ksilvery's reviews
1126 reviews

mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

Call me a snob, but I find modern books attempting to replicate the writing style of Jane Austin to always fail.
In this case, there was a fine line between nodding towards Jane and writing a fan fiction of Pride and Prejudice and well… yeah
On the mystery side, there was just one too many twists.

Honestly, I was fine with everything until the attic (which is either a nod in a different direction or keeping people in the attic was more common in those times than I know of)

The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic by Breanne Randall

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emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

The unfortunate effects of a cozy and promising book like that are disappointment, regret, sense of unfulfilled potential.
Premise and base - solid and interesting to get curious about the story
Plot - griping enough & straightforward in a good way.
Characters - this is where it lost me. Everyone but Sadie and Jake had so much potential to be great, interesting, and memorable. But maybe there were too many of them and we ended up narrowing them down to two-three main character traits: mysterious and short tempered; quirky and mischievous; old, wise and bossy (yes, old was presented as a character trait and not just an age); and my fav: the best friend - loyal, snarky and mentally ill.
And then there were Sadie and Jake. Jake and Sadie. And as much as I tried and looked and tried again, I could not find a single damn to give about them.
The cherry on top was the writing which will remain a mystery because the descriptions and the inserts from Gigi - so great!
The dialogue???? I know I don’t interact with people a lot, but I’m pretty sure no two human beings have spoken to each other in those words and no one ever has said the word “oomph” out loud.
Then the pace of the book felt fast - things were happening constantly and we were jumping from one thing to the next one without have any time to process it. However, the plot itself & the one thing that was supposed to happen took forever and it didn’t feel like it was moving fast enough. Very weird combo that didn’t go well together.

When They Find Her by Lia Middleton

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

I should really stop picking up books with unreliable narrators because clearly I am biased towards them and don't enjoy them.
In the case of this book specifically, it was too much to be only in Naomi's head for the duration of the entire book (including flashbacks to the past). She was TOO unreliable. It would have been better to have whatshisname perspective as well, either mixed in or at least for the flashbacks - I think it would have added flavour & a different lense and not made it abundantly clear that the unreliable narrator is unreliable but clearly innocent (oops, spoiler alert I guess? although... not really)

The Temple of Fortuna by Elodie Harper

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emotional hopeful tense medium-paced