juan_adhd_reading's reviews
125 reviews

Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes

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adventurous emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

At the time I rated it 4 stars, but the more I thought about it, I decided to lower my rating. The reason I gave it 4 stars in the first place is because I thought the last third of the book was great, specifically after
Medusa's death/beheading. Ironically, dead Medusa seems to have more personality and character development than live Medusa.
To me, it seems that the author only had enough of a story to write a novella, which I personally think would've worked a lot better, but decided to add more content to make it a full novel. But this additional content doesn't really add a lot to the story of Medusa, and I would argue that it actually takes attention away from her. As others have pointed out, a vast amount of the book focuses on Athena and Perseus, and a bit on Andromeda too, to the point in which they seem to be bigger characters than Medusa. 

One thing that really bothered me, is that a very large plot point of the book doesn't get resolved.
Throughout the book, we are shown several times how other gods have disrespected Athena, most prominently Poseidon (by raping Medusa in Athena's temple) and Hephaestus (by being tricked by Poseidon to ask Athena in marriage, and later sexually assaulting her by ejaculating on her). After both of this offenses she vows to take revenge, and we read an entire chapter of her pondering how she'll do it, but I guess she just forgot all about that? Because Hephaustus is not mentioned again in the third act, nor any of the other Olympians who voted against her in deciding who gets the land of Athens. Poseidon loses a bit of the sea, not by the hands of Athena, but by the the other two Gorgons, and in the end he gets it back anyway. So what was the point in wasting so much time figuring out Athena's great plan to get back at the other gods, if by the end she just gets turned into a statue without doing anything about it?


Anyway, I think this book would've worked a lot better if we just kept the chapters focusing on Medusa and her sisters. Because these parts were really beautiful, showing how much love she had for her sisters, and how her sisters loved her so much back, enough to being actually able to change, when their nature is to be unchanging and unmovable. I really wanted to know their grief and emotions after Medusa is killed, but instead, we just get it passively and briefly through other narrators. So, because of this, I decided to lower my original rating, but I'm still hopeful to read other works by this author.
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Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells

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adventurous funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Although the book is great as a standalone short story, it doesn't compare to the other books in the series in my opinion, especially considering how amazing the last novel before this one was (Network Effect). This feels like a filler book, which although does serve to extend Murderbot's backstory about its life and role in Preservation, doesn't have a very strong character development and kind of interrupts the flow of the story after Network Effect. I'd recommend reading it if you're craving to know more about Murderbot's job in Preservation, with a bit of a murder mystery, but otherwise, you can skip right ahead to the next book (System Collapse).
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Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny reflective 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

5.0

This entire series has permanently changed my brain chemistry and how I view Sci-fi / Fantasy forever! Out of the current three in the series, this one is the one in which I felt less confused, and I felt like I knew more or less what was going on most of the time. Amazing, adorable characters all around, both new and old faces (wink wink...), with Muir's very signature humor as expected. The beginning almost feels like a sitcom -in an apocalyptic setting mind you- but a coming-of-age, found family sitcom nonetheless. And then it escalates SO quickly, and the ending happened, and HOLY JOD!!! WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!?!? I wish I had the proper words to describe just how great this book is, but I'm quite literally left speechless. So all I'll say is that I love Nona, and Nona loves you too <3
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Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

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adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

If you came to read this book after watching the movie like I did, be aware that it’s a very different story. Some of my favorite parts of the book are Howl being way more sassy, him being originally from Wales
(which is where the black door leads, in contrast to the war zone of the movie)
and Sophie being a klutz and just as sassy as Howl. I also really like that Sophie’s sister’s feature much more prominently in the book, with Michael falling in love with one of them. Also, Michael is a teen rather that a little kid. Overall I really enjoyed this story, although I felt that the pacing was a little bit slow at parts, and entirely too fast in the end. An epilogue would’ve benefited this greatly, diving the last chapter in two and allowing for a more fleshed out ending, imo.
To end this in a positive note, I also would like to point out how fantastic it is for Sophie to have magic in the book, and it’s something I would’ve really loved to see onscreen!
Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

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adventurous challenging dark funny 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

5.0

I have no words for what I just read, mostly because I was and still am largely confused (in the best way possible). This was absolutely phenomenal, and I’m not afraid to call it a masterpiece, because I’m still completely in awe at how a person was able to think of and craft this too convoluted universe, how they were able to gaslight and outright lie to their readers, and still end up writing this action packed, gut wrenching and hilariously macabre work of art. 
I think I’ll need to read this book and it’s predecessor at least ten more times to even begin to comprehend what I just read, all the clues that were laid out for the truth, and all the subtle jokes I might have missed.

I would say that I can’t wait to read the next book in the series, but in truth my brain feels like it has run a marathon, and I’m not yet quite ready to begin with a triathlon. Until I muster the bravery to pick up Nona the Ninth, I’ll just wish a happy Pride month to, well, practically every character in this book!
The Demigod Diaries by Rick Riordan

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adventurous funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I think this book was much better than The Demigod Files. I loved all four stories, but especially The Son of Magic! Wow, Rick’s son is just as fantastic, and I feel like his writing style is darker and more mature. I don’t even know if this story is canon to the Riordanverse, but it would make an amazing series. I would rank the other three stories as Luke’s Diary > Quest for Buford > Staff of Hermes. Really good Percabeth moments in the Staff of Hermes, but it just doesn’t have the same impact to the overall series as the other ones.

My main complaint is that this book still uses that horrible old art, and that alone would stop me from owning a physical copy. 
The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan

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adventurous dark emotional 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

4.5

The crew is finally getting all together!!! And it’s messyyyyy. All the way from the beginning, accidentally starting a war with the romans, all the way to that cliffhanger ending 😱 this was nonstop action and drama. This book has some of my all time favorite scenes in the Percy Jackson series, from Annabeth and Percy finally reuniting, the stable scene and aftermath 😏, Percy and Jason duel, them working together afterwards to create a storm against the romans, the whole thing with Hazel, Leo and Frank and finally, Annabeth outwitting Arachne.

My only complaint is that despite the Mark of Athena being such a pivotal plot point, we barely spend anytime with the actual quest. Most of the book was composed of several side quests and obstacles trying to get to Rome, and they manage to get there only on the very very last day of their time limit. That seems to be one of my main criticisms of this series, because it makes the pacing all over the place. The first two thirds seem to be much slower and then it all happens at once by the end. In my opinion, it would have been better if they arrived to Rome one or even two days before, and we spent more of that time with Annabeth separated from the group. 

Despite all, this was probably my favorite book so far, and can’t wait to see how the addition of Nico  affects the group
and how the heck are 
Annabeth and Percy supposed to survive Tartarus!
The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan

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adventurous funny 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

3.5

It was pretty dang fun! The only reason it’s getting a 3.5 is because I liked the first book more. It took a little getting used to the Roman camp after spending so much time with Camp Half Blood. Percy is still Percy, and he’s more powerful than we’ve ever seen him before! Hazel and Frank were really good characters too: a ghost pulled from her own time trying to make it up for the mistakes of the past, and a kid descending from three different cultures trying to find his own inner power and purpose. I’m really not sure about their relationship, though; Hazel being only 13 and Frank being 16 seems very odd to me. Also, I think we really should’ve had more of a learning curve with Frank and his shapeshifter powers, having him learn to use them more slowly and gradually until the final battle where he gets to really shine. Instead we saw him get a hang of it immediately but only when it was more convenient for the story. My final complaint is how relatively easy they seemed to have
killed not one, but TWO giants in a single day. And how were they even able to kill the first one without the help of a god?
Idk, I think I’ll have to see at the end of the series how the final battle plays out.

To end a review with a positive note, here are some of the others things I really enjoyed: saving Ella the Harpy; the Amazon Warriors’ headquarters being also the online shopping center in Seattle; a potty mouthed horse; a big pile of Schist; just everything with Iris; and finally, every single time Percy thinks of Annabeth 💙💙💙. 
The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

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adventurous funny tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

I think it was definitely a good thing that I waited a few months after reading the PJO series before starting this one. Boy, I really did miss this world and its characters, and this book did not disappoint! I’m hooked and I can’t wait to continue the series.

Piper and Leo’s POVs were awesome! Piper’s relationship with her dad really tugged at my heart strings, end Leo using humor to cope with the trauma of his entire childhood really hit hard. Jason’s POV was ok. The problem with him was that he usually suffered from main character syndrome, and at times he really came off as a Mary Sue. I mean, the same could be said about Percy in the original series, but the difference is that Percy was funny. 

The story was incredibly fast paced, and at times almost overwhelming. The poor trio only just found out that Greek Gods and monsters are real, and already they are battling enemies just as strong or stronger than the ones we’ve seen in The Last Olympian. I know why Rick decided to this, but in my opinion, the story could’ve benefited from a longer timeline.
The entire quest takes place over just four days and it takes them the vast amount of that time just to find Hera. In the end this meant they only had 5 minutes to liberate her. This is not hyperbole, that’s the amount of time they spent actually figuring out how to open Hera’s cage, and even less that that because they spent the first few minutes fighting an army of wolves and the Snow Goddess. I don’t know, I guess I was hoping they would figure out something more clever than “Lull the cage to sleep while I cut it with my electric saw”.
 

Anyhow, I really enjoyed this as an introduction to the new phase in the Riordanverse and I can’t wait to see how it develops!
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A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal

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adventurous 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

3.5

There will probably never be any book that comes close to how amazing Six of Crows was, and though this book had promise, I’m sad to say it missed the mark. Don’t get me wrong, I liked it, I thought it was fun and the characters were good, but there were also many flaws I feel that I can’t overlook.
For one I feel like the POVs weren’t distinct enough. There were three POVs for Arthie, Jin and Flick, and out of all I thought Flick’s were the weakest. There were times were I thought I was reading an Arthie chapter when it was actually Flick’s, which is weird because their personalities are almost polar opposites. I also feel like there should’ve been POVs for Laith and Mattheo too, which brings me to my next point.
The group didn’t really feel united or family-like. Especially for Mattheo and Laith, they felt very much on the sidelines. Even Flick, who tells us a lot of times how she finally found herself a real family, but it just didn’t feel like it, in my opinion. Now, Arthie and Jin did actually feel like siblings, and most of their interactions were great.
Lastly, my biggest complaint is that the actual heist went by incredibly quickly and in the end, it had very little impact on the plot.
Since the owner of the Athereum was basically Arthie’s father, they could’ve forgone the entirety of the plan and just ask him for the ledger. At the end it was basically what happened: they were caught, and should be dead, but since it was Arthie’s father he just ordered the guards away and gave them the ledger anyway.
It makes the first half of the book kind of pointless since all of it was arranging the crew and planning the heist.

There were a couple of plot twist at the end that did caught me by surprise and I really enjoyed how action packed it was. The actual ending, though, felt kind of incomplete, rather than just being a cliffhanger. I would still read the next book in the series, but if you’re looking for the next SoC, I don’t feel like this is it.
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