siriuslyreads

[siriuslyreads]

ADHD Tips for Writers, Take 2

Hiy'all, I'm back on my shit because my old "ADHD tips for writers" post is the like only post I still see in my notes at all times and there's a few problems with it so I'd like a do-over plz

Anyways, the obligatory disclaimer: I find ADHD tips are super useful for writers whether they have ADHD or not, so feel free to read & use the tips in this post if you find they apply.

Respect your fatigue. Here's the thing about ADHD. You get fatigued super easily. We know this. But when I say "respect your fatigue," I only partly mean it as taking breaks when you're tired. Before you decide you're too burned out to write, weigh this: people who have ADHD wear themselves out MORE when they have nothing to mentally chew on. Sometimes respecting your fatigue means respecting that you need to paradoxically put in more effort to do your writing, because that will actually slow your fatigue down in the end. Try it, if it doesn't work take a break.

Get ahold of the pressure level. Pressure is a tool for you to motivate yourself, you should NOT be under it at all times. How to do this? Adjust your goals, don't marry your outline.

Set the right goals. Stressed by wordcount but can work by hour? Can't focus for any stretch of time but can hyper-focus if you promise to get one scene done? And consider mix-and-matching. You can make a goal of getting a scene done in one day, but if that scene happens to go over 1k then it's reasonable to quit. If you set a goal that is actually attainable, it's safer to put pressure on it.

Confines begone. Seriously, don't try to make yourself do things in a Stupidly Specific Way. You do NOT need to draft in submittable manuscript format. You DON'T need it to fit your outline exactly. It doesn't need to fit a genre, it doesn't need to appeal to a specific audience, it doesn't need to be what it was in your head. If working with those things slows you down or makes you stressed, YEET.

Pavlov, Profit. I write on my bed with a scented candle while wearing a certain pair of pants. I use a specific playlist to cue me in to which WIP I'm working on. Maybe I pull out a specific stim toy I don't use otherwise. I write at a certain time of day and look at certain pictures while I do it. I drink water with lemon in it when I don't if I'm not writing. The words flow like a crystalline river and I don't even know how.

No I'm serious I cannot emphasize enough how powerful Pavlov is, literally it is the BIGGEST hack of my life. You train your brain to identify what "writing mode" is and afterward if you just set up the trappings of "writing mode" brain goes "OH OK NOW WE WRITE." I can't even

Throw slumps off with word wars and writing sprints. As always, word of caution for those who have trouble with their self-expectations: if you can't make the words sprint, that's ok! This is super useful to me and others for kicking off a writing session, but if you struggle to focus for any length of time then don't stress! But I do seriously recommend trying out word sprints at whatever time limit works for you, because after you've done it the words happen so. Much. Easier. I'll personally rev up with 5 mins, 15 mins then 30 mins. That 30 gets into the "this might actively burn me out" territory, so be cautious. It really might not work for you.

Don't underestimate minor changes. Font! Color! Screen blue-light! Using a different word processor! Tweak and change, hack the brain.

Journal about it. When I get stuck on a project, I will literally open a new file and just ramble into the file like I'm explaining the project to someone. It's rubber duck decoding, except it exercises the same muscles you use to do the actual writing. Makes for a great warm-up or dust-off.

Identify if/when you need outside support. Sometimes you need to ramble to a friend in order to kick a slump, sometimes you need community support for a WIP through the whole process. It might change for each case.

External incentives generally don't work. Honestly, I find external incentives don't work for me point blank, let alone to get myself to write. Maybe you can drag yourself across the ground like that sad cat on a harness by promising yourself a bowl of ice cream, but you're just not going to do your best work like that. You need to foster genuine motivators.

External motivators are different from incentives. If you're writing because someone is waiting to read it, that's not an incentive, it's a motivator.

Internal motivators that can be useful: fostering excitement for WIP elements (not by saying "if I write x words I get to make another moodboard, more like going ahead with the moodboard and using it to increase ur excitement), making a bar chart of progress and watching it grow, de-pressurizing writing so much that it can be used as a wind-down.

Are you a pantser who lives in a constant state of writer's block? No you're not you're not, you need to develop some sort of plan if you're getting stuck constantly. It doesn't need to be a super locked-in plan (I don't recommend those in general), but using lighthouse planning or developing some guiding element is important.

Contrarian hack: have someone who isn't a writer write the thing your're stuck on for you. (Consider: have AI write it for you.) Read it. Dislike it and use the motivation to write yourself. Profit.

Struggling to get started because the WIP is too daunting? Don't work on the whole WIP. Work on This Scene. This Scene too daunting? Work on This Small Part of This Scene. This Small Part too big? Work on the next sentence. Work on opening the WIP. Break the steps down as small as you need to.

SO. Be mindful of what you expect from yourself, do NOT let others decide how your process works, and do NOT hold yourself to any standard that inhibits you. Do what feels good both in the moment and after, because that is a good indicator you're doing healthy, sustainable writing.

[siriuslyreads]

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik: A Review

Title: A Deadly Education

Series: The Scholomance

Author: Naomi Novik

Genre: YA/NA Fantasy

Rating: 5/5

Release Date: September 29, 2020

Format: E-Book

Synopsis:

I decided that Orion Lake needed to die after the second time he saved my life.

Everyone loves Orion Lake. Everyone else, that is. Far as I'm concerned, he can keep his flashy combat magic to himself. I'm not joining his pack of adoring fans.

I don't need help surviving the Scholomance, even if they do. Forget the hordes of monsters and cursed artifacts, I'm probably the most dangerous thing in the place. Just give me a chance and I'll level mountains and kill untold millions, make myself the dark queen of the world.

At least, that's what the world expects. Most of the other students in here would be delighted if Orion killed me like one more evil thing that's crawled out of the drains. Sometimes I think they want me to turn into the evil witch they assume I am. The school certainly does.

But the Scholomance isn't getting what it wants from me. And neither is Orion Lake. I may not be anyone's idea of the shining hero, but I'm going to make it out of this place alive, and I'm not going to slaughter thousands to do it, either.

Although I'm giving serious consideration to just one.

Review:

This isn’t my first or second read through of this book, but I still enjoy the hell out of it each and every time. The story in this book is a terrific one. TW for death, disturbing content, (near) murder, and calm acceptance of the death of children. But like, read the book. This isn’t a horror novel; it is a story of a girl in school just trying to survive. Just give it a chance.

Diving right into the story we see Galadriel Higgins living in the Scholomance, a magical boarding school that is trying to kill her. El is a girl who is an evil sorceress destined to destroy the enclaves of the world. She struggles to find small magic spells and instead receives large, highly destructive spells when she wants to sweep the floor. El is a difficult girl to love, she pushes everyone away, determined to be a loner, but also desperate to find someone who sees her and loves her. I’ve seen many people struggle with El, they say she is whiny and annoying. That she is difficult and unlovable. But good lord from page one, my heart ached for her. I see what people are saying, but I adore El. I see very many parts of myself, and all the other broken unlovable girls in her.

If El is the evil sorceress, Orion is the hero of this story. He is the boy who risks his own life going around killing mals (dangerous creatures that feed on wizards for their mana(magic)) in order to save the other children in the school. The children of the Scholomance go into the school understanding that they only have about a 25% chance of surviving, but that it is much better than the 5% chance of surviving outside its walls. Orion changes those odds. He is on a one-man mission to save as many kids as he can, including El. Orion is another character that I immediately fell in love with. Not in a *swoon* way, but in a *wrap him in a blanket and protect him* way. He and El begin this weird pseudo-relationship, in which (El is convinced) Orion has no clue that El is not actually his girlfriend. During this time, El learns that Orion never truly made friends and she discovers that is because everyone always hero-worships him and does not truly befriend him and care about him. El sees this and hates the fact that everyone hero worships him so she continually shit talks him, while also mothering him, in order to ensure that he doesn’t die while also doesn’t get a big head. (Sorry, that was a lot of explaining, but it felt necessary). All of this means that Orion distances himself from everyone, until one girl comes around, calls him on his hero bullshit, and sees him as himself. It begins with Orion saving her, but throughout the book they end up saving each other over and over in little and big ways. And honestly it’s beautiful.

