transcendent's reviews
205 reviews

Christmas at the Flindrikin Fair by Maggie McShane

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fast-paced

1.5

this felt like an AI generated book, despite being released before AI was popularised for writing books like this.

they constantly spoke about some marginalised community, and i would love to know who can be so smothered by society and also so collectively incredibly well off in regards to business opportunities and community settings?

also, all of the characters just felt like nothing burger. there was no rhyme or reason for anything happening, and a celebrity shows up and gets with a side character at some point? what the hell man.
Deep End by Ali Hazelwood

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

shout out to swimming and diving, wish i understood a single word these guys were talking about at any given time
Macbeth by William Shakespeare

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

4.25

it's macbeth, bitch.

no but watching such an amazing cast of actors perform on a semi regular basis warms my heart, seeing macbeth done how they did (open air btw) was so epic!!!
i will never get over the monologues and the the witches and the prophecy, but i could get over the language use depeneding on which version I'm reading/viewing. 
Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros

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adventurous slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

as someone who also has EDS, everything would fix itself if Violet Sorrengail killed herself.
the dragons are already traumatised, traumatise them more.
Fall Shook Up by Piper Sheldon

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funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Solid quick book, which I didn't know was part of a series written by a bunch of different authors! 
Love my emotionally repressed autistic FMC and grieving artist MMC tho
Now, Conjurers by Freddie Kölsch

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emotional funny mysterious medium-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? It's complicated

4.75

THIS WAS EPIC!!!!

although a complete blind buy from the bookstore because.... pretty cover....... Kölsch didn't disappoint. with her strong voice leading her unbelievably well fleshed out characters though the story which is being told by Nesbit, and finds us following a murder in a rural town in the US along the thing called the Quabbin? 

Now, Conjurers had many of the elements which I typically love in a book but because of this had a tinge of predictability through absolutely no fault of its own! where it mattered the story had me absolutely engrossed and guessing, but the smaller things, like relationships between characters or small details became things I could just assume and would later read as true (in my head anyway).

love you, Now, Conjurers. to the goths and the witches and the goth witches who have nerd bf's 🫰
Gabi, a Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero

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emotional inspiring reflective fast-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

If I found this book in 2014 (when it was released btw) I would've made it out a little more okay than I did now

Seeing and hearing all that Gabi goes through in a single year, and telling myself that my friends will go through similar things at around the same- if not younger ages feels like it would've taken so much off of me in a way? like yes we're all different, but the struggle of being the oldest then-teen, then-daughter from a poor immigrant family remains the same.

I'm so glad this book exists, and I'm so glad teachers like Gabi's poetry teacher exist, who care about their students and try to help them succeed in all facets of their lives! Without teachers like that, many of us wouldn't be where we are!
Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White

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challenging emotional reflective 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

ANOTHER AJW W!!!!!!

Compound Fracture finally being released in Australia puts me back up to date with releases, and I'm so grateful to own all three of them physically!

Following Miles through this exploration of self and family set in a small Appalachian town was such a different- and at times difficult- experience to read about. 

Reading about how innately intertwined Saint and Miles' lives were, from their identities, to their politics, to their pro-union stance and their love for their families made me appreciate this so much, to be seen like that is something that I could never think to put into words as well as it's been done here.

OK GOOGLE NOW PLAY TAKE ME HOME, COUNTRY ROADS!
The Crown by Kiera Cass

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funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

i was just so unbelievably bored reading this, i could tell where the story was going to end and there was no real threat throughout the duology like there was over the selection series, nor was there any real chemistry with eady and any of the selected.