teddyotso's reviews
83 reviews

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

I forgot how much of a JOY will is when he’s not under the influence of the curse. Reading his scenes with magnus and the ones immediately after discovering  the curse was a farce was a gift, he’s so sweet and silly sometimes and so full of earnestness and care other times. It’s also why I enjoy him so much more than Jace. Will had a real awful reason for behaving the way he did, Jace is just an asshole. 

I’m sad that Jem and Tessa’s engagement was overshadowed by Will and Tessa’s heartbreak. I guess it just hammers in the point that no two of them can be happy without the third, which just REALLY makes me wish they’d become a throuple but, alas. 

Cannot wait for Cecily, I remember nothing about her :)

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

I liked this sooo much more than the mortal instruments to the point where I’m considering going back and lowering my rating for city of bones. tessa is sooo much less annoying than clary, will’s assholery is objectively more charming than jace’s, and jem is literally perfect in every way (he’s literally the reason I wanted to reread this after so many years. I missed that guy). Love triangle of all time, you should all kiss on the lips. 

(hii magnus!!!)

Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

4.0

This was so hard to rate because I have so much love for this world and these characters now and there is a lot in this book I adored! A lot!
But I really feel like this story could’ve benefited from being extended and separated into two books instead of one. Idk if there was pressure to make it a trilogy or if Taylor was just feeling a little tired and ready for the next thing but— it felt both slow and incomplete and 
rushed all at the same time. The plotlines that we’d been building towards in the background (and the new ones introduced in just this book) deserved to be expanded on but instead it’s like everything suddenly tried to match pace with each other even though they were nowhere near being completed. I don’t know :,) I just wanted more and also wanted to be done. 

I do really look forward to reading Taylor’s adult work :) She definitely has an incredible talent for world building! And I’ll be thinking about these characters for a long while yet

Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Feeling like I tripped and fell face first into an adult fantasy novel— with all the horrors that come with it 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault

Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

read this bc it’s a friends favorite from her teen years! I was surprised how much I loved the world building— I really really did. 
At a certain point in the story, the “stereotypical” ya tone and character tropes give way to much darker and more intense storytelling in a way that is almost jarring. I think as a tween/teen it would’ve been an exciting twist but, unfortunately, as a adult I just found myself wishing I could read a book centered around the latter and not the former. 
My biggest critique is the romance:

I have never enjoyed romances based on a single brief interaction or an immediate love at first sight type connection. I know that there’s reasons within the text to support why it happened that way, but that still doesn’t change that I missed out on feeling the relationship develop alongside the characters :/

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone, Amal El-Mohtar

emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

this is the most romantic piece of literature I’ve ever read . I finished reading it and immediately started it over to read it again . I annotated it and mailed it to my best friend and she is now annotating it and I’m sure I will be reading it a third time when she mails it back . 5 stars .

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Self harm, Violence, and Suicide

Clementine, Book One by Tillie Walden

dark tense slow-paced

3.5

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

I wish I had an armored bear for an adoptive father

The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I read this at 14 and it holds up :) even though I don’t generally love zombie stuff the child narrator and way melanie processes and learns info and the relationships between characters truly makes it worth the read. Big fan :)

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes

3.75

“You there!” *points at Edmund* “Did you know the lion Aslan died for you sins?!”