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writervid's reviews
129 reviews
Where Dreams Descend by Janella Angeles
adventurous
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Oh, I so, so badly wanted to adore this.
The comps are definitely up my alley. My main qualms with this lay in the writing style, which tended towards the melodramatic and flowery, and the generally lackluster stakes. The most compelling pieces of the plot--Kallia's relationship with Jack and Eva's disappearance--were overlooked in favor of disappearances of characters I didn't care about and a competition Kallia had no trouble winning, with little challenge to it. I wanted more worldbuilding, and I wanted more growth and change for Kallia and the other characters, who remained relatively stagnant.
I'll definitely look into future Angeles writings, but this disappointed me.
The comps are definitely up my alley. My main qualms with this lay in the writing style, which tended towards the melodramatic and flowery, and the generally lackluster stakes. The most compelling pieces of the plot--Kallia's relationship with Jack and Eva's disappearance--were overlooked in favor of disappearances of characters I didn't care about and a competition Kallia had no trouble winning, with little challenge to it. I wanted more worldbuilding, and I wanted more growth and change for Kallia and the other characters, who remained relatively stagnant.
I'll definitely look into future Angeles writings, but this disappointed me.
In Love and Warcraft by Madhuri Shekar
fast-paced
0.0
I'm actually so angry about this. Although the dialogue was somewhat decent, and I liked the inherent nerdiness of incorporating World of Warcraft a la She Kills Monsters incorporating Dungeons and Dragons, I was so hurt by this play. At the beginning, it appears that Evie might be an asexual character--she's made uncomfortable by sex, she says she loves people with her heart and nothing else, and she asks the common question of "what's wrong with me?" that so many in the ace community do because of our increasingly sexualized society. It was so horrible to read her get "fixed," and so awful to see even the possibility of asexuality being treated like a problem, and something someone should OVERCOME. It also just wasn't very well-written--there was no gradual arc of trust or anything like that, but rather a switch being flipped. Not to mention other issues like slut-shaming, a potentially trans character being told it's "cosplay," and them saying that their cross-dressing and the main character's feelings towards sex are "issues," which leaves a bad taste in my mouth. While this had a decent enough premise that I was excited for, I can't help but feel hurt and blindsided.
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
*and I continue my way through Neil Gaiman's extensive body of work*
I think this might be my favorite thing by him thus far, actually, although I think part of that might just come from getting older and enjoying the slower, subtler parts of books more. It certainly caters to my interests of history coming alive, and says so many interesting and thoughtful things about the American consciousness and the patterns of history. It's an extremely clever book, and one I think I will have to pick up again to better understand all of it. I spotted an annotated copy at Barnes and Noble and I'd be curious to read that.
My only large qualm is the pacing. I enjoyed the slower pace, but it's harder to pick up at any given moment and read for a minute--hence me spending nearly a month with this. My other qualm is I wish the Hinzelman arc/ending had tied more into the larger arc with Wednesday, though I understand why it happened in the order it did. This was an epic in its own right, and I'm very happy I finally read it.
I think this might be my favorite thing by him thus far, actually, although I think part of that might just come from getting older and enjoying the slower, subtler parts of books more. It certainly caters to my interests of history coming alive, and says so many interesting and thoughtful things about the American consciousness and the patterns of history. It's an extremely clever book, and one I think I will have to pick up again to better understand all of it. I spotted an annotated copy at Barnes and Noble and I'd be curious to read that.
My only large qualm is the pacing. I enjoyed the slower pace, but it's harder to pick up at any given moment and read for a minute--hence me spending nearly a month with this. My other qualm is I wish the Hinzelman arc/ending had tied more into the larger arc with Wednesday, though I understand why it happened in the order it did. This was an epic in its own right, and I'm very happy I finally read it.
Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Reread. I think the most glaring things as I reread it are the necessity of Nikolai and how much I positively adore him and how utterly awful Mal is. Mal's behavior in this book makes the ending of Ruin and Rising that much harder to bear. Mal, as he has done from book 1, stunts Alina's character growth over his own pettiness and jealousy over her powers. The pacing is slower here than it was in book 1, but in many ways it feels that plot progression has slowed as well. That being said? I deeply enjoyed my reread of it.
The Diviners by Libba Bray
5.0
WOW.
I absolutely loved this book. Libba Bray excels in developing characters and environment in a lyrical tone that brings an atmosphere to the piece. Each character was developed and distinct, and each piece of the puzzle felt as though we could solve it, too. One of my favorite things about mystery novels is when the pieces stack together in a way that readers can almost see how they connect, but not quite, which is done exceptionally well here. The other thing I absolutely adored was how Bray took full liberty of the 20s and brought so many historical elements of it to life, painting such a complete picture of the time period.
The book lost points for me on some insta-lovey bits. But honestly, it was such a small part of the book, and the couples were so cute, that I couldn't help but forgive it entirely.
The Diviners is a stunner. I'm looking forward to reading the next book.
I absolutely loved this book. Libba Bray excels in developing characters and environment in a lyrical tone that brings an atmosphere to the piece. Each character was developed and distinct, and each piece of the puzzle felt as though we could solve it, too. One of my favorite things about mystery novels is when the pieces stack together in a way that readers can almost see how they connect, but not quite, which is done exceptionally well here. The other thing I absolutely adored was how Bray took full liberty of the 20s and brought so many historical elements of it to life, painting such a complete picture of the time period.
