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coralinejones's reviews
373 reviews
Horses of Fire: A Novel of Troy by A.D. Rhine
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
There were moments I found the story dragging a bit but that honestly doesn't take away how enjoyable this novel was. I love this author's take on these characters. I would read more from them.
Dune: The Graphic Novel, Book 1 by Kevin J. Anderson, Frank Herbert, Brian Herbert
3.0
Not really a fan of the art. This does a pretty good job at faithfully adapting the novel, but, as a huge fan of the original book, it's just too bland of it's original mood and detail to even compare. I understand that this happens when converting mediums, and I'm sure this is great for younger Dune fans, or those wanting to understand the story and context but may be intimated by Herbert's writing and the length of the first novel. I still recommend.
Moby Dyke: An Obsessive Quest To Track Down The Last Remaining Lesbian Bars In America by Krista Burton
Did not finish book. Stopped at 12%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 12%.
The author is so fucking judgy of other queer people it's frustrating the fuck out of me. I could tell from when this began that there would be less about actual lesbian bars and more about the author's unnecessary opinions on... EVERYTHING. I don't care enough about her white, millennial, buzzfeed-like humor to slog through this.
I read other low-rated reviews and I agree with all of them; I learned what to expect from the rest of this and I'm not looking forward to it so DNF.
I would LOVE a book like this from someone else who actually has insight on journalism and interviewing.
I read other low-rated reviews and I agree with all of them; I learned what to expect from the rest of this and I'm not looking forward to it so DNF.
I would LOVE a book like this from someone else who actually has insight on journalism and interviewing.
The Weaver and the Witch Queen by Genevieve Gornichec
2.75
This book is kind of a mess.
I wrote several notes during the duration of this novel which started of fairly positive and got negative by the end. I actually disliked the way The Weaver and the Witch Queen began and considered DNF-ing it after chapter three or four. However, in an attempt to finish everything I read for the rest of the year, I decided to push on and see what Gornichec had to offer... I wish I hadn't.
Truthfully, this isn't that bad. I think this makes for an interesting and atmospheric read. I don't know how culturally accurate some of the set pieces are, if you will, but I know the dialogue was a tad bit modern for my personal taste. I'm not pretentious over historical accuracy, for one this book has LGBT rep that's slid over and not reprimanded in anyway, which I didn't mind and have no complaints over, but the way these characters spoke to one another took me out of the immersion more than once.
Then there's the repetition. I'm personally so over historical fantasy novels unnecessarily mentioning menstruation and using arbitrary ways to describe birthdays, regardless of how accurate that may be. "Haven't bled since 4 moons ago." "She looks about 3 moons old." "I haven't seen them in several moons past." Shut up. Shut up. Please. God. I hate it.
AND the romance ruined the plot for me. I actually wasn't expecting romance this time and it negatively surprised me when it appeared, lol. I can usually assume when an author will force a romance plot and she got me this time!!
The last half of the book is pretty rushed too. This is a huge problem for me because the pacing sucks as is. You're slogging through a little over 500 pages of some interesting scenes and then a bunch of nothing waiting for the big climax and it all comes, very conveniently, and very quickly to wrap up the story. I could've easilyyyy seen this novel turned into 2 or 3 books which, probably, would've eliminated this issue entirely.
Spoilers ahead: Note I copy and pasted this from another review because it explains my sentiments exactly, why I had strong distaste for how this novel was wrapped up at the end. Gunnhild's brothers are introduced, she conveniently uses magic to discover where Signy is, her brothers conveniently go get her, the trans Viking is Eirik's kin and they fight, Oddny argues with Gunnhild and runs off to find Signy on her own, she kills the Viking who led the raid on her village because they beg her to, Oddny conveniently runs into Signy with Gunnhild's brothers in a random town on the way to the place where she's told she'll find her, there's a battle out of nowhere for whatever reason and with no build up, and the big bad turns out to be some side character who meant nothing the whole time.
Hm. I don't know. It's fun. There's an audience for it. This isn't high fantasy or romantasy or anything like that so I think it's enjoyable for the right person, just not me!
I wrote several notes during the duration of this novel which started of fairly positive and got negative by the end. I actually disliked the way The Weaver and the Witch Queen began and considered DNF-ing it after chapter three or four. However, in an attempt to finish everything I read for the rest of the year, I decided to push on and see what Gornichec had to offer... I wish I hadn't.
Truthfully, this isn't that bad. I think this makes for an interesting and atmospheric read. I don't know how culturally accurate some of the set pieces are, if you will, but I know the dialogue was a tad bit modern for my personal taste. I'm not pretentious over historical accuracy, for one this book has LGBT rep that's slid over and not reprimanded in anyway, which I didn't mind and have no complaints over, but the way these characters spoke to one another took me out of the immersion more than once.
Then there's the repetition. I'm personally so over historical fantasy novels unnecessarily mentioning menstruation and using arbitrary ways to describe birthdays, regardless of how accurate that may be. "Haven't bled since 4 moons ago." "She looks about 3 moons old." "I haven't seen them in several moons past." Shut up. Shut up. Please. God. I hate it.
AND the romance ruined the plot for me. I actually wasn't expecting romance this time and it negatively surprised me when it appeared, lol. I can usually assume when an author will force a romance plot and she got me this time!!
The last half of the book is pretty rushed too. This is a huge problem for me because the pacing sucks as is. You're slogging through a little over 500 pages of some interesting scenes and then a bunch of nothing waiting for the big climax and it all comes, very conveniently, and very quickly to wrap up the story. I could've easilyyyy seen this novel turned into 2 or 3 books which, probably, would've eliminated this issue entirely.
Spoilers ahead: Note I copy and pasted this from another review because it explains my sentiments exactly, why I had strong distaste for how this novel was wrapped up at the end.
Hm. I don't know. It's fun. There's an audience for it. This isn't high fantasy or romantasy or anything like that so I think it's enjoyable for the right person, just not me!
Sun of Blood and Ruin by Mariely Lares
3.0
I wanted to like this more than I did. I wrote more previously but my computer froze and I lost what I had written. I'll list some bullet points that express my distaste for this novel.
— Not a YA novel, from my understanding, but still very adolescent in nature. A coming-of-age story for sure.
— The writing isn’t very good. Quite basic and all over the place.
— The book starts with lots of action and atmospheric scenery. Then this changes into a historical romance drama? Then it’s something of a mystery? I couldn’t keep up.
— Many characters are introduced but never utilized, ultimately being pointless in the long run.
— Unlike many others, I actually preferred the first half of the novel than the second, however, there is a lot more action in the second half of you’re into that.
— Not a YA novel, from my understanding, but still very adolescent in nature. A coming-of-age story for sure.
— The writing isn’t very good. Quite basic and all over the place.
— The book starts with lots of action and atmospheric scenery. Then this changes into a historical romance drama? Then it’s something of a mystery? I couldn’t keep up.
— Many characters are introduced but never utilized, ultimately being pointless in the long run.
— Unlike many others, I actually preferred the first half of the novel than the second, however, there is a lot more action in the second half of you’re into that.
The Secrets of Hartwood Hall by Katie Lumsden
Did not finish book. Stopped at 50%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 50%.
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
2.0
To start: My rating does not reflect N.K. Jemisin's writing ability in the slightest. It's clear she's incredible talented and has a unique voice within the sci-fi genre. I do believe her accolades are deserved and I'm sure the series gets better with each book. However, this wasn't for me.
I did enjoy some aspects of the story, I was fairly interested in the beginning and wanted to see how these puzzle pieces would unravel. But the second-person tense was getting under my nerves.
Ultimately, I think Jemisin's writing style just isn't one I enjoy. I truly tried slogging through the last half of the book and found my interest diminishing more and more as the chapters went on. This is so heartbreaking to me because I hare disliking books that are very well-loved and well-received, especially with my reading peers and reviewers whose opinions I trust highly. This series seems like one I would throughly enjoy. Genre books that delve into various politics, with characters of color, written by an author of color, with sophisticated writing and a bit of purple prose; I literally eat that shit upppp. But I truly don't care about the world she has built and the character(s) present in the story. I even went ahead and read spoilers just to make sense of what was being written.
