Jan-March Wrap Up

Favorite & Least Favorite Books of the first quarter

I am loving all this time that I get to read now and I am so happy that my reading year has already been going a lot better than last year. If you want to see all the books I’ve read so far, you can head over to my Goodreads and see all of them. In this post, I wanted to focus on the best and the worst so far and one probably unneeded rant.

Sequels and Finales

4/5

The Burning God by RF Kuang – This series is depressing and bleak. In fact, after reading this series I could not bring myself to read another fantasy series for 2 months. I started this series back when the Poppy war was released so it’s been a journey and I can finally say I have finished the series. I would argue Rin is the best female antihero that has been written in an epic fantasy. Rin is so interesting because she has the best of intentions but often struggles to reconcile the horrors of her world with what she feels is the absolute righteousness of her solutions. At every turn, Rin is faced with the worst obstacles and what is worse is that there is the haunting of the past (Rape of Nanking, Mao Zedong, Opium Wars) in each page. I knew from the beginning, although there is magic and there are characters that can do amazing things with these powers, that there is no happy ending for Rin but still I could not look away. I don’t think the last book is as good as the first time because it was too cyclical, it borrowed too much of a mashup of history and just stuck them together instead of the other two books that felt more like history with a cohesive and progressive storyline. I’m probably going to do an indepth discussion/ranking on all of RF Kuang’s books at some point.

Romance

I’ve been having quite a bit of luck with romance this year thus far. Now I will say that again I am very critical when it comes to romance because there’s a lot of not so great romance out there but these passed the test as the best so far.

3.75/5

You, Again by Kate Goldbeck– Maybe I was missing New York a lot when I was reading it but I loved all the New York location Easter eggs. I love the time jumps because you can see how each character develops on their own; it made me love the pages when they were interacting together. Also, I really think that we get a lot of archetypes of female and male main characters in heterosexual contemporary romance books, the females are usually quite bland and not too much of anything.  The men are usually either alpha males or super simps. I love that these characters are in between..I had never realized how rarely I see female characters in romance smoke or be honestly kind of pathetic LOL..and I liked it.  There was a realism stamped to these pages but it didn’t lose the sense of fun because the setting was fun and the side characters were funny so it was great. As for its comparison to the When Harry met Sally, it’s not that great of a comparison and I’m fairly sure the comparison was meant to catch the nostalgia of millennial readers (to great effect probably) but it should be assessed as its own.

4/5

The Art of Scandal by Regina Black – Despite its pretty sexual cover, this romance has more of a serious, almost literary quality to it. It’s one of those books that is deeply sensual in its writing and characters but not overtly sexual. Does that make sense? I loved that these characters had lovely reasons to be together. The author also wrote chemistry in such a natural but still explosive manner. It was just very different from how a lot of romance was written and that is to its credit. The dialogue was interesting and insightful. This is the epitome of how a good romance should be written in my opinion. I wish there were 1 or 2 more sexy times but that’s because I just loved these two. People have compared this to the show Scandal and from what little I’ve watched of it, it definitely gives the same emotional atmosphere.

Nonfiction

Scattered Minds by Gabor Mate – This opened my mind to not only more into the mind of someone who has ADHD but my own as well. Agree with his theory of attachment or not, you cannot deny that it is could still applicable to your own life. He argues that the relationship between the parent and the child are very important and notes that medication is not the quick fix or even fix at all for ADHD, but rather their environment and the relationships they have with their parents. Also all the reviews saying he blames parents or mothers specifically for the way their ADHD kid turns out is just not true. He even notes how he did not show up as a good parent for his own kids and repeatedly states that he is not blaming anyone.

2/5

Enchantment: Awakening wonder in an Anxious Age by Katherine May – this is what a book if it felt like a series of twitter threads that thought they were insightful but then you realize there are millions more like it. It tried so hard to be insightful but was anything but and lost so much steam from the 1st 25% of the book onwards. I’ve already forgotten everything about it.

Romantasy

I’m still on the hunt for that perfect romantasy read and I found a sort of winner? emphasis on the sort of

3/5

Spark of the Everflame by Penn Cole – This book reminded me of a lot of YA books I’ve read in the past, which is not the worst comparison. I was just looking for a fun time with a world and characters I could get immediately immersed in. Was it the worst romantasy I’ve ever read? No. But did I lower my expectations a lot in order to enjoy it? Yeah. I will say I did really liked the beginning. I thought that the stage was set for so many cool things to happen later but the payoff was so lackluster. SPOILERS For example, at the beginning of the book, our main character is seeing one of the guys in her hometown (who we know is not going to be endgame) but things escalate and she decides to join his rebel group and is thinking about accepting his marriage proposal only to back out as soon as things are getting exciting. It would have made such an interesting struggle had the relationship between the main male love interest not been 3x amped up in the last 10%, that interesting conflict could have been kept. END SPOILERS That’s the problem I have with a lot of romantasy, the dialogue is very juvenile making false chemistry, false closeness. I also hate that romantasy books don’t go far enough. Enemies to lovers? 95% of the time, it’s not actually enemies to lovers, he never actually killed those people, it was a just a misunderstanding. We can’t be together because you are a fairy and I’m a human, guess what I’m actually a fairy too! We were arguing for naught. Things like that. This book was no different.  Join a rebel group and have potentially devastating conflict with the main male love interest once he finds out? Nope just kidding, I don’t want to be in the rebel group anymore. There are no true stakes or true tension. Also the worldbuilding is never developed enough. I could go on. If I keep expectations low, maybe I would have a better time but I’ve already set them pretty damn low. It’s very unfortunate because I read so many of these romantasy summaries and they all sound so interesting and I see all these raving reviews and it makes me want to read it but I know that it is not true. These books are just not well written plain and simple which is really sad.

Paranormal?

4/5

A Dowry of Blood by ST Gibson – I’m surprised but this book was a lot better than I expected. Like the Art of Scandal, the writing is deeply sensual. I like how self contained it was but at the same time I liked it so much I wanted it to be a longer book or a series. It delves into more of the personal relationships of the vampires instead of any worldbuilding or lore of vampires. I like that it delved into toxic relationships too. It was great, a good fall read.

Historical Fiction

Go as a River by Shelley Read – I read this for a book club I’m in and it was completely boring and basic, mirroring surface level, beginner’s guide to racism that became popular in 2015. This is what white people think when they pat themselves on the back and say everything is better now. Heck, even when the book itself is racist. No other diverse characters. The only ones that were present were put on a pedestal, not given any sort of life. You could argue that this was because this was written from the main character’s point of view, that means she didn’t have access to his thoughts etc but why not include more diverse characters if that was what your whole book is about? It left a bad taste in my mouth.

Yellowface by RF Kuang (Spoiler Review) – This book does not deserve 5 stars..nor does it deserve all the 1 stars..

Yellowface is a highly controversial book that took the literary world by storm in 2023. I will start by saying that I have been a fan of RF Kuang’s writing since The Poppy War series and certainly think she, as an author, has the authorial capabiltiies of writing complex, gritty, dark stories while still having this addictive, high-octane, and entertaining energy to them. However in 2022, I became a little disenchanted after reading Babel, while I adored the creative setting focusing on linguistics and language, it became very clear to me (albeit late) that Kuang wrote a baby’s first manifesto on colonialism. Emily May, a reviewer on Goodreads said this about it which was my main critique of the book.

