raenyreads's Reviews (345)

Honestly at first I just bought this book because the cover on this edition is gorgeous but I was happy that I also enjoyed the story itself. Its very unique and I can see why it's been chosen for a modern classic. The story is heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time, the characters are very loveable and their motivations are very understandable. The writing took a little while to get used to and was slow to start but once I got into it I found myself really enjoying it.

Giving this book anything less than 5 stars is sacrilege. 

I really enjoyed this book, it gave me Uprooted by Naomi Novik vibes. I really enjoyed how the magic worked, I'm always a sucker for nature based magic, and all the characters were interesting. My favourite character was Keyne, but they by far get the most development and plotline so that's not really a shock. I was a bit disappointed in how it ended for Riva, I thought she'd get more character development than she did but maybe that's realistic. Sinnes ending was wild and I can't decide if I like the book more or less because of it. I also thought the bad guys ending was a bit anticlimactic, that's the only reason it's not 5 stars for me.

I got this as an extra in a book box in which I got The Book of Form and Emptiness so I didn't expect much from this short nonfiction book but I was wrong. I really enjoyed this look into how Ruth perceives her own face, before, during and after staring at it for 3 hours in a mirror. I loved the parts where she talked about her family and how she was starting to see more of the resemblances to family members as she gets older. Worth the read for such a short book.

Okay so I'm not really a romance reader, I love romance in my books but this is the first purely romance book I've read and so this review is from a newbie POV.
Starting with what I liked, what mostly saved this book was Levi. The point of a romance novel is in part to make you fall in love with the romantic lead and this book did that for me, tall, dark, handsome, sweet, smart, what's not to like? I also did love the relationship between the FMC and MMC, very cute.
However, when I try to praise other aspects of this book, I struggle to come up with much else. 
One of my biggest problems was that this was sold as a enemies/nemesis to lovers and basically from page 1 it's made pretty obvious that he never hated her in the first place which kind of ruins the build up to their relationship for me. The miscommunication trope is not it for me and the plot only worked due to the wilful ignorance of the FMC, which, as she is a scientist I found this kind of dumb. I also found many aspects quite cringey, especially the gen z assistant and the FMC giving too much 'I'm not like other girls' energy. The plot outside of the romance, I didn't even know was happening as there was no way to know about it and it was just dumped on us at the end to give the solution to the final relationship drama. 
Overall, it was a page turner for the pure reason that I liked the love interest but upon reflection I can't say it was good.

This book definitely isn't for everyone and going in I was a bit apprehensive about whether I'd enjoy it or not but I needn't have been! From about a quarter on the way through I realised I was a bit obsessed with this book. I couldn't wait to find out what Ruth did next and how she managed to influence her husbands life and exact her revenge. We are introduced to each character in a way so we don't exactly know how they will fit into the master plan from the start and this had me needing to read just one more chapter the entire time.
This book isn't the feel good revenge story we are used to, no characters end well or could be classed as good people but it was engaging to me from start to finish.
The book isn't perfect, I did find it dragged a bit in places, but I loved the overall experience!

A great second book in the trilogy, it continues to set up the world and I found the plot engaging. I did find the pacing quite slow in a couple places but it never dragged per say. As always R F Kuangs writing is amazing and I can't wait to jump into the final book of the trilogy. 

A good page turner, the writing was good and I was kept intrigued by the plot lines. However, I just wanted a bit more. The synopsis promises a wild night with secrets being revealed and while this is the case I was a little let down that as the reader we are in on the secrets from the start, and so nothing is truly surprising and there was no wow factor for me when the night starts to come to its climax.
I think I'll try one of TJRs other books but this one didn't really live up to the hype.

I don't really rate personal memoirs as it feels weird to rate someone's life but the lack of a rating is not a reflection on the quality of the book.

A large portion of the book is transcripts from Baek Sehee"s therapy sessions, the rest is short reflective essays written during and after they finished the therapy sessions. This style gives you a great insight into what the author was going through and how she was trying to move forward.

I found a few of the mental health issues described in this book relateble to my own mental health journey, having also gone through therapy for some similar reasons. I've noticed a lot of the the lower ratings of this books come from people who find it hard to relate to. However this books is meant for the people who are able to relate as at the beginning the author remarks that she wants this book to make people with similar issues not feel so isolated.

Overall I liked this book, its a short read so I read it over the course of 2 days in short bursts. I don't think it's changed my life in a major way but it was sort of a comforting read for me as it did what the author wanted and has made me feel that little bit less alone.

Medusa is one of my favourite Greek myths, especially with how people only remember her as a monster, which this book focuses on dispelling. I really enjoyed the overall progression of this story and the conversations around who decides what a monster is. Some chapters were really unique and captivating, such as the one from the perspective of Medusa's snakes, and the writing is also gorgeous as Natalie Haynes' always is.

However, I feel like the synopsis of this book promises a major focus on Medusa and her story, and though all the POV's eventually come together to show their role in Medusa's story, I did struggle to care about quite a few of them (and there is a fair number) as it went on and found myself just wanting to get back to Medusa. I also found the ending a bit anticlimactic.

Overall a great Medusa retelling and the writing is gorgeous but I feel the synopsis mis-sells it a bit and was expecting more of a focus on Medusa herself.