that one post I saw the other day that was like “omg thanks to the movie I bet we could get 1000 gelphie fics by the new year”…. Op was right obviously but I think we have vastly underestimated how many people were gonna latch onto this movie and I for one am soooo excited
While I haven’t had the best time with my reading so far this year, I have found some gems and am on target for my 52 book reading goal! Below are very short reviews of each book pictured above.
Disclaimer: I do not do partial star ratings. For me, one star is a “Book I Hate”, two is a “Book I Dislike But Could See Merit In”, three is a “Completely Average Book” (or one that evens out in good and bad points), four is a “Book I Enjoyed”, and five is a “Wonderful Book To Me!!” Yes, I know that this way of rating is kind of broken and will put books of wildly different calibre in the same category, but it cannot be helped. I am simple and like my fifths.
One of Us is Lying (Physical Book) - I don’t read much contemporary YA anymore, I’ve grown out of it, but I’ve also had this book on my shelves since I was 17 so I thought I’d knock it out. It was a surprisingly engaging mystery with surprisingly thought out characters. 4/5⭐️
The Sunshine Court (Ebook) - A bit of a rambly, slice of life confusion of a book, but I don’t care. This series is like popcorn to me. I love Jean!!! And that other guy is okay too I guess. 4/5⭐️
Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail (Audiobook) - I really enjoyed the first book in this little trilogy, but the main character of this one annoyed the hell out of me. Also I hate a meaningless third act conflict. Can they not just be together? Other than that, though, it was cute. 3/5⭐️
Third Girl (Ebook) - I love Miss Agatha Christie, and am slowly working towards reading every one of her books. Well plotted mystery, but short and not super memorable. A victim of being a late Poirot novel, I suppose. 3/5⭐️
Wicked (Audiobook) - I loved the Oz books as a child. This book was an insane insane fanfiction. I sort of loved it? I sort of thought it was a slog to get through? I sort of liked that it took to the Oz absurdity well? I sort of hated that it was so messy and addicted to adding sexuality for shock? Many mixed feelings. This is why my rating system kind of sucks. 3/5⭐️
Mister Impossible (Physical Book) - A reread, of course. I don't know what to say about the Dreamer Trilogy that I haven't already said on this blog. At least it isn't Greywaren. 3/5⭐️
Sword Catcher (Physical Book) - I did not originally intend to read this book, despite being a Shadowhunters fan. I know the first book in a high fantasy series kind of has to be chock full of exposition and setup, but by god this book was a lot of exposition. I also felt like it didn't make full use of it's interesting premise (a peasant boy being chosen to be the Prince's stand in destined to die for him because they look similar). The two were raised as brothers and didn't even have an appropriately interesting messy sibling relationship about their fucked dynamic. But also I liked Kel. 3/5⭐️
The Golden Raven (Ebook) - I devored this book in the 48 hours after it came out. I love Jean. I love seeing my best friends the Foxes. That other guy is okay too. 4/5⭐️
Just Haven't Met You Yet (Physical Book) - My mom recommended this book to me. A fine enough romcom. Wayyyy too much second-hand embarrassment. Lacked a little Something that I need from a romance novel to make it worth it. 3/5⭐️
Dead Dead Girls (Audiobook) - Compelling mystery!! Interesting setting! (1920s, Harlem Renaissance, Speakeasies). I was able to root for the protagnist, but she did make some obvious and annoying mistakes that got her nearly killed. 4/5⭐️
The Gilded Wolves (Ebook) - I kept seeing this recommended for people who loved Six of Crows, which, of course, I do. I was lied to. Despite being set in 1889 France, this book had jarring modern humor and the dynamics between the main characters was simultaneously flat and rushed. There was a whole lot of telling and not showing. (Telling us that these characters have this kind of relationship, or that this amazing setup happened offscreen, etc.) This was a heist novel!!! You can't be doing that! However I did really like Zofia and some of the writing was very witty. 3/5⭐️
