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sambam_42's reviews
307 reviews

Everybody Wants to Rule the World Except Me

Django Wexler

3.75

adventurous 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: Complicated

That Time I Got Drunk And Yeeted A Love Potion At A Werewolf

Kimberly Lemming

4.0

adventurous funny 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: Yes

When We Were Birds

Ayanna Lloyd Banwo

4.0

challenging dark fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

This book is not one I would normally read, but it was gorgeous. I listened to the audiobook and the narrators were fantastic and did a much better job of setting the scene with their cadence and accents than I ever could imagine. The imagery was so beautiful and brought to mind enough of the "other" in the otherworld that distanced itself from reality in a good way. I really enjoyed reading this book and I think it will stay with me for a while.

Isabella Nagg and the Pot of Basil

Oliver Darkshire

4.0

adventurous funny reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

This was a wonderfully cozy fantasy about a loveless marriage that Isabella escapes in an unconventional way. I loved the dry-British humor injected into Isabella's narrative and that she comes to realize that she's more than just Mr. Nagg's wife that fixes everything for him. The talking donkey (Bottom of all names) and the basil plant (who didn't see that coming a mile away) were just amazing as well.

Keep Me

Sara Cate

2.25

fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I listened to the audiobook and I wasn't a huge fan of the female narrator. If I had read the book that may have been a bit different, but there were still some other things in the story that just had me shaking my head. The spicy scenes were OK but I could never get past the characters and how they were written. Unfortunately this is the type of poorly written romance that usually throws me off the genre as a whole.

Rules for Ruin

Mimi Matthews

2.5

fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

While the author acknowledges drawing inspiration from Great Expectations I found it to fall a bit flat. Effie talked a big game but kept screwing up and needed saving. In one instance she manages to use skills supposedly taught at the Crinoline Academy but I am not convinced. Gabriel, at least, was a more believable character. She was two-dimensional with delusions of grandeur.