You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.

whatthedeuce's reviews
1291 reviews

Same As It Ever Was by Claire Lombardo

Go to review page

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

While it’s a very well-written book and the characters feel so real (at times frustratingly so), the book is entirely too long. I kinda feel like I read every single thought and feeling Julia ever experienced, and it got exhausting about halfway through the novel. I appreciated how realistically she was rendered and completely understood how her childhood experiences resulted in her blunt and often intractable personality, but she was so irritating and difficult to sympathize with a lot of the time. I’m not saying characters, especially female ones, have to always be likeable, but man, Julia and her mother were so hard to stomach.
Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard

Go to review page

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

4.0

Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova

Go to review page

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

James by Percival Everett

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

Go to review page

adventurous dark 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

5.0

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional informative mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

To Shape a Dragon's Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This book is an exceptional piece of YA fiction. The world building and characterizations are outstanding and nuanced. The author delved into so many heavy topics, like colonialism, ableism, racism, and homophobia, in ways that felt organic rather than shoehorned and clunky. I liked that the author avoided spoon feeding us every new vocabulary word’s definition. I might not immediately understand what a word meant and instead had to see it used somewhere down the line in a very specific context to fully grasp its meaning. 

Another huge plus for this novel was its portrayal of an unflinchingly brave, bold, and curious female teen protagonist. Anequs speaks her mind with barely any hesitation both with her peers and with authority figures. Her genuine thoughtfulness toward Sander, Theod, and Liberty was so endearing. And even though she often ended up thinking Anglish customs and traditions were silly or overly complicated, she genuinely tried to learn about the mores, holidays, lifestyles, etc. of her peers. 

I loved
Theod getting to find his family and slowly coming into his identity as a nackie individual after having been denied access to his people/culture all his young life. It wasn’t like he was magically just as bold and outspoken as Anequs cuz realistically he’s spent his existence up til that point feeling isolated and guarded so that’s not gonna just change overnight.


It’s been quite awhile since I’ve anticipated a sequel this fervently, but I’m really looking forward to the next book and could totally see this as a TV series!
Dating & Dismemberment by A.L. Brody

Go to review page

Did not finish book. Stopped at 25%.
The premise is fun, but I just couldn’t get past all the typos and banal dialogue that was completely lacking in wit. Also I was gonna scream if I had to read the word “traverse” one more time. I really wanted to love this cuz a cozy romance is perfect for summer reading, but it fell rather flat for me.
The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall

Go to review page

adventurous funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.5