rorireads_'s reviews
227 reviews

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.0

I’m not entirely sure I got it

The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik

adventurous dark emotional tense 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? Yes

5.0

This was absolutely magnificent but OH MY GOD THAT ENDING

The Summer Switch-Off by Beth Reekles

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.0

This is genuinely a case of 'it's not you, it's me'

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

I wanted so desperately to love this book, but the exposition heavy narration came at it's detriment. I have never read so many info dumps in quick succession and they became really unbearable by like 20%. The premise was interesting, but it felt like we spent too much time explaining the rules of this world and not enough actually talking about what was going to happen.

Also, it really only got interesting in the last quarter of the book. It moved too slow for my liking and I found myself more bored that I should have while reading this book. Despite being in 1st person, I had almost no attachment to El and thought as a character she was overstuffed. The rest of the characters weren't up to par either, but I did find myself liking Aadhya. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Doll Factory by Elizabeth Macneal

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

my first dnf of the year 😭 

this was criminally boring. I found the writing a slog and hard to get through. It felt like something clunky you write after learning about active and passive voice. This was just grating

Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense 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? Yes

5.0

ZOYALAI 😍🥰😘

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense 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

4.25

In Zoya Nazalensky we trust

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

adventurous challenging emotional informative mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

show-stopping, spectacular, completely not ever been done before

Threadneedle by Cari Thomas

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

I was ridiculously excited to read this. But my biggest takeaway from this book is not the beautiful way that magic intercepts with language, or the beauty of Cari Thomas' writing, but the fact that this book feels confused.

I'm not quite sure if this qualifies as YA Fantasy, considering that the setting and characters would fall in YA (The main character, Anna is 16 and the story is mainly set in a secondary school.), but the themes were overtly adult. Setting this story in a university would have had almost no repercussions to the story and would have, in my opinion, have been better. 

This book has serious trigger warnings (especially for both physical and mental abuse). The story was an exploration of serious themes, but it felt hollow in it's execution)

All in all, a solid 2.5 stars.

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

challenging emotional informative sad medium-paced

5.0

Michelle Zauner is a beautiful writer. Every word, thought and feeling felt intentional, and yet so raw and real. This made me confront my own grief in a way I never thought I would. This was a highlight of the year.