• Book Review

    Mini Reviews // Progress on My Bookish Backlog

    I struggled with lack of motivation to blog for most of last year. Throw in the fact that the internet just kept me overwhelmed with lots of bad news for a while last year, and my “laziness” felt pretty justified. So, I’ve had these reviews sitting in my drafts for a while, and I decided to let them see the light of day. Have you read any of these books? Which books have you enjoyed recently?

  • Bookish List

    What’s on my TBR List This Year?

    Hello and happy not-so-new year! I was just looking through the books I read in 2020, and I realised that despite my extended absence from the blogosphere, I was able to read over 120 books (I stopped counting at 127). Since I’m on a roll, I decided to share the titles that have made it to my 2021 TBR list so far. The Empire of Gold by S.A. Chakraborty “The final chapter in the Daevabad Trilogy, in which a con-woman and an idealistic djinn prince join forces to save a magical kingdom from a devastating civil war…“ I’ve read the first two books in this series, and so far, I’m…

  • Book Review

    Mixed Feelings // Spin the Dawn Mini Review + Aesthetic

    AMAZON — GOODREADS — BARNES & NOBLE — BOOK DEPOSITORY I feel like I should start paying more attention to book descriptions because the first few lines of marketing spiel can be quite deceiving. * “Project Runway meets Mulan in this sweeping YA fantasy about a young girl who poses as a boy to compete for the role of imperial tailor …” * That’s the first (and only) thing I saw about this book that prompted me to read it. It’s probably what’s made several other people eager to read this book, because who wouldn’t be drawn in by the promise of a Mulan kind of story? However, I think…

  • Book Review

    Mini Reviews: Once Upon A Harem

    I’m a sucker for fairytale retellings and reverse harem, so when I heard about this series, I was sold! The Once Upon A Harem series is a joint effort by several authors who are retelling select fairytales the reverse harem way. Each book is a standalone, as it features a different fairytale, so I’m reviewing in the order I read (rather than the order they were released). *** While Beauty Sleeps by Ripley Proserpina My Thoughts: I’ve read other RH stories by Ripley Proserpina, so I was expecting to be impressed. While this was well written, easy to follow, and just very interesting, it was just too fluffy. Maybe it’s…

  • Book Review

    Book Review: Grace and Fury by Tracy Banghart

    AMAZON GOODREADS BARNES & NOBLE BOOK DEPOSITORY *** I think what prompted me to skip all the books on my TBR list for Grace and Fury was the fact that it seemed to be about strong females defying odds in their various positions (at least, that’s what I got from the synopsis). To give you a little background, the story features Nomi and Serina. While they’re both sisters, they’ve been raised completely differently, with Serina being groomed to be a Grace in the palace, and Nomi being trained to be her sister’s handmaiden. Serina, who is satisfied with the future that has been carved out for her doesn’t understand Nomi’s…

  • Book Review

    Thoughts I Had While Reading The Wicked King

    Warning: I copied this non-review straight from my notes while I read the book. So, my apologies if it’s not very coherent. There will be minor spoilers ahead, especially for those who are yet to read The Cruel Prince. *** Cardan is quickly becoming my favourite character. Of course, I have to get over how much I disliked him in The Cruel Prince. There’s no clear good vs bad in this story. Everyone does morally questionable stuff. I guess it’s all about who has the best intentions. The only clear rules that Jude and maybe Cardan subscribe to: don’t kill your family and always be there for your siblings (unless they killed your family, of course). Locke is probably going to reveal…

  • Book Review

    Book Review: The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

    AMAZON — GOODREADS — BARNES & NOBLE — BOOK DEPOSITORY *** I was first introduced to Holly Black through a cereal box. I was about ten years old, and Simon and Schuster did a special promo with a cereal company. So, I found myself with a mini edition of the Spiderwick Chronicles, which was a pretty cool read. After that, nothing life changing happened. I didn’t read any other Holly Black book until late 2018 when I decided to succumb to the Cruel Prince hype. The Cruel Prince features Jude, a human who lives among fae. She’s reminded daily of how she’s worthless because she’s human, and so she yearns…