immakingt0ast's reviews
851 reviews

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
Did not finish book. Stopped at 25%.

there's nothing wrong with this i'm just really not in the mood for it right now. I will probably come back to it. Fans of the Emily Wilde series will probably enjoy it 

The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi

adventurous medium-paced

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

3.0

I recieved an arc of this back in 2019 and now that the whole series is out I kinda figured... I need to clear out my ARCs...

This was... ok. I absolutely loved the characters, and the setting of late 1800s Paris was unique! I wish it had been more Parisian, I feel like the author could have really leaned into this setting and that wasn't done. As for the fantasy elements... as much as I loved the magic system (its definitely inventive) it um... didn't make sense to me, really. I don't really have too much else to say about this. I don't feel motivated to pick up the rest of the series as strong characters (lots of different rep) is really just not enough to carry the rest of the elements that were mediocre. I would, however, pick up a later work by this author because I like her style of writing and would be really interested to see how her books improve with time. 

Sunrise On The Reaping by Suzanne Collins

adventurous dark sad medium-paced

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

4.5

A Girl Like Us by Anna Sophia McLoughlin

mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.0

Thank you for Netgalley and the author for the Advance Copy in an exchage for an honest review. 

I always hate ranking ARCs low :') I feel guilty... but... this one was just.. eh...
I didn't hate this but I didn't particularly like it either. The MC is not one you can really get behind - her personality is dull and the aspects that are developed show her to have... questionable morals, and not really even in the way that makes it interesting. The rest of the characters are similarly one sided and hollow, with the exception of Ariana who is kinda interesting. 
The plot is... slow. Nothing really happens until the very end, by which point, I was more looking forward to being finished than I was finding out how the mystery unfolded. Ultimately I found this really forgettable and the only thing I really liked was the audiobook narrator who did a good job. 

Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura
Did not finish book. Stopped at 18%.

I am hesitant to give this a rating because I only made it about 20% of the way through but this was just... hard to read. Phillip Gabriel is a masterful translator, normally, but something about this particular translation just straight up does not work. It's stiff, unnatural, and there are a lot of situations that if you don't know some Japanese, straight up don't make sense. It just didn't work for me and I had to set it aside. 

The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar

emotional mysterious 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

3.75

This was so gorgeous! The writing was so gorgeous and lyrical and the audiobook is such a treat to listen to. The narrator speaks so beautifully and has a lovely singing voice for the songs (which she sings). The background audio and all around effects were a real treat for the ears, but overall I thought the story was just good. If I had read this and not listened to the audio version, I probably would have given it 3 stars. 

Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel

adventurous challenging reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

よつばと! 2 by Kiyohiko Azuma, あずま きよひこ

funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.5

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

lighthearted reflective slow-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

2.5

Lu and Ren's Guide to Geozoology by Angela Hsieh

emotional lighthearted fast-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

3.5

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance copy in exchange for the honest review. 

This was cute and had a lot of things I really like to see - colorful illustrations, an interesting world, POC characters, an ownvoices author. There is a lot to like here, but this is (I believe) the author's first graphic novel and it does show a bit. While the pages are colorful, the storyboarding is hard to follow in parts, and the worldbuilding could be stronger, especially considering the actual concept of Geozoology is absolutely amazing. A great effort but I am not 100% sure I'd read a sequel.