speculativeshelves's reviews
665 reviews

Defy the Storm by Tessa Gratton, Justina Ireland

adventurous emotional 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? Yes

4.0

I struggled a bit with the pacing/jumping between the multiple POVs in this story as the three main plotlines weren't super connected to each other but that being said this book was full of excellent character arcs and fascinating reveals. I'm super excited for both Temptation of the Force (

the scene between Vernestra and Elzar at the end of the book sets up an interesting character dynamic

) and Tears of the Nameless(

Reath and Azlin Rell!!!!

). It's a book that works well as both a sequel to Out of the Shadows and Mission to Disaster from Phase I as well as a YA opener to Phase III (while also expanding on what was already established in The Eye of Darkness.

Vernestra and Avon are by far my faves and so their storylines were by far my favorite (I especially loved Vernestra's grief journey) but I enjoyed seeing more of Jordanna, Xylan, and the always fun San Tekka vs Graf family rivalry as well - even if my investment in those storylines wasn't quite as strong. It was also nice to get some brief time with previous YA High Republic Characters - Sylvestri Yarrow, the crew of The Vessel, Nan, and Reath Silas. 

The wait for the next High Republic book might kill me a bit but at least there's only a month to go?

Escape from Valo by Daniel José Older, Alyssa Wong

adventurous emotional funny 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

Yet another delightful middle grade adventure for the High Republic! Really enjoyed the found family aspect of the Scarlet Skulls, the discussions on what "attachment" really means for Jedi, a significant plot point being the "best friends to enemies" trope

(the quote "I'm killing my best friend. Have some respect." had me screaming I loved it)

, the connection to Phase II of The High Republic Adventures, and the always excellent diverse representation. 

I think the story did a great job of getting me emotionally invested in all of new characters but since this is a short book I couldn't help but want a little more from each of their character arcs (though I'm sure we'll get it in the future). 

In a surprising turn of events the antagonists stole the show for me in this one - I cannot wait to see where Driggit and Niv Drendow's storyline goes from here - I loved everything about the epilogue. 

What Monstrous Gods by Rosamund Hodge

adventurous dark mysterious medium-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

3.25

Occasionally interesting and a quick read but overall a bit underwhelming. I loved the premise of this story - a devout protagonist haunted by (and eventually falling in love with) the heretical sorcerer she killed while undergoing a crisis of faith - but it just left me wanting more.

The beginning of the book had me hooked. I enjoyed Sleeping Beauty-esque curse and Rosamund Hodge's writing style worked well for a YA dark fairy tale story. Lia and Ruven's enemies to allies to eventual lovers dynamic was great and by far my favorite part (even if I did wish it was even more of a slowburn). While there are elements that feel familiar when compared to other YA fantasy stories, the book feels quite unique - I would love to see more YA books tackle theological themes!.

Ultimately I enjoyed how the story wrapped up but the pacing in the middle stalled quite a bit for me. Plot points and Lia's thoughts began to feel repetitive and I feel the story never went as deep as it could have. The side characters all felt very one-note and while there some interesting discussions of faith I just constantly wanted more. I was particularly underwhelmed by the lack of exploration re: Ruven's "heretical" beliefs and the Magisterium. The story gets pretty in-depth with the gods and saints of Lia and the Royal Family's religion but it never delves into the religion of the Magisterium other than there being a few descriptions making it clear it was analogous to Catholicism. I wanted to know more about how the two faith systems interacted/overlapped/contrasted and I wanted to know more about how Ruven's sorcery was connected to his own faith.

If you're looking for a YA fantasy story with a strong emphasis on religion (specifically how one's faith evolves when what you're raised to believe contradicts what you feel is right) this still may be worth picking up - especially if you enjoy a side of enemies to lovers romance. However, it just didn't quite live up to the high expectations I had based on its premise. 

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

Beautifully written and powerful. I definitely feel like this will be considered a classic in the future. 

Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

!!!!!!

The last 200 pages of this were particularly incredible but I really loved this installment all the way through (<i>Words of Radiance</i> might still be my favorite). I enjoyed how this book opened the series up to an even wider scope than before with additional POVs and lots of new worldbuilding information without being overwhelming. I know for a lot of readers this installment is their least favorite and they don't like the pacing but I did not have that experience at all.

Dalinar's arc is the most important part of this book and I loved his character arc more than I expected. I think of all the flashbacks in this series, his are the strongest (and

I particularly liked how we got the flashbacks alongside Dalinar as he was getting his memories back

). Stories of redemption/atonement are my favorite so naturally the central theme of this book worked really well for me. Ultimately this is a story of characters figuring out who they want to be and in addition to Dalinar's arc I thought all of the main characters had fantastic arcs. There were lots of emotional scenes for a variety of characters that hit me hard.

