rnbhargava's reviews
411 reviews

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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The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative 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

4.0

I loved reading through this, from deciding how much to trust the characters, the setting amidst a specific point in Chinese History, the character motivations that make you question good or bad or something in between. The central dilemma will certainly be great to go through in the sequels. I’m giving it a 4, plot is thrilling, characters are kind of cold but nonetheless relatable on some level. You really question yourself given which characters you end up relating to. 

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High Fidelity by Nick Hornby

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

4.0


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Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is a quote good book that in a slightly satirical manner, really gets to the heart of dissatisfaction that a lot of men have. The violence to make them feel alive. The radicalization to make them feel like they’re doing something and are part of something bigger than themselves. It’s frightening yet so many of the supporting characters are quite incompetent. The infamous twist with the protagonist arguably works even better in the book given that even if you know it’s coming from having seen the film, there’s intrigue in seeing the character figure it out for himself. I don’t know if I would reread “Fight Club” but I’m glad I’ve read it. 

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The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative 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? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Another quite well done thriller from Lucy Foley that I couldn’t put down once it got going. This one does start off a bit slow but once the intrigues and reveals start showing themselves it’s off to the races

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