justabookishreader's reviews
158 reviews

The Nature of Witches by Rachel Griffin

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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

5.0

"You are the most magnificently disruptive thing that's ever entered my life..." 

Based on the time it took to move this book from currently reading to read, one might assume I DNF'd it. No work was super slow and somehow I was so sucked into the novel that I read it in about 2.5 hours. It's been a long time since I've read a book that fast... and now I'm wanting another book by Rachel Griffin because oh my lord... she knows what she's doing. One of the best debuts I've read in a very VERY long time. 

Let me just say... I usually dislike the character that can do everything because it always feels like such a cop-out but the way we're thrown into the story in the middle with her already having a backstory and why she hates her magic... also fuck certain characters. Also I wouldn't necessarily regard the romance as a love triangle but the way we flicker between her and Paige reconnecting and me wanting the gay but then settling for the straight then back to the possible gay and back to the straight... I actually ended up enjoying the ending of that turmoil. 

I will say I expected Clara to actually either die of depletion or become a "shader" in the end and have it be a sad ending, but I'm so glad they didn't explain away how that didn't happen - thanks to a certain something a certain someone concocted specifically for her AND THANK GOD HE WAS RIGHT. Anyway, I'm not sure if I want a sequel because it's tied up with such a beautiful neat bow in the end, or if I just want something else by Griffin but I can definitely say that I will be buying any book she comes out with in the future in a heartbeat.

Horrid by Katrina Leno

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Afterlove by Tanya Byrne

emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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

for fucks sake

A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth, Sara Lautman

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective 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? No

4.5

Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson

adventurous challenging dark emotional fast-paced

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

5.0

Well, I guess I'm getting better at figuring out what books I like. I even debated giving this four stars but I was like "but why? Why not five?" and literally couldn't think of anything. I loved this book so much and did not anticipate getting attached to the Revenant - but I will say the foreshadowing for the plot twist - very well done. I'm always torn between "do I want to not have any inkling then make the connections after" and "OMG I KNEW IT" and I think I like both equally. I do find it amusing that I was reading this at the same time as listening to Ninth House, there were some interesting similarities, although this was way more tame - due to being YA compared to Adult. Anyway, if you like any of this author's books PLEASE read this.

Anatomy: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

 "You're going to become a brilliant physician. You're going to help so many people and change so many lives. You're going to light the world on fire, and you can't do that from the shadows. You can't create medicines and cures on the run. None of our greatest minds had to toil for their day's meals before their studying. No, Hazel. No. I can't do that to you."

This book was a complete and utter masterpiece of fiction.

Before I picked this up during my 24 hour reading challenge, I'd had this sitting on my TBR cart basically since it came out. I had purchased it when I was out getting birthday gifts for my best friend, then never really thought about it again. I guess the one good thing to come out of that is that I don't have to wait "as long" for the sequel!

Anyway, this was so spectacular! Set in Scotland, very gothic, very dark academia, discussing how wealth isn't always everything if you're a woman in the 1800s, sexism, the expectations of women, and evil, evil men. Of course it was clear from pretty much the beginning that Jack was the love interest in the story.

And since I knew this, I didn't mind it at all, and in fact I loved their banter. What surprised me was how quickly I grew attached to Jack in particular, and how I was quite literally shouting during that scene. You know what scene I'm talking about.

The atmosphere was amazing, and somehow I managed to have an appetite while reading, despite hating eye gore - I managed to eat through that particular scene as well, and the only other book I've been able to do that with that had eye gore was Six of Crows. This was so detailed and brilliantly paced and put together, and while I do wish there was more discussion about the dead brother and more drama with the mom - I understand that what Hazel was doing was a large part caused by the death of her brother, and if her mother hadn't left town then really, the book couldn't have continued.

Also, may I just add how gorgeous this book is? Like come on! Anyway, time to painfully wait for either the publisher to respond and tell me an ARC is on its way or to wait for it to come out to the public... I'm counting down the days.

The Midnight Girls by Alicia Jasinska

adventurous challenging dark tense 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

4.0

The Bone Spindle by Leslie Vedder

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I thought at the beginning of this haunting masterpiece, that this was going to harp on women's instincts to be mothers. I've seen so many pieces of media that do this in a disgusting light. Ok maybe not many but Multiverse of Madness certainly disgusted me in the way it portrayed Wanda's desperation to be a mother. As someone who likely will struggle to not only get pregnant but carry a pregnancy to term and physically give birth should that be something I want to do, I avoid those sorts of stories like the goddamned plague.

So when I realized that wasn't where this book was going, I was so fucking relieved. In fact I felt stronger myself as it seemed to make it clear that women don't need to be mothers to be happy or successful. The mystery aspect was so delightful, and I really liked the almost "slice of life" aspect of Caroline struggling to figure herself and her husband out. I also really enjoyed reading from wisened and older characters perspectives, and though Eliza was quite literally a child, she was amusing in certain ways herself.

The only reason that this did not get a full five stars for me was because I wondered if Nella had arthritis but it was never confirmed, and again, as someone likely to suffer from it in the future thanks to genetics, I would have loved some sort of confirmation of that representation, but I personally believe that what we got was confirmation enough, hence the 4.5 clarification at the beginning of this review.

I also really really wanted for Caroline to be related to either Nella or Eliza (of course more likely Eliza than Nella at that point) but she wasn't as far as I can tell and I feel like that really would have pulled everything perfectly full circle. Still, this really was just a masterpiece and I simply cannot wait for The London Seance Society - I may just have to reach out for a physical advanced reader's copy... unless it comes out relatively soon. Ok nope it comes out in March, and considering I already have to wait for Shadow and Bone Season 2, I will be reaching out as soon as I publish this review.

I leave you with this final thought on the book:

A woman does not need a man nor a child to be happy, and in fact, they can both hinder her true dreams.