#so i forced myself to dnf the book and am now going to make myself play some video games | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

fairysbookshelf · 3 months

Text

War Hour by Lauren Loscig

Book Stats:

Rating:⭐⭐(2/5)

Spice: YA? I can't tell......

Tropes: Powers earned, not born into. "Who did this to you?"

Publisher: LNL publishing

Review:

To say I am disappointed is to say the least. This book had SO much potential!!! But at the end of the day it just let me down......

I generally want to know if this book went thru the editing process, because to me it didn't feel like it.

First off, there is NO worldbuilding. Your just thrown into this world and by the time you figure it out, your already have way thru the book! I literally hard to resort to writing down things or else I would forget. I really think the world especially in fanasty, is one of the most important things. It separates the novel from others.

The pacing is extremely fast and the plot jumps around. I had to concentrate really hard honestly to fully understand what was going on because one second the characters are somewhere and the next they are in a new location with no explanation to how they got there. If I am being honest, I don't think I could tell you the full plot without having to check my notes.

Now on to the characters. Where do I even start? First off when new characters were introduced they were introduced with no backstory whatsoever. Even the main character. The two boys(I think?) she lives with in the beginning- no idea why she is living with them and what she did to get there. Not to mention, with how little world building there is, when a new character was introduced, that was apparently was suppose to be the youngest lord ever, I was like, WHO? She apparently has a sister, but I literally forgot about it. Because that is what these characters are- forgettable and one dimensional.

Before I forget, The author tries to incorporate a love triangle. I don't think this works for multiple reasons- the main one being the characters have no chemistry whatsoever. Why? because the characters have no depth!

Even the main character feels like a copy- paste of every fairytale heroin. Even her backstory just feels copy-paste. Her parents? None existent? Her sister? Plot twist? She is suppose to be living with her boyfriend. No idea how they met, when they met etc. Nothing that makes the book stand out.

Also, Title? Makes no sense in the context of the book.........

Every time I give a book a bad review I try to assess that is it a case the book is actually bad, or is the book just not to my taste? and I personally believe this is a case of THE BOOK IS BAD. I literally forced myself to read this book an try not to DNF it. Again, I think this book had so much potential, but It needs to be completely fully flushed out, edited, and re-looked at. This book feels like a rough draft.

#book of the month #book quotes #book review #bookish #booklr #books #books & libraries #books and reading #bookstagram #bookworm #literature #bookblr #booklover

0 notes

canwriteitbetterthanueverfeltit · 3 years

Text

okay releasing myself from all obligations!!! I'm doing it!!!!

#ive been stressing myself out SO BAD #over a book I'm supposed to be reading solely for enjoyment that I don't even like #a task for work on my DAY OFF #and 2 personally projects that I do actually need to work on and didn't get to any of the other days I wanted to #but i did one huge part of one of them #and I'm not in a headspace to work on creative stuff now because of that massive drain #even the creative part of finishing that project #and i don't have the brain power to write the reviews i was trying to make myself write #so i forced myself to dnf the book and am now going to make myself play some video games #personal

5 notes · View notes

chloebwrites · 3 years

Text

Let’s talk about writing... I’ve seen this question come up quite a lot in the writing community and that is...

Imposture Sydrome & Can I Be A Good Writer Without Reading?

Yes. I’m going to talk about both. And am going to be as transparent - most real on here through my own personal experience.

Let’s dive in. Shall we?

Ok. I will be honest, I feel like a fraud when I write. I feel like I’m preaching to myself “go read” and “you have to enjoy reading in order to be a good writer.” etc. while also feeling torn because I don’t read as many books as everyone else.

I read like a snail and it usually takes a month to chew down a book because I’m absorbing everything - I might get through one maybe two in a year that’s if life doesn’t get busy. I have to MAKE time, carve it out of my day to read 30pgs. And my attention span intends to lasts for 10 pages deep, so if the book doesn’t hook me - I won’t be finishing it.

I tell myself “get through 30pgs...” and beg myself to enjoy a book that’s been hyped up. And then what happens? I jump the gun and am holding a new book while doing the same thing.

I tell myself, I’m a bookaholic, “i love books” and “a good writer loves reading therefore I need to love reading as well” and then the same cycle intends to happen over and over again. The problem doesn’t lie with the book or reading at all but rather with my personal taste. Discovering the genre and book style has been difficult. And I am still learning what I like.

The first book I remember that made me enjoy reading (apart from Rainbow Magic books) was Tryelle by Amanda Hocking - Switched - I ate up the first story so quick that I gave it to my cousin and bought the trilogy. The only reason for not finishing Torn was because I hated the love triangle - I was rooting for Fin & Wendy and wanted to throw the book across the room when they weren’t going to be a match. The next book that stuck with me was Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I loved the first book and read it super quick - I still have to read the other three. But the most recent book that I fell in love with was in 2020 was when I Beta Read my good friend’s novel: Winter Soul. I loved it! I ate that book within a month. It made me fall in love with reading all over again. And I’m so honoured to be reading her newly revised version of it.

So maybe it’s me heavily relying on BookTube recommendations and not trusting my own taste and feelings when reading 10pgs into a story? Maybe it’s my procrastination that’s to blame and the fact that I like watching too much Netflix? Maybe it’s “reading is a sport and the more you read and exercise your brain the better it will be” and I get tiered and frustrated with that? Maybe it’s also the frustration with words I don’t understand when authors write on the page and try to be clever? 🤷🏼‍♀️ all I know is that if I love characters and theres a good plot to the story then that’s what makes time fly and gets me hooked on the first few pages.

You see while I acknowledge that I do read, I’m not going to sit here and say. I don’t struggle with it. And as much as I hate to admit it, this learning block comes from not reading a lot when being younger. So I do force myself to read but it’s a constant tug of war that mind you gets easier over time. And while I know I’m a reader, I still try to vailidate myself as a “good reader” while feeling guilty about not reading fast or having read 12 books in a year.... it’s the pressure. And of course then there’s me writing and crafting my own stories and oh wow! I shouldn’t be complaining I should love reading. I am a complete hypocrite! Why am I a writer? I’m so fake!!

Imposture Sydrome hits deep for me. And trust me, I do love reading. The books I’ve mentioned in this post are not the only ones I’ve read. I also know that when reading it does improve my vocabulary, I begin to see how the author crafts clever sentences and foreshadows and all of those amazing techniques. I totally get it and that is why I agree that “I need to read more” and “in order to be a good writer you must read.”

But I can’t help but feel torn between an imposture, a fake it till you make it writer. A wanna be. And Imposture Sydrome... likes to attack me by judging how little I read. And how that’s “not good enough” you should read more and be faster than this... and then it intends to spiral into “you’ll never be a good writer and even if you do make it in the publishing industry... everyone will find out what a fraud you are.”

I often take Imposture Sydrome as a challenge. I’m not a fraud! I can read more! I’ll prove you wrong! I am a good writer! And you can bet your bottom dollar I’m a bloody fantastic reader too!

But ya’ll when I’m having a bad day. And when I’m not in the right headspace it’s always nagging me to quit. Stop reading, donate them to charity. Give up being a writer, stop this facade. Admit the facts... you weren’t cut out for this.

And this is coming from a reader. It doesn’t matter if you read 1 or 10 or 15 or 50 books in a year. If you read, then hunnie you are a reader. And the best part is... you can grow. The more you read. The better you get. The more fancy words you begin to understands and identify. Your writing craft and prose get stronger by looking at how others write and their sentence structure. And I will never force myself to do anything I truly don’t want to do. When I am reading I have a hell of a time so please don’t get me wrong by reading this post and thinking it’s me whining and complaining. I just have my fair struggles with comprehension with prose and words on the page. And I think that’s a fair complaint to make.

So now... back to the main question. Should you read to be a good writer? Yes. It helps a lot and you’ll thank yourself later - if you don’t read a book please read online articles, etc. scripts, comics. Any sort of writing. But for me, nothing beats a good book. I also recommend switching books with betas and reading their work. Because when I started doing that... my writing improved. And my love for reading blossomed all over again.

You’ll find that you do like to read it’s just the genre isn’t your taste. Also I’ll let you in on a secret: you don’t have to read the entire book if you’re dreading it on the first few pages just DNF it and move on. It will take time to grow - your vocabulary, etc. but I’m sure as being a writer does. That playing around with people’s styles and adapting them into your own - it’s like mixing paints. It’s very fun.

Also if you’re a writer before becoming a reader there’s nothing wrong with that either! I began that way and it does take time to love reading. As long as you’re open to books then that’s all that matters.

Read as much. Play with peoples writing styles and your own. Experiment. Read more. Write more. And I think you can give Impostuee Sydrome a strong kick to the curb - because it doesn’t matter how many books you read as long as you are reading. That’s what matters. Now stop being harsh on yourself ❤️

1 note · View note

sobstoriesandshitposts · 4 years

Text

2019 has already ended but here’s a list (+ my unasked for opinions) of all the books I’ve read in 2019 in chronological order, Part 2.

((Disclaimer: this is a shitpost for myself and highly overrun by my emotions — I shall not be held accountable if my opinion is taken seriously. And I know it’s 2020 already, but procrastination is prevalent.))

By the way, here’s part 1, if you’d like.

8. The Dragon Republic

Rin was an absolute mess the entire book and god knows how frustrated I got with the dumb decisions™ she made every step of the way. But the poor girl was going through some shit and she picked it all up at the end, so I’m ready for the third installment, and to finally, see the end of the poppy war. Also, THE THIRD BOOK HAS BEEN NAMED “THE BURNING GOD” and I stan. But generally, book 2 wasn’t very memorable to me, and I don’t remember it very well anymore so it was eh.

Characters: 3/5

Plot: 3.5/5

General feel things factor: 3.5/5

9. An Ember in the Ashes

God, I WAS SO DISAPPOINTED BY THIS BOOK. I almost hate it. I might actually. It’s definitely the book I dislike most of 2019. Ok listen, I’m pretty sure I dislike it because I hadn’t been in the right mindset to read it, and it just ended up not being the kind of book I was looking for in terms of plot and mood. Maybe it was intentional, but everything ended up being really dreary and boring and so underwhelming to me. I didn’t feel anything for the story nor for the characters (whose names I no longer remember). I mostly wanted to follow the first girl’s story rather than the other two characters (even though honestly, I didn’t care for what was happening to her either) so I ended up skimming half of the book and then forcing myself to finish the rest of it. Why didn’t I just DNF it? I don’t know too. I was probably going through some kinda mood.

Characters: 1/5

Plot: 1.5/5

General feel things factor: 1/5

10. To Kill a Kingdom

NOW. I’ve seen some reviews on this, and boy, were they mixed — but let’s ignore them, because here is my significant opinion: it was cute. I think tkak is just a simple, short fantasy-romance that got out a cute couple and was done with it. I loved Lira’s character, idk there was just something about her dryness (hah, even though she’s a siren-) that I really enjoyed. Although I have to say, the main guy character had been rather bland, and I don’t remember his name anymore. But anyway, I liked the first-meeting-girl-slaps-boy-scene. I liked the pirates. I liked the romance. I liked the straight-forwardness. I liked the happy ending. (And after AEITA, this was exactly what I needed.) So 10 points to Alexandra Christo.

Characters: 3.5/5

Plot: 3.5/5

General feel things factor: 3.5/5

11. An Enchantment of Ravens

SO. DAMN. ADORABLE. Some people hate enchantment, some people don’t. I personally absolutely loved it. I found Isobel and Rook so cute together, and everything was just really soft and fluffy. Like tkak, it’s just a short and sweet romance, but it leans more towards the fairytale vibes — and I was vibing. I found both the main characters so whimsical and dramatic and ridiculous and they were just so ENJOYABLE to read about. The plot was simple and to the point and it didn’t meander when it didn’t have to — so I don’t care what anyone has to say, an enchantment of ravens is probably one of my favorite reads in 2019 and I adore it. (And the line “Now stop making me feel things.” is just iconic to me. I mean, please, Rook.)

Characters: 4.5/5

Plot: 4/5

General feel things factor: 4.5/5

12. Graceling

Alright, so this is the book I ended on before I stopped reading, aka stopped ignoring the reality of my exams, to start studying for my exams. I found Po and Katsa cute together and I enjoyed their dynamics, but they got a little boring towards the end. I think their relationship got too mature and serious for me (or maybe exams looming over my head just made me really depressed) so they lost the childish charm about them that had drawn me in in the first place. But that doesn’t change the fact that Katsa is an absolute badass, that the entire scene in the courtyard where they fought is iconic, and that the truth behind Po’s sight at the end made me cry. Wasn’t my favourite, but graceling was enjoyable, which was exactly what I needed to feel satisfied to end on, and not too drawn into a world that I needed another one to replace it after it ended. Thank you Graceling, for saving whatever had been left of my grades.

Characters: 2.5/5

Plot: 3/5

General feel things factor: 3/5

13. The Cruel Prince (& The Wicked King & The Queen Of Nothing)

This is definitely my favourite book (and series) of 2019 and I was ruined by it. I actually had to reread the cruel prince, because the first time I did, I didn’t enjoy it and that didn’t sit right with me — I mean, come on, Holly Black is my queen and there’s no way I’d dislike a 4.2 star book of hers. And boy, was that one of the best decisions I’ve made in 2019. I was so immersed in Jude’s world and everything she was about to face; I rooted for her the whole way. I loved her character so, so much (for once, we get an mc that is actually smart). I loved Cardan so, so much. Honestly, I truly liked all of the characters. And Jurdan? I live for that sh*t. I was completely floored by this trilogy and I. Still. Want. More. (+ The quotes from this series??? Just freaking iconic.)

Characters: 5/5

Plot: 5/5

General feel things factor: 5/5

14. Sorcery of Thorns

Ah, yes, another one of the books I was disappointed by. After An Enchantment of Ravens, I had been so excited to read the second work of Margaret Rogerson, but it wasn’t what I thought it’d be. I really enjoyed it at first, but around the half way point I started to get bored and almost DNFed it. And yes, I am aware that Sorcery is meant to be an epic fantasy and is different from Enchantment, but I just thought that the characters would still have that whimsical, ridiculous flair that had been done so well in Enchantment — but the character building here kind of just fell flat for me. Although there were moments I did enjoy reading about Elisabeth and Nathaniel, I just didn’t really see the chemistry between them and I couldn’t appreciate their interactions and banter much. I felt like Silas was just a cookie-cutter “cold on the outside but warm on the inside” character as well. Okay, I’m being extra harsh on this book because of my crushing disappointment from great expectations, but actually, Sorcery had been a pretty good read that started off well. Although the middle got a little dry, i think it picked itself up again at the end and I felt compelled to finish it. Plus, Silas’ moment made me tear up even when I hadn’t expected myself to, so, that’s always a bonus.

Characters: 3/5

Plot: 3/5

General feel things factor: 3/5

15. The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue

So whimsical. So funny. So light-hearted — yet it had the surprise punch-you-in-the-gut feels. I spent a good deal of time laughing over Henry’s antics (when he ran naked around Versailles???? Oh my god, what are you doing, Henry?) and his efforts at trying to be a decent human-being. It was honestly, a very heart-felt and romantic story, which really has me torn up because how does Mackenzi Lee weave in so many heavy, important themes like abuse, trauma, racial and sexual discrimination and mental illness, and still make it such a light-hearted story — that was done well? (And lets not forget how she’s also managed to include some serious Fullmetal Alchemist vibes in there complete with murders and violins and pirates. Geez.) She’s a genius that’s how. The number of times I’ve almost cried, but was saved by Henry’s comments is just- ugh. If there’s any book I’d recommend just for being a damn good book, it’d be this one because, wow, was it good.

Characters: 4.5/5

Plot: 4/5

General feel things factor: 4.5/5

16. Carry On

We have now reached my final book of 2019: it was an absolute delight and one of my favourites. I just loved the characters, like they were so enjoyable to read about. I mean, I felt like Simon had a stick up his ass for a good portion of the beginning, but he softened up later on and my god, Baz. I loved his character so much. And the pining? HELL YES. And then, of course, his refusal to admit that he was pining to anyone else but himself. Simon and Baz were just extremely shippable, and I was ready to gobble up whatever I could of their romance. So fluffy, so ridiculous. Rainbow Rowell also made good use of the switching POVs. I normally dislike it when author’s switch the perspectives because it tells a side of the story that I really don’t care for (ahem, an ember in the ashes...) but Rowell did it so damn well. Even Agatha’s pov was enjoyable. She provided a different perspective on things compared to the other characters and I actually really liked her “I don’t want to have anything to do with this bullshit” take on things. It was fresh, and funny, even if she was being an ass half the time. So, Carry On? It’s a yes from me.

Characters: 4/5

Plot: 3/5

General feel things factor: 4/5

And finally, my 3 DNFs, in which I will rant about them just a little:

1) Wicked Fox

Didn’t like the writing style. Normally I don’t notice writing styles much because I’m just not that good with the technicalities, but Wicked Fox’s bothered me and I just couldn’t enjoy it. Also, I wasn’t in the mood to be patient, so I just decided to drop it.

2) Serpent & Dove

I actually really liked the beginning, but I think I wasn’t in the right headspace and I started to get bored by it, so I stopped reading. I’ll probably pick it up again in the future when I’m in the mood for it though :)

3) Throne or Glass

My god. I picked this up purely as tribute for Feysand — which, I guiltily admit, I really enjoyed — but- I- I couldn’t get past the first five chapters of tog. Putting aside the writing style (Why! Are! There! So! Many! Exclamation! Marks!), I didn’t feel anything for any of the characters, and any of the scenes. I don’t know what it is, but everything just felt so disconnected from me, and I had an inkling that I wasn’t going to care about what happened to the mc, or what happened with her and the other two (who I presume are) love interests because even on first impression, and a little past that, both seemed so bland to me. Sigh.

That’s it for the list; if you’re still here, good on you.

#the dragon republic #an ember in the ashes #to kill a kingdom #an enchantment of ravens #graceling #the cruel prince #the folk of the air #sorcery of thorns #the gentleman’s guide to vice and virtue #carry on

29 notes · View notes

jellybeanbeing · 4 years

Text

Books I DNF’d In 2019 (with spoilers)

I am going to be including spoilers so if you don’t want to read any of that, then don’t read this. Also, everyone is entitled to their own opinions. These are mine. If you loved these books, that’s great! I just didn’t click with them so if you know you’re going to get offended, don’t read whatever I’m going to write. It’s that easy.

The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord

I could not even make it past the first chapter because it was that bad. I was cringing so hard and like, I’m a person who can deal with a lot of cringy things. Just the way that the book had started out was so wrong and left a bad taste in my mouth. It was like the author was trying to pin some sob story onto every character that was introduced, as a way to make readers sympathize and then hopefully like them. Also, the dialogue was kind of bad. It wasn’t realistic and it just all sounded out of place. Another thing was that we are to believe that the main character is in love with this one guy because of this one nice thing when it’s clear that she really only likes him because he’s hot. I am very glad that I did not read any further because I would have been a ball of rage for a while.

When We Collided by Emery Lord

Another Emery Lord book... I am genuinely upset that I could not finish this book because I was so far in, but I couldn’t do that to myself anymore with reading it. It’s better than The Start of Me and You, but goddamn, it was the cringe that stopped me again. These characters, I tell you, were not realistic. The main girl was literally a straight up MPDG. Literally, the one absolute problem that I have with The Start of Me and You, and When We Collided is that the main characters are teenagers, but they are definitely not written to be teenagers. You got these sixteen and seventeen year olds behaving like adults. It’s not accurate and it bugs the life out of me.

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

I am so so so sad that I did not like this book like a million other people. Like I was so hyped for this book because of it’s premise and it’s plot and just everything about it sounded so amazing and thrilling, and then it didn’t live up to what I was expecting. I was ready to love this book and its characters, but I didn’t. I made it about 200 pages in before DNFing the book. The characters kind of annoyed me, it felt like there were too many things shoved into this book/plot that just seemed so convenient. You’re probably thinking I’m being too critical, and I am, but I was just expecting for more. Mind you, I was about 200 pages into the book, and nothing intriguing had really happened. There’s just so much I have to say about this book. Anyways, I was deeply disappointed.

Renegades by Marissa Meyer

Another book that I was so sad that I did not like. A lot of people around me had read this book and loved it so I was hoping that that would be me too, but it wasn’t. I am devastated that I didn’t like it. I just found it to be too cheesy for me. Like the whole superhero and villain concept really intrigued me but I think the execution of it was not there.

The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

This is the most recent DNF for me, and let me tell you, I am not going to finish this ever. I was so excited for it too because Jandy Nelson’s other novel, I’ll Give You The Sun is one of my favorite books so I was hoping that this would live up to what I had in mind, but it really didn’t. Like this girl is literally expressing her grief about her sister who recently died while also expressing her horniness towards guys at her sister’s funeral LIKE WHAT THE FUCK. Also, this trope of the main character falling into a relationship with their sister’s/friend’s/brother’s/close relative’s/person’s significant other is such a big no no for me. Like why. And the pacing of this book was just too fast for me and the pace that she was already getting with each guy was wayyy too quick for me to even comprehend everything. I was just left with such a bad taste in my mouth.

Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman

Now this is a book I have started like three times and still have DNF’d but I am planning on finishing the whole thing in the future. I just think that it’s such a heavy book that I need to mentally prepare myself for what’s to come. I’m genuinely excited to read this book and finish it, but every time I started, it just didn’t feel like that right time so hopefully when I do pick it up again, it will be the right time and I will finish it.

Middlegame by Seanan McGuire

This is also another book that I am really wanting to finish. The concept and the plot is super interesting and what I’ve read of it is very intriguing. It’s just hard for me and my tiny brain to comprehend a lot of things while reading Sci-Fi and Fantasy novels. There’s a lot that goes into them, and I find that I need to be in the right mindset to fully delve into the world with my entire self. It also seems like a really badass book so I’m super excited for it.

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

I’ve started this book like three times, and it’s so hard for me to get past a certain point in this book. It’s not that it’s a bad book, again, it’s just that my brain is very small so it’s harder for me to really fall into a high fantasy world. I am definitely planning on reading this and finishing but only when the time is right. I find that forcing myself to read books is never good because then I end up feeling bitter towards the book, so when my brain is ready, I will pick it up again and finish it.

#strange the dreamer #middlegame #challenger deep #neal shusterman #seanan mcguire #laini taylor #books #book review #book spoilers #books I dnf'd #books I did not finish

3 notes · View notes

wmsreads · 5 years

Photo

NOTE: I received a complimentary eARC of this book from Lerner Publishing Group through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

DNF @ 23%

When I first read the description of this book I was intrigued, it sounded right up my alley! But as soon as I started reading it, it became VERY clear this one wasn’t for me. I should have just stopped after the first two pages but I spent far too much time trying to force myself to finish it instead; trying to care even the slightest bit about any of the characters or how the story ended until I ended up giving up at 23%.

I saw another reviewer describe this book as “Game of Thrones meets Cruel Intentions meets Fantasia” and that’s exactly what it is. Now, you might be thinking “Surely those things don’t work together?” and you’d be absolutely right. Those three things should never be put together because then you end up with a book that’s essentially full of incest, substance abuse, and magically animated objects. Actually, considering some of the subjects this book touches on, I’m REALLY surprised it’s marketed as YA Fiction.

