femaletrouble401's reviews
147 reviews

Teen Titans: Beast Boy Loves Raven by Kami Garcia

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Love this book! Garcia and Picolo are a great team. I really enjoy the monochrome-esque color palette, but the story, visuals, and characters are easy to follow. I can't wait to read more about Beast Boy, Raven, Robin, and their friends. 

Enneagram for Couples: The Comprehensive Guide to Understanding Yourself and Your Partner and Improving Your Relationship by Steven Miles

fast-paced

1.5

Super fast read. It was pretty much a word-for-word copy of everything I've ever read about the Enneagram. Nothing in this book was new or revelatory for me. This would be great for an Enneagram newbie. 

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me by Mariko Tamaki

emotional funny hopeful reflective fast-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

3.5

Well written and beautifully illustrated. Diverse cast of characters that felt multi-dimensional and fairly authentic. Emotional and tense. The story relied pretty heavily on on the illustrations to move the plot along, which is par for the course for graphic novels, but this one was hard to follow at times. I think a more diverse color palette might have helped? However, I did love the aesthetics. 

A Queen in Hiding by Sarah Kozloff
Did not finish book.

Will finish later

Princess Academy by Shannon Hale

hopeful inspiring slow-paced

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

4.25

I thoroughly enjoyed the plot of this book. However, I loved Hale's writing style. She made a whole village of characters feel multi-dimensional and intimate. Character motives also felt authentic and helped set the pace of the story. 

The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood

emotional funny reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

I enjoyed this story. It's written in the typical Atwood style. It's matter-of-fact, no nonsense, but eloquent and modern. Atwood does a great job of making this classic myth feel current and fresh.

Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson
Did not finish book. Stopped at 6%.

As soon as I picked up the book the entire plot felt slightly overdone and clichéd. I wanted to like it, but I just felt like I was reading another version of the shy/outgoing friendship...which I wasn't feeling at the time. Also it felt very manic-pixie dream girl to me. Which is also overdone and blasé. 

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward

emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Beautifully written. This book warrants a second read when I'm not in the middle of a timed reading challenge. I loved the symbolic relationship between China, Esch, and the mythological characters in Esch's books. It's also heartbreaking, beautiful, and gripping. 

Bad Guy by Ruby Dixon

adventurous dark funny medium-paced

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

4.0

I actually love this. As far as alien romance goes this deserves its 4/5 stars. I'll be rereading it. 

Bully by Penelope Douglas

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I loved the concept, and honestly the author does a great job of making the characters in this book are well-rounded and not one-dimensional. However...the plot DRAGGED on. And ALL of the side characters spent the entire book gaslighting the main character into thinking she was a bad person/bitch/etc. I was ready for the book to be over by the time I got to the end.