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kiwiriaLast reviews of 2025!
The Baby-Dragon Café - A.T. Qureshi, 2.5/5, 270 pages
This was 100% a book I wanted because of the cover and the title. "The Baby-Dragon Café" just sounded like the perfect cozy fantasy read. I'd also read another of A.T. Qureshi's books earlier this year (written as Aamna Qureshi) and really enjoyed it, so I figured I'd give it a chance despite the lack-luster reviews on goodreads.
Unfortunately, those reviews were mostly well deserved.
Granted, I read this in translation, and regardless of the original writing, the translation was CLUNKY as. Idioms were translated literally instead of trying to find a suitable Danish phrase instead. So since the other book I've read by Ms. Qureshi (A Witch's Guide to Love and Poison) was quite well written, I'm willing to blame the quality of the writing on the translator, rather than on Ms. Qureshi. I did cringe at some of the baby talk used to adress the dragons, but I don't know how much of that was due to poor word-choices by the translator, and how much I would have cringed at the original English as well.
The plot itself was cute, and good enough to keep me reading despite the clunky language. I loved reading about Saphira's café and wish we had gotten to read more about how she actually trained Sparky, rather than just about how much she doted on him and baby-talked to him.
The romance was a bit more tell than show, but ultimately worked for me. I really wish Ms. Qureshi had thought up a different ending though. It seemed like a cop-out to me, and an unnecessary way of bending to society's norms. (Trying to keep it vague to avoid spoilers).
All in all, it ended up being a fairly average read, and I don't think I'll bother with any more of the books in the series ... even if one of them DOES take place in a bookshop!
All Our Hidden Gifts - Caroline O'Donoghue, 2.5/5, 400 pages
This ended up being an "It was good, but ..." read for me.
It was well written - I read the first few pages at the library to figure out if I wanted to bring it home with me, and was instantly intrigued. I definitely enjoyed the writing style and wanted to know more about Maeve, Roe, Lily and Fiona.
Unfortunately it was very, very, VERY heavy on the supernatural / occult aspect of things. I know I should have seen that coming from the back blurb mentioning tarot readings, but I'd somehow assumed that it would be more sub- than main plot. It did stay true to its own universe, so I didn't have to suspend my disbelief too much, but that kind of witchy business is not really something I care to read about, so even though I did get the sequel out of the library as well, I think I will just leave the series here.
The Christmas Tree Farm - Laurie Gilmore, 4/5, 369 pages
Christmas rom-com that's a lot heavier on the romance than the Christmas part. Still a sweet story though, and completely lived up to the expectations set by the previous book. In fact, I think I might like this one a tad more, as I thought the way the relationship evolved seemed more believable.
Magic, Maps and Mischeif: A Cozy Neurodivergent Adventure - David Green, 3.5/5, 389 pages
It took me awhile to get properly into this, but once I did, I ended up really enjoying it. I loved reading about Greton's life in Barrow Hill, his map-making business and his growing friendships with Aria, Petra and the pub owning elf (whose name escapes me right now). This toes the line between cozy fantasy and just plain fantasy, and I definitely enjoyed the "cozy fantasy" sections the most.
I'd guessed both outcomes of the ink-making business ahead of time, and was very pleased to be proven right :-D
As the sub-title states, there's a lot of representation in this novel, both with regards to neurodiversity and sexuality. Greton is autistic, asexual and (I think) aromantic. Aria is (probably) ADHD and (definitely) gay ... I think I'll leave it at that, not to risk spoiling anything.
A cozy read, and I'll definitely check out more of David Green's writing.
A Copenhagen Snowmance - Pernille Hughes, 3/5, 385 pages
Aggressively Danish. As a person living in Copenhagen myself, it was quite funny to read how many references to Danish foods, drinks, traditions and places Pernille Hughes could shove into one book. It seemed slightly over the top at times, but looking at the other reviews on Goodreads, it seems to work for other readers, which made me wonder ... are the books I love that are set in Paris / Edinburgh / Prague / etc. as heavy-handed as this one was, and I just don't notice, because it's not my home town?
That aside, I did quite enjoy the book. It was very predictable, but I expect that in a Christmas romance, and I liked both Anna and Jamie and enjoyed seeing them get to know each other. "Fake dating" and "Forced proximity" are obvious tropes for a Christmas romance, but it still worked, and was a lot less cringe-worthy than it could have been.
Even the third-act breakup worked for once, and wasn't due to a miscommunication, but a conflict that needed to be handled.
So a sweet read, even if highly unrealistic. It stayed true to its own universe, so it worked for me.
Nobody's Girl - Virginia Roberts Guiffre, 4.5/5, 400 pages
Fascinating and harrowing story. It is absolutely heartbreaking to hear all that Virginia went through, and how she was let down and abandoned again and again and again by everybody - including the ones who ought to love her the best and protect her the most.
I really appreciated that so much page time was spent on Virginia's (all too short) life after she got away from Epstein. Reading about all the different court cases were equal parts interesting and depressing. If you ever need evidence that "money talks", the fact that it took SO LONG to bring Epstein to justice - and that some of the people Virginia was trafficked to still walk free - should speak its own plain language.
Very well written and extremely interesting memoir.
Books Read: 92
Pages Read: 17,446
Hours Listened To: 371
Book of the Month: Nobody's Girl - can't wait for the sequel!
Biggest Disappointment: The Baby-Dragon Café - although I am kinda curious how much of the unwieldy language was due to the translation and how much was in the original writing also.
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