aruarian_melody's reviews
462 reviews

The Tropic Of Serpents by Marie Brennan
Did not finish book. Stopped at 57%.

DNF@56%
For some reason this one just did not work for me and I struggle to finish the super short chapters in one go or pick it back up again. I liked the first book of the series quite a bit and was excited for this one after learning that it has an asexual character. Unfortunately, this book focuses so much more on world building and politics that the characters didn't play an important role at all. Apart from the main character/narrator the remaining characters barely did anything and 190 pages in it feels like we had maybe five interactions/scenes between two characters that are on-page rather than summarised in a sentence on the side. The often stereotype mirroring of existing cultures felt a bit icky, too (especially in a fantasy book that gives you endless possibilities to come up with new cultures). 

This Winter by Alice Oseman

emotional 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

3.5

Great short addition to the story of Nick & Charlie. I liked the focus on how complicated christmas/family can be and the continuous challenge of mental health issues. 

Nick and Charlie by Alice Oseman

emotional 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

3.0

Adorable towards the end but the characters and especially their communication skills felt very different from the comics. I also didn't love the narrators of the audiobook. I liked it overall and it was a nice short addition to the Oseman universe.

The Dragon of Ynys by Minerva Cerridwen

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted reflective 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? No

3.0

Lovely messages with a somewhat clumsy execution. I think this was a case of me being the wrong audience. Fairy tales are a tough sell for me and this one is adequately described as one. I personally felt like some more subtlety would have been great but I agree with the core messages and overall enjoyed reading about these characters. Picked it up for the aroace representation and we can't have enough of that. 

Ace Voices: What it Means to Be Asexual, Aromantic, Demi or Grey-Ace by Eris Young

challenging hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

I think this is my favourite non-fiction book about the ace-spectrum so far! I've recently read a few of them and thought I might be burnt-out on them when I dnf'd another one. But this one was great. I truly felt like the author took great care to show the full spectrum and I appreciated the section on intersectionality. The many quotes from interviews with people that are a-spec were great and I definitely related to many things. It is always very healing to see your own thoughts echoed by someone else. The book found a perfect balance between theory, multiple perspectives and a gentle and intelligent authorial voice guiding you through it with just the right level of personality interwoven into the text. 
I think this could also be great for people that are new to the topic. In the future I will recommend this book along with Angela Chen's "Ace" and Alice Oseman's "Loveless" to people who want to better understand Asexuality and Aromanticism. 

Solitaire by Alice Oseman
Did not finish book. Stopped at 26%.

DNF@25% 
I really liked the other things I read by Oseman so far but for this one the tone didn't work for me. This was her debut novel so I think I'll skip it for now and check out other books of hers. 

Heartstopper Volume 4 by Alice Oseman

emotional funny hopeful informative 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

Favourite volume of the series so far! Loved the focus on mental health and the messages related to this. Oseman manages to find the perfect balance between queer joy and serious topics. I'm very glad to see this series be so popular among young adults as I think many of them can benefit from the key messages! Still super adorable too. 

Heartstopper Volume 3 by Alice Oseman

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective 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? No

4.25

Adorable, comfy read that still manages to include some serious topics. It is hard not to compare the books to the Netflix series, which has more room to explore the side characters in more depth.  

Heartstopper Volume 2 by Alice Oseman

emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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? No

4.25

This was a hug in book form. I think the author does really well with balancing serious topics and very hopeful and cute moments. 

Heartstopper Volume 1 by Alice Oseman

emotional funny lighthearted 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? No

3.75

Cute! Picked this up after watching the Netflix series. The original graphic novel has less focus on side characters/friendships and feels more fast-paced. Still lovely story and the art style works quite well.