Book Blog #409: The Burning God by R.F. Kuang

 

Title: The Burning God

Author: R.F. Kuang

# of Pages: 619 (ebook)

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Historical Fiction

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Synopsis: After saving her nation of Nikan from foreign invaders and battling the evil Empress Su Daji in a brutal civil war, Fang Runin was betrayed by allies and left for dead. Despite her losses, Rin hasn’t given up on those for whom she has sacrificed so much—the people of the southern provinces and especially Tikany, the village that is her home. Returning to her roots, Rin meets difficult challenges—and unexpected opportunities. While her new allies in the Southern Coalition leadership are sly and untrustworthy, Rin quickly realizes that the real power in Nikan lies with the millions of common people who thirst for vengeance and revere her as a goddess of salvation. Backed by the masses and her Southern Army, Rin will use every weapon to defeat the Dragon Republic, the colonizing Hesperians, and all who threaten the shamanic arts and their practitioners. As her power and influence grows, though, will she be strong enough to resist the Phoenix’s intoxicating voice urging her to burn the world and everything in it?

Review: This one is about as good as the previous book; high two stars to low three stars.

I was definitely more hooked at the end of The Dragon Republic compared to the ending of this book. However, I was more consistently engaged with The Burning God's story.

It's obvious Kuang has gotten better at story building throughout this series. She started narrowing the focus on the main trio in The Dragon Republic: Rin, Nezha, and Kitay. She continues this focus in The Burning God which makes it a lot easier to be invested in these characters. 

There's still plenty of flaw though. Some historical events dragged the plot (e.g. long army marches in dire conditions with no obvious contribution to driving the story forward), and some fantasy aspects weren't fully fleshed out (e.g. how do hamanistic power and Hesperian technological innovation measure up to each other, and how do you explain when someone overpowered is defeated by the other?). Characters are introduced only to live long enough to be a plot device and are killed off just as the readers is about ready to be invested in them.

Rin developed a bit more into be more power hungry and bloodthirsty....but also continues to be frustratingly immature and horny. She's not someone who I can love to hate nor is she some who I can respect for being logical or having a strong set of morals (she has always been wishy washy with what she cares about and believes in).

This is actually one of the few books/series that I've read where I've considered that it might have been better told from alternating perspectives: from Kitay's or Nezha's POV. I'm not sure where that would place Rin though since then she'd just be an extremely annoying character who rises to power from a lot of luck. 

Overall this series isn't worth the effort it takes to get through this triology (since these three books are also each on the longer side). The second and third books were definitely better than the first, but none of them were page turners. It felt like this was a series that needed to be reworked with a storyboard for all three books and more focus on fully developing the fantasy elements and important characters. 

Book Blog #407: The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang

 

Title: The Dragon Republic

Author: R.F. Kuang

# of Pages: 654 (ebook)

Genre: YA, Historical Fiction

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Synopsis: In the aftermath of the Third Poppy War, shaman and warrior Rin is on the run: haunted by the atrocity she committed to end the war, addicted to opium, and hiding from the murderous commands of her vengeful god, the fiery Phoenix. Her only reason for living is to get revenge on the traitorous Empress who sold out Nikan to their enemies. With no other options, Rin joins forces with the powerful Dragon Warlord, who has a plan to conquer Nikan, unseat the Empress, and create a new Republic. Rin throws herself into his war. After all, making war is all she knows how to do. But the Empress is a more powerful foe than she appears, and the Dragon Warlord’s motivations are not as democratic as they seem. The more Rin learns, the more she fears her love for Nikan will drive her away from every ally and lead her to rely more and more on the Phoenix’s deadly power. Because there is nothing she won’t sacrifice for her country and her vengeance

Review: Slightly better than the first book, but not by much.

Major downside, this one is longer which means suffering longer through this story. If it takes me 300 pages to even get into the story, there's no way the book is getting 3+ stars.

My main gripes with this sequel continue to be with the character development and the plot.

Rin is still unlikable. Although her not having a clear motivation might actually be an intentional conflict in both books 1 and 2 and could justify poor big-picture decision making, her smaller-scale decision making sucks and is frustrating to read about. She's like when a movie's Rotten Tomato rating is a 6.0; not good but also not bad enough to love to hate.

I was happy to see some returning characters who I enjoyed reading about in book 1 (or at the very least enjoyed more than Rin). 

I was really happy to see Nezha again, but I really don't understand who him and Kitay are as people. Nezha used to be the cool enemies to friends (or lovers??) guy vs Kitay was the annoying goodie two shoes, Hermione-esque friend. But this seems to get thrown out the window by the end of this book; Nezha is a Rin-simp until he's not, Kitay a rule follower until he's not. What do you mean that Nezha will do anything for Rin and also publically defies his father in strategic meetings when in the end he betrays Rin by literally stabbing her in the back? This isn't so much as a surprising, well planned betrayal as a complete 180 for the character that doesn't make sense at all.

Although I wasn't a huge fan of Kitay in the first book (rule followers are boring), I enjoyed him way more once Rin and Kitay had their anchor bond. Kitay's characterization also is all over the place which means he turned into a non-rule following, logical man. Now that they're literally bonded, this is as close as I'm guessing the reader will get to Rin ACTUALLY developing a close relationship with someone (whether it be platonic or romantic).

However, I have major gripes with their characterization. For example, Rin is supposed to have close relationships with some of the people, but the only reason why the reader knows is because of explicit verbal declarations of love rather than Kuang writing in scenes that build characters' emotional connection.

A lot of supporting characters are clearly just plot devices, and it shows. My theory is that Kuang wrote in too many characters in book 1 and realized she had to do some culling of her own once they served their purpose.

