Unqualified Book Reviewer

mainly just here to log reviews

[romanreadsbooks]

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides - Review

TL;DR

4.1 Stars

Pros: Interesting main characters, Greek tragedy allusion, entertainment

Cons: Alicia's relationships, depiction of psychotherapy, bigotry

Spoilers in review? Yes

Opinions going in/why I picked it up:

There's kind of two reasons I picked this book up.

One: A good friend of mine HIGHLY recommended it to me. She and I have basically have opposite reading tastes so I was hesitant to read it -- so much so that, while I bought a copy from a thrift store, I put off actually reading it off for multiple years.

But then for a reading challenge I was doing (Orilium Academy Autumn Equinox 2025) I was require to spin a genre wheel and then read a book of whatever genre it landed on. I got 'Suspense' as my genre, googled 'Suspense books' because I wasn't even sure I owned any suspense books (I wanted to only read books off of my physical TBR) and The Silent Patient was the first book on the list.

I do not have a good track record with thrillers or mystery novels, so I also got the audiobook from the library to help me get through it. Additionally, I have two other friends who read thrillers regularly and had very 'meh' opinions on this book and so my expectations were very, very low.

Likes:

Overall, I did really like the book. My biggest complaint with most thrillers (and mysteries) is that we go so fast that by the time something "thrilling" happens I don't really care because the author never took the time and convinced me to give a fuck about the characters its happening to. I'm only ever going to be worried for a *person*, not a name on a piece of paper, so authors need to make me see their characters as people well before they start sprinting along their plot. (I have since seen much criticism that this book isn't even really a thriller, so maybe that's why I liked it LOL)

As such, I *really* liked how this book really let us sit with the characters and ruminate with them. Both Theo and Alicia has interesting thoughts, for the most part. (Again, some say this is boring monologue (and presumably not common in psychological thriller), but I'm gonna be honest -- I love a good villian monologue.)

Additionally, I have very little background in Greek mythology or tragedies -- we studied it in school a bit but I never cared much for it and that lack of interest has continued into adulthood. In this story, though, Alicia's story is kind of an allusion to/retelling of the story of Alcestis. I found the comparison fascinating. It was very heavy handed and I 100% get why those who are mythology buffs don't like that, but as someone who never got into mythology it is a nice change of pace when an author doesn't assume that I am familiar with Greek tragedies/myths/stories/etc. and all the symbolism associated.

Dislikes:

Alicia's relationships with others can almost be entirely boiled down to: Family (they abuse her), Men (they all lust after her), and Women (they don't get along). That and how she sees to always paint women nude (including herself), but never men -- even the one where she portrayed her husband as Jesus on the cross. Very much a woman written by a man.

The depiction of Psychotherapist and "therapy vs medication" argument is kind of wild. I'm no professional, but I've been in a psych-ward and uhhhhh. I have concerns about how this was portrayed. I lack the knowledge of the subject matter to properly articulate what my exact concerns are, but it did leave me with a bad taste in my mouth.

Additionally, the way some of the characters were spoken about in regards to the race, weight, etc. had me raising an eyebrow. I don't think I could point out many phrases that were explicitly awful (including Theo's description of Alicia's aunt, Lydia, who is fat and so there for must be described as disgusting and evil and bad >.>) Again, I struggle to articulate it, but it was something that stuck out to me in a negative way.

With the bigotry and the pyschotherapy points, you could argue that it is because Theo is telling the story and he is very much not a good person, but ehhhh. I don't think that the way the author wrote it would support that stance -- those lines dont appear to be evidence of Theo's or Alicia's flaws, but 'just the way things are'.

Rating Breakdown:

All in all, I would not necessarily argue that this is a technically *good* book, but I had fun -- which, to me, it important. I think I enjoyed this book because the story was dramatic and interesting and something new to me despite its many flaws.

I feel this review is not useful for others, but this blog is, first in foremost, for me. This is just the best I can do at the moment when it comes to explaining my opinions on the book immediately after reading it.

Characters: 9

Atmosphere: 7

Writing: 8

Plot: 9

Intrigue: 10

Logic: 6

Enjoyment: 9

Dialogue: 8

Total: 8.3/10 or 4.1 Stars

[romanreadsbooks]

My Oxford Year by Julie Whelan - Review

TL;DR

3.3 Stars

Pros: Depiction of terminal illness, 3rd Act breakup, character chemistry

Cons: swiftly ditches the academic setting & student/professor dynamic, FMC is a little annoying, side character that slow down the book

Spoilers in review? Yes, major.

