Take a photo of a barcode or cover
shitbookreviews's reviews
169 reviews
The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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
5.0
[copy via netgalley]
TL;DR
I am in love. This emotional and heartfelt retelling is everything you want in a standalone fantasy book.
THE JUICE
As a kid, I was convinced I was a mermaid in a past-life. If anyone was trying to find 7-year-old-Jen, you’d just need to look in the deep end of the swimming pool where I’d be dolphin kicking underwater and living out my underwater fantasy life.
So when you plonk this book in front of me, I didn’t stand a fucking chance. Here’s what you’re in for:
✨ A Sea God causing a bit of mayhem
✨ Yearly sacrifices of girls to said Sea God
✨ An underwater world full of magical things including yet more gods and mythical beasts
✨ One bad-ass powerhouse called Mina who I’d love to be pals with pronto
Every year, a small village makes a sacrifice to the Sea God in order to avoid natural catastrophes which he is quite clearly in control of. Most people would presume that might involve giving the water lad some crops or a nice bracelet except you’d be very, very wrong.
In this world, they sacrifice 16-year old girls instead. Every year they scoot around local villages to find the most beautiful girl they can, fully kit her out as a bride and then yeet her into the sea in the hopes she might (emphasise on MIGHT) be his one true love and break the curse.
Mina (your main bestie) isn’t the bride, so technically she could have just gone about living her life, HOWEVER her brother’s girlfriend, Shim Cheong, was. Refusing to live in that timeline, she flung herself into the ocean before creating a self-sacrifice moment that rivals that time Spock repaired the Warp Drive.
Now in the spirit realm, Mina needs to figure out a way to wake the Sea God by gathering up a chaotic crew of demons, spirits and gods in a world completely unknown to her in an attempt to figure out what the hell is going on with him.
THE TAKE
Asian retellings. BEAUTIFUL bloody cover. The words Spirited Away whispered into my ear.
Combine those three things and I didn’t stand a chance. I knew I was going to sell my soul to these characters before I even turned the page and I am now a husk of a woman begging for more books by Axie Oh.
This book comes with a bit of everything, From a hint of action with a sprinkling of romance, right down to emotional family moments that will have tears creeping up on you when you least expect it. Whilst the twists weren’t exactly full of ‘OMG WHAT JUST HAPPENED’ moments, it didn’t take away from the story at all.
It’s so insanely hard not to give away everything through pure excitement of this world.
I love it. And you will as well.
TL;DR
I am in love. This emotional and heartfelt retelling is everything you want in a standalone fantasy book.
THE JUICE
As a kid, I was convinced I was a mermaid in a past-life. If anyone was trying to find 7-year-old-Jen, you’d just need to look in the deep end of the swimming pool where I’d be dolphin kicking underwater and living out my underwater fantasy life.
So when you plonk this book in front of me, I didn’t stand a fucking chance. Here’s what you’re in for:
✨ A Sea God causing a bit of mayhem
✨ Yearly sacrifices of girls to said Sea God
✨ An underwater world full of magical things including yet more gods and mythical beasts
✨ One bad-ass powerhouse called Mina who I’d love to be pals with pronto
Every year, a small village makes a sacrifice to the Sea God in order to avoid natural catastrophes which he is quite clearly in control of. Most people would presume that might involve giving the water lad some crops or a nice bracelet except you’d be very, very wrong.
In this world, they sacrifice 16-year old girls instead. Every year they scoot around local villages to find the most beautiful girl they can, fully kit her out as a bride and then yeet her into the sea in the hopes she might (emphasise on MIGHT) be his one true love and break the curse.
Mina (your main bestie) isn’t the bride, so technically she could have just gone about living her life, HOWEVER her brother’s girlfriend, Shim Cheong, was. Refusing to live in that timeline, she flung herself into the ocean before creating a self-sacrifice moment that rivals that time Spock repaired the Warp Drive.
Now in the spirit realm, Mina needs to figure out a way to wake the Sea God by gathering up a chaotic crew of demons, spirits and gods in a world completely unknown to her in an attempt to figure out what the hell is going on with him.
THE TAKE
Asian retellings. BEAUTIFUL bloody cover. The words Spirited Away whispered into my ear.
Combine those three things and I didn’t stand a chance. I knew I was going to sell my soul to these characters before I even turned the page and I am now a husk of a woman begging for more books by Axie Oh.
This book comes with a bit of everything, From a hint of action with a sprinkling of romance, right down to emotional family moments that will have tears creeping up on you when you least expect it. Whilst the twists weren’t exactly full of ‘OMG WHAT JUST HAPPENED’ moments, it didn’t take away from the story at all.
It’s so insanely hard not to give away everything through pure excitement of this world.
I love it. And you will as well.
