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roshans's reviews
58 reviews
The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner
Definitely not feeling the romance at all, do people even ship this, does it get better?? I mean it has potential but at this point it sort of just feels like it came out of nowhere for both of them. I know the author loves twists and stuff but she really should have hinted at the whole crush thing. Also the whole spying on her for years is really creepy
I do however like the Eddis and Gen friendship. Also the doctor and Gen friendship too.
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Okay so Queen of Attolia
The writing still just isn’t doing it for me. I don’t know why but it just seem so.... impersonal? I’m finding it really hard to get invested in either the plot or the characters. Weirdly the character I care most about is Gen’s father who’s barely there. I’ve kind of just accepted the slow starts but I was kind of expecting more of an adventure story than a political/kind-of-love-story because you know, the first one was??? Idk
Definitely not feeling the romance at all, do people even ship this, does it get better?? I mean it has potential but at this point it sort of just feels like it came out of nowhere for both of them. I know the author loves twists and stuff but she really should have hinted at the whole crush thing. Also the whole spying on her for years is really creepy
I do however like the Eddis and Gen friendship. Also the doctor and Gen friendship too.
Uhhh not much else to say about this book other than I’m still not sure how I feel about the series. I’ll read King of Attolia, but I have a feeling I’m going to end up dnfing this series it’s really just not doing it for me
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Confinement, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
medium-paced
2.5
Story completely changes half way through. The twists make no sense. The author refuses to actually tell us the A.J.'s "storied" life. I cant tell if this is an adoption story, a romance, or SPOILER cancer story. I cant beleive i wasted my money on this
Fifteen Lanes by S.J. Laidlaw
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
3.5
Would be 4.5 but Grace' POV was really unnecessary
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
slow-paced
2.5
wayyy too over hyped
very atmospheric and wonderful writing style but not much else. characters are bland (the only good one got NOTHING) and the plot is barely there
T o be completely fair I rarely read adult romance so maybe its just me
very atmospheric and wonderful writing style but not much else. characters are bland (the only good one got NOTHING) and the plot is barely there
T o be completely fair I rarely read adult romance so maybe its just me
A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
An easy read, with dumb character who are still somehow endearing
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Spoiler free!
Would have given it a 4 but (all) the romance was really eye-rolling. Also the male lead is really, really horny. A bit of a slow start, I feel that parts of it could have been pared down. Over all a good book with interesting if not well done world building. The MC's personality is not one you see very often in YA, I wouldn't call her whiny at all but she is a coward and knows it. The other female lead is closer to what you see in YA but the book didn't focus too much on her. Now the MALE lead, HE. IS. SO. HORNY. Idk maybe I'm exaggerating but to me it was really really annoying. He's probably the character that goes through the most introspection and moral struggle, plus his circumstances are really interesting, if it wasn't for the horniness I would have like him more. Though, if I'm honest the character I'm most interested in is the male MC'S mother, she's pretty much a cookie cutter villain until the end, when we see how complex she actually is, I look forward to reading more about her.
Plot is basic YA-first-book-set-up, I'm not going to say much about it. Female lead is on an undercover mission for the resistance and goes from being a coward to growing a back bone, male lead wants to desert his faction but gets caught up in a a tournament and goes through a lot of moral growth. The characters, their backstories, and motivations make it interesting enough but like a lot of YA these days, book one doesn't give enough for you to decide how you feel about it.
Would have given it a 4 but (all) the romance was really eye-rolling. Also the male lead is really, really horny. A bit of a slow start, I feel that parts of it could have been pared down. Over all a good book with interesting if not well done world building. The MC's personality is not one you see very often in YA, I wouldn't call her whiny at all but she is a coward and knows it. The other female lead is closer to what you see in YA but the book didn't focus too much on her. Now the MALE lead, HE. IS. SO. HORNY. Idk maybe I'm exaggerating but to me it was really really annoying. He's probably the character that goes through the most introspection and moral struggle, plus his circumstances are really interesting, if it wasn't for the horniness I would have like him more. Though, if I'm honest the character I'm most interested in is the male MC'S mother, she's pretty much a cookie cutter villain until the end, when we see how complex she actually is, I look forward to reading more about her.
Plot is basic YA-first-book-set-up, I'm not going to say much about it. Female lead is on an undercover mission for the resistance and goes from being a coward to growing a back bone, male lead wants to desert his faction but gets caught up in a a tournament and goes through a lot of moral growth. The characters, their backstories, and motivations make it interesting enough but like a lot of YA these days, book one doesn't give enough for you to decide how you feel about it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide and Racism
Moderate: Blood, Sexual assault, and Violence
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Slavery, and Torture
Female lead is 17, love interest is 20
very casual talk of rape and assault, but no more than a forced kiss is shown, but there is a fair bit of violence against women
Servants are slaves, who are tortured, mostly past but some non-graphic torturing
The ruling class enslaves, raids an oppresses the MC's people, all of these things are shown not just mentioned
Lots of death and blood
The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
It’s was a really short read but that’s seems to largely be because the author almost completely forgoes descriptions of both the characters and setting. The world building I’ll admit was fantastic, better than I’ve read in a long time, both in terms of the world’s politics and mythology. I’ll checkout the next book but if the writing is closer to the beginning of the book rather than the end of it I’m dnf-ing immediately.
Also did anyone else get a bit of a gay vibe from Gen and Sophos?
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Spoiler free!
Admittedly it’s a good book and I like that it can be read as a standalone. But the first half dragged on and on. Yes, it was very gratifying to see all the foreshadowing seeded in the beginning come through in the end but I feel like the writing greatly suffers for it. The author spends so much effort in being vague and hiding parts of the MC’s story/motivation/background that reading anything prior to the creation myth chapter rather tedious. Its just really bland and uninspiring.
Admittedly it’s a good book and I like that it can be read as a standalone. But the first half dragged on and on. Yes, it was very gratifying to see all the foreshadowing seeded in the beginning come through in the end but I feel like the writing greatly suffers for it. The author spends so much effort in being vague and hiding parts of the MC’s story/motivation/background that reading anything prior to the creation myth chapter rather tedious. Its just really bland and uninspiring.
It’s was a really short read but that’s seems to largely be because the author almost completely forgoes descriptions of both the characters and setting. The world building I’ll admit was fantastic, better than I’ve read in a long time, both in terms of the world’s politics and mythology. I’ll checkout the next book but if the writing is closer to the beginning of the book rather than the end of it I’m dnf-ing immediately.
Also did anyone else get a bit of a gay vibe from Gen and Sophos?
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