#don't mind me I just finished reading the shadow and bone trilogy

[therubyreader]

My Review of Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

See a full list of my book reviews here

*Disclaimer: there will be spoilers later on in the review*

Review Word Count, non-spoiler: 854 Review Word Count Total: 1,582

We're back with the second installment of the Shadow and Bone series! You all have managed to make me a fan of this universe so much so that by the time I'm writing this I just started Crooked Kingdom (I'm reading in publishing order) and I had to force myself to stop because I didn't want to get too ahead of myself before I finished writing all of the reviews for the rest of the series. But do not fret imaginary readers, I will be doing a review of Six of Crows sometime this week while I wait for King of Scars to come off hold.

On to the main event!

Siege and Storm takes us back to Ravka, where Alina and Mal are escaping the country, on the run from the Darkling to keep Alina safe from his control. Of course they are eventually captured and forced to help the Darkling find the sea whip, the second of Morozova's amplifiers, for Alina so that her power can be used to aid the Darkling's evil plan, or whatever. She is rescued by privateer Sturmhond, who originally was working for the Darkling but then claims he's working for a higher bidder and takes her back to Ravka in order to strengthen the Second Army and help defeat the Darkling while also learning more about her powers and forbidden magic (ooo spooky).

As per usual with trilogies, at least in my personal opinion, I almost always find that the second book is the best, it's always the right mix of plot and action. The reader is already well aware of the world that we're in so we don't have to focus on worldbuilding like in the first book, and the author isn't rushing to try and tie up all loose ends into a pretty little bow like what usually happens in the last book. This isn't a complaint, yet (stay tuned for my Ruin and Rising review), but just an observation and after finishing the trilogy I can confirm that the second book is my favorite. I mean, for starters, Nikolai Lantsov beloved, he's been added to my fictional crush list and this is the first time a fictional crush has been added to my list that's younger than me while I'm consuming the source material, though it is only a year-ish, closer to two, but still.

I think my favorite part of this book was that we get to see Alina struggling mentally with the weight of being the Sun Summoner and also how she starts to become addicted to the power of the amplifiers after getting the second one. I feel like books of this nature don't really add in the mental toll that the plot would take on its characters. On top of Alina slowly becoming more like the Darkling we see Mal spiral into depression and self-harm (through fighting and drinking) and just becoming an even worse person than he was in the first book, which surprised me because I didn't think I could dislike him any more than I already did. But at least this time he's being annoying because he's mentally ill as opposed to his regular brand of annoying and bad, so yay justification, I guess.

Another thing I loved was how we see Alina trying her best to be a leader that the Grisha need but she's honestly just winging it and using some advice from Nikolai, which is honestly pretty good advice he should write a self help book. It's realistic, a random girl who up until like a couple of months before was just some map maker in the First Army was suddenly the second most powerful Grisha in the world and expected to lead all other Grisha into war would not know how to be a leader. She is honestly just trying to do her best while slowly losing her mind, and it's realistic, tell me if you weren't in her shoes that you would do better. It's easy to judge from an outsider's perspective but we as the reader have to recognize that Alina just inadvertently killed multiple people, gained an immense amount of power that's making her thirst for more, learning about a new type of dark magic that the Darkling is welding and wants to participate in it, and her closest friend/lover is being an ass to her all while she has to be the leader of all Grisha for the safety of the world, I would also go insane. But that is good writing and a great time to read because these characters, despite their magical powers and titles are just people who make mistakes and are also sometimes not the nicest which makes the book much more relatable and it feels more realistic and immersive.

Overall, this was a great continuation of the series and it was a nice mix of setting up the story and also conflict, the final battle was absolutely insane and also very bloody. I would give this book a doesn't have middle child syndrome and is the best in the series out of ten.

Spoilers Below!!!