Opinions going in/why I picked it up:

I was scrolling through Spotify trying out a few audiobooks with my remaining like 3hr of listening time for the month. I was picking a few, listening for the first chapter or so, and then moving on.

I picked up this book because I was starting to get into my usual Dark Academia Fall mood, though we still had a couple weeks of summer left. As such, I decided that this one, being a academic romance, would be a good transition between summer and fall.

I will note that this book does have a Student/Professor romance. I know a lot of people don't like those, but I eat them up (as long as everyone is of age)

Likes:

I will be 100% upfront and say that I have exactly zero experience with any terminal illnesses. Nor have I read many books with themes and direct depictions of terminal illneses. While I have been a fan of a YouTuber who eventually passed away from a terminal illness, I have known exactly zero people with a terminal illness on a personal level.

I have had a short period in my life (that lasted just a few hours) where a doctor had serious concerns that I likely had a terminal illness. As I sat by myself in the hospital, waiting on results that would eventually show to be negative, I had experienced just a fraction of what it was like to be told that you would die soon.

All that to say, please take everything I say with a massive heaping tablespoon of salt. Obviously a "highly likely you're terminal" is not the same as being terminally ill, but its the closest I've got and the reason I am going to say what I am next.

I really like how Jamie and his brothers cancer diagnoses and his brothers eventual death were talk about. In those scant few hours for me, yes it was scary, but also, in a weird way, a relief. Like when you finally learn how a story ends -- that is has an end. I'm not sure many would agree, and maybe it says more about me than I should admit in a review about a romance book, but I would have been happy to know how and when I die and, in that moment, I had a pretty good guess.

Now in the years since though few hours, I do not feel the same way, but if I *had* actually been diagnosed, I think I would have continued to feel about it in much the way Jamie and his brother did about their cancer diagnoses. As such this book hit very close to home.

And I do like how the 3rd act breakup was handled in this book as well as the way they came back together in the end. I could make an argument that Ella's decision to remain in England instead of returning to a thriving political career in the states is incredibly cliche and ultimately disappointing for her character, but I am just enough of a romantic at heart to let it slide.

Additionally, I did enjoy the dialogue and chemistry between Jamie and Ella. It was sufficiently fun and I did enjoy the reoccurring "Ella, from Ohio" use instead of the MMC trying to force a cutesy nickname

Dislikes:

As an enjoyer for Student/Professor romances, I was a little disappointed that that aspect was not played into much. It was more used as a way to have 'forced proximity' in the beginning rather than any fun dynamics with the taboo nature of it. There is even exchange of dialogue between the MC and the side characters that openly state that romance between a student and their teacher wasn't even that frowned upon. Similarly the academic setting I was hoping to use as a transition into my dark academia reading season was basically completely ditched. Not inherently a bad thing, but not what I wanted or expect out of a book with the name "Oxford" in the title.

There is so much millennial humor and the FMC occasionally acting ditsy in a way that I think the author meant to be endearing, but was honestly just annoying.

There were a lot of side character and their characters arcs slowed down the book a lot. I appreciated that they had their own lives, motives, and goals outside of the main couple, but there were just too many of them.

Rating Breakdown:

Characters: 8

Atmosphere: 5

Writing: 7

Plot: 7

Intrigue: 7

Logic: 7

Enjoyment: 6

Dialogue: 5

Total: 6.5/10 or 3.3 Stars

[edwardashley]

[tv-opinion]

cooper and david’s chemistry was off the charts and i still think the queer undertones are there but every time garraty and mcvries referred to each other as brothers my eye twitched

[romanreadsbooks]

Iris Kelly Doesn't Date by Ashley Herring Blake - Review

TL;DR

5.0 Stars

Pros: Realistic characters, fake dating, fun plot

Cons: Very millennial core in humor and in queer rep

Continue the Series? Series complete!

Spoilers in review? No

### Opinions going in/why I picked it up:

I've read the previous two books in the series: Delilah Green Doesn't Care and Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail, so it was finally time to wrap it up with the third book.

I really liked Delilah Green Doesn't Care but HATED Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail (Namely, I hated her love interest, Jordan), so I was a *little* nervous for this book, but I was in the mood for a romance and wanted to finish one of my ongoing series, so here we are.

Likes:

Overall the book was SO cute. I'm a sucker for fake dating and the ability to go back and forth between a set of friends who do know its fake (Iris's friends) to the set they're trying to fool (Stevie's friends) is a nice change of pace for the trope.

