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themoonwholistens's Reviews (698)
my favorite part about this book was the concept
DNF @43%
this maybe would’ve been cute if he didn’t have a girlfriend for 30% of the book… which is the majority of the part i read before deciding to drop it. i enjoyed The Switch by Beth O’Leary a lot more.
i didnt like the way this was written and i kinda hated how the writing format was different based on the dual perspectives (especially with the name-semicolons rather than quotation marks). the fatphobic comments bothered me and i didn’t like how it was off-handedly dealt with at the beginning. there were certain conversations that felt off. i find the flatshare concept cute but not when the guy is currently dating someone else and the girl constantly mentions her ex every other page or what felt like every other page
this dragged on for so long that i read it too fast because the only times i read at a fast rate is if i absolutely love it or im really not enjoying it. the conflict took too long to get there and i was left behind on the way. dare i say it, i'm actually getting tired of all the hp references especially in books published around the same time as this.
this is for when you just want a light romance to pass the time that doesn’t go too deep into real life
— 1.5 —
⇢ content warnings// Cheating, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual abuse
DNF @43%
this maybe would’ve been cute if he didn’t have a girlfriend for 30% of the book… which is the majority of the part i read before deciding to drop it. i enjoyed The Switch by Beth O’Leary a lot more.
i didnt like the way this was written and i kinda hated how the writing format was different based on the dual perspectives (especially with the name-semicolons rather than quotation marks). the fatphobic comments bothered me and i didn’t like how it was off-handedly dealt with at the beginning. there were certain conversations that felt off. i find the flatshare concept cute but not when the guy is currently dating someone else and the girl constantly mentions her ex every other page or what felt like every other page
this dragged on for so long that i read it too fast because the only times i read at a fast rate is if i absolutely love it or im really not enjoying it. the conflict took too long to get there and i was left behind on the way. dare i say it, i'm actually getting tired of all the hp references especially in books published around the same time as this.
this is for when you just want a light romance to pass the time that doesn’t go too deep into real life
— 1.5 —
⇢ content warnings// Cheating, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual abuse
It was a very fresh take on relationships in general and I greatly appreciated that.
The characters were so far from what I thought they would be like and while it left me wanting something more, it was endearing to see where this part of their lives were heading. It's about realistic love, acceptance, understanding that the person you love probably isn't perfect but you aren't either, the things we say (or rather don't say) to the people we love, and really at the end of the day: life.
— overall thoughts: 3.5 —
I really liked this because it followed a different plot than the usual contemporary romance and overall had a more melancholy tone. Which isn't my usual preference with contemporaries as enjoy more romcom types but I'm glad that I enjoyed this.
It's heart warming when it wants to be and discusses head on topics that I don't usually come across.
For the most part our two main characters actually take on separate journeys within the story which was surprising... but it worked! The times when the timeline went back and forth was flawlessly done. The transitions made sense and I loved what the Bryan Washington went with in terms of the flow. Unfortunately, I can't say the same with his narration as he does narrate one of the main characters. It was so monotone and even though I was curious about what was happening, their narration just affected the storytelling aspect. The first half was the most intriguing part to me because of Benson and Mike's mom so it saddened me how uninspired I was to continue at some points just because I was not enjoying the narration.
The relationship between the main characters feel entirely realistic and mature. Again, the way everything was handled felt like this story could have actually happened to some japanese and african-american guy somewhere in the world. Especially Mike's mom, ohmygoodness. She was so well written and her relationship with Benson made my heart swell. There were some decisions that I personally did not agree with and could not relate in terms of Benson and Mike's relationship but that's on me.
It did not end the way I expected it to because the story itself was not what I thought it would be (that doesn't mean it was a bad thing) but it was still fulfilling like everything came full circle.