I don't think I have much to talk about that requires a spoiler warning since everything I liked about the book could be explained without the need to give any essential plot details but I do want to talk about the love of my life Nikolai Lantsov. First of all, I had a bit of an inkling as to what Nikolai was off doing when I was reading Shadow and Bone when Genya mentioned that he hadn't been at court for years and was apprenticing for a shipwright, a civil engineer, and a gunsmith, which I suspected was a cover up for something cooler, and I was right. He's also such a good dude, Mal should take notes, he was always trying to take care of Alina, never pushed boundaries (except for that one time he kissed her but at least he gave her a warning and more or less accepted her kicking him about it), and respected her choices without throwing a temper tantrum. Refreshing. He is also the funniest character in the book, I'm not going to give any specific quotes since I don't remember whether they were in this book or in Ruin and Rising but just know he had me cackling on multiple occasions.

I did also really like Alina and Nikolai's relationship, though it was mostly one sided in terms of romance (Alina you suck) they were pretty much best friends and I felt proud seeing Alina become friends with more people that aren't Mal (and also Genya but she was in her not a good person era). They genuinely became really good friends which made my heart happy, especially since Alina had at least one person who was being entirely honest with her the whole time and cared about her as a person not just as a pawn in his game.

Also a side note about the cult that the Apparat made surrounding Alina, first of all, so strange, second of all it does really add to the plot because there's another layer of guilt for Alina to feel about how she might not be strong enough to protect all of these people who essentially see her as their personal Jesus (which is a song btw) though Jesus doesn't exist in the universe. The cult adds more pressure for Alina to be the savior of Ravka alongside the everything else pressure which is a nice bit of spice for the plot that makes you feel really bad for her.

Also the fact that the final battle is probably the bloodiest scene in the whole book and the whole thing just happened so suddenly, we're all just enjoying Nikolai's birthday dinner and then out of nowhere a bunch of nichevo'ya crash the party and literally rip the crown prince apart, which like deserved because he sucked, but damn they didn't have to do it so suddenly. The way that all of the death was described too was insane, just bodies everywhere, people being eaten and ripped apart by the nichevo'ya essentially massacring the entire Second Army and a good chunk of the Soldat Sol, it was so intense that it really captured the pure evil of the Darkling. And you don't even get time to mourn your favorite characters, because people just keep dying, as soon as you're like "omg no this character that I grew attached to just died" two lines later it's like "omg not another character that I grew attached to is dying" and it keeps going on like that. Absolutely insane and honestly well written, no matter how bloody it was and sad it made me.

Another thing I wanted to talk about was the last fight with the Darkling which was so insane to me. This girl literally made out with him in order to steal his power enough to control the nichevo'ya, and then it worked??? That whole scene was so strange I honestly don't know what else to say about it but it sure is funny in hindsight, so there is that.

Again, overall my favorite book in the trilogy and I enjoyed almost every page, all the ones that had Mal in them made me mad but it's ok I got over it by the time I finished Ruin and Rising, which you all will see a review for very soon, executive dysfunction be damned.

[memento-morri-writes]

SoC is such a good book tho!!! I could NEVER make my family read it so kudos to you!! The relationships in between the characters are elite imo and the complexity of them made me really happy when I read it!

have you watched Shadow and Bone on Netflix?? if so what did you think of the mashup in between SoC and S&B??

if you don't mind me rambling, rn I'm reading The Atlas Six which if you don't know is about six of the best magicians (called medeians in the book) of the world and how they are selected to pass a bunch of trials for two years, the prize being working in the archives of the Alexandria's Society! But the catch is that only five of them will be admitted and the sixth one simply has to die for not being selected

I have only read a couple more of a hundred pages but so far I'm loving it! It's packed with action and you have povs of the six of them which always makes a book better imo

- @/ink-fireplace-coffee

Carmen, Carmen, Carmen!!! <3333

The Atlas Six is literally the very next book in my TBR, ajdkasjdak. I'm excited about it!! I've heard good stuff about it, and your endorsement makes me even more eager to read it!! I just have to finish A Darker Shade of Magic first.

Also, about SoC. I made my entire family read it, ajsdkakjdsa. My mom read it, then for some absurd reason waited like 4 months to read CK, even though I was basically following her around with a copy begging her to. That pissed me off.

My sister didn't read it, but that's because she's convinced that if she takes a break and reads ONE book in English, she will die and forget everything she's ever learned in 13 years of taking Spanish... 🙄 I'll make her read it one day.

Stuff about S&B Netflix under the cut, because I have Too Much To Say.

