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shane_the_reading_rat's reviews
854 reviews
Paper Planes by Jennie Wood
4.0
for some reason listening to this cozy fantasy instrumental playlist https://open.spotify.com/playlist/61ePVjb032Ztvd8qOnN2tt?si=bjlInjNTSD-hW5XGTpNbJQ&pi=u-3tsb7h6AR_GX really enhanced this reading experience even though this isn’t fantasy. huh.
anyway i loved this one a Lot
Dylan and Leighton were both super interesting characters, and i love their different motifs of rocket ships and roller skates (its also hilarious to me that Dylan is a dead ringer for how i looked at their age, hairstyle and all)
while i do prefer Dylan out of the two, imo Leighton kinda got left in the dust plot-wise. her part of the story just ended so suddenly i had to flip back a few pages to check that i hadn’t missed anything.
otherwise this would’ve been five stars easily. but either way i loved it!! (art style was wonderful, warmer colors for flashback scenes + a rounded style for Leighton/angular style for Dylan were such nice touches and attention to detail)
anyway i loved this one a Lot
Dylan and Leighton were both super interesting characters, and i love their different motifs of rocket ships and roller skates (its also hilarious to me that Dylan is a dead ringer for how i looked at their age, hairstyle and all)
while i do prefer Dylan out of the two, imo Leighton kinda got left in the dust plot-wise. her part of the story just ended so suddenly i had to flip back a few pages to check that i hadn’t missed anything.
otherwise this would’ve been five stars easily. but either way i loved it!! (art style was wonderful, warmer colors for flashback scenes + a rounded style for Leighton/angular style for Dylan were such nice touches and attention to detail)
Interesting Facts About Space by Emily Austin
Did not finish book. Stopped at 43%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 43%.
sorry not sorry. litfic is consistently so fucking boring i commend anyone who likes it. youre stronger than me
The Night Guest by Hildur Knútsdóttir
3.5
pretty much the most i can say about this book is that it was Fine
i liked the fast pace and how short many chapters were, i thought that was nice and that it was paced well and was suspenseful enough to keep my interest (i finished this in about three sittings, so at least there’s that!)
but this was much more situated in the sad-girl subgenre of literature than advertised, and personally that’s just not a vibe i like very often (i have been a sad girl many times, and then a sad boy, and it’s just not something i find interesting to read about)
also this needed such a trigger warning for violence against animals, granted ive read worse in horror but still it’s something i would’ve liked to emotionally prepare for beforehand.
anyway what is awesome about this is that it’s translated from icelandic!!! never read a book from iceland before so that was pretty cool :]
i liked the fast pace and how short many chapters were, i thought that was nice and that it was paced well and was suspenseful enough to keep my interest (i finished this in about three sittings, so at least there’s that!)
but this was much more situated in the sad-girl subgenre of literature than advertised, and personally that’s just not a vibe i like very often (i have been a sad girl many times, and then a sad boy, and it’s just not something i find interesting to read about)
also this needed such a trigger warning for violence against animals, granted ive read worse in horror but still it’s something i would’ve liked to emotionally prepare for beforehand.
anyway what is awesome about this is that it’s translated from icelandic!!! never read a book from iceland before so that was pretty cool :]
Practical Rules for Cursed Witches by Kayla Cottingham
Did not finish book. Stopped at 28%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 28%.
realistically i should like this, ive loved one of this author’s books before and ive been super into fantasy and romance (especially witches) lately — but this feels like such a slog for my poor little eyeballs. im going to put a hold on the audiobook and try it again that way !!
Daughter of the Bone Forest by Jasmine Skye
goddd not me sobbing over the final chapter of this book
this is so good ik ya fantasy can get an awful rep sometimes + magic schools are done so often in fantasy but this is so good please read it
protagonist is an anti-war horse girl i dont think you need anything else to convince you to read this
5.0
I won't be their weapon, but I will be yours."
