keysmashhh's reviews
172 reviews

Love, Hate & Clickbait by Liz Bowery

lighthearted 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

2.5

Plot: 2.5/5
Character: 3/5
Relationships: 3/5
World-Building: 3.5/5
Genre: 3/5

at face value this book is easy breasy and fun to read. i love books set in politics and this felt very apt however i just felt it lacked a lot of depth or substance and it wasn't really saying much to me. the romance was...average but neither charecter particularly felt deeply complex, thom's relationship with his family and hometown felt like the book was moving towards something deeper but that never really got explored beyond one conversation. i saw someone describe the book as The West Wing fanfic which is very much not an insult (i saw the author mention a03 in the acknowledgements so that tracks) which personally i was really up for but instead of the compelling pragmatic vs idealistic tension that Josh and Sam have in TWW both charecters sort of felt more career driven and less idealistic. i mean thom is downright selfish for most of the book and regularly acts like a dick in the name of politics, seeing him break out of that shell towards the end of the book was nice but it felt surface level and like his values hadn't shifted. the idea of a fake gay relationship being used as a political tactic was very interesting and i felt like the book really dug into just how far people will go to appeal to voters, whether or not its what they beleive in but it was frustrating that Lennie, the candidate, never really got confronted on her lying nature, i can't explain it but it felt like the ending didn't really confront the issues the book had been building up. the idea that these two staffers would get fired imediately and find jobs elsewhere on the oppositions campaign and lennie never really experienced backlash just felt...odd...it felt like the ending was too quick and too perfect for the realities and complexities this book had been building up. so many random other plot points were just...there...like thom's b plot blackmailing the activist, and clay's lawsuit just felt like they weren't given any depth either. that feel's like my main critique of the book was just a lack of substance, it had lots of words but anytime it seemed to get close to a moment of substance or growth it seemed to shy away from it leaving me feeling frustrated. there are some very specific references in this book which i loved, any allusion to Aaron Sorkin, Tumblr, fanfic and general internet terms made me laugh out loud, becasue thats what the politics fans are really like and it felt nice to see representation of a niche fandom but i just felt like the rest of the book came up lacking for me. by the end i thought there was going to be some resolution, like some sort of confrontation with lennie, or her loyal staf Fe realising the manipulation at the heart of the campaign, but instead there was some vauge allusion to a scandal with her son which didn't get explained and a sort of gentle fade to black which made me frustrated rather than satisfied. there are better political romances out there, and i know i'd pick a josh/sam fic on a03 over this book anyday

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

Plot: 3.75/5
Character: 4.5/5
Relationships: 4.5/5
World-Budling: 4/5 
Genre: 4.5/5

so many thoughts whilst reading this book, so many quotes to analyse and so many themes that deserve hours of my time to be dissected. i get the hype, i dont think its a book for everyone but it was certainly a book for me

Fire from Heaven by Mary Renault

adventurous informative slow-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

3.75

Plot: 3.5/5
Character: 3.5/5
Relationships: 3/5
World-Building: 3.5/5
Genre: 4/5

very glad i read The Persian Boy first because I think i wouldn't have picked it up if i'd read fire from heaven. This is a PSA for anyone who felt 50/50 on this book and doesn't know if they should push on with the series - PLEASE DO!! i haven't read the final book yet but The Persian Boy is much better than fire from heaven. I think my main issue with this book was the pacing it was so unbelievably slow at times, really not helped by the fact the chapters were sometimes up to 70 pages long making it feel like i was making such slow progress through the book. i found the storyline of this book harder to follow compared to The Persian Boy, i felt like there were more flashbacks/tangents that i found harder to follow and at times I felt a general sense of disinterest for some of the action. segments were great though, i love the story of Alexander obtaining Oxhead, his growing relationship with Hephaestion (especially the small sections from Hephaestion's POV) and the time he spent studying with Aristotle. I'd say this book was a bit hit and miss for me, and perhaps its because I read The Persian Boy first and rated it 5 stars but i felt a little let down by this one. I'm still going to push on with the final book of the trilogy but take some time away so i can fully appreciate it. That being said Mary Renault's writing and interpretation of the ancient world is still second to none

