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lacrimamundi's reviews
413 reviews
Path to Villainy: An NPC Kobold's Tale by S.L. Rowland
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This is the story of Witt, a Kobold skald NPC who goes from buffing heroes in front of a dungeon to, after said heroes bully him repeatedly and kill him several times, into full villain mode over time - via a quest to villainry.
This was a perfectly solid - more or less typical, despite being kind of backwards - LitRPG, fantasy story. It's entertaining, makes sense, and is well-written.
But, I found myself craving a little bit more. After having read the first tow books of the Tales of Aedrea series by the same author I was expecting a bit more wit and humour.
This is probably entirely down to my own - slightly misguided, perhaps - expectations, but the story did not deliver in that regard. Aside of that it was a solid story that was perfectly enjoyable to read.
If you are looking for a short LitRPG story that doesn't go from zero to hero, but instead from well-meaning punching bag for heroes to villain - this is for you.
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Transparency info: Read via Kindle Unlimited.
This was a perfectly solid - more or less typical, despite being kind of backwards - LitRPG, fantasy story. It's entertaining, makes sense, and is well-written.
But, I found myself craving a little bit more. After having read the first tow books of the Tales of Aedrea series by the same author I was expecting a bit more wit and humour.
This is probably entirely down to my own - slightly misguided, perhaps - expectations, but the story did not deliver in that regard. Aside of that it was a solid story that was perfectly enjoyable to read.
If you are looking for a short LitRPG story that doesn't go from zero to hero, but instead from well-meaning punching bag for heroes to villain - this is for you.
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Transparency info: Read via Kindle Unlimited.
The Memory Library by Kate Storey
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
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
4.0
A truly wonderful, kind of magical, book. Very well-written, with a lot of - sometimes subtle, sometimes not so much - British humour. Equally heart-warming as it was tear-inducing.
We all deserve an Andrew in our lives and someone like Sally.
Aside of a wonderful story this books also contains quite a number of awesome book recommendations, many of which are classics but a few are not (yet).
My only gripe with the ebook version is, that the text isn't fully justified and it was a pain in the amygdala to read this. I hope the publisher fixes this eventually.
The poor ebook formatting, and the fact that my migraine ridden head had quite a bad time reading this because of that, leads unfortunately to a 4-star review, although the story itself deserves 5-stars.
Can absolutely recommend - just don't get the ebook at this moment in time.
We all deserve an Andrew in our lives and someone like Sally.
Aside of a wonderful story this books also contains quite a number of awesome book recommendations, many of which are classics but a few are not (yet).
My only gripe with the ebook version is, that the text isn't fully justified and it was a pain in the amygdala to read this. I hope the publisher fixes this eventually.
The poor ebook formatting, and the fact that my migraine ridden head had quite a bad time reading this because of that, leads unfortunately to a 4-star review, although the story itself deserves 5-stars.
Can absolutely recommend - just don't get the ebook at this moment in time.
Sword & Thistle by S.L. Rowland
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
The Book Lover by Maryann McFadden
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
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
4.25
Tangled in Ribbons by Penny Heart
adventurous
funny
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
A story so spicy I reached a point at which I had to put it to the side for a while as my mood for spicy books suddenly had entirely disappeared, and this story is way too spicy to be read by me when I am not in the mood for spicy (if I'd skimmed the spicy parts, I'd have to skim about 75% of the book). And when I say spicy I mean really spicy, like ghost pepper levels of spice. Or, in other words, this is written foursome porn with a plot.
That said, it's great and very well-written porn with a solid plot and great characters.
Absolutely worth a read, but you definitely need to be in the mood for a story that will turn the heat up quite significantly.
When the mood was right I absolutely enjoyed reading it.
That said, it's great and very well-written porn with a solid plot and great characters.
Absolutely worth a read, but you definitely need to be in the mood for a story that will turn the heat up quite significantly.
When the mood was right I absolutely enjoyed reading it.
Remains by Lou Willingham
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
4.75
Wonderful modern poetry about death, loss, dying, and grief. Featuring some not-so-common viewpoints and even some rather unexpected moments of humour - which I really appreciate, but that might be not everybody's cup of tea; morbid humour isn't for everyone.
I really enjoyed reading this little poetry collection, if you enjoy modern poetry, you should give it a bash - and the rest of Lou's poetry as well, it's really good, in my opinion (and by my taste).
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Transparency info: Read via Kindle Unlimited.
I really enjoyed reading this little poetry collection, if you enjoy modern poetry, you should give it a bash - and the rest of Lou's poetry as well, it's really good, in my opinion (and by my taste).
