Rurouni Jenni Reads

Free Reads Alert: Audio Books for Young Adults from AudioFile SYNC

2021-04-29T23:22:00.004+08:00

I am briefly pausing my hiatus to spread the word about AudioFile SYNC, an annual free audiobook reading project of AudioFile Magazine in partnership with OverDrive and various audiobook publishers. For fourteen weeks starting April 29th (TODAY!) and ending August 4th, two titles each week are accesible and downloadable from the program. What's good is international readers can join in on the fun, too.

Here's how to get started with your SYNC audiobook reading:

Register your email address in SYNC
Download the Sora reading app by Overdrive
Check your email for the login instructions

Here’s the list of YA audiobooks available per week:

Week 1, April 29 - May 5, 2021

Come on In: 15 Stories About Immigration and Finding Home edited by Adi Alsaid, read by Amielynn Abellera, Jonathan Todd Ross, Katherine Littrell, Leila Buck, Maria Liatis, Sneha Mathan

Illegal by Francisco X Stork, read by Roxana Ortega and Christian Barillas

Week 2, May 6 - 12, 2021

They Went Left by Monica Hesse, read by Caitlin Davies

Trell by Dick Lehr, read by Bahni Turpin

Week 3, May 13 - 19, 2021

Descendant of the Crane by Joan He, read by Nancy Wu

Monkey by Wu Ch’êng-ên, translated by Arthur Waley, and read by Kenneth Williams

Week 4, May 20 - 26, 2021

Alive by Scott Sigler, read by Colleen Delaney and a Full Cast

What Makes Us by Rafi Mittlefehldt, read by Graham Halstead

Week 5, May 27 - June 2, 2021

Magic Barrel by Bernard Malamud, read by Sheldon “Shelley” Berman, David Cromer, Marge Kotlisky, Naana Potok, Malcolm Rothman, Jensen Wheeler

Of Beetles and Angels: A Boy’s Remarkable Journey from a Refugee Camp to Harvard by Mawi Asgedom, read by Mawi Asgedom

Week 6, June 3 - 9, 2021

Rook by Sharon Cameron, read by Caroline Feraday

Salty, Bitter, Sweet by Mayra Cuevas, read by Jennifer Jill Araya

Week 7, June 10 - 16, 2021

Crescendo: The Story of a Musical Genius Who Forever Changed a Southern Town by Allen Cheney and Julie Cantrell, read by Allen Cheney

Extinction by Hannie Rayson, read by Seamus Dever, Sarah Drew, Darren Richardson, Joanne Whalley

Week 8, June 17 - 23, 2021

Poemsia by Lang Leav, read by Saskia Maarlveveld

This Is What I Know About Art by Kimberly Drew, read by Kimberly Drew

Week 9, June 24 - 30, 2021

Sasha Masha by Agnes Borinsky, read by Agnes Borinsky

Stay Gold by Tobly McSmith, read by Theo Germaine and Phoebe Strole

Week 10, July 1 - 7, 2021

Dust by Kara Swanson, read by Natasha Soudek

The Raven’s Tale by Cat Winters, read by Michael Crouch and Nicole Wood

Week 11, July 8 - 14, 2021

The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar, read by Priya Ayyar

Saints and Misfitsby S.K. Ali, read by Ariana Delawari

Week 12, July 15 - 21, 2021

The Ruinous Sweep by Tim Wynne-Jones, read by Tim Wynne-Jones

The Body Snatcher and Other Stories by Robert Louis Stevenson, read by Roy McMillan

Week 13, July 22 - 28, 2021

Not Your Sidekick by C.B. Lee, read by Emily Woo Zeller

Spellsinger 1 by Alan Dean Foster, read by Terence Aselford and a Full Cast

Week 14, July 29 - August 4, 2021

Keep This to Yourself by Tom Ryan, read by Michael Crouch

Storm and Fury by Jennifer L. Armentrout, read by Lauren Fortgang

That's it! For more info, you can visit their website, and while you are there go subscribe to their newsletter to keep you updated with their stuff.

I'd love to hear from you!

Have you joined the SYNC program in the past? How was your experience? Are you going to join in this year? What are some of the audiobooks that you are planning to check out?

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Review: Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin

2019-06-04T16:01:00.002+08:00

Ayesha at Last
by Uzma Jalaluddin

Synopsis:
A modern-day Muslim Pride and Prejudice for a new generation of love.

Ayesha Shamsi has a lot going on. Her dreams of being a poet have been set aside for a teaching job so she can pay off her debts to her wealthy uncle. She lives with her boisterous Muslim family and is always being reminded that her flighty younger cousin, Hafsa, is close to rejecting her one hundredth marriage proposal. Though Ayesha is lonely, she doesn't want an arranged marriage. Then she meets Khalid who is just as smart and handsome as he is conservative and judgmental. She is irritatingly attracted to someone who looks down on her choices and dresses like he belongs in the seventh century.

Ayesha is torn between how she feels about the straightforward Khalid and the unsettling new gossip she hears about his family. Looking into the rumors, she finds she has to deal with not only what she discovers about Khalid, but also the truth she realizes about herself.

(cover image and synopsis lifted from Goodreads)

Series: Standalone
Publisher: Berkley Books
Publication date: June 4, 2019
Source/Format: eARC/Netgalley
Purchase links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
Trigger warning/s:

My Rating: ★★★★☆

My Thoughts:
This book is what you get when you put a contemporary South Asian-Canadian Muslim romcom in a “Pride and Prejudice” frame. Our dear Mr. Darcy is Khalid Mirza, who is a very proud Muslim, working as a project manager in a tech company. Khalid is obviously smitten by his neighbor Ayesha but his stiff beliefs prevent him from doing anything with his feelings. He believes that “love blossoms after marriage” and trusts that at the right time, his mother will find him a suitable wife. Of course like Lizzy Bennet, Ayesha Shamsi is an independent thinker who finds Khalid a snooty “fundy”. Although she does not totally oppose arranged marriages, she does not rigidly think that it’s the only way for her to find her future husband. And although receiving rishtas or marriage proposals is a big deal for her fussy Muslim family, it’s not the only thing that’s occupying her life: there’s her day job as a student teacher to pay her tuition debts to a rich uncle and her dreams of becoming a spoken word artist.

The book’s main appeal to me is its positive representation of religious characters. Both Khalid and Ayesha wear traditional clothes and participate in the activities of the community mosque. It’s refreshing to see characters who actively practice religion, painted as good people and not as unreasonable fanatics, struggle with something as ordinary as falling in love. Although I am from another faith, I felt seen through them as I am also very active in attending my church. The youth convention that Khalid and Ayesha helped organize in the book is something that we also do in my religion.

Though the plot may be familiar to most readers, there is still bits of unpredictability here in the form of mysteries in the family histories. Like what happened to Khalid’s older sister? Or why does Ayesha’s mom refuse to talk about her long-dead dad? Even though incidental to the extended family of the main characters is a huge cast of peripheral characters, I didn’t feel that these characters are just standing there with nothing to do. I know while reading that they are busy doing their own things off the pages like Ayesha’s grandfather doing his gardening or the aunty brigade keeping the rumor mill running.

I like how Ayesha insists that she chooses “to live in a comedy instead of a tragedy” but the rest of the Shakespearian references in the book are a tad too many and heavy-handed for me. Of course, this could be blamed to me just finding it hard and frustrating to appreciate old English. Considering all the good stuff I mentioned about the book, “Ayesha at Last” is not to be dismissed as just another “Pride and Prejudice” pastiche. It has its distinct charms even without relying too much on the fame of its inspiration.

Diversity Watch:
Khalid Mirza - a Muslim born and raised in Canada. Physically described with dark brown curly hair, long and thick beard, and pale olive complexion. His usual work attire is a full sleeved white robe, black dress pants, and a white skullcap.

Ayesha Shamsi - a Muslim born in India, raised in Canada. Physically described as a hijab-wearing petite woman with a round face and a golden burnished copper skin.

#ownvoices on South Asian-Canadian Muslims

I'd love to hear from you!

Are you a Jane Austen fan? Do you read retellings of her work? Which retellings of "Pride and Prejudice" would you recommend me?

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Review: In Another Life by C.C. Hunter

2019-05-25T21:00:00.000+08:00

In Another Life
by C.C. Hunter

Synopsis:

Chloe was three years old when she became Chloe Holden, but her adoption didn’t scar her, and she’s had a great life. Now, fourteen years later, her loving parents’ marriage has fallen apart and her mom has moved them to Joyful, Texas. Starting twelfth grade as the new kid at school, everything Chloe loved about her life is gone. And feelings of déjà vu from her early childhood start haunting her.

When Chloe meets Cash Colton she feels drawn to him, as though they're kindred spirits. Until Cash tells her the real reason he sought her out: Chloe looks exactly like the daughter his foster parents lost years ago, and he’s determined to figure out the truth.

As Chloe and Cash delve deeper into her adoption, the more things don’t add up, and the more strange things start happening. Why is Chloe’s adoption a secret that people would kill for?

(cover image and synopsis lifted from Goodreads)

Series: Standalone
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Publication date: March 26th 2019
Source/Format: eARC/Netgalley
Purchase links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
Trigger warning/s:

My Rating: ★★☆☆☆

My Thoughts:
“In Another Life” begins on the road with Chloe Holden throwing tantrums at her adoptive dad for leaving her and her depressed cancer-stricken mom for a younger girlfriend. While stopping by at a convenience store and as the father-daughter arguing ensues, Chloe accidentally bumps into Cash Colton who is a tad suspicious of her about something. Chloe and Cash meet again in school with Chloe as a transferee student. It turns out that Chloe resembles the age-progression photo of his foster parents’ missing daughter. Cash thinks that she is going to con them, as he did so many years ago as the partner-in-crime to his deadbeat biological dad, so he is determined to keep an eye on her.

My first gripe about the book is why it is being marketed as a YA mystery when it is more of a YA contemporary? I don’t know who to blame for this: the readers or the publisher. Look at Goodreads and most users filed it under mystery. Then read the blurb and it sounds like a Kara Thomas book. What I got is something like a Sara Dessen book instead. Granted, the first few chapters seemed like leading to an intriguing mystery: Are Chloe’s loving adoptive parents kidnappers? Why are people accusing Cash of murdering his dad? But, the book gradually shifts into the generic plot points of a YA contemporary that is basically more focused on romance: girl meets boy, they become close and eventually date, there will be some conflict or something, but then they resolve it, the end. It’s not that I don’t read and enjoy romance-centric YA contemporaries, because I do. My issue here is that I felt duped by the clickbait nature of the blurb and the bait-and-switch nature of the plot.

And then there are these main characters who become annoying bit by bit as I read along. Cash is your typical broody chick magnet YA lead, with a bad reputation and who of course falls for the hapless new girl in school. He is a bit of a creep at first, stalking Chloe around and letting the air out from her tires so he can get a chance to talk to her. Chloe lets him be close to her despite catching him as the culprit of the said creepy act because good looks trumps creepy behavior, I guess. Or because Chloe is a whiny baby who whines about everything and a boy with a huge hero complex like Cash is what’s perfect for her.

The supporting characters fared no better. So the real kidnapper is revealed too soon and is given bits of PoV narration. Despite this, the villain is cartoonishly evil for the sake of being evil. Chloe’s new next-door neighbor and insta-friend, Lindsey, has no immediate purpose but to be Chloe’s rant person when Cash is not around. And the parents, whew, are mostly there to be the source of these teens’ angst. The dialogues between the characters were cursory, any emotions that could’ve flown the scenes were clipped. And some periphery characters, like a gay cousin of Chloe’s adoptive dad and his husband, add no value but to crowd the scenes they are in.

The overall message of the book for me is not letting the pain in the past damage what you have in the present. But it missed on a lot of chances to make this message soar. The annoying main characters, shallow supporting characters and cursory dialogues blocked me from feeling anything aside from boredom. “In Another Life” has the initially intriguing set-up of a YA mystery that ultimately switches to a middling YA contemporary.

Diversity Watch:
Setting: Texas, U.S.A.

Chloe Holden – described with thick dark hair, brown eyes with green and gold flecks in them. It is mentioned that she might have a bit of Latinx blood in her.

Cash Colton – described with jet black hair and green eyes

Lindsey - Chloe’s new friend. She is described with sandy blond hair with highlights.

Lindsey’s mom is a lesbian. A cousin of Chloe’s adoptive dad is gay.

I'd love to hear from you!

Have you read this book yet? Do you agree with me that it's more YA contemporary than YA mystery? Are you also annoyed when a book is mismarketed? Tell me in the comments.

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Blog Tour: Stay A Little Longer by Dawn Lanuza (Review)

2019-05-24T23:59:00.000+08:00

A BIG HELLO to you book wanderer who is reading my smol book blog! Today is my stop for the international blog tour for Dawn Lanuza's latest romance novel, "Stay a Little Longer"

Props to the amazing duo of Erika of The Nocturnal Fey and Rafael of The Royal Polar Bear Reads for organizing this tour.

About the Book

They were perfect strangers—all perks, no strings. Until they weren't.

Elan wasn’t supposed to meet Caty. She lived halfway around the world, and he barely left Manila. Yet here he was, giving her a ride to the airport. Convinced that they would never have to see each other again after that day, Elan and Caty started to bond over truths, dares, stolen kisses, and games in hotel rooms and bars.

With brief encounters that turned them from acquaintances to friends — tipping to the point of lovers, always — will Elan and Caty keep settling for a day, or will someone finally dare to stay long enough to discover: Is this love?

Series: a sequel to "The Hometown Hazard" but can be read as a standalone
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Genre: adult, romance, contemporary
Publication date: May 28th, 2019
Purchase links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

About the Author

Dawn Lanuza writes contemporary romance, young adult fiction and poetry. She has two first loves – music and writing – and is lucky enough to surround herself with them.

She started to self-publish in 2014 with her debut romance novel, The Boyfriend Backtrack, which was eventually published by Anvil Publishing. In 2016, she also self-published her first poetry collection, “The Last Time I’ll Write About You” which debuted #1 on Amazon’s Hot New Releases and has stayed on its Bestsellers chart for over a year, before it was re-released into an expanded and revised edition by Andrews McMeel Publishing.

