Tag: Book blog

This sequel SLAPS

Today I am excited to finally review Protect the Prince by Jennifer Estep.

Protect the Prince is the second book in the Crown of Shards series, and it was released this past July. Kill the Queen, the first book in the series, was such an addicting read! An Evil Queen, gladiators, magic, and a kick-ass heroine what more could you want?

“Summer queens are fine and fair, with pretty ribbons and flowers in their hair. Winter queens are cold and hard, with frosted crowns made of icy shards.”

Kill the Queen was all about Everleigh quest to survive after her cousin, queen Vasila, along with the help of Maeven, decided to murder her entire family along with anyone else attending the seven spires ball. Evie, as the only survivor of her family line, runs off and joins the Black Swam Troupe, an old gladiator group. Evie does not reveal her true identity at first but as she grows stronger she comes to the conclusion that she must avenge her family and her Kingdom.

Protect the Prince picks up right where we left off in Book one. Everleigh is the queen of Bellona and she feels undeserving of the title, even though she won the duel to death against her cousin. Along for the ride are old favorites from the Black Swan Troupe: Paloma, Cho, Serilda, and Sullivan who all act like political advisors as well as bodyguards. As soon as Evie ascends the throne, she is sent to Andvari on an apology tour: the Andvarian King lost his son and a politician during the Seven Spire massacre. Luckily for Evie, her gladiator crush, Sullivan, is the illegitimate son of the king and sets up a meeting between the two kingdoms. Things heat up in Andvari when the King insists that Evie marry his remaining son thus creating an alliance between both their kingdoms. Maeven and her assassins return to take out Evie and the Prince, complicating their alliance.

After the events of the first book, Evie is surer of herself: she can kick ass without a doubt. However, she is unsure of her role as queen. I wanted to scream at Evie that she is the most powerful queen Bellona could ever have but sadly I could not. Evie is much more powerful than we initially thought. Recall in book one that Evie is immune to magic which thus allowed her to defeat her cousin even after being hit by Vasilla’s lighting.

There is more to Evie’s immunity than deflecting magic, turns out Evie can force that immunity out of her body. Extremely useful when surrounded by a bunch of magic wielders.

I loved this addition to Evie’s power! I’ve read plenty of books that deal with magic, but I’ve never read about a character who is immune altogether. That is a game-changer in my opinion

Sullivan continues to play the same games with Evie by denying becoming her boyfriend. His excuse once again is “noble” because he knows she will not gain anything from their relationship. Conveniently, we learn in this novel how Sullivan developed this insecurity. Sully comes around eventually which made me extremely happy: I have been rooting for these two to get together since their initial meeting. I am a sucker for the prince angst. I don’t want to spoil just how they get together but it is such a beautiful scene.

I felt like Clara Oswald throwing flowers at the 10th doctor when he married the queen. I Love my OTP and cannot wait to read more about them in the next book.

This book is not as bloody as the first one but there is still plenty of mature content. I would recommend these books to anyone who wants to jump into fantasy and wouldn’t mind some spiciness.

🌶️🌶️

Until next time readers continue living in libros,

Gaby

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My Latinx Heritage month TBR

I did not learn about Latinx heritage month until, I was in college and even then, I thought, “oh this must be new that’s why I never heard of it”.

Nope.

While researching this topic, I discovered that Latinx heritage month began as a weeklong celebration in 1968. Later, Regan expanded it to a month-long celebration, starting on September 15th. According to the U.S.’ government’s website, this celebration begins in the middle of the month because the 15th and 16th of September are Independence Days for many Latin American countries.

Continue reading “My Latinx Heritage month TBR” →
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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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The Selection Series

Dear Readers,

I have been out of touch with the YA community for a long time and I am know just starting to catch up with the great stories that have been published since my absent.  One such story that knocked me out into the next galaxy was The Selection series by Keira Cass.

The Selection Series for those who were blissfully unaware like yours truly, are a series of books that follow a young woman named American who lives in a future dystopian version of the United States. In this dystopian society the U.S, now renamed the country of llléa, is basically governed by a caste system. The higher the number you are the poorer you live eight being the lowest and as America describes it those who are eights are basically homeless. Being a one of course means you’re living the good life and in the case of The Selection series you’re basically royalty. This fictional USA is also governed by a Monarchy and once the prince becomes of age women all over the country are invited to compete for him as part of the Selection. America, wanting to please her mother, submits her application to the Selection believing that her chance of being picked will be slim. Additionally, our girl America is dating this guy, Aspen, and they’re practically engaged when she decides to enter the contest. However, a stupid fight leaves America heartbroken and on the other side of the country where she meets Prince Maxon and her feelings about both of men become complicated.

Book 2 starts off with America and Maxon cuddling in the gardens their favorite spot in the palace. After an incidence involving America’s bff the two get in a nasty fight and spend the rest of the book detached from each other. In fact, both end up getting close to other people. America of course rebounds to Aspen, her comforting ex, while Maxon ends up getting close to Kriss, one of the remaining members of the selection.

