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lenorayoder's reviews
84 reviews
Mirror Mirror by Gregory Maguire
slow-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.0
Some cool ideas and pretty pieces of writing, but so much of this book is slow, confusing, gross, and/or boring that it doesn’t really feel worth it. A much longer book than the material justifies. Unsatisfying.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual harassment, Incest, Pedophilia, and Murder
Hidden Voices: Biblical Women and Our Christian Heritage by Heidi Bright Parales
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
4.0
This is a great entry level text that I’d recommend to anyone who grew up with the bible, or is interested in translation, feminism, christianity, and/or history. The author covers topics simply enough for a layman to understand (no need for a background in religious studies), and provides ample citations so that if something piques your interest and you want to learn more than the basic overview, you can easily do so. This book would be particularly helpful to christian women struggling to reconcile the sexist nature of the church with their faith.
Beyond the Highland Mist by Karen Marie Moning
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.0
There are so many things wrong with this book we’ll just have to stick to the highlights
1. I love time travel and this is technically a time travel book but it might as well not be for all that it factors into the plot and character’s thoughts. The female lead could have been taken from England in the same time as the male lead and this book would have been basically the same. 👎
2. The female lead is the hottest woman who ever lived and the male lead is the hottest man who ever lived. You can’t go two pages without some super hot physical attribute being mentioned
3. The characters are very one dimensional. When they each first think that they love the other, I’m left wondering why. They talk about each other’s non-physical qualities, but we’re never shown proof of them, or shown when the other learned of these qualities. We’re told instead of shown
4. Overall the kind of book people point to when they make fun of romance novels. Barely any plot, kind of silly, contrived conflict, boring characters, and the smut isn’t even good.
I’ve been trying to find an alternative to Highlander that doesn’t have the weird vibes (if you know you know, the beginning was so promising too), and this was not it. Don’t recommend.
1. I love time travel and this is technically a time travel book but it might as well not be for all that it factors into the plot and character’s thoughts. The female lead could have been taken from England in the same time as the male lead and this book would have been basically the same. 👎
2. The female lead is the hottest woman who ever lived and the male lead is the hottest man who ever lived. You can’t go two pages without some super hot physical attribute being mentioned
3. The characters are very one dimensional. When they each first think that they love the other, I’m left wondering why. They talk about each other’s non-physical qualities, but we’re never shown proof of them, or shown when the other learned of these qualities. We’re told instead of shown
4. Overall the kind of book people point to when they make fun of romance novels. Barely any plot, kind of silly, contrived conflict, boring characters, and the smut isn’t even good.
I’ve been trying to find an alternative to Highlander that doesn’t have the weird vibes (if you know you know, the beginning was so promising too), and this was not it. Don’t recommend.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault
A Knight in Shining Armor by Jude Deveraux
adventurous
mysterious
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
This book is very hard to rate. I love a lot of the plot, though it’s a little slow to get started. Great ending. I like the characters at the end of the book, but the writing for our heroine is all over the place for the majority of the story. She’s inconsistent and unlikeable, and several times characters (mostly the heroine) make decisions that are entirely in service of a plot point the author wants to get to, and those decisions feel obviously out of character. Some great writing, but also some lazy writing. Annoyingly frequent fatphobia. A bit frustrating in that with some editing I think this book could be really great, the story has great bones.
As a big time travel fan I have to add that the way Deveraux navigates it in this book is genius. We learn just enough for the time travel to make sense and no more - no getting lost in the weeds, no angsting over paradoxes. Its rules and function are perfectly molded to serve the characters, romance, and plot.
Worth the read, especially since it’s my understanding that this is kind of a landmark romance book, but making it through the beginning was tough.
As a big time travel fan I have to add that the way Deveraux navigates it in this book is genius. We learn just enough for the time travel to make sense and no more - no getting lost in the weeds, no angsting over paradoxes. Its rules and function are perfectly molded to serve the characters, romance, and plot.
Worth the read, especially since it’s my understanding that this is kind of a landmark romance book, but making it through the beginning was tough.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fatphobia
Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
A little better than the first book, but there’s a lot of room for improvement.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol
The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
A fitting ending, for the most part I like where we ended up.
Some parts, especially the beginning, really dragged. Several characters made stupid choices that seemed out of character just so that there could be more drama, which came across as lazy writing and was frustrating to read. Never showing a real downside for Percy withAchilles’ Curse bothered me.
Some parts, especially the beginning, really dragged. Several characters made stupid choices that seemed out of character just so that there could be more drama, which came across as lazy writing and was frustrating to read. Never showing a real downside for Percy with
The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan
adventurous
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
It really feels like everyone is growing up in this book. The tension and anticipation builds well here, this is a great ramp-up for a final book. I like that as the books go on, Percy's solutions become more and more unconventional and fair. Annabeth lashing out at the Sphinx was the only part of the book that struck me as odd/unrealistic with what we've seen so far, it felt very out of place for her character. Looking forward to the conclusion!
The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan
adventurous
3.0
I liked it, but at this point Percy’s lack of knowledge feels a little ridiculous. The chapter titles aren’t as good as the first book.
The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
adventurous
3.0
Fun, but definitely felt more like a transitional/informative part of a larger series than a strong story of its own.
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
adventurous
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
Restarting this series as I never finished, so I remembered the main story beats which made it fun to notice all the clues along the way. What a great start to a series, still good as an adult but I wish I’d known about these when I was younger.