Author: Shouni

Hello!

On Goodbyes and Blog Hiatus

Published on by Shouni2 Comments

Hello lovely people of Earth who have stumbled upon this post. I have an announcement to make so pay attention to me:

I am saying goodbye

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for the month. 😀 Gotcha! Didn’t I? Yeah, probably not.

I will be travelling back to my home country (Bangladesh, if you’re wondering) for the month of July to visit family and such. So this is probably my first and last blog post for the month.

I am excited and nervous at the same time. Excited because, well, family (I’m going to see my niece for the first time!). Nervous because the world hasn’t exactly been the safest place lately.

Goals for the plane ride (cause you know, it takes forever):

  1. Read Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes and Michelle Rowen. I’ve heard good and bad things about this book. I’m hoping I’m with the former because I’m not bringing a backup book.
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  2. Get some sleep. How do people even sleep on the plane? It’s a superpower, I tell you.
  3. Not die. That’s always a good goal to have, right?

Goals for when I’m there:

  1. Not get diarrhea (there’s always a chance)
  2. Spend time with family (which also means stay away from books. This one will take some practice).
  3. Not die. Again, great goal to have.

So… goodbye for now. Live freely and make all your dreams come true.

Are you any of you travelling in July?

 

ARC Review: “The Sun is Also a Star” by Nicola Yoon

Published on by Shouni5 Comments

28763485~o~Rating~o~
4.5 tp

~o~ Release Date: November 1st 2016 ~o~
~o~ Publisher: Delacorte Press ~o~

I was lucky (and knowledgeable) enough to win an ARC of this book at B-Fest trivia at Barnes and Nobles a few weekends ago (as you can see, I am also great at remembering dates).

~o~Goodreads Synopsis~o~

Natasha: I’m a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. I’m definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him won’t be my story.

Daniel: I’ve always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents’ high expectations. Never the poet. Or the dreamer. But when I see her, I forget about all that. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store—for both of us.

The Universe: Every moment in our lives has brought us to this single moment. A million futures lie before us. Which one will come true?

Click here for the Goodreads page.

~o~Review~o~

The Sun is Also a Star is very unlike what I expected. Is it a cute love story? Yes. But it’s also a story about immigrating into the USA and what it means to come from an immigrant family, especially the family expectations that come with it.

Natasha’s family immigrated to the USA from Jamaica when she was eight years old so her dad could pursue a career in acting. Her story is one I can connect with at a deeper level being an immigrant myself (who also happened to move to America at eight years old. It’s actually almost scary how that happened actually). Though unfortunately in her case, Natasha is undocumented and her family is getting deported that night.

Daniel is a first generation Korean-American living with his parents’ high expectations of being a doctor and marrying a nice, Korean girl. I’m not sure why the Goodreads synopsis says “Never the poet. Or the dreamer” in his description because that’s exactly what he is: Daniel is a poet and a dreamer. While Natasha is more factual and rational, Daniel is more sensitive and optimistic.

Now usually, I LOATHE books that are love at first sight or books where the main characters fall in love after one day of knowing each other. But honestly, this was the cutest thing ever. In the span of one day, their relationship developed more than I can say for 80 percent of YA characters. You know those books where the story tells you the main characters are in love but really, you have absolutely no idea why because they’ve never even had a decent conversation? Well, that’s not this story! I felt their connection, I knew the exact moment each of them fell in love with the other and, just THE FEELS!

The book itself mostly focuses on Natasha’s and Daniel’s points of views but it also shows some brief POVs of side characters which I enjoyed immensely because you also get a glimpse of their lives.

I also like books with big themes and this one had quite a few up its sleeves. How so many things had to go right for the world to form. How the smallest of all decisions can lead to and entirely different parallel universe. How a single exchange with another person can change your life forever.

And the ending is just

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so BE WARNED!

Anticipating Releases for the rest of 2016

Published on by Shouni8 Comments

I am eagerly anticipating SO MANY books this year I don’t even know how I’ve been waiting so patiently for this long.

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So. Very. Patient.

~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~

Most Anticipated Sequels:

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Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo (Six of Crows, #2)

The Midnight Star by Marie Lu (Young Elites, #3)

A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir (Ember in the Ashes, #2)

~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~

Most Anticipated Series Starters:

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Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor (Strange the Dreamer #1)

Ever the Hunted by Erin Summerill (Clash of Kingdoms #1)

Nevernight by Jay Kristoff (The Nevernight Chronicle #1)

Replica by Lauren Oliver (Replica #1)

~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~

Most Anticipated Stand-Alones:

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Heartless by Marissa Meyer

The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~

Don’t Really Know If They’re a Part of a Series or Not So I’ll Make a Separate Category:

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Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst

Signs of You by Emily France

~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~

Are any of these in your TBR list? Why is time going by so slow?

Review: “The Wrath and the Dawn” by Renee Ahdieh

Published on by Shouni4 Comments

18798983~o~Rating~o~
4.5 tp

~o~Goodreads Synopsis~o~

One Life to One Dawn.

In a land ruled by a murderous boy-king, each dawn brings heartache to a new family. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, is a monster. Each night he takes a new bride only to have a silk cord wrapped around her throat come morning. When sixteen-year-old Shahrzad’s dearest friend falls victim to Khalid, Shahrzad vows vengeance and volunteers to be his next bride. Shahrzad is determined not only to stay alive, but to end the caliph’s reign of terror once and for all.

Night after night, Shahrzad beguiles Khalid, weaving stories that enchant, ensuring her survival, though she knows each dawn could be her last. But something she never expected begins to happen: Khalid is nothing like what she’d imagined him to be. This monster is a boy with a tormented heart. Incredibly, Shahrzad finds herself falling in love. How is this possible? It’s an unforgivable betrayal. Still, Shahrzad has come to understand all is not as it seems in this palace of marble and stone. She resolves to uncover whatever secrets lurk and, despite her love, be ready to take Khalid’s life as retribution for the many lives he’s stolen. Can their love survive this world of stories and secrets?

Inspired by A Thousand and One Nights, The Wrath and the Dawn is a sumptuous and enthralling read from beginning to end.

Click here for Goodreads link.

~o~Review~o~

“Some things exist in our lives for but a brief moment. And we must let them go on to light another sky.”

I LOVED it. The Wrath and the Dawn is a retelling of the infamous A Thousand and One Nights. It’s similar to A Thousand Nights by E.K Johnson but it’s more action packed and I enjoyed it a lot more.

Shahrzad is intelligent and resourceful and witty without sounding snobby. The same could be said for countless other YA main characters but Shahrzad actually pulls it off. Her best friend was taken to be Khalid’s wife and like all his other brides, she was killed. Shahrzad volunteers to be Khalid’s bride to end his regime once and for all. I’m not usually a big fan of the whole “falling in love with the monster” trope but Ahdieh plays it off very well. Shahrzad gradually realizes all is not black and white after all as she struggles to understand how she could possibly be drawn to her best friend’s murderer.

Khalid was mysterious and alluring and too secretive for his own good. Like Shahrzad, I also gradually came to like him. He is also intelligent and observant. Not much could be said about him without spoiling.

I really enjoyed the romance in this book, it was well written and well developed. Khalid and Shahrzad are a good match and will always keep each other on their toes.

I liked most of the secondary characters though at times it felt like there were too many of them to where their personalities felt the same. If you gave me a description, I wouldn’t be able to tell you whether it was Rahim, Tariq or Jalal (or maybe it’s just because they say men are all the same :D). Feisty Despina on the other hand (Shahrzad’s maid) was my favorite secondary character and I loved the interactions between her and Shahrzad. YA often lacks female to female interaction as if a strong female MC cannot have a female best friend so it was a nice change.

Now to my favorite thing about this book: the food. No book has ever made me this hungry, not even the lavishness of the food at Hogwarts. I came as close to tasting the food as you possibly can while reading.

~o~Spoiler Alert~o~

So, I understand Ava’s father cursed Khalid and told him he had to kill the next hundred brides and all but what I don’t understand is why it had to be a secret. Surely Khalid  could have announced to the people that hey, I’m cursed and I must kill your daughters once I marry them or the kingdom will be destroyed. It would have still created problems but at least the people would know and no doubt many girls would willingly volunteer. Hasn’t keeping it a secret done more harm than good?

 

Series Review: The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater

Published on by Shouni14 Comments

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I read all four books in the series in a row so I decided to do a whole series review at once.

Overall: Say hello to one of my new favorite series of all time. I cannot believe it took me two tries to get through the first book. WHAT IN THE WORLD WAS I THINKING? The Raven Cycle series is wonderful and magical.

The first book hooked me when I started. I can’t decide what genre The Raven Boys would fall into: Fantasy? Sure. Paranormal? Kind of. Does it have magic and magical elements? Yes. But it feels so real!

The characters Stiefvater created are magical. I have found yet another friends circle I would love to be a part of, up there with the trio of Harry Potter and the Argo crew from Heroes of Olympus or the Black Betty gang from Darkest Minds.

The books (and characters) get better and better as the series continues. Except for Ronan who is pretty much perfect all the way through. I highly recommend this series to anyone!

Let us continue. The later books have spoilers for the previous ones so don’t read those if you have yet to read the books before it.

17675462~o~Rating~o~
4.5 tp

“She wasn’t interested in telling other people’s futures. She was interested in going out and finding her own.”

Blue started off as my favorite character. Blue, the only non-psychic in her house full of psychic women, longed to witness the extraordinary herself. There was Gansey on his quest to find and wake a sleeping king. Ronan who is wild and angry at the world for his father’s death.  There’s quiet and shy Noah who always pops in and out of the story. And then we have Adam, who lives with his abusive father in a trailer park and works his butt off to have a better future. I quickly grew to love Ronan and Gansey. Adam, I had lots of problems with. I thought he was too prideful and ungrateful starting off; in his mind, every sign of genuine concern from his friends was pity and a helping hand was charity. I sympathize with his situation but just, his principles are annoying to say the least.

Blue has always been told that she would kill her true love if she ever kissed him. And even though this comes up in this book, it is not a main plot point. The Raven Boys is not a romance, it is a mystery and adventure and a story of a bond forged by an unlikely group of teenagers.

Click here for Goodreads link. 

~o~Rating~o~17347389
5 tp

“While I’m gone,” Gansey said, pausing, “dream me the world. Something new for every night.”

The Dream Thieves was even better than The Raven Boys. This book felt more like Ronan’s book than the others though everyone had a presence. In the end of Raven Boys, we find out that Ronan can pull things from his dreams. That’s explored more in depth in this one.

Click here for Goodreads link.

***Some spoilers ahead for this one***

I actually don’t remember most of the details since I read these all in a row. I did think this book was better than the first one, but just slightly. And a bunch of random thoughts coming:

I love how every time some creepy thing happens, everyone is automatically like, “Knock it off, Noah.” 😀 Not in those exact words.

Mr. Gray grew on me quite a bit. He is a brilliant villain and quite a sympathetic one. I though he was much better character than Whelk. By the end of the book, he really isn’t the villain anymore. I thought what he did was very noble and deserving of Maura.

We learn more about the psychic women living in 300 Fox Way and I have to say, I love the trio (Maura, Calla and Persephone). They’re a very close knit group of women who have a firm set of beliefs and isn’t afraid to show them to others.

Adam has been going through a lot but I still haven’t gotten fond of him. He’s just a little too rash in my opinion.

Ronan has earned his place as my favorite character. He’s so sweet! Well, not really. But we understand him and why he does stuff a lot more in this book.

17378508~o~Rating~o~
5 tp

“I think it’s crazy how you’re in love with all those raven boys.”

The third book to the Raven Cycle series or as I like to call it, the book where Adam finally redeems himself and earns his rightful place in this ferocious but loyal team of nutcrackers. Why nutcrackers you ask? I don’t really know.

So, Blue’s mother has disappeared down a cave. The search for Glendower continues. Adam is still Cabeswater’s hands and eyes though he is learning to understand Cabeswater more thanks to Persephone. Noah is still dead and decaying. The Gray Man had teamed up with the heroes. There’s a new villain in town – the Gray Man’s former boss and the person behind the murder of Ronan’s father – Greenmantle. And his extremely cunning wife Piper who really cares for nothing.

Ronan and Adam started teaming up more and I LOVE THEM. Same with Gansey and Blue. I wasn’t sure about them at first, but they won my heart.

And I loved the Gray Man even more in this book. You can really tell how much he cares for Maura. And him and Blue teaming up was great.

Click here for Goodreads link.

~o~Rating~o~17378527
4.5 tp

“What a strange constellation they all were.”

The Raven King was an awesome conclusion to this wonderful series! An almost perfect one. I wanted more but what I got was great. All of these characters have come such a long way, I feel like like a proud mother.

Adam especially has gone through a lot of self-reflection, A LOT, and he’s finally letting the others be his friend. *long applause*

Maura and Artemus (Blue’s dad) are now out of the cave. And so are Piper and Neeve who have woken the third sleeper (a demon) who they were NOT supposed to wake. Artemus is useless. Persephone is dead. Glendower is now or never.

Click here for Goodreads link.

***Lots of spoilers ahead***

A moment for poor Gansey who’s life’s work pretty much meant nothing. Glendower is dead and they did not get a favor. BUT he found his best friends and true love in this fantastical journey and had the adventure of a lifetime. That counts for something, doesn’t it?

All these unexpected Pynch moments!! I was squealing like a broken rubber duck! I love them! Same with Bluesy. They get a happy ending! I am joyous.

This is also the book that made me like Declan. He’s pretty good after all.

Artemus is a tree? I was honestly pretty confused about that whole thing.

The involved addition of Henry Cheng was starting to worry me because I’m too used to our exclusive band of Raven Boys but he grew on me just like he grew on Gansey and Blue. I think he would be good for the group, especially with Noah pretty much gone now.

All in all though, I couldn’t give this book five stars because there are SO MANY unanswered questions.

  1. What the heck happened to Noah? So, he’s the one who, all those years ago, spoke to Gansey and sent him on his search for Glendower. Okay… why? What’s the purpose? And what happens now? Does Noah decay completely? Is he finally put to rest? Is he finally actually dead?
  2. Whatever happened to Matthew? Did the sacrifice work? Is he okay?
  3. Is Blue’s curse gone? Does this mean she can now kiss Gansey without killing him again? I NEED ANSWERS
  4. Whatever happened to that deal Gansey made with the principal about Monmouth Manufacturing? Was Helen successful in digging some stuff up about him?
  5. Will Artemus forever be inside that tree? Does this mean Blue can also be a tree? Does that mean Blue is half tree and half human? I just don’t know anymore.

I mean, I really enjoyed this book so I don’t want to bump the book down to four stars but more closure would’ve been nice.

The Book Life Tag

Published on by Shouni2 Comments

Wow, it’s been a while since I posted something. Nine days. That seems like a lot though in retrospect, it really isn’t. What better way to start off again than a book tag? I was tagged by the wonderful Stellah @ The Little Book Nerd’s Life. Check her out, she’s awesome!

Who would your parents be?

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I would say Dante’s parents from Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamis Alire Sáenz. They are both hilarious, very supportive and just overall loving people.

Who would be your sister?

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I already have a younger sister and I’ve always wanted an older one. Honestly, I would love both Jane and Lizzy from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen as sisters. Jane’s kindness and Lizzy’s witty intelligence are exactly what I need in sisters.

Who would be your brother?

I would absolutely love having Nico diAngelo from the Percy Jackson series as a little brother. Also Ender from Ender’s Game except his intelligence will always make me self-concious. I guess we’ll just go with Nico then.

Who would be your pet?

Church! From the world of Shadowhunters. That cat is immortal I tell you. He’s been in all three Shadowhunter series so far.

Where would you live?

Ooo… hmm…. the Wizarding World after Harry defeated Voldemort. I feel the need to specify the after. 

Where would you go to school?

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Well, I guess the obvious answer would be Hogwarts. Though now that I just finished The Raven Cycle series by Maggie Stiefvater, Aglionby Academy is now up there on the list. If only I was privileged, rich and a guy.

Who would be your best friend?

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This one is hard. I think I’ll go with Cath from Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. She’s a little quirky, a bookworm, super shy and writes fanfiction. We’re essentially the same person.

Who would be your significant other?

I know I’ve named Pride and Prejudice already but I can’t just NOT say Mr. Darcy. Because, MR. DARCY!! And following close behind is Will Herondale from the Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare.

This was fun! Does anyone have the same answers? Do the tag if you haven’t already!

On Graduating High School

Published on by Shouni7 Comments

Hello people! Hope you’re doing well and not currently going through a book hangover. I decided to do a life update post. This week, I will be graduating from high school. Wow. I guess it hasn’t really hit me yet.

Pros: I will probably be reading a lot more this coming month. Yay summer! And yay for being an introvert who doesn’t do much of anything else!

Cons: I’m a little terrified. Granted going to college/university isn’t really stepping into the real world but it’s much closer to the real world than high school is. And to me, the real world looks terrifying.

And with college also comes the need for me to get a job. I’ve never had an actual paying job before (does volunteering at the library and hiding whenever it seems like someone might come ask me a question count?). How does one even get a job? Do I actually have to go out and talk to people?

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So, anyone else graduating this year? Any tips to surviving life after high school?

Review: “Seraphina” by Rachel Hartman

Published on by Shouni4 Comments

19549841~o~Rating~o~
4 tp

~o~Goodreads Synopsis~o~

In her New York Times bestselling and Morris Award-winning debut, Rachel Hartman introduces mathematical dragons in an alternative-medieval world to fantasy and science-fiction readers of all ages. Eragon-author Christopher Paolini calls them, “Some of the most interesting dragons I’ve read in fantasy.”

Four decades of peace have done little to ease the mistrust between humans and dragons in the kingdom of Goredd. Folding themselves into human shape, dragons attend court as ambassadors, and lend their rational, mathematical minds to universities as scholars and teachers. As the treaty’s anniversary draws near, however, tensions are high.

Seraphina Dombegh has reason to fear both sides. An unusually gifted musician, she joins the court just as a member of the royal family is murdered—in suspiciously draconian fashion. Seraphina is drawn into the investigation, partnering with the captain of the Queen’s Guard, the dangerously perceptive Prince Lucian Kiggs. While they begin to uncover hints of a sinister plot to destroy the peace, Seraphina struggles to protect her own secret, the secret behind her musical gift, one so terrible that its discovery could mean her very life.

~o~Review~o~

“Sometimes the truth has difficulty breaching the city walls of our beliefs. A lie, dressed in the correct livery, passes through more easily.”

Seraphina is quite possibly the best book about dragons I’ve ever read. Hartman is a good writer and her world building is very detailed and thorough. Although some parts of the book are a little slow, I think Hartman did a marvelous job creating her Fantasy world.

In the kingdom of Goredd, there is an uneasy alliance among the people and the dragons after years of war. Some dragons live among humans as scholars or teachers but mostly the dragons live in their region and the humans in theirs.But now, the fortieth anniversary of their peace treaty is coming and the queen of Goredd invited the dragon leader and ambassadors to Goredd to celebrate.

My favorite thing about this book is Seraphina  herself. She is intelligent, bold and resourceful. I think she is a well developed character who is flawed in her own way  (**Mild spoiler** she is half dragon. A weredragon? She has scales all around her body and has to wear a full-sleeved, full body dress at all times **End of spoiler**). Her relationship with all the characters were gradual and were developed in a realistic way.

Prince Lucian – Kiggs – was another fantastic character. He is the leader of the crown’s guard and is engaged to his cousin, Princess Glisselda.  He isn’t overly good-looking or a master at fighting but he is good match for Seraphina’s sharpness. They are both smart and logical and are willing to do what others aren’t.

