a_robin_reads's reviews
1321 reviews

An Echo of Things to Come by James Islington

adventurous mysterious 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

--------------------------------------------- 

Information:

• Owned ebook
• Reading Series

--------------------------------------------- 

Review:

Big disappointment

---------------------------------------------
Review previously placed on my blog:

I'm currently reading An echo of things to come by James Islington. This is the second book in The licanius trilogy. I'm reading the ebook. Finally continuing with this series, have been wanting to do that for a while. This is an adult fantasy book. 

Not enjoying this as much as the first book. There are a lot of flashbacks, which is understandable, but I really don't like those. Don't care about them. The characters are all in very different posisions from the first book and am not enjoying that either. I think this book will be a bit of a struggle to finish. I do still love the characters and the story itself is good as well. Am curious to see what will happen and I do think I will like book three more.

This was definitely a struggle to finish, but I did it! Still stand by what I said. I really do think I will enjoy book three more, I hope the author won't give any flashbacks or way less. The ending was also super intriguing, so am excited to read book three. Might not be for a while though, this burned me out a bit.
 

--------------------------------------------- 

Riven by Roan Parrish

emotional hopeful medium-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

4.0

--------------------------------------------- 

Information:

• Storytel audiobook
• Reading Series
• Reading Authors

--------------------------------------------- 

Review:

Great!

---------------------------------------------
Review previously placed on my blog:

I'm currently reading Riven by Roan Parrish. This is the first book in the Riven trilogy. I'm listening to the audiobook. Reading this one for my Authors TBR. This is an adult romance book with LGBTQ+ characters.

Did not want to pick this one up at first, because of the sexual content. But these days I don't mind that as much, so decided to pick it up. Really enjoying it. Don't think as much as the Garnet run series, but still a really fun time. 

This was great! A really fun romance as always from this author. Very well developed characters. Just a lot of fun. Excited to read the rest in the trilogy.
 

--------------------------------------------- 

The Half Burnt House by Alex North

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

--------------------------------------------- 

Information:

• Library book
• Reading Authors

--------------------------------------------- 

Review:

Set up was good, execution not at all

---------------------------------------------
Review previously placed on my blog:

I'm currently reading The half burnt house by Alex North. I'm reading a copy from the library. Reading this for my Authors TBR. This is an adult thriller.

Enjoying this a lot so far. Alex North is one of the few thriller authors I know I can trust to write a good thriller with no problematic elements. In fact this one has some diversity in it, which I think is awesome. It's very casual, but that is exactly what I like for these kind of books. Story itself is really good, it has a lot of elements. Excited to see where it is going.

Well... this went downhill quickly. This book just did not work. Mainly because there were a lot of perspectives and we got to know a lot of information because of that. The suspence was therefore lacking a lot. 

--------------------------------------------- 

The Sky on Fire by Jenn Lyons

adventurous emotional funny medium-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

4.0

--------------------------------------------- 

Information:

• Storytel audiobook

--------------------------------------------- 

Review:

This was great! Need more dragon books and standalone fantasy

---------------------------------------------
Review previously placed on my blog:

I'm currently reading The sky on fire by Jenn Lyons. I'm listening to the audiobook. Thought it would be fun to read a new release I have seen other people reading. This is an adult fantasy book with LGBTQ+ characters.

Really enjoying this so far. I did not like The ruin of kings, it was too complicated for me. This one doesn't feel complicated at all. Story is very straightforward, but not in a bad way, just easy to understand. I really like that we have only one POV, because fantasy tends to have multiple. I enjoy the characters the most in the book. Story is also fun to read. 

Very solid fantasy book. I really hope it will stay a standalone. The diversity was great in this book. However did not like how the author handled the trans character, because she wrote a couple of times about the mother, but it was the father. I got confused, I thought the MC had two mothers and one father, but that was not the case. So would have been nice if the author had handled that differently. Other then that really good, great ending. Really enjoyed it. 

--------------------------------------------- 

Darius The Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram

emotional hopeful reflective medium-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

4.0

--------------------------------------------- 

Information:

• Kobo Plus ebook

--------------------------------------------- 

Review:

Learned a lot about a different perspective 

---------------------------------------------
Review previously placed on my blog:

I'm currently reading Darius the great is not okay by Adib Khorram. This is the first book in a series with the same name. I'm reading this as an ebook. Have wanted to read this one for a while because of the diversity. This is a young adult contemporary book with LGBTQ+ characters.

