garrettcz's reviews
362 reviews

The Palace Job by Patrick Weekes
Did not finish book. Stopped at 18%.

I really wanted to like this book but am giving up. It felt all over the place and convoluted. It’s trying to do too much too quickly so I didn’t care about any of the characters. DNF 18%

Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful tense 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

4.25

I liked it, but it felt longer than necessary and the ending was pretty confusing. I kept having to reread parts of the end over again before I really understood what was going on. The last 15% could have been tightened up. 

The characters and dialogue were the best parts. 

It had a lot more horror tropes than I expected. Very dark in places. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Biphobia, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Infidelity, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Pedophilia and Rape

Lore by Alexandra Bracken

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Simply incredible. Mesmerizing storytelling. This book stole its way into my top ten books of all time. 

I laughed so much. I cried a couple times. I laughed so hard I cried a couple times. I loved every second. 

If you like the gritty, wildly lifelike, morally grey characters of The Blade Itself, this book is for you. 

If you like the unscrupulously incorrigible devilry of The Lies of Locke Lamora, this book is for you. 

If you liked the mystery as well as a wonderfully built out magical world that organically unfolds as the story progresses of The Black Company, this book is for you. 

If you like the banter and  camaraderie of The Riyria Revelations, this book is for you. 

Treat yourself. 

This author is now an instant-buy author for me. No hesitation. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Abandonment

The Hexologists by Josiah Bancroft

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Sexual content, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and War

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing tense 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

5.0

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers

hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-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? It's complicated

3.5

After really enjoying the first one…this book just really didn’t feel necessary to me. It felt like the author was squeezing every drop of blood from a stone with this story. I would have DNFed if it wasn’t so short. 

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing 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

4.75

Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Gore, Sexual content, Slavery, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Seven Days in June by Tia Williams

dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Car accident, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail