i saw something like this from a different fandom, and i've never made a poll before, so here we go:

i wanted to add others but there's a ten-option limit that i was previously unaware of hehe

In the Woods

★★★☆☆

Oh my god. The premise of In the Woods is interesting on its own: three children enter the forest, only one is ever seen again, his shoes are covered in blood and he has no memory of what happened. Then twenty years later another child from the same town is found dead on a Bronze-age sacrificial alter, and it appears the two cases might be connected.

This book completely freaked me out. Not that that's hard to do; I'm very easily scared and usually avoid thrillers for that reason; but holy smokes. Fear glued my eyes to the paper, which is why I finished this sucker in two days, and why I stayed awake all of last night, convinced someone would break in and murder me at any given moment. So, judging this book by the emotions it conjures, I'd give it four stars out of five.

And, for the first two thirds of the book, it could have become a five-star book. The beginning was a little shaky, but eventually I stopped thinking of the writing style as pretentious and started appreciating it instead. And, like I mentioned before, the mystery was spot on. I think I was actually shaking during a couple passages, and I loved guessing who was the murderer and what their motive could've been. Everything for the main mystery was set up and explained well, which made it even better.

Enter my issues with the book. Rob, the protagonist, and his best friend and partner, Cassie, were the starring duo of this book in the beginning. I loved their banter, their ease with each other, and their entire dynamic, and best of all there was no romance. But, two thirds in, (view spoiler), which sort of ruined everything. Not because of the romance itself, but because of the way it was handled. Cassie and Rob had felt unshakable before, but afterwords Rob pretty much shut down all Cassie's attempts to bridge the gap, and the worst part? There was no resolution! No apologies, no closure, no conclusion to anyone's character arc. And that was all very frustrating.

And speaking of lack of conclusions, the absolute worst part of this book is that the first mystery, the one where two children went missing, was never solved! Like, if it was just a background thing, that would've been understandable, but literally half the book is spent trying to figure out whether the two murders were related, and evidence suggesting that they could've been connected was found, but then there was no resolution at all. I understand that open ended stories have their literary purpose, but in a murder mystery you expect the detectives to, you know, solve the mystery.

All in all, this could've been a four star book, or even a five star one, had there been any conclusion whatsoever. But alas, In the Woods only leaves me with questions, and not even the good kind. I would not recommend.

a few characters have more than one set of pronouns in the stories I'm writing rn, so I'm curious what people's thoughts are on this :0

character who is sun-coded but not in the traditional ray-of-sunshine way. character who is sun-coded in the sense that they burn hot and bright and powerful, that they're a raging fury of fire and passion, and that maybe, just maybe, they are destroying themselves as they do so.

I hope every writer who sees this writes LOADS the next few months. Like freetime opens up, no writers block, the ability to focus, etc etc you're able to write loads & make lots of progress <3

Muse of Nightmares

★★★★★

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR STRANGE THE DREAMER

Muse of Nightmares picks up right where Strange the Dreamer left off, and it does not disappoint one bit. There is so much encompassed in these 528 pages that I don't even know how to describe it. To start, though, Muse of Nightmares is jam packed with themes of love and healing. Romantic love, platonic love, familial love, self-love... it's all in this book, and every kind of love is handled so well. And then there were the intertwined (parallel?) stories of Minya and Nova, and the reason they made such compelling, sympathetic villains was this: at the heart of all their "evil," they were really just scared, traumatized children doing what they thought was right. Out of all the books I've read, it's not uncommon for them to have an intentional message, but Muse of Nightmares really says something, and says it memorably, and I wouldn't change a single thing about it. Just like with Strange the Dreamer, this book's strength lies in its characters. All of them changed so much throughout the course of this story while still remaining true to themselves. I already brought up Minya and Nova, but beyond that Lazlo experiences a lot of development, and so does Thyon Nero, of all people. The history of the gods of Weep is uncovered as well, and it explains so much about the gods' actions in the previous book. Muse of Nightmares also possesses an amazing plot. Everything that was introduced before gets wrapped up so nicely, whether that be the plots between characters or the entire multidimensional mystery of where the gods' bastard children were disappearing to or even where the seraphim came from. Every question I had was answered, and even better, it was answered just in the nick of time---slowly enough to inflict suspense, but quickly enough that I figured it out right before the reveal. That's all I have time to write right now but I just have to say I still think Laini Taylor is a genius and I loved this duology and I might have to buy it so I can reread these books over and over again. I completely recommend this series to everyone who enjoys fantasy!

Strange the Dreamer

★★★★☆

In middle school, I remember reading and really liking Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone series. That, and a friend's recommendation, inspired me to pick up Strange the Dreamer, and I'm so glad I did.

