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thewiserslone's reviews
304 reviews
Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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? Yes
4.25
Ok SO. Overall, an enjoyable read. It was pretty fast paced and kept me engaged. The ensemble of characters is so enjoyable, I actually like when we drift away from the two mains (which… probably isn’t a good thing? Lol).
Three main complaints that prevent it from being a 5 star for me:
1- Honestly I could care less about the spice in this book. If Yarros wanted to just lean whole in to high fantasy and skip the explicit scenes, I don’t think it would be a loss. One of the major things that seemed WAY too obvious to me what Yarros constantly inventing reasons why they couldn’t be together to fabricate tension and longing. I get lead up and tension is good for romance scenes, but the excuses felt forced to me.
2- Retroactive plot twists. I admit I didn’t do a reread before this book, but there were some people/places/world building that were just dumped on us in a way that was like “you should know this.” And then they were later used for a plot twist. I prefer my twists to have expertly woven threads throughout the story, so when they’re revealed, I as the reader can immediately understand how they came to be— I don’t want to then have to read a chapter of exposition as to why it makes sense.
3- bloated book. I think the book could have been about 100-200 pages shorter and been a stronger story. There was a lot of rambling and wandering and jumping between places. All the pieces felt a little disjointed for me.
Three main complaints that prevent it from being a 5 star for me:
1- Honestly I could care less about the spice in this book. If Yarros wanted to just lean whole in to high fantasy and skip the explicit scenes, I don’t think it would be a loss. One of the major things that seemed WAY too obvious to me what Yarros constantly inventing reasons why they couldn’t be together to fabricate tension and longing. I get lead up and tension is good for romance scenes, but the excuses felt forced to me.
2- Retroactive plot twists. I admit I didn’t do a reread before this book, but there were some people/places/world building that were just dumped on us in a way that was like “you should know this.” And then they were later used for a plot twist. I prefer my twists to have expertly woven threads throughout the story, so when they’re revealed, I as the reader can immediately understand how they came to be— I don’t want to then have to read a chapter of exposition as to why it makes sense.
3- bloated book. I think the book could have been about 100-200 pages shorter and been a stronger story. There was a lot of rambling and wandering and jumping between places. All the pieces felt a little disjointed for me.
Servant of Earth by Sarah Hawley
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Really enjoyed this! Loved the FMC at the start, was annoyed by her half the time in the middle, loved her again by the end. This girl got boy crazy in the middle and it made the book feel oddly juvenile for a 25 year old and with how grim and dark the rest of the plot was. My only really complaint, but it was a good chunk of the book.
I absolutely loved the court politics, the magic and the trials, and the world building. There was some really interesting plot and character development, and the twists at the end were great. Absolutely reading the next book when it comes out.
I absolutely loved the court politics, the magic and the trials, and the world building. There was some really interesting plot and character development, and the twists at the end were great. Absolutely reading the next book when it comes out.
Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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
5.0
This book wrung an absolute gamut of emotion out of me. I was mad, uncomfortable, giddy, enraged, heartbroken, proud. It’s one of those stories that you can’t help but see the real world parallels, and makes you confront how you fit in those situations. It’s the kind of story that fuels a rage for change and a mourning for those constantly wronged by a society that seeks to step on them for their own advancement.
That being said.. insanely interesting magic system, and a poignant world building mixed with excellent prose and plot made this as easy 5 stars for me.
That being said.. insanely interesting magic system, and a poignant world building mixed with excellent prose and plot made this as easy 5 stars for me.
The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
2.5
Normally when I rate a book this low, I actively hated it. But I didn’t hate this book… it was just so boring. It was described as a Ghibili like story, and I can see some of that with the cutesy cozy vibes, but even the sweetest Ghibili story has tension and conflict and this book did not. It was TOO cozy. Every “conflict” was too easily wrapped up, and the characters felt bland and uninteresting. I really wanted to like this book, but I need either a little more intrigue or some great introspection for a cozy fantasy to work for me, and this one did not.
