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ditten's reviews
606 reviews
The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
4.0
The characters in this series have been 5/5, I love them!! The plot's more like 3.5-4 for me though lol.
I liked a lot about this final book, but I felt like it ended in a strange way, and the addition of Henry felt kind of weird.
Overall, I've found some amazing new characters to love ❤️
I liked a lot about this final book, but I felt like it ended in a strange way, and the addition of Henry felt kind of weird.
Overall, I've found some amazing new characters to love ❤️
The Charioteer by Mary Renault
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
~THE CHARIOTEER by Mary Renault is a beautiful, complex, queer must-read!~
Cat Sebastian's We Could Be So Good is why I bought this book and I'm so glad I did because I ended up LOVING The Charioteer. I had the best time reading and analysing the book with Cody.
The Charioteer is a queer 1953 novel set during WWII. It's one of the first queer books with a happy ending which in itself makes it a key part of queer literary history, but it's also an incredible book in itself. It's about Laurie who was wounded at Dunkirk and who's recovering at a hospital in England. Laurie soon finds himself in a love triangle where he's struggling to choose between two very different men and the lives they represent.
This book was just. Wow! Unlike any I've read before and it's left me completely unmoored. The Charioteer is a book written in subtext, ellipses, and between the words on the page. Its usually more about what's left unsaid than what's said. It's such a fascinating, but complicated, book to read.
And Laurie? That meme of a dog in a burning room, ignoring the roaring fire, going "it's fine"? That's Laurie Odell, disaster gay, and love of my life who I frequently wanted to smack upside the head for being delulu. Laurie is one of the OG unreliable narrators. This man is on the struggle bus, he's often lying to himself and the reader just to cope which means you have to really pay attention when reading.
I don't usually like love triangles, but I didn't mind it in this book. It both uses the common idea and tropes of a love triangle but it's so much more than that, too!
The Charioteer is about queer love, truth, deceit, betrayal, and self-acceptance. It's about society's ideals and norms in a time where being queer was illegal and viewed as obscene, and how that affects and influences a queer man's ideas of himself, the world, and the queer community.
Authors who're fans of Renault and/or whose work contains parallels or references to Renault's writing include C.S. Pacat, Alexis Hall, Alice Winn, and of course Cat Sebastian.
Hurt Me, Daddy by Misha Horne
dark
emotional
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
"It’s pretty obvious no one takes care of you but you. But I could change that. If you let me. I could Daddy the fuck out of you.”
I'm such a sucker for broken boys! Logan deserves everything good in the world and I have no doubt Caleb will give it to him, if Logan lets him ❤️
✨️Hurt/comfort, slow burn, daddy kink, dirty talk, spanking, caretaking✨️
I'm such a sucker for broken boys! Logan deserves everything good in the world and I have no doubt Caleb will give it to him, if Logan lets him ❤️
✨️Hurt/comfort, slow burn, daddy kink, dirty talk, spanking, caretaking✨️
The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
"Indeed grief is not the clear melancholy the young believe it. It is like a siege in a tropical city."
Return of the Soldier explores shell shock, love, loss, class, and grief set alongside WWI as a soldier returns from the war with shell shock, having lost all memories of the past 15 years, including of his wife and dead son.
It's not a perfect story, but still an impactful one.
Return of the Soldier explores shell shock, love, loss, class, and grief set alongside WWI as a soldier returns from the war with shell shock, having lost all memories of the past 15 years, including of his wife and dead son.
It's not a perfect story, but still an impactful one.
Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater
adventurous
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
4.25
My favourite in the series so far. I feel like things are coming together, and I'm really invested in the characters.
I'm excited to see if some of my theories are right when I get to the final book. Also anxious though because of that whole thing about ~someone dying within the year, do not want!
I'm excited to see if some of my theories are right when I get to the final book. Also anxious though because of that whole thing about ~someone dying within the year, do not want!
Open Play by Morningstar Ashley, Luna David
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.0
Geoff, Misha, Lukas. Sir, boy, daddy. MMM.
