ericasbookshelves's reviews
63 reviews

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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Sea Witch by Sarah Henning

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adventurous emotional hopeful sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This was a reread for me so I could finish off the duology finally. If you like retellings or mermaid/ witch lore in books I think you’ll like this one. Romance is a main plot point so if you’re not a fan of that, steer clear. I do wish there was more magic in this because I’m a sucker for books with magical elements and almost always want more.  it’s a quick read that kept my attention both times I’ve read it
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

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adventurous funny fast-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

4.0

If you take the dragons out of this book, it sucks. But with the dragons it’s a bunch of fun, their dynamic with the riders really changed the whole book for me. It took me a while to get into it, I felt pretty bored for the first 150 pages or so but then it picked up and was a really quick read. The story isn’t particularly unique in a fantasy book and a lot of the characters did fall a bit flat, xaden probably ended up being my favourite and the most well rounded character for me. Some of the dialogue felt really weird but other times it felt pretty real. It’s doesn’t hold up to the hype if you read it critically but I’ll definitely be continuing with the series (although I’ve heard book 2 isn’t as good)
Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

It’s basically a crime that it took me this long to read this book but I’m so happy I did (plus now I can finally watch the movie). I listened to this on audio and I feel like that was such a good way to read this. One of the things I loved most about this one was just how atmospheric it was. The way New Orleans and Paris were described was so beautiful and the overall vibe of the book was just so moody and gothic, which instantly made me love it. I will say, there were parts of this story where it dragged. The first third of the book was easily a 5⭐️ book to be but some sections in the last two thirds I found a little bit dull so that’s why I ended on a 4.25⭐️   I really liked all of the characters, they all felt so unique in a subgenre where all the vampires can feel like the same person in some other books. I loved that we got to see such struggle with Louis and his internal war about being a vampire, but I can see how some people could be put off by him. I can’t wait to continue the series and watch the movie!
The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

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dark mysterious 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 liked the book, didn’t like the characters and hated the ending. Which all made for a semi strange reading experience. I’m unsure on if I’ll read another book by the author but I might
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Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident by Donnie Eichar

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dark informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

 I’ve always found the Dyatlov Pass Incident to be a very fascinating case, but often find it gets convoluted and mildly confusing when reading/listening to things about it, I think this did a good job explaining everything that happened leading up to the tragedy. Although the author also included the story of him going to russia to investigate, which was an interesting addition, but I wish it wasn’t factored in Every other chapter. Some of those chapters were full of personal anecdotes that could have been left out(things about his family or his health) and switching back and fourth ended up causing me to be pulled out of the Dyatlov chapters. I think the theory put forth by the author at the end was very convincing and I liked reading about that.  I feel like he dismissed and went through the other theories at lightning speed and I wish he spent more time on them and why people think those are plausible. Overall, I found the book interesting and engaging and would recommend it to people both familiar and not familiar with the case. 
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Smoke in the Sun by Renée Ahdieh

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

1.5

 this duology should have worked for me but it just didnt. The Premise of the books were good, I found the first book to be a fast read but didn’t think much happened. Somehow I felt like  less happened in this book, even though I know that’s not true. it’s a whole lot of tell not show and it’s full of repeating thoughts and feelings from the characters. The characters felt two dimensional and everyone’s motives were all over the place a lot of the time, side characters felt like NPC’s from a video game. There were parts of the plot that I think were good in theory but felt overly confusing because they weren’t explained well. Overall, I wasn’t a fan of this duology but I’m going to try other books from this author in hopes to find one that works for me