Take a photo of a barcode or cover
emmsbookshelf's Reviews (758)
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:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Valley is the final instalment in the Glacian Trilogy and I have been so excited to see how Dawsyn, Ryon and the rest of the crew have fared, especially after the ending of Chasm!
The nature of the characters in Valley was really interesting to read, particularly seeing the citizens of the ledge adapt from a harsh environment where only the strong and emotionally detached can thrive. It was interesting watching Dawsyn evolve as a leader, where she has traditionally been motivated by her own individual survival. While she has grown as a character and exhibits leadership qualities, I actually found it comforting that she maintained some of her more violent tendencies and that her character wasn’t softened in that regard.
As always, the writing is textbook perfect. It’s packed full of descriptive language to the point where the cold leaps off the page. I particularly liked that there were subtle flashbacks that felt almost like a movie in the way they seamlessly flowed into the story and moved it along. The changes in protagonist were infrequent, but I liked it, it seemed like it happened for necessary plot points and not just for the sake of skipping. It was nice to see the plot and characters tied together as the story progressed, tying all three books together nicely.
I found the eerie nature of traversing the Chasm well written, but I felt like there was a lot of travelling in the first half. Travelling as a plot point often frustrates me (and it was my biggest frustration with the second book in the trilogy, Chasm) and I feel like it drags, so I was eager to see some kind of resolution and advancements in the plot. Once this happened, I felt like I was flying through the rest of the story.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Angry Robot for giving me access to this book in exchange for an honest review, these thoughts are all my own.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Voyage Home is the third book in a series about women in the time of the Trojan War by Pat Barker. I thoroughly enjoyed the first book and while I wasn’t as fond of the second, I still enjoyed reading it. I’ve been anticipating this book and generally enjoyed it (though the first book is still a clear favourite for me)
I remember when I read Women of Troy and thought that the way Cassandra was characterised was so interesting. Like she was playing at being mad and actually quite a great manipulator. I was excited to read from her perspective and found I liked the balance between the madness of her condition of prophecy, the accrue awareness of the people around her and the dark acceptance of her own fate contrasting against the deep hope of survival. I thought Cassandra using her ‘daddy’s girl’ voice on Agamemnon was an interesting touch and demonstrated her ability to work the people (especially men) around her. It was nicely contrasted with Ritsa’s observations of her. With all this being said, I think I would have liked more. Of Cassandra’s thoughts and feelings in particular.
There have been an influx of Clytemnestra retellings in recent years, but I always get excited when I see her name. And she was magnificent, a clever, terrifying force with (incredibly justified) rage. I found myself enjoying her perspective the most.
There were times that the immersion broke for me and I felt the story lacked authenticity, like the use of words like ‘skedaddled’. Additionally, it had more references to urine than I thought was necessary. While I loved the change in protagonist (with a multi point of view mode of story telling) there was no label indicating who was speaking, sometimes I needed to read and reread a page and a half to figure out who the protagonist was. This book is dark, given the historical backdrop against the Trojan War and its aftermath. The treatment and experiences of women has been a main feature of these books and The Voyage Home is no different. Sexual violence occurs frequently and I encourage audiences to be aware of this going in.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Penguin for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review. These thoughts are all my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, War
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wicked Serve is a hockey romance that follows Isabelle and Nikolai as they navigate college, athletics and very different, but equally influential, family dynamics.
I didn’t realise till after I picked up this book that it was part of a series, while reading the previous books is not completely necessary for understanding Wicked Serve, I do think I would have had more appreciation for the supporting characters and for the institution of their college in general. I have found over the past few years that I really enjoy a hockey romance, so I was eager to pick this one up. I found this to be an overall easy read that was predominantly trope based, especially in the first half where everything seemed to hinge on the forbidden brothers rival, brothers team mate element. I had a pleasant time reading this book, but I did find it a bit slow to get going. It took me a while to connect with the characters and really engage with the plot.
I liked that both characters had their own issues and complexities, particularly that Isabel’s issues were on her athletic performance and improvement and weren’t necessarily related to male prospects. Additionally, I liked the subtitles of being bilingual that were put into Nikolai (like starting an assignment in one language and transitioning to another without really realising midway).
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Hachette New Zealand and Australia for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review, these thoughts are all my own.
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Heir of Venus is a story that follows the experiences of different women in the lives of Aneas, the Prince who escaped Troy as it fell and was destined to be the founder of a new city, by his mother, the Goddess Aphrodite/Venus. We hear from his first wife Creusa, his lover Dido and her sister Ana and his future and last wife, Lavinia. As they walk us through the events of his life.
I enjoyed the structure of this story, the change in protagonists and the jumping between timelines was a great way of reshaping a story I knew well and keeping things fresh and engaging. The wholly feminine perspective was a fun spin on the Aeneid and a different way of communicating the facts. Unfortunately, the characters, particularly Creusa and Dido’s motivations seemed to hinge on Aneas in an obsessive almost worshipful manner that I thought was a little outdated and adhered quite strongly to masculine retellings of the story, to the point where they happily accepted death. Lavinia showed a lot of agency and promise and she was quite enjoyable to read from the perspective of. While I know it is true of these stories, I found the experiences and endings of the women extremely violent.
