lillyturmel's reviews
78 reviews

Orlando by Virginia Woolf

adventurous lighthearted reflective slow-paced

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

1.75

[read for a book club] 
This was just not for me. I don’t like poetry, and this story is written very poetically.

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone, Amal El-Mohtar

adventurous emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

It definitely had a really weird writing style, but I also kind of enjoyed the switch up. As someone who doesn't read a lot in this style it definitely took some brain power to understand, but the love in this story was beautiful enough I didn't mind. The ending was so good.

The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham

adventurous inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

2.0

Read this for a book club--and I'm just not the target market for this book. While I found the characters likeable and relatable, there was just very little plot and it got extremely boring at times. It was easy to read though.

Galápagos by Kurt Vonnegut

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.75

This is the first Kurt Vonnegut book I've read, and I have to say I like his writing style a lot, it's very quick and to the point. I did really like the overall plot of this book and found it interesting how relevant it still is today, however I didn't really like the characters, not that they're meant to be likable, but I found the way he developed them throughout the book didn't allow me to understand them.

Colorblind by Siera Maley

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

While the premise of this book is a little cheesy, it was amazingly written and I just adore the characters. It was the perfect amount of emotional.

Icebreaker by A.L. Graziadei

emotional inspiring lighthearted tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The perfect enemies to lovers book, that didn’t feel too YA. Also one of the best depictions of depression & mental health struggles. The ending was a little rushed but I loved this book!

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

I can see why some people didn't like the writing style of this book, but I loved it. It felt to the point. The only reason it's not 5 stars is because I was expecting something that was more sci-fi/fantasy heavy, but I ended up still loving what this book became; a book about regret, love and change.

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious slow-paced

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

2.75

I understand that this book is supposed to be the first in a series, but the world building was just a big long info dump that slowed the book down. A lot of the info dumps were also completely irrelevant to the actual plot of the book. This was also marketed as a romance type of novel... that had basically no romance. I did like the fantasy world the author built and she wrote the characters very well.

As Good As Dead by Holly Jackson

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Never a dull moment in the entire series… I loved the plot twist of this final book.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

I liked this book more than the Hunger Games, but of course this book couldn't have been so amazing without it. It explains the games so much and at the same time gives us an in to the beliefs of the Capitol. The romance, angst and character development are amazingly written.