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dododenise's reviews
326 reviews
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
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
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Violence, and Police brutality
Time to Shine by Rachel Reid
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Such a cute book! This gave me everything I wanted! Landon and Casey have amazing chemistry. Their grumpy/sunshine dynamic was a delight to read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Grief
Moderate: Death
Minor: Car accident
What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez
This book was such typical YA that I was bored to death reading this. Historical already isn’t my genre so the fact that this book gave me such a basic story didn’t make it better. The twists were predictable and, frankly, the amount of twists was getting tiring.
The magic system was established very poorly. I don’t really know how it works and everything was so vague. The magic we saw was so forgettable, there’s a big chance I’ll forget there was a fantasy element to this story at all.
The main character is your main YA heroine. I could tell you very little about her beyond that. She wasn’t an interesting story teller and a lot of her emotions fell flat for me. They also kept repeating the same conversation: Inez wants to stay, find out what happened and make things better, the other characters try to stop her. And then they make the point again that she’s so stubborn.
For some reason I thought Whit was a middle aged man so that he was the love interest surprised me. I had to reevaluate the image I had of him a little there. Liked their dynamic then though.
Overall: Very basic story that gave me very little to care about.
medium-paced
2.5
This book was such typical YA that I was bored to death reading this. Historical already isn’t my genre so the fact that this book gave me such a basic story didn’t make it better. The twists were predictable and, frankly, the amount of twists was getting tiring.
The magic system was established very poorly. I don’t really know how it works and everything was so vague. The magic we saw was so forgettable, there’s a big chance I’ll forget there was a fantasy element to this story at all.
The main character is your main YA heroine. I could tell you very little about her beyond that. She wasn’t an interesting story teller and a lot of her emotions fell flat for me. They also kept repeating the same conversation: Inez wants to stay, find out what happened and make things better, the other characters try to stop her. And then they make the point again that she’s so stubborn.
For some reason I thought Whit was a middle aged man so that he was the love interest surprised me. I had to reevaluate the image I had of him a little there. Liked their dynamic then though.
Overall: Very basic story that gave me very little to care about.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Death of parent, Alcoholism, and Death
Girlfriend Material by Katia Rose
emotional
funny
hopeful
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? Yes
4.25
The first two thirds of this book were fantastic. Ridiculously cute and tropey, like I hoped for. It also had some great character work. The characters were extremely fleshed out which made the romance all the more enticing. Kate and Allison’s chemistry was magical. A solid 5 stars for that.
Unfortunately the book lost me around the 230 page mark. The plot/character choice does not make sense to me. It was repetitive and just wasn’t good storytelling. I think there were much better ways to go through this journey. The plot also lost sight of Allison in all of this. The first two thirds gave me so much of her character so I really missed her in this part and how she was impacted by the events.
Overall this was a really cute book with some flaws at the end.
Unfortunately the book lost me around the 230 page mark. The plot/character choice does not make sense to me. It was repetitive and just wasn’t good storytelling. I think there were much better ways to go through this journey. The plot also lost sight of Allison in all of this. The first two thirds gave me so much of her character so I really missed her in this part and how she was impacted by the events.
Overall this was a really cute book with some flaws at the end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Alcohol, Cursing, and Bullying
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Misogyny, and Sexism
Heartstopper Volume 5 by Alice Oseman
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I love them so much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, and Self harm
Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
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
5.0
I was surprised by this book. I started out seeing simple story telling. A slow progression of events. Simple language. But the more I read the more I realised how much this book was saying. On a seemingly simple foundation so many themes, topics and developments were explored.
I was transported into Darius’ world. A world where I can see overlap with myself. I also struggle with depression. I also have a double nationality and don’t quite know where I belong. Seeing those overlaps and seeing how similar or different they can be experienced was a personal enrichment. Darius is also very different to me in many ways. Seeing those different experiences is also very enriching in its own way.
This book ended up capturing so much. I believe I will carry a lot of this story with me for some time to come.
I was transported into Darius’ world. A world where I can see overlap with myself. I also struggle with depression. I also have a double nationality and don’t quite know where I belong. Seeing those overlaps and seeing how similar or different they can be experienced was a personal enrichment. Darius is also very different to me in many ways. Seeing those different experiences is also very enriching in its own way.
This book ended up capturing so much. I believe I will carry a lot of this story with me for some time to come.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Mental illness, and Racism
Moderate: Suicide, Death of parent, Death, and Grief