She currently travels in and out of her motherland, the Philippines, to decide which place she’d like to call home next.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

Review

My Thoughts:
Elan is getting his car back borrowed by his friend (and secret long-time crush) Jules, the main character in the author’s earlier work, “The Hometown Hazard”. It so happens that Caty, Jules’ childhood BFF, needs a ride to the airport. The meet-cute ensues when Elan lets Caty in his car. After a long ride from the town to the city, with a disastrous detour to the house of Caty’s ex, this couple of strangers kinda hit it off and ends up in an almost one-night stand. Caty shrugged off kissing Elan as her seeking some sort of validation and Elan is excessively full of self-preservation to argue with that. Of course, the readers know that they are genuinely attracted to each other. But there’s not enough time for them to hash these feelings out as Caty’s flight approaches. So starts a series of rush meetings that almost always end up in either of them caught in the throes of a trip to the airport.

“Stay a Little Longer” is a leap from the couple of books that I have read from the same author before. I already know that Dawn tastefully writes sweet kissing books but this book is a revelation that she can also pull off books with steamy bed scenes. The first few chapters of sexual tension pretty much set me up to the maddening attraction between the main couple. And the thirsty woman inside of me is not complaining with the level of heat in the bed scenes that followed, whether something actually happens or not.

Also, introducing two unlikable main characters is another gamble. When we first met Caty, she is injected with so much personality to the point of being annoying. Elan comes off to me initially as a pushover. But their seeming unlikability later plays off as byproducts of their insecurities or fears. As the book delicately peels the other facets of their characters, like Caty’s dedication to her big city dreams or Elan’s filial devotion, they become more endearing. I made a 360 flip before the book ends: the woman I thought was pesky becomes a free spirit, the man I thought was boring becomes an old soul.

The book is neatly split into four parts and an epilogue. After the meet-cute part, the next part is a kind of fantasy fluff, romance books are made of. The fantasy is summed up in a picture of two attractive people dressed to the nines, ballroom dancing with all eyes in the hall on them. The third part is my favorite because this is where the book slowly unveils the fictional ideation of romance to the reality of making a relationship actually work, especially if it’s a long-distance relationship between two people with different priorities. I really felt the frustration in these characters’ conflict that there were moments in the fourth part where I stopped believing that they could be happy together in the end. But as you know romance books persist for HEAs, so both Caty and Elan persisted, and I loved them more for it.

Diversity Watch:
Elan and Caty are both Filipinos. Filipino #ownvoices

My Rating: ★★★★☆

Tour Schedule

Don't forget to follow the tour and hop on these blogs on their designated stops:

May 22
Erika - The Nocturnal Fey
Rafael - The Royal Polar Bear Reads
Jen - Jen D Bibliophile

May 23:
Angela - Hiding Behind Books
Jenny - Levicorpvs Blog
Alice - Married to Books Reviews and Blog

May 24:
Shaa - Moonlight Pages
Cathrina - Puggyreader Writes
Jennilyn - Rurouni Jenni Reads

May 25:
Ynnah - The Youngvamp’s Haven
Bryan - Bryan Hoards Books
Rachel - In Between Book Pages

May 26:
Naadhira - legenbooksdary
Gerald - Gerald the Bookworm
Danielle - dmcireadsblog

May 27:
Kat - Reading After Ten
Princess - Princess and Pages
Provocatrix - Provocatrix

May 28:
Kath - The Last Reader
Jessica - Endless Chapters
Rebecca - Bookingway Reads

I'd love to hear from you!

Have you ever been in a long distance relationship? Did it ultimately work out for you or not? Share with me in the comments.

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Review: 99 Nights in Logar by Jamil Jan Kochai

2019-05-13T22:25:00.001+08:00

99 Nights in Logar
by Jamil Jan Kochai

Synopsis:
A coming-of-age story about one boy’s journey across contemporary Afghanistan to find and bring home the family dog, blending the grit and immediacy of voice-driven fiction like We Need New Names with the mythmaking of One Thousand and One Nights.

Twelve-year-old Marwand’s memories from his previous visit to Afghanistan six years ago center on his contentious relationship with Budabash, the terrifying but beloved dog who guards his extended family’s compound in Logar. Eager to find an ally in this place that’s meant to be “home,” Marwand approaches Budabash the way he would any dog on his American suburban block—and the results are disastrous: Marwand loses a finger and Budabash escapes.
The resulting search for the family dog is an expertly told adventure, a ninety-nine-night quest that sends Marwand and his cousins across the landscape of Logar. Moving between celebrations and tragedies, deeply humorous and surprisingly tender, 99 Nights in Logar is a vibrant exploration of the power of stories—the ones we tell each other, and the ones we find ourselves in.

(cover image and synopsis lifted from Goodreads)

Series: Standalone
Publisher: Penguin
Publication date: January 8th 2019
Source/Format: eARC/Netgalley
Purchase links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | Book Depository
Trigger warning/s:

My Rating: ★★★☆☆

My Thoughts:

“99 Nights in Logar” adopted the tales within tales style of the classic, “One Thousand and One Nights”. Marwand’s visit to Logar and his hunt for Budabash paved way for his people to tell him their stories: real-life and fantastical stories, funny stories and sad ones or both things at once, stories that are passed from one’s lips to another, oftentimes through speech and sometimes through songs.

The book offered me a lot of insights about storytelling. Marwand’s young uncle, Gulbuddin, advised that it’s okay to change a story if it makes it more interesting. He also said that heroes and romance are staples of a good story. Probably the wisdom with the most impact for me came from Agha, Marwand’s dad. In the subtlest of ways, he made Marwand understand that story-telling is a gateway to know his heritage and his people. And that’s basically the meat of the book for me: Marwand’s coming of age is a cultural awakening of sorts through the Afghan’s rich tapestry of tales.

Marwand’s naive confidence on assembling a crew of young cousins and uncles to hunt for the dog Budabash is delightfully funny. If you are someone who is charmed by a ragtag of precocious kids in American shows like “Stranger Things”, you’ll probably enjoy the adventures of Marwand and crew as well. Aside from our 12-year old Marwand, there’s the 14-year old romantic Gul and his impeccable little mustache, 13-year-old Dawood who loves eating, Marwand’s little bro Gwora who keeps secret journals, and my personal favorite, 13-year old Zia who is pure and prayerful.

The chaos that is Marwand’s big extended family is endearing. With a soft Baba (grandpa) and an obstinate Abo (grandma) at the helm, they are the kind of family who fusses about each other’s business; for instance, an aunt’s marriage prospects. The family’s compound is far from the war zone that the fighting are mere sounds that lull them to sleep. But it’s just as near enough that they encounter the Talibans and the G.I. soldiers on the streets. An uncle is working as an interpreter in an American base.

Without a doubt, I am captivated by the book. As a reader unfamiliar with Afghanistan aside maybe from what’s on the news, I am grateful to glimpse the country and its people through the eyes of Marwand. I admit that the tales within tales style of the book is a wobbly crutch for a satisfying plot and character arc. And there could be layers or symbolism in the book that would make foreigners like me grasping at straws. The reveal to the overarching mystery about the death of Marwand’s uncle, Watak, is a taciturn twist written in the native language. I tried to get an answer from the author in Twitter and what I got is a promise of a sequel. Albeit underwhelming, this is still happy news for me. I'd be glad to read more and get back with these people and in this place again.

Diversity Watch:

Marwand’s parents are both Afghans who immigrated to America.

The author was born in Pakistan and grew up in the U.S. As a kid, he traveled to Logar, Afghanistan, to visit with his family.

I'd love to hear from you!

Have you read this book yet? What do you think of its style? Do you have a favorite folktale or myth from your country? Share with me in the comments.

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PH Blog Tour: The Bride Test by Helen Hoang (Review+Giveaway)

2019-05-06T23:32:00.000+08:00

I am back, my book wanderer friends! I have risen from the book blogger crypts (or wherever place book bloggers lie when they are dead in the book blogging world) because I need to tell you about this new book by romance maven, Helen Hoang.

Huge thanks to Fay of Bibliophile Soprano for hosting the PH Blog Tour for "The Bride Test" by Helen Hoang.

About The Bride Test

Khai Diep has no feelings. Well, he feels irritation when people move his things or contentment when ledgers balance down to the penny, but not big, important emotions—like grief. And love. He thinks he’s defective. His family knows better—that his autism means he just processes emotions differently. When he steadfastly avoids relationships, his mother takes matters into her own hands and returns to Vietnam to find him the perfect bride.

As a mixed-race girl living in the slums of Ho Chi Minh City, Esme Tran has always felt out of place. When the opportunity arises to come to America and meet a potential husband, she can’t turn it down, thinking this could be the break her family needs. Seducing Khai, however, doesn’t go as planned. Esme’s lessons in love seem to be working…but only on herself. She’s hopelessly smitten with a man who’s convinced he can never return her affection.

With Esme’s time in the United States dwindling, Khai is forced to understand he’s been wrong all along. And there’s more than one way to love.

Series: The Kiss Quotient #2 (but can be read as a standalone)
Publisher: Berkley
Genre: adult, romance, contemporary
Publication date: May 7th, 2019
Purchase links: Amazon | Indiebound | iBooks | Book Depository | Barnes & Noble

About Helen

Helen Hoang is that shy person who never talks. Until she does. And the worst things fly out of her mouth. She read her first romance novel in eighth grade and has been addicted ever since.

In 2016, she was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder in line with what was previously known as Asperger’s Syndrome. Her journey inspired THE KISS QUOTIENT.

She currently lives in San Diego, California with her husband, two kids, and pet fish.

Helen is represented by Kim Lionetti of BookEnds Literary Agency.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

Review

My Thoughts:
Very early on in “The Bride Test” (TBT), it established what is holding back Khai for the most part of the book: he thinks he is not capable of love. The events that led him to this mindset happened in his teens, tens years ago. Now at twenty-six years old, Khai is still decidedly single. All his mother’s efforts of matching him with American girls failed, so what’s a mother to do but fly to her home country and find her son a Vietnamese bride-to-be. Enter Esme, a young single mom working as a cleaning lady in the hotel where Khai's mom is screening bride-to-be candidates. All candidates didn’t pass the mom’s “bride test”. As luck would have it, the mom took notice of Esme cleaning the toilets in the hotel’s posh washroom and asked her the same “bride test” question and she passed! Esme is not immediately on board with the idea but with some pushing from her own mom (1. an opportunity to have a better life for herself and her five-year-old daughter 2. find her American dad), she eventually agreed. Arrangements were made for Esme’s stay in America. Khai's mom pulled a “make your mom happy” card on him, so he agreed on Esme staying at his house over the summer and attending family functions as an engaged couple.

Some fairy tale elements did not escape me. Like Khai’s mom and the character Miss Q, seemed to serve up nothing more but the roles of Esme’s fairy godmothers. I must admit that the premise is also pretty hokey. The initial circumstances hardly sound like a possibility in real life. BUT (take note, that’s a “but” in all caps), once the reader gets past the setup and gets to know more about Khai and Esme, the trepidation becomes temporary and the fairy tale becomes believable.

Khai is a soft cinnamon roll who is consumed by this wrong mindset about his inability to love. He is so pure, I want to protect him. Then he gets to spend time with this foreign girl, Esme, and suddenly his rules and routines are invaded by her strangeness. In no time, Khai is consumed by his attraction to Esme. He tried to brush off being attracted to her as a mere distraction. He tried to avoid her by making her sleep on a couch in another room or by going to work even on a Sunday. Of course, all those efforts failed and he starts falling for her. But he justified these feelings as just some sort of addiction. On her part, Esme finds Khai strange, too. But she does not judge him for his autism tendencies. She accepts him for who he is even though at first, she is not aware of what autism really is.

So they find each other strange and are attracted to each other’s strangeness. That and the bits of arranged marriage and fake dating tropes and you have a recipe for Fun Sexual Tension Scenes™. I was amused by their clumsy encounters and how they awkwardly deal with their attraction. Khai and his blue balls. Esme trying her best to “seduce” Khai. The couple’s chemistry is so palpable that whenever they are in a room together, it immediately becomes a sexually charged scene. Although “The Kiss Quotient” (TKQ), the author’s debut, is more generous in terms of smut, I still find TBT ample enough to satiate my thirsty adult woman needs.

I should also mention this fun bit that totally cracked me up: when Khai called his older brother Quan for advice on sex (pure Khai is still lacking in experience) but Quan can’t fully explain it that they have to ask help from cousin Michael (from TKQ!). I love how this scene delivers a message that women’s pleasure in sex is as important as men’s. And honestly, these three sexy men in one scene is more than what my heart (and ovaries) can handle. Speaking of Quan, my original request for a book about him still stands. Can someone please point me the sign-up petition to make this happen soon?

I am ending this to comment on the author’s note at the back of the book. The author related how in the first drafts, Esme is not really Khai’s original love interest but the “other woman” in a love triangle. But Esme’s character kept outshining the original LI that she decided to reconceptualize her book. I think that decision really paid off here and it also goes to show that she knows how to listen to her characters and that she is really passionate about them. I said that at first, the premise comes off to me as too fairytale-like. But eventually, the author did not forget to inject the book with the harsh realities of the immigrants or even the mail order brides. She made Esme experience and feel them in the book. It was also touched through Esme’s conversation with her friend, Angelika. Of course, the author herself is diagnosed with autism, making her take on Khai’s character credible and convincing. The author’s passion to tell these people’s stories translated to both Khai and Esme as layered characters with real-life problems, insecurities, and motivations. Both of them jumped off the page and made me, the reader, care for their happiness.

Diversity Watch:
Khai is an American with Vietnamese descent. He is diagnosed with autism. #ownvoices on autism

Esme is born and raised in Vietnam. Her mom is Vietnamese, her dad is American. She is described with seafoam green eyes. In the author’s note, it is mentioned that the author’s mother is an immigrant from Vietnam and she inspired Esme’s character.

My Rating: ★★★★☆

Giveaway

Up for grabs to lucky PH readers are 2 proof copies of the book!!! Click the Rafflecopter link below for the deets on how to join:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule

Don't forget to follow the tour and hop on these blogs on their designated stops:

May 5:
Athena D. - The Book Junkie’s Blog
Treena - wellreadmisty

May 6:
Jennilyn - Rurouni Jenni Reads
Angelica - Whimsy Wanders

May 7:
Fay - Bibliophile Soprano
Karlita - Tale Out Loud

May 8:
Alexia - The Bookworm Daydreamer
Ynnah - The Youngvamp’s Haven

May 9:
Leslie - Bibliophilekid
Kate - Your Tita Kate

May 10:
Cathrina - Puggyreader Writes
Princess - Princess and Pages

May 11:
Shaine - Wanderer in Neverland
Athena S. - The Night Faerie

May 12:
Elena - The Queen Reads
Abigail - Reading Flamingo

I'd love to hear from you!

Romance readers, are you excited to inhale this book? What are you most excited about? Please tell me that I am not the only one wishing for a book about Quan?!

Twitter | Facebook | Bloglovin' | Goodreads | Pinterest

Improving my Sidebar Subscription Gadgets

2019-01-16T09:40:00.000+08:00

Book bloggers do a lot of backend work for their blog. When we don't post or update in social media, it does not mean that we are taking our readers for granted. Most probably, we are still doing or thinking about blog-related stuff. So today, I would like to share what I've been up to lately to improve Rurouni Jenni Reads. It has something to do with my 2019 goal of growing my blog's following. This is ultimately a shameless self-promo post, lol.

Putting up Google Friend Connect (GFC)
Yep, I am tinkering again with the look of my blog. December 18 last year, Gayathri @ Elgee Writes tweeted about the lacking "Follow" button on some Wordpress blogs. I am using Blogger as my blog platform but I took her advice just the same. I put up GFC in my sidebar. Following a blog in GFC means adding it in your Blogger reading list, in case you are not aware.

Thanks for pointing this out. Mooost probably one of the big reasons why I have a small following. I listened and already put one on mine just now. https://t.co/pAig6piMvd
— Jennilyn 🇵🇭 (@RurouniJenni) December 18, 2018

I didn't know then if taking her advice would do the following in my blog any good. Now with the gift of hindsight, I am confident to report to you that yes, adding the GFC follow feature is a good decision. On that date, I only have 22 followers. As of to date, with less than just a month since I put it up on my sidebar, I went up to 32 followers. I gained 10 more beautiful book wanderers that I wouldn't otherwise have if I don't put up GFC in my sidebar!

Learning about Feedly and RSS
Sam @ We Live and Breathe Books mentioned in her comment to my 2019 opening post, that she follows blogs via Feedly. She also mentioned something about RSS.

I am like, what on earth are Feedly and RSS?! The curious cat in me starts googling and I definitely learned new things. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication – a cool acronym that has zero-value in contributing to my understanding of it. What's really neat about RSS tho is that it lets you aggregate in one app all the posts from your fave blogs and news sites. One of those apps or readers is Feedly. So knowing that, I decided to put up the RSS and Feedly icons in my sidebar. (I am still learning about the other reader apps available.)

About the Wordpress clique thing
Let us address a particular blogging elephant in the room. For the record, I am not overly salty about this. It's just that I feel that I am not allowed to join in on the fun when I see Wordpress follow trains that I cannot board on. I feel a slight case of being alienated and othered from the reading community, TBH.

But as it turns out, most of the Wordpress peeps are just not aware that they can include bloggers from other platforms in their reading list.

I had no idea about this Cross-following! (Or about the heavenly host of Unicorns.) Thank you!
— Tammy Bird 🏳️‍🌈✒☕ (@tammy_bird) December 21, 2018

I didn't know that was possible! Thank you so much for telling me! I followed you back😊
— Soph (@Sophisblogging) December 19, 2018

So in my lofty noble goal of not depriving the good people in Wordpress of my awesomeness, I will show you this little-known blogging magic called cross-following. (But seriously, the Wordpress clique thing is still going strong in Twitter. I am getting ready to yell myself hoarse and continue preaching the good word of cross-following in the near foreseeable future.)

Lessons learned: Listen to other bloggers and make my blog accessible
If I didn't listen to Gayathri, I wouldn't gain more followers in GFC. If I didn't take notice of Sam's comment about RSS and Feedly, I wouldn't know about things that can make my blog more accessible.

The thing is, we are different people and we have varying ways of subscribing to blogs. I realized that I should acknowledge the diversity of our preferences by putting up all the options that a person has to access my content. Give the readers the choice. Give them the convenience. Make it easy for people to subscribe to my blog.

With these things in mind, I neatly arranged my subscription gadgets in my sidebar. Follow, subscribe, and share, if you are feeling up to it.

I'd love to hear from you!
How do you subscribe to your fave blogs? Is there any other tips you can give me to improve my following?

My 2019 Beat the Backlist Challenge Sign-Up Post

2019-01-10T00:00:00.001+08:00

Ahoy, book wanderers! How are you faring 2019, so far? I am popping in for a quick sign-up post for the 2019 Beat the Backlist Challenge, as announced in my opening post for the year. I skimmed over the books I already own and came up with this list of mostly YA books. I do not intend to finish all these books this year. I can at most do one backlist title per month. And this list can still change along the course of the challenge. I am mostly putting this up in the hopes of finding other challengers who got the same books as me to buddy read with.

Here goes my list:

Blackbird Fly by Erin Entrada Kelly
Falling Into Place by Amy Zhang
Famous In Love by Rebecca Serle
The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider
Tash Hearts Tolstoy by Kathryn Ormsbee
Liars, INC. by Paula Stokes
Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow
An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness
History is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera
Interim Goddess of Love by Mina Esguerra
~~Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett~~ - Read my review.
Starry Eyes by Jenn Bennett
When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon
From Twinkle, With Love by Sandhya Menon
Summer Bird Blue by Akemi Dawn Bowman
Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
A Heart in a Body in the World by Deb Caletti
Follow Me by A.V. Geiger
Emy and Oliver by Robin Benway
Suffer Love by Ashley herring Blake
The Problem With Forever by Jennifer Armentrout
The Love That Split the World by Emily Henry
Scythe by Neal Shusterman

In case you didn't know, Beat the Backlist Challenge is created by Austin of NovelKnight. This reading challenge is dedicated to helping bookworms knock those backlist books off our ever-growing TBR pile. If you are interested in joining , check HERE for the mechanics.

I'd love to hear from you!

Are you also joining the 2019 Beat the Backlist Challenge? Do you have any titles from your list that we have in common? Just hit me in the comments if you want to buddy read any of the above books with me.

Review: Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen M. McManus

2019-01-09T03:28:00.000+08:00

Two Can Keep a Secret
by Karen M. McManus

Synopsis:
Echo Ridge is small-town America. Ellery's never been there, but she's heard all about it. Her aunt went missing there at age seventeen. And only five years ago, a homecoming queen put the town on the map when she was killed. Now Ellery has to move there to live with a grandmother she barely knows.

The town is picture-perfect, but it's hiding secrets. And before school even begins for Ellery, someone's declared open season on homecoming, promising to make it as dangerous as it was five years ago. Then, almost as if to prove it, another girl goes missing.

Ellery knows all about secrets. Her mother has them; her grandmother does too. And the longer she's in Echo Ridge, the clearer it becomes that everyone there is hiding something. The thing is, secrets are dangerous--and most people aren't good at keeping them. Which is why in Echo Ridge, it's safest to keep your secrets to yourself.

(cover image and synopsis lifted from Goodreads)

Series: Standalone
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Publication date: January 8th 2019
Source/Format: eARC/Netgalley
Purchase links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | Book Depository
Trigger warning/s:

My Rating: ★★★★☆

My Thoughts:

Wow, this is a solid YA mystery.
By now, I think I have read enough YA mystery to know the good from the bad. So better believe me hon, when I say that “Two Can Keep a Secret” is spot on a good mystery. I like most how it built up the mystery around the missing girls of the town through the lens of a teenage true crime enthusiast, Ellery. Imagine if you read lots of true crime and you moved into a town where a crime happened, meet the people involved in the case, and witness another girl go missing right under your nose, wouldn’t you want to do something? Wouldn’t you do a bit of snooping around? Or wouldn’t you at least make your own opinions about who the suspects are?

Ellery has a lot of questions that eventually become the reader’s questions. And she has speculations that become the reader’s speculations as well. Ellery’s decision to put the pieces of the puzzle together lead her to a disorienting discovery that no amount of reading true crime can prepare her for.

Pure and precious main characters.
The book is alternately narrated by Ellery and Malcolm. Malcolm is the younger brother of Declan, the prime suspect to his girlfriend Lacey’s murder five years ago. Both Ellery and Malcolm are too pure and vanilla-flavored for my taste, tho. This is something not really negative about them, but more like my personal preference with my YA mystery characters. Ellery and Malcolm are likable characters but I like my YA mystery teens with flaws and dubious morals. The quartet of the author’s debut book, “One of Us is Lying” is one perfect ensemble of what I want in my YA mystery: they are cheaters and cowards and one is literally a criminal. Sure, there are shady characters here like Malcolm’s older bro Declan and Lacey’s bestfriend Daisy but they are side characters and they are adult characters. I felt that Ellery and Malcolm are devoid of dark sides is all I’m saying. Again, this is just a matter of personal preference and I am sure a lot of other readers would be willing to build forts to protect these two precious cinnamon rolls.

Another thing that I will note is that I wish there’s more of Ezra, Ellery’s twin bro and Mia, Malcolm’s BFF. Another book blogger, Athena @ The Night Faerie share this same sentiment with me in her review. It is but a minor gripe from both of us because overall, the book is a satisfying mystery with a satisfyingly chilling ending.

The chilling ending is chilling.
I will keep this very vague. Our protagonists has a life and death confrontation with the baddie, whose villainy is so low key that I bet only a few could guess rightly the identity. The last few chapters are intense and I felt that Ellery and Malcolm are really in extreme danger. And just when I thought that it’s okay to relax, came those last six words of revelation that gripped me with mixed feelings of sadness and spine tingling.

“Two Can Keep a Secret” is a well done YA mystery with a chilling ending, narrated by two likable teens. This comes highly recommended.

Diversity Watch:

Setting: Vermont, U.S.A.

Ellery Corcoran and Ezra Corcoran - half white on their mother's side and possibly half Latinx on their father's side. The twins are described with dark eyes and dark hair. Ezra is openly queer.

Malcolm Kelly - described with unruly dark hair.

Mia Kwon - Malcolm's BFF. She is Korean-American. Her physical description is hair buzzed short on one side and dark hair streaked with red on the other. Mia is bisexual.

Lacey Kilduff - the murdered girl five years ago. Physically described as blonde.

Katrin Nilsson - Malcolm's new stepsister, described as blonde.

Brooke Bennet - Katrin's BFF, described with long brown pony tail, hazel eyes.

Viv Cantrell - Katrin's other BFF, described as a redhead.

I'd love to hear from you!

Have you read this book yet? Did you like it as much as I did? Do you read true crime books or watch true crime shows?

My 2019 Discussion Challenge Sign-Up Post

2019-01-07T14:01:00.001+08:00

Hello book wanderers! As I've said in my opening post for 2019, I am once again joining the Discussion Challenge. Last year, I aimed for the Discussion Dabbler level, requiring 1-10 discussion posts. I was able to do five, so I am gobsmacked right there in the middle of goal reached and achieved. Also for the first time ever, I got featured as the blogger of the month last October 2018, so wow, it's a weird happy feeling to get my posts spotlighted on the monthly linky post.

ICYMI, I'm listing below the discussion posts I've done in 2018:

And in case you are not aware, 2019 Discussion Challenge is hosted by Nicole of Feed Your Fiction Addiction and Shannon of It Starts at Midnight! They created this challenge to encourage fellow book bloggers to not only read more, but talk more too!

The rules are simple. Just create a sign-up post like this one, announcing your intention to join with link back to both the hosts, Nicole and Shannon. Link the participant's sign-up post HERE. Then at the beginning of every month, a new post will go up on both our awsum hosts' blogs where the challengers can put the links of their discussion posts for the month. And did I mention that there will also be monthly giveaways? Yes there is, so you should totally join with me. In case you wanna check, the Twitter hashtag for sharing and connecting with other participants is #LetsDiscuss2019.

Here are the discussion challenge levels that each participant can set to achieve:

1-10 – Discussion Dabbler
11-20 – Creative Conversationalist
21-30 – Chatty Kathy
31-40 – Terrifically Talkative
41+ – Gift of the Gab

I don't know, I am feeling like I can do better this year so I am getting myself one level up to become a "Creative Conversationalist". Let's see.

I'd love to hear from you!

Are you also joining the 2019 Discussion Challenge? What discussion challenge level are you aiming for?

Review: The Fade by Demitria Lunetta

2019-01-05T21:09:00.001+08:00

The Fade
by Demitria Lunetta

Synopsis:
We don't want to disappear. We want to be found.

Something terrible happened in her basement. Haley can feel it.

Four girls went missing several years ago, and the police never solved the case. But Haley know the missing girls were murdered. How else can she explain the hostile presence in her house?

The ghostly girls need something from her. And unless Haley can figure out what they want...she might be next.

(cover image and synopsis lifted from Goodreads)

Series: Standalone
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Publication date: December 11th 2018
Source/Format: eARC/Netgalley
Purchase links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | Book Depository
Trigger warning/s:

My Rating: ★★★☆☆

My Thoughts:

Fifteen-year old Hayley and her family moved in from a condo in Chicago to an old house with a moldy basement in Wisconsin. Haley hated that they had to move, more so when creepy things start happening to her. Good thing she got acquainted soon with new teen friends: the mysteriously impulsive Coop, paranormal enthusiast Sera, and her cousin Josh. She later discovers that four girls went missing from their small town and one of the girls lived in their house. Some townsfolk believe that the girls are still alive and that they just ran away. Haley believes otherwise. How else would she explain their haunted house and the little boy in the neighborhood claiming that he can see the ghost of the girls?

“The Fade” is a tame ghost story. I doubt that it could scare the shizz out of a hardcore paranormal reader. The ghosts are not sinister enough. The hauntings are not frightening enough. There are a number of attempts to scare but the only scary scene that mildly disturbed me was when the ghosts made Haley drew her mom hanging from a shower rod.

I like that it’s short and quick-paced enough that there’s no chance of a reader losing patience with it. Haley hits it off instantly with her new friends. They immediately bonded over the mystery of the “Grabbed Girls of Gladwell”. They conducted their own research and investigations. They also did sessions of séance for good measure. And once Haley learned that they were murdered (not a spoiler, it’s in the blurb), she wasted no time in deciding that she wants to help them.

But because it is short, the book has not enough pages to give out characters that I will care about. Haley is a one-note character with a lackluster personality. The other characters exist to serve the plot or for the sake of shock value. I appreciate the bits of eerie supernatural PoV scattered between chapters. And I like how the book pulled a couple of neat surprises halfway and near the end. The dark bittersweet ending pleased me.

