ofclumsywords's reviews
471 reviews

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

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adventurous dark emotional funny 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

4.0

The second installment of the Murderbot Diaries takes a deeper look into our beloved Murderbots past and why it gave itself the name Murderbot. It was another great read and I’m so happy I started this series. It helped me get out of a reading slump. 
All Systems Red by Martha Wells

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adventurous emotional funny 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

This was a fast and fun read about a robot who is more human than it seems. I can understand why this series is so well loved.
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 60%.
With all the hype surrounding this book, I was expecting a great fantasy book including dragons, romance, and an interesting plot. Well, this book certainly checks the boxes for dragons and romance. The plot? Not so much. This book isn’t even well written and even if it does take place in a fantasy world there is barely any world building. Instead it has a bit of dragons and a very slow plot that is heavily influenced by the romance that doesn’t happen even 300 pages in. 

I can understand the hype of this book with a snarky main character who is very bookish and a broody love interest. But this is just not a book I am interested in. I’m glad I gave it a shot, but I am also glad that I have become more willing to DNF books when they don’t interest me. 
North Is the Night by Emily Rath

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 88%.
This story was going great until the author decided to bring a pregnancy into the plot. Not only that but the fact that the supposed couple had only a few chapters together before they were separated and then each given their own plots. And each characters plot felt like it should have its own book instead of sharing a book and alternating POV’s throughout the book. Each time the POV changed it felt like being doused with a bucket of cold water as the reader was suddenly pulled away from one plot and had to reorient themselves onto the second plot. And don’t get me started on the lack of chemistry between the supposed couple. They are introduced as best friends and yet once they are separated one character makes the choice to go through with a marriage of connivence to save the underworld from a witch and then ends up pregnant and suddenly her personality does a 180 and she becomes a terrible character. And then the best friend shows up and suddenly it’s a love triangle. That is the moment I called it quits. But I did look at the last chapter to find out the pregnant character runs off with her more than best friend and has the baby and keeps it hidden from her husband. Talk about a soap opera.

I am so furious that another book I considered decent was ruined by a pregnancy trope and a barely there love triangle that had no chemistry. What a waste of time. 
Elantris by Brandon Sanderson

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dark mysterious tense 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

2.75

While this book was interesting, the reader can tell that this was Sanderson’s very first book. There seemed like there were three plots happening at once and too many characters and POV’s to keep track of. Also, while the magic system was unique, it seemed too complex for the story that did not need magic in the first place; especially since religion and politics were more prominent in this book and overshadowed the magic. 

I did like it and enjoyed the two main characters. But this book needed a lot of editing and removal of a lot of its chapters and plot points. 
Spy x Family, Vol. 10 by Tatsuya Endo

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adventurous emotional funny tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Finishing up my last book of 2024 by returning to Spy x Family. In this volume we see a more serious plot in diving into Loid Forgers background. The book opens to show Loid as a child playing soldiers with friends just as the war between east and west begins and how Loid lost both of his parents in the war and ultimately joins the army. We also get to see Loid join the spy agency he works for and how he was recruited and how Loid met Frankie for the first time. After that section of Loids origin was shown, we then return to regularly scheduled chaos of present day with Anya and Yor and their strange little family. 
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Delta County by J.L. Hyde

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dark tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This 200 some page book takes place over four years. In those 200 pages, there is a lot of trivial day to day scenes without a lot of progress in the murder investigation. Heather, the main character, makes a lot of out of the blue assumptions of who killed her parents and best friend. But all of her ideas are very far fetched and don’t make a lot of sense. It just seemed unnecessary and at times I forgot I was reading a murder mystery. It all felt like there was too much relationship drama and not enough of what happened to Heather’s best friend. Although, I have to give the author credit for writing such a despicable character that ended up being the murderer. Otherwise the book seemed to drag along until the final chapters. 

I am curious to see how this book connects to the other two books that make this a series. The person who recommended this series say that book one and two are stand alone books but book three ties the ending of the first two together. It will be interesting to see how these books all connect. 
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The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter

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dark funny 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

5.0

One of the best mysteries I’ve read in a while. I love the idea that no one actually died in the book. Instead the plot focused on the disappearances and attempted murders. It was a fresh take on the well loved mystery genre and I’m so glad I picked this book up.  
The Dragon of Ynys by Minerva Cerridwen

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh

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

4.0