Open Encounters by Morningstar Ashley, Luna David
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
Misha & Geoff. Roleplay.
Sugar Bunny by Colette Davison
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I didn't realize bunny pet play was a thing until this book. Initially, neither did Oscar's sugar daddies but no worries, they just googled how to train real rabbits and went with that for their kinky fun times 🤣
I liked the relationships in this book, and I though the poly aspect worked well. Older, married couple Ford (late 40s) and Colton (late 30s) want a sugar baby and sub for Colton, as he's a switch and Ford's exclusively a Dom. Enter Oscar (early 20s) who's just moved to London to pursue his dream of starring in a musical but is currently broke. His new housemate suggests he gets a sugar daddy, and feelings quickly develop between all three men in a very sweet way.
I'm not so much about the bunny play. I didn't mind it, but it made me laugh more than anything.
Each book in the series features different mcs from the roster of housemates, all with different personalities and kinks, and there are a couple more books I'm interested in reading.
I liked the relationships in this book, and I though the poly aspect worked well. Older, married couple Ford (late 40s) and Colton (late 30s) want a sugar baby and sub for Colton, as he's a switch and Ford's exclusively a Dom. Enter Oscar (early 20s) who's just moved to London to pursue his dream of starring in a musical but is currently broke. His new housemate suggests he gets a sugar daddy, and feelings quickly develop between all three men in a very sweet way.
I'm not so much about the bunny play. I didn't mind it, but it made me laugh more than anything.
Each book in the series features different mcs from the roster of housemates, all with different personalities and kinks, and there are a couple more books I'm interested in reading.
The Swimmer by Loreth Anne White
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Great thriller. I saw a few of the twists coming but I still had a great time listening to the audiobook and had trouble not just reading the whole thing in one go.
Can't Say Goodbye by Eden Finley
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? No
2.5
I loved Brady in Football Royalty, and I'm a big fan of poly romances, so I was super prepared to love this book.
However, a few things didn't work for me, and they really messed with my enjoyment of the book and I'm SAD about it :(
My biggest issue was the constant time jumps. The first 1/3 of the book went: one night of sex, time jump to a few months ahead, one hot night of sex, time jump nine months ahead, one hot night of sex, time jump, etc etc.
We didn't see the guys get to know each other, develop chemistry, trust, and feelings. It felt like erotica, and I kept mixing up the names of the two SEALs because they blended together.
Second, the utter lack of any sort of communication until the end was so frustrating. All 3 characters continued to fly somewhere to hook up for a few days whenever they could for YEARS.
And none or them ever thought they should talk about how it clearly was more than just sex? Kit and Preston were supposedly best friends (another relationship we were only told about instead of witnessing) and in their 30s for most of the book - you'd think that after years of this, at least one of them would bring it up.
The last bit of the book was nice, and there were some hot scenes, but most of the spice I didn't really care about because it felt like I didn't know the characters so I just couldn't get invested :(
However, a few things didn't work for me, and they really messed with my enjoyment of the book and I'm SAD about it :(
My biggest issue was the constant time jumps. The first 1/3 of the book went: one night of sex, time jump to a few months ahead, one hot night of sex, time jump nine months ahead, one hot night of sex, time jump, etc etc.
We didn't see the guys get to know each other, develop chemistry, trust, and feelings. It felt like erotica, and I kept mixing up the names of the two SEALs because they blended together.
Second, the utter lack of any sort of communication until the end was so frustrating. All 3 characters continued to fly somewhere to hook up for a few days whenever they could for YEARS.
And none or them ever thought they should talk about how it clearly was more than just sex? Kit and Preston were supposedly best friends (another relationship we were only told about instead of witnessing) and in their 30s for most of the book - you'd think that after years of this, at least one of them would bring it up.
The last bit of the book was nice, and there were some hot scenes, but most of the spice I didn't really care about because it felt like I didn't know the characters so I just couldn't get invested :(