pencilled_robin's reviews
72 reviews

Shubeik Lubeik by Deena Mohamed

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-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? Yes

4.5

The Mirador by Sarah Monette

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Great book. Definitely the best in the series so far. I loved the addition of Mehitabel's POV - the author writes her narrative voice wonderfully, and it feels completely distinct from the other main characters. The prose is compelling, and with a unique turn of phrase that I love.

Content Warnings

The Cybernetic Tea Shop by Meredith Katz

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emotional hopeful

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.75

I feel like the author tried to focus on too much here (mourning, finding new love, bigotry, the relationship between humans and advanced AI, all while maintaining a relatively cozy feel) and in the process left me caring about none of it.

Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

This book felt very... fanfic-y, I guess is the best way to describe it? I can't pin down what exactly makes me feel that way but yeah. (And to be clear, I love fanfiction and I read a lot of it, but this book reminded me of all my least favourite tropes.)

It started off interesting, but devolved into endless rehashing of the same dynamics. Kiem starts to fall for Jainan, but pulls back. Jainan blames himself for being inadequate. Jainan starts to open up, but pulls back. Kiem blames himself for not giving him space to mourn. Over and over again, with an incredible amount of angst and self-loathing each time.

Their lack of communication irritated me so much - I spent a lot of time thinking "Oh my god, just talk to each other already!" When they finally got together, it was so sudden and the cycle had dragged on so long that I just didn't care anymore.

The book also spent a lot of time emphasising Jainan's abused-ness, in a way that felt like trauma porn. Almost everything we see about him is related either to that or his romance with Kiem, and as a consequence his character feels underdeveloped.

Aaaargh. Unbelievably frustrating book.

The Virtu by Sarah Monette

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced