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chronicallybookish's Reviews (1.53k)
Thank you so much to Netgalley and Macmillan for an early copy of the book! All opinions are my own.
Quick Stats
Overall: 4.5 stars
Characters: 5/5 stars
Plot: 4/5 stars
Writing: 4/5 stars
~
After Amora’s powers are cursed away, her Kingdom begins to question her ability to be their queen. Amora sets out with her crew and some new faces to find a mythological artifact that can break the curse on her soul and the curse on her bloodline.
All the Stars and Teeth was a solid read for me when it came out last year. It felt a bit overhyped, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it. My main complaint was that the pacing was a little slow throughout and then there was too much crammed into the last few chapters. I didn’t feel like that was as much of an issue in All the Tides of Fate. I was hooked from page one all the way through the epilogue.
I feel like the plot flowed well. The reveals and twists were able to surprise me most of the time without feeling like they came completely out of left field. The end did definitely have some sudden twists that felt a little rushed, but it was so much improved from the first book.
I still love Amora, Vataea, Ferrick, and Bastian as characters. I think that Adalyn Grace excels at writing characters and their relationships. I also loved the addition of Shanty to the crew. I feel like her storyline didn’t resolve and was left a little awkwardly open ended, but she was such a fun, spunky character.
I highly recommend picking up this book even if you aren’t sure if you would. I probably wouldn’t have bothered to read it if I hadn’t gotten the arc, but I’m glad I did.
Quick Stats
Overall: 4.5 stars
Characters: 5/5 stars
Plot: 4/5 stars
Writing: 4/5 stars
~
After Amora’s powers are cursed away, her Kingdom begins to question her ability to be their queen. Amora sets out with her crew and some new faces to find a mythological artifact that can break the curse on her soul and the curse on her bloodline.
All the Stars and Teeth was a solid read for me when it came out last year. It felt a bit overhyped, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it. My main complaint was that the pacing was a little slow throughout and then there was too much crammed into the last few chapters. I didn’t feel like that was as much of an issue in All the Tides of Fate. I was hooked from page one all the way through the epilogue.
I feel like the plot flowed well. The reveals and twists were able to surprise me most of the time without feeling like they came completely out of left field. The end did definitely have some sudden twists that felt a little rushed, but it was so much improved from the first book.
I still love Amora, Vataea, Ferrick, and Bastian as characters. I think that Adalyn Grace excels at writing characters and their relationships. I also loved the addition of Shanty to the crew. I feel like her storyline didn’t resolve and was left a little awkwardly open ended, but she was such a fun, spunky character.
I highly recommend picking up this book even if you aren’t sure if you would. I probably wouldn’t have bothered to read it if I hadn’t gotten the arc, but I’m glad I did.
Quick Stats:
Overall: 2 stars
Characters: 3/5
Plot: 2/5
Writing: 2/5
~
Pitched as Jenny Han meets The Great British Baking Show, this book has Chinese-American culture, baking, romance, and drama. And it sounds great. In theory. In actuality, it fell flat.
The characters were somewhat of a redeeming quality. Mostly well-rounded and engaging, I did connect well to each character, with a few exceptions. The three main adult characters were flat, poorly written, lacked motivation, and were often childish. They didn’t speak or act like adults. Liza’s mom is a main driving force of the tension in the novel, but she lacked any motivation behind her actions, reacting unpredictably, and oftentimes oddly petty. Liza’s father was childish. He read like a teenage girl at some points. You could have changed his character to a younger sister and left all his lines and actions the same, and it might have made more sense. The final adult who played a role was Mrs. Lee. We don’t hear much from her until the end, but when we do, her dialogue comes off as awkward, flat, and insincere.
However, all of the teens—as well as Jeannie and Nathan—were well written. I loved Liza, Grace, Sarah, Ben, and even Edward. They all had obvious goals and motivations and were easy to connect with and care about. James was the only one who fell flat. He just seemed a carbon copy of every other broody love interest. Tall, dark, rich, and kind of a jerk. His one motivation was protecting Ben, which is nice, but the way and extent to which he does it is melodramatic, and he has no goals or motivation or personality of his own.
The plot was not great. It took much to long to get to the baking competition—which was the main redeeming part in my opinion. There were a lot of unnecessary scenes and content to get to that main part that really started the movement of the plot. A lot of those earlier scenes and information could have been condensed. I flew through the actual baking parts of the book. I found them very interesting and well done.
