Unravel the Dusk (The Blood of Stars, #2) | Book Review

My Rating: 3/5 Stars

Title: Unravel the Dust (The Blood of Stars, #2)

Author: Elizabeth Lim

Format: Hardcover (own)

Pages: 354

Categories: Young Adult, Fantasy

Maia Tamarin’s journey to sew the dresses of the sun, the moon and the stars has taken a grievous toll. She returns to a kingdom on the brink of war. The boy she loves is gone, and she is forced to don the dress of the sun and assume the place of the emperor’s bride-to-be to keep the peace.

But the war raging around Maia is nothing compared to the battle within. Ever since she was touched by the demon Bandur, she has been changing . . . glancing in the mirror to see her own eyes glowing red, losing control of her magic, her body, her mind. It’s only a matter of time before Maia loses herself completely, but she will stop at nothing to find Edan, protect her family, and bring lasting peace to her country.

YA fantasy readers will love the sizzling forbidden romance, mystery, and intrigue of Unravel the Dusk. 

  • Aesthetics ~ both covers for this duology are gorgeous. I love how the first book was bluish tones and this one is red.
  • I appreciate Maia’s battle with the demon inside her because we all have our own demons we fight daily. So I like how motivational the story is.
  • This story is darker than Spin the Stars, which was filled with political intrigue. In Unravel the Dusk, Maia is fighting a demon, Ewan is gone, and war is breaking out. This book is action packed.
  • Great writing and world-building as usual, it’s what I loved about the first book and it continues here, just with a darker tone. The magic is back but now Maia is dealing with the consequences of it from book one.
  • Oh how I wished I loved this more, but I didn’t. I couldn’t even get into the story, it took me two weeks to finish. Mind you one of those weeks were a very stressful election week in the USA and I gave up reading but I was hoping this book would help me escape from that stress and it did not. I didn’t expect Maia’s journey to get so dark and lonely, but it makes sense since she touched the demon.
  • I wanted more of Edan and Maia but that comes late into the book. But I really wanted him beside her helping her in the beginning. 😒
  • This might be a case of me needing to re-read this book when I’m in the right mood. Even though this book fell flat for me personally, I still am excited to read what this author with be writing next!

I didn’t love Unravel the Dusk as much as I did Spin the Stars, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good duology. Overall, it’s a series about a girl who rises up in a man’s world, tries to help her family and then ends up helping her country. It’s action packed, the message is inspirational and the book covers are gorgeous. I look forward to reading more from this author.

💙 ~ Yolanda

A Deal with the Elf King | Book Review

My Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

Title: A Deal with the Elf King

Author: Elise Kova

Format: eBook (Kindle Unlimited)

Pages: 338

Categories: Romance, New Adult, Fantasy, Stand Alone

The elves come for two things: war and wives. In both cases, they come for death.

Three-thousand years ago, humans were hunted by powerful races with wild magic until the treaty was formed. Now, for centuries, the elves have taken a young woman from Luella’s village to be their Human Queen.

To be chosen is seen as a mark of death by the townsfolk. A mark nineteen-year-old Luella is grateful to have escaped as a girl. Instead, she’s dedicated her life to studying herbology and becoming the town’s only healer.

That is, until the Elf King unexpectedly arrives… for her.

Everything Luella had thought she’d known about her life, and herself, was a lie. Taken to a land filled with wild magic, Luella is forced to be the new queen to a cold yet blisteringly handsome Elf King. Once there, she learns about a dying world that only she can save.

The magical land of Midscape pulls on one corner of her heart, her home and people tug on another… but what will truly break her is a passion she never wanted.

  • Luella is a healer, basically what comes close to a doctor back in her hometown. It’s part of her identity that she doesn’t want to lose just because she is chosen as the next Queen. I like that she holds onto that part of her even though it causes some complications.
  • Eldas the Elf King comes off like a jerk at times but we get a glimpse of him right away being himself with his best friend Rinni. I mean the guy has been basically alone in a castle with one friend all his life! There is a physical attraction between Luella and Eldas but their relationship grows with the two of them opening up to one another. It’s a slow burn romance but the heat between them is undeniable by the end of the story!
  • It’s a romance standalone and a quick read at that. It was straight-forward story with a happy ending. I also like that the author says this is a stand alone but more books will be introduced in this world. I’m a sucker for fantasy romances.
  • I enjoyed all the elements in this light romantic fantasy – it had the enemies to lovers trope, a strong female who was flaws, the friends she makes in Midscape like Willow and of course an unconventional magical wolf pet named Hook.
  • I can’t say there was much action, so if you are looking for that kind of book, this isn’t it. It’s more of a romance. There was a point in the book where Luella and Eldas are looking for clues to break the tradition of finding human Queens and they just do research, on their own – reading from journals. I wanted them to interact more even just to get them bickering about something.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It was exactly what I was looking for at the moment, a romantic fantasy with a happily ever after. I look forward to reading more books told in this world.

