myhomextheroad's reviews
275 reviews

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

dark emotional sad tense fast-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

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

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? Yes

4.0

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

dark tense fast-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

5.0

look, if you haven't read it yet, you gotta. It's a classic for a reason, and it holds up so well. The thriller plot, Katniss's emotional arc, the attention to fashion and what it represents, it's all so good

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

dark sad tense fast-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

5.0

I'm doing so great after reading this I'm having totally average feelings

Paladin's Strength by T. Kingfisher

funny lighthearted 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

5.0

A warm hug of a book, plus some shambling necromantic horrors. Would recommend for any Terry Pratchett fans who also love a good romance & a little spice.

On Tyranny Graphic Edition: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder

challenging informative reflective fast-paced

4.75

An excellent read for the current times. Snyder does a great job of not sugarcoating the means by which authoritarians come to power, and how the lessons we can learn from fascist & Communist regimes of the 20th century apply today. Simultaneously, he doesn't go in for fearmongering, either—and the commitment to identifying ways we can all resist authoritarian cultures and structures makes this a heartening read. Strongly recommend if you're tired of doomscrolling but still want to read something about what we can do.

Also, the added graphic elements contributed a lot to the essays. I've taken off .25 of a star because of some formatting issues with the library edition I was reading, but I'd like to track down a physical copy to see if the same issues are resolved in print.

The Honey Witch by Sydney J. Shields

lighthearted fast-paced

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

2.0

I loved the premise of this book, and the set-up showed a lot of potential. I appreciated that the magic system had Ash and Honey witches as opposites in a "keep the balance between death and rebirth" kind of way, but I felt like more could have been done with it. I was most disappointed, however, by the lack of any engagement with ace or aromantic experiences—or even just taking seriously the idea that sex doesn't equal love. Instead, I was left with the feeling that this is a world where not having a monogamous romantic partner with whom you can have a house and children is a great personal tragedy, and that jarred very harshly against the on-the-surface queernormative worldbuilding. I was also quite disappointed by the climax, which built very quickly towards an epic fantasy showdown when the scale of the book had, so far, dealt with the challenges of adjusting to a new town & trying to win over a prickly friend-of-a-friend. There were also a few scenes where the level of violence described was far more visceral than I expected from a cozy fantasy, and it took me off guard in a way it wouldn't in another genre.

There were things that I enjoyed about this book: it was an easy read & compelling. But I think that the premise had a lot of room for complex characters and themes—while still being cozy and gently—which unfortunately went un- or under explored.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Violence, Abortion

The Pale Queen by Ethan M. Aldridge

adventurous hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.5

Stunning watercolor art, a sweet romance, and tricksy Fair Folk—what's not to love?

Metal from Heaven by August Clarke

challenging hopeful sad

• 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

4.75

This book fucking slapped. The end credits list Disco Elysium as an influence, and if you like that, I think you'll like this. The prose is vivid and slippery and poetry. The rhythm of it gets stuck in my head. I do think your reception of this book will be influenced by your opinions of communism. (My own opinions on the matter are complicated, but like, I can use my suspension of disbelief to deal with good monarchs in fantasy fiction, and I think that this book does what it does very successful. It's thematically interested in a more anarchistic kind of communism than Stalinism, so I'm not going to expect it to give a long treatise on a fantasy analogue to the USSR. Though the political machinations in this book & the way it gets into the nuances of reform v revolution v collaboration are really interesting.)

Anyway—this is a book which achieves what it sets out to do. The characters are vibrant and brilliant. I am in love with the Fingerbluffs and the culture & ecology of the world, which avoids the neat fantasy counterparts for contemporary nations. It's unlike anything else I've read, and I love it for that.