lotte_on's reviews
10 reviews

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

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adventurous dark inspiring reflective sad 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

5.0

This was perfect. Perfect in every way. The foreshadowing, the writing, the character development, the scenery, the pace, everything. I don’t think I haver ever read something quite as captivating and amazing as this book, I truly want to write a 10 page essay about this. No further comments. This is my favourite book of all time. 
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Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

In my opinion, this was an insane read in so, so many ways. So much happend, so much violence and trauma - damn. I‘m still not fully over this book, and I have to say that it really truly pulled me in and had an effect of constant suspense. My main problem is that yet it somewhat still doesn’t show the true violence of war, since there are a lot of scenes when Katniss is basically unconscious for a period of time and some mayor battles have been fought without her and she never really gets to experience what it felt to be a regular, largely unprotected citizen during the war, which for me, would be something extremely important for a reader to come closer to. However, this book was still SOO amazing in so, so manyyyy ways. I loved every (other) thing about it, how it genuinely shows what a governments motivations on either side of a war are, how history can so easily repeat itself, how a massive amount of people need to die whenever it does. I‘m still flabbergasted by how good an brilliant it was that I can’t even put every aspect of it into words right now, not even half of them. This was a gorgeous read and so, so, so important for future and current generations to remind them an occurrence like this can very easily become reality. Especially after Trump got elected yesterday, I think everyone in America should read this once again and remind themself who the real enemy is. Thank you, Suzanne Collins, once again, for writing something so earth shattering that it will stay in my - and hopefully a lot of peoples - head(s) forever.
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Nothing Like the Movies by Lynn Painter

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

3.0

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

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adventurous emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I liked this book probably even a little bit better than the first one. Although I have to say that I think I would have liked the main plot the come a little bit earlier in the book, I fully understand Suzannes decision and I especially loved how she introduced the political and characteristical changes throughout the book, each person reacting differently but equally frightened about the revolution. How Katniss‘ View on the districts outbursts and protecting herself from President Snow changed and evolved throughout all the different events, and Suzanne Collins managed the spirit of revolution so perfectly, how one thing can lead to another, to how one big spark can turn into a massive flame never to be undone and how the political oppositions try desperately to move things in their favour, or just hang on to dear survival. Because of this, this book was definitely a bit darker than the first one of its series, and the pace in which it is written is faster than the previous one, but I really loved it being about something still related to the games but also about everything sourding them and the economy they were created for. Thank you for writing this book, Suzanne Collins.
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The Prisoner's Throne by Holly Black

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really liked this, but my main problem with it (and The Stolen Heir) is it was so hard to keep up with. I had to read multiple pages multiple times because I just didn’t know what was going on, who was on wich side and who was betraying who. On one hand, this is a great feature of the book, because there are so many different characters, all with different perspectives and goals, which brings a sort of depth to each character that shows how much the author loves them, makes you fully understand them and their story and add a sense of realisim to them that I‘m fully convinced only Holly Black is capable of creating. On the other hand, I found that it sometimes made the book very difficult to follow and exhausting to read. Once you haven’t read the book for 2 days, you need to at least reread a whole chapter to merely understand the plot that is unfolding right now. In addition to that, the plot and the goals of the characters change consistently throughout the entire book, which is typical for this series, and can still be a bit frustrating. However, I really enjoyed reading this, and I liked it pretty much the same amount as the first one. Holly Black never disappoints me when it comes to worldbuilding and character depth, and for me, what she writes is the fantasy to the core, something that truly represents her love for this genre. 
The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

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Did not finish book.

1.0

I read this book halfway through and physically could not finish it. The whole plotline is so boring, all the characters are, and the writing is so mediocre. I do not know how Jennifer Lynn Barnes managed to come up with an idea that’s so good in theory and then drench it out so much that it becomes extremly uninstresting on paper. Teenage Boys can only dream of letting me down as much as this book did. The 1 star is for coverdesign, and coverdesign only.
The Summer of Lost Letters by Hannah Reynolds

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2.0

I’ve read this book a while ago and pretty much the only thing I remember about it are the boring, long and nonsense conversations between the two MC. I did not hate this book, but I really disliked it. The storyline was fine but not thought out well enough for it to remain interesting, I absolutely did not care about the love interest, and overall, I was just happy to get it over with. I have read worse books though, and the author really did make an effort, so I’m sure if you like the “relatively poor girl meets rich teenage heir, (he’s the most stunning guy she’s ever met) thinks he is really arrogant and then starts to notice he really is sensitive and does not want to take over the family’s company and instead be a botanist or whatever so she can’t help but fall in love with him but he’s kind of bad a expressing his feelings and talking to her yada yada yada” trope you will LOVE this book. Not me, y’all stay safe though
Every Day by David Levithan

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4.0

I loved this book. I’ve read a lot of bad things about it, but I love it. It’s so beautifully written, the storyline is so good and it was just all in all amazing. It’s about a really special and extraordinary first love between two 16 year olds, and as a teenage girl myself, reading this at 4 a.m. in my living room made me ball my eyes out. In the words of Lindsey Rey; “WOW”.
Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter

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funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I’m not that into romcoms, but this book made me think that they might be worth getting into. This whole book was just so cute, and I totally fell in love with all the characters. Every conversation of Liz and Wes made me actually smile and laugh and kick my feet, and it felt like a throwback to when I was on my bed at 11 p.m. reading cheesy little Wattpad Jily fanfictions. However, there was definitely some room for improvements (there probably always will be, with every book) and even two people love to see Wes as their newfound holy spirit and declared In-between by Gracie Abrams as “their song”, I really couldn’t see it. It was cute, and fun, and playful, and definitely great, just not THAT great.
The Stolen Heir by Holly Black

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adventurous hopeful medium-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? It's complicated

3.5

Holly Black, her storytelling and her writing style truly are unmatched. This was another storybook example for it and a great sequel to the folk of air series (which are some of my favourite books to this day too btw). However, I don’t know if it was the characters, the trope or the new setting of it, but this book wasn’t really up my alley. There were some weird moments and the relationship between oak and wren was a lot of back and forth, which made it barely nerve wrecking, yet mostly really annoying at some point. Other than two people having to admit to themselves that they like the other, they both so clearly know that they liked one another and yet hesitate the entire book. I also couldn’t really associate with Wren and her thought processes, and I really wish she would’ve been portrayed with more flaws, since that would match her personality in the folk of air series a little bit better and make her character more human and likeable. This is not perse her fault, I would’ve just expected more from Holly Black since I loved her complex way of writing Cardan and Jude. Moreover, the story was hard to follow throughout the book. It changed multiple times, I was never able to keep up with it or any of the magical creatures, and the ending was a bit strange and gave wattpad vibes. All in all, I love Hollys way of writing, that really pulls you into the book, makes you unable to put it down and lets you fell as if you were together with the characters for their journey. I just would have hoped for a bit more, but maybe my expectations are just way to high.