katrod's reviews
493 reviews

Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson

adventurous challenging 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

4.5

Peach Blossom Spring by Melissa Fu

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

This one took me a little bit to get into but then I really fell in love with the characters and the storytelling.  There were just a few minor complaints that I feel like I can’t write without getting spoil-y, but nothing that really detracted from its substance.

Read if you like multigenerational family tales!

Thank you to Libro.fm for the gifted audiobook!

How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water by Angie Cruz

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I read most of this book on audio and I’m about to say something I’ve never said before… the audio makes it better 🫢🎧

Narrator Rossmery Almonte brings Cara Romero to life and the seemingly small, but impactful sound effects make you feel like you’re really listening to Cara’s recorded tapes.

But of course, what would the audio be without Angie Cruz’s storytelling.  Cruz wrote a beautiful story about one woman and her journey of escaping domestic abuse, immigrating to the US, being a single mother, surviving the Great Recession, losing loved ones, becoming a caretaker, and learning about herself along the way.  

Cara Romero is complex and flawed, but you can’t help but root for her and hope everything works out for her in the end. 

This would be a great audiobook for anyone who doesn’t usually like them, but I also can confirm that having read part of the physical book, it still packs a punch. 

The Blood Gift by N.E. Davenport

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I loooved The Blood Trials, but I think The Blood Gift suffered a bit from second book syndrome.  It wasn’t bad, I just wasn’t as engaged as the first book, and I felt like the plot was rushed just so the story could be wrapped up easily and not drawn out into a trilogy.  

I think it could have played out in a more complex way- some of the plot lines ended up getting glossed over and Ikenna’s squad’s tasks completed too easily.  

Also, for a duology, I would have expected a more solid ending.  It definitely feels like Davenport is leaving things open in case she wants to write a 3rd.  But leaving the book as it is kind of felt like the first draft of how Ikenna’s story could unfold.

Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I’m surprised to see so many negative reviews because I absolutely loved this one. I’m a sucker for a good climate/speculative fiction story, and this really delivered.  It really captured the ugly truth of what human beings could become when faced with survival or extinction.

I love that Sterling didn’t shy away from the mess… this novel was despicable at times, but somehow managed to strike a balance of harsh reality, and some sense of optimism.  While the reader may not leave this book feeling hopeful about the future of our planet or society, they might left with some sense of hope for our heroes’ journeys (as I was).  

Overall, this was a propulsive read with great anti-heroes to root for.  Definitely a must read for any lovers of dystopian stories. 

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

adventurous emotional inspiring fast-paced

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

5.0

Struggling to write a review for this one, because all I want to say is IT WAS SO GOOD.  I never wanted to put it down.

All you need to know is if you liked ACOTAR or any fantasy romance especially taking place in an academic setting... this is for you.  I went in pretty blind and I highly recommend that for any who don't know much about this book yet.  It just adds to the excitement.

This is also a fairly easy fantasy world to jump into, so for all my non-fantasy girlies who are trying to get into it, this is a good starter.  It usually takes me a few chapters in a fantasy book to get the hang of things, but this one sucked me in right away and there was the perfect amount of exposition without taking away from the story.

I don't want to say much else because it starts to ruin the fun of reading, but just know you're in for a treat, an epic book boyfriend, and a really LONG wait until the sequel comes out in November.  Counting down the days!

Woman on Fire by Lisa Barr

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.0

Overall, this was an enjoyable, quick read.  My main complaints are that I felt the characters were a bit two dimensional and that the romance was unnecessary and didn't fit the story.  But the plot was engaging and fast-paced enough to hold my attention.  I also don't really read any thrillers, so it was a fun way to vary up my reading.  

Rootless by Krystle Zara Appiah

challenging emotional reflective sad 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

4.5.  Oof this book was tough.  Definitely a read that makes your heart hurt and can be very triggering, so I suggest checking out some trigger warnings before beginning. 

But ultimately; I thought it was a great read.  A really powerful story about love and motherhood and what can happen if you let resentment get in the way.  

I’m not sure I loved the way the timeline was laid out, but it was a unique way of experiencing the story, the reader definitely feels like they’re right there alongside Sam and Efe the whole way. 

The Great Reclamation by Rachel Heng

adventurous informative reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

The true definition of an epic.  When I started this one I thought it was going to be in line with the likes of Pachinko- and I shouldn’t have set my expectations too high.

While I did really love the writing, I felt at times the story lagged and it was longer than it needed to be.  The balance of what the author focused on didn’t quite work for me, I wanted more details about the lives of those around Ah Boon, and less of the mundane details.

I love a story that teaches me about the history of a place I don’t know much about, and this is a sweeping tale of how Singapore went from British colonial rule, to Japanese occupation, back to the Brits, then independence, then to being part of Malaysia.  It’s a lot for one small island nation to go through within only half a century!

My only gripe was that the history wasn’t actually explained very well, it very much assumed you had the knowledge of Singapore’s past governments.  Since I do not, I had to look a lot of things up.  While this may be intentional by the author (so as to not have to be the educator but to just tell the story) it definitely hindered my experience a bit.