dianathebookish's reviews
386 reviews

Restless Stars by Susanne Valenti, Caroline Peckham

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Death couldn’t have me now or ever, because I belonged to her. I would lay in no grave until our life was well-worn and her smile had brightened thousands of glorious days. We were meant to rise with tomorrow’s sun, and I would see that dawn in with my love by my side come what fucking may.

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

It's a bittersweet feeling to let these characters go but at the same time - it's time :)

As much as I enjoyed this crazy series and memorable characters - this book should have been shorter. And I think I'm not alone when I say - we didn't need again unnecessary pov's, like please. It's better than ZA8, but still. I don't care about Mildred for f* sake, or * and * and *... What also threw me off was pacing/plot - good balance, then dragging out without a clear idea what will happen, then amazing chapters, then again something unnecessary, then action scenes and hilarious moments, then rinse & repeat. And how the lame lizard was dealt with - I was waiting for more 🗡️ People who suffered by him deserved their revenge in tenfold!! I also felt that Tori and Darius got way more scenes and povs (I'm not actually counting as I'm lazy lol) than Darcy and Lance. THE AUDACITY! 🥲

That all aside, what saved this book for me was *dun dun duuun - my forever loves Blue Lance + everything/-one around moon theme haha (and epilogue ofc)✨ Ch. 16, 57 and 118 soothed my soul. There were many moments, interactions that I would like to spotlight, but I will re-visit this review sometime in the future, because I wish for you to experience them for yourself.

If you ask me - if ZA series are worth reading? Yes. The characters are worth your time. It will be crazy, hilarious, stupid, painful, dramatic, romantic, and all between, time- but I absolutely don't regret picking this up. As I have already read Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac series next on my list would be Darkmore Penitentiary 😌

The Awakening #1- 4⭐
Ruthless Fae #2- 4⭐
The Reckoning #3- 4.5⭐
Shadow Princess #4- 4⭐
Cursed Fates #5- 4⭐
Fated Throne #6- 5⭐
Heartless Sky #7- 5⭐
Sorrow and Starlight #8- 4⭐
Beyond the Veil #8.5 - 3⭐
Restless Stars #9 - 3.5⭐

The following illustrations are from @jemlin_c for Reading Portal shop (check out their webpage):

Little Mushroom: Revelations by Shisi

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Lu Feng 🤝 Breeding Kink ☠️😂
From manhua (like, look at this majestic man😍)

“Between an Arbiter trusting a xenogenic or a xenogenic trusting an Arbiter, it was hard to say which was more absurd—no matter what reason they had. Perhaps the day they met was the beginning of the world's most absurd story. But in the darkness, neither of them could clearly see the other's face. In this place that was isolated from the world, in this moment that nobody knew of, it seemed as though regardless of what one did, it would not matter. Everything would be forgotten, and everything would be tacitly agreed to. While listening to An Zhe's soft breathing, Lu Feng closed his eyes.”

Little Mushroom: Judgment Day Review + art

Folks, I don't know what to write - I enjoyed it. I was bit emotional. I was kicking my feet up, then I was angry. And ofc confused lol. But either way - I enjoyed this story :)

For the love of shrooms, I tried to find artists for the credit but I could not find them. If you know - please let me know and I will add their names 😊

Little Mushroom: Judgment Day by Shisi

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challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

From manhua

Little Mushroom: Judgment Day is set in a post apocalyptic dystopian world in the year 2020, when Earth’s magnetic poles vanished, and cosmic radiation nearly eradicated humankind. Over the next century, creatures mutated and preyed upon each other, while the remaining humans clung to their man-made shelters. In the Abyss, home to the mutated xenogenics, there lived a sentient little mushroom. Nourished by the blood and flesh of the deceased human An Ze (blood contamination), it assumed a similar human form and a name: An Zhe.

Due to unknown human who harvested his spore (protecting its spore is a mushroom's sole purpose in life), An Zhe is now determined to retrieve it so he ventures to the human base. Left and right - people are dying and/or getting infected. An Zhe is faced with constant peril as he needs to keep his non-human nature hidden from the Judges (tasked with identifying and eliminating Xenogenics) and find his stolen spore. Amon the Judges, there is Colonel Lu Feng - the most astute and merciless executioner. Yet An Zhe’s mutation eluded Lu Feng’s scrutiny, setting the stage for a gripping tale of humans and Xenogenics..

The cover may fool you with its cutie patootie illustration as the story is nothing but pain.
Cover: 🥰✨😇 / Inside: ☠️🩸💀

I haven't read anything like this before. The world-building and writing is amazing! Even though I'm not a science person, I couldn’t put this novel down. An Zhe is such a lovely, adorable, soft yet in his own way strong and determined character. He doesn't truly grasp human emotions, motives and unwavering drive to survive. He's basically a spectator. Yet, throughout his journey he unexpectedly forms attachments towards some humans. Especially towards our ML - Lu Feng. His burden as Colonel, is anything but light. His predecessors, worn down by the weight of their responsibilities, succumbed to madness or worse. Yet he persists. Tirelessly safeguarding humanity.. But once he meets An Zhe, things start to change. Perception shifts.. (also, he likes to tease An Zhe hehe).

Ugh, this is very dark yet angsty and cute ✨balance✨
p.s. now I understand why this work was nominated for the Chinese Nebula Awards ^_^

From manhua

Artist: 灼忘

The Stolen Heir by Holly Black

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adventurous slow-paced