Rin is too OP with her genocidal-level fire power? Just slap a seal on her powers so she can't use it for most of the start of the book and force the reader to experience normal warfare scenes! The Cike characters are now irrelevant because Kuang decided to develop the Rin x Nezha x Kitay trio? No problem; just break up Cike and don't mention them until Rin needs them, then kill them all off! Really I don't see why Ramsa's death had to be a SUICIDAL distraction. And will all this talk about how hard it is cull the Cike, Suni and Baji were sure captured and executed easily. They should have at least gone out "guns" blazing.

Although I continue to not know much about the historical events that this series is based off of, it's way too clear that Kuang has some goal in mind that she's trying to reach and/or a historical framework that she's trying to mold the story into.  

Rin (who's supposedly paralleling Mao Zedong) is unnecessarily unsympathetic toward the common man that she sees on the Dragon Warlord's campaign. Her declaration that the people are too stupid to govern themselves (even in the face of valid, logical counter arguments from people she trusts) felt forced just to fit her into the Mao Zedong mold.

If you enjoyed the first book then you should keep reading the second. I am not in that boat, and the first half was definitely 2 star material. The last 200 pages were actually somewhat entertaining despite the flaws, which might've actually put it into low 3 star territory if Kuang was better and tying this whole story together. 

Book Blog #401: The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

 

Title: The Poppy War

Author: R.F. Kuang

# of Pages: 530 (ebook)

Genre: YA, Historical Fiction, Fantasy

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Synopsis: When Rin aced the Keju—the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies—it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn’t believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin’s guardians, who believed they’d finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, who realized she was finally free of the servitude and despair that had made up her daily existence. That she got into Sinegard—the most elite military school in Nikan—was even more surprising. But surprises aren’t always good. Because being a dark-skinned peasant girl from the south is not an easy thing at Sinegard. Targeted from the outset by rival classmates for her color, poverty, and gender, Rin discovers she possesses a lethal, unearthly power—an aptitude for the nearly-mythical art of shamanism. Exploring the depths of her gift with the help of a seemingly insane teacher and psychoactive substances, Rin learns that gods long thought dead are very much alive—and that mastering control over those powers could mean more than just surviving school. For while the Nikara Empire is at peace, the Federation of Mugen still lurks across a narrow sea. The militarily advanced Federation occupied Nikan for decades after the First Poppy War, and only barely lost the continent in the Second. And while most of the people are complacent to go about their lives, a few are aware that a Third Poppy War is just a spark away . . . Rin’s shamanic powers may be the only way to save her people. But as she finds out more about the god that has chosen her, the vengeful Phoenix, she fears that winning the war may cost her humanity . . . and that it may already be too late.

Review: I heard rave reviews both online and irl, but I don't understand the hype. I was ready for a dense adult high fantasy, but instead The Poppy War is an unserious YA historical fiction with magical/religious elements. 

Part 1 (aka the first 200 pages) was suffering through some shallow exposition that honestly felt like some blend of Harry Potter/Divergent/<insert your popular YA fantasy sci-fi book here>. The plot points during this part are very predictable (classic underdog heroine takes on seemingly impossible tasks! story).

Kuang introduces a lot of characters without diving deeper into their characters and their interpersonal relationships. Even the protagonist Rin is incredibly generic; a hormonal teenager who doesn't really know who she likes/loves/cares about and what motivates her since she's some random orphan who doesn't have commitments other than surviving. 

The pacing of the story picked up quite a bit in Part 2 and 3. There's significant war events that happen and plenty of gore-y descriptions that can keep the reader interesting, By this point I could appreciate some of the characters a bit more (surprisingly I really liked Nezha and Rin's relationship since it's more complex than just straight a enemies/friends/mentor/idol relationship that Rin has with other characters). 

Overall I wished there was more focus on interpersonal relationships and more unique world building than just relying/repackaging Chinese history. I didn't know too much about this part of history but I would have preferred a more original story that was loosely inspired by real Chinese culture; I kept wondering if I was missing something by mostly missing the references to real foods/events/countries. 

The story doesn't end in a cliff hanger per se, but there's a lot that unresolved. But when I finished the book I found that I didn't really care about what happened next. I won't be reading the other two books in a hurry.

Book Blog #383: Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu, Vol. 1 by Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù

 

Title: Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu, Vol. 1

Author: Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù

# of Pages: 401 (ebook)

Genre: YA, Adventure, Fantasy

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Synopsis: Born the crown prince of a prosperous kingdom, Xie Lian was renowned for his beauty, strength, and purity. His years of dedication and noble deeds allowed him to ascend to godhood. But those who rise, can also fall...and fall he does, cast from the Heavens again and again and banished to the mortal realm. Eight hundred years after his mortal life, Xie Lian has ascended to godhood for the third time. Now only a lowly scrap collector, he is dispatched to wander the earthly realm to take on tasks appointed by the heavens to pay back debts and maintain his divinity. Aided by old friends and foes alike, and graced with the company of a mysterious young man with whom he feels an instant connection, Xie Lian must confront the horrors of his past in order to dispel the curse of his present.

Review: I was pitched that this story was a gay romance, which is why I wanted to give this story a shot since I was craving a good romance. But somehow I ended up reading a fantasy-adventure horror comedy instead?

I wouldn't even call this first volume of this series romance; when they say it's slow burn, they mean across the WHOLE series apparently. But I didn't even have an issue with the romance being slow burn (it actually is moving faster than I expected). The bigger issue is that the plot is ALSO slow.

My dislike for this book could also be chalked up to a bad translation. There's a lot of concepts/terminology that weren't translated in a way that's easy for the reader to understand without having some Chinese cultural/historical knowledge, and the prose was choppily written to the point where I had to reread sections that were phrased weirdly. 

I also did not expect this book to actually be a poorly written YA. Any mysteries are revealed in long monologues by one of the characters, and it's just not engaging nor organic to be told rather than shown the whole plot. 

I'm curious on if the romance progresses in the latter books. The male love interest is actually a character I really liked (very cool yet soft personality), and he was one of the more redeeming parts of the book. However, I'm still undecided on whether I'll continue reading (definitely need a break after slogging through this one). I wouldn't recommend this book. 

