emilynied's reviews
269 reviews

Saving 6 by Chloe Walsh

dark emotional sad tense slow-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

4.0

I read "Binding 13" and "Keeping 13" last year, two massive romance books that obviously packed a punch (a little more than I was expecting). I usually read series all at once and one after the other, but, given the topics addressed in these books (domestic violence, depression, addiction, self harm) I needed a little break that turned into about a year. Now, reading this book with a focus on another character that showed up more than a few times in the first duology, I can say for certain that these books are very well done. This book had so much background and context that adds so much to the original story (so much so that I reread most of the first two books in the day after finishing this one). 

Walsh manages to shift the focus to another character beautifully and there is so much story left to tell here. Joey Lynch has so much heart and it shows so well here in this story. The book spans years of the relationship dynamic between Joey and Aoife, from their introduction to budding friendship and finally romance that we knew them to have in Binding/Keeping 13. I usually dislike the books that go back in time to rehash events that we've already read in another book, but I found myself unable to put this book down. We get so much insight into Joey as a character that is so captivating and devastating. At the same time, we really meet Aoife's character for the first time here (as we get more of the basics from her like her own family life and personality that doesn't necessarily revolve around her interactions with Joey as we saw through Shannon's eyes). And she is an interesting addition to the story as her own character with her own character traits so different from the others we've been introduced to so far. 

There's so much to dissect here, from the Lynch family's upbringing, to Aoife's relationship with her body and how it serves her in society, to life at the public high school, to Sean calling Joey "dad" for years... there's so so much to analyze. Beautiful story and I am so excited (and really scared) to read more.

A ​Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir

adventurous challenging emotional 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

3.5

This definitely improved compared to the last book for me. Everything picked up in terms of pace, plot and character relationships and development. In particular, Elias' story was much more interesting for me and The Blood Shrike/Laia continued to carry in their POVs. The politics were also pretty interesting to follow along with, especially with the tough dynamic of full out war breaking out throughout the story.

One thing that I actually strongly disliked was the death of Livia. It just felt unnecessarily cruel and unrealistic almost because of the personal death Helene has already experienced? Why would Keris not kill the Emperor when she could have easily done so? It don't think Helene needed another call to action or reason to be more determined to kill Keris and defeat her. C'mon, her whole family is already dead.

Blood & Honey by Shelby Mahurin

adventurous emotional tense 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

3.0

I think this book did end up succumbing to the book two curse despite being pretty fun to read. I think that ultimately is based on the fact that it was originally supposed to be a duology but ended up being changed to a trilogy - but I'm not sure there's enough plot to sustain three books of 500+ pages. 

I do think that there was a lot of action but at times it felt like filler to occupy the pages. The ever changing dynamic between Lou and Reid was also...interesting - I'm ready for them to pack it up and figure out their issues because they have a lot of unresolved problems and implicit bias to work through. They need to communicate better.

We got a little more of Beau in the end of the story which served more of a purpose than his weird little sidekick vibe he was giving off up until this point and the inclusion of the royal family was interesting (the king is kinda scary tbh stay away from those rats). And the cliffhanger was definitely enough to convince me to read book three.

Powerless by Lauren Roberts

adventurous medium-paced

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

2.75

I was left feeling disappointed by this book, and did debate whether it deserved a 2.75 stars before deciding on three. This world is a mix of The Hunger Games and the Red Queen Series by Victoria Aveyard (and honestly a little bit of the Selection Series) while still falling into a number of fantasy romance world characteristics and relationship tropes. I think I usually don't care too much about cliches, but this book almost felt like it was checking off boxes on a list based on how little development there was in the world building, character development and relationship growth. I was frankly annoyed at some parts with how similar it was to other fantasy romance stories that I read, and there wasn't enough to keep me fascinated by this particular story. 

Kai and Kitt are left inexplicably interested in Paedyn as she's the only girl they've ever met to tell them off and she's "different" - yet besides a couple of scenes (which honestly were better developed between Paedyn and the future King as opposed to Kai - there is no development at all. I was left feeling frustrated at the amount of times he described her eyes and how much he was into her but no reason why! It was like a switch that flipped in his brain but everything else about his character (being the king's second hand man, growing up with an abusive father, training to be a weapon and an enforcer) shows us that he should be emotionally defensive or at least vigilant. Yet there's no change from the character he is set up to be in the beginning and the character we can predict he is evolving to be.

