xandra_lyn's reviews
527 reviews

Gotham City Sirens #3 by Triona Farrell, Leah Williams, Matteo Lolli

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

4.0

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Gotham City Sirens #2 by Leah Williams, Triona Farell, Matteo Lolli

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adventurous dark 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

This one made me uncomfortable. Not sure if it was the kidnapping or the fact there is a brief scene where the bad guys (men) are stripped and left in handcuffs. I'd be outraged if that was a woman, and I'm equally outraged when that happens to guys, too. 
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Gotham City Sirens #1 by Leah Williams

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

4.0

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Pirate Women: The Princesses, Prostitutes, and Privateers Who Ruled the Seven Seas by Laura Sook Duncombe

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adventurous challenging dark informative sad medium-paced

3.0

This is a good collection of stories, but the author is not a historian and it shows. It's full of the author's bias, and she interprets the word "pirate" extremely loosely. Basically, any woman who was on a boat and ran askance of the law was included. Some of the women are completely fictional. (Granted, she points this out, but then they shouldn't be in a book with real women.)

If you are curious about stories about people, it's a good collection. It's not a good historical reference in anyway.
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Super-Pets Special: Bitedentity Crisis #1 by Alexis Quasarano, Michael Conrads, Tony Fleecs, Kyle Starks, Dan Watters

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

4.0

This was pretty good. The last story was wild and I had no idea what to make of it.
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Hercules #4 by Elliot Kalan

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

5.0

The Boy Wonder #4 by Juni Ba

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Such an interesting look into Damian and his past! 
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Dark Knights of Steel: Allwinter #2 by Jay Kristoff

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I've never been so disappointed in a second issue after the first one being a 5! Slade was just despicable. I didn't like how the author made Adeline so vulnerable, and then had Slade so flippant about it. (She got injured in the first issue and Slade took her clothes to have them washed and she - rightfully - was upset about it. His answer was "nothing I haven't seen before" which, as a woman, is so utterly awful and demeaning.) 

I also I'm going to be so upset if
Adeline is dead. But since Slade got hit with the same thing, I'm wondering if maybe she won't be?
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The Wishing Spell by Chris Colfer

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 59%.
I was so excited for this book only to be completely disappointed. As other people have noted, it is poorly written.

I read the first 200 pages, just after the twins get their first item. It was such an anti-climactic event that I didn't want to through another seven. I then skipped to the last 70ish pages because I was curious how it could end.

The end justified my DNF. The "moral" or this story is that evil people are "victims." This theme is stated in the first chapter by the evil queen and is the ultimate theme at the end of the book. The author makes it clear that the evil queen is to be pitied and vindicated because she had sad things happen to her. 

But just because someone had a hard life doesn't mean they get a free pass to do evil things - like MURDER people. At the end, the author had a much better juxtaposition of lost/unrequited love and how to respond to that reality; he could have really leaned into that and shown how yes, the evil queen had some awful things happen but that didn't justify her choices afterwards. 

Overall, it was a great idea that was poorly executed and with a horrible lesson for kids.
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Anne Bonny by History Nerds

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 28%.
This didnt have the historical weight that I wanted. Iy was very poetic - like musing on what makes a person turn their back on societal expectations - instead of focusing on what it would actually be like to grow up in Charleston in the early 1700s.