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lovebugger's reviews
56 reviews
Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.0
read this for my race and diversity in childrens lit class! heres what i wrote about it :)
As someone who has come out on the other end of amazing YA fantasy stories that have truthfully changed the way I view the world, I can’t help but feel a little disappointed in regards to Shadowshaper. I think a big part of this could be the lack of emotional connection I had to the books, as the things that did intrigue me about the story like the world building and the main cast of characters never felt developed enough for me to form an attachment to them, at least within this first novel. I felt like the magical aspects within Shadowshaper were just not developing in interesting enough ways for me to be attached to the book in that aspect.
As someone who has come out on the other end of amazing YA fantasy stories that have truthfully changed the way I view the world, I can’t help but feel a little disappointed in regards to Shadowshaper. I think a big part of this could be the lack of emotional connection I had to the books, as the things that did intrigue me about the story like the world building and the main cast of characters never felt developed enough for me to form an attachment to them, at least within this first novel. I felt like the magical aspects within Shadowshaper were just not developing in interesting enough ways for me to be attached to the book in that aspect.
When it came to the personal relationships I felt a similar problem because the characters in her platonic and romantic relationships never had any large arcs or story development about their relationships with Sierra or otherwise (for the majority of them at least) that I would have really enjoyed. When it came to the cast of the characters themselves, I didn’t really feel passionate about any of them because they weren’t (in my opinion) given enough time to make themselves feel like they had their own motivations and stories, and with the characters who did have that time, they didn’t really have anything interesting to say and lacked the type of detail I craved.
I will say, I really do enjoy the initial concept of this book. When I was first starting my reading I felt very intrigued by the premise and had very high hopes for this magical system that was being introduced. I think my disappointment in the way it developed and was expressed really factored into my opinions. I would have had better feelings if the “slow burn” of what’s behind shadow shaping felt more complete. I also enjoyed the Latinx representation, as someone who does try to learn more about race through books and the experiences of characters, it is very prevalent and unnerving how there is a lack of properly done POC representation especially with a lack of Latinx, Indigenous, and Asian stories from my personal perspective. I did enjoy what little I got to know about this cast of characters and their cultures, but I think in a story that focuses on ancestral ties to the spirit world, I would have liked a little bit more exposition on their cultural experiences. In general, because I didn’t really feel motivated about this book at all, I’m giving it a 3 star rating on Storygraph! For me that means the book didn’t strike a chord for me in any way, and it wasn’t an unpleasant experience (probably because I used an audiobook version), but I don’t have much to feel fond about. It kind of felt like I was proofreading a fanfiction.
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
4.0
read this because i love carry on!!! i had no idea it was fanfiction. i genuinely thought this book was going to be cath writing fanfic about carry on like its the last installment. super cuteee but just a book! it is just a book.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
5.0
really beautiful book! giving a bunch of things here to bring up when i discuss it tmro w a friend!!
sooo firstly!
-this book made me realize that i absolutely read books for escapism but not in the way where i like traveling into different worlds, but more so because i like changing into alternate realities and lives
-it felt so real, like sam and sadie were real people within the world in opposition to other books ive read recently where you can tell that they're meant to be stories, artificially made rather than exploring a slit in time, an alternate livelihood
-i think thats why i love books so much too, because i live my life like marx as a character within the book, in the way where i am completely in awe at the buffet of options in life and the way they present themselves to me, but not necessary in a romantic way, but in a work way? in a way of careers and experiences and opportunities seperate from romance but often in work and friendship. I want to gorge myself on all of it
-as for the actual content of the book I can definitely see where the influence of different games come into play within the games in the book! i feel like both sides in concept is very similar to omori but with the style reminding me super similarly to life is strange. I see the same thing for the revelss!!! with it seeming kindof similar to professor layton, but at that point in the story i stopped gorging myself on the games like i felt with the production of ichigo, where i could really feel the excitement and passion, but started moving in on gorging the characters. it felt like the most original and explored game throughout the story despite the pioneers sequences, ichigo just felt more real. more loved. more meaningful.
-i think thats where the book fell off for me, post ichigo, where you start knowing these things in full and instead of actively being bare to a new experience at every turn you then move into reading ABOUT the story rather than being within it??? if it makes sense?? im giving this a high rating just because of how much i loved that first part, reading it was so thrilling, and i did find myself consuming the book even in the slower points just because I think im a fan of zevins writing
-the ending of the book fell flat for me at the end, partially because i was in that stage where i assumed it would be a transition period to another plot point, another story, and i didnt realize when i was closing the book to pick it up and finish the last few pages in excitement on the train that i was actually on the last page, sentences away from the end
sooo firstly!
-this book made me realize that i absolutely read books for escapism but not in the way where i like traveling into different worlds, but more so because i like changing into alternate realities and lives
-it felt so real, like sam and sadie were real people within the world in opposition to other books ive read recently where you can tell that they're meant to be stories, artificially made rather than exploring a slit in time, an alternate livelihood
-i think thats why i love books so much too, because i live my life like marx as a character within the book, in the way where i am completely in awe at the buffet of options in life and the way they present themselves to me, but not necessary in a romantic way, but in a work way? in a way of careers and experiences and opportunities seperate from romance but often in work and friendship. I want to gorge myself on all of it
-as for the actual content of the book I can definitely see where the influence of different games come into play within the games in the book! i feel like both sides in concept is very similar to omori but with the style reminding me super similarly to life is strange. I see the same thing for the revelss!!! with it seeming kindof similar to professor layton, but at that point in the story i stopped gorging myself on the games like i felt with the production of ichigo, where i could really feel the excitement and passion, but started moving in on gorging the characters. it felt like the most original and explored game throughout the story despite the pioneers sequences, ichigo just felt more real. more loved. more meaningful.
