tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20879473981807447362024-03-13T16:01:58.880-07:00PeachyFishy BooksMomeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00953082931015083700noreply@blogger.comBlogger75125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2087947398180744736.post-14040560737453227142019-04-10T12:04:00.000-07:002019-04-10T12:04:08.223-07:00Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs ~A Review<br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Summary: Charles saves Anna from her abusive Chicago pack only to realize she is an Omega, a valuable member to any pack. He also realizes that she is his mate. They leave for Montana together to start building their relationship and start the search for a rogue werewolf who is killing in the mountains.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> <span style="color: #990000;">*This may be the first book in the Alpha and Omega series, but you SHOULD read the Alpha and Omega novella before attempting this book and I would also suggest reading the first Mercy Thompson book as well (Not necessary, but it will help this book make more sense).</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">I gave this book a 2.75 out of 5 stars</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">So, I am currently participating in the OWLs Magical Readathon (this is the second round). This is a readathon hosted by G from Book Roast on Youtube (she will be linked at the end of this post, as per usual). I used this book as my Charms book whose prompt was to read an adult book. As I am reading this series chronologically and I had already read the book and novella prior to this, I decided this was the perfect opportunity to pick this book up. I had had a mildly positive experience with both Moon Called (the first Mercy Thompson book) and the novella (which I listened to via Overdrive), I was keen on reading and learning more about Anna and Charles. Also from previous experiences with Urban Fantasy, I usually find that books get better and better, so that got me really excited.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">Unfortunately I didn't enjoy this book as much as I had thought. About half, if not more of this book was faffing around. In the novella, Charles realized that his wolf has chosen Anna's as his mate. When the novella ends, Charles and Anna have only known each other for about a day and a half? This causes a problem when they move in together. The first chunk of this book is them attempting to work on relationship problems. Charles believes that if the inner wolves have chosen each other, the human side shouldn't have any problems (I guess this is the reverse of what usually happens, so I can see why he would think that). While the human sides do seem to be attracted to each other, Anna has come from extreme abuse (all of which is talked about in the novella...which you should read...haha). She has a hard time with men, especially alphas, because of all of the physical, mental and sexual abuse, a thing that Charles doesn't really seem to get. He saw the conditions she was in and when she doesn't return his affections or flinches away from him when she thinks it's going to get sexual, he gets super butt hurt about it. It's frustrating to read. Especially for 100+ pages. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">I also didn't really connect too hard to the characters. We didn't really get to meet Charles in Moon Called. He was mentioned a few times and I think he made a cameo? Then we only had 42 pages of Anna. That is not really enough time to get to know her. We didn't have a lot of time with Bran either (Charles' Dad), so I had had a hard time caring about him...or Asil...or Sage....or anyone really (I must also mention that I didn't read any other novella other than Alpha and Omega, so I don't know if I would have different feelings...). It's really hard to enjoy a book when you don't really care about the cast inside it.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">The pacing of the book was also atrocious. There was a plot about a rogue wolf...but I kept forgetting about it until it would randomly pop up again. It was the most interesting thing that was happening, so I was disappointed when it felt like an after thought.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">I was a lot more excited when the action started picking up after halfway through. Unfortunately I would have had more fun if it was paced better. I was pretty over the book by the time the fun started, so that was a bit of a bummer. I was anticipating the end, so I wasn't 100% invested. The plot did get more complex than I thought it was going to get, which was great, but because the pacing was so bad, it was over very quickly.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">My feeling for the characters started to grow a bit more by the end of the novel as well. Initially I felt they were in the way of the plot progressing, but as the plot progressed, they started to feel more important to the story (does that even make sense? Haha). Asil ended up being a really cool and complex character and I ended up falling in love with Bran. I hadn't really enjoyed him too much in either story, but a bit more of his backstory was given to us and now I enjoy him a lot more (I also haven't read all of the novellas, so I don't know if my feelings would have been stronger or not). Sage also seems like a cool character too and I'm interested to see how they all progress in the next books.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">In the end, I think a 2.75 is a fair rating. I enjoyed the last bit and the end, but the beginning was exhausting...I did read that some of the kinks have been ironed out in the second book and I'm cautiously curious about it. I will be taking a break before I attempt to pick it up.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">All of the links:</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">Youtube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk5eRrShYL-HK0Gzg2qp4zQ">https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk5eRrShYL-HK0Gzg2qp4zQ</a></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">Goodreads: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6483377-supermomochan-peachyfishybooks">https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6483377-supermomochan-peachyfishybooks</a></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Twitter: @_PeachyFishy_</span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">G from Book Roast's channel: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsIJyv-pQSrKP4Ogj6WYIdg/featured">https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsIJyv-pQSrKP4Ogj6WYIdg/featured</a></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></span></span>Momeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00953082931015083700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2087947398180744736.post-30036130974301839692018-07-03T14:21:00.001-07:002018-07-03T14:21:22.866-07:00Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor -- Review<br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Summary: Karou is an art student at a university in Prague. She also doesn't know who she is but that's cool because she works with Chimera...and then she sees a hot angel. Wow.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It says I gave this a 3.5 on goodreads, but I think this is more of a 3 star read. I reviewed this on my channel, but I can't remember what I said because I have the attention span and the memory of a hyper active fish (which is not very long...just to clarify)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I had heard a lot about Laini Taylor over since I started watching booktube videos in 2013. She is quite the popular author. I hadn't experienced her writing until I read a short story she did for My True Love Gave to Me (a collection of short winter love stories edited by Stephanie Perkins). Her story was beautiful and haunted my very soul. I cried a bit and it just stuck with me. I thought it was amazing and to this day I can't get it out of my head. I immediately bought Daughter of Smoke and Bone...but I never picked it up...I was too scared to. What if it was a fluke? After getting Overdrive (an app where I can get free audiobooks from my library), I decided that I should finally read this book.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The likes:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The thing about Laini Taylor is that she is a beautiful writer. The way she tells stories is amazing. The world was so well written that I felt like I was there. I really loved the way her stories have a fairy tale quality to them. They just feel so...familiar and comforting. I loved the fantastical elements to this book as well. As it is a fantasy, it had some mythical creatures in it. Chimera, creatures that are half human and half animal. I loved learning about them and how they worked. Fascinating.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Dislikes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I hated soooooooo much about this book though...It started out so good. Then she met Akiva...Akiva is an angel who is trying to kill the Chimera...And she sees him and he sees her and kira kira eyes happen (that is japanese for sparkle eyes)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">^Very much like that </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">No thank you. I really don't like instalove. It is soooooooooooo annoying. While yes, for those of you who have read it, I know there is a reason for why it happens...but that doesn't mean I have to like it. And I don't. I hate instant attraction. I know it is possible in real life, but this was just...ugh...My eyes rolled so hard that I may have been able to see my brain for a little bit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Then there was the fact that the last 50% of this book was a flashback. I don't know if I have ever made it apparent...but I usually abhor flashbacks. They are ok when they are done well...and I find that they rarely are. This was a flashback disaster for me. This would have been better as a 1.5 instead of a chunk of the book. I understand why it was there, but she could have given us some information and then put the rest as a separate book. I was so bored and I was taken 100% out of the story. I was so annoyed and I didn't really care. It was really hard to care once the flashbacks started...and then the uber romance between Karou and Akiva...and the fact that the book went from a fantasy to a YA romance. Not what I signed up for...not what I wanted. It was frustrating that the book went in this direction when, again, it had started out so strong.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">As I usually do when I read audiobooks, I'm going to review that as well. The narrator, Khristine Hvam, was amazing! She had so many amazing voices and never once did I not know who was talking. Her accents were fantastic and she was such an enchanting speaker that I couldn't help but keep listening, even though I hated the story. Her narration and voices perfectly matched Laini Taylor's lyrical writing style. I loved her. I would totally listen to more books narrated by her.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">So there you have it. My unpopular opinion on a well loved book. Naturally I will not be continuing the series. With the way the book ended, I can see where it is going to go and I'm not excited to actually read it. So I am not going to torture myself with that. How is her other book series? Strange the Dreamer? If you have read it, let me know. I'm curious to see if it is something I will like or if it will do the same thing for me as this book did.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Thank you again for reading and I will catch you all next time!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Links and the like:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Youtube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk5eRrShYL-HK0Gzg2qp4zQ/featured">https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk5eRrShYL-HK0Gzg2qp4zQ/featured</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Originally reviewed in March 2018 novel wrap-up </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Goodreads: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6483377-supermomochan-peachyfishybooks">https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6483377-supermomochan-peachyfishybooks</a></span><br />
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Gifs: <a href="https://giphy.com/">https://giphy.com/</a><br />
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seriously...this book was the biggest disappointment ever.<br />
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Momeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00953082931015083700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2087947398180744736.post-14752763178833732262018-03-28T15:10:00.000-07:002018-03-28T15:10:19.153-07:00Feed by Mira Grant -- A meh... Review<br />
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<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Summary: A book that takes place 20 years about a zombie outbreak. It's a story about the survivors and how the world is doing...It's a book about politics...with some zombies sprinkled in...but hey! Wisconsin rep! Blogger rep and disability rep. So that's kind of cool...but definitely not a book about zombies. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #999999;">4 stars out of 5...still not 100% sure it deserves this rating though...</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: black;">So, Feed...I had heard about this book MANY MANY moons ago on Erika's channel, ThePerksofBooks. I was able to buy it last year after deciding that zombies aren't THAT bad and sometimes you just need a good zombie book! Plus I was also super craving the feelings I got from The Last of Us (which is a video game if you didn't know), but in book form. I couldn't remember what she had said about it, so all I had to go on was the summary at the back of the book. I also listened to the audiobook who was read by Jesse Berstein and Paula Christensen. I don't have too much to say about them, but I will give them a mini review at the end. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="color: black;">First of all,
I had NO idea that Mira Grant is Seanan McGuire's pen name. I about
pooped myself with excitement! I had really been enjoying her Wayward
Children series and hoped that this book would be just as amazing. In
many ways it was everything I hoped for and and many other ways it was a
disaster. </span></span></span></span></span></span> </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #660000;">The Likes:</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="color: black;">In classic Seanan McGuire flair, the world was amazing. She is really great at building an interesting world and giving that world a fully fleshed out history. All of her worlds feel like real places and this book was no different. There was such an extensive history for this world. There was even court cases, political history and ways to make sure that her readers had no way of questioning anything that happened. I really felt like I was there and that I was involved in everything that was going on. At no point in reading this did I ever feel left out. I love how well she explained the virus and how it worked. I like how the virus came about and how it is spread. I really enjoyed reading about her zombies and I could tell she put a lot of work into researching how viruses work.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="color: black;">I liked that this book didn't take place during the start of the zombie apocalypse. This takes place 20 years after the outbreak, so we get to see a world that is used to zombies and how the uninfected and the infected interact. We also get to see how the internet is used to get information to people, especially when it isn't safe to be outside. </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="color: black;">I also really enjoyed the characters. They were also really well fleshed out and I felt like they each had their own personality and never did I feel like I didn't know who was talking. They were true to the personality that they were given and I never really felt like they made decisions that weren't in their nature. I can't really say I loved the characters or was super connected with them, but I thought they were interesting to read about and was curious as to what was going to happen to them.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="color: black;">Speaking of the characters, there was also some great disability representation in this book. The virus can sometimes affect people's eyesight and their pupils will fully dilate so they have problems with lighting. Also because the virus is affecting their eyes, they sometimes get mistaken as zombies and their blood tests can read positive for the zombie virus. It was interesting to see how the author handled this disability and at no point did I ever feel like she making fun of the character or that she was making her be wimpy or weak. George was a strong character that kicked ass both on the internet and in real life.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Also, one of the main characters is from Wisconsin. </span><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="color: black;">No one EVER talks about Wisconsin, so it was really cool to see my home state represented! </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #660000;">The Dislikes:</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #660000;">This book was HORRIBLY mis-marketed. I went into this book thinking it was about two people who were blogger siblings and they found a news story about what actually caused the zombie virus outbreak 20 years prior. But yeah....that's not the case at all. This was actually a political thriller with some zombies sprinkled in. It was about three bloggers (two were siblings) and how they were following the senator of Wisconsin and his political tour of the country so that he can become the president of the United States.