mxdegroot's reviews
99 reviews

Sophocles: The Complete Plays by Sophocles

Did not finish book. Stopped at 56%.

I read the stories that I particularly bought this book for, but the particular translation choices of this author just don't work for me. I noticed this when I was reading the plays and it was double confirmed when I read the last chapters about Sophocles.

March 1st, 2024 - March 28th, 2024 (April 22nd, 2024)
DNF at 248 pages/56%

Fire with Fire by Destiny Soria

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adventurous hopeful mysterious 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

4.0

An entirely new and amazing approach to dragons and sorcerers.

I love it when characters are complicated and every one of them has a point one way or another (except Calla, fuck you Calla). I particularly love it when characters make mistakes and they aren't just erased because the main conflict needs their attention or is solved. At the end of the book, there's a lot still left to do, and that's not erased.

Also

justice for Zephyr

. His death made me cry.

It's been well over a month since I read this book so I don't know what more to say, but this book is definitely a recommendation for all you dragon lovers out there.

March 10th, 2024 - March 19th, 2024.

We all do what we think we must.

"Give anyone enough power and they'll start to abuse it."

Content Warnings

Obsidio by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative 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? Yes

5.0

AIDEN is deliciously complicated.

This was the perfect conclusion to a thrilling, tense, high-stakes trilogy. It's definitely not for the faint of heart, but if you're a lover of tension, action and insanely high-stakes with not much of a breath in between, The Illuminae Files is an instant recommendation.

It's been a while between me finishing this book and actually writing this review, but all I really have to say is: READ THE SERIES. Even if the first two books were a lot to get through, this finale makes it more than worth it.

February 26th, 2024 - February 29th, 2024.

"Live a life worth dying for."

“The die is cast. But today we will shake the table upon which it lands.”

“I have heard it said
that evil is simply a point of view.
The villain is always the hero in his own story.
And the definitions of "wrong" and "right"
ever shift on the inconstant tides
of human morality.
But can such measures even be said to apply to me?
I am clarity.
I am necessity.
I am inevitability.
But am I evil?”

Content Warnings

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 4%.

I know that I was only 20 pages in (10 further than last attempt) but god damnit I just really cannot get through this book.

Gemina by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff

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challenging dark hopeful informative mysterious reflective 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

4.0

The universe may not have imploded, but my brain most certainly did.

I thought it couldn't get more chaotic than the first book. Well, buckle up, buckaroo, because it did. I loved every second of this almost 700 page long book and do not regret all the brain cells I lost to it. I can't wait for both groups to come together in the third book and probably get more chaotic.

February 22nd, 2024 - February 26th, 2024.

“Patience and Silence had one beautiful daughter. And her name was Vengeance.”

“Your kind have perfected the clockwork of murder long ago.”

“You might get only one shot. So shoot. You know who said that?"
The rifle clatters to the bloody floor.
"Hanna FUCKING Donnelly. That's who.”

Content Warnings

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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? Yes

3.5

This book makes you feel the chaos of the possible end of existence.

For this kind of dystopia, the unique formatting of the book works amazing. You never get the exact inner thoughts of any character, but you get more than enough insight and it's not hard to follow. The only critique I have is that it could be shorter than it ended up being, as it felt like the pace only really started to pick up towards the middle of the book.

February 15th, 2024 - February 21st, 2024.

“You have me. Until the last star in the galaxy dies, you have me.”

“She is catalyst.
She is chaos.
I can see why he loves her.”

“Perhaps bravery is simply the face humanity wraps around its collective madness.”

Content Warnings

In These Hallowed Halls by Marie O'Regan, Paul Kane

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dark mysterious reflective sad tense

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

2.5

Went from horrible to great to horrible to great.

I adored some of the stories in this anthology, and I hated others. I guess that makes sense, but I wished there were more good stories in it. The star rating I've given this book is the average of all the individual ratings, and I wished it was higher.

1000 ships (2/5 stars): I probably would have read this and enjoyed it more if it was a full book. While it worked within the genre of dark academia, I'm definitely not a fan of student x teacher romantic!relationships that are not handled at all. This story made it seem like it's okay, especially since it was written from the student's perspective. And yes, it's made clear that the teacher is not a good guy, but more in a he's-an-attractive-morally-grey-genius kind of way. It was just not addressed how fundamentally problematic the relationship was.

Pythia (1/5 stars): I will start by saying no, I'm not a fan of Olivie Blake. I really wanted to rate this story higher, but I can't. There's a good idea and some potential in it somewhere, but it just felt like one big infodump without a point that doesn't even explain anything. Open endings are great, but this just didn't work, because the plot was all over the place, so you're just left with a pile of information that doesn't make sense.

Sabbatical (2/5 stars): This was an amazing story and had an amazing set-up, and then the end ruined it all. It was so abrupt and, again, made zero sense.

The Hare and the Hound (5/5 stars): Absolute perfection. Dark, magical realism, open ending that perfectly tied up the story, perfectly dark academia. Might just pick up one or more of Andrew's books sometime.

X House (4/5 stars): I almost rated this five stars. This was perfectly dark, culty, half-resolved half-open ending. Just- yes.

The Ravages (3/5 stars): I was disappointed that

there turned out to not be any ghosts

, but I loved the revenge plot.

Four Funerals (5/5 stars): First of all, ouch. Especially in our current time and in America, this is such an important story to tell. The only reason I didn't cry was because I was in public transport.

The Unknowable Pleasures (1/5 stars): There was no plot and it was just a disgusting story. Again, student x teacher relationship that wasn't handled well at all.

