overhillunderhill's reviews
1135 reviews

Jade City by Fonda Lee
Did not finish book. Stopped at 15%.

I just couldn't vibe with the characters and the style

Book of Night by Holly Black

adventurous dark funny mysterious fast-paced

4.0

This was a fun urban fantasy. Interesting magic concept and a couple of twists at the end that got me. I genuinely thought I had it figured out and then they hit me with 2 more twists.  

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

I didn't really know what to expect. I actually thought vampires. (Minor spoiler, it's not vampires). This story didn't feel like anything else I had read before so I didn't have a solid guess where the end was going. However, Bardugo has landed herself on my instant read list for a reason and I'm glad to have read this one. 

A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown

adventurous emotional inspiring fast-paced

3.5

I really enjoyed it. It was slightly predictable but the characters were interesting enough to make it worth reading. I will read the sequeland complete the series.

The Burning God by R.F. Kuang

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

5.0

I feel like I need to apologize to this book for losing faith. 

Earlier this week I was telling a friend that there was a huge chunk of the middle that I'm not sure had a real purpose. It was a long section with an anticlimactic result. Then, as I approached the end I was saying that the end game of this book was not living up to the promise of the first 2 books in the series and foolishly thought that the end was shaping up to be disappointing. Even as I was getting through the last little bit I was starting to think, "where are we going with this?" 

Seriously, the last chapter and epilogue blew my freaking mind. I did not see that coming and I'm floored. Kuang's art form is literally her end game, where she rips out your heart and then expects you to just live on through it! The bit in the middle that I couldn't see the value of, she cleared it up and drew the threads cleanly together!

Sunbringer by Hannah Kaner

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

5.0

Sunbringer lives up to the glory of Godkiller! The story was rich and complex, realistic people dealing with real life impossible choices. Each character driven by love and pain and all the messy feelings that come with being alive. I only wish that the next book was out now.

Into the Riverlands by Nghi Vo

adventurous challenging emotional funny informative mysterious fast-paced

3.0

I think the series is getting a bit repetitive at this point. I may be done with it for a while. 

Aftermarket Afterlife by Seanan McGuire

adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

5.0

EMOTIONAL DAMAGE!!

Ok, my review of book 12 in the InCryptid series felt a little like getting pieces where we needed them on the board. Not bad just a bit of a filler book. This book made up for it with it's high stakes from page one. McGuire made and excellent choice in following Mary so we can get all the family locations and emotions in real time. I listened to this audiobook while commuting to and from work and I was crying in my car like 4 different times. 

Sad that I have a whole year before another InCryptid novel. Happy, McGuire still writes a lot and I have new books in multiple series from her before the next one comes along.

Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters by Mark Dunn

informative reflective

2.5

It's an interesting concept and probably would have been getting more stars if it was a short story. It felt more like a thought experiment or writing exercise than an actual novel. 

System Collapse by Martha Wells

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

5.0

I continue to love this series. I'm realizing what I love the most is that this is a deep dive character study and while the plots are always interesting and exciting they are not the point of the series. This installment takes a dive into PTSD.