ariel937's reviews
363 reviews

Light Beneath Ferns by Anne Spollen

2.0

it was....okay. just okay. i thought the prose was beautiful, but even that was put off by how annoying of a character Elizah “I’m Not Like Other Girls” was. i think Spollen’s attempt to write with the voice of a teen girl was definitely a miss. the mood of the story was interesting enough, but the interactions with Nathaniel left much to be desired. i wouldn’t call this story “unique,” just very....”eehhh?” “different?” the slenderness of this book was initially attractive to me but i felt it would have been better if it was longer, if the story and characters were more fleshed out, of the spookiness was....spookier? in any case, Spollen does have a voice for the creeps and I hope she writes again to expand her creepiness. over all, an okay reread from a book i read in high school, but just like my first read through, this book is nothing spectacular or worth keeping.

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager

3.0

this was actually a pretty good read. it’s definitely not as creepy as people say it is, and i wish Sager stopped repeating the same information over and over again. like, we get it lol, we’re all on the same page. i also really want Sager to develop ambiance in his writing. the setting for a weird, creepy old hotel with weird, creepy old people would make the ending SO MUCH WORSE.

however, DAT ENDING DOE. that is the kind of “wow this is really fucked up” that i LOVE. Sager certainly could have gone the extra mile with it 100% but the message it ends with is pretty scary and closer to reality than a lot of people think it is.


(MILD SPOILERS if you’ve read “final girls”)
there is also a twist that is uh very similar to Sager’s first book which is like???

Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh

4.0

this was a really beautiful fairytale. i read it all in one sitting, and i really feel like it's meant to be read that way. it focuses on the characters and magic of this "hallow," but doesn't;t have much of a plot. if you're looking for something whimsical, eerie, and hypnotizing, i recommend it!

Kissing Tolstoy by Penny Reid

2.0

i don't get the hype tbh :/ i know that there's an audience for this, and i can kind of understand why people might like it?? kind of? but it just felt really rushed, the characters aren't very well-developed, and mentioning that the main character is obsessed with russian literature every other second was a bit too much. it's really not that bad, but i just...really didn't like this. i might still continue on to the second book and try to read the beard books (whatever they're called LOL) since i have them both.

Vicious by L.J. Shen

3.0

this honestly wasn’t that bad. the writing was definitely repetitive - like we get it, he’s vicious lol - and very bland. there was only one line in the whole book that made me laugh and it had to do with a painting and Napoleon Bonaparte, lmao. there were so many times when i rolled my eyes or cringed from second hand embarrassment because i felt as if the author was really trying too hard. sometimes the bad assery worked, sometime it fell completely flat.

this is a dark romance, and it was pretty compulsively readable. tbh i would probably read most of the rest of the books in this series. because what the bad writing is bad up for by the compelling plot and intriguing characters. i would recommend it as a quick read, but it’s not absolutely spectacular or mind blowing and i’m honestly surprised by how popular it is.

The Frog Princess by E.D. Baker

what can i say - this book is just plain great. this series is pretty old but i would say it still holds up! the writing can be basic and some of the jokes are corny BUT the magic and the world is really unique and i just LOVE emma and eadric (and grassina ofc). even though disney movie was already created inspired by this book, i’d love for there to be a short mini series adaption of this series. there are so many quirky and cute characters! rereading this book has really made me fall back in love with it!!

Dragon's Breath by E.D. Baker

(spoilers!!!)

this was my favorite book in the series when i was younger and the same is true today. the world in these books are much bigger, and i wish ED Baker gave us more time exploring the magical world instead of flossing it over. the fast-pace action made it difficult to believe it happened within 3 days and i feel like the impact of (SPOILERS) Grassina turning into a wicked witch would have been stronger if we were given more time with her. i also feel like Emma was given more time to grow in her magic instead of just making it so that she was perfect out of nowhere. but will say that Baker knows how to write a compelling fantasy book, and im excited to continue on their adventure

Once Upon a Curse by E.D. Baker

this is such a good series!!! i’m surprised how much i remember but there were still one or two things that surprised me. i’m lowkey still annoyed that Baker thinks it’s funny for Eadric to have wandering eyes tho lol. it wouldn’t effect the story at all of you just cut those out tbh. overall, this is still a very imaginative and exciting story. i kind of wish the series ages up with the characters - while this was written in the time before “YA” was really a thing, it’s hard to believe a 16 yr old would act like this

No Place for Magic by E.D. Baker

this was one of the shortest books in the series but draaaaagged on forever lol. tbh i enjoyed this book the least. the adventures were cute, and the a couple of the newer characters were charming. there was also a scene involving vampires that actually gave me the creeps!

So Far from the Bamboo Grove by Yoko Kawashima Watkins

i didn’t know anything about this book when i picked it up, and it obviously is controversial. however, i do think Yoko’s perspective and experiences are valid (though she did admit to not knowing a lot of japan’s history and involvement in korea - which she probably should have consulted before writing this book as many facts are fabricated to fill in the gaps.) i read this to see if it would be appropriate for a middle school classroom, and i think as long as you give context, it is. all that being said, i was gripped by Yoko’s story and flew through this. i don’t agree with people comparing this to “night” or Anne Frank’s diary, because this is very VERY different from the holocaust. i did enjoy this and would recommend people to read this as this can offer a really unique and complicated perspective on a part of history that is often ignored. it has obviously flaws and inconsistencies but as long as you are mindful of them, i think this can still be something worthwhile.

here‘s a link i found while searching for more info on this book: https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2871981