clumsyqueenie's reviews
218 reviews

The Last Dragoners of Bowbazar by Indra Das

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informative lighthearted reflective 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? No

3.25

Immortal Longings by Chloe Gong

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

chloe gong, as always does wonderful, unimaginable things with the story and plot twists, but i'm afraid that the characters reminded me too much of the ones in secret shanghai. nevertheless, ate this up, full rtc soon!
This Time It's Real by Ann Liang

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing 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

3.0

Last Violent Call by Chloe Gong

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

3.5

3.5 (fluffy & messy)

i guess i was wrong when i said only taylor can write a good ending to romeo & juliet, turns out chloe can do so too (after bouts of torture, of course)
If You Could See the Sun by Ann Liang

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adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious relaxing 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

3.5

i think it's safe to say that we all need an english teacher like mr. chen
The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by S.A. Chakraborty

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

“Maybe that makes me a monster, but are not all mothers capable of being monsters when it comes to their children?”

Rating: 4.5/5.0
★★★★★

This was such a fabulous read, I literally have no words to describe how good of a book The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi was. I'm a huge fan of Shannon, but in all honesty, I didn't expect to like the book that much but, wow! I don't know but the way the author weaves stories that fall perfectly into place in the grand scheme of things, I'm in awe of that. Filled with snarky banter and following a wonderful band of misfits, this book held everything from plot to magic to characters in tow. It was fast paced, and just enough action to keep me turning the pages.

Definitely recommending this to all those who loved The Daevabad Trilogy, the only difference is you're following older protagonists and though there's magic, it isn't as much as in the former. Shannon still delivers though, mind you!

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction, for presenting me with an ARC of this book in exchange for a honest review. All opinions are my own.
Magic Has No Borders by Samira Ahmed, Sona Charaipotra

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adventurous hopeful informative lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing 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? No

4.5

Reading this book felt like a hug to me. A number of diverse voices went into the making of this book—my favourite part was how the book was a love letter to South Asians. That it was not a book for all, but for a very specific audience in mind. I have quite a complicated relationship with anthologies, usually reading them for the one or two authors contributing, and rarely for the idea. But this was different, I was hooked through every story, and all of them were equally enjoyable to breeze through!

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books, for presenting me with an ARC of this book in exchange for a honest review. All opinions are my own.
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

3.5? 4?

truly fucked up, this is both entirely different and contrastingly similar to what rf kuang usually writes. you don't know whom you're rooting for, everyone is someone who can't be trusted in this cruel, vile world of publishing and cancel culture. full review to come when it isn't 12am
The Ten Percent Thief by Lavanya Lakshminarayan

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dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This book is one of a kind, truly unique and speculative fiction down to its core. Reading this is a kind of harrowing experience, a haunting one as you realise the unbecoming—that history always repeats itself, in ways unknown to mankind.

Full review to come.
Heartstopper Volume 2 by Alice Oseman

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5.0