Book Review: Ruse (Want #2)

Title: Ruse (Want #2)
Arthur: Cindy Pon
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Genre: SciFi, dystopian, YA
Page Count: 336
Publication date: March 26th, 2019

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
In near-future Shanghai, a group of teens have their world turned upside down when one of their own is kidnapped in this action-packed follow-up to the “positively chilling” sci-fi thriller Want.

Jason Zhou, his friends, and Daiyu are still recovering from the aftermath of bombing Jin Corp headquarters. But Jin, the ruthless billionaire and Daiyu’s father, is out for blood. When Lingyi goes to Shanghai to help Jany Tsai, a childhood acquaintance in trouble, she doesn’t expect Jin to be involved. And when Jin has Jany murdered and steals the tech she had refused to sell him, Lingyi is the only one who has access to the encrypted info, putting her own life in jeopardy.

Zhou doesn’t hesitate to fly to China to help Iris find Lingyi, even though he’s been estranged from his friends for months. But when Iris tells him he can’t tell Daiyu or trust her, he balks. The reunited group play a treacherous cat and mouse game in the labyrinthine streets of Shanghai, determined on taking back what Jin had stolen.

When Daiyu appears in Shanghai, Zhou is uncertain if it’s to confront him or in support of her father. Jin has proudly announced Daiyu will be by his side for the opening ceremony of Jin Tower, his first “vertical city.” And as hard as Zhou and his friends fight, Jin always gains the upper hand. Is this a game they can survive, much less win?

Review:
Disclaimer: I received this book for an honest review through NetGalley from the publisher.

I've been awaiting this book since I finished Want just after it first came out. Want was my first book by Cindy Pon and made me buy two more - which I haven't read yet, but #booklife problems - and it was amazing. It blew me away. It was young adult dystopian, which I thought I was just over - the market had been saturated and I wanted nothing more to do with it.

The market was saturated, that's not a lie, but it was saturated with white, US based dystopian fiction. All of it taking place in the US - honestly I don't remember very many taking place outside the states, even - and so this felt amazing.

It was a very feminist, intersectional book, with a cast of people of color and also casual queer characters - meaning their being queer didn't really matter, it was just who they were as they were while trying to save the world.

The plot of this surprised me and I was scared it was going to go in a direction that'd make me angry but it didn't go that route. To be honest, I'd almost call this wholesome dystopian, but really it's just good, old (but new) YA dystopian where the heroes, of course, win.

Not without losses and, if you haven't read the first book I won't spoil it here but their plans are ambitious and intense. And they complete them.

The one thing in this book, following up Want that I really enjoyed was seeing a different city in this world. Not far from their city of Taipei, they end up in China - Shanghai to be exact - to help out a friend and to, once again, screw over Jin Corp.

To wrap this up, so I don't just continue to spew love - I really enjoyed this duology, and this book was even better then the first. Fast paced, fun, good characters that you wanted to root for, and also an important look at what our very near future may look like because of climate change.

That's one of the main reasons this book is so important to me because it's terrifying how close we are to this future - this dystopian future - but also maybe people reading this book will get a kick in the pants about the world around them.

Highly, highly recommend this duology, this book especially, and I'd love to chat about it in the comments if you guys have read it or plan to.

Happy Reading!

Poetry Review: The Mermaid's Voice Returns In This One

Title: The Mermaid's Voice Returns In This One (Women Are Some Kind of Magic #3)
Arthur: Amanda Lovelace
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Genre: poetry
Page Count: 210
Publication date: March 5th, 2019

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
Goodreads Choice Award-winning poet and USA TODAY bestselling author Amanda Lovelace presents the mermaid’s voice returns in this one — the third and final installment in her “women are some kind of magic” series, featuring a foreword from Lang Leav and 13 guest poems from leading voices in poetry such as Nikita Gill, KY Robinson, and Orion Carloto.

The mermaid is known for her siren song, luring bedroom-eyed sailors to their demise. However, beneath these misguided myths are tales of escapism and healing, which Lovelace weaves throughout this empowering collection of poetry, taking you on a journey from the sea to the stars. They tried to silence her once and for all, but the mermaid’s voice returns in this one.

Review:

Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher from an honest review through NetGalley.

Trigger warnings (taken from the beginning of the book): child abuse, gun violence, intimate partner abuse, sexual assault, eating disorders, self-harm, suicide, alcohol, trauma, death, violence, fire, and possibly more.

As you can see I've rated this 3.5/5 stars. I've read all three of Amanda's poetry collections and, first off: I cannot get over how hard it had to of been to put these out, considering what they contain. I cannot say enough how much respect I have for that, and I felt weird giving this (and her others) a rating less then 5 stars for that.

However, I just didn't super connect to the text, her poetry style in general. Even the poems that I could personally relate to, I didn't feel it super hard? I'm not quite sure what didn't click with me, but all three volumes of poetry were a little just alright for me. Though, I did like the feminist undertones to everything, because we can't have enough of that.

