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emilynied's reviews
269 reviews
The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King by Carissa Broadbent
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Sooooo yeah. I wasn't really a fan. I feel like I was very much a passive reader throughout this reading experience and was not hooked at all. It's interesting, given the big plot twist at the end of the last book - I was super excited for this one. It starts off so slowly, however, and the slow pacing in the beginning of the story didn't hook me at all. It sacrifices so many pages that I think could have been very useful towards the end when.. **spoiler alert** they go to war??? The plot was put on the back burner here to instead focus on the characters' relationships but there wasn't too much going on on that front either until the big mid-book switcharoo we were all waiting for. Ultimately, I was disappointed given I really enjoyed the first book. Not sure if I'll continue the series.
Six Scorched Roses by Carissa Broadbent
challenging
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book did what it needed to do, I can't complain. I was actually really questioning whether I wanted to read this.. it's not necessary for the series and it's just a novella but I thought I would be missing out on the **experience.** And I certainly don't regret it. This is a short and sweet romance set in the "The Serpent and the Wings of Night" universe that's a spoof off of "The Beauty and the Beast" except with vampires, wow! The characters unravel quickly in the ~100 pages but I didn't mind the quick character development for the sake of a fast paced story. It's got some good themes that rang true (honestly much stronger than the first book) and I'm really glad the characters were 30+ years old, it's not often that we get that mature POV in the NA fantasy romance genre.
The Gilded Cage by Lynette Noni
adventurous
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
3.5
This book, I fear, may have fallen to the "book two in a trilogy" slump. We get a total switch in setting compared to the last book - from death prison to plushy castle. While I did enjoy reading this book and was entertained, I find myself looking back (now mostly done with the third book) wondering what really happened plotwise to move the story along. I feel like there were some character arcs and relationships that weren't fully fleshed out or developed and the story (and series) is falling a bit flat for me.
Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I've now read two of Alice Feeney's books and I can for sure tell her writing style, which I think is really cool. She has a very distinctive way of developing her characters and building up that tension through flashbacks and unreliable narrators that is so fun to read in a mystery. I will say, I don't think I like the marriage mystery as much as I liked the systemic dynamic in "Sometimes I Lie" but it was still a fun one. I also listened to this on audiobook and it was also great to hear the different voices. Adam and Amelia are not super likeable main characters, but the story was for sure worth it.
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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
4.5
I'm so pleasantly shocked at how much I enjoyed this book. It's sci-fi and dystopian, which is usually right up my alley, but I don't usually connect with characters who care deeply about religion, and I didn't think that was going to change with this book, given it's age. However, I was proven wrong.
This book starts in July 2024, which happens to be the month and year that I picked it up - the start date was just days away from the actual date I started reading (woww). Their world is descending into madness and anarchy from drugs, disease, war and chronic water shortages. Lauren's community tries to salvage the remains of a culture through religion, but her small world is destroyed in the span of one night. Lauren is forced on the run out in the world with only two companions in a scary world. They make their way north, joined by more refugees on their way for a better future.
The actual prompting of the travel in this book happens almost halfway through, giving the reader over 100 pages to get a feel for Lauren's delicate life in the compound. We meet her father and step mother and her brothers, who stories are troublesome and heartbreaking. The reader is then wrenched away from this reality along with Lauren and we too are put on a path of hope and fear for her as the pages turn. The characterization as the characters travel and encounter new people is done so well and I could feel Lauren's thoughts and feelings jumping up from the page. She's such a complex character, and experiences this gender-bending phenomena that is nuanced and fascinating to me.
I found myself latching on to Lauren's hope and her own religion that she begins to craft on their journey - I think I warmed up to it because it wasn't approached as a religion, more as a way of thinking that became more and more informed by Lauren's own interactions and experiences with the world. The reader gets a front row seat. And it's not immediately accepted by her companions either; the reader listens to Lauren get grilled by pessimists and questioners and the way of thinking isn't forced on us at all.
After reading the summary of the second book, which came out only a couple years after the first, MAN, this book is so extremely relevant - like, it's actually scary how similar that summary sounds to our world today. I would really liked to continue with the series despite being fearful of its results. Would highly recommend this book to anyone, should be required reading.
This book starts in July 2024, which happens to be the month and year that I picked it up - the start date was just days away from the actual date I started reading (woww). Their world is descending into madness and anarchy from drugs, disease, war and chronic water shortages. Lauren's community tries to salvage the remains of a culture through religion, but her small world is destroyed in the span of one night. Lauren is forced on the run out in the world with only two companions in a scary world. They make their way north, joined by more refugees on their way for a better future.