Right from the start I found Thelia’s character off-putting. I mean, the very first paragraph has her describing how weak, inside and out, her cousin Corene (the Princess) is and how she’s not fit to be Queen. She then goes on to describe why she, Thelia, should be queen in the most obnoxious, self-centered way, and plots how she can get the Corene out of the way so she can marry Bayled (the King’s ward, most likely heir, and the man who proposed to Corene without permission from the King). Her focus for the whole book, even when bigger things seem to be going on, is how she can use and screw over anyone standing in her way to become Queen. That is literally all she ever thinks about; her character has no real depth except for being a conceiving, backstabbing bitch. I also found it very hard to believe that the first time Corene told her the elves were coming she basically had a panic attack and passed out, but then when the elves actually got there and it was time to fight, she turned into some no-nonsense warrior maiden; it made no sense at all.

Most of the other characters are the same as Thelia. They all seem to have one main personality trait — loyal, whiny, cheeky, bitchy, etc — and that is literally all they are; very one dimensional. The only character that might have been even SLIGHTLY interesting if I’d kept reading was Sapphire, but still not interesting enough to stop me skipping whole paragraphs and then pages just to find something more interesting going on. I don’t know if it was the author’s intention to make most of the character highly unlikable, but if so then she succeeded.

Also, one of the main reasons I requested this book was because it was supposed to have a lot of queer representation, but it fell VERY flat in that regard. Sapphire appears to be non-binary or possibly gender fluid, but I don’t think it’s ever specifically mentioned other than one time Sapphire corrects Corene when she uses the wrong pronouns for them. Parsifal (Thelia’s other cousin who’s been in love with her for years) is bisexual, or maybe pansexual, and is referred to quite a few times as basically nothing more than a floozy. Am I the only one that’s getting really tired of seeing bisexuals and pansexuals portrayed as sex-crazed maniacs who’ll hook up with literally anything that moves? And Thelia was supposed to be either asexual or demisexual (as well as being touch-adverse and sex-repulsed), but apparently a few bottles of wine seems to completely erase that little detail whenever it’s convenient for the story, like you know, any time she wants to kiss Sapphire (a virtual stranger and essentially her jailer), or have sex with her cousin, Parsifal.

Once I got to yet another point-of-view change at 23% (there were a lot), I knew I wasn’t going to bother reading any further. But I did skip forward every few chapters to read bits and pieces just to get the general idea of the story and honestly, I’m glad I didn’t bother finishing it. It seems to be full of pretty much every fantasy and YA trope the author could find all mashed together but without any actual depth or substance.

Castle of Lies by Kiersi Burkhart is available now. Check it out on Goodreads!

#Castle of Lies #Kiersi Burkhart #NetGalley #Book Review #Reading #Books #Booklr #One Star #Two Stars

6 notes · View notes

economistontherun · 5 years

Text

Let’s Fix This Hammy (Leg 1)

1. Decision that DNS better than DNF for 2019 Ironman Lake Placid - 😢

2. Move up hamstring surgery and PRP to June and July - ✅

3. Buy and prep lots of healthy foods for recovery - 🍉🥑🥦

4. Suspend Zwift and Coaching for a few months - 🚴🏻‍♀️

5. Make a list of books to read and papers to write

Well I guess I’m ready to start move toward Jill 2.0. I’ve been struggling with low level hamstring pain since last fall but it presented as glute tightness that would relieve itself a few miles into a long run. It didn’t bother me on my bike and I don’t kick all that much when I swim so I was ok there too. Or so I thought I was ok. I finally went to the doctor and was diagnosed with proximal (high hamstring) tendonosis. It is when the acute condition of tendinitis becomes chronic and your body will not heal itself.

This is pain in the ass.

There were two things that drove me to seek medical help. One, I could not run without pain and feel like my right hamstring was shortening as I ran. Two, driving was excruciating. It felt like a tooth ache in my leg and I found myself popping Aleve, sitting on ice and a heating pad to alleviate some of it. Once I was diagnosed I was sent to physical therapy. I’ve been doing eccentric exercises to aggravate it which is very strange for your brain. After doing this for months with no relief, I had an ultrasound done. This showed severe scarring and the doctor told me that any shot of cortisone would rupture both hamstrings. Back to PT and then back to doctor. After an MRI it was discovered that I tore my right hamstring yet I have not recollection of doing this. We concluded that my pain threshold is so high that I just didn’t notice. That is the downside to badass and now I had to be super careful not to tear the fragile left hammy.

But Ironman Lake Placid......

My coach and I had a heart to heart. As long as I had permission from the doctor to do the race, I could walk the marathon. Please keep in mind that although walking didn’t create the pain that running did the action of lifting your leg up on a curb was painful. I can best describe it as being forced to think “ok leg, lift up” instead of it happening automatically. This pain at the ischial tube or sit bone was acceptable pain but anything radiating below or causing stress on other smaller muscles was a no go. STOP and turn back!

The bike was fine and I was up to riding 6 hours so things looked good. Walking a marathon was not the most pleasant thing to think of, but I blew up at IM Lou and had to walk most of the marathon because of belly issues so a planned walk would enable me to take in the fun!

During this time I went for a second opinion on my treatment for the injury. I wasn’t convinced that scraping the muscle and tendon with a needle and injecting PRP at the same time was the only option. My new doctor confirmed the diagnosis and proposed a procedure called Tenex and follow that up with PRP. This sounded less barbaric and we scheduled it for middle of August after Ironman.

Is that Pain on the Bike?

My coach has a camp in Lake Placid in June and it is so much fun! Think summer camp for adults. I would not miss it for the world, in fact my husband comes up to run the Lake Placid Half Marathon and we’ve decided it is our peaceful place. So love to be there.

I had a long ride on the trainer, about 5 hours, on Memorial Day weekend and my hamstring was mad at me. I just chalked it up to riding on the training is pedaling for 5 hours straight and I’ve been riding outside and you can coast out there. I just kept an eye on it and would walk on Sunday at Lake Scranton.

More heart to heart talks with my coach and we decided that my upcoming planned DNF (I wasn’t doing the run) at 70.3 Connecticut (formally Quassy) and camp would provide us with enough information for me to decide on whether or not I was going to race Lake Placid in July.

I’m an economist to a quick Cost Benefit Analysis sums it up -

Benefits

1. I’ve trained since January and had great bike fitness

2. I got my swim down below 2:00/100

3. Lake Placid is so beautiful and I want to cross the finish line at the Oval

4. I’ve never bailed on something this big

5. 2019 has been emotionally rough for me and my training is about all I had control over

6. My anxiety and mental health suffered much this year and training is the only relief I find

7. I love training and racing with friends. I’ve already miss the time with running friends, this would cut out my time with riding friends too.

8. Lose payment on hotel and no gear from LP

Cost

1. I could injure myself further

2. I may not be able to train or race again

3. Gaining weight

4. Later surgery when I’m working could slow down recovery

5. Missing the race

6. Missing my training friends

7. Going Fu**ing crazy because I haven’t been forced to sit still in decades

Conclusion:

In the 75th mile of my 112 mile bike ride at camp in Lake Placid my hamstring hurt above the back of my knee. My doctor was training at the camp and we discussed good pain and bad pain. This one was the bad pain. I turned the bike around and had a good cry when one of the coaches found me and asked how I was doing. I knew my race was not going to start and now I had to deal with this when all about me were athletes excited and training for their races.

Many tears were shed and I needed some alone time. I told Gerard I needed to go swim in Mirror Lake. I swam only about 500 yards but it helped a bit. Side note: you can cry in your goggles. The next day I cheered for Gerard in the half marathon and then swam the entire loop of the Lake Placid Ironman. I was able to feel free and enjoy every stroke. This was good for my body and soul.

Letting Go

I understand that people have struggles in life far more pressing than my injury deciding not to race an Ironman. I get that, but for me training for races whether running or triathlon is more about the opportunity to dream big and challenge myself. It makes me feel alive. The community is wonderful and I find that it helps me do better at the other facets of my life as well. It doesn’t hurt that it gives me a bit of street cred with my students too.

I consulted with my doctor after the ride and then with my husband and my coach. The race would always be there. I needed to take care of myself and recover sooner rather than later. I cried, wallowed and it is the morning of my surgery and I am anxious, nervous and scared of the future but I am also energized and ready to win at recovery.

There is something else. This year at camp I was more anxious and put more pressure on every activity where last year I was like the dog hanging out the window of a car. Everything was an adventure and a learning experience. The extra pressure I put on myself made me tight for my swims. I even got sick after some drills and missed the time to do a complete swim loop. I totally enjoyed the first bike loop day and had zero pain but the group left a little early on the big bike day and I was left feeling rushed. So much so that I started to cry and my coach had to snap me out of it with some tough love. I now realize that every pedal stroke was an analysis of a full body check. I was conflicted because I was so much stronger on the bike but I was losing power because I was compensating for the bad hamstrings. Mental pressure creates tightness. I felt the best on my long swim after I had decided that I couldn’t do the race.

Lessons

Stress equals stress to the body regardless of the source. My body was getting beat up by physical training and mental stress. That is hard when you are 100% but so much more difficult when you are nursing an injury. Through therapy I learned that I constantly put everyone else’s needs ahead of mine and take care of me last. That isn’t my intention, I just want to help but in doing that I also take on their stress and make it mine. For the first time in my life I suffered from panic attacks and vivid bad dreams. Thank goodness they’ve subsided. I’m a fixer and a doer. I want to move on with things quickly and get it done. This may not seem to resonate with a back of the pack endurance athlete but it does. I know that the training takes time and it slows me down. That is a balance for my brain that goes a million miles an hour from the time I open my eyes until the time I go to bed.

I’m not sure how the next few days will go, but I know that I will need to put myself first, ask for help and win at recovery and rehab.

Let’s do this.

PS It’s only 8:20 am and I’m starving.

2 notes · View notes

wanderingthepages · 5 years

Text

Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly

Book Description:

Isabelle should be blissfully happy – she’s about to win the handsome prince. Except Isabelle isn’t the beautiful girl who lost the glass slipper and captured the prince’s heart. She’s the ugly stepsister who’s cut off her toes to fit into Cinderella’s shoe ... which is now filling with blood. When the prince discovers Isabelle’s deception, she is turned away in shame. It’s no more than she deserves: she is a plain girl in a world that values beauty; a feisty girl in a world that wants her to be pliant. Isabelle has tried to fit in. To live up to her mother’s expectations. To be like her stepsister. To be sweet. To be pretty. One by one, she has cut away pieces of herself in order to survive a world that doesn’t appreciate a girl like her. And that has made her mean, jealous, and hollow. Until she gets a chance to alter her destiny and prove what ugly stepsisters have always known: it takes more than heartache to break a girl.

