tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74126120116332560692024-03-12T23:56:47.347-05:00All I Need Are Books and TeaA blog full of many bookish things. Currently being updated. :)BooksAndTea12http://www.blogger.com/profile/03781270521098291462noreply@blogger.comBlogger273125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7412612011633256069.post-31984787094142632202022-11-30T13:37:00.005-06:002022-11-30T13:37:42.223-06:00Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater QUICK REVIEW<div class="separator"><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img alt="60717747. sy475 " height="320" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1648605334l/60717747._SY475_.jpg" width="207" /> <br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i><b>Half a Soul </b></i>by Olivia Atwater</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><span style="font-size: large;">4.36 out of 5 Stars</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">This is like a lite Bridgerton mixed in with some faeries -- in other words, absolutely cute as can be. It was perfectly sweet and charming, without being ridiculous and I LOVED the characters. They were a bit simple, but it's not like I was expecting Rhysand of the Night Court from a >300 page book. No, these characters were distinct and, while simple, developed just enough to make the story indulgent in the whimsical romance that it is. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Quick little blurb for a quick little read. Definitely worth it! </div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Thanks for reading! <br /></div>BooksAndTea12http://www.blogger.com/profile/03781270521098291462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7412612011633256069.post-67739406466660338732022-10-23T19:28:00.004-05:002022-10-23T19:28:39.205-05:00The Dark King by Gina L. Maxwell REVIEW<div class="separator"><div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"> <img alt="60316870" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1651543087l/60316870.jpg" /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><i>The Dark King</i> </span></span></b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">by Gina L. Maxwell</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">3.78 out of 5 Stars</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"> </span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>The Dark King </i>is described on the cover as being, "<i>Neon Gods </i>meets Fifty Shades . . . Deliciously dark and sexy!" -- #1 NYT Bestselling Author Helen Hardt. Bryn Meara is sent a promotional offer to stay at the most high-end hotel and casino in Vegas which is owned by Caiden Verran, who is also the king of the Dark Fae. None of the early events that led Bryn to Vegas, or to her and Caiden's marriage, have been purely organic, and as Bryn and Caiden grow closer, they also realized that they have been thrown together by someone with ill intent toward the Dark Fae and Court. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">I really liked this book! It was a bit on the simple side, but sometimes, that's not too bad when the character development is really good, which is the case for this book. It's a little edgy, a little sexy, and a little sweet. For anyone looking for a romance book like this, which, I can definitely see the similarities to the romance books compared to in the blurb, definitely check out the full description on the back of the book or online to see if it sounds like something you'd be interested in. If so, I'd say go for it! <i>The Dark King</i> is the perfect romance novel escapism for a handful of hours. <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u><b>Plot:</b></u></div><div style="text-align: left;">Beyond the scope of the romantic development between Bryn and Caiden, there is a legitimate plot about the politics of the fae world with actual stakes that are in addition to the longevity and health of the romantic relationship. We love to see it, but we really only started to see it until the middle of the book. The first half of the book, suspicious things took place, but the were more just oddities and didn't raise any suspense like the developments in the second half of the book. For the overall development of this story-line, I think I would have liked those earlier moments to be more ominous or sinister in tone instead of just curious so that this story-line had more room to grow and breathe properly. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The romantic plot was spot on perfect. The development was gradual, with each character reaching their own mental internal progress about the relationship by reasonable increments, and together, they meshed really well without one overpowering the other at all times. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u><b>Characters: </b></u></div><div style="text-align: left;">I really liked all the characters, <i>but</i>, the dialogue was waaaaayyyyyy too cheesy at times, mostly in the beginning of the book, and damn near entirely with Bryn's dialogue. Everything else about the characters was fabulous, but why why <i>why</i> could the dialogue have not been solid at all times? It feels like cherry picking for flaws, because it really is, but the cheesiness was off the charts to where it took away from the book for me. <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u><b>Writing:</b></u></div><div style="text-align: left;">This is definitely a book about the characters, and the author does an excellent job writing them. On the whole, I think the writing was nice and smooth, which is great, but nothing really about it stood out (excepting the dialogue moments mentioned above). The character development is great though, including for a handful of key minor characters. So if you love reading for the characters, this is definitely one of those books you'd enjoy. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">A nice little new romance! I think I came across this title from the online marketing, which looking back on it, may be a little exaggerated in tone compared to the actual book, but hey, I still found a copy of this book to read, so marketing did their job right. Definitely worth checking out if you are looking for a romance with this description!<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Thanks for reading!<br /></div>BooksAndTea12http://www.blogger.com/profile/03781270521098291462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7412612011633256069.post-76384681770369629862022-10-22T07:36:00.000-05:002022-10-22T07:36:54.778-05:00Book Blitz: In the Shadow of the Apennines by Kimberly Sullivan<div class="separator"></div><p style="text-align: center;"></p><p style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img alt="" height="400" src="https://www.xpressobooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/10/Shadow-apennines.jpg" style="display: inline-block; float: left; margin: 0px 15px 15px 0px;" width="263" /></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: #b6d7a8;"><i><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>In The Shadow of The Apennines</b></span></i></span><br /><span style="color: #b6d7a8;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">by Kimberly Sullivan</span></span></span><br /></div><div><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>~ Book Blitz with Xpresso Book Tours~</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><b>Giveaway at the end! </b><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Publication date: October 21st 2022<br />Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Historical, Women’s Fiction</div><blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><i>An American divorcée. An Italian shepherdess. Separated by a century, united by common dreams.</i></div>
<p>The sleepy little Abruzzo mountain town of Marsicano seems about as far as Samantha can flee from her failed marriage and disastrous university career. Eager for a fresh start, Samantha begins to set down roots in her Italian mountain hideaway.</p>
<p>At first, the mountain retreat appears idyllic, but an outsider’s clumsy attempts at breaking into the closed mountain community are quickly thwarted when the residents discover Samantha’s snarky blog ridiculing the town and its inhabitants.</p>
<p>Increasingly isolated in her mountain cottage, Samantha discovers the letters and diaries of Elena, a past tenant and a survivor of the 1915 Pescina earthquake. Despite the century that separates the two women, Samantha feels increasingly drawn into Elena’s life, and discovers startling parallels with her own.</p>
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<p style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61629187-in-the-shadow-of-the-apennines" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> / <a href="https://amzn.to/3yLyrS7" target="_blank">Amazon</a> / <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/in-the-shadow-of-the-apennines-kimberly-sullivan/1141833536?ean=2940185575116" target="_blank">Barnes & Noble</a> / <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/in-the-shadow-of-the-apennines" target="_blank">Kobo</a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">—</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><b>SNEAK PEEK:</b></p>
<p>Pescina, Italy</p>
<p>25 April 1914</p>
<p>Where do I begin? Mamma blames it all on Father Ignazio. She says if only he had left me to the chores I was employed to carry out at San Berardo and the parish house, my cooking and cleaning would be much improved, and I would not be constantly scribbling on any piece of paper I could find and begging for books to read.</p>
<p>She worries I will never find a husband.</p>
<p>“What man wants a wife who only cares about book learning, when she should be tending the goats, washing the clothes, and baking the bread?” Mamma warns me every day.</p>
<p>Mamma says no peasant girl should study beyond the first years of elementary school. Writing the letters to sign your name and computations for simple transactions are more than enough for a female in our region. She calls it getting above oneself. To mamma, this is the worst sin.</p>
<p>Of course, we weren’t always peasants. We used to have some money, back before papà lost his property. It was never much, but our lives were so much easier back then. My brothers and I even had a tutor to teach us to read and write and to know our history and literature. Those hours were the highlight of my day. My tutor was very pleased with me.</p>
<p>It was hard on us when we lost everything. Only mamma said maybe it was for the best – at least for me. Now she could insist I concentrate on what was most important for girls.</p>
<p>I suppose I am lucky it was Father Ignazio who insisted I keep up with my learning. Mamma may often speak her mind, but she will never argue with our parish priest. She respects him too much, and she worries about punishment in the afterlife if she talks back to a priest. So mamma, who is quick to speak her mind on every occasion, bites her tongue until she draws blood whenever Father Ignazio praises my learning to her.</p>
<p>Papà is proud of my reading and writing. He is the one who bought me this diary and the pen and ink for my birthday. Yes, I can hardly believe it, but today I am sixteen.</p>
<p>Mamma is probably right that a girl who reads and writes would scare off the local boys. Boys in Pescina mostly work the land like their fathers or tend the sheep. But even if I am now sixteen and townspeople consider me a woman, I still feel like a little girl.</p>
<p>All my friends talk about getting married, about preparing their wedding chest and living with their husbands. They make eyes at the boys returning with the sheep, the same boys we scrambled over the mountaintops with just a few years ago.</p>
<p>My friend Concetta even has a sweetheart. She always goes to the fountain to gather the water at the same hour so that she can meet Domenico on his way back to town after a day working in the fields.</p>
<p>Sometimes I see them together walking on the path back to town, the ruins of the castle watchtower above them in the distance. They look so happy in one another’s company, laughing and talking, finding excuses for their hands to brush together.</p>
<p>When Concetta and I are together, sewing or baking bread, she always seems to have a far-away look in her eyes, and I sense that she does not hear what I say, that her thoughts are only for Domenico now. Mamma says one day I’lll feel that way about a boy, too, but I wonder if I ever will.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.xpressobooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/10/thumbnail_SA-social-reviews5.png"><img alt="" src="https://www.xpressobooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/10/thumbnail_SA-social-reviews5.png" style="height: auto; max-width: 100%;" /></a></p>
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<blockquote style="margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px;">
<p style="text-align: center;"><u>Author Bio:</u></p>
<p>Kimberly grew up in the suburbs of Boston and in Saratoga Springs, New York, although she now calls the Harlem neighborhood of New York City home when she’s back in the US. She studied political science and history at Cornell University and earned her MBA, with a concentration in strategy and marketing, from Bocconi University in Milan.</p>
<p>Afflicted with a severe case of Wanderlust, she worked in journalism and government in the US, Czech Republic and Austria, before settling down in Rome, where she works in international development, and writes fiction any chance she gets.</p>
<p>She is a member of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association (WFWA) and The Historical Novel Society and has published several short stories and three novels: Three Coins, Dark Blue Waves and In The Shadow of The Apennines.</p>
<p>After years spent living in Italy with her Italian husband and sons, she’s fluent in speaking with her hands, and she loves setting her stories in her beautiful, adoptive country.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://kimberlysullivanauthor.com/" target="_blank">Website</a> / <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21814220.Kimberly_Sullivan" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> / <a href="https://www.instagram.com/kimberlyinrome/" target="_blank">Instagram</a> / <a href="https://www.bookbub.com/profile/kimberly-sullivan" target="_blank">Bookbub</a> / <a href="https://twitter.com/Kimberlyinrome" target="_blank">Twitter</a></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #b6d7a8;"><b>Giveaway!</b></span></span></span><br />
<a class="rcptr" data-raflid="d04251235141" data-template="5655a8e7a10e8a6c420b26cc" data-theme="classic" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/d04251235141/" id="rcwidget_2pu6y9h0" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a><br />
<script src="https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js"></script></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">—<br />
<a href="https://xpressobooktours.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.xpressobooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/10/Xpresso.png" style="height: auto; margin-bottom: 15px; max-width: 65%;" /></a></p>
<p> </p>
</div>BooksAndTea12http://www.blogger.com/profile/03781270521098291462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7412612011633256069.post-58760419201655619442022-10-20T15:39:00.002-05:002022-10-20T15:39:39.244-05:00Anatomy: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz<div class="separator"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Anatomy: A Love Story </span></span></span></b><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"> <img alt="57917042" height="320" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1621454828l/57917042.jpg" width="207" /></div>by Dana Schwartz</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">3.50 out of 5 Stars</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><i>***Thank
you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for
providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review***</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i> </i></div><i>Anatomy</i> is a gothic historical fiction set in 1817 Edinburgh following Hazel as she seeks to find her way to becoming a surgeon. To get the practical education she needs with cadavers, she works with resurrection man Jack to dig up corpses despite the odd disappearances happening in the city and the return of the Roman Fever. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Given the premise, I really wanted to love this book. I wanted to love this book so badly. It seemed so wonderfully gothic and perfectly set up to be a creepy ambiance to get me ready for Halloween. But instead, while I enjoyed it, it just didn't deliver in some important ways. Although, this is 1000% a book to buy if you are looking for an aesthetic bookshelf -- I mean, just look at that gorgeousness of a book cover. <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p><u><b>Plot: </b></u></p></div><div style="text-align: left;">I loved the plot and the setting of the story. I don't know how much of Edinburgh specifically was really coming through the pages, so much as general Great Britain vibes, but the time period and the medical understandings for that period were fantastic. It is the perfect opportunity to have a very earnest desire to believe these fantastical beliefs about science -- things that we know today to be wrong, but back then were illusions that could reach tangibility if you could figure it out. Using this foundation, I also loved the story of a young woman trying to become a physician or surgeon. That aspect of the story never once wavered, and I think it was developed wonderfully. We see the build to finding education, the obstacles that organically are put in her path, and how she creatively carves her own way to achieving what she wants. It was excellent. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><p><u><b>Characters: </b></u></p></div><div style="text-align: left;">Hazel -- Hazel is a rich girl, but incredibly intelligent not just naturally, but through constant and consistent self-education, which I think was a great aspect to her character. We find out how she used to sneak into her dad's study past bedtime to read medical text books, and that tenacity in her pursuant of knowledge is exemplified in her actions throughout the course of the story. She's a bit single-minded when it comes to becoming a physician, but I think that's just par for the course for her. I wouldn't expect anything else, and I think her character was well-developed. <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Jack -- No idea who Jack was. There are the basic facts about where he comes from, what drives his actions, and what he looks like, but there weren't enough nuances about personality quirks, deeply emotional reveals, or otherwise extended development of his character. Overall, he was kind of just there to serve a purpose to Hazel? Which, if this were a story solely about Hazel, I would still not like it, but I wouldn't mind it as much. As it is, there is a romance between them, and it just feels like Jack is underdeveloped. <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p><u><b>Writing: </b></u></p></div><div style="text-align: left;">Sadly, this is where I think I struggled with the book. The writing overall wasn't bad, but it also was difficult to get through at times because it felt choppy. It wasn't a smooth reading experience. There were moments when the language was flowing really nicely, but it was inconsistent. Because of the evidence that there can be really good passages of writing, I don't know how the book as a whole came to have those choppy parts in them, but it makes me wonder what the entire writing process looked like for the author. <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Also, I don't think there was any need for there to be actual fantastical elements to this story. Like, at all. This is my biggest pet peeve with the book and why I only gave it three stars on Goodreads. The fantasy piece was so minimally there, that it was a huge distraction when it came up. This should have remained a historical fiction and that's it. I'm not even going to add a "fantasy" label to this review. Like I said earlier, the great thing about this time period is that science and medicine was still so unknown and exciting it already felt fantastical. To try to mix in actual fantasy with that felt <i>so</i> out of place. I don't think it's impossible to fantasy books written in this time period, but I think the presence of fantasy needed to be much, much stronger in order for it to be properly incorporated into the story. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Thanks for reading!<br /></div>BooksAndTea12http://www.blogger.com/profile/03781270521098291462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7412612011633256069.post-59449237320743639082022-10-19T12:09:00.000-05:002022-10-19T12:09:27.054-05:00The Complete Language of Food by S. Theresa Dietz REVIEW<div class="separator"><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img alt="60021504. sx318 " src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1647805484l/60021504._SX318_.jpg" /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i>The Complete Language of Food</i> </span></span></b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">by S. Theresa Dietz</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">3.93 out of 5 Stars</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>***Thank you to Quarto Publishing Group -- Wellfeet Press and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review***</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i> </i> <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span id="freeTextContainer3404881110390497055"><b>Goodreads Description: Awaken both your
inner foodie and your inner yogi as you journey into the consciousness
of everyday foods, from their origins in myth to modern interpretations
today. </b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span id="freeTextContainer3404881110390497055"><b> </b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span id="freeTextContainer3404881110390497055">This was a really kinda cool book to check out! It is a very well organized series of quick facts about a very wide variety of herbs and plants with a handful of other guides about foods in dreams at the end. I was expecting some more illustration <i>~pages~</i> based on the description, but the ones that were there I thought were gorgeous, and I loved the style of art alongside each plant. <br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span id="freeTextContainer3404881110390497055"><b> <br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span id="freeTextContainer3404881110390497055">I think what I liked most about the book was that it was incredibly organized. It is indexed and cross-referenced, so you have the ability to look things up by scientific name, common name, or the spiritual property you are looking for. I think without this, I would have thought the book was a lump of dense material that would be impossible to navigate. But, because of how organized it is, it is so very easy to use, which is wonderful. <br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxGw7lN-9NiTeZkFTUQ_pO3dXm4Iw6PIupbM-7mGlwKv3jDNixm-3srCo7TW_4XClr2u8TcASdK2IdAA8YSMIHTrKG2iNKKjGsr0JoXr6uF60DRUgjWI2qHwjyQmBB10jghtWYUrm5kNi0BXHwEzSR3f8_1KM_Ax5_KnXfk_ytfiOd0Cxfz3bmcxtk9g/s399/flowers%20language.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="399" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxGw7lN-9NiTeZkFTUQ_pO3dXm4Iw6PIupbM-7mGlwKv3jDNixm-3srCo7TW_4XClr2u8TcASdK2IdAA8YSMIHTrKG2iNKKjGsr0JoXr6uF60DRUgjWI2qHwjyQmBB10jghtWYUrm5kNi0BXHwEzSR3f8_1KM_Ax5_KnXfk_ytfiOd0Cxfz3bmcxtk9g/w159-h200/flowers%20language.jpg" width="159" /></a></div><br /><span id="freeTextContainer3404881110390497055"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span id="freeTextContainer3404881110390497055">In terms of what is slightly off about this book for me is that I can't tell who the exact audience is. I imagine if someone wanted to use the book as a legitimate guide as to how these plants are used, there would need to be a little more information for each plant. For example, if plant is denoted as to having medicinal purposes, there could have been some guidance as to <i>how</i> to use said plant for the medicinal purposes. Yet, if it is meant to be more of a coffee table book, I would think there needs to be more pictures and less information. As it is, the book is sort of straddling those two audiences. </span><span id="freeTextContainer3404881110390497055"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNaeqrwBskGvAgZf_NgEyw21iQvEf9PpDZUvu376pUpnz04eS3WrtrkCGqaFFPU8Zv_LEAS2baD7zIdAY5OTUmnmv12d-aEuLjeQS0n8t_TfNF2bz-HFtUOhWL5v7LHhXFSG6O1TzmHj84a46SwUDbDdGFrAcFCcYkg5vxYlcnO54GeMbEPc86TyiNgg/s399/herbs%20language.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="399" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNaeqrwBskGvAgZf_NgEyw21iQvEf9PpDZUvu376pUpnz04eS3WrtrkCGqaFFPU8Zv_LEAS2baD7zIdAY5OTUmnmv12d-aEuLjeQS0n8t_TfNF2bz-HFtUOhWL5v7LHhXFSG6O1TzmHj84a46SwUDbDdGFrAcFCcYkg5vxYlcnO54GeMbEPc86TyiNgg/w159-h200/herbs%20language.jpg" width="159" /></a></div></span><span id="freeTextContainer3404881110390497055"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span id="freeTextContainer3404881110390497055">Who would like this book ... Honestly, I think there's a good amount of people who would like this book. Anyone who is a deeply immersed foodie, people interested in wellness and spiritual connections, people looking to fill out their collection of kitchen books, those who want an interesting centerpiece -- I imagine with enough creativity you could even get this book to mesh into some sort of seasonal decoration. It's pretty cool, and I definitely thought it was interesting. Plus, it looks like it's part of a series, alongside <i>The Complete Language of Flowers, The Complete Language of Herbs,</i> and <i>The Complete Language of Trees</i> (exp. pub. 2023). So if you really want to get a whole set like this or gift someone a set like this, you could. <br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span id="freeTextContainer3404881110390497055"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span id="freeTextContainer3404881110390497055">Thanks for reading!<br /></span></div>BooksAndTea12http://www.blogger.com/profile/03781270521098291462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7412612011633256069.post-51853377337126076132022-10-18T19:04:00.002-05:002022-10-18T19:07:35.564-05:00The North Wind by Alexandria Warwick REVIEW<div class="separator"><div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><img alt="57299301" height="400" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1626783966l/57299301.jpg" width="267" /><i> <br /></i></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><i><b>The North Wind </b></i>by Alexandria Warwick</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><i><b>3.88 out of 5 Stars</b></i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>***Thank you to Andromeda Press and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review***</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i> </i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>From Goodreads: Lush. Dark. Romantic. Introducing a newly reimagined tale written in the vein of <i>Beauty and the Beast</i> and <i>Hades and Persephone</i>.</b> </div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Honestly, that description is accurate. (Although, I think "written in the vein of" is a syntax sin -- "along the lines of" would be more accurate.) <i>The North Wind</i> is a the kind of story you want to be reading when the weather first starts to turn or snow is right about to fall. The atmosphere of this book is insanely strong: dark, cold, brisk. Because of that, it may not be everyone's cup of tea, but hey, to each there own and personally, I love an atmosphere like this. Besides the atmosphere, I think the mash-up description of <i>Beauty and the Beast</i> and <i>Hades and Persephone</i> is a dead on description that was followed through well. