Simone and Her Books

Time Travel Books You Should Most Definitely Invest in

September 25, 2019

As an avid fan of Doctor Who, time travel is one of my favorite science fiction themes. Sadly, it’s got a bad rep as a cop out for many famous movies and TV shows, but if done right, it can really make the story experience worth while.

And you can nag all you want about the issues with time travel like becoming your own grandpa or the butterfly effect, but I love how complicated it makes things and what knowledge of the future or the past can do to a person.

Over the years, I’ve read some really fun and some very serious time travel novels. While this isn’t a huge list of books, they are some of my favorites. Whats your favorite time travel novel?

Kindred by Octavia Butler

Probably my favorite book with time travel are ones that bridge real life issues with science fiction. And time travel lends itself well in Kindred, the story of a young African American woman living in 1970s LA who’s transported to antebellum Maryland where she’s regarded as a slave despite her truth being a free woman in another century. The complexity of the story and the fact that a “modern day” woman (the book was written back in the 70s) is experiencing her ancestor’s struggles for real made this so compelling and the ending will leave you wondering if she actually did go back in time or if it was all in her head.

Recursion by Blake Crouch

I’m calling Blake Crouch the modern sci-fi author because the two novels he’s released over the past few years have been exceptional to the genre and Recursion is no exception. It’s the story of two people, Helena Smith and Barry Sutton. Helena is working to create a machine that’ll stimulate old memories for people with Alzheimer’s while Barry is a police officer investigating a series of events where people start remembering two timelines in their head including their own deaths. What you determine is that Helena stumbled across a way to travel through time while Barry discovers a darker use of the machine that will cause lapses in memory for many people.

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Romance, wars, and time travel are all relevant for Outlander. This is the story of a woman who recently got married and finished serving as a nurse during the second World War. She’s on her honeymoon traveling through Scotland’s highlands when she suddenly passes through a time gate and lands 200 years in the past. From there, she tries to navigate this world without the modern sciences and medicine of the 20th century all the while trying to figure out how to get back to her own timeline. Then as she meets Jamie, a young Scottish warrior, who helps her through the time she’s living and also finds a little bit of love. Of course, our heroine is confused because despite being in 1743 with this new romance, she would like to be in 1943 with her real husband.

The Time Machine by HG Wells

If you read time travel books, then you must read the classic The Time Machine by HG Wells. It’s the story of a young inventor who finally creates a machine that allows you to travel through time. Forwards and back. When the scientist travels as far into the future as he can possibly travel, he comes across a strange new world where the humans only come out of hiding during the daylight hours because the night is filled with trepidation and evil. It’s a story filled with a lot of metaphors about humanity and the time period it was written (back in the 19th century). Definitely a great read and something to check out if you’re a fan of the genre.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

I can’t write a time travel list without including one of my favorite books when I was a kid. I didn’t read much when I was younger, but I fondly remember this book. I guess you can say I was in love with time travel ever since I was a kid! The story follows three children, Meg, Charles, and Calvin. Meg and Charles’s father have gone missing presumed because of the mysterious work he’s been doing with the fifth dimension. But when Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which appear telling Meg and Charles that they need their help, the children are more than eager to help find their father and bring him home. However, there’s an evil plot being unleashed on the world and it turns out Meg’s dad is in the middle of it. One of my favorite books of all time and it’s a time travel novel. Who would have thought?

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Sometimes you don’t have to be the traveler, but the person waiting for the traveler to get home. I categorized The Time Traveler’s Wife as a heartbreaking novel about Henry who randomly travels through time showing up in mysterious places completely naked and needs to fend for himself. But sometimes he showed up at the doorstep of a young girl named Clare who helped feed him, clothe him, and also became his friend. As the girl grew up, signs of her mysterious friend disappeared but when she meets her friend again as an adult, she can’t help to fall in love. They try to live their lives as a couple within the extenuating circumstances of Henry’s condition, but when Henry glimpses his own death it’s only a matter of time before Clare loses her true love and her best friend at once.
The Future of Another Timeline by Annalee Newitz // Book Review

September 23, 2019
I went into this one with high hopes. Time travel where women go into the past and make changes that benefit all women of the future, men who can’t stand that their privileges of owning and manipulating women want to go back and “set things straight” plus tons of representation that feels natural and not put on in anyway? Sign me the eff up.

And while I did get all the things I mentioned above, the book didn’t really work out as well as I was hoping. It became complicated and sometimes convoluted creating a middling experience than one that you can cheer about.

The story is a little complicated to explain, so I’ll try my best to do that here. Let’s first start off with the time travel.

In The Future of Another Timeline, time travel has existed for as long as the world has been in existence. They are several machines located in various parts of the world in these weird rock formations. Apparently these rock formations are the gateway to wormholes that let you travel solo to the past.

Tess is a cultural geologist working at UCLA to teach about time travel and how it works. In her little group called the Daughters of Harriet (Tubman), they are working to travel back in time and edit events to encourage more women’s rights. However, an all-male group is working to reverse that giving men rights over women. But Tess’s group has other plans to head all the way back to when the time machines were first discovered (before recorded time) and stop this group of men from ruining the future of women forever.

Meanwhile, Tess is also struggling with some personal moments of her own past. And while she’s working to improve women’s rights and stop this radical men’s group, she’s also editing her own timeline for the sake of an old friend.

First off, let’s talk about the time travel bit. While I get that time travel existed forever and these two groups are working to edit the timeline, I felt like this wasn’t fleshed out as well as I wanted it to be. When it comes to time travel stories, you need to be super clear on how it works. If you think about any time travel story, there’s always a moment where the narrator or MC explains how time travel works, how it affects the future, butterfly effects, paradoxes, etc.

These are things you always consider when it comes to time travel and to be honest, I feel like Annalee Newitz didn’t really explain this well. I was muddling through my own personal understanding of time travel through the other stories I’ve read in the past and what I’ve seen on TV, but you really need to be clear on how this works otherwise you’re going to have audience members be so confused by what’s going on.

And I feel like they were trying to explain how time travel worked in this world through complicated theory that even one of the characters couldn’t understand. If the character is having a hard time understanding time travel in their own world, then the reader isn’t going to be confused as well. It wasn’t so hard that you’re scratching your head and just turned off by it, but it was enough to kind of spoil the experience as a reader. If that makes sense.

Secondly, I was confused by Beth’s story. I mean, for the most part I was rooting for Beth and I wanted her to have the best and I wanted her future to be as bright as any other character you develop emotions for. However, the ending of her story really confused me and then its incorporation into the rest of the story really didn’t make sense. For all intents and purposes, I can kind of see where Annalee Newitz was going with it, but the more I think about it, the more I kept on trying to understand why.

Overall, there was a lot of potential here for an amazing pro-fem story, but I feel like the logistics and minor details got in the way of that for me. I did love their writing style and kind of want to try out something else from Annalee Newitz in the future. I thought that there was a lot of creativity in this story and really breathes into the real world issues that we’re facing everyday. I loved the representation and how there were all the faces of women nowadays there amongst the pages. I just wish the sci-fi portions were a little more built out and I wanted to understand the characters and their existence in this world a little bit more.
- 3/5 Stars
- Find my review on Goodreads
- Find The Future of Another Timeline on Amazon
I received a copy of this book from a friend for free and writing this review on my own accord.
Five Vampire Books That Made Me Love Vampires

September 20, 2019

Back when I was a kid, I was obsessed with vampires. I mean, OBSESSED. It all started with an anime I picked up randomly at Blockbuster (yes, you can date me from this reference) called Vampire Princess Miyu. It was the story of a young vampire who hunts souls who have escaped from Hell and returns them. She’s got a voiceless companion named Larva and she loves herself a tall glass of blood at the end of the day. Something about that story really intrigued me and I wanted way more.

Over the years, I continued to fuel my passion for vampires in anything the media will throw at me. Movies, TV shows, and even books.

But recently, it feels like vampires are no longer a thing. Back when I was a teenager, with books like Twilight and shows like The Vampire Diaries, kids my age were flush with vampire material. But now, it feels like the dark creatures have returned to the dark and it’s a little sad.

