indieandajean's reviews
426 reviews

The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket

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adventurous dark funny informative mysterious sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0


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Creepy Creatures by R.L. Stine

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dark funny mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

It was fun to revisit these stories from my childhood in comic book form! Like any 90's/00's child I was a huge goosebumps fan as a kid and I loved The Werewolf of Fever Swamp in both the book and television form, so reading it in a graphic novel was a fun blast to the past. The adaptations are well done, the illustrations are beautiful and easy to follow and do a great job conveying the plot visually. I wish some of the plot points weren't so condensed, but otherwise I have no complaints! 

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That Time I Got Drunk And Yeeted A Love Potion At A Werewolf by Kimberly Lemming

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adventurous funny hopeful fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Monster content at its finest!  I really enjoyed this one, even if the tentacles in the werewolf romance threw me off for a moment there. 
All the Ways to Ruin a Rogue by Sophie Jordan

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emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I'm a bit torn on how I felt about this one. I spent most of the book wanting to punt our hero off a bridge, hoping that our heroine would be the one to do it (and frankly I cheered for her pushing him into a pond, even if it wasn't her intention) but I also found myself cheering for them. 

There were several places in which I thought Aurelia forgave Max a bit too readily and while I understand that she couldn't stay mad at him for the whole book, I do think that this story may have been better off with less little moments of conflict that are quickly resolved and more of an overall simmer of the larger conflicts at play.

That said, it was a fun read at times and I can forgive a little contrived conflict for all the excellent friends to enemies to lovers content it provides. 

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When a Scot Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I tried very hard (veh-ry veh-ry hard) to find something I didn't like about this one, and honestly folks, I came up empty. "The cover art wasn't my favorite" was about the best I had because otherwise this is just all the tropes wrapped up with a neat little (tartan) bow.

If you like any of the following, this one is for you:
- Misunderstandings
-Marriage of convenience
-My heart can't take rejection so I am going to pretend I'm not in love even though I totally am.
-Kilts.
-Accents.
-Tragic backstories
-Lovable side characters
-Possessiveness
-Supporting each other's dreams

Need I say more?

I really think this might be one of my favorite books Dare has ever written, and I highly recommend reading it.

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Say Yes to the Marquess by Tessa Dare

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emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Normally an infidelity plot is a no go for me. I have DNF'd enough books in the past when that plot gets introduced to avoid the mere suggestion, but here somehow it just didn't put me off and I found myself cheering for Cleo and Rafe. I think it worked because there was no real relationship between Piers and Cleo to make it feel like infidelity at all, and for that I have to give it some points because somehow this book made me enjoy my least favorite trope.

That said, there were some misses in this one that normally I don't find in Dare's books.

First off, the dog. I am usually so here for a dog, especially an old crusty one, but there was just a little too much of this guy mentioned. Particularly I think it was just a little too many mentions of the dog taking care of business, so to speak. Normally I'm not wholly opposed to a little bathroom humor in books, I read too many children's books for it to bother me, but it's just not something I want to see in a romance novel.

Secondly I did not care for the sort of slipshod way Cleo's sisters were included. I don't think the book would have suffered any for her being an only child, and their involvement didn't particularly strike me as important to the plot in any way. The bits where she's worried about how her sisters will react about her breaking her engagement with Piers simply weren't weighty enough to make them seem like a serious complication. I did like Phoebe though, I would like to see Dare write a book exploring her because there's really not enough period romance with neurodiverse characters in the leading lady role.

All in all, not my favorite of Dare's books, but also an overall enjoyable read.

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The House with a Clock in Its Walls by John Bellairs

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adventurous dark funny mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

I've heard this book called a modern children's classic and I can understand why! The mixture of supernatural scares with childhood anxieties makes the book both exciting and relatable. The story is paced well and contains just the right amount of main characters to be easily kept track of without feeling sparse.

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Romancing the Duke by Tessa Dare

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emotional funny hopeful fast-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

3.75

Here we are folks, another great bodice ripper (literally in this one, in case you need that for some sort of reading challenge bingo board). I love Tessa Dare's ability to add just enough of an interesting plot to keep my attention and this book certainly has very similar vibes to much of her other work. It reminded me very much of The Duchess deal, but I found the characters here more likeable. The plot was fun, the spice level was more than adequate, and overall I found it to be a fun light read.

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Chilling with Ghosts: A Totally Factual Field Guide to the Supernatural by Insha Fitzpatrick

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informative lighthearted medium-paced

4.5

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for the advance reader copy of Chilling with Ghosts in return for my honest review.

I have to say that I very much enjoyed Chilling With Ghosts. The book is well written, keeps a positive tone throughout and offers plenty of ghost information that kids love, paired with interesting and exciting facts about science, history and literature.

The author manages to keep a humorous but trustworthy tone throughout the book and the pacing makes the book a quick read with a satisfying amount of content. 

The only negative I can find with the book is that the text makes frequent homages to media which may or may not be relevant to a child today, let alone in the next few years. I appreciated the references to Danny Phantom, Courage the Cowardly Dog, and the Ghost Busters reboot, but I can see kids just skimming over that section.

Overall this is one of my favorite paranormal nonfiction books for children to date
Penguin Gentlemen by Kishi Ueno

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

4.0

A great quick read full of humor and penguin facts! This was recommended to me by a friend who said that she really enjoyed it because she learned so many facts about penguins from the book and I would recommend it to those looking to do the same!

I had no idea that penguin behavior and mannerisms are so different from species to species and learning this through the lens of anthropomorphized gentlemen penguins was certainly a new experience! 

The art is great, capturing the physical details of the penguins perfectly as well as making the gentlemen penguins very very handsome. 

I would have liked a little more plot, but it's worth a read just to learn more about penguins!