jomarie's reviews
289 reviews

Did not finish book. Stopped at 27%.

The only thing I'm getting is that there are two equally attractive guys interested in this cliche "good girl that's secretly kind of bad" character that is desperately set up to be Not Like Other Girls. The point of view changes arbitrarily and there's no explanation as to what this tagging system is for different human souls. Read like someone's first attempt at a love triangle where the author tried to do something big and epic, but just didn't have the skills for it.

My Life as a Rhombus by Varian Johnson

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slow-paced

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

1.0

If you want a math-theme sort of love story, read An Abundance of Katherines by John Green.
If you want a story about teen pregnancy, watch Juno.

Content Warnings

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious

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

3.0

I was hooked on the Grishaverse from the very first scene. I ADORE when science and magic are partners instead of foes. then, we layer in tension between nations and more between the rich and poor within just one nation. It felt like the sort of high fantasy you expect out of a Game of Thrones-type book, but without feeling too bogged down with the complexities - I had a blast with it!

With the rich world, it was a little hard for me to get behind Alina as our hero because she, in contrast, felt sort of flat. I did eventually warm up to her. I also found most of the supporting cast to be balanced and I especially love Genya. She reminded me a lot of Iko from The Lunar Chronicles. There’s just something so healing about a girly, fierce friend. Meanwhile, the Darkling I felt started off great, but kind tarnished over time. I think I only liked him because I know Ben Barnes portrays the character in the Netflix show.

Between the war, the secret experiments, the shady religious advisor, the mythos of the saints, and Alina’s journey being a literal embodiment of hope, there are SO many ways Bardugo could take this story and it keyed me up ready for the next one!

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn, David Levithan

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 25%.

The main characters’ inner monologues were so insufferably Quirky™️ that it felt like a tweenager’s first attempt at writing something but from people who have written multiple books prior to this. Usually, I find that the plot lets down the premise, but in this case it was the prose that turned me off of what could have been an exceptionally fun, cute holiday novel. What a shame, honestly.

Content Warnings

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

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dark mysterious sad slow-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

2.5

This was a book that I’ve had for quite a while and was interested in reading as a lover of sci-fi stories. Having read it, I’m not sure I gained any more respect for it.

Caveat: I don’t have a great track record of liking classics, so definitely take my opinion with a grain of salt!

I only knew the bare bones of the story through pop culture references. I was expecting a gothic, atmospheric story of man’s hubris. The actual story didn’t quite hit that mark. Mostly, I was bored. The monster featured so little, most of the characters were flat, and framing it as a story being told to a man on a mission to the North Pole felt unnecessary. The most interesting part was what the monster did after running away from Victor, but that was told as a dry conversation rather than actually spending time in that space. It frankly made Felix out to be a more enticing character than anyone else in the book.

Luckily, I read through the info in the front of my copy that explained some of the historical context that Mary Shelley wrote it under. If I hadn’t, I’d feel even more disconnected from the point of it all than I already am. If you’re only looking at it as an example of historic literature, it’s a fascinating study. However, that’s not what I was doing.

Knowing the kind of reader I am, I should have done the audiobook to better comprehend and connect with the story, or just picked my favorite movie adaption and called it good.

Content Warnings

The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White

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dark 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? It's complicated

2.5

This book did not deliver on the promises of the back cover blurb. I wanted to see what growing up was like for Elizabeth, wanted the tension that came with Victor being sent away for school and coming back amid tragedy that he helped cause. The flashbacks were as close as we got, but they came in only when Elizabeth was reminiscing on a specific memory.

While Elizabeth was positioned as being a master manipulator, it had a desperate edge to it that didn’t strike the right cord for me. In the beginning, I couldn’t tell if Elizabeth truly wanted to be with Victor or if she just was compelled due to her station - and I don’t think I was supposed to question that. Victor retained his dramatic pick-me tendencies from the original story, but with a more sinister, psychotic edge which was the best combination of original text and innovation by White in the whole novel.

In fact, the one plus this reimagining has over the original text is that it had much more of the gothic, creepy vibes I expected from a story about reanimating the dead. Although, if I hadn’t read Frankenstein right before, then I’m not sure I would have enjoyed this book since everyone’s travel across Europe would have seemed overly random.

The final nail in the coffin for me was the ending. There was promise when the author changed Elizabeth’s end from the original text, even if I didn’t love the implication that Victor wrote a fictitious version of events that became The Modern Prometheus (put some respect on Mary Shelley’s name). Still, it was a chance for the author to get creative. Elizabeth’s final confrontation, however, felt a bit rushed and out of the blue, and then the literal last page went back on her characterization for the back half of the book. My opinion of the book plummeted from ‘fine’ to ‘annoying’.

The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein is just one of those stories where the premise is better than the actual plot.

Content Warnings

Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

I know it’s a romance novel but Bee and Levi were perfectly matched. At times, it felt like Ali was really pushing Bee to be the Quirky Science Girl (TM), but I still deeply wanted to see her succeed. Levi gave me total Mr. Darcy vibes, as he was grumpy without being a total jerk. His inner monologue was also so stinking cute! * squealing in hopeless romantic *

The progression of the story felt really natural and there was never a bit where I felt like the action was lagging or too overwhelming. I started out wishing Bee and Levi got together sooner, but how it happened was much better. I sort of predicted the twist, but it was still widely entertaining. Because of this, I think this story would be a great book to adapt to a movie.

I wanted a cute romance novel and Love on the Brain delivered. While the characters were maybe a little more basic than I’m used to in my usual reads, the chemistry and plot were excellent! I’ll definitely be recommending this to my friends and looking forward to reading her other novels.

Content Warnings

Tease by Amanda Maciel

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challenging emotional sad slow-paced

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

2.0

docked one star for unnecessary romance subplot, the lack of empathy for the dead girl from the MC until she was pretty much made to make a statement in court, and for the back copy leading me to believe the MC was going to be the main perpetrator of the bullying when really she was a painted as just going along with her shitty friend.

Content Warnings

Towering by Alex Flinn

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adventurous mysterious sad medium-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

Content Warnings

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

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adventurous emotional mysterious slow-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? No

4.5

“The finest of pleasures are always the unexpected ones.” 🎪

The Night Circus is a book that had been on my radar since it first came out over a decade ago. However, it took until the beginning of this year to get my hands on a copy and months after that to finally read it.

I thought it was a wonderfully enchanting story that captures the delight and magic of the circus in a way that I don’t think I’ve felt or really understood since I was a kid. It also has super similar vibes to another book I read this year, The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina by Zoraida Solo, which I’ve been recommending a lot.

The one thing that made it difficult for me to follow was the time jumps following multiple characters. My eyes tend to skip over chapter headers and, honestly, unless it’s relational to a Big Event, I’m terrible with timelines, so I was having to puzzle out what had happened in what order to who while reading. I know that I had the story laid out as far as the plot was concerned, but some nagging part of my brain did get hung up on figuring out the timeline. Before I was halfway done, I was already planning on reading it chronologically my next time through to see if it helps my engagement without hurting the story.

Also, as much as I love a slow burn, this one was pretty slow. Then, after feelings were confirmed, there was so little romantic interaction after they were that that element of the story felt unbalanced and not as satisfying as I would have hoped. That said, the two leads were exceptionally good at dancing around one another and the banter was honestly top quality.

I am so glad to have read this book, even if it didn’t top my list of favorites the way I’ve heard others say it has. However, maybe that is only a matter of letting it sit with me and in time I’ll grow to love it even more. It’s just that kind of story.

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jomarie's reviews 289 reviews

jomarie's reviews
289 reviews