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christene_lillibrary

1120 points

0% overlap
Epic Sci-Fi and Fantasy Series
Fall 2025 Readalong
Level 4
My Taste
The Prison Healer (The Prison Healer, #1)
The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, #1)
On Wings of Blood (Bloodwing Academy, #1)
Blood & Steel (The Legends of Thezmarr, #1)
Riftborne
Reading...
UnWholly (Unwind, #2)AlchemisedWell, ActuallySpinning Silver

christene_lillibrary finished reading and wrote a review...

5h
  • River Marked (Mercy Thompson, #6)
    Nov 29, 2025
    3.5
    Enjoyment: 3.5Quality: 3.5Characters: 3.0Plot: 3.5

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    1
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  • christene_lillibrary commented on marissa's review of The Ascended (Aesymarean Duet, #1)

    11h
  • The Ascended (Aesymarean Duet, #1)
    marissa
    Nov 29, 2025
    3.5
    Enjoyment: 3.5Quality: 3.0Characters: 4.0Plot: 4.0
    🌟
    💫
    💀

    Before anything else, if you’re planning to read Riftborne or Duskbound, I’d definitely recommend picking those up first. It’s absolutely not mandatory, but I'm genuinely so glad I did.

    As for The Ascended, I’d say I liked it overall, though I didn’t quite love it. Thais was a surprisingly refreshing main character. She’s flawed in believable ways, makes some frustrating choices, but they all ended up making sense by the end, and I genuinely appreciated that she wasn’t written as some perfect, all-knowing heroine. Additionally, I actually loved that the vibe was darker and more gothic as I read, it built such a cool atmosphere. And the trials were easily one of my favourite parts, they were unpredictable, creative, and pushed the characters (including the side ones) in interesting ways. I also honestly loved the dynamic between the twins. It felt so unique and their relationship added some really fun moments.

    The balance between the fantasy plot and the romance worked pretty well for me. I never felt like one overshadowed the other, though I do think the book could’ve been trimmed down. There were stretches, especially early on, where the pacing dragged and I found myself rereading sections just to make sure I was following everything correctly. The world has a lot of gods, beings, and shifting hierarchies, and at times that got a little confusing. The romance itself didn’t hit as hard for me either, it was kind of just lacklustre lmao. I think my problem was that I really loved Aether (Duskbound) as an MMC and I had a hard time letting him go.

    But despite all that, the magic system, the wider political pieces, and the twists in the last half really hooked me back in. The ending especially… yeah, could maybe be one of the better twists I've read in a book tbh so I will definitely be continuing the story.

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  • christene_lillibrary made progress on...

    1d
    River Marked (Mercy Thompson, #6)

    River Marked (Mercy Thompson, #6)

    Patricia Briggs

    50%
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    christene_lillibrary commented on christene_lillibrary's review of Duskbound

    1d
  • Duskbound
    Nov 27, 2025
    5.0
    Enjoyment: 5.0Quality: 4.5Characters: 4.5Plot: 5.0

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    3
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  • christene_lillibrary commented on ehawley's update

    ehawley completed their yearly reading goal of 200 books!

    2d

    ehawley's 2025 Reading Challenge

    200 of 200 read
    The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World
    The Undermining of Twyla and Frank (The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy #2)
    The Bear and the Nightingale (The Winternight Trilogy, #1)
    The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government
    Manic Pixie Dream Earl (Earls Trip #2)
    Earls Trip
    Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil
    96
    58
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    christene_lillibrary finished reading and wrote a review...

    1d
  • Duskbound
    Nov 27, 2025
    5.0
    Enjoyment: 5.0Quality: 4.5Characters: 4.5Plot: 5.0

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    3
    comments 3
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  • christene_lillibrary commented on christene_lillibrary's update

    christene_lillibrary TBR'd a book

    2d
    Hollow (Hollow, #1)

    Hollow (Hollow, #1)

    Caroline Peckham

    2
    1
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    christene_lillibrary commented on christene_lillibrary's update

    christene_lillibrary TBR'd a book

    2d
    Dire Bound (The Wolves of Ruin Book 1)

    Dire Bound (The Wolves of Ruin Book 1)

    Sable Sorensen

    1
    0
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    christene_lillibrary TBR'd a book

    2d
    Hollow (Hollow, #1)

    Hollow (Hollow, #1)

    Caroline Peckham

    2
    1
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    christene_lillibrary made progress on...

    2d
    Duskbound

    Duskbound

    Bree Grenwich

    20%
    0
    0
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    christene_lillibrary finished reading and wrote a review...

    4d
  • Gone Before Goodbye
    Nov 25, 2025
    3.5
    Enjoyment: 3.5Quality: 3.5Characters: 3.0Plot: 3.0

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    0
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