You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.

rust_and_stardust's reviews
246 reviews

Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts

Kate Racculia

3.5

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I loved the premise of this book. I enjoyed the character development even though I could not connect to some of the characters. The scavenger hunt itself started out great, but ended up not being as interesting as I thought it would be. I found the ending a bit disappointing. I felt like

Nathaniel Arches as a character was very one-dimensional and found it hard to believe he would just try to murder Tuesday.

At times I felt like the switching between the characters' thoughts wasn't consistent. We didn't hear from Dex for a while after Vincent Pryce's death which was kind of a big deal because it was the first time all the characters were together. After

the true identity of Archie was revealed, I wish we had a bit more insight into his mind like we did with the other characters.

Also,

Tuesday didn't really talk to ghosts in plural. She talked to a single ghost. We never really find out if Abby was murdered or who did it. I get that this is realistic because you don't always get closure, but Abby's subplot could have been so much better.

Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982

Cho Nam-joo

3.0

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

The themes and issues discussed in this book are extremely important. The misoginy that Kim Jiyoung faces is something that every woman can painfully relate to. In terms of execution, I found this novel lacking something. Perhaps something lost in translation. While I understand the purpose of the style, I wasn't a big fan of it.

Remarkably Bright Creatures

Shelby Van Pelt

5.0

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I loved this from start to finish. A cozy and heartwarming tale that makes you want to live in the characters' world. Beautiful writing. I loved listening to Marcellus' stories and contemplations. Looking forward to reading more of Van Pelt's work. The audiobook narration was excellent.

Foe

Iain Reid

3.0

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

I enjoyed this one more than I'm Thinking of Ending Things. The pacing was good and I'd be interested to see Reid explore science fiction more. Though I had the same problem with the narrator as the narrator of I'm Thinking of Ending Things. I didn't really care about them as a person. I cared about Hen though. Some twists I liked more than others. Nothing groundbreaking though.

China in Ten Words

Yu Hua

3.75

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad slow-paced

Very informative. Great translation and narration. An interesting mix of funny childhood stories, dark realisations about the Cultural revolution and social commentary of modern China.

Tales from the Gas Station: Volume One: Volume 1

Jack Townsend

3.25

adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

The Ghost Bride

Yangsze Choo

3.5

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I enjoyed reading this. It was quite a strange world. The author did a great job performing the audiobook. Yet I felt like the world building could have been a bit more developed. For example, I wish we knew more about Er Lang. Overall, this is a good young adult novel that has an interesting setting. The Young Adult aspect is definitely strong.