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jo_cbooks's reviews
253 reviews
Uninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out, and Lonely by Lysa TerKeurst
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
5.0
The Icepick Surgeon: Murder, Fraud, Sabotage, Piracy, and Other Dastardly Deeds Perpetrated in the Name of Science by Sam Kean
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
Fascinating. I enjoyed that each chapter was a different scientific ‘disaster.’
The Invasion of the Tearling by Erika Johansen
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
2.75
This sequel dragged out too long and I did not enjoy watching Kelsea shift into a devolution of her previous character. I skim read the last 30% of the book cuz I am still curious what will happen but I no longer cared about the inner workings.
The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
First of all, this definitely shouldn’t be YA lol it is a bit too explicit and graphic, much better suited as New Adult or Adult but💁🏻♀️
I really enjoyed this book. I expected it to be 100% high fantasy but I liked the more dystopian aspect to it since I love history and we get to see a lot of that explored throughout the book. I did find that it was unclear for most of the book why exactly the crossing happened outside of the desire for a utopia but then I wondered how William Tear could’ve convinced people to come with me? I think answering that question should have happened earlier in the book rather than 3/4 of the way through.
Kelsea (I found the name a bit distracting cuz it was the only super modern sounding one out of all the characters) is a great MC. I appreciated being able to watch her grow into the queen and being able to see her internal processing of balancing who she is a person and how she as a queen needs to be. I loved seeing the relationship between her and Mace develop; it may not be friendship but I think it is far more important than that
I really enjoyed this book. I expected it to be 100% high fantasy but I liked the more dystopian aspect to it since I love history and we get to see a lot of that explored throughout the book. I did find that it was unclear for most of the book why exactly the crossing happened outside of the desire for a utopia but then I wondered how William Tear could’ve convinced people to come with me? I think answering that question should have happened earlier in the book rather than 3/4 of the way through.
Kelsea (I found the name a bit distracting cuz it was the only super modern sounding one out of all the characters) is a great MC. I appreciated being able to watch her grow into the queen and being able to see her internal processing of balancing who she is a person and how she as a queen needs to be. I loved seeing the relationship between her and Mace develop; it may not be friendship but I think it is far more important than that
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Violence, Trafficking, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Torture
Moderate: War and Addiction
The Rose Code by Kate Quinn
Did not finish book.
Did not finish book.
I tried so so so hard to finish this book but after picking it up and putting it down three times because it was so slow in the middle, I just couldn’t any more
A Sorrow Fierce and Falling by Jessica Cluess
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
Leaping back into this world after all most two years since reading the second book was a bit of a challenge, but I was able to quickly remember what had previously happened. I think this was a wonderful conclusion to an instructing trilogy. I love the mix of historical fiction and fantasy. Henrietta is a strong female lead without any of the typical self-sacrificing “it has to be me” you often see in YA heroines. The continual romantic strugglings were a tad tiresome at times. However, I think Cluess did a good job rounding everything out in the end.
Daughter of Deep Silence by Carrie Ryan
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.75
This book had a great premise, a great plot line, and good intrigue. However, it had a number of weak points as well that weakened the believability of the story. Things that were not explained, things that were overlooked, and things that just weren’t realistic. Overlooking those (which was difficult for a large majority of the book) the story had an intensity that kept me wanting to find out the ending.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Gun violence, Grief, and Death of parent
The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness by Morgan Housel
informative
4.0
Helps to put into perspective how individually and a society we view finances. The chapters were short but I felt like they still had a lot of filler or repetitiveness rather than getting to the point. Very insightful