PAIN AND K-POP IDOLS | BLACK WINTER MANHWA REVIEW

Black Winter

by Jeong Ina

    On a dark winter night, a young boy was cursed and a young girl had sinned.

    One cold winter night, Haesa seeks shelter in an old house in the mountains, where she meets a slumbering stranger named Yuan. That's when tragedy begins to befall Haesa’s friends, plunging the young girl into a sad and lonely youth. Ten years later, as Yuan starts to regain his lost memories, he realizes that this cursed fate goes back much further, to a time only he can recall. But with sinister forces at play, will they be able to break the toxic cycle and step into the warmth of spring?

FIRST AUDIOBOOK OF 2021

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue 
by Mackenzie Lee
Katherine Tegen Books | June 27, 2017

    Henry “Monty” Montague was born and bred to be a gentleman, but he was never one to be tamed. The finest boarding schools in England and the constant disapproval of his father haven’t been able to curb any of his roguish passions—not for gambling halls, late nights spent with a bottle of spirits, or waking up in the arms of women or men.

    But as Monty embarks on his Grand Tour of Europe, his quest for a life filled with pleasure and vice is in danger of coming to an end. Not only does his father expect him to take over the family’s estate upon his return, but Monty is also nursing an impossible crush on his best friend and traveling companion, Percy.

    Still it isn’t in Monty’s nature to give up. Even with his younger sister, Felicity, in tow, he vows to make this yearlong escapade one last hedonistic hurrah and flirt with Percy from Paris to Rome. But when one of Monty’s reckless decisions turns their trip abroad into a harrowing manhunt that spans across Europe, it calls into question everything he knows, including his relationship with the boy he adores.

Purchase via Bookshop 

RINGING IN THE NEW YEAR WITH CIRCE

Circe
by Madeline Miller
Little, Brown and Company | April 10, 2018

    In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child—not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power—the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves.
    Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus.
    But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love.

AUDIOBOOK BINGE

I mentioned in a previous post that I have a Scribd 30-day free subscription, totally recommend it if you haven't used it already. Because of this subscription, I was was able to prune my TBR and give audiobooks another try. In my Call Me By Your Name review, I mentioned my abhorrence towards audiobooks and the book. I think I had a poor experience because the book was not my cup of tea, and because of the narrator, sorry Armie... The narrators of my recent audiobooks do voices, which made distinguishing the characters easy. Though, I still had an active listening/reading problem. I made a hasty conclusion about audiobooks after one bad experience, which was my mistake: audiobooks are great, especially on public transportation!

THE FAVORITE BOOK OF 2019?!

The Color Purple
by Alice Walker
Harcourt | 1982

      Set in the deep American South between the wars, it is the tale of Celie, a young black girl born into poverty and segregation. Raped repeatedly by the man she calls 'father', she has two children taken away from her, is separated from her beloved sister Nettie and is trapped into an ugly marriage. But then she meets the glamorous Shug Avery, singer and magic-maker - a woman who has taken charge of her own destiny. Gradually, Celie discovers the power and joy of her own spirit, freeing her from her past and reuniting her with those she loves.

VICTORIAN AND SUPERNATURAL?

Soulless: The Manga
by Gail Carriger

illustrated by REM
Yen Press

          The life of a spinster in Victorian London isn't an easy one on the best of days, but such a life becomes infinitely more complicated when said spinster is "soulless" - a preternatural bridging the gap between the natural and supernatural worlds. Miss Alexia Tarabotti has this unique distinction, and when she is assailed at a formal gathering by a rove vampire, an encounter that results in the death of the half-starved creature, her circumstances become exponentially more complicated indeed! Now caught up in an intrigue with life or death stakes, Alexia must rely on all her talents to outmatch the forces conspiring against her, but it may be the man who has caught her eye - Lord Conall Maccon - and their budding flirtation that truly drives her to her wit's end!

ANNE OF GREEN GABLES | HERE'S WHAT HAPPENED

Anne of Green Gables
by L.M. Montgomery
Puffin Classics | June 1908

       Everyone's favorite redhead, the spunky Anne Shirley, begins her adventures at Green Gables, a farm outside Avonlea, Prince Edward Island. When the freckled girl realizes that the elderly Cuthberts wanted to adopt a boy instead, she begins to try to win them and the reader over.

DU MAURIER'S STUDY IN JEALOUSY | REBECCA REVIEW

Rebecca
by Daphne du Maurier
Victor Gollancz | 1938

       The novel begins in Monte Carlo, where our heroine is swept off her feet by the dashing widower Maxim de Winter and his sudden proposal of marriage. Orphaned and working as a lady's maid, she can barely believe her luck. It is only when they arrive at his massive country estate that she realizes how large a shadow his late wife will cast over their lives-presenting her with a lingering evil that threatens to destroy their marriage from beyond the grave.