And speaking of Stevie's friend I love how each of them are flawed in their own way but they all result in them feeling like they need to almost act as parent/guardians over Stevie. It displays the way different intentions (either good or bad) can still manifest in the same way.

Dislikes:

Millennial humor and like listen.... I'm queer, both in sexuality and gender, but the sheer amount of rainbow/pride clothing that these characters own is frankly absurd.

My queer friend group does definitely fit the alternative styles of dress common in the community, but if we have any queer-rep items on us, it's normally subtle accessories or small pins - not rainbow sports bras, dresses, etc. Then again I grew up in a conservative area in the south, so maybe I just don't get it.

Rating Breakdown

Unlike most books, this one actually grew on me in the days after reading it! I think if I had rated it right after finishing I would have given it 4.5 stars, but the more I sat with it the more I realized how much I really enjoyed it and wanted to reread it immediately. A very rare thing for me.

Characters: 10

Atmosphere: 9

Writing: 9

Plot: 9

Intrigue: 10

Logic: 10

Enjoyment: 10

Dialogue: 9

(+4 for the five star feeling)

Total: 10/10 or 5 Stars

[romanreadsbooks]

The Long Walk by Stephen King - Review

TL;DR

5.0 Stars

Pros: fascinating characters, vivid prose, interesting premise, audiobook narrator

Cons: (by modern standards) Misogynistic / objectifies women, questionable queer rep

Spoilers in review? I mean... Technically? Like its a 'last man standing' kind of competition so you kinda know what's gonna happen to everyone besides the main character, but I won't say anything past that.

Opinions going in/why I picked it up:

I initially heard of this book through BookTok. I *believe* it was via one of Madi Lim's videos, maybe BookTok New had a segment where it talked about how it was being adapted to a movie?

Regardless, between that and hearing the vague premise across a few other videos, it piqued my interest.

This was my first Stephen King book, though it was initially published under the pen name of Richard Bachman. I don't know much about the guy other than he writes a lot of books and he's mainly a horror and thriller author, which are definitely not my normal genres.

But The Long Walk was a dystopian and the premise was simple, so I figured it was a pretty decent place to start.

Also, I tried SO hard to find a physical copy of this book. I went to like 2 Barnes and Nobles, called 3 indie bookstores, and finally, I found one at a chain used book store in the city. There was just one problem: it was a copy of "The Bachman Books" and, even though it was in terrible condition, it was still priced at $60 cause I guess its at least somewhat rare.

Safe to say I just decided to listen to it on Spotify and then I'll get a physical copy later lol

(And since I did the audiobook, apologies in advance if I misspell character names)

Likes:

I cannot state enough how fascinating and real each and every one of these characters felt -- Well. All the male characters anyway, but more on that later.

The main character, Garraty, was a joy to follow along with (for the most part). I appreciated that while he wasn't out to pick constant fights *coughcoughBarkovichcoughcough*, he also wasn't one to back down from a challenge for the sake of keeping the peace. He was reasonable without being overly resilient, a common problem in a lot of books with a 'fight-to-the-death' plot, in my opinion.

There were only a couple of moments that felt just a tiny bit plot-armor-y, and even those were at least semi reasonable, especially when weighing in the hardships he does go through to show that he's not invincible.

And then all the side characters were equally deep and complex, even without the ability to see inside their heads like we can with Garraty. Of course there was McVries, Olsen, Scram, Barkovich, etc who were all interesting and sympathetic but my favorite character by far was Stebbins. From the first chapter Garraty is very intensely focused on him and his purple pants (SO upset they didn't keep those in the movie lmao), and honestly Garraty? Same.

His outlook on life and the Long Walk was fascinating and he had this sort of immutability throughout the book that was such a intriguing juxtaposition to the other boys who deteriorated the longer the walk went on. Absolutely fascinating character and excellent foil to Garraty.

Dislikes:

I think a lot of the dislikes I have of this book are dislikes I would have for most of the books written in the late 60s. The Long Walk was published under the pen name of Richarch Bachman, but King wrote it his freshman year of college.

So you know, 19 ish year old white man who, earlier in the decade, lived in the US during the Bay of Pigs invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the signing of the Civil Rights act, the first Space Walks, and Kennedy's and Malcom X's assassinations (among other things).

So safe to say he wasn't depicting women through a modern, 2025 lens. I was surprised that there was queer representation that wasn't god awful though. Don't get me wrong, 'queer' was definitely used in a derogatory way by a lot of the characters, but wasn't treated as an objective moral failing like in other books (even modern ones sometimes)

Now the women characters? They're were few (I think just Garraty's mother and girlfriend, and then a few random spectators) and the were horribly objectified. You could make an argument that all the characters that speak (other then the women) are teenage boys in the 60s, but I mean... Garraty's first description of HIS OWN MOTHER is how small her breasts are.

