cyanide_latte's reviews
1543 reviews

Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu (Novel) Vol. 7 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

adventurous tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

What even is this clusterfuck of a mess? Half-baked attempts to weave together the plot threads with a bunch of deus ex machina all throw in a blender in an attempt to make something cohesive.

Understand, there were points of this one that were enjoyable but those were few and far between. This was a MESS and as of present, I don't think there's a single character that isn't annoying the absolute crap out of me. What happened to her writing? For real, what happened? This is a hot mess.

Disney Mirrorverse: Belle by Alex Singer

adventurous dark mysterious fast-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

[RTC]

Family Business by Jonathan Sims

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? No

5.0

Like many other people I'm sure, I'm familiar with Jonathan Sims thanks due to the podcast The Magnus Archives, and I like to think that's given me some familiarity with the way he writes. This book has proven that to be true, but beyond this, I won't say much else.

I really, really enjoyed this book, but I insist you go in totally blind. If you're a fan of Jonny's writing, I think you'll like it. If you're new to his writing but are looking for a decent horror novel, I also think you'll like it. But again, go in blind. I think it's better if you do.

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi (Novel) Vol. 4 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

This one is so emotionally raw. I know there are fun moments and steamy moments, but what we get in here is genuinely so raw, so emotionally charged, and honestly between that and the way that the narrative continues to come together well? I really, really adore this story!

The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis
Did not finish book. Stopped at 3%.

Ooooooookaaaaayyyyy, DNF'ing 2% because I can tell you just from the introduction(?) or prologue or whatever you call it alone, this guy's writing style is NOT for me.

Fate/stay night, Volume 4 by Datto Nishiwaki

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

CASTER AND ASSASSIN, LET'S GOOOO

This volume gets props for them, as well as for further content with Kiritsugu, Fuji-nee and Issei.

Fate/stay night, Volume 3 by Datto Nishiwaki

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I have some mixed feelings on this volume, but I will say I think I enjoyed it more than some others.

We get a lot more information from Rider than what those who are more familiar with the Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works anime are accustomed to, especially since she's the one to clarify more about the nature of Heroic Spirits not always being clear-cut heroes of legend. Her presence in this volume delights me.

This is also the volume where we finally learn about Noble Phantasms and their function, which proves further my point that I do feel like this series did serve a needed purpose for accessibility for a lot of newer Western fans when it was released.

Unfortunately this volume also introduces us to Shinji, which, while needed, is its own degree of frustrating and a point against it, in my opinion. Also I'm not sure why but the art in this volume seems pretty bad. Ah well. Can't win 'em all.

Fate/Stay Night Volume 2 by Datto Nishiwaki

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

While the opening moments of this volume serve to show what happens after the cliffhanger of the first one, the first real chunk of this volume is backtracking to the day before, first from the POV of Rin and Archer, as well as interspersing a present discussion between Shirou and Saber with Shirou's day before. The latter chunk also gives us an introduction to Sakura and Fuji-nee, and shows us the start of the fight between Rin and Shirou before the high school comes under attack.  There's a lot more dense lore explanation in this one.  Again, it's not bad and for what it was at the time of its release, I feel it was fairly accessible to a lot of people who only were able to access the manga.  That aside, I do feel like some things could have been handled better and there were plenty of choices here that had me raising a brow.

Summer Fling by Diane Ames

funny lighthearted slow-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

3.0

I wasn't entirely sure what to expect with this book but it does read a lot like a 90s teen after-school show, which isn't a bad thing!

I would say to go into this and be willing to forgive a lot, otherwise you're not going to have much patience for the characters or the drama they go through. Personally I'm not sure how I feel about that ending, but all-in-all, this wasn't a bad read.

Fiends on the Other Side by Vera Strange

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This wasn't bad. I think for what these books are supposed to be, they fulfill their purpose well and they manage to be fairly eerie. I know this is only the second book in the series but a lot of the same aspects of the writing are also present here that were present in the first one, and I feel like that informs a lot about this series on its own. There's a few quirks I don't care for (such as the constant repetition on the villain's part of one or two of their iconic lines from the associated movie,) but all in all it's not so awful that it would deter me from continuing.