toastyghosty13's reviews
161 reviews

The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

This one was super hard for me because I am not a political girly. A large chunk of this book was politics around a kingdom and talks and plans, and it was not exciting enough for me, hence why it took a year for me to read it. I knew it would be fully worth it though, and I was rewarded with a phenomenal ending. I love Vin and Sazed and Elend so much, plus other characters that were introduced in this book. Just because I did not like this one as much does not mean I will absolutely be completing any Brandon Sanderson work I can get my hands on (even if it takes me the next 10 years).
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death by Caitlin Doughty

Go to review page

dark funny informative medium-paced

3.5

I did not like this one as much as the last book I read by her, but it was still enjoyable and very interesting to see how death and dead bodies are treated in different cultures around the world. There was a good variety of different customs that the author explored too, which I assume was done on purpose since there is no reason to dive to deep into the American culture of burial and crematory services when her last book covered most of that. I found it interesting that some cultures actually keep the bodies with them for years and just leave them be. I would have expected that to become a sanitation problem, but if the climate allows for it then it seems to be an effective means of mummification that is much cheaper than anything offered in the US. The same goes for the mass cremation grave, which I enjoyed and believe is a good way to save space but allow for a memorial for people to visit still. I will be reading more by this author.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
The Chicken Chronicles: Sitting with the Angels Who Have Returned with My Memories: Glorious, Rufus, Gertrude Stein, Splendor, Hortensia, Agnes of God, The Gladyses, & Babe: A Memoir by Alice Walker

Go to review page

informative inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

2.75

This woman really cares about her chickens, but I am not sure how much I really care about that. I was hoping for more information about what it is like to have chickens and care for them, but there were a lot of tangents that touched on the authors personal life that I did not care for too much and that I felt were not too relevant. I also was not a fan of how she kept saying "yay space nuts" and other colloquialisms randomly throughout the book, nor her obsession with chicken poop. I get that livestock manure is important in farming and agriculture because it has nutritional value to give back to the earth, but it felt like most of it was just her saying how it is a treasure and nothing really of value about it besides how much she praises it and is grateful for it. Not sure that I would recommend this to someone who wants nonfiction on chickens, but maybe more to someone who is also passionate about chickens as a heartfelt family pet and just wants to bask in that. 
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

Go to review page

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

3.75

The type of book this was changed a lot along the way. I am not a fan of journal entry stories but I liked the characters a lot and seeing the fae portrayed in their dark and mischievous ways akin to The Spiderwick Chronicles. I will definitely be reading the other books in this series! Somehow both dark and yet very comfy cozy too.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki

Go to review page

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Another Japanese fiction book that tied in something extremely cute: magical cats that speak and serve you coffee! I liked this one a lot and highly recommend to anyone who likes the type of story that Before the Coffee Gets Cold is!
Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

Go to review page

Did not finish book. Stopped at 17%.
This is going to be a stupid reason but this book made me feel uncomfortable. I am not in the proper mindset to read and appreciate this book, but I would absolutely revisit it on a later date. It is obviously a commentary on the privatization of the prison system and how it exploits inmates, which everyone should learn about and its other slew of problems. 

In particular, I could not get further in the book because of TW: SA
some random man going up to Thurwar and groping her while she is handcuffed under the guise of being a fan of hers
. It really irked me and made it difficult to continue on without thinking of it, which makes it difficult to focus on the main point (even if that scene is representing its own point as well). I think I would consider starting from where I left off at a future date so I don’t have to reread that bit. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
A Gallagher Wedding by Ally Carter

Go to review page

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

3.25

Really cute wholesome follow up to the end of the series that showed the wedding of Cammies mom and Joe. After all of the chaos of the end of this series, it was nice seeing a happy ending that happened quickly after the events of the last book. 
United We Spy by Ally Carter

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark tense 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? It's complicated

3.0

This was a crazy ending to the Gallagher Girl series. I got a bit lost with all of the conspiracies that unfolded and what the main purpose was of the circle going through all of the trouble to push their agenda, but it still felt like a somewhat fitting end to the series. I think it was also time after so many books. This series has come a very long way since the first book being about using spy skills to learn how to talk to boys, and it felt like it matured at the same rate as its audience would have as the books came out in real time. This series and Heist Society will always have places in my heart, and I am sad to close them for now. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?: Big Questions from Tiny Mortals about Death by Caitlin Doughty

Go to review page

dark funny informative lighthearted fast-paced

4.0

I have really grown to love Caitlyn Doughty’s works about her time in the funeral industry. This one takes it even further, a compendium of all of the strange death related questions she has been asked by children that we all want to know the answers to. 

I think this might be one of my favorite books by her, because it is so silly and childlike with the questions (probably because they were literally asked by children). I appreciated that the questions were so creative and that she had such lengthy answers to them. 

If you are interested in what happens to our bodies after we die, this is a great way to learn more without getting too deep and too serious about it. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
The Mysterious Study of Doctor Sex by Tamsyn Muir

Go to review page

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

4.0

Cute story about Camila Hect and Palamedes Sextus at age 13 each, solving a mystery that involves a recently unsealed office of a long dead Doctor Sex (lol)

This was cute, I loved both Camila and Palamedes in Gideon the Ninth so it was a fun time to see them without all the trials and tribulations of Canaan House and the pursuit of Lyctorhood. Definitely read if you are a fan of The Locked Tomb series!
Expand filter menu Content Warnings