So this Fall, I wanted to dedicated a blog post to one of my favorite creatures of the night. While some of these I’ve read and enjoyed, there are others I can’t wait to read in the future. Follow me on this blogger’s journey into the world of vampires.

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

Did you know that Anne Rice is credited as the writer who defined the modern vampire? While vampires aren’t really her thing anymore, Interview with the Vampire gave audiences a refresh on the vampire genre (before then, all we had was Nosferatu and Dracula to name a few). We’re introduced to Louis, a young plantation owner in New Orleans, who’s entire family dies. In his anger and drunken stupor, he meets Lestat, a vampire, who decides to take Louis on as a companion turning him into a vampire. However, vampire life isn’t all that it’s chalked up to be as Louis divulges in the murder and ennui of being a dark creature.

Dracula by Bram Stoker

In my own knowledge of vampire books, I think Bram Stoker’s Dracula has got to be the book that started the whole vampire craze. It’s about Count Dracula, a vampire from Transylvania who travels to England to make more undead followers in a new country. When a group of young people find one of their own sickened and dying from an unknown cause, their eyes turn to the new guy in town. It’s a dark book with suspense, murder, romance, and gore. If you’re looking for the perfect Halloween book, try this fantastic vampire novel.

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

You’ll actually know this series by Charlaine Harris by its other name; True Blood. The TV series that consumed me for seven seasons. I watched every single episode and despite the fact I should have quit the series much sooner, I needed to know what happened to Sookie Stackhouse and Bill Compton.

Dead Until Dark delivered the adult vampire experience I wanted when Twilight was all the rage. No sparkly vampires in this one as Charlaine Harris builds her own vampire lore throughout the series including the public knowing the existence of vampires, a miracle drink for vampires that’s similar to human blood, and other little traits you don’t see in Anne Rice’s vampire novels. Also, this one takes place in Louisiana too which makes me think that this little Southern state is a hotbed for vampire activity.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Yes, I’ve read Twilight. I’ve read the entire series and I sometimes even watch Twilight when I want a good laugh. Twilight was my first foray into the YA fantasy genre and despite all its gripes and misgivings, I still think fondly to my read of these books.

If you haven’t read it yet, it’s the story of Bella Swan, a young teenager who just moved to Washington to live with her dad. As she goes to her first day at the new school, she’s introduced to the Cullen family; a family of adopted teenagers who all look way too good to be in some small town high school, especially Edward; the stoic younger sibling of the group. When Bella becomes intrigued by Edward and his family, she learns that he’s a vampire who sparkles in the sun and drinks animal blood in the woods of Washington. Stephenie Meyer obviously chose to create her own vampire lore in this one, which I found to be quite interesting despite the sparkles. But these books were so entertaining until the very last one.

Dark Lover by JR Ward

A few months back, I decided I wanted to try paranormal romances. I’ve never read ones outside of the Sookie Stackhouse novels, so I decided to try JR Ward’s super popular Black Dagger Brotherhood series. For all intents and purposes, it wasn’t my thing because I’m not a fan of alpha-males who do everything in their power to protect their “mates” despite the fact they don’t need saving. However, it is a good vampire series with a lot of dark and twisted suspense. If I were more into big dudes who save young women, then I would be into this. Alas, it didn’t work for me but still was a pretty good vampire book.

What are some other vampire novels I should get into?
The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh // Book Review

September 18, 2019
I’m a sucker for vampires. LOL, get my joke? No, but seriously. If it’s got vampires in it, I’ll probably read it, watch it, consume it. Vampires are literally my favorite mythical beings in literature. And there’s been this sad void of vampires for a few years now. There was that period of time when Stephenie Meyer was writing those Twilight novels and there was a surge of vampire-related material, but nothing good has come out lately.

So when Renee Ahdieh wrote a vampire novel, I was all over it.

