When I was watching a BookTok contemplation one day, a girl held up a book called From Little Tokyo, With Love. All she said was "If you like the type of books where the boy is famous and she doesn't care, then this is the book for you." Of course, when I went book shopping this past weekend, I couldn't remember the book, only knowing it had something to do with Japan and the line the girl said, as well as slight details about the cover.
You would think, after not enjoying the last book that I bought knowing next to nothing (I'm looking at you Octunumi) I would be more careful about buying books. But, I am so happy that I did not learn my lesson. This book has become one of my favorites that I have read. You follow Rika, a half white, half Japanese girl who lives just outside of LA in Little Tokyo. She isn't like other girls, and even though that is a stereotype in YA books, it makes sense in this one. She had to put up with racist comments her whole life, always feeling like an outsider. She has quite a temper, and tries to reign it in, attempting to be like her favorite fairytale creature, the nure-onna, a snake with the head of a woman (got to love Japanese fairytales). However, when her cousins, who love all things princessy, are in the Nikkei Week court, she finds herself volunteering to drive their car, so she can make her presentation with her dojo. That's when the famous movie star, Gabriella Kimura, runs to her during the parade and whispers Rika's name in her ear before passing out. Rika then goes on a journey with Henry, a famous movie star she had an unceremonious meeting with, to find her and meet her mother. This book was truly an amazing read, and had so much depth to it. Seeing how Rika and her family had to deal with a community that didn't accept that Rika was only half-Japanese. It showed how anger isn't always a bad thing, and needed to be used rather than stored, just to explode later. Rika, as well as the rest of the community, had so much character growth, it was amazing. Granted, I was in a car almost all day on Sunday, but I probably would have wanted to read it in one sitting if I could have regardless. I can honestly say that this book has earned the five star rating that I am giving it, and would recommend this book to anyone who wants a contemporary fairytale, that is just cheesy and predictable enough to be enjoyable, but not so much that it is over bearing. Let me know what you think, and, as always, happy reading!
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I went on a car trip recently, one that lasted about ten and half to eleven hours. I decided that I would read a few of the books that I won from Library Thing. I read Shimmerdark by Sarah Menslinga, and Weddings Coordinated by Lisa S. Gayle. They were both very fun reads.
Shimmerdark follows Xylia, who was supposed to be the successor to The Great Drae Devorla. However, she went missing presumed dead for seven years. And when she was found to be alive, she discovered that she had been replaced. In order to prove that she should be the next Drae again, she went on a journey to recruit some potential shimmerlings. However, as she was on the road, she discovered that there were secrets in this kingdom, and that everything was not as it seemed. This book was a fast paced read that was difficult to set down. The characters had flaws, and their development was great. I did feel like it was a bit predictable, but it also strikes me as a middle-grade book, so that comes with the territory. I thoroughly enjoyed the big fight scene at the end, and I got chills at one point. The ending was what it needed to be, but I did feel like parts of it were rushed. All in all, I give this book 3.5 out of five stars, and I would recommend this book to any middle schooler who wants a fantasy book, as this is a great entrance point to the genre. Weddings Coordinated was a completely different genre. In this one, you follow Mallory, who is a workaholic trying to get promoted, and her twin sister Danielle, a wedding planner who believes that horoscopes and astrology are the gospel truth. They are as different as night and day. Mallory wants to go to her best friend's wedding, but can't ask for time off, so she asks for Danielle to fill in for her. Mallory ends up realizing she has feelings for her best friend, the groom, and Danielle begins to get feelings for Mallory's boss. This book was decently predictable, but not as much as you may think. Again, the book was really well paced up until the end. The characters were true to themselves, but Mallory learned some very important lessons about the importance of prioritizing relationships over work. All in all, I give this book 4/5 stars, and would recommend it to anyone wanting a fun, quick read. The spice level would be about a 3/5, as there was one scene in detail, quite a few references, and some fade to black. Two books, or rather one and a third, isn't bad for a car ride. In fact, reading is one of the best parts about going on a road trip. I'm looking forward to reading some more books on the way back home! As I have said multiple times, I am on BookTok a decent bit. Of course, if you are too, you know how much The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is talked about on this app. People either love it or think it is overhyped. I believe that this book has received the appropriate amount of hype for its quality.
