Book Review: A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

Title: A Court of Mist and Fury

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Rating: 5/5 stars

Release date: May 3rd 2016

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Goodreads’ synopsis (*SPOILERS CONTAINED IN SYNOPSIS. READ THE REVIEW FOR MY NON-SPOILER THOUGHTS INSTEAD*):

Feyre survived Amarantha’s clutches to return to the Spring Court—but at a steep cost. Though she now has the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can’t forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin’s people.

Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms—and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future—and the future of a world cleaved in two.

Review:

Loved it. A brilliant sequel to what was merely the remnants of an unfinished story (thus far). Everything in the book finally clicked. I don’t recall much of the events that occurred in ACOTAR, but going through ACOMAF was a breeze. Sarah J. Maas no doubt has lots of twists in store for us. I can tell how cleverly planned-out the whole story was; not a single loose thread out of place. The characters, new and old ones, felt tangible – their emotions and feelings weren’t overly exaggerated, making them seem realistic and human-like. I won’t mention who, but there were certain characters that started a plethora of problems which, not surprisingly, might frustrate the readers to no end. But when I flip those pages, I just nod and go alright, alright. I get why you’re doing this. It’s a stupid mistake, but no one is to be blamed. What I meant to say is that the drama does not go overboard. It’s presented for a reason, it maintains the flow of the story and connects every piece together. It’s vital in a story. Basically, the author was able to come up with a reasonable conflict, which is very rare in YA/NA novels these days (The characters are either always too emotional and sensitive or dull and boring). She’s able to contradict the reader’s thoughts as if to say read the next few chapters, then you’ll know why *inserts character’s name* chose to *inserts problem*.  I’m  also pleasantly surprised to find that I enjoyed her writing. She writes articulately, no doubt. But I was not the biggest fan of her TOG series because of how she actually drags the story extensively with details of literally everything, which drives me to sleep every single chapter. The writing in her ACOTAR series, though the differences weren’t distinct, was bearable.

Of course, being a SJM novel, the hype was real. My Instagram feed was literally flooding with praise for this book. Fair enough, I let the hype take over my expectations because why shouldn’t it? I adored the first book, and knowing that there were a handful that found ACOMAF absolutely flawless despite loathing ACOTAR, I had nothing to lose. Well.. I was partly right, but after I read those last words and skimmed through the last page (as I always do, just to wrap things around my head), I felt like I wasn’t completely satisfied, like something was missing. But what? I just said that the story was flawless. What could’ve possibly squashed that last bit of satisfaction that was needed to fulfill my craving? Yep, it was the hype.

There were readers who re-read the book due to major book hangovers and others who couldn’t stop gushing over it. I get it. It’s an amazing book. Rhys is beautiful. But it’s ashame that the praises were what actually got me just the tiniest bit disappointed overall. Yes I gave it a 5/5 stars, so the hype didn’t actually interfere with my rating. Why? Because the story deserves a perfect rating. An epic story with well crafted characters and an enchanting setting should receive all the love and support, not disappointing reviews just because the hype ruined it. It may sound like I’m ranting but I’m just emphasizing my point, and that is: do not let the hype get to you. It’s an amazing read, and you will not be disappointed. Not one bit. Trust me. Don’t let the hype get to you like it did to me. Pick it up and go into it blind if you must, and leave out other people’s opinions.

Wow okay so that was tiring. Didn’t realize It got that long. So anyway, yes it was a great sequel and I’d highly recommend this series! I would like to warn the younger readers out there that the story does get explicit and.. Well, mature. So consider yourself warned before you pick it up!

What did you think of the book? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

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if you’re interested in buying A Court of Mist and Fury, you can click here to shop the book at Book Depository – i receive a small commission if you use the link! 🙂 

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Bookish Journal Updates: Movies, drawings, and more!

Hello everyone! I don’t think I’ve mentioned this before, but I have a Bookish journal! I draw, record, and stick in anything bookish related. My journal isn’t quite like the bullet journals you see up on Tumblr and Pinterest, it’s actually rather personal. I don’t use it to organize or plan out my day or anything, I just write and draw whatever I want whenever I want! It’s a random piece of junk, really.. but if you’re really keen on knowing what I do in it, then read on ~

(This isn’t my first page. I’m only showing the contents of my journal starting from when I started getting REALLY into journaling)

 

Here’s what I did when I finished read The Lunar Chronicles. I couldn’t stop thinking about it for DAYS so I decided to dedicate a page or two (still not sure what to add in the second page… quotes maybe?) to the whole series. I loved the characters so I drew Chibi versions of them!

