debthebookworm's reviews
294 reviews

I'm reading this series about a year after watching the Netflix show (twice) and as much as was on YouTube for free (legally, I promise) as I could.

When I tell you I love WangXian. If I could live in this world and just watch them interact forever, I'd die happy.

But anyway, I am very invested in seeing the source material of the show I love so much, not only seeing scenes that already have a visual map in my head, but to see what was changed and how the story was actually told timeline-wise. In the show, we saw all of the past at once. In the book, we get flashbacks, and not going to lie, I'm a sucker for flashbacks.

Furthermore, I'm obsessed with seeing more of just how much Lan Wangji secretly (unless under the influence) loves Wei Wuxian because we couldn't get that conspicuously in the show. MXTX is a great storyteller, and kudos to the translator!

Content Warnings

The Broken Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I read this book 8 years ago, and listening to it, it remains my favorite of the series. Oree is one of my favorite characters N.K. Jemisin has written so far. I love the character progression of Shiny and the deeper insight into the Three.

Seeing Shadow, Sky, and all the gods and godlings through Oree's eyes painted such an interesting picture. N.K. once again created a beautifully vivid new world for readers to get lost in, and the plot was so good. I still marvel to think this was her debut series.

Content Warnings

Fake Dates and Mooncakes by Sher Lee

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This book is just so sweet (no pun intended). I love Dylan and Theo and the Tangs. I also felt like I learned a little about Chinese culture, and I love being brought into other people's worlds. I also need to find a mooncake near me, because they sound delicious!

Love Radio by Ebony LaDelle

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funny hopeful lighthearted 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi

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adventurous dark emotional tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

Before I learned there is a third book coming, I was fully prepared to throw this book across the room.

Ending with what I can only assume are the Europeans coming to enslave the Orïshans instead of giving us the victory Zélie deserves would have been a compete let-down.

But Children of Anguish and Anarchy is coming! So I can focus on how I feel about the pages leading up to the end.

I was not prepared for Amari's arc. Seeing her turn exactly into what her parents raised her to be and sacrificing Ibadan was frustrating, and I wished she had been sacrificed for the other elders to join their hearts. I expected Mama Agba to go, but not like that. All in all, it was a beautiful send-off.

Zélie and Inan hurt. I was excited to learn that Inan was alive, even though he was so aggravating and the reason Baba died. He and Zélie, though, were just something I wanted to work, and watching him fight himself again but this time also having to fight against his mother, I rooted for him to break free so he could do the right thing. It took the whole book, but I'm glad it happened.

Also, so much pain. Having to watch Zélie get broken down to the point where she didn't want to fight anymore was so painful. Mâzeli did not deserve to die, and it was her fault!

There were so many instances of everyone not listening or trusting each other, I didn't know who was going to prevail.

Overall, story-wise, I loved seeing more maji, watching Zélie blossom with her own little clan, discovering cênters, and seeing the maji sanctuary. The twists were really good. I was shocked every time. The last few chapters, jumping from character to character every 3 pages, was jarring, but I pushed through. Also unless this is addressed in Book 3, we never learned what happened to Ramaya.

I debated on how many stars to give this, but those issues stop me from giving it 5.

Content Warnings

The World We Make by N.K. Jemisin

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adventurous dark inspiring reflective tense fast-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? No

5.0

What a sequel!!! I know Norah fought tooth and nail to get to the end of this one and had originally planned for it to be a trilogy, but a duology works for me! There was so much more action and tension that I couldn't put the book down! And I loved seeing so many other cities' personalities. This was a really cool idea. I'm glad it worked so well!

Content Warnings

The Glassman by MultiMind

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challenging dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was a mix of frustrating, exciting, and suspenseful!

I was half expecting Mars to kill everyone by the end, but I like the open-ended ending, leaving us to wonder if the band will embrace him for real, or will things just go downhill even quicker the more people learn about his powers.

This felt like a really cool mutant origin story. Like if Dazzler had glass powers and not blinding lights. I liked it!

Content Warnings

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debthebookworm's reviews 294 reviews

debthebookworm's reviews
294 reviews