cinder_says's reviews
162 reviews

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Anxious People is a book that seems like a straight-forward crime/mystery story about a bank robber and a hostage situation, but to only label it that way does a terrible disservice. It's hilarious, confronting, emotional, uncomfortable and yes, anxiety inducing. I nearly DNF-ed it multiple times, but that wasn't the book's fault. 

This book starts out by going absolutely all over the place - multiple threads and anecdotes and styles of writing and POVs and it can feel extremely overwhelming (hence, the anxiety!). If you are struggling with all the pieces, I encourage you to take a breath and keep going. It all settles down a bit - or maybe it just becomes more manageable - but there does seem to be a point where it all just gets easier to follow. So stick with it! The journey is worth it. 

Huge props, also, to the translator of this book. You wouldn't have known this was originally written in Swedish if it weren't for the regular mentions of Stockholm. There weren't any moments of 'well this got lost in translation!' that I've had with other books written in a language other than English. 

I had multiple favourite quotes in this book, this is just one:

“Anyone can nurture a myth about their life if they have enough manure, so if the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence, that's because it's full of shit."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Dementia

Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

Reign & Ruin by J.D. Evans

adventurous reflective tense 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

4.75

Failure to Match by Kyra Parsi

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.5

A Deal with the Bossy Devil by Kyra Parsi

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.5

Midsummer by Jena Doyle

mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

I was looking forward to this book as a bit of a modern-day Midsummer Nights Dream re-telling, and for the most part it did that. However I think, overall, this book just wasn't for me. I enjoyed it, but it didn't have enough plot for me - I personally cannot see how there would be enough here for 3 more books in the series. The spice to plot ratio wasn't what I prefer, but that's just me and others may enjoy the extra prevalent spice. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Personal Best by Jonesy Elise

emotional funny inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.5

I have never been so motivated to take a spin class in my life! Much spicier than I expected, but very well done. And what I liked best about this book was that it actually had a plot to go along with the spice. The number of times I found myself smirking in this book, I tell you!
Bonus also for the brilliant doodle throughout - they were great, and apparently are available as t-shirts so I go need to find them. 
Anyway, excellent spicey read that's a lot of fun. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Miscarriage

Minor: Vomit

The Gate of the Feral Gods by Matt Dinniman

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

The Songbird & the Heart of Stone by Carissa Broadbent

adventurous dark emotional tense 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

4.5

This book feels like a dark grumpy+sunshine road trip with vampires and magic, and a bit of sacrilegious spice. What's not to love?

This took me a little while to get into, which frustrated me because I really love Mische as a character. I think my personal aversion to religious themes is what held me back initially. However, I continued on and I'm so glad I did, because the story went in a really interesting direction, with me needy for the next book already!

Can I Tell You Something? by Holly June Smith

lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.5

whoa
All I can say is, if you can listen to this as an audiobook, you really should. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content