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crispynugget's reviews
37 reviews
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
This book and world has so much potential, but it ended as sub mid. Most of the character development was forced through magic or told to the reader without much evidence.
Keep in mind as you read this review that I did finish the book and I did enjoy certain parts. But looking at it as a whole I was disappointed. I can see that there is an audience for this book that may love it!
SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT
*// I would have been much more interested in the book if our narrator was not our narrator. The sister Tabitha had a far more interesting perspective and could have introduced the reader more to the world of magic. And just getting into the world of this book, I had a very hard time getting around the fact that regular people were unaware of magic. You’re telling me that a bunch of kids can go around changing the physical properties of their surrounds and no one questions it? They just have to be observed by another magic person to be flagged? There’s a whole infrastructure of mages, but regular people are clueless? This aspect of the book was not explained well. Coming off of a series like A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik makes this book seem lazy and not well thought out.
Let’s also talk about the fact that this whole mystery could have essentially been solved within the first 100 pages if Mrs. Webb wasn’t so so good at refusing to participate as a character. It’s just not fun and it’s annoying when she refuses to answer questions, but then later seems to deeply care about what happened and who is responsible.
Additionally, we never get closure as a reader. Ivy was asked to solve a crime and she tells Torres what exactly? I’ll never know.
I truly wish this book was from the perspective of Alexandria or Tabitha as they explored Alexandria’s power. A morally compromised adult with tried and tested knowledge of powerful and forbidden magic mentors a chosen one teen while a PI investigates a mysterious and magical murder. How dark and magical that story could have been!
Overall, I did not care about our main character. She was aggressively focused on staying true to her character, steamrolling us through plot holes and not changing how she reacted to the evolving case. She’s literally getting pictures sent to her of herself with vaguely threatening messages and she just shrugs it off and never considers it part of the case? I haven’t even gone into how Ivy can just read people and she’s somehow always right? Like there’s not one character who challenges her biases? Wild. \\*
Keep in mind as you read this review that I did finish the book and I did enjoy certain parts. But looking at it as a whole I was disappointed. I can see that there is an audience for this book that may love it!
SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT
*// I would have been much more interested in the book if our narrator was not our narrator. The sister Tabitha had a far more interesting perspective and could have introduced the reader more to the world of magic. And just getting into the world of this book, I had a very hard time getting around the fact that regular people were unaware of magic. You’re telling me that a bunch of kids can go around changing the physical properties of their surrounds and no one questions it? They just have to be observed by another magic person to be flagged? There’s a whole infrastructure of mages, but regular people are clueless? This aspect of the book was not explained well. Coming off of a series like A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik makes this book seem lazy and not well thought out.
Let’s also talk about the fact that this whole mystery could have essentially been solved within the first 100 pages if Mrs. Webb wasn’t so so good at refusing to participate as a character. It’s just not fun and it’s annoying when she refuses to answer questions, but then later seems to deeply care about what happened and who is responsible.
Additionally, we never get closure as a reader. Ivy was asked to solve a crime and she tells Torres what exactly? I’ll never know.
I truly wish this book was from the perspective of Alexandria or Tabitha as they explored Alexandria’s power. A morally compromised adult with tried and tested knowledge of powerful and forbidden magic mentors a chosen one teen while a PI investigates a mysterious and magical murder. How dark and magical that story could have been!
Overall, I did not care about our main character. She was aggressively focused on staying true to her character, steamrolling us through plot holes and not changing how she reacted to the evolving case. She’s literally getting pictures sent to her of herself with vaguely threatening messages and she just shrugs it off and never considers it part of the case? I haven’t even gone into how Ivy can just read people and she’s somehow always right? Like there’s not one character who challenges her biases? Wild. \\*
Whale Fall by Elizabeth O'Connor
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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? It's complicated
5.0
Berserk Deluxe Volume 7 by Kentaro Miura
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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
5.0
I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
5.0
Read this book.
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa
emotional
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
A basic story about emotional immaturity. The resolution is disappointing and so are the characters. Mid
The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
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
The Spellshop is a perfect blend of Stardew Valley, fantasy, and the age old question of who should be allowed access to life saving knowledge? When the big city (almost literally) burns you, you fight back by opening an underground spell shop in your rural, coastal hometown. In this coziest of fantasy novels, Durst reminds us that we all deserve the magic we need to survive and sometimes (re)connecting to our community reveals our needs. The Spellshop has found its home on my shelf right between Monk & Robot and Legends & Lattes.
Berserk Deluxe Volume 4 by Kentaro Miura
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Bride by Ali Hazelwood
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
The beginning of this book had me invested. I enjoyed Misery’s humor and the interesting take on vampires and werewolves. My hopes were high, maybe I had even found a new favorite! But, the finale was a bust. The ending felt rushed, like the world ended up being too much for the author to handle. By the end of the book I was skimming to get to the end; I was so bored with the characters and their decisions. I was definitely disappointed and will not be reading the next one. If you hate information withholding in romance books you may want to avoid this book.
SPOILERS beyond this point:
Here are three examples of events that took me right out of the story:
Lowe's special appendage is not the most intriguing to me personally, but maybe it went a bit overboard in the last major scene. The unwavering focus on this one thing caused the whole event to feel forced, boring, and cringe
Why is Misery so oblivious to everything around her like the fake interrogation scene or Lowe obviously not being tied up? How am I supposed to see her as a super smart hacker when she can’t solve these simple logic puzzles?
How did her father miraculously not noticed the half were was in fact shifting while she was imprisoned and being watched through surveillance? Oh she just hid in a corner the whole time? Cool, makes sense, no questions there. Additionally, all the good guys have super obvious communication w each other like Misery’s message to Ana. Please, let’s take this serious, this is a vampire-werewolf romance novel. Let’s not give it a bad rep
SPOILERS beyond this point:
Here are three examples of events that took me right out of the story:
Lowe's special appendage is not the most intriguing to me personally, but maybe it went a bit overboard in the last major scene. The unwavering focus on this one thing caused the whole event to feel forced, boring, and cringe
Why is Misery so oblivious to everything around her like the fake interrogation scene or Lowe obviously not being tied up? How am I supposed to see her as a super smart hacker when she can’t solve these simple logic puzzles?
How did her father miraculously not noticed the half were was in fact shifting while she was imprisoned and being watched through surveillance? Oh she just hid in a corner the whole time? Cool, makes sense, no questions there. Additionally, all the good guys have super obvious communication w each other like Misery’s message to Ana. Please, let’s take this serious, this is a vampire-werewolf romance novel. Let’s not give it a bad rep
Content Warnings
Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, and Blood