Yumi and the Nightmare Painter

 Another Cosmere novel by Brandon Sanderson and another one of his "Secret Projects." 

"Yumi comes from a land of gardens, meditation, and spirits, while Painter lives in a world of darkness, technology, and nightmares. When their lives suddenly become intertwined in strange ways, can they put aside their differences and work together to uncover the mysteries of their situation and save each other’s communities from certain disaster?"

General Thoughts: I really enjoyed this one. It is right there under Tress of the Emerald Sea in favorites of Brandon Sanderson's books, well, books in general. The world is amazingly different, Hoid is the narrator again though he makes less actual appearances than before, and this is a love story. I almost always enjoy a good romance. 

<<Spoilers Ahead>>

Plot: I think the jumping between bodies is really intriguing. I loved watching Your Name (which I highly recommend) and it very  much had a bit of that in there. Yumi's magic is very different, who would ever think that stacking stones was a form of magic? Brandon I guess. And Painters' ability to fight nightmares through art is cool too. I particularly liked the ending when they figure out what is going on and how they both fight for what they want. I think the nightmares, and what the nightmares actually are is simplistic but it works in the creepy area well. I do wish Yumi's fight at the end was longer, but it ended well. 

Setting: OH! The crazy contrast between their worlds is amazing. I think the descriptions, which were needed to be blunt, they were well done and gave us the differences between where they come from and how Yumi and Painter actually work in their societies. So strikingly different, especially the dramatic Night and Days, light and darks. I like the neon lights that fill Painters world. It's all just so different. I also love the fact that when Yumi discovers what TV is she is hooked by the moving pictures. 

Characters: Yumi and Painter are so fun. I just love each of the characters presented here. Design particularly. I can't wait to read more about her and Hoid (#FMoash, the stupid jerk.) There is just too much to say about these characters, that I don't know what to say. They really pull through in this story, like many of Brandon's other books. 

Spice: 2/5 Spicy Chilis. It is a light romance where most of it is emotional. When they switch bodies, they don't see themselves as the other person, but themselves standing an as that person. So it's not perverted, which is nice. One or the other is almost always a ghost so it's not like they could even kiss or anything. 

Writing Style: I love the way Brandon writes in general and this is no exception. The fact that Hoid is our narrator, and the fanciful storyteller he is, just makes this so much better. I would love to have more books on this world, just to look at the magic system, but I doubt that will happen. Brandon has too much left on his plate. I am probably bias at this point, but I love the way he writes. It makes it easy to enjoy the story he is telling. 

Overall: I very much enjoy this book. It is one that I will most definitely be reading again and again. 

The Smuggler's Treasure

 The Smugglers Treasure is an American Girl: History Mystery written by Sarah Masters Buckley.

"Sent to live with relatives in New Orleans during the War of 1812, eleven-year-old Elisabet determines to find a smuggler's treasure to ransom her imprisoned father."

General Thoughts: I was given a set of History Mystery books when I was a preteen and enjoyed this one. I wasn't much into reading so I didn't read many of the other books in this American Girl Series, but one can always go back and find a good book. I enjoyed the adventure part of this book and the fact that I hadn't read much in the way of historical books before and I've found that it still holds up pretty well. 

Plot: Elisabet's adventure in a new city, with new people, doing a job at her families bakery with busy, noisy customers, and seeing the differences between what she was as a pampered little girl (like some that she serves) and the waitress that she's become was fun to watch. It's amazing what hard labor will do when you have choice. What getting up early to do the job your assigned can do to change people's attitudes. I enjoyed the growth that Elisabet had throughout the course of the story. She does gain a friend who helps her on her adventure with potential ghosts and thieves and pirates. The treasure hunt and figuring out the clues to find the map was fun and, when I was younger, thrilling. 

Setting: When it comes to history and fantasy books, the setting is extremely important. One should easily get lost in the new city where you can "feel" the cobblestones or mud underfoot. I think Smuggler's Treasure does just that. The smells of the bakery, the rain, the darkness, sets the tone for the suspenseful moments and really help pull it through. 

Characters: Elisabet, as I said, has great growth through the story. She learns that she can do hard and at times scary things in order to do what she thinks will help her father. I liked the others in the bakery as well, in front of as well as behind the counter. They were memorable characters that even a year after reading it, I still enjoy thinking about. 

Spicy: 0/5. It's a children's book. No. 

Writing Style: I think it was well done. American Girl is not going to get newbies to write their books and Sarah Masters Buckley did a good job at setting tones, making likable characters, and developing an interesting story that was simple enough for me to read at 10 and enjoyable enough for me to read after age 30. 

Overall: I would read it again. I ended up gifting my niece a copy and hopes she enjoys it as much as I did. 

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime

 The manga That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime was a really fun isekai to read and anime to watch.

"Mikami's a middle age hasn't gone as he as he's planned. He never found a girlfriend, he got stuck in a dead-end job and was abruptly stabbed to death on the street at 37. So when he wakes up in a new work straight out of a fantasy RPG, he's disappointed buy not exactly surprised to find that he's a not a wizard but a blind slime demon. But there are chances for even a slime to become a hero..."