Weekend at Bertie's (2/5 stars): Other reviews I read before I started this book kinda scared me but I still held my hopes high. I was unfortunately disappointed. There wasn't much of a plot and it wasn't really dark academia. Rio's writing style never fails to disappoint though. I'm sad to rate this story so low, since If We Were Villains remains my favorite book of all time.

The Professor of Onthology (2/5): The plot started on the last page, which was really sad, because the writing and the set-up of the story were great. It read more like the first page/teaser of a book than a short story. This would've worked so well as a full book.

Phobos (4/5 stars): TEA. Loved it. This is what dark academia is about. It felt a little stretched out though, as if there was a minimum amount of pages/words to reach and Bovalino was struggling to meet it.

Playing (4/5 stars): A perfect example of what dark academia should be. Deliciously dark. The writing was a bit hard to follow from time to time though.

February 8th, 2024 - February 14th, 2024.

"Do you think it's okay that I remember him as a young boy, when he was happy, and not like he was the last few years?"
"You should remember him however you want." - Four Funerals.

"We all burn ourselves up," he said. "We consume ourselves, constantly. And for what? I'm no better a scholar than you are. Proctor - fuck Proctor - is probably no better than
the poor freshman he killed
. It doesn't matter. None of it's good, none of it's right." - Phobos.

It's amazing what you could get used to, she thought, how automatic terrible things can become. - Playing.

Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

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adventurous dark slow-paced

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

2.0

Two hundred plus pages of waiting for plot.

This was just a drag from start to finish. It had so much potential, but the character development was either sudden and forced or non-existent, and the ending was horrible, especially since this is apparently a stand-alone.

I'm not saying Moreno-Garcia can't write. Her writing style is fine and I enjoyed the action scenes. The plot was just a drag, there was no development and it all ended in nothing.

February 1st, 2024 - February 7th, 2024

“Nothing is easier." Elisa said. “It’s just another way to get killed.”

Content Warnings

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

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challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
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

There's so much still unclear, and I think that that's exactly the point.

Michaelides knows exactly how to write a fucked up story with fucked up characters without making it fundamentally problematic. In a lot of books with storylines centered around violence against women, you will see language that is inherently offensive. In The Maidens, this is not the case. For all the violence and manipulation, Michaelides has manages to write the story with respect. Every single character is messed up in a way, but they're still human.

The ending was all but perfect.

If Fosca had turned out to be the actual murderer, it would have been very satisfying, but Zoe's story and her motivations were a wonderful and yet heartbreaking plottwist, which is why I was so happy to see that she was not completely demonized in the epilogue. She was manipulated and used for such a long time and in such a fundamental way that she was still under its influence after her abuser died, and while this in no way excuses the murders she committed, she doesn't deserve to be completely villainized. Simultanuously, while Fosca isn't a murderer, he is still a pedophile and an abuser, and this is not erased, which I was very happy to read.

I am still confused about the character of Henry. He is severely messed up and straight up stalks Mariana throughout the book, and it is never really explained, nor does he appear much in the book after he 'attacks' Mariana. He is just never explained. There are some more small things that I felt could have been handled better, but I'll spare anyone reading this the excrutiatingly elaborate details of that.

While the ending is open and a little confusing, it worked perfectly for the story. Mariana already had trouble dealing with what she knows, and now she's expected to deal with revelations she couldn't have dared to imagine before. A lot of characters have a lot of recovery and development to go, so an open epilogue like this worked perfectly.

January 29th, 2024 - January 31st, 2024.

Reading about life was no preparation for living it; [Mariana] had learned this the hard way

Let me tell you something - this is what those old Greek plays are about. What it means to be human. What it meanst to be alive. And if you miss that when you read them - if all you see is a bunch of dead words - then you're missing the whole damn thing. I don't just mean in the plays - I mean in your lives, right now. If you're not aware of the transcendent, if you'ren ot awake to the glorious mystery of life and death that you're lucky enough to be part of - if that doesn't fill you with joy and strike you with awe... you might as wel not be alive. That's the message of the tragedies. Participate in the wonder. For your sake - for
Tara
's sake - live it."

Content Warnings

Scythe by Neal Shusterman

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adventurous hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

I have too many things I want to write down and none of them I can explain properly, so here's a list of bullet points.

This was the perfect introduction to a series. It didn't yet hold the stakes that the series likely will in the future, but it perfectly introduced the world, the characters, the systems, it's flaws, everything. And the stakes that were were perfect. I'm so excited to read the next book soon.
I love how this book perfectly yet subtly states how the world is neither perfect nor horrible. It has its flaws, but those flaws are handled. But is it really the way things are supposed to be? That is left up to the reader. The best way I can describe is is the same that I did in my review for The Outrage: perfection doesn't exist.
Rowan and Citra's character developtment was simply amazing. Not many thought processes were completely written out, but the changes that happened made sense, even while they weren't explicitly explained.
The ending. 10/10.
I am simply very excited to read the next book in this series.

"I'm sure the founding scythes must be rolling in their graves - but the point is, they are in their graves..."

"The kindes thing you can do is win that ring when Winter Conclave comes, and glean the boy quickly, before that acid burns any deeper than it already has."

"I love it when it rains here," he told her. "It reminds me that some forces of nature can never be entirely subdued. They are eternal, which is a far better thing than to be immortal."

Content Warnings

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mxdegroot's reviews 99 reviews

mxdegroot's reviews
99 reviews