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tired_cicada's reviews
93 reviews
Wisteria by Adalyn Grace
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
hopeful
medium-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? Yes
3.75
This book was so… random. I enjoyed it quite a bit but it didn’t have the clear goal that the last two books had. If felt clumsy and discordant. I’m sure it was written to be self-indulgent for the author herself and I can find no fault in that, but as a reader it left me wanting.
The inclusion of Chaos was so random. She should have been properly introduced in the earlier books because she as she is she just felt random.
I did like the ending even if I did see it coming. A little rushed but it worked.
I think my ranking would be a little higher is this wasn’t the last book in the series. It wasn’t a series ended. It reads like there is more story to tell, but I don’t think there is.
The inclusion of Chaos was so random. She should have been properly introduced in the earlier books because she as she is she just felt random.
I did like the ending even if I did see it coming. A little rushed but it worked.
I think my ranking would be a little higher is this wasn’t the last book in the series. It wasn’t a series ended. It reads like there is more story to tell, but I don’t think there is.
Dating Dr. Dil by Nisha Sharma
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
tense
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? Yes
3.75
He’s so annoying, and if any of my friends were in a relationship with Dr Dil I would tell them to kick him to the curb. But he’s fictional so get a pass I guess 😅
Also her family sucks. The auntie are the only real ones!
I had a lot of fun with it! I’ll be reading the rest of the series!
Also her family sucks. The auntie are the only real ones!
I had a lot of fun with it! I’ll be reading the rest of the series!
A Queen This Fierce and Deadly by Stacia Stark
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
So it wasn’t bad. I had a good time. The action scenes were well done, the spicy scenes were as repetitive as they were in the other books, and over all it was just fine.
It does frustrate me that every time they were doing something different there was suddenly a halfling with the exact magic they needed to do it. Like where have these people been for the last THREE BOOKS? It just felt like mini dues ex machina s over and over.
Also there are no consequences for anyone’s actions. The book punches it down our throats that there WILL be consequences… but then just doesn’t deliver. She breaks a fundamental law of the universe and all she gets is a two day coma and then she has to recharge. Those were the consequences.
In the last boom the author had TEETH! Important characters that we actually cared about were put on the line of fire and not all of them made it! It made things seem real! It elevated the stakes to real levels! This book it’s back to background charecter dying while the main character get their plot armor fake out deaths. Honestly I was begging her to be brave and actually let them die.
So over all it was fine. Everything gets wrapped up nicely, it was a satisfactory ending.
It does frustrate me that every time they were doing something different there was suddenly a halfling with the exact magic they needed to do it. Like where have these people been for the last THREE BOOKS? It just felt like mini dues ex machina s over and over.
Also there are no consequences for anyone’s actions. The book punches it down our throats that there WILL be consequences… but then just doesn’t deliver. She breaks a fundamental law of the universe and all she gets is a two day coma and then she has to recharge. Those were the consequences.
In the last boom the author had TEETH! Important characters that we actually cared about were put on the line of fire and not all of them made it! It made things seem real! It elevated the stakes to real levels! This book it’s back to background charecter dying while the main character get their plot armor fake out deaths. Honestly I was begging her to be brave and actually let them die.
So over all it was fine. Everything gets wrapped up nicely, it was a satisfactory ending.
For She is Wrath by Emily Varga
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-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
3.0
So the person who recommended this story to me as a “sapphic count of Monty Cristo retelling” was a fucking LIARS! I was 80% into the book before I realized that the MC and her friend who escaped the prison with her WERENT going to be end game and she was instead going to end up going back to the man who betrayed her and dropped her in the prison in the first place.
The grandma being a villain came out of fucking nowhere!! And they fixed the whole evil Jinn issue WAY to easily.
Heir by Sabaa Tahir
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
5.0
Please check the trigger warnings for this book! It is a heavy read!
First and foremost know that this books is a political statement and anyone who denies that is being willfully ignorant! Sabaa Tahir has never been quiet about where she stands, and she channeled that directly onto the page! Free Palestine! Free Congo! Free Sudan!
Now as for my literary review that I will likely add to as I settle more with the story:
I’ll be honest when I found out that this books was a second generation story I was worried. It is so hard to make those kind of stories as compelling as the original. I should have had more trust is Sabaa Tahir casue she is truly a master wordsmith! How am I supposed to wait for the next book to come out?!?
Sabaa’s ability to create a villain that gets a visceral reaction out of me is truly unmatched! The way everything slowly but surely set up! The nonlinear storytelling that holds you on a string wonder is, just maybe, things aren’t what they seem.
Every character feels like a real person! A person with desires and quirks that are distinctly their own! The way the characters from the original series have grown and adjusted to this series is stunning! I won’t lie, I’d love a pov from one of them come the next book, but I’m not hanging off every hint of them like I usually am with second generation stories.
First and foremost know that this books is a political statement and anyone who denies that is being willfully ignorant! Sabaa Tahir has never been quiet about where she stands, and she channeled that directly onto the page! Free Palestine! Free Congo! Free Sudan!
Now as for my literary review that I will likely add to as I settle more with the story:
I’ll be honest when I found out that this books was a second generation story I was worried. It is so hard to make those kind of stories as compelling as the original. I should have had more trust is Sabaa Tahir casue she is truly a master wordsmith! How am I supposed to wait for the next book to come out?!?
Sabaa’s ability to create a villain that gets a visceral reaction out of me is truly unmatched! The way everything slowly but surely set up! The nonlinear storytelling that holds you on a string wonder is, just maybe, things aren’t what they seem.
Every character feels like a real person! A person with desires and quirks that are distinctly their own! The way the characters from the original series have grown and adjusted to this series is stunning! I won’t lie, I’d love a pov from one of them come the next book, but I’m not hanging off every hint of them like I usually am with second generation stories.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Violence, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Classism
The Singles Table by Sara Desai
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
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? Yes
4.5
I LOVE Sara’s books! She has such a fun voice, her characters are so lively and distinct! Her third act breakups happen for logical reasons. I love her books!
A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
sad
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? It's complicated
5.0
If I could give this book more stars I would!
This series deserves every acclaim! It is truly a literary masterpiece that I don’t think will ever be topped and it not being more popular is a CRIME!!!
Everything is stunning, from the world building, to the characters, to that stakes, all the way down to very prose on the page! Simple amazing!
I want to say more but I am still so fresh of reading it and nothing I could say would to it justice! It is an experience I wish on everyone!
This series deserves every acclaim! It is truly a literary masterpiece that I don’t think will ever be topped and it not being more popular is a CRIME!!!
Everything is stunning, from the world building, to the characters, to that stakes, all the way down to very prose on the page! Simple amazing!
I want to say more but I am still so fresh of reading it and nothing I could say would to it justice! It is an experience I wish on everyone!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Sexual content
Most Ardently: A Pride & Prejudice Remix by Gabe Cole Novoa
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
5.0
I absolutely ADORED this book from start to finish! A beautiful retelling that is like a modern love letter to the original!
If you are looking for something to scratch that pride and prejudice itch in a fresh and lovely way than this book will not disappoint! The romance was darling, the characters were both true to their origins while also feeling renewed and expanded! Charlotte remains to be a tragic character and I wish this story would have given her a proper happy ending, but alas.
Mr and Mrs Bennett are so wonderful in this! I was so worried going in that Mrs Bennett would be disregarded as the overbearing mother rather than a mother desperate to protect her children!The way they BOTH accepted Oliver so quickly made me so emotional! Also “you’re telling me I dressed my son inappropriately for society for years?” What such a perfect way to frame her response 😭🤣
If I had to make a critique it would definitely be that the characterization of Wickham was disappointing. He felt very wasted as a character. The entire point of him was that he was Charming and good with words as a smoke screen to hide that he was a bad person. In this he’s just sort of always awful. It was very much low hanging fruit. He could have done more.
I cannot recommend this book enough! Run, dont walk! It was stunning!
If you are looking for something to scratch that pride and prejudice itch in a fresh and lovely way than this book will not disappoint! The romance was darling, the characters were both true to their origins while also feeling renewed and expanded! Charlotte remains to be a tragic character and I wish this story would have given her a proper happy ending, but alas.
Mr and Mrs Bennett are so wonderful in this! I was so worried going in that Mrs Bennett would be disregarded as the overbearing mother rather than a mother desperate to protect her children!
If I had to make a critique it would definitely be that the characterization of Wickham was disappointing. He felt very wasted as a character. The entire point of him was that he was Charming and good with words as a smoke screen to hide that he was a bad person. In this he’s just sort of always awful. It was very much low hanging fruit. He could have done more.
I cannot recommend this book enough! Run, dont walk! It was stunning!
The Queen's Rising by Rebecca Ross
Did not finish book. Stopped at 30%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 30%.
Picked it up casue I really liked Divine Rivals and it has the same author. Only to find out the main love story is a TeacherxStudent involving a literary BARELY 18 fmc. TeacherxStudent is a HARD NO trope for me so I am gone.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
Lore of the Wilds by Analeigh Sbrana
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I wanted to like this book so bad! This was such an anticipated read and it was so disappointing 😭
Listen, the world was beautiful! The vibes were immaculate! The characters were brimming with potential!! But it fell so flat.
I had a lot of hope cause it starts off with a bang, it sets a tone! …. And then nothing happens for 100 pages.
The prose were so bad. So much “telling” was going on and it read like it was trying to have a poetic lilt but is just comes off awkward and choppy.
The dialogue was PAINFULLY bad at times and was had so much forced exposition why did we learn about the kids getting kidnapped from a stilted conversation and instead of just hearing about a missing kid? A mother looking for her child? Something will a little more bite? and more than that every single character sounds exactly the same. They have the exact same vocal patterns and they are totally indistinguishable to each other.
The romance was so forced!!!! It came out of nowhere and went from zero to a hundred immediately!!!
I’m so sad. I wanted to love this book!
Listen, the world was beautiful! The vibes were immaculate! The characters were brimming with potential!! But it fell so flat.
I had a lot of hope cause it starts off with a bang, it sets a tone! …. And then nothing happens for 100 pages.
The prose were so bad. So much “telling” was going on and it read like it was trying to have a poetic lilt but is just comes off awkward and choppy.
The dialogue was PAINFULLY bad at times and was had so much forced exposition
The romance was so forced!!!! It came out of nowhere and went from zero to a hundred immediately!!!
I’m so sad. I wanted to love this book!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Classism
Minor: Rape and Pregnancy