As for S&B, the TV Show, I'm not really a fan. Controversial, but I am a stickler for things being accurate to the books as possible. Honestly, I haven't even finished the show. I'm only about halfway through. Part of the problem is that I've never cared one bit about Alina or Mal. The only character I cared about in the original trilogy was Nikolai, lmao. Also, this is really stupid, but I think a lot of people fell in love with the Darkling, partly because he's played by a conventionally attractive man, ajdkjas.

RANT INCOMING

I could go on for hours about how you're supposed to follow Alina's path: which is confusion > idolization > attraction > HATRED, but people get stuck on the idolizing him and thinking he's hot (I mean, yes, he's described as attractive, and Ben Barnes is good-looking enough). But he's so very, very manipulative and clearly abusive and it terrifies me how many people genuinely ship him with Alina. I know that wasn't Ms. Bardugo's point at all, but people will do what they want, I guess.

P.S. - I do know that also the Darkling is supposed to be human, not an evil monolith. He's supposed to be scary partly because you can sympathize with him and feel things about him. But that doesn't erase his toxic and abusive nature. (or at least it shouldn't if your braincells are working.)

OKAY, RANT OVER.

Basically, I wish they hadn't tried to smash two stories into one. I know that the ending of season one sets up well for the actual canon SoC plot, but they've already used so many of the SoC plot points (Kaz selling his crow club shares, etc.) that it would just feel repetitive to do them again. So, I'm a little conflicted.

Okay, sorry, you stumbled into something I have very strong feelings about, ajasjdks. I apologize.

[artsy-robotic-nerd]

My Ruin and Rising Book Thoughts. 🔥

Okay so at the very beginning of this book, I was still not really feeling Mal's character. I felt like he was being an asshole. But closer to the end of the book I was shipping Mal and Alina together. How this happened I don't know. I literally felt tears coming on in the ending (spoilers) because I really thought Alina had killed Mal. It was so tragic. I'm just glad that Mal didn't actually die. I know crazy right. In my past book reviews I was talking about how I wanted him to die and now at the end of this book I don't want him to die. I guess I can't make my mind up. Ruin and Rising was definitely my favorite book out of the three. My favorite character was most definitely Nikolai. I am in love with Nikolai and nobody can tell me different. Overall, I loved this book series. It made me feel all the emotions that I could possibly feel and I was always wondering what was going to happen next. The story was very unique and had some twists that I honestly didn't expect. I am excited to watch this story play out on the Netflix series too. Honestly I kind of wish that I had read this series before Six of Crows because the books do go in order however nothing was ever spoiled. Just in six of crows when we do meet Nikolai, Genya, and Zoya, as the reader you are already supposed to know who they are because of the shadow and bone books and I didn't lol because Six of Crows was the first set of books I read from the grishaverse. I loved this series and I have already started King of Scars and I have read 10 chapters so far. I am in love with that book too and I know it won't take me very long to finish it. The shadow and bone trilogy in my opinion was so good and I am extremely happy with how it ended.

[broimjustagirl]

My Rant About Siege and Storm (Spoilers)

(Re-posts/re-blogs are allowed)

*please don't hurt me, I promise I am actually a decent and kind person in real life*

DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU HAVE NOT FINISHED READING 'SIEGE AND STORM'. CONTROVERSIAL OPINIONS INCLUDED, NOT INTENDED TO HURT ANYONE, DO NOT HATE IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH ME. THESE ARE JUST PERSONAL OPINIONS. (Book 2 of the Shadow and Bone Trilogy) If you do, do not blame me for spoiling the book. If you have only watched the TV show, you might want to skip this as well, anyways, *cough*, let me begin!

FIRST OF ALL; the beginning from around the start to page 300-ish was literally so boring. Except for Nikolai of course, Nikolai is king. Also, I am not anti-Malina, but come on, some of the scenes made me cringe so hard. You got to admit, some of the Malina scenes were cringy and unoriginal.

Also, why was Mal so insecure about his relationship with Alina? Why doesn't he trust Alina enough to know that she would never cheat on him with Nikolai? (though if I were her, I would 100% choose Nikolai, not gonna lie) Mal obviously feels threatened by Nikolai (why wouldn't he? Not to hate on him) even though Mal and Nikolai's alter persona Sturmhond were literally friends. Mal obviously doesn't trust Alina, which to me is a red flag.

ANOTHER RED FLAG (in my opinion, don't hate) was the fact that he started drinking SO BADLY and STARTED SEEING ZOYA, though I have to admit that he and Alina weren't really a thing at that point, but still.

Alina has also really started to annoy me, starting at the point when she threatened Zoya. Yes, Zoya was rude to her, but why don't you believe Zoya when she said that she lost LITERAL FAMILY because of the Darkling. Why did Alina question her? She could see that Zoya was about to cry, but still decided to throw her off. I sided with Mal when he said that Alina was threatening Zoya and SHE LIKED IT. THE FRICK ALINA?

Alina is powerful, and a great main character, but she's starting to be arrogant. Seriously. (I know I was pretty arrogant as a kid, hell, I thought I was smart when I was 9 because I knew what the word 'vital' meant) But it was obvious that Zoya was super hurt, and though Alina did regret some things she said, why didn't she feel a lot empathy for her, even if Zoya was rude to me, I wouldn't continue to threaten her to leave the only home she has left. Losing family is super painful, and though I'm rude sometimes, I would never be rude someone who had just lost an aunt and a niece in a betrayal of someone she trusted (AKA the toxic Darkling, I LIKED YOU, BUT YOU CROSSED THE LINE DUDE)

Anyway, after those 300 boring pages of the Darkling teleporting like a superhero and being a legit stalker (Except for Nikolai, I love you Nikolai) THE DARKLING FREAKING ATTACKS THE LITTLE PALACE (Yes, I read spoilers about this. Yes, I was still surprised. Yes, I feel the same as when I read the Hunger Games for the first time, it's that painful)

BUT THE THING THAT ANNOYED ME THE MOST WAS WHEN ALINA WAS ALL LIKE:

'oooh Mal, i love you so much, i've always loved, *kiss here*, *kiss your jawline like a weirdo*, i kiss this, i kiss that. i've loved you forever'

AND THEN SHE'S LIKE:

'ooh darkling, let me kiss you and play with your hair, yasssssss. you're my king aleksander.' (WAIT A MINUTE, I'M CONTINUING TO READ THAT PAGE BECAUSE I PUT IT DOWN AFTER SHE KISSED THE DARKLING TO CALM MYSELF, AND WHAT THE FRICK IS HAPPENING. WHY IS THIS BOOK SO CONFUSING)

BUT DAVID HELPING GENYA WAS SO FREAKING SWEET. GENYA IS A LITERAL QUEEN.

I guess I have a problem with literally hating every single main character (Except Percy Jackson, perhaps I'm biased because PJO was the first fandom I was ever part of) like Katniss (She's a little negative and pessimistic no offense) and many protagonists from lesser-known novels. BUT ALINA, YOU GET ON MY NERVES. No offense once again. I can't name all the times she annoyed me, but trust me, there are lots.

AND YES, I STARTED GASPING WHEN NIKOLAI AND ZOYA HAD THEIR FIRST INTERACTION. YES, I KNOW ABOUT ZOYALAI EVEN THOUGH I HAVEN'T EVEN READ RULE OF WOLVES YET. I haven't even read up to the part where Zoyalai is canon, but I've read enough of Nikolai's Grishaverse Fandom Page to know that Zoyalai is literally perfect. Come one, sort of a reckless little idiot and a stern-minded ambitious queen, PERFECT MATCH. OH MY GODS, I'M FANGIRLING OVER A THING I HAVEN'T EVEN READ THAT MUCH OF.

I think Zoya was saying something and Nikolai said something to her during a war meeting and IT WAS SO EXCITING FOR ME EVEN THOUGH THAT WAS THE ONLY INTERACTION THEY HAVE. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.

