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luanagomes's reviews
1000 reviews
Boas meninas se afogam em silêncio by Andressa Tabaczinski
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Tehanu: The Fourth Book of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
Evocation by S.T. Gibson
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
David Aristarkhov is handsome, well-rounded and very successful in his career, a coveted heir to a famous occultists family and one of the most powerful mediums in the Boston area.
But not everything that glitters is gold, right? And it's no surprise that the book's cover has the Hanged Man's tarot card in it. It is a sign for major reassessment, a card that points out that if you don't make an effort to solve your issues, the Universe will do it for you, and it won't make it easy.
And that's exactly what I found here in this book.
One fine day, after a disastrous experience in a medium session, David ends up discovering that all his privileges in life come with hefty price: for fame, charm and power, an ancestor of his sold the soul of the family's firstborn son to the devil.
And now the devil has come for David.
To free himself from this ancestral curse, our protagonist will have to go after Rhys, his ex-boyfriend, a dedicated occult researcher and the only person he still trusts to help him. But between the two there is Moira, Rhys's wife, and David needs to convince them both to join forces to undo this evil that haunts him.
The universe, of course, has other plans for this trio. The proximity awakens old and new feelings alike, and if they don't find out what's happening to David soon, they won't have time to learn what this could mean for them.
Urban fantasy with a touch of romance is my guilty pleasure, and Evocation exceeded my expectations on that part. I was attracted by the magic, but I finished the book involved in the romance, and that's rare to happen, so applause to Saint Gibson, who writes in an engaging way and has already made me interested in her other books. I was not expecting such fascinating characters, with genuine problems and qualities, good dynamics and relationships that feel very real and organic.
The storyline was also very interesting, with secret societies, all kinds of magic, and I am eager to see what comes next. The only thing that disappointed me in this book was the end, I have to say. It felt a little rush and disjointed - was expecting something big and was a tad frustrated, but lets see how the second book will solve this.
Thank you @angryrobotbooks for the chance to read early - Evocation will be released in May in international markets, so keep an eye out!!
But not everything that glitters is gold, right? And it's no surprise that the book's cover has the Hanged Man's tarot card in it. It is a sign for major reassessment, a card that points out that if you don't make an effort to solve your issues, the Universe will do it for you, and it won't make it easy.
And that's exactly what I found here in this book.
One fine day, after a disastrous experience in a medium session, David ends up discovering that all his privileges in life come with hefty price: for fame, charm and power, an ancestor of his sold the soul of the family's firstborn son to the devil.
And now the devil has come for David.
To free himself from this ancestral curse, our protagonist will have to go after Rhys, his ex-boyfriend, a dedicated occult researcher and the only person he still trusts to help him. But between the two there is Moira, Rhys's wife, and David needs to convince them both to join forces to undo this evil that haunts him.
The universe, of course, has other plans for this trio. The proximity awakens old and new feelings alike, and if they don't find out what's happening to David soon, they won't have time to learn what this could mean for them.
Urban fantasy with a touch of romance is my guilty pleasure, and Evocation exceeded my expectations on that part. I was attracted by the magic, but I finished the book involved in the romance, and that's rare to happen, so applause to Saint Gibson, who writes in an engaging way and has already made me interested in her other books. I was not expecting such fascinating characters, with genuine problems and qualities, good dynamics and relationships that feel very real and organic.
The storyline was also very interesting, with secret societies, all kinds of magic, and I am eager to see what comes next. The only thing that disappointed me in this book was the end, I have to say. It felt a little rush and disjointed - was expecting something big and was a tad frustrated, but lets see how the second book will solve this.
Thank you @angryrobotbooks for the chance to read early - Evocation will be released in May in international markets, so keep an eye out!!
The Parliament by Aimee Pokwatka
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.25
A very interesting premise right from the start.
Murder owls stalking a library building? Yes, please !
The protagonist, Mads, who is a chemist, is about to teach a sort of summer class on the library to a bunch of 11-12 year olds, as a favor to a friend. And then the owls attack, patrons get stuck in the library for a while, and bad decisions lead to a bunch of people hurt.
One of the high points for me in this book were the people in the library, both kids and adults. They felt very real, relatable in their response to the situation at hand. I was enjoying the read, and was invested in the workings behind the owl's odd behavior, but then soon realized that this was not the main focus of the book. The parliament focuses on Mad's PTSD (something that happened to her as a child ) and how she tries to deal with it and help the people on the library, which is an okay storyline, but not something I was interested in reading in detail.
I wanted to know more about the science of the birds, and the machinations to leave the library, but it all lost momentum too soon, and the explanations were superficial. Some readers will not have a problem with that, for sure, but I was here for the birds, so it fell short for me.
There is also a romance subplot in here that I did not enjoy much, as it did not help further the story.
I also have to agree with some of the readers that we did not need the "book within a book" situation. "The Silent Queen" is a fairy tale book the protagonist reads to the kids to distract from the birds, and it is interspersed within the actual main story. Although I can see why it was there, soon it became a bit too long and dull for me, and took away from the main plot line.
It's one of those cases where the book had a lot of potential, tries too many ideas/directions, and forgets to fleshed out what is important.
Thanks to TorDotCom and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Murder owls stalking a library building? Yes, please !
The protagonist, Mads, who is a chemist, is about to teach a sort of summer class on the library to a bunch of 11-12 year olds, as a favor to a friend. And then the owls attack, patrons get stuck in the library for a while, and bad decisions lead to a bunch of people hurt.
One of the high points for me in this book were the people in the library, both kids and adults. They felt very real, relatable in their response to the situation at hand. I was enjoying the read, and was invested in the workings behind the owl's odd behavior, but then soon realized that this was not the main focus of the book. The parliament focuses on Mad's PTSD (something that happened to her as a child ) and how she tries to deal with it and help the people on the library, which is an okay storyline, but not something I was interested in reading in detail.
I wanted to know more about the science of the birds, and the machinations to leave the library, but it all lost momentum too soon, and the explanations were superficial. Some readers will not have a problem with that, for sure, but I was here for the birds, so it fell short for me.
There is also a romance subplot in here that I did not enjoy much, as it did not help further the story.
I also have to agree with some of the readers that we did not need the "book within a book" situation. "The Silent Queen" is a fairy tale book the protagonist reads to the kids to distract from the birds, and it is interspersed within the actual main story. Although I can see why it was there, soon it became a bit too long and dull for me, and took away from the main plot line.
It's one of those cases where the book had a lot of potential, tries too many ideas/directions, and forgets to fleshed out what is important.
Thanks to TorDotCom and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Coelho maldito by Bora Chung
Did not finish book. Stopped at 20%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 20%.
Read the first 2 stories today, and did not find it interesting enough to continue on with the book
The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
There is not much I can say about this book other than it felt like clickbait.
I normally stay away from hyped books and choose carefully my reads based on reviews, but somehow I fell for this one, still not sure how.
Look, the ideas are there, and they are not bad. They were just poorly executed.
The marketing around this book says it is "A smart satirical story raises timely questions about privilege and appropriation ", but it is not like that at all. Yes, the discussions on appropriation and privilege are present, but are superficial. There is no satire in it; it is not a thriller either, as a lot of reviewers said.
For me, it was a mediocre book, half literary fiction, half mystery, and it did not succeed in neither.
The translation aspect /discussion was very unrealistic at parts ( my opinion as a professional translator) ; the character study was all over the place - too many themes, very little depth; story was too patchy. Those who are of pakistani-muslim descent also pointed out there are some issues on this area as well, so if you are interested in this read for the representation, better check those reviews for clarification.
As I was in this book for the mystery, imagine my disappointment when the so-called "Centre", which should the focal point of the story, gets abandoned by the second half of the book, after the secret of its mysterious process of "total language immersion for 10 days and fluency guaranteed" is found by the protagonist. The Centre itself takes about 1/4 of the book, or even less, and this plot has one too many flaws-holes.
I enjoyed that the main character is very unlikable and unreliable, but nothing more than that. All the drama she brought in did nothing to further the plot, and this personal drama takes up most of the book, unfortunately.
Cannot recommend this one on good faith, sorry !
I normally stay away from hyped books and choose carefully my reads based on reviews, but somehow I fell for this one, still not sure how.
Look, the ideas are there, and they are not bad. They were just poorly executed.
The marketing around this book says it is "A smart satirical story raises timely questions about privilege and appropriation ", but it is not like that at all. Yes, the discussions on appropriation and privilege are present, but are superficial. There is no satire in it; it is not a thriller either, as a lot of reviewers said.
For me, it was a mediocre book, half literary fiction, half mystery, and it did not succeed in neither.
The translation aspect /discussion was very unrealistic at parts ( my opinion as a professional translator) ; the character study was all over the place - too many themes, very little depth; story was too patchy. Those who are of pakistani-muslim descent also pointed out there are some issues on this area as well, so if you are interested in this read for the representation, better check those reviews for clarification.
As I was in this book for the mystery, imagine my disappointment when the so-called "Centre", which should the focal point of the story, gets abandoned by the second half of the book, after the secret of its mysterious process of "total language immersion for 10 days and fluency guaranteed" is found by the protagonist. The Centre itself takes about 1/4 of the book, or even less, and this plot has one too many flaws-holes.
I enjoyed that the main character is very unlikable and unreliable, but nothing more than that. All the drama she brought in did nothing to further the plot, and this personal drama takes up most of the book, unfortunately.
Cannot recommend this one on good faith, sorry !
Flux by Jinwoo Chong
challenging
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5