My Review:

DNF There were a lot of things happening in this book, but they just weren't coming together for me. Maybe they did by the end, but I wasn't entertained enough to get there. I am not that particular about world building. I will go along for the ride with very little info for quite awhile if the rest of the story seems worthwhile. But this felt confusing and I never felt grounded in the story because I know nothing about when or how or why this is all taking place. I appreciated the added twist of involving Fates and Chance and Death, etc. I thought I would enjoy it, because Chance was the most vibrant and interesting character to me. However, again, without a world to ground all this in it all kind of felt haphazard and random. I never felt like I had a good handle on what was going on with the Fates and stuff. I enjoyed some of their chapters but I also felt like I was completely removed from Isabelle's story whenever they showed up. Ultimately I didn't connect with the characters because everything was written in a very distancing way with an omniscient narrator. I understand it was supposed to feel fairytale-esque, but there wasn't anything really happening. There wasn't much dialogue, the characters internal monologues felt almost ridiculously formal and stilted, and I felt like the narrator was talking down to me a lot of the time. So....yeah that was not enjoyable for me. I enjoy books that are also able to convey a strong message. Reach out to people, encourage, or teach things. But it doesn't need to feel like a sermon to get there. In fact, the best "message" books DON'T feel that way. You get the meaning and purpose by experiencing things and growing with the characters. Not by being beaten over the head with the book's intended message or moral. Even when I agree with a point, I don't necessarily want to spend hours of my free time having it reiterated to me like I'm not very smart and might miss it. This could have made a decent middle grade or lower YA fairytale retelling if the preaching was toned down some, and some of the more graphic and horrifying things were removed. They seemed to be jammed in just for shock value anyway, or to make it seem like a grittier read. It felt gratuitous and unnecessary. I'm very disappointed, because I was excited about this one. I pre-ordered it and I expected to love it. But I just couldn't force myself through it anymore. I may have been able to overlook most of the flaws, but they stuck out to me because ultimately I was just very bored. When I put the book down I had no desire to pick it up again.

1 star

#Stepsister #Jennifer Donnelly #YA #fantasy #fairytale retelling #books #reading #review #cover love #book love

1 note · View note

thelittleprincessbookblog · 4 years

Text

Day 3 of 100 days of Booklr: 20 books to read in 2020

I know, I know i'm more inconsistent than the weather in the south right now. I am going to challenge myself to post everyday this week. I am going to plan my posts today or tomorrow so all I have to do is spend like 15 minutes before bed typing. But with that being said I will be talking about 20 books I really need to read this year. A lot of these books you may have seen in one of my 2 others posts but oh well. I’ll try not to include to many but a few have been on my tbr for like a year and I need to get them done and read.I don’t own all of these books but I either plan on buying it or reading it on E-book through Libby. Without further ado on to day 3.

ps. these are in no particular order.

Finale by Stephanie Garber

Me; says I won’t include to many books I’ve already talked about

Also me: Starts with a book I’ve already talked about

Ok ok in my defense I’ve had this book since about a month after it came out so since June of LAST YEAR, and I still haven’t read it. Why you may ask? No real valid reason other than not wanting to. EVEN THOUGH I’ve had 2 really big fantasy book binges since then. I’ve already talked about this book before but in summary I loved the first book, loved the second book even more then i decided that the last book wasn’t worth my time. I’m really bad at reading books when I first get them. It’s like my brain has decided that once I spend my money on the book, it’s not worth my time. But I’m gonna stop there before this becomes a post about my horrible reading habits.

How to be a Bawse by Lilly Singh

I’ve started and stopped reading this book so many times I’m not sure why I don’t just DNF it. The problem is that I’ve stopped reading it for no real reason that I can tell you. Like the advice in it is great and each time i reread the first few chapters that I’ve been able to get through, I always find something new and valuable. This book is just a collection of good valuable tips, I just can never get through it. So this year I am determined to read it. If I don’t read it someone PLEASE slap me and force me into a room with nothing but this book and some of the annotating sticky notes, you know the really thin, long ones. Yea those and don’t let me out until I read it. Ok? Thanks!

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Wait, wait, wait! Before you take away my book nerd title hear me out. I have gotten like 75% done with this book like twice, but then I get bored. Not because what’s happening in the book is boring (even though I last tried to read this in like 2018 and barley remember what happened) I just couldn’t bring myself to finish it. That’s the case for a lot of books, I just kind of give up on them. I am the QUEEN of DNFing books you will come to find out. This year though will hopefully be the year I finish. In another post I’ll talk about my new method of trying to finish books like this, probably sometime this week.

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

(Sorry about the cover not matching the others, it would not work with me)

Now you are allowed to call me uncultured. I read bits and pieces in 7th grade in one of those HRW books but I’ve never read the full book front to back. I really want to though and have since the 7th grade but I just haven’t. I’m hoping I can find a copy in my library bookstore because i really just want a copy to own, but this book is expensive, with good reason but still.

A heart so fierce and broken by Brigid Kemmerer

Now I did a whole spew about this book on day 1 so if you want to know my feelings about this book go there and come back. I’ll wait....your back? Great, so with all that being said the reason I need to finish this book is because the third book is supposed to come out early January of next year and I need to know if I’m going to finish the series. I most likely will because I hate not finishing series, but it’s good to pretend.

Little Women (The complete collection) by Louisa May Alcott

Now I know I mentioned this book before but this time I’m referring to all 4 books. Not just the first one, so this is actually 4 seperate books but since I have the one physical copy for this post it’ll be one book. Even though on Goodreads it’s going to be 4 seperate books.

7 Habits of Highly effective teens by Sean Covey

I got this book for 8th grade graduation from the school and I never read it. I really need to though because next year is only going to get harder and I can’t keep my same study habits. Like now for instance I have 3 assignments that are either late or due first thing tomorrow but here i am avoiding them and making tumblr posts. Oh well!

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

This doesn’t have a long thought out reason other than it seems like a good book.

The golden Compass by Phillip Pullman

I’ve wanted to read this series for a while but everytime I would go to the library I would find another book to read, which is my own fault but this year I want to get to at least the first book.

The lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S Lewis

I loved the movies when I was younger but like all movies they tend to leave things off. So the main reason I really want to read this is to see if I like it more than the movies.

In order to actually post today i’m going to post 10 today and 10 tomorrow, that’s why the last few are more rushed also. I plan on doing more in depth reviews when . I’m sorry guys my life is just kinda hectic and I’ve been avoiding my homework like I said earlier and I still have chores and stuff to finish so see you tomorrow for part 2, byee!

0 notes

booksbookandmorebooks · 5 years

Text

Questions for any and all readers!

Hello my lovelies, i thought id bring you something a little different. while cruising through some book blogs i came across this collection of questions for readers and thought itd be a fun little post! ill credit the original source below, but have fun guys and hope youre all well!

What was your favourite childhood book?

The 12 Dancing princesses.

What are you reading now?

Nothing yet, but my next planned read is Harry potter and the prisoner of Azkaban.

What books do you currently have on loan from the library?

To be honest, i haven't been to library since i was about 15. I think its down to wanting to own the books i read and also i love comfort of reading in my own home. Although, saying that ive lately been considering taking a trip.

What are some of you bad bookish habits?

Okay so this will sound a bit over the top, im fully aware of that but...I have this weird obsession with the condition of my books when i buy them. Don’t get me wrong, i know most people wouldn't buy badly damaged/beat up books but im a little more intense about it... if i see a single scratch or scuff on a book i will refuse to buy it, even if its the only one available. Ill go as far as to travel to another book store to buy it...yeah im that kind of reader. Oh! i also have a weird thing about cracked spines, that’s a huge HUGE no no. i would rather bend the cover of my books to within an inch of their life rather than break the spines.

Do you have any kind of E reader?

No disrespect to E readers, but im very old school. I want the physical thing in my hand. i want the feeling and the sound of turning pages, i want that stuffy beautiful book smell. It just wouldn't be the same experience without it for me.

Whats your least favourite book of the year?

This is going to be a very very badly received answer and i almost dont want to answer it, but... the Tattooist of Auschwitz. I know i know its awful, its a very unpopular opinion but i much preferred The Choice by Edith Eger. If im honest, i preferred that by a mile! sorry guys.

What is your reading comfort zone?

I love Thrillers, YA and some fantasy books, not a ton though.

Do you often read outside of your comfort zone?

If im honest, no. My boyfriend is always trying to rectify that, but i am a stubborn old cat and like what i like. Although, credit where credit is due he has turned me on to some pretty amazing fantasy books.

Favourite book of the year?

Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine. Easiest pick, and a review is on its way soon! so stay tuned!

Where is your favourite place to read?

I love reading at home, on my side of the sofa with the lamp on low a hot drink in hand with my cats and boyfriend at my side. Its my happy place.

What is your policy on book lending?

Im sorry guys but its a big fat no. Yepp im that guy.

Do your write in your books? or the margins of your books?

Oh hell no, that’s sacrilege right there!

Do you break/crack the spines of your books?

Another straight up hell no. As i said above and anyone who knows me will tell you, that is my biggest biggest book no no.

What is it that would make you recommend a book?

Whenever i read a book i always tend to get a feel pretty quickly for its emotions and the bigger picture it tries to paint, and when that comes to mind my thought process kind of flows into who it would suit best out of the people i know. so far, my recommendations have been very well received.

Favourite reading snack?

I cant eat and read at the same time, not only due to the risk of grease on my books but the way i have to hold my books to avoid the spine cracking makes eating rather impossible.

How do you feel about giving negative reviews about books?

Realistically i dont think theres anything wrong with bad or negative reviews as long as they are purely critical of the books. I think they're just as important as the positive ones. people are individuals and will have a variety of different thoughts and experiences throughout their life that can really help bond them to a specific book, story or character, while other people will never feel that bond and will view it completely different and thats okay, reading is a very personal experience. you cant please everyone, thats just life.

Longest you've gone without reading?

I went a number of years without reading when i was growing up but luckily i re discovered my love of books a few years back and its been amazing.

Have you ever read a self help book?

Yes, i have read a few actually.

Did they work for you ?

If im honest, they did and they didn't. No self help book is a immediate fix. They're a guide on how best to change your life style, your actions and choices to better suit you whatever the type of help book you have chosen. They are a work in progress. sometimes you might forget to practice their teachings but as long as you try thats the best you can do and thats a success in my eyes.

What distracts you when you're reading?

My boyfriend. My boyfriend. My boyfriend and...Yepp, My boyfriend.

Most money ive spend in a book shop at once?

I had one crazy spending day and it totalled to around about £80. Mainly because i bought some bookish related goodies and didn't realise just how expensive they were until i reviewed the receipt on the trip home. That was a hard lesson. i lived on super noodles for like a month. So worth it though.

What would cause you to stop reading a book half way through/DNF a book?

Mainly bordem. If i feel bored with a book or feel like im having to force myself to push through it then i will always put the book down. ive come to conclusion there are so many amazing books i want to read i cant waste my time on mediocre reads.

Are there any books you've been avoiding reading?

Yes, so many. Mainly down to the sheer size of them. its sounds so silly, but i enjoy smaller or average sized books because i can read a lot of them in a month and it gives me this accomplished feeling, while reading one big book is not only intimidating but such a time investment and it just always puts me off. For example, i really want to try reading a Stephen King book and always get them recommended to me but whenever i see the size im always just left a little well, as i said intimidated.

______________________________

This was such a fun little post and i had a great time filling it out, i hope you enjoyed reading it and giving it ago yourself! I hope you all have a fab day and ill write to you all very soon!

0 notes

ishouldreadthat · 7 years

Text

Happy Friday! I can’t believe the weekend is already here. So as you know, I had been on hiatus until earlier this week. I thought that I’d do a wrap-up of the books I read this week and the books I read while I was away from my blog — and I certainly read a lot of them! So without any further ado, here is my weekly wrap-up (plus hiatus reads). You might want to grab a snack — this is going to be quite a long post!

Books I read

The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo

Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart

Mistborn: A Secret History by Brandon Sanderson

The Last Namsara by Kristen Cicerelli (Review)

Artemis by Andy Weir

Night of Cake and Puppets by Laini Taylor

A Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson

I told you I read a lot! Happily, almost all of these were in the 4-5 star range, the exception being The Last Namsara, which came in close at 3.5 stars. You can read my review of that book here. My five star reads were The Language of Thorns (fantasy perfection!), Artemis (spacey perfection!), and Night of Cake and Puppets (Zuzana is perfection!).

