alexgasun

[alexgasun]

Sometimes I feel frustrated reading books of established authors. The ratings are always bloated.

[alexgasun]

The first half of the first month of this year has passed and I have fully read 3 books only. None of them impressed me, they were just okay. I have dnfed another 3 books, one of them almost gave me a reading slump which I tried to undo by reading a contemporary romance novel which was so terrible I had to dnf it too. On a bright side, it did stop my reading slump and I picked up another book only to dnf it too.

[alexgasun]

Reading Wrap Up 2023

In 2023 I got back into reading. I loved reading as a child but as I grew older I had less and less time to read. Also I didn't know what to read. When I was in school, classics were most popular but I didn't enjoy reading classic literature. This year, I quit my job and I had a lot of free time. I borrowed my boyfriend's kindle and started reading again. I mostly read fantasy and romance, fantasy romance too. I try reading mostly adult books in these genres because I do enjoy reading some smut.

I've read 102 books in total, DNF-ed 52. So, here is my list of the best, most mediocre and the worst books I've read.

Best books 2023 : 1. The Jasad Heir by Sara Hashem (adult fantasy romance)- this is book 1 in The Scorched Throne duology. Second book release date has not been announced yet. In this story we follow Sylvia, lost and presumed dead heir to Jasad. Sylvia's main goal is to survive. She has no plans to reclaim the throne or help her people who are murdered for their magic.

2. Silver in the Bone by Alexandra Bracken (young adult fantasy, romance) - book 1 in Silver in the Bone series. I'm not sure how many books there will be in the series. There is no release date for book 2. In this story we follow siblings who are searching for Arthurian ring. The world is very well constructed. It's magical, dark.

3. Children of Fallen Gods by Carissa Broadbent (adult fantasy romance) - book 2 in The War of Lost Hearts trilogy (complete). I don't want to write much about premise of this book because I'm afraid to spoil anything for anyone. You definitely need to read book 1 Daughter of No Worlds before you read book 2. Book 2 is told in 3 POVs, 2 of them are connected and one of them is kind of independent. All I will say is that this book is heartbreaking, beautiful, tense and emotional. The ending is my Roman Empire. And it's the best book in the series, in my opinion.

4. Tress of Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson (young adult fantasy romance) - part of the Cosmere series (ongoing) which consists of mostly independent stories. I decided to read this because TikTok won't shut up about Brandon Sanderson. I've seen how thick his books are and I want to avoid them, no matter how great they may be. But Tress of Emerald Sea is about 500 pages and it was a very light read. And, most importantly, so much fun. In this story we follow Tress, who leaves her island to search for her beloved. Such a magical work. It takes you back to good parts of your childhood, I don't know how to explain it.

5. A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir (young adult fantasy romance) - book 4 of An Ember in the Ashes series (complete). It's a final book in the series. You definitely need to read previous books to appreciate this work. Again, I don't want to spoil anything so all I will say that this is a perfect ending to the series. It wraps everything up, there are no questions left. So devastatingly beautiful, sad, hopeful. I'm tearing up as I'm writing this. I do want to mention that I would not qualify this as a young adult book. There are some pretty heavy topics involved, there is gore and torture (which is described in detail too). Definitely check out warnings.

6. At The End There Was You by Wendy Heiss (fantasy romance). Pretty short novella, not part of any series. The God of Death has announced that he will destroy the world in 7 days. We follow Winter, our main character, as she assists Azriel - a mage in trying to find a way to avoid the end of the world. Beautifully written. Some heavy topics discussed/mentioned.

7. Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer (young adult/adult fantasy romance). Book 1 in Assistant to the Villain trilogy (ongoing). The author recently announced book 2 release date (August 2024). This book is a very light read even though some heavy topics are discussed. If you want something "serious", deep. intricate and complicated you should probably skip this one. The main reason why I have it in the list of Best books is because of the romance. I'm a sucker for a slowburn, especially in fantasy genre and romance storyline in Assistant to the Villain is exactly what I want to see. In this book we follow Evie - the main provider of her family - as she works as an assistant to The Villain. The main plotline revolves around the Villain and Evie trying to find out who is the spy in their castle.

8. The Right Move by Liz Tomforde (contemporary sports romance, adult) - book 2 in Windy City series (ongoing). There are 3 books in the series so far, mostly independent from each other with reoccurring characters. In this story we follow Indy, who has recently ended a relationship and needs a play to crash and Ryan, who is captain in a basketball team. Just read it.

9. Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez (contemporary adult romance) - book 2 in Part of Your World series (I'm not sure whether there will be more books in this series). You don't have to read book 1 but I do recommend it. The main female character is Briana - recently divorced, overworked. Her brother is sick so she takes care of him too. She's hoping to get promoted in the hospital but suddenly, a new doctor appears! Understandably, initially tensions are high. I must say, this might be my favorite romance of all time. Jacob is the best book boyfriend ever. There is no one like him. His universe revolves around Briana. Sorry, I'm a sucker for simps.

This list was supposed to include one more book but it's published under St. Martin's Press against which there is ongoing creator's boycott. While I'm not a creator and have 0 followers, I still want to support the boycott so I will not be mentioning the book title or the author. Also somehow this list took me almost an hour to write and the post is already huge. Will to mediocre books list in another post

[alexgasun]

Rant about contemporary romance books

Romance is my favorite genre. I've been reading a lot for the past six months, mostly romance and fantasy romance books. And here is my issue with specifically romance genre - if I was to write a bride's/groom's wedding speech for any of the contemporary romance books I've read, it would start like this:

"From the first time I saw you, I wanted to bang you..."

