melinum's reviews
210 reviews

The General of the Dead Army by Ismail Kadare

dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

Dienstags bei Morrie: Die Lehre eines Lebens by Mitch Albom

emotional funny inspiring sad medium-paced

5.0

Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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

4.75

Our Lady of Mysterious Ailments by T.L. Huchu

adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

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

3.25

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

The Library of the Dead by T.L. Huchu

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious 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

4.25

The Twisted Tree by Rachel Burge

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

The Smell of Other People's Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock

dark emotional hopeful 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

4.25

Girl with Glass Feet by Ali Shaw
Did not finish book. Stopped at 29%.

 DNFed at page 89. 
Here my thoughts while reading: 

• Too much unnecessary exposition at the cost of character credibility. 
• Too round-about and not to the point. I agree with one comment saying "losing oneself in descriptions of the landscape and unnecessary details." 
• A lot of telling instead of showing: "the whole day, he thought of Ida." Instead of actually exploring why that is. 
• It's annoying how Ida has to always ask things two times until that Idiot Midas answers her.
• (p.52) I feel weird reading about this 40-something dude fawning over Freya and her apparent daughter?? The finger tips thing at the beginning of the chapter weirded me tf out.
• I know men can write good books with well-developed female characters. Shaw is making me doubt this fact.
• Midas taking pictures of Ida's feet is just weird man, idk. It's a lazy way of making him get to know her secret, yet it fits with the lazy way this story is written.
• I also don't like how young??? they are described when in fact they're not? It's so weird. I have no sense for the characters whatsoever. I am quite literally surprised this book won anything, and has been read over 1000s of times. 

In summary: I am quite shocked that a book can displease me this much. And not in the way CoHo did, but in a way, where I was questioning MYSELF, thinking I am the one missing plot points or descriptions. Such a weird and unpleasant experience, would not recommend.