jadeisgreen's reviews
373 reviews

Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas

adventurous emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I don’t quite have the words to describe how I feel after having finished this book- and this series. 

I’m certain I wept the entirety of the last 25% of the novel. And then laughed in the last few pages. And cried again when I realised it was all finished. 

The whole way through I didn’t want it to end. It was truly jam packed with action and heart. 

I really enjoyed - though this is a loose term given the context- the development of the relationship between Fenrys and Aelin. This novel made me appreciate his character a whole lot more. Everytime either one of them started blinking, I just wanted to weep. 

I don’t know if I’ll ever stop thinking about Manon, Abraxos and The Thirteen. Even though I had a heads up about something coming, nothing would prepare me for the emotional impact it would have. 

 I had no real interest in Gavriel beyond this book but oh boy did this one get me. I had guessed it was coming in the previous book, but it still hurt. The what-ifs of it all make it all the more devastating.

I’m obviously thrilled at the development of Aedion and Lysandra, though how it was dragged out across so many books was wild to me. Do not get me started on ‘So Lorcan did’ - crime against humanity honestly. Though Lord Lorcan Lochan is genuinely hilarious. 

I feel happy with how the series wrapped up, and am satisfied with all the loose ends being tied up nicely in a bow- I just wish it didn’t have to end at all. 

Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson

challenging emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

An incredible portrayal of the nuance of black trauma and black joy. A celebration of black art, music and love in one hand, while holding the violence that black men and women face in the other. A really impactful read.

I had never read a novel in second person before, nor one that is almost entirely poetry in motion, and the result was something I feel I will cling to for a long time. The perspective of putting the reader into the shoes of our narrator (who’s namelessness only emphasises the point throughout the novel of the value of black bodies in our white society) felt like a whirlwind as we feel him delve into love with others and himself, and the ways this wasn’t always easy. 

I am particularly grateful for this perspective of black masculinity, and would consider it to be mandatory reading on the subject.

Really beautifully written- and read by the author as an audiobook. I felt hearing his words spoken outloud made the whole experience all the more poignant. 

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

I really enjoyed this and though I had seen the tv adaptation a few years ago I honestly couldn’t remember how it ended! 

I really loved the premise and the execution of the heightened tension in the characters and the reader was really well done. It kept me guessing the whole time. 

The only thing that slightly stops it from being a 5 star read is that the tension was escalated so brilliantly and I was really eager to find out who the killer was, but it felt like the reveal was a bit of a slog to get through for some reason. It just like it was built up so well, and then something fell once we learned who it was. 

This is not to say I didn’t enjoy the final reveal in regards to who it was, motivations behind it and the whole message in a bottle vibe, but I think the epilogue in between slowed things down in a way that left me unsatisfied.

So nearly perfect otherwise!

The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood

funny 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

challenging dark emotional funny fast-paced

5.0

This memoir is so devastatingly brave and honest.

Jennette has such a compelling narrative voice that I just could not stop listening. The wit and dark humour are rife, and the exposure of truth in this way felt really humbling. 

I really enjoyed and would definitely recommend- especially in audiobook form. 

Wildfire by Hannah Grace

funny hopeful lighthearted fast-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

4.0

I’m conflicted because I liked this better than Icebreaker but I can’t say it’s the best thing I’ve ever read, even though I really enjoyed reading it.

It was cute and fun and easy to read but had very little in the way of conflict between the two characters- and any inconveniences to their relationship were solved in a couple of pages.

So with that being said it was nice to read a book where the characters get to enjoy being near each other for the whole book, but I would have expected a greater inciting incident between them at some point to amp things up a bit. 

The smut wasn’t anything life changing, but I did enjoy the camp setting and the tension of the non-fraternisation rules.

I loved Fish and the pups, and Russ was just as close to perfect as a fictional boyfriend could be. I wish we would have learned some more about Jenna - I would totally read a book about her next. And it was nice to see some of the old guys being developed a little more in this one too. 

Overall cute but not life changing!
4 feels kind of generous compared to other 4 star books I’ve read but the freshly-finished-book-high hasn’t work off yet and we’re going on vibes alone. 

Persuasion by Jane Austen

funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

This has been my favourite of all of Jane Austen’s works after having completed them all. 

So many of the side characters were hilariously detestable and a lofty rendition of Austen’s satirical nature. Elizabeth and Mary may be two of the worst characters I’ve read about so far this year.

Anne is my favourite of Austen’s leading ladies I think, and I really felt as if I could have been reading a contemporary second change romance novel a lot of the time. 

I was so eager for Anne and Captain Wentworth to get their heads screwed on right throughout and am obviously glad the miscommunications could be settled -  though in typical Austen fashion, we see very little happy ending, and everything is wrapped up neatly with a bow in the last couple of pages.

I will say that I think she loses pace in the midsection quite frequently in her novels, and this was no exception, but I enjoyed the angst of it all so can’t really complain. 

Luster by Raven Leilani

challenging dark funny reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

A narrative voice totally unlike any I have read before- so blunt, darkly comic and refreshingly honest

I really didn’t know where any new page would take me in the story which was thrilling 

Everything felt terribly real throughout

Emma by Jane Austen

funny lighthearted reflective 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

3.5

This has been my least favourite out of the Jane Austen work I have read so far, but I’ve been struggling to put my finger on why the whole way through reading it. 

I found it almost as funny as the others, and I enjoyed the irony of Emma not knowing herself at all throughout.

Having said this, and despite knowing the purpose was to show Emma’s growth as a complex and flawed person, I just didn’t love the meddling in other people’s lives and causing such careless upset. I felt pretty terrible for Harriet throughout the whole novel. 

I am also afraid that I see too much of myself in Mr Knightly.

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

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? Yes

4.25

I enjoyed this as a funny coming of age story that explores the melodrama of youth and the popping of the bubble when you realise that the small world you worry about when you’re young is not equal to the woes of the world as a whole. 

I thought the characterisation of the Allen and Thorpes was hilarious throughout.

As a romance I would argue it’s pretty poor given that that the whole thing is wrapped up in a few pages at the end (I’ve noticed this is a thing Austen does and it isn’t my favourite thing about her writing style)

I liked the insertion of herself as a narrator throughout and her perspective of ‘novels’ and the role of heroine in story. Oh and Emma Thompson as narrator was superb! Genuinely so so funny!