breezie_reads's reviews
1010 reviews

The Andromeda Evolution by Daniel H. Wilson, Michael Crichton

4.5

Did The Andromeda Strain NEED a sequel? No. Am I glad this sequel exists anyway? 100% yes. This book was just as amazing as the first one, and even more intense and mysterious. A+ to Daniel H. Wilson and a big thank you for putting so much effort in publishing this book for us on behalf of Michael Crichton.

Axes & O's by Kayla Grosse

fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

I don't usually care for romance, but this? I loved this so much it was almost violent. Almost every page was filled with kinky sex and emotional growth  and I just ate that shit up. I could barely sleep because all I was thinking about was finishing this. And now that it's over? Nothing but sadness. I read this on Kindle Unlimited, but it's definitely something I'd buy and reread without a second thought, which is something I don't normally do.

I almost never say this, but thanks BookTok. You really came through when my reading slump needed you the most.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton

challenging tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.5

There's just something about hard science fiction that scratches my brain, especially if it's outbreak oriented. I eat it up every time, and The Andromeda Strain was no different.

I enjoyed the fact that the novel was stylized as if you were reading a report. When novels do different things like that I find that I enjoy the book even more. There's also a lot of graphs and charts that show the visual representation of what the scientists are looking at, which fit with the original style of writing this as a top secret military report. I onew after seeing the first page that I was going to enjoy this. And now I'm even more excited to start the sequel. 

Redemptor by Jordan Ifueko

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Rosario+Vampire, Vol. 1 by Akihisa Ikeda

2.5

For a school full of monsters who are supposed to keep their identity secret, they sure aren't very good at that.

So much nonconsensual touching, so many panty shots. These kids are 15.

Fallout by Ellen Hopkins

emotional reflective sad

4.0

This is a powerful book. It ends the series perfectly by following Kristina's oldest three children and how their lives have been affected by their mother's addiction. It's a great ending to Kristina's story, and the use of newspaper articles to help tell the story was a great way to get further background on the characters from the previous two books.

Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes
Did not finish book. Stopped at 38%.

Glass by Ellen Hopkins

emotional

3.5

Definitely not as much as a roller coaster as the first book, but this was still an insane read.

I didn't really like the homophobia when it came to Leigh and Heather, especially since everyone was so "accepting" until the met Heather. Rubbed me the wrong way.

I also didn't care much for the split-personality aspect of Bree and Kristina. I understand the reason behind it, with Bree being the addiction and Kristina being the last vestiges of her old self, but it just seemed overdone in some instances.

Still excited to finish this series though, and I can't wait to sink my teeth into the the next book.

Signal to Noise by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

2.5

Rating this 2.5 stars because it was as okay as a book can get without it actually being bad.

Unfortunately, I just thought this was horrendously boring. Which is a shame because I've loved every Silvia Moreno-Garcia book I've read, but this one just didn't have very much to keep my interest.

Signal to Noise is split between the "present day" 2009, and 1988/1989. A lot of the 2009 chapters were taken up by allusions to some dramatic event in the past that had dissolved the friendship between Meche, Daniela, and Sebastian.

Obviously, the chapters taking place in 1988/1989 were leading up to that big betrayal, and the use of magic between the friends escalated very quickly, due mostly to Meche's "persuasion."

Meche is a very self-centered, self-serving character. Every decision she made, whether it involved magic or not, benefited her more than anyone else.

Which was part of the reason she was such a bad friend to both Daniela and Sebastian. Another reason she was a bad friend was because she was just plain mean. She bullied her friends into doing what she wanted, when she wanted, how she wanted, and belittled them when they tried to push back and stand their ground.

I don't have any issue with unlikeable characters. I really enjoy them, actually, but Meche being that way is also what turned me off from actually being able to get invested in this story, especially when the "act of betrayal" finally happened.

Her friends stood up to her after she hurt one of them, and then threatened to do even worse to the both of them if they didn't do what she wanted, and she still as an adult thinks that they had betrayed her and stabbed her in the back. Girl, please.

I thought the use of music to cast magic was a fun concept, especially as someone who spends most of their day listening to music. I just wish it had been written in a more dramatic, intense way. This was written at first as just a group of friends playing around, and then it got serious really fast, but even when it started to get serious and dangerous, I found myself speeding up the audiobook to finish it quicker because I was just over it by that point.

I didn't really vibe with the 2009 chapters,

especially once Sebastian and Meche got together. There was no character growth or reflection at all, they just admitted they had always loved each other and then slept together. Where was the transition?

Books don't have to end in character development, but I feel like with an ending like this one, character development would have been necessary? Glad I listened to the book, but it is definitely my least favorite of hers.

Crank by Ellen Hopkins

dark emotional

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This was raw and truthful and beautifully written. Knowing that the author based this off of what her family went through made it that much more upsetting to read. I loved the layout of this and the formatting of the poems themselves because even the way the poems were styled on the page helped tell the story. Immediately starting the next one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, and Pregnancy