General Thoughts: I enjoyed this story and am glad it's continuing onward. This is actually a series I'm interested in purchasing for myself.

Plot and Theme: Slime is a typical isekai. Going from weakest creature alive to the top demon lord that everyone is scared of so that way you can protect your friends. There are many clichés and tropes that pop up here, but what was surprising was that it was done well. There are many isekai manga that don't run through their tropes well or where the story is so bad it just flounders. Slime doesn't. Rimaru gains friends and helps lift up others along the way. It's fun to see the village going from Goblin shacks that are barely standing to a major city with a Coliseum and Rimaru as a Demon Lord. There is political intrigue, massive disasters, death, humor and comedy, battles, and road construction. I like the ideas of helping each other out and living our best lives without having the "my friends are my power" trope which has gotten very old and long winded. It's a fun adventure story. 

Setting: It is an basic fantasy setting with goblins, orcs, demons, elves, dryads, vampires, humans, and whatnot. But each of these different clans have well developed cultures. Each kingdom has it's own boarders and concerns which leads to altercations and friendships. I'm in love with a good map at the beginning of any book and this one has them throughout the story as Rimaru becomes more important in society. 

Characters and Style: Many of the characters are very unique. There a lot of them, but each are drawn differently enough and have prominent (loud or quiet) personality that they don't get mixed up with other, which can often happen in these large scale books. Rimaru is a good leader, has his flaws (though few seem to be fatal flaws at the moment), but is always looking out for the people who've come under his slimy wing. 

Spice: 2/5 Spicy Chilis. Slime is not ecchi, which is great, but, however, there are some times with the elves one other character who are big and busty or a Demon Lord who wears only panties that I have found to be uncomfortable. There is also a moment toward the beginning where Rimaru needs to decide how he is going to look and because he's a slime and technically doesn't have a gender, he gets to pick and explores that a little, technically nothing is shown, but it gets to be kind of close at times. My son, who very much enjoys this series, chooses to look away because it can get awkward. Thankfully, it happens rarely enough that we don't have to turn it off. 

Final Thoughts: I do enjoy the series. It's got an engaging plot, fun characters, and it does the isekai genre good. I have very few qualms with it and can't wait for more chapters to be made. 

Ella Enchanted

 Another retelling of Cinderella. 

Ella was "blessed," more like cursed, when she was a baby by a fairy named Lucinda to be Obedient, therefore she must do everything someone, anyone, tells her to do. She tries to fight against the curse going at it slowly or obnoxiously, but eventually she has to give in to whatever someone says. After her beloved mother dies, she is forced to go to finishing school with two nasty girls (who'd eventually become her step sister). On her way there, Hattie figures out that Ella has to be obedient and starts making her life miserable. She runs away, trying to find Lucinda to take the curse away (with the help of her own fairly godmother) but things don't go as planned. 

A simple, very fanciful retelling of the traditional story, it "fixes" a few of the things that modern audiences have problems with. Why didn't Cinderella leave? Why does she have to do what she's told? Why would the Prince marry her at the end without even knowing her? Historically, those questions wouldn't have mattered. Arranged marriages happened all the time and not being able to leave your home or position was obvious. But it gives our modern eyes reasons and explanations. 

I enjoy Ella and Char as a characters. I like the way their relationship is friendly and develops over the course of the story. Often we don't get that in a Cinderella story (which is why I think it is retold so much and why we get so many versions of it, the romance is open ended). I think their relationship is what makes this story. Yes, Ella goes on an adventure, but them together or their letters to each other is what really draws us through the story. 

Haikyu!

 This is one of my favorite series I've read this year. 

Haikyu! is about these boys on a volleyball team in Japan. Hinata is short and had little volleyball experience, but can move really quickly and jump very high and is beyond willing to take whatever he can get. Kageyama is a brilliant setter who needs to work on his people skills. In middle school the faced each other and became rivals for life, but then suddenly they find themselves at the same school trying for the same volleyball team. They have to learn to work together and make the Kurosono team fly to nationals. But it isn't just them on the team. All of the boys have things to work on with skills and personality to bring to the court. With dedication, determination, and a willingness to never give up, they become a sensation amongst the other volleyball teams as they work their way to nationals. 

I've always loved volleyball and since I started reading manga, I've love that too. So this was amazing. It was well drawn, and well written. Each of the boys have great personalities (whether it is part of Kurosono or the many other teams). I think Haruichi Furudate did a great job in keeping everyone boy an individual with a separate personality (HEY HEY HEY!!!) and back story from the others which is no easy feat when there are so many characters going on and off the page. So good job. 

I also loved the character development of all the characters. AND EACH OF THEM DEVELOPED AS THE STORY WENT ALONG! Taking the title "King of the Court" and making it his own was pretty  much my favorite. It was refreshing to be so engaged in the story. 

