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valpyre's reviews
159 reviews
The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.0
the fact that i have to wait 11 weeks until i get a copy of the third book is a travesty
this book made me feel the biggest feelings. once again, i am in awe of how arden writes the omniscient pov, especially as we haven't seen or heard from sasha and olga since the first book. their roles in moscow and their characters were really refreshing and made the setting more immersive. and much like vasya, their minds are always at work, detecting and deducing, so i as the reader always felt like the story kept moving.
i took a really big break from the book around 75% (ish) in, mostly due to life stuff, but also the story itself -- i wasn't totally surprised by the reveal that happened, but i was hoping it wouldn't and it was a lot of secondhand embarrassment for me to handle. i got right into it again when i came back to it though, and everything wrapped up a bit quicker than i expected, but with so much foreshadowing that i just want to know what happens next.
also obsessed with vasya and the frost demon. ive never highlighted a book more.
this book made me feel the biggest feelings. once again, i am in awe of how arden writes the omniscient pov, especially as we haven't seen or heard from sasha and olga since the first book. their roles in moscow and their characters were really refreshing and made the setting more immersive. and much like vasya, their minds are always at work, detecting and deducing, so i as the reader always felt like the story kept moving.
i took a really big break from the book around 75% (ish) in, mostly due to life stuff, but also the story itself -- i wasn't totally surprised by the reveal that happened, but i was hoping it wouldn't and it was a lot of secondhand embarrassment for me to handle. i got right into it again when i came back to it though, and everything wrapped up a bit quicker than i expected, but with so much foreshadowing that i just want to know what happens next.
also obsessed with vasya and the frost demon. ive never highlighted a book more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage and Child death
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
one of my fave authors reviewed this, so i had to check it out for myself and i'm so glad i did. this was a really refreshing read.
i'm not super familiar with russian mythology and folklore, and i appreciated the way this wasn't just a beat for beat retelling of a fairy tale. the way magic was intertwined with the way of life in the country, and with the main character in particular, just made sense -- i never felt too overwhelmed by new information, but there is a glossary at the end for reference.
i wasn't sure how to feel when i saw that the narrative involved multiple pov's but i really appreciated them all in the end as they lent sympathy to all the characters. the chapters/sections of different pov's were also brief enough that i appreciated the information i was learning, as opposed to just wanting to get back to the main character. even the omniscience of the prose was so smoothly written that it didn't break flow for me.
i'm really interested to see the development of the mc's magic so i'm diving right into the second book!
i'm not super familiar with russian mythology and folklore, and i appreciated the way this wasn't just a beat for beat retelling of a fairy tale. the way magic was intertwined with the way of life in the country, and with the main character in particular, just made sense -- i never felt too overwhelmed by new information, but there is a glossary at the end for reference.
i wasn't sure how to feel when i saw that the narrative involved multiple pov's but i really appreciated them all in the end as they lent sympathy to all the characters. the chapters/sections of different pov's were also brief enough that i appreciated the information i was learning, as opposed to just wanting to get back to the main character. even the omniscience of the prose was so smoothly written that it didn't break flow for me.
i'm really interested to see the development of the mc's magic so i'm diving right into the second book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Gore
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Death, and Child abuse
Minor: Sexual assault
The Witch Collector by Charissa Weaks
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
there were a lot of bits and pieces of this book that were interesting enough for me to read the entire thing, and the writing itself held up fairly well throughout. ultimately, i thought that while the bones of the worldbuilding and romance were good, they fell flat, and I was losing interest by the end. raina was a little too "not-like-other-girls" for my taste, and alexus was kind of bland to be honest. i liked a lot of the concepts this book had but they weren't built upon enough to truly capture my interest. i generally enjoy multiple povs, but i think this book wouldve benefitted from focusing on a single one. there was also an incredible amount of exposition that was told, and not shown, which I found boring and didn't have the impact it should have had for me. still not a bad read, and while I'm not interested in continuing the series, I might give the book with the sister a shot.