Book Blog #356: A Crane Among Wolves by June Hur

 

Title: A Crane Among Wolves

Author: June Hur

# of Pages: 363 (ebook)

Genre: YA, Historical Fiction, Mystery

Rating: ★★★★☆

Synopsis: 1506, Joseon. The people suffer under the cruel reign of the tyrant King Yeonsan, powerless to stop him from commandeering their land for his recreational use, banning and burning books, and kidnapping and horrifically abusing women and girls as his personal playthings. Seventeen-year-old Iseul has lived a sheltered, privileged life despite the kingdom’s turmoil. When her older sister, Suyeon, becomes the king’s latest prey, Iseul leaves the relative safety of her village, traveling through forbidden territory to reach the capital in hopes of stealing her sister back. But she soon discovers the king’s power is absolute, and to challenge his rule is to court certain death. Prince Daehyun has lived his whole life in the terrifying shadow of his despicable half-brother, the king. Forced to watch King Yeonsan flaunt his predation through executions and rampant abuse of the common folk, Daehyun aches to find a way to dethrone his half-brother once and for all. When staging a coup, failure is fatal, and he’ll need help to pull it off—but there’s no way to know who he can trust.

Review: Despite my better judgement, I HAD to give this book 4 stars instead of 3.

There were several components not working in its favor - there's POV switching (Inseul in first person, Daehyun in third person), and some keywords in Korean were not translated or explained to the reader. As is sometimes characteristic of YA books, the protagonist quickly (but unrealistically) befriends others critical to her journey. While this kept the story relatively compact and fast paced, I wasn't able to develop that deeper connection with these characters through the protagonist's experiences in this format, and it made reading the first half of the book slower than I would've liked.

My expectations were also completely off; based on the cover, I thought it would be a hot, romance-forward historical fiction, but instead I got a historical fiction forward story laced with mystery and a splash of romance. But it was actually a very pleasant surprise; the restraint and tension in the romance component actually made it more addicting and shows you don't have to be in your reader's face with the passionate and the sex to write a good love story (cough cough The Fourth Wing cough cough).

I stayed up late last night reading the latter half of the book because of the mystery aspect. Even though there were a lot of obvious hints along the way for readers to guess WHAT will unfold, what kept me turning the pages was wanting to know HOW it would unfold and how the characters were impacted by these changes. What I really respected and admired too was how Hur tried to stay as true to being historically accurate as possible, which made the atrocities committed by the king land even heavier on the reader's heart. 

While not without it's flaws, this book does tell a compelling story and highlights a brutal but less well known piece of history. It's also great that Hur made this a stand alone book; no need to worry about being left on a cliff hanger and dragged along for series that wasn't meant to be a series. I would actually recommend it if the story sounds interesting to you as it's a quick and engaging read. 

Book Blog #348: James by Percival Everett

 

Title: James

Author: Percival Everett

# of Pages: 302 (hardback)

Genre: YA, Historical Fiction

Rating: ★★★★☆

Synopsis: When Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he runs away until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck has faked his own death to escape his violent father. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond.

Review: This is the Huckleberry Finn story told from Jim's perspective that no one asked for but was better than it conceptually sounds. 

A borderline 3 star read for me - whenever people do a alternative perspective of a story, I'm always a bit skeptical of authors taking advantage of a pre-existing plot due to their own failings as a story teller. Another book I read recently, Wicked, does an okay job at this due to the amount of original content, but it had other questionable choices with how the story was structured, thus the three star rating.

At least the first half of James isn't as original as I hoped (a lot of overlap with the Huck Finn story). I was bored with basically rereading a story with some minor extra details thrown in, and would have given the book 3 stars if it stayed that way. However, the latter half goes deeper into new content and the perspective of a slave but ended abruptly right when I was getting into the story. 

Overall, an engaging read nonetheless. The writing is straight forward and easy to follow (making this a YA-level read despite some rape descriptions), but it was entertaining even without having prior interest in reading Jim's perspective. I would recommend it if the concept of a classic story retelling of Huck Finn sounds interesting to you.

Book Blog #347: Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa

 

Title: Days at the Morisaki Bookshop

Author: Satoshi Yagisawa

# of Pages: 147 (paperback)

Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance

Rating:★★☆☆☆

Synopsis: Hidden in Jimbocho, Tokyo, is a booklover's paradise. On a quiet corner in an old wooden building lies a shop filled with hundreds of second-hand books. Twenty-five-year-old Takako has never liked reading, although the Morisaki bookshop has been in her family for three generations. It is the pride and joy of her uncle Satoru, who has devoted his life to the bookshop since his wife Momoko left him five years earlier. When Takako's boyfriend reveals he's marrying someone else, she reluctantly accepts her eccentric uncle's offer to live rent-free in the tiny room above the shop. Hoping to nurse her broken heart in peace, Takako is surprised to encounter new worlds within the stacks of books lining the Morisaki bookshop. As summer fades to autumn, Satoru and Takako discover they have more in common than they first thought. The Morisaki bookshop has something to teach them both about life, love, and the healing power of books.

Review: Maybe this is a book best appreciated in the original language (Japanese). 

It's not clear who the intended audience is, but after reading I think it would actually appeal best to a younger audience. Takako, the main character, is young woman who doesn't read but eventually falls in love with reading after moving into the Morisaki bookshop. Because of this, she serves as a great protagonist for new young readers to relate to. 

The vibe from this book is very chill and cozy, but the writing is simple and the plotline is not particularly interesting. Part of the issue might be that the story is so short - there's very little time to develop the characters organically, so I wasn't very attached. There was also very little time for the characters to develop believable relationships with each other and lost focus as the book progressed as the story jumps between Takako's love life and her missing aunt. 

Hardly a romance, not even a mystery as it was describe to me, not much of anything at all. It's a very fast and short read, but I wouldn't say it is worth the time. 