So was the homophobia in the book as bad as I would have guessed? No, but it was still present so into the dislike section it goes, though it wont impact the score much.

So yeah. I think King was just being misogynistic and objectifying (which to my knowledge is a fairly common criticism across all his books). I think I would have more issue with it if women were more present throughout the story to be objectified, but they were missing for most of it, so you know. A little 'out of sight out of mind'

Other Notes:

I'm so curious to see what they do with all the flashback and internal monologuing in this book. They're are hours at a time where characters don't speak to each other that leaves time for Garraty's mind to wander to his past. Of course they can just put a hazy filter over the screen and do a standard flashback, but I don't know if they'll be able to capture the absolute mess of emotions Garraty goes through while experiencing them while still maintaining the floaty, surreal atmosphere.

It'll be a feat for the director and actors to perform for sure.

Rating Breakdown

Characters: 10

Atmosphere: 10

Writing: 10

Plot: 10

Intrigue: 10

Logic: 9

Enjoyment: 10

Dialogue: 9

(That special 5 star feeling: +2 )

Total: 10/10 or 5.0 Stars

[a-silly-poll-side-blog-yay]

you teleported to the last book you read! are you ok?

yes

no

IT'S A TEXTBOOK! YOU MONSTER HOW COULD Y-

It's great

results

Voting ended onJul 24, 2025

[mx-paradox]

Ngl I am very upset by how they're mixing up stebbins and scramm. Like genuinely.

I don't understand why they're making Stebbins this buff soldier looking dude. A big part of him in the book was how inhuman his stamina was.

Him and scramm were complete opposites. Scramm was likeable, and a physical shoo in for the walk. Meanwhile, stebbins is off putting and almost delicate. Scramm was optimistic he would win in an ignorant way, while stebbins was in an almost cocky, knowing way. Scramm was walking away from his family, while, in a twisted sense, Stebbins was trying to walk towards his.

I don't know why they're doing this, from an adaption perspective. Seems kinda pointless imo.

[romanreadsbooks]

Ugh they're so cute together I'm gonna scream

[Excerpt from Iris Kelly Doesn't Date by Ashley Herring Blake - pg283]

[romanreadsbooks]

Julie Chan Is Dead by Liann Zhang -Review

TL;DR

3.5 Stars

Pros: Great second half, audiobook narrator, critique of influencer culture, plot is entertaining

Cons: male influencers spared from critique because why??, INSUFFERABLE characters, practically 0 character growth for MC

Spoilers in review? No

Opinions going in/why I picked it up:

We're back at it again with a thriller as the book club pick for this month, this one in particular being nominated by my good friend who reads thrillers more than any other genre. I say this every time, but I don't tend to really enjoy thrillers, but I went into it with an open mind.

I knew literally zero going into this book other than the fact it was supposed to be similar to Yellow Face by R. F. Kuang, which I have read and liked. I didn't even read the back of the book to figure out the premise, just opened it and started reading.

Likes:

The second half of this book was a fever dream, and I mean that in the best way possible. Every moment was so surreal and demanded my attention so fervently that I may have taken several extended "bathroom breaks" at work so I could focus soley on consuming this book.

And the audiobook narrator, Yu-Li Alice Shen, did a phenomenal job. She was honestly the only reason l why I did not DNF in the first half of the book (more on that later)

And then to get on to the themes of the book, it was mostly a critique of the fake, manufactured, "perfect" lives displayed by influencers, specifically those specializing in making content in the lifestyle/travel/make up spaces.

I'm no expert, but while I think aspects of it was exaggerated, it seemed like a pretty accurate portrayal of to superficiality of influencers and their obsession with power, money, and popularity. There is one side of this, though, that I think should have been at least touched on that was completely absent in this book, which leads us to the dislikes...

Dislikes:

While I think it's fair to criticize the types of influencers that Zhang criticized in this novel, I do think of you're going to talk about the absurd level of wealth, pretentiousness, and self-centered natures of influencers you cannot only talk about the women without it coming off at least a little bit misogynistic.

There were dozens of women in this novel, each one horrible in their own way (except like one), but there was only a handful of men present at all and most of them were victims of one or multiple of the women's ambition or ego.

It's true in society that female presenting influencers are much more heavily scrutinized, but for the book about how shitty influencers can be, one would expect at least a problematic man or two. It's not like there's a lack of inspiration (Shane Dawson, the Paul brothers, Mr Beast, James Charles, Jeffree Star, etc. etc. need I go on?)