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
this ended up being an almost aggressively average read for me. i should have learned my lesson by now, but i did actually have higher expectations for this, and was disappointed about halfway through.
i will give this book its roses for being good enough that i was able to pick at it over time without wanting to tear my hair out or DNF. the writing itself was far from the worst i've ever read, but i still found it a little awkward and cheesy in parts ("welcome to your nightmare"). the prose was quite blunt and left little to mull over.
i was mostly interested in the first couple of chapters while zetian is still at home -- the exposition laid out at the beginning was compelling to me, especially regarding the chrysalises and the media/live streaming aspect that capitalized on their existence.
i respect that the author was extremely transparent about the sources they drew on for inspiration (historical figures and other media), and while i wasn't familiar with many of them, the book still read as transformative fiction than original to me. many parts of the story felt underbaked -- i felt that there was so much more to be said about pilot training, about concubines (a position zetian was never truly in due to her Specialness), about the different types of qi, and more. i found that many developments were talked about and not shown (e.g. we got one random ice dancing scene, li shimin teaches zetian martial arts off screen). i definitely felt this acutely regarding the love interests -- zetian suddenly always returned yizhi's feelings, and i never felt the "tension" between her and li shimin. it's not that they weren't compelling, but just weren't developed enough.
i think many of the top rated reviews of this book articulate the issues with its presentation of misogyny and feminism -- eventually, it just felt like the book wasn't telling me anything new. i totally understood the lens of zetian overcoming the constant propagandized knowledge of women being "lesser" than men, but at the same time she was special for knowing it was bullshit the entire time, which made it frustrating as a reader who knew the same. zetian's big sister was just another fridged character -- i honestly forgot about her until she was mentioned closer to the end of the book.
the major "plot twists" weren't all that surprising to me, and i mostly just wanted to know more about them exactly, as opposed to uncovering them. zetian's point of view was frustratingly slow in figuring some of this stuff out, especially at the end, which i found rushed (particularly in the epilogue).
i put the sequel on my TBR because i am interested in the worldbuilding reveal from the end, and want to see if that'll come to anything in the next one.
one line that i liked: "They may think they do, but no matter how they scold or threaten or beat me, they can't really control what goes on in my head."
i will give this book its roses for being good enough that i was able to pick at it over time without wanting to tear my hair out or DNF. the writing itself was far from the worst i've ever read, but i still found it a little awkward and cheesy in parts ("welcome to your nightmare"). the prose was quite blunt and left little to mull over.
i was mostly interested in the first couple of chapters while zetian is still at home -- the exposition laid out at the beginning was compelling to me, especially regarding the chrysalises and the media/live streaming aspect that capitalized on their existence.
i respect that the author was extremely transparent about the sources they drew on for inspiration (historical figures and other media), and while i wasn't familiar with many of them, the book still read as transformative fiction than original to me. many parts of the story felt underbaked -- i felt that there was so much more to be said about pilot training, about concubines (a position zetian was never truly in due to her Specialness), about the different types of qi, and more. i found that many developments were talked about and not shown (e.g. we got one random ice dancing scene, li shimin teaches zetian martial arts off screen). i definitely felt this acutely regarding the love interests -- zetian suddenly always returned yizhi's feelings, and i never felt the "tension" between her and li shimin. it's not that they weren't compelling, but just weren't developed enough.
i think many of the top rated reviews of this book articulate the issues with its presentation of misogyny and feminism -- eventually, it just felt like the book wasn't telling me anything new. i totally understood the lens of zetian overcoming the constant propagandized knowledge of women being "lesser" than men, but at the same time she was special for knowing it was bullshit the entire time, which made it frustrating as a reader who knew the same. zetian's big sister was just another fridged character -- i honestly forgot about her until she was mentioned closer to the end of the book.
the major "plot twists" weren't all that surprising to me, and i mostly just wanted to know more about them exactly, as opposed to uncovering them. zetian's point of view was frustratingly slow in figuring some of this stuff out, especially at the end, which i found rushed (particularly in the epilogue).
