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lumie's reviews
143 reviews
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 Reiko Sakurada, Oumiya, 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.
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 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 Reiko Sakurada, Oumiya, 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.
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.
A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.25
Off to Be the Wizard by Scott Meyer
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.0
Babel by R.F. Kuang
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
I found Babel to be such a polarizing book that I can't really rate it.
On one hand I really enjoyed the exploration of language, the magic system, and yes the footnotes. Not to mention the dark academia, Oxford vibes were impeccable.
I think if you are interested in Etymology, language and translation you would likely find it interesting as well, Kuang did a fantastic job on the research and it shows.
On the other I found the characters to be clumsily developed and incredibly stereotypical, their interaction felt hollow to me and the hand of the author was excessively present throughout, to the point where I was constantly yanked out of the story by how anachronistic it was.
Yeah, it's the first book I've read where I don't know whether I liked it or not. An interesting read.
On one hand I really enjoyed the exploration of language, the magic system, and yes the footnotes. Not to mention the dark academia, Oxford vibes were impeccable.
I think if you are interested in Etymology, language and translation you would likely find it interesting as well, Kuang did a fantastic job on the research and it shows.
On the other I found the characters to be clumsily developed and incredibly stereotypical, their interaction felt hollow to me and the hand of the author was excessively present throughout, to the point where I was constantly yanked out of the story by how anachronistic it was.
Yeah, it's the first book I've read where I don't know whether I liked it or not. An interesting read.
The Library of the Dead by T.L. Huchu
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.75
I was so intrigued by this book, particularly the writing and the voice of the characters which were significantly different from usual, with a strong accent throughout, and an interesting premise of being able to talk to the dead through music.
Unfortunately though, at around the 40% mark it all went downhill. Nothing was happening and what was once was a funny voice started to become excessive, grating and put on. New, and apparently unrelated situations started to appear and the book became a confusing mess of disconnected vibes and plots.
The setting and the time-period were hazy and hard to understand, people have internet and mobile phones but not running water. Apparently there was some sort of disastrous event but it's not really developed in any way except for cryptic comments here and there.
The biggest sin of the book though, is that it's boring and bizarre. The library of the dead was minimal, 10% of the book at most, the house plot was utterly bizarre and disconnected from the rest of the book yet it was a significant part of the latter half. The ending was incredibly predictable and it all ended neatly tied with a bow. It became such a chore to get through that I was so happy to finally be done with it.
Also the audiobook was exceptionally bad, the narrator uses a very monotonous tone of a kid who's reading a book to class, not an actual book narrator. Do not recommend it.
Unfortunately though, at around the 40% mark it all went downhill. Nothing was happening and what was once was a funny voice started to become excessive, grating and put on. New, and apparently unrelated situations started to appear and the book became a confusing mess of disconnected vibes and plots.
The setting and the time-period were hazy and hard to understand, people have internet and mobile phones but not running water. Apparently there was some sort of disastrous event but it's not really developed in any way except for cryptic comments here and there.
The biggest sin of the book though, is that it's boring and bizarre. The library of the dead was minimal, 10% of the book at most, the house plot was utterly bizarre and disconnected from the rest of the book yet it was a significant part of the latter half. The ending was incredibly predictable and it all ended neatly tied with a bow. It became such a chore to get through that I was so happy to finally be done with it.
Also the audiobook was exceptionally bad, the narrator uses a very monotonous tone of a kid who's reading a book to class, not an actual book narrator. Do not recommend it.
Abroad in Japan by Chris Broad
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
4.25
Thoroughly enjoyed this book, particularly the audiobook which was narrated by the author himself. He has a very specific brand of British sarcasm and humour that really came through in the narration and which made the reading experience much funnier than it would have been otherwise. An enjoyable read for those who are interested in Japan and Japanese culture.
The Savior's Book Café Story in Another World (Manga) Vol. 2 by Reiko Sakurada, Oumiya, Kyouka Izumi
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
3.0
Unfortunately, everything resolved itself far too quickly.