internationalreads's Reviews (1.69k)

Welcome Me to the Kingdom

Mai Nardone

4.0

adventurous challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I was immediately pulled in by the prose. Really beautiful and compelling. I lost interest in some of the characters as the stories went on though. I wish the stories were either more or less interconnected. The in-between made it hard to follow their connections and care deeply about them. Still really liked this book, it just fell a little short of love for me.

Trace Evidence

Charif Shanahan

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories

Jamil Jan Kochai

3.0

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

A couple of the stories blew me away and will definitely stay with me, but others were boring. I wonder if I would have liked them better in print rather than audio.

A Stone Is Most Precious Where It Belongs: A Memoir of Uyghur Exile, Hope, and Survival

Gulchehra Hoja

5.0

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

Content Warnings

Better the Blood

Michael Bennett

4.0

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

Idol, Burning

Rin Usami

4.5

dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

A short but deep story exploring mental health and the disillusion of youth. Some aspects of Akari’s obsession spoke so true to me (in a good way - idols can bring joy and meaning to someone’s life) but obviously I’m not as intense as her lol. The pacing got a little strange in the final third of the book and I would have liked to see more of an investigation into Akari’s potential neurodivergence, but I really loved this book and its lyrical prose. I read it in one sitting.

Content Warnings

Hell Bent

Leigh Bardugo

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective tense fast-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

There must have been so much pressure to write this sequel, but it’s even better than the first book!!

Content Warnings

China Room

Sunjeev Sahota

4.0

adventurous dark informative mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

An Unlasting Home

Mai Al-Nakib

DID NOT FINISH: 50%

Maybe I would have liked this book if I finished it, but I couldn’t get into it. Jumping around to different women’s points of view, but they all seemed like the same character. I would have been invested in one or two but not so many who were so similar.

Partners in Crime

Alisha Rai

3.0

adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense fast-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 loved Alisha Rai’s earlier books but this one fell a little flat for me. Maybe partly because I don’t love second chance romance, but the plot was also messy and somewhat predictable.

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