juliana_reads's reviews
346 reviews

Behind You Is the Sea by Susan Muaddi Darraj

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

Wow. A beautiful collection of interconnected short stories. Each one made my heart ache for one reason or another. I think The Hashtag, Gyroscopes, Cleaning Lentils, and Worry Beads were my favorite. In just a few pages, each of these stories somehow felt complete (though I of course wanted more!) which is a testament to the author’s skill. My only challenge was that there were a few time jumps that were tricky to figure out along with the changing POV.

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This Could Be Us by Kennedy Ryan

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emotional inspiring 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

Amazing follow-up to “Before I Let Go.” Kennedy has such a gift for mature main characters and stories with real world stakes. Also- the drama in this one had me shocked in the best way! My only thing that made it 4.5 stars is that

I felt that Judah and Soledad’s relationship started off as “lust at first sight” which is fine, but never seemed to develop much beyond that. I needed more of them just spending time together and not having sex. (Although don’t get me wrong- the sex was excellent).

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The River of Silver by S.A. Chakraborty

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emotional hopeful reflective

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I loved this “extended farewell” to Daevabad. The last story was my favorite ❤️

The Empire of Gold by S.A. Chakraborty

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adventurous emotional tense slow-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Amazing. Somehow better than the first book.

Content Warnings

The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I loved this. It does start slow, but once Dara and Nahri were on their way I was hooked. So much fantasy is just repackaged medieval Europe, so this held my attention for nearly six hundred pages. I read it on my Kobo to look up words and also had a hard copy to easily reference the map and glossary. It was worth the effort to fully understand this world.

My only issues:

I don’t mind a romantic subplot, but the one between Dara and Nahri seemed abrupt and just based on lust. I would have liked to see it unfurl slowly. He’s also…a millennium older than her. In addition, I felt that dropping pieces of Daeva lore through both Ali and Nahri’s perspectives made it difficult to follow or figure out what was true and what was manipulation. I needed like a blurb or a “once upon a time” at the beginning.

Content Warnings

Heartstopper Volume 5 by Alice Oseman

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emotional funny hopeful 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? No

5.0

Another beautiful installment in the Heartstopper series 🥲

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Better Hate than Never by Chloe Liese

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funny lighthearted slow-paced

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

3.0

I’m a huge fan of Chloe Liese, but this fell flat for me. Kate’s stubbornness came off as petulant, and Christopher’s aloofness was mean. Enemies-to-lovers doesn’t work for me when the main characters are so at odds that it feels like whiplash when they get together. In general,
I think I just wasn’t a huge fan of Kate and Christopher 😬

As always, though, the intimacy was equal parts tender, hot, and respectful. That was the redeeming factor for me- not just the explicit bits, but also moments like making pasta or the bath scene.

Content Warnings

Midnight Ruin by Katee Robert

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Two Twisted Crowns by Rachel Gillig

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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

4.5

A damn good fantasy. Book two truly left off right where book one ended, and I was satisfied by the ending. My biggest “issue” was that the author’s prose was often repetitive (e.g. “limned in red” or relying heavily on the em dash) and I couldn’t stop noticing. One plot line was a bit predictable, but that also may have been my fault because I googled what each tree looked like so I could visualize better, and I should not have looked up

Taxus.

Once I did that I connected the dots. Oops!

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juliana_reads's reviews 346 reviews

juliana_reads's reviews
346 reviews