wisteriariaa's reviews
110 reviews

The Walking Dead, Vol. 2: Miles Behind Us by Robert Kirkman

medium-paced

4.0

The Immeasurable Depth of You by Maria Ingrande Mora
Did not finish book. Stopped at 37%.

This is another one that's really failing to capture my attention. It's a bit boring and the main character is irritating, if I'm being honest. Idk, maybe I'll come back to it at some point but all I could think of while reading it is all the other stuff I could be reading instead.

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
Did not finish book. Stopped at 26%.

This just struggled to capture my attention. I literally forgot I was reading it.

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman
Did not finish book. Stopped at 30%.

I was trying to read this before watching the TV show, but I just could not get into the book. I'll definitely return to it at some point, but I'm done with it for now.

The Walking Dead, Vol. 1: Days Gone Bye by Robert Kirkman

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

Giant Days Vol. 1 by John Allison, Whitney Cogar

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

Kinda boring

Big Swiss by Jen Beagin

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

This book is just way too weird for me. It feels like it's trying too hard to be quirky, and was unnecessarily gross a lot of the time. I also kept sitting there and asking myself "What is this books supposed to be about? What was the point?" and I realized that I didn't have an answer. This book felt aimless, and it didn't even have interesting characters to compensate for that. Greta is annoying and creepy and Flavia is so holier-than-thou and rude, I couldn't stand either of them or their boring-ass relationship. They have absolutely no chemistry, and I do not buy that Flavia was so into Greta that she considered leaving her husband for her. The sex scenes were also very disgusting. I get the sense that they were intended to come off that way, but some parts genuinely made me feel sick. The part where Greta talked about rearranging Flavia's genitals with her tongue? Vomit inducing. I'm not sure what the author was trying to do here, but they were doing too much. 

There were also a few moments in this book that made me uncomfortable. Some bits came off a bit racist to me, and there is stuff bordering on ableism. Like, the book basically straight up says the r-slur, like seriously? It's 2023, the author knows better than that. Idk, 2.75 stars because I don't care anymore I want to move on to something else.

The Shadow Sister by Lily Meade

medium-paced

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

3.0

Thank you to SourceBooks for this ARC!

Well, that certainly was a trip.

This book certainly started out strong. I was pretty invested in the mystery and Casey and Sutton's tumultuous relationship. It started to lose me a bit towards the middle, but I was still interested. But the ending completely lost me. The supernatural elements to the story really came out of nowhere, and the conclusion felt rushed and sloppy. I don't feel like the answers I got to the mystery were all that satisfactory, and that there wasn't  enough clues and foreshadowing pointing towards the twists. The book's themes didn't seem to connect very well to the plot, either. The ones about family worked fine, but there were also themes regarding religion and discovering your family history that I didn't think really serviced the main plot all that well. They felt like weird, tacked on additions. I feel like some plot restructuring and a better presence from certain characters would have helped with these themes. Despite my issues, I do think this was a pretty solid debut, and that this author is one to watch.

A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon

slow-paced

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

3.0

It really, really pains me to say this, but this book was very disappointing.

Not to be dramatic, but Priority is one of my absolute favorite books. I could only be able to read that for the rest of time, and I'd be happy. This one, however, failed to recapture the magic that Priority had for me. Priority was long, yes, but the story flowed so well and the characters so were vivid and well-rounded that I hardly noticed. And Ead and Sabran? Sublime sapphics. Truly both setting and raising the bar for queer love in high fantasy.

But this? This was a long, dull, meandering bore. I did not care for the plot that was  weirdly both simple and confusing. The four protagonist were bland and frankly unsympathetic. I did not care about what happened to any of them. And the romances? Forget it, I didn't care for any of them. Which is saying a lot because they all were queer! I never turn up my nose at queer rep no matter what! But I didn't care for a single pairing, they all bored me. Except for Tunuva and Esbar, they pissed me off. Tunuva, how are you going to be in a decades long committed relationship with a woman, only to disregard and abandon her for a woman you just met (who clearly isn't trustworthy) and act like your the victim when things go poorly? Screw right off, Esbar deserved better. 

I also didn't care for some of the plot choices. Some things were weirdly convoluted, especially anything involving Wulf

Also, if Wulf and Glorian concieved the next heir and Wulf is Tunuva's son, does that make Ead and Sabran from Priority related? If so, ew. No. I reject that. Not cannon. I don't like it

I don't like this book very much. However, will I be first in line to buy another book in this universe? Yes, because I believe in second chances and this series has me in a chokehold.

Nightbirds by Kate J. Armstrong

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

You know, I decided a while ago that I shouldn't have high hopes when it comes to YA fantasy. I've been burned too many times by books with promising plots that just devolve into extremely toxic, dull hetero love triangles with a side of saving the world in a pointless war. But this book has reignited some hope in me for the genre, because holy hell was this good. The setting is so vivid and enticing, the magic system manages to be both simple and unique, and the plot kept me hooked the entire time. The standout element of the book, however, has to be its main characters. Each of them are so interesting, frustrating, well-rounded, and kickass in their own way. I loved seeing how they developed throughout the book, and I think that the book ends with each of them in a place (literally and figuratively) that suits their character arcs. I'm excited to see where the next book takes them

Also, I really hope that Fen gets some POV chapters in the sequel, I'd really like to know more about her.

Also, on the subject of romances, all I'll say is I'm happy with Æsas'. I think shes cute with her love interest and her interactions with him didn't make me want to bash my head in. Sayer is heavily, heavily implied to be sapphic and into another girl! They technically don't end up together by the end, but their relationship is clearly headed into that direction. I could honestly care less about Matilde's love triangle, they both kind of suck for her, but if I was forced to choose I'm rooting for

Alec, because at least he doesn't give off "I'm using you and will absolutely kill your whole family and keep you hostage if you don't marry me and let me use your magic" vibes. Like, Dennan hasn't indicated that he would do that but him lying to Matilde about killing his sister sketches me out. I'm praying that Matilde keeps her word about using him and doesn't fall back in love with him I stg