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randi_jo's reviews
403 reviews
Out On a Limb by Hannah Bonam-Young
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
OK. I am not a super romance girlie, but I came here by request for the disability rep in relationships and soon-to-be-motherhood and I loved this book so much on that front. The insecurities that both Win and Bo brought to the table, just trying to exist in their own spaces and have enough room for one another is amazing and wonderful. It was sweet. Could've done without the terrible ex plotlines but thank god they weren't a huge focus.
I will not yuck some people's yums but eating each other's cum is a warning I would've LOVED haha. My absolute least fave thing in any smut, but it happened on at least 3 separate occasions here. LOL
Otherwise I could've done without the epilogues. There is a reason, I think, most romances don't cover the wedding day -- and that's because almost all weddings are boring except to maybe the people getting married.
Anyway, read this for some amazing romance disability rep bc it was *chef's kiss*.
I will not yuck some people's yums but eating each other's cum is a warning I would've LOVED haha. My absolute least fave thing in any smut, but it happened on at least 3 separate occasions here. LOL
Otherwise I could've done without the epilogues. There is a reason, I think, most romances don't cover the wedding day -- and that's because almost all weddings are boring except to maybe the people getting married.
Anyway, read this for some amazing romance disability rep bc it was *chef's kiss*.
Once Was Willem by M.R. Carey
adventurous
dark
inspiring
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? No
4.25
I really liked this. It's basically a story told by the most NPC party member of a heroic party, weaving bits and pieces of the narrative together until it braids into the final confrontation. It was very fun and though some of the characters weren't as rounded as others, there wasn't a single point where I thought I disliked any of them (except the big bad, of course haha).
The horror here is great. There are are a lot of evil and ambiguously evil things here, but it's treated as the terrible things they are, which I appreciate. Not really moralizing, but damn did I feel great that the villagers felt like crap for burning a child at the stake etc etc.
I think my only suggestion is to get this as an ebook or read where you can access the internet since it does apply some middle english/early modern english words and phrases. Not a LOT, per se, and the ones it does use, it reuses often so you don't have to keep looking things up, but it's nice to just poke the screen for the dictionary lol.
Once-Was-Willem is now my favorite pseudo-gelatinous zombie boy.
The horror here is great. There are are a lot of evil and ambiguously evil things here, but it's treated as the terrible things they are, which I appreciate. Not really moralizing, but damn did I feel great that the villagers felt like crap for burning a child at the stake etc etc.
I think my only suggestion is to get this as an ebook or read where you can access the internet since it does apply some middle english/early modern english words and phrases. Not a LOT, per se, and the ones it does use, it reuses often so you don't have to keep looking things up, but it's nice to just poke the screen for the dictionary lol.
Once-Was-Willem is now my favorite pseudo-gelatinous zombie boy.
Bride by Ali Hazelwood
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
So, this was my first Ali Hazelwood book and it's probably going to be my last. I didn't hate it, but I can't say I enjoyed it much, either? I'm not very good at reading books that require me to turn my brain off and enjoy the ride, so to speak.
The start of the book was really interesting: you had the romantic plot, the missing persons subplot, the weird family ties/secrets subplot . . . it felt like it was going places. I was wrong.
There are some things that felt startlingly unfinished:
- The missing person's plotI mean Misery can't even solve it herself? She's literally kidnapped so everything can be solved without her and then info dumped on us by her UNSURPRISINGLY evil father, like the cliche villain that he is. Like bruh, why did we get a half-assed mystery plot like that.
- The idea of mates and the Vampyre equivalent of?? Likethere were the obvious beginnings of hints that Vampyres also have something like mates. Like if they continuously drink blood from the same person over and over it creates... what? A mating bond? Something like that?? Why was this not expounded upon and why was it not used as a "Hey your blood smells fabulous and everyone smells like hot garbage this must be a fucking sign". BUT NO. It is just forgotten about because fuck me I guess.
- The Loyalists like ok i get they wereused as a red herring in its MOST BASIC FORM. But like bitch please at least explain why we're supposed to be worried about these people to any kind of extent other than 'they're basically terrorists lol'. We don't even SEE any of the bad shit they do. Zero tension.
- Any fucking sentence that ended with "but". Or sentence that was just "But." If I never have to see the word "but" again, I will die happily.
And tangentially can we just address the ridiculousness of Lowe constantly worrying about his knot not.... fitting. Like to the point he'd lie to Misery's face about being mates because she doesn't have the "hardware"???? Considering a newborn's head is like, 14 inches around, and Misery is equipped with a vagina that is comparable in elasticity to a human's, unless his knot is the size of a fucking teapot, I don't understand what the hubbub was about. And even if it WERE (ridiculous), you're telling me that vaginal/anal stretching is NOT a thing? PLEASE.
The start of the book was really interesting: you had the romantic plot, the missing persons subplot, the weird family ties/secrets subplot . . . it felt like it was going places. I was wrong.
There are some things that felt startlingly unfinished:
- The missing person's plot
- The idea of mates and the Vampyre equivalent of?? Like
- The Loyalists like ok i get they were
- Any fucking sentence that ended with "but". Or sentence that was just "But." If I never have to see the word "but" again, I will die happily.
And tangentially can we just address the ridiculousness of Lowe constantly worrying about his knot not.... fitting. Like to the point he'd lie to Misery's face about being mates because she doesn't have the "hardware"???? Considering a newborn's head is like, 14 inches around, and Misery is equipped with a vagina that is comparable in elasticity to a human's, unless his knot is the size of a fucking teapot, I don't understand what the hubbub was about. And even if it WERE (ridiculous), you're telling me that vaginal/anal stretching is NOT a thing? PLEASE.
Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao
adventurous
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? No
4.0
I've seen so many people say they've not read anything quite like this, and in some ways I would agree, but actually it reminds me a lot of translated Japanese middle-grade/young adult fiction (think kiki's delivery service). It has the same prose flow and general vibes.
Anyway, it was a fun read.
Pros:
🌂 MCs are super cute together and their flirtations are very subdued and sweet
🌂 The setting is aMAZING and unique in every possible way. Travelling through puddles, towns that create the night sky each night by flying kites, trains running on raindrops etc. there is a plethora of fun stuff to explore.
Cons:
🌂 Weird romantic tension with a 3rd wheel who's character is as flat as the paper he folds
🌂 That ending?? Man what the hell lol. What a rollercoaster, but I still can't decide if I liked it or not.
Anyway, it was a fun read.
Pros:
🌂 MCs are super cute together and their flirtations are very subdued and sweet
🌂 The setting is aMAZING and unique in every possible way. Travelling through puddles, towns that create the night sky each night by flying kites, trains running on raindrops etc. there is a plethora of fun stuff to explore.
Cons:
🌂 Weird romantic tension with a 3rd wheel who's character is as flat as the paper he folds
🌂 That ending?? Man what the hell lol. What a rollercoaster, but I still can't decide if I liked it or not.
Magic's Promise by Mercedes Lackey
dark
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? No
4.25
I love the world of Valdemar so much. You can pry this universe from my cold, dead hands. Anyway, Vanyel is top tier sadboy but I love that he struggles so much with loneliness, loss, and his hazily defined bisexuality. Plus he got to make out with Death, so maybe he's actually winning.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Death
Minor: Gore
No pedophiles present, but the assumption that many characters hold that gay men are also pedophiles.
Twice-Spent Comet by Ziggy Schutz
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I'm late on this one as it got lost in the holiday shuffle.
This novella was very sweet. Cosmic mermaids? Yes please! I think I would've liked more information about how they came to be, but it's sufficiently mysterious. I thought the idea of magic being simple things like a trail of interconnected coincidences was sweet. Some things I didn't understand, like how Benat and Jones were lovers, but then he/she was also Fer's found family sibling with no mention of Benat. Or how these timelines intersected or did not intersect or how Jones even escaped prison time considering he/she was holding onto Fer before arrest. But that's just me thinking too hard.
This novella was very sweet. Cosmic mermaids? Yes please! I think I would've liked more information about how they came to be, but it's sufficiently mysterious. I thought the idea of magic being simple things like a trail of interconnected coincidences was sweet. Some things I didn't understand, like how Benat and Jones were lovers, but then he/she was also Fer's found family sibling with no mention of Benat. Or how these timelines intersected or did not intersect or how Jones even escaped prison time considering he/she was holding onto Fer before arrest. But that's just me thinking too hard.
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
adventurous
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
3.5
I liked this one! It's not my absolute favorite time travel sci-fi out there, but I think what Kaliane Bradley did here was unique and fun and sometimes scary.
I adored how much I got mad at the main character for her bad (yet extremely believable and relatable) choices, but I loved her anyway for trying to fix them - and that literally everyone else in the book basically felt the same wayincluding her future self, whom I am convinced came to the past specifically to punch her past self in the face. The save the world mission was just a side bonus. .
I think my only complaint was that the romance felt unbelievable and clinical. But hey, it was still cute.
I adored how much I got mad at the main character for her bad (yet extremely believable and relatable) choices, but I loved her anyway for trying to fix them - and that literally everyone else in the book basically felt the same way
I think my only complaint was that the romance felt unbelievable and clinical. But hey, it was still cute.
Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor
adventurous
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I loved this so much. The disability representation, the conflicting identities a person can have, the journey to find yourself and self-acceptance -- oh and robots! Basically it had it all. And then there was an anticipation that kept building up the entire novel -- something was going to happen, Zelu was going to do something, and I NEEDED to know what it was. I was NOT expecting that ending but it was just so so good. Man. I loved it.
I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue
funny
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
Honestly I didn't really like this book, but I didn't hate it either. Some parts were really funny and others were just so cringe I had to skip the scene over because it physically hurt. Anyway, Jolene's entire sadgirl reasoning is misleading at the beginning and the revelation is . . . underwhelming. Meh.
Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell
adventurous
challenging
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
3.5
Space boys solving a space empire's problems and falling in love while they do it. 💯 I love a slow burn romance, though I will say the slowburn on this one is based in misunderstandings from past trauma. TW: DV.
Pros:
❄️ Great plot progression with a believably solved 'mystery'.
❄️ The romance is cute AF and it's sensitive towards things such as healing from DV and grief.
❄️ Interesting political intrigue plots that make sense.
Cons:
❄️ Reads a bit like fanfiction - polished fanfic, but it has the vibe.
❄️ Kidnapping trope my dudes.
Pros:
❄️ Great plot progression with a believably solved 'mystery'.
❄️ The romance is cute AF and it's sensitive towards things such as healing from DV and grief.
❄️ Interesting political intrigue plots that make sense.
Cons:
❄️ Reads a bit like fanfiction - polished fanfic, but it has the vibe.
❄️ Kidnapping trope my dudes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Moderate: Death and Kidnapping