cball98's reviews
54 reviews

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

The Cassandra Complex by Holly Smale

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emotional funny informative inspiring reflective relaxing sad fast-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

5.0

The Memory of Animals by Claire Fuller

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

This took me back to the Covid-19 pandemic in quite an upsetting way. Despite depicting a fictional illness the writing was very immersive, and while it was a compelling read I would warn people of that before picking up.

The idea of seeing out a pandemic from the safety of a vaccine trial is a great concept, and just about did enough to sustain the book. But, I felt it was lacking a strong arc for a book of its length, and put it down feeling rather bleak and uncertain what I was supposed to have taken from it.

The quality of the writing was very strong and the story kept me thinking about it after I put it down, so someone less emotionally disturbed by thinking about the impact of another pandemic might find it a more suitable read!!

Content Warnings

Fractal Noise by Christopher Paolini

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challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated

3.5

Dark Matter by Michelle Paver

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Terrifying. Will not sleep well after that last chapter. Loved it!

Babel by R.F. Kuang

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

Content Warnings

One Day by David Nicholls

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emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

5 stars because I didn’t want to stop reading even when it was making me cry

A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo

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challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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

4.25