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river24's reviews
333 reviews
The Deep by Rivers Solomon
dark
emotional
reflective
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
4.5
4.5/5
Forgetting was not the same as healing.
Forgetting was not the same as healing.
24 Hours in Ancient China: A Day in the Life of the People Who Lived There by Yijie Zhuang
informative
medium-paced
4.0
Heartstopper Volume 5 by Alice Oseman
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
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
4.5
4.5/5
I LOVE THEM! Every single character in this series has my entire heart. I want to sob with how much I love them!
I LOVE THEM! Every single character in this series has my entire heart. I want to sob with how much I love them!
Covenant, Vol. 1 by LySandra Vuong, explodikid
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
3.25/5
Thank you Oni Press for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
I enjoyed the story that this graphic novel set up. I loved these tattooed, gun-wielding exorcists fighting against the demons trying to feed on the souls of humans. However, while there were intriguing and mysterious points, I never found myself as engaged as I wanted to be. I never connected fully to the characters, I just don't think it was long enough.
I often find this to be the case, personally, in the first volume of most graphic novels, they never quite give me enough to grow attached. But I think this is a very fun story and a very promising start to a series.
Thank you Oni Press for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
I enjoyed the story that this graphic novel set up. I loved these tattooed, gun-wielding exorcists fighting against the demons trying to feed on the souls of humans. However, while there were intriguing and mysterious points, I never found myself as engaged as I wanted to be. I never connected fully to the characters, I just don't think it was long enough.
I often find this to be the case, personally, in the first volume of most graphic novels, they never quite give me enough to grow attached. But I think this is a very fun story and a very promising start to a series.
Sunbringer by Hannah Kaner
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? Yes
4.25
4.25/5
People like me don't change the world. We just survive it.
Thank you HarperCollins for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.
I adored Godkiller, it's an incredible debut and one of my favourite releases of the year, and the sequel, Sunbringer, (releasing February 2024) doesn't disappoint. Although it isn't quite as brilliant as the first book, it sets up the larger, looming plotline to come very well and expands on our beloved characters.
I shall now attempt to review this sequel without spoiling the first book! (Reviewing books in series is so difficult because of this reason!)
With little tools you make battle with gods, but you still cannot fight faith.
Kissen is my favourite of the characters, although I think in this book Inara shines most brightly. I enjoyed Kissen's chapters as she's abandoned in a land that is at once both foreign and familiar to her. I adored seeing the threat on the horizon through her eyes in these chapters and loved the various settings this new land gave us. Kissen's will is tested with brutal precision as she realises this is not a fight she alone can win. She may be a godkiller, but she cannot kill faith.
(I do wish we got to see a little more of her, but I might be biased!)
As I mentioned before, Inara was my favourite in this particular book. She's incredible! She has already grown so much from the scared little girl with a secret we met at the beginning of the series, and it's fascinating to watch this growth continue as she finds her own identity in the mess of swirling colours she is made to reckon with. When her will, and all she is, is so attached to another being, who does that mean she truly is? What can she become? Inara wants answers, as she always has, but now she also wants to be able to choose what to do with those answers. She's brave and unyielding and she wants to prove this. She wants to fight for the ones she loves and she wants to avenge them.
Elogast is broken, that much he already knows. Guilt haunts his every step, betrayal encroaches on his heart and anger mixes with his every breath. His relationships are fractured, grief plagues him in many forms, and yet he is more determined than he has ever been. He, at last, knows what must be done. He dons his armour once again and becomes the blood-soaked man of his past, willing to sacrifice his gentle being and gentle life. He cannot go back to his bakery. He's known that for a very long time.
Why does it always come to this? That power changes, and knowledge burns?
I loved being in the city of Lesscia, the centre of all knowledge in Middren. It was a phenomenal setting for the main events of the story, not as overrun with gods as Blenraden, but alive with ancient history seeping out of every crack in the walls. The old gods still find shadows to hide themselves away in, loved in secret, sustaining the city they love in silence.
I adored how atmospheric and comforting Kaner's prose always was, the city sang with every step the characters took.
I do think this book felt a little less integral to the story overall, but it's a hard thing to explain because technically there were many aspects that were important to the plots weaving throughout the series, however I think because most of the story is spent with our main characters apart it felt as if we were continuously waiting for something. I knew, whilst I was reading, that these characters needed to find their way back to one another to tackle the main threat of the series, and so I couldn't help but feel as though we were, at times, sitting still.
However, this isn't a big criticism, I still massively enjoyed this book. I only say this because I recognise how much this book is setting up for the third one and I cannot wait to get my hands on it!
No wonder humans made gods: everything they desired and feared just spilled out of them, staining everything they touched.
I adore this world and all the characters in it so incredibly much, it's all astoundingly comforting.
