marie_thereadingotter's reviews
1289 reviews

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, Vol. 8 by Kanehito Yamada, Tsukasa Abe

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.75

I really love this series. Fren is so cute when she gets possessive of Frieren. 

Dandadan, Vol. 3 by Yukinobu Tatsu

adventurous funny sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This volume covered one of the saddest arcs and one of the funniest. 
I got all choked up with tears again when I read the backstory for Acrobatic Selkie. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping

Moderate: Sexual violence

Minor: Sexual content

Warriors by Kathryn Moon

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I liked this one slightly less than the first. I still love the characters, I just didn't care for the plot of this one as much. I loved that we got to see more of the world and some of the politics of that world were fleshed out more in this book. 
I was disappointed when I discovered that this isn't as queer normative as I had first thought, but overall that's a really small thing. 
I am excited to learn more about Joanna's magic. 
Side note, Bryce is my favorite side character, I want to learn more about them, and I think it would be really cool to get a spin-off about how they found their coven.

The Disappearance of Winter's Daughter by Michael J. Sullivan

adventurous emotional funny tense medium-paced

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

4.0

 

This series is so fun, while not required reading for the rest of the world, they offer some great insight to how Royce and Hadrian became the close friends they are at the start of Theft of Swords.Their dynamic is so funny and heartwarming. Royce and Hadrian are each other's Unicorn, it's great seeing how close they've gotten in such a short time. This book is full of Easter-Eggs and hints for the main Ryria series, and a little bit for the Rise and Fall series, but it's subtle.  

This book also forced Royce to confront his own heritage more than he's had to before, making him question the prejudices  he's held most of his life. While I think it wouldn't been comforting in a way to Mercator had Royce mentioned something about his heritage, I understand why he hadn't. At this point Royce is still coming to terms with it.

The overall plot of this book doesn't seem to have any effect on what happens in the main series. This is the most side-quest of Ryria Chronicles and it focuses more on Royce and Hadrian than other characters, which I like. I didn't feel any weight of importance with the other characters in this book. Perhaps this book is all about Royce learning to trust Hadrian more, and learning about who he was before they met. 

I do wish Gwen had been in this book more. We get so little of her in the main series, and I know The Crown Tower and The Rose and Throne feature her quite a bit, but she's a favorite character and I want to read more of her. 

Those Not-So-Sweet Boys Vol. 7 by Yoko Nogiri

lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.25

I love these characters. I wish there were more volumes so more time could be spent fleshing out some of the minor story lines. 

Those Not-So-Sweet Boys, Vol. 6 by Yoko Nogiri

funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

Those Not-So-Sweet Boys, Vol. 5 by Yoko Nogiri

funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

Those Not-So-Sweet Boys, Vol. 4 by Yoko Nogiri

funny lighthearted

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

4.0

The Gods Time Forgot by Kelsie Sheridan Gonzalez
Did not finish book. Stopped at 35%.

I am so bored. This book promises "old gods" and "forbidden romance with good banter" and I'm getting neither. There isn't enough about old pagan gods or whatever, and I don't care about the romance and I don't think their banter is cute. 

The cover and the title caught my attention, and the synopsis promised something that it didn't deliver on.

I don't feel like the author did a lot of research on Ireland before writing this book. Particularly with Ireland in the 1870s. Or 1870's New York for that matter. For supposedly being set in the Gilded Age, it was very lackluster.

Those Not-So-Sweet Boys, Vol. 3 by Yoko Nogiri

emotional lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.0