rnbhargava's reviews
415 reviews

The Book of Lost and Found by Lucy Foley

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Having read some of Lucy Foley’s noted mysteries and hearing that she started off in different genres, I was really excited to possibly read some of her earlier works. Thank goodness I did. This has many of the qualities that you enjoy in her mysteries but also more dynamic characterizations in her characters. This is basically a contemporary/historical fiction blend with a splash of romance. The romance is handled in a plausible manner, friends to lovers that come in and out of each other’s lives with a lot of yearning in between. Add to that the mystery of the sketch plus where the characters lives took them, contrasting with the present day twist. Very emotionally involving personal mystery/discovery tale.

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Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.75

This is quite near a perfect post apocalyptic novel. The only thing keeping it from being considered perfect is that it’s inconclusive. I do look forward to the sequel but it would be nice if this novel was a bit more conclusive.

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Out There Screaming by Jordan Peele, John Joseph Adams

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense 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

4.75

I’m giving this a 4.75 because it’s overall a fantastic collection of short stories with horror and other genre sensibilities done mostly incredibly well. I’m not going to ding the ones that didn’t hit for me too harshly because frankly those might work really well. Overall, I loved my time with this book. Reading it off and on for a year never felt like wasted time. I now have a whole plethora of black authors to check out longer novels and other works from.

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Breath of the Dragon by Shannon Lee, Fonda Lee

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense fast-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

4.25

Excellent book. Everything you expect from Martial Arts movies and shows in book form. The Dragon Scale powers are a simple, elegant system. Characters are multifaceted, keeping you guessing, very infused with believable psychology. The worldbuilding is excellent too. My only minor gripe is that you can’t help but envision the protagonist as Bruce Lee given Fonda Lee collaborated on this with Shannon Lee, Bruce Lee’s Daughter. It stands well on its own actually. Can’t wait for the sequel.

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A School Frozen in Time, Volume 2 by Naoshi Arakawa, Mizuki Tsujimura

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.25

This is a great volume. It’s very much a middle volume, we’re not getting full answerd, it’s still developing. Nonetheless, experiencing the doubts and fears of these students is very involving.

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A School Frozen in Time, Volume 1 by Naoshi Arakawa, Mizuki Tsujimura

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

This is a strong first volume. Each character is depicted vividly. You know their type in the group dynamic. The strangeness and suspense of their predicament is quite well done. The comedic asides are welcome but probably could have been minimized. The suspects about who died that day are quite obvious in this volume but perhaps they’re red herrings. I look forward to reading the other volumes.

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Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense fast-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

4.25


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Spy x Family, Vol. 13 by Tatsuya Endo

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense fast-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


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Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak

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

3.75

The end portions feel a bit rushed and contrived but I was gripped and steadily reading for much of this novel. 

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Elevation by Stephen King

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense medium-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

4.25

This is a surprising, magical realism tinged, slice of life novelette or novella from Stephen King, a writer who doesn’t get enough credit for his non-horror works. This probably could have been a smidge longer but King probably didn’t want it that way. It’s brisk and effective. I selfishly want a bit more time with these characters. 

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