miumiumola's reviews
31 reviews

The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

1.0

This book was way too short to get me to care about any of the characters or expand the lore of Elendhaven beyond a generic gloomy fishing town. 

The "romance" between the protagonists didn't feel engaging or deep to me and Florian's motive for revenge wasn't very compelling either. So I ended up not really liking them. The antagonist was introduced a little too late to have any major impact on the plot besides ending it and I didn't feel very interested by her character anyways. 

It's a shame this book was so short it wasted its potential but also a relief it was so short cause it meant I could put away this mess faster. 

Drawing Blood by Poppy Z. Brite

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0

I love the relationship between Trevor and Zach so much! Their relationship feels very realistic and earnest and was really nice to read through. Every character felt fleshed out, unique and loveable. While there wasn't much in the way of horror (IMO!) and the chapters from Eddy's POV weren't my favourite, I still enjoyed the book and the romance! 

Tokyo Ghoul, Vol. 1 by Sui Ishida

dark mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

Great start to the series! I'm interested by the premise and really liking the main cast. Hide FTW!

Alice Isn't Dead by Joseph Fink

dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

I really enjoyed this. The lore is top notch and introduced throughout naturally and clearly. Story beats are well paced and the story didn't feel rushed or dragged out at any point. The relationships between characters feel deep and realistic and I found myself rooting for all of them. I would totally recommend this book!

The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Overall, a really enjoyable read! A massive emotional roller coaster especially towards the end! I blasted through this in like, one day. Taking off one star because some of the POV changes towards the end were a little jarring and the deity/god responsible was left way too vague and would have been elaborated a little more. All the love to Wen.

Countdown to Zero Day: Stuxnet and the Launch of the World's First Digital Weapon by Kim Zetter

informative mysterious reflective slow-paced

4.0

Information is clearly thoroughly researched and overall well written! 

But I'll knock off one star because the bits where the author would describe the software engineers like they were characters in some romance novel got really repetitive and took away from the already sluggish pace of the book. 

Also the footnotes were a nightmare to navigate because it felt like an unorganised mess of actual notes and links/references. I felt these parts could have really done with a separate references section. A slow-paced but informative read!

The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot by Robert Macfarlane
Did not finish book. Stopped at 7%.

Was just a little too slow paced for me. At the time I was also wrangling with The Secret History (which was it's own hot mess) so decided to DNF this to fully focus on that book. One day I might read this properly!

World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
Did not finish book. Stopped at 35%.

I don't know how to feel about this one... it read like a dollar store version of Things That Are with way too much self-insert. I swear each chapter dedicates more words to the author's experiences and thoughts than the creature/plant the chapter is supposed to be about? 

If you wanted to write an memoir just write it, don't try to market it as a book about the natural world when the only world you talk about it yours! 

The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi

dark funny mysterious reflective tense 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

4.5

Overall, an awesome read! The twists/reveal at the end was truly unexpected and very fun to read.

But it is strange that after all the talk with her friend that she would expose the Centre, the MC chooses to side with them in the end?

Topics like racism and cultural appropriation were well-explored and discussed thoughtfully in my opinion. 

Knocking off half a star because at times it felt like the MC was really rambling about random stuff

though given the ending, I can see why she would do that

. But overall, would recommend!

The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski

adventurous dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

Really enjoyed this book. The episodic nature of this book was really refreshing for me. The way lore/exposition is done feels very natural: enough is left to the imagination but not leaving me confused at all. I love the darker takes on fairy tales/folklore and Geralt's morality is explored really well. 

Though I do have to note the way women are spoken of and sometimes depicted may come off as misogynistic. But for me at least, it's not that egregious and can be explained off at period-typical (in the book) views. Overall, would recommend if you're okay with that!