liafiles's reviews
33 reviews

The Sound of Us by Julie Hammerle

Go to review page

medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No

2.0

Tiny Pretty Things by Dhonielle Clayton, Sona Charaipotra

Go to review page

dark tense medium-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

3.75

Cards of Fate by A.R. Kingston

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

thank you to netgalley and to the publisher for a digital copy of cards of fate.

2 stars.

a promising concept, i was very intrigued with both the cover and the description when i saw it on netgalley. but, unfortunately, it underwhelmed me. it was rather flat and slowly became more and more of a chore to read. the plot twist by the end was something i anticipated, which made it less exciting and shocking. the love story between morgana and leo needed more chemistry in my opinion. feelings between childhood friends is a cute trope, but in this book i just didn’t feel… anything.

it was a somewhat nice read at the beginning and by the end, but it just felt too long and dragged out.

The Last Legacy by Adrienne Young

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Counterpart by Ella Pyne

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

counterpart has certainly helped me get out of my reading slump, the premise of it is quite intriguing and kept me on my toes. leda, the main character, is strong-willed to have the freedom she deserves til the end. the familial relationship between everyone was quite… something indeed (of course in a good way). azaria as an example, i never understood her properly. she’s aloof and never, ever showed her emotions, other than rage. although the worldbuilding, at least to me, is still in the works as the entire setting of which where the story is placed in, is in a palace. hopefully in future books it will be explored even more.

with how many characters there were, i only cared for only three of them: leda, azaria, and pyrrhus. i didn’t have any attachments to the other characters, only because they didn’t have much time in the story. i almost had an attachment to eber, but his dialogue with leda towards the end made me skeptical of him. i do admire elina though. for ambrose… no comment.

overall, the book is something i would definitely recommend. praise to the author for the well-written book, i’ll be waiting for the second installment.

Namesake by Adrienne Young

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced