Welcome to our free-form blog. We’re just two bookish sisters obsessed with espresso.
The Witches of Moonshyne Manor is a fun and engaging read, perfect for fans of the movie Hocus Pocus. The chapters read quickly, the stakes are high, and the characters are supremely lovable. Best of all, Bianca Marais crafts the plot to explore important and topical themes that kick this novel up several notches.
This book is an exploration of identity, culture, family dynamics, and gender stereotypes. I’ve learned a lot about Chinese culture, discrimination against Asians in the US past and present, and the sense of othering Joan constantly experiences as someone born American and whose outward appearance mean people identify her as Asian first.
The majority of the story revolved around both women chasing and leaving love letters for one another across time. There were some super cool descriptions of how they stumbled across each others’ letters and I did enjoy the overall concept, as well as the writing style. That said, by the end I was left wanting with a bag full of questions and few answers.
This book was majorly hyped across bookblr, bookstagram, and the blogging nation—and for good reason! The Love Hypothesis delivers a steamy romance with humor and fun takes on well-loved tropes. It induces stomach butterflies and goofy grins and subconscious toe-curling. It’s also the first book in a long time that caused me to stay up past my bedtime on a week night (for a woman who prizes her eight hours of sleep, this is a big deal!).
Tristran’s crossing from Wall to Faerie is reminiscent of Alice crossing into Wonderland, Harry Potter into Diagon Alley, Lucy Pevensie into Narnia. At least, I assume so, having read only one of those three. You get what I mean, though—there’s that magical feeling of crossing a threshold into a new world where anything is possible. And as such, we’re greeted by talking animal guardians and a dangerous forest.
Welcome to Eerensed, where English is not quite English because it’s High Goddess in the year 3102. From the start, I feel like I am actually in Eerensed. The language contributes to a surround-sound atmosphere and world; it fully immerses the reader in the world and allows us to empathize with our protagonist Andra as she wakes up in this confusing time and place. As Andra ventures out into the world, I want to know more more more about the technology that Eerensedians consider magic, what daily life is like with advanced bots and AIs and sims. I’m fascinated by Andra’s life on Earth and how it impacts her life in Eerensed.
I LOVE this book—it sucked me right in from the very first page and didn’t let me go until I finished. I actually consciously started reading slower or stopping after a few chapters just to make it last longer. A magic competition! Costumes and balls and excitement and circuses with lions and fire-eaters—what more could I want?!
The world Angeles creates is unique and gripping, with a tangible atmosphere of mystique and danger. Angeles’s writing style is perfect—she drops so many little clues about what’s to come, building suspense and mystery with every chapter, and yet still the plot is completely unpredictable.
There’s a lot I like about this book simply due to the general accuracy of what it’s like being a UX designer. I’ve never seen my job represented in fiction like this. However, it’s also a very stressful read. I read it in two days back to back and it felt just like being at work on a really bad day.
I’ve seen this book everywhere across lists and photos and posts. It sounded like the perfect October read so I hopped on the train and devoured it in a single weekend. It reminds me a lot of a cross between The Vampire Diaries TV series and Disney’s Halloweentown, with its witch-populated town and Founder’s Day event. Overall, this is a cute, quick, witchy read.
I wish I had a physical copy of this book so I could give it a hug. The Flatshare is so freaking cute. The slow burn romance! The British quaintness! The loyal friendships! The unpacking of emotional trauma and steady healing! Okay, one of these things is not like the other but they’re all in the story and make this such an amazing read.
This book is a physical manifestation of my heart’s song! Ahhh I just love it! Categorizing under faves of 2021, but really I see it is an all-time fave that I plan to return to again and again. I think it’s safe to say Emily Henry is a new favorite author for me.
I wanted to like this book so much! It has all the elements I typically want: enemies to lovers, a secret magical island, a feisty protagonist with a quick wit, even a training montage (albeit a mediocre one). But the way these elements are thrown together feels contrived. The characters’ motivations are largely black and white, especially when it comes to the villains. And many of characters and their actions are used as obvious plot devices. That said, the second half of the novel really picks up and I’m tempted to read the next in the series to see if we venture out of ACOTAR fan-fiction territory and into a story and characters that can stand on their own.
Meanwhile, Ailesse is also trying to murder Sebastian because that’s how being a Bone Crier works and this book is all murder, all the time. The fact that Ailesse doesn’t get why Sebastian doesn’t want to be murdered defies belief. Girl, would you be down if the roles were reversed? It’s like she expects him to just stand still real quick while she stabs him. She’s just trying to gain her mom’s approval, after all.
I LOVE Siddhartha—a concise yet powerful story that packs a punch! An insightful exploration of self and spirituality. Siddhartha, the protagonist, takes us on his journey, allowing us to learn along with him as he searches for spiritual fulfillment.
While I absolutely adore this series, I found The Chariot at Dusk to be the weakest of the trilogy. There’s just too much happening. The pacing is so fast and the plot so bloated that the quiet moments from the first two books that helped establish the world and realize the characters are completely nonexistent. The plot points could have easily spanned two entire books or alternatively, there’s plenty that could’ve been sacrificed in favor of more character-driven scenes.
While I adore The Wicked King and once again devoured it in two days, I slightly preferred The Cruel Prince. This is partially due to boredom and frustration with the scenes involving Taryn and Locke. This may be a symptom of my personal feelings for these characters; I hate them. Especially Locke—he’s the actual worst, though Taryn is certainly not far behind him. Of course, my visceral feelings speak to Black’s masterful characterization, so this isn’t a glaring issue. But because several chapters are devoted to Taryn and Locke’s wedding (gag), I found myself pushing through just so those scenes would end.
What a start! Black establishes her faeries and the world of Faerie as brutal and vicious. Magic is used for manipulation and deceit, pain and selfishness. Faerieland is a beautiful trap requiring constant vigilance. Jude and Taryn suffer the wrath of the Faerie gentry, who resent that the mortal twins are raised and educated alongside royal Faerie peers. And none hate Jude more than her schoolmate Prince Cardan and his merry band of bullies.