This was one of the most beautiful stories I have ever read. The writing transported you into the situation, I could feel Addie's pain as she begged with the darkness to get her out of having to marry Roger, as well as many other situations. Her joy when Henry remembered her and could say her name. The story itself has to be one of the most unique ones I have ever heard of. A girl makes a deal with the gods who answer after dark in order to have more time and to be free. He twists her words and makes her immortal and forgotten by everyone who has ever met her and will ever meet her. She struggles to survive at first, because even though she can't starve or freeze to death, she still feels the pains associated with each of those things. She truly couldn't leave her mark on the world. Whenever she would try to write something down, it would erase itself, regardless of the medium on which it was written. If she drops wine on a couch, the stain disappears as if she were never there. The artists who draw her can get her basic profile, including her seven freckles, but not any other details of her face. If she tries to take a picture, the camera malfunctions. Any one who met her would forget her as soon as they left the room. This is the life she has lived for three hundred years prior to meeting Henry. The only person who could remember her and say her name was the darkness who cursed her in the first place. As I write this post, I think about how, if Addie were the one trying to write this, the keyboard wouldn't even be able to type. The thought of never being able to leave any sort of mark on the world is hard to believe. Even the person who does the least original things in the world leave their mark in some way, shape, or form. I mean, I'm even leaving a mark on the few people who read this blog. She found other ways to influence people's work, but she herself would never be remembered. Can you imagine what it would be like to be forgotten every time you stepped away from someone? To learn so much about them and them to remember nothing about you? Because of this, can you imagine the joy of someone remembering who you are? The one thing that I didn't entirely enjoy about this book was the fact that every character was gay in some way or another. Other than that, I have no complaints with this book. I can honestly rate The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue 4.5/5 stars and would recommend it to any one who would listen. The book was left open for a sequel, and I'm hoping that V.E. Schwab will write one eventually, and I look forward to reading it. Any way, without further ado, please go read this book! And don't forget me! So, a few days ago, I finished Anna and the French Kiss. I really enjoyed reading this book, and I felt like I could relate to Anna quite a bit. She was about to enter her senior year of high school when her father decided she should go to boarding school in Paris. She didn't want to go, mainly because she already had friends and everything in Atlanta, however, she really didn't have a choice. So she went, and left behind her best friend Bridgette, and Toph, the boy who she was sort of in a relationship with.
Well, the fall semester moves on, and Anna finds herself viewing St. Clair, her attractive friend with a French name, a British accent, and at an American school, as more than just a friend. She tells herself not to, as she has a sort of boyfriend back home. I know you're probably trying to figure out how I relate to all of this, and that is simple. I too was the new kid in a school for my senior year. It is not fun, and I didn't quite land on my feet as fast as Anna did. There was also some stuff, that I will relate in the spoilers section, that I related to as well closer to the end of the book. This book had friends to lovers, betrayal, love, will they won't they, slowburn, and it was a really fun read. There were a few inconsistencies that I found, not enough that I couldn't finish the book, but enough that I didn't love it. The spice rating is a 2/5, as the scenes were not sex scenes, but were described in more detail than dancing and kissing could have been. Again, I am not the biggest fan of spice, so please keep that in mind while looking at my ratings. Overall, the book has a solid 4/5 star rating for me. And I hope you guys try it too! This book was a really fun and quick read, at least for me, and I am looking forward to continuing the series! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This book really was enjoyable, but I had some slight frustrations with Anna's best friend, Bridgette or Bridge for short. So, Anna thought that she and Toph were going to be dating when she got back from boarding school, yet, finds that Bridge and Toph were dating, and sleeping with each other. Neither of them, despite talking to her somewhat regularly, thought to bring this up. I was frustrated with Toph more than Bridge in this case. However, as soon as Bridge told Anna that she ditched them, I wanted to smack her. Anna didn't have a choice, and Bridge knew that. I get that she was probably hurt that Anna left, but she shouldn't have said that she ditched them. The other thing, the part that I said I related to, was when Anna and St. Clair clearly had chemistry, yet St. Clair kept going back to his current girlfriend, Ellie, despite them having issues and not talking nearly as much as Anna and St. Clair were. The