There’s a lot to like but there are also shortcomings, most notable of which is it’s tame scares. Still, this is a fairly satisfactory read for me.

Diversity Watch:

Setting: Wisconsin, U.S.A.

Haley O’Dell is Vietnamese on her dad’s side and white on her mom’s, described as petite, dark-haired, and blue eyed. Her older sister Shannon is described as tall and blond haired.

Kelly “Coop” Cooper – is Haley’s teenage new neighbor and love interest, described with bleached-blond hair. His younger brother, Chris, is described with brown eyes and shaggy brown hair.

Sera – is Haley’s new friend, racially indeterminate.

Josh – is also Haley’s new friend and Sera’s cousin, described with deep brown eyes. He is explicitly gay.

Jim Garret – is Shannon’s new boyfriend, described as blonde.

Raina, Haley’s friend back in Chicago is explicitly gay.

All four “Grabbed Girls of Gladwell” are white and blonde.

I'd love to hear from you!

Are you easily scared by paranormal books? Which YA paranormal would you recommend me to check out?

My 2019 Book Blogging Plans

2019-01-04T08:25:00.001+08:00

Image: Kaboompics

How are your 2019 so far, my fellow beautiful book wanderers? If you ask me, I am currently sick from inhaling all the fireworks and firecracker fumes from the New Year's eve celebrations. Being sick reminded me of two things: 1.) I have weak lungs, and 2.) I hate the New Year's eve. There, I just exposed myself as The Grinch of New Year. (Please don't hate me, I am lovable!) Anywho, Imma dial down the negativity and be more focused on the task at hand: MAKING PLANS!

Yeah, I am trying to be organized again and be less laissez-faire with my book blogging unlike last year when I took an accidental hiatus, then came back unceremoniously with posting book reviews. Now let me tell you what's in store for me and this side of the blogosphere for 2019:

Plan #1: Read 40 books for 2019.

It's been 2 years since I set a number of books to read in Goodreads, and I am back with a vengeance, baby! Not really, lol, I've read 42 books last year so, 40 is actually a conservative number.

Plan #2: Read outside my usual genre.
I'd like to think that I am an omnivore reader but my reading preferences recently are veered towards YA contemporaries and mystery thrillers. This year, I may venture into blogging about non-fiction or even classic books (not the big heavy ones, I am thinking more the likes of Anne of Green Gables). And definitely more Filipino books!

Plan #3: Be bilingual in my book blog.

Because I am bilingual, IRL. As I plan to read books by Filipino authors, I would also want to talk about them here. If the book is in Filipino, I would for sure write my review in Filipino also. I have seen a few bilingual book blogs recently and thought that I would definitely want to do that here. I would very much want to be able to express myself in my mother tongue so I hope my English-speaking readers would understand.

Plan #4: Do a blog series.

This has been kind of buzzing in my mind since last year but I am second guessing myself if I can do it. Now that the idea is not just in my mind but out here floating in the blog, I think I will have more courage to follow through. My blog series is gonna be about due diligence in book blogging, stay tuned.

Plan #5: Discussion posts.
This year, I am joining the 2019 Discussion Challenge. Both hosts, Nicole of Feed Your Fiction Addiction and Shannon of It Starts at Midnight, are awsum people so you should join, too.

Plan #6: Read backlist books.

I will do good by my word that I will read more backlist titles by joining Beat the Backlist Reading Challenge by Austine of Novel Knight.

Plan #7: Be a mindful book blogger.
Being mindful is being a book blogger with due diligence and I think I will explain this better when I start with my blog series. This can also mean so many other things, like for starters not engaging too much on Twitter drama. Also, not forgetting to include trigger warnings in my reviews. I believe that including trigger warnings in reviews is important and if you don't believe so, here's an article to convince you and here's another one to provide you with a list of possible trigger warnings. (I recently got these from Soph's Twitter thread)

Plan #8: Work on growing my blog.

I didn't care too much about my blog stats and following in the past. It's time to remedy that. Like I said, less laissez-faire. Any suggestions and idea on how to do that are welcome. So far my idea is to learn how to use Pinterest for growing my stats. And shameless self-promotion for growing my following. Speaking of which, all my follow/subscribe buttons are on the side bar. And are you aware that even if you are in Wordpress, you may still add me in your reading list? There is this little magic called cross-following and all you have to do is follow a few simple steps. Get this: A baby unicorn grows its horns with rainbow aural projections every time someone hits the follow/subscribe buttons in this blog.

I'd love to hear from you!

How many books are you gonna read this year? What reading or blogging challenges are you going to do? Tell me all your 2019 plans and goals or link me your New Year's resolutions posts in the comments!

Review: Fire and Heist by Sarah Beth Durst

2018-12-24T10:49:00.001+08:00

Fire and Heist
by Sarah Beth Durst

Synopsis:
In Sky Hawkins's family, leading your first heist is a major milestone--even more so than learning to talk, walk, or do long division. It's a chance to gain power and acceptance within your family, and within society. But stealing your first treasure can be complicated, especially when you're a wyvern--a human capable of turning into a dragon.

Embarking on a life of crime is never easy, and Sky discovers secrets about her mother, who recently went missing, the real reason her boyfriend broke up with her, and a valuable jewel that could restore her family's wealth and rank in their community.
With a handpicked crew by her side, Sky knows she has everything she needs to complete her first heist, and get her boyfriend and mother back in the process. But then she uncovers a dark truth about were-dragon society--a truth more valuable and dangerous than gold or jewels could ever be.

(cover image and synopsis lifted from Goodreads)

Series: Standalone
Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers
Publication date: December 4th 2018
Source/Format: eARC/Netgalley
Purchase links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | Book Depository
My Rating: ★★★★☆

My Thoughts:

The author’s pitch for the book is “Ocean’s Eleven with were-dragons”. What should I have in mind with something like that? Surely, I wouldn’t expect it to be a lofty promise of a catharsis. At the most, I would expect to be kept amused by fire-breathing thieves. And that’s about it with “Fire and Heist”. It is a ton of fun while it lasts.

What drew me in is the snarky voice of the protagonist. Even when moping from having dumped by her boyfriend, Sky Hawkins’ wry narration is entertaining. Her personality matches with everything I imagined a teenager dragon’s personality would be: confident to the point of recklessness. I like that she acknowledged that she is a self-absorbed privileged rich girl. I probably cannot stand being friends with her in real life but she fascinated me just as I am sometimes weirdly fascinated with the Kardashians.

The not-so-secret society of wyverns are filthy rich were-dragon families who can once shape-shift into real dragons. They openly live among humans but they have their own set of rules and inner social hierarchy. Their kind have a natural tendency to hoard gold. They have their own version of “honor among thieves” code in that they may steal from each other as long as they don’t get caught. Humans are naturally intrigued by them and they have a quasi-celebrity status with their private lives occasionally leaked in tabloids. Sky’s family is recently disgraced by her mother who went missing after a botched heist. Wildly overcome by her emotions from her first heartbreak and from losing a mother, Sky decided that it’s time to lead her first heist.

Though aware of her incompetence as a young wyvern, Sky’s is fired up by her motivations. She wants to restore her family’s honor and discover why her mom went missing. She might even win back her ex-boyfriend in the process. Disowned by her wyvern friends and forbidden by her family to do anything drastic, her assembled crew consists of (oddly enough) her ex-boyfriend Ryan, a human classmate, Gabriela and a full-grown adult wizard who often doesn’t act his proper age, Maximus. I enjoyed the banter among Sky and her crew. The plot is a series of actions that actually go somewhere. Without revealing too much, it follows the template of a hero’s journey. A there and back again kind of thing happened. The heist is arguably elaborate at first (they even have to do lots of practice, not without funny banter and bloopers) but Sky has to redo the same level of heist thrice over the entire course of the book that it eventually felt repetitive. The heist lost its steam in the end with the diminished excitement from all the repetition.

My actual rating of the book is more than three stars but not quite four stars. I rounded it up to four stars because I decided that it would benefit no one if I rob a fraction of a star rating from a book that I really enjoyed. The plot is flawed and familiar but still, “Fire and Heist” is an undeniably fun read, with it’s pleasures coming not exactly from the heist but from reading about its protagonist hanging out and doing stuff together with her family and crew.

This is my Review of the Month for the review collection on LovelyAudiobooks.info

Diversity Watch:

Setting: Aspen, Colorado, U.S.A.

Sky Hawkins and family are racially indeterminate.

Ryan Keene is Sky's ex-boyfriend, racially indeterminate.

Maximus, a wizard wyvern, is described as “a very handsome, very tall, and very dark-skinned man”

Gabriela Marquez, Sky’s human friend, is Latina. Her family speaks Spanish in their household.

I'd love to hear from you!

Have you read this book yet? What are your thoughts about it?

If filthy-rich, fire-breathing wyverns actually exist in our world, would you want to be friends with them?

Mini-Reviews: Some Mystery Books

2018-12-15T15:35:00.000+08:00

In case you haven't notice with my recent reviews, I am slowly but surely becoming a mystery fan. So here are some more mystery books that I finished this year:

Smaller and Smaller Circles
by F.H. Batacan

This harrowing mystery, winner of the Philippine National Book Award, follows two Catholic priests on the hunt through Manila for a brutal serial killer

Payatas, a 50-acre dump northeast of Manila’s Quezon City, is home to thousands of people who live off of what they can scavenge there. It is one of the poorest neighborhoods in a city whose law enforcement is already stretched thin, devoid of forensic resources and rife with corruption. So when the eviscerated bodies of preteen boys begin to appear in the dump heaps, there is no one to seek justice on their behalf.

In the rainy summer of 1997, two Jesuit priests take the matter of protecting their flock into their own hands. Father Gus Saenz is a respected forensic anthropologist, one of the few in the Philippines, and has been tapped by the Director of the National Bureau of Investigations as a backup for police efforts. Together with his protégé, Father Jerome Lucero, a psychologist, Saenz dedicates himself to tracking down the monster preying on these impoverished boys.

Smaller and Smaller Circles, widely regarded as the first Filipino crime novel, is a poetic masterpiece of literary noir, a sensitive depiction of a time and place, and a fascinating story about the Catholic Church and its place in its devotees’ lives.

(cover image and synopsis lifted from Goodreads)

Genre/s: Adult Mystery, crime fiction
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Soho Press

Publication date: January 2017 (first published 2002)
Source/Format: Bought/Paperback, Movie Tie-In
Purchase link: Amazon | Book Depository
My Rating: ★★★★☆

My Thoughts:
I bought this book so I can have a paperback to carry around in my bag. It’s supposed to be an “emergency book” for when I was stuck waiting in lines or in traffic. I was just trying to browse the first few pages, but then the few pages became a lot of pages and a lot of pages became ALL of the pages. I finished the whole book unintentionally. So yeah, I gotta buy me another “emergency book”. Accidents happen, sorry not sorry self.

Maybe it’s the familiarity of the setting that hooked me. Back in high school, I often hang out in one of my friend’s house in Litex and I once did a school project involving a visit to Payatas. When I read about these places in the book, it’s as if suddenly, I am back in the bustling chaos of Litex market and the overwhelming stench of Payatas dumpsite.

Not only is the setting recognizable to me but also the state of our country: our poverty and the resilience of our people despite of it, the rampant corruption among the ranks in the government and the weariness of a few good men. The book is set in the 90’s but it’s disheartening that the same social issues are still plaguing our country today.

A serial killer is on the loose. The NBI (our local FBI) is racing against time and lacking their own experts, asked two priests (an anthropologist and a psychologist) to consult in the case. I think that for a foreign reader, the plot may simply resemble a Criminal Minds episode. But to me as a Filipino, I see it as much more than that. I see it as a real story of our people. (P.S. Somehow the film adaptation slipped by me, I hope I get a chance to watch it someday.)

Diversity Watch:
Filipino #ownvoices

Bonfire
by Krysten Ritter

Synopsis:

Should you ever go back?

It has been ten years since Abby Williams left home and scrubbed away all visible evidence of her small town roots. Now working as an environmental lawyer in Chicago, she has a thriving career, a modern apartment, and her pick of meaningless one-night stands.

But when a new case takes her back home to Barrens, Indiana, the life Abby painstakingly created begins to crack. Tasked with investigating Optimal Plastics, the town's most high-profile company and economic heart, Abby begins to find strange connections to Barrens’ biggest scandal from more than a decade ago involving the popular Kaycee Mitchell and her closest friends—just before Kaycee disappeared for good.

Abby knows the key to solving any case lies in the weak spots, the unanswered questions. But as Abby tries to find out what really happened to Kaycee, she unearths an even more disturbing secret—a ritual called “The Game,” which will threaten the reputations, and lives, of the community and risk exposing a darkness that may consume her.

With tantalizing twists, slow-burning suspense, and a remote, rural town of just five claustrophobic miles, Bonfire is a dark exploration of the question: can you ever outrun your past?

(cover image and synopsis lifted from Goodreads)

Genre/s: Adult Mystery
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Crown Archetype

Publication date: November 7th 2017
Source/Format: eARC/Netgalley
Purchase link: Amazon | Book Depository
My Rating: ★★★☆☆

My Thoughts:
Small town girl Abby is now an environmental lawyer in the big city but she has to come back home for an assigned case. Despite a fairly successful career, old insecurities begin to surface as Abby meets her high school tormentors again in the course of her investigation.

I breezed past through this book. Krysten Ritter can surely write, she must have learned a thing or two from playing the character of a private investigator in Jessica Jones. A sidenote: Is it weird that as I read, I picture the main character with Krysten Ritter’s face? Anyways, the plot is a passable mystery. I did not overly like it and I did not find any glaring reasons to hate it either. The protagonist is a hot mess of a heroine beneath her big city career woman facade. I just wished that there’s something more to her character that will appeal to me, either intellectually or emotionally. There’s nothing extraordinary with the story as well. I mean, people died and/or murdered and yet I never strongly felt anything. It’s still recommendable mostly if your looking for a fairly fast mystery read.

Diversity Watch:
Abby Williams – described with long dark hair

Kaycee Mitchell – Abby’s childhood friend turned high school frenemy, described as blond-haired.

Misha Dale – Kaycee’s sidekick, described as blonde and blue eyed.

Cora Allen – a member of Kaycee’s high school clique; described with big, brown eyes

Annie Baum - another member of Kaycee’s high school clique; racially indeterminate

Peter Jennings – Misha’s husband, described as ginger haired.