My most recent reads were The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue and An Enchantment of Ravens, which happen to be two of my most highly anticipated books this year. Regarding Gentleman’s Guide, I liked it a lot (as anticipated), but I was a little disappointed that it veered slightly into another genre. I prefer my historical fiction to be just that: historical. I am not a huge fan of when authors pull in fantastical elements. For me, it just doesn’t work. But I did really love the characters and the representation! It’s such a fun and fast read, despite being just over 500 pages.

An Enchantment of Ravens is a weird one. There were parts I absolutely loved and part that really didn’t do it for me. I struggled a bit with some of the pacing and the characterization. But I love the descriptions and anything to do with painting. It’s a tough one to rate, and I’m going to have to think for a day or so.

Pretty much every book I read will get a review, but I need some time to catch up! You’ll start hearing about all of these soon 🙂

Books I DNFed

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Otherworld by Jason Segal and Kristen Miller

Satellite by Nick Lake

I usually don’t have a section for DNF’s, however I’ve put down a enough books to justify one for this period. Victober was a bit of a disaster for me, as I’ve not read a single Victorian novel. However, with all the real-life things going on, gloomy tales of childhood trauma just aren’t cutting it for me right now. I may give Jane Eyre another shot at some point, but it will be my third attempt at reading it. I think the Brontes and I just don’t get along (I hated Wuthering Heights).

I also did not finish two young adult sci-fi books. I just realised that they both feature male protagonists. I set aside Otherworld pretty early because it became very apparent very quickly that it was not my cup of tea. I don’t like the cocky, overconfident rich kid vibe I was getting from the main character. He just seemed like a pain in the ass, and I wasn’t keen to keep going.

Satellite is a different story. I put this one aside because I couldn’t work my way through the strange writing style. Satellite is essentially written in ‘text speak’. As in ‘u’ instead of ‘you’, no capitalization, etc. I thought I’d be fine with this, but I ended up really struggling to concentrate on the actual story — the writing style was just so distracting! I’d find myself rereading sentences because with the lack of capitalization, my eye couldn’t differentiate between one sentence and the next. I feel like this wont be a problem for some readers, but it just didn’t work for me. I’m a bit sad about that because it sounded like a promising story!

Books I am currently reading

The Seventh Decimate by Stephen Donaldson

The Dollmaker of Krakow by R. M. Romero

So I’m doing the Sbooktacular Readathon — you can check out my hastily edited TBR video here. An Enchantment of Ravens was the first I read for this readathon, and The Dollmaker of Krakow will bet the second. I only got a couple of pages in before I fell asleep last night, but it looks like a beautiful book!

The Seventh Decimate is my current proof read. I’m liking it well enough, but I’d be curious to see what other people think. It has definitely got a strong 80’s fantasy vibe — which makes a lot of sense as Donaldson was writing in the 80’s. I would love to know if this will resonate with modern readers.

Books I bought

(Buckle up, you guys. I was bad.)

An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson

It Only Happens in the Movies by Holly Bourne

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

Night of Cake and Puppets by Laini Taylor

All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Steivater

The Dollmaker of Krakow by R. M. Romero

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones

Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

Slated by Teri Terry

The Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin

Night Film by Marisha Pessl

Bad bad bad bad Justine. I acquired a month’s worth of books in only a couple of weeks. I guess it’s a comfort thing! I’ll do a proper book haul at the end of the month where I talk about these individually, but I’m basically building a fort of books and no one is allowed in. Except the cats. Maybe Scottish Fiance.

Book mail!

A Bargain in Silver by Josie Jaffrey

Geronimo Stilton: Cat & Mouse in a Haunted House

Austral by Paul McAuley

Renegades by Marissa Meyer

I Am Thunder by Muhammad Khan

Blade Runner by Philip K. Dick

Rhyming Rings by David Gemmell

I got some fab book mail recently! I won a Twitter competition run by Josie Jaffrey and won her book A Bargin in Silver. Sweet Cherry Publishing sent me a package with a Halloween proof of a Geronimo Stilton children’s book, sweets, and some wee spiders (which Dax stole, forcing me to chase her. I eventually gave up and we played fetch). I received a review copy of Austral by Paul McAuley, which looks amazing!

Yesterday was a seriously good day for book mail. I received a package with Renegades and I Am Thunder. I didn’t think I was approved for these, so it was certainly a pleasant surprise! I also got Blade Runner (unsure if this is a novelization of the film or Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep with Blade Runner on the front). I may have gone overboard with requests.

Netgalley approvals

Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View by various authors

The Wicked Cometh by Laura Carlin

Birdcage Walk by Helen Dunmore

Renegades by Marissa Meyer

So I’m really looking forward to reading all of these! The Wicked Cometh and Birdcage are particularly exciting — I’m so happy that I got approved for them! I had requested Renegades because I didn’t think I’d be approved for a proof copy — surprise! Fortunately for me, a few of these don’t come out until next year so I’m delaying some of the pressure.

Right, this has been one heck of a wrap-up — sorry if I rambled on too much! I’ve been busy over the past couple of weeks, and now it’s time to write some posts and get cracking on my reading.

What have you read this week? Do you have a book buying problem? Let me know!

Catch up on my hiatus reads and this week in books (there's a lot)! #bookbloggers Happy Friday! I can’t believe the weekend is already here. So as you know, I had been on hiatus until earlier this week.

#Blog #Book blog #Book Blogger #books #Fantasy #Fiction #Geek #novel #Reading #Recommendations #Reviews #Science Fiction #Weekly Wrap Up #Women #YA books #Young Adult

0 notes

inloveandwords · 4 years

Text

FEBRUARY STATS

32 Books total

6 Re-reads

2 Secret TBR reads

1 DNF

1 two-star book

6 three-star books

9 four-star books

8 five-star books

26 audiobooks

3 hard copies

4 eBooks

3 currently reading

1 readathons: Smutathon

REREADS

The entire Pucked series by Helena Hunting. I kept saying that I’ve been wanting to reread this whole series – and I finally did! This time around I realized how much more I liked Book 6 than before! Book 5 is still my all-time favorite, but Book 6 is up there with Book 1 and Book 5 now! Goodreads

REREADS

Beach Read by Emily Henry This is absolutely adorable and I’m loving it so much! I’m hoping to finish this one today. It’s a romance about two authors in neighboring beach house that have some history. One is a romance writer and one is a literary fiction author. Goodreads

Fire In His Blood by Ruby Dixon This is a dragon shifter, post-apocalyptic fantasy romance by the author of Ice Planet Barbarians. I like IPB better so far, but this one has a lot of potential. Goodreads

1 secret book!

DNF

Jock Row (Jock Hard #1) by Sara Ney The main character in this book was SO annoying and I could not stand it. She gets kicked out of a frat party for basically being super annoying and holier than thou. I don’t think you are supposed to agree with the frat guys who kick her out, but I certainly did. It’s a romance between her and the athlete who has to guard her from coming back into the party. She was the worst and I couldn’t take it anymore, so I DNFd it. I don’t see myself picking this up again.

Goodreads

★★ 2 STARS

January (Calendar Girls #1) by Audrey Carlan This is about a girl who becomes an escort to make enough money to save her father from gambling debt. The main character was the “not like other girls” girl and I couldn’t handle how judgey she was. The hero is ok, but his character wasn’t well developed. Goodreads

★★★ 3 Stars

Menace (Scarlet Scars #1) by JM Darhower This is a scarred hero dark mafia romance. Check out my Spring Break Wrap Up to see my thoughts. Goodreads

Fighting for Everything (Warrior Fight Club #1) by Laura Kaye This is a military, friends-to-lovers romance. Check out my Spring Break Wrap Up to see my thoughts. Goodreads

Assigned a Mate (Interstellar Brides Program #1) by Grace Goodwin This is, essentially, an alien mail order bride romance. Check out my Spring Break Wrap Up to see my thoughts. Goodreads

Hard Hitter (Brooklyn Bruisers #2) by Sarina Bowen This is a contemporary hockey romance. This was fine. I didn’t find the hero very likable, even though I tend to like grumpy heroes and the heroine was pretty forgettable. Coming off of the high of Brooklynaire, not much could compare, though, so I can’t fault it for that. I really do like this series so far and plan on continuing. Goodreads

The Loner’s Lady by Jessa Kane I read this short novella for Smutathon. This is about a girl who is pretending to be her best friend’s girlfriend, but she ends up falling for his dad instead. This just was a little too extra for me. I felt like everything was rushed and ridiculous. Granted, that’s kind of the nature of this type of book, but Katee Robert has already proved to me it can be done well. Unfortunately, this wasn’t a good example of that. Goodreads

I Dare You by Ilsa Madden-Mills I read this for Smutathon because it was a short audiobook I found on Audible Escape. This book was fine, but not very memorable. It actually has a cute premise, it’s a new adult sports romance about a girl who develops a relationship with someone who text her from an unknown number. Goodreads

★★★★ 4 Stars

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter This is a thriller following the story of a woman whose sister had gone missing years ago and present-day disappearances that are affecting her. I feel weird rating this highly only because it’s so graphic and gruesome and entirely messed up. But I could not stop reading this book. I really need to read more thrillers. Goodreads

The Year We Fell Down (The Ivy Years #1) by Sarina Bowen This is new adult friends-to-lovers sports romance with disability rep. I talk more about this in my Spring Break Wrap Up. Goodreads

Starry Eyes by Jenn Bennett This was an adorable friends-to-lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers YA Contemporary romance that involves camping and forced togetherness. I talk more about this in my Spring Break Wrap Up. Goodreads

Pipe Dreams (Brooklyn Bruisers #3) by Sarina Bowen This is the same hockey romance series as Pipe Dreams. I actually read this series out of order, I read the first book first, but then I skipped ahead to Brooklynaire, and ended up going back to this one. I didn’t mind that, though, mostly because this book takes place during the same timeline as Brooklynaire, but you get a different perspective. This one is a second-chance romance that was a little hard to swallow, in my opinon, which is why I took away a star. Goodreads

Cherish Hard (Hard Hitters #1) by Nalini Singh This is a second chance contemporary romance that had a really great meetcute and such a good book boyfriend. I talk more about this in my Spring Break Wrap Up. Goodreads

Inappropriate by Vi Keeland This is a story about a woman whose vacation video gets leaked to her boss, which gets her fired. It’s obviously not fair at all, so in a drunken rage she sends a hate-email to her boss’s boss. And so begins our story. I read this one completely on a whim. I saw in it my wish list for Audible Escape, and decided to give it a shot. I’ve never loved anything by this author, but I’ve never strongly disliked anything either. This one I definitely liked more than other books I’ve read by her, but it wasn’t quite 5 stars. What I did really enjoy was that there was much more to this book than you would expect given the premise. It was more emotional than I anticipated. Goodreads

The Happy Ever After Playlist (The Friend Zone #2) by Abby Jimenez This takes place in the same world as The Friend Zone, only this time we are following the friend of the heroine in that book. I don’t really want to say more because I feel like it is spoilery to The Friend Zone, just know there is a rockstar element in this book. I think I am one of the only people who really liked The Friend Zone. I completely understand the issues many readers had with the ending of that book, but I still really, really liked it. In fact, I liked The Friend Zone more than this one (I gave that one 5 stars). I’m not going to lie, I thought I was going to adore this book and though I really liked it, I didn’t love it. Goodreads

Theirs for the Night (The Thalanian Dynasty #1) by Katee Robert This is an MMF romance about a girl who goes out to a club with her friend on her birthday and ends up going home with two guys – who happen to be a prince and his bodyguard. This was the group read for Smutathon. As usual, I think Katee Robert does such a great job with super steamy, short romances. I really like this one, though maybe not as much as I liked Your Dad Will Do. I think i’m going to enjoy the rest of this series a little bit more than I liked this one. Goodreads

