dododenise's reviews
321 reviews

A Study in Emerald by Neil Gaiman

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4.0

I’m a simple person: If it’s related to Sherlock Holmes it’s very likely I will like it. 
Skater Boy by Anthony Nerada

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Thank you Netgalley for the arc!

I flew through this book and somehow listened to it all in one go. The pacing is quick and I it was so easy to keep going.

This book takes an interesting approach by making the main character the bully. I was apprehensive at first, but the character and his story swept me away. Wes proves that everyone deserves compassion and to be seen as a human being. He goes through a tough journey and learns a lot from it. He is deeply troubled (I hate that word but it's the best word I can come up with to describe him) and that carries throughout the entire story. Yes, I might hate him for a few things he does in this book, but I always understand him. That is most important. I could understand him and the struggles he is going through. It made him a deeply interesting character who was there to tell an important story.

This also carried to the other characters in this book. They did not feel empty. The book is short, so there is not a lot of time to get to know them that well, but I still enjoyed them and was interested in everything the story gave me. 

The book deals masterfully with how boys are taught to not express any emotion other than anger. And the consequences of that. Wes struggles with anger and aggression. It is one of the main themes in the book. It is upsetting to see what kind of person society and its pressures shaped him into. He is a bully because of this. He ruins his relationships because of this. It impacts every part of his life and seeing him deal with that part of himself and starting to heal was so impactful. Wes still has a long road ahead of him, that much is clear, but he can get there.

Tristan is a wonderful love interest. The contrast of a ballet dancer to Wes's skater punk is delightful. They're beautifully awkward together and yet they fit so well. Can I say for sure that they will last? Maybe not. But they give each other so much. They have chemistry and make each other into better people, which is exactly what I want to see in a romance story.

This book is both a simple romance as well as an important analysis of Wes, what made him who he is and how he can grow. It finds the perfect balance between the two, making this an immensely enjoyable book!

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The Atlas Complex by Olivie Blake

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challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I’m a bit confused? I feel like parts of this story passed me by and I didn’t fully grasp them. I don’t know whether that is my fault or the books’. This books definitely needs some processing and I also kind of like that.

I still enjoyed reading this book. I was happy to revisit these characters that I’ve been intrigued with for several years now. I just don’t know what to do with that now. 
I understand the choices for this story. I understand why the characters did what they did. But that still wasn’t all that satisfying. I like happy endings and this was, i don’t know, something else? It makes sense for this story that in its nature is different to your basic story. But that makes it also so odd to judge. I’m left confused on what to think. Perhaps that is also just the hollowness of finishing a book series that you were invested in. 


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Youngblood by Sasha Laurens

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emotional funny mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I enjoyed reading this book but it also didn’t do what I wanted it to do. It started promising. It really leant into the highschool cliches with the added vampire flair. The premise is amazing. But the romance just didn’t hit. I wasn’t feeling the tension or connection. The miscommunication was getting really tiring at some point and I don’t know why these characters like each other. The character work needs improvement. 

The mystery element of the book was fine. I kind of wanted it to be bigger, as it relies on big political and ethical questions, but I understood the scaling choices for this kind of book. This way it kept the high school element of the story.

It definitely wasn’t perfect and I really hoped the premise would fulfil its potential, but regardless of its flaws it was a fun book to read. 

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A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin

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2.0

Definitely not my cup of tea. The writing style was distant and therefore felt emotionless. And that was also what happened when I listend to the audiobook: I was emotionless. I didn’t care and I was bored. I literally fell asleep a little bit during the climax. The characters weren’t interesting to me at all and the story just kept going and nothing intrigued me. 
Survive the Dome by Kosoko Jackson

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adventurous dark inspiring tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This book had potential to be great but didn’t quite make it in the end. 

There are many things I liked about this book. The concept of telling a BLM story with scifi elements is fantastic! I loved the focus on protest and community. The story was told with a high pace and was filled with action. The words flowed easily and I was easily inside the story. Telling these kind of stories is so important and this one definitely got its message across in a powerful way. 

However, by about the halfway point I started to notice some issues. The first one I noticed was that I was really missing the establishment of the relationships between characters. I was missing character interactions and conversations. A lot of this comes down to a lack of show instead of tell. The book was telling me Jamal cared about Marco but it didn’t really show me. Until the end I didn’t have a clear picture of their dynamic. This was even worse with Cathrine. 

The voice of this story, told from Jamal’s perspective, had some clunky moments. He was telling me a bunch of things I’d much rather see the story tell me instead of him spelling it out to me. For example, he kept saying stuff like “I’m a journalist so I’m…”. He was really pushing on the point that he’s a journalist and he has certain characteristics because of that. I’d much rather see and find these characteristics myself!

There were also some moments where the dialogue was very clunky and not realistic at all. Sometimes it was really odd and sounded like an amateur writer wrote it. 

Lastly, the scifi aspect of the story came short for me. This is probably more of a taste issue. But I really hoped that the story would lean more into its scifi elements and the possibilities this creates. 

I listed a lot of issues I had but it’s definitely not like I didn’t enjoy this book. I definitely did and I’m glad I picked it up! Especially the first half really got me. 
Overall, I’d say this is a powerful book with great potential that didn’t quite get there sometimes. 

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