nkfanning's reviews
239 reviews

Jade City by Fonda Lee

adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

3.75

A bit slow to start but once it hit the midway point it was impossible to put down. I love that classic urban gangster genre and I think the author blended this perfectly with the fantasy element. I thought the fight scenes and politics of the world were great. My main issue was the lack of women characters, especially considering the author is a woman herself. It just seemed odd to me that even background and less important side characters, like Anden’s classmates for example, they were all men. Like, why? Out of Wen and Shae, the only two MCs who are women, Wen and all her choices and dictated by her love for Hilo and her concern for her brothers. I liked Shae but her motives were at times unclear to me. Her character seemed driven purely by the requirements of the plot -

like when Lan dies and she immediately steps in to be Weatherman, not a second thought. Even her reasoning for returning to Kekon in the first place seems strange and again unclear, if she’s so determined to stay out of clan business why return to the Clan Capital of all places?

. But it’s definitely well written and I’m hooked on the story, so I plan on finishing the trilogy.

Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor

5.0

The Pachinko Parlour by Elisa Shua Dusapin

reflective slow-paced

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

2.0

Why did this end just as it felt like the story was starting? Translation seemed very poorly done as well.

Prophet Song by Paul Lynch

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Intriguing at first, then a bit slow and at times stressful, and finally quite depressing - is how I’d describe my experience of reading Prophet Song.

Firstly, I liked Eilish as a main character, and I think anyone reading will empathise with her struggles and the immense pressure she succumbs to trying to keep her family together in this book.
As Irish society descends into tyrannical madness in this book, I found myself much more interested in why and not the how, which is unfortunately all the book focuses on. Ok so we have a secret police now, they’re arresting all the threats to The State, the ominous “Party” have been voted in to power, but why? I wanted to know what about Ireland and our politics could lead to these events occurring. There was nothing to separate Eilish’s life and descriptions from any historical fiction novel out there. I didn’t understand the point of setting Prophet Song in a dystopian Ireland if it wasn’t going to explore our country’s specificities and nuances.
The ending was a bit too rushed for me, I wanted more to be resolved.

Ordinary Human Failings by Megan Nolan

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

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

2.75

I feel like from the blurb I was expecting a much more plot-based, crime/intrigue type story, but this is very much a deep character study that flashes back and forth between different key points in one family’s lives. The writing is really good, I was just disappointed with it because my expectations were very different!

The World We Make by N.K. Jemisin

adventurous funny inspiring mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

N.K. Jemisin Queen of creating magic systems that you don’t need to understand (like at all) to enjoy. I wondered what rating to give this and I just have to give The World We Make 5/5 because I was so engrossed in every page. Fun characters, fun storylines, queer found family(!!), intergalactic enemies, and cities that are alive and have souls? Incredible.

Family Business by Jonathan Sims

challenging dark mysterious 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? No

3.0

Great ideas, maybe just poor execution? It was very very slow-paced and while I liked the characters none were particularly interesting. I definitely preferred the author’s first book, Thirteen Stories.

So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan

3.5

Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk

challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

Haunting, atmospheric, a perfect winter read.

Theatre of War by Andrea Jeftanovic

2.5