to focus on. I will say that I’m really glad that even though her character isn’t fully fleshed out, Ophelia doesn’t fall under the classic fantasy heroine personality (gorgeous but unaware, selfless to a fault but also cleverly funny and witty) but is instead more reserved and passive at times. One thing about the audiobook in particular is that it’s riddled with errors that seemed to have been missed in editing. My favorite by far is when the author says “queek” then suddenly stops talking. Really added to the vibes

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

funny hopeful lighthearted 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

3.75

This is such a sweet story filled with a wide range of lovable characters. The narration is fun, and the tone is strongly reminiscent of a more upbeat George Saunders or Lemony Snicket. I really appreciated the humor throughout, and loved that the romance aspect was not minimized but also wasn’t the primary focus. The only issue I had was that the story felt like a series of vignettes between Linus and the others rather than a complete overarching plot at points, and often the records of what happened were more tell than show. Also it did feel like there were moments that the reader was being spoon fed morality rather than being trusted to draw their own conclusions. Despite these issues, the overall story made me smile to myself a lot and even laugh out loud at times. While there has been talk of a movie or tv show, I would actually love for this to be a video game. Can’t wait to read more from this author!

Go Set a Watchman CD by Harper Lee

reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

This story would’ve been so much better if it was worked into the original novel. Having read this, now both feel a bit unfinished. This isn’t a bad take on the disillusionment with one’s father but it doesn’t say much of value. The ending also wrapped things up far too quickly and absolutely reduced the impact of the novel.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I never read this in high school, and when I started it, I was shocked to find out just how little content of it relates to uncovering and addressing racism and privilege. To me, this reads more like a memoir or a coming of age story of a young girl in the south during the Great Depression. I found Scout to be an enjoyable voice and a fun character, but the story seemed to float between many relatively unconnected ideas over time, with the trial only occurring in about one chapter of the final third of the book. The plot was not what I had expected or had been advertised to me over the years, but I still found many parts of the story interesting and enjoyable.

The Raven King by Nora Sakavic

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Circe by Madeline Miller

emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Overall good but slows a lot in the later part of the second act. The two very graphic birth scenes were a lot, but do play an important role in understanding the role of motherhood in the story. Though it came highly recommended, I was super wary of this book. I hate the plot of the odyssey, and had some issues with her plot choices in TSOA. However, I found that I really enjoyed this story, more than it’s predecessor, and especially appreciated its stronger prose 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy

Minor: Sexual assault

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Straight up this book has the wackest ending I have read. Not good or bad or shocking but genuinely just kinda caught me off guard in a way that made me laugh out loud. Overall, this book is super slow and repetitive and I think it really misses the mark in executing any kind of worthwhile message. On top of this, this book desperately needed a fact checker. Lil miss pretty privilege can sure accomplish a lot but speaking Swiss and seeing a musical in the 1800s are both things I don’t think even she is capable of. Anyway, Henry is wonderful and the only character I felt was fleshed out