m4rtt4's reviews
327 reviews

Heartstopper Volume 3 by Alice Oseman

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emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective 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

4.25

A comfort read <3 fucking wholesome once again I cannot, it's so important that there are stories like this!!!!!!!! this volume got a bit deeper than the previous ones, and imo that made it better? (the reasons/issues are horrible though, I wouldn't want the characters to actually experience them.)
what was up with the teachers? and why did their lil 'love story' get the giddiest giggles out of me..,??? I feel so bad for Charlie, and I wish I couldn't relate to him.
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Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense 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

4.75

SO GOOD. I've consumed so much true crime and fictional crime content in my life, but I've never come across anything like this. There was something in this book I can't quite explain — an underlying feeling of fear? Hollowness? Darkness? Sadness? A black hole that's slowly lurking towards you, it spies on you behind a corner, and while you can feel its eyes on your back, your only escape is to try to ignore it. There are no words for how this book made me feel, but if it helps, I devoured like 75% of it in one sitting. I physically wasn't able to tear my eyes away, to let go. Quite like the feelings explored in this book — they are there, silently shaping you, whether or not you actually pay attention to them. Such a spectacular, exceptional story. And most importantly, it focuses on what's more important than the glorified image of the 'American serial killer' and his horrifying acts — what about the victims, their families and the justice they deserve? (In no way am I sympathetic towards Ansel, but this book only made me more against the death penalty. Not that he deserves to beg for his life, but that kind of 'justice' is not the one I want from the justice system.)
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Punainen viiva by Ilmari Kianto

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hopeful reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Ensivaikutelmani kirjasta: poliittinen Putkinotko. Alkuun teos vaikutti olevan ehdottomasti köyhälistön puolella, mutta mitä pidemmälle tarina eteni, sitä pilkkaavampia ja sarkastisempia kuvaustapoja heistä käytettiin; esimerkiksi työväen kokousta verrataan torpassa loisiviin torakoihin. Loppu oli hyvin surullinen, enkä ole aivan varma sen lopullisesta merkityksestä – onko sosialismiin uskominen teoksen moraalin mukaan jumalan vastainen rangaistava teko, vai osoittaako moraali sympatiaa? Ovatko köyhien asiat niin huonolla tolalla, ettei mihinkään aatteeseen uskominenkaan voi enää niitä pelastaa? Kiannon henkilökohtainen poliittinen suuntautuminen (punaisten vastaisuus) antaisi olettaa romaanin olevan enemmän pilkkaavalla ja tuomitsevalla kannalla, mutta se on kuitenkin ajoittain niin sympaattisesti, ymmärtävästi ja ihmisläheisesti kirjoitettu (+ kertoja naureskelee myös herraskaisille poliiseille), etten voi olla varma teoksen syvimmästä moraalista – ehkei yhtä ainoaa oikea vastausta olekaan. Vertauskuva punaisesta viivasta osoittautuu kuitenkin erityisesti lopussa raadolliseksi – kirjaimellisesti – onko tarkoitus sittenkin varoittaa kansaa poliittisen aktiivisuuden vaaroista, sosialismi johtaa turmioon ja sitä rataa? Jos kaiken poliittisen ja moraalisen pohdinnan jättää sikseen, romaani oli hyvin mielenkiintoinen ja aidontuntuinen kokemus maaseudun ihmisten elämästä vuonna 1906. 
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The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black

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adventurous dark 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

4.25

What an ending! Trilogies don't often get better by the end, but this series just had development after development and I loved it. One of my main enjoyments was surprisigly THE ROMANCE, the enemies to lovers trope was done right for once (with enough hatred, plotting and general enemy-ness overall during the series). I don't really have any complaints apart from CARDAN'S TAIL,,,, why. Just why???
The tail ruined all the sexy scenes for me but after Cardan turned into the serpent I would have done anything to revert him back to original :'')
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Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

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

2.5

I really wanted to like this. The premise was so exciting, and both the characters and the magical system were unlike anything I'd ever seen before. However, the book was so unnecessarily long!! Especially the first part felt like forever, I think you could easily reduce this book from 500 to 400 pages and have it still (even more) enjoyable. At 20yo I may not be the target audience for a book with a 16yo protagonist, and I acknowledge that many scenes felt too teen-like and maybe weren't made for me to enjoy. But I'm an young adult as well; and I still regularly enjoy YA books so why did I dislike this then??