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="color: black;"> VS </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="color: black;">Not nearly as exciting as the GIFs look....Unfortunately. Actually, I share Hilary's feelings about the whole thing (that's why I chose that GIF). It was a lot of boring shit that I didn't care about. The senator was cool and it was kind of neat to see how campaigning might work after a zombie virus, but that was really it. If you really hate reading about politics, you are going to be bored out of your mind.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="color: black;">I also really hated the pacing at the end. I thought that a lot of the action was very sudden and with very little pay off. The villain was SUPER predictable...like, I knew it was them the second they were introduced. It was a total "I bet it was the butler" situation (you know...when you say it's going to be the butler, and it is). It was very annoying.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="color: black;">Because I listened to the audiobook, I also have some thoughts on that as well. Most of the book was narrated by Paula. She did a pretty good job and we heard from her the most. There were bits of the book that were narrated by Jesse and that was mostly excerpts from Shaun's blog. My problem with them was that they would forget what a character's accent was and I found it kind of annoying. There were a couple characters from Texas that had a fairly consistent accent, but Wisconsin and England...oh boy....Wisconsin was a hot mess. He got kind of Southern...or maybe Montana? Either way...NOT Wisconsin. It just kind of took me out of the story.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="color: black;">So, was it a bad book? Not really. It just wasn't what I wanted and I had a lot of problems with it. I won't be continuing on with the series. With the way the first book ended, it can be considered a stand alone. Plus, with the events at the end, I'm not really sure I need to know anything else. I just don't care enough. I also looked up some reviews and all of the problems I had in the first book carry on into the next book. So, I'm going to pass.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="color: black;">I would recommend this book, but only if you are interested in the politics. I mean, it's nothing too cerebral, but as it is a book about a campaign trail, it can be really dull if you think you are going to get a lot of zombies.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="color: black;">This was a hard book to review, but I think I said everything I wanted to say. Until next time!!</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="color: black;">All GIFs were taken from: <a href="https://giphy.com/">https://giphy.com/</a></span></span></span></span></span></span>Momeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00953082931015083700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2087947398180744736.post-57702109405023766252018-03-05T10:30:00.000-08:002018-03-05T10:30:16.960-08:00A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab -- A Review<br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;">Summary: Blood magician, Kell can hop between 3 out of 4 different Londons. Kell likes to sneak things between world and it gets him into a bunch of trouble. Delilah Bard also likes to steal things. Together they must return a bad thing to a bad place before bad people kill them both.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4.5 out of 5 stars! (you weren't expecting that, were you? Haha)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">What?! A favorable book review!? For real!?</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">Yup! I finally read a book that was good and that I had a lot of things to say about it! So with that being said, let's get into it!!</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">First of all, I want to start off by saying that I listened to this on audiobook from Overdrive. Not only will I be reviewing the book, but I will also be reviewing Stephen Crossley's narration! Like usual, we'll start off with the good stuff, which is actually a lot this time!</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;">What I liked:</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">I really liked the world that Schwab built...or should I say worlds? I felt like the world was really well fleshed out and each London felt like its own place. I don't remember a time where I was confused about which London we were in. I think the narrator did a good job of making sure we knew which London we were in, but I'll go into that later. The author spent a good chunk of the book just describing the worlds as Kell, and later Delilah (Lila) moved through them. I think I noticed the plot pick up at about 50% into the book. Now, normally that would bother the hell out of me. But to be perfectly honest, I didn't mind it at all. I was really enjoying learning about the worlds and the people who lived in them. Yeah, sometimes it got a bit tedious, but this is a pretty deep fantasy series for only being three books, so keep that in mind when you get bored of all the build up. That just means less world to have to build in the other two books, right? </span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">I also really enjoyed the characters that we were introduced to. Kell is our main character (until we meet Lila anyway) and he is flawed as heck. He doesn't really have super protagonist syndrome that some YA/Adult fantasies have. You know the type...Good at everything, annoying as fuck, most people love them...except for the bad guys. Kell is well loved, but he is also hated by a lot of people too. He gets bored easily and likes to move items between worlds, which is illegal. This ultimately gets him into a lot of trouble. Lila, is a bit more protagonist-y than Kell is. I feel like she might have a 'chosen one' cliche coming in the later books and I'm already cringing...but let's stay positive! For now. I found all of the other characters to be pretty interesting. Nobody really annoyed me all that much..which is a rare occurrence, as you all probably know if you have been reading these posts for a while. Also when it came to decisions the characters would make, I felt like they were all developed enough that we would be able to immediately notice that a character made a choice that didn't follow what the author had led us to believe. You know, sometimes you read a book and are led to believe a character is a certain way and then all of a sudden they make a decision and you are like, "....WHAT! YOU WOULDN'T SAY/DO THAT?!" (*cough* *cough* Harry Potter in the Cursed Child). I find it incredibly annoying when they do that. But I can say, I didn't really see that happening here. It was kind of refreshing!</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">I also really REALLY enjoyed the use of languages in this book. As you may or may not know, I'm really into language, so any book that creates a language gets an up vote from me..but 3?! Yes. </span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Besides Grey London, none of the other Londons use English as their main language. Yes, they know how to speak it (or some do), Red and White London both have their own languages! How fricken' cool is that?! There is also a language that blood magicians use to get their spells to work. The use of language was amazing to me and I'm surprised that no one has mentioned it in any of the reviews that I have seen. Red London is a rich and cultural London, so their language has to match it, and I think it did. The language was smooth and soothing. White London is a harsh and cruel place, and their language also sounded harsh and aggressive. Even the language of the blood magicians fit extremely well. It was forceful but also mysterious. I think the languages were my favorite part of the book...Kind of weird, I know...but I really thought it was well done.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Another thing that I enjoyed about this book was the fact that there was no romance in it. You would think that because the main characters are together (though they hated each other most of the time) they would eventually fall in love. THEY DIDN'T! I like romance, but I think it is severely over done. Authors feel like they have to put it in all of their books, and 9 out of 10 times it isn't even a good romance. I want more books like this. There WAS a romance hinted at, but it's not between the main characters, and I like that. I approve of the ship and I want it to sail. Haha!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">One last thing to say before I go into my positives about the narration. I think it is important to note that this book could be a stand alone if you wanted it to be. The book wraps up in a way that if you are intimidated by the next two books, you can just skip them! I won't be doing this, but I thought it would be a good thing to mention if large fantasy books scare you.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">Ok, narration positives! Crossley, I think, did an amazing job narrating this book. At first, it was difficult to get used to his voice. He is an older British man, and while it was a nice voice to listen to, I felt like it didn't fit the 20 year old characters. That being said, his narration grew on me and I almost miss him more than the characters. I am also extremely disappointed that he didn't do the next two books...</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;">Things I didn't like:</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">This is going to be a much shorter list than I usually make. So, for starters after the plot really got going, it started to become predictable. You could just see the future set up coming a mile away. Like, it was eye roll worthy. "I wonder why that happened? Oh! Duh! Obvious set up for the future!" And I always felt like I knew what was going to happen. I didn't want to believe things would go the way I thought they would...but they usually did. I'm not the kind of person who tries to guess the ending or what is going to happen, I really like to be in the moment with the characters. Discover things along with them, that way it is a surprise to both of us when something happens. That being said, if I am able to figure it out right away, that really isn't something to be proud of. Like, a good chunk of this book was face palm worthy. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">I guess my only other negative was a narration choice. This is obviously specifically for the audiobook. Like I had mentioned earlier, Crossley did an amazing job narrating this book and through his narration, he made it easier to tell which London we were in...You know...just in case you forgot. Each London had an accent. The accent, I believe, was supposed to kind of match up with the native language that each of the Londons spoke. It would make it cohesive and just flow better. In theory it was a great idea, and for the most part it worked out really well...except for one. Let me explain better.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">In Grey London: Grey London had a turn of the century/industrial revolution kind of feel to it. Lots of pick pockets and bar brawls. Really dirty and grimy. So, he gave Grey Londoners a Cockney accent. It really fit the characters and it sounded great on Lila.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">Red London: This is a rich city/country. There is magic everywhere, people seem to be doing well for the most part and it just gives off a really wealthy vibe (even if that is not the case for everybody). He gave them a more of a posh English accent. And for those who weren't royal, he gave them a bit of a non-determinable accent, but it was still a smooth accent and it fit with the world Schwab had built.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">White London on the other hand...Oh boy...So, White London is harsh and cruel. Mean, sadistic and extremely cut throat. So...what accent could the narrator possibly give them that would fit that persona and match the language Schwab chose for them?</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">I will let you guess.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">I'll give you a second.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">.......................................German.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://media2.giphy.com/media/wxw2e19ZMsjio/giphy.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="350" height="320" src="https://media2.giphy.com/media/wxw2e19ZMsjio/giphy.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">Now, I'm not one who is easily offended and I wasn't offended when he started speaking for the Dane siblings in White London. I actually burst out laughing in the middle of the break room at work when I realized what was happening. Then I realized it was probably bad taste to make the villains speak with a German-like accent. Yeah...woops!</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">So, yeah! I really enjoyed this book! I know it is super rare for me to write a good review or a non-DNF review, but yeah! Sometimes I have a lot to say about bad things and rarely anything to say about good things! It's weird, I know, but sometimes it's easier to say more about things you hate instead of things you like. I want to try and get more positive book reviews on this blog. I think I have one more super positive one planned out and one meh review as well. Those should be coming out in the next two weeks!</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">If there were any books I reviewed on our channel that you would like to see my full thoughts, just let me know! You can do so on either Youtube or right here on the blog! My Youtube partner and I now have a Twitter and an Instagram if you want to follow us there as well (Bre usually tweets and I usually Insta).</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">Until next time! Ciao!~</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">Twitter: @_PeachyFishy_</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">Instagram: _peachyfishy_</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">Goodreads: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6483377-supermomochan-peachyfishybooks">https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6483377-supermomochan-peachyfishybooks</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk5eRrShYL-HK0Gzg2qp4zQ/featured">https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk5eRrShYL-HK0Gzg2qp4zQ/featured</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">Rhy and Lila </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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Momeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00953082931015083700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2087947398180744736.post-17163847481553288372018-03-04T10:33:00.000-08:002018-03-04T10:42:16.367-08:00The Dollmaker of Krakow by R.M. Romero -- Ehh...<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Summary: A doll named Karolina is taken from her war-torn land (the Land of the Dolls) to World War II Poland. Her friend, the Dollmaker is Polish/German and he befriends a Jewish family. Naturally, bad shit happens and everything is shit.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: #990000;">I gave this book 3 stars...but I might give it 2...I really can't decide.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There were so many things about this book that I really hated...but there were also a lot of things that I did enjoy, so as you can see from my rating, I'm torn. Maybe I will settle on one...at some point. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As per usual, let's start out with the things I liked...especially because I'm going to aggressively rip this book apart later.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Things I liked:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black;">One thing that I really liked about this book early on was the whimsy. I mean, it was a story about a doll who would sew wishes into dresses and lived in a land of dolls. How cool is that! It felt like a historical fiction/fantasy, and I was really digging it! Some might say that this is spoilers, but the Land of the Dolls gets invaded by a rat king and his rat minions invade across the river where the dolls are living and destroy everything. It reminded me of The Nutcracker and I was in love.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black;">I used to perform in The Nutcracker every year from the age of 10-16. I love the atmosphere of this ballet, so reading a book that reminded me of it was super exciting. I was living my best bookish life. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black;">Anyway, the doll world was great, for the most part. We really didn't get too much world building there because it really wasn't about the doll world, but being there was still enjoyable (for the most part). There was also a lot of mythology and folklore in the real world. I really don't know much about Poland. I have Polish ancestry, but no one in our family talks about it, only our German heritage, so I didn't realize there was so much interesting folklore! I learned a lot by reading this book.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black;">Another thing I really liked about this book, especially because I like language, was the fact that the author used a lot of German and Polish words in the book. I think it really made the book feel more real to me. I believed that we were actually in Poland and that there were Germans there as well. I struggled with the Polish words, but I understood the German ones and not only did it feel good (personal accomplishment) but it also meant that it was accessible to everyone (though I kind of wish the author put a pronunciation guide next to the words so those who didn't know how to say it could learn) because she translated it so non-speakers could understand.