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takarakei's reviews
486 reviews
Just For the Summer by Abby Jimenez
emotional
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
4.5
Writing this review with tears in my eyes ( + 1/2 a star just for that).
It's a little puzzling to me this book isn't being marketed as belonging to the Part of Your World series because they are connected. But it also seems as if all Abby's books have little easter eggs and she is building her own cinematic universe.
I enjoyed the funny way these two main characters meet on Reddit and the whole setup to 'break a relationship curse'. Obviously as you read you know it's a romance and they have to fall for each other despite the set up. But this book ends up being about a lot more, as Abby's books often are. Emma is dealing with childhood trauma from a very unstable mother and this makes her very distant to people in her life, with the exception of her best friend/foster sister. They move around constantly and Emma can fit her whole life into two suitcases. Girl is running from her problems fr.
Justin is dealing with his own family drama as he is preparing to take over custody of his 3 younger siblings. Abby really knows how to write a book boyfriend! Justin is so funny and the 'date surveys' were sending me! He is so sweet with his siblings and shows early on that he is such a kind and caring person. Earlier on in the book there's plenty of laugh out loud moments. I loved how Emma teaches Justin about empathy for others because despite her rough childhood Emma is very forgiving.
The ending though had me so emotional! Abby really knows how to rip your heart out and stomp on it before putting it back together.
"Say Don't Go" by Taylor Swift
It's a little puzzling to me this book isn't being marketed as belonging to the Part of Your World series because they are connected. But it also seems as if all Abby's books have little easter eggs and she is building her own cinematic universe.
I enjoyed the funny way these two main characters meet on Reddit and the whole setup to 'break a relationship curse'. Obviously as you read you know it's a romance and they have to fall for each other despite the set up. But this book ends up being about a lot more, as Abby's books often are. Emma is dealing with childhood trauma from a very unstable mother and this makes her very distant to people in her life, with the exception of her best friend/foster sister. They move around constantly and Emma can fit her whole life into two suitcases. Girl is running from her problems fr.
Justin is dealing with his own family drama as he is preparing to take over custody of his 3 younger siblings. Abby really knows how to write a book boyfriend! Justin is so funny and the 'date surveys' were sending me! He is so sweet with his siblings and shows early on that he is such a kind and caring person. Earlier on in the book there's plenty of laugh out loud moments. I loved how Emma teaches Justin about empathy for others because despite her rough childhood Emma is very forgiving.
The ending though had me so emotional! Abby really knows how to rip your heart out and stomp on it before putting it back together.
"Say Don't Go" by Taylor Swift
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Abandonment
Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual content, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Vomit
Maybe proceed with caution if you have mommy/parental issues
This Is Vegan Propaganda by Ed Winters
informative
medium-paced
5.0
Essential reading. Wish more people would read.
I've been vegan for a long time (over half my life) and I still learned so much from this book. If you are at all curious about veganism and why this lifestyle matters I urge you to read this book.
I've been vegan for a long time (over half my life) and I still learned so much from this book. If you are at all curious about veganism and why this lifestyle matters I urge you to read this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Gore
Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Sexism
Court Of Wanderers by Rin Chupeco
slow-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? No
3.25
I’m being generous with 3.25 stars to be honest. It pains me to say that because I loved Silver Under Nightfall so much and I’ve told so many people to read it! and I still will…but as a stand-alone
The first half of this sequel wasn’t too bad, I was enjoying the banter between Remy and Malekh a lot. It was a tad spicier (still relatively closed door or just not graphic) but we do head into kink territory! The throuple relationship truly is the one saving grace in this book. However there wasn’t a ton more development persay, and there definitely wasn’t the same tension here from the first book.
I had such a hard time following this plot. There were a lot of new characters from different vampire courts introduced, but none of them felt distinct from each other so I couldn’t keep track of who was who and where their political loyalties were. It felt like there were multiple kind of plot twists (for lack of a better word) happening and the plot got really convoluted. I love political fantasies, but this was poorly done because it moved very slow and felt like a really different world almost from the first book. Idk there was a lot of new world building which seems strange for the second book in a duology.