The protagonist, Robin, is a very passive unmemorable character, surrounded by characters who are either equally benign and forgettable, often serving as mouthpieces for what feel like jarringly modern views, or else one-dimensional EVIL imperialist racists.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4187354850

What I loved about the Poppy War trilogy, the questioning of morality, or right and wrong were seemingly absent from Babel. I was afraid the same thing was going to be the case for Yellowface as well from early reviews. But alas, Kuang’s writing is just extremely addictive and entertaining and I thought I’d at least have a good time. In the end, as with Babel, Yellowface is…alright. However, I think RF Kuang achieved a little more nuance than I think some reviews might give her credit for. And on the flip side, I don’t think it ever quite reaches its potential. And I will explain as I continue this review.

Readers who loved this book say it is a scathing exploration of publishing industry and its continuing racism whether in the form of microaggressions or in more sinister ways such as boxing authors into only writing a certain story such as Chinese people only being able to write Chinese stories. In some ways this book is that, but in other ways, I felt as if as soon as one topic was mentioned, another topic took its place. I think the question of who gets to write on what a fascinating topic but none of that gets to be truly dissected. This book felt a lot of one-liners of Twitter pasted into a book without any commentary. For example, fittingly, there’s this quote about Twitter

But Twitter is real life; it’s realer than real life, because that is the realm that the social economy of publishing exists on, because the industry has no alternative.”

It’s a great quote but then that would be followed by another great quote and before you know it, it’s a bunch of great one-liners with no depth. I wish there was more exploration maybe a theory on why the industry boxes people in certain writing boxes. What does the industry gain? What happens after?

The second biggest critique I have is that a lot of reviews mention how racist June Hayward and what a despicable character she is. People say June is unredeemable and she deserves everything she got coming. While she is definitely an unhinged character, blaming everything on this one person is a little simplistic I would say. In this way, June serves as a satisfying scapegoat, the racist white woman who stole an Asian woman’s story. But..Kuang fortunately goes deeper than that, she explains how Athena was the one who stole a lot of personal stories from June and her ex-boyfriend and unbeknownst to the subjects, puts their very personal stories in the book (such as the story where June was raped). And on the sinister side of tokenism, Kuang, in an interview, states that throughout the book, that Athena loves being the only Asian author in the room, and she hates mentoring other Asian authors because she does not want them to achieve the status that she does. To blatantly ignore the things that Athena does to perpetuate a vicious cycle. June is also, a victim of the viciousness of online criticism, people who jump off the praise train to go immediately to the criticizing train. June reads these reviews on the book she stole:

“Uninspired colonizer trash, one reads. Another iteration of the white woman exploitation sob story formula: copy, paste, change the names, and voila, bestseller, reads another. And a third, which seems way too personal to be objective: What a stuck-up, obnoxious bitch. Brags too much about being a Yalie. I got this during a Kindle sale, and you can bet I made sure to get every one of the two hundred and ninety-nine cents I spent back.”

Yellowface, 2022

In this way, you can see how June is a representation of a lot of writers, putting your work out there for the masses and the vulnerability it comes with. I think June also represents a person who is just lost and desperate. In this modern world, what can she write? You can see her dreams about loving writing and she constantly wants to prove to her family that she can make it as a writer. I love that June has these thoughts because it shows thoughts that we’ve all had (the difference is June is oblivious to how those thoughts affect her actions). In other words, she is human. RF Kuang herself has stated that she didn’t want to write all white people as bad and that’s why she gave June the ending that she did (not quite good, but not quite bad either) I think this is where Kuang really shines, while June is being berated for writing this book, where is the line drawn for cultural appropriation? Who is allowed to write what? Is a Chinese person only allowed to write Chinese stories? Is a white person only allowed to write about Caucasian stories?

Having said that, RF Kuang, I think, could have expounded more on June’s depth as a character. Maybe she could have expanded more on June and Athena’s relationship and maybe written June in a not so one-dimensional way. If that were the case, there would be complexity to the issues of race being presented. Even if Kuang meant to write June in a more complex way, June really is not. She spouts out racist remarks and leaves it at that. Maybe if June hadn’t been so narrow-minded, she could have served as a stepping stone for talking about how the industry doesn’t work for either June or Athena etc etc. There was a lot of missed opportunities here.

I could argue this point too from the other side. A critique of this book is definitely June. From a negative standpoint, it could be seen that June serves as a stand in for all the criticisms that RF Kuang has faced in the past and to say that whoever criticizes Kuang is a flaming racist. It’s debatable. For one, because it’s a satire it makes sense, why all these remarks are so in your face, that’s just the absurdist, satirical nature of the book. It could be argued the other way around, June herself serves as more than just a racist white woman; June, too, also suffers in this industry. These remarks are laid out there and although some you can see, RF Kuang thinks it’s unfair, some other remarks, it seems RF Kuang is pondering and raises more questions about. For example, I like this quote that speaks to the “game” of social media that is so on point for everyone on social media today. I can see how RF Kuang is trying to write more than about just about her experiences but about the experiences of just being on the internet and the industry in general.

I retweet hot takes about bubble tea, MSG, BTS, and some drama series called The Untamed. I learn it’s important to be anti-PRC (that’s the People’s Republic of China) but pro-China (I’m not terribly sure how that’s different). I learn what “little pinks” and “tankies” are and make sure I don’t inadvertently retweet support for either. I decry what’s happening in Xinjiang. I Stand with Hong Kong. I start gaining dozens more followers a day once I’ve started vocalizing on these matters, and when I notice that many of my followers are people of color or have things like #BLM and #FreePalestine in their bios, I know I’m on the right track.

Yellowface, 2022

In other instances, the racism of June is a little too heavy-handed and too repetitive which makes the book more “ranty” than self-reflective.

I could also argue from the other side. Looking at these negative reviews, the biggest concern has seemed that this book seemed self-inserty. that because RF Kuang has worked so intimately in this industry, why not have the discourse surrounding her be the subject of this book? I found a lot of value looking at what it likes to be a writer in this modern age, the struggles and the wins. If I were to read this book and see that it was not written by someone who has known the publishing industry, would I be more likely to believe the writing? Probably not. It’s difficult NOT for the authorial voice to bleed through because these are her experiences. I will say that her writing for this book was very different from her other works. While her other works read very academically with educational pieces throughout Babel and The Poppy War trilogy, this one reads more tangentially and “nitty gritty”, there’s no verbosity or flowery language to coat this book. It definitely reads more functional and punchy which I actually really liked for this book.

I need to create. It is a physical urge, a raving, like breathing, like eating; when it’s going well, it’s better than sex, and when it’s not, I can’t take pleasure in anything else.

Yellowface, 2022

The question now though: Is RF Kuang using this book to absolve herself of the criticisms (fair or unfair) that were self-inserted in this book? And does this question matter?