Book 3 is a whirlwind. America comes to the realization that Maxon’s heart might not solely belong to her and decides to really fight for Maxon and breaks things off with Aspen. Additionally, in this book America and Maxon make an alliance with the Northern rebels after finding out that they want the same things. The King tries to get America to drop out of the competition by any means necessary. Moreover the tension builds when it is revealed that the King is abusing Maxon whenever he makes a mistake. America also decides to tell Maxon the truth about Aspen and her feelings for him. Some drama happens and Maxon comes close to marrying Kriss but alas another rebel attack occurs leaving Maxon the only surviving member of the royal family. Now that his father’s gone Maxon is free to marry America and ascend the throne.

So, let’s get to the tea.

I stayed up late to read all of these books and I have no regrets about binging this series.

What I loved about these books was that the writing is pretty easy to follow none of those loaded words that make you feel smart after looking them up in the dictionary. The plot itself is very lighthearted. Even though the world is dystopian nothing overly violent happens. Also, I really want to take a moment to appreciate Prince Maxon for not being a total jerk that was my expectation of him when I initial dived into this series. This is the perfect series to read when you just lose all your focus while studying and need a break.

The big thing that made me disappointed in these books was the lack of peoples of color. The history of this world is that the United States was taken over by China and then after few more world wars the U.S united with Canada, Mexico, and Central America to form Illéa. All of these countries that have formed to become llléa are diverse so where are the peoples of color in this series? Did these women of color not get chosen to compete?

However, after reading book two I discover that Elise, one of the remaining girls in the selection, is Asian! In addition, I also believe that it is briefly mentioned that Maxon’s mother is from a country that sounds similar to Panama, so I am unsure whether that means that Maxon is at least biracial. Regardless I wish the series gave me a more concrete answer for why peoples of color are absent.

Here’s is the map of Illea which I found in collection of short stories about the side characters of these series.

 I also felt it was a bit wack that Maxon and America decide to keep the fact that the King is abusing Maxon a secret between them as they do not want to worry the Queen. However, after being with Queen Amberly throughout this series I feel that if she would have known this was happening, she would have ripped off her husband’s crown so fast and forced the King to step down. Thus, making Maxon the king and putting an end to his father’s toxic reign. That would have probably been a more dramatic ending and more satisfying for me at least.

I did enjoy Celeste redemption arc. I overall enjoy when evil characters go grinch and have a change of heart. I loved that Lucy ended up falling in love with Aspen given that the poor girl has gone through so much. Plus, the way that America describes Aspen, the boy is a cutie.

Although my rant seems like I hated this series that is a stretch. For me these books were a page turner. I spent the early hours of the morning reading these books. And after writing this review I will most likely continue reading this series in order to find out what the sequel “The Heir” is all about.


Anyways continue Living in Libros,

Gaby

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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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Review on Eliza and her Monsters

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I didn’t have many monsters for comparison but Rey called Kylo a monster in The Last Jedi so I thought close enough.

Eliza and her Monsters

Francesca Zappia

Genre: YA

Pages 385

Reviewing 4.5 stars

 

 

Whoa just Whoa.

 

Eliza and her Monsters follows, Eliza Mirk, a high school student who is the author of the very popular webcomic, Monsters at Sea. Eliza is just living her life as the super private author of Monsters at Sea when Wallace Warland transforms to her school. Wallace as she comes to learn is a popular fan fiction author for Monster at Sea and he starts to work on the transcription of the web comic into books with Eliza of course as the beta reader. However as the two grow closer together Eliza ends up being outed as the author for Monsters at Sea and lots of drama ensues.

These books was cute and fluffy but also brought some very serious issues. Throughout the book Eliza is always alone. Until Wallace transfers she only really has Monsters at Sea and her online friends. That loneliness and frustration that Eliza has through the book continues to fester until towards the end of the book Eliza contemplates taking her own life.

I really enjoyed the world of Monsters at Sea and by the end of the book I was low key a fan but I did end up having to flip back and look at the art in order to figure out which character was which and try to unravel the story. I am honestly still not sure how that story ends but I hear Zappia is working on it.

Okay now for the thing that kind of angered me with this book was after Eliza’s secret is exposed she ends up not wanting to write anymore. Which is understandable as her whole life was put into the spotlight. However Wallace ends up being offered a book deal if he transcribes the comic but only once it’s finish so he kind of pressures Eliza to finish it. Although Eliza explains to him many times that she cannot Wallace persists and makes her feel guilty about it. Honestly that was a very shitty move Wallace and I liked him a lot less after that.

 

Before I read this book I found myself in a writing slump. I gave myself the goal to finish a story by the end of the summer and so far I was not really making progress on that goal. But then while reading Eliza and her Monsters, Eliza reminded me that creating worlds that can be shared is cool and everything but what really motivates a writer or an artist is creating for themselves. Once I told myself that writing became easier as I was doing it for myself and crafting these worlds became something personal and much easier to do.

 

I would recommend this book anyone wanting a contemporary read with a healthy serving of teen angst and self discovery. This book is also recommend for people who want a story within a story as Monsters at Sea is an interesting one.

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