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">The biggest advice I would give anyone reading this or to anyone considering reading this is that it is not a smut book. So if that's what you're looking for, walk away. There are some new adult scenes mixed in, but this is not high up on the graphic scale of romance books if that makes any sense. I think I'm just throwing that out there because I have seen reviews about the lack of romance or that this is a boring book, and I worry that those people went into this book with the wrong expectations and therefore have given it a bad review. And I just don't think that's fair, because it is a fantasy romance book, and I think it's a pretty damn good one at that. <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p style="text-align: left;"><u><b>Plot:</b></u></p></div><div style="text-align: left;">I would say that there were two primary plots in this book: the love story and the issues with the Shade. To the first plot, I don't really have any issues with it. It moves at a pace as needed given the characters, which admittedly is a bit slow. However, I think the root cause is more related to the irritations I have with the characters rather than the development of that plot line. Before the love plotline can be sped up a bit, the characters had to be different or developed faster. So because of that, I actually think the progression of the love plotline is fine. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">The plotline with the Shade is only fine. This is where the real interest of the story laid for me because it was the point that made this book unique to any other retellings of <i>Beauty and the Beast/Hades and Persephone</i>. But I think proportionally this plotline not only didn't progress fast enough, but that we didn't see as much of it. I would have loved to have dug into the history of the Shade more, maybe hear some odds and ends tragedies or adventures that the Shade has as its legacy, but the plotline was borderline only a tool to progress the love story plotline, and I just wish it had more opportunity to shine because I thought it was good and I wanted more of it. <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p><u><b>Characters:</b></u></p></div><div style="text-align: left;">Wren -- I'm all for an unenjoyable main character, but this was just a step too far for just a bit too long. Her hypocrisy in calling out Boreas for being narrow-minded, and yet never herself trying to understand his motives and accept truths contrary to her beliefs, drove me up the wall. Maybe this is just some sort of pet peeve of mine so it was extra grating, but I really didn't like that. The alcoholism lasted for a bit too long I think, but ultimately, it was addressed and corrected. Likewise, her bullheadedness was also grown out of later on in the book, but I just wish these things happened a little sooner. <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Boreas -- Very similar to Wren, the traits about him that I didn't like and the development of his character just all needed to be addressed a bit earlier in my opinion. I like the stoicism that he presents. It is a solid characteristic that not only was easy to grasp onto, but heightened the atmosphere of the book. But after awhile, that stoicism led to, not distance, but detachment, which I don't think is ever desired for a book character. Once we dipped into the second half of the book, that's where we got to see more of his background, see more of what he does, and learn about his emotional reactions to things. It just took so long to get there. <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">There are several other sides characters that tended to be a bit predictable, but overall served their purposes and were well written. Nobody else really stood out though. I think there's room for growth, certainly, which will be exciting to see in the second book (**cough clearly Zephyrus given book 2's name cough**) but for the most part, the story centered on Wren and Boreas, which I think is okay for this story. <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p style="text-align: left;"><u><b>Writing: </b></u></p></div><div style="text-align: left;">My biggest complaint of this book is that the first half of it seemed to drag on for far too long, when then as you can tell affects <i>everything</i>. Everything from plotline progression to character development to world building really started to pick up steam only in the second half of the book. Timing seemed to be the biggest flaw when thinking about the book as a whole. Despite the pacing being off, the writing was good. Different character expressions and emotions were well-captured. The description of the world and the matching tonal quality of the writing was very good. And when there was a critical scene, my attention was grabbed for the duration of that scene. <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Final word of the day is that I would recommend this book to friends. I feel like I just ragged on it for the entirety of this review, but I don't want people to take away that it is a bad book. On the contrary; it's got some interesting designs to it, is good for a nice break from reality without having to mentally work hard, and is a sweet little fix for anyone craving a <i>Beauty and the Beast/Hades and Persephone </i>hit. Maybe just don't read this in the summer, given how chilly the atmosphere is, but overall, <i>The North Wind</i> was good and I want to read the second book. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Thanks for reading!<br /></div>BooksAndTea12http://www.blogger.com/profile/03781270521098291462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7412612011633256069.post-47572092480459472682022-10-17T15:20:00.002-05:002022-10-17T15:20:57.799-05:00Twist by Martha Collison REVIEW<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #b6d7a8;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Twist: Creative Ideas to Reinvent Your Baking </span></b></i><span style="font-size: x-large;">by Martha Collison</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #b6d7a8;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">4.32 out of 5 Stars</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>A Note: I am not a professional chef or baker. I am just the average Plain Jane everyday sort of gal in the kitchen.</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i> </i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img alt="31118754. sx318 " src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1468484384l/31118754._SX318_.jpg" /></div>Welcome to my first review of a cookbook! Buckle in, we don't know what we're doing, it's going to be a great time. I'm going to give this some structure as seen with the three headings below, but in all seriousness, this is my first time trying to review a cookbook, so it may go wrong or there may be something people are looking for that they may not find here. (If so, please let me know <i>what</i> so that I can add it in the future!) I actually read quite a lot of cookbooks and love trying them out. This is just the first time I'm reviewing one because I want to try to grow as a reviewer. And the reason I'm reviewing this one is because I <i>love love love</i> the Great British Bake Off, and Martha's book was the first cookbook that I went out and bought to try the recipes. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Overall, I adore this cookbook. There are stains and sticky spots all over my copy from how often I've used it, and it is one I regularly check whenever I need a basic recipe for something really common, like a chocolate cake or a simple cookie. I would 100% recommend this book to people as a great basic recipes book, as well as learning how to take something basic and expand on it. <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p style="text-align: left;"><u><b>Difficulty:</b></u></p></div><div style="text-align: left;">In my opinion, the recipes weren't too hard to follow. There were a couple of techniques, particularly when it came to handling the sugars and gelatin, that were more challenging to me. But, I think that was more so because I just didn't have the experience at that point, not because it was described poorly. Also, I was definitely not used to the metric measurements. Everything I had been using up to this point were solely American cups, tablespoons, etc. I had to go out and buy a cooking scale because I just had never needed one before and I got sick of trying to convert everything from one measurement system to the next. <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p><u><b>Originality:</b></u></p></div><div style="text-align: left;">I really loved how the recipes were simple, basic things, but then there were different ways your could vary them, or "twist" the recipe to make it your own. It makes the recipes much more versatile and multi-purposeful, so each recipe will be more than just a one time creation that is repeated over and over and over again. You can mix it up, and Martha guides you on how to do that while still achieving good results. <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p><u><b>Favorite Dish: </b></u></p></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Martha's Lemon and Earl Grey Tea Cakes</i></div><div style="text-align: left;">Oh my god, this is probably one of my new favorite desserts of all time!!! Especially with the earl grey marshmallow topping, the whole thing was just so perfectly sweet without being overly sugary. It's also a flavor profile that I am just not used to seeing or encountering in my day to day life, so the novelty of it is fun and heightens the enjoyment of this dish. Working with the gelatin in the marshmallow was completely new to me too, but it worked! And I am so glad it worked because it was the best part of the whole thing!<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Thanks for reading!<br /></div>BooksAndTea12http://www.blogger.com/profile/03781270521098291462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7412612011633256069.post-11304761356652537802022-10-15T19:17:00.005-05:002022-10-15T19:17:57.683-05:00Original Sin by Lydia Michaels REVIEW<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-DF4R5vpueKkQKONWNoeSlEdVHSlqwvAukl7BAMzwRlZ7RSCNvjRrq7FSInu4HzATc1qZbWqKAObTscMGSkdVMlpWdtSxeMqF9be1Rhtm59yCvCLJ37Mabj9VQlZ6iqZbEMI8gowVOVvAI4HHiK45PwA-r-WtzC3EhU9XtBPdVXnUudZHloh8BQ2soA/s475/original%20sin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="298" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-DF4R5vpueKkQKONWNoeSlEdVHSlqwvAukl7BAMzwRlZ7RSCNvjRrq7FSInu4HzATc1qZbWqKAObTscMGSkdVMlpWdtSxeMqF9be1Rhtm59yCvCLJ37Mabj9VQlZ6iqZbEMI8gowVOVvAI4HHiK45PwA-r-WtzC3EhU9XtBPdVXnUudZHloh8BQ2soA/s320/original%20sin.jpg" width="201" /></a></div><i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Original Sin </span></span></span></b></i><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">by Lydia Michaels</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">1.48 out of 5 Stars</span></span> </i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i> </i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>***Thank you to Bailey Brown Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review***</i><i> </i></div><div style="text-align: right;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: left;">In full transparency, I DNF'd this book at 45%. Please keep that in mind when reading this review in case you have a different opinion or are looking to use this review as advice as to whether or not to read this book. For me, it was not my vibe, by really any means. And normally I don't DNF books, even if I don't like them, but there were some persistent themes in this book that I was straight up not comfortable with and I could not see them turning any corners to better (read, "healthier") portrayals by the time I put the book down. I'll get into those problematic themes a little further down, but ultimately, I just don't think this book was the right fit for me. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><p style="text-align: left;"><u><b>PLOT</b></u></p><div style="text-align: left;">The premise of the story is a vampiric soulmate connection that, when realized within the vampire character, needs to be sought out in order for them to not lose their minds. One of our leads, Adam is vampire, who gets such a call for the other main character, Anna, and a steamy romance ensues. I was very intrigued by this premise because the connection needing to be affirmed in order for the character to survive was so interesting and enticing when wrapped up in a romance novel. However....</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The themes I had trouble with overrode any excitement I had about the premise of the plot. Adam is a "gentleman" and won't force himself on Anna, but at the same time, he legitimately kidnaps her, constantly takes away her free will, forces her to completely change her way of life and self-expression, and views his relationship with her as "his right." Many things wrong here. Many, many things, which significantly lowered the rating for me because I just could never in a million years be comfortable recommending such content to someone. To do so would be essentially an endorsement that behaviour such as Adam's and the relationship Adam and Anna fall into is okay and healthy, when it really is not. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I was waiting for these toxic possessive edges and forceful removals of identity to be recognized and to have those attitudes (as expressed by Adam and his family) corrected. But by 45%, they hadn't started to change at all, and if anything, the attitude of "his right" and "it's necessary for survival" were becoming more ingrained, and I couldn't stand it anymore, so I stopped reading. Really sad, because I think the premise of a soulmate connection having such a strong impact on a person is a great one, but this was so bogged down by these horrible themes that I couldn't see a way out or a way to redeem it. <br /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p style="text-align: left;"><u><b>WRITING</b></u></p></div><div style="text-align: left;">What makes all of this so much sadder is that I actually liked the author's writing! I believe this may have been one of her earlier books, so there is no way I am writing off this author. Her style, while not high-brow literary, had that captivating edge to it that I love. It's the kind of writing that will draw you in and before you realize it you're up past midnight. Excellent writing, I just wish the execution of the story had been vastly different. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">So in the end, I can't recommend this book because of its thematic issues. However, I am open to reading more from this author and seeing what else she has created! <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Thanks for reading!<br /></div>BooksAndTea12http://www.blogger.com/profile/03781270521098291462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7412612011633256069.post-51678762268390643832022-10-15T18:44:00.001-05:002022-10-15T18:44:11.094-05:00On Blogging: A Reintroduction<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: #f6b26b;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">On Blogging</span></b></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Reintroducing myself after a very long time away</i></span></span></span></p><p><i>Oh wow, this feels weird</i>, is the first thought that I have about writing this post. I can't just dive back into posting reviews as if I've been doing it consistently for the past two years; I need to acknowledge this gap in my postings. But it feels so absolutely strange to be writing out a post at all, let alone a post like this which is not the primary ground for content on this blog. At least, content like this wasn't originally the ground for content on this blog. I think over the years, the more stressed or taken over by life events and busyness I became, the more I just posted filler content so that I could feel productive. Originally though, this was always meant to be a place for me to share my thoughts and appreciation for books in the form of reviews. I love the tags and the ships and the TV and movie reviews, but it was always supposed to be about the books and expressing thought-filled opinions on them as a reader. </p><p>I have no regrets about those posts by any means. I loved writing them and sharing them, and I'll probably continue to do so every now and then. However, in the slight rearranging of my blog, and the minor updates I gave the blog aesthetically, I did get rid of a bunch of labels for my posts and changed the upper banner to include only genre labels. These genre labels will take you only to book reviews. The filler content and reviews for other mediums are still present, but I don't want them to share the center stage with the book reviews anymore. As I'm coming back into blogging, I really want to try to revert back to my original love of reading and sharing my love for reading online. Will there still be other content besides book reviews? Yes. But, what I'm sincerely hoping for is that I can build this blog to be a place where people can look toward for genuine book reviews from a fellow reader. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBFEVT6MRx3TJOJlx1eEQd77naFI5wFtIAVtAW4MzvlpwMps4aujCsPhN-aC4PHZy2t2e5IDjfPtXBtQbTEaG7LXT2bEtWgY2RNJumSMDJYn9muGosAojjcNIwtFaoBRGsBQ8vnhaVaPSu0w3yhaOVq81FMgaicR3bjZ4LruROst34MU6bgOGfv0XTog/s2883/pexels-photo-64775.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1754" data-original-width="2883" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBFEVT6MRx3TJOJlx1eEQd77naFI5wFtIAVtAW4MzvlpwMps4aujCsPhN-aC4PHZy2t2e5IDjfPtXBtQbTEaG7LXT2bEtWgY2RNJumSMDJYn9muGosAojjcNIwtFaoBRGsBQ8vnhaVaPSu0w3yhaOVq81FMgaicR3bjZ4LruROst34MU6bgOGfv0XTog/s320/pexels-photo-64775.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>Luckily, I am getting to a place where I will be able to read <i>and review</i> as voraciously as I once was. Because even though I may not have been posting book reviews, I have most certainly been reading still. I don't think I could picture myself without a book on hand or downloaded on my phone. But as I'm returning to blogging, there may be a handful of posts where I'm getting back into the swing of things and finding my voice again, so please bear with me! I have loved seeing that people have read my posts, and I <i>LOVE </i>when there are comments or engagements with them online. Fortunately, blogging for me has been a wonderful positive hobby, and I am really excited (and a bit nervous) to be coming back to this blog. <p></p><div style="text-align: left;">XOXO,</div><div style="text-align: left;">Thanks for reading!</div><p><br /></p>BooksAndTea12http://www.blogger.com/profile/03781270521098291462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7412612011633256069.post-75637615288277311772021-05-02T20:07:00.014-05:002022-10-15T18:15:00.979-05:00Excerpt from Hurricane Summer by Asha Bromfield<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij-Xg4v0M-mE1HDPDd1poxTeNGMzqCFGHSv8UFHoW64tsufwmR4qWKFCXbsnTCUsIltamG20ttaBMhuK-uHey9dOTWfL7IE32rEbhZkr7zobk9ozGkg3UojD85I9VKsuW3lAQQ7TYdknd3/s2048/Hurricane+Summer_HC.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1324" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij-Xg4v0M-mE1HDPDd1poxTeNGMzqCFGHSv8UFHoW64tsufwmR4qWKFCXbsnTCUsIltamG20ttaBMhuK-uHey9dOTWfL7IE32rEbhZkr7zobk9ozGkg3UojD85I9VKsuW3lAQQ7TYdknd3/s320/Hurricane+Summer_HC.jpg" /></a></div><br />Excerpt from </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="font-size: large;">Hurricane Summer by Asha Bromfield</span></span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #f9cb9c;">Blog Tour</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #f9cb9c;">COMING MAY 4, 2021</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">As I slowly start to crawl my way back to the land of blogging, I am thrilled to share this excerpt from <i>Hurricane Summer</i>! This YA coming-of-age takes readers to Jamaica, where the lead protagonist Tilla comes to realizes the more about herself, <span style="font-family: times;">her </span>father, their relationship, and Jamaica and the world itself. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span><b><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 4.45pt; margin-top: 4.55pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"><span face=""Arial Black", sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 30pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 19.15pt; margin-top: 24.7pt;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We touch down at 1:46 p.m. local time.</span></span></p><span style="color: #cccccc;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0pt 14.55pt 0pt 19.15pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14pt;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Warm air floods the plane as the doors open, and the sweet aroma of fruit wafts in the air. Passengers race to grab their bags as the thick accent comes over the PA once again:</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.305; margin: 0pt 14.55pt 0pt 19.2pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.95pt;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Ladiez and gentle-mon, welcome to Kingston, Jamaica. It iz a beautiful day here on the island, and we wish you nothing but irie on your travels. It has been our pleasure to have you on board. As always, thank you for flying Air Jamaica.”</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.25pt 14.55pt 0pt 19.2pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14pt;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I gently shake Mia awake as Patois begins to pour out all around us. I grab our backpacks from the cabin, and we throw them over our shoulders before trudging off the plane.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.05pt 14.55pt 0pt 19.15pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14pt;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As we make our way through the busy airport, we are sur- rounded by a sea of rich, dark skin. I feel courageous as we navigate through the brown and black bodies, and I can’t help but wonder if the feeling of belonging is why Dad loves it so much here.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0pt 22.1pt 0pt 11.65pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Once we clear at customs, we continue our trek through the massive airport. All around us, people smile and laugh, and there is a mellowness to their pace. Most of the women wear bright colors and intricate braids in their hair, Afros, or long locks down their backs. An array of sandals and flip-flop</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> highlight all the bright painted toenails as Mia and I weave through the crowd.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.05pt 22.05pt 0pt 11.65pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14pt;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Stay close!” I yell, grabbing on to her hand. When we find the exit, I grow nervous knowing what awaits us on the other side. I look to Mia. “You have everything?”</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 25.65pt; margin-top: 0.05pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She nods.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 25.65pt; margin-top: 2.1pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Okay,” I whisper to myself. “Let’s do this.”</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 2.15pt 22pt 0pt 11.65pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14pt;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With our suitcases lugging behind us, we spill out of the doors and into the hot sun. The heat immediately consumes me, and it is amplified by the chaos and noise that surrounds us. The streets are </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">packed. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Loud horns blare, and people yell back and forth in thick, heavy Patois accents. Men argue on the side of the road, their dialect harsh as they negotiate the rates for local shuttle buses. Along the roads, merchants sell colorful beaded jewelry and fruit so ripe that I can taste it in the air. Women wear beautiful head wraps and sell plantains and provisions, bartering back and forth with eager travelers. People spew out of overcrowded taxis, desperate to catch their flights as others hop in, desperate to get home. The sun pierces my skin as the humidity and gas fumes fill my lungs. The ac- tion is overwhelming, and I feel like a fish out of water. As we wait by the curb, there is no sight of our father.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.17; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 25.65pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“What if he forgot?” Mia asks.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 2.1pt 67.1pt 0pt 25.65pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“He wouldn’t,” I reply. “Mom just talked to him.” “What if he got the time mixed up?”</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 25.65pt; margin-top: 0.05pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“He’ll be here.”</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 2.1pt 22pt 0pt 11.65pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14pt;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But the truth is, when it comes to our father, I can never be sure.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.05pt 22.1pt 0pt 11.65pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14pt;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I fight with this idea as five minutes turn into ten, and ten into twenty.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0pt 52.65pt 0pt 25.65pt;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The heat blazes, and sweat drips down my stomach. I check my watch: forty-two minutes.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0pt 14.55pt 0pt 19.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I pull my pink hoodie over my head to reveal a white tank</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> top, tying the hoodie around my waist to better manage the heat. Without my phone, I have no way of contacting him to see where he is.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.05pt 169.65pt 0pt 33.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But he said he’d be here. He gave us his word.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.05pt 14.55pt 0pt 19.15pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14pt;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fifty-six minutes later, our father is nowhere to be found. My eyes frantically search the crowd as I ponder how much his word is truly worth. Time and time again, he has proven that the answer is not much. I turn to Mia, ready to tell her to head back inside. Worry graces her face for the first time since we left. Her carefree attitude fades as the concern of a nine-year-old takes over. I can’t stand to see her like this, and I’ll do whatever it takes to escape the feeling that is bubbling inside of me.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 33.15pt; margin-top: 0.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We’ll take the first plane out.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 33.15pt; margin-top: 2.1pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Mi, Dad’s not coming. Let’s go back insid—”</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 2.1pt 14.55pt 0pt 19.2pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.95pt;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Yow! Tilla!” A deep voice interrupts me mid-sentence. I whip my head around to find my father standing a few</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.05pt 15.3pt 0pt 19.15pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 0pt 14.05pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">feet away with two freshly sliced pineapple drinks in hand. “Daddy!” Mia screams. She drops her things on the curb</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 19.2pt; margin-top: 0.05pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and sprints toward him. My heart does somersaults.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 49.15pt; margin-top: 2.1pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One glimpse of my father and I am a child again.