isojem's Reviews (35)

Charmed Life

Diana Wynne Jones

4.5

adventurous emotional funny mysterious sad fast-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

Content Warnings

Barbed Wire Heart

Tess Sharpe

3.75

challenging dark emotional inspiring medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I did really quite like this, and I'm glad I read it, and I feel like she used all the space really well and I just, I really do like how she tells stories in a non-linear fashion. I do think this book walked so that The Girls I've Been/The Girl in Question could run.

Content Warnings

Close Your Eyes

Nicci Cloke

2.0

dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

It's a fair twist, I'll give you that.

Content Warnings

The Rules of Royalty

Cale Dietrich

hopeful lighthearted 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: No

Really liked the main character, Jamie, a lot. He's very kind and sensible and I just loved that. Princess Diaries comparison doesn't hold up, though - not fleshed out enough, humorous enough, and there's only one mention of his cat.

Tangled Up In You

Christina Lauren

3.5

hopeful 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: No

I enjoyed this, it was a cute riff off of Tangled and Ren (the MC) very much had Rapunzel energy and I just loved her.

Content Warnings

A Deadly Education

Naomi Novik

5.0

adventurous funny hopeful inspiring mysterious tense 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: Yes

Honestly wonderful, no notes.

Ending was perfect, even if it did make me go ‘fuck off!!!’ Out loud.

Adulthood Rites

Octavia E. Butler

4.0

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Really liked this, though it was fast in the beginning and fast at the end, and kind of sagged in the middle. No idea how to describe this. Had a lot to say about the humanity. Very peculiar in some ways.

Content Warnings

The Shelf

Helly Acton

3.25

hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

High-concept in a contemporary sort of way. Fun and fast-paced. Felt a bit too ... on the nose, at times, I guess? And like things were being done to path the way for the MC. Still, it was a relaxing read, and I like it when contemporary doesn't have romance at the centre. A re-read from a book I read in 2021.

Content Warnings

The Deep Sky

Yume Kitasei

2.75

mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

IDK, I like this one the less I think about it, but in that way where you feel kind of bad about that because the writing was technically good and I was relatively invested? I can't pinpoint why I felt let down.

Unbreakable

Mira Grant

3.25

adventurous dark inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I really, really liked the concept of this, I liked all the detail, I thought it had a lot to say, and some good quotes, but I think it didn't really read like a novella? Like, it sort of read like the author was telling the story to herself to think it all through and get the bones down, and then didn't really fill it out?

Content Warnings

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