hillysreads's Reviews (381)

The Rules of Magic

Alice Hoffman

3.5

adventurous emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Ugh I wanted so much more from this book. I enjoyed the characters but just wanted MORE. Maybe it’s because I really loved Magic Lessons (rated it 5 stars) and this was a little disappointing, at least for me, because I needed closure. It’s more of a ‘it’s me not you’ book. I still recommend if you love historical fiction/fantasy books.

Content Warnings

Magic Lessons

Alice Hoffman

5.0

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious sad tense 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: Complicated

Content Warnings

Seven Days in June

Tia Williams

5.0

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious tense 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

There There

Tommy Orange

4.5

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Ordinary Grace

William Kent Krueger

4.0

emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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: No

Black Buck

Mateo Askaripour

5.0

challenging funny sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

A book I read recently that I will always recommend is Black Buck by @askmateo!
This book…wheeewwww, was WILD. I read it while I was visiting my parents and they kept asking me, “what in the hell are you reading” because of my facial expressions

Grown

Tiffany D. Jackson

4.0

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

Grown has been one of those books that almost every single person on bookstagram has told me to read. After reading it, now I see why.

This book made me SO ANGRY that I really wanted to DNF. Not because it wasn’t good - this book grabbed me from the beginning, from the first chapter I was hooked into the storyline and wanted to find out how Korey Fields died. I knew I was going to be in for a wild ride per fellow bookstagrammer's reviews, but I did NOT KNOW THIS WAS WHAT I SIGNED UP FOR. I was STRESSED out. I was angry, wanting to scream and yell at the characters. I wanted to jump in the book and fight Korey Fields, literally. I felt so bad for Enchanted and what she had to go through, broke my heart.

All I gotta say for this Grown book review, is that you gotta read it for yourself to know how this book makes one feel. This is some R. Kelly BS for real. Be prepared to be angry. Be prepared to fight.

And that ending???!

Read Grown ASAP.