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jessdrafahl's reviews
147 reviews
The Kingdom of Sweets by Erika Johansen
dark
mysterious
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young
4.0
I was started to get frustrated near the end that the characters hadn't put a lot of pieces together, but the story really wrapped around into a satisfying ending. I loved this story! I didn't know it was about time travel until I actually read it, but that was a wonderful surprise! Time travel is one of my favorite tropes in a story and the possibilities are endless. This story really took advantage of that.
The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic by Breanne Randall
3.0
Really liked the plot, setting, and characters, but just a few things really spoiled the book for me. First, some of the actions of the characters were just off-putting. I know the dog thing was meant to be cute, but I truly don't understand how I'm supposed to support a character who literally stole a dog from someone? And hid the dog when she realized that it had an owner? That's just weird. I also really didn't vibe with Jake. And the story never actually explains why he up and left Sadie? There was no reason for that... And then...Ta-Da! It's another story where the main female character has to give up her powers. I hate that trope so much, it took off a full star. Otherwise, I really enjoyed the story and the writing. The recipes between the chapters were really cute and I'd like to try one sometime.
From a Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi by Mike Chen, Saladin Ahmed, Olivie Blake, Fran Wilde, Charlie Jane Anders, Mary Kenney
4.0
Of all the "From A Certain Point of Views," I think that this was my favorite. It felt so much more connected to the expanded universe compared to the other two, and the contradictions in this were lessened to a noticeable degree. My two favorite stories in this collection were coincidentally back to back, but "The Veteran" by Adam Lance Garcia and "Brotherhood" by Mike Chen were exceptional stories.
Shark Heart: A Love Story by Emily Habeck
emotional
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Star Wars: The Force Awakens by Alan Dean Foster
3.0
The good: I like the way that Rey was written here. Her disposition and internal monologue made sense: she’s a scrapper who has been thrown into a galactic conflict within a day - of course she doesn’t care about the Force or the Jedi. I liked that aspect of her character and I think it would have been so much more interesting had the story focused more on that.
The bad: the writing here is dry. There’s nothing much here that you haven’t already seen in the movies. Even then, there’s no excitement in the writing. The scenes skip to and fro without much thought. I found it really hard to get invested in anything when it didn’t feel like the author cared much, either.
The bad: the writing here is dry. There’s nothing much here that you haven’t already seen in the movies. Even then, there’s no excitement in the writing. The scenes skip to and fro without much thought. I found it really hard to get invested in anything when it didn’t feel like the author cared much, either.