Saying that, though, I did read all three volumes, and I requested this one on NetGalley, so there was something that was pushing me to keep reading.

I'd definitely recommend these, though if you don't think you can without triggering yourself, then please do not. If you can, though, I did enjoy this book, which also feels weird to say considering the content.

Anyway - I would definitely recommend you give them a try, I think the real reason I didn't click with this collection as much was because I enjoy my poetry to be slightly more... flowery I guess? Reviewing poetry is hard.  However, 3.5 isn't a bad rating, either, I enjoyed the collection and such.

If you you've read any of Amanda Lovelace's collections, let me know, and if you end up picking up this collection, or any others.

January 2019 | Monthly Wrap Up

Here we go, back to my roots. I really love monthly or whatever wrap ups, depending on how much I've been reading. I was going to do January and February together but I read just so many things in January that I don't want to make that big of a post, January by itself is already a lot, and one I even considered splitting up. I'm still not fully sure what came over me in January but I read 40+ books.

I mean, over half was manga, but 12 of those were omnibus' and also there were a lot of novels/novellas in there as well. I don't know how this happened at all.

Novels, novellas, ect:
An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole (5/5)
Girl-King by Brittany Cavallaro (3/5)
Band Sinister by KJ Charles (4/5)
The Red Threads of Fortune by JY Yang (5/5)

Strangers in Town by Cedar Sigo (4/5)

From Scratch (Sea Port #1) by Katrina Jackson (5/5) 

Whiskey Words & A Shovel III by R.H. Sin (3/5)

Dog Songs + A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver (5/5)

Wish You Were Here by Rita Mae Brown (3/5)

We Should All Be Feminist by Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie (4/5)
Toil and Trouble edited by Tess Sharpe + Jessica Spotswood (4/5)

The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory (5/5)

My Favorite Half-Night Stand by Christina Lauren (3/5)

Viral by Lily Myers, Neil Hilborn, Javon Johnson, Rachel Rostad, Pages Matam, Dylan Garity, Guante, Michael Mlekoday (4/5)

Manga:
Fruits Basket, Collectors Editions: Volumes 1 - 12 by Natsuki Takaya (series rating: 5/5)
Ouran High School Host Club, Volume 1-18 by Bisco Hatori (series rating: 4.5/5)
Kamisama Kiss, Volume 1 by Julliette Suzuki (4/5)

Graphic novels/Comics:
The Magic of Christmas by Andrea Edwards, Motoyo Fujiwara (3/5)
Miles Morales #1 by Saladin Ahmed, Javier Garron (5/5)

And, as always, talking about what I read. First off - An Extraordinary Union was incredible and I highly recommend to everyone. I was worried it was going to be too hard to get through, considering the time it's set in, and it isn't exactly an easy read.

Band Sinister took me forever, for some reason, but I thought it was a ton of fun. There's a subplot about a like mystery/horror novel and I was living for it. The Red Threads of Fortune was so good, I'm loving this series so fucking much. It's so different and so rich, which is incredible since they're so short, and the magic system is just so interesting and so much fun.

I'm going to be shouting about From Scratch from the rooftops - it was a poly m/m/f romance and I fucking loved it. The MC was a fat black girl who baked and I loved her, like i was sad when the book was over and we wouldn't get more of her and her boys, and also her friends. The guys I also really enjoyed, longtime friends (hello both meet cute + friends to lovers in one book, triad romances are the shit). Anyway - this was fucking adorable and so good.

I also highly recommend The Wedding Date, I loved it so much - I've been, and still kind of in a romance mood. And also I enjoyed all the stories in Toil and Trouble, and obviously enjoyed both Fruits Baskey and Ouran.

I, honestly, couldn't tell you how many times I've read through Fruits Basket and I'm so excited for the new adaptation that's coming out, that'll follow the whole story. Also the new Miles comics is so good so far - I've only read one issue and I'm already attached?

Anyway - like I said, it was a crazy month for reading, I read so much. I hope you all had a good, or at least not bad, January. Let me know if you've also read any of these books or are planning to.

2019 | Same blog, same me

Hello, friends! I don't know if any of you will realize you're still following my blog until this popped up wherever. And if you decide to leave now that you've been reminded of that, I won't judge you, that's fair. I am planning to get back into blogging again, though.

I'm not sure how it's going to work or what exactly my plan is but, of course, it'll be like 90% book focused, as usual. I'll probably end up with random posts about TV, movies, or games, because I do more then read, which is shocking.

I've really been getting back into reading like I was in 2014, and one of the things that kept me reading that much was blogging regularly. I really enjoy blogging, and also vlogging (maybe more news on that soon), but I have a lot of problem organizing my time. And also sitting down to actually write a post, or film/edit.

I think about things constantly - planning posts before I fall asleep or just during things I don't need my whole brain more - but it's harder, for some reason, for me to sit down and write out my thoughts. Part of it, I know, is that I don't know why people would care about my words.

