WARNING:
READ AT YOUR OWN RISK
Sneak Peek into Isabel Bandeira’s debut novel
Bookishly Ever After
(may contain spoilers)
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The TBR Randomiser Challenge
One of my New Year’s resolution was to be more active on Goodreads–a site that I have studiously ignored just because. Recently I joined this group 2016 Reading Challenge and it’s pretty cool. There are plenty of cool challenges and the bookish community is super friendly as always. Anyway, one of the challenges I signed up for is The TBR Randomiser Challenge.
This is a really cool challenge and I would love it if you guys participated too! The rules are simple:
- Select the number of books you want to read for this challenge
- Go to the “My Books” tab on the top of the Goodreads Page.
- Bring up your “To-Read” shelf.
- On the bottom of the page in the middle, go to the “sort” field and select “Random.”
- Goodreads will generate a random list of books for you.
- READ!
Sounds fun, right? No? Oh, okay. These are the books Goodreads chose for me. It just so happens that I was reading Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard when GR chose this book for me.
I’m really hoping this will help reduce my ever-growing TBR pile! Let me know what’s on your reading list.
Because of my neck injury I won’t be posting anything for a while. I’ll try to put up random posts to keep the blog going but reviews probably won’t be up until after the 10th. Thanks for understanding you lovelies!
My Life In Books Tag
Hello everyone! I was nominated to do this tag by Dee The Bookish Khaleesi–go to her blog cause it’s super pretty and she’s one creative blogger. Thanks much for tagging me Khaleesi!
Top 10 Books I Wouldn't Mind Santa Leaving Under Me Tree
I cannot begin to tell you how difficult it is for me to list only 10 books. Is that too greedy? Okay fine, I’ll play nice. Here are the 10 books I would really love to get my hands on this month!
What’s on your top 10 lists? Let me know in the comments below!
Review: Chewy Noh And The Phantasm Of Winter
I received this book for free from the author in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
Ratings: ☕☕☕☕ (4/5)
Tim Learn once again entertains his readers with another of Chewy Noh’s adventures–this time with a far more intriguing, complex but also amusing plot. In this second installment, not only do we see a lot more of Korean mythology, but some of the loose threads from the first book were taken care of here. Funny, light, and entertaining, this a was nice refreshing story after all the serious books I’ve read this past few months.
While the first book slowly built the suspense, this book began with a bang. I was hooked from the very beginning, and the writing had me turning the pages until the very end. The occasional shifting to the mythology was a bonus too (who knew Koreans had a bathroom goddess?) and I enjoyed the references to the cultural differences between Korea and USA (by the way, face size matters in Bangladesh too–the smaller your face, the prettier you are). I didn’t find a single chapter that felt like a filler, or one that seemed boring to me. I wouldn’t call it mind-blowing amazing as the writing style is very simple, but it has a certain charm to it.
There were certain intense scenes that could have been written better–in an attempt to avoid spilling spoilers, all I can say is that the “scary” parts of the story were not in fact scary enough, even for children. I am not saying it was bad, because it wasn’t…it just lacked believability. Other than that minor flaw, the overall storytelling was humorous and easy to absorb.
The Characters: Unlike the first book, we don’t really get to see that much of the large supporting cast, which was honestly fine by me–Chewy, Su Bin and Clint’s characterization was so smooth and well executed that I didn’t really care. In a book like this there isn’t much space for character development, but I enjoyed the way the kids (namely Chewy and Su) resolved their conflicts and eventually became friends. Clint and Su Bin’s puppy love never failed to put a smile on my face, and as annoying as Kent The Bully and Miss Wolfe were, I enjoyed watching Chewy juggle his normal life problems with his supernatural problems.
The only issue I have is with the mother, the grandfather, and the grandmother. Chewy has horrible adult figures in his life, and their lack of responsibility and awareness really did not make any sense to me. I understand why writers don’t want to give spotlight to parental figures in YA/MG books, but making them act more immature and childish than their own kids is certainly not a good way to go. Not only is it ridiculous but it also makes the entire story a lot less convincing.
