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third_bookworm's Reviews (135)
adventurous
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was so, so good. I enjoyed this way more than I expected to. I loved Weir's versions of alien life here. This book got close enough to my own areas of scientific interest that I was worried there would be jarring inaccuracies or things glossed over that bothered me a lot, but there weren't any that I noticed so huge props on that one. Cannot recommend this highly enough.
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This kept making me think of Lessons in Chemistry despite being wildly different from that book in most respects. Take Lessons in Chemistry, make it about a biologist in the nebulous present day rather than a chemist in the 60's (? it's been a while since I read that), make the protagonist a deeply antisocial person whose entire life revolves around her work, give her a clone of herself made to be a perfect housewife, and make the central conflict covering up a murder instead of being a single mom. It's great, I loved it.
hopeful
reflective
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
This book reminded me of The Left Hand of Darkness, but hopeful where Left Hand was melancholy. It accomplished what it attempted very well. There were some slightly weird bioessentialist implications of the worldbuilding, but that wasn't really the point of the book so it didn't bother me too much. Would definitely reread.
adventurous
dark
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
This book did an excellent job of portraying morally grey protagonists. I had a lot of fun with the incredibly violent revenge arc, and finding characters that the rest of their society absolutely sees as villains very endearing.
dark
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Slightly darker (more in tone than actual content) than Harrow's other books that I've read, but very good. Love the Gothic haunted house thing it has going on.
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Sweet, but kind of flat. Seemed like it was trying very hard to be inoffensive, at the expense of being interesting. But I think mostly I was just not the target audience for this book; it was fine, but not particularly to my taste.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Child death, Suicide, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Murder
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
🤷♀️ it was fine.
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a fun read! I enjoyed the idea of making art and creation so central to the plot. I think the main characters were a bit shallow, but the worldbuilding was so much fun that I didn't mind.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was very good. I love to read about deeply messed-up lesbians. One thing that I enjoy a lot about Waters' writing is that many of her main characters are interesting and enjoyable to read about despite not being even slightly likable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Drug use, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book makes me unwell. It's so, so well done and also so upsetting. Really excellent in many ways. This was my second time reading it, and like all my favorite books it truly hits differently the second time through.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Violence, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, Colonisation, War
Moderate: Torture, Grief, Death of parent