Tales from Tiressia by Charissa Weaks
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
LAWD. Charissa doesn’t play around with the spice, holy hell. From a romance perspective, this was top tier. However one of the reasons I like spice scenes are because of what all comes before and after it. So while I have read all her other Witch Collector books and know the relationships, this was like all action with no foreplay, hence only 4 stars.
A Power Unbound by Freya Marske
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
3.75 ⭐️
Overall I liked this entry more than books 1 and 2 because it was more plot heavy. The overall narrative was tied up nicely with some little plot twists. Lovely prose as ever.
The romance caught me off guard because I found the first two books to be passionate and sweet. This book had more of a dom-sub relationship with a humiliation kink. Which is fine, but before this I would almost call this series “cozy” so that was very unexpected lol.
Overall I liked this entry more than books 1 and 2 because it was more plot heavy. The overall narrative was tied up nicely with some little plot twists. Lovely prose as ever.
The romance caught me off guard because I found the first two books to be passionate and sweet. This book had more of a dom-sub relationship with a humiliation kink. Which is fine, but before this I would almost call this series “cozy” so that was very unexpected lol.
The Atlas Complex by Olivie Blake
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
3 Star
OOF. If I had to pick one word to describe this book, it's CONVOLUTED. I consider myself an intelligent person, and worm holes and time travel and quantum physics aside, the basic plot of this book is SO difficult to follow for no reason.
In her Author's Acknowledgement at the end, Blake mentions that she set out to write this story with "the characters being the plot." I think she greatly accomplishes this in the first book. Not much really happened, but the characters where very authentic and realized, and I thoroughly enjoyed the vibes of the Atlas Six.
In the Atlas Paradox, the story got expertly convoluted in a lot of BIG science and philosophy that lost the vibe of a being a character driven story. I had to force myself to finish it, and if wasn't for the very last page, I probably would not have picked up the third book to read the story's conclusion.
Plot holes aside, one of my biggest icks from this book was the CONSTANT repetition. Both of thoughts/points, and literal words. I get what she was going for, but the more you say "What else will you break Ms. Rhodes" the more I clearly understand the answer is "literally everything" and the less I will care when it happens because I'm so annoyed with all the talk and none of the show. I also felt like some of the character development was severely rushed this book to give some of these characters redemption. But honestly, I didn't WANT redemption. I wanted it to stay a scathing critique that some people (especially those born into privilege) can just be garbage humans. There was also WAY too many additional POVs this book. Six is already a lot, all the one-off additional POVs slapped me out of the story too often.
The single redeeming quality is the audio narration. All but one of the OG six narrators came back for this story (and I dearly missed the original narrator for Parisa, her vocal fry was exactly how I personified Parisa in my head) and they were all excellent in portraying the characters in audio form.
If I had one recommendation, it would be to read The Atlas Six as a standalone in the fall *just* for the dark academia vibes, and pretend the rest of the series doesn't exist.
OOF. If I had to pick one word to describe this book, it's CONVOLUTED. I consider myself an intelligent person, and worm holes and time travel and quantum physics aside, the basic plot of this book is SO difficult to follow for no reason.
In her Author's Acknowledgement at the end, Blake mentions that she set out to write this story with "the characters being the plot." I think she greatly accomplishes this in the first book. Not much really happened, but the characters where very authentic and realized, and I thoroughly enjoyed the vibes of the Atlas Six.
In the Atlas Paradox, the story got expertly convoluted in a lot of BIG science and philosophy that lost the vibe of a being a character driven story. I had to force myself to finish it, and if wasn't for the very last page, I probably would not have picked up the third book to read the story's conclusion.
Plot holes aside, one of my biggest icks from this book was the CONSTANT repetition. Both of thoughts/points, and literal words. I get what she was going for, but the more you say "What else will you break Ms. Rhodes" the more I clearly understand the answer is "literally everything" and the less I will care when it happens because I'm so annoyed with all the talk and none of the show. I also felt like some of the character development was severely rushed this book to give some of these characters redemption. But honestly, I didn't WANT redemption. I wanted it to stay a scathing critique that some people (especially those born into privilege) can just be garbage humans. There was also WAY too many additional POVs this book. Six is already a lot, all the one-off additional POVs slapped me out of the story too often.