-the ending of the book fell flat for me at the end, partially because i was in that stage where i assumed it would be a transition period to another plot point, another story, and i didnt realize when i was closing the book to pick it up and finish the last few pages in excitement on the train that i was actually on the last page, sentences away from the end
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
3.0
why is this so popular? i dont know why but i just felt NOTHING like i dont care about these characters at all except for liam. the fact that the romance is in this first book so quickly is the biggest downfall of this book because it ruins both of their characters from individual development and its just so... sad because i like some of the worldbuilding even if it doesnt really make sense i still enjoy fantasy so its just sad to see that violet and xaden only have two types of interactions "i hate you" and "ill save you" like thats boring as hellll and xaden sucks as a character because they dont allow him to develop in his own right outside of a romance AND THEY KILLED THE ONLY ONE I LIKED.
Aristotle and Dante Dive Into the Waters of the World by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
5.0
I finished this on a 1.5 hour long commute. I spent all of this novel thinking not just about my queer identity, but how its shaped my relationship with the world. I know reading this you might think thats what I relate to the most out of everything, his experience of mapping out the world. Im 18, white, jewish, and a lesbian. In just those words you would have never thought that out of any book Ive ever read this one effected me the most. I mean seriously it destroyed me. I was so heartbroken after reading the first book because I truly thought my life could never reacb the happiness that these characters were experiencing. I felt so left out of the typical queer coming of age and normal teenage firsts I missed out on but didnt realize until now. It hurt. It fucking hurt. But I realized I did have some of the things that made this book so great. I met my cassandra, susie, and gina. The platonic love of my life who I pray knows how deeply I am inspired by them, and my two friends who have stuck by me for 8 years and will hopefully stick by me for more. I hope so. Sometimes I talk to them, or friends im more distant with, and I do think I've found everything in their hands, in their words, in the way theyve been living their life but continue to inspire other people. I am continuously awed by the way this book portrayed this so well. (you can tell i totally forgot this was a book review, let me keep writing for myself for now. i hope you arent too bothered by it) It hit me so hard to see my own inner monologue reflected back at me. I'm 18, so it's hard to view myself as a woman and not a girl. To know that I'm on the verge of what it means to be a great person, but to not have the honesty to get there. I was thinking too about how Aris relationship with his Dad affected how he became the commendable character he is by the end of the book. How their relationship of silence and their war of animosity destroyed the love and happiness he could have for himself. I'm not there yet. I wish I could say I was at that point with my father, and that this part of the book wasnt the most relatable part of it. My dad had never learned how to be a good father to me, and instead of showing me he didn't love me in silence he showed he didn't love me in actions and words. We're at a point now where he's finally apologized for the way he continues to approach me, but instaad of doing it to my face, where the tears lie, he instead did it over text message. Just an hour after I ended the book. He has never told me that he loves me to my face. Never. Until today, over text. I don't know what this timing means. My situation is leagues different but the message struck me nonetheless. I am so tired of living my life surrounded in pain and sorrow and anger, and trying to cover my saddness and loneliness and lack of being recognized up with my anger at the world. Maybe it's just my current situation and my personal life, but I really did enjoy this book. It definitely touched my heart on some level.
This isn't as well written as it could be, but its 1 am. I'll always come back to this book, so I'll always come back to this review.
This isn't as well written as it could be, but its 1 am. I'll always come back to this book, so I'll always come back to this review.
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
5.0
it's so weird coming to a book like this at 18, rather than when I was told to read it at 14. I remember at the time I was really struggling with domestic abuse in my household and the aftereffects of it, what it meant for my mental health and my own personal story, and I think if I had read that book back then, I probably would have been so pissed that it was summer reading. I think I would have been so mad because this institution of a school that I went to, that didn't want to help me or see me as a person because I was struggling, would make me read this book. I think I would have had a better college essay if I even read this last year too. I don't know what I'm really talking about. But it's made me think of my trauma and my past differently, maybe because I see myself in these kids, and know that if I wasn't as privileged as I grew up, I would have related to them a hell of a lot more. I'm just gutted after reading that.
The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee
3.75
I didn't really start truly enjoying this book until the end. I really wish the book followed sim! Which I know avoids the point of the series, but I found so much joy within her character that it made me wish there was a spinoff about her or something. I think one of the things I liked most about the first book were the bonds between the characters, which doesn't happen here because it isn't a romance, but also because I didn't feel like I ever saw felicity and johanna and sim talk to each other about silly things! Like, normal conversations! Which would have been nice and made me more interested in the book, if there was more dialogue. I switched to audio halfway through, and it made the book soo much more pleasant. Also, I wish that there was less stigma toward sim through felicity's perspective in this book. I don't mind the not-like-other-girls thoughts because it makes sense for her character, but idk her relationship with sim and the aggression felicity had towards her was never fully corrected from her perspective or seen as harmful conclusions to jump to.
The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
super big fan of this! docking half a point because I just felt like there was something missing. Regardless, that might just be because of the ending! Really fun read.