daniel_faniel's reviews
59 reviews

Isabella: The Warrior Queen by Kirstin Downey

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challenging informative slow-paced

4.0

Read this in preparation for my trip to Spain and I’m glad I did.

I like how beginner-friendly this book is, in the sense of newcomers to Spanish history (me who knew basically nothing). She provides maybe too much context. I enjoyed everything and learned so much, but there were some parts where she writes about other people, which was necessary, but I just wanted to get back to Isabella’s life because she was so interesting.

Her portrayal of Muslims is also important to mention because the author specifically says that she’s writing in the perspective of Isabella during her time. Meaning, Muslims/enemies of Spain are written about as Isabella would’ve known them to be. This provided great context to understanding Isabella’s motivations and fears, but left much to desired in terms of a nuanced depiction.

Overall, Isabella’s life is super interesting and so much more globally and historically impactful than I realized. I really wanna learn about her children now.
Captain Alatriste by Arturo Pérez-Reverte

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adventurous slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

Maybe the translation doesn’t do it justice, but I found this book to be really boring. It’s only around 240 pages and yet feels like it drags on and on. 

Every plot point can be summed up in a single paragraph. Not a summary/synopsis of the book. No, literally every single event that forwards the story. Almost nothing happens. 

The very end of the book was good in all honesty. The conversation and dialogue was super enjoyable. The issue is that everything before that just felt like filler, and the ending is clearly building up to future installments.

And the characters are very flat. It also confusingly jumps between Inigo and Alatriste’s point of view at some parts I seriously didn’t know whose head we were in. I also don’t get the point of being in Inigo’s point of view since he does like literally nothing, and it seems clear Alatriste is the more interesting character and the author believes that as well.
Sons by Pearl S. Buck

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 16%.
I decided to read the plot summary and it didn’t seem interesting, which I hate because I really wanted to love this trilogy since The Good Earth is one of my all time faves.

My issue is that none of these characters are interesting at all. I don’t care about any of them in any way. She sprinkles in her masterful details about their motivations or behaviors. But they lack the emotional impact and dynamics that The Good Earth had.

The Good Earth felt like she had something to say. But Sons felt more like it was made up for the sake of having more rather than being a natural necessary progression to complete what The Good Earth started. Idk if that makes sense.
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

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challenging emotional reflective medium-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

4.5

Labyrinth by Lois McMaster Bujold

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adventurous mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.75

Daughters of the Stone by Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 42%.
She switches characters just as I start to get into them so I’m left a bit dissatisfied each time. I think I would’ve liked it if their storylines were more interconnected, instead of doing essentially 5 separate short stories.
Shōgun by James Clavell

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.25

I’m proud of myself for finishing this. Some parts were really boring but I loved these characters so I was willing to push through for them.

Ending was kinda disappointing. I sensed it would end something like that, but I wasn’t entirely a fan of it’s execution. But the good parts are phenomenal. So excited to watch the show now.
Second Class Citizen by Buchi Emecheta

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challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga

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emotional funny lighthearted reflective sad slow-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

4.0

A Grain of Wheat by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

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challenging dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

3.75