dreynoldsbook's reviews
112 reviews

Life Ceremony by Sayaka Murata

funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced

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

3.5

Babel by R.F. Kuang
Did not finish book. Stopped at 71%.

I got 380 pages in before I finally gave up although I lost interest before this. The characters were totally unbelievable, the magic aspect half-arsed and the story seemed more suitable to a YA novel. I suspect that a lot of the readers giving this glowing reviews are much younger than me and the novel wasn’t aimed at me.

Chess by Stefan Zweig

mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

Bonjour Tristesse and A Certain Smile by Françoise Sagan

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

The prose in these books is consistently brilliant, it’s subtle and very quotable. I love the contradictions and sudden changes of position by the main characters, which I found realistic.  

I think I preferred Bonjour Tristesse over A Certain Smile even though I didn’t find the characters in the former likeable. 

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa

reflective relaxing 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? No

3.5

Bury Them Deep by James Oswald

mysterious medium-paced

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

2.75

My god this goes to shit in the last 100 pages. It’s quite readable until then, if a bit nonsensical and flabby. And the main culprits were telegraphed so
it wasn’t even twisty. Just bloody silly.

I think I’m off crime fiction for a bit.

Stolen Souls by Stuart Neville

dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

3.75

First Neville book I’ve read and I’m torn. It’s very well written and moves along at a pace. The characters are well evoked… and yet cliched. Serial killer with God delusion who tortures women (of course), brutal Lithuanian thugs trafficking women, bent copper who is invincible… until he isn’t (in the next book maybe?)

Why do we enjoy books like this? Hm, did I enjoy it…

11.22.63 by Stephen King

adventurous mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

About half way through my interest wained quite a lot. The novel meanders, filled with so much inconsequential stuff, and loses focus.

It has its moments. But it’s not worth the plough through 700+ pages of random ideas and Stephen King verbiage.

Mystic River by Dennis Lehane

dark funny mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

This is a character driven novel that occasionally has characters behaving in a way difficult to comprehend. Probably because the plot called for it at that moment. It’s great read, but flawed in parts.

The ending was predictable in some ways too, and a bit unsatisfactory. As is the case with a lot of crime novels.