Brent O’Connell – Abby’s high school crush; described as blue eyed and blond haired

Dave Condor – a dropout just a year ahead of Abby in high school; racially indeterminate

Joseph “Joe” Carter – Abby’s lawyer workmate; explicit in text as a gay black man

Raj – an associate in Abby’s work; no physical description but his name suggests Indian descent.

Lilian McMann – an ex-official of the local Department of Environmental Management interviewed by Abby for the case against Optimal Plastics; she and her daughter, Amy, are described as dark skinned.

Carolina Dawes – a resident whose son,Coop is complaining of rashes. Coop is described with blue eyes and blond hair.

Tatum Klauss – a present day high school teen with scholarship from Optimal Plastics; described with green eyes

Sheriff Kahn – town police; racially indeterminate.

Watch You Burn
by Amanda Searcy

Synopsis:

Jenny didn't want to move to the creepy, possibly haunted town with her dad. But the cops are on to her, and the only way she can protect herself is by moving as far away from her hometown as possible and staying out of trouble.

But even after she moves, Jenny still gets the itch. The itch to light a match and then watch it burn.

It's something she hasn't been able to stop, ever since an accident years ago. Now, in a new town, Jenny has the strange feeling that someone is watching her every move. Will her arsonist ways be exposed? Or is the burning truth deep inside her a greater danger?

(cover image and synopsis lifted from Goodreads)

Genre/s: YA Mystery
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Delacorte Press

Publication date: October 23rd 2018
Source/Format: eARC/Netgalley
Purchase link: Amazon | Book Depository
My Rating: ★★☆☆☆

My Thoughts:
“Twigs pop and crackle under my feet, like I’m walking on a field of brittle bones.” The opening line of the book has such strong imagery that drew me in. Unfortunately, I still found myself struggling to finish it. The plot is so slow to start. I’m already on the 60% mark when things got interesting. I imagine that other readers might’ve probably DNFed it by then. I quite liked the ending but getting there is too tedious a task.

I don’t mind that Jenny is an unlikable character. My problem is that aside from Jenny, almost all of the broadly drawn characters are weirdly secretive about their past lives. It’s too obvious to me that this was done not to add layers to these supporting characters but only so I am kept in the dark for as long as the plot needs me to be. It’s as if the book didn’t want me to participate in solving the mystery. The result is that yes, the book kept me guessing but no, it wasn’t fun.

Diversity Watch:

Setting: New Mexico, USA

Jenny Breland – yellow haired/blond

Ben – Jenny’s love interest; black hair and brown eyes

Ro – Jenny’s new friend; bleached blond

Kara Johnston – Jenny’s other new friend; green eyes and mousey brown hair

Monica – architect of the motel construction project and new girlfriend of Jenny’s dad; blonde

Mike Vargas – developer of the motel construction project and Ben’s uncle; dark hair, deep brown eyes

Cam Vargas – Mike’s son and Ben’s cousin; gel-slicked black hair

Teresa – Jenny’s homeroom teacher; wild, curly hair

Allen – a wannabe cop who has a crush on Jenny; blue eyes

I'd love to hear from you!

Tell me the best mystery books you've read this year.

Review: Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful by Arwen Elys Dayton

2018-12-10T12:43:00.000+08:00

Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful
by Arwen Elys Dayton

Synopsis:

For fans of television shows Black Mirror and Westworld, this compelling, mind-bending novel is a twisted look into the future, exploring how far we will go to remake ourselves into the perfect human specimen and what it means to be human at all.

Set in our world, spanning the near to distant futures, Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful is a novel made up of six interconnected stories that ask how far we will go to remake ourselves into the perfect human specimens, and how hard that will push the definition of "human."

This extraordinary work explores the amazing possibilities of genetic manipulation and life extension, as well as the ethical quandaries that will arise with these advances. The results range from the heavenly to the monstrous. Deeply thoughtful, poignant, horrifying, and action-packed, Arwen Elys Dayton's Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful is groundbreaking in both form and substance.

(cover image and synopsis lifted from Goodreads)

Series: Standalone
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Publication date: December 4th 2018
Source/Format: eARC/Netgalley
Purchase links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
My Rating: ★★★★☆

My Thoughts:
“Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful” is not cookie-cutter YA sci fi. Comprised of six interconnecting short stories each set farther and farther along in the future, the totality of the book makes it hard to pinpoint for what it is. It did not feel like a straight up novel nor an anthology neither. Maybe it’s a mix of both, with bits of dystopic elements. A literary Princess Monster Wife, please excuse the Adventure Time reference. A dystoanthonovelogy, perhaps? Ha-ha! My silliness is laughable but wait until you learn what humans call and make themselves into in the imagined future of this book.

The first part is about a twin brother and sister, one of whom is about to harvest the organs of the other in order to live longer. The second is about a lovesick turned vengeful android. The third part is the conversion story of a religious body purist zealot into a religious body modification zealot. The fourth is about a dolphin boy. The fifth is about a sick boy who underwent a deep frozen sleep in hopes of a cure in the future only to be awakened a prisoner of war and be turned into a cyborg slave instead. And the sixth is a doomsday of sorts, the end of the future as future humans know it. The characters from each story and the stories as well could not be more different from each other. And yet, and yet they still connect.

Better still is the wealth of imagination and the richness in details of these stories. The humans of this world as the title suggests never cease to want to become stronger, faster and more beautiful. In the near future, they finally discovered how to delete diseases in our DNA. Humans can edit or modify themselves so they can have increased brain function and lower sleep requirement. I mean, what a time to be alive, right?! Later body modifications becomes routinary as applying one’s makeup on a face. And some body modifications become just like that; for cosmetic purposes only. Want a unicorn horn with rainbow aural projections? Hells yeah, why not, you can totally do that! Enter politics and religion and soon you have factions of pro and anti modification. You can see the shift of humanity’s perspective from looking down to humans with modified body parts to exalting humans with modified body parts to god-like status. And you can see how humans can spectacularly f*ck up science by treating it like a commodity or by using it against each other or by othering each other. (Yeah, there is much othering in this book just like these days. Humans are disgusting then, now and in the future, TBH.) Eventually, humans become too arrogant with their beauty. And you know what they say: pride comes before the fall.

The stories are a mix of 1st person and 3rd person. Sidenote for me, I discovered that my favorites are in 1st person: the twins, android girl and dolphin boy. Each story ends in a way that makes the story arc complete but also makes me want for more. It takes our characters out from of a bleak plight but it fades to black just before the first rays of sunshine start to appear. And because they are short stories, there is not enough pages to get to know the characters better but somehow it does not matter. Most of them are caught in the crux of yet another shift in humanity and thus they are thrown into a state of confusion and their decisions push the action and adventure. I guess the main conflict of these stories is humanity’s hubris. In a restless chase to be better, moral anchors and consequences are thrown out of the window. These consequences affect our characters and their motivations are basic things like simply surviving or getting their identities back or having a meaningful life.

The tug between a hopeful and an anxiety-ridden future of this book is not entirely hard to believe. Reading it feels like holding up a magic mirror and seeing what we could become. “Stronger, Faster and More Beautiful” is imaginative, cohesive and more importantly, reflective of our own past and present.

Diversity Watch:

Evan and Julia Weary – semi-identical twins described as red haired.

Reverend Tad Tadd – described with tan skin, thick wavy black hair and dark eyes.

Milla – the android girl, racially indeterminate.

Gabriel Phillips – Milla’s crush, described as all blond, with dark brown eyes.

Alexios – the dolphin boy, racially indeterminate.

Jake – frozen and woken up to be turned into a cyborg slave, racially indeterminate.

Kostya – Jake’s Russian friend and fellow cyborg slave; explicit in text that he is gay.

Yulia Boykov – a Russian girl who helped Jake and Kostya escape; described with long hair blond at the ends but very dark at the roots.

Starlock – described with deep, rich brown skin and dark eyes that are almost black.

Luck – described as light skinned, blue eyed and blond haired.

I’d love to hear from you!

If you are a human of a future with brain and body modifications possible, would you go for it or not? I’d probably opt not to have wings or extra limbs but I’d consider all the reading I can do with an enhanced brain and a lower sleep requirement.

PH Blog Tour: Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix by Julie C. Dao (Review+Giveaway)

2018-11-06T11:00:00.000+08:00

I have immensely adored Forest of a Thousand Lanterns (FoTL) so I am more than happy to be part of the crew of Filipino bloggers to promote it’s sequel, Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix (KoBP).

Kudos to Erika of The Nocturnal Fey and Rafael of The Royal Polar Bear Reads who organized this blog tour and who also hosted a successful Twitter party last October 27. Check the hashtag #FPBChat to see what went down with that online event graced by Julie C. Dao’s presence herself.

But first, let’s check what Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix is all about.

About Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix

This fairy tale retelling lives in a mystical world inspired by the Far East, where the Dragon Lord and the Serpent God battle for control of the earthly realm; it is here that the flawed heroine of Forest of a Thousand Lanterns finally meets her match. An epic fantasy finale to the Rise of the Empress novels.

Princess Jade has grown up in exile, hidden away in a monastery while her stepmother, the ruthless Xifeng, rules as empress of Feng Lu. But the empire is in distress and its people are sinking into poverty and despair. Even though Jade doesn't want the crown, she knows she is the only one who can dethrone the empress and set the world right. Ready to reclaim her place as rightful heir, Jade embarks on a quest to raise the Dragon Lords and defeat Xifeng and the Serpent God once and for all. But will the same darkness that took Xifeng take Jade, too? Or will she find the strength within to save herself, her friends, and her empire?

Set in an East Asian-inspired fantasy world filled with breathtaking pain and beauty, Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix is filled with dazzling magic, powerful prose, and characters readers won't soon forget.

Fans of Stealing Snow, Red Queen, and The Wrath and the Dawn will hungrily devour this page-turning read.

Series: Rise of the Empress #2

Publisher: Philomel Books
ISBN: 1524738336
Genre: Fantasy, Retellings, Young Adult
Publication date: November 6th 2018
Purchase links: Amazon | Kobo | iBooks | Book Depository | Barnes & Noble
Also locally available at National Bookstore: Hardcover | Trade Paperback

About Julie

Julie C. Dao (www.juliedao.com) is a proud Vietnamese-American who was born in upstate New York. She studied medicine in college, but came to realize blood and needles were her Kryptonite. By day, she worked in science news and research; by night, she wrote books about heroines unafraid to fight for their dreams, which inspired her to follow her passion of becoming a published author. Forest of a Thousand Lanterns is her debut novel. Julie lives in New England. Follow her on Twitter @jules_writes.

Find out more: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

I ended my review for FoTL hoping and waiting for a worthy adversary for the evil Empress that is Xifeng. And now with the release of KoBP, Jade of the Great Forest finds the courage to step up and lay her claim for the throne. So I thought that it’s only fitting that for the purposes of reviewing KoBP, I would also bring up and talk about FoTL and do a sort book standoff between the two.

Take a moment to look at these pretties side by side:

Now let’s get ready to rumble!!!

On worldbuilding
Geographically speaking, KoBP upped it's game! FoTL brought us to the bustling Imperial City and the inner palace of the Kingdom of Great Forest. I noted in my review then how I hoped that the next book would bring out the other kingdoms as well. And KoBP did not disappoint. We were given glimpses of the other kingdoms as Jade and her crew pass them by on her quest for the five magical relics left by the dragon gods who created their world.

In FoTL, we learn intimately about the scheming and politicking of the court ladies and the eunuchs inside the palace. KoBP zoomed out to the larger picture and showed that Xifeng’s ways of establishing control through sheer terror is a not sustainable way of governing the people.

In FoTL, Xifeng is aided by dark magic on her rise to the ranks of Imperial Court. In KoBP, we learned about the good magic of this world. We learned that a mother’s love is a powerful magic that could transcend even death. We get to know about the five magical relics which if united by someone with dragon’s blood could summon a host of a powerful army sent by the gods themselves. And then there’s this cloak stitched with a detailed map of the FengLu empire that could also give helpful hints and clues to Jade and her crew. (As a potterhead, I recognize the influence of some Potterverse magic stuff here like the power of a mother’s love, chasing after the the deathly hollows and the marauder’s map.)

Xifeng versus Jade
Now I want to make it clear that this is not a case of pitting a woman against another woman. This is just me assessing my feelings for these two equally strong characters. Let’s proceed.

Both FoTL and KoBP placed their protagonists in humble beginnings. Xifeng is a peasant who ran away from her abusive aunt to chase a foretold destiny of greatness. Jade spent her childhood banished from the castle living among the monks with no royalty treatment. At the beginning of KoBP, Jade is being summoned by Xifeng to the palace for some sinister plotting in the guise of celebrating Jade’s 18th birthday. Backstory-wise, FoTL started off stronger than KoBP. This is just me but I wished that Jade was not aware of her lineage at first and the she’ll have some Hagrid-like character knock on the monastery doors to reveal to her, “Yer a princess, Jade!” Okay, no? Eh, that’s just probably my potterhead heart talking.

Xifeng’s motivation is driven by her hunger for power. She is an unstoppable force who did not mind committing murders and eating bloody hearts just to get the throne. Jade’s motivation is for a far nobler cause. Upon seeing the citizens of the empire greatly suffer from Xifeng’s tyranny, she reluctantly accepts the the task of challenging Xifeng for the throne. I enjoy descent to madness and reluctant hero tropes so both are wins for me.

Just like the verse inscribed in a painting in the palace, Jade is a mouse to Xifeng’s lion. I am more drawn by the charisma of Xifeng’s personality. But honestly, we all have that grandiose image of ourselves that are often far from who we really are. In real life, I am more like Jade. Secluded for a long time in a monastery, Jade navigates the wild world through her knowledge of the folktales passed down to her by her nursemaid, Amah. And I am so Jade in that I feel so little sometimes and everyday is about finding the courage to face a cruel world, if you know what I mean?! Like Jade, I also try to expand my limited perspective and experience by relying on the stories that I have read from books. I think I like Xifeng more than Jade but I definitely can relate more to Jade than to Xifeng.

Wei versus Koichi
It’s time for a battle between the love interests. Wei is a strong, loyal and all but I didn’t like him in FoTL when he showed these acts of displaying ownership of Xifeng. On the other hand, Koichi is a sweet cinnamon roll that I want for myself. He is first and foremost a good and supportive friend to Jade. KoBP might be short of six more actual dwarves but I think one dwarf with a big as heart as Koichi is good enough.