In my review for the first book, I wrote about how much it feels like the comforting aspects of The Witcher and I do agree with that statement, however it is also something uniquely its own.
It's a world of contradictions. It's a world of gods who are both forbidden and desperately needed. It's a character who is at once a godkiller and a protector of gods. It's someone who is both man and god, and, perhaps, underneath it all, something even worse. This is a land that is broken and healed and broken all over again. It's a world of jagged edges, full of jagged people all trying to navigate their way through it as best they can.
It's phenomenal and I hope you love it as much as I do!
Even gods have their time to die.
People like me don't change the world. We just survive it.
Thank you HarperCollins for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.
I adored Godkiller, it's an incredible debut and one of my favourite releases of the year, and the sequel, Sunbringer, (releasing February 2024) doesn't disappoint. Although it isn't quite as brilliant as the first book, it sets up the larger, looming plotline to come very well and expands on our beloved characters.
I shall now attempt to review this sequel without spoiling the first book! (Reviewing books in series is so difficult because of this reason!)
With little tools you make battle with gods, but you still cannot fight faith.
Kissen is my favourite of the characters, although I think in this book Inara shines most brightly. I enjoyed Kissen's chapters as she's abandoned in a land that is at once both foreign and familiar to her. I adored seeing the threat on the horizon through her eyes in these chapters and loved the various settings this new land gave us. Kissen's will is tested with brutal precision as she realises this is not a fight she alone can win. She may be a godkiller, but she cannot kill faith.
(I do wish we got to see a little more of her, but I might be biased!)
As I mentioned before, Inara was my favourite in this particular book. She's incredible! She has already grown so much from the scared little girl with a secret we met at the beginning of the series, and it's fascinating to watch this growth continue as she finds her own identity in the mess of swirling colours she is made to reckon with. When her will, and all she is, is so attached to another being, who does that mean she truly is? What can she become? Inara wants answers, as she always has, but now she also wants to be able to choose what to do with those answers. She's brave and unyielding and she wants to prove this. She wants to fight for the ones she loves and she wants to avenge them.
Elogast is broken, that much he already knows. Guilt haunts his every step, betrayal encroaches on his heart and anger mixes with his every breath. His relationships are fractured, grief plagues him in many forms, and yet he is more determined than he has ever been. He, at last, knows what must be done. He dons his armour once again and becomes the blood-soaked man of his past, willing to sacrifice his gentle being and gentle life. He cannot go back to his bakery. He's known that for a very long time.
Why does it always come to this? That power changes, and knowledge burns?
I loved being in the city of Lesscia, the centre of all knowledge in Middren. It was a phenomenal setting for the main events of the story, not as overrun with gods as Blenraden, but alive with ancient history seeping out of every crack in the walls. The old gods still find shadows to hide themselves away in, loved in secret, sustaining the city they love in silence.
I adored how atmospheric and comforting Kaner's prose always was, the city sang with every step the characters took.
I do think this book felt a little less integral to the story overall, but it's a hard thing to explain because technically there were many aspects that were important to the plots weaving throughout the series, however I think because most of the story is spent with our main characters apart it felt as if we were continuously waiting for something. I knew, whilst I was reading, that these characters needed to find their way back to one another to tackle the main threat of the series, and so I couldn't help but feel as though we were, at times, sitting still.
However, this isn't a big criticism, I still massively enjoyed this book. I only say this because I recognise how much this book is setting up for the third one and I cannot wait to get my hands on it!
No wonder humans made gods: everything they desired and feared just spilled out of them, staining everything they touched.
I adore this world and all the characters in it so incredibly much, it's all astoundingly comforting.
In my review for the first book, I wrote about how much it feels like the comforting aspects of The Witcher and I do agree with that statement, however it is also something uniquely its own.
It's a world of contradictions. It's a world of gods who are both forbidden and desperately needed. It's a character who is at once a godkiller and a protector of gods. It's someone who is both man and god, and, perhaps, underneath it all, something even worse. This is a land that is broken and healed and broken all over again. It's a world of jagged edges, full of jagged people all trying to navigate their way through it as best they can.
It's phenomenal and I hope you love it as much as I do!
Even gods have their time to die.