😘 ~ Yolanda

Aloha Friday | 11/20/20

Another week is almost over and next week is Thanksgiving for us here in the USA. I can’t believe November is almost over. So let’s see what happened this week:

New Books Acquired ~

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited:

Apple Books:

NetGalley:

I haven’t done a book blog tour in awhile so I signed up for 5! All the NetGalley titles acquired except for These Hollow Vows are for book blog tours. I tried to get a variety.

TV Shows & Movies ~

Netflix:

  • Julie and the Phantoms ~ okay I needed something to binge as I worked on my Etsy shop items and put this one on. I love it! It’s a wholesome, feel good, funny show about a girl with a ghost band. The music is great and I’m already listening to it on repeat my apple music app. I need season two!

Adulting ~

  • Trying to finish a bunch of resin pieces for my Etsy shop Black Friday sale next week! 😅
  • Also trying to get started on my Christmas shopping. A lot of online shopping this year. Thank goodness for gift cards.
  • We have Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas and my daughter’s 4th birthday coming up, so a lot of things coming up – but super downscaled because of COVID. That’s okay though, we’ve kept our celebrations just to immediate family and it’s been nice that way too.

I hope all of you have a good weekend and please stay safe out there!

🧡 ~ Yolanda

Grown | Book Review

My Rating: 4/5 Stars

Title: Grown

Author: Tiffany D. Jackson

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 384

Categories: Contemporary, Young Adult, Sexual Assault, Rape, Mystery, Thriller

Korey Fields is dead.

When Enchanted Jones wakes with blood on her hands and zero memory of the previous night, no one—the police and Korey’s fans included—has more questions than she does. All she really knows is that this isn’t how things are supposed to be. Korey was Enchanted’s ticket to stardom.

Before there was a dead body, Enchanted was an aspiring singer, struggling with her tight knit family’s recent move to the suburbs while trying to find her place as the lone Black girl in high school. But then legendary R&B artist Korey Fields spots her at an audition. And suddenly her dream of being a professional singer takes flight.

Enchanted is dazzled by Korey’s luxurious life but soon her dream turns into a nightmare. Behind Korey’s charm and star power hides a dark side, one that wants to control her every move, with rage and consequences. Except now he’s dead and the police are at the door. Who killed Korey Fields?

All signs point to Enchanted.

  • Aesthetics ~ the cover is gorgeous! I love that mustard yellow and brown combination with the earring carrying the title of the book.
  • This is a murder mystery that really got me hooked on the first page. I didn’t know it would be inspired by R. Kelly’s story and yes, I did watch that docuseries Surviving R. Kelly which aired last year. The author did such a great job following Enchanted and how she is groomed by Korey. She thinks it’s love but it becomes something more dark and sinister the longer she is trapped with him. I was afraid for her and the other girls in his life. I felt the same way as when I watched that docuseries.
  • The story brings up so many issues such as parenting ~ was it Enchanted’s parents to blame for what happened? The artist himself, Korey, obviously had a pattern of this behavior ~ how could people let him do this in front of the whole world? The police ~ why didn’t they believe Enchanted or her parents when they reported something was wrong? Enchanted ~ should she have known better, she knew he was 28? Bottom line, Korey was the adult and the monster.
  • Enchanted is filled with so many dreams of being a singer in the beginning and she gets part of her dream – with a huge cost. She loses herself, her family, her power, and the little control she had over life. Korey was scary because he came off so perfect at the start, in the end he was the boogie man in the closet.
  • Triggers: physical, emotional and sexual abuse, being drugged, grooming, kidnapping
  • There was a point in the book when Enchanted’s sanity is questioned – especially when it comes to her friend Gab. Even I thought I was losing my mind as it confused me for a moment as to what the author was trying to do with that moment.

Whether you know the R. Kelly story or not, this book is a powerful read. Enchanted’s story is scary and heartbreaking, I felt scared and trapped with her. How do we let these predators get away with so much? If you can handle the heavy issues in this book, read it.

💛 ~ Yolanda

WWW Wednesday | 11/18/20

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam over on Taking on a World of Words.

