xangemtheelibrarian's reviews
751 reviews

What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

2.0

I wanted to like this. I was really enjoying it! ...Until I got slammed by plot twist after plot twist over and over again in the last 50-75 pages and then left with a gods-awful cliffhanger in a wild epilogue that undid any remaining good will I felt towards any of the characters. 

At first, Inez was so easy to root for. The Ring Event with Mr. Sterling had me rolling my eyes, but she was otherwise so much fun to read! Snarky, sneaky, and independent, she bested Whit and her uncle at every turn. It's just too bad that the plot turned her into a naïve, foolish girl with nothing but revenge on her to-do list. 

Whit didn't appeal to me as a love interest. He didn't even strike me as someone interested in Inez! He was more interested in staying closed off, drunk, and drowning in his trauma. Those moments where Inez drew him out showed off an intelligent, observant, and witty side to him, but those moments were so rare. 

The magic and the history of Egypt were the best part of this story. At this point, none of the characters are really good people. They all kind of suck. Anyone that had shown Inez any sliver of kindness turned out to be a villain, and we are left at the end of this book with a cast of untrustworthy characters, crooks, and cartoonish villains. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

The Space Between Here and Now by Sarah Suk

emotional reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

Oh my goodness I adore Aimee. She is such a strong girl! The fact that she decided to go and find her own answers when the people she needed help from the most refused to help her... She took her life into her hands and found that she could live despite her disability. 

Her disorder was really interesting to read about. I loved this sort of sci-fi infusion into this otherwise real world setting. I think the author also handled common issues around disabilities in a society that does not have accomodations or resources for said disability very well. 

AND JUNHO AND AIMEE ARE SO CUTE DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED I WAS SCREAMING AT SOME OF THEIR MOMENTS STOP IT RIGHT NOW. Adorable. 

The exploration of grief and complicated family dynamics was so so good as well. AND THAT PLOT TWIST HAD ME IN TEARS I CANNOT. 

So good. Just pick it up. It's so so so good on every point.

It's Called "Polyamory": Coming Out about Your Nonmonogamous Relationships by Rebecca Hiles, Tamara Pincus

informative medium-paced

4.0

I think this was a really helpful quick-start guide to polyamory. Because I borrowed this digitally, I didn't actually realize it was a book specifically on coming out until I started wondering why all the chapter headings were like "Coming Out to/at _____." Again, this is helpful if you're new to the poly scene, and I particularly like all the resources and further reading they included at the end. 

To Speak for the Trees: My Life's Journey from Ancient Celtic Wisdom to a Healing Vision of the Forest by Diana Beresford-Kroeger

hopeful informative medium-paced

4.0

I really enjoyed learning about the author and her life growing up. I enjoyed she lessons she recounted about Celtic knowledge of plants and their healing properties. I also was absolutely delighted by the times where she stood up in fiery defiance of governments and corporations trying to hurt communities and land. She was engaging and interesting, and I do eventually want to reread the last couple hours of the audiobook where she specifically discussed the alphabet and the plants that each letter represented and why they were considered sacred.

The Longing of Lone Wolves by Lana Pecherczyk

adventurous emotional hopeful fast-paced

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

4.0

So. I loved this. Straight up loved it. I literally think the only thing I'm upset about is the fact that this is a series and if I want to know what happens with Clarke and The Void, I've got to go and read the other books and I am NOTORIOUS for my commitment issues with series. ^^' 

I like the blend of typical fantasy elements with original lore. I like the worldbuilding. Rush and Clarke's relationship felt very fast, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. It also honestly kind of felt like their character development was simply one snap decision. Like, "Well, I was doing this, but nevermind lol." It felt like they didn't really struggle to make better choices, so I'm sort of leaning towards the diea that they didn't really have strong character development, but they were always good/honorable characters that had to choose between bad or worse decisions in order to survive. And then they sit there and call themselves villains for not making a choice that wasn't even an option.

I can't say I particularly want to read about Thorne next. I kind of want to keep Clarke and Rush to their own and just assume that all the things turn out all right in the end. 

The Book of G by Lily Archer
Did not finish book. Stopped at 24%.

2.5 Stars, if I could rate it.

I think the side characters like Madge were my favorite part. Madge especially had such a FUNNY and sassy personality. I also really like how the author made G dyslexic. It "explains" why he thought reading was stupid in the Disney movie. 

What made me so unexcited to read this that I ran out of time and DNF'd it was the lack of a solid sense of time in this story. The adventure to find the source of the Spriggans, traveling and suddenly having to battle a blizzard when the weather seemed temperate, and the way they seemed to always have rotting food in their bag when it felt like they had just received it just threw off my sense of time and place and put me off of the story as a whole.

Hexed by Kevin Hearne

adventurous funny medium-paced

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

3.0

I struggled to get through the first two-thirds of this one. Book 2 of the Iron Druid series felt incredibly disconnected throughout most of the story, as if Atticus was spending all his time reacting to various situations and barely being able to keep up with the events happening. He gets dragged around by witches, Coyote, and the Morrigan and Brigid, gets iced out by a vampire, and almost murdered by a particular group of frenzied women. There are characters that feel incredibly random-- the priest and the the Rabbi-- and none of these events or characters start to make sense as a whole plot until the final third of the story. You finally get all the answers, you get a really cool bit of Atticus's backstory, and everything makes sense. 

I use thirds rather than halves because the main story actually ends around page 265. The remaining 80 or so pages are the acknowledgements, notes, etc etc, and most notably, the short story "Grimoire of the Lamb," a prequel to the Iron Druid series. 

I enjoyed the short story a lot! For as little as I know about Celtic mythology, I know just as little about Egyptian mythology (it's a really complicated world that I am only familiar with through the lens of Rick Riordan's Kane Chronicles). The magic used in Grimoire of the Lamb was at times, really disturbing, and other times really cool. It was another really cool bit of backstory and I like that the author did take time to preface it with a note that mentions Atticus's "ill-gotten gains" from his heist at the Library of Alexandria.

Chaos Rising by Timothy Zahn

adventurous funny mysterious 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

5.0

I can't wait to read Che'ri and Thalias: Ascendancy: Greater Good next! Seriously, these two work so well together and I am absolutely head over heels for Che'ri. 

I like this prequel series for the way we get to have deeper insight into Thrawn, his past, and how his mind works. He has enemies everywhere it seems, and I can't help but wonder if those issues will play into how the original Thrawn (Zahn, 2017) started.

Legend of the White Snake by Sher Lee

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

Personally, I wasn't expecting all those BBEG (big bad evil guy) reveals, so kudos to the author for that! Everything tied up neatly and the story was well-written. I enjoyed learning about the historical Chinese customs, beliefs, and medical knowledge presented in the story. Lee did a fantastic job of teaching while not taking away from the story.

Celtic Spirituality: An Introduction to the Sacred Wisdom of the Celts by Philip Freeman

informative fast-paced

4.0

This book is basically just a three hour audiobook reading off primary sources and then telling some of the more popular Celtic myths. While I can't say that I enjoyed listening to the Roman's view of the Celts, this book itself is well done. I loved listening to the legends of the Tuatha de Danann and, later on, of Saint Brigid who eventually got wrapped up with the goddess, Brigid. As many others have said this is very introductory and serves as a launching point into learning more about Celtic spirituality, mythology, and mysticism.