overhillunderhill's reviews
1136 reviews

Sacred Hospitality by Olivie Blake

fast-paced

4.0

The bits with Libby and Nico had me near to wetting myself laughing. The rest was just interesting dips into the characters we know well.

The Atlas Paradox by Olivie Blake

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

 This series continues to be deeply engaging. In book one I walked away thinking the six were terrible people. This time I walked away thinking that these people are deeply complex and real. Blake can write characters like a boss: layered, motivated, and fully fleshed out. I mean, I started liking Callum by the end of this book.

I also think Blake must me brilliant. The concepts of from physics to philosophy are deep and complex. This series is a feast for your brain. I look forward to diving into the last book in the trilogy. 

Siren Queen by Nghi Vo

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring fast-paced

5.0

This was surprisingly brilliant. I don't remember what inspired me originally to purchase this book or why I thought it sounded interesting. I had vague memories of it being about the golden age of Hollywood from the perspective of an Asian actress with a sprinkling of fantasy. I don't know what i was specifically expecting but this blew my expectations out of the water. It's genius. I love stories of the fae and this is one of the most unique takes on a modern idea of how the fae would involve themselves in the modern (or semi-modern) world. 

The Lies of the Ajungo by Moses Ose Utomi

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

5.0

 This book sounded interesting when I started it but I did not quite no what I expected. This was an intense 84 pages of reading. It's a one sitting book as too much happens to put it down. I cannot say much without spoiling this book. I'm floored by the depth. 

Godkiller by Hannah Kaner

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

5.0

I was worried that this wouldn't live up to the hype or the pretty cover. I did not need to be, this book was brilliant. The world was rich and thought out and the characters were interesting and complex. One of my favorite tropes was employed, which is one honest conversation could help everyone out, but all the characters had very legitimate reasons to keep their secrets. 

I heard this book gave Witcher vibes, it does. Not in a rip off way but in a complicated fantasy world with a grumpy badass reluctantly becoming a child protector. In the same way it also gives Last of Us or Mandalorian vibes! This is another trope I adore.

I'm now painfully excited for the next book, which is still a few months away!

The Diviners by Libba Bray

adventurous dark emotional funny informative mysterious tense fast-paced

4.0

My only major gripe with this book was the "Naugthy John" rhyme/song. I found it really uninspired. There is a history of nursery rhymes based on dark stuff and it would have been better for the book as a whole to come up with something better and a bit more eerie to set the tone. 

My only other complaint is a small one. I prefer 1st books in a series to feel a little more tied up and a little less like you're required to read the sequels. This is a minor complaint because I liked all the characters, even the smaller parts, well enough to dive in to the rest of the series, but there are so many questions left unanswered that it feels almost like required reading. 

I was surprised as I was informed this book was a cozy read and while not actually scary, I do feel like it stepped over the line from cozy to creepy. Not to dissuade anyone from reading, as again, it's far from horror, but we are dealing with ghosts and serial killers and getting fairly detailed descriptions. 

In the high praise zone, I really liked that they didn't sugar coat the era, which is a common complaint I have with cozy literature. I get that we all sometimes like reading stuff that doesn't show the darker side of the world, but if you're going to go dark with murder, you need to show the whole nasty world. This shows the disparity of  race and poverty in the 20's. I also appreciated that they talked about the silent generation the way they did. Pointing out the loss of faith in the world after WWI and how many of those matters are still things we're fighting over now. 

Drama by Raina Telgemeier

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

3.5

Solidly cute!

Heartstopper Volume 5 by Alice Oseman

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

4.0

This series continues to be a heartwarming adventure through growing up. 

Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad fast-paced

5.0

I continue to adore this series. This feels like a McGuire traditional moment where enough pieces have gotten where they need to be on the board that she can start taking off on the bigger plot points that over arch the whole series. It also felt like the culmination of several lessons that all the characters needed to learn and to share among themselves. While I love the individual books about one specific world, I will always love the books set back at the school and have the children breaking the no quests rule. The only downside is that it's a full year before I get the next installment.

The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

For a decent portion of this book I was thinking it was a very typical book 2 in a trilogy. Good book, a little more predictable than the others. A few seeds of twists to come but little of it's own surprises. Then the back quarter of the book just exploded. I was taken through unexpected turns (and giant heart break).  Kuang did not fall victim to book 2 malaise. I would like to point out that at the absolute lowest I was thinking 4.5 stars and not 5.