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 49.15pt; margin-top: 2.1pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><div style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 49.15pt; margin-top: 2.1pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000;"><b><span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><></span></span></b></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 19.39pt; margin-top: 2.1pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #231f20; font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 2.1pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thank you to Wednesday Books and Asha Bromfield for letting me be a part of this tour! Review to come!!! </span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 19.39pt; margin-top: 2.1pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 2.1pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thanks for reading! </span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 2.1pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #231f20; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 2.1pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #231f20; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLaqsLhGwUu6xqgo0C0MyrmnZfz6AmnGqBBIO5roCQF_wqWNhA73UVGvelsGinP3TcHSBMZVmT0tRf8QQRe9nCKX_3xkrupTwhsKfFLdo5gCtL-wnlAiYfGdamkwtw-AlC2GVNRN3WtybO/s900/HurricaneSummer_BlogTourBanner_Before+May+4.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="337" data-original-width="900" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLaqsLhGwUu6xqgo0C0MyrmnZfz6AmnGqBBIO5roCQF_wqWNhA73UVGvelsGinP3TcHSBMZVmT0tRf8QQRe9nCKX_3xkrupTwhsKfFLdo5gCtL-wnlAiYfGdamkwtw-AlC2GVNRN3WtybO/w640-h240/HurricaneSummer_BlogTourBanner_Before+May+4.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /> </span></span></span></div></div>BooksAndTea12http://www.blogger.com/profile/03781270521098291462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7412612011633256069.post-38579493822370223492021-01-03T15:02:00.001-06:002022-10-15T17:59:38.063-05:002021 Resolutions<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"> 2021 Resolutions</span></b></span></span></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXnLg-hZR0fe_zVxyI-jdJy0DJi_9WC1P7BoJFxmnUd_AFOeLhuPrif0jVIEMxjwiIFMBSFoZ9yL3jNgOIrJ0W1JxykiO2Fs2_f7_JfX7YSm0lfyCRsrTb5QuYoOFjKIZJTmz4R8EOX_Db/s960/book-pages_PFJ6UX0DLR.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXnLg-hZR0fe_zVxyI-jdJy0DJi_9WC1P7BoJFxmnUd_AFOeLhuPrif0jVIEMxjwiIFMBSFoZ9yL3jNgOIrJ0W1JxykiO2Fs2_f7_JfX7YSm0lfyCRsrTb5QuYoOFjKIZJTmz4R8EOX_Db/s320/book-pages_PFJ6UX0DLR.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Finally, we have said goodbye to 2020. Like literally the rest of the world, I am <i>so</i> happy to see the year change. However, I am also being very mindful of the fact that, at least for a little while, things may look the same in everyday life. And it's strange to me to try to set out goals for this year when it feels like I have literally been yanked to a stop in life. I'm lucky enough that my life hasn't actually been stopped -- I can still make progress in several areas of my life -- but the pacing has shifted <i>everywhere </i>and it feels like the weight of each aspect of my life has changed as well. It's strange. It's weird. And as I sit here, I can't in certainty say what this means for me. I'm not sure what I want my life to look like. I can't say how I want to have grown coming out of the pandemic. So I don't know how I'm supposed to look at the year in front of me and pin aspirations to its timeline. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUt4zn-GpBvQjYI53rdxnuY8LfiyEShkK-YzchMs3TRrKOdjKerEFuXJLt7Y6FnkILYest1xRiArei6xNxTZ1V5NnP3aE9m0OgjX7GpjLP_ZpTYFKV4UM37Hp4nem7de3Wvaj4KQVkCD3T/s510/maple-leaves-2895335__340.webp" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="340" data-original-width="510" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUt4zn-GpBvQjYI53rdxnuY8LfiyEShkK-YzchMs3TRrKOdjKerEFuXJLt7Y6FnkILYest1xRiArei6xNxTZ1V5NnP3aE9m0OgjX7GpjLP_ZpTYFKV4UM37Hp4nem7de3Wvaj4KQVkCD3T/s320/maple-leaves-2895335__340.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I think... hold on. -xo-xo-xo-xo-xo-xo-</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Okay. I think I will give myself one definable goal, and then a general overall theme for the year. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Actually Read the Books in My Sense & Sensibility <a href="http://allbooksandtea.blogspot.com/2020/01/from-sense-to-sensibility-and-then-back.html" target="_blank">"Course"</a></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;">Last year I was really hoping to read a whole bunch of British literature written by female authors. And then the semester started in January and that didn't really happen. Now though, I ~think~ I have a lighter course load and I really want to at least read those books. Maybe I'll read them in order, maybe I won't. I just want to have fun with them and pick through them for pure enjoyment throughout the year. As I go along, maybe I'll review them or something and add a tag to group them all together. <br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKXrgWIyumZvglUIUTKlfcOjRLOFbNl3y4uxXmhh04c13Lv6JhdZU2Y0IPdDIvaNVOm40NTwQH5WW4VDiG-z0zJ6k82GCXe08Pp_u1ZZkz5KX8MX2jU5kY0AHC2msBf0qxfCpEoL-2Yn0q/s1023/25662824275_1b171c708c_b.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="591" data-original-width="1023" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKXrgWIyumZvglUIUTKlfcOjRLOFbNl3y4uxXmhh04c13Lv6JhdZU2Y0IPdDIvaNVOm40NTwQH5WW4VDiG-z0zJ6k82GCXe08Pp_u1ZZkz5KX8MX2jU5kY0AHC2msBf0qxfCpEoL-2Yn0q/s320/25662824275_1b171c708c_b.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Chase My Younger Self /Attitude</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;">This one is like a major "huh????" for the general person. What do I mean by this? I think I just mean to take everything a little less seriously and to be less stressed about the direction of my life. I have no way to phrase it other than "my younger self." I don't know exactly.... I think back to when I was 10, 12, 15, whatever it was and yes, I was stressed, but I was also just living. Each day was a huge f***ing deal and every moment was fully embraced. Now, I think I'm so caught up in the "plans" for things that I am literally unable to be fully immersed in the actual goings on of my present life. Gonna try to change that back. :)<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://allbooksandtea.blogspot.com/2020/01/2020-resolutions.html" target="_blank">Last year </a>I gave myself some more concrete goals, and that was fine enough. At least for a little while before the pandemic wrecked havoc on the world. But looking at what I've "given myself" for the upcoming year, I feel really good about it because it gives me the room to breathe and room for the world around me to shake up a bit as I fumble along. And hopefully, these are closer to long-lasting changes than just resolutions and I'll hold onto them past this year. <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Thanks for reading and thank God for 2021!!!!<br /></div><br />BooksAndTea12http://www.blogger.com/profile/03781270521098291462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7412612011633256069.post-69073759855914392162020-12-31T22:06:00.008-06:002022-10-15T18:01:15.730-05:00Best Books of 2020<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Best Books of 2020</span></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">While I did not reach my Goodreads goal of reading 100 books, I did read 93, which is one more than last year, so I'm considering that a win still! And of those 93 books, there were <i>so</i> many that I enjoyed reading, a couple that were meh, and a sprinkle of books for school. Below though are FIVE of my favorite books that I read this past year. :) <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Fable by Adrienne Young</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>From Blood and Ash / A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire by Jennifer L. Armentrout<br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Crescent City by Sarah J. Maas<br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Feminists Don't Wear Pink and Other Lies by Scarlett Curtis (and others)<br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston</b></span> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Thanks for reading and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!<br /></div>BooksAndTea12http://www.blogger.com/profile/03781270521098291462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7412612011633256069.post-18438417476663451962020-12-16T12:47:00.001-06:002022-10-15T17:59:38.062-05:00Hiatus End: Stress & Comfort Reading<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHzZMg62z1fbHhkzM2ZHDThiMY2qiJ8k_xAWhWuSwMRKB16pklIaNze4YF-8UDpsIl7RqpSOFrc568FC3-xQb0L-MiM7SCJ344XItV1BzZyOIryz_tEysv7M8DW5pqhoRb6a6ueaNB_xSM/s1280/winter-4742564_1280.webp" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="868" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHzZMg62z1fbHhkzM2ZHDThiMY2qiJ8k_xAWhWuSwMRKB16pklIaNze4YF-8UDpsIl7RqpSOFrc568FC3-xQb0L-MiM7SCJ344XItV1BzZyOIryz_tEysv7M8DW5pqhoRb6a6ueaNB_xSM/s320/winter-4742564_1280.webp" width="320" /></a></div><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Stress & Comfort Reading</span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;"><span style="font-size: large;">What I've Been Reading While Finishing the Semester</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"> <br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>I'M BACK TO BLOGGING I'M BACK TO BLOGGING I'M BACK TO BLOGGING I'M BACK TO BLOGGING!!!!! </b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b> </b></div><div style="text-align: left;">I know this effects probably like, a less than zero amount of people other than myself, but I am <i>so</i> excited to be writing a new post. This semester has been absolute craziness, and I am so glad that <a href="http://allbooksandtea.blogspot.com/2020/10/notice-blogging-hiatus-through-121520.html">I officially took a break </a>until now. Not just because I clearly needed to relieve myself of that pressure, but because it is making ~this moment~ so much sweeter. As a general semester update, I'm actually not done yet. I thought I would be, but I have one more final that I'm planning on taking tomorrow. However, I still feel like I can break my hiatus today and write up a post because I have been studying nonstop so I (a) have earned these hours of blogging, and (b) need to remind myself that I have other activities outside of school. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">To get back into things, I thought I would share how I stress-read and what that means for me. Because even though I was horrifically busy this semester, I still turned to books for escapism and stress relief. And I think this highlights a very specific lens through which we view the use of books, and it's a use of reading that we've all gone through. Stress reading our comfort books is a wonderful, wonderful thing because not only do I think it is literally therapeutic to distance ourselves from the sources of stress, but also because it reminds us of why we love reading. </div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIvczxnvr-aI0IWJMrbZtD_poxaPgwYNeD8cZriWlHrjxoUHzBDIs9RoRn9TzIjsjbHW1RUTzCDqwC5SsITP-E3mb7iUuvNR_OeRjFfXMdlIkMs6cabWPbGgqU2IK7_P-wAbA15ZgKLsxC/s300/bookending-winter-beawinter20-logo.webp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIvczxnvr-aI0IWJMrbZtD_poxaPgwYNeD8cZriWlHrjxoUHzBDIs9RoRn9TzIjsjbHW1RUTzCDqwC5SsITP-E3mb7iUuvNR_OeRjFfXMdlIkMs6cabWPbGgqU2IK7_P-wAbA15ZgKLsxC/w169-h169/bookending-winter-beawinter20-logo.webp" width="169" /></a></div>I'm going to be tying this stress reading post in with a Blog Prompt from Bookending Winter 2020, which I signed up for over a month ago knowing I wouldn't be able to start participating until today. Maude from @ Psyched About Books created this one and <a href="https://psychedaboutbooks.wordpress.com/2020/12/16/bookending-winter-comfort-reads-by-the-fire/">here is a link to her original post</a>. Here's the prompt: </div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Comfort Reads by the Fire</span></span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><i><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Winter is the season for
warmth and comfort, reading books by the chimney in your favorite
armchair. What are your top 5 comfort books to read / reread during this
season?</span></span></span></i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: 400;"> <br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Random side note: I love the logo that comes with these prompts and BEWinter20. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">My small twist to this prompt is that I'll be talking about other things I've read so far this semester while stressed out. Here we go!</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Here's what I've read since I went on hiatus... keep in mind, a lot of those series are complete rereads so I <i>flew</i> through them. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Lux Series by Jennifer L. Armentrout<br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Covenant Series by Jennifer L. Armentrout<br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Deal with the Elf King by Elise Kova<br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Crazy Stupid Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams<br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Happily Letter After by Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward<br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">In Five Years by Rebecca Serle<br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Iron Fey trilogy (first 3 + novellas) by Julie Kagawa<br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Midnight Breed 1-5 by Lara Adrian</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">For me, I have a couple of go-to authors when I'm stressed out, like Jennifer L. Armentrout. Her writing is so easy to fall into and the characters so sympathetic. There are times when I'll literally just reread specific scenes because I know the books so well at this point I don't need a refresher as to the context of the scene. Another go-to author would normally be Sarah J. Maas for me, but I know that if I were to start rereading ToG or ACOTAR that I would not crawl out of my bed for days while I was reading.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Other comfort books I'll read when I'm stressed are just general rereads, even if they're middle grade books from way back when. Sometimes I think its just nice to revisit something that reminds you of a different time in your life. <br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The top 5 of these books (or others) I would pick to recommend </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">to others for warmth and comfort would be:</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: 400;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirGBGzYO-YyLKjrfJlXKACLZdB5aCpH-nzewT1oTmMTKPOfQU5JH34x_o3Q3-MiSV8aYp-pwnDcITga3HjhHwtHoYLSfkRwi2RDb1POnIflaQE_7m-PJrd80FFpvm6L-KEFiEVypBUXIKY/s1360/deal+with+the+elf+king.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1360" data-original-width="880" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirGBGzYO-YyLKjrfJlXKACLZdB5aCpH-nzewT1oTmMTKPOfQU5JH34x_o3Q3-MiSV8aYp-pwnDcITga3HjhHwtHoYLSfkRwi2RDb1POnIflaQE_7m-PJrd80FFpvm6L-KEFiEVypBUXIKY/w206-h320/deal+with+the+elf+king.jpg" width="206" /></a></div><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">1. Deal with the Elf King by Elise Kova</span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">This was an unexpected delight. It's not perfect, but I still was able to just read through it and enjoy the process of reading it. I actually only gave it like, 3 stars on Goodreads, <i>but</i> that was mostly for technical stuff. In terms of enjoy-ability, it was a good book and I could totally see myself or anyone else curling up with this while it's snowing outside. </span><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">2. The Iron Fey trilogy by Julie Kagawa</span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">It was so interesting to reread the original trilogy of this series. I first read these books back in I think my freshman year of high school. It was so long ago I don't even have the date marked on Goodreads because I didn't have Goodreads at that point. It might have even been middle school that I read these. I can't really remember. Anyway, to me this series was such a comfort read because it was such a loving throwback. Have my taste as a reader evolved since? Yes. And that meant that I wasn't obsessive with reading these books this time around, but because I have such a strong memory of adoring these books, I still love them. If you haven't read this series, I recommend it. Or, in the alternative, picking up a book you loved in middle school / early high school and rereading that. </span><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: small;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkFsX_wn_qL7e2HSjoRf605K-hW5iGelISnnLmYQD0_siL7gamFNHRb8WM8x0FVvUCejug2fZP5xzYad2l6c70eNyr5LW565bNO7n5nwqrzmw0-6XFmoRhurdPNjEKb8Q5xfBK5KVEI3MV/s927/brightest+night.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="927" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkFsX_wn_qL7e2HSjoRf605K-hW5iGelISnnLmYQD0_siL7gamFNHRb8WM8x0FVvUCejug2fZP5xzYad2l6c70eNyr5LW565bNO7n5nwqrzmw0-6XFmoRhurdPNjEKb8Q5xfBK5KVEI3MV/w206-h320/brightest+night.jpg" width="206" /></a></div></span><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">3. Anything written by Jennifer L. Armentrout</span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">Jennifer L. Armentrout may be one of the most addictive writers I have ever met. I don't think there is a single book of hers I've picked up and haven't given at least 4 stars. There's the Lux series, the Covenant series, the Wicked trilogy (currently being made into a movie), the Blood and Ash series... and so much more. Anything. Literally anything by Jennifer L. Armentrout will be a comfort read to curl up with. </span><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">4. The Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward</span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">One of the genres in general that I turn to for comfort reads, especially when I'm stressed, is romance. As you may have seen from the list of books I read during the semester, if it wasn't a reread, it was a romance. Romances are captivating in a way that is quick, strong, and feel-good. This series by J.R. Ward is also addictive like JLA's stuff, but it is definitely an adult series. If you are old enough for mature content, I'd say give this series a whirl. It's like the adult version of <i>Twilight</i>, but mixed with the <i>Avengers</i>. </span><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggRLOc5vhY_Q-xSVwlX-bCd86JtOo8c66MIOexR257GYnnGPsdJ01XjZgTWLVcT4nMX3S9QEsmC6om02cqq2-17VPbiRFOwMI6LLaWJzNBRhaH7EBA-tGHeDEmNGlasCJ-dEBnLuMFmNeQ/s475/lover+awakened.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="295" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggRLOc5vhY_Q-xSVwlX-bCd86JtOo8c66MIOexR257GYnnGPsdJ01XjZgTWLVcT4nMX3S9QEsmC6om02cqq2-17VPbiRFOwMI6LLaWJzNBRhaH7EBA-tGHeDEmNGlasCJ-dEBnLuMFmNeQ/w198-h320/lover+awakened.jpg" width="198" /></a></div><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">5. Relentless by Karen Lynch</span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: small;">This series is sort of the definition of fluff, but it's also urban fantasy. It's a bit of an easier read than JLA (who also writes some urban fantasy fluff), but the thing that I like about this series is the concept seems original to me. The themes are not, but they're the same themes that we all (at least me lol) love, like the protagonist is uber special for some reason, there's a soul/bond connection, there are classic sassy/broody/comedic characters interwoven. The original bit is that the characters have a sort of demon inside of them, and the way that symbiotic relationship works is what appears unique to me. </span> <br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Why am I not putting SJM or Holly Black or some of my other favourites on this list? Well.... here's the thing, and I kind of touched on this earlier... for me, while high fantasy and <i>deep</i> complex fictional stories are some of my absolute favourite books of all time, I also find that I will get so wrapped up in them that I cannot do anything else. And that isn't to say the books listed above aren't deep or complex -- some of them really are -- but there's a different levity that I get while reading those books for whatever reason than I do while reading, say <i>Throne of Glass</i>. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">So there you have it-- what I've been stress reading and what I recommend as comfort reads! I'm really looking forward to taking this final test so that I can fully participate in the Bookending Winter 2020 events. Hell, I'm looking forward to finishing the semester so I can fully blog again. That will be such a fun relief to be fully back into things!<br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">Thanks for reading! </span><br /></div>BooksAndTea12http://www.blogger.com/profile/03781270521098291462noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7412612011633256069.post-38803646950580787982020-10-25T18:40:00.006-05:002022-10-15T17:59:38.063-05:00Notice: Blogging Hiatus through 12/15/20<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #ffe599;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Taking a Break:</b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #ffe599;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Hiatus on Blogging through December 15</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Hello,</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Firstly, thank you to everyone who stops by my blog. I know that I have followers, but I'm also thanking all those people just pass by or look for specific posts or reviews. Never in a million years could I have imagined being able to share my thoughts about something I am so passionate about and have people <i>share</i> in those thoughts. So truly, thank you.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Secondly, I want to let you all know that I will not be updating my blog through the middle of December. I know I haven't posted here in a <i>long</i> time, so I probably should have done this sooner, and there have been long stretches in the past when I should have made an announcement like this, but I felt the need to let you all know that I'm not <i>done</i> with the blog, I'm just taking a break. <span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="color: #f9cb9c;">Why? The short version is, I'm too stressed and I don't have time.</span> </b></span>So if that's all you need in the explanation, cool, love you (lowkey as a reader I'd probably be you), there it is. The rest of this is just going to be more in-depth reasoning. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">For one thing, I'm still in school and this semester is b r u t a l. I had another semester sort of like this about three years ago, but even that was different. Three years ago I was so stressed because I was taking the hardest classes for my major on top of working 3-4 jobs/positions. Insanity. This semester, I am working only one job, but I also have a clinic and research positions on top of a full credit load. And I have to factor in a commute time where I'm driving 20-25 minutes one way. Plus, yet again on top of that all, one of the classes is incredibly stressful for me in a way I have never had to deal with before. So there's just a whole bunch of new and usual things I'm learning to deal with in addition to studying and being a good student. <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I'm also going to throw in the pandemic, because there are "little" things like needing to go grocery shopping for family that simply take up time. And by no means am I complaining about doing that -- they're my family, I love them and want them safe -- but it's just a fact of reality at this point and I need to acknowledge it. I have different responsibilities and concerns now that affect my behaviour and mental health. <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And then there's my basic physical health. I really, really, want to start taking better physical care of myself, so I've been trying to at least go outside if not work out once a day. And I'm okay at doing that. There are still days when I literally go from a 6am wake up to a 9pm finish with only taking breaks to go to the bathroom. Yeah-- that crazy and I'm not exaggerating either. But with that, on the days I do have a "spare" hour or so, I want to make sure I am keeping myself in the best health condition that I can. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">To look at my schedule as a whole, I have worked nearly every day including weekends since the middle of September (I took a Friday off in early October). And I'm still, objectively speaking, behind on my work. It is absolute madness and I felt like I needed to release something just to give me more breathing room. Blogging is, unfortunately, the only real viable option at this point. <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"But it's only blogging." I really don't think any of you would say that, but just in case, it's not "only blogging." On average, I spend between an hour and a half to just over two hours writing and editing a book review, and that's <i>after</i> I have read the book and seriously considered it's merits, my potential biases, and the key pieces I want to highlight. And I love doing this! It's why I started posting my reviews online! But the reality is that it takes me awhile to do this. I don't ever want to just post a random review to get it out of the way. Even when I get books for free from publishers, I don't <i>ever</i> just blow through a review because it's an expectation. I make sure I take the time to do it properly. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Will I still be reading? Yes, for sure. Reading is part of my stress management because I can disengage from the world and give my body a break from the anxiety. That being said, I don't even want to <i>know</i> how behind I am on my reading challenge and I'll probably revert to reading only my absolute favorites for stress-reading. For example, I'm rereading the Lux series right now (Jennifer Armentrout) because it fits the bill perfectly. I've read it a bajillion times before and I'll likely read it a bajillion more times in the future. The only down side to this is that I had so many books I was really looking forward to reading that I now will be pushing back to make sure I can completely enjoy them. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">I love blogging and I love reading. Going on hiatus right now is just as much to protect my love for those things as it is to give myself more time and stress-relief. I hope you all understand and I am already looking forward to the middle of December when I'll be posting again. :) <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Best wishes,</div><div style="text-align: left;">All I Need Are Books and Tea</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Thanks for reading!<br /></div>BooksAndTea12http://www.blogger.com/profile/03781270521098291462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7412612011633256069.post-75472592114689463342020-10-11T18:23:00.005-05:002022-10-15T18:12:34.410-05:00A Golden Fury by Samantha Cohoe REVIEW<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b> A Golden Fury </b>by Samantha Cohoe</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><span style="font-size: large;">3.40 out of 5 Stars <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg54Zo5rKJGXkGvOs_G86xgTUbh6PJd77_lq7jIonOpoNxwDIX1TJmH7z2vlnfRIWLaMNDl0MKySd9Tmenf_HuGgzQG9n85Ast_LXKhHHDtvyRa_fmU9jgzcOVJxFh6c6GFn3I_zF3fxmNt/s2048/a+golden+fury.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1340" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg54Zo5rKJGXkGvOs_G86xgTUbh6PJd77_lq7jIonOpoNxwDIX1TJmH7z2vlnfRIWLaMNDl0MKySd9Tmenf_HuGgzQG9n85Ast_LXKhHHDtvyRa_fmU9jgzcOVJxFh6c6GFn3I_zF3fxmNt/s320/a+golden+fury.jpg" /></a></div></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>***Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!***</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i> <br /></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8sZTk39CWgI4_TX75UF5cgdvBtTrXnTdXJ60GGnGaDB2zfz6EqGbC9F7uDWUzBgAQxOohxhflcgT9bnGXkW2BXBceoUlLfd79bVktpKo0di3SzuBZJO8_Dtv_lAeR-4iUOOWFZF5lGr-S/s3000/three+stars.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="3000" height="47" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8sZTk39CWgI4_TX75UF5cgdvBtTrXnTdXJ60GGnGaDB2zfz6EqGbC9F7uDWUzBgAQxOohxhflcgT9bnGXkW2BXBceoUlLfd79bVktpKo0di3SzuBZJO8_Dtv_lAeR-4iUOOWFZF5lGr-S/w200-h47/three+stars.png" width="200" /></a>Honestly, this review is going to be a little
hard to write, just because there's a giant boulder of something I
didn't like sitting in the middle of a beautiful setting full of
everything this book did wonderfully, and I'm not sure how to handle it.
