ravensalwaysreading's reviews
61 reviews

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

Good, but definitely feels like a fan fiction mashup of Red Queen and ACOTAR with unnecessary sex scenes and a thin layer of interesting dragon plot. Violet is straight up Mare from Red Queen, Dane is Cal from Red Queen and Xander is Rhysandy-Azriel from Acotar.

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

This is the most insert-yourself-as-the mc fantasy I've finished in a long time. All I could think the entire time was "this is Red Queen if you strip the good writing, thorough characters, the actual plot and make the mc a skeletal, starving, wetblanket brunette every single boy she comes in contact with is unfathomably enraptured by". Maybe it really amps up later in the series. Maybe she gets a personality later. I might try to slog through and see after I look up more reviews.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Death, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Adult/minor relationship

All of Us Villains by C.L. Herman, Amanda Foody

adventurous dark medium-paced

4.0

Starting the second half rn because I loved the gentle torture this put me through.

Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
Did not finish book. Stopped at 6%.

This is less about the actual book and more about the audiobook. The writing was a bit juvenile, made worse by the bad reading. Might try to pick up the physical copy because I was interested in the story.

Ararat by Christopher Golden
Did not finish book. Stopped at 56%.

The beginning was so interesting, the Thing meets At the Mountains of Madness but with a biblical twist. It went downhill as soon as Walker got settled in. A lick of dread was there, but the pacing was too slow with little action and the tamest murders to do anything. And that one dude who really wanted to Alabama his cousin for some reason? WHY

Anoka: A Collection of Indigenous Horror by Shane Hawk
Did not finish book. Stopped at 56%.

Couldn't get past the poor writing. 

The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

Monarch by Candice Wuehle

sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No

3.0

Hmm.

Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda

dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.0

If you've ever suffered from an eating disorder, you'll resonate with this book. If you've ever suffered from vampirism, you'll really resonate with this book.

Season to Taste by Natalie Young
Did not finish book. Stopped at 48%.

I would liven up my life by eating my husband too if I was as boring as our mc.