Book Blog #340: Every Day by David Levithan

Title: Every Day

Author: David Levithan

# of Pages: 329 (ebook)

Genre: YA, Romance, Fantasy

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Synopsis: It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.

Review: I really wanted to like this book, but I slowly got more frustrated with the characters as the plot progressed.

This book is clearly not timeless. First published in 2012, it was fun to see how much the world has changed since then. The heavy use of email and ignorance around gender and sexual identity are some example of this book feeling dated. Most people would know what being transgender refers to unlike one of the characters in the book who claims to not understand what it means to be male but biologically female. 

The fantasy concept used Every Day is actually very cool - the protagonist A switches between 16 year old bodies and has to live their lives for a day. The reader gets to see perspectives from teenagers of different backgrounds which is the aspect of this book I liked the most. There is a lot of handwaving in terms of explaining HOW this body changing works (maybe something explained later in the series?). It would have been better if this first book leaned into explaining the "fantasy" aspect rather than having the reader accept this bizarre situation A finds themselves in. 

The romance aspect is what I disliked about this story. The whole plot is around A falling in love with Rhiannon, who already has a boyfriend. If the reader still thinks The Notebook is one of the greatest romances of all time, then maybe this story is also acceptable. As for me, I find it difficult to "cheer" for A and Rhiannon's relationship while Rhiannon is still in a relationship, regardless on whether Justin is a good boyfriend or not. Even Rhiannon implies that her relationship is complicated (he might be emotionally absent and inconsiderate but this still doesn't justify infidelity on Rhiannon's end). 

A is a frustrating character as well. They arguably have more experiences than most 16 year olds yet somehow falls in love with Rhiannon basically on-sight and doesn't prove to have any reason to be so in love with her (at the expense of the people A is inhabiting) other than thinking that they can be a better boyfriend than Justin. 

Honestly considered giving this book 1 star as well just because of how weak the romance was, but I really did like the concept of living a different life everyday. Overall not worth the read and wouldn't recommend this book. 

Book Blog #326: American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

 

Title: American Born Chinese

Author: Gene Luen Yang

# of Pages: 233 (paperback)

Genre: YA, Graphic Novel

Rating: ★★★★☆

Synopsis: All Jin Wang wants is to fit in. When his family moves to a new neighborhood, he suddenly finds that he's the only Chinese American student at his school. Jocks and bullies pick on him constantly, and he has hardly any friends. Then, to make matters worse, he falls in love with an all-American girl... Born to rule over all the monkeys in the world, the story of the Monkey King is one of the oldest and greatest Chinese fables. Adored by his subjects, master of the arts of kung-fu, he is the most powerful monkey on earth. But the Monkey King doesn't want to be a monkey. He wants to be hailed as a god... Chin-Kee is the ultimate negative Chinese stereotype, and he's ruining his cousin Danny's life. Danny's a popular kid at school, but every year Chin-Kee comes to visit, and every year Danny has to transfer to a new school to escape the shame. This year, though, things quickly go from bad to worse...

Review: I started this book for the easy read (since it's a graphic novel), and I can't say there would be anything that would have prepared what was in store. This is not your cut and dry story of the Chinese American experience - Yang expertly uses three stories running in parallel to depict what it's like to not fit in and trying to be someone else for the sake of fitting in. 

I have actually seen images from this book a long time ago (specifically of Chin-Kee). I didn't make that they were from this book (which was recently made into a Disney+ series) until I started reading. This only added to my intrigue on where this book was going to go - why was a Chinese American author creating a strongly negatively stereotyped character?

Usually I don't like POV switching, and this book switches between the three stories from Jin's, Danny's, and Chin-Kee's POV. That being said, American Born Chinese is a great example of POV switching that is actually necessary for the story rather than used as a crutch for amateur writers. 

For a book aimed at younger audiences and the style/colors of the art leaning childish, it was surprising how crude parts of it were (think fart humor and of course the extreme depiction of Chin-Kee went from racist to him being a flat out terrible human being). I didn't mind it, and the immature humor did a good job to lighten the tone of the story.

It's a pretty quick entertaining read, so I would recommend it!

Book Blog #313: Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

 

Title: Clockwork Angel

Author: Cassandra Clare

# of Pages: 479 (paperback)

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Romance

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Synopsis: When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray crosses the ocean to find her brother, her destination is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London's Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons, keep order amidst the chaos. Kidnapped by the mysterious Dark Sisters, members of a secret organization called The Pandemonium Club, Tessa soon learns that she herself is a Downworlder with a rare ability: the power to transform, at will, into another person. What’s more, the Magister, the shadowy figure who runs the Club, will stop at nothing to claim Tessa's power for his own. Friendless and hunted, Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute, who swear to find her brother if she will use her power to help them. She soon finds herself fascinated by—and torn between—two best friends: James, whose fragile beauty hides a deadly secret, and blue-eyed Will, whose caustic wit and volatile moods keep everyone in his life at arm's length . . . everyone, that is, but Tessa. As their search draws them deep into the heart of an arcane plot that threatens to destroy the Shadowhunters, Tessa realizes that she may need to choose between saving her brother and helping her new friends save the world. . . . and that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.

Review: I don't think there's much else to be said about this book that I didn't already say about Clare's The Mortal Instruments series almost 10 years ago. Both were written only a handful of years apart - I wasn't expecting any major growth in that span of time and unfortunately was not pleasantly surprised.

The flaw that gets them all - third person POV switching. Honestly, since it was in the third person, the POV switching was less offensive that other books I have read. I wouldn't hold it too much against it even if there was slight overlap with some of the POVs. 

What REALLY annoyed me though (similarly to The Mortal Instruments) was the main character, Tessa. Surprise, surprise, she's a huge book nerd. People who are writers have a higher likelihood to ALSO be big readers, so if I were to take a guess, Tessa has adopted the same love of books that Clare does OR Clare is pushing this character trait to try to make her protagonist more relatable. Try as she might, she tried a bit too hard, and it came off disingenuous.  I'm supposed to believe this girl can only relate to others through relationships she's read about in books, yet also has no problem getting along with the wide variety of personalities around here?