The answer is I don’t know but I think this question matters as I come to my closing thoughts because I think with a little work, RF Kuang could write something great, something even better than The Poppy War trilogy but if this book and Babel are anything to go by, it’ll be difficult for her to see that she desperately needs more than twitter one-liners and sometimes black-and-white modern liberal social values to make a nuanced book of the caliber that I think she can write. I applaud her for daring to write such a book especially when she works so intimately in it and she could have burned a lot of bridges. The switch from writing fantasy to contemporary thriller is, I imagine, a difficult one as well and while it has its faults, I cannot deny that Yellowface is addictive and entertaining. I personally hope she does not let the pride of her success and writing stop her from really looking at these criticisms from the other side. I have also attached the interview with RF Kuang below, I highly recommend to watch after reading the book because it definitely explains a lot of the hesitations I had about the book and made me see it in a better light.

What did you think of Yellowface? A yay or nay? Let me know in the comments below 🙂

Best Books of 2023

For the past few years, I’ve become jaded. Here’s the thing. Back in high school and college, I read a lot more than I do now but my comfort food was always fantasy, and I love a romantic plotline in fantasy too specifically. So, of course, I sought these out throughout my reading years. You would think that I would like romance contemporary or fantasy romance which seems to be the fad these days. I thought I would too, but sadly, I find a lot of the books of this genre published these days to be very mediocre in almost every way possible. In addition, fantasy, especially epic fantasy has also been disappointing to me over the years. Since this year, I don’t think I’ve liked anything so obsessively as I did in my fantasy renaissance, when I read things like Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson and The Gentlemen Bastards series by Scott Lynch. Recently though, there’s just been a lack of significant female characters and the same old stories rehashed over and over again. I’m grateful for my reading in 2023 for reigniting my love for fantasy again and I feel so motivated to read in 2024. It’s all very exciting so without further ado, here are my favorite books of 2024. I have 5 favorites out of 47 books I read this year. They are in no particular order as well but the top three are the definite top three. The top three though have no particular order.

1. Manacled by Senlinyu

Yes, I’m starting off this list with a fanfiction that took over the internet. I, of course, feeling FOMO had to read it. This is a Draco/Hermione fanfic that follows the events of Harry Potter had the dark side won and combine that concept with The Handmaid’s Tale. Hermione has an Order secret and the dark side needs this secret so she is given to Malfoy and he has to extract it from her. Fanfic has never been a part of my reading, mostly because I find that fanfics cannot capture the voices of the original characters and add that to mediocre writing and it just wasn’t something I was interested in. But, then comes Manacled. Manacled turned all of my assumptions about fanfiction on its head. The story in it was also better than a lot of tiktok hyped fantasy romance I’ve read. This story also proves that you can create a well-crafted dark romance without being gratuitous, depraved, sexist and disrespectful to the concepts of PTSD etc that deserve more time and attention. You can tell the author spent a lot of time crafting this plot together for it to be cohesive throughout. It’s a fanfic so it’s definitely self-indulgent but I did not mind at all. To be honest, the reason I loved it most was because it was unputdownable and was equivalent to the sweeping, immersive, obsessive feeling I got when I used to read YA fantasy.

2. Remain Nameless by HeyJude19

Yes, 2/5 of my favorite books of the year are fanfics. This one is more of a romance contemporary with the regular magical concepts present in Harry Potter and is also a lot more lighthearted than Manacled. This follows Malfoy and Hermione after the war has ended except this time the good side has won. Because of that, this leaves Malfoy kind of ostracized from the wizarding world but he finds solace in going to this Muggle coffee shop until one day Hermione starts frequenting the same coffee shop and they strike up a tentative acquaintance, friendship and eventual romance. This one is long but I love that it takes its time unlike so many romances these days. It takes its time to build that tension, build that interesting banter and dialogue, and build reasons why they should be together. Slow burn gets tossed around a lot these days but this is a true slow burn. Just look at the page count lol. This one, again, had me on the edge of my seat because each interaction means something, each interaction brings purpose to the overall story. I also really liked seeing everyone in the HP world react to Hermione dating Malfoy. It was great.

I will say despite my love for the page length, I do understand people saying it was a bit long because near the end of the book, it gets repetitive and I know a lot of people don’t like their romance to be long. I just happen to come from a epic fantasy loving background so if it’s done with purpose, the longer the better.

3. The Wall of Storms by Ken Liu (Dandelion Dynasty #2)

I know a lot of people put series together in their favorites ranking but I do rank the books in the series so I put my clear favorites of this series on this list. This series is honestly a masterpiece. And I know this because as I was reading, I was constantly wondering how does Ken Liu write this, how?? I think Ken Liu really takes the themes prevalent in a lot of epic fantasy and really does something original with them. I also liked this book because it follows the children of the main characters of the first book and you can really see how this world has changed through their lens. Because you can see the changes, you see history being written and how it progresses then regresses. This book also brings the plot to a focus and introduces a conflict that will be basically the central focus on the next books. This really shows Ken Liu’s equally masterful ability to write both politics and combat. The long span of this book really helps you know the characters and over the course of seeing their lives over a long period of time, you can also see how they shift priorities and see how childhood priorities may way for the realism of adulthood.

4. The Veiled Throne by Ken Liu (Dandelion Dynasty #3)

This is the 3rd book in the Dandelion Dynasty saga and Ken Liu, again, is a master of writing. In this one, Ken Liu demonstrates his writing prowess in terms of writing slow building tension. There’s also a bit of a tangential part in this book where we follow a cooking competition and despite how seemingly irrelevant it was, I ate it up. This book was also heartbreaking because we are seeing this ongoing fight, and not just a physical fight but a slow moving cold war. It’s heartbreaking to see characters leave the story without seeing the fruits of their labor and you can see how much time and work it takes to build a society to where it is now. The only thing I can say is I’m in awe.

The Tyranny of Faith by Richard Swan (Empire of the Wolf trilogy #2)

I have a whole review of this one on my blog. This one was better than the first one so I put this one on my favorites. This one, unlike the Dandelion Dynasty, is more fast-paced and I love that excitement of being on the edge of my seat wondering what’s going to happen next. It does not sacrifice the character dynamics and the themes of law and morality but rather expands on them and the worldbuilding. I cannot wait for the third book coming out next month!

Those were my favorites of 2023! Here’s to more amazing books in 2024. What were your favorite books of 2023?

I’m back!

It’s been a long time! I haven’t posted on this blog for 3 years now..so a lot has changed. There were two big reasons for this: 1) I was just too busy. I went to PA school and I’ve just recently graduated. Yay! But I didn’t have much time to blog. I did have time to read and watch TV and movies but not blog about them. But now that I’m working, I’m hoping my schedule is more routine and I will have more time to devote to writing. 2) I fell out of love with blogging because I created this blog for a reading/TV/movie-loving community and I got that but it wasn’t big enough for my liking and I wanted more discussion (not to say I don’t appreciate all the comments I’ve gotten because that’s actually what kept me going). I flirted with the idea of starting a YT channel but I think my true love resides in writing and I think it might always be that way? I think I just need to hone my purpose on this blog. My purpose now is to improve my writing and slowly maybe build a community but I’ve realized that that can’t be my sole goal because that just leads to disappointment especially if I keep at my followers looking only at my numbers.