The actual prompting of the travel in this book happens almost halfway through, giving the reader over 100 pages to get a feel for Lauren's delicate life in the compound. We meet her father and step mother and her brothers, who stories are troublesome and heartbreaking. The reader is then wrenched away from this reality along with Lauren and we too are put on a path of hope and fear for her as the pages turn. The characterization as the characters travel and encounter new people is done so well and I could feel Lauren's thoughts and feelings jumping up from the page. She's such a complex character, and experiences this gender-bending phenomena that is nuanced and fascinating to me.
I found myself latching on to Lauren's hope and her own religion that she begins to craft on their journey - I think I warmed up to it because it wasn't approached as a religion, more as a way of thinking that became more and more informed by Lauren's own interactions and experiences with the world. The reader gets a front row seat. And it's not immediately accepted by her companions either; the reader listens to Lauren get grilled by pessimists and questioners and the way of thinking isn't forced on us at all.
After reading the summary of the second book, which came out only a couple years after the first, MAN, this book is so extremely relevant - like, it's actually scary how similar that summary sounds to our world today. I would really liked to continue with the series despite being fearful of its results. Would highly recommend this book to anyone, should be required reading.
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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
4.25
Shelley! You're a genius! I really, really enjoyed this book. It felt like a mix of many of my favorite fantasy books - from "The Poppy War" and the traditional story of "Mulan," yet still managed to stand solely and strongly as its own work.
We open to a young girl with just her father and brother left, starving in 1345 China under harsh Mongol rule. Zhu Chongba, her brother, is given a fate of greatness, while she is given "nothing." The girl is not even given a name in the first part of the story. When bandits attack and her father is killed, Zhu Chongba succumbs to grief and she is left on her own, deciding to assume his identity and enter a monastery through pure will and grit.
This is where the story really begins to pick up, through her assumed identity as Zhu Chongba, one which the reader becomes comfortable with, and her capabilities as a monk and later, so much more. The transition to (what I consider) the third part of the book felt very stark to me and I do wish there was more of a transition there, especially because the reader is just pushed into a different timeline with very different characters. I struggled a bit to adjust and reorient myself with the world and the characters, so I had to bump my rating due to that.
Otherwise, once I got back into it, I GOT SO INTO IT. Our second POV character is Ouyang, a eunuch general (which I know know means a man that has been castrated). It's so interesting as Ouyang and Zhu certainly serve as foils to each other as they face each other in the fight over power - a man stripped of his manhood versus the woman taking power through her sexuality and masculin gender expression. They're not pretty characters and make some tough decisions to read through, but I appreciated the frankness and harshness of the read - it made it so much more powerful -- I MEAN THAT ENDING ZHU HOW COULD YOU.
I really loved Ma and her storyline and also Zhu's brother (who I'm forgetting the name of, whoopsie), who accept her for who she is despite the harsh traditional values of the world they live in. The exploration of fluid sexuality and expression (and gender dysphoria?) there was so, so interesting to me - I found it fascinating to read about and I love that they found love :) ALSO, am I the only one who caught the double meaning of the title?? (This could be stunningly obvious or I've discovered something so amazing all on my own) BUTT "she" who became the "sun" = son (as in the brother who's identity she assumed?! Am I right here? Someone please tell me.
We open to a young girl with just her father and brother left, starving in 1345 China under harsh Mongol rule. Zhu Chongba, her brother, is given a fate of greatness, while she is given "nothing." The girl is not even given a name in the first part of the story. When bandits attack and her father is killed, Zhu Chongba succumbs to grief and she is left on her own, deciding to assume his identity and enter a monastery through pure will and grit.
This is where the story really begins to pick up, through her assumed identity as Zhu Chongba, one which the reader becomes comfortable with, and her capabilities as a monk and later, so much more. The transition to (what I consider) the third part of the book felt very stark to me and I do wish there was more of a transition there, especially because the reader is just pushed into a different timeline with very different characters. I struggled a bit to adjust and reorient myself with the world and the characters, so I had to bump my rating due to that.
Otherwise, once I got back into it, I GOT SO INTO IT. Our second POV character is Ouyang, a eunuch general (which I know know means a man that has been castrated). It's so interesting as Ouyang and Zhu certainly serve as foils to each other as they face each other in the fight over power - a man stripped of his manhood versus the woman taking power through her sexuality and masculin gender expression. They're not pretty characters and make some tough decisions to read through, but I appreciated the frankness and harshness of the read - it made it so much more powerful -- I MEAN THAT ENDING ZHU HOW COULD YOU.
I really loved Ma and her storyline and also Zhu's brother (who I'm forgetting the name of, whoopsie), who accept her for who she is despite the harsh traditional values of the world they live in. The exploration of fluid sexuality and expression (and gender dysphoria?) there was so, so interesting to me - I found it fascinating to read about and I love that they found love :) ALSO, am I the only one who caught the double meaning of the title?? (This could be stunningly obvious or I've discovered something so amazing all on my own) BUTT "she" who became the "sun" = son (as in the brother who's identity she assumed?! Am I right here? Someone please tell me.