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daniellestarredpages's reviews
231 reviews
Hell Followed with Us by Andrew Joseph White
dark
funny
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
When the author said that he wrote this because he was angry, I could really see it in the story and I loved it.
The character work in this book was absolutely amazing. I loved how messy the characters were, and how we had the protagonists, and the characters that we were rooting for make mistakes on the page. I also loved that there were consequences but that the characters were allowed to fix and move past their mistakes. The main characters accepted the darkness inside them and sought violent revenge against those who hurt them, the fact that this wasn't treated as a character flaw brought so much joy to me.
The concept of The Flood in this book, a bio-engineered weapon being framed by a fundamentalist cult as a God-sent punishment or reward was so interesting. I think that the fact that the author decided not to spend too much time explaining the mechanics of The Flood to the readers was a great decision. Sticking with what the main characters knew and understood ensured that the focus remained where it should be.
The relationships in this book, the ups and downs, the pulls and pushes were also such a boon to this story.
All in all, I highly recommend this book to those that can handle the topics.
Thank you to Edelweiss and PeachTree Teen for an ARC of this book.
The character work in this book was absolutely amazing. I loved how messy the characters were, and how we had the protagonists, and the characters that we were rooting for make mistakes on the page. I also loved that there were consequences but that the characters were allowed to fix and move past their mistakes. The main characters accepted the darkness inside them and sought violent revenge against those who hurt them, the fact that this wasn't treated as a character flaw brought so much joy to me.
The concept of The Flood in this book, a bio-engineered weapon being framed by a fundamentalist cult as a God-sent punishment or reward was so interesting. I think that the fact that the author decided not to spend too much time explaining the mechanics of The Flood to the readers was a great decision. Sticking with what the main characters knew and understood ensured that the focus remained where it should be.
The relationships in this book, the ups and downs, the pulls and pushes were also such a boon to this story.
All in all, I highly recommend this book to those that can handle the topics.
Thank you to Edelweiss and PeachTree Teen for an ARC of this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Torture, Medical content, Religious bigotry, War
Chloe and the Kaishao Boys by Mae Coyiuto
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Abeni's Song by P. Djèlí Clark
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
I've enjoyed another book by P. Djeli Clark before, so I was very interested in this book. From what I know, this is Clark's first Middle-Grade novel; unfortunately, it is very easy to tell.
There were inconsistencies in the language used in this book. The words spoken by Abeni matched what you would expect from a child her age, however, her internal monologue switched from "age-appropriate" (for lack of a better term) to too old. The writing that described things outside of Abeni's thoughts also seemed a bit out of place in a middle-grade novel and I found it jarring and struggled to get 0past it. I think this is something other readers can look past to enjoy this book more than I did and I hope that does happen.
The idea behind the book was quite interesting and I think the story itself was written well. The character work was an enjoyable element of the book with each character in the ensemble being distinct. I think a lot of the character interactions within the group were summarised and told to us by Abeni instead of us seeing it for ourselves, that is another element that I think took away my enjoyment of the book.
Unfortunately, this book did not live up to my expectation but I do have hope for other works by the author.
There were inconsistencies in the language used in this book. The words spoken by Abeni matched what you would expect from a child her age, however, her internal monologue switched from "age-appropriate" (for lack of a better term) to too old. The writing that described things outside of Abeni's thoughts also seemed a bit out of place in a middle-grade novel and I found it jarring and struggled to get 0past it. I think this is something other readers can look past to enjoy this book more than I did and I hope that does happen.
The idea behind the book was quite interesting and I think the story itself was written well. The character work was an enjoyable element of the book with each character in the ensemble being distinct. I think a lot of the character interactions within the group were summarised and told to us by Abeni instead of us seeing it for ourselves, that is another element that I think took away my enjoyment of the book.
Unfortunately, this book did not live up to my expectation but I do have hope for other works by the author.
Dick Fight Island, Vol. 1 by Reibun Ike
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I read this as a crack read, and it delivered. This is straight-up comedy
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content