marleysclassics's reviews
282 reviews

Penthesilea by Heinrich von Kleist

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Heinrich von Kleist hat hiermit das Dark Romance Genre erfunden, ich meine:

Achilles: "Der weicht ein Schatten / Vom Platz, der mir die Königin berührt! - / Mein ist sie!" 

Das ist nichts anderes als "touch her and die" - und als "dark" lässt sich sowieso einiges an dieser Handlung beschreiben. Aber das Ding ist halt auch richtig gut und voller Wahnsinn und überdramatischen Metaphern, die hier wirklich reinpassen und Stimmung und Emotionen aufbauen. 

P.S.: Dieses Buch passt viel zu gut zu "My Lady of Mercy" und "Portrait of a Dead Girl" von The Last Dinner Party. 

Die Leiden des jungen Werther: Roman by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

Kafka - Die frühen Jahre by Reiner Stach

challenging funny informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross

adventurous dark hopeful 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? It's complicated

3.5

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring tense 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? It's complicated

4.25

It‘s been a long time since I read a book that intrigued me so much. I really flew through the pages, firstly because of how cosy and cute the story was, then soon because I really cared about the characters and feared for them - which is why I sat straight up in my bed, helplessly gesticulating for the last 30 pages or so. Divine Rivals really is an emotional rollercoaster, which is great. Yet sometimes, it was also a little to much, especially referring to the romance. If you remember how quickly it developed, the ending seems slightly unrealistic, and you can see that it was in fact constructed by someone. Still, I loved Iris and Roman and I loved their chemistry and their love story and I am so happy that there is a second volume for me to follow them along on their journey. Especially since I don‘t want to say goodbye to Rebecca Ross‘s writing just yet. Every sentence builds up this world a little more, each word is exactly as it should be, creating a text that is easy to read and yet hits you perfectly again and again. Objectively, it might be quite corny at times, but in the best way possible, I promise. My only critique here is, that some things could have gone unsaid. The descriptions often tell you something, wether it be a feeling or a thought, that doesn‘t need to be uttered explicitly. Yet, the author decided to do so several times, which slightly dampens the effect. Regardless, I really fell in love with Divine Rivals, which I find to be a great love story as well as a captivating and sometimes gutwrenching tale of war and of gods.

Die Braut von Messina by Matthias Luserke-Jaqui., Friedrich Schiller

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

adventurous dark hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

Leave it to Neil Gaiman to write fantasy that is at once heartfelt and brutal, romantic and honest, magical and realistic, simple and composed of different threads from different people, witches and stars, as well as worlds, to finally come together in a way that is at once creative and the only way the story could have ended. 

Ich, Lady Macbeth: Roman by Isabelle Schuler

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

3.25

Maria Stuart: Trauerspiel in fünf Aufzügen by Friedrich Schiller

adventurous challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Viel Drama ✅
Zu viele Namen ❌
(eine seriösere Rezension gibt's heute nicht; war durchaus gut, aber Schiller wird wohl nicht mein Gott 🤷)

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

adventurous lighthearted tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I get how people who might usually only read romance books are intrigued by this book. It's well written (for the most part) and assembles a lot of typical fantasy elements in a compelling way. Especially in the middle and then the last ~60 pages, the story managed to really capture me and I even liked Violet's character development very much, even though she can be quite enervating at times. Yet, there came a point where the romance started to annoy me and unfortunately from that point on, the romantic subplot ceased to be an actual subplot and became more and more central. If I hear the nickname "Violence" for the protagonist one more time (I mean: really??) and Xaden's eyes get described as Onyx shimmering, then I'm seriously gonna loose it. It just felt so cringe or constructed at times, and with this I also refer to Xaden's character. The world building is ... fine, but not genius and the plot is interesting, yet not unpredictable. All in all there were times where I couldn't stand this book and then again I was hooked. Hence, I'm not sure wether I will continue reading this series, but the plot twist at the end got me, I'll give you that.