loves_nurse's reviews
227 reviews

Paladin's Strength by T. Kingfisher
Did not finish book. Stopped at 52%.

I really wanted to see this story through to the end, but the incessant "does she love me?" "Does he love me?" Back and forth of the characters dragged me down. The self doubt rolling around the main character relationahips got tedious to me. I did like the characters and their background stories and the way they interacted, but the relationahip part wasn't for me. 

A Vicious Game by Melissa Blair
Did not finish book. Stopped at 50%.

I'm just kind of over this whole story. Lots of addiction behaviors and lots of savior behaviors and a lot of story being driven by pushing our heroine past her limits. Meh. Mayne I'll pick it up again later. Maybe it's me.

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett

mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

A sci-fi tinted detective story but instead of staunchy old fashioned 1920's era Brits solving crimes in stuffy ways, you have futuristic Brits solving sci-fi crimes in stuffy ways. It was entertaining.

Heart of Night and Fire by Nisha J. Tuli
Did not finish book. Stopped at 87%.

I'm not the right age group for this book.

 Our FMC was too emotionally immature for my preference. I do respect that she was on a journey to discover who she was in life and that requires a certain amount of growth into maturity, but it became tedious for me personally, again, because Im not the right age group.  I think this is a fun adventure book, even if some of the finer origin story details were lost on me. Will read more from this author.

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

challenging slow-paced

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

2.75

There are certainly beautiful observations of humanity and how we approach our world told within this alien travel discovery story. Feels dense in detail, but the overall message is acceptance which some may translate as love.

Servant of Earth by Sarah Hawley

adventurous medium-paced

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

3.0

There is a good fae magic kingdom romance adventure book in here.  It's buried under a rushed start to the tale, dense factions/court politics mixed with what feels like a moderately juvenile first love story. Our protagonist spends a lot of time saying "but I'm low-born" in various ways when faced with a problem she can easily solve except for class boundaries.  We get a lot of convenient magic will-solve it answers with the appropriate amount of self doubt anxiety.

This book is decent as far as entertaining reading and does good effort to tropes, but there are more things it tells in between the lines in the shallow end of romantasy.  It's middle of the line good.

The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays by Albert Camus
Did not finish book. Stopped at 39%.

Sadly, a lot of this went over my head and was beyond my energy to concentrate upon or look up references. I do intend to revisit when I have more reading motivation and energy.

Limitarianism: The Case Against Extreme Wealth by Ingrid Robeyns

informative slow-paced

4.0

There is valuable information and dire warnings held within this book. It Brings lots of questions forth as to how we treat eachother and the earth viewed thru the lens of money exchange and power via money. And how a small select group having all the resources that money controls is detrimental for our lives.

Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino

reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

Is our main character an alien? Is she autistic? Does she share common feelings of "not belonging" and feeling left out of the greater human understanding...? There is a mostly bland story of a person's life underneath all that.

Tacky: Love Letters to the Worst Culture We Have to Offer by Rax King

reflective

3.0

This set of self reflection essays slash memoir are allllmost poignant. While written well, I don't think we hit upon anything directly connecting the millennial experience beyond the general.