thaliareads's reviews
143 reviews

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

This was probably one of my favorite reads of the year. It's an incredibly developed fantasy world with an incredibly steamy slow burn romance. 

There's a love triangle, there's high stakes, and best of all, there's snarky dragons. The magic system is really interesting, as is the lore surrounding the world. 

Additionally, you have an incredibly smart FMC, with a chronic illness, who really embodies the saying "work smarter not harder". She has to use her incredible intelligence to balance out her physical limitations. 

I was really glad I listened to the audiobook, because I don't think I'd have pronounced any of the names correctly in my head if I read a physical copy. 

However, if you do listen to the audiobook, be warned (just a slight spoiler):

I was not a fan of Xaden's narrator for the last chapter of the book in his POV. To be honest I preferred the main narrator's version of his voice.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death of parent

Overall, this was a pretty dark fantasy book and did not shy away from the horrors of war and the cutthroat environment of the no-rules, only the best survive, military academy.

What a Desi Girl Wants by Sabina Khan

challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective tense slow-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

 Thanks to Scholastic and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC! 

Since her parents split when she was 4, Mehar has grown up in the US. Now in high school, raised solely by her mother, she’s grown estranged from her father and grown apart from her family in India. All of that stands to change when her father announces his engagement and asks Mehar to come to India for the wedding. Suspicious of the intentions of her soon-to-be stepmother and stepsister, she agrees to make the visit. However, when the potential truth threatens to hurt her rekindling relationship with her father and her budding relationship with her grandmother’s assistant, will she make her fears known? 

This was such an interesting read, and I really enjoyed it. While it had an incredibly cute and wholesome sapphic romance at the forefront, it was so much more than that. It was truly a story of familial connections. I thought the highs and lows of Mehar trying to reconnect with her dad felt very true to real life. Throughout the entire book it seemed that the big lesson she was learning was to slow down and put together the whole story. She had made assumptions about her father’s stance on being in her life, she made assumptions about why Naz wanted to marry her father, and she even made assumptions about Aleena’s life.  Additionally, she didn’t look at the big picture of societal expectations in India when considering how her open behaviors could affect Sufiya if people found out they were in a relationship. However, the key to this book was Mehar learning and growing. I think this made for a really nice coming of age story that resonates well with how confident we can feel as teens and how we still had a lot to learn about the world. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Domestic abuse

There aren't any blatant instances of homophobia, but rather a general air of homophobia from the culture where Mehar's family is in India. The domestic abuse is discussed briefly in respect to a side character's history.

The Love Proposal by Camilla Isley

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

 Thanks to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for the ARC! 

Summer has sworn off men. Archie has decided never to let a relationship become long term. When fate brings them together at the wedding of Summer’s sister Winter and Archie’s best friend Logan, it is lust at first sight. Summer realizes that Archie might just be the distraction she needs to make it through the scrutiny from her old friends and Archie is more than willing to assist. What they didn’t realize was that there may be more to their relationship than just a casual hookup. Will they be able to accept what’s right in front of them? 

This was such a fun read! I loved that Summer finally got her “redemption” arc and we got to spend more time in her head and to understand her actions from the first two books. I also was so excited to finally get to focus on Archie after he was such a charmer in the last book. I felt like this was a truly believable pair and I appreciated that they didn’t rush into a haphazard patch, but rather made sure that they were both in a place to move forward with exploring a healthy relationship. My only complaint is that I feel like if I were Winter I would have approached my sister first about her new relationship to see where she was sitting emotionally, rather than immediately chastising my recently acquired friend. However, this didn’t really detract from the progression of the story and I wish I could have spent longer with these two to see how things settled after the wedding. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity and Sexual content

Minor: Infertility, Car accident, and Death of parent

Infidelity prior to events of this book, but is frequently reflected on. Sexual content is fade to black/implied. Brief discussions at beginning of IVF/egg harvesting. Brief mentions of death of side character's parents in a car accident prior to the events of the series.

The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

adventurous emotional funny hopeful tense fast-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

5.0

Once again, this is not my first read of this series or this book by far, and I love it every time! My favorite part of this book is just how little Percy now cares about respecting the common rules/etiquette for respecting the gods. I think this was a great conclusion to a great series, and it was impressive how everything finally came together. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and War

Moderate: Death, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

While I do feel this book is perfectly appropriate for a middle grade/ya audience, this book does get into a more devastating war environment where there are frequent casualties and injuries.

