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magnoliabloomfield's reviews
54 reviews
Six Impossible Things by Fiona Wood
3.0
Maybe the writing seemed short and clipped because it was from the mind of a boy, but it didn’t quite have a good flow. The love interest was annoying as heck and I hoped the whole time he’d end up with the secondary female character. There weren’t many highs or lows to the plot and the climax was barely noticeable. Plus, we never find out if the dog is ok.
Lockdown by Alexander Gordon Smith
4.0
I am definitely intrigued by this book, so much so that I just ordered the rest of the series on Thrift Books. Admittedly, I would have liked to know more about the world Alex lived in before we entered the world of Furnace. It seems crime filled but excessively so without much explanation as to why. Some characters are hard to make emotional connections with except for a few, Donovan and Monty being the ones my heart went out to. However, we are skillfully misdirected from the really interesting things by the focus being on the escape, but that makes some things all the more compelling. What goes on in the vault? “Don’t forget your name.” WHAT?! maybe it’s because the pandemic has numbed me somewhat, but, while I don’t feel a driving force of “I LOVE IT! I NEED ANSWERS!” I still wouldn’t mind getting answers. It didn’t scare me much as it was just detached enough from reality to really spook me, like an alternate universe type thing where things are obviously off right off the bat and not hiding beneath a veneer of normalcy that’s slowly chipped away to expose the horror you never expected. The Black Suits just reminded me of the villainous business man’s avatar in the movie Ready Player One and maybe that’s what skewed it just left of reality for me.
But for another thing, aside from “tall” or “well built” or a thin blond mustache” we don’t really get a description of what these boys look like. Maybe that’s why it was hard to connect with them, they were hard to picture. I mentally cast one of my favorite actors as Donovan only to find out later he had dark skin but by then it was too late. The rest, I have no idea what they look like, I don’t even know what I picture them as, I read a whole book without imagining them as being anyone visibly.
But for another thing, aside from “tall” or “well built” or a thin blond mustache” we don’t really get a description of what these boys look like. Maybe that’s why it was hard to connect with them, they were hard to picture. I mentally cast one of my favorite actors as Donovan only to find out later he had dark skin but by then it was too late. The rest, I have no idea what they look like, I don’t even know what I picture them as, I read a whole book without imagining them as being anyone visibly.
Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young
3.0
It’s a good story, a familiar one that won’t shock you with any hard twists, but sometimes we want a story like that.
I hate to say it’s bad, it’s not, but there were things that could have been better.
1) I wish the foreign words had been romanized so I’d have a clue what they sound like.
2) I wish we had more context as to what exactly a “dyr” is, my keyboard doesn’t even have the right Y to spell it with.
3) the enemies to lovers trope was just a bit lacking in emotional connection for me. I didn’t mind them getting together, but I wasn’t invested in it like I could have been if more events/experiences and emotional connections were made between the characters.
I hate to say it’s bad, it’s not, but there were things that could have been better.
1) I wish the foreign words had been romanized so I’d have a clue what they sound like.
2) I wish we had more context as to what exactly a “dyr” is, my keyboard doesn’t even have the right Y to spell it with.
3) the enemies to lovers trope was just a bit lacking in emotional connection for me. I didn’t mind them getting together, but I wasn’t invested in it like I could have been if more events/experiences and emotional connections were made between the characters.
Death Sentence by Alexander Gordon Smith
4.0
Thrilling new information is revealed, renewing your sense of interest and intrigue. While the beginning has a part that drags on a little bit it’s worth going through.
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
4.0
I turn 30 this month so maybe it’s just because I’m older I didn’t get all the wonders of it like a 12 year old would, but it’s still really good. There’s risk and danger but I’m thankful for no major character death, that gets to me these days. It did what I wanted, a light good read.
Will by Maria Boyd
3.0
It was a good story, my rating is simply for the fact that there was no quotation marks for the dialogue, it was just in bold and it drove me bonkers.
Zero Repeat Forever by G.S. Prendergast
4.0
I gave this four stars because it is well written and I get that a lot of people would like it, I haven’t read something like this before and I recognize that it’s good.
The concept is really cool, there’s some really great lines, and plenty of diversity. I can tell how and why it appeals to people.
I wouldn’t discourage anyone from reading it, but just for personal reasons it wasn’t quite my cup of tea.
