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comebymoonlight's reviews
8 reviews
A Monsoon Rising by Thea Guanzon
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Yo what the fuck.
This was a solid sequel to The Hurricane Wars and felt like a natural progression of the book that came before, albeit a little spicier. I'm of the probably unpopular opinion that there was too much smut this time around, there were points when it felt like it was just getting in the way of the plot.
However.
HOWEVER.
The final chapter has left me distressed when the fuck is book 3 coming out this is an unacceptable cliffhanger.
This was a solid sequel to The Hurricane Wars and felt like a natural progression of the book that came before, albeit a little spicier. I'm of the probably unpopular opinion that there was too much smut this time around, there were points when it felt like it was just getting in the way of the plot.
However.
HOWEVER.
The final chapter has left me distressed when the fuck is book 3 coming out this is an unacceptable cliffhanger.
The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
This book is difficult to review because I feel very differently about the first hundred pages compared to what follows.
Part 1 of the book is painfully slow. Almost nothing happens in the main plot, and even the nothing that is happening feels disjointed and unimportant, constantly glossed over with time skips or interjected with short chapters of (for now) completely unrelated snapshots of things happening elsewhere. Rather than break up the tedium they just made the nothing drag on. This author desperately needs to learn better pacing.
Parts 2-5 I thoroughly enjoyed. All those unrelated snapshots finally pulled together, the pacing picked up, and I happily read the last 200 pages in a single sitting. I am a sucker for good world building, and this was excellent, though darker than I expected. That said, it wasn't the book I thought it was when I picked it up. I was expecting a sort of Theseus-descending-into-Hades adventure which it very much was not.
[Spoiler-light thoughts on the conclusion]There were a couple unanswered questions throughout the story that I kept feeling would be ruined by almost any answer we were given, and I was pleasantly surprised that they were left as questions. Similarly, I was pleasantly surprised the will-they-won't-they romantic subplot didn't magically end up with a happily-ever-after that would have strained my suspension of disbelief.
In the end, I really enjoyed the 240-page story that started at Part 2. Do I think reading the first 100 pages to get there is worth it? I don't know.
Part 1 of the book is painfully slow. Almost nothing happens in the main plot, and even the nothing that is happening feels disjointed and unimportant, constantly glossed over with time skips or interjected with short chapters of (for now) completely unrelated snapshots of things happening elsewhere. Rather than break up the tedium they just made the nothing drag on. This author desperately needs to learn better pacing.
Parts 2-5 I thoroughly enjoyed. All those unrelated snapshots finally pulled together, the pacing picked up, and I happily read the last 200 pages in a single sitting. I am a sucker for good world building, and this was excellent, though darker than I expected. That said, it wasn't the book I thought it was when I picked it up. I was expecting a sort of Theseus-descending-into-Hades adventure which it very much was not.
[Spoiler-light thoughts on the conclusion]
In the end, I really enjoyed the 240-page story that started at Part 2. Do I think reading the first 100 pages to get there is worth it? I don't know.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Abandonment
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cannibalism
Mrs. Mike by Nancy Freedman, Benedict Freedman
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
slow-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? No
5.0
I first read this book in middle school, then again in high school, and again in college. I still think about it often, and I'm sure I have not yet read it for the last time. It has stuck with me more than any other book ever has.
Everywhere I look I see this classified as a romance novel and I object to that classification. Yes, Kathy's marriage is an important part of the book, but only in that it is the trigger for every other change in her life. It's certainly not un-romantic, but this story is far more about Kathy and the community around her than about Kathy-and-Mike (don't be fooled by the title). The focus is on her personal growth and the trials she faces along the way.
And just as much it is about the beautiful but capricious Canadian wilderness, which plays such a central role that it feels like a character in its own right.
The authors pull the reader between moments of beauty and love and wonder into scenes of loss and destruction and injustice and then back again at dizzying speeds, and some of the descriptions in this book still haunt me.
Mrs. Mike was written in the 1940s and the events it covers are from the decades preceding. While Kathy herself consistently speaks out (or acts out, when able) against the racism and sexism that was typical of the times, it can still be a very difficult read.
Everywhere I look I see this classified as a romance novel and I object to that classification. Yes, Kathy's marriage is an important part of the book, but only in that it is the trigger for every other change in her life. It's certainly not un-romantic, but this story is far more about Kathy and the community around her than about Kathy-and-Mike (don't be fooled by the title). The focus is on her personal growth and the trials she faces along the way.
And just as much it is about the beautiful but capricious Canadian wilderness, which plays such a central role that it feels like a character in its own right.
The authors pull the reader between moments of beauty and love and wonder into scenes of loss and destruction and injustice and then back again at dizzying speeds, and some of the descriptions in this book still haunt me.