↣ I would say that there is a slow build up in terms of plot and there is not that much heavy drama. If you like those kinds of stories, then you might like this. Perhaps try not doing the audiobook though. ↢
----------------
PRE READ:
the lows and highs of a romance featuring a mm japanese american chef and black man who works at a daycare... hello
The characters were so far from what I thought they would be like and while it left me wanting something more, it was endearing to see where this part of their lives were heading. It's about realistic love, acceptance, understanding that the person you love probably isn't perfect but you aren't either, the things we say (or rather don't say) to the people we love, and really at the end of the day: life.
“We take our memories wherever we go and what’s left are the ones that stick around. That’s how we make a life.”
— overall thoughts: 3.5 —
I really liked this because it followed a different plot than the usual contemporary romance and overall had a more melancholy tone. Which isn't my usual preference with contemporaries as enjoy more romcom types but I'm glad that I enjoyed this.
It's heart warming when it wants to be and discusses head on topics that I don't usually come across.
For the most part our two main characters actually take on separate journeys within the story which was surprising... but it worked! The times when the timeline went back and forth was flawlessly done. The transitions made sense and I loved what the Bryan Washington went with in terms of the flow. Unfortunately, I can't say the same with his narration as he does narrate one of the main characters. It was so monotone and even though I was curious about what was happening, their narration just affected the storytelling aspect. The first half was the most intriguing part to me because of Benson and Mike's mom so it saddened me how uninspired I was to continue at some points just because I was not enjoying the narration.
The relationship between the main characters feel entirely realistic and mature. Again, the way everything was handled felt like this story could have actually happened to some japanese and african-american guy somewhere in the world. Especially Mike's mom, ohmygoodness. She was so well written and her relationship with Benson made my heart swell. There were some decisions that I personally did not agree with and could not relate in terms of Benson and Mike's relationship but that's on me.
It did not end the way I expected it to because the story itself was not what I thought it would be (that doesn't mean it was a bad thing) but it was still fulfilling like everything came full circle.
↣ I would say that there is a slow build up in terms of plot and there is not that much heavy drama. If you like those kinds of stories, then you might like this. Perhaps try not doing the audiobook though. ↢
“Loving a person means letting them change when they need to and letting them go when they need to. And that doesn’t make them any less of a home. Just maybe not for you, or only for a season or two. That doesn’t diminish the love, it just changes forms."
----------------
PRE READ:
the lows and highs of a romance featuring a mm japanese american chef and black man who works at a daycare... hello
— overall thoughts: DNF @40% —
This isn’t the book’s fault, I just think I’ve reached my tolerance for contemporaries for the next few weeks… or months, who knows. With that said, this book actually had supernatural elements to it, inspired by the Salem witch trials. I feel like if you enjoy those speculative fiction kind of stories, you'll probably enjoy this. Especially if you enjoy books that are centered around camaraderie and discussions on social constructs. And perhaps if you just like reading about girls getting together for hockey and friendships. I just accepted that I am in a more SFF mood.
This is essentially about a hockey team and I would say that they discovered the secret to winning... but it isn't exactly natural. It's weird and intriguing, I feel like I'd be in the mood for this in October. It's set in the 80s which WAS SO FUN! I think Quan Barry was able to bring the mood of that era into her writing style.
I love that the girls on the team were both diverse and distinct in their own ways. It honestly made me smile and appealed to my personal sense of humor so it wasn't a bad experience at all. Discussions on disparities between people of color in a white majority were present. The pacing was amazing because there was always something going on in the plot. This reminds me of [b:Beartown|33413128|Beartown (Beartown, #1)|Fredrik Backman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1482108618l/33413128._SY75_.jpg|54171514] but add weirdness to it (in a good way).
If Quan Barry ever comes out with a fantasy, I would be happy to try it out in the future because the idea for this novel was so intriguing. Again, it was the plot that I had a hard time getting into because I am naturally a Fantasy person at heart.
