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thehaileybirdie's reviews
404 reviews
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Long Lost by Jacqueline West
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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
Rose, Vol. 1: The Last Light by Meredith Finch, Ig Guara
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
This book wasn’t horrible but it wasn’t very original or interesting. The MC is a damsel type of girl who wears a strip of cloth from her dress cuz of course it gets torn in a sexy way at the very beginning. I enjoy soft compassionate women but honestly I’m personally not a fan of incompetent chosen ones who are doe eyed and completely reliant on men to save her. She also has a big cat that protects her as well so she really doesn’t do much herself.
The world is interesting and the idea of large warrior companion cats is kinda cool but that’s where the interest stops for me. I don’t plan on reading the rest in the series because the cool art as sort of interesting world element isn’t enough for me to care.
The world is interesting and the idea of large warrior companion cats is kinda cool but that’s where the interest stops for me. I don’t plan on reading the rest in the series because the cool art as sort of interesting world element isn’t enough for me to care.
The Ones We're Meant to Find by Joan He
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
4.0
Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
emotional
inspiring
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I enjoyed this book but not as much as I was hoping. This was really hyped on all platforms and I’m not sure if the hype gave me unrealistic expectations or if I just didn’t like it as much as I thought I would. The pace was too slow for me and the character development felt a bit lacking. Maybe I just missed something? The ending was really action packed and faster in pace and really did put me on a rollercoaster of emotions so I enjoyed that. I also started liking the romance and I do love a slow burn but otherwise it was just ok.
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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
I really struggled to get halfway through because of the pacing and the fact that Bree doesn’t know anything most of the time so everything needs to be infodumped on her all the time so that slowed things down a bit. There was also a couple of plot threads going on at once that converge later so that also required more setup than I’ve seen in most stories but the second half was well worth the wait! It took me over two weeks to read the first 200 pages but that last 200 pages took me a five hour sitting from 11pm to 4am…it was that kind of night. I literally could not put the book down even if I wanted to after about page 250. It was so mindblowingly good and I can’t wait for the second one!
I also really loved the author’s note where the message of “I loved these legends (King Arthur) and now we get to to decide who is legendary”. I love Arthurian legends as well and have done a few things in my studies to unpack some of the messages of Arthuriana so it was actually really refreshing to see a retelling that focuses on the toxic masculinity, the racism, and the misogyny of it all. It’s not all romantic love and chivalry…especially not to women of color.
Overall, I had minor issues with the pacing and the best friend Alice who just seemed to be…there. But otherwise I thoroughly enjoyed the plot, the characters, the romance, and the friendship with a certain healer, and the message of generational healing from trauma through mothers. It was really powerful and I wish I could read that ending over and over and over again.
I also really loved the author’s note where the message of “I loved these legends (King Arthur) and now we get to to decide who is legendary”. I love Arthurian legends as well and have done a few things in my studies to unpack some of the messages of Arthuriana so it was actually really refreshing to see a retelling that focuses on the toxic masculinity, the racism, and the misogyny of it all. It’s not all romantic love and chivalry…especially not to women of color.
Overall, I had minor issues with the pacing and the best friend Alice who just seemed to be…there. But otherwise I thoroughly enjoyed the plot, the characters, the romance, and the friendship with a certain healer, and the message of generational healing from trauma through mothers. It was really powerful and I wish I could read that ending over and over and over again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Car accident, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, and Violence
Moderate: Misogyny and Vomit
The Awakening by L.J. Smith
Did not finish book. Stopped at 59%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 59%.
I have been binge watching the show recently and wanted to see the source material. Knew it was going to be very different from the show but I was not expecting it to be that…bad? Elena is insufferable. She’s a blonde queen bee type character who gets whatever she wants and throws a fit when she doesn’t get it and it’s so bizarre. I’m sure this book would’ve hit very differently if I wasn’t 25. Teenage Hailey would’ve devoured this even though it had little to no plot, shallow characters in every sense of the word, and egregious instalove. I’m glad I could fill out my vampire diaries knowledge somewhat even if it was bad.
Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
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
5.0
Magus of the Library, Vol. 4 by Mitsu Izumi
adventurous
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
I knocked off one star for oversexualizing a young girl with an entire ass shot that took up the top 1/4 of a page because “it’s part of her culture to not wear clothes”…like why do we need an ass shot tho? Was that necessary to her culture? She also shoves her boobs in the “innocent” MC’s face and it’s clearly meant to be sexualizing her. I like that she notices people and can read them with just a look and people write her off as ditzy or inappropriate because of her attire but cmon.
There’s also use of American native headdresses on white characters and I’m really not sure I feel ok with that cuz it seems appropriative to me. It’s thrown in there for aesthetic and that’s not cool to me.
I did almost cry reading this one tho and the last two pages had me shook so I will keep reading but I will not be happy about the oversexualizing an actual child for fan service or appropriation of indigenous regalia. The messages and the story are pretty solid with the sharing and protecting information, how power and knowledge works in society and can be used for both good and evil, how racism and sexism operates in this society (which is reflective of our own, etc. the underlying themes are good but the fan service and appropriation for aesthetic is where it misses the mark.
There’s also use of American native headdresses on white characters and I’m really not sure I feel ok with that cuz it seems appropriative to me. It’s thrown in there for aesthetic and that’s not cool to me.
I did almost cry reading this one tho and the last two pages had me shook so I will keep reading but I will not be happy about the oversexualizing an actual child for fan service or appropriation of indigenous regalia. The messages and the story are pretty solid with the sharing and protecting information, how power and knowledge works in society and can be used for both good and evil, how racism and sexism operates in this society (which is reflective of our own, etc. the underlying themes are good but the fan service and appropriation for aesthetic is where it misses the mark.
Once & Future by Cory McCarthy, A.R. Capetta
Did not finish book. Stopped at 24%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 24%.
There was a lot of telling not showing in the writing, the characters felt really gimmicky and not in the fun kitschy way but a CW season 2 kind of way, my friends continued reading and informed me that it doesn’t get any better so I stopped reading. There was also complaints about shallow representation that seemed to be the only characteristic of a certain character with no further development besides them being non-binary or being gay…like what are your hobbies? Do you have a family? What is your motivation? We do not get any answers to those questions for them so their characters feel like token characters to me. I was also told that the authors used someone being ace as a “gotcha!” and I’m ace so that really bothered me.