anethamroziova's reviews
33 reviews

A Kingdom of Blood and Betrayal by Holly Renee
Did not finish book. Stopped at 11%.

House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones

adventurous funny mysterious 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

4.75

One whole star for Twinkle. 

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

adventurous emotional funny inspiring 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

5.0

Mother of Death and Dawn by Carissa Broadbent

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious relaxing medium-paced

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

4.5

Pýcha a předsudek by Jane Austen

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

5.0

It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

2.75

Lily's story is a great example of how a relationship with an abuser can work and a realistic portrayal of domestic abuse. Of course, every abusive relationship is different and manifests in various ways—there are many types of abuse like economic, physical, verbal and so on. I also really liked Lily's internal struggle—it shows how hard it can be to leave such a relationship because it’s just not as simple as it might seem. It’s not black and white, as the author mentions in the author's note. 

 

As for Ryle,

I’m really glad Lily decided not to stay with him, because if she had…

just no, I don’t want to think about that. Ryle mentions he’s been in therapy, but it doesn’t seem to be working. It’s not his excuse for his behaviour, it’s his reality... right, so he’s basically excusing it. Why doesn’t he try a different therapist or take an anger management course? There are so many other options than physically abusing someone you love. 

 

When it comes to Atlas, I have to admit that his character was probably the only one portrayed with at least some depth. Given that he was 18 and Lily was 16 when they had a romantic relationship, I think the age difference is fine. Atlas may be legally an adult, but he's still just a high school kid. If he were 20+, it would be a different story. Remember what you were like at 18—not exactly fully mature, right? 

 

The theme was handled well, but overall, it felt underdeveloped. I think the author could’ve gone deeper into the issues and characters. A lot of thoughts were introduced but not fully explored, even though there was potential. 

 

Now, onto the marketing… Pink is a colour that usually suggests romance, making you think this is a nice, light romantic read. But in this case, it’s misleading. There are no trigger warnings, which would’ve been helpful since the blurb doesn't give any hint about the serious topics inside. On top of that CoHo decided to release a colouring book inspired by the story (which was eventually cancelled after backlash on social media), and she also launched a collection of nail polishes inspired by this book and her other novels. Which, honestly, is quite distasteful… 

 

I’m also frustrated and disappointed that Blake Lively, Colleen Hoover and other actors are promoting the movie based on this novel as a cute romantic comedy, barely addressing the important theme of domestic abuse. The only person who openly talks about it is Justin Baldoni, and I’m really grateful for that. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Child death and Gun violence

Heartless by Marissa Meyer

adventurous dark emotional funny sad 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

The Awakening by Caroline Peckham, Susanne Valenti
Did not finish book. Stopped at 44%.

I don't really understand the hype. Maybe it's just not my cup of tea.

While I really did like the main protagonists, they often acted too childish for eighteen-year-olds. Additionally, there is a lot of abuse towards both girl characters and basically no plot or explaining how the world works (which, on the other hand, I get because Tory and Darcy are lost too, but yeah...)

The writing felt cringe-worthy, and the names of the teachers lacked originality. For example fire teacher is called Professor Pyros and earth teacher is Professor Rockford...  And the social media at the school? Faebook, really?

The worldbuilding was confusing and overwhelming, with elves who can also be vampires, dragons, werewolves, unicorns and other bunch of mythical creatures.

It was just too much for me.

King's Cage by Victoria Aveyard

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad tense slow-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

3.25

It was a little bit slower than other books from this series, but I like politic schemes, so overall I enjoyed it.