webtheweeb's reviews
27 reviews
Destined by Saladin Ahmed
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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
4.0
Fun standard Kamala Khan fare!!! We love a good casual family trip to a war-torn alien planet.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness and War
Moderate: Death
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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? Yes
5.0
This book is simultaneously a love letter to the YA fantasy so many of us grew up reading and an insightful, subversive, searing critique of it. I LOVED it. Deonn is one of so many authors in the YA field today making the genre what it always should have been. I’m so grateful that she’s shared her deeply personal story with the world.
This book is one of several in recent years that’s bringing me back into the fold of YA with open arms. There’s still new stuff happening here!!!!
The plot twists in this book were also top tier. Looooved the high stakes of the final battle; looooooved the appearance of the goruchel that completely caught me off guard. The slow, painstaking reveal of Bree’s powers was done with such care and consideration. The way that the King Arthur bloodline society was chipped at little by little until its blatant white supremacy was plain was horrifying and also done with extreme care and smarts. This was just a very, very interesting take and subversion of the typical “girl discovers at 16 that she has secret powers and enters a world hidden from view that she’s never known” story, and I’m thankful to have read it. 10/10 would recommend.
This book is one of several in recent years that’s bringing me back into the fold of YA with open arms. There’s still new stuff happening here!!!!
Spoiler
AND ALSO THERE ARE LOVE TRIANGLES THAT WILL MAKE YOU SCREAM A LITTLE WHILE YOU’RE READING THIS BOOK IN PUBLIC BY THE POOL. Not that that was my personal experience or anything. But oh my goodness - I liked this book before Bree and Sel became an option, but AFTER???? Immediately in my favorites tag. Nick was fine, but I found him pretty boring. SEL, though? YES. That’s what I was waiting for! Or better yet, a throuple even! I want to continue this series to see what happens with the war and everything, but a large portion of it is seeing if Bree will finally dump Nick LMAO. Also it helps that all her options fall into my favorite trope of two-people-are-in-love-but-is-it-just-because-they’re-fated-to-be-entwined-or-do-they-really-love-each-other. Incredible.The plot twists in this book were also top tier. Looooved the high stakes of the final battle; looooooved the appearance of the goruchel that completely caught me off guard. The slow, painstaking reveal of Bree’s powers was done with such care and consideration. The way that the King Arthur bloodline society was chipped at little by little until its blatant white supremacy was plain was horrifying and also done with extreme care and smarts.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Death of parent
Moderate: Car accident and Rape
Minor: Forced institutionalization
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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? Yes
5.0
It is so selfish to even have the thought that a book might be somehow cosmically, impossibly written with you in mind. Still, as a young woman who often has to clamp her mouth tight to avoid constantly talking through the recently discovered miracle of open-world RPG games designed largely with men in mind, I did have that thought, accompanied by ones about how fortunate I am that it’s not, after all, written with me in mind. But I did have that thought. And I did love this book.
What I think Zevin does so brilliantly through her odd third-person omniscient, retrospective narrator is deliver details that catch your eye, innocently at first, details that make you think, “Huh. That’s interesting, but I’m not quite sure why I’m drawn to it,” or “Was that explained? Did I miss something?” and then lulling you into a brief but blissful sense of security, only to absolutely sucker-punch you a page or two later with that delicious piece of information you were missing. My G-d, the poster of Sam’s mom in the restaurant. The careful arrangement of every aspect of Sam’s college life by Marx. The freight, and the groove, and the heads and shoulders. These instances, in some cases, literally took my breath away. I had to close my eyes for a second, breathe, recover. Then dive back in.
I loved that I didn’t particularly love any of the characters. I felt that the narrator allows their reader to maintain a professional distance from the story at hand. You’re dipping into lives, but you are not in them. You are the player, being guided along. And my goodness, does this book understand what it is to love video games.
I had a lot of things I wanted to say in this review. I’m not remembering them all now, but I do know that this book will be clattering about in my head for a while, even though I consumed it in just a day. It was wonderful. It was devastating. It was being understood. It was weird. That second-person Marx POV chapter? Absolutely brilliant and unlike anything else I’ve ever read, and good enough to provoke the catharsis one needs after reading a book with the weight of this one.
All said, I’m so thankful that I finally decided to give this one a try. I think I’m going to start a second Stardew playthrough now.
What I think Zevin does so brilliantly through her odd third-person omniscient, retrospective narrator is deliver details that catch your eye, innocently at first, details that make you think, “Huh. That’s interesting, but I’m not quite sure why I’m drawn to it,” or “Was that explained? Did I miss something?” and then lulling you into a brief but blissful sense of security, only to absolutely sucker-punch you a page or two later with that delicious piece of information you were missing. My G-d, the poster of Sam’s mom in the restaurant. The careful arrangement of every aspect of Sam’s college life by Marx. The freight, and the groove, and the heads and shoulders. These instances, in some cases, literally took my breath away. I had to close my eyes for a second, breathe, recover. Then dive back in.
I loved that I didn’t particularly love any of the characters. I felt that the narrator allows their reader to maintain a professional distance from the story at hand. You’re dipping into lives, but you are not in them. You are the player, being guided along. And my goodness, does this book understand what it is to love video games.