As a whole, <i>A Golden Fury</i> was an excellently written, original
take on a concept that I personally haven't come across since my baby
Harry Potter days. With a backdrop of late eighteenth century
revolution, we follow Thea as she studies alchemy and the creation of
the Philosopher's Stone. The story starts in France but quickly moves to
mostly take place in England after Thea's mother goes mad from the
Stone's curse.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">I loved the writing. I was fine with the historical
backdrop really just being a backdrop and nothing more. I really
enjoyed the alchemy and the development of the Stone. My biggest,
biggest issue was with Thea herself, which is unfortunate. She was, for
lack of a better description, a weak character. And not in development,
but truly in her <i>character</i>. And without getting into too much
detail so I don't spoil anything at this point, it was doubly
frustrating b<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;">ecause there is a great opportunity for contrast between
strong-as-in-independent and strong-as-in-arrogant-and-overbearing, but
the opportunity was missed. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="color: red;"><b>SPOILERS</b></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-0d2cef20-7fff-297c-1411-967593cd6842" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">PLOT</span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As far as fantasies go, I really really loved this plot! At first, I was a little hesitant with the whole "Philosopher's Stone" thing, but it ended up being really refreshing. I think my main concern was that the story would be a typical quest for eternal life, but it really was about intellectual achievement, which made the story all the more refreshing. Even better was the twisted turn the story took with how the madness was a result of the Stone feeding off the minds of the other alchemists. It was so cool in a sort of creepy way how the Stone was a sentient being, parasitical in nature. It was so interesting, I wish he had more depth of that portion of the plot. Very quickly, we move from Thea finding out the Stone is consuming the minds of Dominic and her mother (along with all the others) to Thea willing to drown and die so that the Stone is killed as well. I would've loved to see more of that, not just because I think it would have drawn out the ending more, but because it was just so, so interesting.</span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CHARACTERS</span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 11pt; margin-left: 11pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="border: medium none; clear: right; display: inline-block; float: right; height: 240px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; overflow: hidden; width: 320px;"><img height="240" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/LHpmRMwUcdKb2DKIqp5OTdEfAt6GrDL3l3Y9Jlqfj8TgY_hXiDA-aJJJ3LyZujwmy5kGlVB9OysLarbERZM-yQdWIOhsbQBcUFwPtxS5zBICk4QptMTxmAq44qbaFG98C-vX1idx" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="320" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A Golden Fury</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> was... good. But here's the thing, I pretty much only had issues with the main character, and while that might seem like a pretty good position for a review, books in this situation are the most frustrating and borderline-infuriating thing ever. Like, it's so close to being excellent. It's just the main character of the story is maddening and that's kind of a big ******* deal. And while Thea was only slightly annoying in the beginning (her pining after Will did </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">not</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> make sense to me), she was distractedly annoying by the end of the book. As I thought about it -- because I typically try to give a lot of leeway to allow characters to grow over the course of their book -- I realized I was so annoyed because Thea is just as unhealthily dependent on outside emotional attachment at the end of the book as she is in the beginning. Let's delve into this a bit deeper:</span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I'm not saying she should be like her mother because let's be real, her mother is wack. A great character, but her disdain for any compassion, sympathy, empathy... emotion in general... is bad for any person. But while Thea shouldn't be like her mother, I thought she was trying to cling too tightly to the idea of acceptance by someone else as opposed to accepting herself by </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">herself</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Thea is a brilliant alchemist, achieves the greatest scientific feat of all time, etc., but so often, she is so passive, reaching for approval or support from the men around her. It does make sense to some degree. Growing up, she was surrounded, really, by only her robotic mother, which means she's probably starved for attention and affection. However, I don't believe becoming the stark opposite of her mother is the solution, but this is the development portrayed in the book. I would have rather seen Thea learn to find a balance between learning how to have relationships with the people around her and knowing her own value and worth herself outside of what other people can give her. Even at the end, the only plan we see her form is to follow her father back to Oxford. And it's </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">him</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that's spitballing potential studies for her while she just sort of sits there and agrees with him. *sigh*</span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 11pt; margin-right: 11pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="border: medium none; clear: left; display: inline-block; float: left; height: 320px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; overflow: hidden; width: 213px;"><img height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/E0RzqB2ozsB-BgHxHUXOrQWCLD02RssQGzpZc6S0L-YghfxesfBFFOdkioEBogiLIEa8EKoXgGKsxb57GEZl70n3qrWeuVVOu2z9TtgbEHsg0YBMd2ELb2eUw0f_-t5svAzYdnWF" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="213" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Outside of Thea, I thought the characters were pretty good. They weren't extraordinary, but they weren't completely flat either. There was just enough depth to each of them to balance the story on the edge between basic simple storytelling and heart-gripping engagement. Could they have been deeper and more complex? Yes. Did they have to be to improve the story? Eh? I don't really think so.</span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Also, last random note on characters- I loved Valentin. I know he's like, "one of the bad guys," but is he really? He was one of the most interesting and in-depth characters of the entire book I thought. I was so curious about his background, his morals, his actions and motivations. At one point, I was lowkey rooting for him and Thea to be a thing, but there wasn't really much romance in the book at all besides Thea's pining for Will.</span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">WRITING</span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The writing was also really impressive. Even though the book was over 300 pages, I completely flew through it. It was captivating and just descriptive enough to give me a full picture of the world of the story without stopping the pacing or slowing it down. With that, if you're looking for a fully engrossing fantasy, this would not be the book for you. If you're looking for a quick dip into a fantastical, magical realism world, this book is spot on.</span></span></span></p></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;"></span></span><p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>A Golden Fury</i>:
a good first book. For me, one of the best things about reading this
was that while I was annoyed with Thea, I really enjoyed the novelty of
the plot and the way the author writes, so I'm looking forward to her
futures works because I think as her complexity and skills as a writer
grow, her characters and dep</span></span>th will grow as well. And the writing style
is already there, so huge win on that front!</p><p>Thanks for reading!</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Cu5D85BNsnkJcQjQumvG1dXzwtynx57t5ygPx81ZfqBUBD8LAXyWv3PS057sPfDKoAUPphxou0bsHjDbnMyypgaME3mXd3yVGhy6U1rHn__Q3jqvk58KCBxKLuqvjXuMzbyX7-GNNQNf/s1640/A+Golden+Fury_Blog+Tour+Banner.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="624" data-original-width="1640" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Cu5D85BNsnkJcQjQumvG1dXzwtynx57t5ygPx81ZfqBUBD8LAXyWv3PS057sPfDKoAUPphxou0bsHjDbnMyypgaME3mXd3yVGhy6U1rHn__Q3jqvk58KCBxKLuqvjXuMzbyX7-GNNQNf/w640-h244/A+Golden+Fury_Blog+Tour+Banner.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>BooksAndTea12http://www.blogger.com/profile/03781270521098291462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7412612011633256069.post-25240283431741024472020-10-07T12:28:00.004-05:002022-10-15T17:59:38.062-05:00Last of 2020 Anticipated Releases<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"> End of the Year Releases!</span></b></span></p><p>Somehow, it is already October, which means there are only a handful of months left for new books to come out this year. Here are the ones that I am really looking forward to!!! (There's a lot, and there's a ****ton in October.)<br /></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>OCTOBER </b></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><p>In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren</p></div><div style="text-align: center;"><p>The Code for Love and Heartbreak by Jillian Cantor</p></div><div style="text-align: center;"><p>The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher</p></div><div style="text-align: center;"><p>The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab</p></div><div style="text-align: center;"><p>The Lives of Saints by Leigh Bardugo</p></div><div style="text-align: center;"><p>A Golden Fury by Samantha Cohoe</p></div><div style="text-align: center;"><p>All About Us by Tom Ellen</p></div><div style="text-align: center;"><p>Come On In by Adi Alsaid (editor)</p></div><div style="text-align: center;"><p>The Midnight Bargain by C.L. Polk</p></div><div style="text-align: center;"><p>The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow</p></div><div style="text-align: center;"><p>Among the Beasts and Briars by Ashley Poston</p></div><div style="text-align: center;"><p>The Brightest Night by Jennifer L. Armentrout</p></div><div style="text-align: center;"><p>Crazy Stupid Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams</p></div><div style="text-align: center;"><p>Love Your Life by Sophie Kinsella</p></div><div style="text-align: center;"><p>Magic Dark and Strange by Kelly Powell</p></div><div style="text-align: center;"><p>Nemesis and the Swan by Lindsay K. Bandy</p></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>NOVEMBER </b></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><p>A Curse of Ash and Ember by Jo Spurrier</p></div><div style="text-align: center;"><p>The Thirty Names of Night by Zeyn Joukhadar</p></div><div style="text-align: center;"><p>I Would Leave Me if I Could by Halsey</p></div><div style="text-align: center;"><p>One Life by Megan Rapinoe</p></div><div style="text-align: center;"><p>Soulswift by Megan Bannen</p></div><div style="text-align: center;"><p>These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong</p></div><div style="text-align: center;"><p>How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories by Holly Black</p></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>DECEMBER</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><p>A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir</p></div><div style="text-align: center;"><p>How to Catch a Queen by Alyssa Cole</p></div><div style="text-align: center;"><p>How to Fail at Flirting by Denise Williams</p></div><div style="text-align: center;"><p>The Mermaid from Jeju by Sumi Hahn</p></div><div style="text-align: center;"><p>The Chanel Sisters by Judithe Little</p></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Thanks for reading!</div><div style="text-align: left;">(Also, apologies for the boring no-images post. I'm finding the new blogger update hard to use and I'll probably be switching platforms soon.)<br /></div>BooksAndTea12http://www.blogger.com/profile/03781270521098291462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7412612011633256069.post-5715518718910748062020-09-06T22:06:00.002-05:002022-10-15T17:52:57.125-05:00Poppyhawke (The Blood and Ash Series): A Ship in My Fleet<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnY1EiDhZcP0rJW49xt4RCWciGo76P4X93bzbXnGYX1tEpG917rC-QhAa_7zQqQIxfrW8UyCbiQPq5_ajyVTvjDqV-MMif1XuK0t006QGzf9JP8bOMclJbsFc0UDlDOQg833bdJZKT6IDa/s1600/ship.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnY1EiDhZcP0rJW49xt4RCWciGo76P4X93bzbXnGYX1tEpG917rC-QhAa_7zQqQIxfrW8UyCbiQPq5_ajyVTvjDqV-MMif1XuK0t006QGzf9JP8bOMclJbsFc0UDlDOQg833bdJZKT6IDa/s320/ship.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="color: #a2c4c9;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A Ship in My Fleet</span></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #a2c4c9;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Poppyhawke (Poppy and Hawke)</span></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #a2c4c9;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">From: <i>Blood and Ash </i>Series by Jennifer L. Armentrout</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #a2c4c9;">*** Assume spoilers for <i>From Blood and Ash</i> and <i>A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire</i> ***</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #a2c4c9;">Huge thank you to Jennifer L. Armentrout and her whole team for letting me be a part of the blog tour for AKOFAF! Giveaway at the end!!!</span></span></div>
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I know we still have four months left in the year, but this new JLA series is seriously going to be one of my favorite series of all year and all time. I can already call it. Why? So many reasons... so so <i>so</i> many reasons. One of which is this ship. I am going to apologize in advance for another really long post, but there are headings which should make it easier to navigate, and I'm talking about Poppyhawke, so it should be fun to reminisce with me and I couldn't cut more details out. :) (If there is a more official ship name for these two, please let me know! Poppyhawke seems like the most popular one on Tumblr from what I've seen...)<br />
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Also, I will definitely have a review for <i>A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire</i> up later this week, and if you think this is long... well, phew! You have no idea because my head is happily still spinning in circles from this book!<br />
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Last little side note: I will refer to him as Hawke for most of this post. I feel like we've gone through so much with the characters at this point we've earned the right to call him Hawke, right? <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFXh8wmf-j2Uc3dkaEqS63D2ejkzG5rSUiZJTYmGgio5zMQuW_fbMJZa3Jd9jJA4jWUBLtPwOmzNa5QxlIznZ5J5XJw9nkMBGlreVbQ_Mp43BS993ojKXW67lHpq0w_cZ5lVQEWmPhNcan/s1600/518nA6KLZPL.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFXh8wmf-j2Uc3dkaEqS63D2ejkzG5rSUiZJTYmGgio5zMQuW_fbMJZa3Jd9jJA4jWUBLtPwOmzNa5QxlIznZ5J5XJw9nkMBGlreVbQ_Mp43BS993ojKXW67lHpq0w_cZ5lVQEWmPhNcan/s400/518nA6KLZPL.jpg" width="266" /></a><br />
<u><span style="font-size: large;">When I Started Shipping:</span></u></div>
Um, in the Red Pearl in book 1. Let's be real here, that was one hell of a way to introduce us to Poppy and I was so here for it. And that scene is sexy as hell, which is par for the course when thinking about the chemistry that Poppy and Hawke have. So that was definitely the starting point. Now, that's when we only knew Hawke as Hawke-the-Guard. Hawke as Hawke-the-Crown-Prince-of-Atlantia, I'm going to give them another ship moment.<br />
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After knowing Hawke was really Casteel, I revamped my shipping of Cas/Hawke and Poppy at the very end of <i>From Blood and Ash</i> when Hawke bites her. It was a rocky start to this second launching of the ship. The fact that I needed a second launching is a little concerning in and of itself, but it all worked out. I was really hesitant all of a sudden when Hawke randomly announced that the two of them were going to get married. And of course, that was the end end of the first book and I had to sit on that final scene for half a year before finding out what Hawke was <i>actually</i> planning. Turns out, it's all good. I was able to breathe again and feel confident in this ship when Hawke and Kieran kept evading Poppy's questions about being used as ransom. To me, that was all I needed. Hawke's explanation of how the marriage would lead to Poppy's free will and choice also sealed the deal. <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u>Favorite Canon Moment:</u></span><br />
Oh my God there are literally so many amazing scenes in these two books. I'm just going to pick three from each because they each draw out different aspects of the relationship that I love. And clearly the wedding scene takes the cake.<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: left;">
The Walk Back from the Duke's Library</h4>
After Hawke finds Poppy reading Lady Willa's Diary and is walking her back to her rooms, I don't just love that there is witty banter between them and teasing about the sexual content of the diary. That was all great, but what really made my heart give a sad smile was when Hawke shares that he was originally just going to ask Poppy if she wanted company. Because, remember, the whole lead up to that scene is that Poppy was in her room bored out of her mind and left through the secret door to go find the book. And no guards, not even Vikter, would ask her if she wanted to pass the time talking with somebody because she was supposed to be isolated from everyone. But Hawke knocked on her door anyway because he was concerned she was lonely. :)<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: left;">
The Blood Forest </h4>
Yes, this is a favorite scene for the obvious reason. BUT, it is also a favorite for me because it's the first chance Poppy really gets to just <i>be Poppy</i>. She's not the Maiden on this trip and she gets to experience traveling as a normal girl would. And Hawke makes sure of that and I <i>love</i> how he would get so protective of her, not just physically, but psychologically protective of that mentality. No one was allowed to address Poppy as the Maiden, and he made sure of that, so then Poppy was able to ride along as Poppy only.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqkiOTJtl9U5N8saUaljwD1zTXCk4w0qLCqemSrwSRrDXSh8SwG36EGEEOUrMoswc6G1UdwrLW8I0aITbtizktCbOlfJNAZl_9ABxZ7VRR21GEMWkeR2Fk27OsxKaqFwewiLQRjp1-tdra/s1600/teaser3.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqkiOTJtl9U5N8saUaljwD1zTXCk4w0qLCqemSrwSRrDXSh8SwG36EGEEOUrMoswc6G1UdwrLW8I0aITbtizktCbOlfJNAZl_9ABxZ7VRR21GEMWkeR2Fk27OsxKaqFwewiLQRjp1-tdra/s320/teaser3.jpeg" width="320" /></a>The Bite Scene (end of book 1) </h4>
Mates. Soulmates. Heartmates. It's all the same to me. And this scene right here, where he bites her and damn near loses his mind over the taste of her blood, I was like, "ohhhhhh... there's something stronger there between them." I am absolute trash for the mate trope. Completely and totally. So this scene was a big moment for me because it was the sign that these two were mates and that the possibility of mates existing this this world could be a thing. Heartmates my dudes, heartmates. 1000% here for it. <br />
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<h4 style="text-align: left;">
The Hidden Cavern Oasis</h4>
Shifting into the second book now, I really liked the time Poppy and Hawke had together in the hidden cavern and pool. They're playing "pretend" because there is still a lot of contention between them about if they are actually emotionally attached to each other or if they are only using each other. To ignore all of that, it's almost like they're role playing who they knew each other as back in the start of book 1. It was lowkey painful to read because at this point, we all knew that they were completely and seriously in love with each other. But <i>neither would outright say it.</i> They couldn't just say it! It was like they were allergic to saying, "I LOVE YOU." ***SIGHS*** But in this scene the let themselves be completely gooey lovey with each other because they're "just pretending," (rolls eyes at them) and it makes the whole thing so sweet. <br />
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The Marriage</h4>
ONE OF THE MOST SATISFYING MARRIAGES I'VE EVER READ.<br />
That's it.<br />
Perfection.<br />
I will admit to crying tears of happiness in this moment.<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Literally Every Time They're in Battle Together</h4>
One of the things that I love in this relationship (and any relationship tbh), is how fairly and equally Hawke treats Poppy. I think this is best seen whenever they have to fight. The fights between the two of them are hysterical and adorable, but I'm talking about the battles. When they fight the craven in the woods or the vampyrs outside the town. For example, when at the start of AKOFAF Poppy tries to run away and the craven come up on her and Hawke in the woods, here's what Hawke says (page 48):<br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Make me feel incompetent and kill more than me, Princess.</i></span><br />
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You gotta love when the couple kills evil zombie creatures together. And even at the end when Spessa's End is under siege, there's a brief moment when it seems like Poppy is going to be sidelined, but she ends up right in the thick of things and kills the Duchess. Hawke's big thing was just to stay near her so they could keep track of each other. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy6FbvIvaEuyNA0kb_hz5MvZTPuM-CQHevJxU-ptRQBnKgIC7RDktOs9PV9VD6JAu87ILYZQrNlvuXDAtU8j8d0kr5skZ7ipSApD2LLkAuQeEUlsLzLY4R55G48zuI1GGj8MzZy3GefsG4/s1600/Teaser1.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="714" data-original-width="1080" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy6FbvIvaEuyNA0kb_hz5MvZTPuM-CQHevJxU-ptRQBnKgIC7RDktOs9PV9VD6JAu87ILYZQrNlvuXDAtU8j8d0kr5skZ7ipSApD2LLkAuQeEUlsLzLY4R55G48zuI1GGj8MzZy3GefsG4/s400/Teaser1.jpeg" width="400" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"><u>Poppy:</u></span><br />
On a rational, empathetic level, I understand Poppy's complexity and reservations with everything surrounding Hawke. However, the irrational shipping part of me wanted to shake her and get her to open her freaking eyes to know that Hawke was legit in love with her. Poppy is so strong and stubborn, but she was also always so quick to back down from the idea that Hawke was genuinely interested in her. It takes such a long time for her to truly open herself up to the idea that their relationship is legitimate, but once she does, I was so profoundly happy for her. For Poppy to have gone through such turmoil in her life and then be on the emotional roller coaster of figuring out Hawke's feelings and her own self-doubt, it was too much. She deserved that peace so much it isn't even funny.<br />
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What's great about Poppy in the relationship is that she is completely unbending toward any of Hawke's orders or actions. She wouldn't leave Spessa's End. She questioned his thought process. She just never stopped being herself and letting herself hang onto the idea of individuality and personal freedom. And she's not afraid of Hawke either, which, why would she? But on a more serious note, everyone else is afraid of Hawke on some sort of level. Poppy however was never afraid of him, or anyone else for that matter, and it matches that intensity of Hawke so well. <br />