way he wouldn't break up with her, yet kept seemingly leading her on, is a lot how my ex, the one who spoiled Captive Kingdom for me first started our relationship. Reliving that part of my life was not the greatest, and was more than sort of difficult for me to read. I was happy that they ended up together and happy, but seeing her go through that brought up some unwanted memories. As for the inconsistencies with the plot, Anna said she didn't have a whole lot of money, and always ordered the cheapest things whenever they went out to eat. However, she also ate out a lot and went to the movies a lot. So, that didn't entirely add up for me. Like I said, enough that I didn't love it, but not enough that I hated the book. I was happy that Anna and Meredith, Anna's friend who also had a crush on St. Clair, were able to make up, and have Mer be happy for Anna and St. Clair in the end. It was also a relief to see St. Clair finally stand up to his dad and get to go to the college that he wanted, and get to stay close by Anna. All in all, this was a great book, not my favorite, but not just something that I won't recommend. So, that wraps up my review for Anna and the French Kiss. I hope you guys try it and let me know what you think! So here's the deal. My best friend loves Jane Austen. She has read every single one of her books. I kind of teased her for doing this, but I was in Books a Million and I found a copy of her favorite Austen, Emma, and I thought "what the heck? Might as well try it."
Try it I did, and loved it I did. This book, has made me feel so many things. I felt hatred for one character whose name I won't say because of spoilers. I truly felt for Emma near the end, and I wanted to cry and give her a hug. Emma is such a relatable character and she had amazing development. In Emma, you follow Emma Woodhouse, a 21 year old woman who does not wish to marry, yet loves to play matchmaker. After one successful match in Mr. Weston and Miss Taylor, who were married before the book began. I truly believe that this gave her false confidence, and she really should have left well enough alone. But you get to see her grow and get to see her realize why she shouldn't play in the game of relationships. I can honestly rate this book 5/5 stars and it really makes me want to read more Jane Austen books in the future. It was very hard to set this book down and I wanted very much to keep going back to the Woodhouses and see what was going to happen next. My local Goodwill had a copy of Sense and Sensibility, and I plan to read that soon. I know I made a post about why I won't read romance anymore, but I don't think that is going to continue. In fact, I kind of nicknamed this "The Summer of Romance." And I am going to pick up Anna and the French Kiss right after I finish making this post. Since this is "The Summer of Romance," I am going to add a new rating to my blog post, which is a spice rating. I do not normally read spice, because I do not care for it. This book has a spice rating of -10/5 chili peppers, since the characters didn't even hold hands. Anyway, this is the end of the spoiler free portion. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So, Emma thought that Harriet should marry Mr. Elton, only to find out that Mr. Elton was in love with herself. In fact, that was one of my favorite quotes from the book, which showed how language has changed in the hundreds of years since Jane Austen: "he began making violent love towards her." That one took me by surprise, but I laughed so hard when I read that. I had honestly predicted that Emma and Mr. Knightley were going to end up together within the first few chapters, and I was glad to have been better at matchmaking than Miss Woodhouse was. I truly loved their interaction, and the way he told her that he wanted to marry her and how he was willing to make adjustments in order so her dad wouldn't suffer from losing Emma to a different house. He cared for her throughout the whole book, and I loved that they ended up together. Now, I want to hate on Mrs. Elton for a while. I won't complain about her as much as I want to, as that could be a post in and of itself, but she is terrible. She is so judgemental, and thinks that she is better than everyone. That ball, was meant for Emma, not her! I just cannot even stand the audacity of this woman, and I am surprised that Jane put up with her as long as she did. Speaking of Jane, she is so misunderstood, and it is not her fault that her fiance and the love of her life has a witch of an aunt. And Jane's aunt, Miss Bates, I love her. I thought she was the most annoying character, either her or Mr. Woodhouse, due to the fact that they seem to talk forever without caring about what anyone else wants to talk about. However, then Mrs. Elton was introduced, and I am very much positive that the most annoying character in the book is none other than Mrs. Elton. Like I said, I enjoyed this book, and I am really glad that Harriet ended up with Mr. Martin, that Mr. Elton had to perform the marriage ceremony for the woman he originally wanted to marry. Let me know if any of you agree with these points, and I cannot wait to continue my journey through Austenland. So, I joined a site called Library Thing, and I really enjoy it, especially since I can enter to win ARCs. I happened to win an ARC of the book Dead Tree Tales by Rush Leaming. It is a thriller that takes place in Charleston, SC.
Now listen, I don't normally read thrillers, but, since I'm from South Carolina, I figured, what the heck? Might as well give it a shot. I was expecting some twists and turns, but not the amount of twists and turns that I received. I expected the Tree to be dying, since that was in the description of the story, but I was expecting there to be a murderer running around. What I was not expecting was what was delivered. Now, since it comes out in a week, I'm not going to delve into the plot, and that includes no spoiler section, but this book was great. This is a political read, so keep that in mind. I don't really care for politics, and I don't watch the news that much. I know we live in a sinful and broken world, I don't need to be reminded about it on the daily. I know there are racist people out there, but what happened in this book is terrible. The fact that someone could do something like this, and be proud, is disgusting. There are several subplots in the book, but they all play into each other, and they all come together, more or less, in the last few chapters. It was done so well, and there were so many twists and turns that I did not see coming. If I were to do trigger warnings, I would have to say there is racism, death, rape is mentioned, lots of swearing, suicide, divorce, drugs, and I think that is about it. I probably won't read another political thriller, and that is nothing against the author, I just don't care for politics that much and I don't want to spend my relaxing time dealing with politics. Still, I rated this book 4.5/5 stars. So I just finished The Octunnumi by Trevor Alan Foris. I discovered this book on BookTok and when I went to the website where you have to buy the book from, due to the fact that this book is only sold online and in the UK, I was drawn in by the mystery of it all. The book itself was an enjoyable read, although not quite my favorite book. I felt that there were a lot of subplots involved that did not seem necessary at the time, but did all tie in together at the end, for the most part at least. The other thing that frustrated me with it was I felt that there was an abundance of world-building. While in some cases this is great, Foris decided to add in bits about the world as the action, so to speak, was beginning to pick up. This book was definitely not action heavy, leaning more into the behind the scenes type of spy stuff. During a decent part of the book, I felt confuzzled by what I was reading, but I don't know if that is because I read it before bed and was pretty tired.
Regardless, it was still an enjoyable read and was definitely one that kept me turning the pages. Foris included some unique elements, such as having him actually interact with the characters in the book. Another thing that I enjoyed was that he came up with unique names for everything, including earth, calling it Fethrist (at least that is what I think he was using it for). The book itself came with a dictionary and a pronunciation guide for the names. I enjoyed this because it allowed for more of the story to be focused on the plot, rather than on defining what certain things were, and it also provided an easy reference source should the reader forget what the word meant. I would rate this book a solid 3.5/5, as I am excited to read the next book, though was confused for the majority of the time reading this one. The book ended on a cliffhanger, so you have been warned! I'm keeping part of this book a secret, due to there being an overall mystery surrounding it already. If you want more details, feel free to comment asking for some or send me an email! Anyway, onto the spoiler section of the review. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So, you start off in some action and you get to meet the two main characters of the story, twins Trad and Reig. They were different enough that it kept the story engaging and I enjoyed their banter, as well as when Trevor would interject into their conversations and the story in general. Early on in the story, you meet Nate who was previously a part of the Octunnumi, but left it after Bullivaint seemingly blew up a carriage, killing several kids and emotionally scarring for life the mentor team that was escorting them. Most of the team left after this happened, with Reig and Trad being in the minority who stayed on to keep working. He appeared at the HQ after being poisoned, and, after waking up, claimed to not know who did it. However, he is the main antagonist of the story, so we know that he was lying. I did not really understand his motives, although he was not a poorly written villain. I enjoyed where he showed up after his intentions were revealed. I thought that the mechanical animals were unique, and I enjoyed that they had personalities and ate nuts and bolts as "treats." If I had one issue, however, it was that Trad said they were just machines, and Reig loved them. Then, when Veebee was introduced, Reig thought she was just an annoying toy that should be dismantled, despite the fact that he made her for Trad. Trad explains why he cares about her, in that she was a gift from his brother, but I want to know why Reig doesn't really care for her. I loved Veebee; she gave me Bibble vibes. You know, the blue furry thing from Barbie Fairytopia? When the mentor team regathered in an attempt to stop Nate, he managed to show up (not really, he was using someone's head) and gave his second speech as to why he was going to win, and managed to kidnap 14 of the 18 people gathered there. The set of girls were able to get them safe, but no one can actually reach them. I was kind of frustrated with this, because Nate's daughter (she brought him to The Octunnumi when he was poisoned) was a whole subplot that I was genuinely curious about and it wasn't brought up too much, and she was one of the one's who got kidnapped. Finally, the children. They were mentioned so many times in this book, and, once it was discovered that they were alive, everyone was ecstatic, as you would be. However, I did think it was a bit of a coincidence that Trad happened to see one of them, Pemidi, in a crowd, and happened to remember exactly where she said was the "safest place on earth." And then, shortly after they found them, they were taken away in beams of white light. I do have to applaud Foris on that though. Most of the time, the book is either looking like it is going to wrap up 100 pages for the end or looks like it won't wrap up 10 pages from the end. Foris made it look like it was going to wrap up about 20 pages from the end just to pull the rug out and shock us. Like I said, I enjoyed the book, I was just confused during a lot of it and I felt like there were a lot of subplots when there may not have needed to be. But, let me know what you think down below! I can't help but notice on TikTok that many people make monthly TBR lists. I tend to not do this, because as a full time college student, I have no idea what I will have time to read, and my interests vary from week to week as to which book appeals the most to me. Hence, no monthly TBR.
This being said, I do like having a summer TBR, where I have about five books that I really want to read and will strive to read before the summer is over. I tried this out back in 2019, and it was great (although the Lord of the Rings books sent me into a bit of a reading slump). Last summer, everyone started reading heavily, and it was fun to finish some series that I just hadn't had time to complete yet (you know, since I didn't exactly go anywhere). So, this summer, I plan to read more than the following books, but the following are the ones that I really want to read before the summer is over. I will put my progress with them off to the side.
Anyway, that's it for this post. I hope you have a great day and happy reading! So, as I have written in the about section on this page, I mainly read YA and fantasy at that. However, after finishing The Lovely War by Julie Berry (5/5 stars, by the way), I needed a book to read and I had to go to Dollar General, as I did not have a car and that was the only store I could get to on foot. Fortunately, a friend of mine gave me a ride, but that is beside the point.