Also it was exciting to have (another) one of my favorite Cosmere characters

VIVENNA!!!

not only make an appearance but have a significant role. It's taking everything in me to not reread <i>Warbreaker</i> when I have 100000 other books (Cosmere books included) to read instead.

Funny Story by Emily Henry

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

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

4.0

You can always count on Emily Henry for writing a fun contemporary romance full of banter, likable main characters with great chemistry, and an emphasis on friendship and family. While Beach Read and Happy Place remain the top tier Emily Henry books for me, Funny Story once again hit the mark.

The first half of the book makes it seem as if this book is one of Emily Henry's lightest books (and I do think that is true - I readers who love less angst and more rom-com in particular will love this). The whole concept of fake dating your ex-fiancé's new fiancé's ex-boyfriend is ridiculous in the best way and Daphne and Miles have an excellent roommates-friends-to-lovers arc. The second half brings in the usual emotional depth that you can always expect from Emily Henry's books - at its core this story is about two very guarded people learning to be vulnerable with each other and healing childhood wounds.

Personally I wasn't as invested in the characters (both main and side characters) quite as much as other EH characters but I did ultimately love how their story ended. I also discovered that as someone who works in a public library I do not enjoy reading about a character who works in one (not enough escapism for me!) - though the portrayal of public librarianship was pretty accurate which I appreciated.

Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Sad I didn't enjoy this more since I really loved Dead Silence. It was fine but it's not a story that I feel is particularly memorable. It's very slow for a horror/thriller novel and I didn't feel any sense of dread or suspense until halfway through.

I found the protagonist to be frustrating and the other characters felt one-dimensional so my emotional involvement in the story was minimal - if this were a multiple POV story it might be more compelling. There was enough in the plot to keep me interested in reading until the end but ultimately I did not care all that much about the fate of any of these characters. 

How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang

emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.75

How to End a Love Story has everything I want in a contemporary romance and I'm so thrilled that Yulin Kuang is adapting some of Emily Henry's books to screen (including my favorite, Beach Read). It strikes the right balance between fun rom-com elements, tension, angst, grief, complicated family dynamics, and self-discovery. Helen and Grant were easy characters to connect to and I loved seeing how their story played out (even if they occasionally got on my nerves at times - for reasons that were understandable and realistic).

I also really enjoyed the dual third-person present POV which made the story feel quite cinematic (and really worked for a story that involves screenwriting). This, combined with the story's setup (the accident that caused Helen and Grant to have a shared traumatic past) made this book feel unique and I know it's one that is going to stick with me - a rare occurrence for me since, aside from a few exceptions, contemporary romance is not really my genre.

I always associate contemporary romance novels with Taylor Swift songs and this one is a combination of The Archer, I Can See You, This is Me Trying, Out of the Woods, Say Don't Go, The Great War, False God, and Daylight. 

Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women's Anger by Soraya Chemaly

challenging informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

This is fantastic and I had a lot of personal revelations while reading. I appreciated its intersectionality as well as how the book was structured to give a comprehensive view of women's anger - the many causes, how it is typically expressed (or not), and how women can empower themselves by becoming aware of their anger. This is one of those nonfiction books that I feel should be required reading.

To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods by Molly X. Chang

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

This book has been on my radar ever since I first saw the cover/synopsis. Overall, I didn’t hate this, in fact I’m quite excited to see where the rest of the trilogy goes, but it also wasn’t as strong as a book as I hoped it would be. I usually don’t write such long reviews, but I have a lot of thoughts.

TL;DR for anyone trying to decide if they want to read this book:

• To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods is what I would call an adult dark science fantasy story with some alternate history elements. It’s not YA (though apparently it’s being marketed this way in the UK for some reason and I would say it does have crossover appeal). It is also not a Romance/Romantasy (though it does feature a complicated romantic subplot involving the protagonist and a villain)
• The writing style makes it very clear it’s a debut novel (lots of repetition, infodumping, telling vs showing) and the worldbuilding is rather vague and hard to make sense of
• This is a character-driven novel featuring an unreliable morally-grey first-person narrator who makes terrible choices in order to protect herself and her loved ones which can occasionally be frustrating to read
• The most compelling parts of this book are Ruying’s character arc, her Death magic, and her evolving relationships with Meiya (her twin sister who longs to be a revolutionary), Baihu (her childhood friend turned traitor with mysterious motives), and Antony (the secretive enemy prince she is forced to ally with)
• It very much feels like a setup book for the next two books in the trilogy rather than a book that can easily stand on its own. I don’t think this is inherently a bad thing though because a lot of what I ended up enjoying about this story was how the elements setup here could develop over the course of the trilogy.