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Somewhat random... I am so envious that the emotional taste of Hawke's love is chocolate-covered strawberries. Take a second to truly imagine that. Poppy gets to taste chocolate-covered strawberries whenever she senses Hawke's love for her. Great taste. Zero calories. <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u>Hawke:</u></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaEFgGxOWBLiJ1-r4aIMgyWH4BBlccsASpgvJ98E_mwmvRwFgQ_cT9WqpyrlNWXYwPXomLeAztbEmuNuEuiB9s5hVzLvmych-ih5XFREty5rCgG5A4EVtlZuhhc29KKD43d5V5fO4j7Syw/s1600/Screenshot_2020-09-06+AKOFAF+Blog+Post+Links%252C+Etc.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="598" data-original-width="437" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaEFgGxOWBLiJ1-r4aIMgyWH4BBlccsASpgvJ98E_mwmvRwFgQ_cT9WqpyrlNWXYwPXomLeAztbEmuNuEuiB9s5hVzLvmych-ih5XFREty5rCgG5A4EVtlZuhhc29KKD43d5V5fO4j7Syw/s320/Screenshot_2020-09-06+AKOFAF+Blog+Post+Links%252C+Etc.png" width="233" /></a>From the first book I have appreciated beyond measure how much support Hawke gives Poppy. Whether it be emotional, physical, or giving her a kick in the butt to motivate her, he is always looking out for her best interests. In AKOFAF, we get to see that support so much more. It's not an obvious trait necessarily, but if you look closely enough at what exactly he's saying and how he's manipulating the group's actions, you can see how he is so careful to make sure Poppy isn't trampled by the new world around her or by her own uncertainties.<br />
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Hawke is over the top in his come-ons, which is great, but I don't really think he's over the top in getting what he wants from Poppy-- the real relationship and marriage. You can tell early on that Poppy is the world to him, but he sets up the whole arrangement so that Poppy can back out when she wants to, and that makes it all the better. And it's Poppy that calls off the "pretend" bit of their relationship. He gives her that space and lets her figure out for herself what she wants and he gives her the time to trust his love for her. He never gives up or backs down, but he doesn't barrel over her either. <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u>Poppyhawke: </u></span><br />
AKA, one of the top power couples of YA fantasy of all time. The chemistry and emotional bond is off the charts and my soul would be ripped in two if anything would every happen to one of them, but I have to acknowledge the end of AKOFAF. There's no way I could cover this ship and no talk about how much of a power couple they are. First, without the end, Hawke is the next King of Atlantia and Poppy glows silver and can magically heal just about anything. Like, that alone would have been bada**. But then we get the end of AKOFAF, and Poppy is descended from the king of the gods or is his daughter or something (which is yet to be determined) and <i>the Queen hands over her crown because Poppy then is the rightful ruler</i>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGWVBCJXzBm9d5Dxh5U_ywLVgFpuCHoxdhx7OwdwUxPolU6t65Bu4SZrIkf6UpHOt_Ge2Noe3gMOh5rycED0m2Kp7mVZSyqdwEVSF_pf6hJoPzNHcP6HRMDiG3LcM4pjTkJUExjpQgCgyQ/s1600/52941854.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGWVBCJXzBm9d5Dxh5U_ywLVgFpuCHoxdhx7OwdwUxPolU6t65Bu4SZrIkf6UpHOt_Ge2Noe3gMOh5rycED0m2Kp7mVZSyqdwEVSF_pf6hJoPzNHcP6HRMDiG3LcM4pjTkJUExjpQgCgyQ/s400/52941854.jpg" width="266" /></a>What.<br />
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I can't even fully wrap my mind around that. And Hawke is still this amazing Elemental Atlantian with the ability to compel people... friends, I love this ship. I love this ship so much and I really cannot wait to see Poppy and Hawke navigate their new marriage together and continue to support each other they way they do while also wanting to stab each other. <br />
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There were so many more moments I could have included in this, like the nightmare scene! And the scene in the mountains! And the way the Duke was killed! Jeez there are so many more things I could talk about!!! That just shows though how much there is to love about Poppyhawke and I am OBSESSED with how they will lead Atlantia and grow in their newlywed relationship.<br />
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Below is the Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway so you can win a copy of the AMAZING first book and get to see the ship for yourself!!!<br />
<br />
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Thanks for reading!<br />
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Misc.<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Info:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Purchase AKOFAF! </span></span><br />
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BooksAndTea12http://www.blogger.com/profile/03781270521098291462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7412612011633256069.post-41537715569497611852020-09-05T13:12:00.001-05:002022-10-15T18:12:34.406-05:00Review of Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1575987260l/50225678.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="50225678" border="0" height="381" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1575987260l/50225678.jpg" width="254" /></a><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia";">Boyfriend Material </span></b><span style="font-family: "georgia";">by Alexis Hall</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";">
3.48 out of 5 Stars</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8sZTk39CWgI4_TX75UF5cgdvBtTrXnTdXJ60GGnGaDB2zfz6EqGbC9F7uDWUzBgAQxOohxhflcgT9bnGXkW2BXBceoUlLfd79bVktpKo0di3SzuBZJO8_Dtv_lAeR-4iUOOWFZF5lGr-S/s1600/three+stars.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="374" data-original-width="1600" height="46" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8sZTk39CWgI4_TX75UF5cgdvBtTrXnTdXJ60GGnGaDB2zfz6EqGbC9F7uDWUzBgAQxOohxhflcgT9bnGXkW2BXBceoUlLfd79bVktpKo0di3SzuBZJO8_Dtv_lAeR-4iUOOWFZF5lGr-S/s200/three+stars.png" width="200" /></a><i>***Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!***</i><br />
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A cute fluffy contemporary romance, <i>Boyfriend Material</i> is such a sweet joy read. The characters were a little simple, the plot a little basic, but overall it was fun to read and there were moments that were truly funny! It is the perfect quick read for a lighthearted weekend. <br />
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Luc and Oliver both need a fake boyfriend, Luc to restore his reputation and have a date for a Beetle Drive, and Oliver to bring to his parents' wedding anniversary. They had previously known each other only through their mutual friend, but said mutual friend gets them together so they can both have a "fake boyfriend." This plot concept alone is a little too Hallmark Channel for me, but nevertheless, it is still a super cute concept. Luc and Oliver begin to "date" each other, but over the course of their dates, their individual desires and insecurities gradually emerge and they tease out the possibility and then the reality of their "fake" relationship becoming a real one. Of course, there were truly groan-worthy moments along the way when I wanted to smack the characters' heads together. But then there were other moments that were so tender and sweet my heart melted a bit. <br />
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As a whole, it wasn't the most sophisticated writing. By that, I don't just mean it was easy to read, but there wasn't much depth to anything either. For example the characters were fairly flat. Different depths would be hinted at sometimes, like how Luc was destroyed by his previous relationship with Miles, but then we wouldn't really go anywhere with it. Random nuggets of background and characterization would be thrown in and promptly forgotten. Honestly, I wasn't super frustrated by this, I'm just noting it because that for me was why I didn't connect as much to the story as I think I could have. It's something that I think unfortunately happens a lot across contemporary romances because the focus is so zeroed in on the relationship, everyone forgets that the two people are the grounding tethers that need to be developed first in order for the relationship between them to hit home with the reader. <br />
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Another way that I thought the story was a bit simple was through the plot itself. It's a cute concept, but not one that is very standout-ish. It makes for truly adorable light and fun reading material, but I couldn't really pull much else out of it. I loved that the story was set in London. I'm not sure what the city setting did for the story, but I loved it anyway because it's <i>London</i>. I loved that Luc and Oliver had such different careers. They needed that, especially as their whole thing is how they balance each other out and work wonderfully because they are so different from each other. And I also loved how they called each other out on their crap. It needed to be in there of course, but I liked how the author handled each character's response differently from the other's. Luc just sort of freaked out and then listened to Oliver's rant. Oliver on the other hand, <i>really</i> freaked out and it took him a long while to accept what Luc was telling him. I liked that, how they each responded in a way fitting to their own character. </div>
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The best thing about this book was, hands down, the humor. So funny. So so funny. This was one of those books where I was reading it in public, looking like a loon because I was trying so hard to restraint my giggles. There were great zingers, but my favorite funny moments were when there was just awkwardness between the characters. Like, the comfortable kind of awkwardness if that makes sense? I loved when Luc's group chat would be going off and riffing off each other, I loved when Luc would casually tease Oliver and Oliver didn't know how to respond, I loved whenever Luc had to explain that we worked at a dung beetle organization. It was all great. 10/10 for humor on this one. </div>
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Again, it was a cute fluffy read. While there wasn't too much to really sink your teeth into, it was enjoyable and is the sort of book that would be perfect for a holiday, bringing to a beach, curling up with for an afternoon... something casual to pick up. </div>
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Thanks for reading!</div>
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BooksAndTea12http://www.blogger.com/profile/03781270521098291462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7412612011633256069.post-64830332687392240362020-09-02T17:09:00.002-05:002022-10-15T18:12:34.409-05:00Review of Fable by Adrienne Young<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1590354131l/44012880.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="44012880" border="0" height="400" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1590354131l/44012880.jpg" width="260" /></a><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Fable</span></span></b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> by Adrienne Young</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">4.67 out of 5 Stars</span></span></span></div>
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<i> </i><i>***Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.***</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmUG-sHzM-Cbu6n2t7e1lolzHSdGKadGQrsIQaA9_DCo6K9BliqgMXVmP_C24q5zbsk6wiWPoRCf00ZQB-xPs3bAroaalKWmSNpto5aWkDyPmpTNT4coxOr_ZxunUa3IiLu8UH1ApJHRHA/s1600/five-stars.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="374" data-original-width="1600" height="46" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmUG-sHzM-Cbu6n2t7e1lolzHSdGKadGQrsIQaA9_DCo6K9BliqgMXVmP_C24q5zbsk6wiWPoRCf00ZQB-xPs3bAroaalKWmSNpto5aWkDyPmpTNT4coxOr_ZxunUa3IiLu8UH1ApJHRHA/s200/five-stars.png" width="200" /></a><i>Fable</i> was a such a sweet little surprise joy this week. I hadn't planned on reading it quite yet, but I am so glad I picked it up! I had a high suspicion that I would really like this book because I <i>really</i> liked Adrienne Young's other book, <i>A Sky in the Deep</i>, but <u>wow</u>! I really had a great time reading this book and I borderline love it! This is the start of a fantasy duology involving: pirates, ocean exploration, lots of gems, and some power struggles. I know that doesn't seem like actually too many pieces in play, but just hold up for a second, I'll talk about that later.<br />
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Fable was left on an island by her father to fend for herself when she was thirteen years old. He told her that if and when she made her way back to him, he would give her what she was due. Very vague, very cryptic, but it's all that Fable has to hold on to while on the island because everyone is out for their own survival. Four years later is when the book starts and Fable finds a way (barely) off the island and constantly is facing new secrets about the people around her, trying to figure out where she can call home, and struggling to remember that the only person she can rely on is herself. <br />
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For me, I think I really enjoyed this book because it is such a fascinating environment and, consequently, character study. It isn't a basic 'no one can trust each other' setup. Truly, <i>every</i> character keeps everything to themselves. No one reveals what or who they care about. The only information spread around is the bare minimum needed to achieve an end goal. And the second any sort of personal or valuable information is known by an adverse party, it is exploited. So all the secrecy and isolation is validated because the communal environment really is that hostile. For the characters then, especially Fable having been abandoned, it means they can never actually have an intimate relationship. No romance. No family. No close friends. Nothing. And we get to see Fable grapple with that because all she wants is to work for her father. Not even have him recognize her as his daughter -- 'cause she knows that's never going to happen -- but just <i>work</i> for him. To have a job where she sees him from a distance. She wants that intimacy with someone. She wants a home, but this isn't the kind of world where you can have one. <br />
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<span style="color: red;"><b>SPOILERS BELOW</b></span><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzo8w86dtJzhHHRaJKDxGZEJ0Dz4oNMPksdFAc-zjqB0Us22IqXxkgvnxvC6qybJGAuVhAIureVWvczylb8stwEz0C28tppNDqFps8vrMr7eOZuOcJkX2XF3ERdIkrDhfivetUu3wzENS4/s1600/beach-salt-water-river-ocean-tannum-sands-boyne-island-island-ripples-blue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="584" data-original-width="880" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzo8w86dtJzhHHRaJKDxGZEJ0Dz4oNMPksdFAc-zjqB0Us22IqXxkgvnxvC6qybJGAuVhAIureVWvczylb8stwEz0C28tppNDqFps8vrMr7eOZuOcJkX2XF3ERdIkrDhfivetUu3wzENS4/s400/beach-salt-water-river-ocean-tannum-sands-boyne-island-island-ripples-blue.jpg" width="400" /></a><u><b>PLOT:</b></u><br />
The way I see it, there are two main plots in this book, one right after the other. The first plot is when Fable is making her way back to her dad. This bleeds into the second plot of dredging the <i>Lark</i> and becoming a part of the <i>Marigold's</i> crew. And they're split like, 60/40 respectively, and I liked that balance. <br />
<br />
In the first half of the book, my favorite scene is when the <i>Marigold</i> hits the horrible storm on its way to Ceros. Maybe that's a weird moment to pick, but I could just see it all so clearly. The waves were huge, the crew were literally clinging onto the ship and getting tossed off it. Paj has a fantastic rescue of Auster. And we get a wonderful, striking image from Fable's perspective of holding onto the mast of the ship, and suddenly it has tilted so much she is dangling over pitch black water. Part of the reason why I like this scene is because Fable begins to become part of the crew and works with them to secure the ship as much as possible. Another little plus is that there is a teeny tiny West/Fable interaction where West forces Fable to go down into the hull of the ship. I could be reading too much into that moment, but to me, it is a West/Fable ship one. :)<br />
<br />
The entire second half of the book, I was waiting for some sort of shoe to drop. Things didn't go the way Fable wanted with her father, but she lived. She found a crew. They got the gems from the <i>Lark</i>. And this whole time, I was just waiting for the big <i>oh sh--</i> where we knew what would happen in the next book. Because there needed to be one. The one that we got with Zola at the end was good, I'm definitely hooked, but I don't think the tension of the book was released the way it needed to be. That big <i>oh sh--</i> moment could have been bigger. I wanted high drama to finish us off, not just in physical events, but emotional, larger picture, detailed connection to Isolde drama. And it would have been fine too because that's the end of the book. It's a cliffhanger anyway so a small concrete nugget of dramatic background info would have wrapped it all up perfectly. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV84vV3VEQPyEBS7GupJDSzID8s30iP0QyQeCA7ZcbMXRE2j2oBshMctbnIy87AxjchHBx0sMzr0D1yHJoERzTYlh5JPkxvpZMb4872c7iHp2L1fZ1eP3iz8WWP-92lZH6TqEJnpz42MBC/s1600/storm-yacht-sea-boat-ship-sky-1163958.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV84vV3VEQPyEBS7GupJDSzID8s30iP0QyQeCA7ZcbMXRE2j2oBshMctbnIy87AxjchHBx0sMzr0D1yHJoERzTYlh5JPkxvpZMb4872c7iHp2L1fZ1eP3iz8WWP-92lZH6TqEJnpz42MBC/s400/storm-yacht-sea-boat-ship-sky-1163958.jpg" width="400" /></a>What's the overarching plot into the second book? Honestly, I'm not entirely sure. The second book has definitely been set up. I mean, that cliffhanger with Fable's kidnapping. . . **cries a tear internally**. . . that was a rough ending. But we know where we'll be picking up in <i>Namesake</i>. What I can't pin down right now though is what the larger issue will be. I have small hunches based on things that weren't really explained: (1) why did Isolde have to leave Bastian; (2) are the gem sages the only <i>zing</i> of magic in this fantasy; (3) what exactly happened between Zola and Isolde; (4) are we going to see Bastian take control of the Narrows; and (5) what the $&*# did Saint mean when he warned Fable she was making the same mistake as Isolde?<br />
<br />
So I'm very confused as to what could be in the next book, and not necessarily in a good way. I'd be okay with not knowing for certain what could happen in the sequel, but these questions that I have were all such small fragments that I don't have anything I can build a theory on. Not a reliable one at least. The crackpot theory currently spinning in my head is that Isolde was the daughter of some Bastian merchant or political figure and she ran away. This would make Fable then hella important to the Bastian people and somehow Zola knows she's a gem sage and wants to use her for her abilities. I don't know.<br />
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What I do know is that I would <i>love </i>to see Saint help rescue her. Yes, it would be super romantic for West to do it and for West to confront Saint about how he treated Fable, but really, I want to see Saint put everything on the line for his daughter and pull it off with style. That'd be great. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGmYei1kT7tuKsLp3N0Tz5U2Q41cLh9ZPyF9VwuOy5YCTtKoLHhECCayjv8MqsPhPdFjXyOlkYyPOceDXkAYGbcC8Mh3t-dHqBH4XfLjAEXo6VK4GjV6d6c8obAlxEdmAXXvnmy8UQJc6g/s1600/pirate-ship-1719396_1280.webp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="847" data-original-width="1280" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGmYei1kT7tuKsLp3N0Tz5U2Q41cLh9ZPyF9VwuOy5YCTtKoLHhECCayjv8MqsPhPdFjXyOlkYyPOceDXkAYGbcC8Mh3t-dHqBH4XfLjAEXo6VK4GjV6d6c8obAlxEdmAXXvnmy8UQJc6g/s400/pirate-ship-1719396_1280.webp" width="400" /></a><u><b>CHARACTERS:</b></u><br />
Fable:<br />
Fable to me is easily the most interesting character of the book, and not just because she was the main character. Like I mentioned in the non-spoilery part above, this is a harsh and hostile world where no one can have any sort of relationship with another living person. But Fable had love from her mom, Isolde. She knew what it was like to be loved and be able to express her love in return. And then in one fell swoop, her mother dies and she is dropped off on a random scraggly island by her father. So it isn't just that Fable is looking for human connection, she is filling in an ache because she has felt it before. And there are times that we see that tug, not just in direction of her father, but in the direction of West and the <i>Marigold </i>crew. All she wants is a home, and that is literally the one thing that is the most dangerous to have. And this is all just her development and personality, not including her role in the trader world as Saint's daughter or the unknown connection to Bastian as Isolde's daughter. So yeah, <i>super </i>interesting character. <br />
<br />
West:<br />
Dudes, West killed me. I had a super small inkling that he would be the romantic interest in the first meeting of him, but holy cow I could not have guessed how intense he would be. I absolutely loved how he stuck to his guns of being the helmsman of the ship and keeping his crew safe and making the side profits. That was great. What was even better about his character was learning about the knife's edge he was walking on with working for Saint and taking on Fable at the same time. And then there's the romance. Holy moley, this quote killed me (from th<br />
e ARC, may be different in published version):<br />
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<span style="color: #cfe2f3;"><span style="font-size: small;">"</span></span><i><span style="color: #cfe2f3;"><span style="font-size: small;">And I think I've loved you since the first time we anchored in Jeval. . . . I have thought about you every single day since that day. Maybe every hour. I've counted down the days to go back to the island, and I pushed us into storms I shouldn't have because I didn't want to not be there when you woke up. I didn't want you to wait for me. Ever. Or to think I wasn't coming back."</span></span></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEv1lrN19RYglKpGskdao_182wUMf-CK9Cx_aa0Lfk2bu0WkxjjKrPFiqSyzkIRgeSJoaRSxjqRdm6tl3muz5NkYus2zTdPlhADHNEd-4sejg1BYOsxbH_FVUUXCjnURVySm3_QIWz3ww5/s1600/ocean-2160810_1280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="719" data-original-width="1280" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEv1lrN19RYglKpGskdao_182wUMf-CK9Cx_aa0Lfk2bu0WkxjjKrPFiqSyzkIRgeSJoaRSxjqRdm6tl3muz5NkYus2zTdPlhADHNEd-4sejg1BYOsxbH_FVUUXCjnURVySm3_QIWz3ww5/s400/ocean-2160810_1280.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Willa (and crew):<br />
I'm pulling Willa out to represent the whole <i>Marigold </i>crew. She's important because of her familial ties, and she's one of the stronger connections Fable has on the ship (imo), but she really embodies how the crew operates. They don' know nearly everything about each other or even what they're doing, but there's such a strong bond of trust between them. And I know the whole area is crap and untrustworthy, but seeing how small this crew is and how much they care for each other, there is a small hope in my chest that they are different from other crews and they can grow to be closer to each other and more trusting of each other. <br />
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Saint:<br />
I don't hate Saint, but I don't like him either. After seeing how awful this environment, I get his actions, but only to an extent. If he had kept a child on his crew, there would be a s**t ton of questions that would make Fable extremely vulnerable and threatened. I can buy that it really was the safest thing for Fable for him to leave her on the island to fend for herself. But at some point during the four years Fable was on the island, Saint became the most powerful trader of the Narrows. And in the back of my head, I can't help but think, really? The most powerful trader of the Narrows couldn't find a creative way to get his daughter off Jeval? And I know Saint was the one to send West and essentially pay Fable, but still. Get her off the island. And <i>now</i>, after Fable has found him, how far is he willing to go to keep her safe? When he finds out Zola has her, he better go after her in some way, shape, or form. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMeF38cXbcDCnLbRnEXBs57o9JztGvZTV5ZDLiVWjMYte8tW6yEO_ATHMs9YIVLKdl3uuotHaqPFfWgzTmrWtUbxlPm34IWX552sCY7T9-7lfmADcuwwoyagIZD3Efwj15VnC5FPP2RbWV/s1600/romantic-water-beach-in-the-twilight-exotic-beautiful-ocean-maldives.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="587" data-original-width="880" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMeF38cXbcDCnLbRnEXBs57o9JztGvZTV5ZDLiVWjMYte8tW6yEO_ATHMs9YIVLKdl3uuotHaqPFfWgzTmrWtUbxlPm34IWX552sCY7T9-7lfmADcuwwoyagIZD3Efwj15VnC5FPP2RbWV/s320/romantic-water-beach-in-the-twilight-exotic-beautiful-ocean-maldives.jpg" width="320" /></a>Zola:<br />
