_rutaceae's reviews
107 reviews

The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
Did not finish book. Stopped at 27%.

It truly hurts to DNF this, but the info dumping was just going straight over my head. I wasn't taking in a single word, and I've not found myself wanting to pick this up in a few days. Maybe I'll come back to it one day, but for now it's best I put it aside. 

The Pairing by Casey McQuiston

adventurous emotional funny hopeful 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've spent the last few months unable to really get stuck into anything. There have been several books that I've attempted to start, but I've not even made a dent in them before essentially giving up on them. And that's all down to this book. The Pairing RUINED me for all other books, months before it was even out.

I've cried 3 times - make that 4 times, I'm listening to the last 15 minutes of the audiobook as I write this review - today. I have whiplash with the journey my emotions have been on today. One second I'm getting all hot and bothered as Kit and Theo are going after their next conquest, and the next I'm crying my eyes out after one of them says something that completely breaks me.

Honestly, I knew CMQ would break me with this book, but I didn't quite expect it to break me this much. RWRB will always hold a special place in my heart, but The Pairing might just have to take that top spot.

If This Gets Out by Sophie Gonzales, Cale Dietrich

emotional hopeful lighthearted 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

4.0

I'm pretty sure this isn't published One Direction fan fiction, but I can't say I'd be surprised if it came out that it is because it certainly read like it.

I can only imagine what it's like being in the worlds biggest boy band, and the centre of attention wherever you go, but it honestly sounds like my biggest nightmare. It was so easy to sympathise which each of the MCs, and I was rooting for all of them to figure their shit out and come out on top.

This was such a cute, quick read, and despite alternating points of view points of view normally confusing me in audiobooks, very easy to follow.

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

adventurous funny lighthearted 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? No

5.0

I've been in such a horrible reading slump this last month, and I don't know what made me pick this up to pull me out of it but I'm SO glad I did.

I love how the fourth wall is constantly broken - how the narrator addresses the reader to remind them of things or to tell them to remember something for later - especially with the audiobook, as it really immerses you into the story, and makes it feel like you're a part of the grand adventure and not just reading it in a book.

This is a much lighter tale than the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and the perfect book to pick up if you want to dip into this world, but not commit to the full trilogy.

I can't think of a better narrator for this series than Andy Serkis. The tingles I got when I reached Gollum's scene and Serkis did the voice, are unmatched.

Girl, Goddess, Queen by Bea Fitzgerald

adventurous emotional funny 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

4.0

I've stayed away from Hades/Persephone retellings because the sheer amount of them is a little overwhelming and honestly, it's getting a little boring to see another one pop up. This is one that instantly caught my eye the moment I first heard about it though.

We always think of Hades as this scary, imposing figure. He has to be to rule the underworld, right? But here we see a much softer side to this character we think we all know. He has this artistic side of him, that really makes this version of him stand out against all the others.

In the original myth, and in many retellings, we see Hades kidnap Persephone and force her to become his wife. I loved that Fitzgerald switched things up, and made Persephone a strong, independent women. She goes to Hades and the underworld of her own free will, tired of living her life on her parent's terms. I'm a sucker for both fake dating and rivals to lovers, and this delivered on both fronts.

This was such a refreshing, modern take on one of the most popular stories in Greek mythology, and I'm SO glad it was the retelling of this tale I chose to pick up.

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

The comparisons to The Secret History are impossible not to make; but where that exceeded every expectation I had, this failed to reach a single one of them.

Seven main characters and a murder mystery is a lot to establish and I feel like the fast pace and the number of pages in this book, didn't allow Rio the time she needed to flesh any of it out properly. I still feel like I don't know who half of the main characters are or why they were relevant to the story. As for the plot, I feel like it wasn't built up as well as could have been. Everything felt very predictable from the start, and I think some of the actions of the characters were completely unnecessary.

While I understand the relevance of the all the Shakespeare passages, I feel like the quantity and the length of them, took up space that - like the actions of some of the characters - could have been better used to flesh out more of the story or the characters.

One thing I did love though, was how it was split into acts (rather than parts), and how some chunks of dialogue were written like they were in a script. This formatting felt rather fitting, considering they were theatre students.

