Josh
Contains spoilers
CAWPILE SCORE
C- 9
A-6
W-9
P-8.5
I-8
L-9
E-9
TOTAL-8.36/10
<spoiler>
CAWPILE
Characters
Galaxy
Darlington
Dawes/Pammie
Dean Sandow
Bridgegroom
Houses
Belbaum
Hellie
Tara Hutchins
Atmosphere
Interesting, I never go the school feeling I was hoping for. But the spookiness and the vibes were perfectly what was needed for this book.
Writing
Adult book, I was expecting a little less, because of other books by Leigh Bardugo, but this was not the same.
Very good writing, perhaps a little long, but I’m not complaining. Epigraphs didn’t grip me or bore me.
The movement between past and present was a good way to bring Darlington into the story.
Plot
Girl is murdered and the house that watches the other houses investigates. Bad things happen
Alex investigates what has the spirits up and working
Investment
My investment waxed and waned, but mostly waxed? It was good, just took a bit more to get started when reading it.
Left with wanting more, but being perfectly satisfied
Logic
Very logical and consistent. It was a little out of nowhere for the end of the book, but not so much that it was a dues ex. I knew belbaum had something to do with everything and I was suspicious of the Dean
Enjoyment
Misc
So many powerful scenes
The ending scene, in the deans office
The 1st working we see
Her first incident with the Grays what happened to allow that?
She’s a Wheelwalker. He’s a demon. Can I make it any more obvious here.
Merity Tara
</spoiler>
I will be talking about it on Libromancy https://libromancy.podbean.com/
Contains spoilers
CAWPILE SCORE
C-9
A-10
W-9
P-8
I-9
L-8
E-10
TOTAL-9/10
Absolutely love this book, the characters were amazing. I love the romance.
I’m so glad it turned out the way it did. Jude is so relatable. And my emotions were all over the place when I was reading this book.
<spoiler>
CAWPILE
Characters
Jude
Areceli
Pru
Maya
EZ
Atmosphere
This book carried my emotions all over the place I was with it the whole way. Loved the romance and his descriptions of his romance. When Ari and Jude KISS vs when Jude and Maya kiss.
Writing
Simple straightforward writing that was well done. I like the way the book talks to me, but I’m glad it was not every page referencing me. Just enough to keep some humor and destress a little bit. Love the comics in the book, just a personal thing, but I don’t’ like songs written, because I can’t get the tune. Its not bad to have, just not a bonus for me.
Plot
Great plot, different than what I was expecting. I wish I got more epilogue, but it was a perfect spot to end it.
Investment
I barely put this book down when I was reading it.
Logic
I was once a teenage boy and yes I’ve felt similar things to Jude about similar people like Maya. So it was very consistent to me. Love that he calls himself out for not doing more with his luck when he had it.
Enjoyment
Absolutely love this book. Definitely going back to read book 1.
Misc
Both the kiss scenes.
Aceing his test and winning the tickets. Only to mess it up and ask maya.
Lunchroom scenes
The slow but sudden realization of loving Ari
Whats the point of winning if its all luck no skill
Ari’s songs are great
You’re the one with your nose in a book right now.
Just everything was great in this book.
</spoiler>
I will be talking about it on Libromancy https://libromancy.podbean.com/ on 8/4/24
Contains spoilers
C-9
A-9
W-9
P-9
I-9
L-8
E-9
TOTAL-8.86/10
<spoiler>
CAWPILE
Characters
Mouse and Bongo
Tomas
Foxy
Enid
Cotgrave
Loved the character of Mouse and Bongo. Foxy was Foxy, was good at points, but a little too much at others.
Atmosphere
Very well done. I was shaking while reading. I twisted myself like the twisted ones. What a Line! The eeriness of the effigy just watching and the Click click click. Chills everytime
Writing
Good writing, I enjoyed that it’s a “found story” also that it has a found story in it. I thought it played well with the narrative of not knowing if any or who survives.
Plot
Good plot plenty of twists
Investment
Heavily Invested in seeing where this ended up. And what is going on.
Logic
Great consistency, I just wish I knew more, but then it wouldn’t be horror but sci-fi.
Why did they avoid the Grandma, why and what mostly.
