howlchemy's reviews
126 reviews

How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories by Holly Black

lighthearted reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

The Lost Sisters by Holly Black

informative sad fast-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

3.0

Letters From Cardan to Jude by Holly Black

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A

5.0

giving this 5 stars because i need a cardon to send me letters like this 

The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black

challenging emotional 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

4.0

The Wicked King by Holly Black

adventurous challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

… what did i just read. i was promised a villain, jude is just a girl who hates everything. will be reading the rest though, as people have said that the first book is not that good compared to the rest. but holy crap, what a mess

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

a mystery that my brain is still struggling to comprehend.
i have heard a lot about leigh bardugo and, by the synopsis of this book, i thought this would be a great first dive into her writing. although i fairly enjoyed this book, i can’t say i paid much attention or even understood a lot of what was going on. bardugo’s writing is not complicated at all, i think that i am not accustomed to reading mystery books.
unlike stephen king’s comment, i did think about putting down this book, but i kept reading it in hopes i would understand it a bit more. it was a long read, that seemed like the plot was never ending, and i have to say that the jumps from present to past were a bit confusing at times.
nonetheless, i think it was a nice book, i am just not sure if i will keep reading this series.

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

to those who seek.

how do i explain how much i have loved this book? i feel like my heart has been violently ripped out of my body and then lovingly placed back.
i genuinely cannot put into words how this book has made me feel, this was the epitome of perfect fantasy to me. every little piece of this story had be flipping pages (virtually) at a frantic pace so i could solve all of the mysteries but, simultaneously, i found myself dreading the next page, knowing i was closer to its end.
i absolutely adore every single character, written to a flawed perfection that made them all so real, like i was there with them (i feel like i could very well be one of the cats). erin morgenstern, you have just bewitched me (body and soul — aha, nice).
this book is up there, hand in hand, with “the invisible life of addie la rue”, my sweet, sweet children that make me (over)think about time and fate and magic and our purpose in life, in this earth. 

i’ll never get over the fact that eleanor is named after beautiful eleanor from “haunting of hill house”, i think that was just the cherry on top.

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

adventurous challenging emotional 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

4.0

what an ending. i am so confused? half of me is like “ugh, boring and predictable!” (*) and the other half is like “PLEASE GIVE ME THE NEXT BOOK NOW.”
since the first book, i have my personal feuds with the author and some characters, however i continued to read because of the plot. and the dragons.
at this point, i cried more because of the dragons than the rest of the plot.
nonetheless, i felt like this book was a lot more informative and deep, and i did enjoy the moments of tension. i don’t know if it happens to others as well, but either books are super cliché or i tend to guess correctly what is going to happen, so every little plot twist was not that surprising to me. it was super entertaining though, and i can’t pretend to give lower than 4 stars to something that i enjoyed. doesn’t have to mean it’s peak literature, i am a simple girl who loves fun!

(*) LIES. i did not predict that ending, although it was cliché imo, but OH MY GOD ????? what’s up with these authors and dropping massive bombs on us?

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

adventurous challenging emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

back at it again with a written review! 

 

i have to preface this by saying i am not the biggest fan of this author, for a multitude a reasons, but i kept reading the book because the plot seemed interesting. 

i gave it a four star because i can’t sit here and lie to everyone and say i didn’t like it — i did, i enjoyed it a lot. i felt very pulled to this book because of the dragons, and i am glad i stayed. what can i say, i am a sucker for fantasy and any booktok trash you throw my way... i am the raccoon of booktok.

and maybe it’s because i am getting too old (sigh, the age of 25 is such a heavy burden) to read things with such a youthful narrator, but i simply couldn’t stand violet at some points. it kind of came as a shock when i learned she was 20, because the way she speaks makes me think she was 16. i know her entire family is a rider (besides her father and her brother), but she was raised as a scribe and, honestly, i couldn’t tell... but then again, she sort of knew she was born to be a rider so maybe that's why. she's very conflicted, her emotions are always going wild, which i understand 100% (you're telling my i've been training to be a scribe and you want me to cross a f*cking rock bridge where i could fall to my death? yeah, i wouldn't know what to do after that either). she's not a hard character to like, but this feels like feyre 2.0 and i'm not even a big fan of feyre.

romance while, the contrast between dain and xaden is so... predictable. childhood sweetheart who's very overprotective versus bad sexy guy who is destined to be with you until you die. are all fantasy books the same now? (but i like xaden... what can i say, i like my fictional men annoying and hard to get).
friends wise, i wish there was more of rhiannon, ridoc, liam, etc. those were characters i truly enjoyed reading about, and it was always just short moments. 

another thing is that, amidst the actual tragedy happening in your world right now, reading this book felt like downright propaganda (and not the good kind, to me). this is one of the irks i have with the author, and i won’t be getting political in a book review, but it genuinely made me stop a few times because i just felt so uncomfortable. yes, i have read the ending, and no, i haven’t started the second book, but i have no hopes that this narrative will change.

also what the actual f*ck was that ending.