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Castles in Their Bones by Laura Sebastian
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
TL;DR
Royalty. Power. Corruption oozing out of every bit of land. A solid story for those looking for a rollercoaster whiplash plotline and a wee bit of magic.
THE JUICE
Holy shit this a ride. And one I nearly didn’t jump on because of the cover but being the Hodder & Stoughton fangirl I seem to be morphing into, I put my pretty-cover-magpie tendencies to one side and stopped being a massive dick. Here’s what you’re in for:
✨ Princess triplets and their conniving mother
✨ Betrothals to three Princes of varying likeability
✨ M A G I C
✨ Enough twists and turns to cause whiplash
So. What’s the deal with this book. Let’s start with the main gang.
Daphne
The more hands-on daughter when it comes to her mother’s schemes and eager to please. If you don’t find her shooting arrows into targets, you’ll find her nose deep in an alchemy book figuring out how to poison the shit out of you. Things princesses should absolutely know if you ask me. The entire world seems sus as hell.
Beatriz
The rule-breaker and the deemed as the beautiful one who’s spent her entire life learning how to woo poor bastards by a small army of courtesans. If your knees haven’t buckled once she’s finished with you, you probably don’t have a soul.
Sophronia
The one who just wants a normal life which is pretty hard as a princess full stop. Check any paperwork that comes your way, cause chances are she’s forged any signatures on it as well as half the contents. Being the only one that’s fallen head-over-heels for her betrothed via letter, dearest mother sees her as a bit of a flake when it comes to her grand plan.
The Plan
And what is this plan we keep hearing so much about?
The Empress of Bessemia (aka mother) is quite frankly bored of just being an empress. She has plans of being a Queen and to do that, she needs to cause an almighty ruckus across the neighbouring countries in the realm of Vesteria.
To do this, she betrothed each of her daughters the moment they were born to a prince of those lands and glass lit/brainwashed them to fuck to do her bidding. Not an ounce of love was shown to these girls – they were bred to carry out a task and on their 16th birthdays, they were shipped out to their princes.
The only issue is when you treat your kids like utter shite, it tends to come back at you.
THE TAKE
I judged this book by its cover and, in this case, that was a dumb ass move – I nearly missed out on a solid book because I was being a grade-a prat.
The characters are amazingly well crafted and the world is built out wonderfully even if it is oozing with corruption. You’ll find yourself muttering wtf every now and then whilst you’re on a vigorous rollercoaster of a story being thrown around every little twist and turn.
My only issue? There is SO much going on that it’s near impossible for my tiny noggin to remember what’s happening and to whom.
This is the start of what’s going to be a juicy trilogy and I’m dead excited to see where we end up.
Royalty. Power. Corruption oozing out of every bit of land. A solid story for those looking for a rollercoaster whiplash plotline and a wee bit of magic.
THE JUICE
Holy shit this a ride. And one I nearly didn’t jump on because of the cover but being the Hodder & Stoughton fangirl I seem to be morphing into, I put my pretty-cover-magpie tendencies to one side and stopped being a massive dick. Here’s what you’re in for:
✨ Princess triplets and their conniving mother
✨ Betrothals to three Princes of varying likeability
✨ M A G I C
✨ Enough twists and turns to cause whiplash
So. What’s the deal with this book. Let’s start with the main gang.
Daphne
The more hands-on daughter when it comes to her mother’s schemes and eager to please. If you don’t find her shooting arrows into targets, you’ll find her nose deep in an alchemy book figuring out how to poison the shit out of you. Things princesses should absolutely know if you ask me. The entire world seems sus as hell.
Beatriz
The rule-breaker and the deemed as the beautiful one who’s spent her entire life learning how to woo poor bastards by a small army of courtesans. If your knees haven’t buckled once she’s finished with you, you probably don’t have a soul.
Sophronia
The one who just wants a normal life which is pretty hard as a princess full stop. Check any paperwork that comes your way, cause chances are she’s forged any signatures on it as well as half the contents. Being the only one that’s fallen head-over-heels for her betrothed via letter, dearest mother sees her as a bit of a flake when it comes to her grand plan.
The Plan
And what is this plan we keep hearing so much about?
The Empress of Bessemia (aka mother) is quite frankly bored of just being an empress. She has plans of being a Queen and to do that, she needs to cause an almighty ruckus across the neighbouring countries in the realm of Vesteria.
To do this, she betrothed each of her daughters the moment they were born to a prince of those lands and glass lit/brainwashed them to fuck to do her bidding. Not an ounce of love was shown to these girls – they were bred to carry out a task and on their 16th birthdays, they were shipped out to their princes.
The only issue is when you treat your kids like utter shite, it tends to come back at you.
THE TAKE
I judged this book by its cover and, in this case, that was a dumb ass move – I nearly missed out on a solid book because I was being a grade-a prat.