In These Hallowed Halls by Marie O'Regan, Paul Kane
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Average Rating: 3.5/5
1000 Ships by Kate Weinberg: 4.25/5
Pythia by Olivie Blake: 4.5/5 (my favourite by far)
Sabbatical by James Tate Hill: 3/5
The Hare and the Hound by Kelly Andrew: 3.75/5
X House by J.T. Ellison: 2.5/5
The Ravages by Layne Fargo: 3.75/5
Four Funerals by David Bell: 2/5
The Unknowable Pleasures: 3/5
Weekend at Berties's by M.L. Rio: 3.25/5
The Professor of Ontography by Helen Grant: 3.25/5
Phobos by Tori Bovalino: 4/5
Playing by Phoebe Wynne: 4.25/5
1000 Ships by Kate Weinberg: 4.25/5
Pythia by Olivie Blake: 4.5/5 (my favourite by far)
Sabbatical by James Tate Hill: 3/5
The Hare and the Hound by Kelly Andrew: 3.75/5
X House by J.T. Ellison: 2.5/5
The Ravages by Layne Fargo: 3.75/5
Four Funerals by David Bell: 2/5
The Unknowable Pleasures: 3/5
Weekend at Berties's by M.L. Rio: 3.25/5
The Professor of Ontography by Helen Grant: 3.25/5
Phobos by Tori Bovalino: 4/5
Playing by Phoebe Wynne: 4.25/5
Ghosted by Rosie Talbot
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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
4.0
Faebound by Saara El-Arifi
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
3/5
Thank you HarperCollins UK for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.
Unfortunately, this book really missed the mark for me. I didn't enjoy it half as much as I've enjoyed El-Arifi's other works. I found the premise for the worldbuilding interesting, but throughout the book found that it wasn't explored in any significant way and even that lost my interest. I think what my fatal error was was thinking this was an epic fantasy like The Ending Fire trilogy, or a military fantasy like you might predict from the opening chapters. This book, to me, reads more as a romantasy and that's sadly not a subgenre that I enjoy as much.
I found a lot of the plot quite bland as not much seemed to happen for the vast majority of the story and I also found it all quite obvious. The problem with incorporating prophecies into your plot is that you need to make sure it's either a dreadful, looming thing that everyone understands and fears or, if you want it to be shocking, you must make sure the wording of it is subtle enough for a clever twist. Unfortunately, the prophecies in this book yielded their answers fairly easily. Therefore, when the twist revealed itself, I couldn't help but be annoyed that I knew this information hundreds of pages before.
This was a problem I encountered throughout most of the book. Everything was too obvious. It became predictable and stale under the light of such blatancy. Not only did the plot beats not hit because of this but the romances didn't either because I could see everything coming from a mile away.
This is quite a critical review and I do apologise for being so negative, I much prefer raving about books I love. I think what made this so disappointing was that I know Saara El-Arifi can write with much more nuance and intricacy. I'm not even as much of a fan of The Ending Fire trilogy as others are, however that series is a much better show of skill. It confuses me that these series are written by the same author.
Perhaps this all stems from my lack of interest in romantasy as a genre, perhaps not. I just vehemently dislike when everything is dropped for the sake of a romantic plotline, it rids the rest of the story of any substance. The world in this book felt more like a backdrop for these relationships than an actual world teeming with life. The plot, too, felt very simple and forgotten about for a lot of the story in order to focus on the character relationships. Don't get me wrong, I love character-driven stories, but this book didn't show meaningful choices or changes in the characters enough for me to connect with them. Everything felt like an afterthought to the romances, as if only there to facilitate that aspect of the story.
When I read The Final Strife, the first book in El-Arifi's other series, I didn't fully connect with it, however I could admire what was being done and what it was clearly setting up for in the next book (which I enjoyed a lot more). With this book, there weren't even those aspects for me to admire or sit in anticipation for. Honestly, a lot of this book felt unnecessary.
I'm being quite negative, but that's sadly been my experience reading this book. It's been such a disappointment for me, but I do hope others enjoy it more. Sorry everyone!
Thank you HarperCollins UK for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.
Unfortunately, this book really missed the mark for me. I didn't enjoy it half as much as I've enjoyed El-Arifi's other works. I found the premise for the worldbuilding interesting, but throughout the book found that it wasn't explored in any significant way and even that lost my interest. I think what my fatal error was was thinking this was an epic fantasy like The Ending Fire trilogy, or a military fantasy like you might predict from the opening chapters. This book, to me, reads more as a romantasy and that's sadly not a subgenre that I enjoy as much.
I found a lot of the plot quite bland as not much seemed to happen for the vast majority of the story and I also found it all quite obvious. The problem with incorporating prophecies into your plot is that you need to make sure it's either a dreadful, looming thing that everyone understands and fears or, if you want it to be shocking, you must make sure the wording of it is subtle enough for a clever twist. Unfortunately, the prophecies in this book yielded their answers fairly easily. Therefore, when the twist revealed itself, I couldn't help but be annoyed that I knew this information hundreds of pages before.
This was a problem I encountered throughout most of the book. Everything was too obvious. It became predictable and stale under the light of such blatancy. Not only did the plot beats not hit because of this but the romances didn't either because I could see everything coming from a mile away.