But whenever the Grishaverse fandom mentions how toxic the Darkling is (I've just realized after reading Siege and Storm and watching the SAB TV show) they're just like:

'Mal is boring and has no personality'. GURL, THAT'S TRUE AT SOME POINTS, MAL INFURIATES ME MOST OF THE TIME, I did ship Darklina at some point, but come on, it's still pretty toxic, but it was good for a short-term relationship, but long-term....eh, nope. I've come to the point where I have to accept the fact that everyone has different opinions, so if you ship Darklina, ship it. But also realize that the Darkling was super toxic, especially when he killed the innocent people of Novokribirsk. Otherwise, I'll read some Darklina wattpad fan-fics on Wattpad. It's nice to be neutral.

Anyways, I've suddenly realized that people are getting bored of my rant because this is so freaking long, thank you for baring with me. I await the toxic and hate comments for my controversial opinions

Countess of Cats

Inferni - OUT!

[roleplay-finder]

Hi! 20F looking for a partner for a rp set in the Grishaverse. I've just finished reading the Shadow and Bone trilogy and I would like to avoid spoilers for Six of Crows or King of Rules please. I'm willing to play the Darkling or Nikolai, and I'm open to play any ships or even with your OCs. I can play m×m or m×f, and I don't do doubles. I am searching for someone that is okay with playing dark themes and NSFW. I mainly rp on Discord, occasionally on email. I don't have a plot ready in mind but I can adapt to your ideas or we could build something together! If you're interested, interact with this post or pm me so I can reach out!

[deadwithdead]

Yearly Book Report 2021

Last year I've read 18 books, which is not only less than year before that, but is also an all time low. Which is fine, this year wasn't really the best for me so I expected the number to be low. I have 7 unfinished books left. They were either too big to finish, or my mind just couldn't take them. Finally, I stopped reading 2 books in the middle because they just weren't worth my time.

The soul of man under socialism b. Oscar Wilde

I really liked this one! To be fair, politicswise this essay was a little too idealistic, but it was a soothing read.

Lord Arthur Savile's Crime b. Oscar Wilde

Short and interesting book that I read in under an hour.

Müsəlmanlar harada səhvə yol verdi? b. Bernard Lewis (What went wrong?)

I almost didn't buy this one but changed my mind the last minute. I'm glad I did, I really liked and probably will read more of Lewis. Read this one in azeri.

Shadow and Bone trilogy b. Leigh Bardugo

I was basically forced to read this book by a friend. Was in a reading slump until this book but a good YA book is always welcome. Apart from the fact that the book wasn't character driven at all (Alina wasn't much of a protagonist) I enjoyed reading it.

Six of Crows duology b. Leigh Bardugo

When the said friend told me that SoC was way better than SaB I didn't really believe them but HOLY HELL I was wrong. It's probably the best YA book I've read. The plot was incredible, the characters were well-developed and enjoyable. I don't have much to say, I fell in love with it. I couldn't find the second book for a long time and it was spoiled to me before I could get my hands on it, which was very annoying, but it didn't take away from the beauty of the book

Ben, Kirke b. Madeline Miller (Circe)

Read this one in Turkish. Wish I'd read it in the original but Turkish translations are always A-class, so no complaints. I also wish someone warned me about the sexual assault scene, but nevertheless I enjoyed this book. It made me feel ~secret emotions~. Planning to read other works of Miller (I think their only other novel is Song of Achilles though).

Odlu diyar b. Anatoli Zöhrabbəyov (Fiery Land)

Being an idiot I am, I skipped the foreword. Turns out the novel is unfinished. It is an historical novel set in 12th century Baku. It had a typical 20th century russian-azeri prose feel to it, but at the same time it was better. The original was in russian but the translator who was a close friend of the author did a phenomenal job. Usually literary translations to azeri are horrible, but this one was meant to be. I'm still bitter about not being able to read protagonist's talk with Nizami Ganjavi who was supposed to have scenes in the book before the author died and left his work unfinished, but I don't regret reading it. Actually, being unfinished added something to this already magical novel.

Babilik vəTahirə Qurrətuleyn b. Güntay Gəncalp (Bábism and Tahirih Qurrat al-Ayn)

Read this one in Azeri too. The author of this book is from northern Iran and although he was right most of the time... I was more shocked at his fury. My man was Angry. You could sense it from the pages. The whole book is an interesting point of view to the history of Iran and the icon herself, Tahirih. Even if you are not interested in the history of Iran or Babism, I highly recommend researching Tahirih's life. She was a revolutionary and a women's rights activist in 19th century Iran.