The characters are amazingly well crafted and the world is built out wonderfully even if it is oozing with corruption. You’ll find yourself muttering wtf every now and then whilst you’re on a vigorous rollercoaster of a story being thrown around every little twist and turn.
My only issue? There is SO much going on that it’s near impossible for my tiny noggin to remember what’s happening and to whom.
This is the start of what’s going to be a juicy trilogy and I’m dead excited to see where we end up.
Gild by Raven Kennedy
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Pandora by Susan Stokes-Chapman
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
The Nemesis Program by Scott Mariani
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Gilded by Marissa Meyer
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
TL;DR:
Rumpelstiltskin retelling with a bad guy you can actually hate. And that’s something I can get behind.
---
Oh ho ho ho hooooo. This book was quite something. Never read any of Marissa Meyer’s work before so I was diving in with no history of her books and my brain has been BLESSED with a motherfucking story and a half. This is what you’re in for:
✨ Cursed by the God of Lies
✨ A VERY MEAN KING
✨ Spinning gold from straw
✨ All magic comes with a price
Serilda (top lass and a wee scamp) is bangin’ at telling stories that give kids the heebie-jeebies. Now, this might be because she was cursed by the God of Lies but if that’s the benefit, then sign me up. Whilst she’s real good at spinning tale, it also lands her in a wee bit of a pickle – she tells a fib to The Erlking to save two Moss Maidens from the Wild Hunt.
Normally saving two little fairy-like creatures would do you a solid HOWEVER the lie comes back to bite her in the ass when The Erlking expects her to make good on her ‘talents’ and weave a dungeon of straw into gold thread. With not an ounce of magic wiggling at her fingertips, she’s absolutely fucked until a wee cutie pie of a poltergeist pops his head in.
I always thought Rumpelstiltskin was a bit of a shite and this book yoinks elements out of it and works them into a wonderful story.
Did I fall head over heels with it? No
Could some bits perhaps been a wee bit shorter? 100%
Was the romance a little weird? Yes (I would love to talk to someone about the logistics of that)
Will I be all over the next book? Absolutely
Oh and I’m a big fan that the bad guy was an actual prick. Please don’t throw him through some redemption story in book 2. I need a baddy.
Rumpelstiltskin retelling with a bad guy you can actually hate. And that’s something I can get behind.
---
Oh ho ho ho hooooo. This book was quite something. Never read any of Marissa Meyer’s work before so I was diving in with no history of her books and my brain has been BLESSED with a motherfucking story and a half. This is what you’re in for:
✨ Cursed by the God of Lies
✨ A VERY MEAN KING
✨ Spinning gold from straw
✨ All magic comes with a price
Serilda (top lass and a wee scamp) is bangin’ at telling stories that give kids the heebie-jeebies. Now, this might be because she was cursed by the God of Lies but if that’s the benefit, then sign me up. Whilst she’s real good at spinning tale, it also lands her in a wee bit of a pickle – she tells a fib to The Erlking to save two Moss Maidens from the Wild Hunt.
Normally saving two little fairy-like creatures would do you a solid HOWEVER the lie comes back to bite her in the ass when The Erlking expects her to make good on her ‘talents’ and weave a dungeon of straw into gold thread. With not an ounce of magic wiggling at her fingertips, she’s absolutely fucked until a wee cutie pie of a poltergeist pops his head in.
I always thought Rumpelstiltskin was a bit of a shite and this book yoinks elements out of it and works them into a wonderful story.
Did I fall head over heels with it? No
Could some bits perhaps been a wee bit shorter? 100%
Was the romance a little weird? Yes (I would love to talk to someone about the logistics of that)
Will I be all over the next book? Absolutely
Oh and I’m a big fan that the bad guy was an actual prick. Please don’t throw him through some redemption story in book 2. I need a baddy.
Reprieve by James Han Mattson
Did not finish book. Stopped at 29%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 29%.
[DNF @29%]
I hate not finishing a book and this is one of the only ones I've had to tuck away in my Kindle folder of shame this year.
The premises sounded amazing - an escape room (I love those damn mind-fuck rooms) where you have to find little red envelopes and someone gets murdered. I never made it to that part. The characters drove me insane and everything chugs along at a snail's pace.
I have honestly no idea what's going on and for that very dull reason, I'm giving up.
I hate not finishing a book and this is one of the only ones I've had to tuck away in my Kindle folder of shame this year.
The premises sounded amazing - an escape room (I love those damn mind-fuck rooms) where you have to find little red envelopes and someone gets murdered. I never made it to that part. The characters drove me insane and everything chugs along at a snail's pace.
I have honestly no idea what's going on and for that very dull reason, I'm giving up.
Girl A by Abigail Dean
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0