I DNF'd at 75% percent which, in my opinion, is enough to gather an opinion on what I just read. I considered soft DNF-ing this just to come back and read the last half of the book, perhaps pick up the others in the series to make sense of what N.K. Jemisin is trying to say, what her intent was with writing these books, but I don't think I care enough to move forward.
Still recommend to anyone heavily interested in dystopian sci-fi and fantasy. I do think there's something to get out of this narrative but, as I said, it just wasn't for me specifically.
I did enjoy some aspects of the story, I was fairly interested in the beginning and wanted to see how these puzzle pieces would unravel. But the second-person tense was getting under my nerves.
Ultimately, I think Jemisin's writing style just isn't one I enjoy. I truly tried slogging through the last half of the book and found my interest diminishing more and more as the chapters went on. This is so heartbreaking to me because I hare disliking books that are very well-loved and well-received, especially with my reading peers and reviewers whose opinions I trust highly. This series seems like one I would throughly enjoy. Genre books that delve into various politics, with characters of color, written by an author of color, with sophisticated writing and a bit of purple prose; I literally eat that shit upppp. But I truly don't care about the world she has built and the character(s) present in the story. I even went ahead and read spoilers just to make sense of what was being written.
I DNF'd at 75% percent which, in my opinion, is enough to gather an opinion on what I just read. I considered soft DNF-ing this just to come back and read the last half of the book, perhaps pick up the others in the series to make sense of what N.K. Jemisin is trying to say, what her intent was with writing these books, but I don't think I care enough to move forward.
Still recommend to anyone heavily interested in dystopian sci-fi and fantasy. I do think there's something to get out of this narrative but, as I said, it just wasn't for me specifically.
All That Consumes Us by Erica Waters
3.0
Okay this was... cute. I have more cons than pros, so I suppose I'll start with what worked for me:
The last quarter of the book was the most interesting and the least obnoxious. When Tara, our main character, began understanding what was going on with her, and the mystery started to reveal itself to us, it really kicked off and was fun to see where the book ended up. The "twist" was amusing; I think overall this would work better as a family horror movie or a mini series on Netflix or something.
What I disliked was quite literally everything else. Tara was beyond annoying. I feel like the "but this is YA!" excuse doesn't work here because these are college aged students. Tara being self-deprecating is understandable, albeit one of the worst aspects of the novel, but I would argue that a girl with as much trauma as Tara would learn to mature quickly. She was able to graduate early and damn near took care of herself and her mother her entire life. She lives on her own! Tara acting like a six year old just didn't feel realistic to me, but hey, not my novel.
All That Consumes Us is also really cliche. Someone on Goodreads had mentioned it felt like the author wrote this for an audience of Tumblr users and TikTok readers and, honestly, that rings true to me as well. It was just a tad corny and already outdated with the social media references. This is considered a gothic tale but none of those elements came together for me.
In my opinion this novel reads as "Baby's first dark academia book". Corny, cliche, juvenile despite the setting. House of Anubis meets The Secret History (Disney edition) meets Big Hero 6 meets Inside Out.
Was fun! Just nothing special, really.
The last quarter of the book was the most interesting and the least obnoxious. When Tara, our main character, began understanding what was going on with her, and the mystery started to reveal itself to us, it really kicked off and was fun to see where the book ended up. The "twist" was amusing; I think overall this would work better as a family horror movie or a mini series on Netflix or something.
What I disliked was quite literally everything else. Tara was beyond annoying. I feel like the "but this is YA!" excuse doesn't work here because these are college aged students. Tara being self-deprecating is understandable, albeit one of the worst aspects of the novel, but I would argue that a girl with as much trauma as Tara would learn to mature quickly. She was able to graduate early and damn near took care of herself and her mother her entire life. She lives on her own! Tara acting like a six year old just didn't feel realistic to me, but hey, not my novel.
All That Consumes Us is also really cliche. Someone on Goodreads had mentioned it felt like the author wrote this for an audience of Tumblr users and TikTok readers and, honestly, that rings true to me as well. It was just a tad corny and already outdated with the social media references. This is considered a gothic tale but none of those elements came together for me.
In my opinion this novel reads as "Baby's first dark academia book". Corny, cliche, juvenile despite the setting. House of Anubis meets The Secret History (Disney edition) meets Big Hero 6 meets Inside Out.
Was fun! Just nothing special, really.