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eniatea's reviews
47 reviews
All Fours by Miranda July
challenging
funny
reflective
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? Yes
5.0
Until August by Gabriel García Márquez
Did not finish book. Stopped at 14%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 14%.
ugh I hate it when men write female characters poorly.
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
This book is so hyped, which is probably why this review is a little bit unfair.
If you've managed to avoid the hype it goes like this: really compelling fantasy series, with tons of hot smutty sex scenes.
So first, to address the latter. There are a couple of sex scenes. As in... two. They are both in the last third of the book. The rest of the book is filled with the kind of yearning a 7th grader might write about in her diary (drooling over a crush's muscular abs, or his thick hair). They are not the stuff of adult desire. At least, not from my perspective. And that's what's missing, even from the sex scenes for me: desire. I was not exactly carried away on the wings of fantasy reading them. I saw another review that said "these sex scenes were so explicit". Were they?! I'm worried about that person's sex life now. They were explicit, and they were graphic, but they described pretty vanilla hetero sex? and I'm not super kinky, and I like smut as much as the next person, but this was not compelling smut for me.
But here's the thing! I think, were it not for the awkward attempt at smut, this would have been a half-way decent fantasy book. Clearly, it borrows a lot of plot and universe building from other IP (Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Hunger Games). Still, it creates a mostly compelling narrative on its own (even though I guessed at every plot twist in the book since the author does some very obvious breadcrumbling). But the sex almost detracts from it: it feels completely unnecessary.
So... I will not be reading the sequels, is what I'm trying to say, unless I'm looking for something to occupy a weekend when otherwise very depressed.
The Future by Naomi Alderman
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
it took me forever to get through this, mostly because the middle was overly drawn out with exposition on "this is how we got here." I love me some character development but this wasn't compelling and so it was a slog to get through.
similarly, the ending felt forced. like there was a true ending, and the editor wanted a couple of extra chapters to tie up the loose ends so the reader wouldn't feel cheated out of a conclusion after investing so much time in that sloggy middle. and then that felt too rosy so there was another ending tacked on.
the structure of this book, woof: you think youre done, there are acknowledgements, and then there's another chapter, a colophon, and then more book?! what kind of easter egg nonesense is that?! if I wasn't reading on paper, I would have missed it.
I really did like the concept of this book though. It's a shame that these things got in its way.
Goodbye, Eastern Europe: An Intimate History of a Divided Land by Jacob Mikanowski
funny
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
5.0