Mrs. Mike was written in the 1940s and the events it covers are from the decades preceding. While Kathy herself consistently speaks out (or acts out, when able) against the racism and sexism that was typical of the times, it can still be a very difficult read.
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-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
5.0
Flawless.
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
The narrator (Hastings) is sort of an insufferable idiot but the fact that this is clearly also Christie's opinion of her own character makes it amusing rather than irritating. And I love Papa Poirot.
The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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
4.25
I'm not going to lie, I only bought this book because the edges of the pages were all purple and had moons down the side and I thought it was so pretty. Definitionally judging a book by its cover.
This is an enemies-to-lovers story and it is very tropey. The light vs. dark theme was laid out from the start, but there's also asuper special magical power that nobody else has, a surprise long-lost princess, an arranged marriage, every physical fight the main characters get into pre-romance immediately devolves into them rolling around in a totally not sexual way, and my absolute least favorite "we got so mad at each other we ended up making out" . Both the main characters are inexplicably obsessed with each other long before they have any reason to be, which I guess is going for a sort of love-at-first-sight(-but-not-yet-because-we-hate-each-other) thing, but I found it irritating. And by far my biggest criticism of the book is that Talasyn's traumatic past seems to only affect her when it's convenient for the plot.
All that said... I immediately bought the sequel upon finishing this one and I'm excited to read it, so I can't pretend I didn't enjoy it. The world building was fun, both the magic system and the politics, and the romance may not be ground-breaking but it's exactly what I wanted it to be. It's a cheesy, obvious, slow-burn romance and it's not pretending to be anything else. Just make a conscious decision not to take it too seriously, and it's great.
This is an enemies-to-lovers story and it is very tropey. The light vs. dark theme was laid out from the start, but there's also a
All that said... I immediately bought the sequel upon finishing this one and I'm excited to read it, so I can't pretend I didn't enjoy it. The world building was fun, both the magic system and the politics, and the romance may not be ground-breaking but it's exactly what I wanted it to be. It's a cheesy, obvious, slow-burn romance and it's not pretending to be anything else. Just make a conscious decision not to take it too seriously, and it's great.
Storm Front by Jim Butcher
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I love the idea of this weird noir-detective/urban fantasy genre merge. The world-building was interesting. Even having read it, I still feel excited about the premise. It's a good start.
The biggest problem is that I just don't like the narrator. Given that it's in first person, I can't tell if it's the character or the author that I dislike, but I do dislike them. I've tried to cut the book a lot of slack, as I feel there was an attempt to emulate the tone of a more classic noir novel which can't quite extricate itself from the problems that come with just being from the 1940s. Harry prides himself on being "old-fashioned" but even when a female character is calling him a chauvinist for it, I still get the impression I'm supposed to like him for it. And I don't.
There are a handful of female characters, but every single one of them is a caricature or a plot device (or both). Ironically I think the most interesting among them is an alluring vampiress who runs a brothel which really should tell you how flat the rest of them were that I felt this trope was a step up. And I almost managed to forget a scene wherehilarious circumstantial hijinks result in Harry trapped in a 3ft diameter magical circle, completely naked, with a woman who has accidentally drugged herself with a potent magical aphrodisiac .
It's a shame, because I do find I'm still interested in the few longer term plot hooks which weren't resolved by the end of the book. I'm still interested in the setting. Popular opinion does seem to be that the series improves as it goes on, but... I'm just not sure I care enough to slog through more volumes of this to get wherever it may be going.
The biggest problem is that I just don't like the narrator. Given that it's in first person, I can't tell if it's the character or the author that I dislike, but I do dislike them. I've tried to cut the book a lot of slack, as I feel there was an attempt to emulate the tone of a more classic noir novel which can't quite extricate itself from the problems that come with just being from the 1940s. Harry prides himself on being "old-fashioned" but even when a female character is calling him a chauvinist for it, I still get the impression I'm supposed to like him for it. And I don't.
There are a handful of female characters, but every single one of them is a caricature or a plot device (or both). Ironically I think the most interesting among them is an alluring vampiress who runs a brothel which really should tell you how flat the rest of them were that I felt this trope was a step up. And I almost managed to forget a scene where
It's a shame, because I do find I'm still interested in the few longer term plot hooks which weren't resolved by the end of the book. I'm still interested in the setting. Popular opinion does seem to be that the series improves as it goes on, but... I'm just not sure I care enough to slog through more volumes of this to get wherever it may be going.
The Uncensored Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-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
2.0
Painfully slow. Whatever plot there was to be had was drowned out by multi-page-long monologues by Wilde's self-insert, Lord Henry.