I made friends with the author on TikTok and she’s super cool and nice! So I feel like a big jerk for not loving her book, but we all like different things right? I’m not saying it’s bad, it’s not that at all, it’s like how I can recognize Henry Cavill is an attractive man without myself being attracted to him. Hopefully that makes sense.
To understand where my personal opinions come from I’ll say I’m an INFP, and type 4w5 enneagram type, a Demi sexual and an empath and a very sheltered person, so I had a hard time relating to the main character, but I know plenty of people will relate to her so this is good for them.
The writing style reminded me of M Night Shyamalan dialogue, a bit short and clipped, and for the first few chapters it’s a bit like someone writing a daily journal when they’re forced to write a daily journal, but it starts to warm up and flow a little better as it went on.
I had a hard time visualizing some of the secondary characters so I’d often forget who was who when they’d reappear later. I know it’s just a matter of style, I would have liked a little more visual description.
Maybe it’s just because real life has been rough on me lately and making me more numb, but I didn’t feel an emotional connection to anyone, the writing style did a good job of showing not telling, but I would have liked it a little better if the writing had pulled at my heartstrings by telling more in an emotional way instead of a more almost clinical way where you’re like “ok, this is what they’re feeling” instead of feeling it yourself.
It focuses down on the two characters and you don’t get to know too much about the invasion or condition of the rest of the world during the story kind of like in Cloverfield, which left me kind of curious and finding some parts kind of slow. But that’s still quite an original approach which lends to you feeling like you’re in it, like dang if this actually happened this is really all I would know about it. So that’s actually cool even if it leaves you a little irritated that you didn’t figure out more about things, because that’s probably how you’d feel in that situation too.
I’m trying my best to avoid spoilers, and I don’t believe this will spoil the plot, but I’ll give you fair warning and a bit of distance.
*********************
Small spoiler warning
*********************
While we know the girl is a minor, we don’t know how old eighth is before it is implied that he has a dream about her that is, shall I say arousing? It’s not detailed but it is implied and it made me uncomfortable.
The concept is really cool, there’s some really great lines, and plenty of diversity. I can tell how and why it appeals to people.
I wouldn’t discourage anyone from reading it, but just for personal reasons it wasn’t quite my cup of tea.
I made friends with the author on TikTok and she’s super cool and nice! So I feel like a big jerk for not loving her book, but we all like different things right? I’m not saying it’s bad, it’s not that at all, it’s like how I can recognize Henry Cavill is an attractive man without myself being attracted to him. Hopefully that makes sense.
To understand where my personal opinions come from I’ll say I’m an INFP, and type 4w5 enneagram type, a Demi sexual and an empath and a very sheltered person, so I had a hard time relating to the main character, but I know plenty of people will relate to her so this is good for them.
The writing style reminded me of M Night Shyamalan dialogue, a bit short and clipped, and for the first few chapters it’s a bit like someone writing a daily journal when they’re forced to write a daily journal, but it starts to warm up and flow a little better as it went on.
I had a hard time visualizing some of the secondary characters so I’d often forget who was who when they’d reappear later. I know it’s just a matter of style, I would have liked a little more visual description.
Maybe it’s just because real life has been rough on me lately and making me more numb, but I didn’t feel an emotional connection to anyone, the writing style did a good job of showing not telling, but I would have liked it a little better if the writing had pulled at my heartstrings by telling more in an emotional way instead of a more almost clinical way where you’re like “ok, this is what they’re feeling” instead of feeling it yourself.
It focuses down on the two characters and you don’t get to know too much about the invasion or condition of the rest of the world during the story kind of like in Cloverfield, which left me kind of curious and finding some parts kind of slow. But that’s still quite an original approach which lends to you feeling like you’re in it, like dang if this actually happened this is really all I would know about it. So that’s actually cool even if it leaves you a little irritated that you didn’t figure out more about things, because that’s probably how you’d feel in that situation too.
I’m trying my best to avoid spoilers, and I don’t believe this will spoil the plot, but I’ll give you fair warning and a bit of distance.
*********************
Small spoiler warning
*********************
While we know the girl is a minor, we don’t know how old eighth is before it is implied that he has a dream about her that is, shall I say arousing? It’s not detailed but it is implied and it made me uncomfortable.