randi_jo's reviews
399 reviews

Cult of the Lamb Vol. 1: The First Verse by Alex Paknadel

adventurous 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? It's complicated

4.0

This one was fun - or well, as fun as sacrificial cults can get haha. Anyway, I liked the expansion of the lore and how the Lamb ended up where he was at the start of the game. I think I would've liked it more if they hadn't leaned so hard into the Reluctant Hero/Leader for the Lamb's personality, but otherwise I am so glad they included a panel of a follower pooping on the ground. Made my night.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

Going into this I was expecting some funny/shocking stories about working in the death industry mixed with some insider information. And while that's definitely something that I got from this, there was so much more to it: the reality that death is being commodified to the point of unaffordability, the erasure of death and its associations in our culture, and the realities of prolonging life. It makes me think more about what I want to happen to my own corpse after death, as well as broach the topic with family members.

On top of that, the audiobook is great and Caitlin is a massively engaging reader. Sounds like listening to my friend talk about her crazy stories during a lunch.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Death

The Wild Robot by Peter Brown

adventurous emotional fast-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

4.25

This book hits somewhere right between children's and middle grade. It touches on so much: adaptation, friendship, death, the cycle of life, and the strength of community. Speaking of death, it is mentioned semi-often in a matter-of-fact way and not used for drama. Roz is a fun, surprising sympathetic character and the plot had the kiddos alternating between excitement, suspense, and laughter.

For reading aloud, I would suggest this book works well for ages 7+, but the vocabulary for a child to read by themselves is probably closer to 9 or 10.

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

adventurous 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? It's complicated

3.25

Full disclosure here: as a general hyped-romantasy cynic, I went into this very pessimistic. I have to say that while I, surprisingly, didn't hate this book, I also read it in like two days, which is very above average speed for me lol. This is basically the encapsulation of what makes genre fiction fun and popular: don't think, just vibe. The moment you think, the whole thing pretty much falls apart due to a lack of deep thought and originality.

This has nothing to to with anything but the obstacle course they have to climb is literally a Ninja Warrior course, complete with the warped wall finale lmfao.

For a good 400 of those middle pages I was certainly along for the ride. The first and last 100 were definitely a struggle. In all a decent 3 stars from me, though I don't think it could ever hold up to that in a reread - even if i reread it tomorrow.

Pros:

  🐲 Fast paced action, plot progression, and romance. Twists don't derail the overall vibe too much at first.

 🐲 Fun dialogue banter. Honestly I will always be a sucker for mindspeech with mystical creatures.

 🐲 Leans heavily into creating character connections and diversification rather than heavy world building, which is my favorite romantasy approach.

Cons:

 🐲  Lack of originality and surprises makes me feel like I've already read this book at least a dozen times, just replace magic horses with dragons etc.

 🐲 The final arc. It feels incomplete and disjointed to the rest of the book. I think it would've been a much better opener for book 2 and give it space to become something more substantial.

 🐲 The romantic drama being summed up as "I CAN'T TRUST HIM/HER WITH MY SECRETS" and then hitting us over the head with it over and over and over..... and over................ and over again. Jesus.

Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses by Robin Wall Kimmerer

emotional informative slow-paced

2.75

I really enjoyed the first half of this book. I like info-memoir type books, so I had zero issues with the meandering and thoughtful prose that went between life, moss, and how they correspond to one another. I think there is really good information presented here, especially on the chapters that focus on a moss's role in the ecosystem. The second half of the book, though, began to get very presemptuous and contemptuous of ways of life that are not minimalistic/off the grid. At one point the author likens the transplant of rock with wild old growth mosses by a private owner to his garden to slaves being stolen from Africa to live on plantations. A bit too out of pocket for me, especially since going into this, I was looking more for information than to be force-fed biased ethics.

A Magical Girl Retires by Park Seolyeon

adventurous hopeful reflective fast-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

Serious magical girl stories will always get me right in the heart. The overarching themes of this one being of the power imbalance between those who are most like girls (not always just girls but those that fit the bill) and everyone else and the idea of giving the weakest the power of justice. But also that there should always be a price to be paid for balance.

The f/f relationship is cute, just the blossoming of something which amongst all the chaos and insecurities, feels extremely wholesome. The little chapter illustrations were also cute and I enjoyed the addition of them.

Pros:

 💳 Fun, modern, magical realism version of the magical girl tropes.

 💳 The real evil is ambiguous and intangible.

 💳 Cute blossoming f/f relationship.

Cons:

 💳 Fast ending that makes you wish there was more. Is this really a con? Who knows.

I Would Leave Me If I Could: A Collection of Poetry by Halsey

challenging sad medium-paced

5.0

I loved these poems so much. Confessional poetry will always be my favorite and Halsey's poems are dark, longing, personal, hurtful, hurting - I found them to be very powerful. I would recommend these poems to anyone who is in the right headspace to reflect upon their own difficult times.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Rape

A Talent for Murder by Peter Swanson

tense medium-paced

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

2.75

This one was okay. I didn't find it particularly mysterious or thrilling, although it did have a couple brief moments of shock value. I didn't realize it was part of a series before picking it up, so I'm unsure if I'm missing some interesting backstory on Lily (I was actually surprised to find out Henry is a protagonist in the other books since his role in this one is extremely minimal). But it does seem to work as a standalone.

Pros:
 🔪 Lily by far is the best character - a vigilante of justice (when it suits her needs?).

 🔪 Good plot twist.

 🔪 Pretty bow ending.

Cons:
 🔪 Sometimes the writing feels stilted when it's in a POV of a character who's not particularly interesting.

 🔪 A lot of rehashing in the middle sections of the book.

 🔪 You know who the killer is and their monologue of motivations early in the narrative, leaving the rest of the book to just blandly follow along without putting much thought into asking questions about what's happening/going to happen which I feel like is a major keystone of a great mystery/thriller.

The Perks of Being an S-Class Heroine, Vol. 1 by Grrr, Irinbi

adventurous funny fast-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? No

4.5

I love this series so far. I'm a sucker for found family - and in isekai 'new family' I suppose lol; girl besties, and The Chosen One tropes.  Plus the comedy in this one isn't too out there and gives a good chuckle. The art and coloring is absolutely gorgeous.

Love, Pamela by Pamela Anderson

reflective relaxing medium-paced

3.75

I'm not surprised to find that Pamela is an intelligent, eloquent, and well-read person. I will say that I was more surprised to find that she is a sort've spiritualist crystal hippie type? If I had actually ever seen Baywatch I might've already known this lol. Either way I found her perspective on life to be interesting and even though I'd disagree with ethics of dogs on vegan diets, she sounds like such a cool person who has been through a lot but still manages to keep her calm and grace. I do wish it had more of her poetry.

Also the audiobook read by Pamela herself is great. Her voice is very soothing????