The middle of the book and the lead up to the climax felt like every page there was an obstacle thrown in the way of Liza and her friends, but it would be resolved within one to two pages. There was no time to build tension or develop potentially interesting plotlines. These road blocks were thrown in our face all of a sudden, and their solutions came out of the blue just as awkwardly. I would really have liked to see some of those plot points drawn out to build intrigue and tension. These lead the climax itself to be underwhelming. It didn’t get a chance to shine because I was still preoccupied by all the things that had flown at me out of left field in the previous chapters.
Honestly, the writing, plot, and pacing just screamed debut.
There were also issues with fat phobia and tokenized LBGTQ+ rep.
All in all, I wouldn’t recommend this book. If you’re looking for an own voices book by a Chinese-American author, there are many better ones out there—Gloria Chao’s or Abigail Hing Wen’s books for example.
Overall: 2 stars
Characters: 3/5
Plot: 2/5
Writing: 2/5
~
Pitched as Jenny Han meets The Great British Baking Show, this book has Chinese-American culture, baking, romance, and drama. And it sounds great. In theory. In actuality, it fell flat.
The characters were somewhat of a redeeming quality. Mostly well-rounded and engaging, I did connect well to each character, with a few exceptions. The three main adult characters were flat, poorly written, lacked motivation, and were often childish. They didn’t speak or act like adults. Liza’s mom is a main driving force of the tension in the novel, but she lacked any motivation behind her actions, reacting unpredictably, and oftentimes oddly petty. Liza’s father was childish. He read like a teenage girl at some points. You could have changed his character to a younger sister and left all his lines and actions the same, and it might have made more sense. The final adult who played a role was Mrs. Lee. We don’t hear much from her until the end, but when we do, her dialogue comes off as awkward, flat, and insincere.
However, all of the teens—as well as Jeannie and Nathan—were well written. I loved Liza, Grace, Sarah, Ben, and even Edward. They all had obvious goals and motivations and were easy to connect with and care about. James was the only one who fell flat. He just seemed a carbon copy of every other broody love interest. Tall, dark, rich, and kind of a jerk. His one motivation was protecting Ben, which is nice, but the way and extent to which he does it is melodramatic, and he has no goals or motivation or personality of his own.
The plot was not great. It took much to long to get to the baking competition—which was the main redeeming part in my opinion. There were a lot of unnecessary scenes and content to get to that main part that really started the movement of the plot. A lot of those earlier scenes and information could have been condensed. I flew through the actual baking parts of the book. I found them very interesting and well done.
The middle of the book and the lead up to the climax felt like every page there was an obstacle thrown in the way of Liza and her friends, but it would be resolved within one to two pages. There was no time to build tension or develop potentially interesting plotlines. These road blocks were thrown in our face all of a sudden, and their solutions came out of the blue just as awkwardly. I would really have liked to see some of those plot points drawn out to build intrigue and tension. These lead the climax itself to be underwhelming. It didn’t get a chance to shine because I was still preoccupied by all the things that had flown at me out of left field in the previous chapters.
Honestly, the writing, plot, and pacing just screamed debut.
There were also issues with fat phobia and tokenized LBGTQ+ rep.
All in all, I wouldn’t recommend this book. If you’re looking for an own voices book by a Chinese-American author, there are many better ones out there—Gloria Chao’s or Abigail Hing Wen’s books for example.
by Julia Walton
Quick Overview:
Overall: 3.5
Characters: 4
Plot: 3
Writing: 4
~
First of all, I think Julia Walton has officially become an auto-buy author for me. Words of Bathroom Walls was one of my favorite books I read in 2020, and Just Our Luck was another fun, great read.
I adored Evey and Leo’s relationship. Friendly-ish rivals to lovers is an obscure trope that I simply ADORE and can never get enough of. Their banter, the awkward angst. Leo’s pining. I love it. Leo was such a relatable character. Some of the things he did kind of felt like a personal call out—but in the best way.
On a related note, Julia Walton’s portrayal of anxiety was one of my favorite that I’ve read. It was real and a part of the story without taking over the story or being sensationalized. It hit on all the ways it affects you and plays into your life. Leo and my anxiety presents in different ways, his triggers the fight response and mine the flight, but I still felt so seen in his character.
The plot, however, was wanting. Evey’s plot didn’t seem very well thought out, and everything seemed to fall apart in a very unsatisfactory way that felt disconnected from the lead up. Likewise, the “curse” was just such a weird aspect. Like it had the potential to make the book so much better, but it was barely touched on. It was mentioned in the beginning, brought up barely in passing in the middle and always made me go “what? Oh, right. There’s a curse.” And then tied up neatly in a bow at the end. It just didn’t tie into the story at all, and I felt like it even distracted from it. It definitely shouldn’t have been one of the major points mentioned in the blurb.
