marslotus's reviews
24 reviews

Critical Role: The Mighty Nein — The Nine Eyes of Lucien by Madeleine Roux

adventurous dark emotional tense slow-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, and Blood

Fantasticland by Mike Bockoven

dark informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

This is a very interesting book that I heavily enjoyed, my only main problem being the open-endedness of the end. Instead of feeling like a reflective story on society, the quick ending leaves a few too many questions in my head to be able to ponder the meaning. Rather, I'm wondering things like "What was the point of the Warthogs," or "Why did the interviewer give a handful of names at the beginning with no mention of them again in the novel?" Maybe that's the point, but it was heavy enough on my mind to mention. I truly could not put this book down and had a great time reading it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence, Blood, and Mass/school shootings

Minor: Bullying, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

While I will admit this was a page-turner of a book, the writing styles of Monique's perspective versus Eveyin's never felt harmonial to me. That is to say I found myself drawn in when reading about Evelyn and unintentionally annoyed at Monique's character (until the ending of course).

She's introduced as honest and forthcoming, but is often presumptuous when speaking to Evelyn. It almost feels like two different people wrote the book, as I felt talked down to when explained bisexuality and LGBTQ+ issues by Monique's perspective. I would expect this from a teen novel, not from this story.

But I can't deny my eyes watering at least twice near the end of the book. This is a good story, maybe my personal preference is just getting in the way of fuly enjoying that. I didn't feel it had a strong start, but I'm glad it got better the farther along I read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Outing, and Alcohol

Minor: Child abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, and Pregnancy

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
Did not finish book. Stopped at 79%.

I forgot to pick it back up and my 1-month audible trial ran out 🥴

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Death of parent