hwesta's reviews
418 reviews

The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles by Malka Older

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adventurous emotional lighthearted mysterious
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

Delightful! Mossa and Pleiti and the coze scifi mystery vibe continue to be a lot of fun. The mystery was less weighty but no less interesting and used the setting well.

The language is so fun - there's lots of words that aren't from modern English that fit the setting. Borrowing from other languages (erai), modifications of existing terms (grab the situation), or just new words that fit nicely. I love it 
Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

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emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I haven't enjoyed the other gothic books I read, but I liked this one. Opal and Arthur are interesting characters, and I enjoyed the variations on the starling house story. Bev and Charlotte were great. 
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Translation State by Ann Leckie

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

This book is so weird and I love it so much. 

It was great to learn about the Presger Translators. I didn't feel the ending held up to how cool the rest of the book was. 
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Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious 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

5.0

I liked this better the second time/in audiobook even more than the first. I enjoyed slowing down and picking up on more of the subtleties and character moments 

Zeiat is still a hoot and I love Sphene 
All The Hidden Paths by Foz Meadows

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emotional hopeful mysterious
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This was fun but more dramatic!-emotion!-bad-things-constantly-happening-to-the-main-characters than my taste. Markel is still a delight. Asrien grew on me a lot, to the point where I was more invested is his arc than Vel and Cae's. 
The Dark Lord's Daughter by Patricia C. Wrede

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adventurous lighthearted

3.5

This was a fun read. A bunch of the initial setup played heavily into dark lord tropes, but it went on to mess with them in enjoyable ways. I was disappointed in the ending
because the central tension of if Kayla and her family were retuning to Earth wasn't resolved or meaningfully addressed.
I liked the main cast and want to see what happens to them next! 
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Witch King by Martha Wells

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adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire

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adventurous informative
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

Delightful! One of my favourite books in the series. I enjoyed getting so much backstory and world building, and it was full of wham lines. 
Bea Wolf by Zach Weinersmith

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

This book was a hoot. I loved the art, the alliteration and rhythm of it. It's a clever conversion from the original, where Grindle ages kids to teens or adults instead of killing them, and the feasts are all candy and cola. 
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

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adventurous dark
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed this. Doors to other worlds is always a fun concept. 

I figured several things out before the narrator, but I most cases it was plausible that she didn't because the world doesn't normally work on story logic. 

I was pretty frustrated with January for making an obviously terrible decision
to send a letter to Locke
partway through but I suppose she is young and can make poorly thought through decisions 
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