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adaora_ble's reviews
291 reviews
Firefly - Big Damn Hero by Nancy Holder, James Lovegrove
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Classism
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book was fantastic! It was so real and the characters were complex and interesting. You could feel how each issue or insecurity led to the next, how the games they created really was just a reflection of themselves, how friendships can change you for better or for worse and how terrifying it is to be vulnerable even with the people you're closest with.
It did such a good job of fleshing out every character it touched whilst still focusing on the MCs. Even though they were frustrating and complex and unable to hold necessary emotional conversations with each other, I still loved every single character through deep and unabiding love for each other to dispassionate hate to everything inbetween.
Marx really is the better half of Sam and Sadie, the glue that holds everything together, probably the best character from an objective standpoint and certainly the most emotionally healthy of the main trio. However, in choosing my favourite character it has to be Sam, digging into his psyche and all his neurosis and hang ups and things he just cannot say even though he truly wants to I feel so bad for him and simultaneously so mad at him and yet you get his deep fear.
Up until the moment I finished it I thought of this book as contemporary fiction, or as my high school librarian would call it 'That's Life', but when I was tagging/shelving it on StoryGraphs I was suddenly struck with the realisation that it could very well be classed as a sci-fi. Like a low stakes (and less fucked up) Black Mirror; it speculates on the effects/consequences of technology on individuals and society, even if it's something as basic as a 90s video game and not Ready Player One, it speaks to our own world and the problems we face as a society.
I can't recommend this book enough, I was fighting tears on the train at the end and even though the first part (of ten parts) was fairly slow it soon sucked me in and got me invested in even the most brief character.
It did such a good job of fleshing out every character it touched whilst still focusing on the MCs. Even though they were frustrating and complex and unable to hold necessary emotional conversations with each other, I still loved every single character through deep and unabiding love for each other to dispassionate hate to everything inbetween.
Marx really is the better half of Sam and Sadie, the glue that holds everything together, probably the best character from an objective standpoint and certainly the most emotionally healthy of the main trio. However, in choosing my favourite character it has to be Sam, digging into his psyche and all his neurosis and hang ups and things he just cannot say even though he truly wants to I feel so bad for him and simultaneously so mad at him and yet you get his deep fear.
Up until the moment I finished it I thought of this book as contemporary fiction, or as my high school librarian would call it 'That's Life', but when I was tagging/shelving it on StoryGraphs I was suddenly struck with the realisation that it could very well be classed as a sci-fi. Like a low stakes (and less fucked up) Black Mirror; it speculates on the effects/consequences of technology on individuals and society, even if it's something as basic as a 90s video game and not Ready Player One, it speaks to our own world and the problems we face as a society.
I can't recommend this book enough, I was fighting tears on the train at the end and even though the first part (of ten parts) was fairly slow it soon sucked me in and got me invested in even the most brief character.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
Siren Song by Holly Scott, Jaimie Duncan
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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
3.0
This book started off so well ðŸ˜
It had all the adventure and the stakes and the characterisation of a classic SG-1 adventure and then it all fell apart in the second half. It got repetitive and boring and just downright depressing. It took so many interesting concepts and ideas and moral debates and quandaries and then just did nothing with them. I feel like I'm a book where Daniel Jackson is front and centre there needs to be more debates about the ethics of some of their actions especially since the characters seem to only briefly think about them when there was the time and scope to get deeper into it. I think one of the great things about Sci-fi is that it likes to take societal expectations and challenge them, looking at them from the outside in (even if we are bias) The Orville does it, Star Trek and Star Wars does it and Stargate does it but just not in this.
Also another problem with spinning off a show into a book series with different writers, Sam Carter felt very much out of character for most of the book but I'll write that off because they were in a very stressful situation and she'd been injured. You can also really feel the writers trying to slot it into the existing TV canon without affecting anything too much but I won't hold that against them.
All and all a good concept, probably would have been amazing if it had been in the show and limited to 45 mins instead of trying to drag out the back half into a 300 page book when it probably only needed 200.
It had all the adventure and the stakes and the characterisation of a classic SG-1 adventure and then it all fell apart in the second half. It got repetitive and boring and just downright depressing. It took so many interesting concepts and ideas and moral debates and quandaries and then just did nothing with them. I feel like I'm a book where Daniel Jackson is front and centre there needs to be more debates about the ethics of some of their actions especially since the characters seem to only briefly think about them when there was the time and scope to get deeper into it. I think one of the great things about Sci-fi is that it likes to take societal expectations and challenge them, looking at them from the outside in (even if we are bias) The Orville does it, Star Trek and Star Wars does it and Stargate does it but just not in this.
