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kaerene's reviews
442 reviews
Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar
funny
lighthearted
sad
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 smashed this book in two days. Loved it. Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating had a lot of things I loved. First person, dual POVs, snarky rivals to fake relationship to friendship to AAHH I THINK IVE CAUGHT FEELS to everything went to shit but it’s fine now.
Hani deserved better friends and I wish that Aisling had gotten her comeuppance but I understand that that doesn’t always happen and so you just gotta live with it.
Hani deserved better friends and I wish that Aisling had gotten her comeuppance but I understand that that doesn’t always happen and so you just gotta live with it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Biphobia, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
Amari and the Despicable Wonders by B.B. Alston
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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? It's complicated
3.5
The emotional damage the last two chapters of this book made me bump my star rating down to a 3.5. I’m just kidding but really though. The ending wrecked me. I’m not ok and I even accidentally spoiled it for myself and knew what was going to happen.
I enjoyed this addition into the Amari universe but just wished that the pacing wasn’t so fast. I told multiple people while reading this that Amari and her friends needed a break since it goes from one problem and mission to the next. And it got to be a lot at times.
I’m also not sure with that ending how there will be two more books because the ending seems pretty final to me.
I enjoyed this addition into the Amari universe but just wished that the pacing wasn’t so fast. I told multiple people while reading this that Amari and her friends needed a break since it goes from one problem and mission to the next. And it got to be a lot at times.
I’m also not sure with that ending how there will be two more books because the ending seems pretty final to me.
The Tea Dragon Tapestry by K. O'Neill
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
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
I think this is my favorite Tea Dragon book. Both books came together in a really cute finale. But I especially loved Greta and Ginseg’s little relationship.
Northranger by Rey Terciero
emotional
reflective
sad
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
I completely missed the fact that this book was based off of a Jane Austen book until I read the authors note. Lol. I enjoyed Northanger. It was really cute and really sad in some places. The story and representation is really important. I just didn’t super like the huge miscommunication portion of the end as second hand embarrassment is something that I’m not a fan of.
Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-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
3.5
Ring Shout was a really interesting read. I liked the ending and how everything (thankfully) came together. I really enjoyed the imagery of what all of the monsters looked like and I liked the journey Maryse was on to come to terms with her trauma in order to be ok with what happened and to fight the last fight.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
The Tea Dragon Festival by K. O'Neill
adventurous
lighthearted
relaxing
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
3.0
Needed a cute little story to relax to before going to bed.
Two Twisted Crowns by Rachel Gillig
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
My first thought after finishing this book was “Holy balls to the wall, that was soooooo good.” So clearly I loved it. If someone told me a month ago that I would absolutely devour a whole duology within the same week I would have told them they were a liar because I didn’t think this was going to be as good as it was.
Two Twisted Crowns was a great sequel even if it was told in both first and third person. At first I didn’t like it but then slowly understood that you needed it and stopped caring once the plot was going around page 100. Aside from that I really enjoyed the story. I really enjoyed how much of the story was focused on righting past wrongs. And I really liked learning the backstories to the characters from the first book especially the nightmare’s. And the nightmare was so funny in this book that I died laughing on several occasions from his snarky comments about everyone’s stupidity. He might have been my favorite character in the book. 🤣
Two Twisted Crowns was a great sequel even if it was told in both first and third person. At first I didn’t like it but then slowly understood that you needed it and stopped caring once the plot was going around page 100. Aside from that I really enjoyed the story. I really enjoyed how much of the story was focused on righting past wrongs. And I really liked learning the backstories to the characters from the first book especially the nightmare’s. And the nightmare was so funny in this book that I died laughing on several occasions from his snarky comments about everyone’s stupidity. He might have been my favorite character in the book. 🤣
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
I really enjoyed One Dark Window! I loved the magic system, the lore and how it was fed to us via the cards before every chapter and Elspeth being obsessed with Blunder’s only textbook 🤣. Loved the characters and the romance. You could truly feel the hate turned loved in this. I’m excited to see where book 2 is going to go after that ending. I only marked it down by a little bit because there were plot reveals that were weirdly revealed. Like Elspeth would have half a thought about some huge plot point and then reveal the whole point in the next chapter.
The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman
Did not finish book. Stopped at 30%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 30%.
First DNF of the year. I think I might enjoy this in print more as I can keep track of the names of the knights better aside from Collin. I know who he is. 🤣 That’s a hard maybe though, reading it in print. This story drags and I honestly thought that it would be more comedic.
Stars in Their Eyes: A Graphic Novel by Aśka, Jessica Walton, Jessica Walton
adventurous
funny
hopeful
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
Stars in Their Eyes was super cute! Has great queer and disability rep. Loved the little romance and the embarrassing parents. I also loved all the changes to the various tv shows and movies that were mentioned. It was fun to figure out which show/movie they were talking about with the new names.