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val_theburrowofstories's reviews
353 reviews
The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
Did not finish book. Stopped at 25%.
(Tried to read this in November 2024)
Did not finish book. Stopped at 25%.
(Tried to read this in November 2024)
- It’s nothing against the book at all, I was actually liking it, but I just didn’t have time to finish this 4 book series in 2024 :( I just hope to get the audiobooks sometime and then listen to them.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Did not finish book. Stopped at 52%.
(Tried to read this in October 2024)
Did not finish book. Stopped at 52%.
(Tried to read this in October 2024)
- Tbh I don’t remember when was the last time I picked this book up, it was probably in November, but I’m going to leave it all in October. I still need to update the pages because I did read them.
- Is not AT ALL that this book was bad or boring, I didn’t want to DNF it, but there wasn’t enough time left in 2024 to finish this. I was 50% done with this so it hurt to DNF it.
- But I’m sure I will pick up this book again at some point but in an audiobook format.
Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber
Did not finish book. Stopped at 78%.
(Tried to read this in July 2024)
Did not finish book. Stopped at 78%.
(Tried to read this in July 2024)
- It actually makes me so angry to remember that I pushed through how shitty Caraval was and my hate towards one of the sisters because I thought they would be important here, and they’re here for 5 minutes!
- I ended up DNFing this book because I cannot go through another trilogy where I hate the main character. I love fantasy books but I just cannot deal with incredibly stupid girls as main characters 😭
- If I say that I hated Evangeline and Donatella more than Apollo (as far as I’ve known him) then what lol
- Besides, I did not really care about Jacks that much or this world.
- In general, to me this was medium paced, boring as fuck and annoying because of Evangeline.
- I was so angry when I DNF this book that I just thought I read a completely different book and I just kept wondering how the fuck someone gives it 5 stars lmao
- Like who DNFs a book at 78%!!! I was so close to finishing this, it was that serious!! she was that stupid! And look, I tried to keep reminding myself “she’s only 16/17”… but istg I was not stupid at that age and as much as I found Clary Fairchild annoying too, at least she made some smart decisions and saved the world, meanwhile Evangeline would be the reason why the world ends.
- So yeah… this might be the last book I pick up from this author because I had enough, her books are not for me.
The Paris Daughter by Kristin Harmel
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-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
4.0
- I love historical fiction books, especially if they’re set around WWII, like that’s one of my favorite genres for sure so of course this book was 4 ⭐
- I hate reading synopsis though because I am simply too smart, I come up with ONE theory and that one theory is what happened 😭
- The women and the kids of this story did not deserve that much suffering 💔 so much loss and destruction in their lives…
Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi
adventurous
fast-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
2.0
- Look I am just so glad that I finally finished this trilogy lol yeah I’m not going to continue with whatever is next, I just cannot do it, bye.
- I just don’t care?? I mean the author shows us for TWO books who Warner is, and then in this whole book she is trying to explain and justify every single bad or evil thing he did AND adds that he has an ill mom, you know, just so the readers would have that one final push to sympathize with him and love him. Whatever. I truly could not care less about Warner, it even feels weird to call him Aaron.
- To be honest I don’t even care about Juliette at all either. She’s suddenly and in such a short amount of time in control of her powers AND she’s the most powerful of them all, okay. She is a really bad friend (she never ever talks to the others alone to ask how they are doing, just in group meetings), she’s a really bad best friend to Kenji, she’s stupid (yes, she is), she doesn’t think or cares about anyone else but herself and her feelings with the current boyfriend she might have, and she doesn’t even gives a fuck about those boyfriends and their feelings like Warner literally lost his mother and is grieving and she made it about herself and her feelings just to get fucked (I’m sorry!) and she still kept calling him her friends lmaooo
- I might have cared about Adam, I was even on his side at the beginning with this whole Juliette and Warner thing, but then he just got so annoying too, he was so disrespectful to her, he would not let it go and kept whining over and over again, it was pissing me off. AND the worst thing is that he put Kenji’s hand in Juliette’s, he could’ve hurt him??
- Basically, the only character I truly cared about was Kenji, the second he appeared the whole vibe shifted and the stupid drama was gone, but he isn’t enough to save this book for me.
- At least they finally acknowledge what I’ve been thinking from the beginning, that the only reason why she and Adam worked is because he is literally the only person to show her kindness and the only person who could touch her. Then the second option is Warner so naturally she is drawn to him because he can touch her too. But the author wanted to take that out of the equation and make it look like it’s Juliette’s choice because now she can control her powers and touch anyone. Still, both boys had a WEIRD obsession with her.
- I still enjoy some YA but what I cannot stand are stupid self centered teenage girls, and I have found SO much of that in the most famous YA book series that I started (and DNF) this year, it’s insane.
- Finishing this book felt like a chore and the author was dealing with so many things at the same time, quickly fixing them or giving them some sort of closure, but I think some things (like Warner finding out Adam and James are his brothers) deserved way more pages, maybe that’s explore in the next books but I guess I’ll never know.
- A funny thing is that this book made me realize in YA books (especially romantasy) they almost NEVER mention condoms or teenage pregnancy, because if I were Juliette I would be so worried of fucking every single day lol
- And still, I’m giving this 2 ⭐ yeah bye.
Husband Material by Alexis Hall
funny
lighthearted
fast-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
2.0
- The 4th audiobook I started while I was painting the house, but I finished it days later. At least it kept me company at the beginning.
- I just wanted to see how they relationship grew and how their dynamic was now, but damn Luc really is the worst and ruins the book for me 😭 so I have no interest in reading whatever comes next for the series because this man-child will be taking care of little kids? no thank you. I don’t want to see poor children involved in this messy relationship, they just fight and don’t really solve the issues and once again having children will probably be Luc’s decision and not Oliver’s.