Full Review:

Writing Style:

This is the part I struggled with the most while reading. It is very clear to me that this is a debut novel. There’s a lot of infodumping and flashbacks (particularly in the beginning) and a lot of repetition. It’s also a book that’s full of telling rather than showing which is a bit frustrating - especially when there’s a six month time jump in the middle. In many ways it felt like an extended prologue for the rest of the trilogy - this book was full of set up in terms of world, character dynamics, and character development and not much plot. All that said, the writing style was easy to read, there were some really beautiful lines throughout, and the short chapters made this book hard to put down. Despite feeling like this book still needed significant revision, I was still quite invested.

Worldbuilding:

The worldbuilding is very vague and not enough information is given to fully make sense of it. The central conflict is between Pangu - fantasy China on a different planet (galaxy?) that is full of magic, and Rome - the colonizing empire (seemingly from an alternate/future Earth?) that comes through a portal in the sky bringing technology and scientific advancements. This creates some interesting concepts (the conflict of magic vs science, themes of colonization and environmentalism, etc) but they were not as developed as I would’ve wanted. I left this book with a lot of questions about the world that I hope will be answered in the rest of the trilogy. On one hand it’s understandable since this is a first-person story and our protagonist doesn’t have a lot of information herself. On the other hand it makes it hard to feel fully immersed in the world.

The magic system isn’t very complex but overall it was enough for me. I found Ruying’s Death magic to be one of the strongest parts of the book and I always loved the haunting way it was described.

Plot/Characters:

I went into this book expecting it to be more plot-driven but it actually is very much a character-driven story. Once I realized that, the elements of this book that didn’t work for me were less distracting. It’s a first-person narration story and the plot is Ruying facing significant moral dilemmas after being forced to become the private assassin for a Roman prince. There’s not a lot of action and if that’s what you’re looking for this story will likely not be for you. Instead this book relies heavily on internal monologues and conversations between characters as Ruying tries to sort out right, wrong, and the grey areas in between. While I think at times this grew repetitive and I felt the narration could be a bit subtler, I found that I really loved Ruying’s character. She stood out to me as a kind of fantasy protagonist I rarely see - she’s selfish (yet has a big heart for her family and friends), naive (in a way that feels like a coping mechanism - willful ignorance as a form of self-preservation), and realistically cowardly given her circumstances. It’s refreshing to see a fantasy heroine who isn’t naturally a bold revolutionary leader. She makes 100000 bad decisions throughout this book but her (albeit unreliable) narration always made me understand why - even if it was a bit maddening to be in her head sometimes. I enjoyed her character arc throughout this book and the ending sets up an intriguing arc for Book 2. I’m excited to see her journey throughout this trilogy as she has potential for some really great character growth.

Outside of Ruying, I found that the book particularly shined in scenes that were just conversations with various characters that were pulling her in different directions - Meiya, her twin sister who longs to be part of the revolution, Baihu, her childhood friend turned mysterious traitor, and Antony, the Roman prince with whom she forms a very complicated alliance. She is pulled quite a few different  I’m very intrigued to see how these relationships evolve over the course of the series.

Romance:

I think the most important thing to note about this book is that just because there is a romantic subplot, it does not inherently make this book a Romance/Romantasy. There are some mismarketing things that I think perhaps set up wrong expectations but throughout the book I felt that the narrative was clear on what the central relationship really was. It’s a slowly built and complicated enemies to “allies” to “friends” to “lovers” (sort of?)

to enemies

dynamic. I would also call it a “villain romance” so if that type of character dynamic is not appealing to you at all, you likely will not enjoy this book. Ultimately though describing it in terms of tropes doesn’t truly capture the layers of the relationship between Ruying and Antony. It’s a relationship built on an imbalance of power, manipulation, and many secrets. While there is a genuine connection (or at least what the two of them think is a genuine connection) their relationship arc over the course of the book takes a significant turn and I think it’s highly unlikely that this is a couple that will be endgame and I never got the sense that I was meant to be rooting for them. Also, despite the fact their relationship is central to the story, the romantic elements in this book are quite minimal - to the point a case could be made that it didn’t need to turn romantic at all. That being said, I think the romance adds an interesting layer to their dynamic to be explored in future books. If I had to compare it to another character dynamic I would say it’s similar to the Alina/The Darkling dynamic from Shadow and Bone.

There’s also another potential romance for Ruying that I do think will be endgame and the angsty slowburn potential of it developing over the course of this trilogy is excellent.