toastyghosty13's reviews
161 reviews

Fang Fiction by Kate Stayman-London

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

2.25

I could not care less about Tess or Callum or literally anything else in this book. I have found most of it to be boring and I think Tess is kind of annoying. I also have found a lot of the injections of tik tok and podcasts to be annoying with the exception of maybe 2-3 of them to be either funny or provide some context. The alternate NYC has been entirely boring and unmemorable for me. 

The pacing for Tess and Callum is entirely too fast and feels so forced and fake. They went from hating each other to being each other's most trusted confidants in the span of maybe 3 events?? and barely even spent any time together. 

This entire book is being saved by Joni and Octavia. They balance each other out well while also having good chemistry. I wish this was a book focusing solely on them. I urge the author to consider writing a book where they meet and solve some paranormal crime together, with it sprawling into a series where they solve more paranormal crimes using the bar between to visit new places and meet new people and creatures. That would be such a fun series. 

Joni and Octavia also have good pacing and chemistry. They have been working together to find clues in the outside world and so it felt a lot more natural and less forced when they became entangled romantically. 

 
Jade City by Fonda Lee

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

2.5

Objectively, this book is well written and has wonderful world building. However, I think its downfall is a common comparison of going into it with the idea that “you’ll like it because it’s like Mistborn”. The only similarities I saw was that there was a major city and the characters use a substance that gives them abilities. That is where the similarities end. In the end, this book was definitely not for me, so it very well could be for you. Fonda Lee is a good writer still, but the content was lacking for my own personal preferences.

I found the characters to be absolutely insufferable, with the exceptions of Anden, Shae, and Ayt. All of the other characters were
engaging in war over petty family squabbles, so I actually agree with Bero in looking upon green bones in disgust. They are all elitist and treat the city as if it’s their own personal battle ground while also demanding steep tributes from “stone eyes”, or regular people that cannot use jade. One example is Mr Une, who at the end of the book cuts off his ear because he defected to the mountain clan even though he was under serious duress of being murdered and having his decades old family business destroyed in flames. My feelings the entire main plotline were like the disgruntled citizens mad at spider-man for keeping the city safe when it resulted in damages to property and injuries (the villains wouldn’t even be there if spider-man wasn’t there, and there wouldn’t be clan wars if there were no clans). The only things these clans were keeping lantern men safe from was each other, and if neither existed there would be no reason to require protection.


I also disliked how little
jade actually played a part in the story. This changed closer to the end of the book, but even so the final battle felt lackluster for what it could have been. If you have these characters that are able to use a substance to become super powerful, why wouldn’t they use it every chance they get? It also felt like the few times they did use it for more than “wear jade get stronk” meathead type of abilities, it was only dwelt on for 1 sentence, or it was to perceive emotions which is so boring. Jade gives users the ability to make themselves lighter, deflect things, make the user hard as steel, plus more and you would think that a fantasy book would want to touch more on the thing that makes it unique. This made the battle scenes incredibly boring for me, on top of the already perpetual boredom of expecting an action fantasy but instead receiving a book on clan politics.


If I had known how much of this book would revolve around politics, I would not have even started. I expected at least some politics, but the ratio was way off. This was so lackluster for the excitement I felt going into this book and it felt like an absolute drag to finish. If you have read The Well of Ascension and disliked the middle 60% where it was all about politics then do yourself a massive favor and skip this one. 

Some other reviews talk about there being some massive twist; if the massive twist was
that Ayt was trying to kill Hilo all along, then that’s a pretty stupid twist. It even says somewhere when Mudt gives Bero his assignment to shoot up the gentleman’s club to shoot holes through Hilo’s car and not Lan’s if you pay attention to the model types of the cars.


The characters were hard to enjoy (with the few exceptions above), especially when
Hilo berated Anden at the ceremony for not taking Jade despite the history of his mother’s death and demise being public knowledge. Of course the boy doesn’t want to wear jade, and it makes him stronger for having the willpower to say so. I found it hard to feel anything but dislike or complete indifference for characters. I could not have cared less when Lan died and only was mildly curious about the mystery behind his reaction to the jade he had previously won that was making him volatile (although this is just chalked up to SN1 in the end anyways lmao). I was hoping for a lot more of Ayt since the reviews I have seen mention her a lot and she was one of the few characters I found interesting (she reminds me of Azula from ATLAB) but alas her presence was extremely lacking.


TLDR; if you are expecting and epic fantasy with action, DO NOT READ. If you are a fan of clan politics that boil down to petty family drama and minimal magic in a fantasy setting, go for it. At the very least, the city is cool. 
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Apprentice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious relaxing sad tense 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

4.25

This was so much fun to read!! I thought this was better than the first book of the series. I love Evie and Trystan, and I am rooting for them to be together. 

