Home, Young Adult

The Folk Of The Air Series By Holly Black: A Brutal And Brilliant Fantasy

The Folk Of The Air Series By Holly Black: A Brutal And Brilliant Fantasy

Note: This is a series review, meaning that I will be reviewing all three books of the series (The Cruel Prince, The Wicked King and Queen of Nothing) as a whole and will also be rating the series as a whole.

I rarely enjoy stories about the fae–despite their popularity, especially in the YA fantasy genre, very few writers have managed to properly encapsulate their terrifyingly violent and yet comically whimsical nature. The only good fae story, really good fae story that comes to mind is Julie Kagawa’s Iron Fey series. If you haven’t read it, you are absolutely missing out–it is one of the best fantasy novels that I have read and will forever cherish in my heart.

(And yes I have read Sara J Mass’s Court of Thorns series. No, I did not like it one bit)

Continue reading “The Folk Of The Air Series By Holly Black: A Brutal And Brilliant Fantasy”
Book Corner, Home, Other Bookish Stuff

No Matter The Wreckage By Sarah Kaye: The Kind Of Poetry That Resonates

No Matter The Wreckage By Sarah Kaye: The Kind Of Poetry That Resonates

A collection of poignant, beautifully crafted verses, No Matter The Wreckage by Sarah Kay is the kind of poetry book that touches your heart, mind and soul. I am aware that this sounds cliche, but it is true. Her turn of phrase, use of imagery and rhythm and repetition creates vividly written, captivating poems that makes the reader step into her skin and see the world through her lens. Most importantly, the topics that she covers in this book and some of her own personal experiences are written with such resonating quality that you cannot help but be able to relate to her words.

Some of my favorites where Love Letter #137, No Matter The Wreckage, Brother, The Toothbrush To The Bicycle Wheel, The Ladder, Some Things We Don’t Talk About Part 1, and Evaporating, but there were many others too that I couldn’t help but reread over and over because they made me feel.

Definitely the kind of poetry book you would want to keep on your shelf. I highly recommend this to everyone who loves poetry.

Book Corner, Home, Other Bookish Stuff, Review Policy, Young Adult

The Gilded Wolves: A Nuanced Heist Fantasy That Explores Colorism, Colonialism And Power Struggles

The Gilded Wolves: A Nuanced Heist Fantasy That Explores Colorism, Colonialism And Power Struggles

Ratings: 5/5

Short review: Excellent novel is excellent. Highly recommend.

The tea (because there always seems to be a controversy or another whenever a marginalized author puts out a best-seller diverse novel): skip to the bottom.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: child abuse, mild torture and violence

Detailed review: Now this here is a stunning, exciting thought-provoking novel that I can’t wait to get more of. Roshani Chokshi (who made me remember why I love fantasy with her debut novel The Star-Touched Queen and its sequel A Crown of Wishes) once again brings a brilliantly written fantasy/heist story with a cast of incredibly fascinating, lovable characters, an intense and captivating plot line, slow burn romance, and breath-taking world building.

Set in the era of Moulin Rouge in a fictional, glittering and magical Paris, the book, on the surface, is about a team of 5 talented thieves working on their most dangerous and rewarding acquisition. However, as you dive deeper into the story and learn about each characters’ motivations and aspirations, the story begins to explore racism, colonialism, identity and disparity through well developed, diverse characters of all backgrounds. What I loved the most is that the author touches on these topics just long enough to make you pause, and ponder on important questions without taking the focus away from the actual heist.

Continue reading “The Gilded Wolves: A Nuanced Heist Fantasy That Explores Colorism, Colonialism And Power Struggles”
Adult, Book Corner, Home, Young Adult

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery: Food For Thought

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery: Food For Thought

If there is any book that I can say have made a profound impact on my life, then it would be The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. Misunderstood to be a children’s book by a surprisingly large number of people, The Little Prince is actually a book for young adults, providing us with thoughtful guidance and insights as we learn to navigate through life and all the complications and messes it brings us.

Continue reading “The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery: Food For Thought”
Book Corner, Home, Reviews, Young Adult

Strange The Dreamer by Laini Taylor: A Whimsical, Impossibly Imaginative, Lushly Narrated Fantasy


It was impossible, of course.
But when did that ever stop any dreamer from dreaming?


The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around—and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian, has always feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was five years old he’s been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself, in the person of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his chance or lose his dream forever.

What happened in Weep two hundred years ago to cut it off from the rest of the world? What exactly did the Godslayer slay that went by the name of god? And what is the mysterious problem he now seeks help in solving?

The answers await in Weep, but so do more mysteries—including the blue-skinned goddess who appears in Lazlo’s dreams. How did he dream her before he knew she existed? And if all the gods are dead, why does she seem so real?

Welcome to Weep


Strange The Dreamer by Laini Taylor: A Whimsical, Impossibly Imaginative, Lushly Narrated Fantasy

Probably one of the most whimsical, magical, wonderful story I have ever read, Strange The Dreamer by Laini Taylor is the kind of young adult fantasy novel that challenges what constitutes as “impossible”. It is the kind of story where magic and science co-exist in such perfect harmony that the lines between reality and fantasy are duly blurred, and this vibrant, stunningly improbable world is full of people from all walks of life, each with heartbreaking and yet inspiring stories of their own.

Strange The Dreamer by Laini Taylor: A Whimsical, Impossibly Imaginative, Lushly Narrated Fantasy

The story begins with Lazlo Strange, an orphaned child who escapes the misery of his terrible, abusive childhood through daydreams of a fabled magical city that allegedly existed up until 300 years ago. He (and the reader) get their first taste of magic when one day, while Lazlo is still a child, everyone across the world forgets the name of this magical city–every time they try to speak it, they can only say Weep.

Things begin to get even stranger after that. But that’s not important at all. What’s important is that after a series of absurd, unfortunate incidents, Lazlo gets the chance to actually visit this mystical fabled city of Weep.

Continue reading “Strange The Dreamer by Laini Taylor: A Whimsical, Impossibly Imaginative, Lushly Narrated Fantasy”
Book Corner, Home, Young Adult

Review: Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor

Review: Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor

What power can bruise the sky?
Two worlds are poised on the brink of a vicious war. By way of a staggering deception, Karou has taken control of the chimaera’s rebellion and is intent on steering its course away from dead-end vengeance. The future rests on her.
When the brutal angel emperor brings his army to the human world, Karou and Akiva are finally reunited–not in love, but in tentative alliance against their common enemy. It is a twisted version of their long-ago dream, and they begin to hope that it might forge a way forward for their people. And, perhaps, for themselves.
But with even bigger threats on the horizon, are Karou and Akiva strong enough to stand among the gods and monsters?

Trigger Warning: This book contains graphic scenes of violence

Review: Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor

Dreams of Gods and Monsters is without a doubt, an excellent ending to an excellent series, but before I start fangirling reviewing this book, please note that this review might contain minor spoilers for those who have not yet read Daughter of Smoke and Bone and Days of Blood and Starlight. I highly recommend you read my review of those books first before you read this review.

Here’s what I enjoyed about this book:

World building (again): this time we get to explore the other side of Eretz, the home of the mysterious Stelians. The imagery is so vivid, and it truly shows how fantastical Taylor’s imagination is.

Continue reading “Review: Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor”
Book Corner, Home, Other Bookish Stuff, Top 10 Tuesday

Top 10 Tuesday: Backlist Books I Want To Read

It’s time for Top Ten Tuesday again! For those who don’t know, Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018.

TTT-NEW

This week’s prompt is “backlist books that I want to read”, and honestly, I have quite a long list of old books that were published ages ago but I never got around to reading…for…reasons…

Continue reading “Top 10 Tuesday: Backlist Books I Want To Read”

Book Corner, Discussion Posts, Home, Other Bookish Stuff

10 Things Non-Readers Do That Annoy Me

Ahh, non-readers. Those odd, clueless species who are so bewildered when they see a reader crying over fictional characters, gushing about worlds that do not exist and cancelling plans because we’d like to finish one more incredible chapter. We know that our habits perplex them…even annoy them. All we do is read, and read, and read. 

We understand their frustrations, of course, don’t we? In fact, we have our frustrations too, because non-readers do a lot of things too that annoys us and sometimes makes us want to smack their heads with those very heavy books we cherish. And here is a list of just 10 of those annoying things that non-readers do that seriously annoy me:

Continue reading “10 Things Non-Readers Do That Annoy Me”
Book Corner, Home, Young Adult

Review: Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor

12812550

yryuut.png

 


If you haven’t read the first book please do not read further as there are spoilers in this review.Feel free to read my review of Daughter of Smoke and Bone here if you are interested in starting this series!

Trigger Warning: Graphic scenes of violence and sexual assault

Continue reading “Review: Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor”

Book Corner, Dystopia, Home, Thriller, Young Adult

Review: Champion by Marie Lu

He is a Legend. She is a Prodigy.

Who will be Champion?

June and Day have sacrificed so much for the people of the Republic—and each other—and now their country is on the brink of a new existence. June is back in the good graces of the Republic, working within the government’s elite circles as Princeps-Elect, while Day has been assigned a high-level military position.

But neither could have predicted the circumstances that will reunite them: just when a peace treaty is imminent, a plague outbreak causes panic in the Colonies, and war threatens the Republic’s border cities. This new strain of plague is deadlier than ever, and June is the only one who knows the key to her country’s defense. But saving the lives of thousands will mean asking the one she loves to give up everything.

5 out of 5

The third and final book of the Legend trilogy by Marie Lu surpassed all of my expectations—and let me tell you, my expectations were pretty high. I know I have said this before in my review of Prodigy, but Marie Lu’s writing improves dramatically after the first book in this series, and Champion was no exception. Here is a quick rundown of all the things that I loved about the book (and none of the things I didn’t like because guess what…I loved EVERYTHING!)

Continue reading “Review: Champion by Marie Lu”