Sunrise on the Reaping (Physical Book) - I will follow Suzanne Collins anywhere, I don't care. A very timely book about how revolutions are not instant, but take time and persistance, and the dangers of propaganda and how accepting the way things are is as good as giving in to it. 4/5⭐️
The Cartographers (Audiobook) - Insane and very interesting premise and magic system, but no follow through. I guessed the plot twists from a mile away, and the plot was not sturdy enough to hold up without them. Also, one of the main characters was so insufferable to me that it felt misogynistic for him to exist in a book I was reading. 3/5⭐️
Carmilla (Ebook) - Oh, a classic for a reason. Vampires are gay forever and always. I was jumpscared by the POV charcter having basically the same name as me. Not 100% my cup of tea, but objectively very good. 4/5⭐️
Go Luck Yourself (Ebook) - Do you ever just see a stupid looking book and read it because it is free and accessible. Yeah, I did that with this book (and the one that came before it). And I am only a little ashamed to say this Tumblr-esque-Nightmare-Before-Christmas-Spoof was kind of fun. I am a known Riverdale enjoyer, what do you want from me? 4/5⭐️
The Grandest Game (Ebook) - I liked the original 3 Inheretance Games books! This one, however, I also just picked up because the ebook was there and free. Those charcters did not/do not have the bandwidth to keep going for this many books. The puzzles are still engaging, but what does that mean when the characters no longer are? Not to mention I am tired of sad straight yearning while we have MYSTERIES AFOOT !!! 3/5⭐️
Black Coffee (Ebook) - Now THIS is a good Christie mystery. Adapted from a play format, the writing style is different from normal, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Such a well plotted mystery, I loved solving it with Poirot. 5/5⭐️
Emily Wilde's Encyclopeadia of Faerie (Audiobook) - Oh this one gripped me by the throat. A story about the fae in their more traditional form from the point of view of a scholar? I am sat. Oh, I love the voices in this book. I love the blend of the cozy and horrific. At multiple times I spoke aloud back at this audiobook. There is one character in this book that I kept thinking "this is so Gansey", which is the highest of compliments. I am actually lumping all three of the books in this series here because I rated all of them the same. 5/5⭐️
The Pairing (Ebook) - I love McQuiston's other works, but I probably should have just sat this one out. I sort of knew that I wasn't going to love a book centered on food and sex. But still, McQuiston has written these characters before and better in their other books. I also hate willful miscommunication. But I will account for the fact that this one was just not for me. 3/5⭐️
Greywaren (Physical) - Doing this as a reread with a book club was like taking your friends to watch a car crash. Which was sort of fun, I suppose. This book is like being pushed down a flight of stairs, though. 2/5⭐️
Careful of Books (Physical) - Exactly what I wanted for most of these short stories! At least two are unfinished projects, so it's rather hard to judge on this one. 4/5⭐️
Intermezzo (Audiobook) - Book equivalent of watching paint dry. I can understand that some may love this as a stream of conciousness character study with a unique point of view on love, grief and family dynamics. BUT BY GOD! I was promised an interesting and complex brother dynamic! I was promised discussions about a strained father-son-son dynamic! But they didn't even think about their father half the time, and the willfully poor communication??? God. I cannot rant more on this but Hated It. 2/5⭐️
The Anthropocene Reviewed (Physical Book) - I'm sorry to say it, but I love John Green's writing style. And I love essays. What more can I even say. It made me want to write again. 5/5⭐️
The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic (Audiobook) - Another book that promised me family strife and could not deliver. It was somehow simultaneously ham-fisted in its exploration of grief and allergic to letting the family members be in conflict. Sure! Let's forgive our mother who abandoned us all our lives within the week that she swoops back in, and then be totally okay when she decides to disappear again less than a month later. Also, there was really weird and unexpected Christian messaging in this one. And the romance sucked. But it was finishable, I guess. 2/5⭐️
