The Rose and the Dagger: My Review

The Rose and the Dagger is the sequel to The Wrath and the Dawn, a retelling of the Arabian Nights by Renee Ahdieh. It was published earlier this year.

Rating: ★★★★✩

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Retelling

Warning: spoilers

The story:

The Rose and the Dagger is the second book of the duology, and brings an end to Sharzad and Khalid’s story. After the storm that destroyed most of Rhae, Khalid tries his best to rebuild his city, and Sharzad, separated from the boy she loves, desperately tries to put an end to the revolution that is on its way. Meanwhile, Despina leaves behind her a heartbroken Jalal, a curse has to be broken, and while Sharzad is reunited with her family again, she has to deal with her father’s secrets and hiding her plan from her sister Irsa.

My opinion:

First of all I listened to this on Audiobook, and once again, I absolutely loved Ariana Delawari’s narration (the only problem is that I will probably make mistakes in most of the characters names).

Second of all I am not a huge fan of the (kind of?) love triangle but I really like how things turned out in this one, and how Shazi is sure of her feelings. She is sure of herself and that is something I really appreciate in a character.

One thing that totally blew my mind is the amount of plot twists and crazy things that happened and I totally did not expect. Congratulations to Renee Ahdieh for taking me through such an amazing ride, and an incredible book! I personally really like the twist she took from the original story of a thousand and one night.

In comparison to The Wrath and the Dawn, I miss the fact that we didn’t get to see as much as Despina and Jalal. They are definitely complex and interesting characters. On the other hand other amazing characters were introduced such as Irsa and Hartan. We also got to know Tarek and Rahim better, and I really liked it. As I mentioned before, I am not a huge fan of Tarek. However, Rabin was definitely one of my favourite characters. To be honest, he was almost too good to be true. As much as his death broke my heart, I did feel that it was predictable.

One thing that definitely wasn’t predictable is the mystery of Despina’s origins. It’s something that I totally didn’t expect and it definitely did make this book better. I also really like that we got too see Yasmine again, and she definitely had an interesting character development. When we first saw her in The Wrath and the Dawn I wanted to believe that there was more to her than appeared at first, and I was delighted to see that I was right. Overall these books features amazing ladies, and I really liked that part.

I was also rather shocked and surprised by Sharzad’s father’s attitude, even though he did try to redeem himself in the end. I was a bit disappointed with him as a character but it also contributed to make this book an original story!

I couldn’t make this review without mentioning how much I like all the moments between Shazi and Khalid. They are really a power couple and work so well together, it was such a pleasure to read all the parts where they were together.

Finally, I just wanted to say that I know this duology is really different from the original tale (in the original tale, the sultan kills a new wife every dawn because his wife cheated on him, and he wants to take revenge on women, while here, Khalid is the victim of a curse). But I really like how original this twist was, and the universe Ahdieh described was really magical. I know that some people didn’t like it, but I did and I’m not asking for more!

Please share your opinion in the comments if you read it as I would love to discuss it! And feel free to recommend similar books!

Teaser Tuesday #35

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme is hosted by MizB from Books and a Beat.

1. Grab your current read

2. Open to a random page

3. Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

4. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

As much as it bothers me, I still haven’t finished All the Light we cannot see by Anthony Doerr and I keep coming back to it in my Teaser Tuesdays. Hopefully, next week I will have finally finished it, and I’ll be able to move on!

Genre: Historical Fiction

My quote:

“Sixteen paces to the water fountain, sixteen back. Forty-two to the stairwell, forty-two back. Marie-Laure draws maps in her head, unreels a hundred yards of imaginary twine, and then turns and reels it back.” – p.44

Goodreads

September book haul!

Hi everyone! Apparently, it’s that time of the month again. I wasn’t planning on getting new books this month, but I failed miserably since I got nine of them. What’s a book buying ban anyway?

I uploaded a video where I talk about them, if you want to see it, here it is:

Ideas for recommendations?

Hi guys! I need your help!

