bestja01's reviews
277 reviews

The Art Thief by Michael Finkel

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adventurous informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

4.25

The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I was enjoying this series a lot, but this third book really sold it for me. So many trilogies lose me when they leave their pre-established world (leaving the scholomance to be in the real world in this case), but this book knew what it was doing and stuck the landing beautifully. Maybe a bit contrived how things work out, but the emotional beats worked for me and I was full of feelings at the end.

The Atlas Complex by Olivie Blake

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adventurous challenging dark reflective 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

3.25

The plot was confusing, especially since it has been a while since I read book 2. The characters are great, as engaging as ever, but the story was hard to follow. Some really poignant moments, though, and some beautiful prose.

The Iliad by Homer: Rendered into English Prose by Samuel Butler by Samuel Butler

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challenging slow-paced

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

2.5

Took me a year to read and only a few chapters were interesting- a whole book of battles with little plot. I strongly prefer The Odyssey if I had to pick one of Homer’s epics.

James by Percival Everett

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challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced