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blossomingwish's reviews
333 reviews
Lucy Undying by Kiersten White
1.0
Thank you Netgalley for this arc.
Full disclosure I did dnf at 17% so I don’t know if the rest of the book improved but I just couldn’t make it through.
I’m extremely disappointed with this book. It’s the first book I picked up after reading Dracula and I was so excited to read a retelling that centered Lucy since she’s absolutely amazing! Unfortunately this book did NOT do the novel Dracula justice at all. First of all, the characterization of all of the characters (including and especially Lucy) is so entirely inaccurate. I genuinely think that anyone who loved Dracula would absolutely hate this book. One of the first diary entries we get from Lucy describes her hatred for the characters who she did care about in the original novel. The romance between Lucy and Mina was also so poorly done in my opinion. The original book was a better love story than this bullshit. I did find the transcripts between Lucy and whoever she’s talking to extremely interesting. The descriptions of what it was like for her to become a vampire and befriend the wives of Dracula was super interesting. Unfortunately once she went on her trip to China (so random??) it kind of fell off and was no longer interesting to me.
Lastly I’d like to cover the Iris chapters. I get it, this is a gothic book full of mystery and intrigue but in order to have that you need to actually make your audience care about what the mystery is. Unfortunately for me I did not care at all over this weird thing going on with Iris’s mother. I found all of her chapters (except the one where she’s exploring the house) to be extremely dull with bad dialogue and cringy pop culture references. Also the line where she’s talking about the understanding between queer people is just weird. Also calling that girl from the train station her angel was honestly the last straw in making me dnf this. And the “my little cabbage” nickname?? Weird and unnecessary. Anyways!! If you are curious about this book please read it anyways and I sincerely hope you enjoy it more than I did.
Dracula by Bram Stoker
5.0
One of the most devastating and beautiful love stories I’ve ever read. Every character is in love with every other character and it’s seriously the best thing ever. Mina is my girl I love her so much she’s so badass and brilliant. I loved how this book showed the complexities of being human and how you can slowly start to lose yourself. The way the descent into vampirism symbolized depression was really cool and identifiable to me. The begging for death to take you before you turn into something you’ll regret. The sleeping all day and feeling so out of it you don’t know what’s going on. Overall amazing book that I’d highly encourage everyone to read.
Where the Dark Stands Still by A.B. Poranek
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
5.0
Wow this book absolutely blew me away. I read it in one sitting and was so interested the entire time wanting to know more and spend more time in the world. It was beautifully written and the prose was so elegant and I had an amazing time reading it. I loved every character too they were all super complex and interesting and as each secret unfolded everything all fell into place. I also loved the complexity of the characters where they were kind of morally grey but also kind people at the end of the day. The magic system in this book was sooooo cool and enchanting. The whole sentience of the house was absolutely delightful to read and I enjoyed that immensely. I’m so glad I read this book it was exactly what I’ve been looking for. It really gave Howl’s Moving Castle vibes with a hint of Beauty and the Beast. It was also so fun to read about a slavic world just drenched in folklore and culture. It was also really surprising because although it is an YA book it read more like an adult book which I enjoyed. The ending of this book was SO DEVASTATING but I honestly don’t think I’d change anything about it. The epilogue made me really wish there would be a sequel but I also think it’s perfect as a stand alone. Absolutely wonderful book.
Lore of the Wilds by Analeigh Sbrana
2.75
The first half of this book I didn’t like at all and I think it was primarily because of the love interest Asher. He just gave me bad vibes and I didn’t like his personality at all. The first half of the book just seemed to be poorly written compared to the second half as well. There was a lot where the term “show don’t tell” could’ve been necessary. I don’t think that this necessarily took away from the enjoyment of the book later on but it is just something to note. Once Finndryl was introduced I was LOVING the book and those chapters were my favorite. I love his character he just had so much more depth than Asher which was enjoyable. In the end I enjoyed the book it just took a bit for my enjoyment to take off!! I think part of that was my expectations going in as well. I was expecting fantasy rather than romantasy so it was just different than I thought it would be!!! For a fantasy book I’d say it was lacking but for a romantasy book I thought it was pretty good. Super excited for book 2 though. The twist in the end was wild and I didn’t see it coming at all so that was awesome!! Left off on the biggest cliff hanger so I’ll be reading the next book as soon as it comes out!!
Hi, I'm a Witch, and My Crush Wants Me to Make a Love Potion, Vol. 1 by Kamada, Eiko Mutsuhana
5.0
So cute and funny with lovely illustrations!!
Wicked Beauty by Katee Robert
Did not finish book. Stopped at 38%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 38%.
Just not really my thing, not interested in the plot
The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
3.0
Put me in a reading slump when I first tried to read it because of the lack of sam in the beginning but then once he’s back it was good.
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
4.0
I loveddd this book. It was so beautifully written with the descriptions of the landscape to the elegant words Anne uses to describe things. I had no idea the book would end 5 years down the road from the beginning and it was so nice to see how Anne developed as a character as she got older. So glad that after years of wanting to read this I finally did!!!