randi_jo's reviews
395 reviews

Book of Night by Holly Black

adventurous slow-paced

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

3.75

I liked this one, but I don't think I liked it as much as I was really hoping to, since I really enjoy Holly Black's work.

The main cons of this book were that it had a very slow start and was difficult to engage with due to the "past" sections carving up any action that happened. The other is the ending cliffhanger

(I hate amnesia tropes)

. But realistically both of these things are typically found in the first book of a series.

There is a lot of potential for action and romance in the next book, so I'll probably pick it up when it comes out. Probably.

The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler

informative reflective 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? It's complicated

2.5

I was so, so excited for this and I am so, so let down. I don't know, it had so much potential based on the summary/blurb that I gave it so much benefit of the doubt that by the time I got 60% in I was lying to myself, saying that something was going to happen and when it did, it would be BIG.

I was wrong.

Let's be honest here, this book is not about potentially sentient octopuses/octopi coming to exact revenge on the human race for devastating the ocean's populations via overfishing and dumping waste. I mean the octopi are there and sure, they kill a couple people, but more in the way that you'd kill a coyote that's been hanging around your property for a few days and you own chickens. This book is actually about AI sentience - specifically the first complete AI sentience: Evrim and the musings of the implications of their existence plus

randomly dropping AT THE VERY END OF THE BOOK that they can self replicate, for very little reason imo

. It's actually a big think piece about artificial intelligence and human self-destruction - just throw in some overly smart octopi to make it more appealing, I suppose.

This is also not a thriller. You would need an actual plot for that. There are 3 specific POVs here: Ha the scientist thinking about brains and using octopi as the medium to spout lots of linguistic and sentience related questions to a literal sentient AI; Rustem the hackerman who is tasked to hack into the aforementioned AI by Evil PETA; and Eiko the kidnapped Japanese man forced into illegal slavery aboard an equally illegal AI fishing trawl. All three plots build up slowly seeming to come to a culmination where they all intersect at Con Dao, but guess what? THEY DON'T. The plots never intersect outside of Rustem essentially downloading a message into Evrim's brain! In fact each plot just peters out into nothing! Nothing happens! The scientists

are taken over by a rival company and they say "ok that's cool"

, Rustem says

no to Evil PETA (which we learn NOTHING ABOUT by the way), and chooses to save Evrim from being hacked

, and Eiko

survives the wreck of his captor ship and ends up at a turtle temple where he is like YAY! and that is the EPILOGUE

.

I think I would be less offended if Ray Nayler himself found my email and crafted a unique and heartfelt letter that told me to fuck myself, than I was by that ending.

Anyway, for a think piece, it was decent.

The Art Thief by Michael Finkel

adventurous informative fast-paced

4.5

Great prose and engaging. I love that Breitwieser or his girlfriend, his mother, or even father, is never painted in some kind of evil light and rather that they're all a product of their environments, impulses, and surrounded by enablers. A perfect storm.

Also I am somewhat disturbed to learn about the severe lack of security in museums? I've always thought they were all far more sophisticated haha. Not that this has awakened anything in me. Certainly not.  🤥 

The House of Hidden Meanings by RuPaul

emotional reflective slow-paced

4.0

RuPaul is one of my favorite TV personalities out there and I was really excited to read this memoir. It focuses less on his life in drag and his drag personality and more on his personal life outside of drag, which I found to be a bit saddening because outside of his childhood and a handful of discordant relationships, it seems he did little outside of work and party/use. Either way it was written wonderfully and was hard to put down. Congrats, on 25+ years sober, sir.

The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder by C.L. Miller

informative mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

I'm really unsure how I feel about this one. The black-market art crime and antique aspect of it was really interesting. The murder mystery side of it however. . . well, not so much. I don't know, the events of Cairo and Freya's "mysterious" (only because it takes like half the book for her to actually go into a flashback chapter to explain it) past didn't really interest me as much as I feel it would've if there felt like there had been more immediate consequences - and this considering there was a murderer running about the entire book.

Also while I was sympathetic to Freya, I don't really think she had that much development. The fact that at the end of the book she didn't tell her shitty ex-husband to fuck off when he started berating her was like gurl.

For the audiobook, though, I think it made it harder for me to enjoy because it was near impossible to tell when Freya was speaking or having some internal dialogue (of which she has A LOT and FREQUENTLY), so I kept getting confused or surprised when other characters responded/didn't respond to her.

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

adventurous dark tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

Wow, is it really allowed to end like that? It's like a reverse cliffhanger but also I need to know MORE. It was slow, but it built up to the such an amazing climax that the wait was WORTH IT.

Xiala and Serapio - ugh, PLEASE!

That bath scene? GOSH. I need them to reunite - the sea and the sky I'M SCREAMING OK.

Why is their relationship both full of murder and innocence and completely sweet?

And Naranpa kinda grows on you, for someone who is extremely incompetent in any kind of political atmosphere, but also I'm rooting for her? I want her to become SOMETHING. I hope she gets revenge. 

UGH I'M SCREAMING BUT I'M OK. I'M OK............................

I'm not ok.

A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas

adventurous 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? No

2.75

Everyone from the previous books: No more secrets!

Literally everyone: NONE. NOT A SINGLE SECRET! WE'RE FAMILY AND WE DON'T KEEP SECRETS ANY MORE BECAUSE WE ALMOST DIED AND WE MADE VERY QUESTIONABLE BARGAINS!

Rhys: lol

This book has me very muddled. Definitely the best of the series so far, but with such glaring flaws that it makes the inspirational "defeat trauma with a good support system and healthy coping techniques, taking it one day at a time" pretty moot. I think everyone and their mom has said how they hate the

pregnancy plotline, which, they should. I mean you have flushing toilets (suspiciously avoided in this installment), but no practical midwifery? Ridiculous.

Also Rhys continues to become a worse and worse character with each book. He is talented.

Anyway, 2.75 because reading about Nesta's cunt so much eked away some of my soul that I'll never get back.

Heartstopper Volume 2 by Alice Oseman

emotional lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

Disgusting. So cute and sweet and thoughtful that I feel like I need to pig-wallow in garbage just to feel human again. Ugh.

What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall

dark mysterious tense slow-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

SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP. I HAVE NERVE DAMAGE FROM THE WHIPLASH OF THIS BOOK'S ENDING. I CAN'T TURN OFF CAPS LOCK OR ELSE I CAN'T READ WHAT I'M TYPING FROM ALL MY TEARS OF FRUSTRATION.

READ THIS IF:
- YOU WERE A NATURE GIRLY/BOY WHO LIKED TO MAKE POTIONS AND LOVE THAT FEELING OF NOSTALGIA
- YOU LIKE TO TRY AND GUESS THE CRIMINAL BUT WANT TO BE WRONG CONSTANTLY
- YOU HAVE EYES

DO NOT READ THIS IF:
- YOU'RE A COWARD

Only thing keeping me from giving this 5 stars of perfection is that the middle of the book didn't keep the tension very high, and parts made me dislike MC more than I should've. BUT THE ENDING RAMPED UP MY ADRENALINE SO HIGH I AM NOW GOING TO RUN 5K THANK YOU.

Heartstopper Volume 1 by Alice Oseman

hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

5.0

Hello. Title is misleading - my heart is still beating, but unfortunately it now beats for this series. Getting book 2 immediately. Thanks.