The Beautiful follows Celine Rousseau, a young seamstress who just made her way to New Orleans from Paris to escape her past and find herself a bright future. She lives in a convent with a few other girls when they meet “The Court of Lions,” an underground group that runs gambling and drinking throughout the city. Its leader, Sebastien Saint Germaine, is a young dude whom everyone calls “The Phantom” because of the mysterious deaths behind his family.

When Celine becomes friends with Sebastien and other members of the group, the first body is found only to be revealed as one of the girls Celine made her way to America with. As more mysterious deaths happen around Celine, the truth reveals to be a much more twisted story.

I marked this one as a 3, but my feelings are more 3.5. I don’t want to give it 4-stars wholeheartedly, but I also know this book wasn’t terrible. It was good with a lot of potential for a great vampire series. Maybe it’s because this was the first book in the series, but it felt a little messy without a sense of direction and the writing style felt too YA for me.

I also agreed with a lot of the reviews my friends wrote. The pacing felt off and the first half of the book didn’t really pull me into the story until the very first body was found. The book didn’t really feel like it was set in the late 19th century either. There were a lot of descriptions on dresses and clothing, but dresses don’t make a historical novel.

Also, there was a lot of switching between languages. I think I clocked maybe four different languages used including Korean, French, Greek, and Spanish. While I’m a fan of diversity in writing and really loved seeing that in the faces of the characters, it was so hard to read dialogue when half of it is in French and all you have is what you learned in high school.

The book’s synopsis boasts three major parts to the story; a mystery shrouded in fantasy and a sultry romance. Let’s make sure we check off all the things before we move on:
- Fantasy: …shaky but I’ll give this one a check
- Mystery: Check
- Romance: ….ehhhhhhh
Seriously, I was most disappointed in the romance aspect because for the first half of the book, nothing happens. Yeah, you see Bastien and Celine and they have these subtle conversations and possibly holding back their true feelings, but you don’t really get romance off their friendship. But then they’re declaring their love for each other and Bastien’s uncle is warning Celine to keep away from him because she’s not a right match. It felt sudden and almost out of place.

When the romance started to pick up, then it felt like I was watching a Korean drama with the wealthy 3rd generation grandson that’s about to inherit the entire conglomerate who falls in love with the poor yet feisty woman who changes his perspective on everything. I’m all about Korean dramas and their tropes, but it came so late in the book that it almost doesn’t make sense by the time the book was over.

The fantasy elements (and this is where I’m talking about the vampire lore) was shaky. I felt like I got fed pieces of lore, but not enough to actually understand the background. It wasn’t enough to really build the world Renee Ahdieh wanted to build here. I’m not sure if she’s going off the Anne Rice-level of vampire or if she’s going to build her own vampire universe, but it felt like I got two pieces of chicken in a giant bucket and now I have to wait for the next book for more. I wanted to read this book because it said there were vampires and I did get vampires, but definitely not enough.

I think the best elements of the book were its mystery/suspense components. Having the mysterious deaths happening around Celine and no one knowing who’s behind it made finding out the culprit so worth the read. Reading the suspense parts and the murders made the vampire elements of this story feel more real. While I’ve read Twilight and know the whole sparkly vampire thing, I’m more of a fan of Anne Rice’s vampire legacy or Charlaine Harris with the Sookie Stackhouse novels (both of which take place in Louisiana, how funny!)

In my honest opinion, I feel like Renee Ahdieh held herself back. A lot of what I read felt like I was reading a contemporary YA and less like this suspenseful fantasy story with vampires. I feel like if this was more adult then we would get the sultry romance and the pretty gruesome mystery and a whole lot more vampires to fill that vampire void we’ve been missing.

I guess I’ll just have to wait for Jay Kristoff’s vampire book for that.
- 3.5/5 Stars
- Find my review on Goodreads
- Find The Beautiful on Amazon
I received a copy of this book from Penguin Teen for free in exchange for an honest review. My opinions have not been influenced by the publisher or the author.
What I’ve Been Reading Lately: September 2019

September 16, 2019

I can’t believe that it’s already the middle of September! And luckily the books I’ve been picking up have been good. Don’t you love when you’re on a reading streak and every book you pick up is amazing? I wonder how long this will last because I know I’ll come across a dud soon enough.