Better When It Hurts (Stripped #2) by Skye Warren I decided to read this book for Smutathon because it was on Audible Escape and super short. It’s a gritty stripper romance. I’ve been wanting to read more Skye Warren books, and though this wasn’t my favorite, I definitely want to read more of her books. Goodreads

★★★★ 5 Stars

House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City #1) by Sarah J Mass This is SJM’s first adult fantasy novel – it’s full of pretty much every type of fantasy creatures including angels and faeries. I talk more about this in my Spring Break Wrap Up. Goodreads

Art & Soul by Brittainy C Cherry This is a YA romance between a musician and an artist who have to work on a school project together. I talk more about this in my Spring Break Wrap Up. Goodreads

Misconduct by Penelope Douglas This is a forbidden romance between a teacher and her student’s father. I talk more about this in my Spring Break Wrap Up. Goodreads

Brooklynaire (Brooklyn #1, Brooklyn Bruisers #4) by Sarina Bowen I have no idea what series this book belongs to because it takes place in the same world as Brooklyn Bruisers and in some places it is listed as part of that series and others it is listed as the Brooklyn Series. Either way it can be read as a standalone. It follows the story of a quirky millionaire who owns an Apple-like tech company and a hockey team. It’s a friends-to-lovers workplace romance with so much longing and swoon, I can’t even. I’m so in love with the hero in this book and how much he pines after the heroine without her ever knowing. Goodreads

By the Book by Amanda Sellet This was an ARC from Netgalley. It’s a YA contemporary romance about a girl who reads a lot of classic and historical novels and creates a scoundrel survival guide for the girls at her school based on the books she’s read. It was super cute, but written in a very particular way that may not appeal to everyone – review to come! Goodreads

Your Dad Will Do (A Touch of Taboo #1) by Katee Robert This was a highly anticipated read for me ever since I saw that Katee Robert was planning to release it and it lived up to what I hoped for it. This is a super short, super smutty, super taboo romance about a girl whose fiance cheats on her, so in revenge she sleeps with his dad. A lot of people say this one lacks plot, but they still really liked it, and I don’t disagree, but I also didn’t mind. I had so much fun reading this one and it made me fall even more in love with Katee Robert. Goodreads

The Butterfly Project by Emma Scott This book was recommended to me by a subscriber friend, Taseen, in the comments of one of my videos and I feel like you guys know me so well, because I loved this freaking book. I did not realize that this is about a character I loved from the Full Tilt duet. She’s a tattoo artist who is trying to publish a graphic novel that is very personal to her and when she gets rejected she almost leaves New York, but ultimately ends up staying when she’s able to become roommates with our hero. They have an adorable meet cute and omggg the hero in this book. He’s one of those characters who is such a good person who is put in bad situations. Both of our characters are dealing with guilt from their pasts, but slowly healing together. I’m kind of obsessed with him, he’s one of my favorite book boyfriends. Goodreads

Wolfsong (Green Creek #1) by TJ Klune I knew I was going to love this book, but I didn’t know how hard I would swoon. For some reason, I don’t know why I expected that this book wouldn’t be as romance heavy as it was. I think maybe because it’s about werewolves and I figured it’d be more about that than the romance and while the world was well-developed, the characters were well-developed, and the plot was interesting, the romance was also extremely strong. I feel like a lot of the time you’re sacrificing one thing for another, but it truly felt like this book didn’t lag behind in any of those things. Even the writing was excellent.

But honestly, it was the swoon in this book that tipped me over the edge. My heart hurt in the best and worst ways while reading this book and I can’t get enough.

Goodreads

April 2020 Wrap Up // Books I Read in April FEBRUARY STATS 32 Books total 6 Re-reads 2 Secret TBR reads 1 DNF 1 two-star book…

#Reading List #reviews #wrap up

0 notes

patheticphallacy · 5 years

Text

This is a tag I always see making its rounds on YouTube and in the blogsphere, and while I don’t do many tags anymore (that aren’t related to music, you can pry the Playlist Book Tag from my cold, dead hands) I saw a few really great takes on the tag and looked at the questions and figured this is one for me!

A little about my reading history:

Since April of 2018, I’ve found myself enjoying reading more than I have since around 2013 when I first joined the book community. It’s become a lot more personal and just reading on a whim, not hesitating to DNF and leave things half-read until I’m interested in the book again. My memories of what I read is a lot stronger, even though I’m reading more.

At this point in the year I’ve read 170 things, mostly manga and comics, which I’m honestly really happy about as they make me happiest as I read them. That also means I have a lot to choose from in my answers.

Without further ado: the questions!

1) BEST BOOK YOU’VE READ SO FAR IN 2019?

Okay, so a lot of my top books happen to be horror, and I promise you that’s purely accidental.

The Elementals by Michael McDowell: 80’s horror where two families journey to their Summer houses after the death of one of the matriarchs and find themselves at the hands of not just the elements, but forces that reside in the land.

The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell: A gothic told across three different points of view centred around a widow who travels to her late husbands estate and is tormented by strange wood carvings who seemingly move by themselves.

Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl: A year after the death of her boyfriend, a teenager journeys out to visit her estranged friends, only for them to end up stuck in a time loop repeating the same day until they can come to a unanimous decision on which one of them deserves to live.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson: Horror classic where four people travel to Hill House and experience strange hauntings that begin to send them mad. Also highly recommend the Netflix show!

Teen Dog by Jake Lawrence: The coming-of-age graphic novel with anthropomorphic animals you never knew you needed. Full of innocent existentialism and themes of growing up!

2) BEST SEQUEL YOU’VE READ SO FAR IN 2019?

They aren’t sequels, but these are my favourite volumes in longer series! It counts! They are all follow ups to previous volumes!

Fullmetal Alchemist Volume 9 by Hiromu Arakawa: If there was a Connie has to go more than 5 posts without mentioning FMA challenge, I would lose. Literally the best possible conclusion to this series, it broke my heart.

Haikyuu!! Volume 2 by Haruichi Furudate: My review for this on Goodreads was literally just ‘Oikawa AND Nishinoya?! In one volume?! I’m having a crisis!’ which sums up me reading this whole series.

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Volume 3 by Hideyuku Furuhashi: Volume 2 of this series was an absolute goddamn mess but this volume? Wow. My review if you want to read me lose my mind. Some spoilers for extra content and some characters, but it’s not really overly spoiling plot points.

No.6 Volume 5 by Atsuko Asano: I have gone on so many spiels to my best friend about how amazing this series is. It honestly deserves recognition for being a very thought provoking and character driven dystopian, the character development is truly a work of art and I wish I could write a world and dynamics as well as Atsuko Asano does.

3) NEW RELEASE YOU HAVEN’T READ YET, BUT WANT TO?

I can’t really give much information on these seeing as I haven’t read them, so sorry everyone!

Teen Titans: Raven by Kami Garcia: I confess, I am getting this because of Gabriel’s artwork. I’ve been a huge fan for a while now, so it just felt right to have this in my collection, especially considering I want to learn more about the Titans.

Rayne & Delilah’s Midnite Matinee by Jeff Zentner: Very mixed reviews on this one, but oh well!

The Devouring Gray by Christine Lynn Herman: Everyone and their mother is talking about this book, honestly.

The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling: It’s like a space survival story but with these weird zombie creatures? I’ll be going for the audiobook with this one.

4) MOST ANTICIPATED RELEASE FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THE YEAR?

I made a whole post about this that I worked very hard on so please check it out, but I guess I’ll include the only three I’ve been able to pre-order.

Tunnel of Bones by Victoria Schwab: This is the sequel to City of Ghosts, a middle-grade horror story I really love, and I’m looking forward to this one even more as it’s set in the catacombs of Paris!

Who Put This Song On? by Morgan Parker: Several people have described this as having some of the best mental health rep in young adult fiction, so I’ll be reading this for my dissertation that I’m starting in January.

The Infinite Noise by Lauren Shippen: I reallllly love the podcast this is based on (The Bright Sessions, also created by Lauren) and Adam and Caleb are my absolute favourites, so this book is my JAM.

5) BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT?

BOY DO I HAVE A LOT OF THESE. one of the cons of reading so much is that I end up being disappointed by significantly more books than others do, which sucks, but I honestly don’t find myself hating the reading experience. Even if i hate the book, for me, tearing it apart can become fun!

Slam Volume 1 by Pamela Ribon: I love roller derby, but the characters and the lack of narrative in this volume really didn’t do it for me. Maybe if more time was spent making sense of plot at the start I’d have enjoyed it, but there were so many time jumps I stopped caring.

It Only Happens in the Movies by Holly Bourne: One day UKYA readers are gonna have to sit down and properly talk about how the first maybe 5 years of the decade were spent crowning titles and writers as the leads of UKYA despite the fact that their books aren’t really good. They contain thinly-veiled misogyny, really bad writing that uses chat speak in-text as if it’s normal, stereotyping of characters (they really love the bitchy mean girl trope) and what the kids would call racism that doesn’t explicitly state it’s racism, like, say, dropping slurs or having outwardly racist beliefs, but when a character says someone ‘might be Asian or Jewish’ and then laughs about it and never addresses it again, you kind of guess it’s some kind of internalised racism nobody feels comfortable addressing.

Trouble by Non Pratt: SEE ABOVE, only this one has the most terribly written step-incest subplot that never properly gets resolved or treated with the disgust it deserves!

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne: Weird possessive vibes, references to stalking, and shitty love triangles. This received the best rating of the bunch (3), but the general disappointment I feel is at the continued inclusion of uncomfortably possessive male love interests dehumanizing and treating women like they are better seen not heard in romance fiction. Tessa Dare doesn’t treat me like this!

The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham: This one is less hate, more just disappointment. I was so bored reading this, honestly, it feels unbearably long, and the romance is so unneeded and dull.

6) BIGGEST SURPRISE?

The Unsound by Cullen Bunn: I’ve learnt that my opinion on generally negatively rated comics and graphic novels is going to completely differ. This is very surreal, with a lot of graphic self harm and violence, and will definitely not be for everyone, but I very much enjoy it!

Sweet Blue Flowers Volume 1 by Takako Shimura: I literally heard about this, ordered the first volume day-of, and then read it as soon as it arrived and loved it. It’s predominantly a slice-of-life/romance following sapphic teenage girls!

In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan: Everytime I think of this I feel soft. For a fantasy this is very easy to read, with snappy dialogue and a lot of wit from our main character. What surprised me most, however, was how deep and introspective it got exposing the fears of our main character, something not enough portal fantasies spend time doing, and I’m really grateful to have read this book!

A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay: Can you really be surprised if you go into a book with no expectations? I knew vague details about plot, and a brief allusion to a dollhouse in a review I happened to scroll past, and I ended up loving this.

Lazaretto by Clay McLeod Chapman: This is an absolutely horrifying comic about a flesh eating virus that breaks out during the first few weeks of college and sends the campus into complete lockdown. It’s honestly tragic, and does not have a happy ending, but I love it? I usually hate endings that are bad for our main characters, but everything about this just really wrapped me in a blanket- horrified me, sure, yet it was weirdly comforting.

The Past and Other Things that Should Stay Buried by Shaun David Hutchinson: Again, I saw one person praise this book and listened to the audiobook immediately after and really enjoyed it. It’s very moving with some main characters that will test your patience but you’ll end up loving.

7) FAVOURITE NEW AUTHOR?

Paul Tremblay and Michael McDowell!

8) NEWEST FICTIONAL CRUSH?

Kirie in Uzumaki by Junji Ito! Makoto in My Hero Academia: Vigilantes! Charlotte Holmes in A Study in Charlotte! I’m noticing these are all women, which is kind of on brand for me.

9) NEWEST FAVOURITE CHARACTER?