While El is trying to build a wall around herself in order to keep everyone out, Aadhya and Liu work on breaking it down brick by brick. Both these girls are different. Aadhya is very strong and resilient, refusing to be quieted, and forcing herself into El’s heart. Liu is quieter, gentler. She begins as a reluctant maleficer (evil wizard) but turns into a wholly good character who sidles in next to Aadhya as El’s friend. (She also brings us Precious, who is honestly one of the best characters in the latter books!)

I could go on for ages about the world this book is set in, which is strange since it is only a boarding school. But, as I stated before, this school is trying to kill the children inside of it. That seems harsh right? But it is presented in such a way that it is normal. There is also so much undermining and subtle fuckery between the students. It’s basically a school full of cutthroat kids that understand that the stronger they are and the weaker the rest of the kids are, the more likely their chances of survival through graduation are. It’s harsh, but we are told it in El’s straight-to-the-point way that you just shrug and accept it.

I should clarify, the school isn’t actively trying to kill students, but it is not helping them much either. Since there is such a concentration of students in the school (it is the only magic school in the world so there are 1000-1600 children full of rich delicious mana) mals are drawn to the school, pushing through the wards in any way possible. This means that any and everything in the school can hide a mal that can and will kill you if it gets a chance, because it’s hungry, and all it wants to eat is the mana the children are made up of. The kids get used to it and live with the constant knowledge that they might die any given moment. And they work hard to ensure that THEY are not the one. It’s definitely survival of the fittest/smartest/luckiest.  Add into that the enclaves (groups of wizards who band together outside the school and better prepare their students, including a near unlimited mana supply), which I won’t speak to much here, and there are some that are more likely to get out alive than others, but everyone continues to fight regardless.

I encourage everyone to see the incredibly complex blueprint like maps that were drawn up of the Scholomance. I am entranced by them every time I read the books.

I appreciated the diversity in this book. El herself is Welsh/Indian though she does not know much of her Indian heritage due to her father’s death at his own graduation from the Scholomance. Because the school is the only of its kind, we see students from all over the globe. El associates with children from differing backgrounds and learns various languages in order to learn more and more spells. I wish there had been more depth to some of the diversity, but there was so much depth to the experience of the school itself, that adding more depth here would have made a much, much longer book. Also, I have seen some commentary about El no exploring her Indian roots, but can you blame her? Her father was killed when she was just 3 months along in her momma’s uterus! And when she was introduced to her father’s family, they tried to kill her after her great grandmother prophesied that El would be the evil sorceress that ended all the enclaves. I would be a little traumatized and probably steer clear of that side of my family heritage as well.

So much happens in this book, but what I loved the most was seeing El’s vulnerability. When she discovers that Aadhya and Liu are with her, not because she can do something for them, but because they truly like her? That was the best moment. Or also the moment at the end when El gets a note from her mom. Because that nearly killed me.

I’ve rambled on far too long (can you tell this is one of my favorite books?). I already want to re-read this. I love it, and El, and Orion, and Aadhya, Liu, Chloe, Precious and the Scholomance. Go read this. I cannot recommend it enough.

#the scholomance #a deadly education #naomi novik #galadriel higgins #orion lake #el higgins

[siriuslyreads]

Improbable Magic for Cynical Witches by Kate Scelsa: A Review

Title: Improbable Magic for Cynical Witches

Author: Kate Scelsa

Genre: YA Coming of Age

Rating: 4.5/5

Release Date: May 3, 2022

Format: Physical Book

Synopsis:

A witchy, atmospheric lesbian contemporary romance set in Salem—from the acclaimed author of Fans of the Impossible Life. Perfect for fans of Nina LaCour and Becky Albertalli.

Seventeen-year-old Eleanor is the least likely person in Salem to believe in witchcraft—or think that her life could be transformed by mysterious forces. Ostracized by her classmates after losing her best friend and first love, Chloe, Eleanor has spent the past year in a haze, vowing to stay away from anything resembling romance.

But when a handwritten guide to tarot arrives in the mail at the witchy souvenir store where Eleanor works, it seems to bring with it the message that magic is about to enter her life. Cynical Eleanor is quick to dismiss this promise, until real-life witch Pix shows up with an unusual invitation. Inspired by the magic and mystery of the tarot, Eleanor decides to open herself up to making friends with Pix and her coven of witches, and even to the possibility of a new romance.

But Eleanor’s complicated history in Salem continues to haunt her, and she is desperate to keep Pix from finding out the truth. Eleanor will have to reckon with the old ghosts that threaten to destroy everything, even her chance at new love.

Improbable Magic for Cynical Witches is an atmospheric and romantic coming-of-age about learning to make peace with the past in order to accept the beauty of the present.

Review:

This book had so much potential, and I honestly don’t think there is anything terribly wrong with it. It’s just not my type of book. There is nothing inherently wrong with it, but I just was not over the moon about it. I went in with certain expectation of magic and romance and was left without much of either. The magic in this book is not the flashy fantasy type, it is more of the cleansing, tarot reading, crystal wearing magic. And while this is a sapphic book, the end game romance played such a small role it was nearly nonexistent.

A minor TW depending on your preference, the MC does smoke weed in this, quite a lot. Also TW for homophobia and the use of the ‘f’ word. Not fuck, that’s a good word. The other one.

In this book we follow Eleanor as she struggles with an ailing mother, a town who all hate her, and a feeling of not belonging anywhere. She works at a touristy witch store in Salem and has no friends.

Throughout this book, there are hints about a terrible thing that Eleanor did to her former best friend and first love, Chloe, but we are supposed to be left guessing, and I was left guessing at what happened, but I found that I didn’t really care all that much. Her friend is a shit friend who never truly cared about her. It is blatantly simple to see that. While I won’t say there is abuse involved, there is definite gaslighting and a lack of care for Eleanor’s feelings. It’s easy to see that Chloe was with Eleanor in secret because of internalized homophobia. Chloe dates boys who think lesbians are disgusting and gay men are ‘f’ words. That’s not something someone would do if there wasn’t self-hatred for who that person is at their core.

I think that’s part of why I did not jive with this book that much, I get that there needs to be an inciting incident in order for these stories to happen, but I am kind of sick of the homophobic storylines.

We are also shown multiple times how cynical Eleanor is, and how much she hates herself, but that seems to be her only personality trait. All she has to fall back on is her hatred of herself, which she puts out as hatred of the town she is in and the people in it. I get it, I remember being an angsty teen and feeling like I was the worst person around and everyone hated me. This book took that feeling from a normal level and cranked it to a ten, to the point where Eleanor ostracized herself from the entirety of her town, going so far as to get her GED in order to not have to go to school anymore. Its obvious in the end that the reason why is because of Chloe who kind of adopted her when she moved to town and Eleanor built her entire life about Chloe, to the point where she stalked her.

That’s another large issue I have with this. At no point did it make sense for Eleanor, based on who she was as a character, to stalk her former best friend. She seemed more likely to be the person to just cut ties and say fuck it. This seemed out of character and a way to move the plot forward that did not make much sense.

I haven’t spoken much about the other characters in this, and that’s because we hardly know these characters. Even Pix, Eleanor’s love interest, does not get much page time, and when she does, we don’t learn much about her.

My favorite thing about this book: the tarot depictions we see at the beginning of every chapter.

Overall I would hesitate to call this a romance book. I know that is how the synopsis ranks it, but honestly this felt more like a coming-of-age, dealing with past trauma book with a side of romance. I probably wouldn’t read this again, I might try more from this author, but I’m not sold.

#improbable magic for cynical witches #Kate scelsa #Pix #Eleanor #yabooks #sapphic reads #romance?

[siriuslyreads]

Crush by Tracy Wolff: A Review

Title: Crush

Series: Crave Series

Author: Tracy Wolff

Genre: YA Paranormal Fantasy

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Release Date: Sept 29, 2020

Format: Audiobook

Synopsis:

Everything feels off—especially me. I’ve returned to Katmere Academy, but I’m haunted by fragments of days I have no recollection of living and struggling to understand who, or what, I really am.

Just when I start to feel safe again, Hudson is back with a vengeance. He insists there are secrets I don’t know about, threatening to drive a wedge between Jaxon and me forever. But for worse enemies are at our doorstep.

The Circle is caught in a power play and the Vampire Court is trying to drag me out of my world and into theirs. The only thing Hudson and Jaxon agree on is that leaving Katmere would mean my certain death.