So far this is great. Darius is an amazing character, love him. I especially love his love for tea, I'm also a big fan. Curious to see where the story will go, so far it lacks a bit of direction. But the diversity in this book is so awesome, that is already enough to love this one. 

This was really good. It was a pretty emotional book, I did really feel that. Refreshing to have an LGBTQ+ book that is not a romance. Not a higher rating, because I did not like certain choices for the writing. A lot of repetition, especially in the dialogue with words I don't think anyone really says. 

--------------------------------------------- 

The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by S.A. Chakraborty

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

--------------------------------------------- 

Information:

• Library book & Storytel audiobook
• Buddy read: Jennifer's Discord Group

--------------------------------------------- 

Review:

Very funny, story was not the best

---------------------------------------------
Review previously placed on my blog:

I'm currently reading The adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty. This is the first book in the Amina al-Sirafi series. I'm reading a copy from the library whilst listening to the audiobook. Picking this back up where I left off in November last year. This is an adult historical fantasy book. 

Glad I picked this back up again, it is a lot of fun to read. I really like all the characters in this book. The audiobook is absolutely amazing. Story itself is good, but the pacing does feel a bit off to me. Still really enjoying it.

This was a let down in the end. The pace felt very off in this book. The main thing that kept me going was the humour, I really liked that. It also feels strange to me to have elements from our world in a book and high fantasy elements. I just don't really like that.

--------------------------------------------- 

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-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

5.0

--------------------------------------------- 

Information:

• Library book
• Reading Series
• Reading Authors
• Buddy read: Jennifer's Discord Group

--------------------------------------------- 

Review:

In love!

---------------------------------------------
Review previously placed on my blog:

I'm currently reading The long way to a small angry planet by Becky Chamber. This is the first book in the Wayfarers series. I'm reading a copy from the library. Reading this for my Authors TBR. This is an adult science fiction book with LGBTQ+ characters.

Loving this so far! It reminds me a lot of To sleep in a sea of stars, which was a science fiction book I really loved. I love how the author writes characters, just the best. Worldbuilding is also exactly what I like, enough information that you understand things, but not over explaining everything. Hope this will be a new favorite for me. 

I loved this so much! New favorite for sure. Everything was perfect, I don't think I have a single thing I did not like. Need to get the second book quickly. 

--------------------------------------------- 

Het wonderbaarlijke voorval met de hond in de nacht by Mark Haddon

emotional 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? It's complicated

3.5

--------------------------------------------- 

Information:

• Library book & Storytel audiobook
• Book club: Passant

--------------------------------------------- 

Review:

Beginning was strong, ending less so

---------------------------------------------
Review previously placed on my blog:

I have read The curious incident of the dog in the night-time. I read a Dutch copy from the library whilst listening to the audiobook. Read this for my in real life book club. This is a contemporary book with a mystery in it.

The beginning of this book was very strong, I really loved it. Mystery was intriguing. Main character was interesting. But the mystery itself was solved pretty quickly. Then everything went into chaos and it made me really uncomfortable. Ending felt rushed. 

--------------------------------------------- 

The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality by Amanda Montell

informative reflective medium-paced

2.5

--------------------------------------------- 

Information:

• Storytel audiobook
• Reading Authors

--------------------------------------------- 

Review:

Too chaotic for me

2 HP mentions so 0.5 deleted for that

---------------------------------------------
Review previously placed on my blog:

I'm currently reading The age of magical overthinking by Amanda Montell. I'm listening to the audiobook. Reading this for my Authors TBR. This is an adult memoir with psychology elements.

Enjoying this so far. It has great idea about the psychology of our time. I really like that the author talks about her own experience and explains the psychology with that in mind. 

This one wasn't for me. It felt very chaotic, I don't like that. There were also two mentions of HP, authors just don't do that okay. So therefore such a low rating as well. Not going to read more from this author, so deleting her from my Authors TBR. 

--------------------------------------------- 

Het ministerie van Oplossingen en de verdwenen Van Gogh by Sanne Rooseboom

adventurous hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

--------------------------------------------- 

Information:

• Kobo Plus ebook
• Reading Series

--------------------------------------------- 

Review:

Fun mystery

---------------------------------------------