pearsbooks's reviews
88 reviews

A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.75

Gwen and Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher

adventurous funny hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

So fun !!

The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense 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

4.0

so grizzly 🤩

dark and violent and relentless and with actual proper real well done enemies to lovers ‼️‼️ what a thrill

deducted 1 star because while the writing was clever and ava reid can really turn a phrase, once she's turned one she's really proud of she just repeats it over and over and fuckin over !! yes I get it "the pale column of his throat," and even just words... someone was "cowed" about 4 times in 2 pages. she said 'sibilant' so much the word has lost all meaning. 
some of the dialogue was quite repetitive too, hashing out the same arguments we already heard and I think the book could have benefitted from being shorter... honestly though these are things the editor should be catching 🥴

STILL. wow. unbelievable that this was her debut. loved it thoroughly.

The Deep Sky by Yume Kitasei

adventurous challenging hopeful mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

the start was SO GOOD. literally until

'Sky' left with Wilder's manuscript

I was absolutely enthralled and I loved the characters and I was so so into some good interesting and entrancing mystery/thriller... and then it all got so meta and it was too back-and-forth. Unless you're specifically a fan of books where you're unable to trust things you read earlier in a book this one is gonna be a let down. it was just so bogged down in all the different layers of stuff going on and perspectives and it just ruined my opinions on the characters and my interest in the plot aaaa so annoying. 

A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

oh my god that was INCREDIBLE. so fun and mysterious. the setting and the world building was so vivid and rich and the characters were just exceptional. 

knocked off .25 for the attempted enemies to lovers but they were enemies for like 20 pages before they softened towards each other 🫤 and also because she used the phrase "a muscle feathered in his jaw" about 6 times and it pissed me off. also the word decorous like a million times. 

other than that this was perfection. honestly - perfection !! 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault

the mentions of SA and rape aren't graphic, but they're frequent and important to the plot so pls be cautious

Twelfth Knight by Alexene Farol Follmuth

funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

definitely more enjoyable for having studied twelfth night and knowing the plot and characters back to front & upside down but STILL a very enjoyable very nerdy read.

as a disclaimer it's probably not for everyone because it's such a product of our time with internet slang, and pop culture all over it but personally I'm okay with that as long as it's relevant and significant in the plot, which in this case it is! 

GREAT characters and an even greater exploration of loneliness and learning to allow yourself to be emotional. also some genuinely good "enemies" to lovers... like they genuinely do hate each other to begin with thank god. and they don't instantly love each other either. 

maybe it's because I'm a shakespeare ho but I just loved this book down. also now I wanna play dnd

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

simply excellent... seen a lot of criticism from fans of bardugo's other work but I think they were expecting it to read like and feel like her YA romantasy serieses when it's an adult historio-political fantasy... 

anyway I'm gagged as always, thanks leigh bardugo 🙂‍↕️

The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler

challenging informative mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

wowee!! 

Legendary by Stephanie Garber

adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75