↣ For the part that I read, it was mainly light and not too heavy to read. It's just not the kind of story I'm currently looking for which is not the book's fault. I'd still recommend this if you enjoy speculative fiction weirdness with a group of female characters and friendships that you can root for. ↢
This isn’t the book’s fault, I just think I’ve reached my tolerance for contemporaries for the next few weeks… or months, who knows. With that said, this book actually had supernatural elements to it, inspired by the Salem witch trials. I feel like if you enjoy those speculative fiction kind of stories, you'll probably enjoy this. Especially if you enjoy books that are centered around camaraderie and discussions on social constructs. And perhaps if you just like reading about girls getting together for hockey and friendships. I just accepted that I am in a more SFF mood.
This is essentially about a hockey team and I would say that they discovered the secret to winning... but it isn't exactly natural. It's weird and intriguing, I feel like I'd be in the mood for this in October. It's set in the 80s which WAS SO FUN! I think Quan Barry was able to bring the mood of that era into her writing style.
I love that the girls on the team were both diverse and distinct in their own ways. It honestly made me smile and appealed to my personal sense of humor so it wasn't a bad experience at all. Discussions on disparities between people of color in a white majority were present. The pacing was amazing because there was always something going on in the plot. This reminds me of [b:Beartown|33413128|Beartown (Beartown, #1)|Fredrik Backman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1482108618l/33413128._SY75_.jpg|54171514] but add weirdness to it (in a good way).
If Quan Barry ever comes out with a fantasy, I would be happy to try it out in the future because the idea for this novel was so intriguing. Again, it was the plot that I had a hard time getting into because I am naturally a Fantasy person at heart.
“Sometimes, good leaders follow.”
↣ For the part that I read, it was mainly light and not too heavy to read. It's just not the kind of story I'm currently looking for which is not the book's fault. I'd still recommend this if you enjoy speculative fiction weirdness with a group of female characters and friendships that you can root for. ↢
maybe I'm just tired. I wasn't going to add this book on Goodreads but I have thoughts™️. The plot was so draggy and I am bothered.
— overall thoughts: 1.5 —
I am just going to put it out there that I did not read the first book in this series because I made a mistake thinking that this was the first book in the trilogy, having already agreed to review this book. I found it weird that the title “Brink of Life" is the second book in a series called “Brink of Life Trilogy” but that is neither here nor there. I do want to make it clear that I did not have any prior knowledge of the world.
It didn’t sit right with me that 15 minutes into the audiobook and a brown skinned woman was described as “exotic”, I can already tell that this was written by a man. I have never read a female author write ”smooth, pristine, pink skin” to describe a woman's body like what was done multiple times here. I understand how it plays into the plot but that set a bad tone for me for the rest of my reading experience.
I feel like the author didn't mean for what they wrote to be taken in the wrong way (hopefully) but I don't think that it was the best execution either. There were a lot of lines that I wish were given more than a second thought because as a woman and a person of color, this felt very prejudiced.
"asian looking except for his blue eyes”
This is written with the preconceived notion that all asians look the same. As an asian person, I can assure you that we don't. There are so many different skin tones, eye shapes, etc. across the whole Asian continent and this sounded like an extremely Western perspective. It unnerved me even more because the author was writing about people of color. The book could have benefitted a lot from some sensitivity reading.
With that said, the book has merits for the attempt at diversifying their characters' appearances but the way it was executed was off-putting.
“this man was about to own her, he already owned her”
I am just going to let you decide what that sounds like to you. Taken out of context, you might say that there might be more to the conversation... and there is but there are so many ways to write out the scene without saying like this man "owned" her., in my opinion.
I do admit that the Science Fiction aspect was interesting and you’re left piecing together what was happening with the main character. It's violent and full of assassins, with a focus on mystery. Unfortunately, I could see the “plot twist” coming from a mile away so it did not surprise me. I felt like it was fairly obvious with the cover of the book and what was happening but it took so long for the plot to get there. I was willing to look past that if i was enjoying but there was so much “telling” in the writing rather than "showing". I understand how it works into the story but I just found it infuriating to read about and lazy. I did not agree with the writing style. There was more explanation later on but it just felt like an info dump. The whole background of the world building was literally explained by one character to another character in a single scene.
