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:
Ever since watching J.J Abram’s incredibly underrated show, Fringe, I became obsessed with the concept of parallel universes and butterfly effects and the works. And why shouldn’t I be? Imagine the world that you live in, and then imagine another world that is incredibly similar to the one you live in but with few distinct differences, and that in this world there is a version of you too–a person who could pass off as your twin, but a person who is you, but not quite you. Maybe, in this other world, you are the President’s daughter. Continue reading “Top Ten Books With Parallel Universes”→
Growing up, most of us have heard our fair share of fairy tales about knights in shining armor, princesses locked up in towers and wise caterpillars who smoked pipes and gave words of advice to young girls lost in Wonderland. Somehow, these fairy tales have played a huge role in shaping our childhood and fueling our imagination and creativity. In case of avid readers such as myself, these fairytales had turned me into a bookworm and inspired me to maybe write my own story about magic and myth someday.
Despite having a Goodreads account for years, it wasn’t until I began blogging that I started becoming active on this wonderful, wonderful site for bookworms, which ultimately led me to discover the magic of reading challenges. Continue reading “Reading Challenges”→
The Reds are commoners, ruled by a Silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change. That is, until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace. Here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, Mare discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power.
If you found Red Queen heartbreaking, then be prepared with a stressball and a tissue box (maybe even two) before you pick up Glass Sword, the second installment in Victoria Aveyard‘s stunning YA series. The sequel was just as exciting and thrilling as the first book in the series, but what really took my breath away was the plot and character Continue reading “Book Trailer: Red Queen + Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard”→
This review will be rather short and lacking my usual mess of gif due to my neck injury (in case you don’t know, I had a car accident 3 weeks ago and I’m still in recovery. Nothing too serious, just ligament damage at the back of my neck).
Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi is the second book of the amazing Shatter Me series and takes place about two weeks after the events of the first book. If you want, you can read my review of Shatter Me here.
I won’t lie, while Unravel Me was just as beautifully written as its prequel–Tahereh Mafi continues to amaze me with her brilliant, poetic,
An incredibly brave, kick-ass heroine torn between doing right by her family and pursuing her own dreams? Check.
Struggle for feminism and freedom? Check
A filthy rich, high society family with dirty secrets and skeletons in their closets? Check.
A fast-paced, cardiac arrest inducing mystery? Check.
Swoon worthy, bittersweet romance? Check.
If you like all of the above, then you are bound to fall in love with Jennifer Donnelly’s These Shallow Graves–an epic, thrilling, page-turner story about an elite young woman who gives up all the glamour of her high profile life in the pursuit of truth and justice.
I did. I really did. In fact, this book was so wonderful that I’m having an extremely hard time writing this review. How am I ever going to sum up the perfection this novel is in a 1000+ word review?
Hello everyone! After a lot of internal debating I have finally managed to do some organizing and came up with a posting schedule (which you can see at the bottom of my blog) to help me decide what to post and when. I have decided to finally start an original weekly feature
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!
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.