Also another problem with spinning off a show into a book series with different writers, Sam Carter felt very much out of character for most of the book but I'll write that off because they were in a very stressful situation and she'd been injured. You can also really feel the writers trying to slot it into the existing TV canon without affecting anything too much but I won't hold that against them.
All and all a good concept, probably would have been amazing if it had been in the show and limited to 45 mins instead of trying to drag out the back half into a 300 page book when it probably only needed 200.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Confinement, Drug abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Loveless by Alice Oseman
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
fast-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
The story takes us through the first year of 4 Durham fresher, 3 of whom are old friends and it tackles expectations around sexuality, romance, what we're supposed to be doing at uni and fitting in and growing up and I think it handles it all in a really great way. The stakes aren't huge but they're real and personal and for anyone who's ever felt a little bit on the outside for any reason it's very relatable.
The characters make mistakes and assumptions and they don't say what they mean even when they want to and they think people are one way when they're actually another and they make all the mistakes that we can except young adults to make and certainly some I've made myself at uni.
Very glad I didn't read this in my actual first year at uni since I was in the covid year and we barely had any irl events and if we did you had to sit in a group of 6 and not move so reading this would have made me very jealous even if the characters aren't always having fun at said events.
I think it can be hard to write a book about a certain period in your life that you've moved in from and have it remain real to the people who then grow into that age bracket because times change and it's easy to make something that doesn't age well or becomes outdated but between this, Radio Silence and Heartstopper these thoughts, feelings and situations all feel very real and it think it reminds its readers of a very important lesson on the significance of friendships that sometimes gets forgotten in a world where everything seems to be gearing towards romance.
This book may be part of the Osemanverse but it's very much a standalone book and can be read as such, and I definitely recommend it if you like books about friendships, coming of age (when they actually are coming of age) or Shakespeare.
The characters make mistakes and assumptions and they don't say what they mean even when they want to and they think people are one way when they're actually another and they make all the mistakes that we can except young adults to make and certainly some I've made myself at uni.
Very glad I didn't read this in my actual first year at uni since I was in the covid year and we barely had any irl events and if we did you had to sit in a group of 6 and not move so reading this would have made me very jealous even if the characters aren't always having fun at said events.
I think it can be hard to write a book about a certain period in your life that you've moved in from and have it remain real to the people who then grow into that age bracket because times change and it's easy to make something that doesn't age well or becomes outdated but between this, Radio Silence and Heartstopper these thoughts, feelings and situations all feel very real and it think it reminds its readers of a very important lesson on the significance of friendships that sometimes gets forgotten in a world where everything seems to be gearing towards romance.
This book may be part of the Osemanverse but it's very much a standalone book and can be read as such, and I definitely recommend it if you like books about friendships, coming of age (when they actually are coming of age) or Shakespeare.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Alcohol
The Apollo Murders by Chris Hadfield
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Up until the last few chapters I would have given it 5 stars, the tension was building, the mystery and intrigue was ratcheted up and ready for a satisfying payoff with all the characters ready to figure out everything together and lay out all the answers for the readers but I found it fell flat on its face in the last 10 pages. I couldn't imagine how they could possibly resolve some of the major plot elements and they couldn't.
The book is split into 5 very uneven parts that detail different parts of the journey to space during the Apollo 18 Mission, and you start off with Kaz as our main character and our eyes into the world of space travel. He's a good, compelling, intelligent character with a burgeoning personal life and good position as an overseer of most of the action of the plot and yet all his skills as a NSA Navy pilot astronaut or whatever he does barely helps him at all in figuring out what's going on which. Part 1 is the longest part because it sets us up with who I think will be the main POV, the stakes of the mission ect but Kaz kind of falls to the way side once they launch into space and his story kind of doesn't matter at all to be honest. Chad, another major character especially in the latter half of the book, is IMMENSELY annoying and arrogant, he acts like he has these master plans he's thinking up in his head but when he executes then they make no sense and make everything worse for him. I feel this meant to be purposeful for his character but again all it does it set up this amazing chain of events that never come to fruition. The only decently smart character is Gromova who actually does manage to stay a couple of steps ahead of everyone and is the most badass of all the other characters and even then I'm not entire sure if she succeeded or not at the end.
There better be a sequel because this story is not over.
The book is split into 5 very uneven parts that detail different parts of the journey to space during the Apollo 18 Mission, and you start off with Kaz as our main character and our eyes into the world of space travel. He's a good, compelling, intelligent character with a burgeoning personal life and good position as an overseer of most of the action of the plot and yet all his skills as a NSA Navy pilot astronaut or whatever he does barely helps him at all in figuring out what's going on which. Part 1 is the longest part because it sets us up with who I think will be the main POV, the stakes of the mission ect but Kaz kind of falls to the way side once they launch into space and his story kind of doesn't matter at all to be honest. Chad, another major character especially in the latter half of the book, is IMMENSELY annoying and arrogant, he acts like he has these master plans he's thinking up in his head but when he executes then they make no sense and make everything worse for him. I feel this meant to be purposeful for his character but again all it does it set up this amazing chain of events that never come to fruition. The only decently smart character is Gromova who actually does manage to stay a couple of steps ahead of everyone and is the most badass of all the other characters and even then I'm not entire sure if she succeeded or not at the end.