* “she recruited her into the agency and became her mentor”
* “they became lovers”
* “love nest”
* “used her extraordinary agility”
Additionally, I found it so weird that this random woman that she met, rushed in to save her life and offered to teach her how to do.. martial arts? self defense? with no explanation why. It was just said that that’s what happened. She never questioned anything and it did not sound believable to me for someone who is supposedly a professional at this organization.
There was an F/F romance present but it did not feel well-researched. The narrator of the audiobook sounded robotic for the most part, especially towards the end. Though, I think the actual narration was done well and the speed was just right for casual listeners.
It is a mysterious and action packed book but I do wish that certain choices in the writing were given more thought.
*I received a copy of this book from Audiobookworm Reviews in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*
— overall thoughts: 1.5 —
I am just going to put it out there that I did not read the first book in this series because I made a mistake thinking that this was the first book in the trilogy, having already agreed to review this book. I found it weird that the title “Brink of Life" is the second book in a series called “Brink of Life Trilogy” but that is neither here nor there. I do want to make it clear that I did not have any prior knowledge of the world.
It didn’t sit right with me that 15 minutes into the audiobook and a brown skinned woman was described as “exotic”, I can already tell that this was written by a man. I have never read a female author write ”smooth, pristine, pink skin” to describe a woman's body like what was done multiple times here. I understand how it plays into the plot but that set a bad tone for me for the rest of my reading experience.
I feel like the author didn't mean for what they wrote to be taken in the wrong way (hopefully) but I don't think that it was the best execution either. There were a lot of lines that I wish were given more than a second thought because as a woman and a person of color, this felt very prejudiced.
"asian looking except for his blue eyes”
This is written with the preconceived notion that all asians look the same. As an asian person, I can assure you that we don't. There are so many different skin tones, eye shapes, etc. across the whole Asian continent and this sounded like an extremely Western perspective. It unnerved me even more because the author was writing about people of color. The book could have benefitted a lot from some sensitivity reading.
With that said, the book has merits for the attempt at diversifying their characters' appearances but the way it was executed was off-putting.
“this man was about to own her, he already owned her”
I am just going to let you decide what that sounds like to you. Taken out of context, you might say that there might be more to the conversation... and there is but there are so many ways to write out the scene without saying like this man "owned" her., in my opinion.
I do admit that the Science Fiction aspect was interesting and you’re left piecing together what was happening with the main character. It's violent and full of assassins, with a focus on mystery. Unfortunately, I could see the “plot twist” coming from a mile away so it did not surprise me. I felt like it was fairly obvious with the cover of the book and what was happening but it took so long for the plot to get there. I was willing to look past that if i was enjoying but there was so much “telling” in the writing rather than "showing". I understand how it works into the story but I just found it infuriating to read about and lazy. I did not agree with the writing style. There was more explanation later on but it just felt like an info dump. The whole background of the world building was literally explained by one character to another character in a single scene.
* “she recruited her into the agency and became her mentor”
* “they became lovers”
* “love nest”
* “used her extraordinary agility”
Additionally, I found it so weird that this random woman that she met, rushed in to save her life and offered to teach her how to do.. martial arts? self defense? with no explanation why. It was just said that that’s what happened. She never questioned anything and it did not sound believable to me for someone who is supposedly a professional at this organization.
There was an F/F romance present but it did not feel well-researched. The narrator of the audiobook sounded robotic for the most part, especially towards the end. Though, I think the actual narration was done well and the speed was just right for casual listeners.
It is a mysterious and action packed book but I do wish that certain choices in the writing were given more thought.
*I received a copy of this book from Audiobookworm Reviews in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*
“I will listen to those who have been ignored.”
Highly recommend that you read this in between Words of Radiance and Oathbringer.
