The year is 1926, and Shanghai hums to the tune of debauchery.
A blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red, leaving the city helpless in the grip of chaos. At the heart of it all is eighteen-year-old Juliette Cai, a former flapper who has returned to assume her role as the proud heir of the Scarlet Gang—a network of criminals far above the law. Their only rivals in power are the White Flowers, who have fought the Scarlets for generations. And behind every move is their heir, Roma Montagov, Juliette’s first love…and first betrayal.
But when gangsters on both sides show signs of instability culminating in clawing their own throats out, the people start to whisper. Of a contagion, a madness. Of a monster in the shadows. As the deaths stack up, Juliette and Roma must set their guns—and grudges—aside and work together, for if they can’t stop this mayhem, then there will be no city left for either to rule. [From Goodreads]
This series blew me away. Wow. I was very wary going into the series. I haven’t seen that much about them, and what I have seen has been mixed. I also just am not a fan of gang stories and the gratuitous violence that goes along with them. This series has me rethinking that stance.
I just have never read anything like this series (except for, ya know, Romeo and Juliet). But seriously, what a refreshing take on YA fantasy. I listened to the audio for both books, and they were something I looked forward to pressing play on every day. The story was so unique, and I never knew what was going to happen. Gong also sets up the political conflicts between gangs, nationalists and communists so well–it felt very realistic and really helped to fill in the historical setting.
What really made this duology were the characters. I fell in love with everyone, especially Juliette and Roma’s star-crossed arc. I am usually suspect of multiple perspective stories–sometimes it can be hard for the author to develop all characters equally. That was not the case with this series. Every character got their own satisfying arc and end, and I loved reading each of their perspectives.
The only aspect of this series I can criticize is the ending, which I felt was slightly rushed and had too much packed into it. I was getting a little confused about the different sides everyone was playing on. This was such a small thing compared to how much I loved the rest of the books, though, so I was overall happy with how the ending turned out for everyone.
This series definitely deserves more hype from YA lovers.
If you’ve read this series, what did you think of it?
I am back after a long hiatus!! I went to a friend’s wedding a week ago, and after I felt really dejected about having to leave everyone I got to see there. I also moved home for the summer to help out with my mom’s store. So, it’s been a busy week, and I’m just now getting back into a schedule.
And it’s Tuesday again, wooo! This week’s Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl) is a quote freebie. I am really bad at annotating my books when I read, so I only have five. No theme, they’re just quotes that really resonated with me when I read them.
“I said I didn’t think the fear was the problem as much as the struggle. I said I thought the struggle should be to accept death, not to defy it. “Hmmm,” he said. “Imagine a tiger,” he said.”
This one was really relevant to a topic I’m passionate about. So many people in the West try to ignore death. When Hadley brings this topic up to her therapist, the response is to once again ignore it–imagine a tiger instead. Such a bittersweet way of encapsulating this struggle in two lines.
“Like when Spotify plays a song you haven’t heard since childhood, and it reminds you who you are. Like “Oh yeah, I’m a person who knows all the words to Will Smith’s ‘Wild Wild West.”
I am obsessed with this feeling that listening to a song can transport you somewhere else. Williams perfectly summed up this feeling–of being reminded of who you were and how different things were when you knew this song.
“You endure what is unbearable, and you bear it. That is all.”
This quote wrecked me when I first read it. I generally consider myself to be very fortunate in the opportunities I was granted in life, but I’ve struggled a lot existentially still. This quote is exactly how I face those struggles. All things must pass, as George Harrison would say. We just need to bear that which we think we cannot bear.
“It’s as if she understood completely the condition of loneliness and how it undermines us all, forcing us to make choices that we know are wrong for us.”
After I read this, I learned that John Boyne is not a great guy. But, this book was incredible and heartbreaking. This quote is so beautiful and devastating in how true it is. Are we not all just making choices to save ourselves from loneliness? That is how I feel at all times. And if it’s not how you operate, I am truly happy for you.
“Before you, Bella, my life was like a moonless night. Very dark, but there were stars, points of light and reason. …And then you shot across my sky like a meteor. Suddenly everything was on fire; there was brilliancy, there was beauty. When you were gone, when the meteor had fallen over the horizon, everything went black. Nothing had changed, but my eyes were blinded by the light. I couldn’t see the stars anymore. And there was no more reason, for anything.”
You didn’t think I’d get through a list of favorite book quotes without adding a Twilight book, did you? New Moon is one of the most beautifully written books on grief and depression I have ever read, and I will fight anyone who disagrees. This quote has always been one of my favorites. Incredibly romantic and tormented. No notes. And, fun fact, it is the most liked quote from this book on Goodreads.
