dlrosebyh's Reviews (773)

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Gideon the Ninth

Tamsyn Muir

4.25

dark mysterious 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

Necromancers are required by the Emperor. We require a swordswoman for the Ninth Necromancer. Gideon has a sword, some questionable publications, and no time left for silly zombie talk. Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir reveals a world of swashbuckling politics, lesbian necromancers, and swordplay. Her figures are as deftly alive as arcane revenants, springing off the page. As a consequence, a thrilling epic scientific fantasy is produced.

Gideon is prepared to give up a life of slavery and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse after being raised by unpleasant, ossifying nuns, elderly retainers, and numerous skeletons. She gathers her soiled magazines, dirty shoes, and sword in preparation for her daring escape. But without performing a favor, her old enemy won't liberate her.

The extraordinary bone witch and Reverend Daughter of the Ninth House Harrowhark Nonagesimus has been called to duty. The Emperor has summoned the heirs of each of his devoted Houses to a treacherous test of cunning and might. No necromancer may rise without their knight, but if Harrowhark succeeds, she will become an immortal, all-powerful servant of the Resurrection. Harrow will fail, and the Ninth House will perish without Gideon's sword. Undoubtedly, some things are best allowed to die.

This novel falls under one of my favorite subgenres: gothic lesbians in space. This book in general was really perplexing. It was a one-star read for the first 150 pages. It was a three star for the first 250 pages, but at the end, no words can describe how much you'll enjoy this book. I'm not sure how the author came up with the idea for this novel, since there were plot twists after plot twists—I was SEATED. I'll be back in my seat for the next book.

Content Warnings

Anything But Fine

Tobias Madden

3.5

emotional fast-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

Luca is prepared for his Australian Ballet School audition. One misstep is all it takes to dash his hopes… a broken foot, too. Jordan is Luca's new school's stunning rowing star and captain. Although everyone claims that he is straight, Luca isn't so sure… Luca begins to question, "Who is he without ballet?" as their strange friendship gets deeper. And is he putting himself on the hook for yet another breakup?

This one will appeal to you if you liked Heartstopper and The Passing Playbook. We watch as Luca's career comes to an end due to a fractured foot. And if you turned Charlie and Nick's narrative into prose, it reminded me so much of Heartstopper. Having saying that, I truly enjoyed the book. I only gave it 3.5 stars because I wanted to see more of Lucas' mother. That was really dismissed. When it comes to writing from the perspective of a teenager, Tobias Madden is exceptional.

Content Warnings

Noli Me Tangere

José Rizal

4.0

Exes and O's

Amy Lea

3.25

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: Yes

Tara Chen, a lover of romance novels, has had 10 different men break her heart, all of whom left her because she was a "stage-five clinger." Tara is nonetheless committed to finding The One. The sole issue? Because of today's dating applications, traditional meet-cutes are extinct. In order to find her own second chance relationship that fits the stereotype, Tara seeks to reconnect with her ex-lovers.

Trevor Metcalfe, a Boston fireman, will be the last to hurry into a relationship but the first to rush into a blazing structure. Simply put, he's not into love. He grudgingly agrees when Tara, his new roommate, asks him to assist her in getting in touch with her ex-lovers. However, Tara's adventure is inspiring him to write a new chapter in his own life.

As their relationship develops, Tara becomes increasingly aware that Trevor is the only one who truly values her dramatic, honest self. Can Tara and Trevor read between the lines of their developing relationship to secure their happily ever after?

This book is for 1989 stans who enjoy watching rom-coms and are hopeless romantics themselves. This novel is the offspring mad woman and Blank Space might have had. I can't emphasize enough how tone-wise, this novel was quite similar to Broken Hearts Gallery. In contrast to my normal dislike of contemporary romance literature, I like the writing style in this book. It wasn't particularly overwhelming, it was simple to grasp, and it was yet distinctive, in my opinion.

I was really enjoying the book up until the climax. If you've read any romance books at all, you're aware that there are usually these awful "third act breakups" brought on by misunderstandings. and I just detest those. Although it fits with Trevor's character, I wish it had been executed well. I kind of started to lose interest in the book after that.

Content Warnings

Legendborn

Tracy Deonn

5.0

adventurous emotional mysterious 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

Bree Matthews, sixteen, has nothing to do with her family memories or childhood home after her mother is killed in an accident. A residential program for gifted high school students at UNC-Chapel Hill appears to be the ideal getaway—until Bree sees a supernatural attack on her first night on campus.

A winged monster that feeds on human energy. A hidden club of "Legendborn" pupils that seek down the beasts. And a strange adolescent mage who calls himself a "Merlin" and tries (but fails) to erase Bree's memory of all she witnessed.

Bree's own unique magic and a buried memory with a secret connection are unlocked by the mage's failure: another Merlin was at the hospital the night her mother died. Bree believes there's more to her mother's death than what's on the police report, and she'll go to any length to find out what happened, even if it means entering the Legendborn as one of their initiates.

She enlists Nick, a self-exiled Legendborn with his own grudge against the organization, and their hesitant alliance draws them further into the society's secrets—and closer together. But when the Legendborn expose themselves to be the descendants of King Arthur's knights and announce that a magical battle is on the way, Bree must decide how far she'll go for the truth and whether she should use her magic to bring down the society—or join the fight.

I'm punishing myself for not reading this book sooner since I learned there would be a love triangle—jokes on me, I loved this book so much. It took me a while to get into the book, but once I was absorbed in its universe, I couldn't put it down. This book discusses hereditary trauma, racism, white supremacy, and grief in a completely different universe.