Also Mouse at the first sign of getting freaked out. You needed a metal bat for some bone breaking. That’s my only – here. No weapon for mouse
Enjoyment
While I don’t usually enjoy Horror, I really enjoyed this book, very creepy, with enough breaks to keep me feeling ok.
Misc
Whole lives hinging on Linoleum
Anna Fakeout- I thought she had kidnapped him maybe, until literally just before like 1 sentence before
Real world vs fake world distortion
Horny Stone
Click Click Click, caused by the effigy’s stones
Mouse’s editorializing Cotgraves’ book
Dog humor on Point. Watch the serial kill kill me
I made faces like the faces on the rocks, and I twisted myself about like the twisted ones, and I lay down flat on the ground like the dead ones.
</spoiler>
CAWPILE SCORE
C-5
A-7
W-6
P-7
I-8
L-7
E-8
TOTAL-6.86/10
Great Prologue, good worldbuilding and I like the way the magic is set up. Interested to see where it goes from here.
Sometimes power levels felt a bit inconsistent, good plot. Nice atmosphere
<spoiler>
CAWPILE
Characters
Raysha is a great character. Strong drive.
Hlaya and Octavian seem to have inconsistent power levels or it feels like they do.
Atmosphere
Good, interesting to have out
Writing
Good
Plot
Investment
Logic
Nothing felt out of place for me
Enjoyment
I did enjoy this book
Misc
</spoiler>
CAWPILE SCORE
C-7
A-8
W-8
P-9
I-8
L-8
E-8
TOTAL-8.14/10
<spoiler>
CAWPILE
<b>Characters</b>
Meido the land
Shinigami and the Yokai
Madeline
Owen- Drama play
Dax the yokai, very interesting after you know his secret and go back and look at his chapters
Ian
Emerson Shut herself in
Interesting way they all took Ian’s “Death”
<b>Atmosphere</b>
Just the right amount of creepiness in beginning for me.
Doesn’t change from horror to fantasy, but I felt less scared the farther I went.
<b>Writing</b>
I complete fell for all 3 twists, this should be the book of twists
Ian is the Oni, Tests are not positive not don’t show fear, but show fear. And Dax is a Demon and that the empress wants to destroy the world, which isn’t a huge twist.
<b>Plot</b>
Good plot, lots of twists none of which I saw coming except empress at very end is getting out.
I like that at the end. Their lives aren’t magically fixed, they are still where they were, but now without guilt.
<b>Investment</b>
Sucks you in fast. Invested in figuring out what’s happening. What exactly this new world is.
<b>Logic</b>
Internally consistent with what little I know of Yokai Lore.
<b>Enjoyment</b>
I don’t normally enjoy horror, but I did like this book perhaps because its YA.
<b>Misc</b>
Dax luring more and more people into the game. As a yokai. Getting his engimono. Getting it stabbed back into him.
Tests of loyalty. Fear. Cowardice. Lies. Wounded hearts. Honor. And finally, bravery
Debut Novel
</spoiler>
I will be talking about it on Libromancy https://libromancy.podbean.com/
The Uploaded
Ferrit Steinmetz
CAWPILE SCORE
C- 6
A-8
W-7
P-9
I-7
L-8
E-7
TOTAL-7.43/10
CAWPILECharactersSometimes I had a hard time remembering that most of these characters are 15-17.Amichai—I was really hoping he would become a hacker or programmer and do something that way, he turned out to be the worlds best Social Media Influencer. Has a moral character that won't be shaken, but is totally or could totally be corrupted at the end of the bookDare—what a flippy floppy character. Wish he'd had a secret shrive after betrayal. Would be better. Went from super scared to taking charge. Mastering Programming, felt a little too unreal Peaches—interesting, nice, committed. Mama Alex—master hacker, easily taken out by Drumgroole. Very competent Ian Drumgoole/gumdroole—Wow, unexpected that he's shrived Mortal since he was 11 basically. He's a throughbred Psychopath, with super control issues. Wickliffe/Wickcleft—Lost his ideals. Lived too long and can't see the solutions Izzy—wish we'd seen more of her.NeoChristians—can totally see this actually happening, but have to remember it wasn't mainstream Christians that turned but mostly spinoff's etcEvangeline—didn't need her Love Triangle section. But was good as a reminder of other belief. Very grief stricken, had to kill her parents after they were mind wipedAtmosphereWell written Atmosphere. Dark world, everybody is secretly/not secretly suidicidal. Nice use of showing how the world has deteriorated with the advent of UpterlifeWritingWriting was good, some spots I felt switched from Adult to YA. Shrive.PlotGood plot. The dead won't leave the living alone, the Living only want to die. Amichai must figure out how to fix the “system”. Didn't love or feel the real need of the “love Triangle”InvestmentGood desire to keep reading, Lots of False turns that were given to me. Small part in middle where I started to lose interest, but it picked up again. LogicLots of things made sense, the power of the dead, them watching all the time, their investment in basically destroying the Physical world, The hyper-addiction of the Dead to the hyper addicting drug of VR basically. The way everyone wants to die and move on to Upterlife. Interesting and thoughtout application of loss of death.EnjoymentI enjoyed the book, small-medium issues, but overall worth it. Life guard as they heroically hurled themselves underfoot. MiscSneaking a Pony in. Rewriting peoples brainsGumdroole at the end, what a loserThere is no perfect solution something will always go wrong in the long run, but those are new problems to fix and change when they happen. Nothing remains the same forever.The OLD Platitude. Life's Short and Then you die. Totally flipped on its headNice way to give propaganda- video pov is forced to watch as punishment in Isolation.Amichai “blocking” Ian Drumgoole.LifeGuard Sucks, cause they turn every mission into a suicide missionExplosions bring us closer to God.Amichai's Parents SUCKEven though Neochristians and “regular” people hated each other, they both had the intense desire for a life after this life. Didn't care about the Physical world.
I will be talking about it on Libromancy https://libromancy.podbean.com/ on 10/29/2023
System Collapse
Martha Wells
CAWPILE SCORE
C-7
A-6
W-8
P-7
I-7
L-8
E-9
TOTAL-7.43/10
CAWPILECharactersMurderbot feels surprisingly more human in this installment of the Murderbot diaries. The other characters don't feel stagnant, but not a lot of growth from them. I like that everybody is covering for Murderbot all the time. Murderbot deciding to go into therapy at the end. Foreshadowing Murderbot helping other secunits in the future.AtmosphereThe atmosphere was a little unique in that we were dealing with a Pre CR installation but I didn't feel enough was given in the writing to make it stand out more to me. WritingThis book felt like I was reading murderbot's actual diaries vs just a story like the previous ones. Small personal issue with “scene transitions” between past and present. Maybe it needed another linebreak, maybe something else. Maybe I'm bad at reading. It made it feel more real where sometimes things feel like that but just didn't 100% click in the reading for me.PlotGood plot, mostly dealing with the fallout of the last book while delving into a little bit of secret pre CR stuff.InvestmentIts Murderbot so of course I was invested in reading it. Couldn't put it down.LogicGood logic.EnjoymentI so enjoyed this book. ART: I don't hate anything. I'm discerning in my company. Passive-aggressive competition to see who could use the most annoyingly correct comm protocol. 4.7 seconds vs 4.732 secondsAdaCol2 : clock set MarkMurderbot giving the Sec-Units the ability to hack their own governing modulesArgucusssionsART doesn't enjoy threatening people, it enjoys getting its own way and threatening people is just one of them.MiscART is capable of doing its finances, but it ends up with numbers no one can trace. So they have to keep a hardcopy off network.
CAWPILE SCORE
C-6
A-6
W-6
P-6
I-6
L-6
E-6
TOTAL-6/10
CAWPILECharactersFun characters, a little bit stereotyped, but that's too be expected and they weren't complete cookie cutter characters.AtmosphereWell written, definitely captured the vibes of Teenage girlsWritingGood writing, fits very well with middle-grade PlotGood plot with good progress and change and just enough tricks to make it worth it.InvestmentI was very curious as to where the story would go and how the Princesses would resolve the mess.LogicI liked that cleaning was the method for forgetting. EnjoymentThe Unicorns were fun and unexpected. I'm glad that the school ended with a change in policy about how to “fix your stories.Misc
CAWPILE SCORE
C-5
A-5
W-5
P-7
I-6
L-7
E-6
TOTAL-5.86/10
Not her debut novel as far as I can tell, but you can definitely feel that A.K. Caggiano is starting out. A decent book, but having read her Villains and Virtues series that series is much better.
CAWPILECharactersIvyOakley—Typical stoner dude, with some nice changes near the end.SafiyaRufus Vlcek-WolfEvan-WolfVictoria Jiang- SirenCalla- VampirePauline and PennyAlastair Proctor-WarlockTharman Beryleaxe-DwarfMost characters were pretty stagnant in their growth, but the characters were all unique and had good reasons for what they did.AtmosphereGated Community vibe. Liked the “factions” playing against each other. WritingPlotSimple murder mystery turned into something more, felt a little rushed. Lots of place to place.InvestmentNeeded more romance. The Romance was very very backseat in this story and I wanted more. I thought I'd be getting more. LogicClearly Oakley is developing his sylvan powers and Ivy also will have some, but how/why parents etc.EnjoymentI really thought that Safiya was going to be the culprit. Victoria came out of nowhere for me. MiscCalled that Penny had future sight. Netherlight fragment interestingWas Hunter Proctor the wolf you scarred Penny and that's why Rufus couldn't out them, because he wasn't “out” himself. Called that Hunter was a Werewolf earlier than revealed. As soon as they mentioned a medicine every month. Pretty obvious Cockatrice was interestingish.
I will be talking about it on Libromancy https://libromancy.podbean.com/ on 09/10/2023
CAWPILE SCORE
C-6
A-5
W-5
P-6
I-6
L-5
E-5
TOTAL-5.57/10
This is a good sequel to the first book. Parts of it just didn't work as well for me. Other parts did work well.
CAWPILECharactersAveda Jupiter/Annie Chang lots of good emotional and character growthScott normal things, funny that he made an anti-love spellBea is still dumbAtmosphereNothing really notable for meWritingStandard writing, nothing exceptional or badPlotDecent plot that did have me guessing who was behind it and why the whole time.InvestmentHard for me to be invested. I wanted more Evie and NateLogicFollowed its own rules consistently.EnjoymentI mostly enjoyed reading this.Misc
I will be talking about it on Libromancy https://libromancy.podbean.com/ on 08/27/2023
CAWPILE SCORE
C-10
A-8
W-9
P-8
I-9
L-9
E-10
TOTAL-9/10
CAWPILECharactersI absolutely love the characters in this book. Warren—Love his personality that he loves to cook and that he sometimes has a bit of a scary side. Isolde IZ—her obsession with figuring things out and the love that She and Warren share together was amazing.Old GebPrincess ConstanceHorace AlmanVictor CholmondeleyDr. Luella Timmons-WilbyProfessor Silas WilbyTurdus Feliovox—Just hilarious DragonAtmosphereThe feel of the city and the pollution was real and everpresent and the scenes describing the places they visited really worked for me.WritingJosiah's writing in this book was amazing. It had so many hilarious parts that had me laughing hard at silly jokes, and then turn to some serious thinkingPlotGreat plot with lots of twists, turns, and stumbling blocks to keep me entertained the whole time I was reading it and guessing with the characters who was responsible for what.InvestmentLoved every minute of reading this book. Very funny. Very hard to put down especially after 75%LogicEverything followed the rules that it should. And was easy to follow without me having to concoct loops for it to work.EnjoymentAbsolutely amazing book. So much fun. I'm so glad this is the start of a series, I can't wait for more adventures of the HexologistsMiscSmall Sherlock Holmes Vibes mixed with Warehouse 13 vibes. Humor was amazingDragon Tug of WarGreat opening line. The king wishes to be cooked alive,” the royal secretary saidThe love that Warren and Iz show each other. Maybe a bit too frequent reminder that they have lots of loud sex, but I'm not really complaining.
I will be talking about it on Libromancy https://libromancy.podbean.com/
Characters were flimsy and it changed POV so many times I couldn't keep track. N'halia becomes an incredible fighter winning against people whose job it is to fight in a couple weeks... on the run. She also doesn't seem to care about the family that raised her when they die, not thinking about them again, until she decides she's fighting for revenge against a pit fighter she'd never meet before. which is then dropped immediately. nobody questions her attitude about anything. Things were often often times overexplained, even when it didn't need explaining
The Magic seems cool and unique but had inconsistencies and wasn't enough to keep me going.
Powers
Strength
Flame
Shadow
Light
Seeing
Hearing
Characters kept “Grouding” themselves to mean they weren't going to be easily knocked over.