Oh in case you're wondering, Wei definitely comes back here in KoBP so watch out for that!

Rise to power
Xifeng sacrificed a lot just to get to her throne. She abandoned people not without great sadness, like her lover Wei and her friend Shiro, when they do not serve her interests anymore. Yes, she was aided by dark magic but she still has to do the thinking and the dirty work. On the other hand, Jade emerges from a sheltered life to chase after magical relics who will aid her in the bid for the throne. The magical relics just felt too convenient for me. I know that Jade did the dirty work, too. Man, she encountered a lot of hardships like almost dying of thirst in the desert and being poisoned by an apple (Tee-hee, you should know that this is coming, hello Snow White retelling!) but I feel that Xifeng suffered more and clawed her way up harder than Jade.

Jade as the only living person with the dragon blood in her veins and is the only person who can unite the magical relics and summon an army from the dragon gods came off as too special snowflake-y for me. I thought that Xifeng had already smashed the crap that only royalty should sit on the throne. Maybe it’s just my pleb heart but I like Xifeng’s rise to power narrative more than Jade’s.

Lessons learned
You know how I always want to pick up lessons from stories and both FoTL and KoBP is a gold mine of great themes and messages that are all too important.

Both FoTL and KoBP showed that there are different types of female strength. Xifeng’s strength is mostly in her beauty and ambition. Jade’s strength is in her wisdom. And Wren’s (Aaargh, how dare me for almost forgetting to mention Wren. I love her, she is the funny one!) and The Crimson Army’s strength is in their brute fighting skills.

I realize now after reading the complete duology that there is nothing wrong with Xifeng cultivating her looks to harness power. What was wrong was the murky moral path that she chose and the way that she used terror to govern the Feng Lu empire. Xifeng is also a cautionary tale that we must never abandon our true friends for ambition.

Like I said, Jade’s fondness for folktales resonates to my own bookworm heart. This is a quote from the book that I really like: “Pulling out the threads of another’s story and applying them to your own life is the mark of a queen.” There is this mindset that being meek is weak and KoBP proved that crap wrong. I also love how in the book Jade recognized her insecurity and realized that she needed help. Unlike Xifeng, she learned how to accept help from her friends. Because you know sometimes in real life, asking for help is the most courageous thing that you can do.

I am amazed how fantasy books can reflect our real lives. The Rise of the Empire duology is such an experience that you should not miss. Personally, it's a gem that I was able to see myself in Jade. Reading about someone like me who is able to overthrow an evil empire gives me hope that I can also conquer my own real-life battles.

Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule

Don't forget to follow the tour and hop on these blogs on their designated stops:

November 5th:
Erika - The Nocturnal Fey
Rafael - The Royal Polar Bear Reads
Soleil - Queen Soleil

November 6th:
Jennilyn - Rurouni Jenni Reads
Erica Mae - Living a Hundred Lives
Jen - Jen D Bibliophile

November 7th:
Camille - Camillea Reads
Bianca - The Ultimate Fangirl
Vivian - Vanilla Angel Pages

November 8th:
Myrth - Cliste Bella
Jenny - Levicorpvs Blog
Dani - dmcireads

November 9th:
Shaine - Wanderer in Neverland
Leslie - Bibliophilekid

November 10th:
Joel - Descendant of Poseidon Reads
Jon - Wander with Jon
Karina - Afire Pages

I'd love to hear from you!
Have you read the Forest of a Thousand Lanterns and what were your thoughts? What are you most excited about Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix? Which other Snow White re-tellings are your favorites?

Review: The Witch Elm by Tana French

2018-11-03T21:12:00.001+08:00

The Witch Elm
by Tana French

Synopsis:
Toby is a happy-go-lucky charmer who's dodged a scrape at work and is celebrating with friends when the night takes a turn that will change his life: he surprises two burglars who beat him and leave him for dead. Struggling to recover from his injuries, beginning to understand that he might never be the same man again, he takes refuge at his family's ancestral home to care for his dying uncle Hugo. Then a skull is found in the trunk of an elm tree in the garden - and as detectives close in, Toby is forced to face the possibility that his past may not be what he has always believed.

The Witch Elm asks what we become, and what we're capable of, when we no longer know who we are.

(cover image and synopsis lifted from Goodreads)

Series: Standalone
Publisher: Viking
Publication date: October 9th 2018
Source/Format: eARC/Netgalley
Purchase links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | Book Depository
My Rating: ★★★★☆

My Thoughts:
Bollocking ballsacks, I just lifted my nose from a very long book! My eyes are tired but it is all worth it.

Our narrator is Toby, a self-professed lucky person. He hit all the breaks in life: good looks, happy childhood, well-to do family, great girlfriend, a job that he got without working really hard for it. Basically, Toby is your standard issue of a privileged cishet white guy. Until...

Toby opened the story on the night that his luck run out. After having drinks with his mates, he went home to his apartment. Safe asleep, he was stirred awake by a couple of burglars who beat him to a pulp. The incident left him with a limp, a drooping eyelid, a slur in speech and an addled brain of fuzzy memories. For purposes of this review, I will not delve too much into details. Suffice it is to say that after that, Toby came to live with his dying beloved uncle in the family’s ancestral home. About one thirds into the book, a skull was found buried under an elm tree in their garden.

The book is more than answering the questions of whose skull is under the tree and why is it there. It’s also about cracking through Toby’s surface and looking for what else is underneath. The book is keen on exploring the character of its protagonist as well as getting on with furthering the whodunit plot. It totally gets what I’ve said before about making the characters human first before making them murder suspects or amateur sleuths .

Toby was not a jerk but I also don’t think that he was written to be a likable character. His dream was so basic: build a family of his own and live a good life in a white Georgian house. But what he got instead –stripped off of his dashing looks and charm– was an opportunity to take a long hard look on himself and his perspective of the people around him without the tainted, rose-colored lens of privilege. Now a victim of violence himself, he realized that his past built-in easy high school life made him shortsighted to the traumatizing teenage troubles of his less popular cousins: gay Leon and nerdy Susanna.

“Probably the memory should have hit me with a rush of shame, guilt, horror, but all I could feel was an immense, bottomless sadness. It had been such a small thing to do. Kids pulled worse pranks on each other every day, thousands of them. I had thought it meant nothing at all; it should have meant nothing at all. And yet, somehow, here we all were, and everything was ruined.”

Although I did not necessarily liked Toby, I appreciate the experience of seeing through his eyes. Because I am a woman of color from a third world country, his is a valuable perspective that I would not otherwise have in my own life. His conversations and moral arguments against his cousins are insightful. His self-reflection, philosophical. I even came to empathize with his plight. No one, even the privileged, deserves what happened to him. I grew anxious for his well-being as he began to descend into disintegration and dangerous psyche. I pity him in his darkest hours and rooted for his redemption.

“Always one more miracle, always one more chance. Pull me from the earthquake rubble, weeks in, dust-coated to a white statue and just one hand lifting feebly, parade me high in triumph. Pull me from the river streaming like a merman, work on me past hope, till the cough and splutter finally come. I’m lucky, my luck will hold.”

This is my first time to read a Tana French. I know that she is a big name in crime fiction and if her other works are as character-driven as this, then I would surely want to read more from her.

Diversity Watch:
Setting: Dublin, Ireland

Toby Hennessy – 28 years old. Described himself as good-looking, with thick smooth fair hair, very blue eyes, and the kind of open, boyish face.

Melissa – Toby’s girlfriend. Described with ruffled blonde hair and a sprinkle of freckles

Gerry Martin – the detective assigned to investigate the burglary in Toby’s apartment. Described as in his fifties, at least six foot, with pleasant blue eyes.

Colm Bannon – Gerry Martin’s partner. Described as younger and skinnier than Martin, with ginger hair.

Susanna – Toby’s cousin. Described with red-gold hair.

Tom – Susanna’s husband. Described by Toby as medium height and medium stocky and medium blond and medium handsome.

Leon – Toby’s cousin. Explicit in text that he is gay.

Mike Rafferty – the detective assigned for investigating the skull found in the Hennessy ancestral home. He is in his early forties. Physical described as tall with a thin rangy build, rough dark hair and long, lean bony face. His eyes are deep-set and an odd light shade of hazel, almost golden.

Faye – Susanna’s friend in their teens. Described with wide blue eyes.

Declan McGinty – Toby’s bestfriend. Described as a white-passing Colombian, stocky and tightly wound, with glasses and a mop of unruly copper hair.

Sean – Toby’s other bestfriend, Described as a big guy, six foot two, with a broad open face and rugby muscles starting to soften.

Tiernan – an artist from Toby’s work. Described as lanky, long chinned with vintage horn-rimmed glasses

Richard – Toby’s boss in the art gallery. Described with blue eyes.

Toby’s physical description of one of the burglars is skinny, white, acned maybe around twenty.

A nurse at the hospital is mentioned to be Indian.

I'd love to hear from you!
Are you a Tana French fan? Which of her works had you read and would definitely recommend to me? Do you have an experience that you particularly remember as a turning point in your life? Share with me in the comments.

Review: A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult

2018-10-28T15:14:00.000+08:00

A Spark of Light
by Jodi Picoult

Synopsis:
The warm fall day starts like any other at the Center—a women’s reproductive health services clinic—its staff offering care to anyone who passes through its doors. Then, in late morning, a desperate and distraught gunman bursts in and opens fire, taking all inside hostage.

After rushing to the scene, Hugh McElroy, a police hostage negotiator, sets up a perimeter and begins making a plan to communicate with the gunman. As his phone vibrates with incoming text messages he glances at it and, to his horror, finds out that his fifteen-year-old daughter, Wren, is inside the clinic.

But Wren is not alone. She will share the next and tensest few hours of her young life with a cast of unforgettable characters: A nurse who calms her own panic in order save the life of a wounded woman. A doctor who does his work not in spite of his faith but because of it, and who will find that faith tested as never before. A pro-life protester disguised as a patient, who now stands in the cross hairs of the same rage she herself has felt. A young woman who has come to terminate her pregnancy. And the disturbed individual himself, vowing to be heard.

Told in a daring and enthralling narrative structure that counts backward through the hours of the standoff, this is a story that traces its way back to what brought each of these very different individuals to the same place on this fateful day.

Jodi Picoult—one of the most fearless writers of our time—tackles a complicated issue in this gripping and nuanced novel. How do we balance the rights of pregnant women with the rights of the unborn they carry? What does it mean to be a good parent? A Spark of Light will inspire debate, conversation . . . and, hopefully, understanding.

(cover image and synopsis lifted from Goodreads)

Series: Standalone
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Publication date: October 2nd 2018
Source/Format: eARC/Netgalley
Purchase links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | Book Depository
My Rating: ★★★★☆

My Thoughts:

I am not one to shy away from books that talk about things that might challenge my preconceptions. The latest YA contemporary that recently shook my core in a good way tackled such a divisive topic – the right to abortion of a rape victim. Honestly, I am currently not on either side and I still have a lot of questions going through my mind. I want to know more about the topic and reading about it when it’s integrated in fiction form is the best non-boring way to do it. This is why I am excited that the latest from Jodi Picoult (of the My Sister’s Keeper fame) is about a hostage standoff in an abortion clinic.

The unfolding of A Spark of Flight relied on its distinct style and format. The chapters are broken up one hour apart, arranged backwards. The first chapter starts at 5PM and the last chapter is at 8AM, with an epilogue time stamped at 6PM. Within that timeframe, the reader moves in and out of the thoughts of various characters involved in the hostage drama. These thoughts leap smoothly from one character to another in a series of vignettes: bursts of flashbacks, snapshots of memories and present-day thoughts.

Even though there is a large cast of characters to get into, I found it easy to see through each character’s eyes. These large cast of characters felt lived-in and multi-dimensional which a huge feat on itself. I appreciate how the book represented people from both ends of the pro-choice and pro-life spectrum. The book conveys that abortion is not a clear-cut black and white issue – that the lives of the people involved especially women are a thousand shades of gray. Women who opt for abortion are not bad people. And not all people who are against abortion are judgmental or extremists. One’s belief does not necessary cancel out another’s belief.

The book’s sentiments are not unfounded. On the author’s note at the back of the book, the author mentioned that in writing the book, she interviewed pro-life advocates and women who had terminated pregnancy. She also observed the abortion process of three patients in varying stages of pregnancy and shadowed a real life abortion doctor. She is armed with facts and stats and even cited abortion laws in different U.S. states. That level of extensive research translated in her book resulting in a realistic and nuanced work.

There is a stray plotline in the book involving another teenager in a different place away from the hostage crisis. I kinda guessed it early how the girl’s story will converge with the hostage drama but the book insisted in revealing it further along. The girl took abortion pills bought online and she profusely bled then ended up in hospital arrest as a result. This thread is not as tense and interesting compared with the harrowing hostage scenes in the abortion clinic but it serves the purpose of tackling the legal side of things through the two opposing lawyers discussing the girl’s case.

The book is immersive but I would not say that it is unputdownable. The vignette style allowed me to drop the book without breaking too much on the continuity of the story. This is perfect for readers who don't have the luxury of time to read a book in one sitting. As I delve deeper through the backwards timeline, there are discoveries on the interconnections of these characters who are otherwise stranger to each other. There are surprises, lies, untold I love you’s even among the supposedly close and intimate characters. I only know Jodi Picoult as the author of the book which the film My Sister’s Keeper is based on. (I watched the film but not yet read the book.) I remember how a tearjerker that movie was. This book did not attain that level of high emotions for me but nevertheless I would love to read more Jodi Picoult books in the future.

Diversity Watch:

Setting: Mississippi, U.S.A

Hugh McElroy – the hostage negotiator. 40 years old. Physically described with black hair and blue eyes.

Wren McElroy – a hostage, Hugh’s daughter. 15 years old. Described as freckled and blue eyed.

Bex McElroy – Hugh’s spinster older sister and Wren’s aunt.

George Goddard – the hostage taker. Middle-aged. Described as white, brown haired.

Olive Lemay – a hostage, pale skinned. 68 years old. Explicit in text that she is a lesbian living with her wife, Peg

Joy Perry – a hostage, described as blonde and freckled.

Joe – Joy’s lover, described as a Barack Obama lookalike. Another description says he is black with blue eyes.

Janine Deguerre – a hostage, wearing a blonde wig but has actually a dark hair pixie cut.