And not only am I fighting for my life, but now everyone else’s is at stake—unless we can defeat an unspeakable evil. All I know is that saving the people I love is going to require sacrifice.

Maybe more than I’m able to give.

Review:

I went into this book confused. Not about the book itself but about my feelings for the book/series as a whole. I can tell you whole-heartedly I enjoyed the shit out of this book. Grace was less annoying, and the other characters were much more well-rounded. I could not stand Jaxon though. And I think that was the point, he gets to a point in this book where he is so dead set on protecting her that he ignores her when she tells him that she can handle her own. The whole “damsel in distress” trope is one I cannot stand, specifically when the damsel is indeed not in distress and is far more powerful than the rescuer.

Overall this book felt like it grew up a bit, not a ton; it is still definitely YA, but less in the cringey way that Crave was.

The best addition in this book was Hudson. Obviously, we see things through Grace’s eyes, and we see her fear and hatred of him, specifically because he is in her head. But his wit and sarcasm made this book so freaking good. Add into it that Hudson very clearly was in Grace’s corner from page one and knew she could take care of herself, and he is just wonderful. There is a strange dichotomy between the Vega brothers. Jaxon is focused on protecting Grace, to the detriment of himself, and wants to coddle and protect her. Then we see Hudson, who does want to protect her, but knows that a part of that is allowing her to come into her full powers, even if it is not easy and even if it means she gets hurt along the way. I’ve seen a ton of division between fans of the first book hating this book, and I believe the ultimate reasons is that readers want a certain type of love interest. Some are ok with the overbearing love interest who will drop everything to protect his mate. Others want a romance that acts more as a partnership with both partners protecting the other. The ones who want the first are team Jaxon and probably did not like this book. The latter are team Hudson and love this book far more than the first. (You can take a guess as to which I am, it should be easy)

Her ’relationship’ with Hudson leads to so much world building. Some of it good and some of it absolutely heartbreaking. We got to visit the Dragon boneyard and lose a precious member of the pack along the way. We see the unkillable beast and find out how and why he was made the way he is. And we get to see the Ludaris tournament played twice! The first game I was honestly pretty bored. I am not a sports person and while it was interesting, I just didn’t care much for it. The second game however, when Grace is one her own facing her classmates for a place on the circle, that was riveting, and I was metaphorically on the edge of my seat. Again, this instance brings in the dichotomy of the Vega brothers. Jaxon very much thought that Grace was crazy for requesting the right of her place in the circle. Hudson knew it was necessary and did what he could to help her.

The twists in this book were honestly unexpected (though I did read some spoilers beforehand, I had to know if I needed to stick out the first one ok!). These twists also happen pretty close together and to the end of the book, meaning that there is no break to process. I was so grateful that I could pick up the third book immediately.

I reluctantly read the first book, rolling my eyes multiple times. But ultimately this book entranced me and did not let me go. I hope the rest live up to what this was!

#crush #Tracy wolff #crave series #hudson vega #jaxon vega #Grace foster #ya books #ya paranormal #ya romance

[siriuslyreads]

Empty Smiles by Katherine Arden: A Review

Title: Empty Smiles

Series: Final book in Small Spaces quartet

Author: Katherine Arden

Genre: Middle Grade Horror

Rating: 3.2/5

Release Date: August 9, 2022

Format: Physical Book

Synopsis:

New York Times bestselling author Katherine thrills once again in the finale to the critically acclaimed, spook-tacular quartet that began with Small Spaces.

It’s been three months since Ollie made a daring deal with the smiling man to save those she loved, and then vanished without a trace. The smiling man promised Coco, Brian and Phil, that they’d have a chance to save her, but as time goes by, they begin to worry that the smiling man has lied to them and Ollie is gone forever. But finally, a clue surfaces. A boy who went missing at a nearby traveling carnival appears at the town swimming hole, terrified and rambling. He tells anyone who'll listen about the mysterious man who took him. How the man agreed to let him go on one condition: that he deliver a message. Play if you dare.

Game on! The smiling man has finally made his move. Now it’s Coco, Brian, and Phil’s turn to make theirs. And they know just where to start. The traveling carnival is coming to Evansburg.

Meanwhile, Ollie is trapped in the world behind the mist, learning the horrifying secrets of the smiling man's carnival, trying everything to help her friends find her. Brian, Coco and Phil will risk everything to rescue Ollie—but they all soon realize this game is much more dangerous than the ones before. This time the smiling man is playing for keeps.

The summer nights are short, and Ollie, Coco, Brian, and Phil have only until sunrise to beat him once and for all—or it’s game over for everyone.

Review:

First, yes, I do read middle grade books occasionally. Second, I loved the first three in this series and scooped this one up when my library got it in! Third, this book was a disappointment. This book (and the previous ones) follows Ollie, Coco, Brian and Phil. This group of friends has encountered the Smiling Man multiple times and this books is the culmination of those encounters. Ollie has been captured and the others need to save her.

Ollie is a spunky girl, who lost her mother at a young age and carries her watch with her everywhere. She will do anything to save those she cares about, even (as we saw in Dark Waters) sacrificing herself to save them. Her friends Bryan, Coco and Phil are courageous and will go to great lengths to find and save Ollie.

I think one of this book’s biggest failings was jumping back and forth between Ollie and the other three kids. If the book had been longer, it would have been ok to do this jumping, but at the end of this book I could not tell you a thing about the group. Part of me wishes we had seen more of the carnival ad focused more on what was going on there. The other part of me wishes we saw more of the other three kids struggles to decipher the bare clues they had and to find Ollie.

In the other three books in this quartet, there was a feeling of unease throughout them. I did not get that with this. Maybe it was because the short chapters pulled me from the action too soon. And the ending was so startlingly quick that I did not believe it was over at first. I re-read the last 2-3 pages just to ensure that my copy of the book was not missing key moments. But no, no missing pages.

I think the message of this book is phenomenal. It definitely focuses on friends and the friendships that help ease the difficulties in the world around you. But other than that, this was a major disappointment. I highly recommend the others in the series (Small Spaces, Dead Voices, and Dark Waters) but maybe stop after the third.

#katherine arden #small spaces #empty smiles #middle grade books #MG Horror

[siriuslyreads]

Below Zero by Ali Hazelwood: A Review

Title:  Below Zero

Series: #3 in the STEMinist Novellas

Author:  Ali Hazelwood

Genre: Romance

Rating: 3.5/5

Release Date:  April 5, 2022

Format: E-Book

Synopsis:

It will take the frosty terrain of the Arctic to show these rival scientists that their chemistry burns hot.

Mara, Sadie, and Hannah are friends first, scientists always. Though their fields of study might take them to different corners of the world, they can all agree on this universal truth: when it comes to love and science, opposites attract and rivals make you burn…

Hannah’s got a bad feeling about this. Not only has the NASA aerospace engineer found herself injured and stranded at a remote Arctic research station—but the one person willing to undertake the hazardous rescue mission is her longtime rival.

Ian has been many things to Hannah: the villain who tried to veto her expedition and ruin her career, the man who stars in her most deliciously lurid dreams…but he’s never played the hero. So why is he risking everything to be here? And why does his presence seem just as dangerous to her heart as the coming snowstorm?

Review:

Honestly this was my least favorite of the STEMinist novellas. It seemed like Hazelwood wanted to increase the stakes in this one and thus put Hannah in a dire situation, and of course Ian is right there to rescue here. There are the typical tropes of misunderstandings, forced proximity, and enemies to lovers. Below Zero just fell flat for me.

The romance in this was kind of bland to me. I appreciated that Ian was reluctant to have sex with a stranger, specifically one who was relying on him for an interview for a school paper (talking college/grad school friends, not high school). Not sure if that was an indication of his sexuality (demi??) or if it was just the reluctance for a one-night stand. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with sowing your wild oats, you do you boo. It was just nice to see that this ‘love’ did not start with a roll in the hay first.

The synopsis of this state that Ian and Hannah are rivals and honestly, I didn’t get that from the story. If anything, they felt like reluctant co-workers who did similar jobs.  Of course, there is a misunderstanding with Hannah’s project not getting funded and her finding out that Ian was the cause of it, but in the end it all gets cleared up and she discovers that he was looking out for her all along, while also being madly in love with her.

