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Mara's Reading Challenge (2016-2025)


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#261 Katia11

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Posted 27 March 2026 - 08:29 PM

Ooo I love that cover!
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#262 Mara=^.^=

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Posted 29 March 2026 - 09:17 PM

81MQNNo0L6L._AC_UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg

 

This was a really mixed bag for me. The setting was rich, engaging, and vivid, and I liked many of the characters, but the pacing left a lot to be desired, and there were several glaring typos and continuity errors. The final confrontation was so rushed and so poorly explained that I had to drop it down a full star. I can't recall the last time I saw such an egregious Deux ex machina boss-fight victory. (Also, as an aside, all of the adults in this book are horrible).

 

star_full.gifstar_full.gifstar_half.gif 2.5 stars.

 

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =


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#263 Katia11

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Posted 30 March 2026 - 01:36 AM

bummer! 


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#264 Mara=^.^=

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Posted 30 March 2026 - 01:49 AM

bummer! 

 

I really couldn't believe some of the errors I found. There's a section at the end of the soccer match where the prose - which had been in third person for the entirety of the book - abruptly switched to first person for a single sentence. I also found spelling/punctuation mistakes, and continuity errors regarding the main character's backstory.

 

I don't actually blame the author for this; it's the editor's fault for doing a piss-poor job editing the text. It's sloppy, and unprofessional.

 

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =


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#265 Katia11

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Posted 30 March 2026 - 01:52 AM

I did read this book and liked it, but that was YEARS ago now, so I don't really remember what happened. 

 

But wow... One sentence and only one? That is just.. bizarre!


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#266 Mara=^.^=

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Posted 30 March 2026 - 01:54 AM

I did read this book and liked it, but that was YEARS ago now, so I don't really remember what happened. 

 

But wow... One sentence and only one? That is just.. bizarre!

 

Utterly bizarre. I've never seen a mistake like this in a book put out by a major publishing house. It's not the only glaring outlier. There's a word in the first third or so of the novel that has the letters arranged incorrectly and has a random punctuation mark in the middle of it. An actual key-smash word, in a professionally published book. Obviously, I deduct major points for shit like this. 

 

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =


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#267 Katia11

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Posted 30 March 2026 - 02:04 AM

That is totally fair.
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#268 Mara=^.^=

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Posted 30 March 2026 - 10:01 PM

city-of-stairs-3d.jpg?resize=500%2C590

 

Solid book by an author whose works I just really tend to like. My favorite character died, though, so I might not read the sequels, especially since they each have a different protagonist anyway. 

 

star_full.gifstar_full.gifstar_full.gifstar_full.gif 4 stars. 

 

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =


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#269 Katia11

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Posted 30 March 2026 - 10:19 PM

Oh no :( favorite characters dying is such a bummer!!

I’ve been meaning to get to this and your review bumped it up (even with the character death)!
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#270 Mara=^.^=

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Posted 30 March 2026 - 10:35 PM

Oh no :( favorite characters dying is such a bummer!!

I’ve been meaning to get to this and your review bumped it up (even with the character death)!

 

If there's going to be a significant character death, more often than not, it's my favorite character who dies. I repeatedly gravitate toward doomed characters, and I do not know why. Movies, books, doesn't matter.

 

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =


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#271 Katia11

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Posted 30 March 2026 - 10:47 PM

I often do not. I often do have a fairly good sense for which characters are going to die. Not always, but often.
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#272 Mara=^.^=

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Posted 04 April 2026 - 03:21 AM

You ever start a book that has really atmospheric world-building and an interesting premise, but then the inciting incident is so implausible that it completely undermines your investment in the text?

 

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =


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#273 Katia11

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Posted 04 April 2026 - 03:31 AM

Oh no! :( bummer! But I gotta know… What book was it? Spill the tea!
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#274 Mara=^.^=

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Posted 04 April 2026 - 11:41 PM

Oh no! :( bummer! But I gotta know… What book was it? Spill the tea!

 

It's an old book that was written in like 1860 from my great-grandmother's basement

 

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#275 Katia11

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Posted 04 April 2026 - 11:52 PM

Oh! That’s cool! I love old books.
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#276 Mara=^.^=

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Posted 05 April 2026 - 01:46 AM

RavenFEAT.jpeg

 

 

 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I HATE CLIFFHANGERS NOOOOOOOOOOO

 

This book is crafted with incredible skill, but I can't rate it a full 5 stars because the ravens in the story act like crows. Likewise, the crows in Rebecca Roanhorse's Between Earth and Sky trilogy act like ravens. Why are people always confusing the behavior of these two species??

 

 

star_full.gifstar_full.gifstar_full.gifstar_full.gif 4 stars.

 

 

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =


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#277 Katia11

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Posted 05 April 2026 - 02:11 AM

Hey! Otherwise a pretty good rating! I also enjoyed this book but it is fair to dock points for bird related reasons.
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#278 Mara=^.^=

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Posted 05 April 2026 - 02:31 AM

Hey! Otherwise a pretty good rating! I also enjoyed this book but it is fair to dock points for bird related reasons.

 

Ironically, I also added points for bird related reasons. The Raven was the best-written crow character I've ever encountered. It was a huge part of why I liked the book so much. I think The Fox Wife did a better job with foxes, but The Crow The Raven was first rate. This is an author who understands bird psychology, and she needs to be commended for it.

 

 

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =


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#279 Katia11

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Posted 05 April 2026 - 02:42 AM

That is very fair!
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