Speaking of wide variety of personalities, while each character is very different, many of them have one over-exaggerated quality that defines them. Will is "tsundere" type, Jem is the un-ironic version of the "me, an empath" meme, etc. It makes the roles they play in the story SO predictable. 

On a positive note, I knew this would be a pretty mindless and quick read because of Clare's simplistic writing style. She reiterates important story points, so it's easy to skim quickly through the book and still basically be able to know what is coming next. It was also pretty easy to visualize each scene in my head - there are a lot of "thriller/horror"-eque moments that I'm sure would play out as a jump scares if it every made it on the big screen...

Not the worst thing I've read, but not a very original piece of fiction either. I probably wouldn't recommend it unless you already liked some of Clare's other books. 

Book Blog #312: Palo Alto by James Franco

 

Title: Palo Alto

Author: James Franco

# of Pages: 211 (paperback)

Genre: Adult, Short Stories, Contemporary

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Synopsis: James Franco’s story collection traces the lives of a group of teenagers as they experiment with vices of all kinds, struggle with their families and one another, and succumb to self-destructive, often heartless nihilism. In “Lockheed” a young woman’s summer—spent working a dull internship—is suddenly upended by a spectacular incident of violence at a house party. In “American History” a high school freshman attempts to impress a girl with a realistic portrayal of a slave owner during a classroom skit—only to have his feigned bigotry avenged. In “I Could Kill Someone,” a lonely teenager buys a gun with the aim of killing his high school tormentor, but begins to wonder about his bully’s own inner life.

Review: Palo Alto reads like a book that is written for Franco rather than for a certain audience. As someone who grew up in Palo Alto himself, he is writing to "memorialize his youth" (his words for the essay at the end of the book), so it is difficult to criticize this "artistic" fictional manifestation of his raw childhood experiences. 

And yet criticize is what I'll do. The first major flaw is the POV switching. Since it's a collection of short stories, the perspective is going to change between each story. If this was the only POV switching this could have been fine - one story is completely read through before beginning a completely unrelated story from another high schooler. but unfortunately within each story there is first person POV switching between each chapter.

To make matters worse, the POVs are all told in first person. When I start a new chapter, I struggle to figure out who's POV it is because I have to wait for someone to mention the protagonist's name. Is this a character that was already introduced to us? Have I read from their perspective before? Are they related to any of the other characters I've already been introduced to? There was an instance where I was forming a new character in my head, only to realize the character was the same Teddy from a couple of chapters ago. 

Franco said in his closing essay that he purposefully removed the unifying factor from the collection of stories (so the short stories do not all fall under some unifying theme or purpose). This would be fine if there was more obvious division between each of the stories. But with the way the POV switching was executed, this was not obvious at all. 

This book is short, but it took me forever to read - I was just not interested enough in the short stories to pick it up again. It's a slice of life where each story doesn't necessarily have a strong message nor are the characters very diverse in their personality. All of them read as troubled, dysfunctional, wild, or delinquent, maybe all of the above. Since this is based off of Franco's youth, I'm assuming this is the crowd that he surrounded himself with, but the way Franco portrayed them did not make me any more intrigued to hear these fictional characters' stories. 

Franco of course is no masterful writer. Regardless of where his true passions are, to me he will always be an actor first and a writer second. His simplistic writing style makes his book read like a YA even though the content matter leans more adult. 

I could have lived just fine without reading this book. I feel neutrally about James Franco (he's fine as an actor, but I'm not a big enough fan to just be reading this book because of him). I don't feel as if I gained anything from these short stories either. But that actually feels perfectly fine. Something tells me that it doesn't matter to Franco if anyone likes it or not - he probably would have written it anyway. But in the eyes of a reader, this book was mediocre at best. 

Book Blog #309: The Basic Eight by Daniel Handler

 

Title: The Basic Eight

Author: Daniel Handler

# of Pages: 329 (paperback)

Genre: YA, Mystery, Contemporary

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Synopsis: Meet Flannery Culp, a world-weary high-school senior. She is primed to take on the few remaining obstacles that stand between her and the rest of her life: the SAT, college applications, the fall semester....Mercifully, there are a few distractions: 1) her friends, the Basic Eight; 2) Adam State, the object of her affections. If only things hadn't gotten out of control. If only Flan had stayed away from the absinthe. Then she wouldn't be a topic on daytime talk shows, or incarcerated, or have time to edit her journals....

Review: This lands somewhere between 2 and 3 stars.

I was really struggling through most of this book (I'd say the first 2/3rds were really tough to get through). There's only so much entitled, angsty teen protagonist POV I can stand reading in one sitting - it took me a LONG time to get through it just because I kept putting it down. I even took a break to read Project Hail Mary instead try to mitigate the reader's block that was setting in.

The most interesting aspects of The Basic Eight are that it's told by an unreliable narrator (this part of the mystery of the story - is Flannery telling the truth? Are there hints that indicate otherwise?) and the ending (finally, some mysteries are solved!). The ending was actually what helped me decide on 3 stars - I was actually gripped by the story and wanted to know what was going to happen next.

Additionally, since this book is actually pretty old now, it was interesting to compare with how teenagers were portrayed in YA written 22-23 years ago vs how they are portrayed today. 

That being said, this still does not excuse the earlier parts of the book and how Flannery is just not a very likable protagonist (not even in the love-to-hate type of way). Since this book is her "diary," it's written in her voice (first person), which makes for a somewhat unpleasant read. There's a lot of build up that is unnecessary - a lot of fluff I didn't need to read. 

I really liked the ending, but I don't think it was worth reading (there are better books out there to read that might have the same affect!). I've yet to read a mystery that beats Silent Patient, and after reading this book, that DEFINITELY remains true to this day. 