I picked up one of their $3 romance novels, Wedded Bliss by Celeste Bradley to be specific, and I was pleasantly surprised. I do not care much for spicy books, and the premise of the book promised low spice. A young woman, Bliss, wants to marry the Duke. However, believing her to be a gold digger, his uncle arranges for her to marry the Duke's bastard half-brother, Morgan, instead. This way, she could never marry the Duke, Neville, by the dictates of English law. However, she is trying to get an annulment, and thus, there is little spice in the book, until Bliss and Morgan consummate their marriage. This book, with the exception of the sex scene in it, played out like a Hallmark movie, and I highly enjoyed the book. I finished it in about four days, while doing things other than just reading (moving out of my dorm room, going to graduation, etc.). This book was a solid 3.5/5 stars, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a low spice romance. So, when I needed another book to read after finishing that one before getting back to my stash at home, I went back to Dollar General and picked up another $3 romance novel, An Affair with a Spare. The back of the book claimed it was a mystery, according to the Dollar General sticker, which was sorely mistaken. You follow Collette, who is a French spy trying to free her father, who was Napoleon's most infamous assassin. Rafe is supposed to seduce her and find out if she is actually a spy, and the man who seduces women for the heck of it, ends up falling in love with Collette, who has fallen in love with him. Rafe did have some character development that was nice to see. If the previous book was only a 1.5 on a 5-point spice scale, this was at least a 3. I only rate it low because of what I have heard about other spicy books, and feel that this was low in comparison. Not to mention, I felt like part of the story was not needed and I just got highly frustrated with it at some points. Nevertheless, I was pleased with how it ended. I believe that this marks the end of an era though, short as it may be. I think from now on, I will stick to my stories where the romance is more of a subplot and the spice is kept to a minimum. These types of books just aren't for me. I started (and finished) this series back in 2017. I was on my way to a marching band competition about 16 hours away from my high school. I had learned about the Ascendance Trilogy from a fanfiction, and was intrigued, so I bought the first book. I finished it on the bus ride up to the competition, as well as the second book I brought. Fortunately, we went to the mall for dinner on our way to our second stop, and there was a two-story Barnes and Noble. I geeked out about it, and the rest of the band teased me for it, but oh well, tis the life of a bookworm. Anyway, I bought The Runaway King as well as The Shadow Throne and I finished all of the former and the majority of the latter on the way back to my high school. I then listened to the audio books with my mom on our way to move me into college. I have thoroughly enjoyed this series and I was thrilled to discover that Jennifer A. Nielsen was expanding the storyline in The Captive Kingdom.
Unfortunately, my now ex-boyfriend spoiled one of the main plot points for me (he's my ex for a reason). But, there were still plenty of plot points that I had no idea about ahead of time. I finished this book in roughly a day, and I was very pleased to find out that there was another installment coming this October to the series. I would rate this book 4.5/5 stars and would recommend this series to anyone who would listen. Jaron was still his cocky self that could make a joke out of anything and a plan appear out of nowhere. This was a phenomenal story and will probably read it again, as well as the rest of the series. You follow Jaron in the missing year between the end of the war and the marriage of Jaron and Imogen that was discussed in the last chapter of the end of the original trilogy. Jaron's ship, though occupied with the Avenian pirates, is boarded by a people thought to be extinct, and they have one goal: kidnap the Ascendant King of Carthya and bring him to a land he's never been before, Belland. This is where the spoiler free part of the post ends, so you have been warned! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I was curious what Nielsen was going to do, as the story line felt complete at the end of The Shadow Throne. I have to say, I was not disappointed by this book. Taking a time that was not previously covered was genius, and the fact that Darius is still alive and adopted would have been an incredible plot twist, had it not been spoiled for me. Alas, the fact that Wilta was the monarch and Strick being her mother I truly did not see coming, as well as the fact that Conner and a nursemaid were the parents of Darius, so I still had plenty of plot twists at my disposal. I have to say, I was frustrated with Darius for most of the book that he was in, mainly because of the fact that he seemed to believe that Jaron would have been capable of killing their parents in order to ascend to the throne. Also, I understand that if he felt that way, why he would believe that he would need to be king over Carthya. However, once it was proven that Jaron was innocent, and the fact that he had already been king through a war and everything else this poor kid had been through, I felt that Darius was slightly unreasonable in thinking he should be crowned. Jaron had done so much to help Carthya, and Darius was being kind of a jerk about it. However, I did enjoy their re-connection, and the fact that Darius was crowned king over Belland was a great way to make them both kings. Also, once Darius discovered that he was adopted, I appreciated that he admitted that he should not be king, not only for this, but also for the fact that Jaron had done so much for Carthya and had earned his spot on the throne, not taken it through deception and murder. And the way that Jaron defeated Wilta and the Prozarians was incredible! The gunpowder and the way that you truly thought that Roden had betrayed them and Tobias was seriously injured, genius. I was not expecting the battle to end the way it did, but Jaron did warn Wilta that he was not good with negotiations. And the way that Jaron hid the third lense in his belt was unexpected. I cannot wait to see how Jaron and his friends plan to defeat the Prozarian threat in the fifth installment of what was originally a trilogy. I enjoyed this series both times that I have read it, and I truly cannot wait to see what Nielsen has in store for us in The Shattered Castle! |