gaiuscruoris's reviews
17 reviews

The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

A Broken Darkness by Premee Mohamed

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Beneath the Rising by Premee Mohamed

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The Unbroken by C.L. Clark

adventurous challenging emotional sad tense

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

5.0

This book is great and also it tore chunks out of my soul. The world feels very like part of our own world's history. I was rooting so hard for Touraine, for her squad, for Qazal. Luca disappointed me often. She's the kind of person who's maybe capable of doing better than a lot of the people around her, but she still has a conservative mindset that she needs to break free of. Touraine made her share of bad choices, but, between how she was raised and wanting to protect her squad, I could understand more why she did what she did. If they're still the focus of the next book, I'm interested to see how they grow. I am absolutely going to read the next book.

When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole

dark emotional mysterious sad tense

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

This book is fantastic. It was all so realistic and plausible.  Every new revelation was just, so much. I was terrified for Sydney Green the whole time. Theo annoyed me, but he was also realistic and plausible. It was hard to tell if he was trustworthy, really fully, even after reading his point of view. There was an amount of catharsis by the end, amongst all the horror, that was nicely satisfying. I'm very excited for Alyssa Cole's next thriller. 

That Ain't Witchcraft by Seanan McGuire

• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

 I expected to enjoy it, and I wasn't disappointed. I had been planning to pre-order it. Seanan McGuire is one of my favorite authors, InCryptids is one of my favorite book series, and Antimony is my favorite main character of the series. Some interesting information about the world of the books is revealed. I'm super excited to see what happens going forward.

The relationships between Antimony and her friends and boyfriend are so refreshing to return to. It's clear that they care about each other, and that they want each other to be safe. I've been consuming too much media lately with such confusing relationships, it's lovely to read something where I can see why friends all like each other.

Note: I won an ARC of this book. 

Aunty Lee's Delights by Ovidia Yu

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

I like Agatha Christie and those "Cat Who" books, but it's been a while since I've read much mystery. I had this one on my wishlist for a long time and was happy to find it at the library. It's a kind of cozy mystery story. I really like Aunty Lee. I was able to follow along enough that I had an idea of who did it, and how other side mysteries might turn out. I enjoyed it, and am eager to read more in the series.