This book had SO much potential, but I think it tried too hard to be The Secret History, and it just didn't work the way Rio probably imagined it would.

You're the Problem, It's You by Emma R. Alban

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

4.0

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with this ARC. 

 

I can sometimes struggle with multiple POVs; I either struggle to keep up with exactly who each character is and who’s POV I’m currently reading, or I just really don’t care for one or more of the characters. I was SO happy to find I didn’t have either of those problems this time. I loved getting to see things from both Bobby and James’s POVs, I found it really helped to understand why they said the things they said and how they really felt about each other. 

 

Bobby and James were such lovable characters and SO well written, but I found that some of the side characters - particularly the ones we’re supposed to hate - weren’t as well rounded as they could have been. They read more black and white, than the realistic grey I prefer to see in characters. 

 

This was such an easy read! I find historical fiction difficult to read sometimes because the language used can either be too modern which takes you right out of the scenes trying to be set, or it can be too historical and difficult to read. Alban found the perfect balance between modern and historical language, that I’ve only seen once before in Alexis Hall’s A Lady for a Duke. 

 

I was already half way through when I became aware this was part 2 of a duology. I carried on regardless and found that despite not having read the first in the series, I didn’t feel like I was missing anything. I will definitely be going back and reading part 1 though!! 

I Would Leave Me If I Could: A Collection of Poetry by Halsey

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

I've had this sitting on my shelf for FAR too long, so thank you Taylor Swift for calling your new album what you did and giving me the kick up the arse I needed to finally pick it up.

I've been a fan of Halsey since the very beginning of their career, since their Tumblr days, and their lyrics have always hit me in a way only Taylor Swift has ever managed to do so as well. I knew before I even opened the book that this would hurt me just as much (maybe that's why I've put off reading it for so long).

I always struggled with poetry at school. Maybe it was the poems we were forced to study? Maybe it was the way they were taught to me and the way we had to study them? I don't know. But it's made me stay far away from poetry ever since. This was the perfect stepping stone to start exploring poetry in a way that works for me and to find poems that I actually enjoy and want to read.

Dracula by Bram Stoker

adventurous dark mysterious slow-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

4.0

There's just something about a Victorian horror novel that gives me all the happy tingles, and I can't explain why.

I've consumed quite a few pieces of vampire media in my time - from books to TV shows - so it was inevitable I would get to the piece that started it all.

I wasn't aware it was written as an epistolary before going in, but I really loved this format. It's the first of this kind I've ever read, I've always avoided them before because I was sure I wouldn't like it for whatever reason, but I was SO wrong. (Don't be surprised if I now go and read nothing but books written in this format). Normally I'm very hit and miss with books written from multiple points of view, but written in this format with extracts from letters, diary entries, newspaper articles, etc., it was so easy to follow.

I couldn't bring myself to give this the 5 stars it maybe deserves because I felt the actual vampire action was kind of lacking. I wanted to see more of Dracula, maybe see things from his point of view occasionally. 

Nearlywed by Nicolas DiDomizio

emotional funny hopeful reflective 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

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with this ARC

WOW, where do I even start with this?? I expected this to be a cute little rom-com read to keep me going while I decided what I wanted my next big read to be. And while I was right about that, I didn't quite expect it to hurt as much as it did.

I felt the chemistry between Kip and Ray from the very beginning, I knew instantly that despite their differences they genuinely loved each other. Though it soon became apparent that they had a HUGE issue with communication. Because of their differences, they obviously needed to compromise a lot. However, rather than doing what they should be doing and talking things through - <i>communicating</i> - and finding a true middle ground, they were constantly giving up their end to let the other have their way entirely. And that's far from healthy. They both clearly had a fucked up perspective of love and relationships, and I was scared at multiple points throughout this that they wouldn't be able to work through their differences and get the happy ending they both deserved.

This was SO well written!! It was such an easy read, and both Kip and Ray were very relatable. I laughed and cried right along with them, and there were multiple times I found myself so frustrated with one or both of them, that I had to book the down and take a break before I did sometime drastic. If it had been possible for me to reach into the book and give them both a good shake, I would have done multiple times.

I can't wait to go and read more of Nicolas DiDomizio's work after this!