So, anyways, I am back but I am gonna play it slow this time, only 1-2 blog posts a month but I hope they will be well-crafted and thought out. I used to be so creative on this blog and I miss that. So, join me if you’re new, or rejoin me if you’re still in the book community here on WordPress. You can expect to find most of the same as you did before. I will be posting book, movie, and TV reviews but I also wanna blog about my personal musings and maybe do some creative prompts. Just as a refresh, I’ve still been active on Goodreads. I’ve also made a substack. I honestly thought I was gonna start my blog fresh with a new platform but honestly, why not just continue where I left off on WordPress. But I’ll probably post the same posts on both platforms! I’ve actually already posted about 4 posts on there so far but I will be reposting my favorite books of 2023 on here as well.

How was your 2023? What were your favorite books of 2023 and your favorite media?

Romance Roundup 2020: 8 Lightning Reviews

2020 has been a tough year for me, especially for my reading. That’s why I could only consume what I call candy books: romance books–light books that I know aren’t the best but I read them anyway because they are easy to fall into and put a quick smile on my face (if done right). I have a love-hate relationship with romance; there’s so much potential to be had but I find many fall into stereotypes, regressive gender roles, predictable plotting, conventional romance norms, and archetypes of characters that never seem fully fleshed out. I have to say I do have hope for romance’s future though as recent ones seem to be more socially progressive and different. In this post, I try out different types of romance from fantasy romance to YA comtemporary and everything in between. I did include books with very heavy romance elements too. Before getting into the post, I do want to say I did actually find a maybe favorite of the year in this bunch. Can you guess which book it is?

Key

Overall review: Highest rating is 5 “stars”How did I like the book in general? How did I like the plot, the story? My general thoughts?

Steam Factor: Highest rating is 5 “fires”; Kind of selfexplanatory, how were the steamy scenes ;); problematic;

Romance: Highest rating is 5 “hearts”; Did I even like the main pairing together as a couple? Problematic? Did I anticipate the couples’ every scene together? Did they work well together? Where’s that oomph factor? Were they developed as characters?

1. The Kiss Thief by LJ Shen

Overall Review: You know at first, I was like sure, this is totally believable: a senator essentially selling his daughter out to another guy because he didn’t want to lose votes or something. Romance novels are oftentimes unbelievable but the plot was too weird even for me. Granted I did DNF this at the first really steamy scene because it was problematic on all levels and I was not having it so I gave up. It left such a bad taste in my mouth. There was a ton of unnecessary drama leading up to it and the type of drama that didn’t even add to the anticipation of the steam scenes. It’s gonna take a lot for me to try another LJ Shen book.

⭐

Rating: 0.5 out of 5.

Steam: 0

Romance: 0

2. Tweet Cute by Emma Lord

Overall Review: This book was equal parts romance and equal parts coming of age; it’s almost hard to tell which one it is first, probably coming of age but I’m including it here anyways lol. I think what I’m starting to realize about myself and my taste in YA contemporary is that I love the fluffy but only when done exceptionally well like in To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, otherwise, it just kind of falls flat. In this one, the whole time I was just waiting for Jack to tell Pepper about his true online identity and everyone knows Pepper was going to be fine with it so why bother waiting 90% of the book to tell it? I think the problem I have with withholding secrets in YA contemporary romance is that there are no stakes, you know the other person is going to be ok with it eventually. I also thought the family dynamic resolution was too clean at the end for Pepper at least. That’s what this was, clean. Nothing stood out, none of the characters. The heroine is the same archetype in all YA contemporaries, a stickler for the rules, has a plan laid out for her entire future, is a straight A student. The plot just has no stakes, no tension! That’s really it. But I did enjoy the Twitter rivalry. Any book that centers on food I am here for. And New York. I actually visited New York this year before COVID 19 hit and I love picturing all the references in the book I’ve actually seen (like the Met)!

⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Steam: 0

Romance: (It was pretty cute but that’s about it)

3. Birthday Girl by Penelope Douglas

Overall Review: I get why Penelope Douglas is so well loved. She adds little details to the characters that elevate it over other contemporary romance writers. Also she writes taboo really well because you understand why these characters would like each other despite the age gap. But it ends up relying on romance cliches in the end.

⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Steam: (wow can Penelope Douglas write steam; the smut scenes were great and nonproblematic)

Romance: (Even though Penelope Douglas did try some different things in the romance, she fell trap to so many romance tropes that it ended up feeling cliche. Jordan is clearly a very distinct “not like other girls” woman. The author clearly wanted me to like her because unlike other girls, she gets down and dirty and likes doing working outside? Aren’t you a special snowflake? Of course Pike just can’t stand it when she wears really revealing clothing; it starts a fight and somehow the girl is always the one acquiesing. Isn’t there any other way for romance authors to build tension between characters???)

4. The Governess Game by Tessa Dare

Overall review: When it comes to historical romance, Tessa Dare is always a safe bet. Her books are a warm hug, nothing groundbreaking but endlessly cozy. I haven’t read any of her older books, but this trilogy applies modern norms of love to a historical setting so it’s candy but it’s candy where half the money goes to something like a woman’s shelter. It’s super cute. There’s endearing characters (the two daughters!) and very little drama and angst. As far as romance goes, you could do way worse. Each main character has his/her own dreams and goals and just come together all the more stronger.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Steam:

Romance: (love the witty banter; also loving the slow progression of their relationship)

5. The King’s Man by Elizabeth Kingston

Overall: One of the things I dislike about the romance genre is how traditional it is, taking a while for progressive themes to take hold whether it’s race, gender, or gender roles so I’m always on the lookout for romance books that break this mold. This one sounded promising because it’s about a woman is a soldier and is trained in combat which I rarely, if ever see in romance, only second to probably a sexually promiscuous main character. But that’s another story. The synopsis had such promise!! But I was so disappointed at the writing and the offputting pacing. The characters were also stilted sometimes veering into being way too mean or way too nice. The hero in the story was also such a jerk so there’s that too.

⭐

Rating: 1 out of 5.

Steam:

Romance: (I will give some points for good progression? but other than that, I’ll pass)

6. Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore

Overall: If I could be so bold, I think this is the best historical romance I have read this year and ever.. This had everything I wanted in a romance and more. I think a lot of times romance dialogue and scenarios can be really cliche and predictable which is fine but the details to build up these cliches can make a world of difference to the unique flavor of the story. I also appreciate that there wasn’t an overemphasis on how masculine or feminine the hero and heroine are respectively when describing them. I also appreciate that the conflict between the hero’s wealth and standing in society clashing with the possibility of having a relationship with his poorer heroine counterpart wasn’t just used as a one time climactic conflict that’s then solved instantaneously before the happy ending but rather a series of smaller conflicts to allow for character growth. There’s also some elements more typical of regency romance like the thinly veiled wit and ball scenes. The banter is also top notch. Also, I cannot forget the backdrop of the suffragette movement that actually took quite a bit of background which I appreciate. This is like top notch candy, candy you get at a bougie candy store like Sugarfina, with gummy bears made up of like gluten free ingredients but still taste great. I cannot wait for the second book in the series following one of the secondary characters (who btw are amazing).

