Hi friends! It is the time of year where everyone on the bookish community shares the highlights (and some lowlights) for their reading year so far. It was actually super hard to come with answers for this because I feel like, despite reading a lot more books than I usually due (thank you quarantine?), I haven't read that many books that have stood out to me. However, after much deliberation, I have my list of answers - hooray! 

I just finished this book and it completely blew me away with its complexity and beautiful prose. All the characters are so three-dimensional and interesting to read about - literally go pick this up because so many themes that are addressed in The Killing Moon are so so relevant to our society today (review).

 best sequel you read this year?

   

I've shared my thoughts on the Folk of the Air trilogy and how The Wicked King completely changed my opinion so I think it's a given. I'm also currently reading Unravel the Dusk for a blog tour and even though I haven't finished it yet, I'm already emotional.

I'm a bit ashamed that I haven't picked this up because it has received nothing but high praise on Twitter since its release. I also haven't read a ton of Asian historical fiction and the ones I have read have always ended up impacting me so much so WHY am I taking forever to pick this up. 😭😭

         

I COULD NOT PICK JUST ONE. 

This book pains me just a little to look at - I was so excited for a fun summer read about self-discovery, cultural identity, family reconciliation, all the good things. Instead, I got incredibly frustrated by the character's vapidness and my eyes became the only fit part of my body because I rolled them so much when reading (review).

I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed Loveboat, Taipei (review) and definitely have to chalk it up to how Abigail Hing Wen managed to capture an Asian American experience that I related to. I haven't read a ton of books with Taiwanese-American MCs so this one definitely has a special place in my heart.

This question was so hard and technically Mik isn't a new-to-me character, but I definitely fell in love with his character after getting to hear more from his perspective. Honestly, I would die for Mik and Zuzanna they are literally perfect.

I haven't talked about this gem a ton on the blog so I figured I'd give Harley a quick shout-out. This is beautiful coming-of-age novel with a wonderful friendship and family dynamic/reconciliation, the power of taking ownership for your actions, and just following your passions.

While I didn't necessarily cry, this book definitely made me feel all the emotions. I fell in love with these characters and just wanted to protect them all (review).

I listened to this on audio and could not stop smiling the entire time. I already adore Zuzanna so much from the original trilogy but getting to hear a story from her voice was just 👌👌

Quarantine has really done some damage on my already tiny college-wallet, but staring at the books I have recently acquired, I'm not too mad? I absolutely love this edition of Vicious and had to go with it for this question.

      

I picked up the entire Shades of Magic trilogy and they're just sitting on my shelves now looking super gorgeous so ideally picking them up would be the next step.

The Daevabad Trilogy is finally complete and the book community has been raving about it for years. I know that I'm going to be absolutely wrecked after seeing all the praise but I'm so excited to pick up the first book.

I adore Erin Morgenstern and for some reason have been putting off reading The Starless Sea - it sounds so wonderful and magical and I just need to read this ASAP.

Despite this tag being difficult to complete, I still had a lot of fun answering all these questions. For one thing, it's definitely made me more conscious when choosing what books to actually pick up and read.

Hi friends! I took a small one-week break from blogging to take some time to listen to the voices of the Black community and to educate myself following the horrible murders of George Floyd, Breanna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. The first half of this month has truly shone a light on how blind and desensitized to the basic components of humanity in favor of privilege and power based on the color of our skin. I've processed and seen how internalized racism has ingrained itself into my community and life and it's time to address these issues and rebuild a broken system.

There is an amazing compilation of important links of petitions, donations, and other resources that have been really helpful so if you haven't taken the time to read and educate yourself, I definitely recommend you do so. One thing we can learn in this time is that staying silent and neutral is not an option. 

This feels like a strange transition, but in light of the spirit of community which has been incredibly important during this time, I thought I'd share some of my favorite bookish friendships in honor of a surprise promotional tour for Forest of Souls by Lori M. Lee which comes out this upcoming Monday (06/23).

When Megan Van Helsburg gets kicked off the USA Climbing Team, she has no choice but to return home and leave her climbing career behind. With no coach, no money, and no prospects, she joins the corps de ballet determined to improve her strength and agility. But the ballet theater is in dire straits. Not only do a series of murders break loose, but the ballerinas are becoming deathly thin and brain-dead. As Megan investigates, she meets Bellamy, a tortured young man who lives beneath the depths of the theater. Megan falls hard and fast for Bellamy, who becomes her mentor, but something is off about him.

It isn't until the company announces they're doing Giselle for the fall performance that Megan realizes the parallels between the ghost story and the lives around her. Megan must find a way to not only save her climbing career, but balance her feelings for Bellamy, and stop the murders and dying girls before she, too, is numbered among the dead.

A M A Z O N   |   B A R N E S A N D N O B L E S 

Everything from the synopsis to that gorgeous cover promises a high-stakes adventure set in a hot and merciless desert. For a debut novel, Roseanne A. Brown weaves together a complex story that has all the elements of a classic young adult fantasy - there's deception and court politics, a tiny bit of forbidden romance, countless secrets, and a rich magic system. 

The only constructive criticism I have to make would be in regards to the pacing. The first 50% of the story took me quite a while to get through because there's so much introduction. The exposition comes off almost as info-dumping and while the purpose is to inform about the workings of the world, it lacks in building a personal connection to the reader. However, the latter 50% does a complete 180. The plot itself begins to pick up, the characters become more developed outside of their character arcs, and I began to care. 

This ultimately saved the story for me - I was able to feel connected with what was happening and everything overall began to feel more grounded and concrete. With Karina and Malik in particular, I do wish we could have gotten more development, but with the ending and the sequel, there's a lot that can be explored with their characterization. In the end, they remain true to who they are: Karina with her passion for her people and desire to be a good ruler, and Malik with his love for his family. 

Under the guise of a semi-centennial festival, the author also introduces some important themes of social justice that ring close to home in our current socio-political world. There's the portrayal of abused political power as well as unsolicited raids and violence against the innocent, created images that are both powerful and incredibly real. I appreciated the call, both to the characters in the novel and the reader, to assess the damage of human ignorance and racism and can't wait to see how the different people groups of this world come together to address these issues - perhaps we can finally learn something from fictional worlds and apply them to reality.

I had a lot of fun choosing some songs that would go well with the novel - it was really interesting to look up the English lyrics for these songs and see some similar themes that are interwoven in the story. Some specific lyrics that stood out to me:

I also have the chance to share some of my favorite quotes with you all - I've incorporated a couple into my review but I decided to attempt to make some graphics. The images are from Pexels so all rights go to the original photographers 

(torch / mountain).

         

I highly recommend you check this debut novel out and to go show the author some love and support. 

If you've picked this up - who's your favorite character?