Author: living in libros

Hi I'm Gaby and I run a book blog, a bookstagram, and a goodreads page. I mainly read YA and romance novels so if that sounds interesting to you come check out my blog.

Girls of Paper and Fire review

Dear Readers,

For my third book of the Summer I decided to pick up Girls of Paper and Fire. Girls of Paper and Fire follows Lei, a 17-year-old, baker who lives in a remote village. Lei is a member of the paper caste which in a world run by demons means that humans are pretty low on their list of priorities. Every year, 8 girls are chosen to “serve” the demon King, a muscular demon who shares some features with a bull. Ever since a raid on her village took the life of her mother, Lei has been resentful of the demon king so when she is chosen to serve him, she puts up a fight. During her time in the palace, Lei makes friends and falls in love and it is because of that love that she is able to start a fire.

Girls of Paper and Fire is not the kind of book I would normally read. I love to read fluffy contemporary and romance novels, but I really wanted to read Girls of Paper and Fire. This book discusses sensitive topics such as rape and sexual abuse and is a bit graphic when it comes to scenes regarding violence, but overall was a fantastic read. Lei is an amazing character she is stubborn and not afraid to speak out no matter the consequences.

The Paper girls’ official job is to serve the King and learn how to become ladies. However, they are rarely given the opportunity to use these skills. In actuality, the girls are just sex slaves for the King. What most surprised me about this book is that Lei is told that the paper girls hold such high status in the Kingdom and families will do anything to have their daughters become a paper girl and these girls in the paper caste want this job too.

Or that is what we’re told.

None of the girls Lei lives with want to be there, they were either forced by their families or were unfortunate enough to be chosen. However, because they cannot refuse the king, they must do whatever he wants, or they’ll be exiled and even killed. I think that is the most heartbreaking part aspect of this book.

When Lei begins to fightback, I rooted for her because she reclaimed her power.

This book is incredibly written, and the world of this novel is so twisted and evil it made me want to finish this novel sooner. This book made me uncomfortable, but I couldn’t stop reading it so I give this book 4 out of five stars.

Until next time friends,

Gaby

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I hate to say it, I hope I don’t sound ridiculous but I hated the novel To All the boys I loved before

I’m Back!

Same hot mess but now with a bachelor’s degree. I breifly fell off the edge of the earth for a bit there, nothing wild happened I just needed extra space and time to focus on schoolwork.

I thought I kick off my new unemployed/ super free status with a review of Jenny Han’s To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before. For those of my readers who haven’t read this book or seen the iconic Netflix movie I will quickly summarize the plot. The story centers around Laura Jean Song Covey, a Korean American teen, living on the East Coast. Laura Jean is the 2nd of three sisters and she loves to stay at home, bake, scrapbook, and knit. For the most part Laura Jean’s life is pretty much sheltered, and her sisters are really her only friends. Laura Jean has never had a boyfriend, but she has had plenty of crushes who she writes love letters too with no intention of ever handing these letters out. However, when Laura Jean’s letters are accidentally mailed out, she ends up in a fake relationship with Peter, who she thought she no longer had feelings for.

This story is a slow. After her older sister, Margot leaves for college in Scotland; Laura Jean spends 30 pages sad about her departure. At this point I was tapping my fingers on the desk wondering when Peter would make his grand entrance and the plot would kick off. However, after the initial excitement of their fake relationship I was bored but I continued reading anyways. The book continues with not much excitement happening between Laura Jean and Peter’s relationship until their Ski Trip when everyone becomes super noisy about their sex life.

Unlike other readers on goodreads who were annoyed by Laura Jean’s personality, I found her to be more boring than anything. I have similar hobbies to Laura Jean, and I like staying home but not to the extent that Laura Jean enjoyed her alone time. Moreover I found Margot annoying, she constantly caused Laura Jean stress about college by reminding her that she was doing things wrong at home. Let your sister be a teen Margot!

Kitty was more interesting than her two sisters, in my opinion, she is sassy and can be a brat but at the end of the day she only wants to help her sisters.

So some of you may wonder how does this book compare to the movie? In my opinion the movie brought a lot of these characters to life and made them more interesting. Movie Peter and Laura Jean are the cutest! And I tolerate movie Margot. The Movie also made Kitty shine even more.

I would recommend this book to readers who are curious about the story behind the movie or if anyone is impatient and wants to find out what happens to Peter and Laura Jean after the events of the movie.

I would give this book 2.5/3 stars as it is a pretty average read and good world to jump into if you need a quick and easy read and a great distraction.

Until next times friends continue Living in Libros,

Gaby

PS.

I began reading the sequel and I had to put it down after 100 pages because I was so bored. I’m hoping the movies continue to bring life to these characters.

