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becksus's reviews
488 reviews

The Irresistible Urge to Fall For Your Enemy by Brigitte Knightley

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

You can tell when someone has had fun writing something and this gives that vibe! I truly laughed out loud at some of the witticisms between A and O. 

We jump right into the story without being inundated with exposition, which I greatly appreciated. The powers and mythology at play is intriguing and a combination of norse/gaelic as far as I can tell, and feels fresh. 

The story itself moves forward with purpose, and the focus slowly moves from our central problem into our central relationship. I was sad when this ended so soon! 

Definitely recommend for those who enjoy Lemming or Hazelwood or Kingfisher, as this has similar style and/or character building. 

Huge thanks to NetGalley for the ARC, I devoured this in a few hours.
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Costumes for Time Travelers by A.R. Capetta

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adventurous inspiring mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

A cute, if a bit underdeveloped, combination of coming-of-age, time travel and love! This story would have benefited from a bit more length and development, as the central love story between Fawkes and Calisto felt rushed and the final ending even more so. I would have liked the duo to have traveled a bit more or gotten to know each other better, or even for us to get a bit more insight into the relationship between Gillian and Korsika and Kellan. 

I liked the sewing-related motif and the concepts of time-travel and Pocket and all, but it felt a bit jumbled. More time in Pocket would have allowed a greater emotional payoff when it was under fire.

I struggled at first to get into the story, which was in part due to the main character going by they/them pronouns which confused the cast for me in the exposition stage. That is a me-problem and not the author's fault, obviously! All in all I would say this was a cute YA story, but felt rushed. Some great lines sprinkled within though, one of my favorites being "I'm new to having a nonlinear relationship".

Thanks again to NetGalley, who allowed me to read this via an advance copy. 
A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett

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adventurous challenging mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Thank youuuuuu RJB for this book! Many of the questions I had after reading Tainted Cup were answered, especially in relation to how titan's blood actually functions to help make grafts and other useful things in this universe. We also got some more info on Ana and what she is...I truly love this universe and how it is centered around using plants for nigh everything. Certain scenes with the "kani" reminded me of Annihilation with how creepy it was! 

I love how Ana and Din's relationship is developing, with Ana being almost a big sister to him (albeit a very mysterious one). This book had more humor than the previous one, which I appreciated too. I am glad we still got lots of Din going around doing Ana's "dirty work", because writing about a genius who can just deduce everything isn't interesting on it's own. I look forward to the next instalment in this universe!

The epilogue felt a bit on the nose regarding Ana, but I understand that not all readers will have felt that the hints throughout the story were enough. 

I feel very privileged to have been able to read this in advance, thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy! 
Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb

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adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.75

God, more than half of this book is so miserable it rivals the start of The Way of Kings...I am attached to Fitz and his world and it pained me to see it go as it did. I will have to read the third book to gain some closure, I know now. 
The Magpie Lord by KJ Charles

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Solid, if a little short! It is truly hard to find interesting and well written romantasy, I am glad KJ Charles delivers! 
Yield Under Great Persuasion by Alexandra Rowland

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challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This was cute! I like that it felt like a period piece but without any typical homophobia! This definitely had no other plot besides the romance, which made it shorter. I am going to check out this author though, rly liked the writing style 
Paladin's Grace by T. Kingfisher

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adventurous emotional funny inspiring mysterious medium-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

4.5

I love Stephen the knitting paladin! This was cute and funny (esp. scenes with fellow paladins) and there truly is nothing more stressfil than a trial 
For Whom The Belle Tolls by Jaysea Lynn

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Did not finish book.
This reads like a self-insert fanfic with way too much description of everything around her (legit pages of her Paradise home- I have just met this character, I find no enjoyment in seeing her get a Pinterest house). Our FMC (beautiful and sarcastic yet we are meant to believe she never had luck in love) starts helping demons with shitty customers in Hell. I could only get through two of these scenes before DNFing, bad people being judged I get, but we only just met them and so the emotional payoff for seeing them get told off is close to none. I just couldn't go through more of this no matter how good the spice would be...

Reading these 5-star reviews I get a feeling the success is due to a large TikTok following, 'cause going into this never having seen these skits this does not impress.
A Strange and Stubborn Endurance by Foz Meadows

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

I tend to avoid books with any rape in them, it is usually a cheap trope thrown in to traumatize a character or show someone's evil, and is rarely handled properly in fantasy. This book surprised me, in how nuanced it was about Velasin's feelings and his recovery. His guilt, his grief, everything around it. Yes, this is very much a hurt/comfort romance, but it is also very much a story of healing and building trust. Throw in some court mystery and gay pining: Voila! I enjoyed the novelty of new terms like metem, tiern etc., and hope to read more books in this universe.
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Paladin's Faith by T. Kingfisher

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adventurous reflective medium-paced
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This was quite long, and felt a bit dragging at times, but I appreciate what it did for furthering the Paladin lore (and Shane and Marguerite were cute but not as cute as Galen and Piper)