sebastianolives's reviews
58 reviews

The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang
Did not finish book. Stopped at 41%.

The first half of the boom was good, really. But I just didn't have any energy or desire to continue. Which is such a shame because I loved both Babel and The Poppy War. But while The Poppy War hooked me and kept me entertained all the way through, reading the Dragon Republic felt like a chore. Maybe I'l start it again someday

The Bone Season: Tenth Anniversary Edition by Samantha Shannon, Samantha Shannon

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim

adventurous emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.25

The Art of War: Chiltern Edition (Chiltern Classic) by Sun Tzu

informative reflective fast-paced

4.0

Circe by Madeline Miller

dark emotional hopeful medium-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

5.0

I listen to his breath, warm upon the night air and somehow I am comforted. He does not mean that it does not hurt. He does not mean that we are not frightened. Only that we are here. This is what it means to swim in the tide, to walk the earth and feel it touch your feet. This is what it means to be alive.

A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

"So be it. I have done my duty. I am free to do as I choose. I choose to die with courage." She held his cheek and smiled, looking straight into his eyes. 
"Live; Wulfert Glenn, my dearest friend; I will see you in Halgalant".
She wheeled her horse, and charged into war 

Babel by R.F. Kuang

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

we have to die to get their pity. we have to die for them to find us noble. Our deaths are thus great acts of rebellion, a wretched lament that highlights their inhumanity. Our deaths become their battle cry. But I don't want to die Robin (...) I don't want to be their tragic, lovely lawyer figure. I want to live

you're lost, brother. You're a ship adrift, searching for familiar shores. I understand what it is you want. I sought it too. But there is no homeland. It's gone (...) But realize this brother. You fly no one's flag. You're free to seek your own harbour. And you can do so much more than tread water.

And Robin found it incredible, how this country, whose citizens prided themselves so much on being better than the rest of the world, could not make it through an afternoon tea without borrowed goods

For how could there ever be an Adamic language? The thought made him laugh. There was no innate, perfectly comprehensible language; there was no candidate, not English, not French, that could bully and absorb enough to become one. Language was just difference. A thousand different ways of seeing, of moving through the world. No; a thousand worlds within one. And translation — a necessary endeavour, however futile, to move between them. 

"It's so odd," Robin said. Back when they'd already passed the point of honesty; they spoke to one another unfiltered, unafraid of the consequences. "It's like I've known you forever"
"Me too" Ramy said
"And that makes no sense" said Robin, drunk although there was no alcohol in the cordial. "Because I've known you for less than a day, and yet..."
"I think," said Ramy, "it's because when I speak you listen."
"Because you're fascinating."
"Because you're a good translator." Ramy leaned back on his elbows. " That's just what translation is, I think. That's all speaking is. Listening to the other and trying to see past your own biases to glimpse what they're trying to say. Showing yourself to the world, and hoping someone else understands."

Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

adventurous emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Fucking incredible
(I only have it 4.75 because I wanted more lore and world building)