rehtaehwashere's reviews
16 reviews

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

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

2.5

 
  • What I liked: I liked Andarna's sass, I liked that Xaden was so badass
    until the very end of the book
    , I liked that Mira
    didn't even question her sister even though she defied their mother
    . I like that Brennan was doing everything he could for the resistance and that the dragon riders were so ready to accept and help the griffon riders. I like the beginnings of a union against the venin for the people that could see it.
  • What I disliked:  Xaden's choice at the end, that Violet was so focused on Xaden 'lying' to her that she was a fucking moron through the whole book. The first book she poisoned everyone
    and yet she drank suspicious water THREE TIMES?? THREE TIMES VIOLET YOU FUCKING IDIOT
    . That she couldn't solve the incredibly obvious riddle about the wards and that she couldn't figure out
    Andarna ISN'T A BLACK DRAGON even with her weird abilities and shifting scale colors
    . That she DOESN'T ASK QUESTIONS and then gets mad she doesn't know things. That she went from strong smart and resourceful to a fucking idiot in one book.
  • Overall thoughts: Poorly edited, a lot could've been chopped out to make for better characterization and letting us understand WHY Violet is being so stupid, that a strong woman got ruined by a hot guy for the sake of plot and she's no longer intelligent and resourceful just because she wants to be petty, the ending sucked and the book was a slog.
  • Recommend to a friend? Y if someone wants to continue the series but N if someone is on the fence about the series 

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Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful 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

4.0

 
  • What I liked: The story concept, the addition of magical creatures (really wasn't expecting that at all), family dynamics, a realistic feeling sibling relationship (even if it was minimal). The slow burn romance and will-they-won't-they, and the thirsting wasn't excessive at all
  • What I disliked: the twist where
    the villain isn't actually the villain (that's what SOLD me on the book)
    , that the character was an obvious author insert plus the cringey quirkiness (typical romance-fantasy style) and inserting outfits randomly everywhere. Plus the
    <'dating her boss' /spoiler>  trope was kinda eh
  • Overall thoughts: really cool story and I love the concept! Much better writing than fourth wing even if the characters are still the author-insert quirky girl thing which was less bothersome here because the story was interesting and was advertised PURELY as a romance so it is almost expected. Crabby male characters will always win me over because it's funny. The
    fake-trustworthiness of the 'good' people being pretty convincing 
      was good too.
  • Recommend to a friend? Y

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Dracula by Bram Stoker

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challenging dark funny mysterious reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

 
  • What I liked: The DRAMA, the characterization of Dracula, how hell-bent they were on catching him after he corrupted Lucy,
    that Lucy's mother fucked her over by not just leaving her and her flowers the hell alone and opening windows.
      The wolves and the bats. The suspicions of Dracula's neighbors and that everyone knew and just said LITERALLY NOTHING.
    Dracula throwing the mirror out the window lmao
     
  • What I disliked: that they equated soft feminine virginal girls with morality and goodness implying that Lucy deserved what happened because she wasn't 'pure' enough. That women were written as such weak little things and that they only got praise when they 'thought like men'. That the story was basically men saving 'women in distress'. That the language was so flowery and annoying to parse through.
  • Overall thoughts: I think I'll stick to modern adaptations because the flowery language was so annoying to get through and I loved how dramatic Dracula was but the characterization of women left a lot to be desired. It was definitely a product of its time and a good story none-the-less if you can overlook the 1 dimensional female characters but it's hard for me to do. The men are well written, rounded out characters that show emotion which is a bright spot in this.  
  • Recommend to a friend? Y 

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Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

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

3.0

 
  • What I liked: the story concept was really cool with the dragon army being an elite group of warriors to even survive long enough to GET a dragon and train with one. The school hierarchy was cool, too. 
  • What I disliked: overused the word 'ribs' (it really bothered me), excessive thirsting and the fact you immediately knew
    she'd go for the guy she was TOLD NOT TO GO NEAR OR BE MURDERED
    , the obvious 'oh she's so special' aspect where she not only survives but
    gets two dragons
    , and I didn't feel how she described chronic pain was accurate at all (though maybe it is for EDS, which I do not have). 
  • Overall thoughts: still not sure how I feel about the
    secret rebellion 
    and the mom being the 'bad guy' felt pretty obvious based on her disdain for her disabled child. 
  • Recommend to a friend? Maybe 

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Good Omens by Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett

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funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

5.0


  • What I liked: the humor, the characters, the narration. I also liked the sub additions in the footnotes
  • What I disliked: written out accents bother me, and some side characters that seemed unnecessary (the extra bikers, even if they were funny) 
  • Overall thoughts: Funny as hell, really creative story line and a lot of fun. I love tipping the theme of good v evil and emphasizing the fact that it's a human made concept 
  • Recommend to a friend? Y 

 


So I woke up from a dead sleep with a Good Omens thought.
 
Agnes had one book of prophecies that ended with the end of the world. But then sends a second one to Anathema, labeled to Mr. and Mrs. Pulsifer.

It implies that the great plan for the world was more like an outline with room made for human free will. The first fork was that the world ends... or it doesn't. Obviously in this case it didn't. So Agnes' second volume gets mailed out. The next fork is Mr. and Mrs. Pulsifer. Either they got married or they didn't before the book showed up. They didn't. The next is the burning of the next volume. Why would she take the time to write out that full volume of prophecies and mail it if she knew it would be burned? Because she didn't. The book either would be burned, or it wouldn't. Both were likely options so she wrote and sent it just in case. Of course they chose to burn it, and her winking in the chimney smoke was because she knew it was an option the whole time.
 
Idk I like the theme of free will in the book, especially with Aziraphale and Crowley insisting they have none, but they actually had it the entire time.

Probably a super obvious thing to post but a fun early morning thought nonetheless.

 

From <https://www.tumblr.com/rehtaehwashere/tagged/good%20omens>
 
 
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Guitar Girl by Sarra Manning

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dark emotional funny sad fast-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

3.0

 
  • What I liked: I liked the story of rise to fall to fame, I liked that it showed how
    slimy managers could be
    , I liked that it showed the worst side of the music industry in a way that fit a YA novel
  • What I disliked: I disliked that it was a YA novel when it could've done so much more as a fiction novel. I don't like that Molly was so oblivious to a lot of things that it almost made it hard to even begin to ascertain what she was missing.
    I dislike that the band went on tour as a one-hit wonder.
     
  • Overall thoughts: Very cute book, really fun at parts with the dark underneath that really works for the music industry. Could've been much more if it dipped into those harder. 
  • Recommend to a friend? Y for young readers or someone looking for a fun quick read

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