bizknitsbooks's reviews
101 reviews

Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood

challenging emotional funny reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

LOVED. Probably my favorite of her books. 

I so loved the diabetes rep., and the struggles that go along with that. Loved that neither of them were perfect, but in a way that it wasn't a focus until it needed to be called out. Fuck Dr. L, hate that type of dude. While it took a minute for things to really heat up, the spice was killer 🥵.

Happy Place by Emily Henry

emotional 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? Yes

3.75

3.75 ⭐️

Pros: men's mental health rep., friendships, personal growth.
Cons: miscommunication, lengthy buildup/minimal spice.

Second chance isn't my go to because of the inherent miscommunication, but this was cute. I liked their reconnection and exploration of their breakup. I loved Wyn, Harriet didn't deserve him imo.

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

challenging mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

3.5⭐️

I have very mixed feelings about this book. I hated the characters, which was probably the point. Talk about white privilege with a kick of narcissism. I understand that the perspective was supposed to feel yucky, and it definitely did, I just don't really understand what the point was in doing that. Does not live up to the hype in my opinion.

Black Ties and White Lies by Kat Singleton

tense slow-paced

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

2.0

The Beck in the second half was marginally better than the Beck from the first half, but holy shit here is a man who doesn't have a gotdam clue how to have any sort of relationship. I could honestly pick apart this book endlessly, Beck is a moron and Margo isn't much better. 

The author also clearly needed to do a little more research into what it entails to be a billionaire... you don't wear a tux to an average day at the office. Overall, the writing was kinda meh, the characters were surface level and garbage, the plot was shoddy, and this could have easily been 100 pages shorter. I feel like I read the same sentence more than once on the same page on more than one occasion.

The ending was alright, but it definitely didn't make up for the rest of the book.

Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Wow. This book was *chef's kiss*. Honestly, gave me serious Sharp Objects mixed with The Sinner vibes. REALLY well written and not predictable at all. The plot proceeded nicely and fed you little bits at a time to keep the theories evolving. Also loved the super subtle magic and sentience of the land. 

Love Me by Ashley N. Rostek

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

4.5⭐️

The second half of this book significantly made up for the first 2.5 books before this. Wowee, I am floored by this cliffhanger. I may have seen the demise of that character based in the foreshadowing of "we're best friends now". But holy moly, not like that.

I am gonna be so mad if this is resolved too quickly in the next book. But fuck if I'm not incredibly excited for it.

Queen of Myth and Monsters by Scarlett St. Clair

adventurous dark mysterious 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

3.5

A lot of conflict and toxic attempts at resolution. A lot of "running around waving our hands, like what's going on?!" I wanted more story, or rather more focus on how certain aspects of the story were playing out. 

Overall, not mad I read it and am looking forward to seeing where things go. I enjoy the rise against the patriarchy theme and the strong FMC. 

Order Of Scorpions by Ivy Asher

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense 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

4.5

Cavendish by Elle Thrasher

adventurous mysterious 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? No

2.5

2.5⭐️
I hate to say it, but this was only an okay book. The plot was good and had a lot of potential, but the writing was not great. Too much fluff and repetitive descriptors. We know she has brown hair, we get that the twins have glasses/muscles, we know the friend is a person of colour, we don't need to be reminded of these things every time that person comes up in the book. It read a little young despite some of the spice. The story could have been flushed out so much more and been way more in depth, instead of the surface level that it was. 

Will I read the other books in the series? Probably, because I liked the plot. I just hope the writing will have improved.

The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid

adventurous 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? No

3.5

The story itself was good. I really enjoyed the story. But it took me SOOOO long to get into it, and the pace really didn't pick up which I was bummed about. This probably would have been a DNF if the story hadn't been so detailed and captivating.