I felt a little embarrassed at first only picking quotes that truly resonated with me and not just for the writing or some other characteristic. But, I think we read books to see ourselves mirrored in them, so why shouldn’t I care most about quotes I find myself reflected in?
Woooo, Tuesday! This week’s Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl) topic is exciting because I immediately thought of several characters that would fit. Bookish characters! Authors love to write about people who love books because, well, write what you know, right??
This is the book that immediately jumped out to me. It is my favorite book of all time, and Daniel is just so sweet in it, too. The whole plot centers around Daniel’s quest to find more info about a mysterious book. So glad I could finally include this one on my blog!
Liesel Meminger
from The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
This one has also been a favorite for so long, and if you’ve read the book, you know Liesel deserves a spot on any bookish character list.
People often forget how big of a bookworm Bella is, probably because the movie really glosses over it. Fact is, Bella is a book freak and it is her hobby, for everyone who says she has no life. I will defend her to my death.
This is totally a nostalgia pick. Maybe this is because I love Alden Ehrenreich in the movie, but I always thought Ethan was such a cutie (even if his fav is Bukowski🤢)
This book had me sobbing. Elliot is so sweet to Macy, and they literally bonded over reading books and giving each other words they learned from reading. I shouldn’t have to say anything else about this one.
So much to say about this book, and all the characters are incredible. Merritt is the one who writes the book and catalyst for the story, though, so she is the one being showcased here!
Again, Emily Henry is the queen of bookish romance. Nora and Charlie are perfect and I will not take any criticism at this time.
I definitely thought it would be easier to find books I’ve read with bookish characters! I think there are probably more, but I just don’t remember them all because some will only briefly mention a love of books. I tried to pick ones where reading was essential to the story or the character.
I read a post on here a while ago that made me incredibly angry. It was essentially the antithesis to this post’s title (why you can absolutely always separate books from their authors). This was at a time where I was looking for more people to follow on WordPress, so I was doing a lot of browsing. I came across this post because along with not disagreeing with them, I actually found their post outright offensive.
In this post, the author is generally talking about the whole JK Rowling situation. If you are somehow unaware, this author, one of the most famous children’s authors for writing the Harry Potter series, has now made it her life mission to discredit and harass trans women. The post’s author states that if we stop reading Harry Potter because of Rowling’s statements, then we can’t read authors such as Jane Austen or Charles Dickens. “If you think Rowling is bad, wait ’til you hear what the majority of white people thought in the 19th century!” (I’m paraphrasing here–they didn’t actually say this).
Now, I don’t usually like to call people stupid. No one should be valued based on their intelligence. But I truly just have no other words for this incredibly bone-headed and offensive take.
I’m not completely sure if the post author realizes this but authors such as Jane Austen and Charles Dickens are dead. Looooooong dead. They don’t benefit from their books being sold and read anymore. As I’m writing this, Rowling’s net worth is estimated to be around £820 million. Every time someone buys a new fancy edition of Harry Potter, JK Rowling adds to her net worth. And hey, I used to buy those cool illustrated editions too, until I heard what this woman was saying to the world with her mega platform. There is a huge difference between supporting historic works of literature whose authors get nothing in the grave and supporting a huge transphobe who continues to add to her insane wealth.
There’s an argument I often hear from fear-mongering conservatives and TERFs that trying to “cancel” someone on Twitter is limiting their first amendment rights. This is just simply not true. JK Rowling is allowed to say whatever she wants, and I am allowed to not spend my money on absolutely horrific people.
Another argument the author of this blog post made was to say that there is no transphobia in the series itself, so it’s fine to read it. To this argument, I say, you, my friend, are not looking hard enough. Every author embeds small pieces of their beliefs into their writing, sometimes you just need to look a little deeper. The antisemitism, the racism, and transphobia is all there if you know what to look for. They are just extremely well hidden in dialogue, action, and character development.
I’m not condemning anyone who has the gall to utter Harry Potter in a sentence. I still talk about the series often with my brother and partner. And there is an argument to be made for LGBTQ+ communities who have benefited from creating community surround the Harry Potter fandom. Thomas and Stornaiuolo (2016) discuss the importance of “restorying” in series such as these, where marginalized communities rewrite aspects of the series to insert a more diverse spin on them. These practices have been essential to LGBTQ+ communities and people of color in finding a sense of belonging, especially for young readers.