It’s also coming onto Fall, which is every book reader’s favorite season. For me, I absolutely love reading Fantasy books in the Fall and this season has some of my most anticipated releases of the year! Yes, the entire year I’ve been waiting for this season. I’ve already shared a little on what to expect this season, so you’ll see more of that soon. For now, here’s what I read so far:

Darkdawn by Jay Kristoff

Probably the biggest book I read this month and it was an absolute trip. This is the final book in the Nevernight Chronicle and it’s a series that will definitely stay with me for a long time.

This series in general is about a young teenager named Mia who watched some pretty horrible things happen to her family and vowed revenge for them. But she’s just a teenager with no skills in revenge. That is until she meets Mercurio, an assassin for the Red Church. Mia grows and learns how to kill and finally enact her plans for revenge with her friends helping her along the way. The series follows her as she learns how to become an assassin until her final moments with the man who killed her father. It’s a pretty incredible dark fantasy with witty commentary and footnotes because the author is that extra.

Find my review on Goodreads

Don’t You Forget About Me by Mhairi McFarlane

According to my Goodreads, I haven’t read a contemporary book in a minute, so I’m glad to have read this one after my huge hangover from Darkdawn.

This is the story of Georgina, a woman who recently lost her job, her boyfriend, and just ran into her first love who doesn’t even remember her. At first, I thought this was a romance novel, but it turns out to be much more than that. It’s more the story of a young woman coming of age at 30. I loved this book because it reminds me a lot of myself; a young person just trying to find that niche for herself while contending with the people who want to take her down (or really looking out for themselves).

Find my review on Goodreads

Brazen and the Beast by Sarah MacLean

While I’m coming to terms with the historical romance genre (I’m learning I’m not a huge fan of balls and dukes and the same conversations of ruin), I still love Sarah MacLean’s Bareknuckle Bastards series.

This one in particular follows Hattie, a 29-year-old woman who is much to old to be married. Instead of becoming a spinster, Hattie has it to lose her virginity and take over her father’s business. But when her little brother gets into trouble with Whit aka Beast, she must go and fix this. Of course she didn’t expect to fall in love with Beast at the same time. Out of all the historical romance I’ve tried, this one gets me the most. I think it’s because it’s more interesting than another duke and another ruination making the story more complex and also sharing London’s underbelly than being about the ton.

Find my review on Goodreads

What have you been reading lately?
Get Ready to Fall For Fantasy

September 13, 2019

Happy Friday, readers!

The weather is finally changing from summer to autumn, so you know what that means. It’s time to read fantasy books!

I don’t know why, but I correlate autumn with fantasy. I think it’s because all the Harry Potter books came out in autumn or they just invoke those feelings of autumn and now I’ve got it in my head that I need to read fantasy when the weather is cooler. Who else feels this way?

So while you get your pumpkin spice pantry stocked and pull out the sweaters from storage, here’s what you can expect from me as I sit amongst the golden leaves of Autumn:

Book reviews

I don’t think a book blog is complete without reviews. It’s a part of the entire process and I will be reviewing some amazing books (and hopefully my most anticipated). I’ll be sharing more fantasy reads publishing these months including some new releases! I also want to dive into some book series I’ve been meaning to read and finally putting on my radar. Doesn’t it seem like if a book is published before the month you’re currently in, it somehow disappears?

Lists and Recommendations

I haven’t done this a lot mostly because I worry people won’t like what I recommend, but I’ll be doing more lists and recommendations for folks within the genre. I hope you like my recommendations even though I’m slightly nervous on how they’ll turn out.

Essays

And of course, you’ll get my essays on reading. I love when you all read my thoughts on a subject and respond back. I want to do more think pieces for you all this season within the fantasy realm and anything else that sort of crops up in my head. I always love the conversations we have whenever I publish one of these, so I hope to fill my month with many more essays on reading, books, and fantasy stories!

