gigilbell's reviews
399 reviews

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

challenging emotional informative sad medium-paced

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

4.0

broke my heart and reminded me that history is a circle and i can feel and understand that my life and the lives of my family and friends are only a few misfortunes away from living this story out. my great grandmother lived through the great depression and I wish she were still here so I could ask her the questions I didn’t yet have when I lost her at a young age. not a perfect book by any means but was the right one at the right time for me

Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

emotional funny reflective slow-paced

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

2.5

when you have to have several long passages of characters trying to explain the contradictory lore just to make it make sense then maybe the lore is the issue idk! the story is very empty and nonexistent and most of the book feels very disconnected with random scenes that don’t build up to much until the plot finally decides to kick in (the 7 day deadline mentioned in the blurb doesn’t even get brought up until almost 3/4 of the way through??), the characters are not nearly as lovable as the book seems to think they are, and ultimately the message is deeply muddled albeit well-meaning, but all that being said yaoi does fix everything and i thoroughly enjoyed that at least 😌

A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

ONLY CAT 🔥🕺💃

i forgot how much i dearly love this series, george really cooked, excited to see what comes out of the kitchen next

Intermezzo by Sally Rooney

emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

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

5.0

it is immensely comforting to sink into a book about the mundanities of life lived amidst grief and interpersonal conflict and all the other issues that plague everyday life. to think that love and family will persist no matter what unconventional forms they may take gives me some small hope for the future, and I’ll take all the hope that I can get right now

sidenote I really need to lock in and learn chess one of these days, maybe this will finally be my time

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

emotional reflective medium-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

creating art is one of the most painful things in the world sometimes, but it's also impossible for a creator to live without doing it. I think that making art with my friends like this, whether it's games or books or screenplays, would be a joyous way to spend a life.

Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty

emotional funny mysterious 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

3.5

I’m always a bit sussed out by media that prominently features a character who falsely accuses others of sexual assault for malicious intent because the optics of that are just very murky in this political climate, but that’s really my only major issue here. Liane Moriarty is a maniac (/pos) and I forgot how fun a book of hers is to read, I breezed through this. Challengers made me realize how inherently drama-filled and sexy tennis is, so it’s nice to have a tennis backdrop. The plot is Silly, and that’s okay! The ending isn’t as flashy and explosive as Big Little Lies, but there’s a mystery and it’s solved and it’s satisfying. The characters were all very fun. I like stories about siblings because I’m an only child so it’s like a window into an alternate version of my childhood where maybe I had a sister and two brothers. 

savannah drop the apple crumble recipe pls

Land of the Lustrous, Vol. 4 by Haruko Ichikawa

adventurous dark mysterious reflective medium-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

4.0

got lots of compliments on the cover of this volume when I was carrying it around town, it's the cutest cover ever but kind of an insane choice for the tone of this series lol

loved the adventures of phos experiencing the unenviable scenario of coming in between a lesbian situationship

Dubliners by James Joyce

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

I love ireland I love dublin I love joyce!! I’ve read some of these stories in the past but they hit different now that I’ve actually spent some time in dublin ❤️

The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert

dark informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

sickening! everyone everyone everyone should read

Stitching Snow by R.C. Lewis

2.0

SPOILERS AHEAD!

I got this book a few months ago. I thought it looked pretty decent at first, and the synopsis was kind of interesting. As I started reading, I, like many others it seems, began to compare it to the Lunar Chronicles. I love the Lunar Chronicles very much, and although this novel was most likely not trying to copy that series, I just didn't enjoy it as much as I had enjoyed reading Marissa Meyer's books, and it shared many similarities.
Essie is living on the frigid planet Thanda, the only girl in a mining town who is a mechanic *coughCindercough* and a cage fighter. She has seven upgraded drones who are supposed to be the seven dwarves I suppose, but we only really get to know Cusser (Grumpy) and Dimwit (Dopey).
One day, a guy named Dane crashes on Thanda in a ship from the planet Garam. Essie helps him repair his ship, and then he kidnaps her once she's done and plans on returning her to her home world, Windsong. Suprise suprise, Essie is the missing Princess Snow! I don't know if this was supposed to be a plot twist or anything, but it seemed really obvious to me in the first place.
After some adventures in Garam and Candara, Essie/Snow returns to Windsong and is reunited with her father and stepmother. I won't elaborate on the ending (spoilers and such), but I was very disappointed. It seemed to go too fast. Everyting seemed to be perfectly fixed in a couple of chapters, and Essie happily took her throne and began a relationship with Dane.
I didn't like the character of Essie very much. In spite of myself, I found myself comparing her with Princess Winter, the Lunar Chronicles's Snow White, throughout the book. I think that Winter is a much deeper character than Essie from what I've seen so far of her, and I look forward to seeing her when Winter comes out. Enough of Lunar Chronicles, though. I'm here reviewing this book.
I didn't especially care for Dane either. He seemed to be a bland mold of every generic male love interest I've ever read in a YA novel. As for the other characters, most of them only appeared in a few scenes and were quickly forgotten by the story. I was dissatisfied with the evil queen Olivia, because she just seemed to be that: an evil queen, nothing more. Most villainesses I've seen or read have some kind of motivation behind them, and Olivia just seemed to be filling in the role of the evil queen for the Snow White retelling.
Another thing: the Candarans and their abilities. I would have liked this to be explored more, and all I've gathered is that it's some thing they do that nobody else seems to like for some reason.
To conclude, did I like this book? Sort of. If you're into this kind of thing, give it a read. Only if you haven't read the Lunar Chronicles yet, though.