What is this book about? It's so creative and wonderful that it's hard to describe, but in short: Lazlo is an orphan obsessed with the lost city of Weep. Sarai is a half-goddess who lives in a giant floating citadel above the city. Lazlo accompanies other experts to Weep in order to help discover the secret of the citadel, and discovers the twisted history of the old murdered gods of Weep.

If that summary doesn't sound enticing, don't worry, because it doesn't do the book justice at all. On a more fundamental level, Strange the Dreamer is about love, both the power it gives us and has over us. It's about prejudice. It's about judging people for their parents' mistakes, and it's about what makes a hero or a villain.. (Let me just say, the themes in this book were presented excellently.)

So, as always, I will start with the things I liked.

High on the list is characterization, because holy smokes, Taylor knows how to write a protagonist. The scene where Lazlo first came to the library almost made me cry because it reminded me so much of why I fell in love with stories in the first place. He's a very genuine character, and something that really struck me was what a good person he is. I mean, lots of books have "good person" main characters, but we were never told that Lazlo is good. It's shown through his actions, and that makes all the difference. He's always willing to lend a helping hand, but he also knows when to back off, and understands that people have to star in their own stories.

And our other protagonist, Sarai, was also great. Her gift of entering and altering other people's dreams is explored deeply, and so is her relationship with Minya, who manipulated her into using her powers to bring nightmares to the citizens of Weep. A lot of Sarai's perspective dwells on her guilt and turmoil and longing to be considered a normal girl, but it never feels repetitive or annoying. When Sarai is sad, so is the reader, and when she's happy the reader rejoices.

Speaking of which, the romance also deserves a shout out. I'm not usually a fan of lovey-dovey books, but Sarai and Lazlo were so sweet together that I couldn't help but enjoy this one. They tell each other their deepest secrets and support each other's most difficult decisions. Maybe it's just me, but I also loved how slow they took their relationship. And, I think my favorite part was that, even though Sarai was raised to despise humans and Lazlo was told horrendous stories about the blue gods of Weep, they came to understand each other's people as well as love each other. And the ending completely broke my heart, but anyway

However, as wonderful as the characterization is, it pales in comparison to my favorite aspect of Strange the Dreamer, which is the sheer creativity. I think Laini Taylor must be a genius or something. I don't want to spoil the story, but let's just say the dilemma Weep is facing, the creatures that used to live there, the fact that everyone in the book has two hearts (one that pumps blood and one that pumps spirit), the tattoos the women of Weep receive, and of course the writing style... Reading this book really does feel like stepping into a dream.

To anyone who loves fantasy, I completely recommend Strange the Dreamer. I can't wait to read the sequel!

EVERYONE QUICK describe your oc story in the worst way possible

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis

Review:

An amazing YA Fantasy book about an Arthurian legend with a much needed dose of diversity and race!

Bisexual rep. Appreciate the use of pronouns (“they”/“their”).

I loved the vastness of the world in which the Legendborn reside, even the creatures and how the Merlin are created and their battle against the Shadowborn.

As a writer, I also loved Tracy Deonn’s writing style. There were moments when I enjoyed the descriptions she wrote. They were unique and vivid.

Bree is a truly gem in this book. She’s one of those characters who felt so real. Every emotion she expresses, whether it be fear, anger, or grief, felt so genuine. As expected in a questionably white society of Legendborn, Bree goes through a lot, especially racism of all things.

I loved how Bree’s power developed and how each person’s use of aether emitted a different scent for her. That was pretty neat. It was refreshing to see the difference in power dynamic, between the Order who seize the power for themselves, rather than the black community who ask permission for it.

I loved Nick and how he was pretty much by Bree’s side from the beginning. I was a bit worried when Sel spoke about how Nick was in the past (the privilege that comes with being the heir of King Arthur), but Nick didn’t disappoint!

Sel. The kingsmage with quite the temper. While he’s been an interesting character from the beginning, he started to annoy me when he kept getting suspicious about Bree. But thankfully, he mellows down and actually becomes very likeable, at least for me lol.

The unraveling of the mystery about her mother and the Order was so well done. You think you have an idea what’s going on, but you start to realise how wrong you are lol.

One after another, the twists just kept on coming, and man, were they so good!!

The ending was simply badass, especially for Bree who finally got some clarity. I cannot wait to read the sequel!

If you love badass black heroines, a much needed discussion about race and grief and a rich fantasy world, this book is for you!

