katiesbookmarks's reviews
466 reviews

Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

4.0

Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

First - I would not call this a romantasy. I would call this a political fantasy book with the barest little bit of romance if you squint. This book was SO LONG, and yet I feel nothing happened until the last hundred pages. The world building in retrospect was pretty good, but for what? I’m hoping the next book is this series is better, because I considered DNFing after 100 pages. 

That being said, there were parts that had me in a chokehold - spoilers ahead: 

I was SO intrigued by the pairing of Prince Conor and Lin Caster. I wish we had seen more of Lin in general. I think the author did a good job showing the potential power imbalance in that relationship + making Conor seem human at times. I’m really interested to see where this goes next. 

In contrast, I had virtually no interest in Kel and Antonetta. This was why I think it shouldn’t have been billed as a romantasy - too many loose threads and almost love stories that I got bored with.