stardust_heidi's reviews
499 reviews

Where the Library Hides by Isabel Ibañez

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez

adventurous dark emotional lighthearted mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams

emotional lighthearted mysterious 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? Yes

4.25

I struggled with the first half of this but then it picked up by the end, which redeemed it a solid bit. It was fairly insta-love in a fated love sort of way, so even though we had read the characters separately in their own POVs, I struggled to really get attached to their romance at first.

Especially with Ezra’s annual visions and such.

It gave a bit of Addie LaRue vibes as well as something else I can’t think of at the moment. Hmmmm. I’ll update if I think of it. 

Mirroring some other reviews, I also agree that I wish there had been more exploration of other relationships at the end. But I also get why that wasn’t there. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

It’s so good. But man, it’s heavy. I’m trying to decide if I’ll immediately continue with the next book or if I’ll wait a beat. Real life is heavy enough these days.

The Favorites by Layne Fargo

dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

OH. MY. GOD. 

Deep End by Ali Hazelwood

emotional lighthearted tense 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

I agree with others I know when they said they think this shows a lot of writing growth from Ali, especially compared to her previous books. It kind of stepped away from her standard formula, which I definitely appreciated. I enjoyed the emphasis on mental health, trust between partners, and loyalty to friends. 

I did get frustrated with the often significant

self-flagellation and what I perceived to be some kind of self-manipulation behavior — like how often Scarlett put Pen’s feelings and past relationship with Lukas before her own feelings/behavior, almost granting Pen some sort of continued ownership to Lukas even though they were clearly broken up. It could also be the age of the characters too. I also felt like that random periods of no communication between Lukas and Scarlett weren’t explained quite to my satisfaction, but whatever.

 

I still haven’t read Ali’s last book (Not in Love) because I was just kind of tired of the same thing on repeat. But this definitely changed the game a bit. For me, it didn’t have the addictive quality her books have had in the past, but I’ve been struggling to find that lately, so maybe that’s more of a me thing than a book thing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett

adventurous dark emotional lighthearted mysterious 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? No

4.5

I don’t know that I loved this quite as much as the first two. Like another review said, it felt like a certain magic was lacking that the first two contained in abundance. 

I also know this is Emily’s story and I respect her independent journey in this installment, but I really felt like the moments with Wendell were kind of lacking. It’s hard to explain, but I felt like I needed more, somehow. 

Shadow. 🥺

Don't worry, he doesn’t die.

I now need miscellaneous stories of their adventures around their kingdom. 

Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

The love I have for this series…….

A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted 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

Oh. My god. I’m so glad I kept this book and gave it another change. I absolutely loved it.