- I don’t think they should’ve get married at all and especially not under the circumstances of “let’s get married because everyone else is, not because I actually want to” which obviously led them to have a huge breakdown at the end because they were not marrying because they love each other but because of this mental social pressure. Spoiler,
in the LITERAL last minute they do not get married but still! They have big communication problems and Luc always plays the fucking victim. - I even forgot this but yeah besides all the negative things I have to say about Lucien he acts like the way he lives and express his sexuality is the ONLY right way to do it?? What a way to despise your boyfriend over and over again.
- A bit of a spoiler but
I kept wishing Oliver’s parents drop dead and his father actually did lmao well that was at least something good here. - They are just constantly fighting. Always because of Lucien and how he always makes everything about him and his feelings only like no one else matters. And Oliver always takes him back, agrees to whatever whim of his, he always is the one to apologize too.
- Oliver is the main reason why I finished both books but damn he deserves way better but his self esteem is on the floor thanks to his parents so of course he settles for the first man to stay because Luc happens to be a way worse mess and a project to fix.
- Look I had a little bit of fun but omfg now that I’m trying to write the review all I have to say is negative things and just saying “I love Oliver and the friends” is not enough for anything else beyond 2 ⭐ and I’ll stop writing now or I’ll get even more mad lol
We Are Okay by Nina LaCour
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
- This is the 3rd audiobook in less than a week that I finish while I paint the house lol
- The themes of this short book are basically grief over her grandpa, friendships and discovering her sexuality.
- Because of the themes I am glad that I read these at the end of 2024 and not the end of 2020 because I think it would have destroyed me back then but I still got to enjoy it now and see the big picture I guess.
- I am glad this girl does have a family that cares about her, even if they're not related by blood, it just shows once again how you can build your own family and support systems with the people around you.
- I think it was a beautiful book, I finished it in a few hours and it was great company while painting the house so I would rate it 3.5 ⭐
Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
- This is the 2nd audiobook I finished while I was painting the house. I was looking for something easy to understand to me and since I love Greek Mythology this was the choice.
- I think this was entertaining enough so I rated this book 3 ⭐, I liked that the audiobook was narrated by the author herself!
- And because I like Greek Mythology books I’m adding the other books written by the author.
- I don’t have much to say really, we all know how these Greek Gods behave when it comes to humans / mortals, but specially women. I just liked reading another take on how the story goes.
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
mysterious
medium-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
4.0
- This book has been on my TBR for a couple of years now and the day I started the audiobook I didn’t read the synopsis so I went in blind. I was just looking for an audiobook to listen to while I helped my grandmother with painting the house.
- It’s amazing how always (to me) when the book has two stories happening in different times, the one set in the present is way more boring compared to the one that happened in the past. That seems like a rule at this point in every book like this.
- In the story set in the past we have Nella, the owner of a secret and hidden apothecary and she helps women with poisons for their husbands or men who have wrong them. And she meets Eliza, a 12 year old who works for this woman and she was ordered to get poison for the man of the house. That’s how Nella and Eliza met and a friendship between the two is form, a deep so strong they were willing to sacrifice their lives for the other in the end. I’m very happy for the ending they got.
- Then in the story set in the present we have stupid Caroline and her asshole husband. Honestly to me she was just there, you know? It’s like my brain barely payed any attention to her story but then I was so immerse on what was going on with Nella and Eliza. I just felt sorry for Caroline but at the same time how can you be so stupid lmao like girl didn’t even try! And now that I read another very long review that is basically just trashing this character I am mad at her and how she is a waste of pages that could’ve been used to the interesting story lol but I guess this adds up to the mystery and discovering what happened so many years ago.
- I truly believe that if we didn’t have Caroline in this book then this could’ve been a 5 stars. Just Nella and Eliza and maybe newspaper extract in between to add to the mystery? it would’ve been great.
- But anyways, I really liked this book, to me it was a 4 ⭐ and I’ll be adding more books of the author to my TBR.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Blood, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Blood, and Medical content
Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
- This book has been on my TBR for years and actually I was planning on taking it out of there, but it was available as an audiobook on Libby so I decided to give it a try.
- Not gonna lie, if it was just because of Luc I would’ve DNF this book at the very beginning because I don’t like the man. Luc is a bad friend, he’s bad at communication, he has this trauma with what people say about him online so he doesn’t trust anyone new, he makes everything about him and doesn’t really seem to give a fuck about anyone else’s life or feelings… idk so many things I didn’t like about him and because of his behavior I thought he was 20 or 23 max. but he is 28yo!?
- Anyways, then we meet Oliver and he’s the only reason why I didn’t DNF the book. He is so serious but I really liked him. Now he is the kind of guy I would like to hang around and date, Luc is a total mess I would not want near me at all.
- Oliver is a sweetheart and Luc is a complete mess. Honestly? With that ending in my opinion Oliver deserves WAY better than him.
- There’s only two things I agree with Luc: 1) The way he reacted to his father coming to him after so many years just because he had cancer and wanted to reconnect? Yeah, he can die alone (which spoiler,
but sadly he doesn’t even have cancer he kinda made it all up ) ; 2) Oliver’s parents deserve to be spoken to that way because they’re such assholes too to their children. If I have such a perfect boyfriend and upon meeting his parents he is treated that way? I would’ve screamed too. - I know I sound like I have many complains but in general it was very funny and entertaining. I kinda like Luc (sometimes) but what this really made this book for me was Oliver, Luc’s coworker and Luc’s group of friends. So I ended up rating this book 3 ⭐ and it wasn’t on my plans but I’ll continue with the 2nd book because I want to see their dynamic as a true couple now and how they get engaged.