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My trip to San Miguel de Allende

Hello friends, book goblins, and wanderlusters!

Today’s post will be all about my recent trip to México. Unlike my previous trips to the motherland, my trip to the pueblito of San Miguel de Allende was for a poetry conference sponsored through my Uni. This program was set up through a study abroad program, but unlike a lot of study abroad trips, this particular one was for a week rather than a full semester. I liked this because it meant I would not have to be away from my dog, Apollo, for that long 😊. During my trip, I participated in a poetry workshop with other U.S poets who have experience writing and publishing poetry. During the workshops, we would collectively get together and read and critique each other’s poetry. It was super awesome! Even though a majority of my classmates did not have experience in the publishing world, we could still offer valid critiques for these seasoned poets.

Continue reading “My trip to San Miguel de Allende” →
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8 of my favorite books of 2018

Hello Friends!

Today I thought I would recap my favorite books of 2018.

Some books on my list are absent from this picture. To my Primas, I want my books back.
  1. Emergency Contact

I purchased this book, went to Mary HK Choi’s signing at the LA Festival of Books and then read the book a month later. And it was amazing. Definitely a book I would reread.


2. Labyrinth Lost

This book was amazing. Sure we got famous wizards such as Merlin, The boy who lived but were are our Brujas at? Look no further, Labyrinth Lost has a beautiful mix of different Latinx cultures and religions that make up this world. In addition, we also get a strong Latinx protagonist who is Bi!

3. Warcross

Warcross is amazing! If you were a Sword Art Online lover, like me. This book will blow your mind. This story had me at the edge of my sit and I loved that it was set in Tokyo, Japan.

4. Geekerella

Geekerella was so cute. I loved the way the fandom, cosplay, and the con was written. As a sometimes cosplayers I thought this story captured that aspect well. In addition, the characters in this book were awesome. Especially Fairy Godmother Sage.

5. The House on Mango Street

I had not read the House on Mango Street cover to cover until this year and I really enjoyed it! The collection of small poetic stories were really beautiful and Esperanza’s growth through the story was my favorite part of this book.

6. Six Of Crows

I have been meaning to read Six of Crows ever since I had heard about the series but did not read it until this year. This duology honestly blew away my expectations. I laughed. I cried. (I cried a lot). And I will carry the characters with me forever.

7. Kill the Queen

This book was described as a mixture of Game of Thrones and Black sails and it did not disappoint. There was a lot of action but also betrayal and deception as well as the overall growth of the main character, Evie as she prepares herself to take back her Queendom.

8. The Princess Saves Herself in this One

Another collection of poetry I fell in love with. The poems were beautiful and heart wrenching but what I liked the most about them was the way that they filled me with both inspiration and love.

Compiling this list of favorites was a little hard considering there were other great books I read this year that did not make this list. So here are some honorable mentions.

  • The Victoria in my head
  • Alex, Approximately
  • Daughter of the Pirate King
  • The Girl from the other side (read my review for this here)
  • A Dash of Trouble

What was your favorite read of 2018? And what books do I need to check out for 2019?

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The Girl from the Other Side

The Girl from the Other Side

Story and Art by Nagabe

Page Count: I don’t know it’s a magna

Rating: 5 Stars

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Hello readers!

For today’s post I want to review the first book “The Girl from the Other Side”, a magna series. For those of you who are not familiar with Magna they are similar to comic books except they come from and are translated from Japan. A lot of Magna ends up becoming anime series such as Sailor Moon or Attack on Titan.

So what’s so great about the girl from the other side? In short everything. The series follows a young girl named Shiva who lives in an abandoned village with her demon guardian whom she calls teacher. In the first book we learn that some kind of sickness took over the village and Shiva was left in Teacher’s care. However for some reason Shiva cannot touch teacher or she will catch the curse and turn into some ugly creature…Forever. I know right so crazy.

Anyways Shiva is so sassy! And maybe part of that is because she is so young and kids don’t really have a filter but I found Shiva’s personality refreshing. I also loved that Shiva just rolls with the fact she lives with a demon now as if that is normal. Shiva does not ever show that she’s scared of teacher and I loved that.

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The reason I loved this book and this is what originally drew me to purchasing the first story was that the whole series gave me this Hades and Persephone vibe and as I read the magna that vibe was further validated. I mean Shiva may live with a creature of darkness but that doesn’t stop her from napping out in the woods or collecting flowers to make a cute little crown for Teacher. In addition, Shiva not being easily spooked by Teacher’s otherness reminded me of the duality of Persephone as she is both the Princess of Spring as well as the Queen of darkness.