The book lost points for me on some insta-lovey bits. But honestly, it was such a small part of the book, and the couples were so cute, that I couldn't help but forgive it entirely.
The Diviners is a stunner. I'm looking forward to reading the next book.
Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
5.0
This was the Dessen book everyone said I should read. I read it in a sitting, so I'll also go off, I guess.
Dessen executed all of the writing techniques flawlessly. The foreshadowing of the reveal at the end was well done; it wasn't so obvious that I was thinking it right off the bat, but I had come to the conclusion .
There wasn't a lot of focus on the setting, but there didn't really need to be. This story is about the characters, and boy does it do that justice. I think this book is a great example of "your character's greatest strength is the greatest flaw." Annabel is sweet and a good listener, but she's complacent in the writing of her own story by the world, and keeps in all of her emotions in a quest to be "nice" and not hurt anyone. Owen is honest and doesn't want to be controlled, but that leads to issues with anger because he always wants to express his emotions.
The relationship between Owen and Annabel felt real and intimate, which, honestly, I prefer to a lot of flirting. My favorite thing about it as that they both had clear cut development from their interactions. And I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I wouldn't have minded them staying friends, even, because that's what they were. In order to have a good love story (at least for me), there needs to be a good friendship story first. That's what made this so perfect.
The other thing I liked about this was that it felt like a split from the same structure and tropes Sarah Dessen uses. This isn't about witty banter, or wedding planning, or the beach, it's about the complacency of women in a desperation to be perceived a certain way. At least, that's how I perceived it. I can't say that I got such a message from other books of hers.
I now get why people were more disappointed after certain other Dessen reads--which may cause me to rethink my ratings of previous her previous novels. Either way, my conclusion has to be:
So. Damn. Good.
Dessen executed all of the writing techniques flawlessly. The foreshadowing of the reveal at the end was well done; it wasn't so obvious that I was thinking it right off the bat, but I had come to the conclusion .
There wasn't a lot of focus on the setting, but there didn't really need to be. This story is about the characters, and boy does it do that justice. I think this book is a great example of "your character's greatest strength is the greatest flaw." Annabel is sweet and a good listener, but she's complacent in the writing of her own story by the world, and keeps in all of her emotions in a quest to be "nice" and not hurt anyone. Owen is honest and doesn't want to be controlled, but that leads to issues with anger because he always wants to express his emotions.
The relationship between Owen and Annabel felt real and intimate, which, honestly, I prefer to a lot of flirting. My favorite thing about it as that they both had clear cut development from their interactions. And I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I wouldn't have minded them staying friends, even, because that's what they were. In order to have a good love story (at least for me), there needs to be a good friendship story first. That's what made this so perfect.
The other thing I liked about this was that it felt like a split from the same structure and tropes Sarah Dessen uses. This isn't about witty banter, or wedding planning, or the beach, it's about the complacency of women in a desperation to be perceived a certain way. At least, that's how I perceived it. I can't say that I got such a message from other books of hers.
I now get why people were more disappointed after certain other Dessen reads--which may cause me to rethink my ratings of previous her previous novels. Either way, my conclusion has to be:
So. Damn. Good.
What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen
3.0
3.5/5
Sarah Dessen's books, at least in the order I'm reading them, just keep getting better.
What Happened to Goodbye is much better than the other Dessen novels I've read. I'm at the point where I'm noticing tropes within her writing that are always there (the friend group at the new school, food as a plot point, everything is tied up way too neat with side characters coupled up by the end, that kind of thing), which is a little annoying, because it feels like it's often different ideas from the same book. But here, there was less emphasis on the swoon and sigh than on the identity and the character arc of the main character, as well as her relationship with her parents. I loved how her familial relationships played a bigger role in her life than almost anything, and I loved how that was instrumental to her character arc. Do I read Sarah Dessen novels for the romance? I mean, yeah, but I'll drop that at a hat if there's a character that feels like a high schooler. It's all about figuring out who you are and trying to like that person, and that's a message I'll take over swooning any day. There are points off for not always building up emotion super well, the recycling of tropes, not the most developed side characters, and not always having the most active character--Mclean felt very reactive, even if that was the point--but I enjoyed the main character thoroughly and I'm happy I'm on an upward spin!
Sarah Dessen's books, at least in the order I'm reading them, just keep getting better.
What Happened to Goodbye is much better than the other Dessen novels I've read. I'm at the point where I'm noticing tropes within her writing that are always there (the friend group at the new school, food as a plot point, everything is tied up way too neat with side characters coupled up by the end, that kind of thing), which is a little annoying, because it feels like it's often different ideas from the same book. But here, there was less emphasis on the swoon and sigh than on the identity and the character arc of the main character, as well as her relationship with her parents. I loved how her familial relationships played a bigger role in her life than almost anything, and I loved how that was instrumental to her character arc. Do I read Sarah Dessen novels for the romance? I mean, yeah, but I'll drop that at a hat if there's a character that feels like a high schooler. It's all about figuring out who you are and trying to like that person, and that's a message I'll take over swooning any day. There are points off for not always building up emotion super well, the recycling of tropes, not the most developed side characters, and not always having the most active character--Mclean felt very reactive, even if that was the point--but I enjoyed the main character thoroughly and I'm happy I'm on an upward spin!