wordswritinstarlight's reviews
177 reviews

Ballad of Sword and Wine: Qiang Jin Jiu (Novel) Vol. 1 by Tang Jiu Qing

Go to review page

challenging funny mysterious reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Look, this is danmei for people who like the Captive Prince—hyper-competent protagonists, incredibly messy enemies-to-lovers, and an absolute viper’s nest of an imperial court to finish it off.  As someone who LOVES the Captive Prince, I am the target audience and predictably I had a fantastic time.  The writing style is quick, clever, and evocative without being clunky, and the translation is smooth and effortless reading.  Shen Zechuan and Xiao Chiye are a great matchup of skills, and a more nuanced take than the usual “the smart one” and “the buff one” pairing I’m used to seeing—they’re both very clever and conniving, but they’re clever and conniving in very different ways, and while Shen Zechuan is limited in his fighting ability, he’s also very capable of taking care of himself in a fight.  I have high hopes for them as the ascendant Manipulate Malewife Manslaughter Power Couple in my heart.

Recommended for people who like their romance plot lines to get DEEP in the political scheming more or less immediately.  Honestly if you like political scheming and enemies-to-lovers, this would be a good first experiment with translated C-novels.
Heartsong by TJ Klune

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0

My wife told me “you’ll like it, this is Green Creek but make it Harrow the Ninth” and damn if she wasn’t right about that incredibly bizarre description.  Loved it.  Ten out of ten readers would put Kelly in their pocket and protect him forever.
Ravensong by TJ Klune

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense 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

5.0

No notes.  Six stars out of five.  Cried in this book also.
The Dead Take the A Train by Cassandra Khaw, Richard Kadrey

Go to review page

adventurous dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I enjoyed this book a lot, the magic system and cosmic horror really did it for me, but I found Julie absolutely fucking insufferable for the first half of the book and tolerable for the back half.  I’m reasonably sure that was intentional, in which case great work, but wow did I dislike the people in this book.  (Except Sarah.  Sarah has rights.) That being said, Cassandra Khaw’s horror style has an iron grasp on my nervous system and this book is no different—yes, Cassandra, I DO want to hear about blood vessels full of eyes and a corporation that regularly calls up a Lovecraftian nightmare for C-suite decisions.  My enjoyment of the plot and the world did a lot to keep me afloat reading this, but if you’re someone who really dislikes an unlikable main character this might not be for you.

Recommended for people who don’t mind an abrasive protagonist and love the paranormal investigator model, especially things that run a little more toward Hellblazer/Constantine.  “Bisexual disaster in a classic noir detective spiral” is definitely the vibe here.  Also, STRONGLY recommend that you ask yourself sincerely about your tolerance for “organs all over the upholstery” levels of gore, because boy howdy is there a lot of viscera in this book.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Paladin's Grace by T. Kingfisher

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny mysterious reflective fast-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

5.0

T. Kingfisher has my number for horror and apparently also for fantasy romance.  Absolutely fucking adored this.  I’m obsessed with stories about the aftermath of grand fantasy epics, and this DELIVERS THE GOODS.  Killing a god in the first chapter is some incredibly big dick energy and I loved it desperately, and I love every glimpse into what a divine berserker looked like.  The world is beautifully designed, with equal parts Faerun and Discworld energies to create a singularly charming landscape.  Also, the bonds between the surviving paladins of the Saint made me extremely emotional—this book is very much about Relationships, both romantic and platonic, and nailed every single one.

Recommended for fantasy lovers across the board, and especially for people who (like me) want to read a book about what happens when a fantasy hero has to retire.
Phantasma by Kaylie Smith

Go to review page

adventurous emotional lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

Pure brain candy, with a fun premise, a cool magic system, and eminently charming main characters.  Loved watching Ophelia learn to embrace violence as a problem-solving option; enjoyed her romance with Blackwell greatly.  The vibe of the mansion was very Crimson Peak, classic cursed manor, which I’m consistently a sucker for.  I wasn’t taken off-guard by a single plot twist in the whole thing, but frankly I don’t put a lot of stock in being Shocked and Astonished by plot twists and that doesn’t bother me or detract from my enjoyment at all.  Also, I’ve been told that I have an unsettling and irritating ability to clock plot twists in books, so that may just be me.