 

Here’s one I did quite a while ago! (Following page will be presented in the following picture) The Night Circus turned out to be one of my favorite novels of 2015 and I was in the mood to do a little drawing that night during New Year’s Eve! If you can’t tell, the reddish banner says ‘THE CIRCUS COMES WITHOUT WARNING’ and I was pretty upset with how it turned out because it looks like a slobbering mess /sobs (plus what is with that clock tho?)

 

If you can’t tell the characters of the novel left quite a mark on me! I love Marco and Celia so I decided to draw my best interpretation of both of them. I drew them as doll-like figures to give off a mysterious/fantastical vibe to reflect the magical aspects of the novel!

 

Here’s my January wrap up! As you can see the red stars smudged the page before it *sigh* but I like how it looked! Highlight of January for me was Cress by Marissa Meyer, so I drew Cress and Thorne.

 

March anticipated releases! Not much to say about this page except how peculiar my 2016 looks??

 

I adore this page because I can always look back to it and it reminds me of some of the most well-made films ever. Studio Ghibli movies are my favorite and this page doesn’t do my love for Miyazaki’s productions justice. I’m not sure how I ended up somehow shading the colors into the drawings but I ended up really liking it! It really makes the pictures ‘pop’.

 

If you recognize which films these images are from individually you are officially my best friend 😉

 

More wrap ups! Not much difference except I toned down on the red stars. Also I put up little notes like ‘You can do better’ to motivate myself to read more in the upcoming months!

 

May was such a hectic month for me, but I read some good books! I’ll probably add in June, July and August’s wrap up on this page.

 

If you haven’t figure it out already, you can tell that I draw/write in whatever I obsess over. And that’s what I like about my journal, actually. It’s got lots of personality and it’s loads of fun to go back and look through what I did. I watched Ponyo during my term break and I loved it! I have a short discussion/review of it here. I wrote a few of my favorite quotes and drew the characters in and I had so much fun doing it!

 

This page took quite a lot of effort but it was worth it! You can see eraser markings because honestly stick figures aren’t as easy to draw if you’re an amateur like me! I wrote in the whole poem from the novel And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie (follow through on the next picture for the rest of it) and drew illustrations to present each stanza. I enjoyed the book and thought it’d be fun to do something AC related in my journal! I also drew an outline of the house the story took place in. I have a review of the novel here.

 

I was exhausted by the end of the poem. The last line was rushed but I like how everything turned out.

 

I tried a little bit of Calligraphy over the weekend! It was a lot of fun experimenting on new fonts. I should do this more often!

 

I watched The Garden of Words by Makato Shinkai and I made a dedication page of the film the following day. I have mixed feelings about it, but I loved the animation and the use of Japanese Literature in the film.

 

I glued two pages together and made it a little pocket where I can fill my bookmarks! I got this idea from Whittynovels on Youtube where she taped two pages together and made it a pocket where she filled Christmas cards!

 

I glued a ziplock bag I received from an online store for ordering some of their stuff and filled it with ‘unexpected mails’. I got quite a few in the past month and thought it’d be memorable to put it in my Journal where i can just slip it out of the bag and read through my letters ❤

 

Here’s one I got just yesterday! I literally squealed when I opened the letter.

That’s the end of my little Journal update! I’ll probably do these every month or so, depending on how much I intend on filling my journal with more random stuff. I hope you guys enjoyed my little flip through!

 

 

 

 

Book Review: And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

Title: And Then There Were None

Author: Agatha Christie

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Rating: 4/5 stars

Goodreads’ synopsis:

“Ten . . .”
Ten strangers are lured to an isolated island mansion off the Devon coast by a mysterious “U.N. Owen.”

“Nine . . .”
At dinner a recorded message accuses each of them in turn of having a guilty secret, and by the end of the night one of the guests is dead.

“Eight . . .”
Stranded by a violent storm, and haunted by a nursery rhyme counting down one by one . . . one by one they begin to die.

“Seven . . .”
Who among them is the killer and will any of them survive?

Review:

Ten people gets invited to a party at a well known island – cue the confetti and throw in your bathing suit while you’re at it! Doesn’t that sound like a dream getaway to you? *scoffs*. Well, that’s not the case. Each guest gets murdered one by one and they come to realize that the murderer is one of them….

I enjoyed this book! Took me two sittings to finish it and I completely devoured that last few pages – still a shock to me! This was my first Mystery novel, therefore I’m new to Christie’s work – and it definitely lived up to the hype. Honestly, going into the book was a bit of a trouble for me. Being my first thriller, I struggled to keep up with the pace and the little bits of clues throughout the novel, so I can’t say that this book was entirely flawless. Not to me, at least. Still, I was captivated by the writing of the novel. It’s abrupt, yet it flows together just as the story does. It’s not a very lengthy book, about 300 pages (mass market paperback), and following through the events of several murders, it kept me at the edge of my seat the entire time! I’m very impressed, and I understand now why Christie’s labelled the Queen of mystery.

