noun [kee-smash] a random string of letters and symbols typed out on a keyboard or touchscreen, used to signal intense emotion in written communication:
Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.
In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.
And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.
Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages—not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.
When one of the strangers—beautiful, haunted Akiva—fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?
Ratings:
As someone who makes a point of avoiding the romance genre and has a particular distaste for any story that even remotely has the true-love-conquers–all trope, Laini Taylor’sDaughter of Smoke and Bone caught me by surprise. This is a fantasy novel where the whole premise is based on the fates of star-crossed lovers–and yet, this story has so much more to offer: this is a story that explores colonization, racism and the pointlessness of war in a way that very few Young Adult (and even Adult) books have been able to do.
When a beautiful, aspiring writer strides into the East Village bookstore where Joe Goldberg works, he does what anyone would do: he Googles the name on her credit card.
There is only one Guinevere Beck in New York City. She has a public Facebook account and Tweets incessantly, telling Joe everything he needs to know: she is simply Beck to her friends, she went to Brown University, she lives on Bank Street, and she’ll be at a bar in Brooklyn tonight—the perfect place for a “chance” meeting.
As Joe invisibly and obsessively takes control of Beck’s life, he orchestrates a series of events to ensure Beck finds herself in his waiting arms. Moving from stalker to boyfriend, Joe transforms himself into Beck’s perfect man, all while quietly removing the obstacles that stand in their way—even if it means murder
Trigger warnings: extremely sexual content, violence and stalking
I gotta hand it to Caroline Kepnes–for a debut novel, You is very, very, well-written, especially when considering the subject matter. The narration is the best part about this book–despite the unbelievably and disturbingly sexual language that Joe uses, despite the way he blames everybody but himself for his actions and his choices, despite the cold and calculating way he makes his plans without any thought to who he is harming, there were many instances throughout the story when I forgot that he was the bad guy. I am not gonna say that I ever rooted for him or supported his thoughts, but there were times when I found myself reading the book and thinking of him as just another regular male protagonist who is madly in love with a woman who does not love him back. That is not the story here though, and Joe’s obsession with Beck was something that will probably haunt me for a long time. I also loved the unreliability of Joe’s narration. Because of the way he perceives others and the world itself, and because we are reading the story from his perspective, I often had to figure out myself what the reality really was because Joe’s reality is extremely deluded.
However, despite the strong narration, the plot was flimsy at best. Everything was too easy for Joe–from stalking Beck to being able to interfere in her life the way he did–he was able to do all of it because of the carelessness of both Beck and the other supportive characters. I truly do not mean to blame the victim, but there are certain things you know not to do no matter how screwed up you are or how safe you feel in your neighborhood, especially when you are a twenty-something adult living all by yourself. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I realize that it wasn’t really that much of a challenge for Joe to do the things that he does in this novel, because all the characters are so incredibly stupid and reckless about their own personal safety.
In fact, this book has a plot simply because the characters lack common sense and intelligence. If the characters here did not make the mistakes that they did, the plot really would not have progressed very far.
Speaking of the plot, although Joe’s narration made it really easy for me to fly through the book, halfway in to the story I became extremely bored because of how repetitive and predictable everything was. I feel like this book should have been shorter, and several chapters here should have been simply cut, because they just were not necessary. The predictability and repetitiveness of the story made it difficult for me to finish this book, because after the 50% mark, every time I picked up the book I put it down again thinking “meh I know what’s gonna happen.” And I did. There really was no element of surprise after the 50% mark.
All in all, this was a good read, but not good enough that I would recommend it to anyone.
Have you ever read a book that gave you nightmares? Or haunted you for a long time? Which one was it and what made you want to read it?
Kelsea Glynn is the sole heir to the throne of Tearling but has been raised in secret by foster parents after her mother – Queen Elyssa, as vain as she was stupid – was murdered for ruining her kingdom. For 18 years, the Tearling has been ruled by Kelsea’s uncle in the role of Regent however he is but the debauched puppet of the Red Queen, the sorceress-tyrant of neighbouring realm of Mortmesme. On Kelsea’s 19th birthday, the tattered remnants of her mother’s guard – each pledged to defend the queen to the death – arrive to bring this most un-regal young woman out of hiding…
And so begins her journey back to her kingdom’s heart, to claim the throne, earn the loyalty of her people, overturn her mother’s legacy and redeem the Tearling from the forces of corruption and dark magic that are threatening to destroy it. But Kelsea’s story is not just about her learning the true nature of her inheritance – it’s about a heroine who must learn to acknowledge and live with the realities of coming of age in all its insecurities and attractions, alongside the ethical dilemmas of ruling justly and fairly while simply trying to stay alive..
I’ll be honest, I had very low expectations for this book, partly because of the abundance of negative reviews this book has on Goodreads and partly because of Emma Watson’s apparent obsession with this book. Now that I have finally read it myself, I am pleasantly surprised: Queen of the Tearlingis an intriguing, entertaining, well-written piece of fantasy and a classic example of why we should all read a book ourselves in order to form our own opinion instead of listening to what the mass people are saying. The characters were very interesting and well developed–Kelsea is by far one of my favorite female characters; she has her flaws like any nineteen-year-old but what sets her apart Continue reading “Review: Queen of the Tearling”→
I thought it was over. That my time with the fey, the impossible choices I had to make, the sacrifices of those I loved, was behind me. But a storm is approaching, an army of Iron fey that will drag me back, kicking and screaming. Drag me away from the banished prince who’s sworn to stand by my side. Drag me into the core of conflict so powerful, I’m not sure anyone can survive it.
