roz1ta's reviews
98 reviews

Hold Still by Nina LaCour

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-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

3.75

Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

This was cute, but honestly I think would have made a better movie! Nina Lacour's writing style isn't as refined as it is in 'We Are Okay', but I think part of that is Emi as a character feels less defined to me than Marin - the writing was not bad, just simpler than I think the book could afford given that the characters were like, nice but I'm struggling to think of any...traits they had. The more detail-oriented sections of the writing were what pulled it back for me. I wanted to see/hear more [about] Emi and Charlotte's friendship, and less about how Emi was pining after Morgan, who I don't think anyone could possibly develop any attachment to so I don't know why that was such a focus. I also struggle with romances for the exact reason that I don't find it compelling to hear how beautiful someone is over and over - I wish Emi and Ava ending up together felt more...earned, I guess than 'oh, they both like girls...'
I also find family heritage/legacy stories difficult to care about, I don't know why.
That being said, whilst I noticed these problems I had a good time; I thought the momentum of the story was pretty breezy (almost, too breezy; it felt like some things should have been harder!) and I enjoyed what we did see of the central friendship, and especially the attention to detail when following Emi's escapades in production design, and I enjoy that the book felt very earnest and sweet.

The Premonition by Banana Yoshimoto

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dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

A strong premise (and title) that went nowhere intresting or even surprising - the pacing and momentum of the revelation itself was really strange (as was the romance!). The characters were vague, so the emotional impact fell flat, and coupled with how underwhelming the plot proved to be, made the whole book feel unwarranted. The descriptions were great, but Yoshimoto's promising writing unfortunately couldn't give this book much poignancy.

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-paced