I have the same gripe with this that I did the last two novellas, the men in these seem like cookie cutter versions of the same person. It’s almost like Hazelwood discovered that everyone liked Adam (from The Love Hypothesis) so she slapped some new physical characteristics on him and changed his field of study and called it a day. There is always the “I’ve been in love with you forever but didn’t want to tell you because I thought you would hate me”, mixed with the “I am a grumpy man on the outside and everyone misjudges me because I am secretly a softie, but ONLY to the girl I love” and boom you have a Hazelwood love interest. I guess don’t rock the boat? If it works, it works and honestly it does work. Regardless of my personal feelings on this, I will still read probably any book that Hazelwood writes because I am a sucker for grumpy sunshine, mixed with a little misunderstanding.

My favorite part of this novella was the end, when Hannah is saved and Ian calls in her girlfriends, Mara and Sadie, to come see her. We get to see how the three women in these novellas interact and we also see the three love interests being typical boys and playing video games together. I described that terribly, but it’s a really sweet scene and I loved seeing it.

#steminist #ali hazelwood #romance novella #romance books

[siriuslyreads]

Monthly Wrap-Up October

Hey guys! I did a lot of reading this month, so here is my monthly wrap-up!

Total: 22

Physical: 6

E-Book: 11

Audiobook: 4

And here they all are from least liked to most liked. Tell me what you think and any recs for next month!

Ballad and Dagger - 3/5

Empty Smiles - 3.2/5

Below Zero - 3.5/5

Crush - 4/5

Lobizona - 4.3/5

The Prince and the Dressmaker - 4.5/5

Improbable Magic for Cynical Witches - 4.5/5

Covet - 4.5/5

A Court of Silver Flames - 4.7/5

The Realms of the Gods - 5/5

Emperor Mage - 5/5

Wild Magic - 5/5

Wolf-Speaker - 5/5

Lioness Rampant - 5/5

First Test - 5/5

Page - 5/5

Squire - 5/5

Red White & Royal Blue - 5/5

A Deadly Education - 5/5

The Last Graduate - 5/5

Cazadora - 5/5

The Sunbearer Trials - 5/5

November TBR:

Finish Lady Knight by Tamora Pierce

Finish The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik

A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland

American Royals, Majesty and Rivals by Katharine McGee

Trickster's Duology by Tamora Pierce

Storm and Fury trilogy by Jennifer L. Armentrout

The Restless Dark by Erica Walters

Together We Burn by Isabel Ibanez

All Our Hidden Gifts by Caroline O'Donoghue

The Depths by Nicole Lesperance

#reads #fall 2022 #october #reading wrap up

[siriuslyreads]

Cazadora by Romina Garber: A Review

Title: Cazadora

Series: Wolves of No World

Author: Romina Garber

Genre: Paranormal Fantasy

Rating: 5/5 stars

Release Date: August 17th 2021

Format: Audiobook

Synopsis:

In Cazadora, Romina Garber weaves together Argentine folklore and what it means to be illegal in a timely, intimate, and emotionally powerful narrative.

Werewolves. Witches. Romance. Resistance.

Enter a world straight out of Argentine folklore...

Following the events of Lobizona, Manu and her friends cross the mystical border into Kerana--a cursed realm in Argentina--searching for allies and a hiding place. As they chase down leads about the Coven--a mythical resistance manada that might not even exist--the Cazadores chase down leads about Manu, setting up traps to capture and arrest her.

Just as it seems the Cazadores have Manu and her friends cornered, the Coven answers their call for help. As Manu catches her breath among these non-conforming Septimus, she discovers they need a revolution as much as she does.

But is she the right one to lead them? After all, hybrids aren't just outlawed. They're feared and reviled. What happens when the Coven learns of Manu's dual heritage? Will they still protect her? Or will they betray her?

And after running this far, for this long--how much farther can Manu go before her feet get tired, and she stops to take a stand?

Review:

I first need to say, this book ends in a semi-cliffhanger that infuriated me. I got so mad at this book. As of right now, there are no additional books set to be released. I hope this changes, but I will not hold my breath. This book deserves another though, it was phenomenal. As with the previous book, we still see Manu, the protagonist, stuck feeling like an illegal in both worlds she is a part of. There is a deeper element of the inequalities in this world in this book.

I won’t go into the characters in this book as the main players are the same form the first book and you can read my review on Lobizona here if you need a refresher.

This book focuses heavily not only the prejudices and inequalities that Manu faces, but those of all the Septimus. There are talks of Manu’s legal status in her world, the forced marriages and child bearing women are required to go through, the misogyny present in this society, as well as the inability for the Septimus culture to accept people of different gender identities and sexualities. We see these themes continuously throughout the book.

I admire Manu and the people she has surrounded herself with. Even when she is with the Coven, she questions everything that she is told in order to decide the best path for herself and for her people. To Manu, she has made the decision that this is not just a fight for her, but for all the con-conforming Septimus. But even in this Coven, she is not fully accepted and protected. Instead, when they discover she is a hybrid she is forced to leave the Coven in order to protect herself.

The ending of this book had me furious. I was appreciative of the imagery of the trials, but the end decision is vile. It does leave this open for another book in the series and I hope that Garber writes it. This was one of my favorite books of the month, and I look forward to reading it again.

#cazadora #romina garber #paranormal books #ya books

[siriuslyreads]

The Immortals Quartet by Tamora Pierce: A Review

Title: Daine’s Quartet

Series: The Immortals Quartet

Author: Tamora Pierce

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 5/5

Release Date: December 1st 1992 (For the first one)

Format: E-Book

Synopsis (This is just for the first in the quartet):

Young Daine's knack with horses gets her a job helping the royal horsemistress drive a herd of ponies to Tortall. Soon it becomes clear that Daine's talent, as much as she struggles to hide it, is downright magical. Horses and other animals not only obey, but listen to her words. Daine, though, will have to learn to trust humans before she can come to terms with her powers, her past, and herself.

Review:

Pierce comes in again with a fantastic quartet for the Tortall universe. As much as I love Alanna, its not my favorite of the series’ available in the Tortall universe. I can’t choose a favorite but Daine’s story is tied with two others for that place. All of the heroines have vastly different stories to tell and the way they overcome the obstacles against them are different as well. While Alanna faced her life with deception at the beginning and became the first lady knight in a long time, Daine found the magic within her and used it and the world around her to become the best version of herself. This included speaking and befriending animals, two-leggers and immortals. That’s another difference between Alanna’s books and these, immortals are now out and about in the world again due to the villain of this story and his quest for more and more power.

Daine is a young orphaned bastard when this book starts. She has a way with animals and can get the feisty ponies under control and to act right as Daine and Onua travel back to the capital. On the way, Daine learns of immortals and meets the man who will soon be her teacher.

Numair is a fair strange man and more interested in learning and magic than court functions for the most part, but he is so charismatic that it is no hard to fall in love with him.

In this quartet, we also see some returning players from Alanna’s quartet. This includes Alanna herself, George, King Jonathan, and even Raoul. Though obviously due to Daine’s age, these are people she looks up to instead of her comrades. We also get a new host of players with Numair, Onua, Sarge and various other smaller characters.

The land of Tortall in these books is far broader than in Alanna’s books. This is not due to the places Daine visits but instead due to Daine’s relationship with these places. Since she has wild magic she can communicate with any animals in the area and as such she sees the world in far different terms than Alanna and other knights might. A common theme in these books, specifically the first, is Daine’s loss of her mother and her home. Due to this, she feels out of place a lot, and it does not make it better that she commonly has conversations with her animal companions that two-leggers can only hear one side of. By the end of the first book however, she has proven herself valuable and has gained the love and respect of a great many people. This allows for the found family dynamic, including some immortals and animals as companions.

One issue that some people have with this series is the age gap romance that occurs in the fourth book of the quartet. Since Numair is 10+ years older than Daine and he is her teacher, some people find issue with this book. I get that, I do. But I also disagree. Naumair never makes his feelings known to Daine until she shows the first signs of interest in her. And there is no grooming in this book. Instead there is the understanding that Daine and Numair are their own people and Numair respects her decisions. Numair does teach her and show her how to use her magic and is her constant companion through these novels. However, that never crosses the line from student/teacher until Daine makes the move to change it, and this only happens when she is an adult and of marriageable age (in those times).

