paradisebibliophile's reviews
134 reviews

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

3.5

I obviously love HP but this book was a bit slow. I recognize it’s a book that bridges the narrative gap between what already is and what’s to come so it was fine. I liked seeing more of the interpersonal relationships unfold 
Damaged Goods by slytherin_after_dark

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

For non-book records, review text and ratings are hidden. Only mood, pace, and content warnings are visible.

Along Came a Spider by James Patterson

Go to review page

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

After watching the show I wanted to read an Alex Cross book or two. I started at the top and can say I didn’t hate it. I like the idea of these books but was consistently turned off by the way it was written. It’s hard to separate the fact that a white author is writing Black characters. It often came off as inauthentic. I also recognize that the first book was written in the 90s BUT some of the dialogue between characters just didn’t feel natural. The actual mystery was pretty good though. I’ll likely dive into another book in the future 
Hearing Red by Nicole Maser

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional reflective tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.5

I liked the idea of this book. It had a lot of good parts and the queer love story was very cute. The few issues I have are about the writing. The author tended to use similar language throughout the book to describe various things and it came off as soooo repetitive that I started to get annoyed. Also, I found myself wanting more detail on the two FMCs lives before the apocalypse. I also wanted to know more about how the apocalypse came about. But those things are skipped over. The latter is just a personal preference but I recognize that sometimes the point of stories is to just start in the present. I imagine the author wrote it that way for a reason. Overall - a good read. 
It Starts with Us by Colleen Hoover

Go to review page

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Unpopular opinion: this was better than the first one. I actually liked reading about Lily and Atlas. And the added family building stressors were actually cute and touching. I felt like the end of the story was a bit abrupt and there were many things that could have been elaborated on, including how she was dealing with her past, coparenting, and more about Atlas’ life/struggles in his time away from Lily. These are like the only two CoHo books I’ve read and I’m good with just these two lol
Isn't It Bromantic? by Lyssa Kay Adams

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

It was cute. I love this series as a whole but I felt like this couples story was a little flat and rushed. 
The Missing God's Lawyer by Mea Monique

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful 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

3.0

I really wanted to like this book but was disappointed. I loved the first one but this didn’t hit the mark for me. It had so much potential. My main issues are about the plot and the “villains”. It could have been developed a lot further. But instead the villain swoops in, causes some lovers scorned chaos, then is beaten by the protagonists in like 2 seconds. The concept of the book REALLY could have done something cool with the plot line of the villain but didn’t. I felt like a lot of the plot points were rushed including the lead up to the two MCs being reunited. The last 20 pages were the best part of the book unfortunately. 
It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover

Go to review page

challenging emotional reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I was hesitant to read this book because I’ve heard mixed reviews and I’m not a CoHo fan but I bit the bullet. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised. I liked the book and I think it did a decent job at highlighting abuse and its nuances.  But the way it’s written is a bit juvenile. We’re talking about adults but it reads/is written more like a teenage romance 
Crazy Stupid Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams

Go to review page

emotional funny reflective 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

4.0

I love this series overall. I thought this book was the most cliche out of the series thus far. It was fine but this couple wasn’t my favorite by any means. I’ll finish the series though to see where it goes. I think the overall concept for the series is so cute and unique so I’d recommend for light reading 
The Poisons We Drink by Bethany Baptiste

Go to review page

challenging emotional mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book had a lot of potential. I thought the magic system was unique and the premise of the book could have been good but the way the author unfolded the plot got confusing at various points and wasn’t tied together as nicely as I would’ve hoped.