Nico
This is a solid sequel with more political intrigue and action than the first book. I consumed this on audiobook quickly and just as with the first book, the animal companions are my favorite characters.
As an adult I've found I often struggle with teen/YA books these days, but not this one. I'm all here for sentient AI stories especially ones with the found family trope. I burned through this.
An interesting book of humans in the very distant future. It has a lot of interesting plays on gender and family and societal structure, but audio is probably not the way to go with this one since I personally missed a lot of nuance.
Unpopular opinion I guess, but this did zero for me and I adore the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series all every other thing I've read by Laini Taylor. I didn't find it a cute story, there was no plot and the dialogue was grating.
I was no where as interested in this sequel as I was the first of the series. I didn't find the plot, characters or character relationships anything special. This was just okay. I'll still try the next in the series.
Nalo Hopkinson's storytelling is ingenious IMO especially in short form - just brilliant - and captivates me line after line. She is too underread and underrated on GRs. She is THE most imaginative writer in my opinion and can write anything from horror, sci-fi, fantastical, loving, hopeful, brutal, real to just plain weird. This collection falls behind Falling in Love with Hominids for me, there were just more stories in that collection that were favorites.
A solid mystery, but not very memorable in terms of plot. Krueger's writing is phenomenal.
Good book. Kinda slow, but I liked the setting, themes, romance, and for me it had a great spin vampire lore compared to what I'm used to.
I continued to enjoy Krueger's writing, but the mystery plot was just okay. 3.5 stars.
4.5 stars, 4 rating for now. I REALLY enjoyed this book, but I can see how it might not be for everyone. This and the Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee reminded me of each other because of the focus of the gang/mafia-esque groups. I really liked the multi POV (though it wasn't the typical complicated style), character development, and story overall. I'm also happy I liked it because I only have read Of Gods and Jade and Shadow and I was not a fan.
I'm all in on the hype train for this YA. Truly one of the most enjoyable YAs I've read in a few years. Also because it's fast paced, well written and has great themes for teens, I actually think it's a great one for teens to pick up.
This has all that I expect from a great YA/teen book: themes, dynamic characters and a gripping plot. The main character has to take daily medication and also lost his mom some years back, so this could be good for those young people in similar circumstances, but I recommend for all.
I loved this creepy, dark story narrated by a dog. It's a bit of a mystery and it was an easy read to get through. Highly recommend.
4.5 stars, only for a somewhat flat, mustache twirling villain. I loved this book, I gobbled up the audio in a day! I guess at the end of the day this could be classified as a fantasy romance, but I thought the magic system was really cool and the book is a unique meshing of Eastern and Western magic and lore (imagine a place where vampires, fox spirits, elves, sphinxes, and much more are all live together with humans). I was apprehensive about going into this because the cover signaled it would be a romance (which I am not feeling right now), but I liked it A LOT, even the romance. Dual perspective POV and I suspect that at the least fans of Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke & Bone will like this one.
I think this is for those folks who really enjoy classic gothic novels but want a unique spin on the monster. I was immediately hooked by some of the set up, but the pacing of the story didn't work for me and at the end I felt like too much was happening and the book had long lost me.
Emezi is a phenomenal story teller who enchants me with their writing. This book's approach reminds me of a memoir and I suspect plot driven readers will not like this one.
I absolutely loved this sci-fi space mystery and I'm truly confused as to why it's so poorly rated on GRs. Is it perfection? No. But it's by no means bad and I think the mystery is solid - it's a solid book overall IMO. I zipped through the audiobook and it was by far my most enjoyable audiobook as of late. I am waiting for my Rosewater hold to come in, hopefully much sooner than later.
This was a fast-paced story that I was thoroughly creeped out by. Monsters, lore, small-town, yes please!
A debut that makes me think James is an author to watch. I didn't really like this book, even though the writing is amazing IMO. The problem for me is that the storytelling is lacking, I think because so much of the journey is describing what felt mundane and the stories James wanted to tell got lost for me in those MANY moments.
I gobbled up this comedy thriller about a woman in the midst of a divorce who is hired as staff of the Stranger Times newspaper. In a way this was a comfort read for me.
Love love love love love this book. I CANNOT wait to see what Blackgoose writes next.
I LOVED this book and gobbled up the audio. It is a fantastic modern gothic and I don't want to say much else, except if you want to read go in with no expectations of what it should be because you might be disappointed. The writing is lush and story engrossing IMO. I wanted more from some character perspectives, but I loved the journey to the conclusion and I had chills throughout.
This is a horror light 2023 release that might work for you if you fear that nightmares can have meaning beyond the dreamworld, crows terrify you, or if you want to explore family grief. For me this was a big miss, but I think I'm in the minority of folks who didn't like this book since it has a relatively high rating for Goodreads. Simply, I was never creeped me out the way I expect a horror to - my heart raced once, but barely towards the end and it didn't last. My reading experience was also dampened by the characters actively and repeatedly withholding information from one another, and that's just is not a thing that I enjoy reading about.
I. LOVED. THIS. COLLECTION. Though I read and watch mostly fantasy and some sci-fi, this collection reminded me of what I love the most about the genres: the imagination, the immersion in worlds I could never fathom existing, the awe at a writer's creativity. I hungered for these short stories and I didn't even know I had been missing this kind of SFF for so long. I just had so much fun with all of them, even the thematically powerful ones that hit my heart. The writing, the worlds, the storytelling, the mini-plots, the characterization, the dialogue - all A+++. It's crazy it took me so long to finally read works by the multiple award winning author Nalo Hopkinson, but I am definitely hyped up to add the Midnight Robber and Skin Folk to my TBR.