The idea is pretty simple, every week you dedicate a post to the three W’s:

What are you currently reading?

What have you just finished reading?

What are you going to read next?

What are you currently reading?

What have you just finished reading?

What are you going to read next?

What are you reading right now or just finished?

😘 ~ Yolanda

Monthly Wrap Up | October 2020

I just realized, midway into November that I didn’t post an October wrap up because I was that crazily stressed out about our elections! 😲

So let’s see what I read in October:

Warriors of Wing and Flame by. Sara B. Larson – 4/5

The Code for Love and Heartbreak by. Jillian Cantor – 3/5

Daughters of Jubilation by. Kara Lee Corthron – 3.5/5

The Song of the Marked by. S.M. Gaither – 4/5

Kingdom of Sea and Stone by. Mara Rutherford – 3/5

A Golden Fury by. Samantha Coroe – 3.5/5

The Shadows Between Us by. Tricia Levenseller – 3/5

The Midnight Lie by. Marie Rutkoski – 3.5/5

Kingdom of the Wicked by. Kerri Maniscalco – 4/5

The Ravens by. Kass Morgan & Danielle Paige – 3.5/5

The Whisper Man by. Alex North 3.5/5

A Curse of Ash & Embers by. Jo Spurrier – 3/5

Heart Bones by. Colleen Hoover – 4/5

Skyhunter by. Marie Lu – 3.5/5

Shifter Wars by. Kelly St. Clare – 3.5/5

Send Me Their Souls by. Sara Wolf – 3.5/5

The Inheritance Games by. Jennifer Lynn Barnes – 5/5

That was October! Pretty sure November will be WAYYYYY less haha, it’s been a wild month.

😘 ~ Yolanda

Warmaidens | ARC Review

My Review: 3/5 Stars

Title: Warmaidens (Gravemaidens, #2)

Author: Kelly Coon

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 352

Publication Date: 12/15/20

Publisher: Random House Children’s

Categories: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Warmaidens is the dark, action-packed conclusion to the heartwrenching Gravemaidens fantasy duology. Kammani and the maidens are now going to war against the ruler who tried to entomb them.

In the refuge city-state of Manzazu, Kammani has built a thriving healing practice and a life she’s proud of with her siblings, the maidens, and her love, Dagan. 

But when an assassin murders a healer he believes is Kammani and attempts to kill Arwia, the displaced queen of Alu, they realize they’re not safe in their safe little haven anymore. Uruku, the usurper to Alu’s throne, has found out they escaped the tomb and must kill them to protect his newly acquired power.

Burning for retribution, the ruler of Manzazu wants to unleash her fiercest weapons on Alu–her warmaidens. But when Kammani’s best friend, Iltani, is captured, Kammani must use her intuition and her heart to restore Arwia to the throne before the life she’s built–and a future with Dagan–burn up in the flames of war. 

Thank you to Random House Children’s and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this eARC.

My Attention: read in five days

World Building: scenery is written wonderfully as in Gravemaidens

Writing Style: easy to read

Crazy in Love: Kammani and Dagan are already in love, Kammani just doesn’t want to be a “wife”

Creativity: Kammani’s life is in danger and they have to get Uruku off the throne

Triggers: violence, grief, misogyny

My Takeaway: You don’t have to give up your dreams when you fall in love with someone.

  • Iltani was my favorite in the first book, Gravemaidens and she comes back again with her sassy, wild self. She has the most personality out of all the characters. The women power vibes of Kammani and her crew were present in this book which is great.
  • Dagan is still trying to get Kammani to marry him but she’s worried about balancing her dreams, life and love. What if she doesn’t want children? What if she doesn’t want marriage? I like that the author let Kammani be happy without these things. The message I got was that it was okay to be independent and in love too.
  • A lot of things go wrong in this book, but I like that no matter what, the friends/families work together to achieve their goal.
  • I liked Gravemaidens more than this one because it was darker and more mysterious than Warmaidens. This is described as a dark story, but it didn’t feel that way at all.
  • Other than Iltani, I felt no connection to anyone else.
  • The way the characters planned out how to take down Uruku felt naive or amateurish, and it was – considering none of them were cold blooded killers, but I lost interest many times when it felt like their plans didn’t feel well thought out.

Though it’s not my favorite book in the duology, I think Warmaidens is a solid conclusion to this series. My favorite character Iltani really came through in personality, and she made the book fun to read. Kammani’s internal questions about how to be in love and not lose her independence really resonated with me and I’m glad to see her make her own choices. If you like stories about family, sisterhood, women power and romance, then you would enjoy this series.