The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

5.0

The Percy Jackson books have always been favorites of mine. I've re-read the first couple a lot but would always get distracted before finishing the series again. I can't believe I missed out on reading this as many times as I did the earlier ones. I loves the mythos surrounding the labyrinth in Greek mythology and this book is packed with action and unexpected turns as the heroes start to grow up a little. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: War

Keeping in mind that all the content did seem appropriate for a middle grade/ya audience. There was some detailed violence and the threat/start of a war.

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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? Yes

4.0

While this was very good, it didn't make it into my list of favorites. I really liked the use of the emails for storytelling. I think that was a very fun and inventive choice. I think I was mostly not a huge fan of Simon as a main character, because for the most part I really enjoyed the story. I just felt that as someone who was scared of letting his friends in on who he was he started to loose sight of being a good friend. I also felt like the few times he drank he didn't just act drunk, he tarted to feel like a different character. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia

Moderate: Alcohol

There is some alcohol use and some homophobia from Simon's classmates.

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense 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

5.0

While this may have been an incredibly dark book, the bright beams of hopefulness shined through. Puck was admirable as she attempted to do everything within her power to save her family's house - even if it puts her in immense danger and could be the death of her. I also appreciate how Sean never resented the water horses for their nature and how that lead to the death of his father. He spent all of his efforts devoted to training and ensuring the safety of the water horses they brought into their facility. 

The dual POV was really nice and left the story feeling very balanced. I absolutely anticipate a re-read in the future. After reading so many of Maggie's other books I can't believe the horse girl in me didn't pull this off my TBR earlier. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcohol

Like I mentioned in the review, this book is pretty dark. The water horses are carnivorous and predators. This leads to some very graphic injuries/gore from situations involving them.

Get a Room by Casey Dembowski

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

4.5

Thank you to Red Adept Publishing LLC and NetGalley for this ARC! 

Sarah just turned down a birthday proposal she never wanted, but luckily, she knows her room is still empty in the apartment she shared with her best friend Jess. Brian lost his job and crashing with his parents has quickly lost its appeal. Luckily his sister Jess has that spare room in her apartment. What happens when Brian and Sarah’s rivalry is rekindled over the competition to win the one bed left in the apartment? Could either of them have anticipated how things would change when Jess suggested that Brian pretend to be dating Sarah to get back at her ex? 

If you love fake dating, only one bed, rivals to lovers, and best friend’s sibling tropes than this is the book for you. It was such a fun read! I think that Brian and Sarah had excellent chemistry, and you could really believe how their feelings started to develop, against their better judgment, as they spent more time together and learned more about each other. I think even with the relationship moving a bit fast, it still felt completely believable. I only had two small issues. The first being if Jess really was such a good friend to Sarah, I’d have thought she would have seen the changes in Sarah after the breakup and attempted to understand Sarah and Brian’s relationship earlier. However, this is pretty idealistic so it is understandable that it took some time with her history. I also wish Sarah would have given Jace a bit more information about fake dating Brian, or an apology after the fact, because it seemed like he got ignored in the sweeping romance of the later half of the book. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and can’t recommend it enough! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Medical content

Minor: Cancer

There are a few very explicit scenes with sexual content. Sarah helps with a wish granting program at a children's hospital - so common ailments (being both short and long term) are discussed or mentioned.

The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense 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

5.0

I love the Hunters of Artemis and am always excited to re-read this book and see their introduction into the world. I also love this book's focus on the balance of the relationship between Thalia and Percy as it shifts from dislike to friendship and back and forth throughout this book. I do always miss the Annabeth focus in this book in the series. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Violence, Grief, and Car accident

A reminder that despite the content warnings this is a middle grade book and does feel appropriate for that age group on the whole.

The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful tense 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

4.5

I love this series, and this is far from my first read through. For some reason Sea of Monsters always leaves me with a little something missing. I'm not sure what it is, but even when I was younger this was always my least favorite of the bunch. That being said, I still love the series overall and this is still a really good book. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement and Violence

Once again, I've included some content warnings, but this book is clearly written for middle grade and very appropriate for that age group.