shreyas1599's reviews
269 reviews

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

adventurous dark emotional sad

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

4.0

‘Twas a very depressing read. Man is beastly and all through the book I found myself praying for the horses. But every circumstance was pure luck. And more often than not it’s bad luck and there’s nothing you can do about the hand you’re dealt with. You can make the most of trying to survive but that is where what is in your control ends. Almost all of the horses that black beauty encounters have a relatively worse off life than him. To be fair, it would not make for a good story if there was only hardships written for his character. But nonetheless, it was some saving grace to read the happy ending. But for me, the moral of this story is that life is not fair and most of the time there’s nothing you can do about it.

The Third Man by Graham Greene

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Desert Star by Michael Connelly

adventurous challenging emotional sad 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

3.75

The Dark Hours by Michael Connelly

adventurous challenging reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

Annihilation of Caste by B.R. Ambedkar

challenging reflective

5.0

The Night Fire by Michael Connelly

adventurous 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? N/A

4.0

Dark Sacred Night by Michael Connelly

adventurous hopeful 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? Yes

4.0

I seem to like the character of Ballard more than Bosch. Although reckless at times, on the whole she seems much more level-headed than Bosch. It could also be a consequence of Bosch reaching the retirement age. 

The Late Show by Michael Connelly

adventurous 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? N/A

4.25

The book kept me hooked throughout. There were elements of everything. There was police corruption, police not snitching on each other, absolute power corrupts absolutely, happy endings, not-so-happy endings. There was also attention drawn to sexual abuse and the male-dominated nature of the field and all the passing remarks and sexual advances a women has to go through. Nothing unreal about that. 

I like the character of the lead. How she never sleeps and yet manages to get a lot done is up for realistic debate, but other than that, I enjoyed the way the character was written. She was vulnerable, a good detective wanting to do the right thing. But at the same time, the writing does not make her out to be some genius superhero, all guns-blazing unrealistic character. 

I’m definitely going to persist with this series.

Ten Days Gone by Beverly Long

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.25

The plot was kind of guessable save for a few details here and there. I liked the idea of the plot and the “you know when you’re going to die” aspect of it. 

The ending felt a bit rushed. I guess there wasn’t much that could be done. But it was not a complete surprise. Would’ve liked to see or two surprise twists.

But the characters were likeable. I liked the mundanity of the problems of the police officers and the miscommunication aspects added in. Usually, when such sub plots are added in and there isn’t much time in the book to go over them, they feel completely out of place. Somehow, in this case, the subplots accorded to the detectives did not feel out of place to me. 

Crimson Lake by Candice Fox

adventurous emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0