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black;">I also really liked that the Dollmaker had PTSD. The Dollmaker served in a war earlier before the events of the book happened (I'm not sure which one, because I'm bad with historical timelines). He lost everything, including a leg, and he's just a mess when Karolina meets him. I felt like her depiction of PTSD was done pretty well. I also have PTSD (non-war related), and I felt like it was true to the condition. The dreams, the flashbacks, the reclusiveness, and the anxiety. I dealt/deal with a lot of those symptoms and felt like it was well depicted.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black;">Lastly in the "likes" list is the accurate depictions of life in Poland during World War II. We don't usually see books that take place in countries that aren't Germany during this era, so it was a nice change of pace. We got to see what it was like for the Polish people and those who were Germans living in Poland, like the Dollmaker. It was pretty well done. We also really felt the tensions between the Jewish population and the non-Jewish population. It is always really sad to see this in books or movies, but it was really well done.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black;">OK! It's time for the dislikes...Prepare your asses....You have been warned.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <span style="color: #0b5394;">Things I didn't like:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black;">Where do I start...Let's start with the things I have already praised.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black;">The Land of the Dolls...why was it important? So Karolina would know what war was like? So we could have a break from a real war that happened for a fantasy world war?</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black;">I'm not really sure I understand why it was important to include this. Also, I didn't really get the relevance of including the creatures from the folklore. Though I thought they were cool, I didn't really understand why they were there...just to help Karolina once or twice. Because otherwise they didn't really do anything. Maybe that is just me being picky, but I don't think a character should be added so that they can help you out of a situation...and then never mention them again. *shrug* </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black;">The magic. Why? The magic in here is just stupid. The Dollmaker finds out he can turn living things into dolls and that's cool and all...it does save the life of a mouse that was killed by an asshole German boy...and it does come in handy later on in the story...but Karolina tells him multiple times that he needs to practice it and become better at it, and he spends a lot of the story telling her magic is dumb and that he needs to be practical. He then does one magic trick that does a great thing, but that's it. He starts a rivalry with a German...general? Some top German military guy who is really bad (of course...he's German, so he must be bad) and the German guy does magic too...but I expected some huge magic-off! Some huge showdown between douche-y German guy and Dollmaker dude...but that NEVER HAPPENS! I don't know why it was important for the German guy to have magic when all it did was intimidate the Dollmaker. He is a big nasty German guy!!! That's scary enough! Especially when you are friends with a Jewish family! Why did he need magic. I just. No...the magic was dumb.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black;">A major part of this book is Karolina. She is a living doll...but honestly I don't know why it was important that she was. If the author didn't occasionally remind me that Karolina was a doll, I honestly wouldn't have known. I think the author made Karolina a doll so that the story would be lighter for the middle-grade audience that she was writing for. But the problem with that is, it didn't lighten ANYTHING! </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black;">This book was incredibly dark for being for middle-graders. Yes, it had a simplistic writing style, but with the addition of the subject matter and the use of foreign language, it kind of raised the reading level a lot. I was SHOCKED by the direction the author decided to go with this story. I mean. HOLY. SHIT! When you use a living doll as a main character, you really don't have to play with the rules of actual history. You can take whatever mini story you have going on, tell it how you want to, and still be true to historical events. But no. She kept this as real as it can get, even with all the magic, mythical creatures and living dolls. I'm going to put a spoiler-y bit at the end so I can go more in depth with this...but wow. When an adult is reading this and thinking that this might be the darkest WWII fiction novel they have read, damn. That's not really good...considering it is written for a young audience. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black;">So yeah, if you think this is going to be a light informative yet fantastical read because it is geared towards younger readers, you are in for a surprise. It is dark, depressing and for me at least, very aggrivating. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black;">I think that's everything I have for this book. I reviewed it on my Youtube channel a while ago....November I think? but yeah...This is a bit more in depth and a lot more rant-y...probably. It was a while ago, so I don't really remember what I said. Hopefully this all made sense and that it was useful. Stay tuned for the spoiler bits if you want to know why I thought this book was super dark and inappropriate for the age group it was written for.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black;">If you decided not to stick around, see ya next time! </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">All GIFs were taken from: <a href="https://giphy.com/">https://giphy.com/</a> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My Goodreads: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6483377-supermomochan-peachyfishybooks">https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6483377-supermomochan-peachyfishybooks</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My Youtube Channel: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk5eRrShYL-HK0Gzg2qp4zQ/featured">https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk5eRrShYL-HK0Gzg2qp4zQ/featured</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Video this book is reviewed in: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wRxkrdchp0&list=PLakhy8PhWWVTxQoIisZnpTH6kgp-o9N0R&index=6">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wRxkrdchp0&list=PLakhy8PhWWVTxQoIisZnpTH6kgp-o9N0R&index=6</a> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black;"> <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Spoiler bits below.......</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So the spoiler bits. Like I said before, this book has very accurate depictions of WWII and it is also marketed as a middle-grade book. I found it in the middle-grade section of the children's room at my local Barnes and Noble. So, being a book for a younger audience, you would think that the author would use more discretion when writing for children. With the addition of magic, it takes away from the realness of the war, so honestly anything is possible while still keeping the war semi-historically accurate.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">First of all, there is public murder of Mr. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="readable" id="reviewTextContainer2122899814"><span id="freeTextContainer248749495002349102">Trzmiel, the Jewish friend of the Dollmaker and Karolina. He is shot point blank on the street in front of everyone, including his daughter. Though the Dollmaker tries to spare everyone the sight of what happened, we all know it happens.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="readable" id="reviewTextContainer2122899814"><span id="freeTextContainer248749495002349102">Then there is the murder of the Dollmaker. So the big nasty German military guy captures the Dollmaker and Karolina and takes them to Auschwitz. Because this is a fantasy novel and middle-grad, we are kind of led to believe that the author wouldn't kill off the main character. Nope! The Nazis at the entrance are keeping track of who is coming in to the labor camp and those who are seen as not being useful. When they see that the Dollmaker has a doll in his pocket, they deem him as being nuts and send him off to the showers. Yes. That's right. They gas him. I was so stunned. I think they mentioned what the gas chambers were earlier in the book, but if you didn't know what they were, you wouldn't really understand. But after Karolina gets thrown in the junk pile, she talks about how her dollmaker friend is dead, so if you didn't know what happened, you most certainly do now.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="readable" id="reviewTextContainer2122899814"><span id="freeTextContainer248749495002349102">Then they proceed to follow Karolina and her junk pile until the end of the book. We watch her slowly disintegrate on a pile of unwanted things and is eventually whisked away by one of the mythical people we had met earlier...I don't remember her name...to doll heaven...which is pretty much The Land of the Dolls (if you hadn't figured out it was doll heaven earlier).</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="readable" id="reviewTextContainer2122899814"><span id="freeTextContainer248749495002349102">Yes, the few Jewish kids the dollmaker had saved earlier made it out and Karolina gets to see one of them on her way to doll heaven, but otherwise this book really doesn't have a happy ending. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="readable" id="reviewTextContainer2122899814"><span id="freeTextContainer248749495002349102">Now, to argue in favor of the author (and to show that I'm not being overly sensitive), I believe she did this in order to show the harshness of war and that not every story has a happy ending. Fair point...I hear you. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="readable" id="reviewTextContainer2122899814"><span id="freeTextContainer248749495002349102">That all being said, this was probably the harshest WWII fiction I have read. I have read a couple of middle-grade WWII books and while they are sad, they do have an ending that isn't going to scar a younger audience. This one scarred me pretty badly and I've studied WWII pretty intensely. I still think about it and how dark it is. I can't imagine what a younger version of me would have thought reading this. I don't think it would have gone over well...and I would consider myself to have been a very serious and mature for my age. </span></span></span>Momeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00953082931015083700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2087947398180744736.post-57623874147074900032018-01-13T17:19:00.000-08:002018-01-13T17:19:33.303-08:00Quick Cram-a-Thon Wrap Up 2017<div style="text-align: left;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hey everyone! I'm here with a (hopefully) super quick wrap up of the 2017 Cram-A-Thon! This read-a-thon was hosted by: HardbackHoarder, Julia Sapphire, Dylanthereader5 and the Awkward Bookworm (all of their channels will be linked below).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It was announced that from December 26th until January 2nd, you were to read seven of your shortest books and to complete seven challenges. Bre, my Youtube partner, and I decided that we were going to try and participate. Bre had never participated in a read-a-thon, and though I had before, this was my first time participating with another person and with a twitter. Bre killed the read-a-thon and I did alright. I also found out that I'm not very good with twitter........but I'm learning. Haha! Enough about that...Let's get into the challenges and the books I read!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The first challenge was to read a book with less than 200 pages. For this challenge I decided to read the 9th volume of Yu Yu Hakusho by Yoshihiro Togashi. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Challenge the second was to read a book with LGBTQIA+ rep in it. I didn't really have a short book that fit this challenge, but Bre mentioned that No. 6 by Atsuko Asano and Hinoki Kino fit, so naturally I picked it! She had lent me the 3rd volume, so I needed to get to it anyway.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The third challenge was to read the shortest book on your TBR (To Be Read) pile. I had taken Yu Yu Hakusho volume 10 out from the library (along with the 9th one), so it was something I needed to get to. Plus this is my favorite manga/anime series, so I wasn't mad about having to read it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Challenge 4 was to read a book with your favorite color on the cover. I have no pink books and I wasn't interested in any of my yellow books, so I went for The Prisoner of Azkaban...by JK Rowling, which is my favorite of the Harry Potter series and has a beautiful purple and green cover.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Challenge the 5th was to read a book that was gifted to you. I very rarely get books as gifts, but for Christmas my sister gifted me The Wonderling by Mira Bartok. She said she saw it and thought of me. I was super touched and was super excited to pick it up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Challenge the 6th was to read one of the host's favorite short books. I don't know what they all chose...and to be honest, I'm too lazy too look it up...but I was watching HardbackHoarder's video and saw that one of the host's favorite books was George by Alex Gino, and since it was a book I had been meaning to read for a long time, I chose that and borrowed it from my library!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And last but not least, challenge 7 was to read seven books. I was about half way through Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson (I was on page 356 at the time of the read-a-thon). My goal was to have it read by the end of the year, so this was a good push to get it finished.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So, how did I go?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I only finished 4 books...2 manga and 2 novels...eh....</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But honestly, for the week I was having...it wasn't too bad.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I read all of Prisoner of Azkaban, George, and Yu Yu Hakusho volumes 9 and 10. I also made it through 111 pages of the Wonderling and worked on a bit more of Warbreaker. I didn't finish it, but I'm just glad I made progress. I had absolutely no interest in picking up No. 6, though I did end up reading it after the read-a-thon was over. I'm not going to go into my thoughts on the books I read, as I mentioned them all in my December wrap up on our Youtube channel (which I will link). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So that's that! I know it has been a while since the cram-a-thon ended, but I felt like it was incomplete without an official wrap up! A lot of stuff happened that week and I wish I could have gotten more read, but I'm glad I was able to accomplish what I did!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I have a few "New Years" stuff planned for this blog, so stay tuned for that!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">See you next time!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">~Momo</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Channel link: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk5eRrShYL-HK0Gzg2qp4zQ">https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk5eRrShYL-HK0Gzg2qp4zQ</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Goodreads page: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6483377-supermomochan-peachyfishybooks" target="_blank">https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6483377-supermomochan-peachyfishybooks </a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Cram-a-thon host channels:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Julia Sapphire: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/JewlSapphire">https://www.youtube.com/user/JewlSapphire</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">HardbackHoarder: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpjGKbwm-ZXBedvkOI1uAjA">https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpjGKbwm-ZXBedvkOI1uAjA</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">dylanthereader5: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxpHOP-SCTA0bQ7GZ3fLI0Q/featured">https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxpHOP-SCTA0bQ7GZ3fLI0Q/featured</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Awkward Bookworm: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCferU-BCL2dlFjWdD0rS75Q">https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCferU-BCL2dlFjWdD0rS75Q</a> </span><br />
Momeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00953082931015083700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2087947398180744736.post-14838422026554668682017-12-03T16:23:00.001-08:002017-12-08T13:42:04.958-08:00The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virture by Mackenzi Lee -- A Not So Favorable Review<br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Summary: Monty is lechy lush with an abusive father and a crush on his childhood best friend. Percy is bi-racial in a time where that in unacceptable. Felicity is Monty's sister and just wants to study medicine. They go on the Grand Tour of Europe together. Shenanigans ensue, the trip derails and Alchemy happens?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">I gave this book 3 stars...Ugh</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: black;">I want to start out with a strong statement...What the ACTUAL fuck is this book?! Holy. Shit. I just can't.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I know that the opinions below are probably going to be very unpopular...I just want everyone to know that I'm not judging anyone who enjoyed this book. This book wasn't meant for me, and that's ok! So, to start us off, I'm going to talk about the positives. It's a polite thing to do.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #073763;">On a Positive Note:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The first 100 pages or so were AWESOME! I was super enjoying this book! It was hilarious! Monty is a lech and he loves to drink and gamble. Naturally it gets him into a lot of trouble and some really awkward predicaments. I loved it! If the whole book had just been about the Grand Tour and all the shit Monty got into, SOLD! Unfortunately, it wasn't...but we'll get to that later. I promise. It was funny and interesting to read. I understood 100% why people were losing their shit over this book. Again, I will touch on what happened later.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The characters are soooooooooooo good! I love Monty, Percy and Felicity. They are real people with real problems and they are treated in a way that I feel was historically accurate for the time period in which this book was meant to have taken place. Monty is terribly flawed and very stupid, but that is part of his charm. You watch him struggle with trying to please his father and trying to fight against his wild nature. He was charmingly frustrating and I loved that about him. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Percy was super sweet and I was genuinely cheering for him throughout the novel, as I was Felicity as well. At first I found her to be annoying, but as her character and personality came out, I didn't mind her so much.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I did also like the romance between Monty and Percy. It was a bit like Carry On by Rainbow Rowell...but not done nearly as well. Still, I was rooting for them to get together...and for Monty to pull his head out of his ass. Haha</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #073763;">Things that DIDN'T work:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="color: black;">Honestly, if it wasn't for the characters I would have DNF'd the hell out of this book.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="color: black;">Let's start with that love story I was just praising. It was SOOOOOOOO hot and cold, but not in a sexy way. Monty is so frustrating...I am not sure how Percy put up with him. He must be a saint! He insults Percy multiple times, mostly because Monty is a privileged white boy and has no idea what is like to be in Percy's shoes (as I mentioned before, Percy is bi-racial and he doesn't have the same rights as Monty does in this time period). He also doesn't really try to understand either? I don't know. I wasn't super into the romance...but I still wanted them to succeed.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="color: black;">The plot was a hot mess. First we are the Grand Tour, then something happens and they end up going on a wild goose chase all over Europe because of alchemy.....What? And I didn't even think it was original! It was like Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa. I can't say how because it might spoil both series, but trust me...there were some odd parallels...</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="color: black;">There were scenes that reminded me of other things as well...like:</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="color: black;">Or this:</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="color: black;">And if all those things weren't enough, how about some of this:</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="color: black;">...upon looking at all of this, it sounds really cool...but the thing is, it has all been done before...and better! All I could think of were these comparisons and how much better they were than what I was currently reading. Plus what I was reading was NOT what this book was advertised as. I was expecting something completely different. A best friends road trip novel...but in Europe and it's all old timey and there is an amazing M/M (male/male) romance...but it really wasn't what the book is about. It's about best friends who are SUPPOSED to go on a European tour but something happens and they end up getting severely sidetracked because Monty is an idiot.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="color: black;">I am having a really hard time expressing my feelings for this book. I was annoyed with most of it and everything is spoilers so I can't really say what else bothered me. UGH!</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="color: black;">So anyway...I think I'm done thinking about this damn book. I was mislead, I was bored, I was upset and shocked that everything felt like a plagiarized bastardization of things that already exist...and are a million times better....I am emotionally spent.....I need some alcohol....and an angry nap.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="color: black;">I also want to apologize for the excessive use of GIFs in this post...I was trying something new and I may have gone overboard? Maybe not? Ehh...I'll probably keep doing it until someone stops me. Hahaha</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="color: black;">Here's where to find me!</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="color: black;">Goodreads: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6483377-supermomochan-peachyfishybooks">https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6483377-supermomochan-peachyfishybooks</a></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="color: black;">YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk5eRrShYL-HK0Gzg2qp4zQ/featured">https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk5eRrShYL-HK0Gzg2qp4zQ/featured</a></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="color: black;">Again....I can't just leave it like that...I have more to say...and it's spoilery...so...you've been warned if you go past this point. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I still have no clue why this book is so bloody popular. It is literally the biggest rip off a ton of major anime/movie titles...I mean...yeah, it's not a complete bastardization, but there were so many parallels that it made me really dislike this story. Yeah, if you haven't seen One Piece or Fullmetal Alchemist, I could see that it might be an enjoyable read a little bit more....but even then...after looking past everything...this is NOT what was expected. At. All. After the incident with the robbers and escaping into town, I was already starting to get disappointed...then we find out Percy is sick and that he's going to be sent away...so yeah, that was sad, but they find out the trinket Monty had stolen from the important French guy....whose name I can't be arsed to remember...is actually a key for an alchemical heart that could possibly cure Percy...so this is no longer a story about a final horrah on a Grand Tour...which is what I was hoping. This is a trio of teenagers trying to get a key to a heart of a chimera...of a not dead but mostly dead woman...I didn't want this. They spent so much time in Spain faffing around trying to get answers from the son and daughter of the guy who did the alchemy...great...more shit I don't care about. Like, we went through some shitty character development of characters we didn't need to hang around. Yeah....we are supposed to feel bad about taking the heart of their mother...but we shouldn't have been in this position to begin with. Then the whole going to Venice and getting the key................Going into the catacombs....the fight scene......the escape.......like a scene right out of Indiana Jones...except they weren't looking for a religious item.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I know this is kind of incoherent and maybe it doesn't make sense...but I just feel like I can't fully explain why I didn't like this book...................................There were just too many things working against it. I had such a hard time talking about this book. I literally have a headache. I sorry if this ending bit is a bit...shit. XD </span>Momeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00953082931015083700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2087947398180744736.post-25545036389603214922017-12-03T11:33:00.001-08:002017-12-03T11:53:18.792-08:00When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon -- A Mildly Unpopular Review<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wiw8fHTj3lU/WeZYzDssD6I/AAAAAAAADFA/JM0JbpOB7G4Sa3AP7Uz_fBXPdHrwKA7AwCLcBGAs/s1600/When%2BDimple%2BMet%2BRishi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wiw8fHTj3lU/WeZYzDssD6I/AAAAAAAADFA/JM0JbpOB7G4Sa3AP7Uz_fBXPdHrwKA7AwCLcBGAs/s400/When%2BDimple%2BMet%2BRishi.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Summary: Dimple doesn't want to find an Ideal Indian Husband (IIH) and just wants to code. Rishi is all about pleasing his family and is excited about his arranged marriage to Dimple. They meet at a coding camp. Rishi gets soaked in coffee because Dimple thinks he's creeping on her. Stuff happens, dancing ensues.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">I gave this a 3.5 stars...reluctantly...please don't kill me everyone....</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;">As you can see from the star rating...Momes wasn't really all that impressed with this book...I realize this is an unpopular opinion but I can't help the way I felt. So let's get this over with.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: orange;">Things this book did well!:</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: orange;"><span style="color: black;">I really liked that this book was about things that aren't really discussed in YA. Coding for one. Dimple is super into coding and really wants to make apps that help people which is something I can respect. She doesn't want to do what her parents tell her is right for a young Indian woman. She just wants to do what she wants to do. Sick. Good for you.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: orange;"><span style="color: black;">I loved Rishi. He is such a great character. He is kind, he stands up for himself and I really liked watching his struggle with trying to please his parents and also do what he wants to do (which I feel is a problem that a lot of young people can relate to). He tries everything he can to win over Dimple and it is really sweet.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: orange;"><span style="color: black;">MANGA REPRESENTATION! Holy. Shit. As you all may or may not know, I do read a decent amount of manga and even though it is becoming less and less taboo to say that you read manga, I feel there is still a bit of a stigma around it. But Rishi seems like a really cool, "popular" type guy and he's totally into comics. That's great and all, but then we get to see popular titles listed though out the story that most manga nerds would know and it's pretty cool! I know I was super shocked to see some popular titles pop up in this book.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: orange;"><span style="color: black;">There are also some interesting conversations about race and ethnicity. Just because your parents are from another country doesn't mean you identify with their culture and believe in their beliefs. Dimple obviously doesn't agree with her parents and she discusses with the reader how weird it is for her to live in America, where she is treated as the "weird Indian girl", to how she is treated in India where she is the "weird American girl." Having lived in both Japan and America, I can relate to this feeling of being neither one culture or another. Got me right in the feels.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: orange;"><span style="color: black;">I also really liked all of the Bollywood mentions. I haven't watched a lot of Bollywood films, but as a dancer I love different types of dance. So seeing names of actual dances from films and being about to YouTube them and watch them was really cool! I, naturally, had to watch all the dances Menon mentioned. It was so much fun and I really appreciated that she did that. It gave people who were not familiar with Bollywood a chance to learn and appreciate.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8N8dRi7YkSg/WiQ7--dbiEI/AAAAAAAADFg/dFtU5USbFjIA7mAaRvDf8EcBoOShsXysgCLcBGAs/s1600/dil%2Bna%2Bdiya.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8N8dRi7YkSg/WiQ7--dbiEI/AAAAAAAADFg/dFtU5USbFjIA7mAaRvDf8EcBoOShsXysgCLcBGAs/s320/dil%2Bna%2Bdiya.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Google images Dil Na Diya from Krrish</span></div>
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<span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: orange;"><span style="color: black;">The book was also really addicting and easy to read, so it had that going for it!</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: orange;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: orange;"><span style="color: black;">Now that seems like a pretty strong case for a 5 star rating....but as it only got a 3.5, let's get into some of my issues.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: orange;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: orange;">What didn't work:</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: orange;"><span style="color: black;">I honestly had hoped that the romance would have been a bit more....slow burning. The thing that really bothered me was that Dimple was VERY adamant that she wasn't interested in wearing makeup, getting dressed up, finding her ideal husband and all that romantic stuff. She often got in fights with her mother, and did everything she could to avoid looking presentable. All she wants to do is be a coder. Yet after meeting Rishi once, she finds herself looking for him in the crowd. She is instantly woo'd by him (though, to be fair, I was too) and I felt she gave into him pretty quickly. I would have been much happier if she had been slightly stand-offish until the end, maybe start to feel something but then not really act upon it until the end where she confessed her love for him...or whatever. The whole thing felt insta-lovey to me and I wasn't really into it.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: orange;"><span style="color: black;">I also felt that Dimple was really abusive towards Rishi. She toys with his emotions so much in this novel...I think that's why I didn't like the romance the way it played out. If it had been the slow burning romance that I had wanted, maybe Dimple wouldn't have taken out her romantic frustrations on him. She was so hot and cold for him and she didn't really seem to care about his feelings. She does a lot of stupid things to him that made me question if this was a healthy relationship or not. Though I think Dimple grew a bit a the end of the novel, I can't help but wonder what their future is going to be like... </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: orange;"><span style="color: black;">I also wished that with such a big premise as a girl who can only ever think about coding and wants to be the best coder ever, there isn't a lot of coding happening. Like, yeah, it would have went over some of our heads if she had put in a lot of technical coding stuff...but there is a lot of artistic things about coding she could have up in it besides the art...like concepts and other things...or at least talk about the project more. But I felt like it got brushed away for many other things...</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: orange;"><span style="color: black;">The talent show....Though I loved all the Bollywood references and I realize that the money was to help with the coding (the coding we hardly ever got to hear about)...I HATED the talent show. It was just more reason to cause drama and f**k around. There was so much added and useless drama that happened and I just didn't want any of it. It also took up a large portion of the latter half of the book. Completely unnecessary.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: orange;"><span style="color: black;">I found a lot of the things that happened in this book to be completely unnecessary. Friendship drama and some of the boy crazy, sex stuff was really not needed.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: orange;"><span style="color: black;">So, all of that being said, though I did like a good deal about this book, I think the bad out weighed the good. I also don't think I am going to pick up Sandhya Menon's next book. Again, it just sounds like a book full of lies and abusive relationships. That is not something I'm interested in.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: orange;"><span style="color: black;">Here are all of my links and such!</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: orange;"><span style="color: black;">Goodreads: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6483377-supermomochan-peachyfishybooks">https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6483377-supermomochan-peachyfishybooks</a></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: orange;"><span style="color: black;">YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk5eRrShYL-HK0Gzg2qp4zQ">https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk5eRrShYL-HK0Gzg2qp4zQ</a> </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: orange;"><span style="color: black;">In case you were curious, like I was, here are the links to the two dances Dimple and Rishi practiced and talked about during the talent show. I enjoyed watching these very much and hope that you check them out too!