lumie's reviews
149 reviews

The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Exquisite ending. It's now in my top 5 best series of all time. 

Also kudos for the Sintra cameo, I've been there and reading about it was a blast, I was so immersed into the story I couldn't put the book down. 

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik

challenging dark emotional inspiring tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

I'm broken. 

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

2.75

Slow meandering start with high amounts of (in my view) unnecessary exposition culminating in the introduction of the most uninteresting main character in existence. Once the robot gets introduced, then the book became significantly more enjoyable, even if the "philosophical" points were shallow at best. The world itself is interesting but highly utopic, and how it became that way is barely talked about which ultimately makes it feel unrealistic.

It's a relatively nice, cosy book, with good imagery, even if the writing is clunky at times, but don't expect any meaningful discussion of what the blurb promises.

Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett

lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

adventurous lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L. Jensen

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

2.5

The Savior's Book Café Story in Another World (Manga) Vol. 1 by Oumiya, Reiko Sakurada, Kyouka Izumi

funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No

3.75

A bookworm in her 30s is recruited to be the saviour of another world, except that she can't be bothered with all of that mess and instead builds a bookshop café so she can just chill and read? Sign me up. Sounds amazing! lol

I absolutely loved the setting and the premise. The drawings are gorgeous and I particularly love the landscape and clothing styles which are very classically European. It has certainly inspired me to draw some of these. 

With that said, after reading the entire 5 volume series I do have several gripes with it:

[Slight spoilers for all volumes]

The characterisation of all characters is incredibly shallow and weak, the villains in particular are caricatures without any depth. The other saviour girl was ridiculously badly written, it could not have been more stereotypical. In fact, I found it quite disappointing that the only other female character in the series was so poorly written that it gave me second hand embarrassment just to read it. 

The plot points are frankly a bit silly and without any real weight as everything resolves quickly and without a fuss. Whatever attempts at political intrigue were very shallow and unrealistic. The dialogue is a bit cringy as well and I've seen some translation errors in my physical edition which was disappointing.

All in all, it's an easy to read, chill manga that, nonetheless, left me a bit disappointed. It had a lot of potential to be something quite more special than it was, if only it had a stronger story and characters.

The Savior's Book Café Story in Another World (Manga) Vol. 5 by Oumiya, Reiko Sakurada, Kyouka Izumi

lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No

3.0

I absolutely love the setting and the premise. The drawings are gorgeous and I particularly love the landscape and clothing styles which are very European. It has certainly inspired me to draw of some of these. 

With that said, the characterisation of all characters is incredibly shallow and weak, the villains in particular are caricatures without any depth. The other saviour girl was ridiculously badly written, it could not have been more stereotypical. In fact, I found it quite disappointing that the only other female character in the series was so poorly written that it gave me second hand embarrassment. The plot points are frankly a bit silly and without any real weight as everything resolves quickly and without a fuss. Whatever attempts at political intrigue were very shallow and unrealistic. The dialogue is a bit cringy as well and I've seen some translation errors in my physical edition which was disappointing.

All in all, it's an easy to read, chill manga that, nonetheless, left me a bit disappointed. It had a lot of potential to be something quite more special than it was, if only it had a stronger story and characters.