Oof. I honestly can't remember the last time I sat down and wrote one of these, and that's something I never wanted to say. I promised total clarity and regularly scheduled programming on this blog, but I hope you'll forgive me in light of our situation. I recently broke a reading slump I'd been in since early March, and I hope I can break my blogging slump as well!
What I read last weekend: Serpent and Dove by Shelby Mahurin. 5/5 stars! This book completely raised my expectations for enemies-to-lovers romance, and it absolutely blew me away on all counts. I'm really into witchy stuff lately, and S&D completely satisfied my cravings. It was exactly the right book at the right time, and since then I've been a reading machine! I then finished The Devouring Gray by Christine Lynn Herman (4/5 stars!) and I am SO thrilled that the sequel is out next week! I'm hoping hoping hoping I can somehow get my hands on an edition that matches my paperback with stained edges--if anyone has the hookup on a European edition (releasing May 25), pleeeease let me know! This mystical story involves magic, a small town, and elements of the occult and should definitely be on your list. Last, I read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. I don't rate these, because they're childhood favorites of mine and hold a special place in my reader's heart as such. Wonderland taught me to love surrealism, a slick turn of phrase, and magic of all kinds. I feel it's quite appropriate for right now. Currently, I'm reading Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater, from my special edition Owlcrate box. It's good so far, I definitely miss the Gangsey, especially Blue and Gansey. Ronan was never my favorite character, as I fell in love with one (1) tortured academic and never looked back, but I missed reading in the world of dreamers and Henrietta. What are you reading? What are you doing? Any bread-bakers willing to share a recipe? Happy Tuesday, everyone! I hope you stay safe and well.
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My first review of a non-fiction book! These will be shorter and less organized than my novel reviews, as they’re more to give you all an idea of what I’m reading these days, but I’ll still be sharing my opinions with the same flair that you’ve come to expect. The slate of non-fiction books that I choose to review will range from YA to adult non-fiction, and expect a lot of science! As you may know, I’m interested in chemistry, and that merges perfectly with my love of reading in the field of non-fiction.
In the spirit of A Short History of Nearly Everything comes Periodic Tales. Award-winning science writer Hugh Andersey-Williams offers readers a captivating look at the elements—and the amazing, little-known stories behind their discoveries. Periodic Tales is an energetic and wide-ranging book of innovations and innovators, of superstition and science and the myriad ways the chemical elements are woven into our culture, history, and language. It will delight readers of Genome, Einstein’s Dreams, Longitude, and The Age of Wonder. Aldersey-Williams wanders through history and chemistry in this compilation of anectotes on the history of the elements. I tried and failed to stay awake (multiple times) as I read, due to the intrinsic nature of this book. First of all, it is SO LONG. Maybe I’m a complainer, but the book suffers from a severe lack of focus. Sure, the chapters were divided by the purposes of each element, which lended a semblance of organization. However, in truth, the subsections could be as long or short as the author pleased, which led to some elements taking up too much oxygen (excuse the pun) and others gasping for breath. Overall, the 451 pages felt more like four thousand. I considered DNF’ing, but some of the stories were so interesting that I couldn’t bring myself to abandon the book. I especially enjoyed the chapters on radium and polonium, as you can’t talk about those elements without mentioning Marie Curie. She’s my favorite chemist, and a pioneer of discovery. That alone almost made the less-than-ideal reading experience worth it. The last chapter, as well, piqued my curiosity. It detailed the discovery of rare earth metals in Sweden, and the intersection of hands-on mining and theoretical chemistry in Ytterby. I loved this connection of elements with a place—it’s what I bought the book for. My only wish is that more of it had been spent in this kind of philosophical exploration of the human urge to discover. You might need to be a chemistry enthusiast to get through this book. I’m having a hard time imagining any less interested reader sticking with it through the end. I hate to put books down. You all know me. I don’t want to instill