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kelsyer's reviews
854 reviews
Carl's Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinniman
adventurous
fast-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? It's complicated
4.0
I started this shortly after I finished book 1, when I was still high on the experience.
I had my doubts if the series will worth my time and as I mentioned in the review of book 1, some of the jokes fell flat for me and that hasn't changed. At least I was aware of it this time.
What else can I say?
Goddamnit, Carl!
The issue is that book 1 made me care about the characters, so I will continue to see how they fare... as a quick read between other books.
I had my doubts if the series will worth my time and as I mentioned in the review of book 1, some of the jokes fell flat for me and that hasn't changed. At least I was aware of it this time.
What else can I say?
Goddamnit, Carl!
The issue is that book 1 made me care about the characters, so I will continue to see how they fare... as a quick read between other books.
Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
adventurous
funny
fast-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
4.0
Some of the humour is not for me, but overall I really enjoyed the concept and was rooting for our characters (crawlers and NPCs alike. Especially my boy Mordecai).
I don't watch tv and I don't like reality shows, but somehow my brain registered this as a Dr Who x Saga x Hunger Games on steroids and it hooked me.
I am looking forward to continuing the story.
I don't watch tv and I don't like reality shows, but somehow my brain registered this as a Dr Who x Saga x Hunger Games on steroids and it hooked me.
I am looking forward to continuing the story.
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
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? It's complicated
5.0
No notes, really.
I was gripping the edges of the book as Tracy Deonn was taking me along on this magical ride.
There were some twists I figured out, there were some that I didn't see coming and I enjoyed every single second of it.
I felt like I was 16 again, in all the ways I never could be when I actually was 16.
She made the main characters and a bunch of side characters loveable for me, which is a rare treat.
I felt that they were doing their best to actually communicate, resolve issues and heal themselves.
This book triggered my own mother wound and healed part of it as well.
So basically 10/10, will pick up book 2 (and 3) soon.
I was gripping the edges of the book as Tracy Deonn was taking me along on this magical ride.
There were some twists I figured out, there were some that I didn't see coming and I enjoyed every single second of it.
I felt like I was 16 again, in all the ways I never could be when I actually was 16.
She made the main characters and a bunch of side characters loveable for me, which is a rare treat.
I felt that they were doing their best to actually communicate, resolve issues and heal themselves.
This book triggered my own mother wound and healed part of it as well.
So basically 10/10, will pick up book 2 (and 3) soon.
Babel by R.F. Kuang
dark
tense
medium-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
3.5
Babel is a good book.
The first half was really good, I enjoyed the setting and learning about the magic system.
I really liked the dark academia vibes, the translations and the world that Kuang made with her alternative Oxford.
She touched upon topics that she does well, racism, sexism, unfairness, orphans etc.
However.
Either I read it too soon after her trilogy or I am just not in the right headspace to connect fully with her characters, because I did understood everything up until a point and could argue on their side of the coin, but when we got past that point, I had to push myself fo finish it.
I also found the major plots predictable. I would much rather read more about how our ending affected the world politics and what other members of Hermes were doing in the world while we were in Oxford.
The first half was really good, I enjoyed the setting and learning about the magic system.
I really liked the dark academia vibes, the translations and the world that Kuang made with her alternative Oxford.
She touched upon topics that she does well, racism, sexism, unfairness, orphans etc.
However.
Either I read it too soon after her trilogy or I am just not in the right headspace to connect fully with her characters, because I did understood everything up until a point and could argue on their side of the coin, but when we got past that point, I had to push myself fo finish it.
I also found the major plots predictable. I would much rather read more about how our ending affected the world politics and what other members of Hermes were doing in the world while we were in Oxford.
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Where should I start?
If you have seen me around, you probably know that I am a huge mythology fan, went to uni studying Literature (never finished it), have read and judged books through the academic lense until I relearned how to read for my enjoyment and steered off reading books for fanfics for a couple of years. When I rarely resurficed, I mostly read fantasy, with medium or high pace.
In spite of this, or maybe because of this background, I loved The Secret History. I will be the first to admit that I haven't understood it all the way and yes, I am already planning my next read through.
This is a book that I will know be circling around my mind for a while, as it has complex characters, unreliable narrator, dark academia vibes, has Greek mythology in it and also many sentences about stars and trees and descriptions of light and shadows. All the things that I like. (I really want to understand the trees. The trees, Richard!)
Tartt's writing is masterful, really. I feel like she was a pupeteer, moving them and us in a way that she wanted us to move, to look, to think.
I picked up the book after it was sitting somewhere in the middle of my tbr for years and I had no idea what it's going to be about (as my habit).
At the Prologue I was immediately horrified and intrigued at the same time; a couple hundred pages later I was lectured about this fascination, great and terrible at the same time.
In my Notes app I have written some thoughs about what I have picked up in the book, but I do not want this review to feel like an 'in this essay, I will...'
If you have seen me around, you probably know that I am a huge mythology fan, went to uni studying Literature (never finished it), have read and judged books through the academic lense until I relearned how to read for my enjoyment and steered off reading books for fanfics for a couple of years. When I rarely resurficed, I mostly read fantasy, with medium or high pace.
In spite of this, or maybe because of this background, I loved The Secret History. I will be the first to admit that I haven't understood it all the way and yes, I am already planning my next read through.
This is a book that I will know be circling around my mind for a while, as it has complex characters, unreliable narrator, dark academia vibes, has Greek mythology in it and also many sentences about stars and trees and descriptions of light and shadows. All the things that I like. (I really want to understand the trees. The trees, Richard!)
Tartt's writing is masterful, really. I feel like she was a pupeteer, moving them and us in a way that she wanted us to move, to look, to think.
I picked up the book after it was sitting somewhere in the middle of my tbr for years and I had no idea what it's going to be about (as my habit).
At the Prologue I was immediately horrified and intrigued at the same time; a couple hundred pages later I was lectured about this fascination, great and terrible at the same time.
In my Notes app I have written some thoughs about what I have picked up in the book, but I do not want this review to feel like an 'in this essay, I will...'
The Burning God by R.F. Kuang
dark
sad
tense
medium-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 just finished the book and it's hard to write a review about it. In part, because it left me reeling and in part because I know I will crave books like this from now on (and I just finished rerooting my tbr on Goodreads yesterday.)
Out of the whole trilogy, this last leg took me the longest to finish. It was horrible and hard to read, because of the horrors of war, the starvation (and cannibalism), the consequences of your actions catching up to you, the paranoia, the distrust...
It ended the only way I could imagine it would, because how could you come back from being a destructive force of vengence? Where is the line that you stop at? (Could you even stop yourself? Would you want to?)
This series will stay with me for a long, long time. The characters were complex, with their own motivations and belief systems, rarely were they black or white and they all made you feel for them.
(The only thing that I didn't really get was Altan in her mind. I was so sure for a long time that it was actually Daji egging her on and manipulating her, but Altan stayed and...)
Out of the whole trilogy, this last leg took me the longest to finish. It was horrible and hard to read, because of the horrors of war, the starvation (and cannibalism), the consequences of your actions catching up to you, the paranoia, the distrust...
It ended the only way I could imagine it would, because how could you come back from being a destructive force of vengence? Where is the line that you stop at? (Could you even stop yourself? Would you want to?)
This series will stay with me for a long, long time. The characters were complex, with their own motivations and belief systems, rarely were they black or white and they all made you feel for them.
(The only thing that I didn't really get was Altan in her mind. I was so sure for a long time that it was actually Daji egging her on and manipulating her, but Altan stayed and...)