Zola was a sleezeball I didn't really fully know the sleeziness of until he goes to set the <i>Marigold</i> on fire. But because he is such an awful character, I want to know more about his background because it would be strange for Adrienne to include a flat, greed-based-only character among all these other complex characters. There's definitely something there with how Zola was able to recognize Fable as Isolde's daughter, but I want to know <i>what</i>. I don't think we'll get any sort of sympathy for him, and I'm 100% fine with that, but I want a more complex yuck factor for him. <br />
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<u><b>WRITING:</b></u><br />
I originally gave this a higher rating, but as I went along, I lowered it because I have too much to say on the plot and the pacing to give it something higher. I think what really swayed me closer to the five star rating in this book though were the descriptions. Oh my God it was beautiful, so beautiful. I think I could smell the salt and brine while I was reading. I could see the wavy shadows of the sunlight on the ocean floor. Every action moment was perfectly described where I knew movement at the pace of the movement. It was really phenomenal descriptive work. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/The_Beauty_of_Pigeon_Island_-_Beautiful_Ocean.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="File:The Beauty of Pigeon Island - Beautiful Ocean.jpg - Wikimedia Commons" border="0" class="n3VNCb" data-noaft="1" height="239" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/The_Beauty_of_Pigeon_Island_-_Beautiful_Ocean.jpg" style="height: 287.25px; margin-top: 0px; width: 383px;" width="320" /></a>But while there was so much descriptive work, I wish there was a stronger thread of plot between this book and the next one. <i>Fable</i> was very sequential, but there wasn't much else getting laid as groundwork for where the characters are moving toward as a whole. The stakes could be high, but they came in quick and were resolved quick. The greater tension still hasn't really settled on one distinct focal point and that makes it hard to be urged to read the next book. If it weren't for my emotional investment in Fable's well-being, I don't know how strongly I'd be inclined to read the next one. There are a couple of other small things that make me <i>very</i> interested in the next book, but I can't say the plot is one of them because there is no path in front of us to be excited about entering. <br />
<br />
There's a good chance I have a bias toward this book as well because I <i>love</i> the
whole pirate/ship life, swimming through the ocean, living off the sea
thing. Honest to God, on my bucket list, I want to take a voyage (for
lack of a better word) on an old ship with no electricity or battery/gas
operated equipment. It was so much fun finding images for this review and getting to imagine living at open sea and diving down to the bottom of the floor. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1554841626p8/16640489.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1554841626p8/16640489.jpg" style="max-width: 625px;" width="200" /></a>I want a map. I feel like I say this whenever there's any sort of fantasy novel without a map in place, but I want a map because I want to be able to chart the paths of the ships along with West and Fable. How much fun would that be??? To see the actual path the <i>Marigold</i> was charted for. I would <i>love</i> that. Maybe I'll even do that on my own just for the fun of it! I also want to know more about the relationship between the Narrows and Bastian because it was hinted at in this book that the political tensions are shifting and will be important in <i>Namesake</i>.<br />
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<br />
Okay, I feel like I could keep going, but I'm going to stop because I think I've hit all my main points and this review is already HUGE. In the end, I would definitely recommend this to a friend and I think I may even buy a copy for one. Personally, I want to see some of the cold barriers break down between the characters, especially between West/Fable and Saint/Fable. And I want more tension building! There's so much potential there for Isolde's history and the political tensions between Bastian and the Narrows, and I <i>really</i> hope those things get played up in the next one. I'm definitely going to be reading <i>Namesake</i>, that's for sure! <br />
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Thanks for reading! </div>
BooksAndTea12http://www.blogger.com/profile/03781270521098291462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7412612011633256069.post-48977901333937236252020-08-28T21:59:00.002-05:002022-10-15T18:12:34.407-05:00Review of Where Dreams Descend by Janella Angeles: Blog Tour<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Where Dreams Descend </span></span></b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">by Janella Angeles</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">3.76 out of 5 Stars</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh571H0yrwsbfrcJHSlUBiHWp723uGZA_Ryixk9kq_rKBLqLky5PehHZNMQBIn0hMjAzA79sNTdHSMyw_Ke9_D6ldgo3f28QQHCBQxZype8Kc6giAjcRPmB5-NWCMoCH-0Tj93KmM_lQrxD/s1600/4star.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="374" data-original-width="1600" height="46" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh571H0yrwsbfrcJHSlUBiHWp723uGZA_Ryixk9kq_rKBLqLky5PehHZNMQBIn0hMjAzA79sNTdHSMyw_Ke9_D6ldgo3f28QQHCBQxZype8Kc6giAjcRPmB5-NWCMoCH-0Tj93KmM_lQrxD/s200/4star.png" width="200" /></a><i>**Thank you to Wednesday Books for an ARC and for welcoming me to be a part of the blog tour for this release!**</i></div>
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<i> </i></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7DEJg4378yc84sOm-a2urVMl6C4hchMZdv42pl5-olTwodfJzXzJD1_Nqt0WxRkcBbZT7BXxtpbvXKeg82Fx5oKQsBhzWyTBR3-8gxR6KAQaqoJQ2lagKKkthj_LqBzb7-2qXBczkr2AS/s1600/Where+Dreams+Descend_Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1053" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7DEJg4378yc84sOm-a2urVMl6C4hchMZdv42pl5-olTwodfJzXzJD1_Nqt0WxRkcBbZT7BXxtpbvXKeg82Fx5oKQsBhzWyTBR3-8gxR6KAQaqoJQ2lagKKkthj_LqBzb7-2qXBczkr2AS/s400/Where+Dreams+Descend_Cover.jpg" width="262" /></a><i>Where Dreams Descend</i> is the first book in a new YA fantasy duology and is the<i> </i>author's debut novel. It follows Kallia, a magician with extraordinary magical abilities and even more extraordinary dedication and ambition. To earn her place as a magician, especially considering she's a female magician, she enters into the <i>Spectaculore</i>, a competition to find a new headliner for the Conquering Circus. Magic is both awe-inspiring and fear-inducing however, and with good reason. Performers in the competition are disappearing and an unknown shadowed force is sinking its grip into the city and magicians.<br />
<br />
The beginning starts off with such a bang. Like, holey moley, this rollercoaster starts with a breakneck speed and I <i>loved</i> that. Right away, we get rich tones for every character, an enthralling atmosphere that sets the tone, and so many questions about the world and the magic system. And we move too. The pace dies off a little bit once Kallia actually gets to the city where the Spectaculore is, but it was still moving at a good clip. It was such an amazing beginning though. That may seem like an odd thing to highlight, but I really truly loved this beginning. <br />
<br />
Lowkey, I was a little worried when I saw that this book was going to be about magicians and be centered around a magic show, but I had nothing to worry about at all! I guess my main concern was that it would either be too caricatured or too over the top. But while the performances certainly had a showiness to them, the rest of the story was a fantasy, and thank God for it. The world was actually much more grim than I was expecting too. I saw a comparison for this book to <i>The Prestige</i> (which, great movie, highly recommend), and I 100% agree with that not just because it is about magicians, but also because of the grit and the greyness of the city.<br />
<br />
I feel like I'm come far in the review without any spoilers, so I'm just gonna finish it with no spoilers and see how that goes. :)<br />
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<u><b>PLOT</b></u><br />
Like I briefly mentioned above, I was a little worried about what the plot of this magician-circus-showy story would be like. But what I found while I was reading it was not the super dramatic, almost middle-grade, big top that I was worried about, but instead there were complexities that I really appreciated. Honestly, I think it could have been even darker and even more intense, but it was still a good story line that was fun to read. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHNDiNtgJWri-S345rVLWccj-QcXGa0d-p0F1LbhWe0-4IjbF5M_NYc5gEbD4co_yAnM2FMcT1ZB3dt9fLXAyIhUaJ7jIHFVJSYeg9jHoWgdmoU0oAfklwtzkA7sKR7Wglyg_miYfHwuuN/s1600/Mei+Lin+Barral+Photography_Janella+Angeles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1068" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHNDiNtgJWri-S345rVLWccj-QcXGa0d-p0F1LbhWe0-4IjbF5M_NYc5gEbD4co_yAnM2FMcT1ZB3dt9fLXAyIhUaJ7jIHFVJSYeg9jHoWgdmoU0oAfklwtzkA7sKR7Wglyg_miYfHwuuN/s320/Mei+Lin+Barral+Photography_Janella+Angeles.jpg" width="213" /></a>One of the things I wish we got to see more of however was the building dark magic. I think I would have loved to see that take center stage as opposed to the Spectaculore because it was just more interesting to me. The performances were cool and interesting, but the behind the scenes disappearances were just so much more interesting to me. The Spectaculore was a very clean, clear-cut structure for us to follow along with, but I found myself always reading for the next dark magic moment, not the next performance. <br />
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<u><b>CHARACTERS</b></u><br />
Kallia, Jack, and Demarco are our three "main" characters. For the most part, it's Kallia and Demarco, but I have to mention Jack because he and Kallia had such. good. chemistry. Like, off the charts, I loved every conversation they had, it toes the line between rivalry and attraction, what's the next interaction going to be, kind of chemistry. And I think Kallia as a character, was most consistent when she was with Jack. At other times, I found her development to be a bit rocky. I'm glad she grew and developed as a character because given her background and her motivations, I would be extremely disappointed if she didn't change at all throughout this book. But that development was jumpy at times. There would be strings of dialogue when the internal tone I had for her was completely off, and it was an effort to understand how she came to be saying the things that she was.<br />
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Wow. That last sentence was so abstract. I think the simpler way for me to say it is-- Kallia's development was best when it was through her actions, not her words. Whenever there was a developmental moment for her character through what she was saying, it came across a little clunky for me. It didn't throw me out of the story, but it did throw me off the pacing.<br />
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I feel like Demarco's character had a little bit of the same issue developmentally. His best moments of growth where through his actions, not his words. His development wasn't as jolting as Kallia's could be though. If there were clunky developmental dialogue pieces, they were minor. And now, what I'm about to say may be controversial... but I didn't think he and Kallia had <i>nearly</i> the same amount of chemistry that Jack and Kallia had. We'll see what happens. Who knows how things will turn out. My heart isn't set for any ships yet in this series, so I'm down for whichever. <br />
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<u><b>WORLD</b></u><br />
I want to see more of this world! And I say that, not in a snub to this book, but as a plus for the groundwork that has been laid out in this first book. I know it's only a duology, but I really hope we get to more deeply explore what this world is like and how the different governing bodies, city to city, magic to non-magic, interact with each other. I also want to return to that break neck pacing of the beginning, because clearly I'm obsessed with it. :) Hopefully, the second book just plunges us right into the thick of things and I would definitely be down with reading along that super fast pace for the entirety of the story. <br />
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It's magical, it's a little cheeky, it's both grey and colorful, and it's almost perfectly balanced. I think given the way the atmosphere is slightly mellowed out and how the characters are a little less complex, it is a younger YA fantasy. However, let us all remember that those are some of the best and I think we need those young YA books so that teens aren't intimidated by books, especially fantasies. If I were a high school teacher, I would be recommending this to my freshmen and sophomores. :) For a debut especially, I am excited to see where the second book takes us and how the story gets finished up!<br />
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Also, I was able to ask Janella some questions about the book! If you want to check it out, <a href="http://allbooksandtea.blogspot.com/2020/08/interview-with-author-janella-angeles.html" target="_blank">the link is here </a>and it will take you to a quick Q&A I had with the author! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgieF8u7Kjp367AA5_LPPkrdVY58GNzxB3ALN48WGMNNbJwTgyABHkX6skyxgWyuqliuBtdxlPNP5MZgqDjJ9QpDrX3-JU9ngDOAeDYCGqNlUq1zozlgrHQsLB0O19QXO-g3s17LnExqNo-/s1600/Blog+Tour+Banner_Use+on+and+after+8.25.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="828" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgieF8u7Kjp367AA5_LPPkrdVY58GNzxB3ALN48WGMNNbJwTgyABHkX6skyxgWyuqliuBtdxlPNP5MZgqDjJ9QpDrX3-JU9ngDOAeDYCGqNlUq1zozlgrHQsLB0O19QXO-g3s17LnExqNo-/s640/Blog+Tour+Banner_Use+on+and+after+8.25.png" width="640" /></a><br />
Thanks for reading!<br />
(p.s. i just realized i put three smileys into this review, and i kind of want to smack myself in the head for that.) </div>
BooksAndTea12http://www.blogger.com/profile/03781270521098291462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7412612011633256069.post-12667043449093793522020-08-28T10:19:00.002-05:002022-10-15T17:59:38.061-05:00Interview with Author Janella Angeles<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="color: #e06666;"><span style="color: #ea9999;">The Spectacular Show that is...<i> </i></span></span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="color: #e06666;"><span style="color: #ea9999;"><i>Where Dreams Descend</i>:</span> </span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ea9999;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">An Interview with Janella Angeles</span></span></span></div>
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Janella Angeles's debut novel <i>Where Dreams Descend</i> is the sizzling start to a magical duology where the magicians are both celebrated and feared. Kallia enters a competition to become the next headliner at the Conquering Circus, but magicians keep disappearing and a darkness is attacking performers behind the scenes. I'll have a review for the book out later today, but for now, I am so excited to share this interview with you all! I am so happy that I got to ask Janella some questions about this wonderful debut of hers and I hope you enjoy reading it!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglGNU2X8oq7wC77lj4gQ12xnJE-9M6Xgen1iRNbv7bL7aiOLlW1Dt4blHtHef8Lu6_yFJKYbp1GsK4a0jkKBsfK0ZeD_An6F3al8tA7y_sGzDMNAHSOjhREcxkqD9SSjsbf52WOhI_HocW/s1600/Where+Dreams+Descend_Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1053" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglGNU2X8oq7wC77lj4gQ12xnJE-9M6Xgen1iRNbv7bL7aiOLlW1Dt4blHtHef8Lu6_yFJKYbp1GsK4a0jkKBsfK0ZeD_An6F3al8tA7y_sGzDMNAHSOjhREcxkqD9SSjsbf52WOhI_HocW/s320/Where+Dreams+Descend_Cover.jpg" width="209" /></a><b><span style="color: #e06666;"><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><></span></b></div>
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<b>1. Which scene would you describe to someone to capture their attention and convince them to read the book?</b><br />
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Oooh I would definitely describe Kallia’s audition scene. It was such a fun, exciting scene for me to write, as it perfectly establishes the kind of defiant contestant Kallia is going to be in this very rigid show—and also because that’s the point where our characters converge. In many ways, it feels like the official start to the show, and the start of another story within the story.<br />
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<b>2. Are there any themes or motifs that you are especially hopeful readers pick up on or connect to?</b><br />
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One thing I would especially love readers to connect with is Kallia’s relentless ambition and perseverance in pursuing dreams and making them happen, but also learning to enjoy what makes the journey worthwhile. Kallia’s story in many ways mirrors my own publishing journey, where at times I had so much tunnel-vision just to get published. It wasn’t until I really started opening myself up to the community and friends and the fun of publishing that I felt like I found success. Not because it was concrete success, but because I now suddenly had a lot more as a writer than I did before—which is exactly the journey Kallia herself goes on.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4ANUyPgE652kxz5-QrPSgaDIiqZTsnh_UHP5oygXGvb8Advz0NDaVB4eN48tKLlR6ynzberEYlUWk-IVCXhtCJYaqoXALJFsS4hUe_TDkuvJ7KxMnZcZYa5JstBS45WC1K1zcOXC4tHSu/s1600/Mei+Lin+Barral+Photography_Janella+Angeles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1068" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4ANUyPgE652kxz5-QrPSgaDIiqZTsnh_UHP5oygXGvb8Advz0NDaVB4eN48tKLlR6ynzberEYlUWk-IVCXhtCJYaqoXALJFsS4hUe_TDkuvJ7KxMnZcZYa5JstBS45WC1K1zcOXC4tHSu/s320/Mei+Lin+Barral+Photography_Janella+Angeles.jpg" width="213" /></a><b><br /> </b><br />
<b>3. The whole book is explosive and constantly gripping, even from the very beginning (one of my favorite things about it). How were you able to achieve this and were there any inspirations to start the book so fast-paced?</b><br />
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Thank you so much!! Weirdly enough, this book is the first one I’ve written with such a quick beginning. Usually I slog through beginnings, trying to get to know my main character and the world they live in because I don’t really understand them that well, yet. However, I just remember drafting in Kallia’s POV and she was demanding we get her where she wanted to be. You’d think the author has full control of the story, but sometimes a character will take the lead and you just hope you’re quick enough to follow!<br />
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<i>Where Dreams Descend</i> is currently out and available!! Keep an eye out later today for my full review of the book! I have to give a HUGE thank you to Wednesday Books and Janella Angeles for letting me be a part of this blog tour and giving me this opportunity to ask questions about the book! I am so excited that everyone can now go read this book and become enthralled in this magical fantasy. :)<br />
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Thanks for reading! </div>
BooksAndTea12http://www.blogger.com/profile/03781270521098291462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7412612011633256069.post-40458581679163133692020-08-24T12:05:00.000-05:002022-10-15T17:52:57.127-05:00My First Giveaway!!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>My First Giveaway!</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Celebrating hitting 100+ subscribers!</span></span></span></div>
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Okay, I am SO excited for this... I'm hosting a giveaway!!!<br />
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I actually wanted to do this <i>months</i> ago, but my summer was so crazy that it just fell off my radar for awhile. But I wanted to celebrate hitting 100 subscribers on Bloglovin' and give back a little bit with a giveaway! I'm well past 100 subscribers now (HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU), but I still think I can celebrate. :)<br />
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Here is what I'm giving away:<br />
ONE person will get 6 BOOKS, listed below. <br />
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<i>A Secret History of Witches</i> by Louisa Morgan</div>
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<i>Anna and the French Kiss</i> by Stephanie Perkins</div>
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<i>Illusionarium</i> by Heather Dixon</div>
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<i>Belleweather</i> by Susanna Kearsley</div>
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<i>The Girl on the Train</i> by Paula Hawkins</div>
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<i>Children of Blood and Bone</i> by Tomi Adeyemi </div>
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FILL OUT THE RAFFLECOPTER FORM TO ENTER :)</div>
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<a class="rcptr" data-raflid="44d074d01" data-template="" data-theme="classic" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/44d074d01/" id="rcwidget_ms2u7mfu" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a><br />
<script src="https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js"></script><br />
Thanks for reading! (Fingers crossed this works!)</div>
BooksAndTea12http://www.blogger.com/profile/03781270521098291462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7412612011633256069.post-89200756761530607242020-08-01T12:06:00.000-05:002022-10-15T17:59:38.065-05:00Excerpt from Lobizona by Romina Garber: Blog Tour<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #f6b26b;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Excerpt from</span></span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> <i> </i></span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #f6b26b;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Lobizona </i>by Romina Garber</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Blog Tour</span></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #f6b26b;"><span style="color: #f9cb9c;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">COMING AUGUST 4</span></span></span></span></b></div>