But going back to the women, pretty much every single character in this book was deeply unlikable, especially the main character. Don't get me wrong, that was definitely the point and was intentionally done by the author, but that doesn't make it suddenly enjoyable to read. This section is called 'dislikes' and not 'list of objectively poor quality things' for a reason.

I do think if the main character was just a tiny bit more realistic at the beginning, the book would be better for it. Don't get me wrong: mean, bitter people do exist irl, but the main character is cartoonishly cruel to everyone around her from the get go. She lived through a very tough upbringing and suffered at the hands of her abusive aunt and cousin, but I am of the opinion that having a hard start to life does not give you the excuse to treat people you don't even know like garbage.

The main character was so awful to literally every person she came across and was so selfish and entitled that I nearly stopped reading. And what made it worse is that, 9 hours of audio book later, she is exactly as mean, selfish, and entitled as she was at the beginning.

I think if there was just a little bit of a character arc, especially a corruption arc, where the main character goes from a fairly normal person to a influencer worth critiquing, the book could have been a bit more interesting at the beginning.

Rating Breakdown

Characters: 5

Atmosphere: 7

Writing: 7

Plot: 8

Intrigue:7

Logic: 7

Enjoyment: 8

Dialogue:8

Total: 7.125/10 or 3.5 Stars

[romanreadsbooks]

See which of these are my best book so far, biggest disappointment, biggest surprise, etc. below the cut.

Best Book: The Adorned - John Tristan

Adult Political Fantasy (w/ a romance subplot)

This book was recommended to me by a fellow fic-writing friend of mine and safe to say it did not disappoint! Fascinating politics, interesting world building, and just a small touch of magic that doesn't overwhelm the entire plot. Highly recommend!!

Best Sequel: Sunrise on the Reaping - Suzanne Collins

Young Adult Dystopian

I was one of those people who was like "oh we didn't need Haymitch's games, we already know what happens!" And boy what a fool I was. I'm not sure if the opinion is unpopular or not but I loved Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes personally and I enjoyed this novel just about as much. I love a good villain story though, so while it's a close second, it's still a second place finish for me

New releases you haven't gotten to yet: First Time Caller - S. K. Borison

Adult Contemporary Romance

I initially wasn't particularly very interested in this book. The premise was pretty good but ehhhh the tropes of it aren't my favorite. I don't typically love Grumpy x Sunshine and the existence of a spunky daughter who gets into mischief that drives the plot forward -- they are perfectly fine things, I just easily get bored with them.

All that said, I've seen a TON of good reviews of this book by people that typically have tastes that align with mine, at least in terms of romance. So... Maybe I'll give it a shot.

Most Anticipated Release for 2nd half: Katabasis - R.F. Kuang

Adult Historical Fantasy

I have yet to read The Poppy War (I know, throw me in jail right now), but I have read both Yellow Face and Babel by R F Kuang and adored both -- ESPECIALLY Babel. Based on the synopsis I think it is supposed to be most similar to Babel, so I cannot wait.

Biggest Disappointment: We Used to Live Here - Marcus Kliewer

Adult Horror Thriller

Listen, I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm not a fan of thrillers 90% of the time. This one was no exception, but it was a particularly frustrating read for me. Such a high page count to slog through only to have an open ending? Ugh, no thank you.

(note it was a voted-on bookclub book and I run the bookclub so I had to read it. I'm not really the type to hate-read stuff.)

Biggest Surprise: Julie Chan is Dead - Liann Zhang

Adult Psychological Thriller

I went into this book nearly completely blind, only knowing that it was "similar to Yellow Face by R. F. Kuang, which, as mentioned previously, I did enjoy.

I think this book was a lot more successful at getting me to absolutely abhor the main character right out of the gate -- it was so bad that I almost DNFd because I was just pissed off the entire time.

But I'm so glad I stuck with it because boy oh boy was the rest of the book an absolute fever dream. And Yu-Li Alice Shen, the narrator of the audiobook, was PHENOMENAL, so highly recommend the audiobook of that's your thing.

Favorite New Author: Sara Raasch

Author of Nightmare Before Kissmas and Go Luck Yourself

I'm going to preface this by saying that I haven't read a ton of new authors thus far this year, so there wasn't much competition. I still have really enjoyed both of her books I've read this year, though, and I can't wait for the next one .

Both NBK and GLY were such fun seasonal romances with unexpected good political intrigue that made the stakes of the story a lot higher than your typical romance.

