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velsbooknook's reviews
194 reviews
The Lost Sisters by Holly Black
4.0
It's nice to be back in Elfhame even it's just for a short time. I enjoyed Taryn's POV and her look onto the events.
Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
5.0
This was such a cool read! I loved the collection of norse mythology and the way the author told those stories of the old nordic gods. Very humorous and interesting!
The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
5.0
Wow just wow. The writing, the world building, the story, the characters - this is all perfect.
The book follows three characters who are all on their own mission. There is Orka, a huntress and former warrior, now living a peaceful life with her husband and son. Elvar, a warrior and member of the Battle-Grim who hunt Tainted, those that carry the blood of the gods. Last but not least, Varg, a former thrall on the mission to revenge the death of his sister. I enjoyed all three characters' storylines but I especially enjoyed Orka. She is such a well rounded, strong and relatable character and she definitely has become one of my all time favourite characters.
The Norse inspired world is filled with gods, war, magical creatures, friendship and everything I could have asked for.
This book has almost 500 pages and books like this usually scare me a little but not with this one. I enjoyed every minute of it and I immediately ordered the second book in the series after finishing book one. If you like fantasy get this one right now! This series has my whole heart.
"This is a world of blood. Of tooth and claw and sharp iron. Of short lives and painful deaths."
The book follows three characters who are all on their own mission. There is Orka, a huntress and former warrior, now living a peaceful life with her husband and son. Elvar, a warrior and member of the Battle-Grim who hunt Tainted, those that carry the blood of the gods. Last but not least, Varg, a former thrall on the mission to revenge the death of his sister. I enjoyed all three characters' storylines but I especially enjoyed Orka. She is such a well rounded, strong and relatable character and she definitely has become one of my all time favourite characters.
The Norse inspired world is filled with gods, war, magical creatures, friendship and everything I could have asked for.
This book has almost 500 pages and books like this usually scare me a little but not with this one. I enjoyed every minute of it and I immediately ordered the second book in the series after finishing book one. If you like fantasy get this one right now! This series has my whole heart.
"This is a world of blood. Of tooth and claw and sharp iron. Of short lives and painful deaths."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Slavery, Violence, Blood, and Kidnapping
Radio Silence by Alice Oseman
adventurous
emotional
informative
4.0
Another wonderful novel by Alice Oseman! I loved the characters and very much enjoyed the story and mystery around radio silence.
One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid
4.0
I'm very surprised I enjoyed this one so much! The story was going in another direction than anticipated and I very much enjoyed that! I found the characters with their thoughts and feelings very relatable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Good Cop Bad Cop by Simon Kernick
3.0
I read all books by the author but this one was only ok for me. The MC was not very likeable in my opinion and I was missing some tension story-wise.
The Last Housewife by Ashley Winstead
dark
mysterious
tense
4.0
This story follows Shay who is trying to uncover her past, after she heard about an old friend's passing. Some parts play in the past and some in the present, recorded as podcast episodes.
I have so many thoughts about this book and I can't remember the last time I was so indecisive about a rating. First of all I loved how incredibly dark and disturbing this book was. That is the kind of thriller that got me into reading in the first place. Please check trigger warnings before you jump into this one!
I also really enjoyed the insight Shay gave into her past. I was completely hooked. Her dynamic together with Jamie later on was very good and I have no idea how he could remain that relaxed most of the time because I would have lost my marbles around 384 times.
The ending was so so good in my opinion and I loved the way Shay acted. The atmosphere was so tense and when it was time - boom!
Now some points I didn't enjoy. I found the first 10 chapters super slow and I almost dnf it. Some moments felt too far-feched for me and I was a little sceptical how it would influence the story. This brings me to my biggest complaint: I sometimes felt like Shay is the dumbest character I have ever met and I didn't get her thoughts or the way she acted. The plot had some questionable decisions but I still enjoyed the book in the end.
The overall atmosphere was absolutely gruesome and I'm sure I'll be thinking of this book for some time.
I have so many thoughts about this book and I can't remember the last time I was so indecisive about a rating. First of all I loved how incredibly dark and disturbing this book was. That is the kind of thriller that got me into reading in the first place. Please check trigger warnings before you jump into this one!
I also really enjoyed the insight Shay gave into her past. I was completely hooked. Her dynamic together with Jamie later on was very good and I have no idea how he could remain that relaxed most of the time because I would have lost my marbles around 384 times.
The ending was so so good in my opinion and I loved the way Shay acted. The atmosphere was so tense and when it was time - boom!
Now some points I didn't enjoy. I found the first 10 chapters super slow and I almost dnf it. Some moments felt too far-feched for me and I was a little sceptical how it would influence the story. This brings me to my biggest complaint: I sometimes felt like Shay is the dumbest character I have ever met and I didn't get her thoughts or the way she acted. The plot had some questionable decisions but I still enjoyed the book in the end.
The overall atmosphere was absolutely gruesome and I'm sure I'll be thinking of this book for some time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Gaslighting
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
adventurous
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
5.0
This book was absolutely beautiful and I'm having a hard time putting in words how I feel about this book.
When I first heard of it I was like: "Ok, a book about plants? Which is supposedly very good?" and yes it is about plants and it is VERY good but it is so much more. I loved to learn more about indigenous people and their believes, traditions and history. I was absolutely in awe of the way they treat nature and animals. After finishing this book I was so much more thankful picking my own homegrown tomatoes or just simply going for a walk, enjoing my surroundings. It's a book I would recommend to everyone, because there is so much wisdom between these pages and I believe that it would make people appreciate this beautiful planet a little more. I learned so much and I'm still thinking about this book and I'm simply blown away by Kimmerer's beautiful and vivid writing.
Highly recommend!
When I first heard of it I was like: "Ok, a book about plants? Which is supposedly very good?" and yes it is about plants and it is VERY good but it is so much more. I loved to learn more about indigenous people and their believes, traditions and history. I was absolutely in awe of the way they treat nature and animals. After finishing this book I was so much more thankful picking my own homegrown tomatoes or just simply going for a walk, enjoing my surroundings. It's a book I would recommend to everyone, because there is so much wisdom between these pages and I believe that it would make people appreciate this beautiful planet a little more. I learned so much and I'm still thinking about this book and I'm simply blown away by Kimmerer's beautiful and vivid writing.
Highly recommend!
The Comfort Book by Matt Haig
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
This book is a collection of little snippets of life. They sometimes feel like a warm hug or a good advise from a friend. Some chapters are just some quotes, others are filled with random facts about this world, which made me appreciate this planet a little more.
My favourite chapter was "Rain" and I actually want to rip out this page and frame it.
It was my third book by the author and I love his writing and view on life. It is definitely a book I'll pick up again when I'm in need of it. Just browsing through the pages, reminding myself that I am not the rain.
My favourite chapter was "Rain" and I actually want to rip out this page and frame it.
It was my third book by the author and I love his writing and view on life. It is definitely a book I'll pick up again when I'm in need of it. Just browsing through the pages, reminding myself that I am not the rain.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicidal thoughts
The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston
emotional
lighthearted
4.0
This was a lovely read but I think I'm not much of a magical realism person. I liked the idea of the story and it was done well but I still had some trouble with it. The characters were cute and relatable and I enjoy the novel!