Hoşbeş (Confabulations) b. John Berger

I remember having fun reading this, but basically don't remember a word of it. It had cool drawings tho. Light read. Also in Turkish.

Qara Paltarlı Qadın (Woman in Black) b. Maqsud Ibrahimbəyov

Another one in Azeri! This one was a typical novel from 20th century Aze. Some political propaganda. Can't decide if that one scene was sexual assault or just plain infidelity. Not exactly my taste but I had fun.

L'arab du futur b. Riad Sattouf

Borrowed this one from the library of Institut Français. It's a comic book, set in the political climate of 70s Arab world, all from the point of view of a 4-year-old who has a French mother and a Syrian father. At times it made me mad, at times I laughed out loud. Recommended.

Coğrafya Kaderdir, ibni Haldun (Geography is destiny, Ibn Khaldun)

This isn't really Ibn Khaldun, they basically summarised his philosophy. It's a series and I'm planning to buy more of it. A good read, although the author was visibly mad about the current political situation in Turkey without explicitly saying it.

Le monstre du poitou by I. Raisch

Notre-Dame de Paris (shortened version)

More borrows from the Institut Français. There isn't much to say about them, read them for my French.

Buludların Üzərində Qətl (Death in The Clouds) b. Agatha Christie.

Probably one of the all time favourite Christie novels of mine.

The unfinished books are:

The Hitchiker's Guide to Galaxy. All books in one, super thick, super expensive, don't regret a thing.

Why war? Letters of Einstein and Freud. It's really short, but translation is a bit off.

Turks Before the History by Oljas Suleymenov. Horrible, horrible, HORRIBLE translation, I can't understand a word even if it's in my native language. Whoever is doing the translations for this press is doing a terrible job. I like this press BUT HOLY HELL CAN YOU HIRE GOOD TRANSLATORS PLEASE??? This is especially annoying because the book is WONDERFUL. Incredible take on linguistics. I adore everything Suleymenov has ever written.

The Picture of Dorian Gray. It's inside a collection and the book is bulky so I'm reading it really slowly.

Le Petit Prince. Second time reading, this time in French.

Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche

The Prophet by Khalil Gibran. I think my English is failing me with this one. I also must take an exam which includes this book in a few days so I'm a little disappointed in myself.

I don't want to set goals too high for the next year since I'm already unwell and the next year will be really busy. Main goals are:

Increase the amount of books related to my major (already sounds expensive) and classic azeri books.

Add French and Arabic to my "reading pool".

Read 25 books.

25 books aren't much but I refuse to go hard on myself this year. Hopefully, this year will be better.

[lizziestudieshistory]

Books of 2021 - March

I had a very strange reading month in March, I read more than I usually do when studying but then fell into a reading slump in the last 10 days or so... It was all a certain book's fault!

The Burning God - R.F. Kuang (Poppy War #3)

I've already got a post somewhere explaining how I felt about The Burning God. I had a wonderful(? feels like the wrong word but I'm sticking with it) time with this series, in a morbid kind of way. It was highly worth the read and The Poppy War is one of the best debut fantasy stories I've read to date! I was slightly disappointed in some of the elements (the Trifecta still spring to mind, I was expecting so much more...) but it was a great series. Highly recommended if you haven't given them a go.

Shadow and Bone/Grisha Trilogy - Leigh Bardugo (This includes all three books, plus the Demon in the Woods)

I read this entire series back to back in the space of about 10 days... I haven't read a series this fast since I was in high school! And I LOVED it! The Grisha Trilogy is a stereotypical YA as you can get - it's clichéd, tropey, and predictable. However, I still had a fantastic time reading them, much to my surprise.

Unfortunately, I loathed Mal (don't kill me), he was one of the most toxic "heroes" I've met in YA fantasy and I'm not over the infuriating conclusion with him and Alina (if Alina had to have a partner she should have married Nikolai, come on! Roguish pirate AND a dashing prince in one man!) I'm genuinely angry that the message Bardugo gave young girls with the conclusion to Alina and Mal's relationship arc was 'sacrifice everything, including your identity, to be play housewife with a boy with such a fragile ego he ignored you for an entire book'.