PRIDE & PREJUDICE

not actual cover-Behance. 

Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen
Barnes & Noble | March 14, 2011
First Published: January 28, 1813

       Jane Austen's witty comedy of manners-one of the most popular novels of all time-tells the story of Mr and Mrs Bennet's five unmarried daughters after the rich and eligible Mr Bingley and his status-conscious friend, Mr Darcy, have moved into their neighbourhood. "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." So begins the novel, that features splendidly civilized sparring between the proud Mr. Darcy and the prejudiced Elizabeth Bennet as they play out their spirited courtship in a series of eighteenth-century drawing-room intrigues.

FINALLY FINISHED | AND I DARKEN ARC REVIEW

And I Darken (The Conquerors Saga #1)
by Kiersten White

Delacorte Press | June 28, 2016

ARC courtesy of First in Line

       NO ONE EXPECTS A PRINCESS TO BE BRUTAL.
       And Lada Dragwlya likes it that way. Ever since she and her gentle younger brother, Radu, were wrenched from their homeland of Wallachia and abandoned by their father to be raised in the Ottoman courts, Lada has known that being ruthless is the key to survival. She and Radu are doomed to act as pawns in a vicious game, an unseen sword hovering over their every move. For the lineage that makes them special also makes them targets.
       Lada despises the Ottomans and bides her time, planning her vengeance for the day when she can return to Wallachia and claim her birthright. Radu longs only for a place where he feels safe. And when they meet Mehmed, the defiant and lonely son of the sultan, who’s expected to rule a nation, Radu feels that he’s made a true friend-and Lada wonders if she’s finally found someone worthy of her passion.
       But Mehmed is heir to the very empire that Lada has sworn to fight against-and what Radu now considers home. Together, Lada, Radu, and Mehmed form a toxic triangle that strains the bonds of love and loyalty to the breaking point.

I was quite surprised to receive this book and I was quite surprised by this book. Two of my favorite reviewers on goodreads loved this book; however, I found this book rather boring, long, and unnecessary.

*TWITCHING ON THE FLOOR BECAUSE OF FEELS*

The Winner's Kiss (The Winner's Trilogy #3)
Marie Rutkoski
Farrar, Strauss and Giroux | March 29, 2016
Status: Complete

          War has begun. Arin is in the thick of it with untrustworthy new allies and the empire as his enemy. Though he has convinced himself that he no longer loves Kestrel, Arin hasn’t forgotten her, or how she became exactly the kind of person he has always despised. She cared more for the empire than she did for the lives of innocent people-and certainly more than she did for him.
          At least, that’s what he thinks.
          In the frozen north, Kestrel is a prisoner in a brutal work camp. As she searches desperately for a way to escape, she wishes Arin could know what she sacrificed for him. She wishes she could make the empire pay for what they’ve done to her.
          But no one gets what they want just by wishing.
          As the war intensifies, both Kestrel and Arin discover that the world is changing. The East is pitted against the West, and they are caught in between. With so much to lose, can anybody really win?

BOOK REVIEW | THE ROMANCE *PUKE*

The Madman's Daughter (The Madman's Daughter #1)
by Megan Shepherd
Publishing: January 29, 2013 | Balzer & Bray
Status: DNF

          Sixteen-year-old Juliet Moreau has built a life for herself in London—working as a maid, attending church on Sundays, and trying not to think about the scandal that ruined her life. After all, no one ever proved the rumors about her father’s gruesome experiments. But when she learns he is alive and continuing his work on a remote tropical island, she is determined to find out if the accusations are true.
          Accompanied by her father’s handsome young assistant, Montgomery, and an enigmatic castaway, Edward—both of whom she is deeply drawn to—Juliet travels to the island, only to discover the depths of her father’s madness: He has experimented on animals so that they resemble, speak, and behave as humans. And worse, one of the creatures has turned violent and is killing the island’s inhabitants. Torn between horror and scientific curiosity, Juliet knows she must end her father's dangerous experiments and escape her jungle prison before it's too late. Yet as the island falls into chaos, she discovers the extent of her father’s genius—and madness—in her own blood.