New Fictional Crush: Ridoc (Onyx Storm - Rebecca Yarros)

I don't typically get "crushes" on fictional characters, per se, but I'm going to use this prompt as a "book character that I would most like to be friends with and maybe form some kind of relationship with after getting to know them" (aroace spec let's goooo lol)

My first thought was Sazed from Mistborn, but unfortunately that was a reread this year so I cannot based on my self-imposed rule of no rereads, so the runner up is Ridoc from Onyx Storm.

I was largely indifferent to him in Fourth Wing, and only just started to like him in Iron Flame, but damn did Yarros make me love him in this book. I know that probably means she'll kill him in the next book or two, but for now I'm happy.

New Favorite Character: Jude (Queen of Nothing - Holly Black)

Jude really is the epitome of Having Audacity ™

She is different from Ridoc and Sazed in that I'm not sure I'd want to be her friend. She is so cunning and skilled that I would fear for my life, but I'd be happy to admire her from afar.

Throughout the entirety of the Cruel Prince series she just kept getting more and more unhinged in her attempts to gain power in the land of Faerie. She is ambition incarnate and will stop at nothing to get it, it's actually insane. But you know what?

Good for her!

Book That Made You Cry: Onyx Storm - Rebecca Yarros (Spoiler for side character death)

I also don't typically cry at books, but Yarros defied my expectations already (another death in a previous book that unexpectedly really hit me hard (and no, it was not the one that first comes to mind)), so she's done it again.

Both times with characters I honestly didn't really care that much about prior to their death but man we're my eyes watering like crazy when the time came. And for those of you who've read the book it was the "We made it a good one" line that really got me.

Book That Made You Happy: My Vampire Plus-One - Jenna Levine

This book might just be the first instance of the miscommunication trope that I actually adore. It's treated as a method to create humourous situations rather than unnecessary emotional turmoil/drama. This one wasn't quite as good as My Roommate is a Vampire in my opinion, but was still a SUPER fun time and caused a lot of smiles.

Prettiest Book: The Weight of Blood - Tiffany D. Jackson

I'm not one for special editions unless it is an all-time favorite book/series and I particularly dislike hardbacks so every book I bought this year, with the exception of Onyx Storm, has been a standard paperback.

Of all my paperbacks, I think The Weight of Blood is the most striking. Just the black and white photography with a shock of vibrant, red blood draws the eye so well. Then you get to looking closer and notice the prom-queen sash and crown and unhappy expression on the girls face and sets off so much intrigue in me.

TBR for the End of the Year: Well of Ascension - Brandon Sanderson and Allegedly - Tiffany D Jackson

I cheated just a little bit and added two books for this prompt, one that I really need to read and one that I really want to read. I've started a buddy read of the Mistborn series with a good friend of mine and unfortunately I was a fool and forgot how fast they burn through these larger fantasy series. They have been done with both eras of Mistborn and I've only read the first book of the first trilogy ^-^'

Safe to say I need to make progress on Well of Ascension

And then, while I liked Weight of Blood a lot, it didn't quite hit the same as Monday's Not Coming. So I went to my local bookstore, read the backs of all of the Tiffany D Jackson books they had in stock and Allegedly piqued my interest the most so I really want to get to it soon

[spacebags]

The Rabbit

[a-bluth-banana]

*MrBeast voice* I‘m PUTTING 100 BOYS in MAINE where they'll have to walk at 3 MILES AN HOUR or GET SHOT and THE LAST BOY STANDING WINS WHATEVER THEY WANT FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES

[romanreadsbooks]

The Adorned by John Tristan - Review

TL;DR

4.7 Stars

Pros: Complex characters, political intrigue, representation

Cons: More exposition please, cagey/unhelpful side characters

Spoilers in review? No

Opinions going in/why I picked it up:

A friend of mine learned that my favorite book series was The Captive Prince series by C. S. Pacat (check trigger warnings before reading) and gave me this recommendation!

It's not super similar in terms of the romance or anything, but he said The Adorned had very similar, intriguing politics like TCP had, which is one of my favorite things about the series.

Additionally he was telling me about how the main character of the book uses he/him pronouns but his genitalia is never described because the author, John Tristan, wanted any men to identify with the character regardless of assigned gender at birth.

Likes:

I, of course, adored all the politicking in this series. Our main character, Etan, is an Adorned, which essentially is a mix between a model and an escort. He attends fancy party's upon the request (and payment) of the rich and powerful. Sometimes the night ends with intercourse, sometimes it does not, but he is also used by members of the court to deliver messages and sway opinions regardless of how the night ends.