</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: orange;"><span style="color: black;">Dance Pe Chance: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nJivRs-FEs&index=17&list=WL">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nJivRs-FEs&index=17&list=WL</a></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: orange;"><span style="color: black;">Dil Na Diya: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrHFtoEHw08&index=18&list=WL">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrHFtoEHw08&index=18&list=WL</a> </span></span></span></span></span> </span>Momeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00953082931015083700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2087947398180744736.post-69197065921554749452017-10-17T12:17:00.000-07:002017-10-17T12:17:01.097-07:00The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh -- A Spoiler Free Review<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qLGezXNMxa8/WeZLJP6aGyI/AAAAAAAADEk/NsVCUO_i_cgU7-0bx1SdTw_-f_KF14F_gCEwYBhgL/s1600/The%2BWrath%2Band%2Bthe%2BDawn.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qLGezXNMxa8/WeZLJP6aGyI/AAAAAAAADEk/NsVCUO_i_cgU7-0bx1SdTw_-f_KF14F_gCEwYBhgL/s400/The%2BWrath%2Band%2Bthe%2BDawn.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;">Summary: A girl volunteers as tribute to a Caliph who keeps murdering his wives every morning, one of whom was her best friend. Naturally they fall in love. Has some Arabian Nights story telling in it. Some shit happens. Eh?</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;">3.5 stars is not a bad rating. It just hit me after a few weeks that I didn't love this book as much as I did whilst I was reading it. Haha</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;">I'm not really sure how I want to organize this review, so I'm just going to talk about my feelings and we'll see where this goes from there. Hopefully there will be some organization involved...Hahahaha 😅 </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;">For starters, I really wasn't too into the characters. I can't really think of one character that I was really excited for. </span></span></span></span><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><span id="freeTextContainer11478034090322165350">Shahrzad was annoying for most of the book and I REALLY hated when it was in Tariq's perspective. He did NOTHING for me and I kind of wish he wasn't needed in the story. Shazi (Shahrzad) was just annoying and, to me, a typical YA female protagonist. Trust issues and a mission to complete but then forgets all about it when she falls in love. Instantly. </span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><span id="freeTextContainer11478034090322165350">Yes, this has some insta-love in it. Barf. I mean it wasn't INSTANT..but it was too soon for my liking. I would have been perfectly ok if nothing happened until the end...or there was no romance in it at all. Why couldn't this have just been a fantasy/revenge story with some mystery? Why does everything have to have a romance in it?! SCHTAP IT YA AUTHORS!!!! NOT EVERY GIRL NEEDS A MAN!!! I liked that Shazi tried to uncover why Khalid (the Caliph) was killing all those girls and even though she did fall in love with Khalid, she never lost sight of the reason she was there. She would mention that she was upset that she liked him but how he had killed her best friend and many other innocent girls. That redeemed the book a bit....but not really by much.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><span id="freeTextContainer11478034090322165350">I really liked the story telling element that Renee Ahdieh had in the beginning. Shazi would tell Khalid a story every night to keep her alive until the next day and it was really nice to hear the stories from Arabian Nights, a book I had a really hard time reading because of all the names. I wish that had carried through the book more. The author, at one point, decides that it's not necessary anymore and we stop getting stories. If I remember right...this is the premise of Arabian Nights? They are a bunch of short stories told to a Sultan who is murdery? Or was that just a Looney Toons short? Someone will correct me. Haha! I feel like that was lost and I wanted more! I don't think we'll be getting anymore of it in the second book...bummer.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><span id="freeTextContainer11478034090322165350">I did really like the idea of the world. There was some interesting magic happening that I want to learn more about. And we got a VERY small taste of what the world outside the caliphate was like and I want to know more. Hopefully we will...because after the events of the first book...we kind of need to know more.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><span id="freeTextContainer11478034090322165350">As much as I think I bitched during this review, I don't think this is a bad book at all. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who asked me. The atmosphere was great and the magic and world look really interesting. This is a good introduction to Middle Eastern story telling without all of the complicated names that can sometimes come along with it....and the family histories...Which are very important to Middle Eastern story telling but can be daunting to someone with isn't familiar with that part of the world. I'm really hoping the second book (this is a duology by the way) expands on the things that were really good about this book and that some of the things I didn't like get fixed. </span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><span id="freeTextContainer11478034090322165350"><br /></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><span id="freeTextContainer11478034090322165350">I think that's all I have to say? I have no idea if this is coherent or just a cluster fumble of nonesense...but I suppose someone will tell me if this is shit. Hahahaha!</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><span id="freeTextContainer11478034090322165350"><br /></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><span id="freeTextContainer11478034090322165350">If you've read this book, tell me what you thought about it? What did you like or not like? Let's start a conversation!</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><span id="freeTextContainer11478034090322165350"><br /></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><span id="freeTextContainer11478034090322165350">If you would like to follow my Goodread and keep up to date with what I'm reading and my thoughts on the things I'm reading, please feel free to send me a friend request! If you wanna see my stupid face and my friend's stupid face, please check out our YouTube channel! All links will be posted at the end of this post!</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><span id="freeTextContainer11478034090322165350"><br /></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><span id="freeTextContainer11478034090322165350">Until next time! Stay awesome!</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><span id="freeTextContainer11478034090322165350">~Momes (Momo)</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><span id="freeTextContainer11478034090322165350"><br /></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><span id="freeTextContainer11478034090322165350">Goodreads: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6483377-supermomochan-peachyfishybooks" target="_blank">https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6483377-supermomochan-peachyfishybooks</a></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><span id="freeTextContainer11478034090322165350"><br /></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="color: black;"><span id="freeTextContainer11478034090322165350">Youtube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk5eRrShYL-HK0Gzg2qp4zQ">https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk5eRrShYL-HK0Gzg2qp4zQ</a></span></span></span></span></span>Momeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00953082931015083700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2087947398180744736.post-24329143605952389012017-10-17T11:09:00.000-07:002017-10-17T11:09:54.102-07:00Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi -- A Review -- Unpopular Opinion Time<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rA8Svf7y6UU/WYZP0MtsgrI/AAAAAAAADEE/FSL8EsQLfDMxFx4nnsE1exIclmsLHVWxwCEwYBhgL/s1600/Shatter%2BMe.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rA8Svf7y6UU/WYZP0MtsgrI/AAAAAAAADEE/FSL8EsQLfDMxFx4nnsE1exIclmsLHVWxwCEwYBhgL/s400/Shatter%2BMe.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(Oooooo....Sorry for my crappy photo...too lazy to upload a good one....XP)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Oh boy...I don't want to review this...but I'm going to...I HAVE to...It needs to be done.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Summary: A girl who can't touch people without killing them. Crazy person wants to use her as a weapon. Hot guy saves her and they decide to fight back against the establishment...or the Reestablishment...ugh.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">3.5 Stars</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="color: black;">This book started off sooooooooooooooooooo well!!! So well! I am so disappointed. I literally cannot even believe it. I had heard nothing but AMAZING things about this book and this series. Whitney from WhittyNovels on Youtube absolutely loves this series. She had me so curious about these books. I couldn't fathom why someone would be so obsessed over it. After all the hunting for this book and the LONG wait to get it started, I finally read it this past July...And BOY did I have some problems with it. I'm going to break it down as to why I liked it and why I won't be continuing on with the series.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Why This Worked for Me:</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;">I loved the writing style. Tahereh Mafi has amazing writing. It's so poetic and it makes you want to keep reading. Even if you aren't really enjoying the story. For me, it helped me keep turning the page and made me want to read more and more. The chapters were also really short, so I felt like I was reading faster and it made the book go by very quickly.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;">The world was interesting. I didn't expect this to be a dystopian...I don't know why...but it was actually ok! The ozone layer is gone and everything is dying. People are starving, animals are poison because the only plants they can get are deadly. The government has gone to shit<span style="color: #3d85c6;"> <span style="color: black;">and is being run by a group called the Reestablishment. I loved the descriptions of the outside world and the fringe communities.I felt that the world described was something that could actually exist and was something that could happen in our future. It was kind of scary.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: black;">But this was the extent of the things I enjoyed about this book...Now to the hard part...</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Why it Didn't</span>:</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: black;">The characters all sucked. Hard. I hated every one of them. Juliette, for starters, was a drip. I liked her at first. Quiet yet observant. She had trust issues, which made sense for someone who was bullied and thrown away by people who were supposed to care for her. Then she was suddenly really trusting of people. Now, I haven't been though the things Juliette had been through, but I do have trust issues. I would NEVER have made any of the decisions that she made. No matter how deep the crush for Adam was, I never would have trusted him after he "randomly" reappears into my life. I also didn't like how her only assets were the fact that she had a deadly touch and that she was pretty. EVERY character that ran into her, whether it was a main character or a character that made a very small cameo, had to mention how gorgeous Juliette was. "Wow she's deadly...but DAYUM she is hot!" I was so sick of it....Like...is that it? Nothing else? Just deadly and pretty? LAAAAAAAAAME! I don't have time for characters like that. Adam was a drip and Warner was not an interesting "villain." Maybe because he was obsessed with Juliette and I really didn't like her? I don't know...the idea that she was possibly going to choose between Warner or Adam in the end made me very nauseous. I couldn't see any redeeming qualities in any of these characters. Meh.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: black;">THE ENDING! I.....I can't.....I was not expecting the first book to end the way it did...and that's not a good thing. I was really hoping that the plot and world would make up for the shitty characters.........nope. I could have found this ending or "plot twist" in ANY dystopian or a very famous Marvel franchise....I just couldn't believe that was the direction she took the story. I rage few through the rest of the story (which wasn't much....thank goodness for that) and was just left feeling frustrated. None of this was original and I had been hoping for something new and captivating. Wishful thinking.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: black;">I am so disappointed that I didn't like this book. I wanted to like it so much, but in the end I was left feeling angry and frustrated. I didn't like the choices the author made and I think she really could have done something amazing. *sigh* I don't understand why this was such a popular trilogy...If it was just based on writing, I totally get it....but everything else was so bad that I'm not even interested in the other two books and novella......I mean, maybe I'll google it for shits and giggles, but I definitely don't want to read it. Too much time spent on something I really didn't enjoy.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: black;">If you liked this book, PLEASE tell me why? I hold no judgement against you, only curiosity. I think it is important to have different opinions and I would like to know yours!</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: black;">Please check out my YouTube channel (it's me and a friend) and friend me on my goodreads if you want to stay current with the books I'm reading and my feelings as I read! I will leave links down below!</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: black;">Until next time!</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: black;">~Momo (Momes)</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: black;">Goodreads: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6483377-supermomochan-peachyfishybooks">https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6483377-supermomochan-peachyfishybooks</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: black;">Youtube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk5eRrShYL-HK0Gzg2qp4zQ">https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk5eRrShYL-HK0Gzg2qp4zQ</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: black;">.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: black;">..</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: black;">...</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: black;">....</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: black;">.................................................</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: black;">I can't....I can't hold it in any more.........................................</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span><br />
<span style="color: red;">SPOILERS BELOW! IF YOU DIDN'T READ THE SERIES AND DON'T WANT TO KNOW ANY SORT OF SPOILER INFORMATION. DO. NOT. READ!! I JUST HAVE SOME THINGS I NEED TO GET OFF MY CHEST AND I CAN'T KEEP IT TO MYSELF ANYMORE!!!!!! KEEP READING IF YOU WANT TO KNOW SOME MORE OF MY THOUGHTS. IF NOT, SEE YOU IN MY NEXT POST!~</span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">Are you kidding me?!?!?!?!?! This ending!!?? Seriously?!?!?!?!?! It was practically ripped off of X-Men!! And underground group of people with strange powers who are training to fight by a guy who wants to help people/kids accept their powers and use them for good?! I mean, yes, there are differences...but then it is almost like Mockingjay...again....more spoilers for the Hunger Games trilogy....and underground compound that houses people who want to fight against the leaders of their dystopian world...nah. No thanks. If I wanted any of that I would just watch an X-Men movie...it was done better in my opinion. And then let's give fucking Juliette, who EVERYONE is in love with and infatuated with a skin tight cat suit that will keep her from accidentally touching people. mmmmmhmmmmmmm yeah......It's like Mystique and Rogue had a baby with Cat Woman or something. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">No. Thank you. Rant done.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>Momeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00953082931015083700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2087947398180744736.post-45312869546953250882017-08-14T18:19:00.000-07:002017-08-14T18:19:30.942-07:00Our Youtube Channel is LIVE!!<br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">IT HAS FINALLY HAPPENED!!!!</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">The moment we have been waiting for for a long ass time!</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #bf9000;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Remember that Youtube channel I've been talking about for soooooooooooooooooo long?</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">It's happened...like really actually happened.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">That's right! You can now watch my stupid face on the Youtubes!</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Follow me and my friend Gigaburi on PeachyFishyBooks where we post wrap ups, hauls and other bookish nonsense!</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Check us out at the link provided below!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Hope to see you there! 💖💖 </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: small;">Please be kind to us....We know we have a lot of work to do to make better videos and we already know some of the things we need to improve in the future. ^^'v</span> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">PeachyFishyBooks: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmCvglhzf8I">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmCvglhzf8I</a> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My Goodreads: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6483377-supermomochan">https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6483377-supermomochan</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Gigaburi's Goodreads: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/43541532-gigaburi-peachyfishybooks" target="_blank">https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/43541532-gigaburi-peachyfishybooks </a></span></span></div>
Momeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00953082931015083700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2087947398180744736.post-75014053493451341942017-08-05T15:44:00.001-07:002017-08-06T17:38:16.918-07:00Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian -- A Review<br />
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Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian<br />
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<span style="color: #6aa84f;">Summary: Three not friends team up to take revenge on some people in their lives that screwed them over. <span style="color: #0b5394;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">2 Stars</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: black;">This.....This book....Doesn't have anything going for it. Literally nothing...The like portion of this review is going to be super hella short.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: black;"> <span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">What I liked about this book:</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"> <span style="color: black;">The font was big and I could read it really quickly.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;">The chapters were really short.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;">Mary.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;">That's it. That is literally everything I liked about this book. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">What I didn't like about this book:</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;">The Characters: There was nothing good or interesting about any of these characters. They had no personalities, or they were just annoyingly bitchy. All the kinds of people I hated in high school. Maybe that's why I didn't like them. Because I'm too old for the BS of catty high school-ness. But even the main characters (minus Mary) were bad and uninteresting. Kat was the "oh I'm too cool for everything" character that was just kinda lame. She wasn't bad ass at all. She was just annoying. and Lillia? Wet. Blanket. Literally no personality. She was the, "hey guys...I don't think this is a good idea..." character. I just wasn't a fan of her.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;">The setting was actually kind of interesting, but doesn't get to go into the "like" section because it was just a place full of rich people. As much as I was interested in Jar Island, the last thing I wanted to read about was people who are really rich and spoiled and massively entitled. I live in a tourist area where people move back to for the summer and I see this shit every day. Pass.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;">The Plot Twist/Ending: So....this is what did it for me. The pacing wasn't the speediest thing ever, but I was holding out for the twist. The thing that had kept me reading even though I had wanted to DNF it after 10%...I believe it was Regan from PeruseProject on Youtube that mentioned it, but there was a super interesting, super different, plot twist at the end of the novel. Something that made it go from a simple contemporary about revenge to...well something different. I'm really not sure if I want to say what kind of twist, but let's just say.....I struggled though this book to see this twist happen and find out that it was the shittiest thing EVER! Like it was already done...first in book form and then in movie form...and MUCH more successfully, if I may say. Like...Holy shit. I waited for that!?!?! That was the only reason I kept reading....For. That. Piece of shit. Ending? Nope. I literally cannot believe that was the ending they came up with and that they thought, "Yeah. That's alright." How did they think that ending was ok? I don't know what book two or three will be about...and quite frankly I don't care. </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;">So needless to say, this book is being immediately unhauled. You can't like them all...It wasn't for me at all. I wanted to like it, as I've like Jenny Han's other works...but maybe it was the co-writing. Who knows. Maybe it was the hope of an amazing twist...I was over hyped for it. Meh.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: purple;">If you liked my review or agreed, please leave a comment or follow me on Blogger! Stay current with what I'm reading by following/friending me on my Goodreads!</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6483377-supermomochan-peachyfishybooks"><span style="color: purple;">https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6483377-supermomochan-peachyfishybooks</span></a> </span></span>Momeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00953082931015083700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2087947398180744736.post-71400019867470892512017-06-19T18:22:00.003-07:002017-06-19T18:22:42.631-07:00Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher --First DNF in 2017--<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span id="freeTextreview695005022"><span style="color: purple;">I am DNF'ing this book at 229 pages (just shy of halfway)</span><br /><br />I
had heard so many amazing things about this series. I am currently in
Japan for the next three months and I needed a good decently sized
fantasy book to get me though a chunk of it....I got about halfway in
about a week and couldn't take anymore.<br /><br />So, I know this series
was started with two silly topics, but I think both of them weren't
really done that well. I understood the Pokemon references (I mean,
there is a mountain (?) called Garados....XD) and I could see the roman
legion-ness...but honestly neither of these things made the story any
better for me.<br /><br />I really hate when the author names the characters similar names...I guess that's common in Roman times to have names that honor others and such...but he didn't make them interesting enough for me to remember who was who. And as I'm dyslexic, having indistinguishable characters with similar names name it IMPOSSIBLE for me to keep them straight. Gaius Sextus.....honestly tho. Besides the shitty naming the characters were super boring. I honestly
couldn't care less about what happened to any of them. I felt like they
had no personality and when bad things happened to them, I didn't really
feel myself rooting for them to win. I also felt like things would
happen to them just to try and give the story substance...or to move the
not so good plot forward. Kinda. I think there was so much action that I
didn't know what the plot was....and then once I figured out the plot I
felt like it had just been thrown in there randomly so that the story
would have a plot. Period.<br /><br />If you are looking for a rich world,
you won't get it here. You are just kind of thrown in. The world history
is thrown at you as you go along, almost as if the author is making it
up as he wrote the book. And the furies? LAME! I didn't really
understand how they worked. I mean, I understood that they chose you
based on your skills to furycraft an element (like water or fire), but I
had a hard time picturing what they looked like or how they did some of
the things they did.<br /><br />At the point I DNF'ed, I decided I didn't
care if I came across any spoilers, so I looked up the book's fan-wiki. I
was bored just reading the summary...At no point was anything the wiki
said a surprise nor was it something that I thought would be interesting
to read. I then read the last few pages and decided it really wasn't
worth it to read all the middle bits, so I put it down. Also, I did find the plot points in the other books to be interesting enough for me to continue reading so I decided to sell all the books once I got back to the states. <br /><br />I do plan
on reading his Dresden Files series (as I did enjoy the first few
chapters I read as a sampler), so I'm not completely giving up on Jim
Butcher. I am just giving up on this series.</span>
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Momeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00953082931015083700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2087947398180744736.post-22624092966760034312017-06-19T18:08:00.005-07:002017-06-19T18:24:36.537-07:002017 Bookish Resolutions --The Better Late Than Never Edition--<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So, we are currently half way through 2017 (wow....already?!) and I am now deciding that it's time for me to do a bookish resolution....Like they say, "Better late than never!" right?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I'm going to be trying a few goals that I know, for me personally, are achievable (especially with the amount of time I have left in 2017). They may seem silly or stupidly easy for some of you, but it's not about you. Sorry. 😅😅</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> So let's get this party started!!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">First of all, let's start off with something super easy. Manga goals. I have been super into manga again this year and I've been taking them out from the library like mad. They know who I am the second I walk in the door. VIP library stats for the win. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I'm currently 10 volumes into Inuyasha by Rumiko Takahashi. Ever since I started reading manga and watching anime, this...this has been a constant. It's so nostalgic for me, it hurts. Being such a huge fan of it, I've never finished the manga or the anime. Until now. This year I'm planning on reading the entire series (Yes, all 58 of them). I currently have volumes 11 and 12 out (I'll probably read them after I'm done posting) and plan on taking two volumes out every couple of days or once a week depending on my reading mood...don't want to burn myself out, ya feel me? </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> I am also currently 10 volumes deep into Rin-ne, by the same author. I didn't even know she had done this series until last summer. What kind of Rumiko Takahashi fan am I?! Apparently a bad one. So I plan on finishing this series (24 volumes) by the end of this year as well. I have been reading it along with Inuyasha. It's a sweet deal. Rin-ne isn't nearly as deep as Inuyasha, as I believe it's for a younger audience, and it also repeats itself constantly (probably because it was a Shonen Sunday). Still, it's a really cute manga and I would recommend it.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I also have a few other series that I'm almost finished with that I want to get done this year (Kitchen Princess, Assassination Classroom...and a few others I can't remember at the moment...XD)</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Now for the novels. This is the real challenge for me. I have been in the worst reading slump which has been going on since last year. This is going to be a struggle for me, but I'm going to try my hardest to get some of these finished!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> First I am 425 pages into A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin. I started reading this when I was in Japan (January-April, 2017). I would just like to finish it. That's all. Just before the end of this year. ^^''</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I would like to finish the A Court of Thorns and Roses trilogy by Sarah J. Maas. I am behind and I'm trying desperately to avoid spoilers and such. I really want to read the second book...but with my lack of reading drive, I just haven't.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I would also like to make some progress with Elantris by Brandon Sanderson...but it's not a priority. It's kind of slow going, so I don't know if I'll be up to it. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Lastly I want to try and make TBRs every month. At least on here. I really want to try and set a monthly goal of some sort. At least one novel a month...even if it's just middle grade.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And that's it! Nothing too exciting....but yeah! That's all I have to say.......Haha! I know this is late and people are doing mid year "How I'm doing" updates...but meh. Whatever!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Until next time! Tootles! </span></span>Momeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00953082931015083700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2087947398180744736.post-72203622371876462552017-04-25T18:45:00.000-07:002017-06-19T18:25:37.057-07:00Everything, Everying by Nicola Yoon -- A Review<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Summary: <span style="color: #0b5394;">A girl is allergic to everything and lives in a vacuum sealed house that she hasn't ever left. A "hawt" boy moves in next door and she decides to do some crazy stuff.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"> <span style="color: purple;">2.5/5 Stars</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I did NOT like this book. I was so disappointed by it...I hadn't heard anything bad about this book since it came out in 2015. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;">Things I didn't like about this book</span>: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I didn't care about the characters. I don't know....I just felt like I didn't know them. I don't really know why I felt this way. Maybe I felt they were underdeveloped? Maybe they were just kind of shallow? I felt like they were just kind of there. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Insta-love. This book was so insta-love I couldn't even handle it. I hoped beyond all hope that it wouldn't be...but everything happened so fast. I don't even think I was 15% in? Maybe even less? Who knows. It was like, "boy moves in....we saw each other and we are now in love." I didn't think it was necessary. Insta-love is rarely necessary. And it wasn't even cute love. Like sometimes you read about couples and it makes you squee and feel all warm and fuzzy inside...like "God....I want that too." I didn't feel anything. If you are going to do something poopy like insta-love, make it squee-worthy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Shitty family dynamic...standard, "abusive drunk dad beats my mom and it wasn't always like that..." kind of thing. But I don't think that was necessary either. Like...it didn't really do anything for Olly's character. He didn't have any issues with love or relationships...it didn't do anything...Only one time did it do something, but I think the events could have happened with out the whole shitty family background idea.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The ending and the pacing. Though the book was a quick read, (about two days of non-committed reading) everything happened too quickly and the really good stuff didn't happen until about 60% into the story. Which, in my opinion, is kinda poopy. I also didn't really like how it ended. Like the last page or so. I felt like things weren't really resolved and everything was a bit convenient. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;">Things I did like about this book</span>: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It was a really fast read. The chapters were super short and there were some neat illustrations and some charts and such. I appreciated that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The writing was decent. It was descriptive and painted pictures when it needed to. Sometimes, it was a bit flat, but all in all it was enjoyable.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I liked the last 100 pages. It was a good ending (minus the above mentioned problems) and that helped with the rating.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This book was pretty typical YA for me. I liked bits of it, but it just wasn't for me. I am glad I didn't buy this book and I am also glad that I had a chance to try it out. YA contemporary is really hit or miss for me. This was a huge miss...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;">So hello again....long time no update. I just got back from three months in Nagasaki, Japan and I hadn't been reading too much. I have been 30% into A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin for the past two months and not reading much else. Now that I am home again and have full access to my library and the local library, I'm starting to read again. Hopefully these will be more frequent...but I always say that....Hahaha!</span> </span>Momeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00953082931015083700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2087947398180744736.post-64246611522907562862016-08-29T08:24:00.003-07:002017-06-19T18:14:09.909-07:00The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch -- Another DNF in the year of the great DNFing<br />
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<span class="readable reviewText"><span id="freeTextreview849152320"><span style="color: blue;">So
I made it through 149 pages of this book and I officially decided to
DNF this book. It breaks my heart...but I couldn't do it anymore. *sigh*</span></span></span><br />
<span class="readable reviewText"><span id="freeTextreview849152320"><span style="color: blue;"> </span><br />When
I am reading a book that I'm not really feeling, I usually scroll
through the reviews (on Goodreads) and see what the general consensus is. All I could
see were stars for days. Everyone LOVED this book: A 4 star review over
here, a 5 star review over there....boy did I feel like a complete ass.
How could I have these feelings when everyone was so in love with this
book...So when I found some 3 star and DNF ratings, I clicked on them.
As you do. That is the moment I decided that I needed to just put the
book down and call it quits. I felt like the DNF/low star reviews
understood my soul. Kindred spirits. Though, unfortunately, their
reviews were quite harsh and maybe a bit mean and degrading at times, I
completely understood where they were coming from. So I'm going to stop
my blabbering and get to the heart of the matter.<br /><br />First off, this
book is quite non-linear. We start off at various stages of Lamora's
life and for the first chunk of the book I had no idea how old he was or
where we were. I don't mind a flash back here or there, but when you
can't tell which is past or present, it gets a bit tricky for me to
follow. It took me forever to realize that even in the present time he
wasn't a child. As the main story started to progress, I thought he was
still a kid.....I was like, "DAMN! This Don Lorenzo is getting played by
a child!!" Maybe I missed the part where Scott Lynch mentioned that he
wasn't a kid...I mean...there was so much going on, I'm not surprised I
did miss it. I would have liked to have just started Locke Lamora's life
from the beginning. I would have liked to know more about his time with
chains and how he got to be this amazing thief, but it was scattered
through all of the boring bits. I thought that maybe Lynch thought his
childhood wasn't important, but he kept revisiting it at weird points,
so it must have been.<br /><br />I also felt nothing for the characters...I
mean, I had no reason to. I knew next to nothing about them. This is a
thing that authors do that sometimes really bothers me. I'm very excited
to learn about your characters and have strong emotions for them, but I
need to know them first. There was a scene where the Gentlemen Bastards
were arguing at the dinner table and it got quite heated...but I didn't
really even know why it was a thing. I didn't know the characters. Just
meh. <br /><br />The world. This is a love/hate for me. I hate nothing more
than being thrown into a world and then expected to know things. I
don't understand your world or your government or how things work, so I
can't be expected to understand why certain things are happening. The
world was rich and I feel like I could see Camorr and smell it and feel
it. One thing Lynch does is describe very well. I was definitely there
with the characters...but I was so totally lost. <br /><br />Speaking of
descriptions...There was so much describing going on that I often felt
like I was pulled out of the story to be shown something or told about
something. I wanted things to move forward, but the descriptions kind of
got in the way. Like I said before, all of my senses were engaged. I
could feel the fabric of Locke Lamora's coat and see the glowing glass
towers...but it was too much.<br /><br />Scott Lynch is quite a funny guy
though. There were a lot of chuckles along the way and I appreciated
that. And like I said, he is very descriptive. But this book wasn't for
me. Even as I write this review and all of the frustrating thoughts get
puked out, I still can't help but feel sad that I didn't finish this
book and that I didn't enjoy it. The reviews were great and he's a
fellow Wisconsinite (yay Wisconsin authors!) but that being said, I
don't really regret DNF'ing this book. I know so many people out there
enjoy it and I know many more will enjoy it as well.</span></span><br />
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<span class="readable reviewText"></span>Momeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00953082931015083700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2087947398180744736.post-76158671667798490922016-06-07T19:10:00.000-07:002016-06-07T19:11:03.557-07:00Absolute Boyfriend by Yuu Watase - A Series Review (Spoiler Free)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Shy high school student Riko Izawa aches for a boyfriend but guys just won't look her way. Then one day she signs up for a three-day trial of a mysterious "lover figurine," and the next thing she knows, a cute naked guy is delivered to her doorstep--and he wants to be her boyfriend!</span></div>
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Has Riko died and gone to heaven? The cute naked guy turns out to be smart, super nice, stylish and a gourmet chef. Plus, he looks like a million bucks.... Trouble is, that's about what he's going to cost Riko because she didn't return him in time! (From Goodreads.com)</div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I rated this series about a 4.5 out of 5 stars (There are 6 volumes and it is a complete series)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This series is pretty cute. I was really craving a light shoujo series that doesn't take much thought and had a squee-worthy romance. This delivered just that. For starters...I have been a huge fan of Watase Yuu's work for a long time. I think she writes amazing stories and her art style is perfection. Her characters are adorable and her men are perfection. I had started this series a long time ago, and recently decided to pick up the last three issues and binge read it. I have read bits of her other series and have enjoyed them as well, but this is the only one that I've finished.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I really enjoyed all of the characters. Riiko is your typical derpy, flat chested girl who feels like she needs a boyfriend and always gets rejected. You know, your standard shoujo female. I could see that she might annoy a lot of people, but I found her to be ok. For the most part. She definitely had her moments when I wanted to hit her (like her indecision over who she loved more). The love interests were fantastic, and added a lot to the series. This was the kind of series where you kind of wanted to cheer for both of the guys.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #181818;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">I was annoyed by the indecision that was the driving point of this series (I'm glad that it was short for that reason). I also like that the story wasn't all about sex. Yes, it was important, but a lot of the story is Riiko saying she isn't interested in sex until she falls in love (not lust). </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #181818;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">I think the best part was the ending though. It was a super bittersweet ending but I think it was well done. And like I said, it ended at a good time. Any longer and I think I would have become disinterested. All in all, I really enjoyed this series. It's nice and easy to read and full of good feels. Would highly recommend for lovers of shoujo manga!</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">I hope you pick it up at some point!</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Until next time!~ </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Tschüss!~</span></span></div>
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Momeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00953082931015083700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2087947398180744736.post-69882480572406872622016-06-07T15:14:00.001-07:002016-06-07T19:10:40.309-07:00Ai Ore Volume 1 by Mayu Shinjo - A Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">Ai Ore by Mayu Shinjo (Volume 1)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Mizuki is the female “prince” of her all-girls school and the lead guitarist in an all-girl rock band. Akira is the male “princess” of his all-boys school and wants to join her band. Love may be on his mind, but romance is difficult when everyone keeps mistaking Mizuki for a boy and Akira for a girl!</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">When the lead singer of Blaue Rosen announces she is moving overseas, Akira does all he can to convince Mizuki and her bandmates to let him join. But will a resistant Mizuki allow him into her band, much less her heart? (from Goodreads.com)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I rated this book 1 out of 5 stars...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Boy was this manga disappointing on SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many different levels. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Let us start out with a positive or two:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">First of all, I liked the art. The cover art is pretty cute and the character designs and their outfits are fantastic...it was pretty hard to tell who was who though. I also really liked that this artist dressed up her characters in popular goth/punk/lolita brand names. She mentioned h. naoto a couple of times and a lot of the girls who were going to the concert were wearing lolita clothing. Which I really enjoyed, and it initially got me interested in this manga.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Now for the negatives...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I thought this manga was going to be about the band. It was a main focus of the first part of manga but once Akira joins the band and they see the former leader off, the band doesn't really isn't a thing anymore. I thought it was going to be Mizuki and Akira working to try and make the band good again, but it was insta-love and just really weird. I felt really awkward. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The characters were also very wishy washy. Akira flipped his character as soon as he joined the band and Mizuki was an odd character. Yes, she was tsundre, but I don't think she was a convincing one. But maybe that's just me. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The thing that REALLY pissed me off was the amount of rape in this book. Rape is never ok. I realize that Japan has some...interesting...views on rape. The whole, "we act like we don't want it, but we actually do," that's one thing..and it happens in this manga...but there are scenes in this manga where Mizuki is drugged and almost rapped by one of her female upperclassmen and then a male upperclassmen attempts to join in. After the attempted rape is stopped, Akira decides to get back at the woman who tried to rape Mizuki by having one of his guy "friends" rape her as revenge. His dad is a member of the yakuza so it's ok, right? No. He didn't want to do it, but Akira promised him that if he raped her, he could touch him...ok....so I thought maybe he'd go to a certain point, prove that attempting to rape someone is bad and then leave. Well no. They didn't show it, but it was implied and it wasn't ok. Rape is bad, and it DEFINITELY shouldn't be used as a way to exact revenge or teach someone a lesson. NOT OK.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Needless to say, I will not be continuing this series, nor will I be supporting the author or offering it as a suggestion for someone who wants to read manga. </span>Momeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00953082931015083700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2087947398180744736.post-70091631529931357292016-05-19T20:19:00.000-07:002016-06-07T15:17:07.777-07:00Night Film by Marisha Pessl--DNF Review<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">On a damp October night, beautiful young Ashley Cordova is found dead in an abandoned warehouse in lower Manhattan. Though her death is ruled a suicide, veteran investigative journalist Scott McGrath suspects otherwise. As he probes the strange circumstances surrounding Ashley’s life and death, McGrath comes face-to-face with the legacy of her father: the legendary, reclusive cult-horror-film director Stanislas Cordova—a man who hasn’t been seen in public for more than thirty years.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">For McGrath, another death connected to this seemingly cursed family dynasty seems more than just a coincidence. Though much has been written about Cordova’s dark and unsettling films, very little is known about the man himself.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Driven by revenge, curiosity, and a need for the truth, McGrath, with the aid of two strangers, is drawn deeper and deeper into Cordova’s eerie, hypnotic world.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">The last time he got close to exposing the director, McGrath lost his marriage and his career. This time he might lose even more. (Taken from Goodreads.com)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #990000; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I DNF'd this book at about 230 pages.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I was so hyped up for this book and was bored. What kind of murder mystery thriller is boring? I get that it's slow going and it's very character driven...but the characters were so flat and uninteresting. I didn't care what happened to any of them to be perfectly honest.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I think the premise is really good...I love most of the things this book was about. Murder, crazy cult films, curses and possibly witchcraft, multimedia story telling and all that jazz. But for me, it was done in a way that when we found new clues and met new people with information, I was like...."Wooo?" I had nothing to get excited about. I didn't even care about trying to solve the mystery on my own either. I just wanted something interesting. ANYTHING. I couldn't even find the book app so that I could find the hidden messages in the ravens (or were they crows? Whatever). I don't know if it was because I was using an android (though they said there was an app for android) or because no one used it, but I couldn't find it anywhere and it was a huge disappointment...</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I also thought that the writing was a bit much. Yes, it was really poetic and lovely to read, but sometimes I felt like it was trying to hard to be poignant and evoke feelings. It just ended up being wordy to me and taking me out of the story. She found ways to describe anything and everything, even if it didn't need a Film-noir-esque description. It felt like an old detective drama.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I tried so many times to read this book, and I just don't think it's going to happen. At first it was curiosity that kept me reading. I was bored, but I hoped that it would pick up. I mean, I DID want to know what happened to Ashley and meet her crazy family. But then I realized that I don't even really care what happened to her and I didn't want to meet her dad and his crazy followers. Maybe it's just not my genre or maybe it's just me (because again I'm in the minority). Maybe I have become too over critical of the things I've been reading? I don't know, but either way, I do not regret my choice to DNF this. </span>Momeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00953082931015083700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2087947398180744736.post-37561415865525029522016-03-25T14:33:00.000-07:002016-06-07T15:21:27.458-07:00Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo --Yet Another DNF--<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vjJMk1ZPylc/VvWtlCyuDcI/AAAAAAAAC9o/JPrqeOKiGAwCQJTpeD056BAUBvNz9yIog/s1600/Six%2Bof%2BCrows.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vjJMk1ZPylc/VvWtlCyuDcI/AAAAAAAAC9o/JPrqeOKiGAwCQJTpeD056BAUBvNz9yIog/s320/Six%2Bof%2BCrows.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone...</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">A convict with a thirst for revenge.<br /><br />A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager.<br /><br />A runaway with a privileged past.<br /><br />A spy known as the Wraith.<br /><br />A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.<br /><br />A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Kaz's crew are the only ones who might stand between the world and destruction—if they don't kill each other first. (Taken from Goodreads.com)</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br />I DNF'd this book 342 pages in (73%)</span><br />
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I know I am in the minority with this review...HUGE minority. I have seen nothing but 3-5 star rave reviews.<br />
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*a la Linkin Park* I tried so hard and got so far, but in the end I just couldn't do it.<br />
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A lot of people said this book was slow going in the beginning, but once the heisty stuff starts, it is really good. I read adult fantasy, I am used to slow going books, so I wasn't too worried. I had enjoyed Shadow and Bone, but when people were buzzing this book saying it was Bardugo's best book yet, I was pretty excited to pick up this beautiful book. I was let down...hard.<br />
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Let's start out with something positive: World building, again, I thought was pretty good. I really liked getting to know Kerch and the other countries that weren't Ravka. The world was expanded and I was hungry for more information about this world. I still wanted a lot more, but what I got was fine.<br />
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I also thought there was some good quotable moments and nice images that she had created though her writing, but these were the only things that were positive...unfortunately.<br />
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On to the negatives: Characters. Everyone says this is a character driven novel and that the characters help you get through the first half of the book (the tedious bits). I really didn't like any of the characters. Everyone was a cliche of a character that has been written multiple times in YA literature. There was not one character that I liked even a little bit. Their dialogue was dull and their emotions didn't seem real to me.<br />
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The flashbacks. Oh the flashbacks...These were the most annoying parts of the entire book. At first I didn't mind them because I had hoped that they would get me interested in the characters more. I hoped that they would give me insight to the characters and that it would make me feel for them when others didn't understand them...or just make me feel things in general. Well, needless to say, they didn't make me feel any different about the characters. Then there were flashbacks mixed in when things were getting started. By the point that things start moving, you want them to hurry up and go already, but then something would be happening and you would be all, "oh wow! Now what?!" turn the page, flashback....It totally took you out of the moment and totally quelled whatever excitement you may have started to get. The flashback were usually noted by a little crow that split the page up...I began to hate those little crows, and I would get annoyed every time I saw one, even if it didn't lead to a flashback.<br />
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ROMANCE: Dear YA authors, not every book needs a romance. If you are going to add romance, make it bloody good, or something to move the story along. Don't just put it in there to have it in there. K thanks, bye. This book had two separate romances and maybe a third? or a triangle? I don't know what was up with that, as I didn't get that far, and personally I don't really care. But they were both angsty and full of dumb sexual tension that I found super annoying. It totally took away from EVERYTHING that was going on. The romance between Nina and Matthias was kind of a plot point...but I hated every moment of it. I am sure younger audiences might have enjoyed this, but I hated it.<br />
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I was so bored and annoyed with everything, that when I got to the actual heist-y, action-y part of the book, I didn't care. I was skimming, and even while skimming I was annoyed and bored. I hated the characters so much, I didn't care what happened to them. I just wanted them to stop. Everything they did annoyed me and things that were supposed to surprise me or frustrate me (as in frustration for the characters' situation), didn't. They only left me rolling my eyes and counting pages/chapter to see how much more I had to read.<br />
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I really really REALLY wanted to like this book....Not only is it gorgeous, but I did enjoy Shadow and Bone. Oh well...<br />
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This is very surely becoming the year of the DNF. What a crappy trend...Momeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00953082931015083700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2087947398180744736.post-60216847148318919862016-03-12T11:23:00.000-08:002016-06-07T15:21:08.560-07:00Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo --A Review--<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t0j-KOgNrRQ/VuRsRrwcqdI/AAAAAAAAC2c/as_xCoaoaqcyHnVDxWD-dbB6DYHtfk42w/s1600/Shadow%2Band%2BBone.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t0j-KOgNrRQ/VuRsRrwcqdI/AAAAAAAAC2c/as_xCoaoaqcyHnVDxWD-dbB6DYHtfk42w/s400/Shadow%2Band%2BBone.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span class="readable reviewText"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart. (Taken from Goodreads.com)</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="readable reviewText"><span id="freeTextreview695238053"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I gave this book 5/5 stars</span></span></span><br />
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<span class="readable reviewText"><span id="freeTextreview695238053" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">(revision: I am down grading this to a 4) </span> </span></span><br />
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<span class="readable reviewText"><span id="freeTextreview695238053" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I actually really liked
this book. I had heard a lot of mixed reviews on this book, so I went in
with zero expectations, and I loved it! I haven't stayed up until 2 AM
reading since the Harry Potter books were coming out. That says
something. <br /><br />That being said, here is what I enjoyed about the
book: I loved the world. I loved that this was a fantasy novel that
didn't take place in a "British" modeled society. It takes place in a
"Russian" type of setting and I found it fascinating. Leigh Bardugo
created a very cool magic system that I really wanted to learn more
about (hopefully we do in the next two books). I just couldn't get
enough of the world and the magic. <br /><br />Also, being the language nerd
that I am, I LOVED that Bardugo used Russian words (or I am assuming
they are...as I don't speak a lick of it) and other languages. It made
the world feel more real and fleshed out. I also felt like the
surrounding countries and their languages helped to make this world more
real. These things really made the book so great for me.<br /><br />Of
course, I found a lot of flaws with this book as well. I didn't get
enough of the magic system. There were more things I wanted to learn
about it, more theory, I suppose, and see other Grisha using their
powers (not just the Darkling and Alina).<br /><br />Another thing that left
me kind of 'meh' were the characters. I didn't really care about
them/for them too much. I thought a lot of them accepted things too
easily, or resisted things too much. Also, Bardugo did something I
hate......F***in' love triangles....why....geh...I hate them. XP
Especially because the characters were only mildly interesting (one more
so than the other, but I don't want to give away too many details).