A very well thought out novel – lots of twists and turns that are bound to keep you guessing. I doubt anyone saw that plot twist coming… then again, there’s a twist in every chapter! Definitely not my last AC novel. I’m excited to pick up another one of her works!

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? What are some of your favorite Agatha Christie novel? I’d love recommendations!

The Lunar Chronicles: An Intensely Detailed Not-So Condensed Non-Spoiler Review

 

 

Author: Marissa Meyer

Overall rating: 4.6/5 Stars

Okay.. where do I start? Goodness. WHY did it take me THIS long to start this series?? Actually, no, I take that back. WHY did it have to end so quickly? There should be NO end to this story. I can go on and on reading about these characters and this.. this perfectly crafted world that is Luna.

So let’s start from the very beginning – Cinder. Picked this book up once, wasn’t interested. Picked it the second time, changed my whole life. I’ve seen people everywhere going ‘didn’t finish Cinder.. might give it another try’ or ‘a Sci-Fi retelling of Cinderella? Seems a tad bit odd don’t you think? And honestly, I felt the exact same way. I don’t know what made me hooked the second time I picked it up, maybe it’s cause I actually read on and waited for everything to finally pick up. Okay, I’m a hypocrite for saying that we shouldn’t judge how good or bad a book is by their first few pages, because I do that all the time. Trust me, there were times where I’d read the first paragraph of a book, went ‘NOPE’, and went on to burying it deep under my TBR pile. But you can’t help it – and no one can blame you for doing so. It’s not wrong, but it’s unfair. A book should be just as good as any other if you actually made the effort of finishing it. Only then are you allowed to judge the way you feel about it.

That is how this series started. It’s a freaking roller-coaster. It builds up the adrenaline from the start and surges throughout the whole ride, and what a thrilling ride it was.

So Cinder started off a bit slow but it picks up REALLY quickly. I think what it fast-paced was the overflowing drama and conflict between the protagonist and antagonist. Goodness was it frustrating. I was holding onto my dagger ready to plunge the blade into someone’s chest (I’M KIDDING). But seriously, Adri and Pearl were just… UGH!

Then there’s Prince Kaito… oh, this lovely human being. Am I the only one who imagines Kai as EXO’s Kai?? For those of you who aren’t familiar with EXO, they’re a popular Korean Boy Band consisting of 9 members and the face of the group is Kai, and just like Prince Kai, he’s good-looking, kindhearted and is dominating the world at a very young age whilst capturing the hearts of the many die-hard fangirls…. Their resemblances are uncanny!

Cinder ended at a massive cliff-hanger which left me sobbing real hard. That was how attached I was to the characters and the world, and that was only the first book!

Sooo going to Scarlet, I had a bit of trouble reading the first half of it, not going to lie. I still wasn’t sober after Cinder so it took me some time to gather my emotions back together. I also didn’t particularly liked Scarlet at first BUT she’s grown to be so freaking badass and hilarious and bright that she’s become one of my faaavourite characters. Also, she reminds me a lot of Sansa Stark.

Now, let’s talk about Wolf. Back when I was new to Bookstagram (about 2 years ago), Wolf’s name was EVERYWHERE. So I’ve had high expectations going into Scarlet and meeting this ‘Wolf’ character. Before I started Scarlet, I was hoping for a sexy, dark and mysterious character, and did Wolf claim my heart! Again, he’s become one of my all time favourite characters! His brooding aura and those eyes *sigh*. How can one NOT fall for him??

Scarlet was close to perfect – just the first half bothered me a little (and it’s because of me, NOT the book. If my emotions were a bit more stable I would’ve flew threw the book in one sitting)

Going to Cress, I got a bit intimidated. It was pretty huge, and I’ve got two books to recover from – how am I going to handle another one?

Well, Cress turned out to be my favourite out of the whole series. Then again, the other three are all close favourites. I loved Cress because she’s so relatable. She’s like a dreamy fangirl with anxieties who gets really insecure around people she’s never met before. I mean she’s been locked in a tower in space for her whole life, it’s completely plausible. Yet, she’s one of the strongest and smartest character in the series. Talk about a major girl crush!

Then we have Captain Thorne. This charming bastard. Witty, strong, smexy, and sensitive. What more can you want in a guy?! I honestly love everything about Cress – how everything just flowed smoothly and the transitions between the characters’ point of views. It’s quite a large book, but SO many things happened that it’s crazy to wrap everything in your head.

The final installment of this series was Winter. Stars, it was flawless. Even though Winter and Jacin were just recently introduced as major characters of the book, they became lovable so quickly! I loved them just the same as the other characters of the book, and that says a lot having only to appear in two books. Winter was a very unique character, and definitely very different. Jacin, on the other hand, was quite the contrast of Winter and I see him as a mixture of Wolf and Kai. Very serious, strong, and loyal.

