dpsax's reviews
109 reviews

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

adventurous challenging emotional tense slow-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

On my third reread, I sped through the book- the shallan chapters weren't actually that bad, the wordbuilding was great, the characters were great everything was just fantastic. That being said, it did feel like a 1000 page prologue, which it didn't on my first read, so I think I preferred my first read throiugh rather than the reread

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin

3.5

The Count of Monte Cristo (AmazonClassics Edition) by Alexandre Dumas

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective tense 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

4.75

I just Finished wheel of time, and the arc of Edmond Dantes in this book is better than that of Rand al Thor in approximately 10% of the word count. This book kept me hooked, and was extremely satisfying. The reason it is not 5 stars is due to a couple of things. Firstly, the middle 3rd dragged a little- the set up took me about 2 months to get through, while I got through the first and final third of the book in a matter of hours. Secondly, I found the ending to be too happy, I would have preferred it if the count's transformation would be fully walter white/Paul Atreides. The ending is satisfying and happy, and at points I thought it would walter white, but he realised what he was doing was wrong and made it a wholesome ending- I feel this was due to the book needing to be widely accepted by the public- for this reason I still prefer pict ure of dorian gray where Oscar wilde commits to the character arc. 
Now for the positives- This is a revenge plot, and each of the characters are so well fleshed out in terms of motivation and what they value most in life. This interpretation is my own, so feel free to disagree, but the way I saw it was Caderousse was driven by Jealousy of everyone getting the better of him. Fernand was driven by his love for Mercedes. Danglars was driven by money and freed, and Villefort was driven by his reputation.  I liked that the count was seen as a god, a saviour, I just wish Dumas leaned into it more. The prose style is excellent, the dialogue is grandiose, the scenes are climactic and the story is epic. Every piece of set up ends in resolution, it is truly a masterpiece.
Therefore, the only reason it is not a 5 star read is due to, ultimately, a personal preference. 4.75 stars

Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig

medium-paced

4.5

This is a book I am going to get my friends and family to read, it's great

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

4.0

A Little History of the World by E.H. Gombrich

informative medium-paced

3.0

This is a good book for an overview of our history. However, as the author mentions, I wasn't super interested in European history- it made me want to learn more about the ancient empires. I didn't like the chapter about arabs, I found it slightly biased against them and it slightly infuriated me. 

I enjoyed the last 2 chapters since I liked how the author left his more biased view pre WW2 of Germany in, and then explained after.

I also think the prose was excellent - which I've found is true for lots of translated books, perhaps because english is a very clunky language.

Overall, Interesting, well written, but didn't blow me away and didn't enjoy it that much. 3/5

A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson

emotional 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

4.5

I don't think this is the best series I will ever read, but the feeling after it ended was profoundly bittersweet. The ending was crafted masterfully, and though there were some things I didn't like in the final book, a whole 1000 page battle is always nice. Wheel of time as a series feels more like a friend than a book. It had bad times and good times, and everything in between, the characters were annoying and lovable it is a weird feeling that it is now over

Towers of Midnight by Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson

adventurous 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? Yes

3.75

I agree with Mike's book reviews where the gathering storm is the meat and towers is the fat- that's not to say that the ending wasn't Fantastic though, I just found bits in the middle a little boring

The Gathering Storm: Book Twelve of the Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson

adventurous hopeful 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

5.0

I wanted to say that Brandon Sanderson wouldn't do it justice, but I cannot tell lies- he knocked it out of the park, the pacing picked up, every chapter was compelling and I couldn't stop reading it- this is shown by just how quickly I read this compared to the last couple of books. Yes the style is different and the dialogue is much more in your face, but qpart from that, Brandon improves on everything from the pacing to the action(in my opinion), this book took the genius mind of Jordan to concieve and the Genius mind of Sanderson to execute.

Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan

adventurous 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? Yes

5.0

Rest in Peace Robert Jordan- this is my favourite wheel of time book so far - it feels like he put his all into this book. The slog is over, the ending is fantastic, all the character arcs are great.