i put the sequel on my TBR because i am interested in the worldbuilding reveal from the end, and want to see if that'll come to anything in the next one.
one line that i liked: "They may think they do, but no matter how they scold or threaten or beat me, they can't really control what goes on in my head."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Torture, Sexism, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Xenophobia, Violence, and War
Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger
Did not finish book. Stopped at 65%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 65%.
looking through the other books in the series it really is like, damn, mediocre books stay getting nice book covers
caveat i'm def not the target audience for this book but i don't think that disqualifies me from criticizing it
i honestly really wanted to like the MC of this book but she was written as such a mary sue it just completely put me off. it was so frustrating bc she had inherently good qualities that i really enjoyed reading about and tween struggles that i think younger readers could relate to. there was also an underlying current of grief that i thought added depth to her character and those around her that pleasantly surprised me, but not much more than that. to
overall, the worldbuilding of the super special and magical fantasy world was poorly executed and not compelling -- the book smugglers review of this book articulates this much better than i can.
i also found it really awkward how often it was pointed out/hinted that the boys at school (specifically her close-ish friends) were crushing on her -- it was so repetitive and discomfiting. this, of course, came along with all the other girls at school disliking her because of that.
i really tried to give this book a shot but i never found more redeeming qualities in it, and having had a peek at reviews of the other books in the series, i don't think i'm missing out on much. good for the author, get your bag, i guess.
caveat i'm def not the target audience for this book but i don't think that disqualifies me from criticizing it
i honestly really wanted to like the MC of this book but she was written as such a mary sue it just completely put me off. it was so frustrating bc she had inherently good qualities that i really enjoyed reading about and tween struggles that i think younger readers could relate to. there was also an underlying current of grief that i thought added depth to her character and those around her that pleasantly surprised me, but not much more than that. to
overall, the worldbuilding of the super special and magical fantasy world was poorly executed and not compelling -- the book smugglers review of this book articulates this much better than i can.
i also found it really awkward how often it was pointed out/hinted that the boys at school (specifically her close-ish friends) were crushing on her -- it was so repetitive and discomfiting. this, of course, came along with all the other girls at school disliking her because of that.
i really tried to give this book a shot but i never found more redeeming qualities in it, and having had a peek at reviews of the other books in the series, i don't think i'm missing out on much. good for the author, get your bag, i guess.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief
Meet Cute by Meredith Russo, Dhonielle Clayton, Julie Murphy, Nicola Yoon, Ibi Zoboi, Katie Cotugno, Jocelyn Davies, Kass Morgan, Katharine McGee, Jennifer L. Armentrout, Nina LaCour, Emery Lord, Sara Shepard
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
whoa i read this a while ago and forgot to review it, oops!
not all stories in this are created equal -- there was one in particular of which the writing style and plot was not at all my vibe. but overall this was a really lovely and creative anthology, and i really admire all the authors' abilities to come up with these characters and have us know them and root for them.
the very first story in this collection (siege etiquette by katie cotugno) was a standout for me and easily my favourite. there was something compelling about the tension between the two characters that took my breath away. and okay, maybe i'm a sucker for second person pov, but the prose was in a style that i just love to read -- the kind where you unravel the character, in a way. i honestly think about this short story a lot, and wish i could read more of those two characters.
i also really enjoyed emery lord's and nicola yoon's chapters. really lovely and interesting explorations of love and relationships.
not all stories in this are created equal -- there was one in particular of which the writing style and plot was not at all my vibe. but overall this was a really lovely and creative anthology, and i really admire all the authors' abilities to come up with these characters and have us know them and root for them.
the very first story in this collection (siege etiquette by katie cotugno) was a standout for me and easily my favourite. there was something compelling about the tension between the two characters that took my breath away. and okay, maybe i'm a sucker for second person pov, but the prose was in a style that i just love to read -- the kind where you unravel the character, in a way. i honestly think about this short story a lot, and wish i could read more of those two characters.
i also really enjoyed emery lord's and nicola yoon's chapters. really lovely and interesting explorations of love and relationships.