That was my main gripe, which seems justifiable as this book is mainly a fantasy romance. I think it will be interesting to see where the story goes, given the last few chapters, so I may tune in to the upcoming sequel.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The classic series continues, this time without Peter and Susan (crying btw). Edmund and Lucy do a good job of carrying the book, especially with the return of Prince Caspian (yayy) and the new character, Eustace, is actually a really interesting choice from Lewis. Eustace is Edmund and Lucy's cousin, an annoying, know-it-all brat who makes fun of his cousin's tales of Narnia until all three are transported on The Dawn Treader. This book felt different from the past two in that rather than a bit battle to confront and a build up throughout the book, the characters encounter a series of challenges on their voyage to find Caspian's father's crew. 

I really loved the ending and really started to see what I think is Lewis' themes of religion in this book more so than the others in the series. Aslan's Land as "heaven" and Aslan himself as God is a really interesting choice and it was cool to see those motifs develop throughout the story.

Tradition by Brendan Kiely

emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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 book was interesting - I think it tackled some super important issues like rape culture, the patriarchy and confronted them in a preparatory, elite, high school setting but didn't dig as deep as I was hoping it would. The character choice was intriguing - we get the POVs of Jules, a do-gooder who was once in the "popular crowd" but now chooses to hand out controversial women's health pamphlets during freshman move-in day and tries to normalize tampons by placing them on her desk during class. One the other hand, we have Jamie, the new-kid, fifth year senior trying to make it as a hockey goalie after something mysterious kept him from playing in his previous senior year. 

I think the book tried to do a lot of things but ultimately fell a little flat for me, mostly because of pacing. Kiely takes a lot of time to develop the relationships between its main characters but doesn't really leave a lot of time for the plot and the confrontation/exploration of rape culture. The "main event" that the book leads up to happens in the final third of the book, and while Kiely slows it down so the characters can take in what happens, there is like no page count left after that for something major to happen. That was a little disappointing. 

Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller

adventurous fast-paced

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

2.5

I did finish this book in just a couple hours so it was super fast paced but I ultimately didn't find any nuance or complexity in the plot or characters. It's YA but the MFC and MMC fell flat despite some exciting dialogue and the actions felt unimportant. The pirating was kind of interesting but not enough to keep my attention. This book just wasn't for me. I unfortunately won't be continuing with the series. 

The Summer Palace by C.S. Pacat

emotional inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

This was a short story following the ending of "King's Rising." It was only about 30 pages and I definitely enjoyed the pause in action after the events that unfolded in the third and final book of the series. It was nice to watch time pass slowly and the characters interact with no pressing battles upon them. I also appreciated the dynamic and the continued complexity that was presented despite the "happily ever after."

Kings Rising by C.S. Pacat

challenging dark emotional tense fast-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

This book is the conclusion of a fascinating series that covered so many interesting topics and spanned an entire war between two countries. It delves deep into politics and nationality and prejudice and it was so so captivating. It's two main characters were built up so well throughout the series and I find myself loving them and their story. I love novels that tackle the hard questions and topics, and this series certainly did. 

The big reason why I rated this book lower than the second is that I think it tackled a lot of plot points that could have been elaborated on - specifically with Kastor and the Regent. The ending came about pretty quick in my opinion and I think it could have benefitted from a larger page count. Otherwise, this series ending up being so much more than I thought it would be. 

Prince's Gambit by C.S. Pacat

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

I was actually shocked at how much I enjoyed this book. I wasn't expecting the depth of topics and relationships that would unfold and it was so so interesting to learn about the inner workings of the world of Vere (and Akielos). I loved how much the book delved into politics and war and international relations and how it affected the characters, from regular soldiers to the literal King/Princes of these countries. There's surprise manipulation and trickery and the story is just super captivating.

The slow burn slow burns and I am so glad it did, because if it was not carefully constructed as it was with all of the intricacies and fears and doubts of the characters, it would feel cheapened and certainly unrealistic. The bond between Damen and Laurent is so fascinating and engrossing to read about and I am just waiting to see what happens next.