emilyceratops's reviews
199 reviews

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

challenging emotional medium-paced

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

3.0

First act was a bit of a slog to get through. Pay-off in the second half is not bad. The second half of the book moves at a cracking pace. I really liked the main character there.

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

fast-paced

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

3.0

Thought it was too clever for its own good. Some fun moments in here though. 

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

Really enjoyed this book and the cast of characters. I felt like each character was a well rounded, distinctive individual despite only spending a little time with them. I felt as though I was speeding through history, getting a zoomed in picture of each person in the lineage while maintaining the context for each period of history. 

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

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? Yes

3.0

The book kept me turning pages. But I did get a bit sick of Feyre at times.

Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes

slow-paced

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

3.0

Felt longer than it needed to be. The voice of each character felt quite distinct which made it easy to work out who was whom.

Stay True by Hua Hsu

reflective slow-paced

3.0

Meandering but ultimately felt to me like a love letter to his friend. Parts of it were very poetic. 

All the Lonely People by Mike Gayle

emotional fast-paced

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

4.0

I loved this book but I'm a sucker for books about friendship and especially those about unlikely friends. Very heart-warming, I cried a few times reading this. 

The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff

slow-paced

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

2.0

This book has too much filler, which contributes to finding a lot of the main characters to be insufferable and quite one dimensional. 

I'm conflicted about the ending. I enjoyed the final scene, the one before the epilogue. 

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett
Did not finish book. Stopped at 39%.

Just got really sick of all the characters

Babel by R.F. Kuang

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

I had so much fun reading this book! I loved the whole section where the group is studying at Babel and things are going well and they love each other so much. It made me want to go back to uni.

The parts where Robin slowly comes around to the Hermes Society were delicious,

and the parts where he realises Ramy and Victoire are in on it as well were very compelling.

I read this on my kindle and didn't realise that the book was so long because I enjoyed it so much. Each section of the book was very different as well. If anything I would have liked for the story to linger a little longer over the last section

when they're up in the tower. I would have liked to delve further into the relationships there and each person's motivation, simply because I feel that we spend a lot of time with Griffin, and to a lesser extent, Anthony, about why they defected to Hermes.

And of course it is rather rare to read a fantasy book, even set in a world similar to ours, where the protagonist is Asian. Loved this, loved the themes intersectionality of his identity in a western society and where it collided with colourism and sexism.