katiexdrink's reviews
296 reviews

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

Go to review page

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

3.75

my autistic ass  🤝  robots with emotions
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
The Bear and The Nightingale by Katherine Arden

Go to review page

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

4.5

beautiful and magical - a slow story, but in the way of a quiet sunday morning, rather than a torturous wednesday afternoon. I love folklore and fairy tales, and I really loved getting to know all these critters and creatures through vasya
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
The Housemaid by Freida McFadden

Go to review page

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

3.5

nina winchester they could never make me hate you 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Queen B by Juno Dawson

Go to review page

emotional reflective tense 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? It's complicated

3.5

a fun look at the beginnings of the coven!
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
The Crimson Moth by Kristen Ciccarelli

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

[gordon ramsey voice] finally, some good fucking yearning
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
The Glass House by Eve Chase

Go to review page

emotional hopeful mysterious sad fast-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? Yes

4.5

I'm a pretty old hat at these types of books but chase still managed to surprise me! a fun mystery and an unexpectedly gorgeous exploration what it means to be a family
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Death of a Bookseller by Alice Slater

Go to review page

challenging dark tense medium-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

5.0

if there’s one thing I love more than an unreliable narrator, it’s an unbearable one. what a horrible little screaming creepy crawly of a book!!!
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
A Stroke of the Pen: The Lost Stories by Terry Pratchett

Go to review page

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

4.5

a lovely nostalgic trip into terry pratchett’s early writing, his signature style is very much apparent and it was fun to see elements which have been reused for his later novels
Break No Bones by Kathy Reichs

Go to review page

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

3.5

I dnf’d the last bones book bc I found it really boring, so I’m glad that this one was a return to form!

whilst no human beings actually speak to eachother like kathy reichs’ characters, and I wish tempe would settle down on judging the relative attractiveness of everyone she meets, reichs never fails to thrill and mystify
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum

Go to review page

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

I found this really slow to start, and I may have DNF’d it if it hadn’t been both a book club pick and a story and author from a different cultural experience than mine, but the reveal at around 40% in really picked up the pace and I clattered through the rest of the book in just a couple of days.

the characters are frustrating and sometimes downright angering but I felt that the author did a good job of creating nuance - there’s no absolute good and evil, there’s only how people respond to their environments, pressures and expectations and whether they allow themselves to be turned bitter and hateful or choose to do better to others than was done to them. even the objectively worst people are given some empathetic experiences, which is difficult as both an author and a reader, but is absolutely necessary for this story.

this is not the kind of book I usually reach for, I’m more of a fantasy or mystery reader, but I’m glad to have read it.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings