lbatch's reviews
294 reviews

adventurous dark inspiring tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Kind of an abrupt ending but otherwise great! I think this is the first of these that I didn’t read as a kid; cool to see these deal with more coming of age and development for a truly adolescent Kit and especially Nita.

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

An absolute delight! Of course Miyazaki adapted this, no book has ever read more like a Miyazaki movie on the page.

Deep End by Ali Hazelwood

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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? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Felt like I needed to be reading this in an incognito tab, whoosh! Didn’t quite buy the romantic connection on this one and there were some weird lil research gaps (like, who refers to UT Austin as just “Austin”?) but love AH’s writing as usual.

In Transit by Nicholas Pierce

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reflective fast-paced

3.0

Some interesting form things here, Part III was strong, and the last piece was good enough to somewhat elevate Parts I and II in retrospect. Parts I and II were self-indulgent (in a poetry collection, you’re kidding??) in a way that was not made better by the use of the phrase “penile projection” in the second piece, but as I say this won me over a bit in the latter third.

Cibola Burn by James S.A. Corey

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adventurous tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

These books are just so straight up good and this one’s a great transition into the great unknown of it all.

Educated by Tara Westover

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emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

This was excellent and a surprise. Less about the education piece that’s highlighted in the description and more about family and religious authority and navigating exposing abuse in that context.

The Seventh Bride by T. Kingfisher

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dark tense fast-paced