laralarks's reviews
453 reviews

The Sapling Cage by Margaret Killjoy

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

4.25

Oh I can hear what trad pub professionals would say about this one from here. Let me explain. 

This book is written in a style that has fallen out of vogue in children’s publishing, and it’s really rare to find by an author that wasn’t  writing it in the 80’s too. This book has the soul of a Tamora Pierce, Gail Carson Levine, and Robin McKinley book all rolled into one. A slightly anxious but fiercely brave girl disguising herself as someone else to follow her dream, and discovering magic, friendship, love, and her own power along the way??? Spectacular. SPECTACULAR. It also does something else I find important: it is writing an older teen (16, in this case), for a YOUNGER audience. This voice is made for the 12-14 year olds, the girls that need girls like Lorel to show them how it’s done. The fact Margaret gave us a trans girl? In this form??? I can’t scream ENOUGH about how vitally important that is. Trans preteens NEED an older girl living as herself and succeeding in their fiction as much as they do in their lives. 

Also, the plot?? Is really fun and engaging?? The side characters are complex and dealing with their own stuff?? The pacing is measured and the prose is clear and active?? 

I think my only gripe is the pace may be marginally too slow? But that’s a tenant of the genre so I don’t even care that much. 

I can’t WAIT to read the rest of these books. 
Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Spectacular. A gothic and expressive exploration of gay southern love and all-consuming obsession. Feels like a t-shirt sweat-stuck to your back, of dirt and grease under your nails, bleeding gums and weed smoke and that unique southern sensation of fighting to get nowhere fast. Incredible. 
The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Back in a Spell by Lana Harper

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-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

2.0

The Outside by Ada Hoffmann

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.5

The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher

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

3.0

Wooing the Witch Queen by Stephanie Burgis

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

2.0

The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher

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dark funny mysterious tense fast-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? No

4.0

The Relentless Legion by J.S. Dewes

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adventurous challenging 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? It's complicated

2.0

I love the premise of this series, and have enjoyed every instalment at times. The characters are all super compelling and complex, and I’ve loved getting to know them all over the course of these novels. However, this one feels…rushed. Or, unfinished? A lot in the middle felt totally unprompted and untethered to the worldbuilding as it existed, and has such an obvious deus ex machina that I feel kind of cheated out of the characters succeeding in their own right. Also the ending felt so rushed, and so much is left unanswered that I can only assume another book is planned? But it hasn’t been announced. I’m not sure what to think here. I also really struggled with the romance plot in this one, as it felt at times it was going to go a different direction through the last two books? I was underwhelmed.


Never Yours by Lily X.

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adventurous emotional tense medium-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

2.5