Can’t wait to get started! Will you be reading fantasy books this fall? What do you have on your radar?
Don’t You Forget About Me by Mhairi McFarlane // Book Review

September 11, 2019
I can’t think of this book’s title without thinking about the song written by Simple Minds. However, the song and the book have nothing in common aside from its title. I picked up this book from Netgalley a few months back when I still had a Netgalley account and requesting books like a fiend.

But after finishing a fantasy trilogy with pretty heavy themes, I wanted to read something lighter to cleanse the palate and since Don’t You Forget About Me was coming out, I figured I’ll give it a shot.

Friends, this book was exactly what I was looking for. Let’s talk some more about it.

Don’t You Forget About Me is about Georgina Horspool, a 30-year-old waitress who just got let go from yet another service position for showing a small amount of empathy towards a customer. And if matters couldn’t get worse, she heads to her boyfriend’s house only to catch him getting it on with another woman. Desperate for some money to make rent, Georgina takes a job as a bartender for a wake only to see her first love from high school, Lucas. Funnily, Lucas just doesn’t remember her! As you can tell, the hilarity of that ensues.

The story itself read like Bridget Jones’s Diary. It wasn’t exactly a romance even though there were a few romantic themes, but with Georgie’s group of friends and the guys that she’s involved with definitely gave the same Bridget Jones vibes. It also helps that it takes place in the UK and uses a lot of idioms. I had to look up a few words because they were foreign to me.

But language aside, I really liked this story. It’s a slow burning life story of a young woman coming to terms with what’s happened to her in the past, what’s happening in her present, and if she’ll be okay for the future. And while it was a slow burn, it was filled with so many amazing one-liners specifically around her therapy and her basically thinking through her past and feelings. It’s incredible to see the nuance of her brain and how she thinks because it’s how all of us think sometimes.

I didn’t anticipate this book to be so thought-provoking and challenging for Georgina. I thought this would be another easy love story, but as the themes started to reveal themselves you get the sense that this is much bigger than the cute book cover and the clever title. And when you finally see Lucas remember Georgina, it’s like the icing on top of the cake.

Even the ending surprised me in its direction. I wasn’t expecting the last 50 pages to go the way it did and even Lucas and Georgina’s eventual joining was a surprise and it really made my heart flutter for them.

Overall, a really great story with a funny author and some serious themes. It’s definitely one you want to read if you need something light, but don’t expect it all to be fluff. I look forward to reading other books by Mhairi McFarlane in the future!
- 4/5 Stars
- Find my review on Goodreads
- Find Don’t You Forget About Me on Amazon
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley for free in exchange for an honest review. My opinions have not been influenced by the publisher or the author.
Darkdawn by Jay Kristoff // Book Review

September 9, 2019
Jay Kristoff is one of those authors I’d been curious about for a long time. My tsundoku ways collected all the books in his repertoire, but afforded me none of the time to read it. So I read Nevernight and Godsgrave a few weeks back to prepare for Darkdawn. I decided to buddy read the final book with Jenna (@whatsjennareading) and found it to be such a blessing to hear her thoughts on the final book juxtaposed to my own thoughts. I think we helped each other process our feelings on the last book.

Some spoilers in this review, so please read with caution.

TW: lots of blood. So much blood.

Darkdawn takes place immediately after the end of Godsgrave. Mia has just taken her brother and meeting Mercurio and Ash after killing Cardinal Duomo and Senator Scaeva. Right off the bat, the story moves quickly. You get a lot of info in the first 100 pages that you assume the rest of the book will take off just as quickly.

However, what I thought was a super quick start to the book turns out to be just the start and the next 400 pages were filled with a huge journey across the sea, across the desert, and across most of Itreya. For all intents and purposes, it was a great ride but I felt there was a huge lag in the story. It was almost like Jay Kristoff couldn’t make up his mind on how he wanted the story to end. What I assumed would be a straightforward storyline turned out to be filled with twists and loops I didn’t anticipate. It set me off a little, but when thinking about it in hindsight, my feelings for its pace are completely subjective and in truth, I think Jay Kristoff approached this book with a lot of heart being that it’s the last book in the series.