Dr. Louie Ward – a hostage, an abortion doctor, explicit in text that he is African American.

Izzy Walsh – a hostage, a nurse, described with red hair.

Allen – leader of Right to Life grup protesting outside the Center, described with florid cheeks and broad belly

Rachel Greenbaum – admin assistant at the Center, described as pink haired.

Vonita – owner of the Center, described as dark skinned with a towering braid of black and red

Mandy Du Ville– a defense lawyer, explicit in text that she is African American.

Willie Cork – an ambitious prosecutor, described as dark haired.

Harriet – a nurse, described with brown eyes.

Graciela – a social worker, described with long beautiful black hair reaching her waist.

I'd love to hear from you! Have you read this book yet? What are your thoughts about it? Are you a Jodi Picoult fan? Which of her works are your favorites? What other books about abortion would you recommend me to check out?

Review: The Lady Killer by Masako Togawa

2018-10-05T10:28:00.000+08:00

The Lady Killer
by Masako Togawa
Translated from Japanese by Simon Grove

Synopsis:
A dizzying tale of lust and murder, from one of Japan’s greatest mystery writers.

A hunter prowls the night spots of Shinjuku
But he’s the one walking into a trap…

Ichiro Honda leads a double life: by day a devoted husband and a diligent worker, by night he moves through the shadow world of Tokyo’s cabaret bars and nightclubs in search of vulnerable women to seduce and then abandon. But when a trail of bodies seems to appear in his wake, the hunter becomes the prey and Ichiro realises he has been caught in a snare. Has he left it too late to free himself before time runs out?

(cover image and synopsis lifted from Goodreads)

Series: Standalone
Publisher: Pushkin Vertigo
Publication date: October 2nd 2018 (first published 1963)
Source/Format: eARC/Edelweiss
Purchase links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | Book Depository
Trigger warning: suicide
My Rating: ★★★☆☆

My Thoughts:
The Lady Killer’s first point of view is that of Keiko Obana. She is recounting a night in a bar when she met a man with a velvety voice. She sang with him, drank wine with him, slept with him that night. Six months after, she is carrying his child. She hasn’t heard from him since but that one-night stand was one dear sweet memory for her and she doesn’t blame him for anything that happened. Then she jumped from a tall window and fell to her death.

Next we met Keiko’s older spinster sister, Tsuneko. She is meeting with the police investigator in charge of Keiko’s case. The police told her, but not the press, about Keiko’s pregnancy. Said police also noticed a mole on her nose. Tsuneko believes that the pregnancy is the reason of Keiko’s suicide and launches an investigation of her own to discover the identity of the man who irresponsibly seduced her sister.

Then we get to meet the man himself, Ichiro Honda. He works weekdays in Tokyo and goes to his wife in Osaka on weekends. During a work day, he works as a computer programmer. During the night, he prowls the city for women. Women are mere objects of his conquests, all recorded down his diary. He feels good about himself but not until a string of women he slept with were murdered.

What follows is an exercise of who framed Ichiro Honda played by his lawyers. Shinji, on his senior Hatanaka’s orders, gears up to meet a list of people who can shine a light on the case. All signs point to the woman with a mole on her nose.

The Lady Killer is a fairly remarkable read set in 1960’s Japan. I love the authenticity of the setting. The very Asian culture of keeping a facade that everything’s okay but really it’s not is so real in Ichiro and his marriage. Japanese workers’ strong work ethic is exhibited by Shinji and Hanaka’s commitment to cracking the case.

I find it hard to root for any of the characters though. The Obana sisters are just inciting incidents. It’s hard to feel sorry for Ichiro Honda because although the book explained the root of his actions, he’s still a real scumbag at the end of the day. The lawyers who were the only people with proper motivation aside from the killer arrived too little too late in the picture.

I liked the setting up parts with the narration from the Obana sisters and Ichiro Honda more than the falling action part narrated by Shinji the lawyer. Their stories are stories with interesting things happening while that of Shinji the lawyer is a boring procedural. Shinji’s investigation methods are so dated (I mean what would I expect, it’s the 60’s?!) with repetitive results pointing to the woman with a mole in her nose. I appreciate the writing that sparkles here and there. There is this brilliant way the book displayed the moral polarity between Ichiro and Shinji with how each feels about the scent of the city at night. The former basks in the “smell of darkness and neon” while the latter cringes at the “scent of sexual desire and immorality”.

And just when I thought that I will die of boredom from Shinji’s investigation, the final reveal surprised me with a psychological shocker. As I said, all signs point to the woman with a mole on her nose and yes she is the lady killer but nothing is quite what it seemed.

I'd love to hear from you!
Do you read books translated from Japanese or any other languages? Which ones are favorites that you can recommend for me to check out?

10 Author-Character Lookalikes

2018-10-02T14:42:00.000+08:00

Photo by elen aivali on Unsplash

CONFESSION TIME! The main reason that I am not big in participating book events is because I am extremely uncomfortable mingling with crowds of strangers. On the few book events that I have attended and recapped here on the blog, my sister was always with me. (Sissy, I love you. You are my rock.) I cannot always drag her to events tho. Thus one time, I braved going to a panel ALONE and WHAT HORROR! I was a BIG panicky mess inside. I was calming myself, taking deep breaths and half-wishing that I become invisible the entire time. The Gryffindor in me managed to ask questions to the panel and to quickly say hi to some book bloggers but the ordeal exhausted me so much to the point that on the way home tears are leaking incessantly down my face for no apparent reason. I am not certain if that was just my chronic shyness or if I am suffering from a case of social anxiety disorder (Full disclosure: I am not diagnosed). One thing I’m sure of is I don’t intend for a public meltdown to happen anytime soon. SO HELLO HERMIT LIFE!

BUT! Although I avoid face to face small talks with strangers (including authors) like the plague, I love listening to what different people have to say. I can do that thru blog-hopping, hanging around Twitter, and of course with reading books. Today I wanna share a few of the authors that I would NOT want to meet but whose books I would very much love to read. Notice that this list features #ownvoices YA books whose authors closely resemble the look of the main characters in their book covers. Because inside the convoluted folds of my brain, READING ABOUT THESE CHARACTERS = MEETING THE AUTHORS THEMSELVES. I know, I think creepy but also pretty cool, right?

I see that mirroring of mole above the lip!

Take that bangs off and they are one and the same.

Same fierce eyes.

Both have a penchant for dangling earrings.

Also, I have a copy of WDMR that I haven’t picked up yet what’s wrong with me?!

Gorg smiles.

Long luscious locks.

Read those eyes: I got a secret or two to tell ya.

Those modelesque cheek bones! THE HAIR!

Lara Jean = Jenny Han

Please don’t give me flak for not yet diving into my copy of this. Just a smidge of fear of the hype monster, I guess.

A bit far but it’s not hard to tell the likeness.

I am linking up this post on Top Ten Tuesday hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl (this week's prompt is "Authors I’d Love to Meet") and on 2018 Discussion Challenge hosted by Feed Your Fiction Addiction and It Starts at Midnight.

I'd love to hear from you!
Have you read any of these books? Are you a frequent attendee of book signing events? Let me live vicariously through you and share your unforgettable happy encounters with authors. Or drop a link of your TTT post in the comments so I may come and visit.

Review: What They Don't Know by Nicole Maggi

2018-09-29T10:04:00.000+08:00

What They Don't Know
by Nicole Maggi

Synopsis:
Three secrets. One decision. A friendship that will change everything.

Mellie has always been the reliable friend, the good student, the doting daughter. But when an unspeakable act leads her to withdraw from everyone she loves, she is faced with a life-altering choice―a choice she must face alone.

Lise stands up―and speaks out―for what she believes in. And when she notices Mellie acting strangely, she gets caught up in trying to save her...all while trying to protect her own secret. One that might be the key to helping Mellie.

Told through Mellie and Lise's journal entries, this powerful, emotional novel chronicles Mellie's struggle to decide what is right for her and the unbreakable bond formed by the two girls on their journey.

(cover image and synopsis lifted from Goodreads)

Series: Standalone
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Expected Publication date: October 2nd 2018
Source/Format: eARC/Netgalley
Pre-order links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Indiebound | Book Depository
My Rating: ★★★★★

My Thoughts:
The journal writing was supposed to be just a school assignment. But for two months, it became a sort of Mellie’s confidante and Lise’s sound-board. In Mellie’s first journal entry, she revealed that she was raped and...wait...I think I’ve said too much already. I have to stop giving any background ‘coz it’s much better to dive blind into this book. Fortunately the Goodreads synopsis is very vague, so I will also try to be vague as much as I can to avoid spoiling anything.

The synopsis hinted at some secrets surrounding our characters. One such secret is that Mellie was raped. As a daughter of the mayor with tight moral values, Mellie cannot bring herself to tell anyone about it. So, she used journal-writing as her emotional outlet. Through this journaling style, the book was able to play out effective stunts of dramatic irony. As a reader, I am privy to these info and secrets before some characters do and I read in anticipation on how these characters will react when these things unfold upon them. Like, I know before Mellie and Lise know themselves that their paths SHOULD cross and they SHOULD become friends. Highlight, emphasis and all-caps for SHOULD because this friendship is simply PERFECTION. After a slow-burn build-up to their relationship, I felt rewarded for waiting for their friendship to blossom. Also, the rapist’s identity is heavily hinted at pretty early that at 11% of the book, I am pretty much sure of who he is. But the longer his identity was held unknown to the other characters, the longer the tension is for the impending family confrontation. When Mellie finally reveals it to her family, it was a glorious moment of release for me as a very invested reader.

Let’s talk about Lise, who is a dynamic character in her own way. Lise’s experiences in the book lead to her journey of self-discovery about what career she wants to pursue in the future. She is the source of a much needed comic relief and woke wisdom. Her first journal entry is a gripe about the school board that turned down her petition for a gender-neutral dress code. She is the organizer of a Women’s Day Fair in school. Being a youth activist is part of her personality. But she has her own secret which holds her back from fully helping Mellie. She became more endearing as a character when she decided to take the risk of revealing this secret just to be a real friend to Mellie. Basically, I have a big space in my heart for both girls in this book.

The most important thing about “What They Don’t Know” is how it showed me a perspective that challenged my own prejudices. The book pointed out to me that I have never ever been in Mellie’s situation before so I have no right to judge her. Yes I have my own set of beliefs, one of which is that I am a Christian. But being religious does not give me any excuse to condemn anyone for making a choice about a horrible experience that never happened to me. The overarching theme of the book is choice. Not a few times did Mellie end her journal entry with a heart-wrenching, “I don’t have a choice. Do I?” I teared up for all those times when Mellie felt ashamed, alone, isolated, and out of options. I walked into this book with a set of opinions prescribed by the social norms and walked out shookt, confused and asking: Why should us women feel awful when deciding for our own bodies?

Diversity Watch:

Setting: Colorado, USA

Mellie Rivers – racially indeterminate in text (In the book cover tho, she is blonde)

Lise Grant – physically described with green eyes with flecks of gold (She is also blonde in the book cover)

Cara Sullivan – Lise’s bestfriend, physically described with blue eyes.

Alanna – Lise’s mom, physically described with black hair and gray-blue eyes

Daphne - is Alanna’s driver. She has a baby with her wife, Dora.

Stella Jacobs-Meyer – a periphery character from ten years ago. It is mentioned that she has two dads.

Dean Frasier – a periphery character in one of Mellie’s classes. It is mentioned that he is a closet gay.

I'd love to hear from you!
Have you read this book already? If not yet, are you going to pick it up in the future? Have you had a teacher assign journal-writing to your class? What was your experience like sharing your inner-most thoughts in that journal knowing that someone else would read it?

Review: The Second Life of Ava Rivers by Faith Gardner

2018-09-20T15:03:00.000+08:00

The Second Life of Ava Rivers
by Faith Gardner

Synopsis:
Ava's disappearance was the crack in the Rivers family glacier. I wish I could explain to you how we were before, but I can't, because the before is so filmy and shadowed with the after.

The after is all Vera remembers. When her twin sister, Ava, disappeared one Halloween night, her childhood became a blur of theories, tips, and leads, but never any answers. The case made headlines, shocked Vera's Northern California community, and turned her family into tragic celebrities.
Now, at eighteen, Vera is counting down the days until she starts her new life at college in Portland, Oregon, far away from the dark cloud she and family have lived under for twelve years. But all that changes when a girl shows up at the local hospital.

Her name is Ava Rivers and she wants to go home.

Ava's return begins to mend the fractures in the Rivers family. Vera and Ava's estranged older brother returns. Vera reconnects with Max, the sweet, artistic boy from her childhood. Their parents smile again. But the questions remain: Where was Ava all these years? And who is she now?

(cover image and synopsis lifted from Goodreads)

Series: Standalone
Publisher: Razorbill
Publication date: August 28th 2018
Source/Format: eARC/Netgalley
Purchase links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | Book Depository
Trigger warning: child rape is clinically mentioned but not graphically described

My Rating: ★★★★☆

My Thoughts:
“You ever felt like you’re living in a Lifetime movie?” At least twice, the book’s characters gave reference to movies adapted from real-life kidnapped girls in Lifetime. As a person who had a fair share of watching movies the likes of "Girl in the Box" and "I Am Elizabeth Smart", I may say so that yes, “The Second Life of Ava Rivers” felt somewhat like a Lifetime movie in book form. And no, I am not saying that it is a bad thing.

The book is narrated by Vera Rivers. She is the fraternal twin sister of the titular Ava Rivers. For a long time, the shadow of Ava’s disappearance loomed large on the Rivers’ household and every member folded into each of their own despair. Dad quit his marketing job and became a basement hermit running the PR back-end of the case including the website FindAvaRivers.com. Mom became the front person and aside from bringing out fresh flyers on a regular basis, she became very involved with volunteer work. Guilt-wracked older brother Elliot decided to lead a gypsy life and is possibly a druggie. Vera practically became a furniture in her own house. Every year on Ava’s birthday, which is of course Vera’s birthday too, the family gathers in a tradition of flying balloons with sweet notes meant for Ava.

At the beginning of the book, Vera is low-key thrilled to leave soon for college in Portland. The future is such a promise, a sweet offer to bury a tragic past. But the past doesn’t wanna seem to let up that easy because just as she is packed up and has barely a week to go, Ava is found alive. She was kept captive all these years in some stranger’s attic.

The book has mystery elements blended well into a family drama. Having your family’s back is a large chunk of what the book is about. The dysfunction that has become of the Rivers house is transformed into a well-coordinated team effort to make Ava recover and well-adjusted back to their family. Vera, for one, selflessly decided to defer her enrollment to college to help Ava in almost everything. I’ve never expected to like such a passive character such as Vera. What she lacks in verve, she makes up for genuine kindness. At first, I felt that it was an odd choice to narrate from Vera’s point of view but coming now from having finished the book already, I say it’s this choice that made it effective on unraveling of what’s become of Ava Rivers.

Ava Rivers’ resilience and child-like wonder to the real world is an amalgamation of the Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay duo in another kidnapped girl film, the well-acclaimed “Room”. (I’ve watched the film but never read the book yet.) She is those two characters rolled into one and something else. That something else is what Vera (and the reader) has to figure out. While reading, I know that there’s more to what Ava is letting up but I just cannot put my finger on it. I had my guess and I thought I already knew what’s what, but the book managed to keep its secret from me before proper reveal time. And that’s one reason that made this book an enjoyable mystery read for me.

Each chapter is brief so a focus-deficient reader like me did not wear out easily. The writing is concise with graceful touches to it. Here’s a quote expressing the fragility of Ava’s recovery: “The facade of recovery, of healing is so delicate. Each joy, each horror so fleeting.” And here’s an empowering line about overcoming a painful ordeal: “Monsters live, monsters die, but survivors? They survive.” So yes the book may or may not be bordering the territory of a cheesy Lifetime TV flick, but the really important thing to note here is that I ate it all up and I liked it.

Diversity Watch:

Setting: Berkeley, California

Vera Rivers - Physical description is auburn hairs and hazel eyes. Explicit in text that Vera is bisexual. Her mom is half Mexican, half Persian.

Ava Rivers - Physical description is blonde, dusty blue eyes, olive skin.

Max Spangler - Ava’s bestfriend when they were young. Physical description is freckled brown face and blonde tipped Afro. He is bisexual.

Flora Daly - talk show host. Physical description is brown skin with layered hair.

While strolling the city, it is mentioned that there are many young Asian people in backpacks in periphery.

I'd love to hear from you!
Have you read this book yet? What are your thoughts about it? What other YA books about strong female survivors would you recommend me? Or yeah, go ahead and recommend me your favorite Lifetime movie as well.

Wandering Thoughts: Why one-star ratings are rare among book bloggers?

2018-09-15T16:46:00.000+08:00

Wandering Thoughts is where I let my mind stray, think and talk about non-routine things. This is an avenue for bookish personal stories, fun posts, musings and discussions.

In my years of blog hopping adventures, I rarely find book reviews with a one star rating. Subsequently, when I skim though user ratings in Goodreads, I noticed that one-star ratings often come from non-book blogging users. I am not sure if other book people noticed this before and already offered a reason for it. Maybe no one’s wondering or asking but still, I’d like to give my unsolicited take on why one star ratings are rare among book bloggers.

The obvious reason that I came up with is simply because book bloggers love books. We created our blogs with the goal of promoting our passion for reading. So most bloggers when we come across a not-so-excellent book, we don’t easily dismiss it as bad-bad and give it a one star. In fact when writing reviews, we try to be objective and come from the “it’s just not for me” angle. Or we try to look for any redemptive attributes that other readers might like about the book. For the record, I do not find joy in writing negative reviews. My negative feeling for a book is more of a disappointment rather than an intense hate. I am sure that this is the case with most book bloggers as well.

And this is where I come with my next reason. Book bloggers have developed a heightened sense of compassion to authors who spent blood, sweat and tears to deliver their book babies out in the world. Most of them, especially for #ownvoices authors, have to confront past traumas that they’d rather forget because they believe that they have an important message to say though their books. I think because of our experiences in blogging, we know how hard it is to write and create quality content for our blogs. Personally, If I didn’t quite like a book, I can’t bring myself to just recklessly declare, “Meh, it wasn’t that great. One star rating and off with the author’s head!!!” I am not that heartless. I mean, if I feel that the author genuinely meant well, I mention that merit in my review. The book will still get a negative review from me but I feel that a one star is stretching the bitchiness too far.

In my review policy, a one star rating means I didn’t like a book and I thought that I would give it to books that I DNFed. The funny thing is that I have yet to learn the art of quitting when a book is not working for me. So the one star rating is pretty much a non-existent gremlin in this book blog. I am not saying that we get rid of the one star rating because we rarely use it. I think we can harness the power of its rarity by giving it to evil books that actively cause harm. Those bad-bad books that promote misogyny, bigotry, culture misrepresentation, erasure of minorities, and other vile things. Now, these levels of malevolence deserve that shitty one star.

I am linking up this post on 2018 Discussion Challenge hosted by Feed Your Fiction Addiction and It Starts at Midnight.

I'd love to hear from you!
Have you observed this rare one star rating among book bloggers phenomenon as well? Do you agree with my explanations? Do you have any additional reasons why this is so? What kind of books do you think deserve a one star rating?

Review: We Regret to Inform You by Ariel Kaplan

2018-09-10T12:29:00.000+08:00

We Regret to Inform You
by Ariel Kaplan

Synopsis:
Mischa Abramavicius is a walking, talking, top-scoring, perfectly well-rounded college application in human form. So when she's rejected not only by the Ivies, but her loathsome safety school, she is shocked and devastated. All the sacrifices her mother made to send her to prep school, the late nights cramming for tests, the blatantly resume-padding extracurriculars (read: Students for Sober Driving) ... all that for nothing.

As Mischa grapples with the prospect of an increasingly uncertain future, she questions how this could have happened in the first place. Is it possible that her transcript was hacked? With the help of her best friend and sometimes crush, Nate, and a group of eccentric techies known as "The Ophelia Syndicate," Mischa launches an investigation that will shake the quiet community of Blanchard Prep to its stately brick foundations.

(cover image and synopsis lifted from Goodreads)

Series: Standalone
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publication date: August 21st 2018
Source/Format: eARC/Netgalley
Purchase links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indigo | Indiebound | Book Depository
My Rating: ★★★☆☆

My Thoughts:
Senior high school student Mischa Abramavicious is confident that college acceptance letters would soon start rolling in but come Admissions Day and what she got instead were we-regret-to-inform-you after we-regret-to-inform-you. She is in denial because her grades, test scores and extra curriculars are all in adherence to the College Admissions Formula that they follow in expensive private school, Blanchard Prep. Also, she can’t bring herself to tell the bad news to her hardworking single mom.

I’ve read an excerpt of this before downloading the full eARC in Netgalley and I was hooked by the funny and casual narration and dialogues. The fun and casual tone is pretty much consistent throughout the book even after Mischa found out that she did not get in any colleges that she applied for. There is this amusing moment when Mischa was full-on hating herself that she wrote FAILURE on her forehead. She immediately pulled out from the angst and laughed at herself, proceeded to erase the writing only to realize that she unknowingly picked up a waterproof eyeliner pencil. She ended up cutting her own bangs to cover the her self-vandalized forehead and went to school with uneven new fringes. I thought this is the kind of series of unfortunate events that can realistically happen to me.

Good thing is that she has a supportive bestfriend in Nate who not only helped to straighten out her uneven bangs but also introduced her to The Ophelia Syndicate, a trio of tech whiz girls, willing to assist in uncovering why Mischa didn’t get in to any uni despite her good grades and all. What follows suit is an investigation by a group of teens. It pretty much reads like a YA mystery story without a murder or a monster. The mystery element of the book is a solid plot. It kept my interest and the revelation of the mystery elements, albeit not super extra special shocker, made perfect sense to me.

Mischa’s personality is the kind of practical student who does what needs to be done and socialize with whom needs to be socialized with, for her goals. Her initial goal in the book is to get in a good college. So the set of friends around her were the student body officers type. When her Ivy League dreams went down the drain, her goal became finding out why she wasn’t accepted. So she ditched her regular crowd which includes her second bestfriend Caroline, for The Ophelia Syndicate, a non-sanctioned school club with three non-conformist members. Her first bestfriend Nate is the only consistent person before and after the college rejections debacle so their friends to more than friends trope also makes sense.

I guess Mischa is right in the middle of my character likability meter. Her relationship with her mom is endearing but probably because of the book’s even light tone, I find no single emotional moment between them. Her romance subplot is cute but I didn’t feel overly swoony about it. What I’m not fond most about her though is her almost passive role in solving the mystery. It’s as if she became friends with The Ophelia Syndicate trio because they are currently of use to her. The trio put a lot of work in getting into the bottom of the mystery but the book didn’t give us much on why they are so willing and invested in Mischa’s plight. What exactly were their motivations in helping Mischa? The rapport between Mischa and The Ophelia Syndicate girls felt like an insta-friendship to me.

Handling rejections is pretty much a universal life experience. We all handle it differently and I love reading about characters dealing with it. “We Regret to Inform You” is a fairly entertaining YA contemporary infused with elements of mystery about a teen grappling with her first taste of rejection.

Diversity Watch:

Mischa Abramavicius – Mischa’s grandma is a refugee from the Soviet Union. Physically described with brown eyes.

Nate Miller – is explicitly mentioned Jewish and bisexual. Physically described with blue eyes.

Emily Sreenivasan – leader of The Ophelia Syndicate, racially indeterminate

Bebeh Tandoh – second member of The Ophelia Syndicate. She is Ghanaian

Shira Gastman – third member of The Ophelia Syndicate, racially indeterminate

Meredith Dorsay – Mischa’s rival in school. She is described with gray eyes

Rabbi Doug Perez – an ex-rabbi of Nate’s family. He is described with dark brown hair and beard and blue eyes.

Jill Shoenborn – a 50-year old woman in a skydiving place. She is described with gray hair, blue eyes and bad sunburn.

I'd love to hear from you!
Have you read this book already? Tell me what you think of it. Have you had your fair share of rejections in life? How did you handle it? And let me know any lessons that you've learned from getting over from a rejection.

Review: Fresh Ink: An Anthology by Lamar Giles

2018-08-28T18:59:00.000+08:00

Fresh Ink: An Anthology
Edited by Lamar Giles

Synopsis:
In partnership with We Need Diverse Books, thirteen of the most recognizable, diverse authors come together in this remarkable YA anthology featuring ten short stories, a graphic short story, and a one-act play from Walter Dean Myers never before in-print.

Careful--you are holding fresh ink. And not hot-off-the-press, still-drying-in-your-hands ink. Instead, you are holding twelve stories with endings that are still being written--whose next chapters are up to you.

Because these stories are meant to be read. And shared.
Thirteen of the most accomplished YA authors deliver a label-defying anthology that includes ten short stories, a graphic novel, and a one-act play. This collection will inspire you to break conventions, bend the rules, and color outside the lines. All you need is fresh ink.

(cover image and synopsis lifted from Goodreads)

Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers
Publication date: August 14th 2018
Source/Format: eARC/Netgalley
Purchase links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
My Overall Rating: ★★★★☆

My Thoughts:

Eraser Tattoo

by Jason Reynolds

A bittersweet scene between bestfriend-turned-sweethearts, Shay and Dante, is captured with light and funny moments dashed by the uncertainty of their relationship in the future.

Rating: 4/5 Diversity Watch: Shay and Dante are black

Meet Cute

by Malinda Lo

Literally a fluffy meet cute between two gender-flipping and race-bending cosplayers in a Comic Con.

Rating: 5/5 Diversity Watch: Tamia is Asian, Nic is black, gender-queer

Don’t Pass Me

by By Eric Gansworth

A really strong statement about a Native Indian owning up to his skin color. Fave quote: “I was beginning to understand how easy it was to be silent, to think yourself as a vanished Indian. Everywhere you looked, you weren’t there.”

Rating: 4/5 Diversity Watch: Hubert “Doobie” Buckman is a Native Indian

Be Cool for Once

by Aminah Mae Safi

This has an adorable push and pull feels as a girl plays it cool in front of the boy she is madly crushing on.

Rating: 5/5 Diversity Watch: Shirin is Muslim, Jeffrey Tanaka is Japanese-American

Tags

by Walter Dean Myers

A one-act play about black boys who died young, trapped in an endless task of tagging the walls with their street names so they would not be forgotten by the living.

Rating: 4/5 Diversity Watch: All the characters are black.

Why I Learned to Cook

by Sara Farizan

Such a clever way to use food as way for the character Yasi to introduce her girlfriend, Hannah, in the family’s culture. And the whole process of learning how to cook lead to Yasi’s discovery of how cool her grandma is about her sexuality. The lesson? “Don’t ever apologize for who you are.” But honestly after reading this, I just want my own table spread of Persian food to dig in.

Rating: 4/5 Diversity Watch: Yasi is Iranian and gay.

A Stranger at the Bochinche

by Daniel José Older

This has speculative elements that I did not quite identify with.

Rating: 3/5 Diversity Watch: Latinx characters

A Boy’s Duty

by Sharon G. Flake

A depiction of how a young mural artist’s talent is wasted during World War 2.

Rating: 3/5 Diversity Watch: The boy is black.

One Voice: A Something in Between Story

by Melissa de la Cruz

The story puts two lenses on how to look into a pejorative graffiti: one is that it’s just a harmless trivial prank and the other is that it’s a valid source of fear. It aptly shows how the fear of the main character builds up to frustration and then to anger, culminating to an act of reclaiming the negative space the graffiti tried to inhabit.

Rating: 4/5 Diversity Watch: The protagonist is Filipina.

Paladin/Samurai

by Gene Luen Yan

Illustrations by Thien Pam

A graphic short story of nerdy kid standing up to a bully who called the nerdy kid’s friend “kimchi”. I like me some underdog hero story but there’s nothing new to this one and the illustrations are poorly drawn in such that I can’t clearly recognize one character from the other.

Rating: 2/5 Diversity Watch: Japanese-American characters

Catch, Pull, Drive

by Schuyler Bailar

A really intense, heart-racing practice day after a young transgender swimmer puts up a coming out post in Facebook.

Rating: 4/5 Diversity Watch: The protagonist is a transgender boy

Super Human

by Nicola Yoon

What if the Man of Steel is a young black man? A conversation.

Rating: 5/5 Diversity Watch: The protagonist is black.

I'd love to hear from you!
Have you read this anthology yet? If yes, which stories were your favorite/s? If not yet, would you pick it up in the future? Which YA anthologies would you recommend me to check out?