thecandlelightlibrary's Reviews (1.25k)

The Bone Season

Samantha Shannon

4.0

adventurous dark emotional 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

Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning

Liz Cheney

4.0

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

Last Gate of the Emperor

Kwame Mbalia, Prince Joel Makonnen

3.0

adventurous funny medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Miss Marple Au Club Du Mardi

Agatha Christie

3.0

medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: N/A

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

Puzzleheart

Jenn Reese

4.0

adventurous mysterious reflective fast-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

Road to Ruin

Hana Lee

3.0

adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This could have easily been a 5-star read. This story had such a promising world with characters I enjoyed and a plot that I was excited to see play out, at least at the beginning. Everything started to go downhill for me during Part 3 when the plot veered in a completely different direction. The initial conflict could have made an excellent story on its own and I felt the second conflict was just...unnecessary? That aside, I really disagreed with the unfairness of one of the character's fates and the polyamorous rep was hinted at rather than explored.

The ending, in particular, felt like a bait-and-switch and I really thought publishing had learned its lesson about how much readers hate that.