booksletusescape's reviews
414 reviews

Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie

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

4.0

Slaughterhouse 5: The Children's Crusade A Duty-Dance With Death by Kurt Vonnegut

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

4.0

This was a very interesting and well executed book about one person's experience of war.

Pros:
  • I enjoyed the tone and the writing style. It really added to the bleakness around the war.
  • I liked the weird sci-fi twist with aliens and time travel. We are never really sure if this is actually real or if Billy the MC is just suffering from mental illness.
  • It shows the experience of being a prisoner of war well, the feelings of hopelessness and giving up especially.
  • I do like that it's more than a war story, we see a lot of Billy's life both before and after.
Cons:
  • I didn't mind but the story is not told chronologically and jumps about a lot. 
  • I feel we didn't get to see a lot of the characters emotions but I did feel it might be intentional. A lot of soldiers in this time would have kept this to themselves afterwards.
A Girl in Exile by Ismail Kadare

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

2.5

Pros:
  • It was good to learn something about Albania and it's history
  • The writing was very good 
  • I liked how everything linked together

Cons:
  • The second half just got weird and confusing
  • The MC was a very unlikeable character
  • I don't think the plot was executed very well
    we basically get told everything by this girls friend rather than there being a mystery to figure out
Medusa [Illustrated Gift Edition] by Jessie Burton

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

4.0

I really enjoyed this take on Medusas story, it makes us really consider it she was in fact a monster.

Pros:
  • I liked that this was from Medusas point of view, I feel we get to see her as a young girl rather than this monster which was good
  • It dealt with sensitive issues in a good way such as consent, sexual assault 
  • It really highlights that girls are often blamed when mens attentions are drawn to them just because they are pretty rather than the men being at fault
  • The illustrations are stunning 
  • We really get a feel for who Medusa really is rather than the myths that always make her out to be a horrible monster. She was a girl who was treated badly and punished for it by another woman albeit a goddess but still

Cons:
  • I didn't particularly enjoy the insta love between her and Perseus
  • It is based on the myth so there are some limitations 

The Dragon Machine by Ben S. Dobson

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adventurous mysterious fast-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? Yes

4.5

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

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

4.25

Pros:
  • This was a very well thought out mystery that was executed really well
  • I really enjoyed how the nursery rhyme linked to the murders, it was very cool
  • It was fun to watch the tension rise between the characters leading to a pretty explosive end
  • It's very ambitious but worked really well
Cons:
  • It was quite difficult to keep track of all the different characters 
  • I'm not sure I liked that they never discovered the murderer we only saw who it was through a letter he wrote
  • it wasn't really a murder mystery as no one was really trying to solve the murders
Overall it was a very enjoyable fast paced read that had me hooked.
The Bone Shard Emperor by Andrea Stewart

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adventurous 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? Yes

5.0

This was an absolutely brilliant sequel to The Bone Shard Daughter.

Pros:
  • I got some answers/the start of answers to questions I had at the end of the first book
  • I really enjoyed seeing the relationship and complications between Lin and Jovis, they work well together
  • The magic and world building is so interesting and unique, it really draws you into the world
  • I find the idea of the constructs really fascinating as we see them being more like people
  • All the main characters are brilliantly written and developed 
  • I love that we get more creatures like Mephi and learn that they are called ossalen
  • We got a lot more information on the Alanga and what happened to them which was really good. The slight twist at the end with Gio and the Shardless Few really help their motivation click into place

Cons:
  • I didn't like how Jovis found out about Lin being made not born. It was so random and thrown in out of nowhere to seemingly give him a reason to write the letter and get caught but it felt unnatural
  • I felt the romance between Lin and Jovis could have done with a bit more build up
  • There were more grammatical errors than I'd expect from a traditionally published book but it didn't really impact my enjoyment 

Overall this book was more of what I loved about the first one. It did a great job of building on what was there and I can't wait to see what the final installment brings!
We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds

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challenging reflective medium-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

4.25

Pros:
  • Great queer characters with a cute romance 
  • It did a great job of showing family dynamics and the impact of a tragic event
  • I love how the main teenage characters are made up of a black, white and mixed raced girl, it shows how each is treated 
  • I loved seeing the healing of old wounds between Mama Letty and Zora
  • This story covers a lot from racism and homophobia to tragedy and family drama to mean friends but it does it all very well

Cons:
  • I didn't like that Mama Letty was the one responsible for killing Jade's mum. I kind of understand it, like her husband was taken so I'll take one of their wives but it didn't sit right with me
  • Avery ended up not really caring about her future even though she had worked so hard to get it initially. I also felt when it came to drugs she wasn't as wary as a first timer would have been.
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The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

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

5.0

I absolutely loved this book, it's definitely a new favourite! 

Pros:
  • Taylor Jenkins Reid is absolutely amazing at bringing characters to life
  • I love how we get to see the ups and downs of the Hollywood glam life
  • Evelyn was such a complicated and fascinating character, I was captivated by her story
  • I loved that her story was told based on what husband she had at the time, but I enjoyed that the husband's were not actually what the story was about
  • It was interesting to see the differences between who Evelyn was and who she pretended to be
  • The friendship between Harry and Evelyn was my favourite thing, I loved that they accepted each other and were always there for each other

Cons:
  • I didn't really like Celia, I thought she was a bit unfair to Evelyn at times
  • I'm a bit unsure about the link between Evelyn and Monique, I liked that there was one but I didn't really like the reaction. I also don't feel like this bit wrapped up well.

Overall a really brilliant book with amazing writing and even better characters! 
Network Effect by Martha Wells

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adventurous 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? Yes

3.5

Pros:
-Murderbot is a great character and super relatable for a robot, I love seeing it navigate the world and figure out what it wants.
-
There is more emotion in this one and it's nice to see humans that actually care about Murderbot as a person.

-
I'm so glad ART was back! I love their relationship and I hope we get more.

- There is a good amount of action and fights.
-Writing is very good 

Cons:
- This was too long and could have been another novella. I don't feel that much more happened to justify it being a full length novel.
- I don't feel like the plot wrapped up very well
- I found the story dragged in a lot of places

Overall a fun addition to the series with brilliant characters and interesting interactions between them.