onespaceymother's reviews
911 reviews

A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan

adventurous emotional funny relaxing medium-paced

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

4.0

This was charming! I thought we’d get more individual stories from the set up but I see that was setting up the series. I got, truth be told, a little bored or distracted here and there but I suspect that might’ve had more to do with me than an issue with the writing.

Scythe by Neal Shusterman

dark

4.0

My son is very into these books and wanted me to read with him. Very dark but super interesting premise. I also love all the details with
their names in the different regions.

Obsidio by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff

adventurous dark emotional hopeful fast-paced

5.0

Nothing beats the first one but I loved this trilogy.

The Hedgewitch of Foxhall by Anna Bright
Did not finish book. Stopped at 16%.

This was fine, but overly fussy and I just couldn’t get myself to pick it up enough for the library check out expired.

When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

Barnhill is a master. This was my first adult fiction of hers, and it was truly moving. The metaphor, the sorrow, the joy - the feminine experience was all there. 

Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

4.75

So many one-liners in here that made me bark out loud in laughter and well-up with tears. This is just a lovely little fantasy tale. It reminded me a lot in tone of Discworld and Terry Pratchett novels. It was clever, sentimental, oh so charming.

The Cloisters by Katy Hays

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

4.5

This had so much going for it and overall, I very much enjoyed it. From the occult tarot perspective, working in New York museums, to the affairs and the drama: it was all very alluring. It’s a very slow burn and while technically a thriller it didn’t have a ton of very high suspense moments - just puzzle pieces clicking together. I did actually find one of the twists at the end surprising, but it truly fit the story and the narrative as we’d been presented it. So in that way, it was tightly crafted. It was, however, a little slow and dry.

Gemina by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff

adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense

4.5

More of the good stuff: tension, violence, fantastical plot, banter, and romance.

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I listened to this as an audiobook, which I was pretty, unsure about given that it’s written as a dossier of collected documents, however, I think it really added to the experience. This was incredibly unique and engaging. As much as I’m sort of done with stories that have 18-year-olds as the focal point, this worked. It’s definitely character driven science fiction rather than tech and science driven - but generally, that is still my preference within the genre. I was also sort of surprised to notice halfway through that it’s technically classified as young adult. I suppose it’s no more traumatic and violent than say Divergent or The Hunger Games. I would just be thoughtful to be clear - this is not a middle grade book so much as a late middle school to high school book.

The Naturalist Society by Carrie Vaughn

adventurous emotional hopeful

5.0

This didn’t go where I expected but I was extremely charmed by it and by every character. I also learned a lot about birds.