I really hope the TV series removes some of his controlling and manipulative behaviour - and yes I can stomach it with the Darkling because HE IS THE VILLAIN and not framed as the paragon of virtue Mal is... I did very much like the Darkling as a hot villain, and I'm looking forward to seeing my childhood crush, Ben Barnes, do him justice ;) Seriously though, the Darkling was the most interesting character in the series, maybe tied with Nikolai, and I'm sad we didn't see more of him in the second and third books.

The Hatmakers - Tamzin Merchant

I ADORED this book! I was expecting to enjoy it but not love it, however, I fell in love. This is a debut middle grade novel set in an alternate version of 18th century London. We follow Cordelia Hatmaker, the youngest Hatmaker, attempt to find her father after he's lost at sea. The Hatmakers are an old family of magic users who make hats to effect people's mood and behaviour.

This book was so heartwarming - it was fun, sweet, and enchanting to read. I wasn't sure of Merchant's writing style at first, it was a bit too much! She's very lyrical in her style, for a children's author, and I thought it was going to grate. But it fits the tone of her world and characters so well I didn't notice it after the first few chapters. It's honestly beautifully written. Characters were great, the plot was predictable but hilarious (I'm not the target audience so that's fine), and the world was well realised, if small. Overall, it was a wonderful novel and I'd highly recommend it to everyone - I enjoyed it as much as I did Nevermoor!

There's also the BEST tiny side story about a couple of young fops who want hats to help them duel! Absolutely AMAZING and I hope they turn up in the second book!

A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini

Here is where the month fell down for me and I fell into a slump... So A Thousand Splendid Suns is the story of two women in Afghanistan during the late 20th century. We see the Russian occupation and the rise of the Taliban through their eyes, as well as the devastating effects the almost constant warfare had on Kabul and their lives. However, this is more the background to exploring these women's lives, starting with Mariam as a child in the 1950s and following her life after she's married off by her father to Rasheed. We also follow Laila, who's literally the girl next door, and how their lives intersect during the course of the novel. It is a powerful story about the strength of women, the bonds they form, and the consequences the attitudes of men have on their lives.

So I'm conflicted about this book, on the one hand I can very much see its merit. It's a beautifully written, engaging, and thought provoking novel. It's one of those reads that stick with you and you mull over for weeks afterwards. It makes you think and I am glad I've read it.

On the other hand, I HATED every second I was reading it. On top of the general misery you'd expect (given the description above), this book discusses domestic violence, marital rape, forced child abandonment, miscarriages, imprisonment, etc. You name it, it'll be here. I could see the reason for this but it made for such a miserable reading experience that I could barely keep myself going at times. I seriously considered DNFing it at the end of part 2 and the only reason I didn't is because it's my book club book.

It's one of those reads that are immensely powerful and worth while, they open your eyes and make you think. However, it's reading experience is so miserable it's hard to see whether it was actually worth it while you'rein the book. I would say give it a go if you're interested because it really is a masterpiece and beautifully achieves what it set out to do. But please do go into it having done your research and aware of the trigger warnings.

On the Currently Reading Stack

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Technically on the pile, if we're dating this to 31st March. Although as of writing this (3rd April) I've finished this. I had fun but still don't like heist stories... Great characters though!

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

I'm dipping in and out of this, as it's my 5th time reading it... I will finish it eventually but don't hold your breath because I'm only picking it up when I'm REALLY in the mood for Sanderson or feeling slumpy.

The Return of the King - J.R.R. Tolkien

Another long term read, I'm slowly finishing off my annotation reread of the Lord of the Rings. Very much enjoying this read but I'm taking it slowly so I can do my annotations justice.

Bleak House - Charles Dickens

Still going, it's just an enormous and slow book... I'm going to try and finish it in April but this isn't a promise...

