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squids_can_read's Reviews (706)
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
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
I didn’t expect to love this book as much as I did. The world is so rich, the characters are amazing, the romance doesn’t feel forced, and the plot is really interesting. I am definitely planning to purchase this book so I can reread it as many times as possible.
The world-building is beautiful. This author doesn’t lore dump at all throughout the book and, even though we don’t get all the lore in the beginning, I never felt lost while reading. The world is super interesting and I would definitely love to learn more about this world.
The characters are amazingly written. They feel real and flawed and their motivations make sense. Even the evil characters are written well. I just love these characters so much especially since we get points of view from all three main characters. Their romance was also just peak and beautiful. I was giggling and kicking my feet in the air.
The plot was interesting and didn’t feel rushed or slow. Honestly, I just loved this book so much.
Definitely recommend this book to fantasy lovers or someone looking for a queer book. Make sure to read the back and the content warnings before hand but please pick up this book!
The world-building is beautiful. This author doesn’t lore dump at all throughout the book and, even though we don’t get all the lore in the beginning, I never felt lost while reading. The world is super interesting and I would definitely love to learn more about this world.
The characters are amazingly written. They feel real and flawed and their motivations make sense. Even the evil characters are written well. I just love these characters so much especially since we get points of view from all three main characters. Their romance was also just peak and beautiful. I was giggling and kicking my feet in the air.
The plot was interesting and didn’t feel rushed or slow. Honestly, I just loved this book so much.
Definitely recommend this book to fantasy lovers or someone looking for a queer book. Make sure to read the back and the content warnings before hand but please pick up this book!
Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the ARC.
This is a story set in the wilds of Ireland where a young girl has to free a kingdom in order to help her sisters. I really wanted to love this book but I just really didn’t enjoy it.
The two younger characters and the sisters are characterized well and their actions and motivations make sense. However, all of the adult characters are not fleshed out and I really didn’t understand their motivations. It felt kind of like when an adult tells a child “Because I told you so”. This story is also told in their person but it’s really close to our main character. However, we automatically know the adults' names without them having introduced themselves. It was strange.
The pacing of this book was also really strange because most of it is spent traveling but most of the traveling is done off-page. So we would just get random time skips and then it would be weeks later for seemingly no reason. We also just seemed to move from plot point to plot point without many connections. Decisions were made instantly and without much thought. I understand that this was a middle-grade book but middle-grade books can be written well.
Finally, there was almost no world-building in this book. It’s said to be fantasy but there aren’t any fantasy elements within this book. There are fantastical elements but I wouldn’t call this a fantasy book. There is also a religious element to this book that isn’t fully explained until the author’s notes about the book. After reading the author’s note this book is basically a hodgepodge of interesting elements that aren’t connected super well so the book feels a little scattered.
Overall, I really didn’t like this book. I will note that I am an adult reading a middle-grade book but these books are allowed to be written well.
This is a story set in the wilds of Ireland where a young girl has to free a kingdom in order to help her sisters. I really wanted to love this book but I just really didn’t enjoy it.
The two younger characters and the sisters are characterized well and their actions and motivations make sense. However, all of the adult characters are not fleshed out and I really didn’t understand their motivations. It felt kind of like when an adult tells a child “Because I told you so”. This story is also told in their person but it’s really close to our main character. However, we automatically know the adults' names without them having introduced themselves. It was strange.
The pacing of this book was also really strange because most of it is spent traveling but most of the traveling is done off-page. So we would just get random time skips and then it would be weeks later for seemingly no reason. We also just seemed to move from plot point to plot point without many connections. Decisions were made instantly and without much thought. I understand that this was a middle-grade book but middle-grade books can be written well.
Finally, there was almost no world-building in this book. It’s said to be fantasy but there aren’t any fantasy elements within this book. There are fantastical elements but I wouldn’t call this a fantasy book. There is also a religious element to this book that isn’t fully explained until the author’s notes about the book. After reading the author’s note this book is basically a hodgepodge of interesting elements that aren’t connected super well so the book feels a little scattered.
Overall, I really didn’t like this book. I will note that I am an adult reading a middle-grade book but these books are allowed to be written well.
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC.
I went into this manga excited that it was a completed oneshot so I wouldn’t have to worry about the story leaving off on a cliffhanger. However, I want more of this story! The artwork was beautiful and cute. The characters were written amazingly and the reader gets lots of characterization throughout this short manga. The story is a little all over the place but that’s because this is more of a collection of slice-of-life-like stories set in the same world with the same characters. It was heartwarming and hilarious. Honestly, I really want to read more in this universe because I fell in love with these characters. I cannot wait for this manga to come out physically so I can have this beautiful piece of artwork in my hands.
It is PG-13 due to some topics that are discussed but it’s really brief and the overall story is so beautiful. I think that anyone and everyone should read this. I cannot recommend this manga enough.
I went into this manga excited that it was a completed oneshot so I wouldn’t have to worry about the story leaving off on a cliffhanger. However, I want more of this story! The artwork was beautiful and cute. The characters were written amazingly and the reader gets lots of characterization throughout this short manga. The story is a little all over the place but that’s because this is more of a collection of slice-of-life-like stories set in the same world with the same characters. It was heartwarming and hilarious. Honestly, I really want to read more in this universe because I fell in love with these characters. I cannot wait for this manga to come out physically so I can have this beautiful piece of artwork in my hands.
It is PG-13 due to some topics that are discussed but it’s really brief and the overall story is so beautiful. I think that anyone and everyone should read this. I cannot recommend this manga enough.
