oxen's reviews
77 reviews

A pretty solid book that explored it’s theme very well but fell just a little bit short for me. I enjoyed the book thoroughly and felt so immersed but at the same time I couldn’t help but feel as though I wanted just a little more. The author writes out what she wants to say beautifully which is why it feels almost saddening when a lot of those topics to me felt as though they were left unanswered or given an unsatisfactory answer. Ansel was whatI expected to be the typical serial killer, believed himself to be smarter than what he really was, to be different, the be better than all. His ‘Theory’ that he placed so much expectation on and just expected for others to have that same expectation and connection to it, it’s always about him and he never stops to consider what abut the girls. What about the lives that he’s taken and destroyed. There was not a moment where he felt any remorse for anyone but himself, it was always about himself. But what can you expect from a sociopath.

Lilith by Nikki Marmery

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Book was just not for me, feel it could’ve been written entirely better, felt just boring while managing to grasp a little bit of interest from me.

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

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adventurous challenging mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I loved following our protagonist along, the ending leaves me feeling empty at the lack of answers, at the lack of that happy wrapped up ending and leaves me in despair and just like our narrator I am so filled with curiosity and questions.

The Weight of Feathers by Anna-Marie McLemore

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adventurous challenging medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

An incredibly nice Romeo and Juliet cliche

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

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adventurous challenging emotional informative inspiring lighthearted 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? N/A

5.0

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

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adventurous mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I feel so very complicated about this book, on one hand this is just beautifully told while on the other I have two massive concerns that make it hard for me to find joy in loving this book. For example, the in my opinion random scene where Kya is walking with Jumpin when a group of kids proceed to call him the hard R REPEATEDLY, this wouldn’t be a problem if it wasn’t for the fact that this scene played no further part in the story other then to be shocking. It is never brought up again, the Author never has any of the characters discuss it or do any further analysis of Racism faced by AA in 1900’s. It makes me question the Author’s intent behind the scene. My second issue was with Tate being 18 and Kya being 14, I couldn’t help but be massively icked out and everything he said to her felt extremely predatory and EUGH!

The Witches of Salix Pointe by Noelle Vella

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mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

I feel extremely disappointed, this book although I had such high expectations has proven to be a huge nothing burger. The pacing is completely off, characters never react appropriately to information or the things happening around them, dialogue during tense moments are written horribly and once again ties into characters just not reacting in a way that I think they should be, the author tends to over describe A LOT things that just don’t need description and made me feel like she was trying to hit a character limit for a chapter because why are you describing how she’s making her oatmeal and what’s in it? Plot felt very not well thought out, there’s certain things that are left unanswered or brushed past, and the romance of all four characters is very…. not well developed. I feel like we were trying to get to point A to point B with not much of anything happening but so much happening at the same time. The characters never really interact or have any chemistry and it felt as thought I was doing the heavy uplifting of trying to make the characters have chemistry or be likable. The writing as well is very very mediocre feels like the Author was watching multiple How To Write A Novel + Writing Tip videos while writing. I plan on giving the second book a chance because I’m ever so slightly curious about what happens next but if it’s written or paced anything like this then yikes.

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oxen's reviews 77 reviews

oxen's reviews
77 reviews