The single redeeming quality is the audio narration. All but one of the OG six narrators came back for this story (and I dearly missed the original narrator for Parisa, her vocal fry was exactly how I personified Parisa in my head) and they were all excellent in portraying the characters in audio form.
If I had one recommendation, it would be to read The Atlas Six as a standalone in the fall *just* for the dark academia vibes, and pretend the rest of the series doesn't exist.
Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I’m waffling between 3.75 and 4 ⭐️
I want to say 4 stars just because it’s a beautifully written book with gorgeous prose, but I think I have to bump to 3.75 because I was so board the entire first half of the book.
The pacing was really off for me. The first half dragged on, and then once we were in the climax, I felt like everything moved too quickly and was resolved too fast. I kind of hate when the impossible villain is taken down with a plot device.
The romance didn’t work for me this book. I wish they would have been aged up— I get this is supposed to be more like an alternate reality period piece, but 18 year old newlyweds was a weird concept to get behind. Being separated for most of the book had the potential for the slow rebuild of the relationship, but there wasn’t a lot of tension or romance there imo.
The world building was so cool in the first book, and I thought we were going to get a ton more in the second and was let down. Again I think if this were an adult book rather than YA, it could have delved more into that world and been a bit more complex.
I enjoy her writing style a lot, but I think whether or not I read her next book will be entirely dependent on the age of the characters.
I want to say 4 stars just because it’s a beautifully written book with gorgeous prose, but I think I have to bump to 3.75 because I was so board the entire first half of the book.
The pacing was really off for me. The first half dragged on, and then once we were in the climax, I felt like everything moved too quickly and was resolved too fast. I kind of hate when the impossible villain is taken down with a plot device.
The romance didn’t work for me this book. I wish they would have been aged up— I get this is supposed to be more like an alternate reality period piece, but 18 year old newlyweds was a weird concept to get behind. Being separated for most of the book had the potential for the slow rebuild of the relationship, but there wasn’t a lot of tension or romance there imo.
The world building was so cool in the first book, and I thought we were going to get a ton more in the second and was let down. Again I think if this were an adult book rather than YA, it could have delved more into that world and been a bit more complex.
I enjoy her writing style a lot, but I think whether or not I read her next book will be entirely dependent on the age of the characters.
A Court This Cruel and Lovely by Stacia Stark
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
5.0
Well hot dang I was sleeping on this book! The story very quickly drew me in. Each person having a unique-to-them magic was pretty cool, and I really enjoyed the cast of characters. It was a proper slow burn with lots of sassy tension. There was some good plot twists, good ground work for future plot, and good writing. I’ll definitely be reading book 2, like, now.
Gold by Raven Kennedy
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
4.5
I think I will be one of the readers who enjoyed this book more than other Plated Prisioner books. With this installment, the series feels like it’s more holistically changed from romantasy to high fantasy and I. Am. Here. For. IT!
There’s still romance in the book (a single spice scene in 600+ pages) but I found I did not miss the explicit scenes at all because the world building, politics and plot twists had me riveted. This book was action packed from the start, and I didn’t feel a lull at all.
The story expansion and character development was excellent, and once again we end on a cliffhanger. Goldfinch will easily be one of my most anticipated reads next year (hopefully next year?)
I just need Raven to come up with a different term for “something poking at the back of your mind” because the word “niggle” gives me ick lol.
There’s still romance in the book (a single spice scene in 600+ pages) but I found I did not miss the explicit scenes at all because the world building, politics and plot twists had me riveted. This book was action packed from the start, and I didn’t feel a lull at all.
The story expansion and character development was excellent, and once again we end on a cliffhanger. Goldfinch will easily be one of my most anticipated reads next year (hopefully next year?)
I just need Raven to come up with a different term for “something poking at the back of your mind” because the word “niggle” gives me ick lol.