I still will sometimes put on a Harry Potter DVD or reread my copies at home, and I think most of us whom it affected will not escape the lasting impression the series made. I just want to implore everyone who has not thought of this and people like the author of the post I read to really think about why you want to give someone like Rowling more money. It might be because you don’t care enough about trans people. Words from a hugely famous children’s author like her have an effect. And there are so many other good fantasy authors who do fantasy well, without the transphobia.
On the coast of Georgia rests a small southern town where faeries still take changelings. Faye lost her mother to the Folk, but has she spent her whole life longing for a glimpse—however brief—behind the veil.
When Faye finds her way in, she also finds the truth of why the dark and alluring world of the Folk has always called to her: She’s half-faerie, and heiress to the Dark Court’s throne.
When the rival court steals her best friend, she’ll have to claim her crown to get her back. But that means learning how to use her glamour so she can face three deadly trials—and not falling for the dark and brooding king she’s meant to be replacing, or the nymph-turned-knight teaching her to fight. [From Goodreads]
I had high hopes for this one, and maybe that was inevitably its downfall. I had seen someone compare this to The Cruel Prince series by Holly Black, one of my all-time favorites. So I was incredibly excited to start this one when I received approval on NetGalley.
Jordyn from Jordyn Reads really summed it up in her one-word review of this book: “underdeveloped”. This book had so much potential, and in the end, it just did not deliver.
The story started out with Faye at a high school party. Lots of southern charm, lots of friend dynamics already starting to form. I thought we would get to see a mix of the fae world and southern suburbia and how they interact with each other throughout the story, but this scene is really the extent we get of that.
After this, we get so much info on seelie/unseelie dynamics and absolutely no development of any of the characters. The only character who seemed well-developed was Gage. I know nothing about Faye, Isla, Ellie, or their grandmother.
The interactions with Gage are what kept me from DNFing this book. They were little glimmers of what could have been with this story had the other characters benefited from the same kind of characterization.
I loved the Bi rep as well, which is why I was so sad about not enjoying this one. It was underwhelming, and not much happens until the very end of the book. When something eventually did happen, I didn’t care enough about the characters to really feel anything.
II will give credit to this one for at least not giving me the feeling I had to DNF.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 2.5 out of 5.
Thank you to NetGalley and Independent Publishers’ Group for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Happy Wednesday, and Happy May!! I’m feeling very optimistic about my reading this month. I’ve already finished one book, close to finishing another, and have lots of free time for reading coming up since finishing classes for the ’21-’22 year.
I was able to get through a lot of These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong last night at work. Technically, I’m not supposed to have headphones in while at the circulation desk, but I think my customer service was top-notch, regardless. I’m 69% done with the audiobook, and I hope to finish this soon because it is so good. Nothing like I imagined it to be. Just a truly wild story.
I also went to Barnes and Noble yesterday to pick up Book Lovers by Emily Henry which I had to start immediately, obviously. Only about 40 pages in, but I can tell I’m going to love it. And because I couldn’t just get one book at B&N, I came home with about 6 or 7 books (post on my haul forthcoming).
I’m reading a third book as well: Of Beast and Burden by Kelsey Kicklighter. I know, wild. I usually like to be reading one book in each format: e-book, audiobook, and physical copy. This one is an e-book, and it’s a review copy, coming out next Tuesday. I’m about halfway through. It’s a quick read, but pretty underwhelming so far.
I finished The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes the other day (review to be published in the next few days). It was my first read of May, and it’s making me feel pretty optimistic about my reading habits this month! It was definitely an interesting read, and I’m looking forward to starting the next book soon.
Like I said, I’ll be starting The Hawthorne Legacy soon. I could wait on this, but I checked it out from the library, so I only have about a week and a half to actually get to it. I also think that if I don’t pick it up now, I won’t ever get to it. It’s not that I didn’t like the first one, I just wasn’t completely sucked in. I do want to see what happens next, so I’m making myself pick this one up.
My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell is part of the haul I brought home yesterday. I didn’t know anything about it until I saw it on the shelf. I’ve obviously seen it everywhere, I just never really looked into it. After reading the back though, I’m absolutely intrigued and super looking forward to starting it.
I am so, so excited to be starting Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl) this week given the theme. I love the idea of really concise reviews because I always write too much. I don’t think I reviewed a good amount of the last ten books I read, so it’s even better that I do this now.
The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
One-Word Review: Mysterious
The Storyteller by Dave Grohl
One-Word Review: The f*cking sh*t
(cheating here but if you know Dave Grohl, it is the only fitting review)
Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan
One-Word Review: Magical
The Honey-Don’t List by Christina Lauren
One-Word Review: Lacking
A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow
One-Word Review: Important
You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle
One-Word Review: Sweet
The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas
One-Word Review: Hot.
