tajosima's reviews
93 reviews

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious 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? No

4.0

Charming characters and good plot
We do have a Hannah Montana situation where I’m like “please, someone will surely already know who this person is” but nope lol but I can suspend my disbelief if the story is worth it and this one was

A Magical Girl Retires by Park Seolyeon

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

I love you, magical girl
What a beautiful way to portrait the hardships of being a human and a woman.

Here Lies a Vengeful Bitch by Codie Crowley

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

This wasn’t bad but if we’re talking about a dead girl wanting revenge, I’m going to expect the girl to act like she is dead. No one alive knew she was dead and even she didn’t know for a portion of the story. When she acted like I would expected from a book about a dead girl, it was super cool. But then we would go back to a teenager going around, talking to people, and she just happens to be dead but that isn’t really a big deal because no one knows so no one cares and it is not scary. It’s just a teenager being mad (rightfully so, but still). If the book was sold to me differently, I would probably enjoy it better for what it is. Because the story is good and the characters are good and distinct and the writing is also pretty good. It really is a strong debut but if you have a dead character, use that potential.
Also can we stop with having teen girls dating guys who died or were turned (*cough* Edward C *cough*) when they were teenagers, many years ago? If the guy died 66 years ago, i don’t care what his body looks like, or if the part of the brain that is still developing stopped developing because he died, he is no longer a teenager. But it’s hard to say he’s an adult too so just let the love part out from his story. It’s weird and creepy and like we are (again, rightfully) criticising a 40 year old guy who only follows teenagers on Instagram, but then the girl dates the guy who died 66 years ago? No, nope

Content Warnings

The God and the Gumiho by Sophie Kim

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad 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? N/A

4.75

This is enemies to lovers done right. Loved the banter! And all the Korean references wowowow

The Breakup Tour by Austin Siegemund-Broka, Emily Wibberley

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emotional medium-paced

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

3.25

It felt weird to me that this was inspired by Taylor Swift. I understand it, but I preferred it to be mentioned at the end, for instance, so I wouldn’t be thinking of Taylor Swift the whole time. Because I really liked the story and the main female character. But not the main character. Yes, he should treat her like a goddess, but this is a book, a story, I’m gonna need more from his mind.

Verões Felizes 1: Rumo ao Sul | A Calheta by Zidrou

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced