WWWoW – I Am Reading YA

Sup guys. After posting entirely nothing these past days, I’m back with a bunch of novels that needs to be reviewed, ranted, pondered and cried about.

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What are you currently reading?

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The premise of Traveler is anything I could ever hope for. Parallel words, metafiction, time loops and people dying—yup, sounds like my cup of tea—and yet the author manages to make these wonderful elements boring. It still is interesting and I hope it picks up its wits halfway.

Traveler by L.E. Delano

Jessa has spent her life dreaming of other worlds and writing down stories more interesting than her own, until the day her favorite character, Finn, suddenly shows up and invites her out for coffee. After the requisite nervous breakdown, Jessa learns that she and Finn are Travelers, born with the ability to slide through reflections and dreams into alternate realities. But it’s not all steampunk pirates and fantasy lifestyles—Jessa is dying over and over again, in every reality, and Finn is determined that this time, he’s going to stop it… This Jessa is going to live. (Goodreads)

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What did you recently finished reading?

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Hah. I’ve read quite a lot of books the past months thanks to my long commute to work and my handy phone. I finished most Rick Riordan’s novels whilst sitting inside a noisy jeepney with its noisy passengers. The Knife of Never Letting Go was read between trips to home and to whatever place I feel like going, mostly by bus where the aircon is either too cold or too warm.

And hey, I’m finally reading YA books. I’ve always been a bit snobby to the genre but inevitably end up reading them. This year was a quite a good year for me in YA because I discovered a few beauties I loved and a few terrible ones that I still enjoyed anyway (glances at Ten and Scythe).

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Waiting on Wednesdays

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Okay. I decided to put WWW and WOW together since I couldn’t follow-up with the books that I intend to read. Something always comes up that deems far more important to read, so, instead, I’ll post here the books I want to read.

Hah. I never thought I’d be so pumped up on a book that I disliked and liked so much. Look at that cover. Look at that cover.

A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

Feyre has returned to the Spring Court, determined to gather information on Tamlin’s maneuverings and the invading king threatening to bring Prythian to its knees. But to do so she must play a deadly game of deceit-and one slip may spell doom not only for Feyre, but for her world as well.

As war bears down upon them all, Feyre must decide who to trust amongst the dazzling and lethal High Lords-and hunt for allies in unexpected places.

In this thrilling third book in the #1 New York Times bestselling series from Sarah J. Maas, the earth will be painted red as mighty armies grapple for power over the one thing that could destroy them all. (Goodreads)

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Not Alice In Wonderland

“What about Alice? Did she have a happy ending?”

It’s no secret that I love Christina Henry’s take on Alice and have been eagerly anticipating to read its sequel, Red Queen. Being a lover of the darker arts (I hope this does not change your sunnier opinion of me) (I am no sunny person in any way), Henry’s dark and grotesque version of wonderland hyped me up to read more from her. Yet, as all sequels are, there are bigger things to expect and my high expectations for Red Queen left me enjoying the novel less than its predecessor. 

Gods Bless (and Curse) America!

“Look, I didn’t want to be a half-blood.

If you’re reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: close this book right now.  Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life. 

Being a half-blood is dangerous.  It’s scary.  Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.”

Unless you live inside a cave or something, I don’t think anyone here does NOT know Rick Riordan’s beloved Percy Jackson, a series of adventures by the titular character himself that takes place in the modern world where Greek gods, heroes and monsters exist. The final months of the last year had left me book-less, in which during this phase I absolutely lose my reading appetite. It is during this time when I choose books at random, mostly ones I have no intention of reading ever, and as the Fates had decided, the wheel pointed to Rick Riordan, whose books are displayed in every bookstore that you couldn’t possibly miss it on a reading slump phase. As it seems, Percy Jackson has always been a fly hovering at the corner of my sight. It is constantly everywhere, from bookstores to Facebook posts, and never did I had the desire to follow-up its hype or simply put, read the books. Until now.

Now, what is it in this book that appealed to so many? If you have not read it, why should you read it? What should you expect from it? Why is that person hushing me when I mention the name Zeus in public? Why do girls and boys like Nico so much? Why did Luke deserve better (no really, he deserves better)? All these, I won’t answer, unfortunately, but there are more than enough reasons to start reading the series. 

The Crisis That Is Social Media

“Everyone lives three versions of themselves; a public life, a private life and a secret life.”

Hullo pips! I haven’t been updating the blog much but I’ve been reading Broken Monsters for quite some time now and still have not quite finished. To those not familiar to the novel, it is a supernatural-thriller written by Lauren Beukes who has done several award-winning novels with unique premises, one of them about a time-travelling serial-killer which I am going to read soon. Hah, look who’s excited. Anyway, Broken Monsters has an equally riveting premise that touches the horrors of the unknown, making you question what is real and not.

