gxuosi's Reviews (390)

Unholy with Eyes like Wolves

Morgan Dante

4.0

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

this genuinely felt like two different books. a 5/5 before the turning and a 3/5 after it. the change in pacing, prose, and the modernist temperament was wild.

Content Warnings

Music of the Night

Angela J. Ford

2.0

adventurous mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

honest to god this just bored me to death

Content Warnings

Rogue

Onley James

2.0

dark funny reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

i was just so irritated during this one. every scene with micah was repetitive to the point of eye-rolling boredom and the author spent genuinely half of this book setting up other couples instead of discussing the couple it’s supposed to be about. shiloh and levi literally played like 5th fiddle in their own book. all of my complaints aren’t even about shiloh or levi, which is really part of the problem. i will say i noticed there was a marked improvement on verbal consent, communication, and general sexual prep. but that can’t make up for the rest of the book.

at the end of this for me is the glaringly problematic representation of malachi. while nothing about him is named in rogue, it’s clear he’s being set up for a genderfluid, autistic, dissociative identity disorder characterization. if he doesn’t have DID, i genuinely worry what the author thinks genderfluidity is (and it still would be bad DID rep). even if all three of these traits are happening at once, not even the combo could result in the deeply unpleasant characterization he’s ended up with.

Content Warnings

Paladin

Onley James

4.0

dark emotional funny lighthearted reflective sad 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: Complicated

oooooh ever you are my favorite brat. also, i just wanna point out how well nuanced ever’s character was written as an abuse victim. also wish the action sequences in the finale were a bit more drawn out though. it felt rushed.

Content Warnings

Termush

Sven Holm

3.5

challenging mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

insufferable hotel full of people learn that capitalism won't save you in an apocalypse

Content Warnings

Sula

Toni Morrison

5.0

challenging emotional funny hopeful 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

“all that time, all that time, i thought i was missing jude.” oooh the innate sapphic eroticism of being girls tied so thoroughly together that you are of one body and mind until adulthood when one of the two splinters off into a toxic spiral

Content Warnings

The Wood at Midwinter

Susanna Clarke

3.0

adventurous hopeful lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

wickedly short and very cute. it was just fine. i’d have liked it to be 3x as long though so if this ever gets a full length, sign me up.

Content Warnings

Mema

Daniel M. Mengara

1.5

emotional informative reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

i just could not connect with how this was written. it was far too off topic and winding. the repetition once i finally got back into the story about mema was soul crushing after the weird tangents (which i acknowledge were meant to parallel the village elders telling stories for the youth to find meaning in).

Content Warnings

Somadina

Akwaeke Emezi

5.0

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective sad 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: Complicated

OOOOOHHH this was a delight. a girl who can’t help but be a sharp blade in a world where everyone around her is either desperate to get rid what they don’t understand or to become a handle to wield her as their own. ooohohohooo this was everything.

Content Warnings

The Extinction of Irena Rey

Jennifer Croft

DID NOT FINISH: 53%

dnf at ~51%. i just can’t read another page. the only thing worth reading is when the translators argue in the footnotes and those are few and far in between. the book is so overly written that it’s become an insult to itself and it entirely fails to deliver what the book blurb claimed the book would be about. the the narrator is so deeply unlikable that reading another word from her perceptive made me feel such utter dread that i couldn’t pick the book back up. i grabbed this for the mystery and primordial polish forest full of horrible mushrooms which were ultimately sidelined by dead soldiers, lying neurotic people, and sexual fantasy.

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