essjay's Reviews (635)

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

Goddamn, I hate Louis. 

Gideon the Ninth

Tamsyn Muir

DID NOT FINISH: 41%

I might come back to this another time, but for now it just isn't for me.  
adventurous dark medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I struggle to understand how we got here from where we started. 
adventurous emotional hopeful 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: Complicated

I'm so happy this book exists, and I can't wait to start making people read it. I've thought about it a great deal since finishing it, and keep bringing it up to friends I know will love it as much as I did. 

Loveable cast of characters, tons of representation that felt authentic, a compelling quest, and a vibrant setting. 

It took a few pages for me to get into, bc the beginning exposition was a tad clunky. There were also a few moments where I was confused as a lot happened in a short period of time, and it almost felt like I'd skipped some pages? But once I went back and purposefully slowed down and reread, the confusion went away. Honestly pretty minor nitpicks, though, and I look forward to reading many more books by Al Hess.  

(ARC provided by Angry Robot)
dark emotional sad

What a delightful surprise this was. I read it aloud to my 12y/o (who also loves the Wayward Children series) as a bedtime story. 
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I hate that I'm giving this two stars but it just was not v good. 

  • Dual PoVs, switching between Sourpatch and Fetch, but both have the same "voice" (which just so happens to sound exactly like Dylan). 
  • The pacing of the whole thing was just off. It somehow both felt like nothing happened and too much happened.
  • I honestly have no idea how any of the villains were really dispatched, it didn't make a whole lot of sense. 
  • The title of the book is Godkillers but the only actual god was dispatched in the first 5%? And then we spend the rest of the book fighting their children? Except not really bc they all kind of kept defeating themselves? Idfk


adventurous dark funny fast-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

Four books in and I genuinely love this series, but this might be my least favourite so far. Not bc it's darker than the others (although it is, and it wasn't a surprise), but bc the whole thing felt rushed and chaotic, and not in a fun way. The last 50 or so pages felt cheap, and I understand that it's setting up the spinoffs and the final CM book, but...yeah. 
dark emotional funny 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: Complicated
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: Complicated

Not my new favourite, but still very solid. I was annoyed by a few of the storytelling quirks (primarily revolving around language) and a few other things I can't quite put my finger on that made it feel like it needed at least one more revision. 

For those of you wondering if the dog dies,
she does not
dark fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Maybe if I weren't so into splatterpunk already, I would have found this particularly shocking. Idk. It was okay