These books are the first of Pierce’s that I fell in love with. Alanna made me want to be strong and fierce, Daine showed me how I could be that way without all the sword work. I found a part of myself in Daine and love to revisit her story often.

#veralidaine sarrasi #numair salmalin #tamora pierce #ya fantasy #fantasy books

[siriuslyreads]

Stuck With You by Ali Hazelwood: A Review

Title: Stuck with You

Series: The STEMinist Novellas

Author: Ali Hazelwood

Genre: Romance

Rating: 4.2/5

Release Date: June 7th 2022

Format: E-Book

Synopsis:

Nothing like a little rivalry between scientists to take love to the next level.

Mara, Sadie, and Hannah are friends first, scientists always. Though their fields of study might take them to different corners of the world, they can all agree on this universal truth: when it comes to love and science, opposites attract and rivals make you burn…

Logically, Sadie knows that civil engineers are supposed to build bridges. However, as a woman of STEM she also understands that variables can change, and when you are stuck for hours in a tiny New York elevator with the man who broke your heart, you earn the right to burn that brawny, blond bridge to the ground. Erik can apologize all he wants, but to quote her rebel leader—she’d just as soon kiss a Wookiee.

Not even the most sophisticated of Sadie’s superstitious rituals could have predicted such a disastrous reunion. But while she refuses to acknowledge the siren call of Erik’s steely forearms or the way his voice softens when he offers her his sweater, Sadie can’t help but wonder if there might be more layers to her cold-hearted nemesis than meet the eye. Maybe, possibly, even burned bridges can still be crossed….

Review:

Again, this one will be short. This is the second novella in the STEMinist novella series. This one starts with Sadie and Erik getting stuck in an elevator and it jumps back and forth between the past and the present. This was my favorite of the novellas, I think because it is a change from the normal “I’ve known you for a while and I’ve been in love with you longer” trope that Hazelwood likes. Instead, we see (in the past) Sadie and Erik meeting, two people who work at opposing firms, and should not find friends in each other. They connect immediately and have a one-night stand.  This is where the misunderstanding starts, which again, I love.

I enjoyed this novella. It had enough angst and plot that it felt like a full story, but it was contained enough, both in setting and plot, that it did not feel like a meandering story. There were plenty of tropes that Hazelwood included: the misunderstandings, the run-away at the first sign of trouble, the forced proximity.  Again, I’ll say I had an issue with the fact that this love interest was strikingly similar to all the other love interests Hazelwood writes, but the story was decent enough that it did not irritate me as much as the other novellas. This was the best of the three novellas in my opinion and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

#ali hazelwood #stuck with you #romance books #steminist #novella

[siriuslyreads]

Ballad & Dagger by Daniel Jose Older: A Review

Title: Ballad & Dagger

Series: Outlaw Saints

Author: Daniel José Older

Genre: YA Urban Fantasy

Rating: 3/5

Release Date: May 3rd 2022

Format: Physical Book

Synopsis:

Almost sixteen years ago, Mateo Matisse's island homeland disappeared into the sea. Weary and hopeless, the survivors of San Madrigal's sinking escaped to New York. While the rest of his tight-knit Brooklyn diaspora community dreams of someday finding a way back home, Mateo--now a high school junior and piano prodigy living with his two aunts (one who's alive, the other not so much)--is focused on one thing: getting the attention of locally-grown musical legend Gerval. Mateo finally gets his chance on the night of the Grand Fete, an annual party celebrating the blended culture of pirates, Cuban Santeros, and Sephardic Jews that created San Madrigal all those centuries ago. But the evil that sank their island has finally caught up with them, and on the night of the celebration, Mateo's life is forever changed when he witnesses a brutal murder by a person he thought he knew. Suddenly Mateo is thrust into an ancient battle that spans years and oceans. Deadly secrets are unraveled and Mateo awakens a power within himself--a power that not only links him to the killer but could also hold the key to unlocking the dark mystery behind his lost homeland. From the author of the award-winning Shadowshaper Cypher series comes the first novel in the Outlaw Saints duology--a brilliant story that will transport readers to a world where magic, myth, and gods reign over the streets of Brooklyn.

Review:

I gotta be upfront with y’all from the beginning. I did not like this book. Something about it kept me reading the entire things, but it just did not hit right for me. It seemed like there was something always just on the brink of being fantastic, but the twists and reveals never delivered on the promise. Even the twist at the ending seemed trite to me. I got the Owlcrate edition of this and I always try to give those special editions the most honest shot I can, but this didn’t deliver what I hoped for. I think I am the wrong audience for this book. Maybe if I was younger, or a POC and not white. I think the story and the lore of the book were well presented, and for a lot of people it would resonate well with them.

I think in the beginning you were supposed to feel for Mateo, a boy raised by his tia and his ghost aunt. His mother and father are off being doctors somewhere and he doesn’t see them often. But Mateo never seemed to struggle with these things. He had a loving family, he knew his mother and father cared for him, and he didn’t seem to care overly much that they were out of the picture. Indeed he seemed to mind more that when he was a child they would shepherd him around the world instead of letting him stay in Brooklyn and Little Madrigal. Mateo did not make sense to me and did not have a lot of depth. In the end he became this being that saved the world, but that did not tie in with who he was in the beginning. I understand character growth, and I understand that in these circumstances, Matteo was actually also the spirit of one of his people’s maker gods. But that should not mean that Mateo changed so completely that by the end of a book he is completely unrecognizable, especially since not much truly happened before he changed.

The first two thirds of this book are all about the politics and the issues between the ruling factions of the city, but honestly, I can still tell you nothing other than one of those factions was pirates? It wasn’t until Mateo was betrayed that the book even picked up speed, and honestly, I think we all expected that betrayal. Then once the book picked up speed, it did not slow down, but it also felt disjointed. Almost like the author took separate scenes and tried to piece them together with the middle bits, without a clear understanding of what the story was supposed to be.

So much of the story was talking about finding a way to resurrect San Madrigal from the ocean, but we never truly know anything about San Madrigal. Maybe that is the point honestly. We are viewing this world through someone who was too young to remember the sinking of San Madrigal, but it also felt as if this grand thing that the book was leading towards meant absolutely nothing to Mateo, and thus we as readers don’t really know why we should care either. I loved the story of Atlantis growing up, and I expected to feel some kind of way about San Madrigal, but by the end of the book, when Mateo and Chela are seeing the island for the first time, I felt nothing but bored.

And Chela, I did not understand the relationship between Mateo and Chela. There were no sparks leading up to it, nothing at all to indicate the interest. Mateo went from being scared of Chela because she killed someone in front of him, to being in love with her. It did not make sense.

This book felt altogether too long and too short. The politics and factions of the beginning should have been cut down. The interesting fast paced story of the end should have been stretched out. And Mateo and Chela should not have been together in this book until maybe, MAYBE the very end.

#Ballad and dagger #daniel jose older #matteo matisse #san madrigal #ya books #ya urban fantasy

[siriuslyreads]

Under One Roof by Ali Hazelwood: A Review

Title: Under One Roof

Series: The STEMinist Novellas

Author: Ali Hazelwood

Genre: Romance

Rating: 3.7/5

Release Date: May 3rd 2022

Format: E-Book

Synopsis:

A scientist should never cohabitate with her annoyingly hot nemesis – it leads to combustion. Mara, Sadie, and Hannah are friends first, scientists always. Though their fields of study might take them to different corners of the world, they can all agree on this universal truth: when it comes to love and science, opposites attract and rivals make you burn…. As an environmental engineer, Mara knows all about the delicate nature of ecosystems. They require balance. And leaving the thermostat alone. And not stealing someone else’s food. And other rules Liam, her detestable big-oil lawyer of a roommate, knows nothing about. Okay, sure, technically she’s the interloper. Liam was already entrenched in his aunt’s house like some glowering grumpy giant when Mara moved in, with his big muscles and kissable mouth just sitting there on the couch tempting respectable scientists to the dark side…but Helena was her mentor and Mara’s not about to move out and give up her inheritance without a fight. The problem is, living with someone means getting to know them. And the more Mara finds out about Liam, the harder it is to loathe him…and the easier it is to love him.