The world-building was quite poorly done, it took me ages to understand how the magical system works. There were so many words in Welsh that weren't translated, even Welsh creatures whose appearances still remain a mystery to me. There were too many fighting scenes for my taste, and I'm not sensitive to violence or injuries — I just don't give a fuck about who hit whom and when and how. Neither did I like the romantic aspects of the story; why must every female YA protagonist always have a love interest? Also I was promised a (boarding) school setting, but everything academic was slowly disposed of as the plot thickened :(

Positive aspects of the book would be its natural diversity in characters, the existence of Selwyn (my favourite character <3) and the subplot about Rootcraft and Bree's family history. I really wish the book had focused more on that, based on the short scenes I am already way more interested in Rootcraft than I ever could be in King Arthur and his knights' descendants. Applause to Deonn for creating such an original fantasy experience, I find it so unfortunate I wasn't able to enjoy it. I really wanted to :(

(tbh I have no idea why I listened through the whole 18 hours despite thinking about DNFing literally every half an hour. guess I really had my hopes up for nothing..)
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The Wicked King by Holly Black

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

4.0

I'm so glad I decided to stick with the series, this book was totally worth it! The 'enemies to lovers' trope is done well for once, because can you call someone your enemy without them having tried to kill you? The plot twists, the betrayals!! *chef's kiss*
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The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

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

3.25

Didn't expect this to feel so plain? Lukewarm? Clearly something was there, but it felt like it was kept away at an arm's length and eventually my arm got tired of reaching. The Roaring 1920's vibes were definitely there, but not as vividly as I had hoped. A world of careless partying and glorious riches, but also one where beating up your wife and being racist is the norm. There was quite a lot of deep stuff between the lines, like how rich people can get away with anything yet money can't buy you love, but the stuff felt very surface-level and I don't quite get why this is such a hyped book.
I didn't really like Gatsby at all, so the ending pleasantly surprised me :') I was also kinda rooting for Nick and Jordan, but then again I didn't really like Nick either and I'm glad Jordan knew her self worth.


As a Finnish person I was pleasantly surprised to hear of Carraway's housemaid being a Finn, but oh, the hypocrisy of these American upper-class people! Being blatantly racist, they speak about the superiority of the white Nordic race which they deem themselves a member of, but the only person from an actual Nordic country, the Finnish housemaid, is repeatedly described as demonic, just a nameless creature muttering incomprehensible nonsense.
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Rivo satakieli by Leena Lehtolainen

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dark mysterious tense medium-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? No

2.75

Maria Kallion Ei niin kuin muut tytöt -rooli on läsnä tässäkin kirjassa, tosin nyt ei onneksi enää niin voimakkaana kuin sarjan ensimmäisissä osissa. On jännä, miten teoksen teksti on välillä todella feminististä, mutta samalla se tuntuu välillä vain pinnalliselta tehokeinolta ja paikoin tarina vaikuttaa aivan (setä)miehen kirjoittamalta erityisesti naiskuvaustensa osalta. Tarinassa oli vaikea pysyä kärryillä, hahmotin tapahtumien kokonaiskuvan täydellisesti vasta luettuani noin 90%, eikä kerronnan sävykään ollut mieleeni. Aivan kuin teoksen keskeinen aihe, seksityötä tekevät naiset, olisi jotenkin antanut voimakkaan, epämukavan ja hieman esineellistävän sävyn koko kerronnalle, siis niin että Lehtolainen/Kallio/kirjan ääni katsoisi tekstiä kuin parittaja seuraavaa naisuhriaan. Aiheena seksityö on minusta tärkeä ja mielenkiintoinen, eikä kirja kuvannutkaan seksityötä tekeviä huonossa valossa, mutta rivien välistä vain välittyi erilainen tunnelma kuin mitä rivit itse kirjaimellisesti kertoivat.
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Selvin päin – Erään bilettäjän tarina by Hanna Tikander, Wilma Ruohisto

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

3.5

Ajatuksia herättävä kirja, luin yhdessä illassa. Lukemista haittasi eniten se, etten voinut samaistua Hannaan tai ymmärtää suurta osaa hänen päätöksistään, mutta toisaalta olen onnellinen siitä etten voikaan samaistua vastaavanlaiseen päihdeongelmaan. Vaikka kirja keskittyi alkoholinkäyttöön ja alkoholikulttuuriin, minua kiinnosti enemmän Hannan henkilökohtainen elämäntarina, johon alkoholinkäyttö punoutui. Onneksi teos olikin elämäkerrallinen, jos se olisi ollut tietokirjamaisempi niin en varmaan olisi lukenut yhtä innolla.
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My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

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

4.25

Dark, very dark, as its name suggests. Made me nauseous at times. The story felt so tangible, and even though all the characters were fictional, the fact that people like Jacob Strane exist in real life makes my blood boil. Everyone should read this book (consider the content warnings first!!!) so that we could finally get rid of the ridiculous phenomenon called victim-blaming. Vanessa herself was not very lovable either, but the psychology behind her decisions was so well written that there's no way I could ever blame her for anything. She was a goddamn child after all.
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