I love Lift so much and this novella gave me time to process the world-building and how everything in the main series fits together, better. It was actually really interesting seeing the Stormlight world from Lift’s perspective. Brando Sando said himself that this was more like a side story to fix consistency issues before reading Oathbringer and this was basically that. It felt like we were stepping back for a minute and digesting all the madness that happened in the past 2 books :)
— 4.5 —
⇢ content warnings// body horror, death of a parent, Fatphobia (unchallenged), violence
FORMAT READ: eBook (Adobe Digital Editions)
SIMILAR VIBES: The Thousandth Floor (if it were NA and without the sci fi part), The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
READ FOR: high class 1930s society vibe
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*All of my reviews are as spoiler-free as possible unless states otherwise*
OVERALL: 3.0
I really liked the setting and overall vibe of the book. But I was not engaged and interested enough in the story.
I don’t think this was the book but me as the plot was not something that I could particularly relate to. Nevertheless, the characters were interesting to get to know and I was curious to see what would happen to them in the duration of the story.
This feels like one of those classic historical fiction stories.
There’s not much else to say but I would recommend this book to those who enjoy reading historical fiction and would want that classic historical feel with an added touch of class.
PLOT: ★★★☆☆
WRITING STYLE: ★★★★☆
CHARACTERS: ★★★★☆
THEMES: ★★★★☆
PACING: ★★★☆☆
PAGE TURNER: ★★★★☆
⇒BOOK DEPOSITORY⇐
Thanks to St. Martin's Press and Nicola Harrison for the ARC to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
SIMILAR VIBES: The Thousandth Floor (if it were NA and without the sci fi part), The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
READ FOR: high class 1930s society vibe
⟹ MY BLOG ⟸
⟹ SUPPORT ME ON KO-FI ⟸
*All of my reviews are as spoiler-free as possible unless states otherwise*
OVERALL: 3.0
I really liked the setting and overall vibe of the book. But I was not engaged and interested enough in the story.
I don’t think this was the book but me as the plot was not something that I could particularly relate to. Nevertheless, the characters were interesting to get to know and I was curious to see what would happen to them in the duration of the story.
This feels like one of those classic historical fiction stories.
There’s not much else to say but I would recommend this book to those who enjoy reading historical fiction and would want that classic historical feel with an added touch of class.
PLOT: ★★★☆☆
WRITING STYLE: ★★★★☆
CHARACTERS: ★★★★☆
THEMES: ★★★★☆
PACING: ★★★☆☆
PAGE TURNER: ★★★★☆
⇒BOOK DEPOSITORY⇐
Thanks to St. Martin's Press and Nicola Harrison for the ARC to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Give credit where credit is due. aka book that inspired my blog, username, and all this. I was a very impressionable 15 year old.
[REVIEW NOT FOUND] Another cringey review.
You are either trash for Rhysand or you hate this series. There's no in between.
[REVIEW NOT FOUND] Another cringey review.
You are either trash for Rhysand or you hate this series. There's no in between.
“To the people who look at the stars and wish, Rhys." Rhys clinked his glass against mine. “To the stars who listen— and the dreams that are answered.”
“When my mind wanders, it is always to you.”
Spent Identity is surely exactly everything that it is marketed as: romantic and suspenseful.
I should mention that I haven’t read the first book in this series but this book can stand on it’s own in my opinion. If you are interested in reading Spent Identity and are wondering if the first book needs to be read before getting into this one: I completely understood everything that was happening, you’ll be fine.
— overall thoughts: 3.5 —
First of all,
Spoiler
that dead guy in the barn in the very first chapterI have honestly not read that much adult mystery but I seriously enjoyed the atmosphere of this book a lot more than I thought I would. It’s safe to say that it reached my expectations of a romantic murder mystery. The writing style is not overly flowery, the actions scenes were fantastic in my opinion, and I just really loved following Alec and Annalise.
Other than that, the suspense is definitely there and the mystery was my favorite aspect. The overall intense and dark atmosphere played a big role in my enjoyment.