There were a lot of things that happened in this book, it felt a lot faster than the first book. I don’t fully understand the leap with some of the tasks they figure out that they need to do in order to find answers (which is all the stuff they’re doing for like the entire book) but I am not here for deep lore. I am here for an adventure of defeating the bad guy while the 2 main characters fall in love with each other. I think the action and adventure in this book was better than the previous one. I also loved that
Evie and Trystan finally showed each other something about being in love with each other, albeit extremely limited and short lived :/. I hope there is more between them in the next book, since this is supposedly a trilogy and it would definitely bother me extremely if we got such a lack of romance besides the incessant pining for each other.


This was a joy to read, and I definitely recommend it!!
Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

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

3.25

I read this book as part of a buddy read with my aunt, where we choose a book for each other and then come back and discuss. She chose this book for me, and it was pretty funny. I love a whodunnit and I also love Australian humor (see my love for Gideon the Ninth, even though I know Tamsyn Muir is Kiwi).

I recommend this to anyone that likes whodunnits. It was funny and had a good unique cast of characters for the main characters family, as a murder is committed and a body found while they are having a family reunion vacation getaway in a remote mountainous ski resort to celebrate the main characters brother’s release from prison — after the main character put him there. What ensues is a chaotic week of narrowing down suspects (all of which are family members of the main character, including his ex wife that left him for the brother he imprisoned), and uncovering secrets that have been kept for decades. 

I did like this and would be surprised if it didn’t become a movie, since it is pretty similar in vibe to Knives Out (another familial suspect pool for a murder) and was outrageously funny. There is a sequel which I will probably read in the future too. 

One thing I could have lived without was
the degloving of the main character. It happened in a grandeur scene and was mentioned in detail multiple times during and after in the rest of the book -_-
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Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted tense 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

4.25

I think this might be my favorite Ali Hazelwood book so far. Bee and Levi are so cute together and I really liked seeing more from side characters too. Rocio and Kaylee are funny too, and the whole thing was a nice mix of a silly goofy fun time with a book about awkward people in love. I wish this wasn’t stand alone because I was left wanting more with all of the characters because I enjoyed this so much. I literally read it in 1 sitting and I’m sad it’s over. 

If you like a cute funny romance, nerdy awkward supremely attractive men that are viscerally in love with the FMC, and an overall goofy time, read this!!
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Daydream by Hannah Grace

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

3.0

I still enjoyed this but it was definitely my least favorite of the series so far. I felt that the 2 main characters jumped into relationshippy things way too quickly for them to still be interacting at a platonic level. They were constantly hanging out and were going on dates for “the sake of a writing challenge and lack of experience” but it felt like such a lousy excuse. They were constantly joined at the hip and being incredibly intimate without actually being romantically involved in any way and it kinda gave me the ick now that I have ruminated on it more. I was hoping for a lot more since I loved Henry popping up in the other books. 
Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective tense 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

3.75

I don’t think I like this one as much as Love Hypothesis but it was still really enjoyable!! This one was a bit darker in the way that the main character masks herself to meet the social needs of each person she interacts with, and that was explored a lot. She is a chronic people pleaser, and all this man wants to do is help her be her true self!!

Ali Hazelwood has done it again. Her books really are such a joy to read and the men she writes are EVERYTHING. I am officially a fan and will keep reading her works. 
The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 43%.
i need to read the physical copy there is so much going on in this book it’s hard to follow with all the names and locations. because i was listening to this as an audio book, i was usually driving while listening to it, which was also not conducive to focusing on the names and locations either. i do plan on revisiting this after reading and annotating a physical copy. 
The Grift of the Magi by Ally Carter

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

3.5

Fun last novella of the Heist Society series that takes place around Christmas time. This is a retelling of the story of Christmas where people want to get gifts for each other for Christmas and give things up in order to do so. It was a cute story that was quite fun and, as always, Hale is the best character.  
Damsel by Evelyn Skye

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

This book started off strong but I felt like it started to feel slow after about 30-40%. The entire book is the main character trying to escape a volcano while a dragon that lives in said volcano is hunting her. This is after the main character is
offered up as a sacrifice to the dragon by the kingdom that lives on the same island as the volcano in order to maintain the prosperity and riches they have amassed.


I did not like the ending and thought it was kind of strange.
The main character can now turn into a dragon and fly out of the volcano due to the goodness of her heart and mixing her blood with the dragons blood. There was no real explanation for this besides following some prophecy mentioned twice and you just have to accept it as it is. She then rains down retribution on those who have slighted her and the dragon, and all is well in the world.


I liked the overall premise of this book but the execution is questionable. I am not sure if that is because of the skill of the author or if it is because this is a book that is based on a Netflix movie, which could have had bad writers to begin with. Not sure that I really recommend this unless you really liked the Netflix movie and want to see the inner details and POV's of characters, which is just a guess on my end since I have not actually seen the movie. 
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