All in all, if you’re looking for a book that tackles mental health, Greek American culture, and a dash of romance—you should definitely pick up Just Our Luck.
Quick Overview:
Overall: 3.5
Characters: 4
Plot: 3
Writing: 4
~
First of all, I think Julia Walton has officially become an auto-buy author for me. Words of Bathroom Walls was one of my favorite books I read in 2020, and Just Our Luck was another fun, great read.
I adored Evey and Leo’s relationship. Friendly-ish rivals to lovers is an obscure trope that I simply ADORE and can never get enough of. Their banter, the awkward angst. Leo’s pining. I love it. Leo was such a relatable character. Some of the things he did kind of felt like a personal call out—but in the best way.
On a related note, Julia Walton’s portrayal of anxiety was one of my favorite that I’ve read. It was real and a part of the story without taking over the story or being sensationalized. It hit on all the ways it affects you and plays into your life. Leo and my anxiety presents in different ways, his triggers the fight response and mine the flight, but I still felt so seen in his character.
The plot, however, was wanting. Evey’s plot didn’t seem very well thought out, and everything seemed to fall apart in a very unsatisfactory way that felt disconnected from the lead up. Likewise, the “curse” was just such a weird aspect. Like it had the potential to make the book so much better, but it was barely touched on. It was mentioned in the beginning, brought up barely in passing in the middle and always made me go “what? Oh, right. There’s a curse.” And then tied up neatly in a bow at the end. It just didn’t tie into the story at all, and I felt like it even distracted from it. It definitely shouldn’t have been one of the major points mentioned in the blurb.
All in all, if you’re looking for a book that tackles mental health, Greek American culture, and a dash of romance—you should definitely pick up Just Our Luck.
3 stars
~
Kisses and Croissants follows Mia during her summer abroad in Paris at a prestigious ballet program. Mia intends to focus on nothing but ballet during her stay in Paris, but the city, a family legend, and a cute French boy derail those plans. If you like novels set in Europe and cute summer romances, give this book a try!
I enjoyed the book. In theory, it’s everything I love in a contemporary: sweet romance, European tourism, and the forming of a strong female friendship. The synopsis even calls it “a book in the vein of Love & Gelato”—one of my all-time favorite books, but something about Kisses and Croissants just fell flat for. I never got into it. There’s nothing I can pinpoint as inherently bad about the book. The friendships were well-written, the romance cheesy in the best way, but the plot dragged. The pacing was often too slow.
In the first two chapters, it seemed as if Mia couldn’t take three steps across the room without a pirouette or some other ballet move. It felt tedious and a bit obnoxious, but after the second-ish chapter Mia moved like a normal person, so it wasn’t a big issue with the book.
Louis felt a little bland and underdeveloped for the love interest. A little too much like a cookie cutter cliché. I usually completely forgot that Lucy and Anouk existed until they’d pop back in. They were pretty two-dimensional characters. Audrey, however, felt really well developed to me, and I loved watching the friendship between her and Mia form. It might be my favorite part of the novel.
Overall, it’s a decent book. It’s just a little slow and missing that little oomph that takes a good book and makes it great.
~
Kisses and Croissants follows Mia during her summer abroad in Paris at a prestigious ballet program. Mia intends to focus on nothing but ballet during her stay in Paris, but the city, a family legend, and a cute French boy derail those plans. If you like novels set in Europe and cute summer romances, give this book a try!
I enjoyed the book. In theory, it’s everything I love in a contemporary: sweet romance, European tourism, and the forming of a strong female friendship. The synopsis even calls it “a book in the vein of Love & Gelato”—one of my all-time favorite books, but something about Kisses and Croissants just fell flat for. I never got into it. There’s nothing I can pinpoint as inherently bad about the book. The friendships were well-written, the romance cheesy in the best way, but the plot dragged. The pacing was often too slow.
In the first two chapters, it seemed as if Mia couldn’t take three steps across the room without a pirouette or some other ballet move. It felt tedious and a bit obnoxious, but after the second-ish chapter Mia moved like a normal person, so it wasn’t a big issue with the book.
Louis felt a little bland and underdeveloped for the love interest. A little too much like a cookie cutter cliché. I usually completely forgot that Lucy and Anouk existed until they’d pop back in. They were pretty two-dimensional characters. Audrey, however, felt really well developed to me, and I loved watching the friendship between her and Mia form. It might be my favorite part of the novel.
Overall, it’s a decent book. It’s just a little slow and missing that little oomph that takes a good book and makes it great.
DNF at 20%
This book just wasn't for me. There was nothing inherently wrong with it. The writing felt too philosophical and the entire Flu Fly concept really creeped me out. If there had been a really capturing plot or writing style, I probably could have carried on, but there wasn't enough of anything special to convince me to keep reading through the creepiness.
This book just wasn't for me. There was nothing inherently wrong with it. The writing felt too philosophical and the entire Flu Fly concept really creeped me out. If there had been a really capturing plot or writing style, I probably could have carried on, but there wasn't enough of anything special to convince me to keep reading through the creepiness.
Quick Stats
Overall: 5 stars (I rounded up because it deserves it)
Characters: 5/5 stars
Plot: 5/5 stars
Setting: 5/5 stars
Writing:4/5 stars
~
The Wide Starlight is a story containing Norwegian mythology/folklore. It follows Eli as she returns to the secluded Norwegian flord at the top of the world where she lived as a child as she searches for the truth about what happened the night her mother disappeared. Written from Eli’s point of view with multi-generational stories written like twisted bedtime stories sprinkled in, I was captivated by the world and story.
This is an incredible, strong debut by Nicole Lesperance and I can’t wait to read what she comes out with next.
The characters were all well rounded. Eli had a unique voice, and I never felt disconnected from her. I adored Iris’s character and their friendship. I do with we had gotten to see a little bit more of the forming of a relationship between Eli and Kaja, but what was there was well done.
It took me a few chapters to get drawn into the plot and writing, but once I did, I didn’t want to set down the book until I was finished. The magic was woven into every page beautifully. The story was supplemented with fairytale-esque stories that give the reader insight into Eli’s past in Svalvard and her mother’s past and experiences with Eli, magic, and her own mother. I loved this addition. It gave a whole new magical feel to the story and tied in with the plot very well.
When Eli arrived in Svalvard and began exploring I was swept up in the beautiful descriptions of the town at the top of the world. Everything about this novel is beautiful, magical, and atmospheric. I highly recommend this book, especially if you’re a fan of magical realism or contemporary fantasy.
A million thanks to PenguinTeen for an eARC of this book! This is an honest, unbiased review and all thoughts and opinions are my own!
Overall: 5 stars (I rounded up because it deserves it)
Characters: 5/5 stars
Plot: 5/5 stars
Setting: 5/5 stars
Writing:4/5 stars
~
The Wide Starlight is a story containing Norwegian mythology/folklore. It follows Eli as she returns to the secluded Norwegian flord at the top of the world where she lived as a child as she searches for the truth about what happened the night her mother disappeared. Written from Eli’s point of view with multi-generational stories written like twisted bedtime stories sprinkled in, I was captivated by the world and story.
This is an incredible, strong debut by Nicole Lesperance and I can’t wait to read what she comes out with next.
The characters were all well rounded. Eli had a unique voice, and I never felt disconnected from her. I adored Iris’s character and their friendship. I do with we had gotten to see a little bit more of the forming of a relationship between Eli and Kaja, but what was there was well done.
It took me a few chapters to get drawn into the plot and writing, but once I did, I didn’t want to set down the book until I was finished. The magic was woven into every page beautifully. The story was supplemented with fairytale-esque stories that give the reader insight into Eli’s past in Svalvard and her mother’s past and experiences with Eli, magic, and her own mother. I loved this addition. It gave a whole new magical feel to the story and tied in with the plot very well.
When Eli arrived in Svalvard and began exploring I was swept up in the beautiful descriptions of the town at the top of the world. Everything about this novel is beautiful, magical, and atmospheric. I highly recommend this book, especially if you’re a fan of magical realism or contemporary fantasy.
A million thanks to PenguinTeen for an eARC of this book! This is an honest, unbiased review and all thoughts and opinions are my own!
Thank you so much to Penguin Teen for an early ARC! All thought and opinions are my own.
Quick Stats
Overall: 4.5 stars
Characters:5/5
Plot:4/5
Setting:4/5
Writing:5/5
First of all—dang that book was a brain-twister. Very weird. Very intriguing. Very entertaining.I loved it. Now let’s get into the nitty gritty.
Rebecca Mahoney masterfully weaves a tale of loss, intrigue, and paranormal happenings. The book involves frank, realistic depictions of PTSD, panic attacks, grief, and more.
Rose, our main character, is a entertaining, real, honestly quite broken, and occasionally a bit of an unreliable narrator. Her raw emotion drew me in from the start. I felt like I was right there with her, inside her head, experiencing the events of the book along with her.