The Last Necromancer Blog Tour

Click on the image to see the tour schedule

The Last Necromancer (The Ministry of Curiosities #1)

Author: C.J. Archer

Publish date: August 11, 2015

Publisher: Smashwords

     Set in Victorian London, Charlotte (Charlie) Holloway has lived as a boy in the slums for five years. But when one theft too many gets her arrested, her only means of escape lies with a dead man. Charlie hasn't raised a spirit since she first discovered she could do so five years ago. That time, her father banished her. This time, she brings even more trouble upon herself.
     People are now hunting Charlie all over London, but only one man succeeds in capturing her.
     Lincoln Fitzroy is the mysterious head of a secret organization on the trail of a madman who needs a necromancer to control his newly "made" creatures. There was only one known necromancer in the world-Charlotte-but now there appears to be two. Lincoln captures the willful Charlie in the hopes the boy will lead him to Charlotte. But what happens when he discovers the boy is in fact the young woman he's been searching for all along? And will she agree to work for the man who held her against her will, and for an organization she doesn't trust?

~Add to TBR~Amazon~B&N~ 

Rating: It's aight

Book Review

The Night Circus
Author: Erin Morgenstern
Publish Date: September 13, 2011
Publisher: Doubleday

     The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Reves and it is only open at night.
     But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway-a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love-a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.
     True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus performers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.

The Witches of BlackBrook Review

The Witches of BlackBrook: A Novel
by Tish Thawer
DNF
Publisher: Amber Leaf Publishing
Publish Date: 2015

     Through space and time, sisters entwined. Lost then found, souls remain bound.
     Three sisters escape the Salem witch trials when the eldest casts a spell that hurdles their souls forward through time. After centuries separated, fate has finally reunited them in the present day.
     One the healer, one the teacher, and one the deceiver.
     Will their reunion return their full powers, or end their souls' journey forever? 

     When I first saw the blurb for this book, I was really excited. I was really excited because the book includes/mentions the Salem witch trials. I LOVE the Salem trials. It was probably the most interesting topic in the Social Studies curriculum, along with WW2: The Holocaust. It [witch trials] had so much drama, hype, tension, and false accusations! What isn't to like?!
     Sure, this book has a lot of drama. But, was it the drama I was expecting? No. The drama seemed very Real Housewives-esque.
     The main character lives in the modern world and that's where most of the story revolves around. But, there are flashbacks (Of sorts) that take place in the past. These flashbacks were boring to read because nothing much happened. The present was also pretty boring.
     I didn't sit down and drink this book in. I took very long breaks from it.
     I thought this book was going to be The Craft with the three sisters, who worship the Goddess aka Mannon. I got excited, but that died down from the dialogue and the writing.

     The writing was not my cup of tea. It was a little too wordy and long for my taste. Plus, the dialogue was unexpected. You want to know why? Okay, grown ups talk to each other in a one dimensional way that resembles a teen speaking with his/her crush. Everyone was too happy/go-lucky in my opinion. The kids in the "flashbacks", spoke with more maturity than the adults.
     Finally, after reading that synopsis a little more closely and reading a little excerpt, you know exactly what happens, so there isn't a need to read this book.

Apprentice Review

My first order of business is to tell you:

-The First book is $0.99 (kindle) on Amazon

-Romance that may piss you off, the author personally warned me about this. The gif below summarizes the relationships.

Apprentice (Black Mage #2)
by Rachel E. Carter
Read: eARC
Publishing: Astrea Press 2/17/15

          She survived a trial year at the Academy, but that was just the easy part…
          Now sixteen-year-old Ryiah is an apprentice in Combat, her school’s most notorious faction of magic. When she finishes she will be a mage, but in order to do so she has to survive four years with a training master she hates and her old nemesis, Priscilla. To make matters worse the unwanted attraction Ry feels for her sometimes-friend-sometimes-rival Prince Darren is at an all time high –even though he is betrothed to the very girl she can’t stand.
          Really, the only bright spot to Ryiah’s new life is the time she spends with her friends, including an older apprentice named Ian, who she finds herself thinking about quite often.
          Just when things start to get comfortable they take a turn for the worse. An apprentice is killed in a rebel attack and several mages end up dead. Unwittingly, the apprentices find themselves in the midst of a budding unrest between Jerar and its northern neighbor, Caltoth. For Ryiah the impending conflict means many things, but as her apprenticeship draws to a close she finds her biggest problem at home.
          Unfortunately for her, Darren’s not going anywhere.

Throne of Glass Review

Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1)
by Sarah J. Maas
Publishing: Bloomsbury USA Children's 1/2/12

          After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for four years and then be granted her freedom. 
          Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilarating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best. 
          Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another. 
          Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

The Winner's Curse Review

The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski
Publishing: Farrar Straus Giroux 3/4/14
Genre: Romance, Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Fantasy
Recommendation: A MUST-ish READ!

          I had such a fun time reading this book. The characters, story, and the plot was really cool. So was the society that the people live in. I thought that it was cool that the protagonists both "understand" the two classes, the lower and the upper. I LOVE THEM TOGETHER! OTP! Kinda insta-love. Well, more of a slight attraction.