The Roughest Draft by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka
One-Word Review: Angsty perfection
(cheating again but I couldn’t just leave it at angsty)
Anatomy: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz
One-Word Review: Underwhelming
Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim
One-Word Review: Forgettable
This was harder than I expected! I tried to pick words that weren’t so generic that they could be applied to literally any book. And obviously I cheated a couple times. No regrets!!
Happy May, everyone! While I love rainy April (seriously I could have rainstorms every day and never be sad again), May is my absolute favorite month.
My reading for April was not the best. I had a lot of family stuff going on, and my grandma’s passing really took its toll. I’m kinda glad I took this break from reading during that time, though, because I wouldn’t have enjoyed any book anyway. Aside from this huge chunk of my April, I also went on a trip to visit my best friend in St. Louis which meant not a lot of reading got done. Enjoy some unedited photos from our trip:
Under the arch!Missouri Botanic Garden
Books Read: 4
Pages read: 1,504
Books DNF’d: 2
According to Storygraph, most of my books were either funny or adventurous. I could probably agree that several were adventurous, but the ‘funny’ category was surprising to me. It lists The Storyteller and The Honey-Don’t List under that category. I get the former a little, but neither really jumps out as being incredibly funny.
As for genres, this checks out. Romance and fantasy are always my top genres. Pretty self explanatory.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
I liked these two reads, but they weren’t my favorites of the month. I didn’t even review A Song Below Water, mostly because it is YA. I don’t feel like I should be reviewing something if I didn’t absolutely love it when it wasn’t written with me as the intended audience. The Honey-Don’t List was cute but just a solid romance that didn’t do anything extraordinary.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
These two were the stars of April. Anything Dave Grohl does, I can’t not enjoy it. And Daughter of the Moon Goddess was just fantasy perfection. I have nothing more to say on either.
I read (or attempted to read) Twisted Love while I was dealing with my grandma getting sick, so I’d like to give it the benefit of the doubt. It just wasn’t the story I was looking for at the time. I wanted something a little more romance focused, and this was just waaaay too intense.
As for Island Time, I really, really tried hard to get into this. I got like 5% and almost put it down, but then told myself I had to keep going because it was a review copy. Turns out, my first instinct was right. Boring and just kind of weird, in the end.
I’m still in the middle of The Inheritance Games and These Violent Delights, so I’m hoping to get May off to a good start by finishing those soon.
Down The TBR Hole is a meme created by Lia at Lost in a Story that revolves around cleansing your TBR of all those books you’re never going to read and sort through it all to know what’s actually on there.
Most of you probably know this feeling, your Goodreads TBR pile keeps growing and growing and it seems like there is no light at the end of the tunnel. You keep adding, but you add more than you actually read. And then when you’re scrolling through your list, you realize that you have no idea what half the books are about and why you added them. Well that’s going to change!
It works like this:
Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
Order on ascending date added.
Take the first 5 (or 10 (or even more!) if you’re feeling adventurous) books. Of course, if you do this weekly, you start where you left off the last time.
Read the synopses of the books
Decide: keep it or should it go?
I’ve been on Goodreads since 2010 and have over 1,100 books on my profile. In light of this, I’m expecting (hoping) to clear out a lot of books from my TBR. I’m horrible at letting go of things, however, and I think this going to be harder than it sounds.
The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima
I still have this book on my shelf at home, and I bought it because Williams Chima was praised as a classic fantasy author. It’s from 2009, so I do worry it won’t be as good a read for 2022 standards. This isn’t a given though, and I often love the storytelling style that was popular in the aughts. I obviously still love fantasy. I think this one might still be a good read. And if I do like it, I’ll have all of her other books to get into.
Verdict: Keeping it
The Republic by Plato
This is one my sixth grade history teacher recommended to the class. Because I always tried to be teacher’s pet, I immediately said of course I would read it at some point. I’m still interested in philosophy, but this one is tough because do I really care about what my Greek ancestors thought the perfect society was? Keeping this would be an absolutely sentimental action, but I could definitely see myself picking this up when I’m older and in the mood for something different.
Verdict: Keeping it
Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King
I remember putting a lot of A.S. King novels on my TBR and not reading any of them. This is a YA contemporary which is a genre I’m just not super into anymore. I have no attachment to this book, and I’d rather spend my time reading something else. The premise sounds interesting, so I’m a little torn, but I know in reality I won’t ever get to this one.
