kassidyscatalogue's reviews
86 reviews

Educated by Tara Westover

inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

adventurous emotional mysterious 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

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado

dark emotional sad medium-paced

4.5

The Gilded Crown by Marianne Gordon

dark mysterious 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? Yes

3.5

Thank you to net galley and Harper Voyager for an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The Gilded Crown had an interesting premise.  A girl that can bring the dead back to life...for a cost.  I loved when Hellevir spent time in death.  I loved the atmosphere of this other world and the death character himself had a lot of intrigue around him.  This was the saving grace of the first half of the book and most of the reason I kept reading when things got boring.

The author did a great job of evoking big emotions in me, as a reader.  I was so angry at some of the main characters at the end and frustrated with Hellevir herself at some points near the end.  I think the writing style has a lot of promise.

Overall this book was promising and definitely set up for more in the series at the end.  I had a good time reading it, but I think it was too slow, too much of the time for me to keep reading any additions to the series.

Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver

dark funny 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? Yes

4.5

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Finding Me by Viola Davis

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

Bride by Ali Hazelwood

emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The Absinthe Underground by Jamie Pacton

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

2.0

This book had its ups and downs.  I related to Esme a lot, with her being a people pleaser and afraid of taking big risks.  I loved all the cats, but never really understood her fascination with clocks.  I thought it would be relevant later in the book but it never was, it was just one of her little quirks. 

I liked the fae world and a lot of the book reminded me of Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries.  This could just be because they both involve fae with similar characteristics and with Lucien researching fae as well.

I found the plot to be a little slow at the beginning and I lost interest and the connection to the characters after a while.  I don't know what it was, but I cared more about Oliver the cat than Esme or Sybil.

This book was fine, but I don't know if I would really recommend it.

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

dark emotional reflective fast-paced

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

4.75