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Transparency info: Read via Kindle Unlimited.
A Harvest of Hearts by Andrea Eames
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Decent story, not exactly what I would call cosy, though. It's for a good length of the book a rather grim and dark story, more horror-ish than cosy. Reminds me in some ways of Stephen King's & Peter Straub's The Talisman, just very attenuated, when it comes to the general vibe.
I found the character pretty flat, the only ones that stood out where Cornelius the Cat and, ironically, the House (in the first half of the story). The plot was rather interesting, but the writing style took me a while to get used to and it dragged on a bit in the beginning.
All in all I would say it's a decent book, for the most parts, that suffers heavily from being wrongly labelled. It's more a magic/witchcraft-centred MG/YA (low) fantasy story, as long as the kids can cope with some swearing, some horror elements, and a few hints at sexual activities (it's really just lukewarm, nothing really spicy, not even mild - in my opinion (but I am not American)), than cosy fantasy aimed at adults.
What it is definitely not: 'Literary Fiction' (it is categorised as such on NetGalley, I am not making this up), and if it can be called cosy is at least highly questionable.
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Transparency disclaimer: Receiving a DRC of this story did not influence my review in any way, shape, or form.
I found the character pretty flat, the only ones that stood out where Cornelius the Cat and, ironically, the House (in the first half of the story). The plot was rather interesting, but the writing style took me a while to get used to and it dragged on a bit in the beginning.
All in all I would say it's a decent book, for the most parts, that suffers heavily from being wrongly labelled. It's more a magic/witchcraft-centred MG/YA (low) fantasy story, as long as the kids can cope with some swearing, some horror elements, and a few hints at sexual activities (it's really just lukewarm, nothing really spicy, not even mild - in my opinion (but I am not American)), than cosy fantasy aimed at adults.
What it is definitely not: 'Literary Fiction' (it is categorised as such on NetGalley, I am not making this up), and if it can be called cosy is at least highly questionable.
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Transparency disclaimer: Receiving a DRC of this story did not influence my review in any way, shape, or form.
Cursed Cocktails by S.L. Rowland
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This has been a wonderful cosy fantasy read with many great and intriguing characters, and an interesting plot. The story is well-written, some of the not-the-main-main-character characters fall a bit short here and there but are overall well-written nonetheless.
This is the perfect cosy fantasy story for lovers of stories like Legends & Lattes, Bookshops & Bonedust, or The Spellshop.
This is a no-spice m/m-romance thus suitable for Y/A upwards, in my opinion - unless you tend to throw a fit just because a book has gay characters in it, in that case: I'm so very sorry for your kid/s.
Let's first read the extra stories on S. L. Rowland's website and then onwards to the next book in the series.
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Transparency info: Read via Kindle Unlimited.
This is the perfect cosy fantasy story for lovers of stories like Legends & Lattes, Bookshops & Bonedust, or The Spellshop.
This is a no-spice m/m-romance thus suitable for Y/A upwards, in my opinion - unless you tend to throw a fit just because a book has gay characters in it, in that case: I'm so very sorry for your kid/s.
Let's first read the extra stories on S. L. Rowland's website and then onwards to the next book in the series.
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Transparency info: Read via Kindle Unlimited.
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
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? It's complicated
5.0
This was absolutely brilliant. A wonderful story everybody who loves cosy stories about witches should read.
Coffee, Tea, or Me by Sarah McKnight
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
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
4.25
A great contemporary loves story with well-written characters, an interesting storyline, a psychologically well-developed villain, a cute setting, and some spice sprinkled in for good measure.
I enjoyed the story and the characters, as well as Sarah's writing style, a lot. I admit I only skimmed over the few spicy scenes, as they are not my preferred flavour of spice (and on top of that I am currently having a phase where I am not big on spicy books), but from what I could gather they are a) quite well written and b) skimming them works just fine (I cannot recommend skipping them entirely, as they add a few subtle layers to the respective relationships in which they happen).
This was my first Sarah McKnight book, but it certainly wasn't my last.
I enjoyed the story and the characters, as well as Sarah's writing style, a lot. I admit I only skimmed over the few spicy scenes, as they are not my preferred flavour of spice (and on top of that I am currently having a phase where I am not big on spicy books), but from what I could gather they are a) quite well written and b) skimming them works just fine (I cannot recommend skipping them entirely, as they add a few subtle layers to the respective relationships in which they happen).
This was my first Sarah McKnight book, but it certainly wasn't my last.