Of course, I mostly blog for myself, and I need to remind myself about this. I love doing a bunch of posts about whatever, reviews about books I want to push, and also just general wrap ups because I don't always have enough to say to do a full review.

Now - to get back to blogging.

Graphic Novel Review: Philip K. Dick: A Comic Biography

Title: Philip K Dick  (A Comic Biography)
Arthur + Illustrator: Laurent Queyssi, Mauro Marchesi
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Genre: nonfiction, biography
Page Count: 144
Publication date: January 1st, 2019


Synopsis (from goodreads):
One of the greatest writers in science fiction history, Philip K. Dick is mostly remembered for such works as Blade Runner, Minority Report, and Total Recall. His dark, fascinating work centered on alternate universes and shifting realities in worlds often governed by monopolistic corporations and authoritarian governments. His own life story seems a tussle with reality, cycling through five marriages and becoming increasingly disjointed with fits of paranoia and hallucinations fueled by abuse of drugs meant to stabilize him. His dramatic story is presented unvarnished in this biography.

Review:
Disclaimer: I received this this in exchange for an honest review from the publisher through NetGalley

This was a wild ride. I didn't know much about Philip K Dick as a person going into this and so this was fascinating. I've read only one novel by him - Ubik, which I loved - and this made me want to dive back into his work all over again.

I love the art style and the attention to detail I felt like was present. I've never taken perception altering drugs, and I'm not just saying that, but I feel like some of these spreads made me feel like I assume that feels like.

Overall I'd definitely recommend this to people who are even a little curious, but he was a very interesting man. Not a very nice or maybe even good man, but he was trying. And it was a wild ride.

There's also inclusion of snippets of some of his own letters, which was really cool to see his words in his own experience since I've never read any of those. And, to be honest, am not super interested in reading through his letters without the context I feel like was given here.

To wrap it up - I'd recommend this book, for SciFi lovers or others, especially for writers it was interesting to me.

Goodreads

January 2019 | #24in48 Readathon (26th - 27th)

This is going to serve as my announcement and, probably wrap up, post for this readathon. Ideally I'd like to update every few hours, but I have a feeling I'll be doing that on Twitter and Instagram since that'll be easier for me?

If you're confused - the 24in48 readathon is a weekend long readathon in which you try to read for 24 hours total during the 48 hours of the readathon. I've never made it but, either way, I always love taking part. And this round, like all others, I'm still going to try to get to 24. I'm going to be probably relying on audiobooks for part of the time, along with manga.

I don't think I'll hit 24, because I'll also begin to prepare for a trip I'm taking soon, but either way I love this readathon a lot. It's one of my top ones, and I always love participating!

Links for the readathon
Sign up post
Their Twitter + Instagram

The Stack:

to be figured out


My social media: Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads

Bout of Books 24 | Goals, Stack, Update Post

Another January, another bout of books. I'm going to be trying to implement a few of the goals I'm aiming to complete in 2019 - get back into graphic novels/comics, romanceopoly, and also just making reading more of a priority. I'm going to be trying to read every day in 2019 and it'll be great.

The Goals

• Read! Read! Read! But also have fun
• Finish some of the books I've been currently reading for forever
• Finish at least one comic/graphic novel
• Visit blogs and cheer on readings on twitter/instagram

The Stack

• The Red Threads of Fortune by J.Y. Yang
• Toil & Trouble edited by Tess Sharpe (friday update: almost finished! less then 100 pages left)
• A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole
• The Red Threads of Fortune by JY Yang
• From Scratch by Katrina Jackson

Updates

Monday
Number of books I've read today: 0
Pages read: 11
Time Spent Reading: 13 minutes
Books:
The Sisters of the Winter Wood by Rena Rossner (continues - 11 pages)

Notes:
Uhhh... so one of my friends may have been like "you wanna try Talisman digitally?" and it's not like I could say no. I still haven't missed a day in 2019, though, of reading something. Hopefully Tuesday will go better, but also I'm being visited by a puppy.


Tuesday
Number of books I've read today: 1
Total # of books I've read: 1
Pages read: 100
Total # of pages:  111
Time Spent Reading: 38 minutes
Total Time Spent Reading: 51 minutes
Books:
The Red Threads of Fortune by JY Yang (finished - 100 pages)

Notes:
Once again, not much reading done, but I really loved Red Threads, and just been loving this series so much. It's so good, I highly recommend.


Wednesday to Sunday
Number of books I've read in these days: 9
Total # of books I've read:10
Pages read: 2,752
Total # of pages: 2,863
Total Time Spent Reading: 9 hours, 36 minutes


Notes:

I'm not listing all the books because I'm tired but I've got to tell you - starting to reread Fruits Basket is possibly one of the best things I've ever done. I reread this series whenever I feel like it, which tends to be every 2/3 years, and it's still always so good.

And then also From Scratch by Katrina Jackson was amazing, seriously I loved it so much, and then finally finished The Red Threads of Fortune by J.Y. Yang, it was also amazing.

Now tell me about your reading from the week - if you were taking part in this readathon or not.