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I am so so <i>so</i> freakishly excited to be a part of this blog tour and share with you all today an excerpt from Romina Garber's <i>Lobizona</i>!!!! Using Argentinian folklore, <i>Lobizona</i> tells a fantastical story set in Miami where the main character finds herself uncovering truths about "myth" like lobizónes and brujas. This book comes out next week and I cannot wait for everyone to get the chance to read it! Without further ado. . .<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">2</span></b> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I awaken with a jolt.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It takes me a moment to register that I’ve been out for three days. I can tell by the well-rested feeling in my bones—I don’t sleep this well any other time of the month.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The first thing I’m aware of as I sit up is an urgent need to use the bathroom. My muscles are heavy from lack of use, and it takes some concentration to keep my steps light so I won’t wake Ma or Perla. I leave the lights off to avoid meeting my gaze in the mirror, and after tossing out my heavy-duty period pad and replacing it with a tampon, I tiptoe back to Ma’s and my room.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I’m always disoriented after lunaritis, so I feel separate from my waking life as I survey my teetering stacks of journals and used books, Ma’s yoga mat and collection of weights, and the posters on the wall of the planets and constellations I hope to visit one day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">After a moment, my shoulders slump in disappointment.This month has officially peaked.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I yank the bleach-stained blue sheets off the mattress and slide out the pillows from their cases, balling up the bedding to wash later. My body feels like a crumpled piece of paper that needs to be stretched, so I plant my feet together in the tiny area between the bed and the door, and I raise my hands and arch my back, lengthening my spine disc by disc. The pull on my tendons releases stored tension, and I exhale in relief.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Something tugs at my consciousness, an unresolved riddle that must have timed out when I surfaced . . . but the harder I focus, the quicker I forget. Swinging my head forward, I reach down to touch my toes and stretch my spine the other way—</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">My ears pop so hard, I gasp.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I stumble back to the mattress, and I cradle my head in my hands as a rush of noise invades my mind. The buzzing of a fly in the window blinds, the gunning of a car engine on the street below, the groaning of our building’s prehistoric elevator. Each sound is so crisp, it’s like a filter was just peeled back from my hearing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">My pulse picks up as I slide my hands away from my temples to trace the outlines of my ears. I think the top parts feel a little . . . <i>pointier</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I ignore the tingling in my eardrums as I cut through the living room to the kitchen, and I fill a stained green bowl with cold water. Ma’s asleep on the turquoise couch because we don’t share our bed this time of the month. She says I thrash around too much in my drugged dreams.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I carefully shut the apartment door behind me as I step out into the building’s hallway, and I crack open our neighbor’s window to slide the bowl through. A black cat leaps over to lap up the drink.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">“Hola, Mimitos,” I say, stroking his velvety head. Since we’re both confined to this building, I hear him meowing any time his owner, Fanny, forgets to feed him. I think she’s going senile.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">“I’ll take you up with me later, after lunch. And I’ll bring you some turkey,” I add, shutting the window again quickly. I usually let him come with me, but I prefer to spend the mornings after lunaritis alone. Even if I’m no longer dreaming, I’m not awake either.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">My heart is still beating unusually fast as I clamber up six flights of stairs. But I savor the burn of my sedentary muscles, and when at last I reach the highest point, I swing open the door to the rooftop.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It’s not quite morning yet, and the sky looks like blue- tinged steel. Surrounding me are balconies festooned with colorful clotheslines, broken-down properties with boarded- up windows, fuzzy-leaved palm trees reaching up from the pitted streets . . . and in the distance, the ground and sky blur where the Atlantic swallows the horizon.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">El Retiro is a rundown apartment complex with all elderly residents—mostly Cuban, Colombian, Venezuelan, Nicaraguan, and Argentine immigrants. There’s just one slow, loud elevator in the building, and since I’m the youngest person here, I never use it in case someone else needs it.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I came up here hoping for a breath of fresh air, but since it’s summertime, there’s no caress of a breeze to greet me. Just the suffocating embrace of Miami’s humidity.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Smothering me.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I close my eyes and take in deep gulps of musty oxygen, trying to push the dread down to where it can’t touch me. The way Perla taught me to do whenever I get anxious.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">My metamorphosis started this year. I first felt something was different four full moons ago, when I no longer needed to squint to study the ground from up here. I simply opened my eyes to perfect vision.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The following month, my hair thickened so much that I had to buy bigger clips to pin it back. Next menstrual cycle came the growth spurt that left my jeans three inches too short, and last lunaritis I awoke with such a heightened sense of smell that I could sniff out what Ma and Perla had for dinner all three nights I was out.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It’s bad enough to feel the outside world pressing in on me, but now even my insides are spinning out of my control.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">As Perla’s breathing exercises relax my thoughts, I begin to feel the stirrings of my dreamworld calling me back. I slide onto the rooftop’s ledge and lie back along the warm cement, my body as stagnant as the stale air. A dragon-shaped cloud comes apart like cotton, and I let my gaze drift with Miami’s hypnotic sky, trying to call up the dream’s details before they fade . . .</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">What Ma and Perla don’t know about the Septis is they don’t simply sedate me for sixty hours—<i>they transport me</i>.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Every lunaritis, I visit the same nameless land of magic and mist and monsters. There’s the golden grass that ticks off time by turning silver as the day ages; the black-leafed trees that can cry up storms, their dewdrop tears rolling down their bark to form rivers; the colorful waterfalls that warn onlookers of oncoming danger; the hope-sucking Sombras that dwell in darkness and attach like parasitic shadows . . .</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">And the Citadel.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It’s a place I instinctively know I’m not allowed to go, yet I’m always trying to get to. Whenever I think I’m going to make it inside, I wake up with a start.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Picturing the black stone wall, I see the thorny ivy that twines across its surface like a nest of guardian snakes, slithering and bunching up wherever it senses a threat.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The sharper the image, the sleepier I feel, like I’m slowly sliding back into my dream, until I reach my hand out tentatively. If I could just move faster than the ivy, I could finally grip the opal doorknob before the thorns—</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Howling breaks my reverie.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I blink, and the dream disappears as I spring to sitting and scour the battered buildings. For a moment, I’m sure I heard a wolf.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">My spine locks at the sight of a far more dangerous threat: A cop car is careening in the distance, its lights flashing and siren wailing. Even though the black-and-white is still too far away to see me, I leap down from the ledge and take cover behind it, the old mantra running through my mind.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><i>Don’t come here, don’t come here, don’t come here.</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">A familiar claustrophobia claws at my skin, an affliction forged of rage and shame and powerlessness that’s been my companion as long as I’ve been in this country. Ma tells me I should let her worry about this stuff and only concern myself with studying, so when our papers come through, I can take my GED and one day make it to NASA—but it’s impossible not to worry when I’m constantly having to hide.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">My muscles don’t uncoil until the siren’s howling fades and the police are gone, but the morning’s spell of stillness has broken. A door slams, and I instinctively turn toward the pink building across the street that’s tattooed with territorial graffiti. Where the alternate version of me lives.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I call her <i>Other Manu</i>.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The first thing I ever noticed about her was her Argentine fútbol jersey: <i>#10 Lionel Messi.</i> Then I saw her face and realized we look a lot alike. I was reading Borges at the time, and it occurred to me that she and I could be the same person in overlapping parallel universes.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">But it’s an older man and not Other Manu who lopes down the street. She wouldn’t be up this early on a Sunday anyway. I arch my back again, and thankfully this time, the only pop I hear is in my joints.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The sun’s golden glare is strong enough that I almost wish I had my sunglasses. But this rooftop is sacred to me because it’s the only place where Ma doesn’t make me wear them, since no one else comes up here.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I’m reaching for the stairwell door when I hear it.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Faint footsteps are growing louder, like someone’s racing up. My heart shoots into my throat, and I leap around the corner right as the door swings open.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The person who steps out is too light on their feet to be someone who lives here. No El Retiro resident could make it up the stairs that fast. I flatten myself against the wall.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">“Creo que encontré algo, pero por ahora no quiero decir nada.”</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Whenever Ma is upset with me, I have a habit of translating her words into English without processing them. I asked Perla about it to see if it’s a common bilingual thing, and she said it’s probably my way of keeping Ma’s anger at a distance; if I can deconstruct her words into language—something detached that can be studied and dissected—I can strip them of their charge.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">As my anxiety kicks in, my mind goes into automatic translation mode:<i> I think I found something, but I don’t want to say anything yet</i>.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The woman or girl (it’s hard to tell her age) has a deep, throaty voice that’s sultry and soulful, yet her singsongy accent is unquestionably Argentine. Or Uruguayan. They sound similar.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">My cheek is pressed to the wall as I make myself as flat as possible, in case she crosses my line of vision.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">“Si tengo razón, me harán la capitana más joven en la his- toria de los Cazadores.”</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><i>If I’m right, they’ll make me the youngest captain in the history of the . . .</i> Cazadores? That means <i>hunters</i>.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">In my eight years living here, I’ve never seen another person on this rooftop. Curious, I edge closer, but I don’t dare peek around the corner. I want to see this stranger’s face, but not badly enough to let her see mine.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">“¿El encuentro es ahora? Che, Nacho, ¿vos no me podrías cubrir?”</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><i>Is the meeting right now? Couldn’t you cover for me, Nacho?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The<i> che</i> and <i>vos </i>sound like Argentinespeak. What if it’s Other Manu?</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The exciting possibility brings me a half step closer, and now my nose is inches from rounding the corner. Maybe I can sneak a peek without her noticing.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">“Okay,” I hear her say, and her voice sounds like she’s just a few paces away.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I suck in a quick inhale, and before I can overthink it, I pop my head out—</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">And see the door swinging shut.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I scramble over and tug it open, desperate to spot even a hint of her hair, any clue at all to confirm it was Other Manu— but she’s already gone.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">All that remains is a wisp of red smoke that vanishes with the swiftness of a morning cloud.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></div>
<br /></div>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Block Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Hyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="FollowedHyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Document Map"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Plain Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="E-mail Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Top of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Bottom of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal (Web)"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Acronym"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Cite"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Code"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Definition"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Keyboard"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Preformatted"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Sample"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Typewriter"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Variable"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Table"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation subject"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="No List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Contemporary"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Elegant"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Professional"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Balloon Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Theme"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="List Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="List Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="List Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ6fPkZJIqqevz2ixltTiOSAVd78hZPk3gEj_gGvh4TCWyqWTRStsXlDK-Y3P_v4Y7WGsXALDJG0suSPLMasNN94-rSgFBOw0Yr0zL_IH9mGm_hJexIHtMvzU6qGdFpHPXE7PR3tbJa2xa/s1600/Romina+Garber_Credit+Drew+Bordeaux.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ6fPkZJIqqevz2ixltTiOSAVd78hZPk3gEj_gGvh4TCWyqWTRStsXlDK-Y3P_v4Y7WGsXALDJG0suSPLMasNN94-rSgFBOw0Yr0zL_IH9mGm_hJexIHtMvzU6qGdFpHPXE7PR3tbJa2xa/s320/Romina+Garber_Credit+Drew+Bordeaux.JPG" width="213" /></a>In case you haven't heard enough to sway you to pick up the book yet, here's some more praise that this book has gotten!<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
“With vivid characters that take on a life of their own, beautiful details that peel back the curtain on Romina's Argentinian heritage, and cutting prose that shines a light on the difficulties of being the ‘other’ in America today, Romina Garber crafts a timely tale of identity and adventure that every teenager should read.”<b>–Tomi Adeyemi New York Times bestselling author of <i>Children of Blood and Bone</i></b><br />
<br />
“Romina Garber has created an enthralling young adult fantasy led by an unforgettable Latinx character Manu. In Manu we find a young girl who not only must contend with the injustice of being undocumented she also discovers a hidden world that may explain her very existence. I fell in love with this world where wolves, witches and magic thrives, all in a rich Latinx setting!” <b>–Lilliam Rivera, author of <i>Dealing in Dreams</i> and <i>The Education of Margot Sanchez</i></b></div>
<br />
Huge thank you to Wednesday Books for letting me be a part of this and to Romina Garber for writing such a wonderful story!<br />
<br />
Thanks for reading!</div>
BooksAndTea12http://www.blogger.com/profile/03781270521098291462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7412612011633256069.post-42332261112669381772020-07-28T15:02:00.000-05:002022-10-15T17:59:38.063-05:00Folklore (Taylor Swift) Inspired Reading List<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #a2c4c9;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><i>f o l k l o r e</i></b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #a2c4c9;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">an album inspired reading list</span></span></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVbhWM0-Zz7ESnkeRT8M7U7QycCepizbw0m3PMSBN2vpw-dCzbwqnNbou-R-Am5qJTmJM2L4VigghfHy6SGNPp0uPu3A09ia2Vy6Mu2EaxvVothqbcXGCr6JeMXcnwGYhYVl0WAtSXEByf/s1600/folklore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVbhWM0-Zz7ESnkeRT8M7U7QycCepizbw0m3PMSBN2vpw-dCzbwqnNbou-R-Am5qJTmJM2L4VigghfHy6SGNPp0uPu3A09ia2Vy6Mu2EaxvVothqbcXGCr6JeMXcnwGYhYVl0WAtSXEByf/s320/folklore.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
hello!<br />
<br />
i hope you are all doing well and enjoying the post-album release of taylor swift's folklore! if you were not aware, TS released a surprise album last friday and while it is pop, this is a much more mellow version of her music. i personally love the album and i think the tones and styles compliment her voice so well. it is a little softer for her music, but i still really love it! i wanted to do something to celebrate this magical sudden release, but i didn't really want to go into like an album review... although maybe that wouldn't be a bad idea because TS is so literary heavy in her lyrics. (below each song title are some of my favorite lyrics from that song.) but this is a reading list because (a) i would enjoy listening to the album all the way through again, and (b) i love putting together book lists.<br />
<br />
some of these books i have read. others i have not (yet). but i'm going to do my best to match up songs with books and give you all a reading list that is fantastical, mythical, enchanting, and enrapturing. this is also has been the hardest list for me to put together. i think it may be in part that i just need to read more (*sigh of defeat*), but for the most part i think it's actually just that TS tells such vivid stories in her songs. to try to match those narratives with books creates a very narrow scope of possibilities. if anything, i could see a whole story unfold from listening to a song, and then realize that it was no story i had ever read before. it was really interesting and beautiful and frustrating all at once. so i just did my best. :) <br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl5n56XHQ4aZ17wM5llICy2KBbNdVAHQFuGcxacOjvAfGH-VX7yf5b3QWe9cIwyNC-2mfCtJHX9Fjm_k7sdPOFIfsVSwZTBFeIVKIIgs9Tm4zv2d_CTj2vugi81m-xHyX_p8ChP_LAoQPG/s1600/foggy-1149180_960_720+%25283%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="148" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl5n56XHQ4aZ17wM5llICy2KBbNdVAHQFuGcxacOjvAfGH-VX7yf5b3QWe9cIwyNC-2mfCtJHX9Fjm_k7sdPOFIfsVSwZTBFeIVKIIgs9Tm4zv2d_CTj2vugi81m-xHyX_p8ChP_LAoQPG/s400/foggy-1149180_960_720+%25283%2529.jpg" width="61" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #a2c4c9;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK8jftssM43GlqWzu5oYjFRJv4KqvrAEYK-ZY5pSBxWS8AIDBG54oRPiZw7aPYRFnzXjeJeJ-M_d2ZS6COztS23x4JiTvY5p7MWFW-YQhZU85bXTTW-N5gDX8KKQXZ1iwe90NXVW65_67K/s1600/foggy-1149180_960_720+%25283%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="148" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK8jftssM43GlqWzu5oYjFRJv4KqvrAEYK-ZY5pSBxWS8AIDBG54oRPiZw7aPYRFnzXjeJeJ-M_d2ZS6COztS23x4JiTvY5p7MWFW-YQhZU85bXTTW-N5gDX8KKQXZ1iwe90NXVW65_67K/s400/foggy-1149180_960_720+%25283%2529.jpg" width="61" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"><b>1. the 1</b></span></span><br />
<i>but we were something, don't you think so?</i><br />
<i>roaring twenties, tossing pennies in the pool<br />and if my wishes came true</i><br />
<i>it would've been you</i> <br />
<br />
<u>the great gatsby by f. scott fitzgerald</u><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
the 1 is a hopelessly romantic pining love. and of course because there's a </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
line about the roaring twenties, i wanted a book set around that period. gatsby </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
and daisy... we'll always look to you for lessons about impossible love.</div>
<span style="color: #a2c4c9;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>2. cardigan</b> </span></span><br />
<i>and when i felt like i was an old cardigan</i><br />
<i>under someone's bed<br />you put me on and said i was your favorite</i><br />
<br />
<u> white hot kiss by jennifer l. armentrout</u><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
one of the current fan theories that i've seen online is that this one is one third </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
of the "teenage love triangle" trilogy on the album. (cardigan = betty's perspective; </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
august = inez's perspective; betty = james's perspective) so, taking that all in, i was </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
looking for a love triangle series for these three songs. you'd think that'd be easy, but </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
i realized i have read <i>no</i> books where the love triangle is two girls and a guy... </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
that's weird right? anyway, so i gender flipped it to two guys and a girl and came </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
up with the dark elements series. this makes cardigan roth's song, which is hysterical </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
if you have read the book before because this song is not roth in personality at all. </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
it just describes his role in the triangle. </div>
<br />
<span style="color: #a2c4c9;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>3. the last great american dynasty</b></span></span><br />
<i>there goes the last great american dynasty</i><br />
<i>who knows, if she never showed up, what could've been</i><br />
<i>there goes the most shameless woman this town has ever seen</i><br />
<i>she had a marvelous time ruining everything</i><br />
<br />
<u>little fires everywhere by celeste ng</u><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
straight up- i haven't read this book yet. i can literally see my copy of it right </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
now, but i have yet to read it or even watch the tv show. *shrugs shoulders* </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
however, based on the synopsis and the show trailer, i think this book fits the song's </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
idea about family trouble and chaos in home and the community. </div>
<br />
<span style="color: #a2c4c9;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>4. exile</b></span></span><br />
<i>we always walked a very thin line</i><br />
<i>you didn't even hear me out (didn't even hear me out)</i><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1NThsJtmK3x2TZ1zbWv2n-OQjB_Vt9TtaDyjIvmmmP0ySMUL7-lWNJP-50cBVPsyEAnqnuH6TfMkD9rISGq5CT0sf7ceeDA6453sv12YFkgHkcE9VqTYL7mIh2m93ZSLXn_lTHd-K7Ja2/s1600/foggy-1149180_960_720+%25283%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="148" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1NThsJtmK3x2TZ1zbWv2n-OQjB_Vt9TtaDyjIvmmmP0ySMUL7-lWNJP-50cBVPsyEAnqnuH6TfMkD9rISGq5CT0sf7ceeDA6453sv12YFkgHkcE9VqTYL7mIh2m93ZSLXn_lTHd-K7Ja2/s400/foggy-1149180_960_720+%25283%2529.jpg" width="61" /></a><i>you never gave a warning sign (i gave so many signs)</i><br />
<br />
<u>evertrue by brodi ashton </u><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
it was so hard for me to think of a book for this one because it is such a strong </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
work of art that i couldn't think of anything to accurately match the song's narrative </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
and tone. evertrue is my choice because it is the last book in the series and there </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
is a 'break-up' that one of the characters is rocked by while the other is pretty </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
confident about it. the whole series is great, but this last book has the events </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
that i think match the song. </div>
<br />
<span style="color: #a2c4c9;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>5. my tears ricochet</b></span></span><br />