There better be a sequel because this story is not over.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Gun violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Vomit, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Recursion by Blake Crouch
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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
4.0
It's been a while since I read some sci-fi so this was a nice way to jump back into it!
I really liked how they built up the mystery and the internal logic of the universe of what exactly was going on, despite the blurb I wasn't really certain what I was getting myself into so it was nice to learn alongside the characters and get the same life plot twists that they do when they're thrown into crazy situations.
I really liked the characters, I was a bit worried I wouldn't like Detective Barry Sutton because he's a divorced dad with a dead daughter and he just felt like every action guy ever + he also reminded me of another detective from a book that ended up sucking but he really grew on me, he became my favourite character from the book although it terms of likeable characters there wasn't a huge number to chose from. The other main character Helena is heartbreaking because she only ever tried to do good and everyone else kept getting in the way of that.
The side characters felt very real and the thriller elements felt just sinister enough to leave you guessing what was going on. I definitely recommend this book if you like detective stories, sci-fi or just a two people going through life and learning from their mistakes.
There's a definitive shift in the trajectory of the plot that was slightly jarring because it felt very much like Part 1 and Part 2 but they tie together in the end by being a story of Barry's character development and him understanding his own role in his interpersonal relationships. It was very much his second chance at the life that he wanted. The last 3rd of the book was way more hardcore than the rest of it, more grisly but it was necessary for the story and to drive home how hard everyone was trying to work to a good ending.
I really liked how they built up the mystery and the internal logic of the universe of what exactly was going on, despite the blurb I wasn't really certain what I was getting myself into so it was nice to learn alongside the characters and get the same life plot twists that they do when they're thrown into crazy situations.
I really liked the characters, I was a bit worried I wouldn't like Detective Barry Sutton because he's a divorced dad with a dead daughter and he just felt like every action guy ever + he also reminded me of another detective from a book that ended up sucking but he really grew on me, he became my favourite character from the book although it terms of likeable characters there wasn't a huge number to chose from. The other main character Helena is heartbreaking because she only ever tried to do good and everyone else kept getting in the way of that.
The side characters felt very real and the thriller elements felt just sinister enough to leave you guessing what was going on. I definitely recommend this book if you like detective stories, sci-fi or just a two people going through life and learning from their mistakes.
There's a definitive shift in the trajectory of the plot that was slightly jarring because it felt very much like Part 1 and Part 2 but they tie together in the end by being a story of Barry's character development and him understanding his own role in his interpersonal relationships. It was very much his second chance at the life that he wanted. The last 3rd of the book was way more hardcore than the rest of it, more grisly but it was necessary for the story and to drive home how hard everyone was trying to work to a good ending.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gun violence, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Bacchae by Euripides
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
fast-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
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
Helen by Euripides
challenging
emotional
hopeful
tense
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? No
2.5
I try to judge ancient plays on a different scale because I'm A) from a different time, place and culture than the target audience and B) I'm reading a play that I'm supposed to be watching which definitely changes how we interpret it but also there are Greek Tragedies that I really love and find really good and well written. This is not one of them. Sorry to Euripides but not his best work in my opinion although he does a good job of highlighting the danger Helen is in every time she leaves her tomb sanctuary.
Also besides from just the actual play itself, I'm just not a fan of this version of the story where Helen was never in Troy to begin with. Sure it makes the tragedies more tragic and the gods come off quite badly fr to k this side of history making so many people fight and die for a decade because of a name but also I think (kidnapped) Helen being in Troy is also tragic, only this time tragic for just her. And if we're going by the runway Helen version, why let her off scott free from a war she caused or at least partially.
So yeah not a fan of this one, he's done better but this was definitely above Trojan Women which I also don't like.
Also besides from just the actual play itself, I'm just not a fan of this version of the story where Helen was never in Troy to begin with. Sure it makes the tragedies more tragic and the gods come off quite badly fr to k this side of history making so many people fight and die for a decade because of a name but also I think (kidnapped) Helen being in Troy is also tragic, only this time tragic for just her. And if we're going by the runway Helen version, why let her off scott free from a war she caused or at least partially.
So yeah not a fan of this one, he's done better but this was definitely above Trojan Women which I also don't like.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, and War
The Trojan Women by Gilbert Murray, Euripides
dark
reflective
sad
fast-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? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Confinement, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Slavery, Xenophobia, Grief, and War