Review:

This will be a short one, as it is for a novella that was pretty so-so in my opinion. Of the three novellas in this ‘series’ this was my second favorite of the three. Mara and Liam have a cute antagonistic relationship at the start, and once they became friends, they got even more precious. However, this is supposed the be about women in the STEM field, and while yes, Mara works in a STEM field, it has nothing to do with the story. Not really at least. There is a plot point about Mara gunning for a promotion, but the majority of the novella is about Liam and Mara’s relationship. Which I get, it’s a novella, there is not much space for a long story. It just feels kinda pointless, Mara could have had no job and it would not have changed the story at all.

There is the common misunderstanding trope, which I will admit I enjoy, so the misunderstandings in this novella that cause the third act angst were wonderful to read. One issue I have with this, and all Hazelwood’s other books, is that the love interests are all the same. They all start as grumpy guys, who have always been in love with the sunshine girl, but hide it in order to keep her from knowing. There is also the physical descriptors that are involved with the smutty bits that are common across the board as well. Honestly is feels like all five of her male love interests (Love Hypothesis, Love on the Brain and the three novellas) are pretty much cookie cutter versions of the ‘perfect’ guy. If it hadn’t been for this, I would have enjoyed this more.

#ali hazelwood #under one roof #romance books #novella #steminist

[siriuslyreads]

Lobizona by Romina Garber: A Review

Title: Lobizona

Series: Wolves of No World

Author: Romina Garber

Genre: Paranormal Fantasy

Rating: 4.3/5

Release Date: August 4th, 2020

Format: Audiobook (Also own ARC)

Synopsis:

Some people ARE illegal. Lobizonas do NOT exist. Both of these statements are false. Manuela Azul has been crammed into an existence that feels too small for her. As an undocumented immigrant who's on the run from her father's Argentine crime-family, Manu is confined to a small apartment and a small life in Miami, Florida. Until Manu's protective bubble is shattered. Her surrogate grandmother is attacked, lifelong lies are exposed, and her mother is arrested by ICE. Without a home, without answers, and finally without shackles, Manu investigates the only clue she has about her past--a mysterious "Z" emblem—which leads her to a secret world buried within our own. A world connected to her dead father and his criminal past. A world straight out of Argentine folklore, where the seventh consecutive daughter is born a bruja and the seventh consecutive son is a lobizón, a werewolf. A world where her unusual eyes allow her to belong. As Manu uncovers her own story and traces her real heritage all the way back to a cursed city in Argentina, she learns it's not just her U.S. residency that's illegal. . . .it's her entire existence.

Review:

This was a fantastic book. It starts slow, but the story and the world it builds are too incredible to not get wrapped up in. This book gives a great view of what our Latinx siblings face on a daily basis, the consistent fear of deportation. All for a dream of a better life. Some content warnings: depictions of ICE and people being deported, violence and death.

The main character of our story is Manu, an illegal (her words, not mine) with brilliant eyes. She has been sheltered from the world by her mother and has never known why. Manu’s resilience is honestly inspiring. Before she enters the world of werewolves and witches, she has to constantly hide herself, knowing that is she brings attention to herself it could mean deportation or her father’s people coming for her and her mother. The relationship she has with her mother is honestly so sweet. Understandably, her mother keeps secrets form her and when Manu finds out, she loses it because she and her mothers have always told each other the truth, but her mother was simply trying to protect her.

Once Manu’s mother is deported and her surrogate grandmother is in the hospital Manu sneaks into another world. Here she discovers that things like magic actually exist and that her brilliantly luminous eyes that give her away in the human world cause her to fit right in in the paranormal world. This is where she meets Cata, Saysa, and Tiago, two brujas and a lobizon who become her family.

This is when the book starts to pick up. Manu is put into classes in a magical school and she cannot access her magical power (as all women are brujas and all men are lobizones). It isn’t until her friend is nearly killed that Manu discovers that she is a Lobizona, something completely unheard of.

Throughout this book there is the constant undercurrent of your feet being puled out from underneath you. While Manu thinks she finally has a place she belongs, she is still considered illegal in this world as her mother is a human and her father a lobizon and any hybrids (and their parents) are subject to execution. We also learn that there are strict gender roles, and strict rules when it comes to sexuality and species progression. Since the septimo/as need to reproduce and refuse to mate with humans, their numbers are declining, as such all women are expected to bare children, regardless of sexuality/personal feelings. Women who are barren are not outright shunned, but they are not respected in the society. This feeling is hard to reconcile, normally with books where one person does not fit into one society, they find a comfortable place in another. This book shows that does not always happen and that sometimes even a new society that should feel like home can still show prejudice to the people in it. It’s hard to reconcile the fact that neither of the worlds that Manu belongs to wants her. I think so many people feel that way, whether due to their sexuality, religion, skin color, or any number of things. Manu shows the struggle and is resilient and strong through it all, she never gives up and when she seems to, she finds her friends around her, supporting her, regardless of the decisions she makes.

This book was phenomenal. I hope the second lives up to it.

#lobizona #romina garber #manu #manuela azul #lgbtq books #paranormal books

[siriuslyreads]

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune: A Review

Title: The House in the Cerulean Sea

Author: TJ Klune

Genre: LGBTQ Fantasy

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Release Date: March 17, 2020

Format: E-Book (though I own the physical)

Synopsis:

Linus Baker is a by-the-book case worker in the Department in Charge of Magical Youth. He's tasked with determining whether six dangerous magical children are likely to bring about the end of the world.

Arthur Parnassus is the master of the orphanage. He would do anything to keep the children safe, even if it means the world will burn. And his secrets will come to light.

The House in the Cerulean Sea is an enchanting love story, masterfully told, about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place—and realizing that family is yours.

Review: (Spoilers Here)

I’ll start by saying, this is one of my all-time favorite books. The found family in this book is something that I adore, and I dream of (though I’ve never been a fan of children). The feelings this book makes me feel just make my day better. It is everything that is needed for a soft comfortable hug at the end of the day. Some Content/Trigger Warnings: major prejudices (against magical beings, but still), and descriptions of child abuse (specifically through severe isolation).

The family in this consists of Arthur, Lucy, Talia, Phee, Chauncey, Theodore, Sal, and Zoe. Each of these magical beings is on Marsyas Island due to their abilities and the world forcing them into isolation in order to ‘protect them and others’. This is a common theme in the book. There are signs all over the city and the town that say “See Something, Say Something” as if having magical abilities is somehow a crime that needs to be reported on, and DICOMY and DICOMA (Department in Charge of Magical Youth/Adults) wants to ensure all magical beings are documented. It makes you question how in the world this would be acceptable in society and why there are not riots/protests.

Enter Linus. Linus is a DICOMY case worker who works with ‘orphanages’ in order to ensure that the children are being taken care of.  Our story begins with him being assigned to visit the Marsyas Orphanage in order to investigate Arthur and the children. In the beginning, Linus holds the same prejudices that the rest of society does, and who wouldn’t? When it is shoved in your face day to day that this is being done for the good of all, it is easy to ignore the discomfort of it. When he arrives and is met with Lucy (AKA Lucifer, the anti-Christ (but we don’t use that word in this house)), he holds certain prejudices against the 6-year-old for who the child is, and who the child can be. It asks the question: nature vs nurture. By the end we can see that (at least in this case) nurture won as Arthur is Lucy’s father, regardless that his biological father is the devil himself.

Each of the children in this book are in the ‘orphanage’ due to their peculiarity. We learn throughout this book the true bond that the children have with each other, with Arthur and with Zoe. Even though Arthur is not their true father, he sees them as his children and will stop at nothing to care for them. Zoe is much the same, she failed Arthur when he was a child and when he returned to open the ‘orphanage’ in his former hell, she offered to help however she could. And Linus becomes someone who cares so deeply for the children and for Arthur that he stands up to those he was fearful of in the beginning.

A part in this book that always touched me: “A home isn’t always the house we live in. It’s also the people we choose to surround ourselves with. You may not live on the island, but you can’t tell me it’s not your home. Your bubble, Mr. Baker. It’s been popped. Why would you allow it to grow around you again?”

Isn’t this how we should all live our lives? Surrounding ourselves with our home, regardless of the place we reside? Popping the comfortable bubble that surrounds us in order to fully experience the wide world that we inhabit? No, there may not be magic in the world, not in the wand waving and shape changing way, but magic is out there for everyone who is willing to pay attention.

Be sure to look out for TJ Klune's next book: In The Lives of Puppets coming out April 25, 2023.

