marie_thereadingotter's reviews
1226 reviews

Daughter of No Worlds by Carissa Broadbent

adventurous dark emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

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

4.75

I initially started this book as an audiobook, but I could not handle the way the narrator changed her voice for when the FMC was talking. She raised the pitch, and it sounded almost "childlike" and I couldn't take it. This is a Romantasy, and while nothing happened yet between the two main characters (he had a different narrator) I didn't want to get to the part when things were happening with an almost child-like voice. After switching to an ebook, I enjoyed this so much more. I did start it over, but it didn't take me long to catch up where I was in the audiobook.

As I said, this is a romantasy, but there is a heavy focus on the world building and the magic system. The world got more attention than the magic did, kind of. It could just be that I missed something when it was explained how magic works. But the romance is very slow-burn, and I love slow-burn romance, it feels more real and lets readers get to know characters as people before they become a couple.
I really liked both MC's. Not quite Grumpy/sunshine, since Tisaanah is still recovering from her PTSD, and CPTSD, as a former slave and what she went through just before escaping and her survivors' guilt. Maxantarius (Max) also has PTSD, but Tisaanah has a more hopeful outlook on life than he does. 

A lot happened in this book, it was almost too long and likely could've been two books (or some parts could've been edited down a little). The slower parts didn't feel like fluff, but it felt a little redundant. The big twist in the epilogue, with the reveal of a betrayer, wasn't that shocking. I thought that character was very suspicious from the start, I'm fairly certain they were meant to be seen that way. The extent of their motives is still unknown, besides power. 

Honestly, I am shocked I liked this book as much as I did. Her other series, The Serpent and the Wings of Night, hasn't been all that well received by people I have similar book taste to. This book was a nice surprise. I did end up buying the trilogy as ebooks, I want to read the next one soon.

Mao, Vol. 7 by Rumiko Takahashi

adventurous informative medium-paced

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

4.0

The Apothecary Diaries, Volume 4 by Nekokurage, Itsuki Nanao, Natsu Hyuuga

funny lighthearted mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

I really do love these characters. Mao mao is a fantastic character. I really love how seamless this was adapted into the anime. 

Court of Tricksters by S.L. Prater

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I don't listen to audiobooks often (almost never), I can be picky with narrators, but this one was very good. It has two narrators for the dual-POV, sometimes it came across a little robotic, but that might have more to do with me listening to it at 1.25 speed. It's also a pretty short audiobook, 8 hours. 

Now, on to the book itself. It's a slightly generic plot. But I don't mind that. I like the characters, I like Rain more than Night. She has a mysterious backstory she doesn't remember all of her past, I like her familiar. A snarky demon, named Bernard, who takes the form of a cat and loves cheese.
Night, he's... fine. He is more focused on his duty than he is about matters of the heart. I mean, he clearly loves Rain, but he doesn't want to admit it. This is a slow burn, the attraction is there from the start, but it takes a while for them to get intimate.  
 
I also like that there's more to this book than the romance. The romance, while it is a big part of the story, is the driving force to preventing a war. A war with the Unseelie and a race of humanoid dragons. I also was really greatful that the FMC had friends, a whole group of them. 

This book leaves off on a pretty big cliffhanger, and I look forward to getting to the next book, whenever my library gets that audiobook that is.

The Apothecary Diaries, Volume 3 by Natsu Hyuuga

funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

4.75

Breath of the Dragon by Shannon Lee, Fonda Lee

adventurous emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I recieved this book from NetGalley for review.

I enjoyed this book. I loved the characters and all their complexities; I loved the overall as well. 
But the pacing lagged. 

The fights were described in a way that I could actually visualize what was happening, something a lot of books that have hand-to-hand fighting scenes in them struggle with. 
I'm still looking forward to the next book and how this duology ends.

InuYasha, Volume 3 by Rumiko Takahashi

adventurous tense medium-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

4.0

I am really loving the manga. We get a little more of InuYasha's inner thoughts of things, he talks more to Kagome about what's on his mind.
Interesting that the Peach Sage guy side plot was moved later in the story than it was for the manga. In the anime, they don't meet him until after they meet Sango, and the story that happened right after was the one that were she's introduced. 

Naraku continues to be a petty bitch, and a coward. 

The Solstice Court by Jade Juniper

adventurous emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

4.25

I recieved this ARC from the author for review.

 

I don't know how to start this review. I liked this book, I liked the diversity of the characters. I liked the setting. Even though a majority of it took place in one location, a castle, I was able to picture it. The writing is also very good, and her characters did feel like real people, most of the time. 

The pacing was my main issue. Things move very slowly in this book. I was also never sure what the main plot of this book is supposed to be. There is a background plot of a war, but the majority of this book follows the relationships between the characters. Though there were a few too many, that I think was why the pacing was off some of the time. There's one chapter that follows a servant character, that was only there to give further hints of what another character is up to, and I think that maybe that hint could've been given with out introducing another character POV that isn't used again. 

While I liked, most of, the characters, they were frustrating. Kezerah, the Soul Heir, and princess is a frustrating character. However, a reveal at the end of the book might explain why she was written the way she is. But she's a reckless character who does only what she wants with little regard to those around her. She is given everything she wants, but then is also expected to know how to be a leader when she's not presented with tasks that require that kind of learning. I honestly kept forgetting that she was nearly 18 with how immature she was. We meet her when she's around 12, and sometimes still acts as if she is. But She's also sheltered and that might play into why she came across as immature.

The princes from the neighboring kingdoms are equally frustrating. I did not care for Ikaika feeling entitled to Kez's affection. But I believed his attachment to her more than Ambrose's. Her and Ikaika grew up together, Ambrose knew her for, what? A couple of months tops? 

 

But either way, I didn't really care for, or about any of the romantic elements in this book. Kez (Kezerah) and Dar's (Andarios) relationship was the only one that was believable. He wasn't in this book in the latter half as I feel he should've been. Maybe he'll be in the next books more, I hope so. 

There's one antagonist character, whose motivations I don't fully understand. It's part of the big reveal/plot twist at the very end of the book, and I personally don't feel like that ground work was laid well. So the information feels a lot like an info dump, while at the same time it filled the tiny plot-holes through the rest of the book. I am curious where the story is headed. The small issues I have with this book are more personal preference than anything else.

 

The magic system was interesting, but I don't fully understand how it works. There's three kinds of magic, and all of them confuse me. It is likely that I missed the explanation. I am a little scatterbrained. Jade Juniper is a talented writer, and for a debut this is a well thought out book. 

The Apothecary Diaries, Volume 2 by Natsu Hyuuga

adventurous

• 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? No

4.75

The downside to reading a manga volume fast, is that I often forget to track that I've read it when I read it. I also watched the anime first, so I already know all the details of what's going to happen. I'll probably have commentary when I get to volumes that haven't been adapted yet.

Maomao is honestly one of the best female characters, especially in a manga, I've read in a while.

Inuyasha (VIZBIG Edition), Vol. 2 by Rumiko Takahashi

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

5.0

I'm enjoying seeing the minor differences between the anime and manga.