Etan is an indentured servant, but still remains steadfast in his opinion that no matter his occupation, he is a person. There is decorum to respect and expect but he is not just an toy to be played with and discarded.

To make a comparison to TCP, Etan is a lot like Damen in this belief, even if he has none of Damen's size, strength, or royal blood. He forthright and has a commitment to doing things the right/noble way.

As for Etans love interest and contract holder, Tallisk, I have slightly less to say about him. That's not so say that I didn't also like him, He's just pretty stoic and Etan is often left wondering what Tallisk is thinking.

His actions though? Amazing.

Unlike others, he never forgets that Etan is a grown man who is allowed to make his own decisions and have his own opinions. He lets both Etan and Isodel (another Adorned indentured to Tallisk) decide if he accepts a job on their behalf. All in all, a good man, even if he's a little quiet and cagey.

And finally the plot/political intrigue, the whole reason I was recommended this book! I adored the game played between two side characters, Lord Loren and Count Karen, that both used Etan as a pawn in their own ways.

I was interesting to see hints of their motivations and underhanded plays throughout the story, culminating into what happened at the end. I won't spoil it, but man, I want to go back and re read the book with each of the characters ulterior motives in mind.

Dislikes:

I can appreciate that we are often left in the dark about other characters intentions, especially because Etan is very much not familiar with the intracasies of high society, but I wish we got just a tiny bit more.

Or should I say that I wish Isodel and Tallisk were a bit more forthcoming with information. I understand why, from an authors perspective anyway -- you want to show Etan experiencing these things rather than have another character monologue at him.... But maybe just a little monologue would have been nice.

Then again I'm one of those people who actually likes paragraphs of exposition cause I'm a slut for world building lmao

Rating Breakdown

Characters: 10

Atmosphere: 9

Writing: 9

Plot: 10

Intrigue: 9

Logic: 9

Enjoyment: 10

Dialogue: 9

Total: 9.375/10 or 4.7 Stars

[romanreadsbooks]

Can someone tell me if Sally Rooney books are worth it cause I don't know if I can handle this writing style >_<

Just these MASSIVE paragraphs of tiny, disjointed sentences and zero use of quotation marks... It's so difficult to read for me -_-'

I'm interested in the story and the characters but it's just SO draining to read and I'm only like 15 pages in. I can't imagine 400+ more pages of this

[romanreadsbooks]

Weight of Blood by Tiffany D Jackson - Review

TL;DR

4.2 Stars

Pros: accurate prediction of how racists white people behave in private, very good audiobook narrators, prose

Cons: soft magic system (personal preference)

Spoilers in review? No

Opinions going in/why I picked it up:

Monday's Not Coming by Tiffany D Jackson was my favorite book of last year so I was already eager to read another one of her books, then BookTok creator, Madi Lim, mentioned in one of her audiobook recommendation videos that Weight of Blood was a great listening experience.

I am typically reading three books at any given time, one physical, one digital, and one audio, so when my audiobook slot because vacant, I started listening.

Likes:

Without going into too much detail, as to no dox myself, I grew up in a mostly white southern town and was in highschool in the same years that this book takes place. And while nothing as egregiously racist as what takes place in this book ever happened at my highschool, the more subtle forms of bigotry (microagressions, savior complexes, colorism, etc) were horrifyingly accurate.

I cannot comment on how the conflicts within the black community are portrayed in the book (i.e. how Maddy's white-passing appearance is perceived by different black characters), but the way the white characters are written and the difference in their dialogue when in front of media vs. black people vs. other white people is way too familiar to how some of the student at my highschool would speak.

To give an example, this was over Thanksgiving break my freshman year of college, my (at the time) partner and I were visiting our hometown and the Friday night after Thanksgiving we met at one of his friends houses and were playing some kind of Jackbox game that I don't remember the name of. The one where you make an invention to solve a problem.

I remember on the drive over I voiced some concern that I "didn't think his friends humor was similar to mine," and oh boy.

Throughout the night there were some questionable jokes, to be sure. but it all lead up to this one. I cannot remember the exact prompt, but it was something along the lines of "I just really wish I could _ _ _ _ _ _ again!"

And to my horror the player filled the blank in with "own people".

This just goes to show what is said behind closed doors when people think they're with a like-minded crowd. This was not some group of edgy 13-14 year olds with unfiltered access to the Internet, this was a group of grown white men who knew better. But because they were "among friends" they felt comfortable making that 'joke'.