#the house in the cerulean sea #tj klune #arthur parnassus #linus baker #lgbtq books

[siriuslyreads]

Alanna Quartet by Tamora Pierce: A Review

Title: Alanna Quartet

Series: The Song of the Lioness

Author: Tamora Pierce

Genre: YA Fantasy

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Release Date: September 1, 1983 (For the first one)

Format: E-Books (though I own them all)

Synopsis: (This is the synopsis for the first book, but my review will be for all 4)

From now on I'm Alan of Trebond, the younger twin. I'll be a knight.

And so young Alanna of Trebond begins the journey to knighthood. Though a girl, Alanna has always craved the adventure and daring allowed only for boys; her twin brother, Thom, yearns to learn the art of magic. So one day they decide to switch places: Thom heads for the convent to learn magic; Alanna, pretending to be a boy, is on her way to the castle of King Roald to begin her training as a page.

But the road to knighthood is not an easy one. As Alanna masters the skills necessary for battle, she must also learn to control her heart and to discern her enemies from her allies.

Filled with swords and sorcery, adventure and intrigue, good and evil, Alanna's first adventure begins - one that will lead to the fulfillment of her dreams and the magical destiny that will make her a legend in her land.

Review (Here there be spoilers):

I read these books for the first time when I was in middle of high school and all of Pierce’s Tortall books have been comfort reads for me since then. Alanna is the beginning of a decent sized world. In total there are currently 18 books in the entire Tortall universe (3 quartets, 1 duology, 1 trilogy, and a series in progress with the first available now).  These books are small, easy reads but that does not change how wonderful they are. All the books in the Tortall universe follow strong heroines (save for the ongoing series), who will fight with whatever they have in order to protect those they care about. There are strong veins of found family in the books as well. I am currently doing a re-read of all the Tortall books, but for now, I will focus on the Alanna series.

Alanna and her twin Thom are not content with their lots in life. Thom as a first son is expected to become a knight while Alanna is expected to become a lady. However, neither of them wishes for those lives. This is the first hint in the books of Alanna’s strong will and her refusal to accept life as something that just happens to her. Throughout the entire quartet, Alanna (sometimes as Alan the page and squire) is expected to follow the rules of knighthood, and she understands that even though those rules are strict, there is a reason why; and there is a time in which to buck those rules and do what is right regardless.

When Alanna arrives at the palace, she meets the boys who will be her fellow pages, squires, and eventually knights. This includes Prince Jonathan, Raoul, Gary and Alex. These boys she has to lie to and hide herself from as she cannot show that she is a girl and must take the moniker Alan in order to proceed with getting her shield. Throughout their time as pages and eventually squires, the boys get closer and end up making a family unto themselves. They are strong individually, but they show time and again that they will do anything for each other and that they are strong together.

We also meet George the thief. George is a special kind of character. Throughout the quartet, Alanna has 3 lovers: Jonathan, Liam the Shang, and George. Of these lovers, Jonathan has expectations of him to be king and his future wife to be queen. For Alanna this would mean giving up her shield (at least metaphorically) and doing all the lady things she did not wish to do. With Liam, there was love, but never enduring love because there were parts of her that he could not come to love. George loved and accepted her for who she was, and honestly there is nothing more that anyone could ask for in life. George sees who she is, accepts it, and supports her even if it means she does not choose him. He gives her time to make the decision and does not attempt to make that decision for her. I adore George and even though there is not much romance between the two of them in this series, it is still plain to see that the two of them are meant to be.

There are plenty of other characters that live in this world and honestly, I could talk for days about these characters, but that might get kind of boring. Instead, lets talk about the world in which they inhabit. Tortall is a land in which magic exists and is used for many parts of life. We see broad swathes of Tortall through Alanna and her adventures; from the deserts of the Bazhir to the Roof of the World. All Alanna wants to do is being an adventuring knight, going on grand adventures to help her realm and she is able to achieve this and, in the process, she is able to secure alliances with the Bazhir that will be paramount for Prince Jonathan, and she even finds Jonathan a queen while also seeking a magical artifact. This world is so vast and honestly not enough of it is covered in these books. I appreciate that in the future series’ we get to see more of the world and its people.

An obvious theme to talk about in this book is Alanna’s ‘trickery’ with pretending to be a boy and getting her shield. For the first two books in the series very few people know who she truly is, and the ones who do would protect her fiercely. There are also portions when she does not know who she is. When she begins her monthly cycles, she panics because no one ever told her what to do. And when as she is approaching her teens, she decides she wants to start wearing women’s clothes in secret, she struggles with figuring out how she can be a knight and a woman. Once she is outed as a woman in men’s clothing, some in the court shun her and some even call for her shield saying that she witched the Chamber of the Ordeal which is what gives the Ordeal of knighthood. She is consistently having to prove her worth, more than her male counterparts. But she achieves what many women wish to achieve. She finds her place in a man’s world and refuses to budge.

Honestly, this is a wonderful series. For any girls who are wanting to find their way in life and refuse to sit still and let life happen to them, this is their series. Alanna opens us up to a whole world that is filled with wondrous sights and people. Alanna consistently stands up for what is right, even at the cost of harm to herself. I did not even mention the villain in this series because honestly, he is irrelevant. This book is about so much more than fighting an individual evil. Instead it is about fighting prejudice and refusing to back down even when its difficult. Regardless of your age, read this series. Read it to your daughters, your sons, your non-binary youths. Read it and fall in love.

Here is the complete series titles: (1) Alanna: The First Adventure (2) In the Hand of the Goddess (3) The Woman Who Rides Like a Man (4) Lioness Rampant

#alanna the lioness #tamora pierce #george cooper #song of the lioness #fantasy books #ya books

[siriuslyreads]

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia: A Review

Title: Mexican Gothic

Author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Genre: Horror, Historical Fiction

Rating: 4.5/5

Release Date: June 30, 2020

Format: Audiobook

Synopsis:

After receiving a frantic letter from her newly-wed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, Noemí Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. She’s not sure what she will find—her cousin’s husband, a handsome Englishman, is a stranger, and Noemí knows little about the region.

Noemí is also an unlikely rescuer: She’s a glamorous debutante, and her chic gowns and perfect red lipstick are more suited for cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing. But she’s also tough and smart, with an indomitable will, and she is not afraid: Not of her cousin’s new husband, who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems to be fascinated by Noemí; and not even of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemí’s dreams with visions of blood and doom.

Her only ally in this inhospitable abode is the family’s youngest son. Shy and gentle, he seems to want to help Noemí, but might also be hiding dark knowledge of his family’s past. For there are many secrets behind the walls of High Place. The family’s once colossal wealth and faded mining empire kept them from prying eyes, but as Noemí digs deeper she unearths stories of violence and madness.

And Noemí, mesmerized by the terrifying yet seductive world of High Place, may soon find it impossible to ever leave this enigmatic house behind.

Review: (Warning Spoilers Ahead)

This book at turns delighted me with its imagery, terrified me with its characters, and infuriated me with its old fashioned ideals. Moreno-Garcia knows how to write a book that is as disturbing as it is intriguing. I was sucked in from the first page and just could not put it down. Some trigger warnings to get on the table (this does contain spoilers): minor trigger warning for cannibalism, lots of death, rape/attempted rape, incest and SOOOO much misogyny. Just so infuriatingly much.

The main character of this is Noemí, a strong woman who wants to make her way in the world as an anthropologist. She is flighty, loves glamorous dresses and parties, but she is strong and takes no prisoners when her wit is on display. Her travels to High Place though, they try her indomitable will and her sense of self. As soon as she arrives there are a strict set of rules placed on her and she does her best to buck those rules as often as possible. Her life then gets interesting and she tries to manage it before it burns her out.

Noemí is there to visit her cousin Catalina and check in after the distressing letter that Catalina sent to Noemí and her family. Catalina is described as a warm cousin, interested in fairy tales, with her head in the clouds. The Catalina we meet is not this same woman. She is withdrawn and Noemí can tell that something is wrong, and it is not a sickness like she has been told.

The family of High Place is disturbing, hard to stomach and infuriating. We have Howard, the patriarch and a sickly old man. Florence, his niece, and the person who runs High Place. Virgil, a truly despicable human being, and Howard’s grandson. The last member of the family is Francis, honestly the only good one of the bunch. He is Florence’s son.