I’m running out of ideas for my Sunday Recommendations, and since I didn’t have time to make a proper article this week, I thought I would just make this quickly. Please comment with any suggestions you have! Here is the list of all the recommendation posts I have already made.

I’m going to make a video about poetry very soon, and I’m thinking about making a Sunday Recommendations post featuring feminist books. Aside from that, I’m talking about diverse books every Thursday, but for my Sunday posts, inspiration is running out!

Please leave a comment if you have some ideas!

Books With a Purpose Tag

Hi everyone! I was tagged ages ago to do this tag and now I’m finally doing it… Thanks @Teenbooklit101 for tagging me, here is her article if you want to check it out!

Here are the rules:

1. Mention the person who tagged you in your post and provide a link to their blog
2. Fill out the 9 questions in the tag
3. For each question, insert a gif of how you feel about the book(s) or author.
4. Tag 5 people and/or everyone to do this tag!
5. Before you post the tag, do a five-second party dance. Cause you dat awesome

*****

BEST STORY PREMISE

I’m going to go with Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan, I just love the concept of mythology still existing today!

BEST WORLD BUILDING

I think the best answer for this one is probably Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling. I love how this series has become so huge, and there are so many thing about it, and damn, it just feels so real, I wanna be a wizard.

BEST CHARACTER

There are so many amazing characters out there, but I’m going to pick Cath from Fangirl because she is probably the most relatable character I have ever read. I just want to give her a big hug and be friends with her!

BEST SERIES

I have a new favourite for this one, and trust me, you’re gonna hear about it a lot, and it’s The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer! ♥

BEST TEAR JERKER

Let me pick two books for this one, because I can’t seem to pick only one, and of course, my picks are The Fault in our Stars by John Green, and One Day by David Nicholls (come one, did you honestly think I wouldn’t include it in this post? Clearly if you did, you don’t know me well…)

BEST AUTHOR

Without thinking, my answer is alsways John Green. And I’m really patient waiting for his next book, but come on, it’s been since like, 2012? Please, I want some new content!

BEST WRITING STYLE

Honestly, I have to say that I often find the writing style really good. I think I’m going to pick Rainbow Rowell because I love her books so much. I read Landline and Attachments so quickly, the writing style is amazing. Yes, she makes contemporaries amazing.

BEST COVER

The entire Selection series by Kiera Cass has absolutely amazing covers, I just love them so much…

BEST ENDING

Another book I read recently and loved from beginning to end, and I have to say I found the ending particularly satisfying: P.S. I like you by Kasie West!

This book made me so happy, and if you haven’t read it, then I definitely recommend it!

*****

And that’s it. It wasn’t that easy to find gifs, but I’m glad with the result!

I won’t be tagging anyone because I’m lazy, I feel like I’m always tagging the same people, and I don’t want to bother you, but if you want to do this tag, I had a lot of fun doing it, so feel free to do it as well! I’m tagging everyone! Have a great day!

The Old Man Who Read Love Stories: Short Review

I read this book in August and I really enjoyed it, so I thought it was time I finally made a review for it.

Author: Luis Sepulveda
Original title: Un viejo que leía novelas de amor
Publication year: 1989
Genre: Latin American Literature
My rating: ★★★★☆

The story:

The Old Man who read Love Stories is a rather short book, about a man called Antonio José Bolivar, living in a small town called El Idillio. He originally came here with his wife, but after she passed away, he lived for years in the jungle with the natives, and acquired a great deal of knowledge about them, their way of living, and the Ecuadorian jungle itself. So when people start turning dead, and obviously killed by a wild animal, the people ask for his help. But Bolivar is old now, and all he cares about is the book that is waiting for him in his small house.

My opinon:

I wanted to talk about this book because I found it was extremely beautiful and poetic. It is an ode to nature, and to respect what we are given. Bolivar is an amazing character, who is solitary and understands nature better than any of us. However this book also shows how misunderstood he is, and how the world we live in today has changed so much.

I don’t have much to say except that it’s a quick read, original, and an incredible story.

The Old Man who read Love Stories is not only a book about a man who loves nature, but also a book about an old, broken man who finds solace only in book, and it was really great to read about him and how he came to fall in love with, when it is not something you might expect from such a character.

Overall, I find it difficult to review this book because it is unique and different from what I usually read. However, one thing I’m sure of is that I really recommend it, especially if you’re looking for something a little bit different, from something poetic, and/or for a book which is in itself an ode to nature.

Diversity Spotlight Thursday #5

Hi readers! The Diversity Spotlight Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Aimal on her blog Bookshelves and Paperbacks and since reading diverse books is important to me, I’m now taking part every week.

The rules are simple: in your diversity spotlight post, you share three books

1. A diverse book you have read and enjoyed
2. A diverse book that has already been released but you have not read
3. A diverse book that has not yet been released

If you want to read more about it, you can check out the Announcement Post!

And without further ado, here are my features for this week!

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A book I have read and enjoyed:

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

Genre: Historical Fiction
My rating: ★★★★☆ (review)

Memoirs of a Geisha is set in Japan at the beginning of the 20th century and is the story of a little countryside girl, Chiyo, who is sold to a Geisha house in Tokyo. The story follows her from childhood to adulthood, and shows the harships of her life, from the prosperity of Tokyo to its downfall during WWII. I believe it is an interesting diverse read as first, it involves a culture many people are unfamiliar with, and the main character is a geisha, which is an occupation often despised by Occidental society while we don’t know much about it. Definitely an incredible book!

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A book on my TBR:

Girl mans up by M-E Girard

Genre: YA, Contemporary

Goodreads blurb:
All Pen wants is to be the kind of girl she’s always been. So why does everyone have a problem with it? They think the way she looks and acts means she’s trying to be a boy—that she should quit trying to be something she’s not. If she dresses like a girl, and does what her folks want, it will show respect. If she takes orders and does what her friend Colby wants, it will show her loyalty. But respect and loyalty, Pen discovers, are empty words. Old-world parents, disintegrating friendships, and strong feelings for other girls drive Pen to see the truth–that in order to be who she truly wants to be, she’ll have to man up.

Girl mans up has just been released in September and it definitely looks like an interesting read!

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A book releasing soon:

Girls like me by Lola StVil

Genre: YA, Contemporary

Goodreads blurb:
Fifteen-year-old Shay Summers is trying to cope with the death of her father, being overweight, and threats from a girl bully in schooll.  When she falls in love with Blake, a mysterious boy online, insecure Shay doesn’t want to tell him who she is.   But with the help of her two best friends, as well as an assist by Kermit and Miss Piggy, ultimately Shay and Blake’s love prevails.

Girls like me is the story of an overweight girl, which again, is something we don’t see a lot of in YA literature, and it was written by a POC writer. It will be released in October. I saw that it has mixed review on Goodreads, but it looks like something I could enjoy!

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And that’s it for this week, feel free to recommend some diverse books in the comments!

Winter: My Review

Winter is the fourth and biggest book in The Lunar Chronicles, which is an amazing series written by Marissa Meyer. It was released in 2015. Each book introduces new characters based on classical fairytales. The first one, Cinder takes a turn on Cinderella. The second one, Scarlet, takes a twist on Little Red Riding Hood. The third one, Cress, retells the story of Rapunzel (and is my favourite). The fourth one, Winter, is based on Snow White. The series also contains two other books, Fairest, which centers on the Evil Queen, and Stars Above, a series of short stories. I haven’r read those yet, but I most definitely will as soon as I can!

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Retelling
My rating: ★★★★★

WARNING: SPOILERS

The story:

In this fourth installment of The Lunar Chronicles, Scarlet is a prisoner, Kai is about to marry Levana, and Cinder is about to start a revolution along with Cress, Thorne who is still blind, and Wolf. Meanwhile, Levana is getting more and more jealous of her step-daughter Winter, and asks Jacin to kill her. But Jacin can’t kill the one he loves (though he won’t admit it) and a revolution is now in movement…

My opinion:

Holy crap, this series was awesome, really. This one was huge, but it wasn’t a problem at all. I could read about these characters forever.