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Steam: (wish there was more but honestly what’s there is top notch)

Romance: (Love the two together; so much banter)

7. The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L. Jensen

Overall Review: When I started this book, I was, by no means, expecting the worldbuilding to be good at all. One of my favorite romance tropes is “woman being sent away to be married to other guy from another kingdom” (idk why). Fantasy romances tend to have very soft worldbuilding but this one surprised me. Though by no means any close to the dynamic worldbuilding I love in epic fantasies, I appreciate the slight attention to detail and the mystery surrounding the world; it gave a great visual as I was reading. In these types of books, I expect the world to enhance the relationship of the characters instead of the other way around and this one did a solid job. I also appreciated the heroine was always looking for a way out and didn’t fall in love with the hero in her mental processes right away but really allowing the trust between both of them to grow naturally. She was always doubting which is great because it fits with how she grew up. It’s also really fast paced, perfect immersive beach read.

⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Steam: Could use just one more scene

Romance: (love)

8. If I never met you by Mhairi Mcfarlane

Overall: Overall, it was ok. It was lukewarm, nothing wrong persay I especially enjoy the character growth in the beginning after our heroine goes through a breakup after a 13 year relationship. But there was barely any sense of chemistry. The hints and dialogue at workplace feminism were a plus but not enough to make up for the plot and lackluster romance. (I just realized I forgot to include this poll but I guess knowing my review, it doesn’t matter)

⭐⭐

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Steam: 0

Romance:

9. Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare

Overall: Not technically a romance, but has very heavy romance elements. You know what I really liked Chain of Gold at first but as I moved along, it was very clear that the sort of contrived tension and conflict building in Clare’s books continues to rear its ugly head. I thought Grace was going to be a true source of angst, like James would actually be in love with her for reals without any sort of manipulation (that would have been angsty) but no..And then I just lost interest. I do like the humor though. The four main heros’ personalities started to blur together for me. I do like Cordelia though; I think she’s definitely different than all of Clare’s other heroines. I did really like the Tessa, Will, and Jem cameos too. I ship Lucy and Matthew too; I hope that’s a thing in the next book.

⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Steam:

Romance:

10. A Curse so Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

Overall: A retelling of Beauty and the Beast, which as we all know is all about the romance. I liked elements of this book in the moment but truthfully the characters were super bland. The heroine is a stubborn do gooder of course. I did like how she talked about how her cerebral palsy affects her daily life though. The hero an angsty king with a dark past. They both spent way too much time angsting about their problems and each time their problems were mentioned, there was no added depth to them so they felt very repetitive. There was nothing special about either and so nothing special about the romance either. I thought the plot took some interesting turns that I liked but overall an average book. I would read it if in the mood. It’s a quick read.

⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Steam: 0

Romance:

So we come to the end of the romance roundup! Did you guess right? If you guessed Bringing Down the Duke, you guessed right!! Pat yourself on the back, get some ice cream 🙂 I hope you enjoyed this post! Seeing this post and getting a taste of what I read and like in romance, is there any books you would recommend me?

The Korean novel that inspired a new feminist movement: Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 Review

Title: Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982

Author: Cho Nam-Joo

Series? No

Pages: 176 pages

Translated from the Korean by Jamie Chang

Rating: 4/5

 

 

 

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As a US citizen, I may be familiar with the workings of feminism here but it’s definitely an experience learning about it from a citizen in a country foreign to me. What I know, I know only from Korean dramas, other Korean novels, and the news. This book and its surrounding controversy really shed a light on the complications the word feminism holds in Korea.

This story definitely made its mark in Korea, becoming the first Korean novel to sell a million copies in Korea since 2009 and already has a movie adaptation out. I sped through this riveting book in a few hours. I definitely did not expect the book to be written like this. It has a detached, dark tone to it like The Vegetarian but definitely grounds itself in its contemporary setting, not surrealism. It follows Kim Jiyoung who is living with her husband and daughter in present day. One day, she suddenly possesses the ability to act uncannily like the different women she has met in her life. Her concerned husband recommends seeing a psychiatrist. This synopsis, I thought, was what was going to make up the entire book. I was wrong; it only takes up the first maybe 20 pages. The rest of the novel tells of Kim Jiyoung’s life (sped up almost) from her childhood all the way up to where she is now. This little novel is reminiscient of a documentary because even though Kim Jiyoung is fictional, the author infuses the story with real facts about Korea and women, footnotes where appropriate. These include stats on abortion, maternity leave and working women in Korea. It was definitely a learning experience; one of the most fascinating facts I learned was that Korea was one of the worst OECD coutnries to live in for a working woman; women earn 63% of what men earn vs 84% as the average. The story also represents a documentary in that there’s no real style, it is blunt and factually precise as any documentary with no style and euphemism to hide the horrific realities behind. You can only stare at the cold, hard facts. Kim Jiyoung’s life just gives reader a person to connect onto, but it’s almost unnecessary as Kim Jiyoung could represent any everyday woman and the societal oppression she faces.

I definitely appreciated seeing feminism explored from an Asian perspective because Nam Joo talked about the unfair precedence that a son needed to be born. In order for a mother to gain any respect, she must give birth to a son so important that boys are in this culture. I definitely was not removed from that talk and it’s still prevalent in the Asian world. Mothers would continue trying until a son was born. Similarly, this is why China has a 2:1 ration of boys to girls which is leading to a shortage of girls due to the one child policy that is still having consequences to this day. When the son is born, they get the best food, do no work, and sit near the head of the table. Sons were expected to carry on the family name. Isn’t it interesting that a patriarchial cultural norm like taking on a man’s last name when you’re married only perpetuates more patriarchial norms like revering sons because they are the ones who can carry on this name to their children? I also appreciated the commebtary on Asian familial dynamics especially regarding the mother-in-law. It’s still a very real thing about the mean mother in law, a character still portrayed in korean dramas but rooted in truth. I found it so ironic that a woman would willfully wish her daughter in law to have a son and scoff at the daughter, a true testament to the hold this dangerous cultral sentiment holds, that a boy is more important than a girl that she would willfully disrespect a daughter, a member of her own sex!

Those discriminations are more prevalent in Asian speaking households in my experience, however, the rest of the book is not surprisingly very similar to other sexisms women around the world face in the workplace and in school. There are many scenes when Kim Jiyoung is going through interviews and men promoting other men but not women regardless of merit because the women would “eventually leave anyways” when they had a child.

I also appreciated that the author explained why men and other women would be unaware, even complicit in this discrimination. I like that she doesn’t attribute the sexism to a few bad apples but to a system where most everyone is culpable. Because everyone is to blame, passing on these toxic ideals to children perpetuates a vicious cycle of sexism. One of the book’s many strengths is the insidious little ways that women are forced into a certain box and the context surrounding that. Taken out of context, the things that women complain about would seem ridiculous. For example, Kim Jiyoung’s  sister in the story wants to become a journalist. The mother herself advised against it, recommending the job of a teacher instead because of the shorter hours so she could take care of her family. The mother insinuates that the sister’s first job is to take care of her future family even though the sister had not even expressed any interest in children. Some people may say why didn’t the sister just go with her dreams? No one was technically stopping her. Well, as you move along in the story, you see the amount of familial pressure and societal pressure, whether direct or indirect, that the sister faced to fit into that mold and her anger makes sense.

