kazemiko's reviews
646 reviews

Ink, Iron, and Glass by Gwendolyn Clare

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I liked it pretty well. I think I'd rate this one a solid 3.75/5. I'm not convinced that things could have happened the way they did in the book. We follow this girl who apparently has all manner of power and everyone knows about it, yet won't talk to her and properly train her. Then they're all surprised when she does dangerous stuff. I am wondering how Leo got away with what he did. Elsa is very observant. It shouldn't have worked. I am quite curious to get the sequel and see how the plot plays out.

Letters to Half Moon Street by Sarah Wallace

adventurous challenging emotional informative inspiring lighthearted tense fast-paced

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

4.0

This book was actually much better than I was originally anticipating. I loved how it was set in an alternate history where magic is a thing and no one cares a jot what orientation you are. The whole thing is set up in letters between Gavin, Charles, Gertrude and a few others. I loved the epistolaric (is that a word? Looks like it should be...) style this was in as we only get letters back and forth between the characters. It was obvious from the get go, what persuasion Gavin and Charles both had. Though I did like the way it was revealed. Quite intriguing and I will be looking forward to more books by Ms. Wallace. 

Moon Rise by D.D. Line
Did not finish book. Stopped at 2%.

The plot was moving along much quicker than I feel like it should have. Struck me as a quickly thrown together American Harry Potter, which I'm not really interested in now. 

A Witch's Guide to Fake Dating a Demon by Sarah Hawley

adventurous emotional funny 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? Yes

4.75

I am definitely rating this book a 4.5/5. I picked it for the Orilium Readathon prompt of what I think could be a slump breaker. And yeah, I think I did good. This one would do that. It was fast paced enough to keep me engaged and entertained the whole time without super deep content that I had to digest. It was like watching a supernatural rom-com. Wholly recommend. I loved the way Ozroth behaved and what happened between him and Astaroth. I am looking forward to the next book.

Godkiller by Hannah Kaner

adventurous challenging emotional reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I adored this one. Easily the only 5/5 I've read in March. I loved how absolutely cynical Kissen was. She'd been let down by people and gods too many times and had trust in no one but herself, Yatho, and Telle. She didn't take anyone at face value and formed her own opinions. I liked how we watch her grow attached to people and learn what's really going on in the background. I loved her relationship with the noble heir and the god that is attached to them. I'm really curious to see if in the next book, he does get a shrine and we find out his memories. It's going to bother me until I know. I like men like Elogast, owning up to their mistakes and trying to rectify it, even at great cost. 

Crown of Feathers by Nicki Pau Preto

dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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

This was an interesting read. I liked the take on magic and how it worked in the world. The connection people have to animals and how they used their magic really could tell you a lot about them. I liked getting the story from different perspectives, though I did keep thinking poor Sev was actually in his mid-late twenties instead of being eighteen. He kind of came off as much older than he was. I think I saw the hint of a romance to happen with him and another character in Heart of Flames that I cannot wait to see about. 

Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver

adventurous dark funny inspiring tense fast-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

4.75

I'm entirely sure I wasn't supposed to be amused by this book, but I definitely was. As I reached each of the various trigger warning locations within the book, and guessing if they were the right thing and seeing how close I am (I must say, I did like the "questionable use of a mummified corpse"). I could have done without the gratuitous sex scenes, but that's just a me thing. Overall, it was pretty good. 

The Black Crow Flies by L.B. Perdan

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-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

4.0

One of the KU books I grabbed. I saw an ad on BookTok about the sequel to it, Rise of the White Owl, and I wanted to read that one. So I figured I should start with the first book in the series. It's rather good. I liked the way it was written and all the tension between Blaze and Catrice. She is a 'hero' to her people simply by being alive and he is falling for the enemy. 

It by Stephen King

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

3.75

Four months! I think that's the quickest I've ever read a 1000+ page book. I have forgotten most of it now, and I have no idea why I highlighted a passage. The whole idea of what It actually was was really impressive. I think there's only one other book of his that has a similar idea of something coming from "outside" of our reality. I liked it. Now I can watch the movies. 

The Myth of June by A.B. Daniels-Annachi

challenging emotional tense fast-paced

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

2.5

I went into this book sort of blind, yes, pun entirely intended. I got an email from A.B. Daniels-Annachi thanking me for signing up for the ARC team. Which I have absolutely no recollection of doing. I downloaded the book to my Kindle and got to reading. 

I don't quite know how I feel about the history of the Greek pantheon being like, the primary deities of this alternate universe not being explored more. I would love to know why and how that universe evolved be pantheistic versus the majority monotheistic one we have in our current reality (I say this as a Hellenistic Pagan, I do see the irony). I want to know more. 

I couldn't tell what age-range this book was meant to be for. It's set in 1926 at the start, but it has what felt like anachronisms all throughout it. The writing was kind of juvenile for the themes that were going on. There was a lot that happened that made me wonder how dense the characters actually were. June is generally one of the most intelligently oblivious people I've ever read from the perspective of. I understand that this is a retelling of Medusa. I didn't care for it. It seemed forced in a lot of places where the plot kind of ran out before the scene was done. They would run into the wall of having the characters clearly needing to do more, but not really having anything to do. 

The initial part of the description apparently happens off-screen? We never even get to see it happen. It's talked about, kind of, but we never see it happen, which bugged the hell out of me. I don't think I'll ever reread this or really recommend it to anyone....