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blewballoon's reviews
699 reviews
The Dagger and the Flame by Catherine Doyle
Did not finish book. Stopped at 67%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 67%.
I was really trying to push through this one because it's not actually that bad, but more and more my internal thoughts as I was reading were just: "this is so tedious."
I don't think it's just that it's a generic YA-feeling enemies to lovers book because although I generally dislike those, I went into this one with a pretty open mind. The cloak and dagger setup and the magic shade didn't feel particularly original, but that's not something that I need in order to enjoy a book. I need characters that I'm invested in and can understand, and in this book I think the characters are all a little too thin.
The side characters are entirely interchangeable and kind of irrelevant. The leads are both a little frustrating to follow with their lack of insight. I was particularly annoyed whenRansom's internal monologue was like "you drew first blood, now it's war" or whatever when he had been stalking this girl since her mother was killed and her house burned down and he was actively in the process of killing her, literally halfway through it, when she stabbed him to escape. You started this, buddy, not her. She had every right to stab you. The transition from enemies to oggling each other (banter is not enough to make a romance!) was not convincing for me.
There's one reveal I've been waiting for (I'm 99% sure I'm right) and I considered trying to read more to get to that point, but I've already sunk about 9 hours into this audiobook and I don't want to spend any more time on it.
Audiobook narrators are both good, but the male narrator is better and the female narrator's male voice is not great.
I don't think it's just that it's a generic YA-feeling enemies to lovers book because although I generally dislike those, I went into this one with a pretty open mind. The cloak and dagger setup and the magic shade didn't feel particularly original, but that's not something that I need in order to enjoy a book. I need characters that I'm invested in and can understand, and in this book I think the characters are all a little too thin.
The side characters are entirely interchangeable and kind of irrelevant. The leads are both a little frustrating to follow with their lack of insight. I was particularly annoyed when
There's one reveal I've been waiting for (I'm 99% sure I'm right) and I considered trying to read more to get to that point, but I've already sunk about 9 hours into this audiobook and I don't want to spend any more time on it.
Audiobook narrators are both good, but the male narrator is better and the female narrator's male voice is not great.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, and Alcohol
The Library of the Unwritten by A.J. Hackwith
Did not finish book. Stopped at 15%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 15%.
An interesting concept, but nothing about the actual writing captured my attention. The characters felt one-note and exposition slowed the book down considerably.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death
Foul Days by Genoveva Dimova
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I was expecting something grim and dark, and this book is those things, but it's also surprisingly funny? Kosara's perspective is lively and sarcastic, which brings a lot of light to what could have been a very dreary setting. The audiobook narrator also brought a lot of personality to the text and handled all the complex pronunciations flawlessly. I thought the monsters and the world building were cool; I really liked all the tidbits about how to deal with the different monster types and little self-aware almost meta comments that Kosara would make about the folklore of the universe. I liked the side characters, although apart from the detective you don't get to see too much of anyone, and there's lots of room to use them more in future books in this series. I definitely plan on continuing, this is one of the better fantasy series I've started in a while.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
Minor: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Classism
Weak Heart by Ban Gilmartin
dark
emotional
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I probably would have rated this 4 stars or more if I had liked the characters and their dynamics a bit better. The writing itself flowed well, the setting felt like a part of the story, the supernatural stuff was cool, and the mystery had an interesting twist and resolution.
Isla in particular got on my nerves and I found her behavior and perspective a bit frustrating. I think I suffer sometimes from "first POV wins" where I tend to latch onto the first POV character I follow and then if I get a contrasting perspective it throws me off, which is why I usually don't enjoy the unreliable narrator trope. In this case the book starts in Thomas's perspective and I found him pretty sympathetic throughout, but when we get Isla's perspective she's mostly annoyed and disappointed in him all the time. From the text, I get the sense that the author thought very highly of her, but I think her positive attributes were told a lot more than shown. Spoiler nitpick that illustrates my point:Thomas is the one who actually finds Kit and gets him out by himself despite the harrowing and difficult circumstances, and yet everyone says Isla is the one who really found him? The insta-love between Isla and Tanis didn't work for me, again due to feeling too much like tell vs show in terms of how awesome and great they both were. Unfortunately, my dislike of Isla dragged the whole book down for me to the point I didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to.