It’s insidious because it is masked.  The story took into account the history of women making sacrifices for their family and the unfair expectations placed on them. I felt more and more hopeless and more of a sense of injustice as Kim Jiyoung felt more and more disenchanted with the discrimination. What women are doing is not selfish, neither is it necessarily brave or admirable, they are just the best with what they have. I find that Kim Jiyoung has been praised as brave simply because she is fighting against a system that should not have to be fought. A system that should not be as oppressive as it is now.

movie poster

I hope with books like these that just the discourse will spur a cultural change or one another’s point of view at least. It seems the world, every group digs its heels into the ground before considering anotehr viewpoint but it seems hopefully that this book is makign the wave it needs to in Korea.

Additional Links about the author and the book’s controversy that I found interesting:

1. The Heroine of This Korean Bestseller is Extremely Ordinary by Alexandra Alter from NY Times
2. In this Korean bestseller, a Young Mother is Driven to Psychosis by Eun Hong from NY Times

 

My favorite book of the year so far Review: My Dark Vanessa

Title: My Dark Vanessa

Author: Kate Elizabeth Russell

Series? No

Pages: 384

Rating: 4/5

 

 

 

 

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Yay, four months into the year and I have one of my favorite books of the year! This book was a definitely a wild ride and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since I finished it. Russell has crafted a difficult story about an abusive relationship that provides no easy answers and that’s why I absolutely loved it.

As soon as I started reading, I was hit with an isolating and oppressive story that did no let me go. We switch back and forth between two timelines, one in Vanessa’s high school and college years when she at fifteen enters a sexual relationship with her English teacher, Strane (42). The other timeline is in the present in 2017 when Vanessa is an adult and she finds out someone has come forward with a sexual assault allegation against Strane. A journalist seeks Vanessa out to corrobate the other victim’s story but Vanessa refuses. It’s interesting to see what Russell has to say about victimhood in this novel. The story is clever because you read about Vanessa’s ordinary life and in turn, she normalizes the abusive experience. It is only in occassional moments that she seems to glean that something is not right with the relationship. Strane is not a straight perpetrator either. Strane slyly manipulates her all in the name of love, constantly referring to her as powerful, having power over him yet Vanessa accepts it. The reader sees that she is being manipulated but you also see why Vanessa doesn’t understand that she is in an unfair power dynamic, even citing that she was the one making him fall to his knees. So she has all the power. Right? She even believes she wants Strane. I think it portrays the complexity of abuse very well, going into parts that are often not written about. Even though Vanessa has moments of knowing this relationship is wrong, she makes leaps to justify it. I also aprpeciated the mention of dissociative disorder which I don’t read a lot about but is very common in victims of abuse.

It’s interesting that Vanessa never considers herself a victim, stating it’s just a mental state. Being in her head truly allowed me to understand her logic. I read an interview with this author after I read it, the comments about how her early readers thought Vanessa was too unlikeable and that Strane should have had a POV to elicit more sympathy for Vanessa. I’m really glad Russell chose not to write it that way because in that way, we get to explore different types of victims with different types of stories. It still pains me that we only accept a victim, especially a woman, if she is passive and likeable. I like that we’re exploring a story where the it is the victim’s story and this victim doesn’t fit into a box we know well.

Russell also revealed she wanted this book to open conversation on consent.  also shows us the complexities of consent. Strane clearly asks her for consent during sexual encounters and asks if she is comfortable. Of course, a yes means yes right? Of course, it’s more complex than that. Even after they are apart and Vanessa leaves for college, Vanessa’s every waking moment is consumed by this man. The story in the past spans from high school to college and when she becomes legal, it becomes like every other type of relationship. It’s really fascinating to be lured by Vanessa’s POV seeing how how Strane manipulates her ideas of responsibility, power, sex, and relationships and you see that ripple into her adulthood. Too fittingly, there are many references to Lolita in here, a kind of meta comparison to what is happening between the two characters but of course with widely different interpretations. Truly, you feel as though you were stuck in her head. I like seeing how she grows and changes (or lack thereof).

A lot of the reviews of this book have complained that the secondary characters didn’t have any depth. I disagree. I think enough of their personalities were gleaned to make a foil for Vanessa, but her entire world revolves around Strane and her perceptions of the other characters would predictably be limited so I had no problems with that. It also gives a sense of claustrophobia and isolation to Vanessa’s story. The tone of the story was sensually bleak and oppressive. I also found it fascinating how big cultural events like the Bush presidential election were mentioned because it added a sense of false normalcy and place to this book.

I thought her storyline in the present was equally as fascinating as well. Vanessa doesn’t believe she has been abused, raped, or coerced. She denies anything remotely bad has happened to her but it’s interesting to see how she copes with it. She frequently dissociates and has to drink and smoke to cope with her life. I think this book really stands out from other books of this nature because of Vanessa’s ignorance and denial of her abuse to the journalist. In the era of the #metoo movement, it’s very hard to accept that  refusal to acknowledge what has been done to her but it only brings into question difficult facets of victimhood and justice. Is it your reponsbility to come forward with your story to corrobate other victims and to inspire others to take action? What happens to justice if you don’t? Even at the end of the book, you don’t find the satisfying answers and solutions that you feel Vanesssa deserves but the uncertain ending makes her experiences all the more harrowing.

 

Book Review: The Dragon Republic by RF Kuang

Title: The Dragon Republic

Author: RF Kuang

Genre: Epic, historical Fantasy

Pages: 654

Series? Yes, 2/3

Rating: 4.25/5

All opinions are my own.*

 

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Major spoilers for The Poppy War. Spoiler Free for The Dragon Republic.

The Dragon Republic is bigger and richer than its predecessor in every way: writing, plot, and characters. When we left off at the end of The Poppy War, Rin has defeated The Federation and Altan has died. Now she and the rest of the Cike face civil war. Daji is still at large leading the country but amidst that, diverging forces enlist her to start a civil war to overthrow Daji. But neither is as they seem and neither seems like the right choice.

RF Kuang explored the consequences of war in TPW but digs into the deeper recesses in this book. What happens after the war ends? Why does it feel like a loss even after they won the victory from Mugen? There are no parades, no victory celebrations, no praises and certainly no breaks in this book. Running away from her inner demons, Rin thrusts herself into civil war enlisting with Vaisra, the Dragon Warlord to overthrow Daji though his motives remain nebulous and suspicious. There are numerous descriptions of military, naval, and economic strategy. Much like the war of the first book, the plot preps and simmers slowly but violently at the beginning. Kuang moves her chess pieces slowly, almost dauntingly, until it boils over in the third act in an intense and twisting way. There’s definitely more maneuvering and strategy of large scale armies and navies in this second volume, resulting in less gory scenes than that Golyn Niis chapter but only marginally so. The action scenes are well thought out, there are no half drawn scenes of fighting, no fade to blacks. They were epic in scope and you can really picture what is happening in the whole battle scene even though you are focused only on Rin’s perspective. Whereas the reader was mostly confined to the school in the first book, we really get to see more detailed and beautiful worldbuilding here delving into Arlong and the Dragon province. But the development doesn’t stop at the material world, Kuang also develops the spiritual world more as Rin’s and the Cike’s powers are tested more. I have to admit that although I’m never really on board with fantasy books taking place too much in the spiritual world, this development of it in this world never ceased to engage me. That’s because through this, we learn more about the many issues Rin is suppressing but also the history of shaman use in this world.

