suvissiin's reviews
147 reviews

White Nights by Fyodor Dostoevsky

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emotional reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • 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

This is the first of Dostoyevsky’s works that I have ever read and I really enjoyed the short story, the love between the two dreamers felt so genuine and full of emotion, and the way the feelings of the main character were reflected in their surroundings. What a sweet tragedy.
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

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

3.75

A beautiful and bittersweet story about a family made of broken pieces. Each character presenting beautifully feelings of feelind different, expectations and loneliness. So many feelings I could relate to and understand. But, some of the ways the characters were written broke the emotional impact for me. Some moments did not seem realistic or logical, especially to fit the characters with so much knowledge and history. Like the way Lydia’s parents got together, the way Lydia dies, the way Lydia’s mother’s past affected the family.. I just couldn’t get over it and for that reason the book fell from greatness for me.
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All the Lovers in the Night by Mieko Kawakami

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

4.0

Sweet and melancholic slice of life and its small but huge moments. Deeply touching and human in feelings of loneliness, love, friendship, addiction and depression, packaged into the beautiful vision of a nighttime city.
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Foxglove by Adalyn Grace

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Really fluffy but yet very captivating. Though I feel like the main character continued to be built shallow as a puddle and gave very basic YA, at least the vibes were there to distract me from it. Every main character was basically described as hot yet moody. The worldbuilding was much better though, I think also compared to the first book, especially the descriptions of different homes of the characters and the ambience in them. Overall the book had just the right amount of escapism for my needs.
Lirael by Garth Nix

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

4.5

Even though I am not the target audience for this book, the story is amazing. I love the setting, the worldbuilding, and the magic system built and expanded by Garth Nix. I liked how the different threads knit together really smoothly, at least in my opinion. While the main characters were often whiny, lacking self-confidence, and ignorant, I feel like it made sense for their characters, being teens that felt like they didn’t belong. The animal companions worked as a refreshing humorous relief and the voice of reason that made it bearable as well.
Home Before Dark by Riley Sager

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

4.5

This book was a perfect spooky read for a Halloween month. The story got me on its grip the whole time, and the way the book switched up between the chapters of house of horros and the story made sure I was tense the whole time. The only problem for me was the ending that seemed to happen so fast and so.. weirdly? Overall it was fun to figure stuff out along with the main character, and I also enjoyed that the main character was no scaredy cat either. The book was really easy to immerse into and follow along until the end.
Recitatif by Toni Morrison

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challenging informative reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Toni Morrison always wows me with her writing, and this short story is no exception. Recitatif does not only raise discussion about race, but also about class, gender, and power. 
The introduction by Zadie Smith was also amazing, highlighting that black or white, Twyla and Roberta are both poor girls, mothers, and defined individuals.
The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward

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

3.75

This book was a really tense, yet very interesting read. The author is smart in her way of writing
because in the beginning, I was sure that at least Lauren was just a figment of Ted’s imagination. But the more the story progressed the more I was
convinced that he’s actually Lulu’s kidnapper.
The way the writing instills atmosphere of Ted is just sucking you in, with the unrealiability of his narration, the changing of his surroundings, and the way he and the other characters see the world in different ways. Even though I enjoyed this thriller, there were some parts of it that were so unbelievable that it broke my immersion. And most of the unbelievability came funnily enough fron Dee’s character.
like moving right next to him was already a stretch, but the ability to watch him constantly, how she even found about him etc. Especially the way Lulu died, Dee’s death, even the way Trevor appeared just seemed very haphazard and way too convenient for a book with so much insight and hidden stories
I appreciate that the author did so much research on the topic, but for me personally it just fell a bit from great.
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The Secret Service of Tea and Treason by India Holton

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

4.0

Another fun read from Holton. Even though I feel like all of the main characters in the trilogy are blending into the same mold of ”dangerous yet naive damsel”, I enjoyed this book a lot. The characters, the plot, and the references were fun, witty, and smart. The building of romance was also good in this book, unlike the last book where it felt pretty rushed. But I enjoyed the trilogy overall and was happy to see it end the way it did.
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

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adventurous challenging mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Another great concept stunted by the execution. Who knew a magically gifted main characters quest to find the long forgotten evil would be so tidious. After every big plot shift the main character makes a crucial mistake and spends the remaining chapters trying to fix it. And for a character that’s supposedly so amazing at everything, things never work out for him. I’m all for challenges to build character but at one point I just read the book just for it to end, which is never good. Near the end, the book definitely got a bit better so at least it was easy landing out of the book. 

I feel like the book would also been much more enjoyable if the main character wasn’t so cringy. I know he’s a teen boy, but not only is he just ”not smarter than average, but brilliant” in his own words, he saves a woman from a creep and the woman is swooning at him? He tells a joke about an annoying dude and everyone claps?? The way his character was written just gave me the ick.

The book was not a total failure though, the magic system was really interesting, the world building great and the writing good. The quest to find the Chandrian was something that really interested me. I’m dissapointed that the book ended up being such a drag to read, ar least for me.