selenebooks_'s reviews
117 reviews

adventurous challenging emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

back at it again with a written review!

i have to preface this by saying i am not the biggest fan of this author, for a multitude a reasons, but i kept reading the book because the plot seemed interesting.

i gave it a four star because i can’t sit here and lie to everyone and say i didn’t like it — i did, i enjoyed it a lot. i felt very pulled to this book because of the dragons, and i am glad i stayed. what can i say, i am a sucker for fantasy and any booktok trash you throw my way... i am the raccoon of booktok.

and maybe it’s because i am getting too old (sigh, the age of 25 is such a heavy burden) to read things with such a youthful narrator, but i simply couldn’t stand violet at some points. it kind of came as a shock when i learned she was 20, because the way she speaks makes me think she was 16. i know her entire family is a rider (besides her father and her brother), but she was raised as a scribe and, honestly, i couldn’t tell... but then again, she sort of knew she was born to be a rider so maybe that's why. she's very conflicted, her emotions are always going wild, which i understand 100% (you're telling my i've been training to be a scribe and you want me to cross a f*cking rock bridge where i could fall to my death? yeah, i wouldn't know what to do after that either). she's not a hard character to like, but this feels like feyre 2.0 and i'm not even a big fan of feyre.

romance while, the contrast between dain and xaden is so... predictable. childhood sweetheart who's very overprotective versus bad sexy guy who is destined to be with you until you die. are all fantasy books the same now? (but i like xaden... what can i say, i like my fictional men annoying and hard to get).
friends wise, i wish there was more of rhiannon, ridoc, liam, etc. those were characters i truly enjoyed reading about, and it was always just short moments.

another thing is that, amidst the actual tragedy happening in your world right now, reading this book felt like downright propaganda (and not the good kind, to me). this is one of the irks i have with the author, and i won’t be getting political in a book review, but it genuinely made me stop a few times because i just felt so uncomfortable. yes, i have read the ending, and no, i haven’t started the second book, but i have no hopes that this narrative will change.

also what the actual f*ck was that ending.

A Curse for True Love by Stephanie Garber

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adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber

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adventurous challenging emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

Autumn by Ali Smith

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challenging emotional lighthearted reflective fast-paced

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

2.0

i’m only here to explain myself for this rating! (not that i need to)

i fell for the “pretty book cover” trap and ended up in the “what the f did i just read” hole.
i don’t think i understood it well enough to enjoy it, i found myself skimming through the pages because i could not, for the life of me, focus on anything that was happening.
i was going to read the next volumes in the series, but after this, i think i’ll just appreciate the covers from afar. :’)

Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber

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lighthearted fast-paced