1.84k reviews by:

caseythereader

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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

Thanks to Sourcebooks Fire for the free copy of this book.

 - THE POISONS WE DRINK is a dark story, full of characters overflowing with rage and love, fighting against a system designed to eliminate them.
- I loved the world Baptiste built here. There’s a complex magic system that promises real rewards and major consequences. It’s also set in DC, which I love, and you can tell Baptiste has true familiarity with the city.
- There was so much going on in this book that it was often too much - the interpersonal relationships and politics became a bit confusing as the layers of treachery built, and it was a bit overly long for me in the portion in the middle where Venus was uncovering secrets.
- Still, I am excited to see where Baptiste goes as an author, since POISONS is stuffed full of unique and exciting ideas. 

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challenging dark sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
funny lighthearted 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: No

Thanks to PRH Audio for the free copy of this book.

 - THE FALL OF WHIT RIVERA is for all the cozy autumn lovers, for enemies to lovers lovers, and for everybody rooting for love.
- This book is a PSL for your brain. It’s filled with the most loving friends and family characters you’ll ever seen, every one of them supporting each other and openly showing how much they care.
- Whitney also has PCOS, which isn’t the central point of the plot but is certainly a major part of it. I appreciated that her chronic illness didn’t fade into the background as the book went on - in fact, she missed some really major events due to health crises. And this story shows beautifully how people can show up for their chronically ill loved ones. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
emotional reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional 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

 - Oh my goodness, this book. My jaw was on the floor for nearly the entire 500+ pages of THE REFORMATORY.
- This book is beautifully written, expertly plotted, and a completely horrifying experience in multiple ways.
- Due drew on historical accounts and the history of her own family to write this book, and it shows. It often felt like I was reading a firsthand account of these terrible events, even when the supernatural elements were woven in. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
emotional reflective slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark emotional tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

Thanks to AA Knopf for the free copy of this book.

 - I knew Orange would break my heart with WANDERING STARS, and he sure did.
- Orange expands on the legacy of colonization and the generational traumas that stem from it, showing different ways they manifested throughout the decades.
- Orange’s writing is so gorgeous, the kind of writing that you can’t imagine being done any other way.
- I reread THERE THERE immediately before this one, and am happy to report that the anti-fat bias in the first book is almost entirely gone. 

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Family Lore

Elizabeth Acevedo

DID NOT FINISH: 44%

This is moving so slowly and even in print I'm having a hard time remembering who is who.
adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Thanks to Harper Voyager for the free copy of this book.

 - LORE OF THE WILDS immediately drew me in. I was an instant fan of Lore and her will to survive and fight. I found the world of this book intriguing. Books about fae are numerous now, but this one found that line between terrifying and alluring perfectly.
- I thought when picking this up that it was a YA novel, and the tone of it reads that way, especially in the beginning. Then, about 75% in, things turn very spicy and very dark, and oh wait Lore isn’t the teenager I thought she was? It was a bit jarring.
- I’m gonna try to do this bit without spoilers. There was a character whose motivations I absolutely could not figure out until it dawned on me that this was part of a plot twist. So that unfortunately wasn’t much of a twist for me, and I wish there had been a better effort at hiding it.
- All that said, I’m looking forward to book two and I think Sbrana is an author to watch. 

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