Book Blog #303: The Queen of Tearling by Erika Johansen

 

Title: The Queen of Tearling

Author: Erika Johansen

# of Pages: 448 (paperback)

Genre: YA, Fantasy

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Synopsis: On her nineteenth birthday, Princess Kelsea Raleigh Glynn, raised in exile, sets out on a perilous journey back to the castle of her birth to ascend her rightful throne. Plain and serious, a girl who loves books and learning, Kelsea bears little resemblance to her mother, the vain and frivolous Queen Elyssa. But though she may be inexperienced and sheltered, Kelsea is not defenseless: Around her neck hangs the Tearling sapphire, a jewel of immense magical power; and accompanying her is the Queen’s Guard, a cadre of brave knights led by the enigmatic and dedicated Lazarus. Kelsea will need them all to survive a cabal of enemies who will use every weapon—from crimson-caped assassins to the darkest blood magic—to prevent her from wearing the crown. Despite her royal blood, Kelsea feels like nothing so much as an insecure girl, a child called upon to lead a people and a kingdom about which she knows almost nothing. But what she discovers in the capital will change everything, confronting her with horrors she never imagined. An act of singular daring will throw Kelsea’s kingdom into tumult, unleashing the vengeance of the tyrannical ruler of neighboring Mortmesne: the Red Queen, a sorceress possessed of the darkest magic. Now Kelsea will begin to discover whom among the servants, aristocracy, and her own guard she can trust. But the quest to save her kingdom and meet her destiny has only just begun—a wondrous journey of self-discovery and a trial by fire that will make her a legend . . . if she can survive.

Review: Almost gave this book four stars.

When I started this book, it was about what I was looking for; middle age-style fantasy. It was surprising because although The Queen of Tearling is considered as YA for some, the sexual references, rape mentions, pedophilia, etc. make this book definitely for the older side of YA if not adult. However, it never really gripped my attention like other similar fantasy books (e.g. The Graceling); I ended up taking a several month break from it, in fact. There were also several aspects of the book that I found odd:

1. This book takes place in the future. This threw me for a loop and is somewhat ignorable until the characters start talking about books and referencing the Harry Potter series, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, etc. It's not believable that the future would be a regression to the past (it was easier to think of this book as a whole different world), so references to these books broke the immersion for me.

2. There is an obsession with Kelsea's, the protagonist's, appearance. Through the book, the characters and especially Kelsea herself will repeatedly mention how plain she is. I understood the necessity for mentioning it the first time (maybe even the first couple of times), but the characters just wouldn't shut up about it. I'm not sure what Johansen was aiming to go for here; if there is some positive message about body image hidden in here, obsessing about the protagonists appearance doesn't seem to be the best way to go about it.

3. The character building for Kelsea was weak. Most of what she does throughout the book is attributed to the her black-boxed past in exile. She at first seemed to be an underdog, but I found she was surprisingly capable when facing challenges through the book, with little indication on how she got the skills to be a Queen while she interacted with very few people during her exile. 

These problems made me lower the star rating to three stars. When I decided to finish this book once and for all, it wasn't too difficult to get into it, although as I said before, still not as gripping as other fantasy stories I have read. When I was finishing the book, I wanted to continue reading the series just to find out what happens next (although more than likely I will not end up reading the rest of the series). I don't regret reading it as it was reasonably enjoyable and an easy read. 

It wouldn't be the first fantasy book I would recommend; if you are already interested then I would say to give it a shot. But otherwise I would recommend other fantasy books (and MANY other dystopian books) before this one. 

Book Blog #284: Sadie by Courtney Summers

 

Title: Sadie

Author: Courtney Summers

# of Pages: 7 hours, 57 minutes (audiobook)

Genre: YA, Mystery, Contemporary

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Synopsis: Sadie hasn't had an easy life. Growing up on her own, she's been raising her sister Mattie in an isolated small town, trying her best to provide a normal life and keep their heads above water. But when Mattie is found dead, Sadie's entire world crumbles. After a somewhat botched police investigation, Sadie is determined to bring her sister's killer to justice and hits the road following a few meager clues to find him. When West McCray—a radio personality working on a segment about small, forgotten towns in America—overhears Sadie's story at a local gas station, he becomes obsessed with finding the missing girl. He starts his own podcast as he tracks Sadie's journey, trying to figure out what happened, hoping to find her before it's too late.

Review: This book is somewhere between 3 and 4 stars.

This is the first time I've listened to an audiobook all the way through. Since I read in the synopsis that part of the book was told as a podcast, I thought it would be a good book to listen to. This wasn't entirely true; the podcast sections WERE nice to listen to in audio format and hear the different voices from their 30 person cast. However, with all the switching back and forth between time (e.g. flashbacks, between radio personality West McCray following Sadie's tracks vs hearing from Sadie in the moment when she was making said tracks) was confusing in audiobook format. There were also a lot of characters and names to keep track of that I found harder to do than if I were to read the book, but this might be my own fault rather than the fault of the book. 

On one hand this book was definitely not as good as other YA contemporary books I have read. I am not sure if it's because I didn't care for the voice actor/her rendition of Sadie's voice, but I found Sadie mildly annoying. Her internal tough girl narrative rubbed me the wrong way, or perhaps it didn't feel realistic to me. The fact that Sadie has a stutter was an interesting characteristic, although I would like to know the reasoning behind why Summers decided to include this. 

Of course, there is POV switching between West McCray and Sadie. This always bugs me, although in this case I think this is what made me so interested in the story, the reason why I also gave this book 4 stars. Since the search for Sadie and the telling of the story from Sadie's perspective are running in near parallel, the plot is constantly pushing toward uncovering the mystery of what happened to Sadie and Mattie. Without West McCray's narrative, the story would be too mundane; without Sadie's narrative the reader would not get any relief on knowing the truth of what actually happened. 

I would recommend this book, although I'm not sure if I would recommend listening to it over reading it. It was a quick listen for me, and it was nice to be able to take walks/do chores while listening to a story. 

