booksthatburn's Reviews (1.46k)

Steel Crow Saga

Paul Krueger

DID NOT FINISH: 1%

Too visually detailed for me, doesn't mix well with aphantasia.
adventurous reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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The Genesis of Misery

Neon Yang

DID NOT FINISH: 12%

The amount of visual detail is too much for my aphantasia.

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adventurous reflective sad
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

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emotional reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Midnight at the Houdini

Delilah S. Dawson

DID NOT FINISH: 28%

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reflective tense medium-paced

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funny reflective medium-paced

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adventurous emotional reflective tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

A PHOENIX FIRST MUST BURN celebrates Black Girl Magic in a literal and metaphorical sense. I like a few of the stories, but the overall collection was uneven. Several end abruptly in a way that feels like they needed more space to develop. There were a few standouts which make the collection worth perusing. “When Life Hands You A Lemon Fruitbomb” is the collection’s opener. I love it, if the whole anthology had been like it I’d be raving over it. “A Hagiography of Starlight” is one where it felt complete but I want there to be more, it’s a fantastic world which I want to explore. “Melie” inverts several "chosen one" tropes in some cool ways, with an irreverent feeling. “Letting The Right One In” is marred only by referencing books by an author who wasn’t widely known to suck when this collection was written (though it’s not the only one to do so). "Sequence" is a good choice for ending the anthology, it's excellently written and well-placed in the collection.

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