historyofjess's reviews
2011 reviews

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-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

3.0

I was alerted to this book from an NPR interview with the author where the book was framed as addressing colonization as it pertains to both time travel and romance, which sounded really intriguing to me and I guess the book deals with that...a little, but with that as the pitch, I have to say, I was kind of disappointed.

In general, this is a time travel book that, for the most of the time, is not that interested in time travel until suddenly, in the last act, when it seems to remember that it's a time travel story, which was a bit of storytelling whiplash for me.

It was fine, I guess. I don't think it lived up to the promise of its author's intent. There was a lot going on and I just wish it could have been a little more focused.
The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi

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adventurous emotional 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

4.0

I was starting to think I didn't have the patience for longer books, given that I've been left cold by some of the recent ones I've read. Not this one, though. I loved it. Sure, it was dense, but so much of that was focused on building up these beautiful and complex characters and allowing them to get to know each other. Along the way there's plot and worldbuilding and mysteries unfurling but, for me, all of that took a backseat to the joy of spending time with these people. I'm anxious to read the other books in the series so that I can go on more adventures with them.
Landline by Rainbow Rowell

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emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Continuing on my Rainbow Rowell kick. This was a fun departure from the coming-of-age stories of hers I've read, focusing on a middle-aged woman facing the possibility of her marriage ending. And, with bonus magic time travel phone to add some extra spice. I continue to be really impressed with Rowell's character creation and how she can draw me into a character's life so quickly. At it's heart, this is a really simple story of a couple finding their way back to each other after getting a bit complacent in their marriage, but Rowell invests you by making it not just about their relationship now, but about how they met, fell in love, the times they almost didn't survive as a couple and the times that really thrived. Like so much of her work, it's fully lived in and complicated and compelling.
Scattered Showers by Rainbow Rowell

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I had a feeling that Rowell's style would translate well to the shorty story format and I was not disappointed. It certainly doesn't hurt that these shorts are generally on the longer side, and so you get to spend a decent amount of time getting to know the characters at the center of them (or just spend a little more time with characters you met in other Rowell books). No matter how many ways she finds to bring to people in love together, it never really seems to get old and even when magic isn't involved, it always feels a bit magical.
Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

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emotional sad 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

4.0

I'm on a bit of a Rainbow Rowell kick and I was little surprised by how sad this one was compared to the other books I've read, but it still had so much of the trademark qualities that I love about her work. She's obviously great at romance, especially first love, but I continue to be fascinated by the multi-dimensional characters she creates. I was particularly fond of Park's parents, who manage to be good parents—even great ones, at times—but still make big mistakes. There's a moment in the book where Park's mother finally finds some common ground with Eleanor and it made me cry it was so damn sweet.

There's some serious pain and sadness in this book, but there are also just so many beautiful moments of love and caring and people just looking out for each other.
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

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emotional hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I absolutely adored this book. I was just so invested in Cath and how she was going to overcome the various challenges she was experiencing in her first year of college, especially the internal struggles. The romance at the heart of the story is truly lovely, but Cath is such a fully realized character, shouldering so many different things, that this is far from just a romance novel. All of the relationships in this book are interesting. But the most compelling one is her relationship with herself, as she grows in confidence and independence in herself. I don't re-read a lot of books, but I can see myself coming back to this one because I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of it.

(Also, as someone who read the Carry On season before this, it was nice to spend some more time with Simon and Baz and I loved the book's relationship with fan fiction and writing, in general.)
The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett

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

4.0

This was a really fun read. It's basically a typical Sherlock Holmes/Agatha Christie-style mystery that just happens to be set in a fantasy world. The characters are incredibly engaging (especially the investigator, she's incredible) and, while I initially questioned the choice of the viewpoint character, but as the story progressed, I really liked being in his head because I found his questioning of his own abilities to be really compelling.

I would love to go back to this world and solve another mystery with these characters. It was a really fun time.
How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler

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emotional reflective medium-paced

3.25

This an intriguing framing for a memoir, but the real meat of the book is the author's personal essays detailing their own experiences of discovering their queerness, as well as their relationship with their mother and grandmother. It's a moving and personal collection of stories that I enjoyed reading.
Outlawed by Anna North

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

3.0

The idea of the book is really interesting to me, but the execution left me a bit cold. I just never got that invested in the characters or their relationships. The set-up of a group of barren women that had been cast out of their communities becoming a rag-tag group of western outlaws is a fun one, but this book just wasn't actually very fun.
The Book of Love by Kelly Link

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dark emotional mysterious slow-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

2.5

Somewhere in the midst of reading this quite dense book, it became clear to me that this wasn't really for me. It's full of a lot of things I like but I could never quite get a handle on it. The characters never quite connected with me. The story never really gripped me. The unfolding of mysteries didn't quite happen at a pace that kept me intrigued. And the fantasy elements were almost cripplingly dense. There certainly are a lot of words here but they just didn't really add up to much for me.