[beholdingslut]

HELLO hi okay don't kill me if you've already answered this q, i was trying to scroll through your blog while avoiding spoilers so i may have missed it -

would you recommend reading the original grishaverse books before checking out the show? i loved and lived for six of crows, but was dissuaded by a colleague from reading shadow & bone. so, it's a double-sided question, basically: is the OG trilogy worth reading because it's as good as (or better than?) the crows duology, and/or because it will help the series make sense?

i trust your taste lol. tysm

no worries omg i did answer this ask (spoiler free) but my consensus was basically if you don’t mind reading a series that might be frustrating and has subpar writing comparatively, go right ahead! i just finished it for the third time and enjoyed myself a lot. the love triangle is tedious and alina can be a bit much sometimes but it gives you soooo much more of side characters like zoya, genya, david and their relationships, and three of my favourite characters come in the second book. you’ll definitely see how the mythos that‘s present in soc came to be and i think that’s really fun.

[wincore]

ALL THE BEST WITH YOUR UNDERGRAD MOON !! also you're a stem student :o?! what are you majoring in? (if you don't mind telling ofc ><)

oooh I'll get around to reading six of crows one of these days. I remember booktok hyping up that and the shadow and bone trilogy which is partly the reason I haven’t read those two (booktok isn’t the best place to get book recs from imo) djfhhjf oh smart teenagers (even if fictious) are scary hkfgh i call it a good day if i can finish my assignments in chem in time (random but ochem totally kicks ass. But !! I did master the art of drawing hexagons neatly)

and PLS i finished maid sama and usui is def a 'perverted alien' but as a whole it was a nice, lighthearted one especially the ending <3 also moon do send some anime recs my way bc nothing beats depending on 2d characters for emotional support

oml ncity had soooo many things going on last year but tumblr in a way helped me keep up with them heh. It's crazy to believe that hot sauce and sticker came out in the same year ;-; being an ot23 stan sure is hard.

p.s. DSFJGBDGLKS IK I'M VERY LATE but y'all have the rights to gatekeep nyc, museums, cheese and collabs bc not many ppl here understand what it means to hang out/have fun with friends ><

p.p.s. hello? a new yangyang fic? bff2l? reputation collab? ts inspired fics? WITH JAEMIN? I'M SO NOT READY FOR IT KDSFKJGOFSDLHD VIBRATING WITH EXCITEMENT RN I OUGHT TO CHECK TUMBLR MORE OFTEN ALL OF THIS INFO HAS CAUSED MY SYSTEM TO CRASH DFH ALL I CAN DO IS KEYMASH FDGHS

-👻

THANK YOU SM, SWEETHEART!!! good luck with hs too 💘 ooh yes, i'm an electronics major but shifting more towards computer science (specifically ai) for grad school !!

oof I have never been on booktok and I'm keeping it that way bc I get some book reels on instagram and they're all just hardcore smut 💀 my friend switched over to nonfiction after reading one of the books lmao

chem assignments in hs made me wanna die and it did not help that my mother is a hs chemistry teacher. it just meant me sobbing into my chem textbook and raising a peace sign when my mom asked how it's going. i did like ochem tho, it was like solving puzzles!! the chemistry we learned in engineering was easier lol but not as fun as ochem. (yes, we love perfect hexagons in this household 🥰)

yes!!!! I can't watch it now 💀 but it's def a lighthearted watch that you can finish quickly. plsss if you ask for anime recs im gonna say one piece bc that's my fav anime of all time im so glad Lana finally started it, I am literally buzzing with excitement 🤩 but !!! My second go to rec is gintama - it's also pretty long but it's worth it bc the characters are amazing and it's the funniest anime ever.

i still can't keep up with ncity honestly 😩 there is way too much going in my life now that I can go out again djdkdk I'm barely staying in my room 😭 I too am keeping with them thru the tumblr posts on my dash </3 HOT SAUCE AND STICKER CAME OUT THE SAME YEAR??? omg why did that make me go 🤯🤯🤯 I have no concept of linear time 😎

I'm so excited for the fics now that you've mentioned them again pls !!! corduroy is like a super old fic that I decided to post now bc of peer pressure cough cough cat cough PLSNDJDJD I'm looking forward to the rep fics too but unfortunately I post first 💀💀💀 I really need to step my game up but this gave me enough motivation to 💞 tysm, lovely, and have a good day/night!!!