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imskylow's reviews
262 reviews
The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-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? It's complicated
4.25
UnSouled by Neal Shusterman
Did not finish book. Stopped at 23%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 23%.
It’s just become your run of the mill ya fantasy. The first book felt literary almost with how drastic and horrifying it was but now it’s just a “teenagers will save the world” book
A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
FINALLY. THEY BANG
A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Barbarian's Choice by Ruby Dixon
adventurous
emotional
medium-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
3.75
Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
Interesting concept but poor execution. I was a very fast ready but I won’t lie, there’s almost no world building in this book. It really made it hard to be immersed. Maybe this is nit-picky but I can’t be absorbed into if I’m not convinced of the setting. We have suitors, horses, carriages, and balls but somehow a poor character has a shower at home? We have dresses and gowns with lacing up the back and slippers but also only “underwear” and “bralettes”? We mention lamplighters being a job but also mention light switches? I’m thinking, maybe this is inspired by Victorian era or the Industrial Revolution and obviously it’s not set in our world but class differences, clothing and technology need to make sense.
On a more serious note there was an infuriating love triangle that made my perspective of the main character sour. Additionally, the ending felt very gratuitous. I could just imagine the author manically laughing and she tortures her characters for no reason. The romance was awkwardly vague. Like it felt like a Wattpad novel where we didn’t want to talk about body parts. And it’s okay if you don’t want your book to be explicit but the intimate scenes should have the right pacing. Something about it just wasn’t it.
All that being said, I was not annoyed enough to DNF this book. The magic system and the plot twists were quite nice.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Murder
Blood Orange by Karina Halle
Did not finish book. Stopped at 17%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 17%.
Look, I love smut as much as the next b1tch but trust me when I tell you this is the last time I trust BookTok.
The first two chapters from Dahlia’s perspective were mild interesting, world building and introduction of the conflict (although there was an inane amount of info dump in the exposition). Cut to Valtu and you get several LONG pages of him railing a random girl in a bleeding den before biting and sucking blood out of her gluteus maximus. Like bruv, what do you think you’re gonna get out of biting her there? Not even the inner thigh artery? 🤦🏾♀️ That aside, when will romance authors learn that smut is basically worthless when you don’t know the characters or are invested in them. All I learned was what a manwh0re Dracula is. WHICH BY THE WAY, DRACULA? Really? This isn’t a spoiler (it’s talked about in the very beginning) but Valtu is supposed to be Dracula but was only turned in the 1700s? Tell me you know nothing about Dracula without telling me. The man was from the 1400s 😭
ANYWAY, cut back to Dahlia and her chapter just returns to heavy exposition. Babe 53 pages in and I was too exhausted to care.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Violence
Off to Be the Wizard by Scott Meyer
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.75
Interesting concept. Poor execution. My biggest qualm is the nauseating amount of meh male characters and only one woman.
This book isn’t pretending to be anything it’s not. It’s not fancy. There’s no whimsical prose or rhythm to it. It’s straight forward. Martin did this. Martin did that. Martin went here. In some sense that made the words fast to read through but the plot slogged along. There was too much explanation and training and not enough action or conflict. Honestly only the last quarter of the book was interesting but by that point I was already exhausted. Martin wasn’t an interesting or facinating character. None of them were. All the characters were a copy paste of each other. Words on a page without personality. Just dudes. Gwen (the one woman) was fine but it was a running joke that every guy in the book was trying to get with her instead of attempting to befriend or understand her. Really speaks to the level of value the author puts on women. When she did anything badass, the men were turned on more than anything.
“Martin stared at her, mouth agape. She thought he was amazed, and that was part of it. He was also tremendously turned on.”
Also, you cannot convince me that geeky women wouldn’t be living it up in Medieval England and using their“magic” to protect themselves and avenge other women.
“There were only men at the table, as women tended to find the climate of Medieval England a bit more favorable for Wizards than Witches.”
Clearly, the author doesn’t know how much women love fantasy and sword fighting and the idea of witchcraft aesthetic. I don’t know. It just felt like a guy’s book— written for and by. I wish the execution could have been as cool as the concept, but alas.
This book isn’t pretending to be anything it’s not. It’s not fancy. There’s no whimsical prose or rhythm to it. It’s straight forward. Martin did this. Martin did that. Martin went here. In some sense that made the words fast to read through but the plot slogged along. There was too much explanation and training and not enough action or conflict. Honestly only the last quarter of the book was interesting but by that point I was already exhausted. Martin wasn’t an interesting or facinating character. None of them were. All the characters were a copy paste of each other. Words on a page without personality. Just dudes. Gwen (the one woman) was fine but it was a running joke that every guy in the book was trying to get with her instead of attempting to befriend or understand her. Really speaks to the level of value the author puts on women. When she did anything badass, the men were turned on more than anything.
“Martin stared at her, mouth agape. She thought he was amazed, and that was part of it. He was also tremendously turned on.”
Also, you cannot convince me that geeky women wouldn’t be living it up in Medieval England and using their“magic” to protect themselves and avenge other women.
“There were only men at the table, as women tended to find the climate of Medieval England a bit more favorable for Wizards than Witches.”
Clearly, the author doesn’t know how much women love fantasy and sword fighting and the idea of witchcraft aesthetic. I don’t know. It just felt like a guy’s book— written for and by. I wish the execution could have been as cool as the concept, but alas.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism
Volume 0-Issue None Book of The Month by Mary Jones, Puloma Ghosh, Abby Geni, Juliet Escoria, Christine Vines, Jean Kwok, Lena Valencia
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
I actually really enjoy anthologies but I always forget I do until reading another. These stories were dark and a little twisty but very interesting. I liked the spooky feel of everything. Fabulous writers who happen to also be female 🎉
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, and Murder