fear in anyone, but perhaps consider my experience a cautionary tale. I’m going to give Periodic Tales 3/5 stars, because I did manage to finish it somehow. If you’re in seek of more non-fiction reviews, please comment below! I’d love feedback on this new adventure. I'm part of the Inkyard Press blogger/influencer team, so today I'm featuring We Didn't Ask for This by Adi Alsaid, for my stop on the blog tour! I've got a review and exclusive Q&A about the book down below. Q&A SessionQ: What's your favorite thing about Marisa Cuevas? A: Her willingness to fight for what she believes in. Q: I love the juxtaposition of a lock-in against a political protest. What was the most challenging part of threading those two very different pieces together? A: Honestly, it was the logistics of actually keeping the students locked in. The political protest wouldn’t work without it, nor would the plot. So I had to find a whole lot of justifications that felt reasonable within the story. Other than that, one of my goals was to show, embodied in different characters, all the ways people react to political protests, and to make them feel like actual people, not just symbols. Q: What do you most hope that readers take away from the story? A: Getting others to care about what you care about is hard, but you’re allowed to try, and it’s possible to succeed. Q: What inspired you to write this book? A: I’ve been wanting to write a book that felt like my favorite book, Bel Canto, for a while now. So the very initial inspiration was a group of characters all stuck in the same place for an extended period of time. Then, to make it feel more YA, I thought of The Breakfast Club, but instead of cliques, just bring people with different passions together. Then, because of my increasing awareness over the last few years about environmental issues, combined with the fact that I was traveling and seeing those issues play out around the world, I brought in the fight for climate change. Q: Is there a character that you found challenging to write? Why? A: All my characters come easily to me. The challenge is working to get them right in revisions. Jordi Marcos, a sort of villain in the story, was one that was hard to get right, in order to make his actions feel justified. I also have a queer Muslim character in Amira, and I had to work—and had the fortune of being guided by a great sensitivity reader—to not make her representation be harmful. Q: How does a typical writing day look like for you? A: Assuming this means not in the time of COVID-19. I wake up and go straight to a coffee shop, where I work/avoid looking at my phone for about 3 hours or so. Then I usually have lunch, take a break by watching a movie, running errands, or something in that vein. Then another work session in the afternoon or late evening at another coffee shop or perhaps a bar, followed by cooking dinner. During deadline times there’s also usually a late night session at home. Q: What are your current reading? A: I’m about to finish The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy, listening to The Art of Logic in an Illogical World by Eugenia Chang, and my next read will probably be Incendiary by Zoraida Cordova. Q: Is there something secret you can share with us about anything in the book or your experience writing it? A: I don’t know about secret, but I’ll say that I had the unique experience of traveling the world while writing it. So, many of its words were written in the communal areas of hostels, on airplanes, trains, on an island in Fiji, and in many, many coffee shops. About the BookCentral International School’s annual lock-in is legendary. Bonds are made. Contests are fought. Stories are forged that will be passed down from student to student for years to come. This year’s lock-in begins normally enough. Then a group of students led by Marisa Cuevas stage an ecoprotest and chain themselves to the doors, vowing to keep everyone trapped inside until their list of demands is met. Some students rally to their cause…but others are aggrieved to watch their own plans fall apart. Amira has trained all year to compete in the school decathlon on her own terms. Peejay intended to honor his brother by throwing the greatest party CIS has ever seen. Kenji was looking forward to making a splash at his improv showcase. Omar wanted to spend a little time with the boy he’s been crushing on. Celeste, adrift in a new country, was hoping to connect with someone--anyone. And Marisa, once so certain of her goals, must now decide how far she’ll go to attain them. Every year, lock-in night changes lives. This year, it might just change the world. ReviewThank you to Inkyard Press for sharing a copy of We Didn’t Ask for This in exchange for my honest review.
