micaelamariem's reviews
724 reviews

Heartstopper Volume 2 by Alice Oseman

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inspiring lighthearted 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? It's complicated

5.0

This is so cozy and cute and gives all the warm feelings 🥰 I kept waiting for the shoe to drop or something to go wrong but everything just seemed perfect and it was  such a nice break from the drama/traumatic things I usually read. Written and drawn exquisitely.

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Children of Earth and Sky by Guy Gavriel Kay

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adventurous challenging emotional reflective slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

 
It took me a while to get to this one, as it's size is intimidating and it's a fantasy I've never heard of until it showed up in a mystery book box, but I finally did it! 
The author, Guy Gavriel Kay, is a Canadian fantasy author. His history is impressive, having helped with the construction of The Silmarillion by Tolkien, becoming the Principal Writer and Associate Producer for the CBC radio series, “The Scales of Justice”, and having published novels since 1984, his debut being The Summer Tree. 
This novel, Children of Earth and Sky,published by the New American Library, is such a complex fantasy it's hard to sum up in a few words. It follows a multitude of characters, including Danica, a young woman off to find vengeance for her family's demise; Pero, an artist hired to travel across the empire to paint a portrait of the Khalif; Lenora, a young woman posing as a doctor's wife but in truth a spy; Marin, a merchant ambivalent about his role in life; and a young boy being trained in the Khalif's elite infantry for a war that is soon to come. These character's lives and roles become intertwined in ways that shape them and the world around them. 
The story technically spans years, but the bulk of it really spans a few months over six hundred pages. Because of the long span, the pacing can be slow--except for the battle times when the action goes a lot faster. As such, it took me a while to get into it because of the slow rising action. That, and because of the huge cast of characters that jump between perspectives in the middle of a chapter, it was at first very confusing to me. My biggest critique of the book would be that the POV would only change in a new chapter--though I get that sometimes that wasn't always possible. Especially--and I did think this was clever--as we see two characters remembering the same event differently, hearing words that are said differently. That, I thought, spoke greatly to human memory and perspective. 
I did end up falling in love with each of the characters in the large cast. Despite a sexist and misguided environment, the characters showed us they could be determined to change how things are. The women strived to show that women could be fierce and sensual and make their own choices. The men showed us they could be emotional, sentimental, and even fearful. They changed parts of the world and even changed themselves, somewhat hardened by the world, somewhat matured. But some things remained the same, showing a more realistic view. I also loved how their paths came together, making a temporary found family, even though they weren't sure they'd ever see each other again as their paths parted.
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The worldbuilding in this book was insanely heavy. There wasn't much, if any, magic, but there was a detailed map and various countries with political intrigue, spies, assassins, different religions and attitudes, and it showed the author put a lot of thought into his work, even when I'm too dumb (not true--I just didn't want to put the effort in) to always understand where the characters were at and what that meant politically. 
Overall, I surprisingly liked this story. Though I'm a fantasy girlie, I don't usually like that with such heavy worldbuilding that it makes you think. But I liked this because it also made me feel. There were chapters that absolutely shattered my heart, and that is what I look for in a book. There are definitely some things that bothered me, one thing being the switching perspective in the middle of the chapter, the other being some of the sexist attitudes and presence of slavery within the book. Now, I'm not saying the main characters condoned these actions, and I think most of the time they were fighting against at least the sexism. But I'm ready to read fantasy novels without the sexism, slavery, and sexual assault scenes (not explicit, but one thing that really bothered me was that people in position of power would sleep with "boys" which is not only potential sexual assault, but also potential pedophilia, and potentially an affront to the gay community, no? We could have done without that, let the leaders have same sex lovers of the same or near the same age? Idk). Again, these were present in the book, not necessarily presented as a good thing, but it was still a little disconcerting. So I guess this is your trigger warning for that. 
I think with this novel the author presented a theme that we are all connected by love, loss, and suffering, and thus can have empathy with each other. I could be way off but that's the theme I took, and made me like the book more, despite the previous paragraph. 
Again, overall I did like the book. I would recommend it to my hard fantasy readers out there. I was debating, but I think this book deserves four stars out of five. 
Happy reading out there! 

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Bride by Ali Hazelwood

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

5.0

A full review on my blog will come eventually, but yes, I’m Ali Hazelwood trash. I had doubts about her being able to write paranormal but I think this was the best one yet. It had the romance, the spicy scenes, but also the worldbuilding and intense political intrigue and I was here for it. I had such a good time reading this, and really it’s what I needed book wise right now!
One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London

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funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-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

2.5

I was so excited for this book. As someone who, though I’m not plus sized, struggled with body image and low self esteem my whole life, I was ecstatic at the idea of a badass plus sized women taking the reins to prove that bigger women are beautiful and deserving of love, too (just like any body type is!). What I got instead was a main character who was similarly full of self-hatred and constantly believing that no one could truly love her, despite constant evidence to the contrary. 
Now, having been hurt in the past, I can totally understand Bea’s outlook and her journey to discovering self-love was in itself a beautiful theme. However, I don’t think this was how the book was advertised and it’s not something I was prepared for. I wanted, like I said, the unwavering confidence and body positivity to help inspire me in my own struggles. So I think part of the issue is just the book being different from my expectations and that influenced my enjoyment.
Plus, Bea was a bit insufferable at times. I get it was her journey to self love but each page being “he couldn’t possibly be attracted to someone like me” was so repetitive, boring, and annoying. 
And I would have also loved more male body diversity in this. It felt a bit hateful to me that Bea’s first thought was “well a heavier man I could settle for” when all bodies are beautiful!! 
I did love the creativity of adding in interviews, blogs, podcasts, and messages. It created a mixed media novel and if the novel was just told in these forms, that would’ve been super fun and I would’ve enjoyed it a lot more.
But as we have it, it was hard for me to get behind because it differed from my expectations and honestly, I didn’t like the MC. 🤷🏻‍♀️ 

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Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley

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

4.0

Going into this book, I had no idea this was a thriller, so that was definitely a surprise. But despite my aversion to mysteries, this book sucked me in.
Each chapter left me hungrily wanting more and there were deep scenes that evoked strong emotions from me. The representation of grief I thought was done really well as well as the PTSD the character was experiencing; though it wasn’t named that, the symptoms were visceral and evocative, and it felt believable, not a laundry list from WebMD. I’m not indigenous, so I can’t speak to the representation of a native tribe, though I think I learned more about tribe systems and laws. And with the ending, that wasn’t quite happy or sad, we got just a taste of the injustices indigenous tribal members face to this day.
Though I felt empathy for the main character, there were times I didn’t like her. I felt like she slipped into the “not like other girls” category like a lot of YA protagonists have a tendency to do. She acted like she wanted to speak up for women, but she called other girls dating her brother’s friends “angler fish” and judged them way too harshly. 
I also think the pacing was slightly off. The first two thirds of the book was slow to medium paced, but still enjoyable. In the last third, lots of action came seemingly out of nowhere and it felt like we were racing to keep up until the end. If the pacing could’ve been evened out a little more, I think it would’ve made for an even more enjoyable read.

However, I did love this, and I do recommend it! It kept me on my toes and taught me a few lessons, while being mostly believable. 

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Aristotle and Dante Dive Into the Waters of the World by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-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

This was such a beautiful book 🥹 I will always be an Ari and Dante Stan. I loved to see how much Ari grew as a character, from being a loner to accepting love and friendship into his life. The writing was beautiful, each word carefully crafted to reflect deeper life meanings and holding strong sentiments. And above all, the theme of love, not just of the romantic type but loving your fellow humans, was strong and shown throughout in many different ways. 

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Loathe to Love You by Ali Hazelwood

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

3.0

There were definitely moments I enjoyed reading this but as a whole fell short.
I think, overall, Under One Roof is the best of the collection and Stuck With You is the worst.
It can be really hard pacing in a short story or novella and I think that’s one thing the author did well, managing to hit all the story beats in a shortened amount of time without it feeling rushed. I think the characters could have been developed a little more (and especially the second story’s plot). 
It did feel like, at least with the last two stories, it was the same story of miscommunication with just two different characters. And I really wasn’t into that.

And I’m so sick of the men being BIG. HUGE. Ok, I get it. They’re tall. Go figure. 

But I am excited to read more of her full length novels which thus far I think are better fleshed out.

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Black Boy by Richard Wright

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dark emotional reflective slow-paced

3.5

I have to be honest. 
The only reason this is 3 stars and not 4 stars is because animals were hurt in the making of this book and I cannot abide by that.
However, the book was beautifully written, illustrating the racial injustices Wright experienced and fought against (or his friends did, considering this may not be fully autobiographical). 
The first part was very compelling, reminiscent of many coming of age tales. The second part wasn’t as interesting because it focused more on politics and Wright’s fall into communism, which had the potential to be interesting, but somewhere fell flat. 
Still, if this is a true memoir, it’s really hard to judge and rate it (especially a classic one!) because it’s someone’s life. You can’t say anything about the plot because it actually happened. 
I can say the writing and commentary was beautiful and evocative, the themes were strong, and you can tell he had things to say. 
But also please don’t hurt animals :( 

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Part of Your World by Liz Braswell

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

3.0

This was a decent Disney retelling as far the series go. Not my favorite, but far from my least favorite of the bunch. I appreciated the political intrigue aspect—that’s something in fantasy that always keeps me interested. That being said, I have no idea how Ursula was making decisions as princess when the king and queen were still alive. I think that’s a big plot flaw that needed to be addressed. I also wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea of “mad prince Eric” focusing on his operas. I know his “madness” was due to magic but I find it hard to believe everyone still loved him for his art anyway if he was meant to be ruling (but was he?? If his parents are alive?? Please explain.) 
But I did like the thrill of trying to expand the empire, putting lives at risk, blackmail, finding Triton, and putting everything at stake. It got a little dark and I was here for it. Overall a three star read. 

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Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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 a phenomenal read.
I’ve always been a fan of the sentimental so this book struck a chord with me. It evokes all the feelings, from laughter to tears. While the book is about a bank robbery gone wrong, it’s really about the people involved in this hostage scene and about people in general. Looking into each person’s mind and heart, Backman makes a point on how messy life is and how idiotic we all can be, and calls us as readers to have empathy for our fellow humans. 
I also enjoyed the drama of it all, though. For two thirds of the book I really wasn’t sure who the bank robber was and if they’d catch them or what was going to happen. I liked the plot twists told through a nonlinear timeline that kept me reading beyond the sentimental parts and the idiotic humorous parts. 
Overall, a fantastic beautiful read and a reminder that we’re all going through something, but it gets a little better if we have each other’s backs. 

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