maxgardner's reviews
366 reviews

A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I liked how this one was more action-packed than the last ones; I think Maas does a great job with action sequences, and I felt really invested and anxious as I was reading through them. I loved the first section with Feyre back at the Spring Court—it was really fun watching her scheme and plot. I also loved getting to spend more time with the Velaris family and learn more about them. The only thing that sticks out like a sore thumb to me in hindsight is the weird revelation toward the end of

Mor being bisexual and mostly leaning toward girls

—that came fully out of left field and does not match with the character Maas has developed up until this point. Maybe she didn't initially intend for that and had to sort of work it in the best way she could, but even if that were the case, she did a terrible job setting up for that moment. Hopefully she does a better job exploring that in the future books.

The Light That Blinds Us by Andy Darcy Theo

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful tense fast-paced

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

2.5

The basis for the story is interesting and seems like a winning formula—there's mysterious and suddenly discovered powers, found family, slow-burn romance, a big bad that's obviously evil but also set up to be nuanced and challenge our notions of our protagonist. I did enjoy plenty of things about the book, especially the action sequences and the relationship between the four main characters. However, you can tell this is Andy Darcy Theo's first book, and I really think a few more rounds of edits would have benefitted the story a lot.

First of all, the world building happens way too fast and is often told rather than shown. The main characters hardly react to this world as they learn about it as well, instead immediately agreeing to be cloned (??) so that their alters can go back to live their old lives and they can start training to save the world. There's no buildup, no ebb and flow with the pacing of how the world is shown to us, no mysteries left to wonder about in terms of how things work or why certain things exist. There also are a lot of things that feel included for convenience or just because Theo thought they seemed cool but that removed me from the story because they just don't make sense or are too easy. Each of the four elementals has this giant, inconceivable room with their element in it, which seems cool but is revealed too matter-of-factly, without much wonder, and it left me thinking where the hell did all these resources come from, how did they actually build this place, what are the limitations and full capabilities of all these powers? Add to this the weird cloning thing, the fact that there are hundreds of elemental children but we don't really know like what their powers are or what they're learning here or where their parents are, etc, and it just felt like there was almost too much in the world and it made it feel less real. It kind of felt like when you play a game as a child and your friend keeps adding capabilities to what their powers are that conveniently allow them to tackle any situation and overpower you.

I also found the development of the villains lacking in a way that feeds into this same previous point—it feels more like an idea for a character than a real one. Take the prime antagonist that's living with the elementals initially. The elementals have a cringe-worthy initial interaction where this villain says the most cliche, evil bullshit and Alexis comes up with this extremely cringey one-line zinger where he does a play on the guy's name (I can't even remember it now), and it just felt so contrived. We also have the shadow army or whatever it's called that try to attack them at the end with the caricature-y leader, and I just overall did not believe these characters or feel they were really brought to life. Again, they seem more included for convenience, to create conflict, than they are to be real people. To his credit, I do think he does something interesting with the big bad, and there's potential to really explore that nuance in his motivations.

My final big issue was the timeline—why does the main quest for this book happen in the span of like 1-2 days? And then they act like they've been gone for years. It's just an odd choice that pulls you out of the story when you realize how fast all of this has happened and how quickly they were able to go on these intense missions and recover plus have all of these major developments happen with characters that really should have taken a lot longer.

Ultimately, there is something compelling here, but it feels like it's still in the rough draft stages. I'm not sure I'll read the next one, but I support Theo and hope this is just the beginning of his journey as an author because he's got some really great ideas!

Scythe by Neal Shusterman

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

I really enjoyed this one! It's very easy to read and fast-paced, though I think Neal Shusterman sacrifices some depth as a result of this in regards to the world building and character development. To the first point, the world building is super simplified, which does help with dropping you into the story and making you feel immersed more quickly; however, hundreds of years have passed since mortality was solved, and yet there are certain cultural norms and expressions that have stuck around? I can't think of a specific example off the top of my head, but it essentially felt like Shusterman would make certain things wildly different from the past while keeping other things very similar for the sake of convenience. I also found some of the characters to be a little too simplistic, though I'll give credit to Shusterman for making all of them complex enough in theory. I guess maybe what I'm struggling to convey is that the story sometimes feels like it lacks the meat, the emotional depth, that there was a lot of potential for, especially with such a dark story. But this is a YA book, and Shusterman certainly nailed it in targeting that market and creating a story that feels like it appeals to that. Ultimately, I think he's a solid writer, I liked the characters, and I think the concept is really intriguing. I'll definitely be reading the rest of the series.

And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

challenging dark emotional funny inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.0

This is the first book I've read by Khaled Hosseini, and I get the hype (though I guess his other two aren't in this same style exactly). I'm a big fan of these types of multigenerational stories where the timelines are interwoven and you're seeing people you met in one context during one time period pop up in another. It creates this buildup of tension and anticipation that I just really enjoy while reading, and I get to wonder and speculate about how Hosseini will tie things together and when we might see someone else again. The characters are memorable, and the exploration of the real conflict in Afghanistan is illuminating and heartbreaking.

Minor Detail by Adania Shibli

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.0

Extremely sad but very beautifully written and kept my attention the entire way through. The parallels between the stories are well drawn out by Adania Shibli, and I think she does an excellent job of developing the characters and establishing a natural rhythm with the story progression. The ending is abrupt but packs a punch and leaves you with a lot to think about (and maybe, hopefully, some actions to take, where possible).

Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Xochitl Gonzalez

dark emotional funny inspiring 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

4.0

I really liked the two main characters that Xochitl Gonzalez created for this book and the way she weaves their disparate but similar stories together. It's pretty great that we start with Anita on her final night and then we swap to Raquel's perspective and see her unwittingly following in Anita's footsteps, for better and worse. Gonzalez does an excellent job of exploring the nuances and complexities of the Ivy League art world through the experience of someone who isn't white and wealthy, and she does it without seeming empty or pandering; we see Raquel's struggles to find herself in the work of the artists chosen for the curriculum and by major museums as well as the social dynamics she has to navigate the people of this community. The cast of supporting characters are all well developed and likable (or unlikable in a good and/or necessary way), and the story itself has a nice pace that moves along while also giving room to reflect and engage with the commentary Gonzalez is making. I felt a lot while reading this book in that I was laughing a lot, rolling my eyes at the insanity of the wealthy idiots Raquel was interacting with, huffing with frustration at the bullshit she had to put up with. Gonzalez makes it all feel very real, even as she takes it in a direction that's more magical realist. Overall, I really enjoyed this one.

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense 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

Ok, much much better than the first. Tamlin honestly sucks and Feyre is super annoying, but once something happens that kind of branches Feyre off on her own journey in this one, she becomes much more tolerable and we get introduced to a cast of characters that is wayyy better. I really enjoyed the little found family she comes across in this, and I can see how the series is shaped to continue and why so many people like it now. Sarah J Maas really has a thing with nipple play, though. Anyways, I'm actually looking forward to reading the third.

Recursion by Blake Crouch

adventurous dark funny hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

A fun pop sci-fi book that is exactly what you'd expect of a Blake Crouch novel—fast-paced with a crazy concept and concisely developed characters. I've only read one other by Crouch, but this follows a similar formula of taking the implications of a scientific theory and extrapolating them to a tense thriller. I do remember being a bit underwhelmed by Crouch's writing of the female characters in Dark Matter, but he's made an improvement with Helena. I also found the romance between Barry and Helena much more believable and natural. My only real complaints with the book were I wish it had taken more time to explore the psychological impact on the characters, particularly Helena as she takes on this monumental task of trying to save the world from her own creation and Barry as he processes these alternative timelines with and without a family. But I get that this is not a literary novel, and I'm not sure Crouch is even interested in this more indulgent style of writing—he does take brief moments to touch the surface of emotions, but he opts for cliches (albeit, not badly) more often than not to push the plot along. He's conjured up some really heartwrenching, complex scenarios that provide a lot of opportunity to add color to these characters and explore the human condition, but instead he plows through to keep it a solid thriller. I also think there's a lot of suspension of disbelief in the latter half when the characters start making decisions that don't quite add up or make sense within the context of the established rules and with how smart their characters are. But all in all, if you don't think about it too hard, you'll have fun and also have plenty to think about.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

adventurous funny tense slow-paced

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

2.0

I have a lot of friends who have read this and wanted me to read it, so I gave it a shot on audiobook. I don't love split-genre romance books (as in, I don't mind romance in my stories so long as it isn't one of the primary genres of an already genre book, like romantasy), and this was just a reminder of why for me. When a book is written with romance as the most important element, it almost always changes the writing for the worse (unless it's meant to be a cute romance story based in realism, though even then...sometimes). So much fluff and cringey scenes; most of the interactions between Feyre and Tamlin are in service to their eventual romance, not to their character development or the overarching story of this conflict between the mortal and fairy worlds, which is an unfortunate fumble on the part of Sarah J Maas, who has created an otherwise interesting setup for a fantasy story. In turn, the story is SO BORING. It's Feyre being mad she has to go live in a goddamn mansion instead of in poverty with a family who fucking sucks and doesn't care whether she lives or dies (and who ALSO are taken care of and given a better life). Like boo hoo, sorry, I don't feel bad that you got literally the ideal outcome here, and her emotions about it are so wishy washy, even as she warms up to Tamlin. She's such a petulant, whiney character that I found unbearable and unlikeable in almost every regard, which made it tough to care at all about the story progression. Then you have Tamlin, who's such a flat, one-note character—handsome, smart, kind-hearted, has come to save Feyre and bears the burden of his kingdom. There's also such a weird disconnect at times between the language and the world the story's based in. It feels like Maas wants to set this in the 17th/18th century based on her descriptions of the worlds, but then they use language and interact in ways that feel disjointedly modern at times. Not to mention Maas abusing several phrases repeatedly to the point that I would roll my eyes every time I heard them pop up (why are Feyre's bowels constantly turning to liquid? is she shitting herself this entire book?). The book finally picks up for the last 1/3, and though I found some of that section done well, it was still way too much time dedicated to romance (with ANOTHER man coming in as an obvious future romantic prospect for Feyre on top of the continuing romance with Tamlin). Like give it up, this woman is in captivity living in squalor for three months but I'm supposed to believe the first thing she's going to do when she gets a moment alone with Tamlin finally is to try to fuck him? Be so fucking for real, I don't care of it's "not real". In so many of the places where we get these little forced interjections to build the romance, it's Maas doing the least interesting thing with the story. I don't care that that's the point of romantasy. All of this to say, I did not like it, but I'm reading the second because I've heard it's quite different than the first, and I can at least give that a chance to see if it's an improvement.

Blackouts by Justin Torres

challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad slow-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

4.0

This is a poignant story that kept my attention all the way through. I loved all the blackout poems; it's a beautiful way to reclaim the narratives that were co-opted and maliciously used against the queer people who participated in these studies, and it works really well with the overarching narrative that references the works these poems are created from. The relationship between Juan and Nene is really nice—you can tell Nene looks up to Juan and wants to help him and be with him as he passes, but it's also clear that Nene needs some sense of affirmation and support from Juan as he too begins experiencing deterioration in his mind. Thought provoking, heartbreaking but also funny, I just really liked what Justin Torres did here.