Why is it that I read 10, 20, 30, 40 books where the whole relationship premise depends on the insta attraction? I want some substance. Main characters not thinking anything of each other until they get to know each other and then becoming attracted to one another. I'm tired of insta love, insta attraction. I'm tired of main characters not being able speak to one another without thinking "omg this person is so hot I want to get kinky with them". Also, do people like this actually exist? I've never seen someone and thought hm, I want to fornicate with them. Well, there have been some women (this may be my bi awakening) who I had such thoughts about but they were fleeting thoughts and not something that lived in my mind for duration of every conversation I had with them. So I don't know. Maybe that is normal but it seems so unnatural to me to read about.

[alexgasun]

I envy people who manage to finish reading books they hated from the get-go. If I hate the book I dnf it. I would rather spend time reading something I enjoy. How do they do it?

[alexgasun]

I have not read a truly 5 star book in so long. Is it possible to become fed up with books? Like if you love strawberries and you eat strawberries too often and you don’t love strawberries anymore?

What if I never find another perfect book?

[alexgasun]

I’m about to be stuck in the reading slump. Dnf-ing second book today. So many fantasy romance books you can read but too many of them are so poorly written. I seem to be too picky. I want to cry.

[alexgasun]

I am so upset that I can’t bring myself to do anything. Don’t develop a game if you will ruin a legacy.

[alexgasun]

Baldur's Gate 3 final battle and ending

I did not realize that once I go down to the megabrain in undercity, I won't be able to change my companions. I realized this too late, when I was already in the upper city so I was stuck with Shadowheart throughout the last 3 big fights. I had to get by using scrolls and potions. I struggled.

I don't like Shadowheart. I just can't utilize clerics properly. On my first playthrough (which I have not finished, started second playthrough) I was a druid and a druid is much more useful to me. Druids and Clerics might not seem interchangeable, but for me they are. To sum it all up, I can't use a cleric and my mistake number 1 was taking Shadowheart with me.

The whole "Gather your allies" quest. The buffs were great; the fighters not so much. When should I have summoned them? When I was fighting goblins with 5 hp each? Or when I was trying to reach the rehabilitation fountain and each turn there were arial strikes so that my summoned allies could die there? Or when I had 4 turns to subdue the brain using Netherel stones, should I have wasted my Actions to summon allies? What was the point?

In my head I thought that all those people we helped along the way would fight alongside us. I imagined this huge epic fight. My mistake number 2 was having high expectations it seems.

The worst part was getting to Karsus crown. I set up globe of invulnerability right in front of it and somehow, even when Wyll was inside the globe he lost concentration because a mind flayer used mind blast on him and stunned him. I wish it was mentioned in spell's description that you are not invulnerable to stuns, confusion or charms. Mistake number 3 - should have done my research.

Basically the last fight(s) was frustrating and annoying. And it's not about it being a difficult fight. Facing Viconia was also difficult, but it was not frustrating.

The ending itself was okay. I'm happy Karlach is alive. If there is ever Baldur's Gate 4, I hope it's about her. I hope there will be Astarion too, because I absolutely hated how he ran away and Gale said that it's probably the last time we see him. Why should it be the last time? He's a vampire, not dead.

I don't remember much about Baldur's Gate 2, but I do remember the ending. It was so satisfying, so nicely wrapped up. It felt like an ending. On the other hand, ending of Baldur's gate 1 was not tied up with the bow, it was an open ending; there were no heartwarming conversations between companions, there was no hinting on their plans for the future; you defeat the last villain and that's it. There was a cutscene but it was not about the companions or the Gorion's ward.

The ending of Baldur's Gate 3 is neither. It tells you that this is the end but it leaves so many questions, openings for the story to continue. It seems as if the developers didn't know themselves whether this is the end or not. The way I see it, this is a set up for Baldur's Gate 4 featuring Karlach and covering Avernus and possibly city of Amn. I hope I am right, because otherwise this ending just is not it.

This has nothing to do with the ending but I hated how creepy this game was. I'm just in a mood to complain. I am planning another playthrough so I obviously did not hate the game. I just hate that it's just as soulless as illithids.

[alexgasun]

reading book reviews

After reading a book I loved, I read 1 and 2 star reviews of it on Goodreads. Mostly because I want to know if I missed something or did not pay enough attention. And most of the times I am just upset in the end. Some people are so nitpicky it's ridiculous.

But I figured that sometimes you just love the book so much from the first several chapters that the things that would frustrate you in other books don't attract so much attention to them.

For example, in The Jasad Heir I loved Sylvia so much everything else didn't matter to me. I have read some reviews and people complain about the pacing. But at no point did it ever bother me because Sylvia was always there. I didn't care what was happening around her as long as I could read about her. And maybe I would have also complained about the pacing if there was a different main character. But now it feels wrong to me, it feels unjust even when the sole reason a book gets 3 stars is because "the pacing was off". Absurd. Why should I feel those things, it's not that big of a deal.

This is exactly why I can't trust myself. Getting heated on such trivial matters. Why do I even exist. Why can't I just person (verb) as a person should.

P.s. The Jasad Heir is a great book not only because of the main character but the writing, the plot and the romance as well. It is my gem.

[alexgasun]

I don’t like reading romance books where the female character swoons, where her mind stops working every time male character stands too close, is partially naked, etc. while he is constantly entertained by the effect he has on her and makes fun of her for it. It irritates me to no end, especially when this happens constantly. It doesn’t feel like “tension”; it feels like hormonal maiden losing her shit over a dipshit.

[alexgasun]

reading books written in first person POV in present tense irks me way too much. Imagine going about your day and narrating everything you are doing as you are doing it. "I brush my long dark hair" girl stop.