worthy's reviews
158 reviews

Celestial Monsters by Aiden Thomas

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adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted 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

5.0

Celestial Monsters is a beautiful and thoughtful conclusion to the Sunbearer Trails series and the stories of Teo, Niya, Aurelio and Xio. Every thing about this book from the writing to the world-building really shine but I think the characters, notably Teo, Xio and Aurelio, all get so much development throughout which certainly helps the unexpected end to the book to feel all the more earned. So much time is spent with these characters throughout the series and following their journeys has been nothing but a joy! Teo especially emerged as a quick favourite in the first book and seeing him grow and find his way was so exciting as a reader. But the character who I really warmed up to (no pun intended) was Aurelio.
He is so sweet but also so hurt that you just fall in love with his character so quickly and watching his romance with Teo blossom was pure magic. I think that’s probably the best way to describe Celestial Monsters, magic. Everything I could want from this book was delivered in spades and I already know this will be a favourite for 2025 and among anything I've had the pleasure of reading.
You've Reached Sam by Dustin Thao

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emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.5

I think what You've Reached Sam excels at is its portrayal of grief and how human it is. Julie's struggles are reflected in how messy everything feels with the narrative. What Julie ultimately learns is that letting go doesn't mean forgetting the person you’ve lost and despite how long it takes her to learn that, the ending makes that message so heard and felt by Julie that it leaves the back on a phenomenal ending. It is a heartbreaking read but I am so happy that this is the book that I got to start 2025 with. This book has everything from an amazing cast of characters (special shout-out to Oliver in particular) to beautiful and emotional writing and a message that is profoundly honest and universal. You've Reached Sam deserves better than to be a "Tik-Tok book", it deserves to be celebrated for its handling of such a delicate topic and for how it showcases the many sides of grief whilst keeping each one honest and perfectly grounded.
The Extraordinaries by TJ Klune

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adventurous funny lighthearted 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

4.25

The Extraordinaries is one of those books that starts fairly strong, struggles a little in the middle but ultimately makes a fantastic comeback in the end to make a superb read! Nick is one of those cameras who really takes his time to develop but once that development hits, he becomes a great example of how a selfish main character can be transformed. I genuinely had a rough time understanding his character, especially in the second act of the story but in the last act, he really redeemed himself and learnt from the events of the story which makes all of the struggle feel so worth while! What I really enjoyed about The Extraordinaries is the fact that it can be out-right stupid and out-of-pocket in some places but in others it has some really strong twists on regular superhero formulas and those twists really make this book in my opinion. The Extraordinaries is one of those reads that is just a fun, stupid ride and not only does it deliver a satisfying punch with it’s conclusion but it’s made a great cap off for my last book of 2024!

P.S. I really thought Nick was also going to be revealed to be an Extraordinary, that shit at the bridge and Burke Tower is too much of a coincidence!
Horseman by Christina Henry

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

Having read many of Christina Henry’s novels, it thrills me to say that Horseman is my favourite of her works so far! This book gripped me from start to end and with each page, a new piece of the story came together and the many mysteries of the Headless Horseman and Sleepy Hollow itself all come together in a chilling finale. Ben is such an interesting character to read as he really changes and develops throughout the book and even then, there’s still a mystery around some elements of his character that make him so fascinating to follow. In my eye, Horseman is everything you could want from a Christina Henry novel: a story with constant twists, intriguing characters, a haunting setting, thrilling horror, plenty of blood and an excellent retelling of a classic tale!
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

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dark mysterious sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

We Have Always Lived in The Castle certainly does a fantastic job at being a Shirley Jackson book, the mystery and intrigue is there from the outset and the fact that so much of this book is left up to analysis and interpretation makes this read one I could get so easily invested in.
The reveal of who the killer of the majority of the Blackwood family was and the destruction of the house were both such incredible
moments that genuinely had my hands trembling and my jaw dropped.
A lot of the horror here comes from the images in Merricat’s head rather than the real life events and the darkness of these images really gives you a deep insight to her character which leads greatly into later parts of the book. There’s so much here to take in and really toss and turn over, like the relationship between Merricat and Constance, the reliability of Merricat’s narration and the way they are treated by the rest of the village. There’s so much here that can be dug into and I know for a fact that I will be thinking about We Have Always Lived in The Castle and all of its details for a long long time.
She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen

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funny hopeful fast-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

4.25

I think simple but effective is the best way that I could describe She Drives Me Crazy! It does the fake dating and enemies to lovers tropes incredibly well and doesn’t do a lot to pull the focus away from that. Scottie and Irene are incredibly well developed and written as characters and the unexpected Christmas setting was a nice surprise for when I started reading this! Overall, I don’t have much to say except that it did what it meant to but it did it very well!
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

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

4.75

Iron Widow is a fucking rollercoaster from start to end and the level of rage throughout makes it such a unique ride to be on. Zetian is such an interesting narrator because of the fact that her view point is so clear and fundamental to how the story functions and there’s no way it could work not being from her perspective. Yizhi and Shimin are both so deeply interesting as characters but they also both balance out Zetian in so many ways. The last 30 pages were honestly a whirlwind all of their own and that epilogue especially stirred some reactions out of me. Iron Widow is simply great and I think the sooner its sequel, Heavenly Tyrant comes out, the better!
The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

The Darkness Outside Us is another one of those reads that I had greatly anticipated getting to throughout the year (after finally being able to track down a copy) and whilst I was hoping that it was every bit as good as I’d heard, I found something really unexpected. This isn’t the book I’d thought it would be but I mean that in the best of ways. I can’t say much without ruining the twists at the fundamental core of the story but this book had me genuinely shocked more times than I could count. Each piece of information only added to Ambrose and Kodiak’s struggles and it all the more made me want to see them succeed. So much happens within the space of 396 pages that it’s almost hard to wrap your brain around it but the book leaves a lot of time between each big event to allow those new pieces of information to settle in, in a way making you feel like Ambrose and Kodiak. The book knows when to tread over things and when to speed things up and that’s ultimately a big help in making the book more manageable. It’s hard to explain just what The Darkness Outside Us made me feel but all that I know is that there’s no way I will forget it any time soon.
The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang

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funny hopeful lighthearted fast-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? It's complicated

4.25

The Prince and The Dressmaker is as about adorable of a graphic novel that you can get! Whether it be the illustrations, the message or the characters, this book is sickly sweet in the best way and it’s simplicity in terms of what it wants to say makes this book one that is simple but so effective. Sebastian is such a great main character because from the outset, his journey and the path feels clear and each moment only serves to build his character. To be honest, I don’t have much else to say about this one but I honestly feel that is a testimony to how strong The Prince and The Dressmaker is.
Aristotle and Dante Dive Into the Waters of the World by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

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emotional funny hopeful reflective 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

4.5

Aristotle and Dante Dive Into The Waters of The World is a sequel I’ve been low-key dreading due to the fact that I loved the first so much, and whilst I didn’t love this one as much as the first, I can’t deny there’s something great here! This book expands on so much of the first book, particularly when it comes to Ari’s character and the book really takes its time to gradually flesh him out. In a way that’s also part of the book’s problem, it’s a long read and while I felt it was more than worth it, I can understand why this would be off putting for some. The coverage of the AIDS movement was done really well in my opinion and there is so much depth with the ideas of how Ari and Dante feel about their sexuality and that greatly develops throughout the book. If you loved the first, you’ll love this one and while it’s not a perfect or a needed sequel, I think it’s a sequel I’m glad we have.