When I picked up this book, I’m not sure what I was up against. A generic cop-thriller, maybe? A sympathetic serial-killer? A goldfish? It was far better than that (I could do with the goldfish though) and far more different than expectations (there was no goldfish). Broken Monsters is filled with different personalities that at times it barely resembles a mystery novel. The multiple-POV approach introduces us to different characters and allows us to see the city dynamically, from a cop’s more cynical perspective to a journalist’s embellished eye for detail. What is distinct about this book is that it’s all about the characters, not the murder or the story, and the book is shaped through their drive and quirks– how each person keep up with their relationships, their jobs, their sanity and their dreams in a city that is gradually falling apart. Take Tom Perrota’s Little Children and add the hallucinatory experience and social commentary of Paranoia Agent in the mix, and you get a snarky and progressive thriller that’ll make you laugh and scared for your life. 

“Do You Want To Play A Game?”

My sister and I have been recently watching the Saw. I know, I know, you’re thinking how sick bastards we are. I personally dislike violence and torture. I personally dislike the taste of ginger too, if you want a comparison. And yet, surprisingly, I managed to watch the SAW series without groaning in disappointment. I shall now tell you the reason why.

I’ve watched four of the films so far so please, no spoilers for the fifth to seventh film. This post will contain spoilers for the first three movies. 

Read-Along | The Riddle-Master of Hed | Part One

Some of you may be familiar with Patricia A. McKillip and some of you may not. To those who are familiar with the name, then you probably know The Riddlemaster of Hed and probably wondered if the author wrote it drunk or half-asleep. To those who do not know this masterpiece, then I advise you to read it just so I could ask you what the experience felt.

I have gracefully summarized the contents of the book for you. I emptied three ice trays while making this post, you could imagine the stress in figuring out this damn book.

It’s about time I make use of my Ron Swanson gifs

Walking Teenagers… Again

“But right now I can’t help thinking this universe is a mystery that wants to be solved; a mystery trapped inside each and every one of us.”

I’ve been thinking for a long time what to say about this novel. I have finished Beneath Wandering Stars months ago and I have so much to tell you guys about it but whenever I face  computer screen or paper, I am at loss of words. This wasn’t any other YA novel I have ever read and at the same time, this was everything a YA novel should be. Sure, this novel doesn’t have handsome fairies, vengeful queens, witches or wizards. It’s no fairytale retelling or dystopian fiction. It is about a girl and a boy walking a pilgrim, as simple as that. And yet, it extends even further into something complex and deep and wonderful at the same time. I also read a similar book long ago which features walking teenagers as well. No one dies horribly in this book, though.

Beneath Wandering Stars approaches spirituality and philosophy that I don’t get to see enough in recent YA fiction, not unless we’re talking about the angst-driven coming-of-age novel which main philosophy is to hate the world and all those living in it. Beneath Wandering Stars isn’t written with hate and despair, it’s written with longing.

Top Ten Reasons Why I Hate and Love ACOTAR and Sequel

I have kept my feelings welled up inside me– I have many times considered tearing the book apart were it not for my parent’s peaceful upbringing. So, I had to settle on tearing potato chips with my teeth as I scan the book and write my review.

Because I HATE A Court of Thorn and Roses yet, at the same time, I LOVE it.

Damn you Sarah J. Maas. Damn you.

I intended this as a different post but when I saw that TTT is having a freebie week, I decided to put the two together since I was having a hard time organizing my thoughts. The post shall contain rants and praises and god knows what else. Maybe profanity unless my zen upbringing proves stronger than I thought. At the moment, I’m listening to the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack, thinking of the time when fairytales were simpler but memorable; ACOTAR is anything but simple and its impact to me is as powerful as an ant crawling inside my ear. I think it is a brilliant book that subverts common fairytale cliches such as Instaromance and Happily Ever Afters into realistic affairs and turns innocent kisses to hot, steamy sex scenes. At the same time, it is a flawed book, which makes it more or less an interesting book to discuss. I’ll be talking about BOTH novels so there are spoilers of course. 

QPQ, Chesca | What Are Your Writing Habits?

Hi guys, I’m adding a new feature/discussion post that I’ll be calling Quid Pro Quo, Chesca, where we basically share stories to one another. If you have watched Silence of the Lambs, you would know the infamous line Quid pro quo, doctor spoken by Clarice as she amd Hannibal Lecter exchange information to catch a serial-killer. Mind you that this segment is free of serial killers or cannibals so please don’t think I’d suddenly skin you alive or something.

Now, let’s get on to the topic of discussion. Writing habits. Writing is perhaps the easiest job of all time and, at the same time, the most difficult. It doesn’t require too much movement, and you don’t need to spend money putting your pen on paper or typing a sentence on your word processor. It’s basically do or not and we form habits along the way. It may be because writing is so darn hard you got to do something else every hour or so. Or perhaps you do something to warm you up before grinding through words and paragraphs. 

Dear You,

“You’re different. And I’m different too. Different is good. But different is hard. Believe me, I know.”

Among the stack of fairytale retellings, contemporary romance, and dystopian YA fiction, nothing fascinates me more than ever as the bittersweet coming-of-age novel. We’re talking about Catcher in the Rye where profanity is spoken with passion and angst is character. We’re talking about the alienated boy with issues, the misunderstood and ignored, the hopelessness of adulthood and the harsh reality that the world does not give a damn whether you slash your wrists or not. This sort of novel, perhaps, did not blow away our world or made it any better but it did something that you probably wanted to do for a long time– it cried, it wailed, it cursed the world and all of humanity– it’s like having a friend who could understand you.