kaitlynisliterate's reviews
332 reviews

Atalanta by Jennifer Saint

3.0

This book runs into the inescapable problem faced with retellings, especially Greek mythology retellings. Greek myths do not need to "make sense" in terms of the narrative. Thus, a retelling must choose between remaining faithful to the myth or changing aspects for a better narrative structure. Unfortunately, Atalanta writes itself into a corner with the love interests, making the ending extremely forced.

The Perfect Wife by JP Delaney

4.5

The Sandman: Act II by Neil Gaiman

4.5

Blood of Elves by Andrzej Sapkowski

4.0

No wonder they couldn’t adapt this well for TV

Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes

3.25

No One Can Know by Kate Alice Marshall

3.0

Decently compelling characters but the plot twist and ending were so predictable and underwhelming.

I was surprised by Nathan’s death though.

Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

3.5

Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood

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

1.5

Ali Hazelwood wanted to write a chess romance but got it confused with romantic chess. This is literally the only way that the chess playing in this book makes sense.

From a story perspective, it's difficult to feel that Mallory has truly earned any of her success when most of her chess training is skipped over in a single sentence.

She never loses against a strong player in an important match, only in random tournament games against players we don't know that are described in a single sentence.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

3.5

The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young

2.0

This book had an interesting premise but failed to execute it and just ended up being boring.

This book was marketed and categorized as magical realism, mystery, and romance. However, it is actually a romance book with some half-baked magical realism and a rushed mystery. The mystery basically revolves around the fact that the MMC won’t tell her something and the mystery is solved when he tells her. It was a frustrating reading experience because you know that the whole thing could have been solved by 5 minutes of conversation.

Something that frustrated me was how the Farrow curse is literally never explained. In fact, none of the characters even speculate about how this curse came to be. This is especially frustrating because one of June’s main goals is to figure out a way to break the curse. Wouldn’t this naturally lead you to wonder about how the curse came to be in the first place? Except the story absolutely refuses to head in that direction. This self-imposed mental block totally hamstrings the plot because it limits what actions June can take to break the curse.

In fact, the story ends with June taking no active role in the breaking of the curse as the actual solution was already fully solved and implemented by Future June before POV June even understands what the curse is.

I did not enjoy how little agency June had throughout the entire book.

She is essentially beholden to (and not to mention being manipulated by) a future version of her herself. June falls in love (or arguably back in love) with the MMC entirely by viewing memories of Future June. It is explicitly stated that she is a passive observer in these memories and that she can not change the way that she behaves as the events occur. The entire plot just happens to June, she is just an observer as events unfold around her.