This book most excels when it comes to Rin. I appreciated that while Rin is redeemable in her own right, Kuang never adds things in to Rin’s character to make her more palatable or more relatable, making her one of the most unique characters I’ve come across. Rin is dealing with a lot in this book and Kuang never lets Rin forget the things she had to do to win the war and Rin struggles to reconcile what she believed the best way to win the war with the thousands of innocent people she killed. But on top of that, Rin is being pulled every which way by different power figures vying for her special talents. She struggles to find her purpose in life because no one cares what she believes in taking only about her power can bring and what she is willing to sacrifice to exact revenge on Daji. Rin isn’t the only one that goes through the ringer however. We saw one maybe two sides to each secondary character, but here they are out of their element and each character is pushed to their limits. I especially enjoyed seeing wholesome Kitay, belligerent Venka, and a special someone (who I won’t name because spoiler) pushed to their limits. For example, Kitay who remains the diplomat and strategist struggles for his humanity and doing what is right for the army. I wish the members of the Cike were spotlighted more but they remain a welcome and funny constant to the unpredictable nature of the other characters. There are some truly sad moments in this book never vearing on sentimental but nevertheless bordering on it. The best moments of this book existed in interactions between Rin and her friends, often reminding me that while Rin is exacting revenge on Daji, I always remembered that the care and loyalty she has for her friends are unmatched. This book really goes to show how far these characters have come since they first stepped foot into Sinegard. 

No less interesting are the new characters and other returning characters. Everyone has their own motives and their own values. No matter how late they were introduced, Kuang never failed to infuse a sense of history and complication to the character. I especially liked the exploration of Daji, Vaisra, and the other warlords of the different provinces. These characters enriched the background of the story and the book would not have been the same without their strong presence. I also appreciated that she expanded her range of female characters from the first book though sadly a majority of the major players were still male. Daji, Rin, and maybe Venka were the only major female players and even then Daji and Venka appeared at only roughly 10% of the book. I hope this continues to be rectified in the final installment. 

The writing has lost some of its fast pacing and eyes-glued-to-the-page quality but it more than compensates for that with the author’s improvement in the nuance, depth, and detail of the story. Every sentence feels richer . While TPW was inspired by the works of Sun Tzu and unit 731, Kuang reached for a wider inspiration circle this time, she states she drew on the Opium Wars and the Chinese Civil Wars. There is so much more to unpack in this book and I’m looking forward to unpacking more when I inevitably reread it.

This book comes out August 6, 2019. I know that fans of TPW will love this book even more! It is one of the best fantasy sequels I’ve had the pleasure of reading. A special thank you to Harper Voyager and HarperCollins for sending me an ARC to review. I was soooo excited when I opened the package and saw it was this gem of a book I was so eagerly anticipating.

 

January 2019 Wrap Up

January 2019 was a stressful month for me but let’s be honest, January is never a great month for me. It’s too bad it happens to seem like the longest month of the entire year. It’s just that time where everyone is going back to their daily routine and all the fun festivities and chill time are over. You have to start reevaluating your life (as I did) and believe me, I was worried about a lot this month from taxes to money to school to what I’m going to do with my life. The thing about agonizing over big decisions that determine your life is that the process is painful but finally, finally you start to get out of your head and little by little you start to plan out the stepping stones until you feel it is feasible. I’m finally at that point and hopefully February will be better. At least it’ll be shorter. To end on a happy note, let’s end with the obligatory food pics 😉

Noodology – Tomato Soup with Beef and Rice Noodle

iSno Cafe Shaved Ice

More noodles! Noodle Street – Spicy Beef Noodle Soup

But in the meantime, let’s talk about all the stuff I loved or didn’t in January. Starting with books:

The Lost Sisters by Holly Black (4/5) – You know I never read short stories when it’s part of a series because I never saw the point but this short story proved me wrong. It gave more insight into Taryn’s motivations from the first book which we can all agree was confusing and sketchy at best. But, I sympathized a lot with Taryn after this story and although I do not agree with what she did (the betrayal!!), I can at least understand it.

The Wicked King by Holly Black (3.5/5) – You know, now that the shock of all the plot twists has died down, I can look at this book with a more clear head. I definitely do not think it was as good as The Cruel Prince. It definitely felt like a filler book; the development of the characters were sacrificed for the sake of plot development, the worldbuilding was shot to the wayside, and suddenly there are a lot more one note side characters used for advancing the plot. Of course that did not prevent me from squealing at all the Cardan and Jude scenes (yo, dm me when you get to the end of Chapter 15), and of course at that killer, killer ending. I will be waiting with bated breath for the last book. Also, shoutout to Alicia from A Kernel of Nonsense for buddyreading this with me. The reading experience was so much more fun with you! 🙂

The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner (4/5)– I’m not sure what was going through my head when I decided to quit this series at the beginning of the second book a few years ago because this series is simply amazing!! I’ve read a lot of YA books with political intrigue and none of them have really come close to the subtle machinations and plotting that this series has. Rest assure I will be doing a full review of this series once I finish the fifth book.

A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner (4/5) – The fourth book in the Thief series. Another amazing installment.  This one follows a different character but I grew to love him just as much as the main characters. Again, review to come. Also, the new covers are WAY better than the old ones. Sometimes cover changes can be really good.

Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier (DNF) – The ultimate reason why I DNF’ed this was because it was boring. It’s a very interesting book if you look at it through a feminist lens (talk to me about this, I wanna know what you think), but I grew wary once the Lady Oonagh was introduced. Of course, the female villain of the story has to wear low cut clothes and be “ladylike” and be promiscuous and sly. I hate the virgin/whore dichotomy.

 

Movies

Bandersnatch (C)– Yes, the concept is novel and cool but only for about 10 minutes. The reason why I like watching TV and movies is because I can watch the characters come to their own conclusions. It’s part of the fun of watching characters different from you, but these “choose your own adventure” modes are you just being a stand in for the character. I could also argue that the story wasn’t right for this gimmick. If it were an adventure story such as surviving in the jungle where the choices have a lot more drastically different stakes, then sure maybe. Also, the ending was a bit too tongue in cheek and meta for me. An interesting watch, but not something I’d ever watch again.

Spiderman: Into the Spider Verse (B) – After all these years, Spiderman/Spiderwoman’s remains my favorite superhero and that’s because I love his/her origin story. He starts off as a teenager going about his high school life with the usual high school problems but is bitten by a radioactive spider and becomes a superhero but he’s still a teen! His story is very much a coming of age story. In much the same vein, Spider Verse is about Miles finding where he belongs but trying to live up to his people’s expectations of him. Although the story does become oversaturated what with all the different emotional beats and all the different spiderpeople coming together, it was very entertaining. Oh and yes, I did like the animation. I definitely haven’t seen something like that done in a big studio movie.

Ali Wong: Baby Cobra (A)- I’m really liking stand up comedy right now and this one was no exception. She talks a lot about modern feminism (although she’s not as feminist leaning as a lot of female comics today), her husband, racism, and a myriad of other topics. She’s pretty raunchy and crass and she tells some Asian jokes that you will only really get if you’re an Asian so that was fun.