I had a lot of things I wanted to say in this review. I’m not remembering them all now, but I do know that this book will be clattering about in my head for a while, even though I consumed it in just a day. It was wonderful. It was devastating. It was being understood. It was weird. That second-person Marx POV chapter? Absolutely brilliant and unlike anything else I’ve ever read, and good enough to provoke the catharsis one needs after reading a book with the weight of this one.
All said, I’m so thankful that I finally decided to give this one a try. I think I’m going to start a second Stardew playthrough now.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Cancer, Mass/school shootings, Racism, and Car accident
Minor: Abortion
Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
For the first 50 or so pages of this book, I really thought I wasn’t into it…but this format is just so easy to sink into and the story was definitely interesting enough to stay there. And THAT ENDING 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Abortion
The Red Tent - 20th Anniversary Edition by Anita Diamant
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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? Yes
5.0
This book was recommended to me years ago, and I was always intrigued by its premise - but I never could have imagined what was actually held between these pages. This story is blindingly beautiful and devastatingly sad. It is both up close and far away. It is a retelling and it is something all its own. And I’m so grateful I finally decided to dive in.
As a person obsessed with genealogy and generational storytelling (yes, I’m a girlie who raises entire family trees in the Sims) this book was right up my alley. To write a story that takes place over the course of nearly a century that gracefully passes time between its fingers, knowing when to hold fast and when to let it slip through like so many grains of sand? That is a beautiful and rare thing. This book walks hand in hand with time, greeting it and kneading it and embracing it wholly. Its characters are complex and many, but they are all alive. Diamant’s writing puts you both directly in the mind of Dinah and at her feet, listening. I’m struggling to find words to live up to what this book feels like, but all I can say is I’m so glad I read it.
For lovers of complicated retellings of old stories (Paradise Lost girlies, assemble) and rich, expansive narratives. 5/5
As a person obsessed with genealogy and generational storytelling (yes, I’m a girlie who raises entire family trees in the Sims) this book was right up my alley. To write a story that takes place over the course of nearly a century that gracefully passes time between its fingers, knowing when to hold fast and when to let it slip through like so many grains of sand? That is a beautiful and rare thing. This book walks hand in hand with time, greeting it and kneading it and embracing it wholly. Its characters are complex and many, but they are all alive. Diamant’s writing puts you both directly in the mind of Dinah and at her feet, listening. I’m struggling to find words to live up to what this book feels like, but all I can say is I’m so glad I read it.
For lovers of complicated retellings of old stories (Paradise Lost girlies, assemble) and rich, expansive narratives. 5/5
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
tense
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
5.0
Unbelievable. Poignant, brave, sad, and - perhaps most oddly of all in this genre - ultimately hopeful. There’s so much in this tiny book. SNOW WAS GENERAL ALL OVER IRELAND!
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
Did not finish book. Stopped at 19%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 19%.
I fell out if my GOT phase….I will finish this someday!
The Metamorphoses by Ovid
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Ovid is, as with all things, occasionally beautiful and occasionally unremarkable. I think this book is very valuable as a source for understanding how our stories get told and untold and changed and morphed (pun intended). I’d recommend reading just a few myths - Echo and Narcissus, the Death of Orpheus, and anything involving Hecuba are some of the best.
Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
3.0
The first half of this book was a 1-2 star and the second half was a 4-5 star, so let’s meet in the middle(ish). There’s an attempt here at a kind of Rick Riordan-esque familiarization of forces beyond human understanding, and for most of the book, it just doesn’t work. The characterization often doesn’t fit (a 40 year old lawyer making Comic Sans jokes and saying “I hate everything” constantly brings to mind something a tumblr user might have written in 2014. And the tumblr user would do it better.) and the same talking points are returned to again and again, the same language re-parsed and re-used. Metaphors are mixed in a way that doesn’t seem intentional. The only thing that saved this book for me was its plot and its subject matter - how could that ending NOT make you cry? Still, this is much weaker than Klune’s first book. The final half makes it worth the read.
The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I almost feel as if I have no choice but to give this a 5-star review. For all its seeming redundancy, for all its repeated successes and showboating, for all it wandering and wavering and weaving much like the wind itself, Rothfuss’s writing is simply a joy to read. It’s as easy as Kvothe’s assured strumming of the lute. It’s as consistently intriguing as his many well-learned stories. It simply is.
I’m not sure if Rothfuss will ever continue this series, but to me, this is enough. The overarching narrative is interesting, but not nearly so interesting as the anecdotes within the couched narrative. I loved the different places we visited in this book, particularly Ademre and all of its people. The worldbuilding in this book is pretty remarkable, and it makes up for Rothfuss’s rather boldfaced explorations of Kvothe’s many…pleasures in this volume, his gallant male-focused fantasies.
Still, I loved imbibing this story, and I’d gladly drink a dozen others of its length. Worth reading even without promise of a continuation!
I’m not sure if Rothfuss will ever continue this series, but to me, this is enough. The overarching narrative is interesting, but not nearly so interesting as the anecdotes within the couched narrative. I loved the different places we visited in this book, particularly Ademre and all of its people. The worldbuilding in this book is pretty remarkable, and it makes up for Rothfuss’s rather boldfaced explorations of Kvothe’s many…pleasures in this volume, his gallant male-focused fantasies.
Still, I loved imbibing this story, and I’d gladly drink a dozen others of its length. Worth reading even without promise of a continuation!