On the drive home I questioned my partner about it and all he should say was "yeah, it was pretty bad. But it's just a joke, they don't actually think that."

All that to say, the books depiction of how white people act in private with other white people hit the nail on the head. Everything is a 'joke' and they 'dont mean it like that' and when you try to call them out on it you're either excluded or become the new subject of the 'jokes'.

Additionally, Jackson's writing of things that are horrifying, gore-y, or generally grotesque was so visceral and vivid, that I would imagine those without aphantasia might feel nauseous. I am both fortunately and unfortunately saved from those mental images.

And I do have to mention that the high praise for the audiobook it completely warranted. Every narrator did an absolutely fantastic job bringing the characters and story to life

Dislikes:

This is more of a personal thing, rather than any kind of objective criticism, but I don't like how magic was incorporated in this book. I don't tend to like either magical realism or soft magic systems, so having both in this book was just not really my thing.

All it does for me is take me out of the story and interrupt the flow of a contemporary or historical fiction novel to interject a random magic system that's barely developed.

Rating Breakdown

Characters: 10

Atmosphere: 9

Writing: 9

Plot: 9

Intrigue:8

Logic: 7

Enjoyment: 7

Dialogue: 8

Total: 8.375/10 or 4.2 Stars

[romanreadsbooks]

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood - Review

TL;DR

4.4 Stars

Pros: gorgeous writing, incredibly poignant

Cons: A little flowery (something I like but other might find boring), open ended (personal preference)

Continue the Series? Yes

Spoilers in review? Yes

Opinions going in/why I picked it up:

Almost a year ago I read Manacled, the Hermione X Draco fanfiction, and I knew it was loosely based off of The Handmaid's Tale, so that is what initially made me curious. That and also just the overall premise sounded very interesting, so I mentioned it to my mother that I might start reading it.

She, not being a reader and usually only displaying mild interest in the books I read, surprised me by responding enthusiastically.

She told me that she was watching The Handmaid's Tale show and it was very, very good. We don't have that similar of taste, but it would be something we could both talk about in our weekly calls, so I figured why not pick up the book. Plus, I want to read more classics anyway.

Likes:

Overall my number one thing that I love the most about this book was the prose of it. Margaret Atwood is incredibly descriptive and sensory with her writing. Taste, smell, sight, sound, and touch -- all of it is done immaculately well. It even encouraged me to incorporate some of these more descriptive terms in my own writing.

As for the characters I thought they were all very real, though a few of them felt a little bit flat. Or I guess just villainous for the sake of it?

Then again Offred could not be very direct and open with them and so that in it of itself makes it harder for us as the audience to get a lot of information about a lot of characters.

I'm not entirely sure how to articulate it, and this is me being incredibly nitpicky, so that just goes to show how masterfully Atwood wrote all of her characters.

Dislikes:

I personally don't love when a book has an open-ended ending. It too often feels like author indecisiveness rather than a deliberate, meaningful choice. 9 times out of 10 I would rather the author just pick an ending, even if it's a little lackluster.

In this case, though, it makes sense within the context of the story, especially with the epilogue. After OfFred leaves this version of America, she likely does not have access to continue these tapes that she made that became The Handmaid's Tale. That said, I still had that annoyance that I typically had with open-ended ending where the story felt incomplete.

The one thing I did like about the open-ended ending is that it is quite hopeful. At the very least, Offred had the chance to escape. We don't know if that escape was successful, per se, but at least the chance was there and there was some hope for her.

If it had been a completely open ending, where it was very likely that she did not escape,then I would have disliked the ending a lot more than I did. This is not to say it's a bad ending, it's just not my preference

Other Notes:

I am very curious in the rise and fall of this post-american society that Atwood describes. We get quite a bit of information about how it started -- a lot of which has very frightful echoes of what's happening in modern day, especially with the limitation of women's health rights -- but I wish there was a little bit more especially with the fall of it all.

The fall is covered in the epilogue a little bit, but they don't say much past that the society simply fell due to a lot of infighting amongst the community and lack of children even with this new system with the handmaids.

I do know there are more books in this series, so I might continue them in the future, but since this is such a... not necessarily sad... stressful maybe? Solemn perhaps? A book that put and kept me in somber mood when reading it. As such, I need a little bit of a break with something more lighthearted, if not more fun.

I would like to return to this world, though, when I feeling more brave.

Rating Breakdown

Characters: 9

Atmosphere: 10

Writing: 10

Plot: 9

Intrigue:8

Logic: 8

Enjoyment: 8

Dialogue: 8

Total: 8.75/10 or 4.4 Stars