wordrevel's reviews
156 reviews

An Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao

mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.75

When I first heard of this book, it was just about the premise: a book set in Tokyo where one could pawn their regrets. That's all but I was so intrigued, I searched for it and found out the title was Water Moon. I pre-ordered on Libro.fm and was so excited!

As soon a my pre-order came through, I downloaded the audiobook and started listening. In the end, I liked the world building/setting much more than the character and the plot. It was exquisite!

Sadly, the romance didn't quite work for me. The resolution also left me wanting more. Apart from that, I really enjoyed the world building and writing style, which made for an immersive book. The descriptions were written for the senses and the colours felt brilliant right before my very eyes. 

As I got to know Hana better, I started rooting for her. I could see why her father did the things he did. I didn't quite like Kei. He came across more as a prop to move the plot along than a fully flashed out character. While I felt sorry for Haruto, he also fell a bit flat for me.

In Search of the Perfect Peach: Why Flavour Holds the Answer to Fixing Our Food System by Franco Fubini

informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

Interesting overview of agriculture today and how to improve nutrition and flavour in produce from someone whose work grapples with precisely this. Although, I didn't expect Natoora to be quite as big of a topic, given the title and subtitle of the book, so that did put a bit of a dent in my appreciation of it. But, to be fair, the author was using examples that he was deeply familiar with to put across his points.

Some of the information was already familiar to me, and also overlapped with Avocado Anxiety by Louise Gray, so I do plan to sit down and compare what they agree on. For example, Fubini is categorically against hydroponics as he believes that the nutrient density of produce is lowered when not grown in soil as opposed to nature. I don't recall Gray being against hydroponics, so that's something I'm curious about reviewing. On the other hand, they both agree that visually "perfect" fruits in supermarkets do a disservice to the food we eat and to farming practices.

Be Basic: Believing the Simple Truth of God's Word, Genesis 1-11 by Warren W. Wiersbe
Did not finish book. Stopped at 37%.

Not an actual DNF. Read section for reference.

Ramen Otaku: Mastering Ramen at Home by Ann Volkwein, Sarah Gavigan
Did not finish book. Stopped at 14%.

Not an actual DNF. Read section for reference.

Self-Guided Tour of the Bible by Christopher D. Hudson
Did not finish book. Stopped at 23%.

Not an actual DNF. Read section for reference.

How to Photograph Food: Simple techniques for appetising images by Beata Lubas
Did not finish book. Stopped at 11%.

Not an actual DNF. Read section for reference.

Dark Night Golden Dawn by Allison Carr Waechter

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.0

The world building, plot and strong familial relationships were so well crafted, I wish I could’ve enjoyed Dark Night Golden Dawn a great deal more. There were so many elements that impressed me with the nuance that they were woven into the storytelling.

The list of CWs turned out to be longer than my weekly grocery list though, which I didn’t know when the ebook caught my eye on Libby. The

violent sex involving biting

between

Finn and Harlow

made me extremely uncomfortable as well. I don’t see how any of that is romantic. Perhaps I would’ve loved it if the “romantic” aspects had been dialled down but maybe that’s the point of romantic fantasy and I was caught off-guard because I don’t read a lot of it.

Then there was a scene towards the end where

Harlow and Fin were sucking blood from each other in the hopes of saving themselves

, which again made my stomach churn.

If you are looking for a very diverse cast and want to read romantasy, you’ll likely enjoy this book, should your threshold for graphic scenes be moderate to high. Mine’s comparably on the lower end, so I unfortunately won’t have the mettle to continue the series, regardless of how badly I want to know the resolutions to the conflicts.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Gaslighting

Minor: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Drug use, Infidelity, Torture, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, and Alcohol

Cook, Eat, Repeat by Nigella Lawson
Did not finish book. Stopped at 5%.

Not an actual DNF. Read section for reference.

Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine

challenging tense slow-paced

How do you review a book that sheds light on racism? How do you express that you enjoyed said book without it coming across as taking delight in the suffering someone else experienced? How do you review a book of free verse poetry when free verse means there aren’t really any rules? As I reflected on Citizen: An American Lyric, these were questions I deeply grappled with.