ericasbookshelves's reviews
59 reviews

Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-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? Yes

3.5

Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear

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informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

3.0

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

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emotional reflective medium-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

3.0

I truly think that we just did not need this book at all, I’ll also be the first to say that I wasn’t anticipating this book and originally had no plans on reading it. My initial thoughts pre release were that I didn’t want to read a book about Snow and I wasn’t interested in a book where we were supposed to empathize with him. And my feelings post book are the same. I thought his back story was semi interesting but it’s really hard to get into or feel for the characters when you go in already hating one of them, and it gets even harder when your other lead isn’t one you love either. At points the writing was really engaging but at others I found it very hard to pay attention and felt things lagged. Overall, I think there were some really cool references and thoughts proposed in the story and I’m not mad I read it but I also don’t think it’s one that I’ll find myself thinking of like the original trilogy
Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire

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

4.0

This one is a reread for me, I decided to reread what I had previously read of it so I can continue on with it.  I liked this one better the second time around(I rated it a 3⭐️) the first time. It’s a ton of fun, it’s a nice mystery with some dark gory bits. The bits and pieces you hear of the worlds is wonderful and the characters are quite lovable.  like usual with novellas for me, I was still left wanting more but it left me excited to continue my rereads
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The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious fast-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? No

3.0

A Curse for True Love by Stephanie Garber

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lighthearted fast-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

1.5

What. A. Mess. This entire series was literally pointless but especially this book. Entire plots were started and then just dropped, characters that should have been present based on what was happening disappeared entirely. A fast paced book(and series) that feels like a lot happens even though everything that’s happening means nothing and everything is just repeating over and over(how many times can one girl get cursed and be held by someone’s cold arms 🙃) even with the fast pace, this was a slog to get through and I found myself rolling my eyes. Should have DNF’d but I was buddy reading and I kept hoping the author could pull it together. Wouldn’t recommend the series as a whole and this makes me nervous to continue on with the Caraval series
The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber

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adventurous lighthearted fast-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 felt messy for at least 75% of it. It feels like the author thought to themselves “what did young me want to write about” and then threw every single one of those tropes and themes into this book with next to no explanation or reasoning. I felt like so many things in this book were repetitive and like so much happened but it never felt like there were any stakes. I’m definitely in the minority judging by what everyone else is saying about this series but I’m very underwhelmed by it so far. I will be reading the third and I’m hoping that the author can pull it together 
The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed by Sara Gay Forden

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 17%.
I may come back to this one but I found myself getting bogged down by all the company history. Obviously the Gucci brand and business is a huge part of this but after the initial set up, I found the amount of detail into the business side to be boring and too much
Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber

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adventurous hopeful lighthearted fast-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

2.5

There were elements in this book I really liked but overall the book felt like a bit of a mess. The writing seemed vastly different than the writing in Caraval which left me disappointed. Characters seemed 2D and plot points happened so fast that it didn’t give me enough time to care about what was happened and nothing felt like it had a ton of consequences.  The world was definitely interesting but I wanted more.  I love the fates and I’m really hoping we get to see more of them in the next books because they were by far the best part. I’ll be continuing this series as it was a fast paced read and I’m hoping the series will come together as a whole
Unmask Alice: LSD, Satanic Panic, and the Imposter Behind the Worlds Most Notorious Diaries by Rick Emerson

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informative reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

I’ve read multiple books from the author of Go Ask Alice and I’d heard rumblings about her character and her deceptions before but never fully looked into it. I thought this book was super compelling and fast paced, I found myself coninuously wanting to reach for it. Learning more about Beatrice Sparks and the length of her lies and more about the actual stories behind the books left me a bit horrified if I’m being honest. I think if you’ve read any of the books, especially Go Ask Alice or Jays Journal(bonus points if you read them when you were a preteen/teen), this book could be interesting to you. If you haven’t, I feel like this book would work a little less for you

 Like other reviewers, I do find its lack of citations and sources to be a bit frustrating. I get where the author is coming from to an extent when he says they’re easily accessible with web searches or phone calls but it would have been nice to at least have some things sourced. 
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