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kindleandilluminate

Ana, from California. Arsenal, baking, musical theatre, & Taylor Swift. and obviously...books. Find me on IG @kindleandilluminate !

1267 points

0% overlap
Dark Academia
Winter 2025 Readalong
Level 4
Reading...The Atlas Complex (The Atlas, #3)
My Taste
Mrs. Dalloway
Persuasion
Master and Commander (Aubrey/Maturin, #1)
Lolita
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

kindleandilluminate finished reading and wrote a review...

5d
  • The Dark Cove Theatre Society
    May 06, 2025
    2.0
    Enjoyment: 2.0Quality: 1.5Characters: 2.0Plot: 1.5
    🎭
    🎓
    👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩

    The Dark Cove Theatre Society was... okay, but frankly just okay. I found it kind of messy and all over the place, and like it couldn't quite make up its mind what it wanted to be and consequently felt like it didn't go far enough in any direction. The mixed media element is a fun idea to make the book all the more immersive, but there wasn't quite enough that was particularly relevant, so a lot of it felt like filler. The ending was...convenient. The love triangle, a bit weak. And the footnotes! Oh my goodness, don't even get me started on the footnotes explaining absolutely everything, even things that were obvious from context. I love a footnote, but these were insultingly pointless. I was a theatre kid myself (and a theatre adult, but it's the kid part that's relevant here for this YA book), as well as a lover of all things spooky, gothic, dark academia-ish... and I really wanted to love this book. But the aforementioned flaws just really kept me from getting as hooked as I wanted to be. I do hope this book finds its audience, despite my frustrations with it. Thank you to the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

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    6d
  • We Do Not Part
    May 05, 2025
    5.0
    Enjoyment: 5.0Quality: 5.0Characters: 5.0Plot: 5.0
    🌲
    🦜
    😭

    This book was devastating and Han Kang continues to be as masterful a writer as ever.

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    1w
  • The Unkindness of Ravens (Greer Hogan Mystery #1)
    May 01, 2025
    3.5
    Enjoyment: 3.5Quality: 3.5Characters: 3.0Plot: 3.5
    📚
    💀
    🏠

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  • kindleandilluminate finished reading and left a rating...

    1w
  • Great Big Beautiful Life
    Apr 30, 2025
    5.0
    Enjoyment: 5.0Quality: 5.0Characters: 5.0Plot: 5.0
    📝
    💞
    🥐

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  • kindleandilluminate finished reading and wrote a review...

    1w
  • The Library at Hellebore
    Apr 28, 2025
    4.0
    Enjoyment: 3.5Quality: 4.0Characters: 4.0Plot: 3.5
    🤮
    🎓
    🥩

    ewww i mean it was good but ewwww

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  • kindleandilluminate finished reading and wrote a review...

    2w
  • We Won't All Survive
    Apr 24, 2025
    4.0
    Enjoyment: 4.0Quality: 3.5Characters: 4.0Plot: 3.5
    📹
    🔫
    🏜️

    Solidly reliable YA thriller with an entertaining set-up and strong characters.

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  • kindleandilluminate finished reading and wrote a review...

    2w
  • Bochica: A Novel
    Apr 24, 2025
    1.0
    Enjoyment: 0.5Quality: 0.5Characters: 1.0Plot: 0.5
    🌊
    🏚️
    😬

    Oh, this one was just unbelievably disappointing. I loved the idea of it (and the cover!), and was so excited to receive an ARC and dive right in. But the intriguing premise and setting that had drawn me in were, ultimately, all Bochica had going for it. The writing is choppy and weak, and feels frankly like an early draft - it desperately needs several more rounds of editing and revision, from the individual word choice/sentence structure level, all the way to more overarching plotting and character development issues. I *was* inspired by this book to go elsewhere and find out more about the waterfall and the building (now a museum) at the heart of the story, as well as the Muisca culture & deities, so I'm grateful for that inspiration to learn about something I was previously ignorant of. I hope this author's next book gets the editorial support it needs to take it to another level, because I really did like the bones of Bochica - I just wish the final product had been stronger. Thank you to the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

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  • kindleandilluminate finished reading and wrote a review...

    2w
  • You Are Fatally Invited
    Apr 24, 2025
    3.0
    Enjoyment: 3.5Quality: 3.0Characters: 3.0Plot: 3.0
    📖
    🪦
    🏚️

    A fun read with an excess of twists & turns. But some pretty decent riffs on the classic whodunit/thriller/horror tropes I enjoy.

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  • kindleandilluminate started reading...

    2w
    The Unkindness of Ravens (Greer Hogan Mystery #1)

    The Unkindness of Ravens (Greer Hogan Mystery #1)

    M.E. Hilliard

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