charles_rowland's reviews
202 reviews

Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke And Other Misfortunes by Eric LaRocca

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

3.0

i loathe to say this but the only story i really semi-liked was the one with 0 queer characters. but even then, that may just have been bc of my own religious trauma
Echo by Thomas Olde Heuvelt

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adventurous challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

i was so excited about this book but it really fell flat. sam’s backstory just kinda being there is my biggest let down for this book as it was so bizarrely interesting and just went no where. so many things didn’t add up, and all of sam’s chapters were hard to read because of the ‘coupla’ ‘helluva’ etc etc. the horror aspect could’ve been so, so cool but for some reason it just… didn’t work. it never felt like there was a moment of true horror that i kept searching for. really sad as it had such potential
A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske

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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? It's complicated

4.0

took me a bit to get into it but it was so worth it 
Don't Let the Forest In by C.G. Drews

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

i am quite genuinely in shock and in tears. i don’t think i have read a book so viscerally haunting in every way of the word. to say this is my new favorite book doesn’t do my feelings towards it justice whatsoever. each sentence felt like the title of an oil painting. i could feel everything andrew described, i could see the monsters and the imagery depicted so perfectly in my head there were times i wondered if i was imagining it all. i don’t like to reread books really ever, but this is one i will certainly be doing just that over and over again. for gods sake i started taking notes so i made sure to remember all my favorite parts (there were too many to count). i can’t get over the imagery in this book. it was beautiful in a way that can only be described through art, i feel. as an asexual gay man, andrew’s feelings were ones i struggle with often. however as an artist similar to thomas, with devotion deep in my heart, i ached with them both. i could feel the despair they both felt. the grief and the fear. i don’t know if ill ever be over this book and i fear it may become the entirety of my personality. i will admit that i read the last 5 pages while listening to ‘doubt comes in’ from hadestown and timed it perfectly with the last sentence so as orpheus turned around i finished it and that did NOT help
Icarus by K. Ancrum

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emotional reflective 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? Yes

5.0

fuck this was good
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 6%.
was for a class i dropped
The Summer Hikaru Died, Vol. 3 by Mokumokuren

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5.0

The Promise Effect by L.A. Lambert

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adventurous emotional funny 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? Yes

5.0

The Sunshine Court by Nora Sakavic

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dark emotional sad tense 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? Yes

4.5

jean moreau i would give you the world but you don’t deserve that burden 
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Earthflown by Frances Wren

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

I absolutely adored this book. I loved each character and was enthralled the entire time i was reading. i loved the characters, especially javier and ethan. absolutely obsessed with them they are everything to me and more. every character was compelling and i was never bored, never just getting through a chapter to get to the next one. seriously one of the best books ive read, certainly one of, if not the, best sci fi books out there
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.