diary_of_a_hobbit's reviews
28 reviews

The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden

adventurous emotional sad 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? N/A

4.0

What a journey this has been! I wasn't very convinced by the first book, but this series really did grow on me, and I got really attached to the characters. The ending made me cry (which doesn't happen to me that often regarding book) so now I'm going to be an emotional mess for the foreseeable future.

The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

Wow, what a ride this book has been! The twists at every turn kept me on my toes, and I couldn't help but get attached to the characters. Definitely excited for the last book in the series!

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

adventurous dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

Well, well, well. 

I had really high expectations for this book, and while it started off on a pretty strong note, I can't help but feel that it was rather underwhelming on a deeper level.

I understand that it's the author's debut, so I tried to keep that in mind, but it still fell flat for me. Like, it was great entertainment-wise (and somehow very meme-able to me), but on a deeper note it didn't hit the mark. 

Here's some of my takes: 

• The writing itself was kind of mediocre, and at times I got the impression that I am reading a draft, not the finished work (there were so many spelling/grammar mistakes).

• I appreciate the fact that Arden actually researched Russian culture and history, but personally, I felt that there was still this hint of wanting it all to be exotic (and I got triggered by something in her author's note). As a result, there was this strong disconnect between me and the book, and there was this lack of authenticity.
 

• I am not even gonna go into the whole transliteration thing because that's a whole other conversation (it was one of my big triggers). 

All in all, reading this made me realise that we really do need more own-voice Russian/Slavic fantasy novels (I take it as a sign for me to get back to my WIPs). 

Note 1: I am going to rate this book based on how entertaining I found it, cause despite having a lot of comments about it, it was still pretty entertaining.

Note 2: I finished this book on 1/1/2025, but since I only had a few pages left and I read the bulk of it in December 2024, I'm gonna cheat and count it as one of my 2024 reads.

Rewards and Fairies by Rudyard Kipling

adventurous informative 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? N/A

5.0

Rewards and Fairies is a sequel to Puck of Pook's Hill, and takes place a year after the events of the first book. 

It feels quite nostalgic, and I can't help but want the stories to continue on and on, so finishing the book is always bitter-sweet for me. 

(Note: I read the Russian translation by Grigory Kruzhkov.) 

The Longing of the Dervish by Hammour Ziada

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

This book really took me by surprise. What I anticipated was dense writing and heavy themes, and while the latter turned out true (and even darker than expected), the prose was very readable. 

The structure of this novel allows it to keep its suspense until the very last page. There are so many quotes that were not only poetic, but also gave me so much to think about. 

While there were some grammatical errors and a name mix-up, I think that the translator did a good job, overall.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Torture

Moderate: Racism, Trafficking, Cannibalism, War

Forgotten Peoples of the Ancient World by Philip Matyszak

informative

4.0

This was a very interesting and informative read. I found the information to be easily absorbable and there were quite a lot of images such as maps, photos of relevant artefacts/archeological sites etc, and that greatly complimented the text and it made things easier to follow.

The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

adventurous hopeful reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

This is my first time reading The Fellowship of the Ring (I've previously only read The Two Towers and the Return of the King), and I've heard people say that they find it slow and boring. 

Did I find it slow? Yes, but not in a bad way at all, after all, such an epic tale needs time to fully flesh itself out. Was it boring? Not, at all! I loved every page of it, and if it wasn't for my struggle with anxiety and university workload, I would have finished it much sooner, but alas. 

[ Note: I've actually finished it on 20/1/2024, but since I've read most of the book in 2023, I decided to cheat a bit and count it as one of my reads of last year.]

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A wonderful little book that I coincidentally read at the very right time. The story of the four March sisters gave me a lot to think about, especially on the topics of flaws, personal growth and faith.

Can safely say that this is one of my favourite classics!

Saving Jessica by Lurlene McDaniel

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.0

Saving Jessica is a young adult novel that follows the story of Jessica McMillian and Jeremy Travino. It's a fairly short book that I managed to finish in one day (I've read it before years ago, but wanted to reread it as I could barely remember the plot). 

It's a very average read in my opinion and I found the dialogue too cringy (particularly at the start). The characters weren't well-fleshed out. Jessica was quite likeable overall, but pretty bland since she was written without any flaws. Jeremy switched between being immature to being rational without proper xharacter development or arc. 

Two things in particular bugged me. 

At the start of the book, Jessica mentions that her parents were going to have a powwow with her doctors (the use of that word in this context is cultural appropriation). 

Then at a later point, Jeremy argues with his father and basically states that human life is more valuable than that of animals, a stance that I don't agree with. 

In general, the themes presented in this book are important, but I feel that they weren't executed well and the above mentioned points didn't improve the matter. 

CW: kidney failure, description of dialysis & other medical procedures, death of a sibling due to a car crash

Конек-горбунок by Петр Ершов, Виктория Дунаева, Pyotr Yershov

adventurous 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? N/A

5.0