Verdict: Gone
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
This book was huge on BookTube in 2013, right when everyone was reading and loving dystopia. I think the trend for me on this one has just fully passed. I still find dystopia interesting, but I’m not going to go pick this one up. When I moved houses in 2017, I got rid of a lot of books I just was not into anymore. This honestly might have gone out with those books already. And, to be honest, I just don’t often vibe with male fantasy writers. So if I’m going to pick up a dystopia, it’s going to be by a woman.
Verdict: Already gone
Tiger’s Dream by Colleen Houck
I absolutely loved this series when I was younger. I remember not being able to put them down even when friends were over. We would watch movies, and I would just be sitting there reading these books. Looking back, though, this is definitely a white woman writing an Indian-inspired fantasy novel which does not sit right with me. It might be fun to go back and reread the original series just to see if I pick up on anything white, but I don’t see myself going for this fifth novel.
Verdict: Gone
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
I went through a small Steinbeck phase in middle school because I thought if I could read Grapes of Wrath in the eighth grade, it meant I was better than everyone else. No one mentioned to me that just because I read it, doesn’t mean I understood it at all. Anyway, I do still like Steinbeck, and I’ve been talking to my partner about doing a buddy-read for this lately. No intention of taking this off my TBR anytime soon.
Verdict: Keeping it
The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman
I probably found this one on BookTube as well, and I don’t think I was super interested at the time. Now though, the premise sounds super interesting. And I’m a sucker for anything that’s touted as having beautiful descriptive writing. Historical fiction can be hit-or-miss for me, but making this post has intrigued me even more. Might have to read this one soon.
Verdict: Keeping it
Shadowland by Meg Cabot
This one honestly sounds soooo fun. 16-year-old me would have loved to read this one, and I’m sad I didn’t at that age. 24-year-old me is looking back with regret, but I won’t end up reading this one. Again, it’s just too late on this trend for me. There are other fantasy books that I know would be more fitting for my reading tastes now. Maybe I’ll see this one day at a thrift bookshop and pick it up, but for now, it’s a no from me.
Verdict: Gone
1984 by George Orwell
Alright, it’s actually embarrassing that this is still on my TBR shelf. I read Animal Farm in high school and absolutely loved it. I know I would love this one. I mean, it’s a classic for a reason. It has been so talked about, especially in the past 6 years. It’s ok to shame me on this one, y’all. I’m keeping this and making a commitment to reading it soon, okay?
Verdict: Keeping it
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
I actually partially read this one. In 2020, I got a little over halfway through and decided it was too long and convoluted, and I didn’t want to waste any more time on it. It’s a very plot-centered novel, which is just not for me. I can see why it’s a classic, and I think I would try his other books, but this was technically a DNF.
Verdict: Read it (for the most part)
Books kept: 5
Books off my TBR: 5
TBR count: 529 books
I don’t pay much attention to my Goodreads TBR list, but this was a nice exercise in letting go. It was also interesting to see how much my reading tastes have evolved. I was a little pretentious when I was young, hence all the classic lit. I’ve been thinking of reading the oldest books on my TBR for a while now, so this might be the kickstart I needed to finally do it this year.
Have you read any of the books on my list? What’s your current Goodreads TBR count at?
Happy Wednesday everyone! We’re about to get into my favorite month, and I could not feel happier about everything going on in my life recently! There’s a reason Spring is the month of rebirth 🙂 This week, I finished up all my finals, so I have a lot of free time on my hands coming up.
So, this photoset looks extremely similar to the one I did last week. I’m going to take that as a sign of good planning on my part! I’ll give an update regardless here.
Currently reading: I’ve been reading The Inheritance Games before bed every night and during downtime at work. This one is so unlike what I expected. The characters almost remind me of the gang from The Raven Cycle. Anyone else? I’m kinda surprised how much I’ve been enjoying YA recently. I had thought I was originally moving on from it, but I’ve had a lot of good YA reads this year. I also just started the These Violent Delights audiobook today during a workout. I only have 7 days left on that loan, so I really need to get moving on it. The beginning has been incredible so far, so I’m looking forward to what’s in store next!
Recently finished: I finished Daughter of the Moon Goddess and Dave Grohl’s The Storyteller this week. After not finishing anything until the middle of this month, I’m definitely on a winning streak this month. These were both 5 star reads for me. The Storyteller was expected to go this way, but I didn’t know what to expect from Tan’s book. So, so good.
Reading next: Of Beasts and Burden comes out May 10, so I also need to get going on that one too. I have high hopes for both, so hopefully I can finish the month out strong. Honestly have no idea what will come after this one. Sometimes I have a clear plan of books I’d like to get to soon, but I’m feeling really free with my schedule! Tell me one book I should read next below!
Louise Reads 