The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic

dark tense 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

3.25

Plot: 3/5
Character: 3.5/5
Relationships: 3/5
World-Building: 3/5
Genre: 3.5/5

cannot for the life of me work out if i liked this book or not - genuinly i cant actually wokrk it out. like the charecters were so unbelieivable amoral but that was the fun of it. even the ones you assume are kind of good just aren't so idk what to think about them. ngl i thought they'd be at least one relationship in the book but i got two thirds of the way into it and still didn't actually know who liked who, like kevin and andrew, or andrew and neil, or neil and kevin - I don't even know what to think. that being said, there were some moments that geuinely had me gasping out loud like when riko and kevin reuinited live on tv and neil had a go at riko i was like "oh yeah this is where the book is getting goooooood" and the random death at the end omg I didn't see that coming. upon reading other people's reviews i seem to be the only one who liked kevin, to me him and neil were the only complex charecters, andrew read as a charecter twelve year old me would have written into a fanfic to be cool and edgy and the rest of the team got like no time to shine at all. but neil was interesting and a likable protagonist, i enjoyed the book from his eyes.  but kevin omg there is so much complexity and depth idk why people are hating on him in their reviews. the idea of a guy who loves the sport so much to the point of death was fascinating and much more intesting than 90% of the other people. like when Seth died and kevins first thought was "what about the line up" made me laugh out loud, he's just a guy who loves the sport to his detriment which was cool to see. the line "you've got kevin's attention. You're as freakishly obsessed with Exy as he is" that was funny because its so true, in a book of broken charecters this sport is just about holding them together. hmmmm i still don't know if im going to read the next one, I got this one for free so I dont know if i want to pay for the next one but maybe if it ever goes onto kindle unlimited i'd get it because im sort of invested but i wouldnt be devistated if i couldnt finish the series. i was kind of annoyed we only got like one real exy match in the whole book becausue I actually liked the sports bits when everyone isnt trying to tourture each other for once. what a morally dubious book but also kind of intreaguing. the writing wasn't anything special but there were a few quotes that were like woah thats cool. on the whole im glad i finally read this book to see what the hype is about :)

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

funny lighthearted 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? Yes

4.75

such a silly goofy whimsical play 

Sovietistan by Erika Fatland

adventurous informative medium-paced

4.75

a good balence between history, politics, geography and anthropology paired with anecdotes individual to Erica Fatland's trip means you get a nice overview of each country, that being said whole books could be dedicated to each country so i'm very impressed she could fit so many different topics into each chapter. some standouts for me was the section on how silk was made, the fact that alexander the great seems to turn up every couple of pages (his influence on central asia is fascinating) and her experiences at the Horse contest. It definitely makes me want to travel to some of the locations even more than I already did. i've got a copy of her other book High so i cant wait to read that :)

Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky

challenging reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

so many thoughts from such a small book 

Short Shift by Emma Barlowe

emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Plot: 3.5/5
Character: 3.5/5
Relationships: 3.5/5
World-Building: 4/5
Genre: 3/5

a good sequel to Redline, the characters are still just as lovable as in book 1 - Noah is still a great MC and I'm still very attached to David and hate seeing anything hurt him. I liked the extended cast more in this book 2 - Finley's still great, Ethan was a good addition and Jenson was a nice change and showed that there can be good team principles (who would have thought) The plot of this book for the first half felt very similar to redline, alternating between racing and Noah's personal life but realy ramped up towards the end - especially when Noah nearly got arrested and of course the accident. I actually felt super emotional reading the description of the accident especially knowing how Robbie died (which there are echoes of throughout the book) In fact the allusions to Robbie is what really humanises Noah as a character, the way he sees Robbie in everything he does, even little descriptions like Finley keeping Robbie's copy of Risk in a glass case with his trophies just show how thorough the author is in building up these little rituals in the world building which I find to be super compelling. the ending I'm pretty disappointed in, on the whole i liked where the direction of the book was going and I felt like there was enough loose ends to warrant a book 3 already (especially seeing Noah's recovery) but the final "twist" felt sort of cheap and a bit random - I totally get that it's to set up more conflict for book 3 but I don't know i just felt like it was meh. I suppose i could be proved wrong so i reserve judgement until I read book 3 and see how the author resolves the twist :)

Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang

inspiring mysterious reflective tense slow-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

5.0

Plot: 4.75/5
Character: 4.75/5
Relationships: 4.75/5
World-Building: 5/5
Genre: 5/5

Given, Vol. 1 by Natsuki Kizu

emotional hopeful lighthearted 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

Plot: 3/5
Character: 4/5
Relationships: 4/5
World-Building: 3.5/5
Genre: 5/5
I watched the anime years ago and loved it so i felt it was only right to read the manga - its just as cute and heart-warming as i remember