raesengele's reviews
309 reviews

lighthearted fast-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? Yes

3.0

Ironically, the road trip part of The Road Trip is less than half of the book. It might even be closer to a third. And since I read this specifically for the road trip aspect, I was more and more disappointed as the book went on.

With that in mind plus the fact that romance seriously isn't my genre, take my emphatic 3 stars with a grain of salt.

It wasn't the worst I've ever read and, despite the fact that I had more than a handful of issues with it (on top of the road trip taking up significantly less space than the sections in the past), I was also intrigued enough to see it through to the end. So, if romance is your genre, you'll most likely get more out of The Road Trip than I did.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick

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dark 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

4.5

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

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dark funny mysterious medium-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

5.0

It's a LONG read, but well worth it.
Susanna Clarke is amazing when it comes to world building. The way she builds on English folklore and Fae is really intriguing. The only flaw is that, like I said, it is LONG, but truthfully I can't think of much of anything that could be taken out. Everything is so intentionally laid out and built upon. I will say having all three mediums (physical book, audiobook, ebook) helped to make it go by faster since I could keep going no matter what I was doing without lugging around this doorstop of a book.

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

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dark medium-paced

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

4.0

It was a VERY slow start and I almost DNFed, but honestly I'm glad I didn't. This was my first Leigh Bardugo book and while I loved the writing style from the beginning, for some reason the story itself took about half the book for me to get invested. I do think part of it was having to shift my expectations. Like a lot of people, I was expecting this to be a vampire book, so when it turned out to be about essentially a magic/miracles tournament instead I was a little bit disappointed at first. HOWEVER, it did pull me in once the tournament started and everything started to come together. Part of me wished Bardugo had gotten to it sooner, but also I think that build up was necessary because I'm not entirely sure how much I would have enjoyed the romance otherwise. Which by the way, is a slow burn and not in the dragging out the pining kind of way, but rather in the kind of way that is so subtle that by the time they start acknowledging their feelings it almost catches you off guard while also making complete sense. Which, as someone who generally has to be Stockholm syndromed into enjoying straight romances in books, it worked out perfectly.

And in the end...I cried, so it won me over.

Even with the slow start, I'm glad I finished it and am ready to jump into another Leigh Bardugo book.

Let Her Be Evil by Cassandra Jones

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dark funny fast-paced