squrrlgrrl's reviews
355 reviews

Bride by Ali Hazelwood

Go to review page

adventurous funny mysterious tense 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

Vanya and the Wild Hunt by Sangu Mandanna

Go to review page

adventurous emotional mysterious 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? No

5.0

This is a really lovely magic school story with a very intentional focus on ADHD representation in the main POV character. There's a wealth of other rep as well (queerness, ASD, PTSD, physical disability, and more) that feels well executed and very natural within the story and world.

I read this with my 6 year old, who was definitely a bit young to understand some of the themes, but enjoyed the story a lot.

A Song of Sin and Salvation by L.H. Blake

Go to review page

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

The Kiss of '89 by Ruth Hanson

Go to review page

lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This is such a tricky one, but I’ll do my best.

This is a Steddie fic with enough details changed to be an original work. That’s how the author billed it on TikTok, that’s why I read it, and that’s how I’ll recommend it.

Obviously, we should never rate fanfic, but this really has been changed enough to differentiate it, and with it being published and monetized, that moves it until the realm of critique.

Like I said, if you’re a Steddie fan I recommend this purely on the basis that it’s a reskinned Steddie fic so let’s support the crap out of it.

That said this is not at all what I could call good. Writing and plot were pretty mediocre, but enjoyable enough. The characters beyond Wes and Nicky felt incredibly flat to me and I really did not like how women were represented in this at all. The author condensed most of the side characters from the inspiring material into just two characters, and the character most inspired by Nancy was done so dirty I truly hated how she was written and treated. Not the book for good female rep.

I also feel really… off about how blasé this seemed to be regarding homophobia and the general political climate of the Midwest in the 1980s. It’s certainly not my lane to comment, and I can understand writing a story that’s intentionally focused on a happy romance, but it did stand out to me.

Content Warnings