I’m shocked by some readers' negative responses to this novel. Many people are saying it sensationalizes climate change and trivializes the work of Gen Z to fight for proper legislature and environmental protections, but I think the book is a topical commentary on the nature of these protests and does no harm to the cause. Alsaid shifts perspective fluidly from one character to another, which I loved. Subtle connections between each moment in the story allowed me to travel around the school and understand the events from multiple points of view. This way, I got to know the whole cast, and how Marisa’s actions catalyzed their own stories. This novel is as much about the environment as it is about the bond the lock-in forges between the kids. Alsaid emphasizes the transience of the school, but I liked that the chemistry was still there. Part of the Breakfast-Club-like charm of this story is its main four-some, who have little in common, yet find a way to connect. Part of the fun of my reading experience came from the fact that this story was, very obviously, a story. It had serious tones and reflected on real world issues, but for the most part the novel was light and funny. The theoretical lock-in had humor itself because of how unrealistic the activities were. Cooking competitions? Sanctioned food fights? Spray-painting? A decathlon? It was great to get out of my own head and live in a world where students could run around and have fun for a weekend, even if that weekend was interrupted in the manner shown here. We Didn’t Ask for This is for anyone who also needs to imagine another life, one with this type of unrelenting fun. I would recommend this novel to any environmentalist, as well as those looking for a bit of escapism. 4/5 stars! Thank you to DC for sending me a copy in exchange for my honest review!
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Alex and Eliza and The Witches of East End comes a reimagining of Gotham for a new generation of readers. Before they became Batman, Catwoman, and The Joker, Bruce, Selina, and Jack were high schoolers who would do whatever it took--even destroy the ones they love--to satisfy their own motives. After being kicked out of his boarding school, 16-year-old Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham City to find that nothing is as he left it. What once was his family home is now an empty husk, lonely but haunted by the memory of his parents' murder. Selina Kyle, once the innocent girl next door, now rules over Gotham High School with a dangerous flair, aided by the class clown, Jack Napier. When a kidnapping rattles the school, Bruce seeks answers as the dark and troubled knight--but is he actually the pawn? Nothing is ever as it seems, especially at Gotham High, where the parties and romances are of the highest stakes ... and where everyone is a suspect. With enchanting art by Thomas Pitilli, this new graphic novel is just as intoxicating as it is chilling, in which dearest friends turn into greatest enemies--all within the hallways of Gotham High! WOW! I was blown away by Gotham High. I don’t usually read comics, or superhero novels, but this one checked all of my boxes and made for a fun afternoon read. I loved de la Cruz’s take on Bruce, Selina, and Jack—she’s made a Batman enthusiast out of me! The kidnapping storyline was fast-paced, and even though it wasn’t spelled out for me I could follow the plot easily. However, I was mostly motivated by the characters. The character development was careful and I appreciated the effort taken to humanize each of them. My favorite part was the flashbacks to Selina and Bruce’s childhood friendship, and the moments where they reconnected in the present. Gotham High is about in/famous characters before they came into their full selves, and it succeeds at building their personalities and getting the reader to empathize (even with future villains). I’m not an avid follower of the Batverse, so I appreciated this background info and I look forward to seeing the gang grow into their heroic selves in future installments. I’ve seen a lot of reviews talking about the ways women are presented in this book, and I don’t disagree. However, I don't think a work in the DC universe exists in a vacuum, and so the context and the characters’ backgrounds also matter when reading. Yes, the characters are human and in high school, however they’re still Batman, Catwoman, and the Joker. Those personas are important to consider as well, and I think Selina’s behavior makes perfect sense in that context. Pitilli’s art is incredible. Each page is packed with color and pop, and I definitely want to see more of his work. I especially love the way he used color and light to give emphasis in scenes. As Gotham High is a graphic novel, there’s very little text in the book, but I had absolutely no issue with that. I could look at the illustrations all day long. The characters appear so dynamic, and the scenes are in such vivid color that they leap off the page. Overall, I’m giving Gotham High 5/5 stars. This graphic novel is a great adventure read that all will enjoy. You might also enjoy Mera: Tidebreaker, another DC graphic novel. |
The BaronessHey, I'm Shreya! I love to read, write, travel, and drink tea. Disclosure: I am an affiliate of bookshop.org and I will earn a small commission if you click the above link and make a purchase.
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