"I never wanted a weapon" Shaw murmured. "I wanted a partner."
goddd not me sobbing over the final chapter of this book
this is so good ik ya fantasy can get an awful rep sometimes + magic schools are done so often in fantasy but this is so good please read it
protagonist is an anti-war horse girl i dont think you need anything else to convince you to read this
Grand Slam Romance by Ollie Hicks, Emma Oosterhous
5.0
well i still don’t understand softball but what i DO know is that this is one of the funniest books i have ever read
already have the second volume on hold :)))
already have the second volume on hold :)))
Flip the Script by Lyla Lee
3.75
first book for sapphic september is finished!! used this for the prompt "famous sapphics"
this honestly set out to be a cute romance and not a ton more and i can really respect that, it did the job
i liked all the characters, the vibes were good, i love books set in the music or film industries, so overall the was just a really solid vibe
(also i promise you finishing an audiobook in under a week generally means i liked it really well)
this honestly set out to be a cute romance and not a ton more and i can really respect that, it did the job
i liked all the characters, the vibes were good, i love books set in the music or film industries, so overall the was just a really solid vibe
(also i promise you finishing an audiobook in under a week generally means i liked it really well)
Dear Wendy by Ann Zhao
3.0
ok i may have come into this one with a little too high of expectations
im aroace and was super hyped to finally see a book with not one but two aroace main characters!!! so like honestly i may have rated this book a little lower were it not for that
but unfortunately there was a solid chunk of this that i did not vibe with
there were (imo) entirely too many pop culture references/things that could only be understood if you were chronically online. and im someone who usually is not annoyed with pop culture references in books!! but in this it felt like almost every page was referencing some musician or some meme, and like in the kindest way possible memes read very differently in a book than online (especially since memes age so quickly vs the fact that publishing is quite the slow beast)
also, it felt like how upset sophie and jo were about the whole "you're wendy! YOURE WANDA!?" thing was ridiculous. just felt like way too drawn out of a conflict. genuinely i am the same age as these characters and i thought about "hey, how would i react if i found out my closest friend were running a parody of an account i do?" and the answer is i'd find it hilarious. cause objectively that is really funny
also i really don't like how this book went down the angle with Jo of "hates themself because they can't feel romantic love". it's the same road Loveless by Alice Oseman went down (and i could not fucking stand that book). i understand if that's a common experience for aros to go through (i never went through that, but my experience is not everyone's experience), but as there's genuinely so little aroace rep in books it just feels a little sad to have majority of aro rep be "i hate myself for i cannot feel romantic attraction".
im aroace and was super hyped to finally see a book with not one but two aroace main characters!!! so like honestly i may have rated this book a little lower were it not for that
but unfortunately there was a solid chunk of this that i did not vibe with
there were (imo) entirely too many pop culture references/things that could only be understood if you were chronically online. and im someone who usually is not annoyed with pop culture references in books!! but in this it felt like almost every page was referencing some musician or some meme, and like in the kindest way possible memes read very differently in a book than online (especially since memes age so quickly vs the fact that publishing is quite the slow beast)
also, it felt like how upset sophie and jo were about the whole "you're wendy! YOURE WANDA!?" thing was ridiculous. just felt like way too drawn out of a conflict. genuinely i am the same age as these characters and i thought about "hey, how would i react if i found out my closest friend were running a parody of an account i do?" and the answer is i'd find it hilarious. cause objectively that is really funny
also i really don't like how this book went down the angle with Jo of "hates themself because they can't feel romantic love". it's the same road Loveless by Alice Oseman went down (and i could not fucking stand that book). i understand if that's a common experience for aros to go through (i never went through that, but my experience is not everyone's experience), but as there's genuinely so little aroace rep in books it just feels a little sad to have majority of aro rep be "i hate myself for i cannot feel romantic attraction".
We Mostly Come Out At Night: 15 Queer Tales of Monsters, Angels & Other Creatures by Rob Costello
Did not finish book. Stopped at 9%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 9%.
ive had enough awful crap happening in my personal life that (though i love horror dearly) i genuinely just cant deal with the genre rn. will absolutely pick this up in the future but rn im in my fantasy and romance era !!!