Overall, a great time, easy to read, and actually THE most relatable portrayal of intrusive thoughts I’ve seen in a book.  (I was once told by a psychiatrist that I was definitely obsessive enough for an OCD diagnosis, but not compulsive enough, so I vibed immensely with Ophelia and was NOT surprised to do so.)

Recommended for someone looking for a fast, easy Gothic romance, with the full suite of spooky ghosts, secret doors, and deals with devils.
Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

This book is a little like what I think the makers of Alien: Prometheus wanted their movie to be.  I paused that movie to give my husband a forty minute lecture on my vision for a Different Better Movie, so I really enjoyed that vibe.  Barnes’ vision of space travel as basically an array of corporate fiefdoms holding humanity hostage feels extremely fleshed out and plausible, and honestly horrifies me as much as the
murderous alien nanites.
  That being said, I did also immensely enjoy the
murderous alien nanites,
and I think the horror elements of this book will appeal greatly to people who enjoyed the more awful elements of the protomolecule in The Expanse.

My only real critique of this book is that the characters had kind of a spectrum of depth, ranging from “very fleshed out” to “extremely simple,” and I think a little more time could have been spent on them.  The book is pretty quick, in and out in under 300 pages, and it would have been doable to get into the characters a little more without upsetting the pacing.

Recommended to people looking for, essentially, a slasher in space.
Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell

Go to review page

emotional funny lighthearted relaxing fast-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

5.0

A delightful space opera spin on a classic romance trope.  I love Kiem and Jainan’s dynamic, and getting to see inside both their heads as they bumble their way through their sudden marriage was so charming and endeared me to both of them immediately.  Also, the short story at the end, told entirely through their letters to other people and reports on their movements by the Emperor’s spies, was super fun, 10/10.  The sci-fi elements use a light hand and don’t get bogged down in the technical details, so this is a great read for someone who finds the “harder” end of sci-fi boring or tiring.  The vibe is somewhere between the West Wing and Star Trek, but as a romance.

Recommended to anyone looking for a quick, self-contained romance set on a backdrop of sci-fi political scheming.  
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-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

5.0

One of my favorite books of all time.  Recommended to anyone who can be normal about a #Problematic love interest.  I love Laurent very much but he’s a nightmare for about a book and a quarter.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

First of all, the audiobook: I made it through about half of it before I broke and had to read it instead.  I’ve never used the word “overacting” about an audiobook reader before, but this one is uhhhhh a whole lot.  Genuinely she sounds like she’s about to burst into hysterics for more than half of what I read and I might just be an unsympathetic bitch, but it drove me up the wall.

Now, obviously, I DID like the book enough that I went to the trouble of getting it hardcopy to actually read it, rather than just bailing on the audiobook, which I think is a statement in and of itself.  I loved the ongoing mystery of whether Claire is actually seeing ghosts or if she’s just hallucinating
(actually, I’m going to need WAY more books where there are ghosts in space, because I confess that I was not expecting the answer to be “both” and I was delighted)
. I’m also obsessed with any horror story set in the aftermath of a much bigger and more horrible horror story, and the descriptions of the Aurora were genuinely spine-chilling on that front.  I could take or leave the romance plot line, but to be honest I was having such a good time with the rest of it that I’m going to give it a pass.

Recommended for lovers of psychological horror and sci-fi adventures, but also specifically for anyone who watched the show Avenue 5 and went “what if this, but make it fucking terrifying,” which I very much did and this book was exactly what I wanted.  If you have a strong visual imagination, I would maybe recommend not reading this right before bed, but we don’t need to go into why I know that.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings