cyanide_latte's reviews
1704 reviews

Out of the Mirror, Darkness by Garth Nix

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This was honestly an excellent short story! I don't anticipate Garth Nix doing more for this in terms of a follow-up or other stories set in this sort of fantastic horror alternate-history world, but this really scratched an itch for me I didn't know I needed to satiate. Highly recommend this, and I actually think it might be a decent introduction into his writing for new readers! I won't say anything else about it, because that would spoil it, and you really should just go in blind and expect a short but fun time.
Coffee Boy by Austin Chant

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funny hopeful lighthearted fast-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? No

5.0

I personally enjoyed this a lot! For a few years now, I've heard a lot of praise for this book, with nearly all the people who talk about it being relatively vague (I can see why, given how short it is,) but saying it's very cute. And I'm happy to say it IS as cute as everyone has said. It focuses on a gay trans man walking into his new internship gig and gradually falling for his supervisor, who might also be attracted to him as well. For anyone not aware, I also want to give the heads-up this novella does have some spicy content in it, and also due to its short nature, it ends with a lot of the plot points just kind of unresolved, so if any of that bothers you, just be aware. As for me, I had a lot of fun with this and I'm very glad I got the chance to read this at last!
Dinghai Fusheng Records (the Comic / Manhua) Vol. 2 by Fei Tian Ye Xiang

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I genuinely love seeing this adaptation. Going through an English fan translation of Dinghai has been a good experience and I'm so thankful for it, but admittedly a lot of the scenes that this particular volume of means covers were moments I had some difficulty visualizing while reading the fan translation. Getting to see all these action sequences visually, with the accompanying motion and the intended energy is honestly exactly what I needed! I have difficulty picking favorite danmei series but I'm starting to think Dinghai might end up being one of my big faves as a result!
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Identical by Ellen Hopkins

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

2.5

This was a hard read for multiple reasons. Please don't take my star rating as me saying this was bad, because I don't feel like it was badly written, but I struggled with this one on several fronts. The plot twist caught me by surprise but I don't think that helped my personal struggles with this book.
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Darkly: Black History and America's Gothic Soul by Leila Taylor

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challenging dark informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

I'd been waiting to get my hands on a copy of this and now that I have and it's Black History Month, it felt the most appropriate to read right away for this month. I loved this, I needed Leila Taylor's perspective, this has given me a lot to think about, and I strongly encourage all fellow goths to read this and to re-evaluate their perspectives. All of us, full stop. Black people have every right to be in goth spaces, same as anyone else, and those of us who aren't Black should be supporting Black goths in our community. And I feel like this book really can help jumpstart conversation and new perspectives on that. Support the Black goths in your community; you have no excuse not to. Black lives matter. They always have.
Boyfriends, Volume One by refrainbow

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

5.0

I've been wanting to get to this for a while, and I'm glad that I finally did! This is a super, super cute webcomic-in-print-form, about four boys (all sort of named for the archetypes they're modeled on, who gradually develop feelings for each other and collectively get together and decide to become a polycule. While the majority of this volume is super fluffy and mostly focused on the guys getting together, there are also hints of genuine slice-of-life going on with regards to their college careers and home lives. I enjoyed every bit of this, and I hope to get the next couple of volumes soon!
Book of Night by Holly Black

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 38%.
DNF'd at 38%. Sad to say I've lost interest in this. The premise was fascinating, but the pacing really turned me off. The characters were appealing to me for sure, but the plot felt very slow to start, and once it really got anywhere, it was too late for me. I plan on giving this away to a friend, who will hopefully enjoy it more than I did.
The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson

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

4.5

It's been a long time since I've read one of Laurie Halse Anderson's books, but her writing still hits like a train. This was a rough, emotional read, and I think it was worth going through at least once. I'm not sure I'll ever re-read it, due to how heavy it is, but it's very unapologetic and raw and real with the topic it tackles.
The Disabled Tyrant's Beloved Pet Fish: Canji Baojun de Zhangxin Yu Chong (Novel) Vol. 1 by Xue Shan Fei Hu

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adventurous funny lighthearted 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

5.0

This is such a fun, fluffy little ride so far, and I'm glad I picked it up on a whim! It has similar enough vibes to MXTX's Scum Villain series to appeal to fans of it, while still managing to very much be its own thing! I can't wait to get to the next book!
Foe by Iain Reid

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

3.0

Another book sent to me by a friend to try out, that I otherwise don't think I would have heard of.

I found the premise of this fascinating. The plot was something I predicted pretty quickly (though I was pleasantly surprised by the twist at the end, and honestly? Good for Henrietta,) but that wasn't a bad thing. And the book was compulsively very readable. Iain Reid has a very fast-paced and interesting writing style.

That said, I liked none of the characters, and at times the pacing felt slower than it needed to be. I've seen others say this felt like having to wait for the characters to catch up with where they'd predicted the plot was going, and honestly, I do understand that feeling. I think what helped balance that out was that the setting felt very isolated to the point of being claustrophobic and suffocating, so that helped with it feeling like a horror.