melc's reviews
1189 reviews

Crow Lake by Mary Lawson

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emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-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

4.0

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 35%.
The Penguin Book of Christmas Stories: From Hans Christian Andersen to Angela Carter by

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reflective fast-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

If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things by Jon McGregor

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 12%.
The Company of Owls by Polly Atkin

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hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

3.0

Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult, Jennifer Finney Boylan

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challenging dark informative reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 12%.
The Dead of Winter by Nicola Upson

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

4.0

Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-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

The Fertile Earth by Ruthvika Rao

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dark emotional informative sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • 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

4.0

This was an ambitious debut with some powerful storytelling and evocative descriptions. It could have done with a stronger edit in my opinion as I found the characters too opaque to really empathize with and the pacing was all over the place.