The action scenes, which were so fun to read in the first book, in this were sparse and very quick. Every conflict seemed to be resolved too easily (this was a bit of my critique in the first book as well, but was exacerbated here). Monsters like weren’t the focus anymore??
It also definitely could’ve been at least 100 pages shorter.
And in the end his dad and mom weren’t actually bad? Like it was that the night king was ultimately at fault? I actually don’t understand it. I guess it’s nice that Remy reconciled with his dad but it didn’t necessarily feel earned?
The first half of this sequel wasn’t too bad, I was enjoying the banter between Remy and Malekh a lot. It was a tad spicier (still relatively closed door or just not graphic) but we do head into kink territory! The throuple relationship truly is the one saving grace in this book. However there wasn’t a ton more development persay, and there definitely wasn’t the same tension here from the first book.
I had such a hard time following this plot. There were a lot of new characters from different vampire courts introduced, but none of them felt distinct from each other so I couldn’t keep track of who was who and where their political loyalties were. It felt like there were multiple kind of plot twists (for lack of a better word) happening and the plot got really convoluted. I love political fantasies, but this was poorly done because it moved very slow and felt like a really different world almost from the first book. Idk there was a lot of new world building which seems strange for the second book in a duology.
The action scenes, which were so fun to read in the first book, in this were sparse and very quick. Every conflict seemed to be resolved too easily (this was a bit of my critique in the first book as well, but was exacerbated here). Monsters like weren’t the focus anymore??
It also definitely could’ve been at least 100 pages shorter.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Blood
Moderate: Child death, Death, Genocide, Sexual content, Dementia, Colonisation, and War
Minor: Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment
Toxic relationship/ sexual violence is talked about from a side characters past
She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
This isn't really my genre of reads, but it also didn't totally keep my attention. On audio it was hard to tell but there were these kind of small passages sometimes at the beginning of the chapters(?) that seemed to be from the house's pov (kinda?) and those were the most interesting bits. I think it could've been even creepier overall. I did really like the concept of a house haunted by colonizers, but it didn't quite hit for me in the end *shrug*
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Racism, and Colonisation
Moderate: Animal death and Fire/Fire injury
How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
I really enjoyed how Sabrina uses stories or information about sea life to relate back to human existence, especially as a queer POC.
Be sure to check content warnings!
Be sure to check content warnings!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Racism and Dysphoria
Tastes Like Shakkar by Nisha Sharma
lighthearted
medium-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? Yes
4.0
I read the first book in this series so long ago that I didn't remember much of the prior interactions between Bobbi and Bunty (which start in book 1) so I wish that the beginning of this book had built up their relationship a bit more. Once we got into their relationship though they had a good dynamic and some good banter (mostly over text tho cause Bunty is often on the west coast for business). I loved how Bunty was always feeding Bobbi, making sure she ate well (food as a love language).
Bobbi is planning her bff's Desi wedding (Kareena and Prem from book 1) and Bunty is friends with the couple as well. But someone is trying to sabotage the wedding and Bobbi is dealing with all these mishaps along the way. This story line added a bit to the book, but it was also a tad silly in places. Both Bobbi and Bunty are next in line to family businesses (one wants that and the other does not) and so they are often dealing complex family dynamics related to that.
Spice: 4/5, kink positive
Bobbi is planning her bff's Desi wedding (Kareena and Prem from book 1) and Bunty is friends with the couple as well. But someone is trying to sabotage the wedding and Bobbi is dealing with all these mishaps along the way. This story line added a bit to the book, but it was also a tad silly in places. Both Bobbi and Bunty are next in line to family businesses (one wants that and the other does not) and so they are often dealing complex family dynamics related to that.
Spice: 4/5, kink positive
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Fatphobia and Racism
Minor: Body shaming and Death of parent
Bobbi is fat but very comfortable in her body and Bunty loves it as well. But Bobbi refers to past instances when she's been fat/body shamed
Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts. by Brené Brown
informative
medium-paced
4.25
If you're at all familiar with Brené Brown's work this is right in alignment with many of the concepts she talks about frequently. Framed from a more business-leaning mindset it has some great advice on how to lead with courage and vulnerability. I will definitely be referring back to my physical copy and looking at the worksheets available on her website.