Also, I wasn’t a fan of how Jay Kristoff approached certain parts of this book. When Mia finally retrieves the Crown of the Moon, it almost felt like an afterthought. I also thought it a little easy for Mia’s antagonist to get his powers so easily. Both of these points I was really hoping for some more story, but I guess I have to just take it as it’s written.

I don’t want to talk too much about the plot of the final book because there’s a lot of surprises and I don’t want to ruin that for anyone who hasn’t read it yet.

But despite its pace, the character growth in this book is tremendous. I loved how much Jonnen grows by the end of the book. I loved how much Mia goes from a heartless wench out to murder the people who killed her family to someone who had something to stand up for. It wasn’t just a sociopath we were dealing with, but a person who dealt with a lot of bad things in her life and towards the end I like to think she saw a glimmer of happiness.

I mean, it was a small glimmer. Let’s not forget who wrote this book.

I also loved the surprises. I think Jay Kristoff seriously has a gift for making you second guess yourself and keeping you on your toes because each truth being revealed was so surprising and different than what I imagined.

But I think my favorite part of this whole series was the lore. Jay Kristoff did an amazing job building this world and I was so invested in finding out what happened to Cleo and the darkins and what Mia’s special powers means to her. I was so excited to see Niah and Aa and Anais and how their stories incorporate to the bigger story with Mia. Seeing how this all unfolds in the final book was beautiful and so exciting. All the little poems and lines just finally click and make sense and when you see how all of it fits together, it’s like a mosaic of magic I wasn’t expecting to fall so in love with.

In the end, I absolutely loved these books. I don’t think they’re the perfect fantasy series; I mean I have my fair share of critiques for all three of the books. But I absolutely loved the plot, the world, and the characters so much that I’ll cherish this series and hype it up to anyone who wants to read something subversive.

And with that, gentlefriends, I say…

Never flinch

Never fear

And never ever forget.
- 4/5 Stars
- Find my review on Goodreads
- Find Darkdawn on Amazon
- Start the series with Nevernight
August 2019 Bookish Wrap-Up

September 2, 2019

I felt like I spent the last few days of August trying to fit in as many books as I can. It didn’t work, of course, because whenever I force reading I get burnt out faster.

But August was good to me and I read a lot this month. I end August with a total of eight books. Isn’t it so funny when you think you’ve only read four books but it turns out to be way more than you anticipated? It’s kind of a fun treat when you take a minute to examine your reading life every month. Let’s talk about what I enjoyed the most:

Nevernight and Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff

This was my first time read Jay Kristoff and I couldn’t have been more happy to start with this series. It’s dark, gruesome, and completely engrossing that you won’t be able to turn away. With the last book in this trilogy coming out this week (like tomorrow), I couldn’t help but marathon the two books prior to prepare myself for the finale. Do you ever take a chance on a fantasy series you’re not sure you’re going to like and then find yourself surprised by how much you love it? I feel like I take chances like this all the time. I’m always buying up all the books in a fan favorite series hoping that I’ll like it too. It seems like a waste of money, but it just feels like I’m investing in my reading future.

Wicked and the Wallflower by Sarah MacLean

I also read a lot of romances this month especially in the historical category. My book club wanted to explore historical romance because they’re a huge part of the genre. I even wrote my thoughts on historical romances earlier this month, but I think I found Wicked and the Wallflower to be my favorite out of the bunch. Not only was it historical with its dukes and ruined women and the like, but it had that extra bit of story to keep me pretty happy. I liked this series a lot since it reads like a fantasy series already, so I can’t wait to dive into Brazen and the Beast when my library hold comes in.

Frankly in Love by David Yoon

I was highly anticipating Frankly in Love this year and getting an ARC copy of it really just made my day. I didn’t think I would relate to this book as much as I did and David Yoon brought up a lot of the nuances of Frank’s life that matched my own, which was an interesting treat. Sometimes you live life thinking the experiences you’ve had as a child were unique only to realize that it was what a lot of people did. It made me feel seen to read it in his book and happy to see others will appreciate the uniqueness of being a limbo person.

