melc's reviews
1191 reviews

The Puzzle Wood by Rosie Andrews

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adventurous mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

3.0

And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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

4.5

The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden

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

4.0

This was a book with many layers which kept peeling insight, beauty and surprise throughout. The characters went from being unlikeable to becoming close to my heart. The exploration of freedom from rules, injustice and prejudice was nuanced and intelligent. I loved the subtlety with which Isabel, the protagonist's neuro divergence was written and how the strict framework of her world was deconstructed allowing her to experience a richness to her life experience that had always been shut away. The prose was sometimes a little overwritten but there were also moments of beautiful writing which will stay with me. This book brings so many new ideas to historical fiction - highly commend the skill of this author.
This honest review is given with thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this book.
Julia by Sandra Newman

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 54%.
Dnf'd halfway through. There are many critical reviews of this which comment much better than I can. But I could not bear the boring prose, depressing discussions and gratuitous language and sex descriptions any longer. I just didn't think this was an intelligent companion to 1984 and if this is the best we can do with a modern retelling then I think we do the context and originality of Orwell's classic a disservice.
Intervals by Marianne Brooker

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challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.0

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

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funny lighthearted relaxing 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? Yes

4.5

12 Birds to Save Your Life: Nature's Lessons in Happiness by Charlie Corbett

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

4.5

The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo

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adventurous dark mysterious 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? No

3.0

Be a Birder: The Joy of Birdwatching and How to Get Started by Hamza Yassin

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funny hopeful informative inspiring relaxing medium-paced

4.5

Hera by Jennifer Saint

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 18%.
I enjoyed Ariadne and Atalanta but really struggled to get into this one. I didn't like the way it began with a very disjointed narrative and clumsy bitty backtracking of history. Started to feel less and less like I cares about the characters rather than feeling more and more invested. Maybe I've had enough of retellings.