<i>and if i'm dead to you, why are you at the wake?</i><br />
<i>cursing my name, wishing i stayed<br />look at how my tears ricochet</i><br />
<br />
<u>betrayal by gillian shields</u><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
this was one of the songs where i could literally see a story unfold behind my </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
eyes, but then i couldn't think of any sort of book to match it. betrayal is, i </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
think, the best bet here because the entire song is about betrayal and the hurt, </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
pain, and anger that comes with that. </div>
<br />
<span style="color: #a2c4c9;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1NThsJtmK3x2TZ1zbWv2n-OQjB_Vt9TtaDyjIvmmmP0ySMUL7-lWNJP-50cBVPsyEAnqnuH6TfMkD9rISGq5CT0sf7ceeDA6453sv12YFkgHkcE9VqTYL7mIh2m93ZSLXn_lTHd-K7Ja2/s1600/foggy-1149180_960_720+%25283%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="148" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1NThsJtmK3x2TZ1zbWv2n-OQjB_Vt9TtaDyjIvmmmP0ySMUL7-lWNJP-50cBVPsyEAnqnuH6TfMkD9rISGq5CT0sf7ceeDA6453sv12YFkgHkcE9VqTYL7mIh2m93ZSLXn_lTHd-K7Ja2/s400/foggy-1149180_960_720+%25283%2529.jpg" width="61" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"><b>6. mirrorball</b></span></span><br />
<i>hush, i know they said the end is near</i><br />
<i>but i'm still on my tallest tiptoes<br />spinning in my highest heels, love</i><br />
<i>shining just for you</i><br />
<br />
<u>enchanted by heather dixon</u><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
to me, mirrorball was the most fairytale-esque song on the album and </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
because there's so many references to dancing, what better match than a </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
retelling of the twelve dancing princesses? enchanted has been one of my </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
beloved books from early high school and i still think it is just as </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
endearing as i did back then. </div>
<span style="color: #a2c4c9;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>7. seven</b></span></span><br />
<i>your braids like a pattern</i><br />
<i>love you to the moon and to saturn</i><br />
<i>passed down like folk songs</i><br />
<i>the love lasts so long</i><br />
<br />
<u>little women by louisa may alcott </u><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
such a heartwarming song, seven sweetly spins a story about childhood friendships. </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
and for me, when i think childhood memories, friendships, loves, etc., i think of the </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
moments i loved with my siblings. to honor that, little women is the book for seven </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1NThsJtmK3x2TZ1zbWv2n-OQjB_Vt9TtaDyjIvmmmP0ySMUL7-lWNJP-50cBVPsyEAnqnuH6TfMkD9rISGq5CT0sf7ceeDA6453sv12YFkgHkcE9VqTYL7mIh2m93ZSLXn_lTHd-K7Ja2/s1600/foggy-1149180_960_720+%25283%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="148" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1NThsJtmK3x2TZ1zbWv2n-OQjB_Vt9TtaDyjIvmmmP0ySMUL7-lWNJP-50cBVPsyEAnqnuH6TfMkD9rISGq5CT0sf7ceeDA6453sv12YFkgHkcE9VqTYL7mIh2m93ZSLXn_lTHd-K7Ja2/s400/foggy-1149180_960_720+%25283%2529.jpg" width="61" /></a>because siblings and sisters are some of your best friends and help create the best memories. </div>
<br />
<span style="color: #a2c4c9;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>8. august </b></span></span><br />
<i>and i can see us twisted in bedsheets</i><br />
<i>august sipped away like a bottle of wine<br />'cause you were never mine</i><br />
<br />
<u>stone cold touch by jennifer l. armentrout</u><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
part two of the love triangle trilogy, i believe august is about the other woman. </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
going off the same series of books that i have from cardigan, zayne is "the other </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
man" in this series. stone cold touch would definitely the book for this song </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
then because it is the only book where he really gets to have a romantic relationship </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
with layla. and this song is about inez's time with james. </div>
<br />
<span style="color: #a2c4c9;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>9. this is me trying</b></span></span><br />
<i>they told me all of my cages were mental</i><br />
<i>so i got wasted like all my potential</i><br />
<i>and my words shoot to kill when i'm mad</i><br />
<i>i have a lot of regrets about that</i> <br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1NThsJtmK3x2TZ1zbWv2n-OQjB_Vt9TtaDyjIvmmmP0ySMUL7-lWNJP-50cBVPsyEAnqnuH6TfMkD9rISGq5CT0sf7ceeDA6453sv12YFkgHkcE9VqTYL7mIh2m93ZSLXn_lTHd-K7Ja2/s1600/foggy-1149180_960_720+%25283%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="148" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1NThsJtmK3x2TZ1zbWv2n-OQjB_Vt9TtaDyjIvmmmP0ySMUL7-lWNJP-50cBVPsyEAnqnuH6TfMkD9rISGq5CT0sf7ceeDA6453sv12YFkgHkcE9VqTYL7mIh2m93ZSLXn_lTHd-K7Ja2/s400/foggy-1149180_960_720+%25283%2529.jpg" width="61" /></a><u>heir of fire by sarah j. maas</u><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
this was maybe the easiest song to match a book to because everything about </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
this song screamed aelin's mental and emotional journey through heir of fire. it's </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
rough and emotional, really depressing and hard to read at times, but the </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
understanding of aelin's attempt to grow in her personhood and the strength it </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
takes to do that makes it so worth the read. </div>
<br />
<span style="color: #a2c4c9;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>10. illicit affairs</b></span></span><br />
<i>and that's the thing about illicit affairs</i><br />
<i>and clandestine meetings and stolen stares</i><br />
<i>they show their truth one single time</i><br />
<i>but they lie and they lie and they lie</i><br />
<i>a billion little times</i> <br />
<br />
<u>red, white & royal blue by casey mcquiston</u><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
the topic for this song was something that i thought would be easy to match a book </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
with, but then i realized i haven't really read a whole lot of books where there's a </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
secret romance or the like. red, white & royal blue though fits the bill <i>perfectly</i>. the </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
book is about a secret romance between the prince of england and the president's son. </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
there was a lot of hype about it back when it came out and honestly, it lives up to it. </div>
<br />
<span style="color: #a2c4c9;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>11. invisible string</b></span></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1NThsJtmK3x2TZ1zbWv2n-OQjB_Vt9TtaDyjIvmmmP0ySMUL7-lWNJP-50cBVPsyEAnqnuH6TfMkD9rISGq5CT0sf7ceeDA6453sv12YFkgHkcE9VqTYL7mIh2m93ZSLXn_lTHd-K7Ja2/s1600/foggy-1149180_960_720+%25283%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="148" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1NThsJtmK3x2TZ1zbWv2n-OQjB_Vt9TtaDyjIvmmmP0ySMUL7-lWNJP-50cBVPsyEAnqnuH6TfMkD9rISGq5CT0sf7ceeDA6453sv12YFkgHkcE9VqTYL7mIh2m93ZSLXn_lTHd-K7Ja2/s400/foggy-1149180_960_720+%25283%2529.jpg" width="61" /></a><i>all along there was some</i><br />
<i>invisible string</i><br />
<i>tying you to me?</i><br />
<br />
<u>from blood and ash by jennifer l. armentrout (personal prediction) </u><br />
<u>crave by tracy wolff</u><br />
<u>empire of storms by sarah j. maas</u><br />
<u>a court of mist and fury by sarah j. maas</u><br />
<u>relentless by karen lynch</u><br />
<u>they both die at the end by adam silvera</u><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
lolololol so here lies my non-exhaustive list of books with mates/soulmates/etc. </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
for those who are unaware, this is one of my all-time favourtie tropes. invisible </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
string is <i>strongly</i> invoking that idea in my mind though and i love sharing books </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
with this trope so it's a win-win!</div>
<br />
<span style="color: #a2c4c9;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>12. mad woman</b></span></span><br />
<i>you made her like that</i><br />
<i>and you'll poke that bear 'til her claws come out</i><br />
<i>and you find something to wrap your noose around</i><br />
<i>and there's nothing like a mad woman</i><br />
<br />
<u>hamlet by william shakespeare</u><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
hamlet has one of the greatest "mad women" of all time literary history (imo). ophelia </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1NThsJtmK3x2TZ1zbWv2n-OQjB_Vt9TtaDyjIvmmmP0ySMUL7-lWNJP-50cBVPsyEAnqnuH6TfMkD9rISGq5CT0sf7ceeDA6453sv12YFkgHkcE9VqTYL7mIh2m93ZSLXn_lTHd-K7Ja2/s1600/foggy-1149180_960_720+%25283%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="148" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1NThsJtmK3x2TZ1zbWv2n-OQjB_Vt9TtaDyjIvmmmP0ySMUL7-lWNJP-50cBVPsyEAnqnuH6TfMkD9rISGq5CT0sf7ceeDA6453sv12YFkgHkcE9VqTYL7mIh2m93ZSLXn_lTHd-K7Ja2/s400/foggy-1149180_960_720+%25283%2529.jpg" width="61" /></a>is a stunning character with an absolutely tragic ending. i feel like this is the perfect </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
vindictively redemptive song for her where she could finally express her frustration </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
and urge to go "mad" because of how the people around her treat her. </div>
<br />
<span style="color: #a2c4c9;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>13. epiphany</b></span></span><br />
<i>something med school did not cover</i><br />
<i>someone's daughter, someone's mother</i><br />
<i>holds your hand through plastic now<br />"doc, i think she's crashing out"<br />and some things you just can't speak about</i><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
i'm actually not going to list a book for this one and just take a second to thank </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
everyone on the front lines facing this virus. you're work is appreciated on a level </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
beyond comprehension and we will never know the true amount of work done and</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
lives saved. thank you!</div>
<br />
<span style="color: #a2c4c9;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>14. betty</b></span></span><br />
<i>most times, but this time it was true</i><br />
<i>the worst thing that i ever did</i><br />
<i>was what i did to you</i><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1NThsJtmK3x2TZ1zbWv2n-OQjB_Vt9TtaDyjIvmmmP0ySMUL7-lWNJP-50cBVPsyEAnqnuH6TfMkD9rISGq5CT0sf7ceeDA6453sv12YFkgHkcE9VqTYL7mIh2m93ZSLXn_lTHd-K7Ja2/s1600/foggy-1149180_960_720+%25283%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="148" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1NThsJtmK3x2TZ1zbWv2n-OQjB_Vt9TtaDyjIvmmmP0ySMUL7-lWNJP-50cBVPsyEAnqnuH6TfMkD9rISGq5CT0sf7ceeDA6453sv12YFkgHkcE9VqTYL7mIh2m93ZSLXn_lTHd-K7Ja2/s400/foggy-1149180_960_720+%25283%2529.jpg" width="61" /></a><u>every last breath by jennifer l. armentrout </u><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
the last part of the love triangle trilogy, betty is the song from james's perspective, </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
so this book needs to be the girl's perspective of the dark elements (as per the </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
series that i've picked for comparison). i think every last breath is layla's </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
equivalent to james's betty because this is the one where she makes the decision </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
of who to be with and come face-to-face with how she's hurt the men in her life. </div>
<br />
<span style="color: #a2c4c9;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>15. peace</b></span></span><br />
<i>but i would die for you in secret</i><br />
<i>the devil's in the details, but you got a friend in me</i><br />
<i>would it be enough if i could never give you peace?</i><br />
<br />
<u>the retribution of mara dyer by michelle hodkin</u><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
peace is one of my favourite songs on the album. there's that heartbreaking </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
doubt resonating throughout this piece that is so wonderfully potent. and it's sad, </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
but it's also very telling of how deeply in love the singer is with the subject of the </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
song. i feel like this would be something mara would sing to noah because she is </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
such a tragic character in her own right, but she clings to her love and keeps on </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
with it despite her doubts about herself. </div>
<span style="color: #a2c4c9;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>16. hoax</b></span></span><br />
<i>my only one</i><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1NThsJtmK3x2TZ1zbWv2n-OQjB_Vt9TtaDyjIvmmmP0ySMUL7-lWNJP-50cBVPsyEAnqnuH6TfMkD9rISGq5CT0sf7ceeDA6453sv12YFkgHkcE9VqTYL7mIh2m93ZSLXn_lTHd-K7Ja2/s1600/foggy-1149180_960_720+%25283%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="148" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1NThsJtmK3x2TZ1zbWv2n-OQjB_Vt9TtaDyjIvmmmP0ySMUL7-lWNJP-50cBVPsyEAnqnuH6TfMkD9rISGq5CT0sf7ceeDA6453sv12YFkgHkcE9VqTYL7mIh2m93ZSLXn_lTHd-K7Ja2/s400/foggy-1149180_960_720+%25283%2529.jpg" width="61" /></a><i>my kingdom come undone</i><br />
<i>my broken drum</i><br />
<br />
<u>a tale of two cities by charles dickens </u><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
sydney carton may be one of my favourite literary characters of all time. a </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
tale of two cities is the book for hoax because i could see sydney connecting </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
with this song. i don't think lucie is as directly involved as the lyrics of this suggest </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
would suggest, but i could definitely see sydney thinking that she is the only one </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
for him and her lack of reciprocity (literally) kills him. </div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #a2c4c9;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><i>t h a n k s f o r r e a d i n g !</i></span></b></span></span></div>
</div>
BooksAndTea12http://www.blogger.com/profile/03781270521098291462noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7412612011633256069.post-40605237766904878862020-07-18T21:50:00.000-05:002022-10-15T18:12:34.406-05:00Review of The Wicked Trilogy Novellas by Jennifer L. Armentrout<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><a href="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1513249634l/37531545._SY475_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="37531545. sy475 " border="0" height="320" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1513249634l/37531545._SY475_.jpg" width="212" /></a><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Wicked Trilogy Novellas</span></span></b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> by Jennifer L. Armentrout</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cfe2f3;"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Prince</span></span></b></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cfe2f3;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">4.05 out of 5 Stars</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cfe2f3;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The King</span></b></i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cfe2f3;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">4.66 out of 5 Stars </span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cfe2f3;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Queen</span></b></i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cfe2f3;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">4.51 out of 5 Stars</span></span></span></div>
<br />
As a part of 1001 Dark Nights, JLA has been putting out these <i>Wicked</i> novellas since 2018. I just binge-read all of them in one fell swoop and because they're all back-to-back, centered around the same romance, so I thought it might be fun to review them together!<br />
<br />
First, background. The original trilogy (<i>Wicked, Torn, and Brave</i>) takes place in New Orleans and follows Ivy, an Order member sworn to protect the human world from fae. Without getting into the actual plot of the trilogy, what you need to know about the setting is that it (a) takes place in New Orleans-- beautiful, (b) picks up pretty much immediately after the trilogy ends-- love it, (c) involves a lot of the same characters that were developed beforehand-- sweet, but (d) the novellas' main characters are not as developed in the trilogy. What does this all mean? There's a killer background that readers of the trilogy will absolutely love, but there's enough originality to these novellas to allow any reader to pick them up.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTL-0IdNcfTNUDFhufWD-lDhQXj7N1mj4FIPVauM84vfNTtMXf2dSSXOOFJJO0RDEs_bpenSqYzdyX5n0njKk80oOiW3GtDrkvUGvSWsRyWiH-l3-EUF5SK-guyAiIZJSBagGejkMXx1Jg/s1600/threesome.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="477" data-original-width="900" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTL-0IdNcfTNUDFhufWD-lDhQXj7N1mj4FIPVauM84vfNTtMXf2dSSXOOFJJO0RDEs_bpenSqYzdyX5n0njKk80oOiW3GtDrkvUGvSWsRyWiH-l3-EUF5SK-guyAiIZJSBagGejkMXx1Jg/s400/threesome.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Second, the reviews.<br />
<br />
<br />
<i><b><span style="font-size: large;">The Prince</span></b></i><br />
<b><span style="font-size: small;">4.05 out of 5 Stars </span></b><br />
We start the novella trilogy technically only two weeks after the full trilogy ends. But then there's a five-year time gap, so I don't really know when to explain the starting timeline for the novellas. Either way, I really liked how we had that connection to the last <i>Wicked </i>book. For me especially, it has been <i>three years</i> since I've read these books. Literally, I read <i>Brave</i> within its first week of publication, so it's been a minute since I've been in the fae-new-orleans world. So I really appreciated that split second of connection to what had been happening beforehand politically between the worlds and how the characters were all connected to each other. I think it was a really clever way to introduce the relationships and dynamics while also plunging into the substantive plot. <br />
<br />
I think this was a great way to start mini-series with semi-new characters! I really liked the pacing, a liked the borderline insta-love/are-they-bonded thing going on between Brighton and Caden. And I <i>love</i> Caden. There is a small part of me though that wishes it was a full novel. Like, I just enjoyed reading it so much that I wanted more. I think if there was more content (aka not a novella), there may have been a better chance to draw out the connection between Brighton and Caden. I also think I might have liked to see more of the larger plotline filled out. It was a really great read! I just wish I had more of it.<br />
<br />
(Although, to I think maybe clarify that last sentence(?), I totally respect the sheer quantity of writing JLA does each year and respect whatever reasoning she made in making this a novella and not a novel. I guess my main point in that last paragraph is to say, while I liked the novella format because it was shorter, I also would have loved to keep reading her writing.)<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>The King</b></i></span><br />
<b><a href="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1534257689l/41142454._SY475_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="41142454. sy475 " border="0" height="320" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1534257689l/41142454._SY475_.jpg" width="212" /></a>4.66 out of 5 Stars </b><br />
So you may have noticed already, but I rank this novella as the best of the three.<br />
If you have read the novellas, you may be shocked. There is some really dark and twisted stuff that happens in this one. BUT, as gut-wrenching as that whole series of chapters are where Brighton's with Aric, it is precisely because of my intense reaction that I think this one was the best. Just because it wasn't all warm and fuzzies doesn't mean it wasn't an excellent book. I actually think it's irrelevant <i>what</i> emotional reaction you get out of a book, any strong reaction is a job well done on the writer's part. And that's what this novella was. It was sucker punch after sucker punch. There were a few really sweet moments as well, so it wasn't all doom and gloom and there was a nice balance.<br />
<br />
What made this one really stand out to me as the best of the three was that all of the character were essentially fully developed and we were really digging into the meat of the plot and tension. If you were to put all three of these novella together (OMG if the publisher were to ever decide to do that I would 100% get a physical copy) the highest tension and the riskiest climax of the story would be in this portion. We didn't have to worry about set up or tying up loose ends. . . it was all just go go go diving into the twists and turns of the story. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1563727445l/49889354._SX318_SY475_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="49889354. sx318 sy475 " border="0" height="320" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1563727445l/49889354._SX318_SY475_.jpg" width="213" /></a><i><span style="font-size: large;"><b>The Queen</b></span></i><br />
<b>4.51 out of 5 Stars</b><br />
Overall, I think this was a great "end," but here's the thing. I have a feeling JLA isn't done with this world yet because Neal is still out there and there are still winter fae conspiring to get Queen Morgana to Earth. And I feel like Neal was too developed as a character to have just been a one-off and quick mention at the end. I think he's our next big baddie in whatever spinoff series or novellas JLA creates. Not only am I totally down with that, but I would love to see more of Tink and to be able to revisit Ivy and Ren and now Brighton and Caden. So that's my hope/speculation/prediction.<br />
<br />
Wrapping up on Brighton and Caden, I think they're adorable. I am complete trash for any sort of soulmate or bond trope which makes this pairing even better, but even putting that aside, I really like them as a couple. What I especially appreciate is that even as Brighton had to pull herself out of a really dark and vengeful place, Caden (barring extreme physical safetey concerns) let her do it and furthermore loved her either way. The epilogue was especially sweet when we got to see them all chilling at Hotel Good Fae. It was a cute little bow on top of the present that fit perfectly with the novellas as a whole. <br />
<br />
Now, before I leave this post, I have to say, Tink is one of my favorite characters of ALL TIME. I want more Tink. I want a Tink and Fabian story. I want to see Tink be a godfather. I want to see Tink annoy the crap out of Ren. I am Tink trash. Not only is he the ye olde great comic relief character, but he is incredibly loyal and lovable. If I were to compare him to another JLA character, I would say he reminds me a lot of Luc from her Lux/Origin series. She just does Tink so well as a character. He'l loving and lovable and yet so complex past the surface presentation. For example, I want to see Tink break out some epic brownie powers. I think that would be SO much fun to read. Even if we get nothing else from this world though, I just wanted to take this moment to write a Tink appreciation paragraph!!! :) <br />
<br />
Thanks for reading!</div>
BooksAndTea12http://www.blogger.com/profile/03781270521098291462noreply@blogger.com0