💗 ~ Yolanda

The Liebster Award | 11/16/20

Thank you to the Monogamist Reader for nominating me for The Liebster Award! I haven’t done one of these in awhile so I appreciate the nomination. 😘

Rules:

  • Thank the blogger who nominated you
  • Answer the 11 questions the blogger asked you
  • Nominate 11 bloggers
  • Ask your nominees 11 questions
  • Notify your 11 nominees

Questions from the Monogamist Reader:

  1. Name a book that you thought “Damn, I wish I wrote that”.

So many fall into this category so I’ll have to stick to 2020 books – I’ll say Legendborn.

2. What is a book that everybody loves but you hate it so much you wish to burn it? 

I don’t think I’d burn it haha, because I don’t ever hate a book that much but I never got into the Grisha trilogy.What job would you be doing if you have followed your childhood dreams? 

3. What job would you be doing if you have followed your childhood dreams?

An author haha, or artist. I think just these past few months I’ve finally told myself I AM an artist, or a creator (I’m 42 years old, it took me that long) – I’ve been creating things for my own shop on Etsy for the past almost 8 years (with a 2 year break). I wasn’t allowed as a kid to think of art or writing as a career, I’m filipino so my parents said I had 3 options: nurse, doctor or lawyer. 😅 Went for “nurse” until I hit college, then it became sociology major, took art as electives senior year and my art teachers said I should do a minor in art or think about becoming an illustrator or graphic designer! Having that validation from actual art teachers was like…wow (light bulb moment)…I bounced around jobs I enjoyed (massage therapist, then library floor manager, then Etsy business owner). I’ve finally embraced that I’m an “artist”. 🤷🏻‍♀️

4. Name your favourite villain – it could be from movies/books/comics… 

Cersi from Game of Thrones show series – she was badass, like I hated her so much but she was complicated and I wanted to see what her next move would be. She did love her kids though!

5. If you could change the ending of a story (again book or movie, or whatever), how would you change it and which one? 

Speaking of the GoT tv series, did Daenerys really have to go out that way?! 🙁I’d let her live and let her be Queen of Meereen or something. I was always Team Starks lol but, I loved Dany too.

6. In which order must your books be placed in your bookshelves?

I have no order right now. Series stay together but other than that…maybe by color? I do like when it’s color coordinated.

7. You are offered to go on a mission to Mars. You can bring three fictional characters with you and three personal objects. What would you bring with you and who would be in your space squad? 

  • Talin from Skyhunter because she can fight (in case we gotta fight something).
  • Sky Shin from I’ll Be the One to keep the crew lively.
  • Reykin from Secondborn Series because he’s smart, can fight and he’s cute. 🤷🏻‍♀️

8. You are in possession of a time machine but you can visit only one specific geographical place in the past and one in the future. Where would you go? 

I think the Philippines in precolonial days – just want to know what my family’s life was like back then, how they lived, what they ate, how they dressed, etc….

9. If you can have a super power, which one would you have?

Communicate with animals. Would love to know what they are thinking.

10. If your biggest fear/or anxiety was your super power, what would it be? 

Not my biggest fear but I have a fear of centipedes, if I see one around the house or god forbid the one time it was in our house – I screamed for my husband and ran upstairs. 😂 They are squiggling, scary looking and sting. So if that was my superpower? Yikes, I guess I’d be scary looking with a lot of legs and sting LOL.

11. If you are forced to watch only one movie for the rest of your life – what movie will you pick?

Pride and Prejudice the one with Keira Knightly. I’ve watched it…a lot.

I tag: (NO OBLIGATION to do this to anyone I tag! It’s just for fun, no pressure. 😘)

Ashleigh’s Bookshelf

Baltimore Bibliophile

Subakka Bookstuff

Evelyn Reads

Toastie Books

Rin’s Reads

The Royal Bookshelf

Books Tea University

Tiffthebooknerd

The Elder Books

Avni Reads

My Questions:

  1. Would you rather be a librarian or own your own bookstore?
  2. What is your most anticipated book for 2021?
  3. Do you use something other than your blog to track how many books you read? Goodreads? A book journal?
  4. What is your favorite book genre?
  5. What book would you like to see as a movie or tv series?
  6. What makes you read a book? The cover? Blurb? Hype? Favorite author?
  7. What book tropes attract you to a book…or turn you off?
  8. Real or fiction, what place would you like to visit?
  9. Would you rather be in a fantasy book or a dystopian book?
  10. Do you read one book at a time or several at once?
  11. If you are not feeling a book, do you DNF or give it a second chance at a later time?