If you enjoyed this review, please consider buying me a coffee ☕️

Let’s be friends on Goodreads 📚

people on here are always saying “we NEED a story where the art of storytelling is abandoned” like ugh literary devices are soo annoying like that wouldn’t happen in real life that only happened to further the story (why is there story in my story) why would orpheus turn around when he was explicitly told not to why would icarus fly so close to the sun romeo&juliet catcher in the rye why are they so earnest why pour your heart and soul into anything why bother why cant all art be quippy logical monotony like my marvel movies there’s a void in my heart bc i refused to fill it and the curtains were blue

Strange the Dreamer

★★★★☆

In middle school, I remember reading and really liking Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone series. That, and a friend's recommendation, inspired me to pick up Strange the Dreamer, and I'm so glad I did.

What is this book about? It's so creative and wonderful that it's hard to describe, but in short: Lazlo is an orphan obsessed with the lost city of Weep. Sarai is a half-goddess who lives in a giant floating citadel above the city. Lazlo accompanies other experts to Weep in order to help discover the secret of the citadel, and discovers the twisted history of the old murdered gods of Weep.

If that summary doesn't sound enticing, don't worry, because it doesn't do the book justice at all. On a more fundamental level, Strange the Dreamer is about love, both the power it gives us and has over us. It's about prejudice. It's about judging people for their parents' mistakes, and it's about what makes a hero or a villain.. (Let me just say, the themes in this book were presented excellently.)

So, as always, I will start with the things I liked.

High on the list is characterization, because holy smokes, Taylor knows how to write a protagonist. The scene where Lazlo first came to the library almost made me cry because it reminded me so much of why I fell in love with stories in the first place. He's a very genuine character, and something that really struck me was what a good person he is. I mean, lots of books have "good person" main characters, but we were never told that Lazlo is good. It's shown through his actions, and that makes all the difference. He's always willing to lend a helping hand, but he also knows when to back off, and understands that people have to star in their own stories.

And our other protagonist, Sarai, was also great. Her gift of entering and altering other people's dreams is explored deeply, and so is her relationship with Minya, who manipulated her into using her powers to bring nightmares to the citizens of Weep. A lot of Sarai's perspective dwells on her guilt and turmoil and longing to be considered a normal girl, but it never feels repetitive or annoying. When Sarai is sad, so is the reader, and when she's happy the reader rejoices.

Speaking of which, the romance also deserves a shout out. I'm not usually a fan of lovey-dovey books, but Sarai and Lazlo were so sweet together that I couldn't help but enjoy this one. They tell each other their deepest secrets and support each other's most difficult decisions. Maybe it's just me, but I also loved how slow they took their relationship. And, I think my favorite part was that, even though Sarai was raised to despise humans and Lazlo was told horrendous stories about the blue gods of Weep, they came to understand each other's people as well as love each other. And the ending completely broke my heart, but anyway

However, as wonderful as the characterization is, it pales in comparison to my favorite aspect of Strange the Dreamer, which is the sheer creativity. I think Laini Taylor must be a genius or something. I don't want to spoil the story, but let's just say the dilemma Weep is facing, the creatures that used to live there, the fact that everyone in the book has two hearts (one that pumps blood and one that pumps spirit), the tattoos the women of Weep receive, and of course the writing style... Reading this book really does feel like stepping into a dream.

To anyone who loves fantasy, I completely recommend Strange the Dreamer. I can't wait to read the sequel!

this isn't really organized

but I'm a chronic bookworm

also, I am the first two. I strongly prefer physical copies, but when I can't find the book in my small library near me, I will read online.

please reblog so that it's not just a couple of my mutuals who answer this 😅

also I get that it's a convenience thing for some people choosing to read online only, and that reading online is easier for some bc of things like eye problems

Pour one out for all the stories you'll never find again, that you barely remember in totality, but that left an impression on you that you'll never forget.

The short stories from standardized tests that you only had a few minutes to read, but those minutes will last a lifetime.

The books on the library display shelf you used to occupy time until your mom could come pick you up from school.

The graphic novel you picked up when you were first getting into comics and could never find again.

The single lines or themes from stories you otherwise don't remember, save for the one thing that you saw and internalized as a new part of your personality.

Let's pour one out for the books that built us, even if we never could find them again, and couldn't of we wanted to.

I'm saying this as a fan, but also as somebody who worked their arse off writing screenplays at film school, don't hate on the writers when they go on strike.

Writers control the story of the show, there is so much detail and fine tuning done in the scripts. Everything an actor or a director adds, is adapted from the script. There is no show without the script, but still screenwriters are horrendously underappreciated and underpaid.

Director, actors and producers usually end up with most of the credit.

Writers deserve to be seen. If your favorite show is delayed because of the upcoming strikes, don't be surprised and please don't be angry at the writers. They are fighting for their art to be appreciated.

Turns out I am not as in tune with the media as I thought

I'm definitely not going to booktok for recommendations 😂