missymoo93's reviews
16 reviews

Welcome to Dorley Hall by Alyson Greaves

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challenging emotional funny inspiring reflective 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

5.0

Brilliant. A firm contender for the top spot of trans canon.
Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 59%.
This book is a feast, in good and bad ways. The worldbuilding is quite good, the aesthetics are phenomenal, the action is exciting, and the twists and turns are very fun. There is just *so much* of it that it gets exhausting, and the momentum is absolutely obliterated when the POV shifts from hunter-in-training to legend and back again. It's essentially two books in one that swap chapters back and forth, and that part does not work for me
Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

An incredible triumph. A dark, filthy, horrifying, inspiring, hopeful, desperate work of survival, redemption, faith, and love. Absolutely astounding, heartbreaking, life-affirming.

Buehlman masterfully twists the historical setting of a plague-ridden medieval France into a true fantastical hellscape replete with monsters and demons with many faces, but also beauty in human compassion and natural wonder.

One of the most uncomfortable 400-something pages I've ever read, and one I recommend, but carefully.
Free Fall: An Elvis Cole and Joe Pike Novel by Robert Crais

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

A perfectly serviceable detective novel. Elvis Cole is a decent protagonist, and his voice with its quips and bits is pretty clear in the first-person narration. I grew to enjoy the way he seemed to truly be narrating events from his perspective, as though he was telling the story in a bar or to a lawyer. 

There were a surprising amount of spin-kicks for an early 90s private investigator in LA, though. Take from that what you will.
The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes

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dark mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

4.5

A real page-turner. The prose had me hook, line and sinker, and the mystery was excellent.
Moon Called by Patricia Briggs

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adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious medium-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? It's complicated

3.25

A fine start to a series, though I often got lost in the sea of names. I could easily see someone getting extremely into this series and having an ocean of characters and intertwining narratives to explore.
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 30%.
I wanted to like it but was still bored over 100 pages in. Not the series for me.
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring tense fast-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

5.0

The Clinic by Cate Quinn

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

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

4.25

Excellently paced, wonderful characters, an outstanding mystery with many twists and turns and keen motivations. Thoroughly enjoyable, looking forward to continuing the series.