squishies's reviews
2179 reviews

The Eye of the Bedlam Bride by Matt Dinniman

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Holy shit.... This instalment gave us so much lore, crazy shenanigans that was hilarious or really fucked up (or both), and that fucking epilogue.

Oh my lord, I am so worried for Carl right now.

I just knew when he got that daughter's kiss patch that he's going to forget / not get a chance to empty it. Fark.

But that epilogue... man, I don't think I've ever been SO hyped with a chapter before - it literally gave me goosebumps. I'm so pumped for the next book.

A Coup of Tea by Casey Blair

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

I could not put this book down - constantly telling myself the little lie we all tell ourselves: "just one more chapter".

The characters were great and the world building was neat with a lightly reflective view of current society and their attitudes towards refugees.

I loved seeing Miraya grow and establish a life on her own terms (well mostly, considering the antagonist and their scheming).

The slow romance between her and Deniel was sooooo cute. Bit bummed for Lorwyn and Entero though.

I wonder what Thiano's end goal is - a double agent? A turncoat? Or maybe just like to have fingers in pies.

Miraya's tea dragon familiar only came in right at the end of the book, but I love them already.

Unraveller by Frances Hardinge

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dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was probably one of the more difficult to read Hardinge book - mainly because I found it hard to like the hot-tempered Kellen and resentful Nettle. Their emotions were so painfully stark.

I just wanted them to be at ease, but their emotions and tension coiled tighter as the story progressed that it became almost unbearable.

Though in saying all that, the story and the world Hardinge has built is just so good.

The Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England by Brandon Sanderson

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slow-paced

Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

This was such a downgrade from Tress of the Emerald Sea in terms of overall enjoyability.

I found our protagonist to be highly unlikeable (that rating system he had going was killing me) and struggled immensely to finish this book.

Story-wise, it was at least vaguely interesting.

The Butcher's Masquerade by Matt Dinniman

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challenging dark emotional funny tense fast-paced

5.0

Hays continually astounds me with his talent. The way he conveyed so much emotion in Donut's speech felt so raw that I was welling up with tears.

And the Miriam/Pony scene was just so gut-wrenching.

The House Witch 3 by Delemhach

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

4.5

The House Witch 2 by Delemhach

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