Book Blog #277: Sebastian Darke: Prince of Fools by Philip Caveney

Title: Sebastian Darke: Prince of Fools

Author: Philip Caveney

# of Pages: 338 (paperback)

Genre: YA, Adventure, Humor

Rating: ★★★★☆

Synopsis: The Lord of Laughter, The Monarch of Mirth—if only the bumbling 17-year-old Sebastian Darke could be a successful jester like his father. The problem is, Sebastian’s not funny. But after his father’s death, with no choice but to beg in the streets, the half-human, half-elf teen sets off with Max, his father’s slightly cynical Buffalope, to offer his services as a jester to King Septimus of Keladon. On the way, they meet Captain Cornelius Drummel, small in stature, but the fiercest of fighters. The three rescue the fair princess Kerin, who’s being held captive by brigands, and happily escort her home. If only Sebastian knew the kidnapping was engineered by the evil King Septimus!

Review: The key to enjoying this book is to not take it too seriously. 

Yes, the plot is predictable, but as the saying goes, "it's about the journey, not the destination."Sebastian, Cornelius, and Max form a group of unexpected adventurers, and there is plenty of humor as they work to protect the princess from the evil King. The whole story was very Princessbride-esque to me, although with significantly less romance. The dialogue might not seem entirely natural, but this is fine for a book that is considered a comedy!

Despite the illustrations throughout, I would recommend this book to early YA readers and above. It's a light, quick read (and a lucky find hidden amongst my other books; I'm not sure exactly how I got this book but am glad to have read it).

Book Blog #274: K-pop Confidential by Stephan Lee

 

Title: K-pop Confidential

Author: Stephan Lee

# of Pages: 336 (paperback)

Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Synopsis: Candace Park knows a lot about playing a role. For most of her life, she's been playing the role of the quiet Korean girl who takes all AP classes and plays a classical instrument, keeping her dreams of stardom-and her obsession with SLK, K-pop's top boyband-to herself. She doesn't see how a regular girl like her could possibly become one of those K-pop goddesses she sees on YouTube. Even though she can sing. Like, really sing. So when Candace secretly enters a global audition held by SLK's music label, the last thing she expects is to actually get a coveted spot in their trainee program. And convincing her strict parents to let her to go is all but impossible ... although it's nothing compared to what comes next. Under the strict supervision of her instructors at the label's headquarters in Seoul, Candace must perfect her performance skills to within an inch of her life, learn to speak Korean fluently, and navigate the complex hierarchies of her fellow trainees, all while following the strict rules of the industry. Rule number one? NO DATING, which becomes impossible to follow when she meets a dreamy boy trainee. And in the all-out battle to debut, Candace is in danger of planting herself in the middle of a scandal lighting up the K-pop fandom around the world.

Review: Despite being a k-pop fan, I would never have read this book if I didn't receive it as a gift. I'm just not the target audience for this; K-pop Confidential dives into many young fans' fantasy of being a normal girl turned K-pop star. K-pop has its own set of lingo, and Lee does not hesitate to use it generously throughout the book. Although Lee includes a dictionary of vocab words for those less familiar with the lingo, it's clear that this book is best suited for those who can appreciate how well versed/researched Lee is in the K-pop world. 

However, the best books will appeal to those even outside of the target audience. With the cringe-y (but perhaps accurate) teen dialog peppered with (non-K-pop slang), it just wasn't my cup of tea. Romance is innocent and surface level despite being crucial to the plot. 

The best part of this book was how it allowed readers to peek into the life of a K-pop trainee. Many people don't see what happens behind the scenes and how difficult it is to become an idol, how strenuous and at times inhumane their training is. I would have loved to hear more about Lee's experiences interviewing people in the industry have attributed to what he ended up depicting in this book; this could have served as a powerful wakeup call as to what is going on in the idol industry and brought it above being a shallow, wish-fulfillment book for K-pop fans. 

I would recommend this book to diehard K-pop fans who want a quick and fun read. Otherwise, your time would be better spent on something else.

Book Blog #270: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

Title: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes 

Author: Suzanne Collins

# of Pages: 517 (hardback)

Genre: YA, Science Fiction, Dystopia

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Synopsis: It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capitol, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute. The odds are against him. He’s been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined — every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute . . . and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.

Review: This is the prequel no one ever asked for.

I was surprised to see that this book existed. Another book in The Hunger Games series? But like any wildly successful series, those involved in making this book come into existence probably couldn't let a good thing just end. 

When I was scrolling though the reviews, I was apprehensive to give this book a shot. The good reviews seemed to be hardcore Hunger Games fans who hadn't even read the book yet. The bad reviews were evidence of the worst case scenario: the book was unfinishable for some. However,  after finishing, I don't think it's as bad as people say. I was even tempted to rate it four stars because I was fully immersed at the end. Here's why I decided to only give it three:

1. There's a lot of fluff. A lot of eating, a lot of characters introduced with little significance. This book didn't have to be as long as it was (and it was undoubtably made longer by the repeated inclusion of mentor and tributes lists and song lyrics).

2. Snow's character development throughout the book could have been more convincing. We all know how this book is going to end (assuming the reader has read The Hunger Games series). President (Coriolanus) Snow is not exactly a likable character in the main books. What makes the premise of this story interesting it that it takes the reader back to when Coriolanus Snow was 18, a time when he was no more or less evil than any other person just entering adulthood. He's presented as our protagonist but some how has to become the antagonist that is present in The Hunger Games series. I was expecting to be able to sympathize with Snow and understand how his life events turned him into the man he eventually became, but the execution of this change (or revelation) of his character felt too sudden. 

If you are a hardcore fan of The Hunger Games series and were already excited for this book, go ahead and give it a read. I was a big fan of the main books, but didn't have much interest in reading this book other than out of curiosity on what story there was to be told in a prequel. I don't regret reading it, but I don't think I needed to read this book either. Would only recommend to those who are genuinely interested. 

