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pages_with_panda's reviews
165 reviews
Warrior Of Hearts by Beau Van Dalen
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I almost didn't finish this book. The writing was so awkward, with very little descriptions of anything, and just very loosely strung together situations that were so thrown together I felt lost about why anything was happening.
I honestly thought this was a webtoon or something turned into a novel with how things seemed to just happen to suddenly, but it turns out it's the opposite. The novel is being turned into a comic.
Anyways, we start the story with Alex, who is an artist for a video game and also a moderator for the game's forum. One night while online, he meets a user named Spicy who needs help at a party and instead of calling the police...This user logged into the forum and asked the moderator for help...?
Ignoring their initial conversation, the following conversations in their little chatrooms weren't all that bad. I could ignore the bad writing as someone who grew up online and did have strong friendships with people online myself.
But there were some major potholes where I genuinely didn't understand how things happened because we're given little to no description of anything.
For example, Spicy accidentally enters a public chat(?) calling for Alex (known online as Cloud) to spank him, and somehow Alex's IRL friend happened to be in that exact chatroom at that exact time and knew that Spicy was talking about her friend...? Like for some reason everyone uses this particular chatroom all the time and knows everyone else within the chat space? And there's only one user named Cloud online apparently?
There's also a big gaming convention that Spicy is excited to go to because he can meet his favorite artist, and while it's a huge deal to both characters, we skip over it entirely?
In fact, there's so many important pieces that we skip over that characters drop into the story later on....For example:
We don't find out until Chapter 27 that Alex was presenting as a super feminine person by wearing frills, skirts, and is also wearing a wig? There was no mention of any of that before hand and is only brought up by another character asking why Alex changed his style so suddenly. Near the end of the book.
The characters didn't really seem to have any chemistry with each other either. It seemed like they just fell for the first person who gave them any bit of positive attention and beyond that their relationship seemed so shallow. We're also left hanging about Alex's job at the end, if he continues to work there, if he moves on....Anything? At least David's chapter wrapped up with some thoughts of the future.
Anyways, I did want to read more trans stories, but this one left so much to be desired. The HEA was alright though, and I did finish it so that's why I rated it a high 2.
I honestly thought this was a webtoon or something turned into a novel with how things seemed to just happen to suddenly, but it turns out it's the opposite. The novel is being turned into a comic.
Anyways, we start the story with Alex, who is an artist for a video game and also a moderator for the game's forum. One night while online, he meets a user named Spicy who needs help at a party and instead of calling the police...This user logged into the forum and asked the moderator for help...?
Ignoring their initial conversation, the following conversations in their little chatrooms weren't all that bad. I could ignore the bad writing as someone who grew up online and did have strong friendships with people online myself.
But there were some major potholes where I genuinely didn't understand how things happened because we're given little to no description of anything.
There's also a big gaming convention that Spicy is excited to go to because he can meet his favorite artist, and while it's a huge deal to both characters, we skip over it entirely?
In fact, there's so many important pieces that we skip over that characters drop into the story later on....For example:
The characters didn't really seem to have any chemistry with each other either. It seemed like they just fell for the first person who gave them any bit of positive attention and beyond that their relationship seemed so shallow. We're also left hanging about Alex's job at the end, if he continues to work there, if he moves on....Anything? At least David's chapter wrapped up with some thoughts of the future.
Anyways, I did want to read more trans stories, but this one left so much to be desired. The HEA was alright though, and I did finish it so that's why I rated it a high 2.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt
Moderate: Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Dysphoria
Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Blood, Medical trauma, Alcohol
Depression, anxity, gender dysphoria, misgendering, BDSM themes,
Suicide attempt in Chapter 23, "on-screen" (as the author describes it)
Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Manners and Monsters by Tilly Wallace
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
The premise for this story was…interesting: a face paint used by mostly women ends up almost killing the women in a British town ….”Almost” because they don’t die, they turn into zombies?
Now, no one wants to admit they’re zombies…So they all hide it under veils, gloves, masks, and eat “cauliflower” via secret food delivery company.
It’s set in historical period, with a main character who is constantly telling us that’s she’s destined to be a spinster because she’ll never marry and who dresses up as a man to help her father solve gruesome murders, because no fine lady would ever do such a thing.
The main character was so boring and 2D dimensional and all her dialogue was very “I’m not like all the other vain delicate girls out there and I’m fine being single-“ only for her to be forced into proximity with a man she hates. Oh no.
The forced pairing between the main character and the man who’s rude to everyone was so unbearable.
The story felt kinda slow and was a little confusing. The premise took me such a long time to get over because it seemed so silly, but the way the world was built around it was interesting. It almost felt thought out but the “mystery” really fell flat for me.
It also tried to be humorous but honestly it just came off as annoying.
I won’t be reading the second book.
(Received as an audiobook via Storygraph giveaway.)
Now, no one wants to admit they’re zombies…So they all hide it under veils, gloves, masks, and eat “cauliflower” via secret food delivery company.
It’s set in historical period, with a main character who is constantly telling us that’s she’s destined to be a spinster because she’ll never marry and who dresses up as a man to help her father solve gruesome murders, because no fine lady would ever do such a thing.
The main character was so boring and 2D dimensional and all her dialogue was very “I’m not like all the other vain delicate girls out there and I’m fine being single-“ only for her to be forced into proximity with a man she hates. Oh no.
The forced pairing between the main character and the man who’s rude to everyone was so unbearable.