I loved how the characters are three-dimensional. Even if the entire novel is narrated from Bree's point of view, you are aware of what is going on with the characters and everything. Needless to say, the writing was excellent. Even if it isn't lyrical or ethereal, it is simple to grasp and avoids becoming boring or repetitive. And that climax? I was terrified for my life.

Content Warnings

All the Light We Cannot See

Anthony Doerr

4.5

emotional reflective sad 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

Marie-Laure lives in Paris with her father, who works as the master of the Museum of Natural History's hundreds of locks. When Marie-Laure is six, she falls blind, and her father makes a perfect miniature of their neighborhood for her to remember and find her way home by touch. When Marie-Laure is twelve, the Nazis capture Paris, and her father and daughter flee to Saint-Malo, where her reclusive great-uncle lives in a big home by the sea. They are carrying what may be the museum's most prized and deadly treasure.

Werner, an orphan, grows up with his younger sister in a mining village in Germany, charmed by a rudimentary radio they discover. Werner becomes an adept at manufacturing and repairing these vital new tools, earning him a position at a rigorous Hitler Youth academy and eventually a special task to track out the resistance. Werner goes into the heart of the battle, eventually arriving in Saint-Malo, where his and Marie-stories Laure's intersect.

Everyone promised that I would cry in this book, and they were completely correct. I sobbed uncontrollably. I had no idea what to do with my life after finishing it. It was really stunning. The writing was humorous, and the characters were well-developed. I simply wish the characters engaged a little more.

Content Warnings

The Annihilator

RuNyx

1.0

dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

and of course it went downhill after the fourth book. the red in the red flag was showing in a bold font.

Content Warnings

The Maze Runner

James Dashner

3.0

adventurous fast-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: No

The only thing Thomas remembers when he wakes up in the lift is his name. He's surrounded by strangers—boys who have similarly lost their memories. A infinite, ever-changing maze lies beyond the Glade's tall stone walls. It's the only way out—and no one has ever survived. Then a girl appears. The first girl ever. And the message she sends is dreadful.

One unique feature of this series is that the first book does not immediately describe the entire world building. You're a little perplexed when you first start reading the book, and it appears that you're expecting a great surprise, which is fine. However, there are always limitations. Ironically, despite the fact that you were expecting a massive shock, the twists were more predictable.

This book didn't bother me all that much—in fact, only one thing bothered me. Telepathy requires some work—a lot of work. I get the overall point, but it was not clearly established. This book is nearly 400 pages long, which is short for sci-fi novels, but you should know something about the characters. However, I did not. I didn't know Teresa very well—I'm sure I'll learn more about her in the future book—but as the sole female Glader, I expected something more delicate and exquisite.

Content Warnings

Final Offer

Lauren Asher

1.5

emotional slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book was definitely something, and not in the best way! Lauren Asher, this should have remained a manuscript. Normally, I don't want to post bad reviews, especially for books that are really appreciated, but who's going to stop me from doing this? No one! Personally, I believe that after Terms and Conditions' popularity, Lauren Asher became really pumped up, and she wanted to finish Cal's book as fast as possible to keep the anticipation alive.

I want to start by saying that this book was one of the ones I was most anticipated to read this year. And you know what it didn’t fail to do? Disappoint me— utterly AND completely. Two of my very favorite tropes are the second chance romance and childhood friends to lovers. It ought to have been just up my alley, but it wasn't. As it was VERY WEIRD. Oh, and it gave me a VERY different image of Cal. Because Cal deserved to be in jail, which isn’t a surprised on why Favorite Crime was included in their playlist.

Why don't we discuss about the things I enjoyed before the icks? lana. I wish my girl hadn't taken Cal back; she loved him too much. I don't care if Cal knelt down and pleaded! She doesn't deserve him at all, thus I wish she wouldn't take him back. She deserves Cami alone, in fact. She would be a good single mom. Did I actually like anything else in this book, except from that? not at all. I wished I knew more about the other characters since they all felt so hollow. It is odd given that this book has 600 pages. With such a big book, I ought to have gotten to know the characters extremely well.

First ick: I've previously mentioned this, but AGE GAP! Listen, while I don't particularly enjoy the age gap trope, I don't mind it either. For instance, Terms and Conditions, which I really liked, featured an age gap trope. Although Final Offer wished it could, it wasn't like Terms & Conditions. The age difference was SOOO odd. Their age difference might have been reduced by Lauren Asher to a more normal two years, and nothing would have changed. Unfortunately, she didn't.

Second, I thought it was extremely... unusual how the addictions were written. Who in their right mind would link an alcoholic with a child? And I don't know, Cal just stopped drinking after they had sex? It isn't coherent. I wish Lauren Asher had looked into alcoholism more.

Thirdly, I thought Cal's ADHD was quite stereotypical because I have ADHD. I was surprised by how stereotypical it was considering Lauren Asher has previously written other neurodivergent characters and did such an excellent job with them—with those characters, it was so obvious that she actually did research on those—but with this one, she might have just clicked on the first three websites she could find and called it a day.

Fourthly, I prayed to the gods that Cal's personality wouldn't change because of Lauren Asher. And I prayed. Everyone adored him since he was the sole golden retriever among the three brothers. But God, he sure was tedious. He didn't have any humor in this book. Cal from The Fine Print and Terms and Conditions felt different from the Cal in Final Offer, despite the fact that he may have had some humorous lines. And it's not because we got to see his addiction; it's just because he was poorly written.

Last but not least, why is Alana's skin tone so light? This isn't exactly a critique of the book but more of the official art. She ought to have at least a tan. I would have thought she was a white woman if I hadn't known what her race was. Given that the official artwork for the last two books NAILED it, this is actually rather upsetting. I'm very let down by this book. I want the memory of it to dissolve.

Content Warnings

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