Seeing as all my crushes are on women, I’ll try and pick some other favourites here! I’ve really fallen in love with Tensei Iida in My Hero Academia and eternally love Thirteen, Teen Dog in Teen Dog, Shion in No.6 (the character development!!!!), and basically the whole cast of The Avant-Guards by Carly Usdin! Tom in the Memoirs of Lady Trent series has really grown on me after book one, too.

10) BOOK THAT MADE YOU CRY?

BOY. I cry a lot. I cried reading Winnie the Pooh, which I finally picked up all the stories of earlier this year; Neverworld Wake; the Save Me Webtoon, a great webcomic based off of the BTS music video continuity; I Want To Eat Your Pancreas by Yoru Sumino, which beat me over the head with a frying pan while I was distracted. Sheets by Brenna Thummler didn’t make me cry but it did make me incredibly sad.

11) BOOK THAT MADE YOU HAPPY?

A lot of what I read makes me happy! There’s Super Fun Sexy Times by Meredith McClaren, a small collection of 5 stories based on the sex lives of different superheroes/villains/etc.; My Love Story by Kazune Kawahara which makes me eternally happy and soft every time I pick up a volume; In Other Lands, which, while sad at times, is also very funny and has my exact brand of humour; and there’s the Haikyuu!! manga series, which I love and adore and all the characters are hilarious, even while being serious.

12) FAVOURITE BOOK TO MOVIE ADAPTATION?

I haven’t really seen any? Does Boys Over Flowers count if I haven’t read the manga OR finished the show yet? Either way, Boys Over Flowers is great and so melodramatic. If you push through the drama and very strange and problematic behaviour, it’s honestly got a cute romance between two tsundere people and enough stupid hair to giggle at.

13) FAVOURITE REVIEW YOU’VE WRITTEN?

LOOOADS! I’m very proud of my reviews this year, and it seems like a lot of them are horror!

my review of haunting of hill house by shirley jackson

my review of a head full of ghosts by paul tremblay

my review of the elementals by michael mcdowell

my review of meddling kids, where i discussed harmful stereotypes and tropes within horror fiction

three horror reviews: this is not a test, the silent companions, uzumaki

my review of poetry book shame is an ocean i swim across, where i discuss body image issues

14) MOST BEAUTIFUL BOOK YOU BOUGHT THIS YEAR?

Other Words For Smoke by Sarah Maria Griffin! It’s really pretty and has beautiful pink sprayed edges, and I absolutely love the owl in the background. I think the mix of pink and gold on the cover is so striking, too, it really is a book that stands out.

15) WHAT BOOKS DO YOU NEED TO READ BY 2020?

I actually have a Summer 2019 TBR if you want loads of information on everything I plan on reading.

However, other than all the books I kind of have to read for my first semester back at University, I really want to read Teeth by Hannah Moskowitz and When the Truth Unravels by RuthAnne Snow.

What would you pick for these questions? Please let me know in the comments if you made a post of this tag, I’d love to read them!

Thank you for reading!

If you liked this post, consider buying me a coffee? Ko-Fi.

I also currently have a GoFundMe set up to help fund my third year of University, so any stray pound helps ❤

Goodreads|Twitter|Instagram|Letterboxd

Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag! This is a tag I always see making its rounds on YouTube and in the blogsphere, and while I don't do many tags anymore (

#book #book tag #books #mid-year book freak out tag

0 notes

afoolsingenuity · 5 years

Text

Bite Sized Books // A Mish Mash of ARCs I’ve Read During My Blogging Slump

I figured a return to blogging should include a little catch up (and an attempt to get my Netgalley shelf back under control). As such, we have a few actual bite sized reviews (because I acknowledge I have a habit of rambling in even my shorter reviews). There is no theme, literally a mish-mash of books I should have reviewed for the past 2 months. I have a couple more to come and then I might talk about my bookish highlights from the past couple of months because I’ve read some awesome books lately (although these ARC reviews might make it seem like I haven’t).

From Duke Till Dawn (The London Underground #1) – Eva Leigh Published: 26th July 2018 Source: Netgalley Genre: Historical Romance My Rating: DNF 20%

Eva Leigh launches a seductive new series that sizzles with the dark secrets of London’s underworld…

‘It’s not my habit to seduce impoverished widows…’

The Duke of Greyland lost his heart – and a princely sum – to a charming, beautiful and destitute widow who, after one passionate night, vanished without a trace. Cassandra Blair grew up on the city streets, picking pockets to survive. Greyland was a rich mark – to be fleeced and forgotten – only she’d never forgotten him.

Years later, chance brings them together again, in a London gaming hell. Grayland is desperate to have her… never suspecting everything about his lover was a lie. But finding herself in dire financial straits, at risk of losing everything, Cassandra has no choice but to beg the man she betrayed for help.

The proud Duke will assist her under one condition: she doesn’t leave his sight until her debts are paid! But can the real Cassandra – the smart, streetwise survivor – steal his heart all over again?

Book one in the Scandalous Ladies of London series

Let’s begin with a DNF (or two). I thought this would be a fun read of a Duke meeting with the woman who scammed him and forcing her to stay with him until her debts are paid. I obviously should have read the summary much more closely as it does say he never suspects his lover of a single night scammed him. Well, his naivete and how utterly gullible he was pissed me right off. He was annoying and a wet blanket to be honest. I didn’t like him one jot. He was boring. So I began reading this book of a woman who scammed a man over one night and then left him with no intention of seeing him again and whilst I probably would have grown to like her (have to respect a woman who is making it on her own scamming the rich) I didn’t ever get to know her because boring mc-boringpants The Duke of Greyland was the one whose perspective you had at the start and he just gradually pissed me off by being an utter idiot so I DNF-ed before the book actually made me angry.

Does it count that I liked the idea at least?

The Proposal (The Weddings Date #2) – Jasmine Guillory

Published: 30th October 2018

Source: Netgalley

Genre: Contemporary, Romance

My Rating: DNF 20%

When Nik Paterson went to the Dodgers game with her C-list actor boyfriend, Ford, for his birthday, she expected nothing more than a few boring hours with him and his bros. She certainly didn't expect a Jumbotron proposal. Or her name to be misspelled. Or to go viral in minutes...

Carlos Ibarra wants to hang out with his sister, catch a Dodgers game, and relax for once. But when a camera crew descends on Nik after the disastrous proposal, he has to rescue her. After they flee the stadium, he delivers her into the arms of her supportive girlfriends, and they both think they'll never see each other again.

Fate has other plans. Nik and Carlos keep crossing paths, accidentally and on purpose. When they finally give in to their attraction to each other, they are on the same page: sex and nothing more. But the proposed friends-with-benefits relationship is turning into something more, and the pair have to decide if they have room in their lives for love.

DNF number 2 was an upsetting one for me. I’d seen other bloggers review and although I hadn’t seen any 5-star reviews I had seen positive ones. Sure, people’s small criticisms did raise a few red flags for me, but just to go in wary. Sadly, I think my opinions may have been coloured by those other bloggers… or I am just less willing to put up with books I’m not behind 100%. Whatever happened I ended up not clicking with this book.

Carlos, we met in The Wedding Date and I was interested to see his story and so when we’re introduced to Nik I was excited. Nik seemed like she would be sassy and fun… but I just didn’t feel a spark between the two when I was reading. The chemistry wasn’t there for me so I didn’t feel invested in the path of them getting together. I mean, this is a term normally reserved for several YA books I've read, but it felt a little insta-lovey. I in no way believed the spark that apparently existed. I know in romance characters go on about how good looking the other is and about how they've kept thinking about them but although Carlos's rescue was kind I could not see Nik pursuing more from that alone. Both of them were apparently interested but I didn’t get why when reading. And when you were in Carlos’s head and he was thinking things like ‘is that a hint’ or ‘is she giving me signals’ and all that crap just made me like him. Yeah, folks probably do have those thoughts but it was so jarring to read them!

There were characters I was interested to learn more about (I loved Nik’s friends) but that was not enough to keep me reading.

First Earl I See Tonight (debutante Diaries #1) – Anna Bennett

Published: 30th October 2018 Source: Netgalley Genre: Historical Romance My Rating:

An heiress with a daring proposal. An earl who’s determined to resist her. And a love that just might be written in the stars…

Recently jilted by his fiancée, David Gray, Earl of Ravenport is not in the market for a wife. Even if Gray didn’t have his hands full renovating his crumbling country house, it would take more than a bold marriage proposal from a headstrong young beauty to thaw his frozen heart. Gray is confident that spending a week at his ramshackle estate will change her mind about marriage, but every passionate moment he spends with her tempts him to change his…

A talented artist, Miss Fiona Hartley desperately needs her dowry money to pay off a blackmailer set on ruining her sister. The handsome earl seems a sensible choice for a husband…if only she can convince him that romance will play no part. But marrying in name only may prove difficult for Fiona. Gray can’t help but be dazzled by her genuine warmth. Yet as their feelings deepen, Fiona’s deadline looms. Will her secrets destroy them, or is true love their final destiny?

This one I finished (yay) and it was a more middling read for me. I certainly enjoyed myself from time to time but it’s been a month and looking back on this one I have to flick back to my comments I wrote whilst reading because it’s not stood the books amnesia test well. That’s not to say that’s a point against this book, I forget many a book, but if I hadn’t have reread the summary and had a couple of notes to hand I definitely wouldn’t have remembered anything of this book.

There was something which stopped me fully invested in reading this. I did enjoy it and both the characters appealed to me, the Earl was interesting and I liked him, and Fiona’s quest to receive her dowry to pay a blackmailer was pretty exciting (although a touch farfetched). I liked how Fiona was not daunted by anything, she made the most of things and went with it and who can’t respect that in a woman. I did like the interaction between our romantic couple but I just didn’t fully wholeheartedly invested. I did roll my eyes a little as the mystery of the blackmailer was revealed too, because really? I don’t know. It was enjoyable enough and I’d read more from Anna Bennett because hopefully, it would click next time.

Smooth-Talking Cowboy (Gold Valley #1) – Maisey Yates

Published: 1st March 2018

Source: Netgalley

Genre: Contemporary, Romance

My Rating:

Welcome to Gold Valley, Oregon, where a rough-and-tumble rancher and the girl next door are about to learn that opposites attract

Olivia Logan has a plan: win back her ex by making him see what he’s missing. But first she needs to find a man who’s willing to play along. With his laid-back cowboy charm and knack for getting under her skin, Luke Hollister is an unlikely hero—but he wants her help convincing her father to sell him land, which means he needs her as much as she needs him.

Luke likes his life—and his women—uncomplicated. So why does good girl Olivia heat his blood like no one else? She’s always been off-limits, but the more time they spend as Gold Valley’s hottest new “couple,” the more real it’s starting to feel. Luke was supposed to help her win back another man…not keep her in his arms. But now that he has her there, he’s not sure he’ll ever let go.

This one I honestly don’t remember why I requested this on Netgalley because apart from the fake relationship aspect (which is my bread and butter) there is nothing about this which would usually appeal. Cowboys are not my jam in romance (and why are they so popular, there a whole heap of cowboy romances out there in the world!). That being said I did enjoy this but it was another middling read as a whole and that was mostly because the fake relationship didn’t last all that long. The very beginning had Olivia and Luke faking their relationship but it very swiftly turned to a genuine one and this pare who were convinced they weren’t going to be together realised that they had a serious case of denial because there were sparks flying and they definitely were meant to be. I mean, I think that aspect would have worked for me but the part that really annoyed me was Olivia had broken up with her ex to try and push him to ‘put a ring on it’. That kind of game playing rubs me the wrong way so that and her uppity attitude you get from her at the start put me off. You do get to see another side of her but I think as a whole she was never destined to be a heroine I loved because I prefer them a bit more stubborn and with a bit more attitude. In the end, it was ok and I enjoyed it… but I wouldn’t go back for more.