Princess Glisselda was another high point of the book. I was expecting her to be a snooty princess, almost like the mean girl of the book. I’m so glad I was wrong because I would not have enjoyed this book as much if I had been right. Glisselda is also intelligent and she tries her best to keep an open mind about things other people won’t appreciate.

Overall, Seraphina is a great epic fantasy and should be read by all dragon lovers should read. Or you know, Fantasy lovers in general.

Review: “The Hidden Oracle” by Rick Riordan

Published on by Shouni2 Comments

26252859~o~Rating~o~
4 tp

Warning: The following contains spoilers for its two prequel series Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Heroes of Olympus both by Rick Riordan. This is the first book to the Trials of Apollo series. 

~o~Goodreads Synopsis~o~

How do you punish an immortal?

By making him human.

After angering his father Zeus, the god Apollo is cast down from Olympus. Weak and disorientated, he lands in New York City as a regular teenage boy. Now, without his godly powers, the four-thousand-year-old deity must learn to survive in the modern world until he can somehow find a way to regain Zeus’s favour.

But Apollo has many enemies – gods, monsters and mortals who would love to see the former Olympian permanently destroyed. Apollo needs help, and he can think of only one place to go . . . an enclave of modern demigods known as Camp Half-Blood.

~o~Review~o~

Do you have to read the other two series to read this? No, not really. But it would help with your understanding of the book so it is highly recommended. And wouldn’t you rather know the full history behind these characters?

**Note: Again, spoilers for the first two series coming up. Not major ones but beware anyway.

I am SO glad I liked this book. Because, well, Blood of Olympus was horrible. I refused to consider that book a true conclusion so I was very excited for this chance to revisit my favorite characters. I kept my expectations at bay because after BoO and Magnus Chase (which was another disappointment), I didn’t have much hope left. I was not disappointed!

Back to first person point of view! Honestly, the third person of HoO wasn’t working out very well. Apollo’s pov is nothing like the usual sarcastic-jokester Riordan protagonist. Apollo is whiny, self-centered and egocentric and I LOVED it. His mortal name? Lester Papadopoulos. Any other character who acted so pathetic would bother the Hades out of me but this is Apollo. He gets a freebie.

Meg was a wonderful addition to this world. She is a fierce twelve year old demigod living in the streets. She rescues Apollo right after he, quite literally, falls from Heaven. Apollo and Meg have a pure friendship and it seems like this is the first time two main characters won’t be in a relationship in these series.

To those who are wondering if you see Percy and gang. Kind of. You definitely see Percy. And SOLANGELO IS CONFIRMED! It is no longer a thing of fanfiction!

Four stars because as much as I liked it, it didn’t have enough WOW factor to make me love it. And I wish it was longer. Only 361 pages? That’s not nearly enough.

~o~Spoilers Alert!~o~

Since I can’t help myself, here are some of my favorite scenes.

“Yep,” Percy agreed. “That pretty much describes my entire life: Because Poseidon.”

Percy is just so done with this world.

“But the truth is we gods are a little in awe of you mortals. You spend your whole lives knowing you will die. No matter how many friends and relatives you have, your puny existence will quickly be forgotten. How do you cope with it? Why are you not running around constantly screaming and pulling your hair out?”

Apollo gave me a serious existential crisis.

And I love all the jabs Riordan makes at, dare I stay it, stupid people.

At this point, you may be wondering how I felt seeing my son with Nico di Angelo. I’ll admit I did not understand Will’s attraction to a child of Hades, but if the dark foreboding type was what made Will happy…

Oh. Perhaps some of you are wondering how I felt seeing him with a boyfriend rather than a girlfriend. Is that’s the case, please. We gods are not hung up about such things. I myself have had… let’s see, thirty-three mortal girlfriends and eleven mortal boyfriends? I’ve lost count.

The casual he talks about homosexual relationships in a middle grade book is honestly one of the greatest things I’ve ever read. Hats off to Riordan!

“Nico,” I said at last, “shouldn’t you be sitting at the Hades table?”

He shrugged. “Technically, yes. But if I sit alone at my table, strange things happen. Cracks open in the floor. Zombies crawl out and start roaming around. It’s a mood disorder. I can’t control it. That’s what I told Chiron. “

“And is it true?” I asked.

Nico smiled thinly. “I have a note from my doctor.”

Will raised his hand. “I’m his doctor.”

“Chiron decided it wasn’t worth arguing about,” Nico said. “As long as I sit at a table with other people, like … oh, these guys for instance … zombies stay away. Everybody’s happier.”

Will nodded serenely. “It’s the strangest thing. Not that Nico would ever misuse his powers to get what he wants.”

“Of course not,” Nico agreed.  

Every Solangelo scene in was just too perfect! I’m glad I read this at home because I would just start squealing whenever they came up. A few more of these and I’ll put them above Percabeth! (Well… maybe a tie).

Nero waved dismissively. “But the Christians were terrorists, you see. Perhaps they didn’t start the fire, but they were causing all sorts of trouble.”

As a Muslim, I found this contrast absolutely hilarious.

“Eh,” Leo said. “We took Gaea in, like, forty seconds. This’ll be easy squeezy.”

I seemed to recall that the lead-up to the fight with Gaea had involved months of suffering and near misses with death. Leo, in fact, had died.

Who trolls their readers better than Riordan? I believe this was a jab to all those (including myself) who complained about the BoO end scene to be too short and anti-climactic. And that none of the heroes died, which was actually great.

Other random thoughts:

Percy studying for the SAT’s just so he could go to college with Annabeth. If that’s not true love, I don’t know what is. Especially since we know, Percy Jackson hates studying.

Austin and Kayla were pretty great and I’m glad we finally got to know them a little more.

Little Harley is so cute!

Leo and Calypso are going with Apollo! Not going to lie, I’d much rather have Will and Nico go but Leo is good too.

That Percy and Calypso reunion! I wish Annabeth was there.

I did not see the Meg thing coming! She’s Nero’s stepdaughter! This is one of the first times a Riordan book actually surprised me.

 

Top Books from my endless TBR Shelf

Published on by Shouni4 Comments

I, like many many of you, have a constantly growing To-Be-Read list. As the phrase goes: So many books, so little time. So I thought I’d share my top ten to be read.

1

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Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Wow has this book become super famous in a short amount of time. I have heard great things about this book, it almost seems like the new Fault in Our Stars. Is that a good comparison?

2

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The Wrath & the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

I’ve heard great things about this book too. I read A Thousand Nights by E.K Johnston a while ago and it has a similar premise though I hear the two books are actually very different.

3

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Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

The sequel to one of my favorite classics To Kill a Mockingbird. Go Set a Watchman takes place about 20 years after the events of To Kill a Mockingbird. I have to go back and read the first book again because I have mostly forgotten what happened but I’m excited to revisit Scout.

4

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Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

Another book that’s been gaining popularity in a short span of time. The cover is beautiful! And I love a good desert themed book.

5

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Daughter of Smoke and Bones by Laini Taylor

A series that has been popular for a while and I even started the first book but never ended up finishing for some reason. There are so many people completely obsessed with this series. I will try to get to it as soon as possible.

6

The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle, #1)

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

So many people have told me to read these books! I started once but I couldn’t get through it but I feel obligated to try again since everyone seems to love them.

7

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A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

I’m not a fan of the Throne of Glass series so I’m hesitant about picking up another Sarah J. Maas series. I’ll try to give her the benefit of doubt and read it anyway.

8

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Tiger’s Curse by Colleen Houck

This has been semi-popular for a while. Trying to break an Indian curse with a tiger sidekick? What’s more awesome than that? (Though I haven’t read the book and don’t actually know if it does turn out awesome).

9

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Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King

A contemporary I’ve been wanting to read for a while. I believe it’s a coming of age novel. And the title sounds interesting.

10

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For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund

I’ve been eyeing this book for so long but I never end up picking it up. It’s a science fiction novel that was inspired by Jane Austen’s Persuasion. I love the title!