unboundbibliophile's reviews
422 reviews

The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense 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? No

4.75

Hassa is my fav, love the disability and LGBTQ rep. The history that was sprinkled throughout was delightful. Amazing ending can't wait for the next book!

My only complaint is that Anoor's storyline felt a little YA at certain times. (Also wouldve loved some poly rep in here but ya can't have everything I guess). But besides that A+ work!!!
Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio

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slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

*Spoilers* In a galaxy 20,000 years in the future the Catholic Church (aka the Chantry) rules everything and everyone. Roman culture prevails on the TWO planets we visit in this book. Future Hardian is telling us how he destroyed a sun and is awaiting his execution but the only thing we get to see is him putzing around being a Myrmidon for half the book. Besides that he's either a spoiled, ignorant rich kid, or a beggar in the streets. And even though he's on two distinctly different planets the culture is still the same, just Rome with some scifi tech. Diversity in the main cast is also severely lacking. And the MMC mentions his height, A LOT. I think I heard "I'm short for a Palentine (because he's a genetic marvel engineered by scientists of the upper class) but I'm much taller than any Pleeb (because normal humans are called Pleebians in this book)" more than five times. *eyeroll*
Pretty disappointed with this one because the praise for this book was high. It's not an awful book, but it's not great, in my opinion. Very average, and I can tell he used Dune as heavy inspiration. It might get better in the other books but I'm not going to read them. Rome imagery is a pretty hard pass for me and I've heard it only gets more prevalent. 
System Collapse by Martha Wells

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adventurous lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Network Effect by Martha Wells

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

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medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Exit Strategy by Martha Wells

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adventurous lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells

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adventurous lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

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adventurous lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75