pagewanderer_'s reviews
339 reviews

The Wedding People by Alison Espach

emotional hopeful inspiring relaxing medium-paced

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

3.5

I liked this one.

It's hard trying to convey humor with tough topics like depression, su*cide, and infidelity among other things, but for the most part I think the author did a good job of balancing the tone of the book.

The characters are not likeable, but I don't think they're supposed to be? I think their unlike-ability was what made me like them and find them entertaining. I did enjoy the friendship that bloomed between the two FMC's and even the eventual romance, but I didn't care for their entangled circumstance. Even though everyone got their happily ever after, I'm not a fan of cheating-- physical or emotional. 

This was fun to listen to on audio because it felt like watching a dramedy. I wouldn't recommend this to everyone as there is dark humor and sensitive subjects but overall it worked for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Animal death

I'm Afraid You've Got Dragons by Peter S. Beagle

2.0

A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson

5.0

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

adventurous dark medium-paced

4.0

Witches of Ash and Ruin by E. Latimer

adventurous dark 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

4.0

The Second Death of Edie and Violet Bond by Amanda Glaze

adventurous dark 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

Two Dark Reigns by Kendare Blake

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

3.25

Legend of the White Snake by Sher Lee

adventurous lighthearted 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

3.5

The Legend of the White Snake is based off of Chinese folklore. Though I am not super familiar with this legend, I know that this novel has a queer twist to it. And it did not disappoint. 

 

The story follows Prince Xu Xian who is looking for a cure for his mother’s sickness. With the guidance of the king’s advisor and the vague advice from his temple’s oracle, Xian is set on a path to hunt a white snake to find this cure. 

 

This path sends him to Chengle where he meets a handsome stable boy named Zhen. Due to an instant connection, Xian ensures that Zhen becomes his personal attendant and guide around Chengle to help him find the white snake. Little does he know that Zhen is actually the white snake that he is hunting and that they share a past encounter. 

 

I think it was clever of the author to have a dual POV for Zhen and Xian’s journey because it is full of mixed emotions: pleasure, joy, guilt, fear, and anxiety. Both characters are flawed, yet so easy to root for. Watching their relationship blossom was beautiful and organic. The plot was quick and engaging, filled with lots of Chinese tradition. The side characters enhanced every aspect of this book and there was a decent plot twist! 

 

My only gripe with this book would be the writing style: it seems like this is meant to be set in Ancient China, but the dialogue sounded very modern for that time period. Also, though I loved all the Chinese cultural references, sometimes there were too many at one time and because they all came with explanations, it interrupted the flow of reading. 

 

Overall I really enjoyed this book. It was a fun, quick YA read. Thank you to Sher Lee, NetGalley, and the publishers for this eArc. All opinions are my own. 

 

I feel like there could have been more explanation at the end of how Zhen came back. Okay, yes he chose to be human instead of immortal, but why did it take him 100 days to return? One chapter of Zhen’s POV of that time would have made it perfect. Also I didn’t like how many people ‘died’ and came back to life in the last 10% of the book. It felt repetitive and unsurprising by the end.

Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune
Did not finish book. Stopped at 42%.

emotional cheating is not for me..

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

adventurous mysterious fast-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

4.25