Book Reviews - The Keysmash Blog

Book Corner, Bookish News & Releases, Dystopia, Home, Other Bookish Stuff, sci-fi, Thriller, Young Adult

Blog Tour: Becoming Brooklyn [International Giveaway + Review]

July 14, 2021 tanazmasaba

Becoming Brooklyn by Amanda Deich follows the story of a superhero teenage girl, who in her quest for wanting to know more about her heroic father, agrees to join an elite military that will do anything to fight terrorism at home and abroad. What follows is just the beginning of Brooklyn’s heroic journey as the terrorists find out about her super powers and decides to bring the war to her.

Thank you Xpresso Book Tours for having me as a tour host for this book. My review of this post is at the end of this post, where you can win a chance to enter an international giveaway too!

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Book Corner, Home, Other Bookish Stuff, Young Adult

Review: Hana Khan Carries On By Uzma Jalaluddin [Exclusive International Giveaway]

June 12, 2021 tanazmasaba

As a South Asian Muslim woman myself, I was beyond excited to get my hands on Hana Khan Carries On by Uzma Jalaluddin, a delightful love story featuring a bold, brilliant and ambitious young Muslim protagonist, two competing rival halal restaurants, and a diverse cast of colored characters. I have to admit, this is definitely going to be one of the best book of 2021. Hana Khan Carries On takes all the things you love in a romantic-comedy and gives it a refreshing new twist.

Thank you so much Colored Pages Tour for having me as a tour host for this amazing book, and to Atlantic Books for sending me a review copy. Read on below for my full review (or get the TL;DR version here) & participate in an exclusive giveaway to win ONE FINISHED COPY OF Hana Khan Carries On by Uzma Jalaluddin.

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Book Corner, Home, Reviews, Young Adult

Review: Unravel The Dusk by Elizabeth Lim (The Blood Of Stars #2)

May 22, 2021July 30, 2022 tanazmasaba

Important Note: This is a review for the second book in the The Blood Of Stars duology by Elizabeth Lim, and therefore may contain spoilers from the first book, Spin The Dawn. If you have not read Spin The Dawn yet, check out my review of it here.

Spin The Dawn by Elizabeth Lim blew me away; it was a phenomenal and captivating young adult fantasy novel that I absolutely adored and could not put down even for a minute. And after the epic cliffhanger ending of the first book, I had high expectations for the sequel, Unravel The Dusk.

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Home, Book Corner, Reviews, Young Adult

Review: Spin The Dawn By Elizabeth Lim (Blood Of Stars #1)

May 13, 2021July 30, 2022 tanazmasaba

Having read some of my friend’s raving reviews about Spin The Dawn by Elizabeth Lim, I knew before going in that I would love this book. What I didn’t expect was to fall head over heels for this story, and finish all 400 pages in one night.

But that’s the magic of Spin The Dawn for you. Enchantingly beautiful and indulgent, Spin The Dawn is essentially a Young Adult fairy tale that will sweep you off your feet.

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Adult, Book Corner, Home, Mental Health, Reviews

Book Review: The Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo By Taylor Jenkins Reid

April 23, 2021 tanazmasaba

This is my third time re-reading The Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, and once again I find myself completely awestruck by this beautiful gem of a story.

The Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo tells the mesmerizing, gripping and heart wrenching story of a global super star named Evelyn Hugo, as she fights tooth and nail to pull herself out of poverty and become one of the highest paid actresses of Hollywood. The real mystery though, is her seven marriages, and her insistence in doing an interview with an obscure journalist.

Shocking, scandalous and riveting, The Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo is a gripping novel that explores themes of feminine sexuality from the glittering lens of Old Hollywood. Each time I finished this book, I was left a sobbing, weeping mess.

Read on below for my full review, or see the quick version here.

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Adult, Book Corner, Home, Reviews

Review: The Rape Trial Of Medusa By Michael Kasenow

April 9, 2021 tanazmasaba

The Rape Trial Of Medusa Book Review Banner

I am going to keep this review short, or else this review will end up becoming a 1500+ words rant about how male authors need to practice nuance and sensitivity when writing books about women and issues regarding women. At the very least, they should hire female sensitivity readers who can point out some of the problems I will mention here and how to write them better.

The Rape Trial Of Medusa tells us the story of a very well-known Greek mythology, but with a twist. Set in modern times, we witness the trial of Medusa who was raped and blamed for her beauty, and unfairly punished by Athena.

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Book Corner, Home, Reviews, Young Adult

Review: The Rise Of Kyoshi By F. C. Yee & Michael DiMartino

April 2, 2021 tanazmasaba

As someone who very recently watched Avatar: The Last Airbender and Legend Of Korra, I was completely mesmerized by the lore and the detailed, diverse universe of this series. Binging both animated series multiple times wasn’t enough; I wanted to stay in the Avatar universe a bit longer and learn more about all the other Avatars and their stories of hardships too.

The Rise of Kyoshi was exactly what I needed. A phenomenal young adult fantasy novel, this book by F. C. Yee chronicles the life of the fiercest Avatar in history, and my god, what an incredible legend it is.

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Book Corner, Home, Mystery & Thriller, Reviews, Thriller, Young Adult

Flyaway by Kathleen Jennings: A lusciously dark, mysterious fantasy

March 19, 2021 tanazmasaba

This is without a doubt one of the best standalone fantasy novels I’ve read in 2020. Flyaway by Kathleen Jennings is a lusciously dark and mysterious story that follows Bettany Scott as she tries to find answers to the disappearances of her father and brothers.

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Book Corner, Discussion Posts, Home, Other Bookish Stuff

All The Modern, Feminist Ideas You May Have Overlooked In Little Women

April 20, 2020 tanazmasaba

This is a classic that has received equal parts praise and criticism. It has been lauded as a feminist novel and then also condemned for not being a feminist novel. In this discussion post, I’ll explain why I believe this is a feminist story and try to highlight all the subtleties that are rarely talked about whenever this novel is discussed.

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Home, Young Adult

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

April 15, 2020 tanazmasaba

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)

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