careythesixth's reviews
791 reviews

Bride by Ali Hazelwood

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emotional funny mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

3.5
I liked it more than I thought I would, but I still don't really like romances.
The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso

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adventurous challenging mysterious fast-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? Yes

3.5

3.5 stars
I liked the locked room and time loop of it all. I liked the world building. Some of the twists were fun. But the how and why was incomprehensible. And the romantic angst sometimes got too stupid to bear. Not sure yet if I want to read the sequel.
The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society by C.M. Waggoner

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funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This was fun at times, but not what is advertised in the title. There isn't any demon hunting and there is no scrappy band of unlikely friends doing it. The main character doesn't so much investigate as come across useful information. The possessed cat plotline drops into nothing quickly. The twist regarding the internet wasn't earned - there's nothing to indicate that this isn't a pre-internet book until 3/4 of the way through. The end kind of just happens. I also had a really hard time with the yew branch thing. I don't know. I just mostly found this disappointing.
The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djèlí Clark

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 25%.
Maybe it's just that the audiobook is overacted. Or maybe that what's going on is telegraphed hard and early on, but I'm not feeling this one. DNF at 25%
The High King by Lloyd Alexander

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adventurous emotional sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

When I was a kid, I just accepted the end of this series as horribly sad but didn't question it. As an adult, I'm pissed. Taran saves the kingdom, he's offered a reward that Dalban knows he won't take, and then what he ends up getting is magic disappearing forever, the Fair Folk leaving forever, his best friends leaving to frolic in the Summer Country for all eternity without him, and the task of building up the land from scratch. And after he eventually dies, people won't even know if he was ever real. I call bullshit. Gwydion is worse than Scumbledore.
The Castle of Llyr by Lloyd Alexander

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adventurous emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.0

Fflewddur and Llyan are one of my favorite pairs in all of fiction, full stop. That's why this book gets 4 stars. Llyan rules. 

However, I've always been bothered by the fact that this book is Eilonwy's story but not her POV. And that she needs saving in her own story when she'd been so capable in the first two books. 

Then again, this series as a whole is Taran's story. And this is a book about Taran's feelings for Eilonwy. And... it's the 60s. Women aren't real people yet, even in fiction (even though Eilonwy is generally pretty solid).
The Black Cauldron by Lloyd Alexander

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adventurous dark 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

3.0

This is by far my least favorite of the series. Ready to move on.
The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander

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

5.0

Revisiting books I haven't read in decades seems to be my jam right now. Rereading the Prydain Chronicles as a middle aged adult is a whole new experience.
Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 20%.
I'm so bored.
I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom by Jason Pargin

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adventurous dark funny informative mysterious reflective 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

4.0

This might be my fastest read of 2024. It was fun, batshit crazy, and I'll be thinking about it for a long time. Each of us contains multitudes. 

My only beef is that the incel stuff, especially Abbott going off on Ether, came out of nowhere and felt forced. It didn't really add to the story or fit Abbott personality-wise. It freaked me out a little, but as a middle aged woman, I'm not really inhabiting incel spaces online or in meat space. So, I'm not encountering incel rants on the regular.