sunflowerboys's reviews
244 reviews

Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sim

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adventurous tense
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
The 13-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths

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funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Loveable characters? Yes
The Magic Misfits by Neil Patrick Harris

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adventurous hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Caraval by Stephanie Garber

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.0

idkkkk at first the world was enchanting and i liked all the little tricks and bits of magic which felt like discovering a twisted version of wonderland but the reveal was underwhelming given the stakes and the plot twists that kept being added at the end were more confusing than exhilarating
You Bring the Distant Near by Mitali Perkins

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informative lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
une bonne introduction aux thèmes d'acculturation, d'intégration, de mixité, avec une ouverture sur une culture peu représentée en France (donc merci pour la traduction !).

les cinq personnages féminins permettent d'appréhender différents points de vue sur plusieurs questionnements intéressants, que ce soit sur des problèmes de la vie pratique ou inhérents à leur identité, et j'ai aimé voir que certaines évoluaient au fil du récit au lieu de camper dans un rôle fixe bien précis (ce que je craignais au début). 

la simplicité du récit a toutefois ses défauts : je pense à certaines formulations (qu'est-ce qu'un "accent africain" ?) et à quelques propos tenus par les personnages, notamment sur l'impérialisme états-unien, que je trouvais trop didactiques et peu naturels, faisant parfois du roman une sorte d'exposé plus qu'autre chose.

je le conseille tout de même à de jeunes lecteurices qui désireraient avoir une première approche accessible sur l'immigration et ses conséquences sur plusieurs générations :)
The Hatmakers by Tamzin Merchant

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

Gearbreakers by Zoe Hana Mikuta

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adventurous 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

3.25

first of all i want to say that Zoe Hana Mikuta is so cool and coming up with the concept of this book and going through with it at such a young age deserves all the praise!

as for the book itself, it was a highly anticipated read of mine but unfortunately it didn't affect me the way i thought it would :(

i was really impressed by the writing at first, how the action and the description were very poetic despite the genre, but it soon became awkward? the sentences structure was repetitive and sometimes very long with a lot of -ing verbs to add details that didn't need to be added. and sometimes it was all too much? the dialogues, for instance, didn't feel natural because of their grandeur and some sentences seemed to have been written just to be "quotable". some images were still great though!

also, i don't know if it's because of the writing, or if i'm just not used to reading sci-fi, but i couldn't really focus on what was happening, especially during the action-packed/battle scenes; a lot seemed to be unfolding but i couldn't really grasp it. i think these moments should have been more thoroughly described to make it tenser instead of cutting them right in the middle. because it didn't, the stakes were kinda off. like, the archangels seemed super scary when they were first mentioned but when they eventually appeared, it was like, meh. 
and so in the end i didn't connect with the story or the characters and didn't really care about their fate :/ 

i think the story still has a great potential. i like the main characters, i think it is very important that there is so much representation in a genre like this, and the end promises an interesting sequel which i will be reading!
Dragon Head, Volume 1 by Minetarō Mochizuki

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Les Nouvelles Vagues by Arnaud Cathrine

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

4.25

ouais c'est bon arnaud tu m'as eue ouais je veux la suite mtn !