The Plot: The plot of this book was a lot more complex than that of the first book. In The Fall of The Mu-Dang, the plot is focused entirely on Chewy and his superpower. In the Phantasm of Winter, we get to see more of the supernatural world the book is set in, a lot more action, a whole lot of suspense and much more unexpected twists (and thankfully very little school drama). The pacing was quite fast too and it’s finally allowing the series to develop more.
The Ending: Usually I find cliffhanger endings rather cliché; not all books need to have an open ending. This book is one of them. That being said, the ending wasn’t good enough to get me excited about the third book in the series, even with all the hints about what might happen in the next installment.
As I said before, this book belongs in the MG genre and not YA. I imagine children will love this series, so if you are looking for a book that will suit a young audience then I would definitely recommend you to give this a try.
My Thoughts On The "Shadowhunters" TV Series
Shadowhunters is an upcoming fantasy TV drama airing January 2016 on Freeform (currently ABC Family). It is based on a series of best selling novels–The Mortal Instruments–written by Cassandra Clare and is therefore a highly anticipated show for all Cassie Clare fans (myself included).
I try my best to keep an open mind when I hear of a book-to-film or book-to-tv-series adaptation. Let’s face it bookworms: movies or TV shows will never come close to making us feel the way the books did–no matter how beautiful or how talented the actors and actresses are, they can never truly do justice to the characters we fell in love with. No matter how much the creators spend on makeup and special effects Continue reading “My Thoughts On The "Shadowhunters" TV Series”
Notice Of Disappearance
This is a mini post to tell you that I am going on a hiatus. Again. I am just beginning to learn how unpredictable life can get. Just when I thought my college admissions were over for good–BAM! One of the colleges I didn’t get into just called me and told me there’s still a spot open for me if I want it. Don’t get me wrong–I am incredibly grateful, especially since around 4500 people applied and there are only 110 seats. But this also means I will be very busy for a few days and won’t be able to post anything for a while. I am especially sorry to the writers and publishers who sent me their books–I promise to post my reviews for them as soon as I am back.
Until then!
Review: Chewy Noh And The Fall Of The Mu-Dang by Tim Learn
Ratings: ☕ ☕ ☕ ☕ (4/5)
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
This review is a little difficult for me to write, because Chewy Noh and The Fall of the Mu-dang is one of those books you have a love/hate relationship with. Obviously, I am leaning towards love (hence the four coffee cups) and would recommend this book to anyone and everyone regardless of age. If you are looking for a light, humorous read that will bring out the inner child in you, this is the book to read.
The Writing: If I had to compare Tim Learn’s writing style I’d compare it with that of R. L. Stine—and as someone who is a huge fan of Mr. Stine that is a huge compliment coming from me. I think the biggest problem Continue reading “Review: Chewy Noh And The Fall Of The Mu-Dang by Tim Learn”
Siblinghood Of The World Blogger Awards
Hi everyone! So this is definitely a very belated post but hey–better late than never right? I was nominated for this award by Trey Schnarr and let me tell you something—I’m a newbie blogger, and a few people on the blogosphere (such as Trey) sort of have a celebrity status in my eyes. I’m literally in awe of them. So go ahead and check out his blog if you haven’t already!
Trey’s questions for me:
Who are your top three favorite characters?
I can practically see Trey smiling wickedly as I write. This is the most horrible question you can ask a bookworm. I mean, can you choose between your own children? Cause that’s how I’m feeling right now!
Anyways off the top of my head I think I’ll say The Darkling from the Grisha Trilogy (I like evil men and I don’t know why. Stop judging me!), Sasha from the Many-Worlds Trilogy (I relate to her so much) and Ash Redfern from the Night World series
Now, with your top three characters, which one would you be, room and cliff then explain why you did what you did!
Definitely hating Trey right now for torturing me like this. I would obviously be Sasha cause I can just understand her so well! I’d room Ash causehe is a vampire-playboy who turns good even though he comes from the most powerful and notoriously evil familes. And he’s hot. Like really hot. And I guess that means I’d cliff The Darkling and while it breaks my heart to do it, I don’t really mind. It’s one thing to fantasize about psychopaths and another thing to actually see them as a love interest.
What book character do you hate but everyone loves?
