xandra_lyn's reviews
555 reviews

The Easy Life in Kamusari by Shion Miura

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lighthearted reflective relaxing 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? Yes

5.0

I had no idea what to expect from this, but was so delighted by it. I don't know anything about modern countryside Japan, so I don't know how authentic it is. I hope, though, that it's more truth than fiction.
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Across the Dark Water by Jennifer Lynn Alvarez

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 4%.
I'm sure this was a good book for the intended audience; however, it's the second series in a shared world and I couldn't follow all the horse drama very easily.
Mendel the Mess-Up by Terry LaBan

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adventurous funny hopeful reflective tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

This was a really cute book about believing in yourself. It also tackled some struggles of the Jewish people in history. This made me nervous because I know in reality it would have been so much worse; but the book was for kids, so nothing too bad happened.
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Leprechaun in Late Winter by Mary Pope Osborne

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adventurous lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Beauty and the Beast: Lost in a Book by Jennifer Donnelly

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Wings of Starlight by Allison Saft

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious sad slow-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

This is a well written book. I loved the world building she added to the tinkerbelle/pixie hollow canon. I also loved the characters....except whenever the author made Clarion vacilulate on Milori, which was only added for third act break up drama 🙄.

Spoilers ahead - but only if you haven't seen secret of the wings movie


I think the real issue was that it was bound by the secret of the wings story. The fact that Clarion has to make a rule forbidding winter and summer fairies from crossing the border completely undermined her character growth in this story. 

Spoilers ahead for the book....

her entire reasoning was stupid. She said she wouldn't be able to concentrate on her people, because she'd choose milori's benefit each time is so dumb. Like...parents juggle their relationship and kids and still make it work. A mature relationship knows that sometimes it takes a back seat to the needs of others. It was literally the dumbest reason ever, and it destroyed Clarion's character growth completely.

The worst part though was that the author ended it on a sad note. The author should have made an epilogue that took place after/during the secret of the wings movie. Maybe she didn't want to spoil it? But no one is going to pick up this up not having seen the movie. It's a non-smut fairy story for crying out loud; no non-fan is going to read it.



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Poetry Comics by Grant Snider

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emotional funny hopeful reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This is really cute, and a great resource for introducing kids to poetry.
A Dance in Donegal by Jennifer Deibel

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 10%.
I was 10% in and there was already anti-catholicism and a guy assaulted her. I don't *think* she was raped, but she got knocked out as she was running, which is a) really hard to do and b) incredibly vulnerable, and the author just....doesn't touch on it. 

It's also a Christian book, and so full of "and then this specific Bible verse came to her mind and she felt peace." And like...ok, maybe for some people that works, but in my experience that's misleading at best and disillusioning at worst for those who don't hear from God in that manner.
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Lucky Shenanigans by Pepper McGraw

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funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Super cute and funny! A great st. Patrick's Day read.

This was my first in the series, and it had a lot of call backs to previous series, which was slightly confusing at times 
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The Winter Ball: A Fairy Tale Retelling Of Twelve Dancing Princesses by Laura Greenwood

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lighthearted mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Cute story, and I liked how she incorporated the various aspects of the fairy tale. I did find it sad however, because growing up the 12 dancing princesses was always full of magic and wonder, and this didn't have that.