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shaun_trinh's reviews
94 reviews
To Kill a Shadow by Katherine Quinn
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Conceptually really fun book, loved the lore with the mist and gods. I thought the way we were given lore through very small tablets at the start of each POV was great and gave us just enough without dragging the book. Started a bit slow and reminded me of divergent, but once we were brought into the mist the story got 1000% better.
That said, good LORD the edgyness was so heavy-handed. Every other page was filled with lines trying too hard to be cool, snarky, with a dark juvinile witt or dramatics. Every now and then would be fine, but I just found my self cringing too ften when the book tried to step too far into the edgy mystique writing style the author was going for. For Kiara it was giving very much I'm not like other girls. Book are nice but I like fighting, daggers, the thrill of adrenaline during a fight. Blah blahl blah. For Jude it was sad boy hours, I have a mask, im darkness in shadows blah blah blah. Honestly they both had a lot of self-depricating, "im a monster" lines. It just wasn't landing as often as I'd like.
One of the last examples the author gave us came at the end in Kiara's POV: "...It had saved him. My Monster (she's referring to herself here) had saved him."
Again most of the actual plot points and obstacles in the mist were great. I thought they were intense, atmospheric, and really felt like an unpredictable threat. Excelent writing there. its just the dialouge and inner monolouges would sometimes ruin the tension.
I did just shit on the writing a lot there, but I actually did enjoy the characters and their relationship though. They had nice chemstriy, a good rapport, and when not too edgy they were actually both pretty funny at times. While I definetly wish the story wasn't so insta lovey, I appreciate that the relationship between Kiara and Jude didn't progress super fast beyond that love/intense attraction at first sight. It was cute, a nice lil thang.
That said, good LORD the edgyness was so heavy-handed. Every other page was filled with lines trying too hard to be cool, snarky, with a dark juvinile witt or dramatics. Every now and then would be fine, but I just found my self cringing too ften when the book tried to step too far into the edgy mystique writing style the author was going for. For Kiara it was giving very much I'm not like other girls. Book are nice but I like fighting, daggers, the thrill of adrenaline during a fight. Blah blahl blah. For Jude it was sad boy hours, I have a mask, im darkness in shadows blah blah blah. Honestly they both had a lot of self-depricating, "im a monster" lines. It just wasn't landing as often as I'd like.
One of the last examples the author gave us came at the end in Kiara's POV: "...It had saved him. My Monster (she's referring to herself here) had saved him."
Again most of the actual plot points and obstacles in the mist were great. I thought they were intense, atmospheric, and really felt like an unpredictable threat. Excelent writing there. its just the dialouge and inner monolouges would sometimes ruin the tension.
I did just shit on the writing a lot there, but I actually did enjoy the characters and their relationship though. They had nice chemstriy, a good rapport, and when not too edgy they were actually both pretty funny at times. While I definetly wish the story wasn't so insta lovey, I appreciate that the relationship between Kiara and Jude didn't progress super fast beyond that love/intense attraction at first sight. It was cute, a nice lil thang.
Perfect World, Volume 6 by Rie Aruga
3.0
3.5/5 Stars
I love how we finally get to see Tsugumi actively pursuing and fighting for her own passion and ambition. So far in the series she has put the wants and needs of others before her, and she still is, but it's great to see her come more into her own and take charge of her journey. I also loved the somewhat bitter-sweet moments Tsugumi and Itsuki shared while working together.
This series seems to be building up to Tsugumi standing up to her family about how they want her to have a "normal relationship" that's not with Itsuki so I'm looking foward to that because her family is getting on my nerves with their back-handed comments. Even if it's with genuine intentions.
However what brings this volume down from a 4/5 star read for me is how I cannot stand Tsugumi and Itsuki's current relationships. I was on board and find with Tsugumi dating Koreda at the start, but as I keep moving on from volume to volume i'm growing more tired of it. He seems like a fine guy, but the chemistry isn't even there to support this relationship that we know isn't going to last. I found myself hoping that the earthquake at the end of the vlume would take Koreda out of the equation, even if that would be a poor writing choice. Then there's Nagasawa (is that her name), and I don't care that much for whatever the author is doing with her and Itsuki either. We seemingly settled that they would stay platonic friends as it's a one sided crush from Nagasawa, and yet her and Koreda are taking up page time that I wish was allocated else where.