What can I say about it, I find it harder to review with every book. By now, all the characters have been introduced to the story, so there’s nothing really  new on this aspect. In this particular volume the story retelling was about Snow White, and I found it extremely well made. More than in the other books, I found it very striking and appropriate. It really did fit the universe Meyer created, and I loved it. Winter and Jacin are amazing characters. All the characters in this series are unique and different, and it’s absolutely brilliant.

As usual, I love the universe Meyer created in The Lunar Chronicles. I really cannot get enough of it, and I don’t know if I have already mentioned it on here so I’m just gonna put that here: I can proudly tell you that Cinder is one of the books I’m going to include in my Master’s thesis, which is about retellings of Cinderella.

Now back to business. Winter is the final installment in the series, and brings a much-anticipated ending to the story of Cinder, Kai and their friends. I thought this particular book contained more violence than the previous ones (with what of Levana’s executions and all the deaths at the beginning of the revolution) and also much manipulations in way that I find disgusting, but it’s part of the story and the reason why those people needed a revolution so that was a pretty good exuse though I’m not a huge fan of such displays.

Something else I definitely wanted to mention is Levana’s character. Every time I start to pity her, and feel bas for her, and understand why she is such an awful person (because of her sister etc.) And every time I start liking her a bit, she does something awful like order her stepdaughter to be killed, or execute someone for no reason. And I’m left with broken feels and hatred towards her. She is really and incredible and complex villain (and I know, I really need to read Fairest).

Another thing I found disturbing obviously is the mind manipulations. It was really interesting to see Cinder’s internal debates because she doesn’t like it but has to use it to protect herself and is scared of her limits and what she might do in the end with her Lunar gift. She is definitely a complex and interesting, and it was amazing to follow her through this series.

I know this is a completely random order of thoughts, but I wanted to mention how much I love Cress and Thorne together. They’re both amazing, interesting, original and complex characters, and are just so adorable together. It was really a pleasure to read about them, and see their story have a happy ending.

Cress and Thorne are my favourite couple in the series, but the ones that really broke my heart are probably Scarlet and Wolf, because of all the things they had to go through. Their story was just pain, and pain, and more manipulation. Every time you think they have reach the worst, and they have more shit awaiting. PROTECT WOLF AND SCARLET FOR ALL THAT IS HOLY THEY DESERVE PEACE.

I also really liked the fact that through Jacin and Kai we got to see different aspects of the situation and the revolution. Finally, one thing that I really appreciated is that all 9 characters (because Iko too, she is amazing) work together. It’s not Cinder/Kai and Scarlet/Wolf and Cress/Thorne and Winter/Jacin. We get to see an amazing friendship between Cinder and Thorne, and between Scarlet and Winter. We see Cress working with Jacin and Wolf. They work as a group and not as separate paris, and that is absolutely great.

Overall, I can’t recommend this series enough. It is original, and full of complex and diverse characters. And thank god it has a happy ending (even though it did sound too good to be true!)

Teaser Tuesday #34

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme is hosted by MizB from Books and a Beat.

1. Grab your current read

2. Open to a random page

3. Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

4. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

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I recently bought two poetry books in the Penguin Little Black Classics collection, and I started one of them. I am currently reading A terrible beauty is born by W.B. Yeats and I thought that this could make a great pick for my Teaser Tuesday for this week!

“In a field by the river, my love and I did stand;
And on my leaning shoulder, she laid or snow-white hand.
She bid me take life easy, as the grass grows on her weirs;
But I was young and foolish, and now am fool of tears.”

This is an excerpt from the first poem which is called “Down by the Salley Gardens” and I really liked it.

Goodreads

About Non Fiction

Hi readers! I read two non fiction books this month, Regarde les lumières mon amour (Look at all these lights, dear) by Annie Ernaux, and Vous n’aurez pas ma haine (You won’t have my hatred) by Antoine Leiris. I know both those books are French, but if it turns out they have been translated to your language, I definitely recommend them!

In the meantime, I have made a video about non fiction books and more specifically, autobiographies and memoirs. This is about some non fiction books I have read for the past three years, so if you want to watch it, here we go!