 

TV

Ugly Delicious S1 Ep 7 (A) – I only watched one episode which was episode 7 “Fried Rice” but I really liked it. It had such an interesting blend of talking about culture, race, and even history surrounding the cuisine. Clearly, most TV shows need to be talking about these woke topics BUT it does so in such an insightful way. I really liked the conversation they had about how we perceive authentic Chinese food vs commercial Chinese food and the concept of high end Chinese food. I definitely need to watch the rest of the season.

 

Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj Ep 1-3 (B+)– I think it’s pretty great that more young people are getting more involved in politics, although that obviously comes with consequences like the rise of polarized news. Yes, Patriot Act is a left leaning entertainment news show but I must say though that for what it is, it is informative, sincere and enthusiastic about participating in the political sphere. Minhaj is a really charismatic host and the episodes are 20 minutes long so who doesn’t have time for that? I also really like the infographics he intersperses throughout; they are very concise.

The Good Place (A) – The Good Place is a show that I did not give a fair chance to the first time I watched it. I mean I quit it after the 5th episode but I gave it a second chance and I loved it! It is so sweet, charming and asks a lot of questions most sitcoms would not dare go near. I’m planning on a review of this as well since I’m all caught up! A must watch if you’ve already seen shows like Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Parks and Rec and Superstore, although this is probably my favorite out of all of them.

 

I am Not a robot (DNF) – You do not know how badly I want to fall in love with a korean drama right now but can’t find anything that I like (let me know any recommendations). This show moved kind of slowly and the whole robot thing could have led into some icky non consensual territory. Maybe I’m just making up excuses at this point.

You (C) – You may be a Netflix show but it feels a lot more like a CW show. Heck, it even has Penn Badgley from Gossip Girl and Shay Mitchell from Pretty Little Liars. The drama is of the back stabby, cat fighting, petty type. My problem with these types of shows is that the characters get into high stakes drama and then forget about it in the next episode. Dude, your best friend literally backstabbed you and sold you out, you got mad at her, and now the next day, with no explanation, you’re besties again?? The show was very entertaining and does delve into some interesting questions about social media and obsession. It’s a good show to binge watch.

 

 

The Winner’s Curse trilogy review/thoughts

This trilogy is such a delight, not least of which I can say it is a wonderful departure from other YA fantasy books in its characters and its writing. *Spoilers for all three books*

So when Book 1 starts off, we learn that the Valorians conquered Herran over 10 years ago and the Herrani have been slaves ever since. Enter our two main characters: Kestrel is a Valorian and Arin is a Herrani. Book 1 follows their initial meeting and what happens as the two worlds start to collide and Herran is on the brink of rebellion. In the first installment, they both stand high in their peoples’ regard: Kestrel is a high general’s daughter and she, as Valorian tradition dictates, is set to marry or join the army; Arin is a pivotal force in the Herrani rebellion. This romantic relationship starts off interestingly different from other YA novels–at a slave auction where Kestrel buys Arin. Off putting at best, problematic at worst. But, slowly, Rutkoski expertly asks us questions about the slavery of the oppressed, the oppression of culture when a people are conquered,  and the conquered’s bleak past and future. Although I can say all I want about what Rutkoski knows about war and slavery so intimately, I cannot lie, my favorite part of these books is Kestrel and by extension the romance between Kestrel and Arin.

The Winner’s Curse is when you come out on top of the bid, but only by paying a steep price.

-Marie Rutkoski

Rutkoski introduces the concept of the “Winner’s Curse”, essentially, did Kestrel lose more than she won when she bought Arin? And Rutkoski so expertly explores not just in the conventional way in terms of monetary loss. Under any normal circumstances and in a normal world they would have pursued a romance devoid of many problems but the relationship explores how because of this system of oppression, the unequal power dynamics, makes this relationship extremely difficult and uneasy from the start. The internal motives that may or may not be there: is Kestrel lying? Is this how she really feels, is Arin taking advantage of her for information? The first book follows how they develop feelings for each other despite their peoples’ tenuous history. The best thing is that Rutkoski offers no easy solutions but that’s what makes you root for them. Kestrel, as the general’s daughter, is ever calculating and manipulative goes against her better judgement and duty to be honest with Arin. She will willingly go into a duel for him (one of my favorite parts of the novel) and seek out his honesty. They try to hard to be honest which is why the midwinter rebellion is such a heartbreak to read. Arin not telling her to drink the wine (ugh my heart). And even when Arin lets Kestrel go to the boats and tell the emperor about the rebellion.

I also love this world. The people are so distinct in their ways of life. The Valorians value war and honor and doing everything for your country. The Herrani admire the arts and the gods. It has influences from Greco-Roman culture and especially the Roman empire with its emphasis on war and a rigid system of honor. There are descriptions of architecture, art and frequent allusions to the Herrani religious system of gods. It makes the book more prevalent to our history.

Isn’t that what stories do, make real things fake, and fake things real?

Rutkoski is a wonderful writer. It is immensely metaphorical and quiet and the imagery of the intangible is so precise. I love the way she portrays her characters. Kestrel is far from the stereotypical heroine I’ve come to expect from YA. I think her character especially shines in the second book.  She is not stubborn for the sake of being stubborn and consequently a “strong” female character. She also is not good at fighting and in fact does not want to go to war! Instead, she is good at war strategies and has immense cunning prowess, beating everyone at Bite and Sting. One of her fatal flaws is her dishonesty which I makes the miscommunication in this book all the more believable. She lies to herself about not wanting Arin, lies to the emperor and is a spy for the Herrani, lies to Arin about supporting Valoria and to everyone around her so much that she doesn’t know who she is. She is torn between Valoria and Herran, to her father and to Arin. And what she didn’t realize in the first book is that her first duty is to herself. I love her duty to her country but the fact that she comes into her own and figures out her own honor. I still get all the feels at the end of Book 2 when she tries to tell Arin the truth in the piano room but is brutally interrupted. Book 2 is my favorite because it shows Kestrel out of her element in the royal court where she may not come out on top. I’ve said it once before but the miscommunication in this one actually makes sense unlike the miscommunication of 90% of YA novels. And of course, once again, no easy decisions as demonstrated when Kestrel persuades the emperor to poison the grass so the people would starve and move away instead of burning the land where all the people would just die instead. I also really liked that Kestrel and Arin developed separately as the stakes with the emperor got higher and every character is cunning and has ulterior motives.

The plot is truly a weave of political intrigue which I absolutely love. Kestrel is smart but everyone is smart and I loved seeing her outplay and outmaneuver everyone, especially in the third book. The third book really explores her relationship with her father (who I personally hate). Kestrel really struggles with her father because he has done some  horrible things to her not least of which he sold her out to be sent to an internment camp where she was drugged and forced to work and lost her memory. But despite all that, she admits that she does still love him. Even as someone who would not understand, I do empathize with her especially when she recalls memories of him when she was a child teaching her strategy. Her father is a complex character in his own right as the emperor so willingly tells her during their last Bite and Sting game. He worshipped the emperor because he saw a kindred spirit in their strategizing, their brutality. I think Kestrel was someone he just did not understand and for him that understanding equated to love. The series ends with a very satisfying conclusion and those last few pages really show how Kestrel and Arin have come full circle.

Her next book which comes out in 2019 is set in the same world featuring cameos from the original trilogy and I’m so excited!! Bring it on.