I’m not sure how the rest of this series will go but I do remember reading a summary of the series that Shiva at some point was going to travel away from the other side, which is where she lives with Teacher, in order to find her grandmother and ask her just why Teacher came to be her guardian. And with the way the first edition to this series left me feeling and left me hanging you bet I’m going to purchase the next installments.

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Girl Against the Universe

Girl Against the Universe

Author: Paula Stokes

Pages: 382

My Rating: 5 Stars

(No photo because I forgot to take one)

“I just wanted to wish you good luck again,” he says. “In fact, I found something for you.” He pulls a wadded-up tissue from his pockets and folds it back to reveal a four-leaf clover. “Put it in your shoe or whatever.”

I loved this book. Normally I don’t really connect very much with a character when they’ve lost a family member or are an orphan. I just find that trope very common among YA so I think maybe I have just come to accept it as a kind of standard for the hero story. However, with Girl Against the Universe, I connected with the story right away.

Girl Against the Universe is about Maguire Kelly, a high school student, who believes without a doubt that the Universe is out to get her. Maguire has a history of walking away from disasters without a scratch and she convinces herself that she is cursed. However after her neighbor’s house catches on fire and Maguire’s family moves to San Diego she begins to attend therapy sessions in order to overcome her fear of the universe. It is there where she meets Jordy, who in is his own way is trying to take back his life. The two decide to help each other overcome their fears while also mastering the art of Tennis. Although Jordy is hoping to go pro while Maguire just wants an outlet. There’s some romance and a lot of cute moments.

I loved this book so much because Maguire’s fears and her curse felt real. I found myself unable to blame the girl for not wanting to ride in the car with other people because of the car accident that took her father, her brother, and her uncle’s life while leaving her unscratched. Maguire’s little rituals, her five minute checks, her positive affirmations, and her good luck charms were I think what really sold me. And it really warmed my heart when Jordy, Jade, and Penn took her fears seriously and offered her good luck charms as well in order to comfort her. That support system was just so beautiful.

I also enjoyed Maguire’s family and how although her mother remarries and has more children Maguire’s stepfather, Tom still claims Maguire as his own while also understanding he only has this new family because Maguire’s previous one had to die. Maguire also loves her steps siblings and she is patient with them and I found that refreshing as other books I read in the past liked to use the evil step siblings trope.

Something that I noticed that seemed off is when Magurie walks in on her therapist in one scene he is describes as eating an in-n-out burger and maybe I was hungry but I was left wondering well what kind? Was it a double double? A cheeseburger? Was it Animal style? I was left kind of curious about that.

I recommend this book to everyone! It was a very cute read. I’m not a fan of sports but this book is still a favorite.

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Review for Bad Bachelor

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Bad Bachelor by Stefanie London

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Page count: 358

My rating: 4 stars

 

“…Darcy recorded all her reading activities and didn’t generally care what people thought of her taste in books. But there had been a phase when she’d read some erotic monster books for fun. Big Foot’s virgin mistress…” (p 157).

 

I don’t think I have read much contemporary romances since my days lurking on Wattpad. However, this month I decided to broaden my reading palette by reading some more romance novels. The two romance novels I read before this weren’t my favorite and honestly, I was feeling a little put off by the genre all together. But one evening I began the task of requesting more library books to read in the following weeks and somehow Bad Bachelor ended up in my pile.

Bad Bachelor is about Reed McMahon, a PR whiz, living in New York city. Reed’s done damage control for a fair share of his celebrity clients but that was all pretty easy compared to the shit storm that got thrown his way because of a budding new dating app, Bad Bachelor. Bad Bachelor is like yelp, it lets women rate the men they’ve dated, and in doing so the app is suppose to help women make their own decisions about the guys they’re seeing. But Reed ends up becoming the most rated guy on the Bad Bachelor app and the reviews aren’t all that nice.

Darcy Greer is out looking for love or at least someone to casually date after her last relationship. So, she starts using Bad Bachelor to look up potential guys who will definitely not break her heart. Darcy ends up meeting Reed through work and it isn’t all love and heart eye emojis at first site. The two hate each other but slowly they become friends and eventually lovers.

I loved Bad Bachelor because Darcy was so adorably quirky. She’s a tattoo covered librarian who loves her graphic tees and doc martens. She also loves to read, and she generally reads whatever she wants like monster erotica books apparently. But what really made me love Darcy was that after she sleeps with Reed for the first time she starts to make snow angels on the silk sheets, get it girl.

In general, this novel was a nice light read that I gobbled up. My only beef with it was that the ending felt rushed to me, but I think that was just because I was surprised I had gotten to the end so fast.

I recommend it for anyone who wants a cute but light romance read.

 

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