This time, there will be no turning back.
I am trying my best to write a coherent review for this book, one that will do this book justice, but sometimes when you read a really good book it is almost impossible to express into words the feelings that the book leaves you with. The Iron Queen is one such book.
Our MC, Meghan Chase, who is forever going to be one of my favorite female leads in literature comes a long way from being the quiet, shy sixteen-year-old she was in the first book. Though she does not lose her humor or her endearing moments of Continue reading “Review: The Iron Queen (The Iron Fey#3) by Julie Kagawa”→
Note: This is the second book of The Iron Fey series and the review may therefore contain spoilers. For the review of the first book in the series, clickhere
Half Summer faery princess, half human, Meghan has never fit in anywhere. Deserted by the Winter prince she thought loved her, she is prisoner to the Winter faery queen. As war looms between Summer and Winter, Meghan knows that the real danger comes from the Iron fey—ironbound faeries that only she and her absent prince have seen. But no one believes her.
Worse, Meghan’s own fey powers have been cut off. She’s stuck in Faery with only her wits for help. Trusting anyone would be foolish. Trusting a seeming traitor could be deadly. But even as she grows a backbone of iron, Meghan can’t help but hear the whispers of longing in her all-too-human heart.
Ratings: ☕☕☕☕☕ (5/5)
The second book of The Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa starts off a bit weakly when compared to the first book, and as much as I hate to say it, Meghan starts out as one of those irritating, madly in love girls who desperately needs to grow a backbone and get over their obsession with the love of their lives. You know, the kind of girls you wish you could smack real hard in the head in order to knock some sense into them? It was a shame really because in The Iron King she was a rather strong character–despite the countless times she screamed and cried, she was still quick on her feet, admiringly brave, and absolutely determined to rescue her brother no matter what the cost. Continue reading “Review: The Iron Daughter (The Iron Fey#2) By Julie Kagawa”→
Trigger warning: abusive relationship, domestic violence, sexual assault
SOMETIMES THE ONE WHO LOVES YOU IS THE ONE WHO HURTS YOU THE MOST
Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up – she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life suddenly seems almost too good to be true.
Ryle is assertive, stubborn, and maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily, but Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing.
As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan – her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened.
“Shouldn’t there be more distaste in our mouths for the abusers than for those who continue to love the abusers?”
It Ends With Us isn’t a book that changed me, nor is it a book that taught me things that I didn’t already know. But it is a special book, nonetheless, not just because it is incredibly well-written, has complex characters who are painfully imperfect, and a plot that is–to quote Hoover herself–brave and bold. This book is special, because this book is important.
Abusive relationships is a subject that needs to be discussed more often, especially considering that even now, though we do hate and condemn abusers, almost all of us have asked this question at least once: “Why didn’t she leave him the first time he hit her? Why did she give him a second chance? Why didn’t she walk away?”
Let me be clear: I never intended to raise my brother from his grave, though he may claim otherwise. If there’s anything I’ve learned from him in the years since, it’s that the dead hide truths as well as the living.
When Tea accidentally resurrects her brother from the dead, she learns she is different from the other witches in her family. Her gift for necromancy means that she’s a bone witch, a title that makes her feared and ostracized by her community. But Tea finds solace and guidance with an older, wiser bone witch, who takes Tea and her brother to another land for training.
In her new home, Tea puts all her energy into becoming an asha-one who can wield elemental magic. But dark forces are approaching quickly, and in the face of danger, Tea will have to overcome her obstacles…and make a powerful choice
I have so much to say about this book.
The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco is the kind of book I describe with words like “enchanting” and “intriguing” instead of my most commonly used adjectives in my book reviews like “exciting” or “amazing”. There really is no better description for this book. This is not the kind of fantasy that will steal your heart away with a fast-paced, action-packed plot, badass heroines and swoon-worthy heroes. Continue reading “Review: The Bone Witch (The Bone Witch 1) by Rin Chupeco”→
Meghan Chase has a secret destiny; one she could never have imagined.
Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan’s life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school or at home.
When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she’s known is about to change.
But she could never have guessed the truth – that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she’ll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil, no faery creature dare face; and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart
Oh where do I begin?
The last time I read The Iron King was back when I was thirteen and the only other YA book I had read before was the Twilight Saga (before then I mostly would read Bengali titles and Classics). Obviously, since thirteen is quite an impressionable age, lately I couldn’t help but wonder if this book is actually as good as I thought it was. Hence the reason why I decided to re-read this book after nearly eight years of first reading.
And boy oh boy did I love it!
The Iron King is a wonderful fantasy novel that has an excellent world building, and incredible plot, and characters who not only develop and change in major ways
This review contains spoilers from the first book. Please do not read any further unless you have read City of Bones. You can find my review of City of Boneshere.
The second book of The Mortal Instruments series was a conflicting book for me–on one hand, I enjoyed it immensely, and thought it was much more well written than the first book. On the other hand, there was a certain problematic element in the book that I believed was never acknowledged: the incestuous relationship between Clary and Jace. Continue reading “Review: City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments#2) by Cassandra Clare”→
I have read many amazing YA fantasy books, but it’s not often that I read a YA fantasy that leaves me breathless with excitement and anticipation with every page, and keeps me up all night even when I have a midterm early morning the next day.
With a simple, yet captivating narration style, immensely likable protagonists, well-developed characters, and a uniquely diverse plot that explores Islamic/Pakistani cultures and myths, An Ember In The Ashes by Sabaa Tahir is a book that I recommend to everyone to read, especially to those who are looking for a bit of diversity in their reading.
Ratings: ☕☕☕☕☕
