unqualified_mc's reviews
42 reviews

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.5

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

gotta love marauders fanfiction

Air Awakens by Elise Kova

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.5

While this will sound rather negative I did fairly enjoy this book and found it to be a quick and easy read and a descent introduction to a series that will hopefully expand its themes and develop the bits that egged me about worldbuilding, topics and characters. 

Mostly neutral thoughts in no real order: 
- Elise Kova went to the SJM school of writing plot with little going on that is still somehow engaging to read
- world is a mix of avatar the last airbender and shadow and bone
- Vhalla is relatable because I too am an indecisive bitch attracted to intelligent people, absolutely need her to get more agency though 
- managed to forget about the age gap since I had already placed vhalla at 20/21 mentally but there was no reason for her to be freshly 18 and the prince to be 24 (weird)
- how on earth did Vhalla and Sareem know each other for years yet they don’t know shit about each other
-magic system was fine, world building was lacking (if I have to read one more fantasy book that has leggings, I’m gonna loose it)
- on the topic of worldbuilding and magic: how come the literal crown prince is a sorcerer yet the people are scared of magic? That’s your future emperor yet you are scared to the point that you can’t even say the word Sorcerer at time? Breeding ground for a revolution French style. And why is his father not doing anything to improve the image of the sorcerers (unless of course - in the typical YA-fantasy style - he’s an abuser)
- would have hoped for more friendship scenes to further build Vhalla’s character outside of Aldrik and the windwalker stuff
- Baldair has the potential to be a Nikolai type character so fingers crossed
- 

(semi) Spoilers:
- sometimes weird descriptions about the ethnicities of the different regions 
—> hoping for some grand revelation within the next books concerning the war and the conquest stuff (the build up is already there so I’m hoping for a good conclusion) because why were the people from the North (described as Black) so cartoonishly evil? 
- same goes for the senator. Sure he felt cruel, as was intended, but his intelligence needs to be upped tremendously because I simply couldn’t take him seriously. there were multiple instances where I had a whole counter argument in my head for claims he was making, so imagine my disbelief when no one brought it up (except for Master Mohned - thx grandpa you’re a real one; and the shady Minister who was still somehow one of my favourite characters simply for being chill and using his brain —> unlike other people. I know Aldrik was doing stuff behind the scenes to help Vhalla but come on you’re telling me he couldn’t have said anything? And we didn’t even see his supposed defence of Vhalla at the end of the trial. In general for being called silver-tongued all the time Aldrik speaks relatively little)
—> suppose my main problem is that most characters don’t feel like actual people yet. The basis is there but many are either uninteresting or bland compared to what the text wants them to be

Farm der Tiere by George Orwell

reflective fast-paced

5.0

Corpus Delicti. Ein Prozess by Juli Zeh

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

From Lukov with Love by Mariana Zapata

funny inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

3.0

Tried this as an e-book and had to dnf but as an audiobook this was pretty enjoyable.

Pros: girl-failure representation; save me pretty, rich figure skater save me; no third act break up

Cons: there’s no way they are 26 and 30; sometimes weird comments about Jasmine’s body (couldn’t stand the nickname „meatball“); would have liked to see Ivan struggle a bit; only told not shown that they won; Paul was underused (+Mary); family dynamic was inconsistent at times

H.P. Lovecrafts Cthulhus Ruf by Gou Tanabe

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

4.0

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

 I’d advise anyone to go into this book with as little knowledge about it as possible since I believe it elevated both my enjoyment of the plot and the “twist ending” to have gone into this completely blind. 

While the twist is criticized for somehow being both predictable and convoluted by other reviewers I perceived the twist as a natural progression of the story and found it to be just the right amount of shock and tying up loose ends. While I was able to predict a portion of the twist rather early on it didn’t diminish my reading experience but rather elevated my wish to understand the full scope of the Sinclair family secrets, as, I suppose, any story with a mystery aspect should aspire. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the writing style, a combination of dry descriptions, tense metaphors and fairy tale stories adapting to the emotions and health of Cady, as well. 

The only aspect I’d criticize were the final three or so chapters after the twist because with the grandness of the reveal the aftermath felt a bit anticlimactic. Additionally, there were a few scenes that, looking back now, don’t entirely add up to me.  

Medea: Stimmen by Christa Wolf

dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0