Alec and Annalise’s dynamic was so easy to flow with, especially given that I did not have the the emotional connections to them as people who have read the first book did. Aside from the significant lack of diversity I have to say that it may be slightly cliché but still definitely romantic. Anyhow, there was far from a shortage of characters to be attached to even if you are not sold on the romance.
I do not have much of a say in terms of character development from the first book since I did not read it prior to reading Spent Identity but here the characters remained mainly consistent. With that said, it’s safe to say that this is more of a plot-driven book and I would recommend this to you if you enjoy the romantic mystery vibe.
Unfortunately, the plot felt like it was dragging in too many parts for me personally and that was the main reason that I was not able to give it the full 5 stars. It is slow paced so I get that was for the suspense aspect. Spent Identity follows a one track plot for the most part but it was not a bug letdown, just a personal preference. At the same time, I liked that it was easy to listen to and the plot was not overly complex.
I would recommend this to anyone into romantic murder mysteries, you’ll get what you are looking for.
— I received this audiobook at no-cost from Audiobook Empire. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it. —
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“One does evil enough when one does nothing good.”
I have to say that you should definitely be prepared for a somewhat heavy historical fiction before going in. Just like you would expect from a WW2 novel set in Nazi Germany, it showed the hardships that people experienced as well as the precious few moments that were a result of appreciating the precious seconds that were rare and kind of far between during those times.
This was in general just a heartfelt, and long, journey. I have seen people comparing it to The Nightingale andIi have to say that I see where they are coming from.
— overall thoughts: 4.0 —
Listening to stories from the point of different jewish people that had different takes on what was happening was interesting to read as When We Were Brave is comprised of mainly 3 stories. The characters in the first 2 two stories were engaging and were easy to get attached to but, to be honest, it started to lose my interest at some parts towards the end.
However, the familial relationships made me fall in love so fast and were so well written (especially with the second story of the mother and the son trying to escape the Nazis). It was relatable for me personally and that was the story that really hooked me the most that I just had to drop everything and listen. If you aren’t a character driven person the plot of this is more than enough to keep you engrossed as it is quite intense and emotional.
The themes were absolutely amazing! Which is an aspect that I always expect to be strong with historical fiction novels and I am very happy to say that I was not let down.
It's heart breaking. It's inspiring. What more could you ask for? I absolutely loved the Karla M. Jay's writing style for the most part and the narrator did a great job of translating that into the audiobook. There weren't any fancy sound effects or music but that did not hinder my enjoyment at all. I actually thought the narration itself was entrancing which suited the story perfectly
All in all, I agree with everyone that this was an amazing historical WW2 fiction and there is no doubt that you are going to love this if the genre comes within your reading taste.
— I received this audiobook at no-cost from Audiobook Empire. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it. —
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“Kell would say it was impossible. What a useless word, in a world with magic.”
This is the second installment in the Darker Shade of Magic series and it is my favorite. The magic battle was probably the part that I enjoyed the most (hehe). But Alucard Emery in this book just made me fall in love with him. As well as the other characters in this story. The minor plot twist that was revealed here took me by surprise since I never imagined that would happen in a million years.
The characters here were written much better and all-in-all this section of the plot in the series was my favorite in the whole series. It really interested me so much and it was just so wonderfully written.
The Darker Shades series really is different, especially how V.E. Schwab put a twist to the magic world and I loved how unique it was. Definitely a great book for YA Fantasy readers who want something very unique.
This is the second installment in the Darker Shade of Magic series and it is my favorite. The magic battle was probably the part that I enjoyed the most (hehe). But Alucard Emery in this book just made me fall in love with him. As well as the other characters in this story. The minor plot twist that was revealed here took me by surprise since I never imagined that would happen in a million years.
The characters here were written much better and all-in-all this section of the plot in the series was my favorite in the whole series. It really interested me so much and it was just so wonderfully written.
The Darker Shades series really is different, especially how V.E. Schwab put a twist to the magic world and I loved how unique it was. Definitely a great book for YA Fantasy readers who want something very unique.