Even though I didn't really care about the characters, I was interested
to see what was going to happen to them.<br /><br />I really did enjoy this
book, and I am interested to see what happens next. I am going to
continue to keep my expectations low (maybe only stay excited to get
back into the world, haha).</span></span>Momeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00953082931015083700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2087947398180744736.post-11349933908354955532016-03-08T14:48:00.000-08:002016-06-07T15:24:21.609-07:00The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima--another DNF<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Times are hard in the mountain city of Fellsmarch. Reformed thief Han Alister will do almost anything to eke out a living for his family. The only thing of value he has is something he can't sell—the thick silver cuffs he's worn since birth. They're clearly magicked—as he grows, they grow, and he's never been able to get them off.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">One day, Han and his clan friend, Dancer, confront three young wizards setting fire to the sacred mountain of Hanalea. Han takes an amulet from Micah Bayar, son of the High Wizard, to keep him from using it against them. Soon Han learns that the amulet has an evil history—it once belonged to the Demon King, the wizard who nearly destroyed the world a millennium ago. With a magical piece that powerful at stake, Han knows that the Bayars will stop at nothing to get it back.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Meanwhile, Raisa </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">ana</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">'Marianna, princess heir of the Fells, has her own battles to fight. She's just returned to court after three years of freedom in the mountains—riding, hunting, and working the famous clan markets. Raisa wants to be more than an ornament in a glittering cage. She aspires to be like Hanalea—the legendary warrior queen who killed the Demon King and saved the world. But her mother has other plans for her...</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">The Seven Realms tremble when the lives of Hans and Raisa collide, fanning the flames of the smoldering war between clans and wizards. (Taken from Goodreads.com)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I seem to be doing a lot of DNF'ing lately....I give it a 1.5 though for clans and history</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I got 188 pages into this book before I thought, "Why am I even bothering?"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I am used to fantasy books...the long set up, the world building, the character development and all that jazz...but this? Geh...I can't even tell you why I really didn't like what I read...because nothing stood out!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The characters were flat and full of tropes. The main female was whiney, bitchy, entitled and just plain stupid. The main male was....meh. Neither good nor bad...just kind of there. He was made out to be a bad ass street assassin, but he made sooo many stupid mistakes...All of the other supporting characters were boring and also stupid. I hated all of them...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What I did like about this book: The world was kind of interesting. I liked the clans people. They had a very Native American/healer tribe kind of feel to them that I really enjoyed reading about. I wish they would have been the entire book, to be perfectly honesty. The history of the world was kind of interesting...but I think there were a lot of things about it that were just kind of meh.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">All in all, this book was meh. I don't think I enjoy Chima's writing style, so I unhauled her other book that I got (The Warrior Heir....which is a bummer because it was signed by her) because after doing some research, I don't think I will like it either. Oh well...can't please everyone. ^^''</span>Momeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00953082931015083700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2087947398180744736.post-47901809909808267352016-03-03T07:23:00.000-08:002016-06-07T15:24:13.922-07:00Truthwitch by Susan Dennard--Another Super Salty DNF Review<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">In a continent on the edge of war, two witches hold its fate in their hands.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Young witches Safiya and Iseult have a habit of finding trouble. After clashing with a powerful Guildmaster and his ruthless Bloodwitch bodyguard, the friends are forced to flee their home.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Safi must avoid capture at all costs as she's a rare Truthwitch, able to discern truth from lies. Many would kill for her magic, so Safi must keep it hidden - lest she be used in the struggle between empires. And Iseult's true powers are hidden even from herself.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">In a chance encounter at Court, Safi meets Prince Merik and makes him a reluctant ally. However, his help may not slow down the Bloodwitch now hot on the girls' heels. All Safi and Iseult want is their freedom, but danger lies ahead. With war coming, treaties breaking and a magical contagion sweeping the land, the friends will have to fight emperors and mercenaries alike. For some will stop at nothing to get their hands on a Truthwitch. (Taken from Goodreads.com)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">DNF'd at 120 pages</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ugh. I was so into the hype because she was Sarah J Mass' friend and I loved the idea of reading a fantasy book that was about friendship. Now, because I didn't finish it, my review is going to be a bit....limited....but I do have a lot to say about it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My friend and I read it together and we both had the same problems with it. The names of places and characters were hard to read because I wasn't really sure how to pronounce them, I didn't really understand what anything was because nothing was really explained and the book seriously could have benefited from a glossary. The world was extremely flat and so were the characters. I had such a hard time caring for anyone because I didn't really have a reason to. Things happened to them and I was like, "why is this important? What does this even mean? I have no reason to care because I don't even know what's going on?!" People were mad or mopey for reasons I couldn't even understand. There were entire chapters where I would just roll my eyes or yell at the book for not giving me information.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Another problem I had with the book was that I felt things were happening just for something to happen. It was like, "let's insert drama here because we need to move this non moving story forward and get people excited or nervous for the characters." But I refer to a former problem, I didn't care about the characters, so why would I care about these crazy happenings?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I made it about 120 pages in and decided it wasn't for me. I consulted my friend, who has pretty much the same taste in books as me, and she told me it wasn't worth it, that it didn't get better. So I DNFed it. I am not saying at all that Susan Dennard is a bad writer, she just isn't for me, I guess. This book has gotten rave reviews, people love this book! I am in the minority of people who weren't sold on it. You can't like everything. ^^'' I really wanted to like this book...</span>Momeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00953082931015083700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2087947398180744736.post-50513088915528475952016-03-03T07:14:00.000-08:002016-06-07T15:24:01.220-07:00The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks--A Long Winded Salty DNF Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">For Azoth, survival is precarious. Something you never take for granted. As a guild rat, he's grown up in the slums, and learned to judge people quickly - and to take risks. Risks like apprenticing himself to Durzo Blint.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">But to be accepted, Azoth must turn his back on his old life and embrace a new identity and name. As Kylar Stern, he must learn to navigate the assassins' world of dangerous politics and strange magics - and cultivate a flair for death. (Taken from Goodreads.com)</span></div>
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I DNF'd this book at chapter 15, page 116.<br />
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I had soooo many problems with this book. Where to start...<br />
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The world, for one, was flat. The author name dropped place after place and didn't really give us a reason to care. I didn't even know where our story was taking place! I looked at the map several times and still wasn't sure which "C" country we were living in. They would talk about the Warrens, but we never got a good description besides shitty and shitty (literally). I think this author is obsessed with the way things smelled. So many different descriptions and mentions based on the way things smelled. It was too much...the world has more than just scent.<br />
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The characters were also flat...and tropey as F***. Cardboard has more personality than the characters in this book. I love books about assassins, ESPECIALLY the ones that have no feels (even if they eventually show that they have feels). But Durzo...boring. Azoth/Kylar (Really...Kylar (KILER))...boring. I don't even know who else I met, but 10/10 times...boring. So much so that I can't even remember meeting them. ^^' I could barely keep track of anyone either. Name drop after name drop...and no reason to care. We are introduced to Doll Girl in the beginning (I believe she becomes important later), and some horrible stuff happens to her...but I didn't care. Jarl, Azoth's friend, has some horrible stuff happen to him....didn't care. Azoth does some stuff...didn't care and Durzo, the emotionless killer with a heart of gold, had some stuff happen to him...still didn't give two shits. Also I didn't feel it was necessary to make every female a whore (with a heart of gold) (or a virginal wonder, as I found out in some of the reviews I read). It's just...blah.<br />
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The politics...I don't even know what is happening. I don't know the world or the characters, so this makes zero sense.<br />
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Magic...I didn't get that far....I know it was a thing that exists in this book, but I didn't really understand what I had read. Does not everyone know that magic exists in this world? Durzo talks about talents and mages, and I'm guessing not everyone has magic, but they must know it's a thing....right? I mean, I understand being an assassin and not flaunting whatever power/talent you have, but NO ONE has made any mention of ANYTHING! O-o Had I not known that there was some magic in this book, I would have had no bloody ideal. I know it's a low fantasy (or I believe it is), but wow. It's like he threw it in there to make it more fantasy or something. I dunno.<br />
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All in all, this book is not for me. I could see people who are new to fantasy enjoying this. I have heard that the beginning is kind of rough, but it really picks up in the middle. I have heard that it is a page turner and that it has some cool magic and some awesome plot twists, but seeing as I don't really care about the characters, this doesn't really excite me. I definitely seem to be in the minority when it comes to disliking this book, but in doing some research, those who didn't like it had the same problems I had. The book is a giant fantasy trope with zero character development, confusing politics and nonexistant world building. If you aren't going to give me an interesting world, give me good characters. I don't care if the plot is the most amazing thing I have ever read or if the action is orgasmic, if the characters suck, who cares about what happens to them. Light them all on fire, gut and murder them all with out any mercy, see what I care.<br />
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I know this review was super salty and maybe I missed something...I know I probably did...but yeah. This book was not for me. No hard feelings though. Will just move on to something else. That's just how I do. Momeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00953082931015083700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2087947398180744736.post-38551508433890799762015-08-31T16:43:00.000-07:002016-03-15T16:19:17.379-07:00Books I Got From Japan!<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I'm back!!! I just got back from Japan on August 28th and boy am I happy to be home! It has been a long two months, and I am so glad to not have to drag my life with me around Japan anymore!! Woooooo!!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So, needless to say, I ended up picking up a bunch of manga, books and magazines...as you do. XD Let's just get into it (most of these were bought at Book-Off (like a super cheaper version of Half Price Books)).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Part 1 and 2: J K Rowling</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">It is my goal in life to collect all of the Harry Potter books in as many languages as possible. The Japanese versions are split into parts...I don't know why....so here is part one and two of the first book.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I also picked up the first part of book three (which is my favorite), thinking that it would be the only one I would by. But then I decided I wanted the whole series. I didn't end up picking up the second book or part two of the third book....but that's just another reason to go back to Japan and get the other ones. XD</span><br />
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暗殺教室 (Ansatsu Kyoushitsu) (Assassination Classroom) by Yuusei Matsui</div>
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One of my campers really loves this series, so I thought I would try it out! I don't really know much about this series, but that's ok! I love going into series without knowing too much. ^^ I really miss this camper..she was awesome! So whenever I look at this series, I will always think of her! </div>
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幽遊白書 (Yuu Yuu Hakusho) by Yoshihiro Togashi</div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Little known fact about me: This is my favorite Anime/Manga.....Ever. I LOVE this series so much! I don't know why I don't own any of it....but I love it so much. Now that I have started reading this again, I really want to pick up this series. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One Piece by Eiichiro Oda</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> I had started reading this series 10 years ago, but I never really continued reading this...I don't know why because I really enjoyed what I was reading...but whatever. I picked up the first one with the intention of picking up the rest of the series eventually. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> So, I don't usually shop in the shoujo section, but when I do, I shop for Banri Hidaka books! I love this artist sooooooooooooooooooooooo much! I love her characters and stories and everything! I don't know much...or anything....about this series, but I know it's about a girl with chapped lips...XD I know it will be good because of who it's written by. XD</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black (book 1)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I just finished this series this year and when I saw this book, I squee'd and picked it up! I knew this would be at a younger reading level too, so I thought it would be a good book to practice reading kanji.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">魔女の宅急便 (Majyo no takkiyuubin) (Kiki's Delivery Service)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My first ever Ghibli movie, so when I saw the book, I HAD to get it! Unfortunately, the reading level was a bit higher than I had expected, so I can't really read it....but that's what kanji dictionaries are for!! XD I'm really excited to read this eventually!! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I didn't really think about this book series when I was collecting my Harry Potter books....I LOVE Percy Jackson....so why am I not collecting all the languages of this series as well?!?! So this is the first book (which is gorgeous) So I picked up the first book for cheap and now I'm on the hunt for other languages in this series as well!! The reading level for this series is higher than I thought it would be, (it's not as accessible as Harry Potter is, which I found to be odd) but like I said earlier, that's what kanji dictionaries are for!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Popteen Magazine</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> My guilty pleasure magazine. It's so pastel and colorful! It really inspires me to make cute outfits and it really influences my make up as well. I really enjoy this magazine!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Kera magazine</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My all time favorite magazine! I love Gothic Lolita fashion and this magazine is awesome! I really love the lay out and the styling. I tend to read the Gothic Lolita Bible more, but it's really hard to spend the money on it because it's so expensive. Kera is cheap and just as nice. ^^v</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">non-no Magazine</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is my less guilty pleasure fashion-y magazines that I really enjoy. It still has a youthful style without being meant for young teens (like Popteen is). This magazine also really inspires my fashion and my outfits. I love the styling and all of the spreads in this magazine! Hands down, one of my favorites!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />So that's every thing that I got, book-wise, from Japan! I got a LOT of stuff while I was there, but these were just the bookish things I purchased. I'm really happy with all of the things I got and I'm really happy to be home so that I can read them! XD But alas, school starts soon and I don't really have much time to do anything....#senioryear #aintnobodygottimeforanything </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I don't have much of a wrap up, so I'm just going to skip that...I am under on my reading challenge as well, but I'm not too worried about that. ^^v </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Until next time!~</span></div>
Momeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00953082931015083700noreply@blogger.com0