Howard starts as the typical creepy old man. He is too handsy, has troubles walking and seems to need more help than the doctor that visits can provide. Howard truly terrified me. Anytime Noemí was alone with him or around him, it was hard to read. He has very specific ideals about bloodlines and eugenics, and this plays a huge role in how he runs and continues his family. Throughout this novel, Noemí learns more and more about this family and most of it is deranged honestly. I won’t get into specifics, but this family is truly terrible (I am running out of adjectives to use for this family).

Florence is a harsh mistress of the house and everything about her made me want to punch her square in the face. Howard was truly hard to read, but he was not in the book much. Florence though, Florence was a real bitch. All of the rules that she has in place, and she forces Noemí to follow with no rhyme of reason are ridiculous. After the end of this book, I can see why she feels this way and why she wants to have her rules followed, but her personality and the way she treats Noemí and her own son is just infuriating.

Speaking of Francis, Francis is a cinnamon role forced to live in a shit hole and follow the rules set forth by his family. He mentions multiple times that he wants to travel but he can’t leave the house, none of the Doyle’s can. He does what he can to be Noemí’s true friend in the terrible place she has found herself, but he struggles. It seems at times his struggles are not with himself, but with the house itself.

Virgil is a whole other kind of horror. If I hated the scenes with Howard because he creeped me out, it was nothing to the skeevy feeling I had when Virgil was on the scene. Virgil is a man who knows what he wants and will not let anyone stand in the way of that. Normally, I would not be opposed to this mentality, but when it comes to harming and raping women to prove get what he wants, I want no part of it.

That brings me to a common theme of this book. Noemí, as stated above is a strong woman who will do what she needs to do and does not suffer fools. But High Place pulled her from her comfort zone and traumatized her in ways that are not easily recoverable. She is constantly berated and made to feel small and worthless by Florence and Virgil, while Howard and Virgil make it known that they lust for her. This book will try the feminist in you. There were far too many times when Noemí was spoken down to or forced into something that I grew infuriated because I knew that there was something going on preventing her from protecting herself the way that she should have been able to. Misogyny is alive and well in this book, but it is not glorified. There is not misogyny for the sake of misogyny. As bad as it sounds, it served a purpose, and it was nice to see a book that has those themes but does not do it in a glorified way. Women are treated as nothing more than fodder to continue a family line (in more ways than one). But it felt purposeful and necessary.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I was not expecting to, and it surprised me. Some horror books are too much to handle, but this one had just enough horror mixed with mystery and mind-bending confusion from fantasy to reality.

#mexican gothic #silvia moreno garcia #noemi taboada #high place #horror books

[siriuslyreads]

The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun: A Review

Title: The Charm Offensive

Author: Alison Cochrun

Genre: RomCom

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Release Date: September 7, 2021

Format: E-Book

Synopsis:

Dev Deshpande has always believed in fairy tales. So it’s no wonder then that he’s spent his career crafting them on the long-running reality dating show Ever After. As the most successful producer in the franchise’s history, Dev always scripts the perfect love story for his contestants, even as his own love life crashes and burns. But then the show casts disgraced tech wunderkind Charlie Winshaw as its star.

Charlie is far from the romantic Prince Charming Ever After expects. He doesn’t believe in true love, and only agreed to the show as a last-ditch effort to rehabilitate his image. In front of the cameras, he’s a stiff, anxious mess with no idea how to date twenty women on national television. Behind the scenes, he’s cold, awkward, and emotionally closed-off.

As Dev fights to get Charlie to connect with the contestants on a whirlwind, worldwide tour, they begin to open up to each other, and Charlie realizes he has better chemistry with Dev than with any of his female co-stars. But even reality TV has a script, and in order to find to happily ever after, they’ll have to reconsider whose love story gets told.

In this witty and heartwarming romantic comedy—reminiscent of Red, White & Royal Blue and One to Watch—an awkward tech wunderkind on a reality dating show goes off-script when sparks fly with his producer.

Review (with potential spoilers):

This was one of my favorite books from last year and re-reading it this year only solidified that fact. This book has a great mental health rep, while showing the readers a glimpse at reality dating shows and those promised happily ever afters. A few trigger/content warnings for this book: there is some homophobia, some direct and some indirect, there is vomit in this (if that’s not your jam), and there is plenty of discussion of mental health, both with depression and OCD and generalized anxiety disorders.

We start this novel with Dev Deshpande, and honestly, he is one of the best reps I have seen for mental health in recent years. His consistent struggles with only showing Fun Dev and the way he sees himself really resonates with me. I think it would resonate with anyone who struggles with depressive episodes and the inability to get out of bed some days. The way he is treated by those around him was terrible and seeing the progression from the beginning to the end and him seeing that he is worth so much more than what he was accepting was heartwarming and wonderful. My only wish is that we saw more of how his heritage affected who he was and his relationships with his parents/family. He is Indian American and we don’t really get to see how his culture play a role into who he is as a person.

The main star of the show, Ever After, is Charles Winshaw (or Charlie), and seeing him and what he deals with from his own brain on the daily made my heart ache. As someone who is intimately aware of how OCD affects a person, it was refreshing to see this kind of representation in a book. Then his total gay panic at the ripe-old-age of 28 was like looking in a mirror. Sexual identity is something that can shift and change, and sometime remain hidden for years depending on the person. The need to be labeled one thing or another, while freeing for some, can be damaging for others and Charlie shows us this as he struggles to put a name to how he feels sexually and romantically about the women he is ‘dating’ for this reality show and about his producer, who he is having troubling and new feelings for.

The side characters for this do not disappoint either. We see Parisa, Jules, Skye and even Ryan (Dev’s ex) change and grow and help the boys become better for it. Parisa, Charlie’s BFF, is a strong woman, who takes no prisoners and is fiercely protective of her best friend. She is the type of person I want to be one day, and the person I hope to find as a best friend one day. Jules, Dev’s BFF and co-worker, is weird and wonderful and doesn’t know how to express her love for her friend. This is indicated plenty through her use of ‘puppy scratches’ when she wants to show affection to Dev. Skye, another of Dev’s coworkers, is fantastically queer and unashamed of that. She does let Maureen (the creator of Ever After) do far too much on the show that should not be acceptable. Ryan was a character that I was not expecting to like in the end. At the beginning Dev is despondent after the breakup of their 6-year relationship. But after some good conversations between him and Dev, we see the problems in their relationships in stark contrast from how Dev felt about it. We also see some character development in Ryan that startled me but made me so happy to see. In the end, Ryan is a great friend to Dev and Charlie.

We see these characters interact on the set of Ever After, a reality TV show similar to The Bachelor, with a fairy tale twist. The show touts that the prince of the season will find their princess. I’ve gotta be honest, I am not a fan of most reality TV and I have never seen anything like The Bachelor. It is so interesting to see the behind the scenes of this fictional show, regardless of if it is truly how these kind of shows actually work. During this filming, we see the cast travel all over the world from New Orleans, to Germany, South Africa to India. It is refreshing to see these places, even if it is just a small glimpse through Charlie and Dev or one of the women going on ‘courting’ dates. The set of Ever After as a whole is so interesting as well. There is a ton of tension and manic energy on display and Dev struggles to keep up sometimes, spiraling into moments of depression that others ignore because ‘the show must go on’.

This is because of the absolute worst character in this book. She is well written to be disliked, and I am glad we only saw her for bits and pieces. It is obvious from the beginning that she is there to sell a specific type of show, the white, cisgender, hetero show that she thinks everyone wants to see. She refuses to move from that narrative and even at some points blatantly state she ‘will not have a bi-sexual Princess’. Obviously, this causes strife between the characters as most of the crew is in some way queer and Charlie is finding out who he is. Maureen even states that she can’t be homophobic because she hired all this queer crew, but she outright refuses to accept or acknowledge that times are changing and maybe the show needs to change with it. She is completely toxic.

This book has everything that makes a good RomCom. There is plenty of sweetness, plenty of romance, plenty of angst, and some comedy as well. It is a little formulaic, and easy to know what is going to happen before it happens, but it’s a quick read, and well worth it if happy ever afters, with plenty of angst are your jam.

#the charm offensive #dev deshpande #charlie winshaw #romcom #queer books #mental health rep