Christian Grey from Fifty Shades of Grey. I hate the book. I hate the characters. And I hate the so-called swoon-worthy panty-dropping mysterious Grey.
What is your least favorite book trope besides the obvious (like love triangles, instalove etc.)?
The absence of adult figures and other family members in YA books. I mean c’mon most normal parents take an active interest in the lives of their kids and obviously play a very big role too. Or at the very least, have a regular interaction with them. Not in YA. Either they are stupid parents, or they are cruel/mean/abusive parents. It’s so common that I have to include it as a trope, and I can’t understand why authors feel the need to make parents seem so careless and their roles so insignificant.
What question would you ask your favorite author?
This will come off as creepy but I would ask for their number so that I could call them up every time I feel my writing is crap. But like I said, that would be creepy, so I’ll just ask them to take a picture with me.
Do you buy a bunch of books at a time or just buy one book, read it and repeat?
When it comes to physical books I buy a bunch at a time. I go book-shopping rarely because my mom stopped letting me once she found out the magic of e-books. We are a family of avid readers (on my mom’s side it’s more like generations of avid readers) so we already have too many books in our house.
What is your favorite underhyped book you wish more people would read?
I am going to say the Many-Worlds Trilogy by Anna Jarzab, Hereafter trilogy by Tara Hudson and The Light Trilogy by Lauren Bird Horowitz. Every time I mention these books to someone and that person says s/he hasn’t read it, this is what I feel like doing
Any books or book series everyone loves but you refuse to read?
The Harry Potter series. I ain’t reading it. You can’t make me. Nope.
Did you have any books you weren’t allowed to read when you were younger? Have you read them now?
I don’t remember having that many restrictions when it came to reading because my family has such a huge collection of books that there was always plenty of age appropriate books for me. Plus, I always used to get books on my birthdays, on Eid, on New Year so I never really felt the urge to read something that wasn’t already handed to me.
The only books that I remember not being allowed to read was Roots by Alex Haley. I asked for it when I was 12 but my mom said no because it was too graphic and violent and depressing. I haven’t read it now, but I plan on doing so this December hopefully.
And now for the nominations! I nominate you because you have been so incredibly supportive during my short journey as newbie blogger. If it wasn’t for you, I probably never would have returned from hiatus:
Shenanigans, Adventures and Heartbreaks
I’m having a hard time coming up with creative questions of the moment, so I am going to do something different. Instead of asking you 10 questions, why don’t you list 10 things you have always wanted people to ask you (or 10 things you wanted to ask other people) but never did.
Of course, you don’t have to write a post. I just wanted to thank you guys for sticking with me these last two months. Love you all!
Fanmade Friday: The Hunger Games Fanart
Hello everyone! It’s Fanmade Friday–a weekly meme/feature here on Bookish Freaks where I post fan art and fan videos made by YOU.
While I try my best to know whose work I am posting and give them the proper recognition they deserve, sometimes I may post works by unknown artists. If you know whose I work I am posting, do let me know.
For this week I was thinking of posting a few Hunger Games fan art that blew my mind, in celebration of the release of Mockingjay pt 2.
Even though I only wanted to post fanart of Katniss Everdeen, I wanted to begin by showing this beautiful artwork of Finnick and Annie by the amazing Xenia Rassolova. I found a user on Tumblr sharing this image and I just knew I had to post it.
Finnick is one of my favorite supporting characters from the series, and his and Annie’s love story never fails to bring me to tears. Below is another portrayal of Finnick by an unknown artist.
Admittedly this is kind of how I imagined Jace from The Mortal Instruments would look like. Whoever drew this though, is without a doubt incredibly talented.
And now for the Mockingjay–without a doubt one of the most epic heroines YA Dystopia has seen.
I love graphic art, but these are some of the best Katniss Everdeen graphic art that I have ever seen.
Although all of these are gorgeous, there is one in particular that I saved for the last–a breathtaking graphic art of The Girl On Fire by Kristina Tsenova from devianart.
That’s it for today guys! If you have any fanart or fanvid of your own, or if there’s a special artist you think deserves some spotlight, do let me know via twitter @TanazMasaba. Have a good weekend!