Like a Love Story by Abdi Nazemian

This book was probably my favorite of the entire month and I read it at the beginning of August. It was beautifully written and unafraid to share the reality of a disease like AIDS and how it affects not only the people infected by the people around them. I cried so much. Not only was Reza’s story so sad, but Art and Judy lend so well to the story. Honestly, it felt like an opus and I can’t talk about this book enough. I loved it and I hope you all read it and love it too!

What did you read this month?
Worth the Hype: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

August 28, 2019
I didn’t think I would be reviewing this book, but here I am. After finishing The Night Circus last night, I had so many thoughts and questions that I just needed to put them down on paper. I think I’ll feel much better after I finish writing this.

Let’s start from the beginning. The Night Circus is about two people, Celia and Marcus, who since they were children were told they’re to duel to the death at some point in their lives. They’re trained by these two old magicians who have been fighting each other by proxy for centuries. But when someone decided they wanted to make a circus filled with imagination and magic, it became the playground for both Celia and Marcus to show off their magical skills before the very end.

There are other components to this story that add a layer of mystery to the ending, which I really liked. I loved reading about Bailey and his experiences with the circus and I love the final decision Celia and Marcus made. I also loved that Morgenstern included a 2nd POV for you to follow so it felt like you were in the circus along with everyone else.

What I really loved is the ambience. The whole book is shrouded in an air of mystery, which is just so fantasy to my mind. Magical tents where you can make wishes and dreams that come to life; it sounds exactly like the kind of circus I’ve always wanted to go to. Everything seemed to be enchanted and the writing itself made it all feel so enchanting.

However, the book carries with it a lot of flaws. While beautifully written, I felt myself searching for an answer to a simple question; what the heck is going on?

To be truly honest with you, I almost DNF’d the book a few times. The ending felt like it took forever to get there. There wasn’t a solidified plot to the story and the story moved in a few different directions. Things would just happen and then the author explains it later, which isn’t a great reading experience. I felt like often I was being told what was happening than witnessing it for myself.

I was also often confused by what was going on. I didn’t know who certain characters were until I connected the dots in my head. I didn’t understand the mystery behind the different tents until it was explained. I didn’t get why Marcus and Celia were fighting each other. I didn’t understand why they made their final decision.

I also found it extremely confusing was the time jumps. Granted, I’ve read books where time moves super quick and years go by between the last chapter and the next, but most of the time there’s explanation on what happened in those missing years. Maybe they were mundane years where nothing happens. This is the first book where the time jumps don’t really explain what happened in those years and then you have to piece together on your own what happened.

What also confused me was the love story. It might be just marketing selling this book as a love story, but honestly it felt contrived and a little instant. I felt like the love story didn’t even take place until 150 pages from the end. While it was beautifully written and I loved how Marcus felt for Celia, it’s weird that the book was sold as a love story when it was more than that.

My final word on the book, though, is this: it needs to be experienced. Honestly, you have to read the entire book in order to get the scope of it. Morgenstern does a great job shrouding everything in mystery. It’s a good writing technique to keep your readers guessing until the end, but there were some things I honestly wish were fleshed out so I could focus more on the rest of the story than finding answers.

While this review highlights some of the good and not-so-good points in the book, I honestly feel like this polarizing novel can’t be judged by one person alone. If you’re considering reading this book, I would go ahead and do it. See for yourself what I’m talking about and take this review with a grain of salt.

For all intents and purposes, I really wanted to like this book. You know when you see everyone else love a book and you want that feeling of falling in love with a book, but then you’re disappointed? Well, that’s how I felt. It’s like meeting your best friend’s boyfriend for the first time who they’ve raved about for weeks and you’re just not impressed when you meet him. It’s like hearing that bacon ice cream is amazing and you try it for the first time and you’re not in love. I really wanted to love this book. Like really.

But sadly, the book read like a massive jigsaw puzzle. You have all these pieces in front of you and a look at the final image, but you, on your own, have to figure out where the pieces go. Perhaps it requires a different kind of brain to see the puzzle before the end, but most of the time I much prefer a manual.
- 3/5 Stars
- Find my review on Goodreads
- Find The Night Circus on Amazon