shona_reads_in_devon's Reviews (529)

'𝑌𝒆𝒔, 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒕𝒐 𝑴𝒖𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒃𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒂 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒐 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝜤 𝒅𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 97 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒚'

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This book slowly got under my skin. I started it, thinking it was funny. I had some full on giggles in the car. The narration had the right level of sardonic naiveté. I felt a bit bored by the sci-fi elements and the plot at times. It's somehow quick and slow at the same time. But by halfway in, that didn't matter because Murderbot absolutely had me hooked and I was completely invested in its interior life, and it's wrangling with its own humanity and that of others. 

It was fun and funny, and sometimes that's the best way to carry serious subjects like AI, slavery, free will and the nature of humanity. I definitely want to know what happens to Murderbot.

'𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝜤 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒈𝒐 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒏, 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝜤 𝒂𝒎. 𝜤𝒕'𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒎'

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I've been led to expect great things from Dark Matter and it certainly delivered on break neck action. It was also kind of horrifying to read, super claustrophobic. The idea of multiverses and the infinite really freaks me out. It provided opportunity to mull on gratitude, on living in the moment and taking time to reflect on what we have and how we experience what we have.

The writing felt a bit simplistic to me, the characters didn't feel well drawn in any way, Charlie and Dani didn't have much in the way of substance.

But the premise and the themes carried through the story were interestingly explored. I was carried along, thinking that the plot was kind of obvious but a great vehicle for exploring regret and identity. I didn't see the inevitable twist coming, though if I'd thought about it enough I should have. I thought the end spiralled a bit, and lent much more to the thriller genre that this is supposed to be. Which is fine if that is what you're after. I'd have preferred a slower more intentional study of the ideas, rather than what we had here.

'𝜤 𝒂𝒎 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝜤 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒏𝒆𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝜤 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒂𝒎 𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝜤 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆.'

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Another perfectly precise offering from Claire Keegan.  

Foster embodies the same quiet, sparse warmth. It tremors with tension throughout. Keegan wastes no words in this deliciously formed novella.

I am quite simply going to eat up everything she ever writes.

I'm almost terrified to put a review for this out there as it's so beloved. But I thought this was just fine.

I don't think cute is really for me, I don't think I vibe with cute low stakes in my fantasy. 

The whole idea was sweet, the found family well done, the exploration of community and the featuring of diversity and LGBTQIA was nicely melded in. The characters were all nicely written and I did want them to succeed and get their HEA. I loved Amity a lot!

If sweet and wholesome is your bag then I imagine this delivers in spades.

I realise, having now read this book, that heist novels are possibly not for me.

and yet. These characters quietly weasled their way into my brain and I adore them. The writing is sharp and nasty. I had glimpses of a darker Terry Pratchett in this band of misfits. 

I adore the whole idea of the Grisha and their powers and the vehicle they become for exploration of exploitation and the economic trade in bodies. I found the Fjerda culture really interesting and well thought out. 

And I like vengeance. Unpicking the trauma and motivations that Kaz and his gang work under was brilliant.  

I could see me getting sucked right in to the Grishaverse, and I'll definitely be returning to this world.

It seems I've left it long enough between romantasy reads because I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

A solid classic, hitting all the staples of the genre but not in a cheesy way. Orphan woman of unknown parentage - ✅, tragic fate foretold - ✅, impossible dream of legend and glory - ✅ brooding MMC ✅ a nice slow burn - ✅

a flurry of microtropes - who did this to you, one horse, rolled up sleeves (🥳🥳 we know this is my fave) all deployed to great effect.

The worldbuilding isn't amazing but it'll do, the writing isn't winning any awards for me personally but it does the job! The found family vibes with Cal and Kipp are super and I'm utterly invested in their friendship and nervous for them to all make it through this series alive. Sebastos Barlowe is as unlikeable as Jack fucking Barlowe.

Everything you need from the genre, and I'll definitely be carrying on this series.

The Bell Witches was a cute, whimsical witchy story heavy with the heat of a Savannah summer. It flirts with an edge of darkness but strays only briefly from the path.

Newly orphaned Emily James is plucked from her life in grey, rainy Wales and rescued by a Grandmother she didn't know existed. But, is anything what it seems in sunny Savannah?

The setting of this novel was beautifully evocative, you could smell the hot tarmac and feel the Spanish Moss brushing against your shoulders. The style of the prose helped to bring the scenery to life and the images of nature coming alive within the walls of Bell House were wonderfully wrought.

The love story here was super cute, Wyn was a great MMC and despite their story coming together quite quickly, you could suspend disbelief and imagine the two of them falling in love.

The plot was just fine for me. Some of the twists were fairly obvious to me, some not so much. The pacing was pretty solid all the way through though the ending felt a little rushed.

Overall, this was an entertaining read though it isn't going to leave a long impression.

This was a bit of a wild card read for me as one of my 12 recommendations from 12 friends. It's definitely not the kind of book I would normally listen to, but it was fun to try it out.

Firstly, the audible dual narration on this is really excellent. They work really well together and, as someone who could completely disregard a good story if I can't gel with the narrator, that was a huge tick for me.

I've never read any dark romance before so I have nothing to compare this to but for me, this story was just fine. The spice was spicing. I found Aly kind of annoying but Josh was cute enough.

But. The whole 'dark' element felt kind of forced to me - the premise of the masked man, mysterious identity was over super fast. And therein it lost its main thrust (pun intended). The whole idea of fear and lust was overworked - Josh was quite clearly a cinnamon roll who just liked it a bit rough. The idea that Aly would continue to be afraid of him just didn't wash for me. 

The plot was pretty non-existent and I thought it was going to go a different way, putting Aly in more danger than she was ever actually in during this.

But, it was fine. There were some laugh out loud bits, the banter was good in some places. It's not really convinced me that dark romance is a genre I'll come back to, but at least I gave it a go!

The Unexpected is a novel that explores unconventional family structures. Kessie and Robin have been friends since they were kids and in their 30s have both been hit by the baby making bug. How to achieve the dream of motherhood without the traditional tools required?

The themes of this book were really interesting. Learning about different anthropological parenting structures across the world was fascinating. And I appreciate the effort to fictionalise this and apply it to a real (imagined) lived experience. 

But. This book was just fine for me. Both the main characters were kind of annoying to me. They were both kind of irresponsible, didn't really think anything through. I also thought some of the subjects brought up were quite tokenistic and it was really strange that Brexit was shoe-horned in really awkwardly and for reasons I couldn't quite grasp. Same for the US election.

But the main theme was interesting so maybe I should just read a non-fiction about global parenting structures.

I'm not marking it lower than a 3, most of my issues with this book is that it's not a book I would usually bother to read - it was a book club read - it's not the kind of fiction that really interests me.

There was lots I really enjoyed about this first installment. The expanse is exciting - it feels like this one is set building for a huge epic story. I really find it quite satisfying to be bombarded with lots of characters and places early on and slowly figuring out how they all connect and plotting where they are on a map. There were some great characters introduced in this one.

I found the prose quite clunky; speech was sometimes quite stilted. The fighting/battle scenes were really well described though and I found them easy to visualise which isn't something I can normally do.

I found the magic a little wishy-washy and too convenient at times - it didn't always feel like the magic has a fully thought out system and that it is used too often as a plot device.

All in all though, I lapped this up - the plotting was fast and fun, the short chapters and switching POVS kept me highly engaged for the whole thing. I'm really looking forward to getting on with number 2 and seeing how Philip's writing skills improve. There's a great story to be told here.