Will They or Won't They by Ava Wilder
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
i absolutely love a breakup/makeup story so this was super up my alley. the intimacy between the two felt real and intense, and it felt worth it when it was resolved. overall i did feel like the pacing could have been drawn out a little more, as i felt like it lost a bit of steam in the end, but i think it's genre-typical. i did also get the feeling like there were some missing scenes (like being shown the rehearsal of a pivotal TV scene, but only told about the actual shooting of it), but nothing that took me out of the story too much. i really appreciated getting to know supporting characters more, like the cast of the TV show and shane's family. a cute HEA which I like, so altogether a nice read!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Violence
Hook, Line, and Sinker by Tessa Bailey
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
rounded up from 2.5 stars
i was really intrigued by these two as a pairing the moment they met in IHOS, so I was eagerly waiting for this to come off the holds shelf. unfortunately, it didn't really meet my expectations.
while i liked the two characters together, their individual development felt so haphazard between all the almost-but-not-yet relationship development. i feel like there was a lot of room to capitalize on the "and they were roommates!" trope, but a lot of those details were just told and not shown, and i really struggled to feel the intimacy between the two MC's. i enjoyed the part where we were shown their relationship developing through the texts the most as opposed to in person. i also felt like the MC's were so cut off from the town and other people -- i would've loved to see more of piper and hannah's sisterly relationship as hannah supported piper in IHOS.
i also never truly felt like there was personal resolution for fox with regards to the townspeople + his crew mates -- it didn't have to be perfect, but if he wanted to step up in his career it would've been nice to have a scene where he called out their disrespect.
one of the first smut scenes between the two was placed very oddly in the story and there was one line of dirty talk that made me physically gag.
the epilogue was really cute, but ultimately the emotional payoff didn't hit for me.
i was really intrigued by these two as a pairing the moment they met in IHOS, so I was eagerly waiting for this to come off the holds shelf. unfortunately, it didn't really meet my expectations.
while i liked the two characters together, their individual development felt so haphazard between all the almost-but-not-yet relationship development. i feel like there was a lot of room to capitalize on the "and they were roommates!" trope, but a lot of those details were just told and not shown, and i really struggled to feel the intimacy between the two MC's. i enjoyed the part where we were shown their relationship developing through the texts the most as opposed to in person. i also felt like the MC's were so cut off from the town and other people -- i would've loved to see more of piper and hannah's sisterly relationship as hannah supported piper in IHOS.
i also never truly felt like there was personal resolution for fox with regards to the townspeople + his crew mates -- it didn't have to be perfect, but if he wanted to step up in his career it would've been nice to have a scene where he called out their disrespect.
one of the first smut scenes between the two was placed very oddly in the story and there was one line of dirty talk that made me physically gag.
the epilogue was really cute, but ultimately the emotional payoff didn't hit for me.
It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
this gets big kudos because it's the first book i've actually finished in a while. I think there were a lot of parts of the structure that are perhaps genre-typical, but weren't always good writing, in my opinion.
overall, while i definitely cringed at parts, this was an enjoyable read. i was so down for the over the top codependency and grumpy x sunshine pairing, combined with actual talking through emotions and resolving miscommunication.
i do think that aspects of brendan's past (i.e. his relationship with his first in-laws) could have been handled better, but maybe that's just life.
overall, while i definitely cringed at parts, this was an enjoyable read. i was so down for the over the top codependency and grumpy x sunshine pairing, combined with actual talking through emotions and resolving miscommunication.
i do think that aspects of brendan's past (i.e. his relationship with his first in-laws) could have been handled better, but maybe that's just life.
Clueless: One Last Summer by Amber Benson, Sarah Kuhn
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
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
5.0
ahh this was so cute and romantic and fun! i really vibed with the art style in this installment, and the writing/characterization were very charming.