mxjester's reviews
21 reviews

The Last White Man by Mohsin Hamid

emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

3.0

Battle Royal by Ralph Ellison

dark emotional reflective fast-paced

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

3.5

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

3.75

I don't like classics and this book really suffers from it, but a lot of what it does and a lot of what it started makes it more or less worthwhile.

Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion

The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

4.0

Every Day by David Levithan

3.0

Animal Farm by George Orwell

4.0

The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie

4.0

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

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

0.25

Such a big emotional scene relies on the single stupidest decision that I've read in the longest time. It's a pivot for characters, the story and moves it forward and gives our protagonists a renewed vigour but it could've REALLY used better... everything; this isn't even a single scene however, a few chapters is dedicated to something that would make readers tear their hair out, definitely did for me.

 I like the themes and message of the book but holy Jesus Christ's brown cakes, this arc could've been done significantly better, feels like padding, is unnecessary and makes the characters feel unbelievably stupid, and 
naïve to the possibility given how the book starts. 

The characters were far too reliant on tropes that we've seen countless times, they barely feel fresh, other than some mild spins on the formula. 

The romance, dear god, the romance. It's done... terribly. You KNOW they are going to fuck right out the gate, and it happens SO FAST. THE MAN JUST BURNED YOUR WHOLE VILLAGE TO A CRISP, HE MAY FEEL BA. D BUT... WOW. Zélie genuinely made me want to throw my kindle at the wall but it's new so I refrained from doing so. 

I love the message, as I've said but it's done very bluntly, which isn't as bad as it sounds. You could read this book and I can say that you'll probably have an enjoyable time, but skipping it means missing absolutely nothing worth the page count.

This book essentially told me that YA is something that I probably never want to pick up again.