shahdhazem's reviews
190 reviews

Castles in their Bones by Laura Sebastian

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Honestly it's a good fantasy read, well built world, good plot, numerous characters and a simple writingstyle. The author also managed each of the POV and plot line of each princess pretty well and kept me interested. The problem for me was that I predicted the plot lines of the princesses from the start but somehow the author still kept me wanting to continue and actually managed a beautiful twist at the end of the book. That's why I raised my initial rating of 3 stars to 3.5 but honestly it can't be higher. And that's for multiple other reasons than the fact that I predicted the plot which are the utmost stretching of events and the fact that the author didn't manage to get me attached by any way to the characters and their sisterly relation. Despite her numerous tries of insisting upon how special their relation was because of how their mother treated them but I still couldn't feel them. Also one of the main things that intrigued me about the book was the title. It's definitely a new one so I was really looking forward to understand It's significance in the book but we didn't get that at all and i'm actually really bummed about it cause it honestly makes no sense compared to the story. In the end, the important question is whether I recommend this or not? I'd say I do but don't expect something big out of it. It's a quick enjoyable read with lots of events so probably could get you out of a slump but I'd say it lacks lots of events to be great you know. Oh and one last thing, will I be reading the second book? Honestly I don't want to cause as I said I don't care about the characters at all but still the last chapter got me intrigued so I think I'd probably give it a try but I don't have any hopes for it.
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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

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adventurous funny hopeful inspiring 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? No

5.0

Honestly I'm surprised I enjoyed this this much. It was much better than the first book for me. I'm already a huuge fan of the movies but wanted to read the books to get more insight on the world and the characters and that is exactly what chamber of secrets fulfilled. I won't talk about the writingstyle or plot cause these are just given things, I devoured the book in two days even tho I knew the gist of it all so I think that says it all. Definitely excited to continue the series now after this. If anyone was like me thinking because they already saw the movies there's no point reading the books, may I tell you sir you are completely wrong reading the books is a must now that I think about it. And that's me only after the second book who knows what the rest will do to me and we all know for a fact that they contain the bulk of everything. So, wish me luck
Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense 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? No

5.0

I'm literally in shock because of how good this was. This is the finest fantasy I've read in my entire life, this man is a master I can't believe I've lived all this time without reading for him. This is my first high fantasy and also my first brandon sanderson book but oh my was it such a whirlwind. I enjoyed every second of this book, we can say I devoured it. I was intimidated by high fantasy because of how complex the worlds are and just the immense amount of information but you guys hear me out. This world is one of the most complex and unique ones I've ever seen but brandon sanderson built it like as smoothly as building a kite, the sequence of info and events made me fully mesmerised and in love with the perfect details. The characters were all exceptionally special everyone had their own plotline and it's depth omg it was something else. My opinions on them kept changing till the last minute, hell even till now. I can't even decide whether this is good or bad but all I can say is that it's very clever on brandon sanderson's side. I'm not a fan of politics at all and I wouldn't want to read anything focusing on political intrigue at for brandon sanderson I definitely would. Warbreaker had the best twists based on the political intrigue THIS MAN IS A GENIUS I was literally screaming at a mass market paperback at 2 AM. In the end what I want to say is that if you want to start reading high fantasy or even get into brandon sanderson's books just start with warbreaker you won't regret it I guarantee you. This was recommended for me to start by a friend and I owe her my life now literally. Brandon sanderson deserves every bit of hype he gets even more and I can't wait to start devouring everything he ever wrote.
Something More by Jackie Khalilieh

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

A Most Magical Girl by Karen Foxlee

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted 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? It's complicated

3.0

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

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

4.5

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

Outrun the Moon by Stacey Lee

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover

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

3.0

I started this on a whim and honestly wasn't expecting much and that's what I got. The book was mediocre at best. I got into it only knowing it's a really sad story and was supposed to make me weep and all but surprise surprise, I didn't weep. I don't expect much of colleen regarding complex characters the only ones I felt were really good was Heart bones' Beyah and Samsom and of course verity other than that I read her books for mere fun and drama. Some would get angry at this because most of her books handle huge topics but I don't think she handles them all that well. Anyways, let's get into this book now. I sympathised with Kenna I really did and I wanted her to reunite with her daughter but her relationship with Ledger was just really off for me for some reasons I couldn't accept it. So to say the least I didn't enjoy this because of the romance but the other elements were not bad that's why I'm rating it 3 stars not less. The pace was good and how the story progressed with the characters so it was all okay somehow. Would I personally recommend it? No, it's a quick read if you want but it's not as deep as you might imagine the whole thing just didn't stick with me and I honestly can't determine whether this is a problem with me or what.
A Deal with the Elf King by Elise Kova

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 36%.
Typical fae King and peasant girl falling in love process, honestly couldn't care less. Also the writing style wasn't good at all and such a slow pace with no really events to look forward to.