emmyrandomreport's reviews
302 reviews

A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I enjoyed this book. It was heartfelt and the plots were interesting. There were life long relationships already established but we jave fully fleshed out flashbacks that shows us these orgins. Sometimes I got confused on who some of the characters were do to listening to it. I suggest if using the audiobook alone to Google the character cards as it made picturing them much easier.

Overall, this is a strong first book in a series and I will pick up the next one.

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton
Did not finish book. Stopped at 42%.

Repetitive. An event would be explained over and over and then we come back to continue explaining it.

A Fate Inked In Blood by Danielle L. Jensen

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine for a eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. 

This book was engaging from the beginning. The focus is on Freya's experience and self discovery. The use of prospective is unique in that we see the event through Freya's eyes and then learn the perspectives of others along with Freya later. There is back story and things we learn along with Freya which is the way to go in story telling.

My only complaint is the spicy scenes are placed in the story in illogical scenes for them. Example would be the characters would be hiding and need to be quiet and spice would happen.

Overall, an interesting read and I look forward to the next book in the series as this ends with an enticing cliffhanger.

The Morningside by Téa Obreht

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishers for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Morningside follows an eleven year old girl refugee of a dystopian war and world. Because of a child's viewpoint, the scope is limited to what she sees, believes, and understands. There were lulls in the story that were just a child/children hiding and spying. It reminds me of a grown-up edition of Harriet the Spy. I would have enjoyed seeing and understanding more about the world, but I understand the message the author was trying to express. Overall, I enjoyed reading this book.

The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-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

5.0

The plot and the characters were well balanced. I was so invested is the mini mysteries and the outcome of the characters. I hope this is a series so we can revisit the characters.

I Survived Capitalism and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt by Madeline Pendleton

hopeful informative fast-paced

4.0

This was a hopeful experience in which I followed someone the same age of me as she went through the same economic setbacks. I found it interesting how she climbed out of them.

What the Fireflies Knew by Kai Harris

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Drug abuse, and Death

So Let Them Burn by Kamilah Cole

adventurous mysterious tense slow-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

3.0

It reads like a middle of the series book but is the first one. When it came to already established relationships there was alot of tell and not show. Everytime a struggle or connection from before the book was mentioned I wanted to read that story.

Family Family by Laurie Frankel

funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing 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

It was a very funny book. Some of the plot was outrageous and unbelievable but I think the point of the book is to make a fun book about adoption. It did what it set out to do. Jack reminded me of Gene from Bob's Burgers.

Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-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

What I found unique is the facts of America's prison and police system of today are dropped in the story when something similar happens. These facts show that the subject matter actually happens and not in the past, now. Yes, we do not have prisoners fight to the death for our entertainment but how we treat prisoners today is not much better.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Murder, Torture, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, and Slavery