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cluckieduck's reviews
275 reviews
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
12 year old me would have been absolutely enamoured with this book and would have obsessed about being great friends with Percy, Annabeth and Grover. 36 year old me has some issues with the dialogue and character descriptions (SO MANY ugly things). I’ve already started watching the new Disney+ series and appreciate the changes that have been made to the story.
But overall it’s a fun little romp - a very easy read and a great way to pique an interest in Greek mythology. I’m interested to see how Percy and his powers develop and where the story goes from here.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Bullying, Violence, Ableism, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Abandonment
Minor: Vomit, Sexism, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Blood, War, and Medical content
The Stone Wolf's Rejected Mate by Cate C. Wells
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Eh, I liked it more than some of the others in this series, but there's nothing that makes Wrenlee & Clay a standout couple for me.
It's a fairly mild rejection / grovel, I'm going to guess because it's only novella length so there wasn't much time to get into something more detailed. I think if this was a full-length story I might have felt more connected to the couple as well.
It's a fairly mild rejection / grovel, I'm going to guess because it's only novella length so there wasn't much time to get into something more detailed. I think if this was a full-length story I might have felt more connected to the couple as well.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism, Death, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Blood, Bullying, Classism, Confinement, Grief, Sexual content, Cursing, Emotional abuse, and Injury/Injury detail
Run Posy Run by Cate C. Wells
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Eh, mafia just isn’t my jam, but I needed this for a book challenge. Cate C. Wells is a hit or miss author for me and this one, I’m afraid, was a miss.
Look, I love a good psychopath lead - they’re hard to write and make compelling enough that you root for their HEA, but there’s something about Dario that I didn’t enjoy or connect with. He’s the wet blanket of psychopaths. Posy was meh.
And wth was up with that last chapter?!? So OTT. Epilogue was cute though.
Look, I love a good psychopath lead - they’re hard to write and make compelling enough that you root for their HEA, but there’s something about Dario that I didn’t enjoy or connect with. He’s the wet blanket of psychopaths. Posy was meh.
And wth was up with that last chapter?!? So OTT. Epilogue was cute though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Bullying, Blood, Cursing, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Sexual content
Moderate: Kidnapping, Cancer, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Drug use, and Mental illness
All The Feels by Olivia Dade
emotional
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Profoundly irked by the lack of pegging!
Overall enjoyable…more good than bad, I’d say.
Definitely some problematic elements, especially surrounding the intense focus on Lauren’s appearance that didn’t let up from page 1 right through to the end of the epilogue. I also found Alex a bit infantile for a 39-year old and I don’t know if that was the best way to show his ADHD. Being a “delightful asshole” came across more grating than endearing at times.
But otherwise, I enjoyed the crossover timeline from Spoiler Alert and how they interconnected. I really liked the slow burn of Alex & Lauren’s relationship, plus the extra tidbits of the fanfics and playing up the romantic tropes on their road trip.
Overall enjoyable…more good than bad, I’d say.
Definitely some problematic elements, especially surrounding the intense focus on Lauren’s appearance that didn’t let up from page 1 right through to the end of the epilogue. I also found Alex a bit infantile for a 39-year old and I don’t know if that was the best way to show his ADHD. Being a “delightful asshole” came across more grating than endearing at times.
But otherwise, I enjoyed the crossover timeline from Spoiler Alert and how they interconnected. I really liked the slow burn of Alex & Lauren’s relationship, plus the extra tidbits of the fanfics and playing up the romantic tropes on their road trip.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Body shaming, and Cursing
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Mental illness
See You Yesterday by Rachel Lynn Solomon
emotional
funny
mysterious
slow-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
I WANT THIS MADE INTO A TV SERIES RIGHT NOW!!
What an absolutely delightful read! This book was not even on my radar, but when I had to fill a reading challenge slot with "time looping," this one came highly recommended, and with good reason.
College-aged characters are becoming more grating to my cranky, ageing sensibilities 🤣, but both Barrett & Miles were endearing in their ways, separately and together as their relationship grew, and they were oh-so relatable. Their insecurities and idiosyncrasies were realistic and I was rooting for both of them as they stumbled around trying to redefine their identities against their high-school selves all while trying to break free from the time-loop situation.
Cute, fun, and lovely. What more can I say!
What an absolutely delightful read! This book was not even on my radar, but when I had to fill a reading challenge slot with "time looping," this one came highly recommended, and with good reason.
College-aged characters are becoming more grating to my cranky, ageing sensibilities 🤣, but both Barrett & Miles were endearing in their ways, separately and together as their relationship grew, and they were oh-so relatable. Their insecurities and idiosyncrasies were realistic and I was rooting for both of them as they stumbled around trying to redefine their identities against their high-school selves all while trying to break free from the time-loop situation.
Cute, fun, and lovely. What more can I say!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Car accident, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Body shaming, Alcohol, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Fatphobia, Violence, and Addiction
Nepenthe by Octavia Hyde
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
So much wasted potential with this one!
First, let’s jump right outta the gate with raping a dying woman and call it dub-con. That is straight up non-con. Ew.
My biggest gripe though is that this novella is split into three vignettes which doesn’t allow for any expansion or development of the human or Nepenthe characters. The story just doesn’t…go anywhere. The characters meet, they have sex, then it moves onto the next couple. What happens to them after?? Where are they going? How are the eggs doing? Are they going to be actual couples or are the women just incubators?? Even though I’m asking these questions, I don’t actually care about any of them because we didn’t get anything of value for any of them. 👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼
First, let’s jump right outta the gate with raping a dying woman and call it dub-con. That is straight up non-con. Ew.
My biggest gripe though is that this novella is split into three vignettes which doesn’t allow for any expansion or development of the human or Nepenthe characters. The story just doesn’t…go anywhere. The characters meet, they have sex, then it moves onto the next couple. What happens to them after?? Where are they going? How are the eggs doing? Are they going to be actual couples or are the women just incubators?? Even though I’m asking these questions, I don’t actually care about any of them because we didn’t get anything of value for any of them. 👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Sexual content
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, and Death
What Was Meant To Be by Heather Guerre
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
"Too many coincidences brought us together. We were meant to be."
Ugh...where do I even begin with this one.
Wes has got to be one of the worst MMCs I've read recently. There is just the briefest whisper acknowledging that he may possibly be on the spectrum, but there just wasn't enough time to provide any depth to his character. His actions and assumptions towards Rain were beyond dickish. His own brother is autistic, and Rain's father mentions that Rain was diagnosed (albeit mentioned in a rather dickish way as well) but Wes kept going back to the assumption that she's a frigid rich girl looking down her nose at him, whom he then just basically used as a convenient sex doll.
I enjoyed Rain for the most part, but her characterization was a bit of a hodgepodge. While I do love me some femdom, I didn't find their chemistry believable, and their first kiss/sexual encounter felt forced and icky. Again, it was too rushed and really could have used some fleshing out to make it just the slightest bit believable.
The standout character for me was Ashlyn - I loved her in What Could Have Been and she is such a great, supportive friend to Rain here. Also looks like it's setting up a 2nd chance romance in a future book with Noah's twin James and the meek Quinn, who seems rather sweet.
Wes's actions at the end of the story were commendable, so I'll give him that, but still not a commensurate level of grovel for my liking.
Ugh...where do I even begin with this one.
Wes has got to be one of the worst MMCs I've read recently. There is just the briefest whisper acknowledging that he may possibly be on the spectrum, but there just wasn't enough time to provide any depth to his character. His actions and assumptions towards Rain were beyond dickish. His own brother is autistic, and Rain's father mentions that Rain was diagnosed (albeit mentioned in a rather dickish way as well) but Wes kept going back to the assumption that she's a frigid rich girl looking down her nose at him, whom he then just basically used as a convenient sex doll.
I enjoyed Rain for the most part, but her characterization was a bit of a hodgepodge. While I do love me some femdom, I didn't find their chemistry believable, and their first kiss/sexual encounter felt forced and icky. Again, it was too rushed and really could have used some fleshing out to make it just the slightest bit believable.
The standout character for me was Ashlyn - I loved her in What Could Have Been and she is such a great, supportive friend to Rain here. Also looks like it's setting up a 2nd chance romance in a future book with Noah's twin James and the meek Quinn, who seems rather sweet.
Wes's actions at the end of the story were commendable, so I'll give him that, but still not a commensurate level of grovel for my liking.
Chase Me by Aidy Award
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Not for me, I'm afraid. Which is a shame because it has so many things that I should be loving:
✔ Plus-sized heroine
✔ Insta-love
✔ Fated mates
✔ He fell first
✔ Alpha dragon shifter
✔ Possessive hero
I really wanted to DNF at various times but because I'm using it as part of some reading challenges I powered through. I did not connect with either main character (any of the side characters either) and honestly didn't even care whenJakob "died."</hide spoiler> That's not great.
And the villain? Who was the actual villain?? I have so many unanswered questions that I'm assuming get cleared up in later books, but I just don't care enough to continue.
My biggest gripe though? There was so much veiled fat-phobic content masquerading as being "cute" which just came across as cringe, IMO. I want a body-positive FMC who embraces themselves, not someone who constantly questions whether she made the right decision to choose "fries before guys."
Anyways, a swing and a miss for me ☹
✔ Plus-sized heroine
✔ Insta-love
✔ Fated mates
✔ He fell first
✔ Alpha dragon shifter
✔ Possessive hero
I really wanted to DNF at various times but because I'm using it as part of some reading challenges I powered through. I did not connect with either main character (any of the side characters either) and honestly didn't even care when
And the villain? Who was the actual villain?? I have so many unanswered questions that I'm assuming get cleared up in later books, but I just don't care enough to continue.
My biggest gripe though? There was so much veiled fat-phobic content masquerading as being "cute" which just came across as cringe, IMO. I want a body-positive FMC who embraces themselves, not someone who constantly questions whether she made the right decision to choose "fries before guys."
Anyways, a swing and a miss for me ☹
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Violence, Sexual content, Death, and Fatphobia
Minor: Alcohol and Emotional abuse
Finn Rhodes Forever by Stephanie Archer
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? Yes
5.0
Finn Rhodes, you praise king, dirty talker, soft-dom, you. I don't know if he's beat Wyatt for my favourite brother, but he's pretty darn close!
Praise kink hasn't done much for me in the past, but coming out of Finn's mouth?? Scandalously 🥵🔥🥵 Finn & Olivia have off-the-charts chemistry and their building slow-burn tension throughout the initial hate, disaster dates, rekindled friendship, towards eventually acknowledging their respective love...so well done.
"I didn't want to spend the rest of my life regretting that I wasn't good enough for you, and that I didn't even try."
Again, the Queen's Cove backdrop provided great small-town antics. I loved the tie-ins to the other books in the series, as well as the 'bad dates' at the doily museum or the spicy book club. I'm sad to leave (though I do have to circle back and read book 1...and it looks like perhaps Beck is getting a book?!), but I think these will be on the re-read list for me, for sure.
Praise kink hasn't done much for me in the past, but coming out of Finn's mouth?? Scandalously 🥵🔥🥵 Finn & Olivia have off-the-charts chemistry and their building slow-burn tension throughout the initial hate, disaster dates, rekindled friendship, towards eventually acknowledging their respective love...so well done.
"I didn't want to spend the rest of my life regretting that I wasn't good enough for you, and that I didn't even try."
Again, the Queen's Cove backdrop provided great small-town antics. I loved the tie-ins to the other books in the series, as well as the 'bad dates' at the doily museum or the spicy book club. I'm sad to leave (though I do have to circle back and read book 1...and it looks like perhaps Beck is getting a book?!), but I think these will be on the re-read list for me, for sure.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This book was excellent...until it wasn't.
Suzanne is an excellent storyteller, and it was great to revisit the world of Panem 60+ years ahead of the The Hunger Games. I loved the background and expansion of how the Hunger Games themselves were developed, the extra layers of detail showing the Capitol's recovery from the rebel attacks, and the morsels of call-backs (call-forwards??) to the OG trilogy kept me enthralled.
The use of President Show as the protagonist was an interesting choice. It was hard to equate the Coriolanus (or Coryo to those near & dear) of TBoSaS with the eventual antagonistic, sadistic President Snow. I was waiting for such a major cataclysmic event, and perhaps my lacklustre feelings towards the ending are because I expected something major, but I found the ending just...meh.
I wanted and obvious turn of our protagonist from 'good' to 'evil' when, in truth, Coriolanus was always a morally grey sociopath, so there was no chance for me to be shocked into his villainous turn. I wish we could have gotten an alternate POV removed from his own internal monologue to get an outsiders perspective on his behaviours or actions. Lucy Gray would have definitely benefit from some more screen time, IMO. She was an intriguing character and her eventual arc left little to be desired. In truth, I was definitely waiting forher to die in the Hunger Games, so having her win and then, eventually, wiping the entire games out of existence seemed like such an odd (and kinda lazy) choice to me.
All in all, it just didn't really...go anywhere or provide anything necessary to the overall universe of the Hunger Games. What is has done though, is make me want to re-read the original trilogy because it's certainly been a while!
Suzanne is an excellent storyteller, and it was great to revisit the world of Panem 60+ years ahead of the The Hunger Games. I loved the background and expansion of how the Hunger Games themselves were developed, the extra layers of detail showing the Capitol's recovery from the rebel attacks, and the morsels of call-backs (call-forwards??) to the OG trilogy kept me enthralled.
The use of President Show as the protagonist was an interesting choice. It was hard to equate the Coriolanus (or Coryo to those near & dear) of TBoSaS with the eventual antagonistic, sadistic President Snow. I was waiting for such a major cataclysmic event, and perhaps my lacklustre feelings towards the ending are because I expected something major, but I found the ending just...meh.
I wanted and obvious turn of our protagonist from 'good' to 'evil' when, in truth, Coriolanus was always a morally grey sociopath, so there was no chance for me to be shocked into his villainous turn. I wish we could have gotten an alternate POV removed from his own internal monologue to get an outsiders perspective on his behaviours or actions. Lucy Gray would have definitely benefit from some more screen time, IMO. She was an intriguing character and her eventual arc left little to be desired. In truth, I was definitely waiting for
All in all, it just didn't really...go anywhere or provide anything necessary to the overall universe of the Hunger Games. What is has done though, is make me want to re-read the original trilogy because it's certainly been a while!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Gun violence, Blood, Medical content, Classism, Confinement, Death, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Toxic friendship, Panic attacks/disorders, Cannibalism, Dementia, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, and Vomit