cameronreads's reviews
524 reviews

This was a fun volume, split into two interesting halves. I enjoyed watching All Might in his prime in the beginning, but the chase scene with Koichi vs pros was SO much fun. Watching him is so great, and I always love cameos from some of my favourite characters!

This book felt like someone aged me up ten years, gave me the power of time travel, and then wrote down every thought I had. This made it feel both incredibly relatable, raw, and realistic, but also at times like I was reading through a list of thoughts I could have had by myself and therefore not always the most enjoyable experience. I think this is partially because whilst it did have time travel elements, they were largely unexplained and just an addition to the main character’s life, leaving it still feeling like a contemporary which is very much not my thing (although obviously a me problem). The writing style was very casual, which made you feel connected to the main character and made it an easy read, but it wasn’t my favourite style, and also I think skewed the pacing sometimes. I would have liked to see a bit more of Cassie dealing with her diagnosis, as she spends the majority of this book unaware of her autism and only realised it near the end. I think coming to terms with it, especially after not having even considered it before, is a really important experience that was left out here. Still, I think this book has amazing autism representation, and you can really tell the author put her heart and soul into it. Cassie was an incredibly relatable and meaningful character to me, and watching her story arc and coming to terms with herself was very powerful. The story arc itself was great too, I loved how the relationships changed and developed

especially the sister relationship. I also love that things didn’t work out with Will - sometimes, as much as you try, you just aren’t compatible with someone, and that’s ok.

. I think I would definitely recommend this to anyone who likes contemporary a bit more than me.

The majority of this volume is backstory and flashback, with a heavy emphasis on cameos from the original series. I did think it was a lot of fun, and I LOVED seeing a young Mirko, I think she’s such a great character, but it did feel a little out of place. Cameos from the main villains of the original series make it feel like backstory for my hero itself, rather than vigilantes, and I missed Koichi here. Still, I’m excited to see how the rest of this flashback plays out and also what is going on in the current timeline!

This was such a unique and interesting commentary on evil and abuse. The conversations and themes in here are so important and done so well, and they way they are framed through the utopian setting and fantasy elements make the whole story so compelling and powerful. I loved the representation in here and the completely accepting world - Jam coming out to her parents as trans so young and them immediately accepting her had me sobbing in the best way. I also loved the disability rep and casual use of sign. The family dynamics, both blood and found, were amazing, and I could have done with even more of it. Pet was such an interesting character and I loved the conversations where he and Jam’s morals slightly diverged, they were so interesting. This book was compelling, powerful, and utterly necessary, and I would definitely recommend. 

I really liked this volume for the most part. I think the characters are really interesting and I love exploring their motivations and passions. I especially liked the ending, it feels like Yatora is really coming into his own!
I do have complex feelings about the queer rep. Yuka feels like a trans girl to me, but is labelled a drag queen in here and the other characters use he/him pronouns for them. I like a lot of what they say, but I hate how the other characters respond to it a lot of the time. I’m interesting to see how it develops and whether it becomes good rep or not (hopefully the former!) 

I think everything about this book was SO INTERESTING. The complex universe and characters Chambers created was so detailed and unique, I literally couldn’t get enough. I would read non-fiction books aplenty set in this universe. I want ten book series about every side character. I just think the whole thing was so well done. I loved every character and their development and relationships. I loved a lot of the conversations that were had, thing about what it meant to be a person and worthy. The story was compelling and wonderfully written.

The one thing stopping me from giving this five stars happened right at the end. Ohan is a character who comes from a society that allows themselves to be infected with a virus that, although shortens their lifespans, gives them great knowledge. They see themselves as ‘plural’ and feel blessed that the virus chose them.

When a ‘cure’ is found there is an ethical dilemma of whether Ohan should take it, saving their life but going against their culture and beliefs, and they way it was handled rubbed me the wrong way. They completely refuse to take it, but one of the other characters goes against their wishes and forces them to, and there are no narrative consequences for this. It just feels like appraising taking away a disabled and religious minority’s free will, and I wasn’t a fan. There were characters who were against it, and argued that they should respect Ohan’s wishes and yelled at the character who didn’t, but the end result made it feel like the reader was supposed to be happy about the decision.

Still, this was a small conversation right at the end, and it was still left somewhat ambiguous, so it didn’t taint my overall enjoyment of the book too much. The sequel is ready to read.

I LOVED this. The kicking-of-feet was real in this one. This was completely utterly and totally a slow burn bodyguard/prince romance done so RIGHT. The slow burn was literally the perfect pacing - although not a lot of aftermath, which I would have loved to see. I’ve seen some people saying it would have benefitted from an epilogue which I totally agree with. The characters were simply WONDERFUL I literally loved all the key ones. Kadou’s anxiety was also so wonderfully portrayed, I loved to see it. 
Besides the achillean and anxiety rep, there was also an asexual character and a completely trans normative world, with multiple characters using neopronouns. I loved this, it was really well done!
I liked a lot of the discussions. The world is matriarchal, and fathers are called ‘body-fathers’ unless the mother actively gives them rights over the child, and I loved the discussions that arose from this. I also loved that the two main characters actively discussed the power divide between them, talking about reciprocity heavily. I’m always worried about power divides in romances, but I think it was done really well here.
The plot was definitely predictable, but I really didn’t mind. For me it just gave a backdrop to have this wonderful romance on, and it was plenty of fun. I had a really good time with it, even if I guessed the plot twist before the second main character was introduced. 
I do think the choice of setting was… interesting? The book is loosely inspired by the Ottoman Empire, but I think this could have been done a little better. It felt like it was an excuse to use fancy words, but without a lot of work actually being put into the setting itself, and it slightly rubbed me the wrong way. Do take this with a pinch of salt though as I haven’t done too much research into this, I’d like to see what someone more knowledgable has to say first.
Still, this book delivered exactly what I wanted from it. I loved all the tropes used, I had so much fun, and scenes and quotes from this book will be playing in my head on loop. Highly recommend.

I had such a good time with this. The plot, world building, and characters were so interesting. I think it was wonderfully paced, and planned out and I liked all the story beats. I expected to be confused by the politics a little like in Winter’s Orbit, but either this was less confusing or I’ve gotten smarter because I pretty much understood what was happening. It didn’t feel slow at all, with some AMAZING action sequences, especially towards the end. I loved our two main characters, I think they’re a little tropey but that’s ok with me because I love the trope. I liked them individually and their relationship so much, it was a great slow burn. I think the way the science in here felt like magic was so much fun, readers and architects are such a nice touch yk this world. I really enjoyed this one.

Reviewing now that Harper Collins Union has a fair contract!

This was the perfect way to dip back into this world. I love the universe and characters so much, the joy I felt at being here again was unmatched. I’m not a big fan of short stories, and there were some I liked more than others, but I loved this for the most part.

I got literally exactly what I wanted from this book. I didn’t completely blow me away, but left me with a smile and a strong desire to eat a cinnamon roll. I love the characters, the relationships, and the descriptive writing was amazing. I was a little worried going in that it would lack plot, but that wasn’t the case at all. Completely delivered on its promise of cozy fantasy.