jamiebear's reviews
78 reviews

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I loved this world. I think it was a good mix of realistic world building with hopeful themes. It was a good reminder that security is delicate and in an instant, it can be taken away and it’s realistic to be prepared. I liked the conversation she had
with her dad about how people are generally scared of heavy topics and most people will do nothing. I also loved the idea that change is God. It’s a great reminder that when we’re gone, things rebuild.
it’s humbling to read in 2024. 
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The Dryad Storm by Laurie Forest

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adventurous dark sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

There were some things I really liked about it. I think she stayed true to her overall themes and ideas. I love how environmentally focused her theme was and how diverse her characters are. I loved the “why choose” with Tierneys character. Despite what I say later, I like that she took some time at the end to delve into repercussions and how not everyone lives in harmony again, but balance is there. 
My negatives were 
-pacing. Omg this book did not need to be over 700 pages. It took me weeks to get through and we could have chilled on all the povs of everyone getting baptized by trees
- the pregnancy trope. What do you mean you conceived a day before and your baby is gonna help save the world?! 
- I don’t think she needed a whole chapter for everyone at the end. Tell us in 4 sentences that these two characters that we only spend a few chapters on throughout this whole series got together. And we never get to hear from sparrow/thierran. like im all for redemption, but Iris already got that earlier. And the last time we see Sparrow, she’s doing something badass with unlocked power and we just never hear from her again?! Criminal.
The Demon Tide by Laurie Forest

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adventurous dark hopeful sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

Yay
fae transformation! I love the lines being linked back to roots.
I loved getting to be in other characters pov.
Rip Lukas! I love his character arch and how he showed Elloren courage, but I do agree that Yvan is end game. I did find myself hoping for a “why choose” trope because I loved them both and that usually doesn’t happen for love interests.
I also found it really realistic that
the eastern realm also had their own form of racism based on past experiences. It reminded me of how Susanne Collin’s also doesn’t set up a “all good vs evil”
Seven Days in June by Tia Williams

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emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-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

4.5

A beautiful love story. I liked the depth of the characters and felt that their tragedies were handled with grace. A lot of good commentary about black writers being in primarily white nerd spaces. I like the narrative around generational trauma and how we lose history because of it. I liked that they
took space from each other in the end but still ended up together. Especially breaking the “curse” women in her family faced. I’m glad it didn’t go too far into the “learn to love yourself before accepting love” trope. I loved the plant analogy about plants dying because they’re soaking up bad energy. Using that from now on in personal life.
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The Shadow Wand by Laurie Forest

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This one felt a little slower to me, but I didn’t mind it because the plot continued to move forward. New found appreciation for Lukas. I like that
her power and courage don’t come naturally and that she has to really fight to gain confidence. It differs from a lot of training montages in fantasy.
The Rebel Mages by Laurie Forest

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring 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

4.5

I was so into reading iron flower that it was a little hard to get into wandfasted at first, but the characters captivated me after about halfway through and I loved getting to meet characters we already knew and getting their backstory. In light mage, I loved how Laurie addressed the assault that happened in the beginning for readers who may want to opt out. I’m sure we’ll see more of Sage and I can’t wait. 
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Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I think my biggest gripe with Yarros is her dialogue/writing. She started as a romance author so that probably explains it. But she uses language that fits into this time period, but feels awkward in high fantasy. Like she referencing “core memory” and “that was a choice” and linguistics that just feels too modern and sometimes brings me out of the story.
It’s almost like she doesn’t know quite where the story is going and I think red tower contracted her at 5 books so she’s drawing things out and still introducing world building into book 3. Things happen in books 2 and 3, but not enough for like over 500 pages each book. She could spent more time fleshing out certain plot points but instead focuses on character conflict 
Favorite moment:
Andarna leaving 🥺 and exploring the other islands, I wish we could have spent more time at each.
Down the Drain by Julia Fox

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dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

Wild ride from start to finish! I liked how creative she was with her writing in it, she’s a talented storyteller and writer! Dating Kanye is literally the least interesting thing about her and it was the only thing I knew before going in. I can understand why she swore off men. I lived when she talked about all her friendships with women. Her life is inspiring and heartbreaking 
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The Iron Flower by Laurie Forest

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adventurous dark inspiring sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A strong sequel, predictably
yvan is the icaral and Elloren is the black witch from the prophecy.
I loved Ariel’s arch 😭 and I liked how Elloren continued to grow in her belief system. 
The Black Witch by Laurie Forest

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

So very relevant to the political climate right now. Elloren has to unlearn a lot of bias and look to unlikely friends and professors to provide different prospectives in a white washed history that holds her value over others. I like that she was pretty unlikable of a character and had to continuously learn lessons about prejudice and internalized racism. 
Laurie has a great writing flow and was easy to read along with the world building.