There were small deviations from the standard myths that didn’t bother me and that should be expected from historical fiction and mythology retellings. However, there was one that was so unnecessary and obvious (even the most novice of Trojan War enthusiasts would be able to identify) relating to Hector, that I became quite frustrated. It is especially disappointing as it occurred around 80% of the way in and to that point had been really enjoying the story. I felt that certain elements weren’t communicated or glossed over, because that certain protagonist didn’t see them.
I enjoyed the narration, there was some differentiation in the voices and tones of the different protagonists. Some of the pronunciation of names in particular deviated from what I am used to and I found that to be a little jarring, especially at the beginning of the story. The pacing was appropriate and there was inflections in tone that helped set the scene and keep things engaging. If I am being really picky, I felt that the voice sounded a lot more mature/older than Lavinia was meant to be.
Thank you to Natgalley and Dreamscape Media for giving me the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in exchange for an honest review, these thoughts are all my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, Classism
Moderate: Racism, Blood, Kidnapping, Classism
emotional
informative
fast-paced
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
sad
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
When the World Tips Over is a classic Jandy Nelson story, packed to the brim with a cast of wacky and unique characters who all bring their own unique sense of self and damaged pasts together to propel the story forward.
The first thing I will say is this story made me feel insanely emotional, in fact I think I was brought to tears by every piece of writing from Bernadette's point of view. There was a lot of raw emotion in the story and it was written in a skilful manner that tore at my heart. Additionally, the mode of writing really propelled the story along, through letters, emails, transcripts and the like, it made the story really interesting to read and changed things up a lot. The plot of the story was wild, the connections and the twists and turns were insane. I didn't see any of them coming and I feel like they fried my brain a little bit.
I really enjoyed this novel, each character had a really personal struggle. I wish I had a little bit more closure on each of the characters at the end, I would've liked a little more time with all the Falls, just to make sure they were ok, because quite frankly I feel like they've been through enough.
Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Teen for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review, these thoughts are all my own.
The first thing I will say is this story made me feel insanely emotional, in fact I think I was brought to tears by every piece of writing from Bernadette's point of view. There was a lot of raw emotion in the story and it was written in a skilful manner that tore at my heart. Additionally, the mode of writing really propelled the story along, through letters, emails, transcripts and the like, it made the story really interesting to read and changed things up a lot. The plot of the story was wild, the connections and the twists and turns were insane. I didn't see any of them coming and I feel like they fried my brain a little bit.
I really enjoyed this novel, each character had a really personal struggle. I wish I had a little bit more closure on each of the characters at the end, I would've liked a little more time with all the Falls, just to make sure they were ok, because quite frankly I feel like they've been through enough.
Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Teen for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review, these thoughts are all my own.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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:
Complicated
Wow. Just wow. This is far and away my favourite instalment of the Rebel Blue Ranch series thus far. Emmy and Brooks were electric, Ada and Wes were like a warm hug. But Gus and Teddy? Inevitable, magnetic. Just, yes. This is a cowboy romance that ticks all the boxes.
As always, the wider universe is just superb. The cast of characters around the ranch are great (shout out to Amos) and it is nice to see past couples evolving and growing beyond their respective novels. Teddy, is just my girl. Theodora is such a well written character, the fun, flirty, full of life one who will stand up for her friends and strangers alike. She was written in a manner that gave her so much depth and direction, between her family complications, road blocks with her career and feeling left behind as her friends moved on, there was something in Teddy for all of us who have (or are about to) hit thirty and found that the plan might need to change. Her femininity and focus on fashion and by extension creating clothes isn’t something that’s disguised or frowned upon, but a key part of her character and celebrated. And Gus, Cowboy Daddy August, doesn’t he just check all the boxes. Hot dad? Yeah. Hard working? 100%. Good with animals? You know it. The oldest child syndrome is strong with this one and his intense need to protect his family was so well written, his worry leapt from the page. Also, the dyslexia representation? Bravo. It was there, it was worked in, in an authentic manner, but it wasn’t a defining characteristic or overshadow any part of Gus’ character.
And their dynamic! It was both a slow burn and an angsty longing. We were given time to see the relationship between them shift from antagonistic, to begrudging respect, to intense longing. It was nice to see friendships develop between characters in this book, Teddy and Dusty’s friendship in particular was sweet and it was nice to see the opposite end of the relationship between her and Emmy.
I’ve been waiting for this book since Teddy and Gus had their first interaction in Done and Dusted, and it delivered. I am beyond excited to see where the series goes from here and can’t wait to see how things progress with Cam (girl seems like she needs a self-care day ASAP). Thank you so, so much to NetGalley and Hachette Australia and New Zealand for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review, these thoughts are all my own.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced