story_goblin's reviews
348 reviews

Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse

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adventurous dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Although it was a little formulaic/predictable in the plot, the world building was fantastic. I was fully immersed and immediately wanted to read the next book.
All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is very different than what I normally read. I have a feeling it’s pretty different than most other things. It has most of the elements of a crime thriller but it’s not really one. It shares a lot with “slice of life” types but definitely isn’t that either. It was certainly engrossing and all the characters felt like real humans.
Hogfather by Terry Pratchett

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challenging dark funny hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

The Magicians of Caprona by Diana Wynne Jones

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Diana Wynne Jones is such a vivid writer! I love how her matter of fact tone mixes with the fantasy world building.
Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson

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5.0

All Out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens Throughout the Ages by Saundra Mitchell

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

3.75

Soul Music by Terry Pratchett

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funny hopeful reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Great fun but not necessarily my favorite Discworld book
Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

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dark emotional funny mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

I kept seeing this book and being intrigued by the concept but not interested in the romance aspect. I am extremely picky about relationship-focused stories. Then my book club picked it as a group read and I’m so glad! The plot about working for The Villain was exactly what I hoped for, and the romance plot was so much better than I expected!
The Lost Metal: A Mistborn Novel by Brandon Sanderson

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adventurous challenging dark hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Wonderfully crafted ending to the series. I loved almost everything about it. I have not read Stormlight Archive yet, but I have read Secret History and the Secret Novels, so I know a little about the Cosmere beyond Scadrial. My one and only complaint is that
I was very confused by Autonomy as an entity. Like, all the other shards I know of make sense to me- Preservation wants to keep everything the same forever, and Ruin wants to destroy everything always. But what the actions and motivations of Autonomy do not line up with the name?? Idk, maybe it makes more sense when you’ve read Stormlight.
Everything else was perfect!
Illuminations by T. Kingfisher

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adventurous funny hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was fun- I especially liked how detailed all the characters are. The concept is also interesting.