Rose experiences a couple panic attacks in what are essentially flashback scenes, and as someone with severe anxiety and a history of panic attacks, I rarely resonate with books’ descriptions of panic attacks. They’re not wrong, by any means, but they just don’t fit my experiences. Mahoney’s descriptions of panic attacks, however, were pretty much spot-on with my own experiences. She describes them in a real way that never strays into the cliches that sometimes are present while describing panic attacks.
Secondly, I would like to talk about how much I ADORE Alex Harper. I wish we saw more of him, as we do Felix and Cassie. Alex had a terminal illness (essentially) that was cured magically (again, essentially). This toes the line of the magical healing trope, which I absolutely loathe, but in my opinion, because of the circumstances of his situation, and the fact that he has lasting effects stays firmly planted in A-OK territory. My favorite thing about him is his constant—and rightful—insistance that he is not fragile, despite chronic illnesses and his past illness. The other characters (mostly Felix) try to coddle him, and Alex has NONE of it. And I love it. That’s one of the things I hate the most about being chronically ill—the way I’m often treated like I’m breakable. Alex did a really good of articulating, and showing, how frustrating and kind of offensive that is, no matter how honorable the intentions.
The story unfolded naturally, and the pacing was really good. I typically don’t like books that take place over such a short period of time because the pacing is very hard to get right, but I think Rebecca Mahoney did a magnificent job. I was never bored, and it never felt rushed. Every next step was logical. The earlier twists and turns were appropriately surprising while still making perfect sense. The last couple twists/reveals felt as if the author showed her hand just a chapter or so too early leading up to the big reveal, but it wasn’t too big of an issue. That final resolution was not what I expected, but I really, really liked it. The morals were slightly heavy-handed, but they were important enough, and incorporated enough that it didn’t bother me.
All in all, Mahoney crafted a really solid debut novel that gave me a little bit of The Raven Boys vibes (it’s not at all similar, it just for some reason reminded me of that series), and I can’t wait to see what she comes out with next. Highly recommend!
Quick Stats
Overall: 4.5 stars
Characters:5/5
Plot:4/5
Setting:4/5
Writing:5/5
First of all—dang that book was a brain-twister. Very weird. Very intriguing. Very entertaining.I loved it. Now let’s get into the nitty gritty.
Rebecca Mahoney masterfully weaves a tale of loss, intrigue, and paranormal happenings. The book involves frank, realistic depictions of PTSD, panic attacks, grief, and more.
Rose, our main character, is a entertaining, real, honestly quite broken, and occasionally a bit of an unreliable narrator. Her raw emotion drew me in from the start. I felt like I was right there with her, inside her head, experiencing the events of the book along with her.
Rose experiences a couple panic attacks in what are essentially flashback scenes, and as someone with severe anxiety and a history of panic attacks, I rarely resonate with books’ descriptions of panic attacks. They’re not wrong, by any means, but they just don’t fit my experiences. Mahoney’s descriptions of panic attacks, however, were pretty much spot-on with my own experiences. She describes them in a real way that never strays into the cliches that sometimes are present while describing panic attacks.
Secondly, I would like to talk about how much I ADORE Alex Harper. I wish we saw more of him, as we do Felix and Cassie. Alex had a terminal illness (essentially) that was cured magically (again, essentially). This toes the line of the magical healing trope, which I absolutely loathe, but in my opinion, because of the circumstances of his situation, and the fact that he has lasting effects stays firmly planted in A-OK territory. My favorite thing about him is his constant—and rightful—insistance that he is not fragile, despite chronic illnesses and his past illness. The other characters (mostly Felix) try to coddle him, and Alex has NONE of it. And I love it. That’s one of the things I hate the most about being chronically ill—the way I’m often treated like I’m breakable. Alex did a really good of articulating, and showing, how frustrating and kind of offensive that is, no matter how honorable the intentions.
The story unfolded naturally, and the pacing was really good. I typically don’t like books that take place over such a short period of time because the pacing is very hard to get right, but I think Rebecca Mahoney did a magnificent job. I was never bored, and it never felt rushed. Every next step was logical. The earlier twists and turns were appropriately surprising while still making perfect sense. The last couple twists/reveals felt as if the author showed her hand just a chapter or so too early leading up to the big reveal, but it wasn’t too big of an issue. That final resolution was not what I expected, but I really, really liked it. The morals were slightly heavy-handed, but they were important enough, and incorporated enough that it didn’t bother me.
All in all, Mahoney crafted a really solid debut novel that gave me a little bit of The Raven Boys vibes (it’s not at all similar, it just for some reason reminded me of that series), and I can’t wait to see what she comes out with next. Highly recommend!