Hopefully volume 7 will finally free me from Koreda and Nagasawa.
I love how we finally get to see Tsugumi actively pursuing and fighting for her own passion and ambition. So far in the series she has put the wants and needs of others before her, and she still is, but it's great to see her come more into her own and take charge of her journey. I also loved the somewhat bitter-sweet moments Tsugumi and Itsuki shared while working together.
This series seems to be building up to Tsugumi standing up to her family about how they want her to have a "normal relationship" that's not with Itsuki so I'm looking foward to that because her family is getting on my nerves with their back-handed comments. Even if it's with genuine intentions.
However what brings this volume down from a 4/5 star read for me is how I cannot stand Tsugumi and Itsuki's current relationships. I was on board and find with Tsugumi dating Koreda at the start, but as I keep moving on from volume to volume i'm growing more tired of it. He seems like a fine guy, but the chemistry isn't even there to support this relationship that we know isn't going to last. I found myself hoping that the earthquake at the end of the vlume would take Koreda out of the equation, even if that would be a poor writing choice. Then there's Nagasawa (is that her name), and I don't care that much for whatever the author is doing with her and Itsuki either. We seemingly settled that they would stay platonic friends as it's a one sided crush from Nagasawa, and yet her and Koreda are taking up page time that I wish was allocated else where.
Hopefully volume 7 will finally free me from Koreda and Nagasawa.
Heartstopper Volume 2 by Alice Oseman
5.0
I was really happy after reading the first volume of this series but wished how authentic the main characters felt as high schoolers was more consistently authentic. At some points in Volume 1it felt like Oseman was trying to hard to emulate teenage gay boys and instead of them coming off as dorky kids, they occasionally felt like middle schoolers. But in this Volume all of the characters (not just Charlie and Nick) felt like real people discovering themselves and who does and doesn't support that.
I enjoyed how Oseman chose to handle Nick's internal conflict about what his sexuality was, it wasn't taken to the easily dramatic route it could have been taken, but he was given an authentic and supportive story for him to discover himself on his own terms. It felt like a real experience, while still sticking to the overall light, comedic tones of the story
I'm rating this Volume 5 stars because it's improving on both the strong and weak spots of Volume 1(which I gave 4 stars), and really had a strong supportive story for our characters. The author knows that they want to achieve with this series and doesn't try to do more then what's intended. This is a light-hearted self-discovery of a romantic relationship between to high school boys who are just trying to figure everything out, and Oseman writes this amazingly.
I enjoyed how Oseman chose to handle Nick's internal conflict about what his sexuality was, it wasn't taken to the easily dramatic route it could have been taken, but he was given an authentic and supportive story for him to discover himself on his own terms. It felt like a real experience, while still sticking to the overall light, comedic tones of the story
I'm rating this Volume 5 stars because it's improving on both the strong and weak spots of Volume 1(which I gave 4 stars), and really had a strong supportive story for our characters. The author knows that they want to achieve with this series and doesn't try to do more then what's intended. This is a light-hearted self-discovery of a romantic relationship between to high school boys who are just trying to figure everything out, and Oseman writes this amazingly.
Heartstopper Volume 1 by Alice Oseman
4.0
I went to a cafe with my family today and decided I wanted to read so I brought this book with me because I knew it’d be a nice, easy read and it was exactly that. The story was really digestible and had light tones throughout the entire story, while also covering serious topics and feelings that LGBTQ+ people go through. Oseman kept the light, dorky feeling of the story, but still gave these genuine moments the respect they deserved.
The main characters (Charlie and Nick) were really likable and fit the mood for this story. You can see how their relationship ship develops from being completely platonic, to the possibility of something more, despite a lot of the pages not having a lot of dialogue.
The only thing stopping me giving this book a 5-star review was that at some points the characters sounded a bit too childish due to the Oseman wanting to maintain their comedic, light-hearted nature. This made reading some pages that actually did have dialogue a bit of a drag because it felt like I was actually reading a children’s book.
I also wish the side characters had a bit more of a presence, they only really had 2-5 lines each if that and barley affected the story. But on the flip side I don’t know if I would like the story as much if the story spent too much time on characters that weren’t Charlie and Nick.
Overall though this book intended to be a quick, cute read about a developing relationship between two characters and Oseman achieved that. I have the 2nd book at home and I’m excited to see how Charlie and Nick’s story goes moving forward after how volume 1 left off.