This is quite a critical review and I do apologise for being so negative, I much prefer raving about books I love. I think what made this so disappointing was that I know Saara El-Arifi can write with much more nuance and intricacy. I'm not even as much of a fan of The Ending Fire trilogy as others are, however that series is a much better show of skill. It confuses me that these series are written by the same author.
Perhaps this all stems from my lack of interest in romantasy as a genre, perhaps not. I just vehemently dislike when everything is dropped for the sake of a romantic plotline, it rids the rest of the story of any substance. The world in this book felt more like a backdrop for these relationships than an actual world teeming with life. The plot, too, felt very simple and forgotten about for a lot of the story in order to focus on the character relationships. Don't get me wrong, I love character-driven stories, but this book didn't show meaningful choices or changes in the characters enough for me to connect with them. Everything felt like an afterthought to the romances, as if only there to facilitate that aspect of the story.
When I read The Final Strife, the first book in El-Arifi's other series, I didn't fully connect with it, however I could admire what was being done and what it was clearly setting up for in the next book (which I enjoyed a lot more). With this book, there weren't even those aspects for me to admire or sit in anticipation for. Honestly, a lot of this book felt unnecessary.
I'm being quite negative, but that's sadly been my experience reading this book. It's been such a disappointment for me, but I do hope others enjoy it more. Sorry everyone!
Divine Might by Natalie Haynes
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
4/5
Look at the great gifts the gods have given you, Athene's tapestry proclaims. Arachne's response is very detailed in its execution, but very simple in its message: the price is too high.
This was absolutely amazing! With immeasurable skill and wit, Haynes takes us through a fascinating journey of Greek goddesses and their lasting effects on our modern world. She questions the very structures of their myths when they have only been recorded by men, develops why this perception is so fundamental in how we understand these myths now, and uses modern media to parallel her points. Every moment of this book is so interesting.
It's blatantly clear how knowledgeable and intelligent Haynes is, yet she always keeps it accessible. You could read this book without having any knowledge at all of Greek mythology, Haynes does such a brilliant job of this whilst also making it absorbing for a more seasoned Greek mythology reader/enjoyer.
I highly recommend this book if you have any interest at all in Greek mythology. Haynes covers a vast array of goddesses and pulls from various texts to tell their stories in a very fluid way, making sure to still tell them with immense detail and understanding. This is an amazing chapter of learning in a nonfiction comprehension of feminist Greek mythology reclamations.
Look at the great gifts the gods have given you, Athene's tapestry proclaims. Arachne's response is very detailed in its execution, but very simple in its message: the price is too high.
This was absolutely amazing! With immeasurable skill and wit, Haynes takes us through a fascinating journey of Greek goddesses and their lasting effects on our modern world. She questions the very structures of their myths when they have only been recorded by men, develops why this perception is so fundamental in how we understand these myths now, and uses modern media to parallel her points. Every moment of this book is so interesting.
It's blatantly clear how knowledgeable and intelligent Haynes is, yet she always keeps it accessible. You could read this book without having any knowledge at all of Greek mythology, Haynes does such a brilliant job of this whilst also making it absorbing for a more seasoned Greek mythology reader/enjoyer.
I highly recommend this book if you have any interest at all in Greek mythology. Haynes covers a vast array of goddesses and pulls from various texts to tell their stories in a very fluid way, making sure to still tell them with immense detail and understanding. This is an amazing chapter of learning in a nonfiction comprehension of feminist Greek mythology reclamations.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
3/5
Accursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust?
This was not a long book and yet it was still much longer than it needed to be. I expected much more from this. I did love the concept and loved all the interactions between Victor Frankenstein and his monster, however a lot of the book is spent pursuing very little.
Am I thought to be the only criminal, when all human kind sinned against me?
I appreciate how fundamental this book is and I truly do love the themes presented, I just expected more from it. I loved the obsessive creator plagued by his own invention and the abhorred creature abandoned by his own creator. I loved the complexity of Frankenstein's monster's morality and loved the conversations where he confronted his Otherness. I adored these aspects of it, but it unfortunately wasn't enough to make me love the story.
It is true, we shall be monsters, cut off from all the world; but on that account we shall be more attached to one another.
Accursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust?
This was not a long book and yet it was still much longer than it needed to be. I expected much more from this. I did love the concept and loved all the interactions between Victor Frankenstein and his monster, however a lot of the book is spent pursuing very little.
Am I thought to be the only criminal, when all human kind sinned against me?
I appreciate how fundamental this book is and I truly do love the themes presented, I just expected more from it. I loved the obsessive creator plagued by his own invention and the abhorred creature abandoned by his own creator. I loved the complexity of Frankenstein's monster's morality and loved the conversations where he confronted his Otherness. I adored these aspects of it, but it unfortunately wasn't enough to make me love the story.
It is true, we shall be monsters, cut off from all the world; but on that account we shall be more attached to one another.