exteenawreads's reviews
347 reviews

Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren

emotional lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

2.75

Sublime by Christina Lauren

dark emotional mysterious tense 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

4.0

Still Life by Louise Penny

lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

A cozy murder mystery in a small Quebec town with a cast of quirky characters, from the suspects to the investigators. I don't read much of this genre, but it reminded me of the vibes of the first Thursday Murder Club book. I did overall enjoy this, but it was hard to follow all of the POV changes with the one audiobook narrator, and I got a little bored in the middle chunk of the story. The last 50 pages or so were definitely the best part. Also I assumed who the murderer was pretty early on so the reveal wasn't too exciting for me. 

That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming

adventurous funny lighthearted 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

3.75

A deeply unserious, silly stupid spicy fantasy romance that reads like your Very Drunk friend who can't be bothered to prep a session is DMing a one-shot for you. Is it a well written world of deep thoughtful lore? Absolutely not. I had a good enough time, but would I recommend it? Depends. If you are that person at the table who keeps trying to roll to seduce the dragon, this is probably for you. If you get pissed at people for not talking in their character voices and for using modern slang/lingo instead of appropriate fantasy dialogue, this is probably not for you. 

Some favorite quotes:
"Who needs him? Or any man! Love is for people with not enough wine in their hands!"

“Hold on,” he said, pointing to the bottle. “Did you just pull an entire bottle of liquor out of your skirt?”

“You’ve known me for four days!” Fallon  grinned..."Yes. And in those four days, I’ve met your parents—” “You threatened my parents.” “Semantics."

“Why is the bed covered in cheese?” “You don’t remember?” Fallon put his arms behind his head and settled back down. “Last night, you demanded we bring you cheese and then stated that you were the cheese queen.”

Two Can Play by Ali Hazelwood

funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

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

4.0

Just For the Summer by Abby Jimenez

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.5

Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.75

Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez

lighthearted medium-paced

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

2.5

The Wren in the Holly Library by K.A. Linde

adventurous mysterious medium-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? No

3.25

"Now let me spin a tale for you—of monsters and magic and little thieves"

This was a fine romantasy, and I liked it enough to read it until the end. Some of the themes were fun, but it ended up trying to do too many things instead of just doing one or two things well. Urban fantasy dystopia, a laundry list of paranormal creatures coexisting with humans, a random splash of Celtic mythology/gods, training to learn magical powers, a mysterious library that feels like it was supposed to be more important given its in the name but is never fully explained, a heist, several clans of creatures competing for territory, a secret underground lair led by a monster fascist, magical weapons of lore, some weird blood magic (?), etc etc. if half of these concepts were cut ane the focus was more strongly on a few, I think the book would have been much better. Shocking, a Red Tower book that desperately needed more editing! It's too bad.

Also - the romance was not really built up well. It happens sort of suddenly and is a bit hard to believe. And the main spice happens at like 50% in - which was way too soon in my opinion. It felt a bit forced.