sbbrown25477's reviews
328 reviews

Hooked by Emily McIntire

dark emotional funny 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

Lightlark by Alex Aster

adventurous challenging dark 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

A Crown of Ivy and Glass by Claire Legrand
Did not finish book. Stopped at 6%.

Honestly I tried to get to the 100 page mark but i couldn’t even get to the 40 pg mark. By page 20, I frankly just wasn’t hooked by the story. I didn’t care about the characters mostly because the beginning starts with traveling to a destination with telling of the backstory vs showing. It is a tricky needle to thread to open a story with a moment of endless travel. It frankly just isn’t  a hooking event, thus it suffers from wordy narration. A reader should be caring about the opening moment so that they can begin a bond with a universe, a character, etc. I need something to grip onto so I can dive into the story. There is a symbiotic bond between the reader and the characters. What they feel, you should feel. If the main characters are bored of travel, you are going to latch onto that boredom which resulted in me not giving a crap about the characters. Place to improve: less vague setting. Either the scene is a dull with an active backdrop or the scene is active but not both. With tons of fantasy novels having settings with horse drawn carriages, high society girls in pretty dresses, etc. everything can’t be open ended or the book will not standout from the stack. DNF and I most likely will be unhauling this book. 

Sanctuary of the Shadow by Aurora Ascher

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning by Liz Cheney

hopeful informative fast-paced

3.5

Bloodguard by Cecy Robson

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad 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

5.0

Owned by Willow Winters, Lauren Landish

dark emotional fast-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

the first one and second one in this series were filled with plot that was definitely for people who liked the Ritual. This one however was not nearly the same. This series would have been better as a standalone. This third installment was repetitive to the point where it read like the second one but with different character names. It lacked a strong plot which meant you were just left with smut between two characters that frankly I just didn’t care about. The auction in the first one drew me in but that was completely abandoned in this one. It wasn’t bad writing or anything, it just suffered from lack of a strong plot and underdeveloped characters. 

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

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

2.0

As someone who is an Orthodox Jew I found most of the story’s plot, of what I read, to be disheartening . This was marketed as fantasy or something and it was something. I don’t get offended easily given the state of the world and its current opinion towards Israel and her people, so reading this book couldn’t come at a worse time. This book isn’t bad in any sense. No book can be bad, just not for you. The whole “magic” of the plot is rooted in Jewish folklore that the author takes and runs off into a weird trial type book. I didn’t like the use of my faith and peoples’ history as a plot line that came off as exaggerated to the point of almost comical. Just know what you’re getting into before you purchase it. The name of the author in this case shouldn’t be the reason why you read it because it’s nothing like her other books.

The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

slow-paced

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

2.75

The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent

adventurous emotional hopeful 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

5.0