ellornaslibrary's reviews
516 reviews

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo

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

5.0

An emotionally gripping yet cozy read. . .

Just as beautiful on re-reading as the first time. Nghi Vo writes with such captivating skill that is brought to life even more by Cindy Kay. This first book made me a fan, and has led to my love of The Singing Hills Cycle. The method chosen for these books - of having a story being told by and to the cleric Chi who is akin to a storyteller or bard - is not like any others I've read. Each story told is captivating yet Chi themselves, as well as Almost Brilliant, are such well-developed characters even in this first installment which is still one of my top favorite reads. My other favorite element is that the story in this book isn't about who one would expect it to be. I will always recommend these books to people like nonstop.

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Isola, Vol 1 by Brenden Fletcher

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dark emotional inspiring 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

St. Valentine, St. Abigail, St. Brigid by C.L. Polk

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emotional hopeful sad 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

3.0

Love in the Air by Mariah Ankenman

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emotional funny hopeful 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

3.0


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Lost Ark Dreaming by Suyi Davies Okungbowa

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challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective 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

I definitely want to return to this later to attempt a better review, but for now I'll say:

I cannot adequately put into words how powerful this book's message is for people everywhere or how exquisitely written it is either. I have so many feelings about this beautiful, heart-wrenching story. This is going to be a book that lives in my head rent free. I'm going to recommend it to everyone cause I feel like it is a truly underrated book and more people need to read it.

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The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing 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? Yes

5.0


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Song of the Swallows by Leo Politi

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informative lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0


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The Journey of Clementine by Alessandro Montagnana, Alessandro Montagnana

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emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a sweet little book about a Firefly named Clementine that doesn't know what she is and is lost, and a little girl who helps her find her way. It is a cute little read accompanied by beautiful art that'd be a nice, comforting bedtime read for a little one. While I enjoyed it though, I will say that my only issues were a.) it doesn't tell you what type of bug Clementine is by the end of the book and b.) the art can be a little too dark in some spots so Clementine's glow doesn't stand out as well as it should. However, I would say those are small things in the grand scheme and doesn't take away from the overall enjoyment of the book. If you have a little one that likes reading stories with bugs and/ore fireflies in general, I'd suggest picking up this one.
Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees by Patrick Horvath

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challenging dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5


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It Came from the Closet: Queer Reflections on Horror by Joe Vallese

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0


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