minnielikesbooks's reviews
286 reviews

Goldfinch by Raven Kennedy

3.5

Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune
Did not finish book. Stopped at 10%.

Shallow, everything based in stereotypes and cliches. 

Lights Out: An Into Darkness Novel by Navessa Allen

3.0

One thing that was immediately disappointing to me is that this book is no longer available on Kindle Unlimited and neither was it available through my library, so I was forced to purchase it with ✨real money✨. I may have been more forgiving of it if not for that, but right now I’m a little bitter about the actual dollars I spent on this 😵‍💫

The beginning was promising, but it quickly became very repetitive and overly verbose. This was so long for no good reason—I didn’t realize until reading the acknowledgments that this was originally written in serialized chapters, which explains the constant repetition and looooong chapters. Also, there were quite a few word choice mistakes that were very distracting.

The final issue that almost 👌 made me DNF was the cringey, ✨true crime girlie 💅 🔪 ✨ pop psychology peppered throughout the whole thing. I constantly found myself thinking “that’s not how anything works” when it came to the gratuitous, cliche psychoanalysis.

I mostly had a good time with this???? Idk I’m just a little disappointed.

Dragon Prince of New York by Thea Masen

funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

So I devoured this in a single day 😂 it was just as fun, fast-paced, and smutty as I have come to expect from Thea Masen 👌 

Cyrus and Finley make a great couple! If you liked the first book you’ll definitely like this one. Deducted half a star just because most of the conflict was predicated on withholding information/miscommunication.

Dracula by Bram Stoker

5.0

Reposted from Instagram 

Review - Dracula by Bram Stoker

I could write an entire book report contrasting the reality of Dracula the book to the modern reputation it has garnered. For the sake of word count limits, I will attempt to keep my thoughts brief.

The thing I find most interesting is that Dracula in modern times has a reputation of either being “sexy” or that the defilement of both Lucy and Mina has sexual undertones. As I was reading, the sexual implications of Dracula were the furthest thing from my mind. In my opinion the true horror of the vampire monster lies in the defilement of death itself by robbing its victims of their peaceful eternal rest.

(That’s not to mention: Van Helsing repeatedly refers to Dracula as having a “child’s brain” so I really don’t know what to do with the sexual metaphor in that case)

The epistolary structure is used effectively by Stoker to create a sense of reality to the story. The letters and journal entries feel very real, as do the actions taken (and mistakes made) by many of the characters. For example, at first I grew frustrated when Van Helsing was not being more forthcoming even though he obviously knew what was plaguing Lucy. But then when you try to put it in a realistic context, of course a respected doctor and professor (post-Enlightenment) can’t just come out and say “she’s being tormented by a vampire.” No, he has to do exactly what he did by gently leading his friends to the conclusion by showing them with evidence.

Already I’m pushing the word count limit so I’ll leave you with this: reading Dracula is a quite different experience from its reputation. This book is much more about the human toll of the monster than about Dracula himself. It was definitely repetitive at times and even myself, an absolute hoe for dramatic irony, felt that it was a bit much.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk 🙏 

Master of Crows by Grace Draven

2.0

The Will of the Many by James Islington

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Holy $@!?&

I have to preface this by saying that I was SO skeptical going in. More often than not I strikeout on popular, hyped-up books and I assumed that this would be yet another let down.

I could not have been more wrong.

This is fantasy at it’s a finest. A joy to read from the very beginning, a plot with a fast enough pace to keep you engaged but not so fast that you can never catch your breath to luxuriate in the setting and character interactions and atmosphere. Not one of its 630 pages was wasted.

I don’t want to potentially do this book a disservice by comparing it to Red Rising. Yes, there are certainly similarities, but it is wholly its own story. If anything, I found myself comparing it more to Harry Potter—the overarching mysteries, the friendships, the academy, and the main character reminded me more of Harry than Darrow.

I laughed and raged and wept. To say I’m looking forward to book two is an understatement.

WHAT A BOOK!!!!

Sea of Whispers by Melanie Murphy
Did not finish book.

This book was very odd tonally. It had some interesting magical realism elements reagrding the ocean, but then the Claire POV was so wildly different that it was jarring to go back and forth between her and the Mia POV. Also, the character of Trish was such a painful stereotype of a SAHM that it was cringey to read. 

Severe pacing and tonal issues with this book. Couldn't finish.

Apprentice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

4.0

The Little Friend by Donna Tartt

challenging dark tense slow-paced

4.0

It’s no secret that I love Donna Tartt. I want to be her. She is my favorite writer and the woman can craft a sentence like no one else. I can read pages and pages of her writing and never be bored.

I certainly wasn’t bored reading this, however I felt a plethora of other negative emotions—confusion and disgust being chief among them. 

The last hundred pages had my face in a permanent grimace. Many, many disturbing and upsetting events happen in this book, and when you get to the end…I’m not sure what to make of any of it.

I’m glad I read this if only so I can say that I’ve read Tartt’s oeuvre, which as a super fan is very important to me 😤😅 but I can’t see myself ever reading this again.