If you do the question – please tag me, I’d love to read your answers!

😘 ~ Yolanda

Aloha Friday | 11/13/20

It’s Friday the 13th, of course! I finally had a chance to read this week as I could finally destress from election week! So let’s see what I did:

New Books Acquired:

Amazon (Kindle Unlimited):

Overdrive Online Library:

Netflix:

Dash & Lily (series): if you want to get into the Christmas spirit and love young adult romances, watch Dash & Lily! I binged it in one night because it was so cute. I loved how it’s set in New York City. That’s on my bucket list ~ to see NYC during the holidays. The show starts off in a bookstore – it had me right there!

Holidate (movie): this one was okay! I thought the idea of having a holidate (a date you bring to holiday functions) super cute. The movie was more funny than romantic. I don’t know if the chemistry was there between the two leads (at least for me).

Adulting:

  • Orders are picking up on my Etsy, so I’m trying to get those sent out and make more of popular stuff.
  • I can’t believe my son is almost halfway through the school year! Wow.
  • Covid cases are rising a little more again now that tourists are allowed back in our state. I got my flu shot, did dental appointments, just need to get my hair cut and maybe get a massage before things get bad again. That vaccine can’t come soon enough!

That’s all I got! What have you been up to?

🌈 Good vibes to you all! ~Yolanda

Parachutes | Book Review

My Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

Title: Parachutes

Author: Kelly Yang

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 496

Categories: Contemporary, Young Adult, Sexual Assault, Racism, Classism

They’re called parachutes: teenagers dropped off to live in private homes and study in the US while their wealthy parents remain in Asia. Claire Wang never thought she’d be one of them, until her parents pluck her from her privileged life in Shanghai and enroll her at a high school in California. Suddenly she finds herself living in a stranger’s house, with no one to tell her what to do for the first time in her life. She soon embraces her newfound freedom, especially when the hottest and most eligible parachute, Jay, asks her out.

Dani De La Cruz, Claire’s new host sister, couldn’t be less thrilled that her mom rented out a room to Claire. An academic and debate-team star, Dani is determined to earn her way into Yale, even if it means competing with privileged kids who are buying their way to the top. When her debate coach starts working with her privately, Dani’s game plan veers unexpectedly off course.

Desperately trying to avoid each other under the same roof, Dani and Claire find themselves on a collision course, intertwining in deeper and more complicated ways, as they grapple with life-altering experiences. Award-winning author Kelly Yang weaves together an unforgettable modern immigrant story about love, trauma, family, corruption, and the power of speaking out.

  • I was really clueless about this term of parachute kids. This book was a learning experience for me on the whole subject of Chinese kids coming to American to live with host families to go to school here. I used to work in a college library and many of my student workers were female Chinese students, but graduate students, so they did their high school years in China. I do remember them telling me about how hard they studied and the pressures they had to deal with.
  • The wealth disparity in this story shows such a big gap between the kind of wealth Claire (parachute kid) has and Dani, her Filipina roommate, lacks. Dani’s mom is a cleaning maid and Dani herself works part-time as one too. They are Claire’s host family because they need the money. Claire is basically filthy rich by most people’s standard – but not rich enough to have their own private jet kind of rich.
  • Sexual Assault is a BIG theme in this book and a major trigger so please be aware of that. There is a situation with Dani’s debate coach, and then Claire experiences one with her boyfriend but throughout the whole story the boys and men (minus Zach) were really trash. There are some events that happen that help the two girls bond, but for a good time in the book, they aren’t very close.
  • The girls learn to find their voices to tell their truths and that’s the inspirational part of the book.
  • Triggers: rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment, grooming, cheating, stalking
  • I understand Dani and Claire barely know each other and it stays that way throughout most of the book. I was hoping for a little more connection between them but then again, Claire does make friends with the other Parachutes.
  • I wasn’t feeling the Zach romance storyline – I didn’t think it was needed. Also, I think I got it that Claire and her friends were super rich, there was a lot of brand names and labels being dropped. Those parts definitely reminded me of Crazy Rich Asians.

This book was eye-opening to me because of the parachute kids in American schools. I have no experience with that, so it was good to learn. There are a lot of important issues covered in this book, especially when it comes to racism, classism and sexual assault. Though both Claire and Dani experience some traumatizing moments in this book, I liked that the ending was hopeful as they found their voices and told their truths. Overall, an important story to read about two different girls, who are strong in their own ways.

🪂~Yolanda