The main characters (Charlie and Nick) were really likable and fit the mood for this story. You can see how their relationship ship develops from being completely platonic, to the possibility of something more, despite a lot of the pages not having a lot of dialogue.
The only thing stopping me giving this book a 5-star review was that at some points the characters sounded a bit too childish due to the Oseman wanting to maintain their comedic, light-hearted nature. This made reading some pages that actually did have dialogue a bit of a drag because it felt like I was actually reading a children’s book.
I also wish the side characters had a bit more of a presence, they only really had 2-5 lines each if that and barley affected the story. But on the flip side I don’t know if I would like the story as much if the story spent too much time on characters that weren’t Charlie and Nick.
Overall though this book intended to be a quick, cute read about a developing relationship between two characters and Oseman achieved that. I have the 2nd book at home and I’m excited to see how Charlie and Nick’s story goes moving forward after how volume 1 left off.
Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley
4.0
I chose this book for a project I had in English a few years ago and absolutely fell in LOVE with it. The main characters and their switching perspectives of how they were perceiving their life and relationship between each other was an absolute highlight of the book. When I started reading it I couldn't tear my eyes away from the book which was rare for me at the time. I felt so enveloped by the depth of Rachel and Henry's relationship and has left me repeatedly coming back to re-reading their story. These aren't shallow characters with one-dimensional arches. They're fleshed out, real people who you can't help but root for regardless of what they're doing or feelings. An amazing reading experience.
What If It's Us by Adam Silvera, Becky Albertalli
5.0
I read this last year so my memory on it is pretty foggy, but I remember thinking it was such an incredibly cute, and wholesome story. It wasn't trying to make any political notion about LGBTQ+ rights (which is fine for books to do), it was just a fun, feel good love story between two teenagers figuring themselves out. This was probably one of the first LGBTQ+ books I read in high school, and as a gay teenager it was sweet to see such nice, loveable characters just being teenagers and finding a great romance with each other. It was corny, goofy, and very well done. I enjoyed every second of it and might read it again some time soon since I've recently unintentionally started getting into Adam Silvera books as of late.
Heartstopper Volume 3 by Alice Oseman
5.0
With every volume in the series Oseman has continued to expand her horizons on the issues her graphic novel covers. The challenges Charlie and Nick run into on their journey feel genuine, and like they're actually teenagers who are experiencing everything life has to offer. It's endearing to see their relationship develop and how they support each other through their individual and collective challenges. They don't feel inappropriately sexualixed, or that they're just the overused stereotype that we're all used too.
Something I love about this series is as we learn more about Charlie and Nick after each Volume, we also start to cover more and more deep topics. Each Volume has a set of issues Charlie and Nick have to overcome and it feels like we're learning and approaching them in a very natural and genuine way. The set of issues they have to go through in this Volume vary from the fear of coming out again, homophobia and biphobia, a hinted eating disorder, and my favorite: the feelings of obligation to forgive. When Harry came to talk to Charlie and Nick at Tara's birthday party asking for forgiveness, I was worried that all would be forgiven and forgotten. Thankfully though that's not what happened. I loved that Charlie told Harry that he doesn't get a pat on the shoulder for realizing homophobia is bad. Far to often do bigoted people think that just saying "sorry" or "I didn't know better" can just completely absolve them from what they did. People shouldn't be given brownie points for doing the bare minimum, and Charlie made sure Harry knew that.
I've been loving this series and can't wait for Volume 4 in December.
Something I love about this series is as we learn more about Charlie and Nick after each Volume, we also start to cover more and more deep topics. Each Volume has a set of issues Charlie and Nick have to overcome and it feels like we're learning and approaching them in a very natural and genuine way. The set of issues they have to go through in this Volume vary from the fear of coming out again, homophobia and biphobia, a hinted eating disorder, and my favorite: the feelings of obligation to forgive. When Harry came to talk to Charlie and Nick at Tara's birthday party asking for forgiveness, I was worried that all would be forgiven and forgotten. Thankfully though that's not what happened. I loved that Charlie told Harry that he doesn't get a pat on the shoulder for realizing homophobia is bad. Far to often do bigoted people think that just saying "sorry" or "I didn't know better" can just completely absolve them from what they did. People shouldn't be given brownie points for doing the bare minimum, and Charlie made sure Harry knew that.
I've been loving this series and can't wait for Volume 4 in December.