cclift1114's reviews
1190 reviews

Oye by Melissa Mogollon

challenging emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad tense 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

4.0

“Is this more than you bargained for yet?” A friend posted that this was the quote at the beginning of this book and I immediately went and added it to my TBR because, all the appreciation for an author that’s going to quote Fall Out Boy. I will say that the unique way in which this novel is told did throw me off a bit and I think it would be better to read the physical book instead of listening to the audiobook like I did. I eventually was able to get more used to the story being told through voice messages, but I do think there was a little bit lost in choosing this method. Nevertheless, I found this to be a heartfelt representation of the difficulties of having to grow up and mature more quickly than you should have to, especially in the face of the severe illness of a loved one. The novel also delves deep into the effects of intergenerational trauma, while still finding times to be more humorous and upbeat. 

The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This book started off a bit slow for me compared to Holly Jackson’s other novels. It really wasn’t until about 40% of the way in that thing started to pick up a bit and then at that point it did really go right up to the end. I did appreciate the twists and turns with this book and even with trying to keep track of suspicious odds and ends at the very beginning, I did not predict most of the plot twists. 

Goddess of the River by Vaishnavi Patel

adventurous challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I really enjoyed Kaikeyi and so very much looked forward to this book. Once again, Patel’s writing was incredibly well done and her use of descriptive language made the story come to life. I especially enjoyed the first third of the book in which the focus was on Ganga. Unfortunately, it was in the final 2/3 that I had the hardest time. As someone who is not familiar with the epic upon which this novel is based, once the perspective changed to that of Bhishma, I was completely lost for several chapters. There were so many characters introduced in such a short span of time without any explanation of who they were, and this also happened right after a time jump from the Ganga chapters, so that I had no idea of how they were related to her storyline. This would obviously not be an issue for people that are familiar with the original tale, but for anyone else, it is overwhelming and very difficult to follow and made me far less motivated to continue the book. I didn’t know who these characters were, I couldn’t relate to them because they weren’t very well developed, and it was only after another eight chapters or so before things started to become more clear as to all of the political motivations for these characters. I can appreciate that Patel was trying to whittle down an incredibly lengthy epic into something more manageable for her readers, but it did mean that those of us new to it would be left behind without these things being made more clear. Nevertheless, I did enjoy the themes of duty, righteousness, and justice, and how they were treated in this book.

Superburguesas: An easy to read novel for learners of Spanish: Volume 1 by Mike Peto

funny tense fast-paced

4.0

The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman

adventurous challenging emotional funny lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.0

Very on par with the rest of the books in the series, I enjoyed this one quite a bit. There were times when I laughed out loud, and there was also a significant section in which I cried because it was heartbreaking. The way in which Osman handles difficult issues for the elderly felt genuine and thoughtful. I appreciated how, since Elizabeth was more preoccupied in this one, the other members of the club stepped up and even took on some of her characteristics to solve the mysteries here. 

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing 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

5.0

It’s been a bit since I read it, but this book gave off pretty strong House in the Cerulean Sea vibes, which can only be considered a very positive thing for me. In keeping with the trend of several other recent books, this one was a very cozy fantasy read with elements of found family and nice helping of romance. Even with it feeling more cozy, there was enough plot and conflict to keep this interesting and keep me wanting to know what was going to happen.

A Game of Gods by Scarlett St. Clair

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.0

Once again, I found this book to be unnecessary. Like with the last one, this one from Hades’ perspective was better than the story from Persephone‘s. This may in part have actually been due to the fact that we did get chapters from Dionysus’ perspective, which were more interesting than those chapters from Hades’. Still, it is frustrating to have a whole separate book when the books could have been combined. In fact, without having read the Persephone book, you cannot fully follow this book, which is irritating. I also found the writing in this book to be worse than in the other ones, with the excessive sex scenes and the repetitiveness of the language used. I was also not a fan of how much sexual assault and sexual violence are used, especially as one of the sole motivators for Dionysus and his relationship with Ariadne (I also say this knowing what comes in the final book in the series). I am glad to be finished with this series because, once more, if I had to hear, “Are you well?” one more time, my head might have exploded.

A Game of Retribution by Scarlett St. Clair

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I guess this one was better than the counterpart from Persephone’s perspective? I still found it needless to have a whole separate novel from Hades‘s perspective instead of just alternating chapters in the same book. At least this book had some more action and plot going on, but the inane arguments between Hades and Persephone were tiresome and the countless sex scenes at the beginning of the book were too much. I was tired of hearing “Fucking Fates” by the end of this one, and if I heard “Are you well?” one more time I think my head might have exploded. 

The Teachers: A Year Inside One of America's Most Heartbreaking, Uplifting, Important Professions by Alexandra Robbins

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

As a teacher myself, I thought this book did a good job of showing the conditions in which teachers works every day. It reminded me of what Sharon McMahon says, “Teacher working conditions are student learning conditions,” emphasizing the importance of caring about what teachers are going through. I found the informational parts of the book to be the most well done, while the biographical parts sometimes were more awkwardly written. I listen to the audiobook of this, which was read by the author, and some of those biographical parts were made even more awkward by the accents she put on. For myself, this book wasn’t as elucidating since I am a teacher, however for someone who is not a teacher or not a close friend or family member to one, it most likely be more of an eye-opener.

Hamburguesas normales by Mike Peto

dark funny lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0