ninaprime's reviews
2430 reviews

A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher

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dark hopeful mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes

3.0

A middling entry compared to Kingfisher's other works. While I liked the characters, particularly the Golden Girls-esque friendship of Hester, Imogene, and Penelope and the classic butler energy of Willard, I didn't love them. The story dragged quite a bit in the middle as everyone worried about Doom, and the ending felt slightly anti-climactic. I wish we got more backstory on Evangeline and Falada - as villains, they were horrible but one-note - as well as the magical systems at play in this world. Certain elements reminded me of 'Carrie' or a darker 'Ella Enchanted', both books I enjoyed, so I wasn't disappointed in the story as much as not as enthralled as I would've wished to be.
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Bliss Montage by Ling Ma

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mysterious reflective

3.5

A uncanny, surreal collection of short stories featuring mainly Chinese American women protagonists who are grappling internally with their self-conception and ennui while confronting their relationships with people, places, and memory. Pretty much every story ended abruptly with me feeling like "wtf just happened?" and "what happens next?", which shows that I was invested despite their inherent creepiness. My favorite was "G" about two estranged frenemies taking a drug that renders you invisible and "Yeti Lovemaking", a weird but tender account of a one-night stand with a yeti. "Office Hours", featuring a mentor-mentee relationship at a university and a Narnia-esque escape hatch from the boredom and frustrations of academia, was my least favorite, mostly because I didn't engage with it as emotionally. Overall I loved Ma's writing style and look forward to reading her other works.
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The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji

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mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No

4.0

A clever Japanese mystery inspired by Agatha Christie's 'And Then There Were None.' The characters were slightly pretentious uni students in a mystery club, and their author-inspired nicknames confused me at first. Once I got into it, I thought the writing and twists were quite clever, especially with the chapters switching off between the mainland investigation and the incidents on the island. I found Shimada - a random stranger (and monk?) - investigating the case a bit weird and thought for most of the story that he had done it, but the reveal that
Morisu did it in revenge for the alcohol poisoning death of Chiori/his girlfriend by the club members
was poignant.
A Holiday by Gaslight by Mimi Matthews

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lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

3.75

A cute holiday historical romance with Sense & Sensibility vibes and a main couple who I could root for. I wish there was a little more to the plot and a little less contrived miscommunication though.
The Turnaway Study: Ten Years, a Thousand Women, and the Consequences of Having—Or Being Denied—An Abortion by Diana Greene Foster

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informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

Clearly defined results of a data-driven, scientifically sound study about women's access to abortion on America, which finds that abortion is an essential component of family planning and outcomes are almost always better if a woman can get a needed abortion. Findings that particularly struck me were that women who are denied abortions often get mired in poverty or in abusive relationships due to keeping a baby, and that very few women overall go to adoption if they are denied an abortion. One of my favorite parts of this book was that in addition to facts, Greene Foster also intersperses women's stories in their own voices, which gives a personal accounting of abortion decisions and humanizes a polarized issue.
Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert

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challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? No

3.0

Painfully challenging to get through in parts. Herbert's incisive perspective on religious mania and state-building wasn't sufficient to keep me engaged, especially as the characters made mind-boggling decisions. Alia and Chani were particularly cringey in personality and dialogue, which was sad because Lady Jessica was a standout in Dune so I'm not sure how he worsened at writing women. And he threw in so many concepts that weren't well-explained, which made it a more frustrating read.
The Matrimonial Advertisement by Mimi Matthews

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes

3.5

Matthews hooked me into Justin and Helena's story from the first chapter, and I was really rooting for them as a couple who had been through so much horror and deserved better. Conflicted feelings about how the incidents in India were portrayed - on one hand, brutality on both sides was acknowledged, but on the other it wasn't an outright refutation of colonialism. In general, I do think much of the book was period authentic and the characters and their development felt real.
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Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord by Celeste Connally

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dark lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

3.25

A cozy mystery plus Regency romance. The spinster protagonist is slightly naive, very headstrong, but generally clever and fun. I also enjoyed the side characters, particularly a young dog trainer, an imperious lady of the Ton, and an eager young urchin. The mystery gets surprisingly dark with a creepy main villain but is apt for the time. Both the worldbuilding and the cliffhanger ending (which did not surprise me) really set up the series well.
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The Winter Knight by Jes Battis

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

2.5

Battis created a very cool premise by modernizing Arthurian legends into a Toronto university campus but the execution was lacking for me. The world-building was muddled by bringing in other legends (Valkyries, fates) and never really giving a clear explanation for how the myth cycles worked, despite repeat attempts. The plot meandered, with the central mystery put on the backburner for quite awhile to focus on the romantic entanglements. There is great representation with autistic, trans, and queer protagonists but it was frustrating when Battis dropped exposition about their backstory into pivotal moments. For example, when one character starts reminiscing about exploring her cultural heritage with her dad during the confrontation with the big bad. I wanted to love this but couldn't.
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A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them by Timothy Egan

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dark informative sad fast-paced

4.0

Horrifying but essential book about the insidious grasp the KKK had over government and society in 1920s Indiana. The parallels to today are wildly unsettling, with the rise of hate groups like the Proud Boys, the pardoning of violent crimes, the fact that some people appear to be above the law and get away with sexual assault and grift. The KKK thrived because millions of white Protestant Americans were angry and fearful of immigrants and other minorities, believed in the words of charlatans, and wanted to join a meaningful community of the likeminded. 

Egan has managed to make this a propulsive narrative, even though it is lengthy. It is easy to read in one sense, but also difficult to hear about the more sadistic elements.  I never realized how widespread and almost commonplace the KKK was so Egan's book was a revelation regarding their reach and power. It took numerous people - newspaper editors, Catholic priests, resolute prosecutors, and of course women like Madge Oberholtzer - to finally get enact some justice on Grand Dragon D.C. Stephenson. But really it was also the KKK leaders' own greed and confidence in their superiority that caused them to overreach and people's eventual shame at being fooled (not necessarily because they became anti-racist) for the organization to fall apart. Despite some measure of closure and hope, it is probably too close to home for some people given the weight of everything happening now, which is really a reason both for and against reading it.
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