The story felt kinda slow and was a little confusing. The premise took me such a long time to get over because it seemed so silly, but the way the world was built around it was interesting. It almost felt thought out but the “mystery” really fell flat for me.
It also tried to be humorous but honestly it just came off as annoying.
I won’t be reading the second book.
(Received as an audiobook via Storygraph giveaway.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Cannibalism, Death of parent
Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Gore
Minor: Medical trauma
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
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
I loved this book! A very D&D type story. Honestly if someone marketed this as a game, I'd 100% buy it because it had a very routine template which I really liked, but some might say it was repetitive.
The main character, Viv, has recently hung up her weapon and decided to end her life of adventure. She wants to settles down in a new town called Thune, and with the help of some magic and new friends, she tries to turn her life around. However, enemies new and old are threatening her new life and she contemplates reverting to her warrior ways.
The story is very wholesome and light-hearted, and it wasn't a long read. The pacing was nice and there was a nice mix of fantasy characters who all play a small part in creating their new business. There's Cal - the Hob carpenter, Tandri - the artistic succubus, Thimble - the ratkin baker, Pendry - a farmer turned bard, and Amity - the direcat. Each character has their own little background and they make an interesting little group. Not entirely cozy - there is soome small action towards the end but overall a fun, comforting vibe.
Some themes: medieval fantasy, found family,
The main character, Viv, has recently hung up her weapon and decided to end her life of adventure. She wants to settles down in a new town called Thune, and with the help of some magic and new friends, she tries to turn her life around. However, enemies new and old are threatening her new life and she contemplates reverting to her warrior ways.
The story is very wholesome and light-hearted, and it wasn't a long read. The pacing was nice and there was a nice mix of fantasy characters who all play a small part in creating their new business. There's Cal - the Hob carpenter, Tandri - the artistic succubus, Thimble - the ratkin baker, Pendry - a farmer turned bard, and Amity - the direcat. Each character has their own little background and they make an interesting little group. Not entirely cozy - there is soome small action towards the end but overall a fun, comforting vibe.
Some themes: medieval fantasy, found family,
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Sexual harassment
Rise of Empire by Michael J. Sullivan
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Book THREE:
This book had a much slower pace, and a LOT more politics. The first books had a nice adventure theme to them while this one has a lot more history and politics and dialogue...Which made it drag a bit.
Some interesting character development between the duo a lot of depth to the side characters. I was in love with Arista and loved how she was starting to hone her magic.
We get to see more mysterious prophecies and riddles a lot of foreshadowing which I LOVE. So YAY!
Thrace was also another favorite character...I love her so much and I cried when she cried!!
Honestly, you can tell the author got his inspiration from TV shows because every chapter or scene feels like something I would be watching. Things were being revealed to the reader, as they’re being revealed to the other characters and I LOVED that.
BOOK 4:
In this book we get a pirate story which was exciting. You can tell the author did his research on terminology for boats because I had very little idea what was what!
Another story that felt a little slow....They’re stuck on the boat for quite a while before they reach their destination and there's a big twist that was kind of expected and I'm surprised they didn't figure it out sooner? At least Royce could've figured this out sooner.
I really liked that the characters are all interconnected. It was a bit hard to remember names and I wouldn’t have been able to without my Kindle’s X-ray feature and searching pasts texts, but there's also a glossary and that helped a lot. The world building is so good in this series, I love getting lost in it.
Ultimately: slower than the past stories, this one seemed to drag. Left the action towards the end but didn’t resolve anything and left with a huge cliffhanger, unlike the past stories that seemed to wrap-up things before moving on.
816 pages.
(⚠️Content Warnings;
Graphic: violence, blood , classism, prejudice, grief,
Moderate: ptsd, death of child, death of a parent, grief
Minor: sexual assault, Injury, fire injury, genocide, ableism,
This book had a much slower pace, and a LOT more politics. The first books had a nice adventure theme to them while this one has a lot more history and politics and dialogue...Which made it drag a bit.
Some interesting character development between the duo a lot of depth to the side characters. I was in love with Arista and loved how she was starting to hone her magic.
We get to see more mysterious prophecies and riddles a lot of foreshadowing which I LOVE. So YAY!
Thrace was also another favorite character...I love her so much and I cried when she cried!!
Honestly, you can tell the author got his inspiration from TV shows because every chapter or scene feels like something I would be watching. Things were being revealed to the reader, as they’re being revealed to the other characters and I LOVED that.
BOOK 4:
In this book we get a pirate story which was exciting. You can tell the author did his research on terminology for boats because I had very little idea what was what!
Another story that felt a little slow....They’re stuck on the boat for quite a while before they reach their destination and there's a big twist that was kind of expected and I'm surprised they didn't figure it out sooner? At least Royce could've figured this out sooner.
I really liked that the characters are all interconnected. It was a bit hard to remember names and I wouldn’t have been able to without my Kindle’s X-ray feature and searching pasts texts, but there's also a glossary and that helped a lot. The world building is so good in this series, I love getting lost in it.
Ultimately: slower than the past stories, this one seemed to drag. Left the action towards the end but didn’t resolve anything and left with a huge cliffhanger, unlike the past stories that seemed to wrap-up things before moving on.
816 pages.
(⚠️Content Warnings;
Graphic: violence, blood , classism, prejudice, grief,
Moderate: ptsd, death of child, death of a parent, grief
Minor: sexual assault, Injury, fire injury, genocide, ableism,
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Grief, Classism
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism, Genocide, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury