amy_reading_23's reviews
94 reviews

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

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

4.5

I really enjoyed this book!! I think I was put off reading it for so long because it's described as a romantasy, which isn't my favourite genre, but tbh I'd say the fantasy element comes first, and the (very slow-burn) romance second. 

Ultimately it's about Em, a professor who finds it easier to deal with the fae than humans (and is very likely autistic) who comes to a remote Nordic island to research the regional fae for her book. What she doesn't expect is for an unexpected guest to join her who actually (although she'd begrudgingly admit it) helps her along as she connects with the people and fae there. 

I enjoyed all the lore and fae elements of this book, and I thought it was well written. 

One thing that annoyed me a little though is why not just call this place Iceland? That is essentially where it is, and I know this is an alternate world with some differences to ours - but London and Wales still exists, so why not Iceland? As someone with an interest in the Huldufolk (the hidden ones) and Icelandic heritage, I would have liked it to be more firmly rooted there. However I understand why it isn't called Iceland - since the fae (despite the name) are different to the Icelandoc Huldufolk, and are more a culmination of Nordic and European legends and 

I actually did enjoy Em and Wendells romance though. I like that she was the same grumpy and difficult person the whole time and that he didn't try to change her - he loved that about her. They understood each other in a way not many others do and I thought that was quietly beautiful.


Overall though this was a good read, a great way to start off the new year, and I'm interested to give the second one a try too.

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Death Note, Vol. 1: Boredom by Takeshi Obata, Tsugumi Ohba

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adventurous challenging dark reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No

4.0

This was a really interesting book. I tried to watch the anime when I was a teenager but I didn't really get it and just thought that "Kira" was a psychopath. Reading the book is really interesting as it gets into how he became "Kira" and why he does what he does. It explores morality and capital punishment and whether people deserve to d*e for their crimes - and if so, who gets to decide? With all the current political rhetoric, I thought this was really interesting. I also thought it was interesting how the protagonist views himself and how he thinks he is righteous and making a better world... but the things he is willing to do to create this world are actually pretty evil. 

Overall, this was a lot more thought provoking than I thought it'd be. It's an interesting read and I'd be interested to know what happens next. Maybe I will try and anime again...

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Dead-End Memories: Stories by Banana Yoshimoto

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emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

I've read a few Japanese books this year, and this one is definitely my favourite so far. 

Yoshimoto's writing is beautiful and reflective, and not afraid to shy away from difficult subjects. I liked that every protagonist of these stories were female, and yet had such different voices and varied backgrounds. There were some really candid moments that surprised me (like the whole hole conversation) but it didn't put me off. I enjoyed all of the stories for different reasons and I think some of them will stay with me for a long time. I've already noticed myself thinking back on some of them. 

If you're looking for a heartfelt Japanese book which isn't superfluous then this is the one I'd recommend. 

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Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi

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lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.0

This book is an interesting kind of mix between literary fiction and magical realism. The protagonist is an unreliable narrator as she admits throughout the book to telling lies, but whether she is lying to her coworkers, herself, the reader, or all the above -- you're not sure.

For the first two thirds of the book it seems clear she is lying about being pregnant. But as the book goes on she does get pregnancy symptoms, starts seeing a doctor, feels her baby kick etc. But after the baby is "born" she goes back to saying there is no baby and that she is lying to her coworkers again. So what is true? Was she pregnant or not? I'm not sure. I think there is a surreal feeling to the book and that you're not really supposed to know. She compares herself to mother Mary and immaculate conception a few times. Also at the end she is in pain a lot and wakes up bleeding so it's also possible she was pregnant but lost the baby. I think it is also possible she was SA'd and that ended in her getting pregnant and then lying to herself. Because there is mentions of some SA in her past. I'm really not sure.


Whether the protagonist is really pregnant or not I guess that doesn't matter as much because what the book is really about is how women are treated in Japan at work Vs when they're pregnant. It does have some interesting social commentary but I wish it went deeper into it. 

I've read three Japanese books this year and I'm not sure if this is a cultural thing or due to the translation or if its just the books I've been reading, but the characters seem quite passive to me and we don't get to see the full interior of their personalities. I think that's a shame as it makes it a bit harder to really empathise with the characters. The protagonist in this book feels a bit one dimensional. She likes going to gigs in her free time and watching movies and she's obviously got some feminist ideas, but a part from that, even after reading the book, I don't feel like I really know her. That's why the book only got 3 stars for me. It was a fine read, but for me it was missing something. 

Trigger warning for fatphobia, the character talks about wanting to lose weight a lot and frequent exercising. 

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An Education in Malice by S.T. Gibson

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

3.0

S.T.Gibson is an interesting author as she is not afraid to write works that will make you uncomfortable or to write characters that are clearly morally bad. I loved A Dowry of Blood for its brilliant portrayal of a narcissistic relationship and its beautiful language. If you're comparing this book to that one then I'm afraid this isn't as good. 

The professor relationship is toxic and even in the pre-word trigger warnings it tells you it is an inappropriate relationship. However the students still idolise this professor right to the very end, which is kind of problematic. I wouldn't want a young person reading this book to think student/teacher relationships are okay. And although it is very clearly not okay and a toxic relationship, those in the relationship never seem to fully realise that. I had hoped it would be more like A Dowry of Blood where the characters realise they are in an abusive relationship and take revenge on the abuser. But instead the professor gets away with a lot, and the author even says in an interview at the end that she finds this character the most interesting. 

This didn't totally sit right with me. This, or the fact that there were quite a few explicit sex scenes and even an orgy in the book. Carmilla is only 21 and we never find out how old Laura is but I'm guessing she is 18 since she has started uni, so to have these scenes performed by such young characters was a bit uncomfortable too. I got through this by hoping Laura was older than I assume.

I'm not sure if this book fits into the YA genre of if it is a 'New Adult' book. 

It's still an interesting novel that explores dark themes in a mostly readable way. I think the ode to poetry was nice and made me want to read more poetry again. I did also like that the main character was plus size and this wasn't made into a big thing, it was natural that other characters found her and her curves beautiful and attractive. That was nice. But the ending felt very rushed to me and we hardly got to see the character "Isis". 

Overall I'm just not sure what to make of this book. 

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The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki

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hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

3.75

It's a nice book with some cool concepts. Reminds me of "What you need is in the library". I liked that in this one their whole lives weren't fixed immediately, it was more like an aspect of their lives. I thought the astrology aspects were interesting. With books like these that are divided into different narrators I feel like I don't really get a great sense of the characters as we don't really get to explore them in depth. I thought it was interesting that it has some queer themes, although I wish the author had gone further with it. Overall this is a pleasant read, not mindblowing, but an easy-going magical-realism vibe.
Mistress of Lies by K.M. Enright

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

3.75

This was a good book, but I think it was marketed all wrong. It was marketed to me as a adult Fantasy vampire novel, whereas it read more like a YA romantasy with magical elements and very little vampirism. I think if it was marketed differently I would have enjoyed it more. 

The world was interesting but I feel like it could have been dove into so much more. We only really skirted the issues. I feel like this is because the relationships of the characters were given more weight than the actual plot and setting. 

I also wasn't sure about the characters. They were too quick to pivot on their values.
Sam went from hating all bloodwokers to being smitten with Shaan despite her being a blood worker. I also did not understand why she hated Isaac's murders despite the fact that they were pretty justifiable and Shaan has murdered lots of people herself.


I'd almost like to see a prequel of the book about Shaan and Isaac at blood working school so we can get more of an idea of how the magic system works and what it was like growing up in this world. I also wish that it hadn't been so rushed that Sam wad made a nobel. I feel like if we had spent more time with him as an unblooded character living in the slums then we could have gotten a better sense of world-building and the realities of living in this society as an unblooded. 

I thought the political themes were interesting, and it was nice to see queer/trans/poly/POC represented. Overall though I feel like a lot more could have been teased out of this book. I wonder where the author is going to go with the next one.

Definitley read it if you want a romantasy book with an interesting magical system, political themes, and a bridgerton vibe, but don't go into this thinking it's a vampire book. 


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Cursed Under London by Gabby Hutchinson Crouch

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 24%.
I picked this up in the library because the title and premise intrigued me, but I just really struggled to care very much about the characters/plot in this book. To me this felt like a novel that was attempting to sound like Terry Pratchett, but was almost a bit like a discworld comedy spoof that didn't contain Practhett's complexity, depth or nuance.  Other people might enjoy it, and I might try it again one day. But right now, it's not for me. 
The Pyjama Myth: The Freelance Writer's Survival Guide by Sian Meades-Williams

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informative inspiring fast-paced

4.0

This was a good and useful book! I really liked and valued how Sian shared her own experiences, including her past mistakes, as this felt really relatable and made me feel less bad about my own mistakes. There was some useful information about PR and taxes and stuff that I wasn't aware of before. I picked this up and read it sporadically over half a year so I'm not sure I got as much out of it as I would have if I'd read it all in one chunk, but that's just how I read nonfiction books. There are definitley some bits I want to go back and re-read, like the guide on pitching. I've also highlighted useful bits for ease of reference. I think that's probably the best way to use this book. But yeah if you've picked it up I hope you enjoy it, and good luck with your freelance career! 
What You Are Looking For is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama

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hopeful lighthearted 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

3.75

This was a fun and lighthearted read. I think the best way to describe it is as like a slice of life vibe. I enjoyed it overall. I didn't like people's reaction to the librarian being big, it felt a bit fatphobic. The characters' issues also felt solved a little too easily. As someone who's suffered from mental illness for years, I know that simply trying to think of things from a different POV doesn't fix everything for me. But it was still nice to read. I haven't read a lot of Japanese literature so it was interesting! It did have a slightly surreal almost but not quite magical realism vibe with the librarian. I liked the idea of this community centre/ library being so important to so many different kinds of people. My mum was a librarian when I grew up and I spent a lot of time in them so I got to see how important they are first hand so it's nice to see a book about that which traverses continents and cultures. 

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