Book Blog #262: The Heir by Kiera Cass

Title: The Heir
Author: Kiera Cass
# of Pages: 342 (paperback)
Genre: YA, Romance, Fantasy
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Synopsis: Twenty years ago, America Singer entered the Selection and won Prince Maxon’s heart. Now the time has come for Princess Eadlyn to hold a Selection of her own. Eadlyn doesn’t expect her Selection to be anything like her parents’ fairy-tale love story. But as the competition begins, she may discover that finding her own happily ever after isn’t as impossible as she always thought.
Review: I'm giving this book 2 stars because it was worse than I was expecting.

I thought I knew what I was getting into. I've read the first three books in this series, so I already knew the basic premise of this story: the previous main character had an heir (Eadlyn), and now she is holding her own Selection. I was in the mood for a quick, shallow read about a girl in a Bachelorette-esque situation.

However, this book did not meet my expectations. Eadlyn turns out to be more headstrong than the synopsis implies. She is so resistant to the Selection, it takes all the fun out of the story. Would people want to watch The Bachelor/Bachelorette if person in the spotlight didn't want to participate? No. And the same goes for this story.

The main take away from this story is also not great. Eadlyn doesn't want to get married (yet). She is a (self-proclaimed) "strong" and "independent" woman, but the world seems to be telling her that she needs a husband.

Eadlyn thinks to herself, “Everyone keeps saying that: it might be good for me. What does that even mean? I’m smart and beautiful and strong. I don’t need to be rescued.” This statement is something that should be said to more often. Women don't need to be with someone else to be empowered. However, when this statement is presented in the book, it as if this is setting the tone for her initial mindset that she will eventually grow away from as her character develops over time. This is NOT the correct direction she should be moving toward. Although she should grow to be more open minded, framing it in a way that implies she NEEDS a partner is not the way to do it.

Eadlyn: “Why haven’t you married?”
Lady Brice: “I am married. To this job! It means a lot to me, and I’d rather do it well than seek out a spouse…The only people I ever get to see are the other advisers, and I don’t think I’d want to be in a relationship with any of them. So I’ll just keep working.”

Lady Brice might be one of the only characters who is okay with being a single woman, but it's only because she is married to her job and doesn't find potential suitors attractive. She also implies that she can't do her job well AND seek out a spouse at the same time....

Overall, not really worth the read. I was disappointed to find that this isn't even the last book in the series. I was hoping to finish it once and for all, but now I have to consider whether I will read the final book or not for the sake of completeness, or if it really isn't worth my time.

Book Blog #257: Red Rising by Pierce Brown

Title: Red Rising
Author: Pierce Brown
# of Pages: 382 (hardback)
Genre: YA, Science Fiction, Fantasy
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Synopsis: Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations. Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children. But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity already reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class. Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity's overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society's ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies... even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.
Review: “I would work. I would bow. Let me wash dirt from my hands instead of blood. I want only to live with my family. We were happy enough. Freedom costs too much.” 

The critics are right. This book is VERY much like Hunger Games. Readers who LOVE The Hunger Games and want to read more that are VERY similar to The Hunger Games (or any cliché dystopian YA), this is exactly the book for you.

I loved The Hunger Games, but I also read THG before dystopian YA became a huge fad. This story is nothing new, and it is very clearly only the first book of a whole series. You can't read this book and expect most of the major loose ends to be tied up; Brown knew he was making this a whole saga.

Honestly, a lot of scenes lacked a lot fo detail. Since this is a dystopian world, I would love more world building details. Brown provides the bare minimum to get by with telling the story, which might be fine for some younger readers.

If you are the correct audience for YA books, go ahead and give this book a try. However, you won't get anything from this book that you wouldn't get from tons of YA dystopian books out there.

Book Blog #255: Dear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich

Title: Dear Evan Hansen
Author: Val Emmich
# of Pages: 368 (hardback)
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Synopsis: When a letter that was never meant to be seen by anyone draws high school senior Evan Hansen into a family's grief over the loss of their son, he is given the chance of a lifetime: to belong. He just has to stick to a lie he never meant to tell, that the notoriously troubled Connor Murphy was his secret best friend. Suddenly, Evan isn't invisible anymore--even to the girl of his dreams. And Connor Murphy's parents, with their beautiful home on the other side of town, have taken him in like he was their own, desperate to know more about their enigmatic son from his closest friend. As Evan gets pulled deeper into their swirl of anger, regret, and confusion, he knows that what he's doing can't be right, but if he's helping people, how wrong can it be? No longer tangled in his once-incapacitating anxiety, this new Evan has a purpose. And a website. He's confident. He's a viral phenomenon. Every day is amazing. Until everything is in danger of unraveling and he comes face to face with his greatest obstacle: himself.
Review: “I had to die for them to notice I was ever alive” (191).

For some reason, I thought this book addressed an LGBTQ+ struggle. Although there is an LGBTQ+ character, the character's sexuality is not a main issue in this story.

This is a strange adaptation since it started as a play and was turned into book (instead of the other way around). Although I have not seen the play yet, I can imagine how this story would be more interesting as a musical than as a novel. The story is relatively mundane; Evan Hansen is an underdog high schooler who gets caught up in a lie that makes him more popular at his school.

What I do like about the story is how Evan struggles with his lie. Is a lie bad if it bring more good than harm? Although this idea to address this struggle comes from the original play rather than being Emmich's brain child, this conflict was well portrayed in the book.

However, this is not saying that the conflict is BETTER portrayed in the novel than the play. There is first person POV switching between Evan and Connor (although there are only a handful of Connor chapters). Although I wasn't as bothered by the POV switching as I usually am, it was still disorienting when the first POV change happened since the chapter was not clearly labeled. POV switching isn't so much of a problem for plays; I wonder if Emmich followed the layout of the play too closely.

If you're a fan of the play or you have any interest in reading this book at all, go for it! It's a relatively short read. However, if you're on the fence, maybe just watch the musical.