Beneath The Citadel – Destiny Soria

Published: 9th October 2018 Source: Netgalley Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy My Rating:

In the city of Eldra, people are ruled by ancient prophecies. For centuries, the high council has stayed in power by virtue of the prophecies of the elder seers. After the last infallible prophecy came to pass, growing unrest led to murders and an eventual rebellion that raged for more than a decade. 

In the present day, Cassa, the orphaned daughter of rebels, is determined to fight back against the high council, which governs Eldra from behind the walls of the citadel. Her only allies are no-nonsense Alys, easygoing Evander, and perpetually underestimated Newt, and Cassa struggles to come to terms with the legacy of rebellion her dead parents have left her — and the fear that she may be inadequate to shoulder the burden. But by the time Cassa and her friends uncover the mystery of the final infallible prophecy, it may be too late to save the city — or themselves.

This is one I had been excited for, I loved Destiny Soria’s debut, Iron Cast, and so when I saw she had a new fantasy novel coming out I most definitely wanted to read. think my expectations had been a touch high because although I enjoyed it, it didn’t compare to that debut for me. That being said, I don’t really think a novel set in alternate history Boston in 1919 can really be compared to a full fantasy novel set in its own world where there is a city controlled by a government who uses prophecies to stay in power. They're not really comparable so if you loved Iron Cast then be prepared for a different kind of book in this one (which I thought I was but I still something didn’t work for me).

I will say, though, I wasn’t in a fantasy mood when I started this so even I knew it would be a struggle for it to click into place and work for me so the poor book started on the backfoot. It also had multiple POV, not loads, but more than I like in my books and that put me off it a little too. The characters were all interesting and I loved seeing the dynamics between each of them, from Cassa and her back and forth with Evander, to Evander interacting with his sister, Alys. Each character has a distinct personality so even if it hadn’t said at the start of a chapter, you knew whose POV you were reading from. Sadly, I think the multiple POV meant I didn’t connect quick enough with the characters. For the first quarter of the book at least I couldn’t figure why I should care about these characters and even them investigating the corruption of the government did nothing for me.

Maybe if I’d begin this book at another time I’d be raving about. I will say no one can complain about a book which has so much diversity within its pages, from racial diversity to sexual with gay and bi characters. I do appreciate when fantasy novels make the effort because there has been too little diversity in them for too long. I just wish I’d been in a fantasy reading mood for this one as my rating is very much influenced by that.

And this is my first mish-mash of reviews for a little while. I had another one or two I could have included but 5 should be enough for now. Have you read any of these, what did you think?

from Blogger https://ift.tt/2F7mH32 via IFTTT

#a fool's ingenuity #books

0 notes

shanannigansthebibliophile · 6 years

Text

Hey guys!

I’m back with Part 2 of my TBR Tackle! After another successful school drop-off (Again, she didn’t even look back *Sniff), I am going to pick up where I left off yesterday. If you missed Part 1, click here!

Science Fiction & Dystopian

Fly Paper: A Novel by Chris Angus

How do you fight a deadly disease that comes from beyond planet Earth?

When a 2,000-year-old mummy is unearthed in central China, investigators from all over the world fly in to Washington, DC, for a top-secret meeting, hoping to find an answer to its mysterious genetic anomalies.

But the scientists may have mistakenly released a new, deadly disease of extraterrestrial origins in the process of examining the genetic markers of the ancient mummy. The devastating human error causes a worldwide plague—one that penetrates the barriers of the human immune system. Sino expert Eric Logan and archaeologist Dr. Marcia Kessler lead an expedition back to the icy glaciers of China to extract a much older 20,000-year-old mummy, which could help them formulate a cure. Even as they embark on their mission, the strange illness afflicts the people around them, turning men into mindless monsters.

The team retreats to a remote Buddhist monastery and must hold off a vicious army of victims. As they wrestle with the possibility that they may be the last living humans on earth, someone finds an ancient burial object that may hold the key to ending the apocalyptic epidemic . . .

My Thoughts…

Sounds really good right? Well, it was okay but it wasn’t all I had hoped for.

It was well written and engaging enough, but it was missing something. Unfortunately, I can’t quite say what that something is but it left me feeling a bit unsatisfied.

Overall, a decent read with a good premise but had a lackluster ending. As the song says, “That don’t impress me much”.

Rating… C+

The Dreams by Matthew R. Flemming

Waking up in an unknown forest with four strangers, James has an unsettling feeling that the group is not alone. As tension mounts and he finds himself questioning the motives and loyalty of his companions, one of the group members disappears, leaving only a pool of blood behind. It soon becomes clear that something very large and unnatural is in the deep secret places of the forest. And it knows they are there.

My Thoughts…

This was originally a DNF. The first one in a long while. I loved the premise and the cover is brilliant, but it was so messy. Disorganized with way too many words. I hate overly descriptive writing!

This what I put on Goodreads:

DNF: Good premise by lacking proper execution. I couldn’t stick with it.

REVISED…

OK I finished it but only because I needed to know how these poor suckers ended up here. I still maintain my original opinion.

Yes, I went back and finished because I felt bad. It did not get any better!

Rating… D-

Ghost Virus by Graham Masterson

The girl had been staring into her mirror all morning before she picked up the small bottle of sulphuric acid and poured it over her forehead.

Samira was a young woman with her whole life ahead of her. What could have brought her to this? DC Jerry Pardoe and DS Jamila Patel of Tooting Police suspect it’s suicide. But then a meek husband kills his wife, and the headteacher of the local school throws her pupils out of a window. It’s no longer a random outbreak of horrific crimes. It’s a deadly virus. And it’s spreading. Somehow, ordinary Londoners are being infected with an insatiable lust to murder. All of the killers were wearing second-hand clothes. Could these garments be possessed by some supernatural force?

The death count is multiplying. Now Jerry and Jamila must defeat the ghost virus, before they are all infected…

My Thoughts…

This book is hard to classify. It’s a little bit sci-fi, a little procedural, with a paranormal backbone. The premise is a bit misleading, which I guess is the point but I thought I was going to be reading a good plague story.

I loved everything about this book until the origin of the virus is revealed. Then I was like, “WTF? Are you kidding me?” And not in a good way. It’s just so silly! Here I was thinking that this book had everything. Suspense, gore, mysterious virus, and then the author went and ruined it for me.

Maybe you will like it and won’t find the ending ridiculous. You’ll have to make that decision for yourselves.

Rating… C

Blue Skin: A Dystopian Vampire Thriller (Book #1) by Steven Jenkins

The world has turned inward, away from the sun, in the wake of a mysterious disease that has altered the human race. No longer able to bear healthy human children, our mothers and daughters have brought vampire-like hybrids into the world, and with it a new order. Now that reproduction has been banned, those left with young children face a terrible and devastating decision – turn your babies over to the government or pay the price. For young Freya, keeping her brother hidden is the only real option.

Enemies of the state, Freya must stand between her family and the forces of a fearful world. Although her brother may not be human, there is little else separating her and those of the blue skin.

Choices will be made. Lines will be drawn. The battle for humanity has only just begun.

BLUE SKIN is the first book in a 5 part vampire dystopian, thriller horror series.

My Thoughts…

Ooh I really enjoyed this book and the follow-up, Blue Skin: Book #2 that was released this past May. Good vampire stories are really hard to come by these days since the genre was drowned in vamp tales due to the Twilight phenomenon.

Blue Skin however, is an interesting mix of vampire and apocalyptic. The fact that the vampires are children make it especially horrifying.

Great writing, a unique plot and a strong female protagonist make this book appealing to all sorts of readers. I’m looking forward to reading more in this series!

Rating… A+

Contemporary Fiction & YA Fiction

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (Books 1-3) by Jenny Han

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is the story of Lara Jean, who has never openly admitted her crushes, but instead wrote each boy a letter about how she felt, sealed it, and hid it in a box under her bed. But one day Lara Jean discovers that somehow her secret box of letters has been mailed, causing all her crushes from her past to confront her about the letters: her first kiss, the boy from summer camp, even her sister’s ex-boyfriend, Josh. As she learns to deal with her past loves face to face, Lara Jean discovers that something good may come out of these letters after all

P.S. I Still Love You

Lara Jean didn’t expect to really fall for Peter. She and Peter were just pretending. Except suddenly they weren’t. Now Lara Jean is more confused than ever. When another boy from her past returns to her life, Lara Jean’s feelings for him return too. Can a girl be in love with two boys at once?

Always and Forever, Lara Jean

Lara Jean is having the best senior year.

And there’s still so much to look forward to: a class trip to New York City, prom with her boyfriend Peter, Beach Week after graduation, and her dad’s wedding to Ms. Rothschild. Then she’ll be off to college with Peter, at a school close enough for her to come home and bake chocolate chip cookies on the weekends.

Life couldn’t be more perfect!

At least, that’s what Lara Jean thinks . . . until she gets some unexpected news.

Now the girl who dreads change must rethink all her plans—but when your heart and your head are saying two different things, which one should you listen to?

My Thoughts…

I’m lumping all 3 of these books together, not because they don’t deserve individual reviews (They totally do!), but because I read them all together, one right after the other like a big novel.

Why you ask? Well I watched the Netflix movie of course, and fell in love! (Read review)

As soon as the credits rolled, I quickly purchased all 3 books and had myself a lovely binge read. All 3 were fantastic! Nostalgia inducing, charming, adorable, and funny. I really enjoyed them and I’m happy with how the author ended the trilogy.

Want to hear something crazy though? I liked the movie more and something tells me I’m not the only one.

The actors had such great chemistry! ‘Lara Jean’ and ‘Peter’ were so good together on screen which added a whole new dimension to the story. Honestly, they made the story and I really hope the other books get movies too.

Rating… A+’s all around!

Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow

Charlotte Davis is in pieces. At seventeen she’s already lost more than most people lose in a lifetime. But she’s learned how to forget. The broken glass washes away the sorrow until there is nothing but calm. You don’t have to think about your father and the river. Your best friend, who is gone forever. Or your mother, who has nothing left to give you.

Every new scar hardens Charlie’s heart just a little more, yet it still hurts so much. It hurts enough to not care anymore, which is sometimes what has to happen before you can find your way back from the edge.

My Thoughts…

Warning: Major Triggers! Mental illness, Abuse, Addiction, Self-harm, Suicide, and Disturbing Scenes (Just to name a few).

I would give this AMAZING book 6 stars if I could! It’s riveting, evocative, heart-wrenching and incredibly illuminating. It’s not the easiest book to read but if you can stomach the darkness, it’s a brilliant story about survival and self-discovery. The protagonist ‘Charlie’ will take you on one hell of a journey but it’s worth it. Just be prepared to feel every emotion on the spectrum.

Honestly, I have nothing negative to say. I truly loved it, if that’s the right word, and can’t recommend it enough!

Rating… A+++

Well, I’ve caught up a ton with these two posts. They’re certainly some of the longest posts I’ve ever written lol. Like I said before, I had really gotten behind with my writing but I’ve never stopped reading (I’m 18 books ahead on my yearly Goodreads challenge) and I never will.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on these books, especially if you’ve read them.

Until next time!

#TBR Tackle & Mini Reviews (Part 2) #BookBlogger #BookReviews #Books #AmReading #BookHaul #Thriller #Romance #YA Hey guys! I'm back with Part 2 of my TBR Tackle! After another successful school drop-off (Again, she didn't even look back *Sniff), I am going to pick up where I left off yesterday.

#Amazon #Bibliophile #Book Blog #Book Haul #Book Reviews #Books #Bookworm #Goodreads #Kobo #Reading #Romance #Shanannigans&039; Picks #Summer Reads #TBR #Thriller #To the Boys I&039;ve Loved Before #Womens Fiction #YA Fiction #YA Romance

0 notes