Definitely showed how my past work situations were doing basically the opposite of everything in this book which is why they were so toxic.
Definitely showed how my past work situations were doing basically the opposite of everything in this book which is why they were so toxic.
Content Warnings
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Racism
Manila Takes Manhattan by Carla de Guzman
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I think I would have enjoyed this book a lot more if not for how it started. I am just really not a fan of the instant-attraction, hookup trope (like they are hooking up in the first few pages - that's really fast) and that really tainted the rest of the book for me. The hook-up also just seemed rather unrealistic: a famous actress meets a man in her hallway and invites him in and not 5 mins later they are getting intimate? I would have much preferred an initial meeting and attraction that didn't lead immediately to them hooking up. I think their romance could have been more well developed in general as well because it still felt very surface level physical-attraction based. Once we got more into the story Olivia and Mon's character interactions were cute, at times a bit cheesy, but fitting for their characters.
There's great Filipino representation and I definitely appreciated reading a romance very connected with that culture. Sure there's lots of words that I didn't know the meaning of, but it's not my culture and I got the gist of those parts. I'm sure that Filipinos reading this will appreciate the language and references! Lots of discussions around Olivia being a BIPOC/South Asian actress working in Hollywood (constantly dealing with racism and just wishing to be cast for roles that don't hide ethnicity).
This clearly was also written at the height of the pandemic and there were lots of specific topical references that I think in a short time might make this book read a bit outdated.
Spice: 3.5/5
Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin for the ARC.
There's great Filipino representation and I definitely appreciated reading a romance very connected with that culture. Sure there's lots of words that I didn't know the meaning of, but it's not my culture and I got the gist of those parts. I'm sure that Filipinos reading this will appreciate the language and references! Lots of discussions around Olivia being a BIPOC/South Asian actress working in Hollywood (constantly dealing with racism and just wishing to be cast for roles that don't hide ethnicity).
This clearly was also written at the height of the pandemic and there were lots of specific topical references that I think in a short time might make this book read a bit outdated.
Spice: 3.5/5
Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin for the ARC.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Racism and Xenophobia
Your Blood, My Bones by Kelly Andrew
Kelly Andrew is the queen of writing YA fantasy that will leave you in a puddle on the floor. Her writing is descriptive and beautiful (even when describing gross things). Endlessly quotable and I highlighted so many parts!! The reveals keep you reading and engaged. Even though the ending is foreshadowed you still have to see how it plays out. The one downside is the magic isn’t explained super well so you just gotta go on vibes. I found myself a bit confused at some parts but also reading an eARC formatted weirdly might have been a contributing factor. I will definitely be rereading this once I can get my hands on a physical final copy 🙌
Thank you to Netgalley and Scholastic for the eARC.
dark
emotional
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
4.5
“There’s a Welsh word I learned in school,” said James. “Hiraeth. There’s no direct translation for it in the English language, but it means a deep longing for a home you can never return to.”
- Gothic
- Scary forests
- nature emotion magic
- Childhood friendships
- Angst
- the price of immortality
- Adult men on power trips 🙄
Kelly Andrew is the queen of writing YA fantasy that will leave you in a puddle on the floor. Her writing is descriptive and beautiful (even when describing gross things). Endlessly quotable and I highlighted so many parts!! The reveals keep you reading and engaged. Even though the ending is foreshadowed you still have to see how it plays out. The one downside is the magic isn’t explained super well so you just gotta go on vibes. I found myself a bit confused at some parts but also reading an eARC formatted weirdly might have been a contributing factor. I will definitely be rereading this once I can get my hands on a physical final copy 🙌
Thank you to Netgalley and Scholastic for the eARC.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, and Torture
Minor: Vomit, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
Animal death: mentions of hunting and cleaning animals. A pet chicken is murdered gruesomely. & a pet cat dies peacefully at the end
Godkiller by Hannah Kaner
adventurous
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
This really just did not keep my attention.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Violence, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Sexual content, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
animal death: hunting