Isla in particular got on my nerves and I found her behavior and perspective a bit frustrating. I think I suffer sometimes from "first POV wins" where I tend to latch onto the first POV character I follow and then if I get a contrasting perspective it throws me off, which is why I usually don't enjoy the unreliable narrator trope. In this case the book starts in Thomas's perspective and I found him pretty sympathetic throughout, but when we get Isla's perspective she's mostly annoyed and disappointed in him all the time. From the text, I get the sense that the author thought very highly of her, but I think her positive attributes were told a lot more than shown. Spoiler nitpick that illustrates my point:
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, and Vomit
Minor: Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
Earl Crush by Alexandra Vasti
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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
5.0
Another slam dunk by Alexandra Vasti. I adored the two leads and their relationship. I enjoyed and appreciated the dynamic side characters. I was in suspense for the mystery and surprised by the reveals. The spicy scenes were 🥵. The writing was beautiful. The audiobook narrator pulled off a pretty good male voice, in my opinion. I Highly recommend this series to anyone who likes historical romances, and I'm very eager for the next books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Gun violence and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and War
How to Get a Life in Ten Dates by Jenny L. Howe
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-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
4.0
I didn't like this one quite as much as On the Plus Side, despite how much I appreciate friends-to-lovers in general. I don't think I was as charmed by Haleigh and Jack, and something felt different about the prose. I'm not sure if it was the same audiobook narrator, maybe a different narrator would explain why the wording felt less smooth.
I did still enjoy the book, though. The opening of the "rules for staying friends after hooking up" was a good narrative framework that leaves a whole bunch of information gaps to entice the audience into wanting to know what's behind some of those rules. The gradually breaking or bending rules as the story went on was nicely done. I appreciated the anxiety and bisexual representation with Haleigh and the more diverse body types for everyone, including Jack. More books about guys with round bellies please! (Also looking for more books with short kings!) I think this was a very well done instance of a love triangle and a good reminder of the reality that there are probably multiple people out there who would work well together, but it's ultimately a matter of choice.
I did still enjoy the book, though. The opening of the "rules for staying friends after hooking up" was a good narrative framework that leaves a whole bunch of information gaps to entice the audience into wanting to know what's behind some of those rules. The gradually breaking or bending rules as the story went on was nicely done. I appreciated the anxiety and bisexual representation with Haleigh and the more diverse body types for everyone, including Jack. More books about guys with round bellies please! (Also looking for more books with short kings!) I think this was a very well done instance of a love triangle and a good reminder of the reality that there are probably multiple people out there who would work well together, but it's ultimately a matter of choice.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content
Minor: Death, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Sexism, and Alcohol
The Suffering by Rin Chupeco
adventurous
dark
sad
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
4.0
At first I didn't like this as much as The Girl from the Well because I thought the highlight of that book was being in the perspective of the ghost/spirit, and in this book we're locked into Tark the human teenager's perspective instead. I am, however, always hungry for monster/human loving relationships and I really enjoyed the friendship and devotion between Tark and Okiku. I long for more supernatural stories with relationships like theirs. The plotting also felt a bit more consistent than the previous book, without as many diversions from the main threads of the story.
The audiobook narrator did well, he was able to mimic the little sanity slips in a way that felt consistent with the previous audiobook that had a female narrator.
The audiobook narrator did well, he was able to mimic the little sanity slips in a way that felt consistent with the previous audiobook that had a female narrator.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, and Murder
Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Suicide, and Blood
Minor: Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Torture
The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I'm a big fan of ghost stories and stories from the POV of "monsters," so those elements worked really well for me. This is quite dark, though, and the pacing/plotting is a bit strange and erratic. In some ways it almost felt like a series of short stories (or short horror movies) connected by the same POV character, with diversions from the main plot that never seemed to make it back around to being relevant.
I think the narrator did a great job maintaining a narrative voice for Okiku, particularly the sections where the ghost's thoughts are more chaotic/intrusive.
I think the narrator did a great job maintaining a narrative voice for Okiku, particularly the sections where the ghost's thoughts are more chaotic/intrusive.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, and Torture
The Missing Page by Cat Sebastian
mysterious
tense
slow-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
4.5
I think I enjoyed this even more than Hither, Page? I hadn't realized how fond I was of James and Leo and how much I wanted more of their story. The familiar characters and old family mystery were exactly what I was in the mood to read. It was intriguing to meet the new cast of characters and speculate on all of the unraveling family secrets, but the deepening romance between the leads was the highlight for me. I would happily take a whole series of these two solving mysteries together.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Ableism, Homophobia, Mental illness, Suicide, and Medical trauma
Minor: Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Transphobia, Pregnancy, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells
funny
informative
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I can't seem to stop comparing all of the classics I read to Dracula. Much like Dracula, I feel like this book had to at least partially be intended as a comedy. There are running gags. The character names are hilarious. Several of the action sequences read like slapstick. If you read it like a dark comedy such as Little Shop of Horrors, it's quite enjoyable. If you try to read this straight, I'm not so sure it would be. The characters are quite flat and the dialogue is unnatural. The action sequences, as I said, are more zany than thrilling. The horrific descriptions are melodramatic rather than eerie. If you do intend to read it, I highly recommend the audiobook narrated by Kevin Theis. They put a lot of spirit and accents into the story, and the version I listened to had fun music and sound effects that were tastefully done.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body horror, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, Antisemitism, and Death of parent