laurenleigh's reviews
634 reviews

Where the Dark Stands Still by A.B. Poranek

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious slow-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

3.5

Even if this didn’t quite hit exactly how I wanted it to, I think it was still a good book. Just maybe not my best timing. I love the Slavic mythology and Eastern European fairy tale vibes. In a lot of ways, I think this is a much more successful Beauty and the Beast retelling than ACOTAR. Maybe the pacing wasn’t doing it for me, and the characters’ romance plot wasn’t as developed as I might want it to be. Solid base, but maybe some room for improvement.
The Miserable Mill by Lemony Snicket

Go to review page

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

4.5

Sometimes you just need to pick back up your middle grade favorites! I am truly obsessed with how Snicket breaks the fourth wall and adds this whole extra fictional self-referential element. It’s like when Nabokov starts Lolita with the narrative framing that this is a “found text.” That doubling creates a fictional world that contains this fictional text, but it also makes the text seem that much more real! And yet Snicket is doing all that in a kid’s book! It’s hard to succinctly talk about, but it makes my heart sing. I want to take a college course on this series.
The Hurting Kind by Ada Limón

Go to review page

hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

I had Limón in the back of my mind for awhile, since the Poet Laureate is a Sonoma native! She did some events at my local bookstore out there, and when I saw this poetry collection specifically called out by the NYT, I figured it was time. The “spring” section felt very Mary Oliver, with reflections on animals and nature. I was more drawn to her “summer” and “fall” sections, where she writes about her childhood and her family. My favorite of the bunch was “Obedience,” about her dog. I will be referring to Olive as my “individual God” from now on 🥹
Dawnshard by Brandon Sanderson

Go to review page

funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

Another novella in between larger installments of the series (#3.5). I liked this even more than Edgedancer (#2.5). This focused more on a character that popped up again at the end of book 3, who I immediately felt a connection to. And we get more of Lopen, one of the funniest Bridge 4 men! I’m not sure how much it moved the greater plot along (this won’t be clear until book 4), but it was a fun maritime treasure hunt adventure regardless. I know this main character is only a small side character in the main books, but I hope we get more of her!
The Martian by Andy Weir

Go to review page

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

4.0

I DNF-ed this one last year, but I wanted to give it another shot after how much I adored Project Hail Mary. It does have the same engaging pace, where you just have to keep reading to see how he gets himself out of the latest mess. It makes for a fun quick read. Where this book is lacking for me is in the main character’s personality. It just feels a little robotic and one-dimensional to me. I know he’s a genius and is focused on surviving, but I wanted more of his emotions, more of his reactions to things.
A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

Go to review page

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

4.5

Phew that was intense! I liked the pacing of this book more than ACOMAF. It felt less episodic and more propulsive, driving towards the inevitable end battle. I like when an author can write scenes of war that are tense and exciting without getting too into the gory details. The ending here didn’t have my jaw fully on the floor like ACOMAF, but overall I thought it was a more successful storyline. The political drama and secret scheming throughout is exactly what I wanted. Also woah Tamlin’s character arc, lots to unpack there!! Gonna take a little break from this world, but I will absolutely continue on.
Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Do these books take me months to get through since I read in tiny chunks before bed? Yes. Is the payoff always worth it? YES. I don’t know what I can say about Sanderson that hasn’t already been said a million times, but his world building and plotting are simply excellent. Every book in this series gets deeper and more complicated in a way that really rewards the reader. I also truly appreciate that Sanderson does not engage in gratuitous violence like so many other epic fantasy authors. Yes, this is set during war, but it’s never overly gory or brutal. Maybe I’ll actually get through book 4 in time for book 5 later this year?? 
Wildcard by Marie Lu

Go to review page

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

3.5

Timing is everything, and this book had the unfortunate situation of being the book I put down for a week while I listened to TTPD exclusively. But even before that, it really wasn’t capturing my attention the same way that book 1 was. There was a lot of momentum at the dramatic ending of the first book, and that excitement fell quickly for me when I picked this one up. The midpoint plot turn was interesting and regained some of that intrigue, but overall, I liked the first book much better.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

Go to review page

funny informative reflective fast-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

3.5

This tells the story of a neurodivergent boy solving a neighborhood mystery that quickly devolves into a pretty messy family drama. One one hand, I think this could increase empathy and understanding for autistic people and folks on the spectrum. There were so many times where Christopher felt scared, uncomfortable, and anxious, while adults in his life kept trying to push him past his limits. It was so frustrating, especially when you can see things through his first-person perspective. On the other hand, I couldn’t find any reporting that this author is neurodivergent, and I feel conflicted about that. I’m generally neurotypical, so my review should totally be taken with lots of salt grains!
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
The Phoenix Crown by Janie Chang, Kate Quinn

Go to review page

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

4.0

A nicely engaging historical fiction novel about the 1906 SF earthquake! I’m so glad Quinn reached out to Chang to cowrite this piece. Bringing in the Chinese perspective was really enriching to the story, and it’s so important to remember the immigrant labor that built so much of the West Coast. My favorite character turned out to be a real person, so that was a fun discovery! (Google Alice Eastwood, so cool.) I saw most of the “plot twists” a mile away, but that didn’t take away from my enjoyment. This definitely made me look up current earthquake response recommendations, and a few things have changed since we were doing earthquake drills under our school desks! (Now I feel old.)
Expand filter menu Content Warnings