liamliayaum's reviews
272 reviews

Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice

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

4.0

While this is a deeply unsettling view of humanity falling, that unscores the bigger picture: Anishinaabe and First Peoples have endured tragedy after tragedy and have found ways to begin again, to find resilience in the face of great horror.

While there was a score of characters, this was a story not necessarily about them but more so their reactions to the circumstances. I prefer stories with more focus and development on characters, but I can see why this story focuses on other elements. All in all, a chilling read that I would not read before bed unless you want nightmares from pondering how your community would react.
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Witch of Wild Things by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland

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emotional funny lighthearted reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Truly Madly Magically by Hazel Beck

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adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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The Book of Witching by C.J. Cooke

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

3.0

I would not say this is for the faint of heart. Dual POV between present day (that deals with a tramatic burn victim) and an innocent woman accused of witchcraft in the late 1500s.
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Say I Boo by Morgan Spellman

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

2.5

Not a fall book. Set, presumably, in December and the main reason for the characters getting together is a wedding.
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Feel-Good Productivity: How to Do More of What Matters to You by Ali Abdaal

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informative medium-paced

3.0

Mimi Lee Gets a Clue by Jennifer J. Chow

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

3.0

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Rules for Ghosting by Shelly Jay Shore

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dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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

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Catalina by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is a wondrous, wandering cacophony of beautiful words. Catalina is searing and sharp, a zing of dozens of witty insights. This is the kind of book you need to read numerous times to catch them all.
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The Witch Is Back by Sophie H. Morgan

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 26%.
So. Many. Questions. I understand that as a reader, you slowly get integrated into the world and plot. But things would be mentioned with no explanation and then kind of explained many pages later. Maybe "witch society" is explained later in the book but at a quarter in, all we know is it is ruled by some "high family", it's in New Orleans, and there are higher and lower families.

This book tells, not shows, which makes it difficult for me to visualize what is happening. Emma and Bastian are total one note characters. There is conflict, clearly, between Emma and Bastian but they agree too easily for two people who are supposed to hate each other.

The tropes are forced marriage, miscommunication, no communication  and mean/abusive mother. 

The author is fan of using ellipsis (...), way too many. There is odd phrasing that is almost like speaking to the reader. The POV switches between Bastian and Emma randomly. The speech in a sentence, without punctuation marks, also was weird to me. 

Example: 
"I have responsibilities" was what she finally opted for.

I am just annoyed and this isn't the book for me.