shane_the_reading_rat's reviews
1004 reviews

i thought this was an incredibly sweet book. can definitely see 12-year-old me reading this and loving it. im not in the audience anymore for middle grade, so take this with a grain of salt, but for me i think it deals with serious topics (divorce, alcoholism) in a really good way for a 12-13 year old audience. i hate when the perception is that books for kids cant involve serious topics, cause lots of kids have had to deal with really hard things (myself included) and books can help them feel less alone. anyway tangent over, i loved this!!

i really liked this!! perfect fast pace for a thriller, and Sid was an awesome main character. didnt have that extra spark that wouldve made it a 5 star book for me, but still pretty great
(i wish that Mavis were a little more of a character, she was kinda one note in this)

this is very much a “turn your brain off and vibe” book, and while that energy is generally not for me i thought this was fine. i liked Lana as a main character, yes she is selfish and a massive flirt but she’s super fun. also perhaps my favorite aspect of this that ive seen no review mention is that: while this is a world of only women, when they want to become pregnant the “natal fairy” visits them and gives them children. the natal fairy is such a funny concept, like oh my god. im really curious if the natal fairy is the only man in this universe and he is just. a Magic Guy who gives the women children in a magical way. sadly not confirmed but it’d be so funny

it was because of @danielles_reads’s lovely review of this that i decided to pick up this book and read it instead of returning it to the library early. thank you danielle (i adore your reviews)!!!
in the most loving way: i am devastated by this book.
it’s my favorite kind of book, something that under the surface is about love and hope and the power of love and hope and the want for change, for a better world. and this book did that splendidly.
i didn’t cry, but upon finishing this i felt as wrung out emotionally as a sad little wet towel. and i think that is the perfect way to describe the experience of reading Blood Upon Bright Haven.
easily one of my favorite fantasy books of all time. again thank you danielle for indirectly encouraging me to go ahead and read it <3

this felt like a combo of a ghibli film and a really good LoZ: BoTW side quest, and i really really liked it :D

dnf’ed @ 64%
god it sucks to have a book you’ve been wanting to read for nearly two years fall so unbearably flat.
i was so hyped to start this, but honestly it is a dull, medieval-set fantasy like so many others
i do not care about any of the characters, but the disability rep was my favorite aspect of this. made me happy

this is really the first book about labor and worker’s rights that ive read, and i thought it was extremely good. it’s ultimately a short read but is packed with information, from why there aren’t many unions in arkansas to the connections between Tyson and prisons. i think the setting in particular hit close to home, ive been in arkansas more times than i can count and lived just across the border of it for most of my life. beautiful state with a lot of problems

feels very Too-Sweet-by-Hozier-coded but maybe thats just me

i really liked this!! the vampires were interesting (and definitely different from typical dracula-style vampires, which i was confused by at first but grew to like), and gonna be honest the romance did not click for me until close to the end but once it did it really did :))

the board games in this are just fundamentally incredibly confusing and i genuinely do not understand. why was louisiana veda so popular when her games can basically fucking kill people????? when there’s rumors of straight up torture at her factory??? why are so many people enchanted by her still??? also HOW THE FUCK DO THE GAMES WORK???? why are they this interactive?? how does that work?? also frankly who on earth would play a game where the instruction guide is the length of a novel, and how would that game get so popular that crowds are scrambling to buy it??? why do these teenagers love louisiana veda so much when she kinda just seems like a terrible girlboss ceo??? none of this makes any sense at all and i really really dislike it. dnf’ed at 45%.

this was extremely strange but also good??? went in directions i very much didn’t expect,

mainly sex with the northern lights