dpearson5257's reviews
382 reviews

The Scepter by J. Bree

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense fast-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? No

4.0

I am incredibly intrigued with what J Bree is about to do with this new series! This intro was so magically interesting, the different creatures and types of characters we’ve been introduced to, the world and the magic, it’s literally so colorful and so vivid, I felt like I was on the journey with them. And for freaking 88 pages, it was a lot but it wasn’t super overwhelming. Love love love J Bree’s writing style, it’s very easy to process and very easy to just fall into the characters and the story she’s got lined up!

The Silvered Serpents by Roshani Chokshi

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

3.0

This is clearly a series that is very entertaining and the writing is so wonderful but at the same time, my simple brain is just not smart enough catch the Easter eggs that are constantly being dropped lol I can definitely see myself rereading these books maaaayyybe physically reading will help me with the small pieces I missed since I’m reading these via audio first time around. But if anything you will get a very entertaining story for sure!

The Moth Keeper by K. O'Neill

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.0

Very cute story, I wish there was just a little bit more explanation involved throughout just to gain a clear understanding of what was being conveyed with the art. Really liked the art as well!

The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective 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

5.0

Absolutely! Abso-freaking-lutely!!! This is the kind of romance I love. Give me the banter. Give me the storyline that actually make sense. Give me some freaking emotion because that is gonna keep me hooked!! No cheese…unless Iwan is making dinner😏 he is absolutely Bae and I will fight someone for that man right there! Lol

Wash Day Diaries by Jamila Rowser

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.0

Love seeing black women being unapologetically themselves!!! Our hair is always such a taboo topic and it’s so frustrating sometimes but to see black women taking care and taking pride in their hair is amazing but also going thru the struggles with our hair (the time it takes, the styles we choose) too was definitely relatable. I’d love to see an ongoing series!!

Heartstopper Volume 2 by Alice Oseman

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

Super freaking cute!!! There were some moments where I was like *they’re in highschool lol this is how high schoolers think* but I can definitely see why this series and their story is so popular! Now to wait for Vol 3 to become available 😢

Iyanu: Child of Wonder Volume 1 by Roye Okupe, Spoof Animation, Godwin Akpan

adventurous challenging hopeful inspiring mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

I really enjoyed this! The art is different than what I’ve seen, really loved the colors and the vibrancy. The characters are fun and for this age we even get some political/economical plots. I thought with the adventure story, and it being a manga, it really wasn’t too hard to follow the storylines and the different characters on their journeys. And the ending left me trying to see if my library had volume 2! I would definitely recommend this story.

None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.75

This is my second Lisa Jewell and I think this is just one of those reading preferences situations. This was fairly interesting, you’re gonna get whiplash with all the wtf moments lol but even with the very interesting characters I just didn’t find myself really intrigued like everyone else is saying. I may have to read this one again because I feel like maybe I missed some little eggs randomly but as far as a reading experience with this author, it was just ok. I DID ENJOY the multi media in this book, the audio was really well done, you get podcast recordings and I think like newspaper readings or something. Pretty cool, I love multi media in books!

Rain Rising by Courtne Comrie

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective 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? No

5.0

I’m at completely in awe of this wonderful story. I cried, I laughed, I got angry, I was cheerful, honestly I really wish this story was around when I was going thru my middle school peer pressures. This story really hits in so many important topics and at that age it is so hard to maneuver thru because of so much just going on. This is a great story for the whole family to read!!

Topics you’ll come across
- peer pressure
- depression
- generational trauma
- single parent household
- incident with a young black teen
- community involvement
- wholesome friendships

Definitely excited for book 2 to come out!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Toxic friendship

Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

Not bad, not terrible, there were moments I wished were more, and there was a fairly consistent mysterious plot. I wanted a lot more magical vibes because the glimpses we got were super enjoyable. And I wished that was a little more prominent throughout the story. The characters were ok, a bit frantic so I didn’t really connect with anyone. I would definitely read from Young again depending on the story.