shmandanas's reviews
118 reviews

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

challenging dark slow-paced

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

5.0

I really enjoyed this. I'm not sure I fully get it (even just a few of the basic plot points- I listened to it as an audiobook and the book felt like it jumped around a little too much for me to digest fully), but this book was the correct kind of meandering. It told a lot of interesting small stories, and led up to a really cool big story.

Heartstopper Volume 3 by Alice Oseman

4.5

Heartstopper Volume 2 by Alice Oseman

4.5

Heartstopper Volume 4 by Alice Oseman

4.5

Heartstopper Volume 1 by Alice Oseman

lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness by Kristen Radtke

dark informative sad fast-paced

4.0

A read that made me very sad, and offers no solutions, but was still an interesting exploration.

There were some topics that I felt were well explored, others that I wish were fleshed out more.

Time is a Mother by Ocean Vuong

emotional reflective fast-paced

3.0

There were some really standout lines, but on the whole I am not into poetry enough to have gotten a ton out of this.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

This book was simultaneously too long and too short. I know this is a series, so there will be more opportunities to flesh out the story, but in this book we just spent so little time in each part of the story that it felt like there was no time for anything to develop properly.

Also Feyre has a shocking lack of agency for the first three quarters of this book. Things just happen to her, and while she is incredibly stubborn, she was somehow okay with the things that I felt like should have been addressed closer.

Mainly, when she learns that Tamlin took her to Spring Court in an attempt to break his curse. She was totally okay with being taken to this new land under completely false pretenses??

Feyre just consistantly made the opposite choice that I would, so it made it difficult to take the whole story in from her POV.

Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

Solid middle of the road sequel. If you're looking for a novel adventure, this is not the place for that. Like other reviewers have said, it follows exactly the same format as the first one with way-too-long descriptions in the action scenes. That being said, it's been a while since I read Ready Player One, so overall I still found this enjoyable. Not a ton of depth, but fun.

The Sentence by Louise Erdrich

emotional reflective sad tense 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

This was so, so gorgeous. I didn't know it was a pandemic story going in, and I might not have picked it up if I did but there was a real ache and real beauty here that I could not put down. I can see this being a book I come back to a few more times.