minilibrary's reviews
87 reviews

Authority by Jeff VanderMeer

2.0

Being honest, I didn't like this one as much as I did Annihilation. Not by a long shot. Did I enjoy the book? Yes. Would I read this one again? Probably not? I do like that it talked about the inner workings of the Southern Reach, but I also don't really feel like it was necessary. Like, I'm not entirely sure what the purpose of this novel was as far as adding to the world building and overall plot goes.

Spoiler

Although once the Director came back, then I found myself being intrigued. But I think I may just be more interested in Area X than the workings of the people trying to contain it.

Merrick by Anne Rice

2.0

Overall a good book, I'm fond of how Anne Rice writes, though I would've preferred the focus to be more on the vampires and the ghost of Claudia as the summary had said. Instead, 3/4 of the book was about Merrick's past up until the present moment.

Everville by Clive Barker

2.0

It was a decent book. It had a lot of good visuals and I did enjoy the characters, the storyline itself? Kind of strange and confusing, and it felt like nothing really came of anything in the end.

Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones

3.0

It was a cute book and a nice read filled with some good whimsy and fun, though I much prefer the first book so far! Wish it had more Sophie and Howl shenanigans.

The Ritual by Adam L.G. Nevill

adventurous challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

0.25

I wanted to read this book because I loved the movie, and I figured since it was a book first that in all likelihood, it would probably be better than the movie, but... it wasn't. Not for me. Started out with high hopes, but a lot of it was the group just being scared as they progressed further and further into the forest not knowing what was hunting them. A lot of it felt repetitive and I don't think the book needed to be as long as it was (not that it was a very long book, but it felt long). Needless to say, I will be sticking to the movie.

The Gentleman's Guide to Getting Lucky by Mackenzi Lee

4.0

Super cute little book! I'm happy that this one went a little more into the trauma and self-loathing that I wanted in the first book. Monty and Percy are so cute together. Lots of funny moments in this one too, very cute, very gay.

What If It's Us by Adam Silvera, Becky Albertalli

3.0

It was a pretty cute teen romance story that deals with learning how to live with past relationships, new ones, and rebuilding ones that were lost. There was the average teenage drama and stupid boys being stupid boys, but it's a pretty light story. I didn't get as invested as I hoped and then when I was starting to get invested, it was over, and the ending... while it wasn't bad, was not what I wanted. I get where the story wanted to go with it though, but I just really wanted something different.

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

4.0

This was a very cute book! The beginning was a little slow for me to get into which is the only reason it's not getting a full 5 stars (Also being perfectly honest, I didn't care for the political parts). But man, once it gets going? So good! I love the sweet quiet moments when Alex and Henry are together, it feels so sweet and genuine. I think it's a great coming of age/coming into your own story. Standing up for what you believe in and fighting for the life you want and your happiness.

Dark Rise by C.S. Pacat

3.0

My true rating for this book is 2 stars for the first half and 4 stars for the second half, so I'm compromising. I picked up this book excitedly because I loved Captive Prince and I figured this would be along the same line... Unfortunately, it wasn't really. The first half of the book felt incredibly slow and uninteresting, and if I have to read the sentence "my mother's old servant Matthew" one more time (which I did have to by the end of the book by the way), I will lose my mind. I think part of me expected it to have the same or similar tone as Captive Prince, but it doesn't.

That being said an interesting world of normal reality and magic was being created and I was curious enough, that, and I read the book had a good plot twist and I really wanted to know what it was (it was a really good plot twist, which if you aren't paying attention, I could definitely see overlooking). Spoiler time

Spoiler

once the Steward hall was attacked by Marcus' shadow, which I am sad we didn't get to read about him turning, I think that would be super interesting, but anyway, once the hall was attacked, that's when the book really felt like it was starting to go somewhere. But when they were talking more about the Corrupted Blade and how it reacts to the Dark King's blood and how Will was able to use his powers on it I was like HOLD UP. And Will fighting against the remnants?? Awesome. Honestly the whole plot twist was worth reading it to the end.

Side note: I didn't care for Katherine so it didn't bother me that she ended up dead, but her sister is sassy, I like her.

Very curious as to where book 2 will go, that being said, this time I will not be buying it new.

Fool Moon by Jim Butcher

3.0

I gotta say, this one was definitely not as good as the first. I didn't find it to be a page turner and needing to know what happened next. I still enjoyed it, Dresden's humor is right up my alley and I'm curious to find out about his history since his parents seem to be shrouded in mystery. Looking forward to reading the next one regardless!