winterwoodbooks's reviews
342 reviews

The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

Schuld & Sünde by Marah Woolf
Did not finish book. Stopped at 1%.

das 1. Buch war schon eh und dann nichtmal mit einer surprise pregnancy trope, sondern diese auch noch gleich zu überspringen, zu starten, ist einfach echt nichts für mich

WiccaCreed - Zeichen & Omen by Marah Woolf

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

1.5

Die Konzepte und Welt empfand ich als super interessant- umso enttäuschter war ich, als sich das gesamte Buch wie ein deutsches Harry Potter x Twilight Crossover las und dabei weder ein gleichmäßiges Pacing vorwies (es passiert so viel so schnell hintereinander und trotzdem ziiiiieht sich der Dialog, dem man auch nur schwer folgen kann), noch eine Bindung zu den Charakteren aufbaute, die über "schau, wie schlecht es der Person wegen x geht" hinaus ging. 
Allgemein wird sich viel auf allgemeines Trauma und gemütliches Setting verlassen, um die Lesenden in die Welt zu ziehen.
Dazu kommt ein sich ständig wiederholender Schreibstil. Als lesende Person kann man nichts selbst herausfinden, die Welt wird nur stückchenweise erklärt, wenn es gerade passt, sodass man sogar neue Informationen beim Reveal bekommt, die genauso über einen hinweg fließen wie der Rest.
Und der Romance Plot basiert ausschließlich auf Lust, die nach Implikationen sogar nur magiebasiert ist?

Leider nichts für mich, weiß aber auch nicht, wem ich das empfehlen würde. 
Vielleicht für jüngere Jugendliche, die einen einfachen Read suchen? 

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

dark emotional tense

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

The beginning and end were really strong, however the middle part felt a bit like a disjointed slump.
Whlile I always want to give the benefit of believing that maybe that was just how the character felt, this does not seem to be the case here.

The Fact, that there were mere chapters between the setup of the facility and arriving there annoyed me SO much. And then they were out again just as fast, ugh

One of the strongest parts of this book is the bluntness of talking about themes- as well as just vivid and brutal pictures, actually depicturing horrors and topics often glossed over. I have to mention the feminism here, loved everything about it!
Overall a great book with some annoying points, I am interested to see more and hope for an in depth journey of the mind of our main character!

The worst part were the animal deaths tho :c

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail

In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

Our Dark Duet by V.E. Schwab

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I really enjoyed this, alltho the end left me so freaking sad :(

This Savage Song by V.E. Schwab

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

4.25

Gallant by V.E. Schwab

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad fast-paced

3.75

A good and entertaining execution of a known concept

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Abandonment

Moderate: Blood

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
Did not finish book. Stopped at 6%.

Honestly I just picked it up bc so many people said it was good and to Support bipoc stories, but modern college settings rarely vibe with me and it had an overall fanfiction-y feel to it which just is not for me :)

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

3.75