lizziepurpleserenity's reviews
341 reviews

Little Black Bird by Anna Kirchner

2.5

This was quite a fun read, that pays homage to classic YA fantasy from the last couple of decades (even peppered with direct references), playing around in a self-aware way with tropes. The ace rep makes a nice change and is handled in quite an interesting way. The author's narrative has a spot-on 'teen' voice (although I do think it needs better editing). I love the Polish city setting, that was well realised and the 'city' felt like a character in itself; I felt like I was there. The plotting was a bit confusing at times and contrived, there were quite a few plot points, character decisions, and aspects of the magic that didn't make much sense to me, but the magic system and set up based on Slavic mythology was pretty cool and has a lot of potential. Given everything that's going on in Poland at the moment, it is so important that books like this are published and supported, and I commend the author for getting her fun story out there!

Ship of Destiny by Robin Hobb

adventurous challenging emotional tense slow-paced

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

5.0

The Liveship Traders trilogy has blown me away and is possibly my favourite epic fantasy trilogy that I've read so far. Phenomenal character development that continues through this book and with a fantastic ending. Admittedly some of the political stuff was in danger of going over my head without the help of google/Reddit, but other than that I was completely hooked throughout.

My favourite character other than

Paragon

was

Malta - yes, even in book 1. People are way too harsh about younger Malta, but imo she was awesome and I feel vindicated that I thought so from the start.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart

adventurous mysterious 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

I couldn't put this down after the halfway point. The plot twists/reveals are expertly executed, the characters intriguing and well rounded (loved Jovis particularly), the magic system and the setting is really cool and we're left with tons of exciting questions and potential for the next book.

I've dropped half a star because there were a couple of aspects that didn't quite reach its potential, for example I feel the setting could have been more immersive descriptively, and

Mephi, though adorable, could have been a bit more rounded than cute, intriguing though he and his species is going to be

.

Persuasion by Jane Austen

3.0

I don't know what went wrong with this one for me. Maybe I wasn't in the mood for Austen, or the books I was reading alongside were far more compelling to me than this. I personally found it a drag, there is too much narration as opposed to dialogue and action, so I never felt immersed. None of the characters were interesting or entertaining, and there was not nearly enough intrigue to keep me wanting to continue reading, or else it didn't play out the way it could've, even given the circumstances around Mr Elliot.

This completes mine and my friend's buddy Austen readathon (reread in my case for a few of them) of all six Austen novels, and this one sadly has to go down as my least favourite.

ETA 30/1/21 (a few days later) - Having now read the chapter on this book in Helena Kelly's Jane Austen: The Secret Radical, I've bumped my original rating of 2.5 stars up to 3. I understand much better now what (at least according to Helena) Austen was trying to convey

Sabriel by Garth Nix
Did not finish book. Stopped at 15%.

The Wild Places by Robert Macfarlane

4.0

I really liked this. I listened to it on Audible, and admittedly did find my mind wandering now and then, as it wasn't quite engaging enough of a topic for me to keep fully engaged, but that's more about me than about the book. I liked how he included various aspects of history and science to put his explorations in a wider context, and I loved his conclusion that a 'wild place' is not only to be found miles away from human civilisation but also in the little places, from the weeds between pavement slabs to the woods at the edge of a city. My favourite parts were about the woods and trees. 

Timeline by Michael Crichton

4.5

I really enjoyed this. Crichton's strong point is always in the detail, in this the history and science is thoroughly researched, I learnt a lot (though of course you have to suspend disbelief when it comes to the science - and imo there is a major plothole that I am still confused by

the science in the book explains how the 'time travel' is actually travel to an alternate universe, but the actual story in the book takes them back in time in our own universe, because they dig up a message from a previous time traveller, and one of the main characters ends up buried in a chapel in our world too - this was never scientifically explained

The story itself becomes faster and faster paced, with high stakes and a time deadline, at which point Crichton's prose falls apart a bit - at times it felt like I was just reading someone's quick description of what was going on in a movie - but it was exciting enough to not really bother me, though I feel like the series of set pieces could have been cut a tad shorter maybe.

The characters are fine (my favourite being Chris) although there isn't much character depth or development, however I don't read a Crichton novel for his character work! He did at least try and throw in an arc for a couple of them.

So overall, being the 4th Crichton novel I've read, this did not disappoint and I am keen to continue reading more of his novels! 

Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers

4.5

Man I love this series so much. It is such a cosy, feelgood read. I love the characters (especially Isabel, in this one), though they're not all as distinctive and as deeply explored as those in books 1 & 2.
It's slice-of-life on a spaceship, but even though I usually prefer more of a plot, there's just something about the character arcs Becky puts together in these books, and the way she uses her characters both to teach us about the Wayfarers world, and also to explore the nature of being human and the effects the events (and locations) in her world might have on us.

The speech Kip makes for the first time at the end is the exact same speech Isabel makes near the beginning and it was so clever that everything that we learn in the book and the journey the characters go through changed that speech to something that felt abstract and alien when I first read it, to full of meaning and nuance at the end (I even teared up a little).

The Mad Ship by Robin Hobb

5.0

Man Robin Hobb has fast become one of my favourite authors. Her writing and character work is phenomenal. Her books are epic, they feel long and drawn out, but so, so worth it, each event building upon each other and all the characters playing their little puzzle piece parts in the developing whole. I accidentally read The Rain Wild Chronicles before this trilogy and while it could have been a shame that a lot was 'spoiled' for me, I actually found it really exciting to watch events unfold in this book that I already know too much about from Rain Wild.

I listened to the audiobook with Anne Flosnik narrating (as I was reading another epic fantasy physically alongside and wanted to finish both before the end of the month) and even though her narration isn't great and I would much prefer to read this (and epic fantasy in general in fact) physically, in the end it did not take away from my enjoyment.

I am so tempted to move straight on to book 3.....

Oh and, can I just say,

I love Malta, I think she's awesome.

Ace by Angela Chen

4.0