Overall, everything wraps up neatly. The last book connected every piece together leaving nothing behind. One thing I liked most from the series is that though it’s a twisted Sci-Fi/Fantasy retelling, the author manages to keep that ‘Fantasy’ aspect of the story. The glass slipper, big bad wolf, tall tower, evil jealous queen, Marissa Meyer was able to keep all the details of each Fairytale while twisting everything else and still being able to make everything work out. Honestly, how does she do it????  How does a cyborg go along with Cinderella? Why is Little Red drawn to the wolf? How can Rapunzel be a hacker genius and Snow White the princess with scars on her face? How did the author pull off such a masterpiece with all the unthinkable combined together?

With that being said, Go. Pick. This. Series. Up. Right. Now. It deserves all the love and praise. Kudos to you, Marissa Meyer, and thank you for this amazing adventure!

Happy reading everyone!

Sincerely, a mentally exhausted fangirl whose feelings are a mess right now.

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if you’re interested in buying any of the books from The Lunar Chronicles series, you can click here to shop the book at Book Depository – i receive a small commission if you use the link! 🙂 

 

 

Book Review: Investigating Sherlock by Nikki Stafford

 

Title: Investigating Sherlock: The Unofficial Guide

Author: Nikki Stafford

Rating: 5/5 deerstalkers

Release date: September 15th 2015

*Disclaimer:* First of all, a huge shoutout to Sam over at ECW Press for sending over this book! She knows how obsessed I am over Sherlock and offered to send me this book to add in to my collection. Thank you, thank you, thank you!! ❤

“He’s been depicted as a serious thinker, a master of deduction, a hopeless addict, a bare-knuckle fighter. His companion is a bumbler, a sympathetic equal, someone helpless in the face of his friend’s social inadequacies“… that’s all you have to know about Sherlock and John, really. The perfect combo, these two lads. And just like the cover, Stafford’s narration was a piece of art!

The guide starts off with an introduction of the genius producers behind the show, the iconic author Arthur Conan Doyle, and even the brilliant casts who starred in the series. It’s a thrill to read about behind the scene auditions these celebrities went through and how they were carefully picked to play the characters of the set, what the directors had to say, and the story that contrasts the victorian and modern era!

I love how the author compares Doyle’s Sherlock to BBC’s. ACD to BBC, as she’d put it. She points out little easter eggs that appeared in BBC’s Sherlock that were supposedly references to ACD’s Holmes which, to me (having to only read a few of the original Sherlock Holmes), were really interesting. It literally made me go ‘oh right, that happened! I didn’t notice!’and it’s just so nice to get to know the film a little better each time I flip the page.

 

I’ve read Guy Adam’s Sherlock: The Casebook and adored it. However, Stafford’s guide had me look at Sherlock in a completely different way. Both guides differ in a way in which Adam constructs the story through illustrations whereas Stafford through sections such as: highlights (something funny that happened), interesting facts (behind the scenes info), did you notice?‘s (,little easter eggs as I mentioned), and oops‘ (bloopers). A completely different outtake, but equally as fascinating!

Calling out all my fellow Sherlockians to pick up this book – it’s a true masterpiece! If you would like a more in-depth analyzation of this hit TV series, you know what to get the next time you step foot in a bookstore.

Book Review: Jane Steele by Lyndsay Fay

Title: Jane Steele

Author: Lyndsay Faye

Rating: 4/5 stars

Release date: 22nd March 2016

Woah. This was so much better than I’ve expected. To be completely honest, I’m not the biggest fan of Jane Eyre, so when I was emailed a chance to receive a copy, I was quite hesitant. But the cover *not gonna lie* was a complete steal. Also the blurb ‘Reader, I murdered him.” got me a whole lot intrigued.

There are lots to say about the book. Firstly, Faye’s writing is absolutely flawless. This woman has the ability to present a story that contrasts both the modern and antiquated times. The story allows the reader to visualize the perspective of a strong-willed lady who is very much like the character Jane Eyre but takes the reader to a whole lot of suspense and ridicule moments that makes Jane Steele real to the flesh. Whereas Jane Eyre may be soft spoken and tolerant, Steele’s dark and awfully witty.

Another thing I like about Jane is how she works and sharpens her knife without actually smearing her dress. Not literally speaking of course, I adore the way the author is able to mold Jane into a ruthless character but at the same time a passionate and loving governess who wants nothing but to help other people. A true heroine, I say. Jane Steele’s a true delight. I hope to read more of Faye’s work in the future. I simply cannot get enough! xx

Thank you to the people over at Putnam books & Penguin Random House for sending over a copy in exchange for an honest review!