The ending was a little weird with it being a few years in the future some times it got a little confusing trying to remember all of the individuals (there were a lot of them). However, it was fun to see everyone either having moved on to different careers or progressing in volleyball. And the fact that it never actually ends and that the volleyball games will keep going and that Hinata and Kageyama will always be rivals (on the same team or on different teams) was icing on the cake with plenty of cherries on top. 

It was fabulous. I can't wait for the anime to finally be completed in English (though obviously subs are good too). 

Girl, Wash Your Face

This is a book everyone should read. 
 

"Stop believing the lies about who you are so you can become who you were meant to be!" 

This book is about some of the lies Rachel Hollis has told herself over the years (and I'm sure many of us have told ourselves) and why we need to stop believing them. 

Her chapters include: 

• "The Lie: Something else will make me happy
• The Lie: I'll start tomorrow
• The Lie: I'm not good enough
• The Lie: I'm better than you
• The Lie: Loving him is enough for me
• The Lie: No is the final answer
• The Lie: I'm bad at sex
• The Lie: I don't know how to be a mom
• The Lie: I'm not a good mom 
• The Lie: I should be further along by now
• The Lie: Other people's kids are so much cleaner/better organized/more polite
• The Lie: I need to make myself smaller
• The Lie: I'm going to marry Matt Damon
• The Lie: I'm a terrible writer
• The Lie: I will never get past this
• The Lie: I can't tell the truth: 
• The Lie: I am defined by my weight
• The Lie: I need a drink
• The Lie: There's only one right way
• The Lie: I need a hero"

There are so many things that I knew I tell myself that she discusses and how she and maybe how you can get past these obstacles that are in your way. 

Rachel Hollis is beyond funny and had me laughing aloud multiple times. She is clean (as some might be nervous about the sex chapter) and is Christian so there are many things about God and the relationship she has with him set alongside Bible verses that helped her during hard times. 

This is one that I'm going to buy for my bookshelf and everyone, especially women, should read it. Take a closer look (and really look) at yourself to see how much better you can actually be. 

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

This book was dramatically let down by the movie. Just saying.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was comical and actually got me to sniffle with tears in my eyes. Cedric Diggery is actually a very awesome person (hence the tears) and Mrs. Weasley is by far my favorite character in the Harry Potter series. Period.

Harry, before returning to school, has crazy dreams, his scar hurts, goes to the Quiddich World Cup and sees Death Eaters and almost get stunned and put in prison. Hooray for the summer holiday! When school starts, the school is informed that they will be hosting the Triwizard Tournament. Someone puts his name in the drawing for it and is considered a champion in the Tournament. Is someone trying to kill him again? Obviously, the answer is yes. He has to survive the tasks and school ground and school assignments. Go Harry! But, of course, dark forces as encroaching upon the quickly dwindling happiness that happens at school.

The characters are beyond brilliant. J.K. Rowling does and excellent job with her character development. The ending was very powerful where we were just as shocked with Harry about what happens in the graveyard, then have just as much heart ache as Harry does when realization sets in (particularly for me with Dumbledore's speech at the end), and I defiantly felt the love of Mrs. Weasley who, like I said, is my favorite character. We were right there, with Harry, feeling the same things. But then everyone else there was growing too. Ron and Hermione growing as people throughout the World Cup and the Tournament. Friendships are tried and unregistered love is too. Then others as well are given enlightening moments that make their character bloom. Neville, I'm looking forward to you. Obviously.

It is a long book with many things happening, and the fact that they are all interconnected (either in series or simply the awesomeness that is the book) makes them a great read. Plot is very well done here with a major twist at the end for those who are reading it for the first time. There are long, almost info-dump, of explanation at the ending between many of the characters but they were very needed and did explain so much. Rather similar to a "so who dun it" moment at the end of a mystery novel where the detective explains or the bad guy confesses.

In the end, it was a great book. I finished the last 25% in a day (hooray for quarantine). It was very binge worthy. I'm taking a quick break from Harry Potter (mainly because my husband is asking me to read something), but will be back for Umbridge soon. Bwahaha. I can't wait.

House of the Sun

This manga was a cute, simple and muchly needed story.

Mao is a girl who's family is broken. Her parents have divorced, her mom has practically vanished, and her cold dad is now remarried to a woman who already has a young daughter. She feels replaced by her new sister and unwanted by her father. There is one place she can go and has gone to every time she's needed to get away, the shrine. The shrine is where she is always found by Hiro who always somehow saves her. Hiro has his own problems and troubles. His parents are both dead, his two siblings are living with relatives, and he is left very much alone in his parents big house.

With Mao having no where else to go and feeling very much abandoned and so much room at his house, he offers his home as a place she can rest her head and sort out her troubles. He is older than her by eight years, but have known each other for years and years so it's not super weird. Except for the fact that they start liking each other, obviously!

Eventually Hiro's brother visits, new friends are made, crushes are realized and denied, and high school love drama ensues. Although it runs side by side with the need for families to come back together. Mending broken families.

I really enjoyed this manga series. Mao is a somewhat shy but strong girl who will do what needs to be done realistically. It takes time to gain the nerve and gumpshin to do it. Broken families aren't mended in a week, normally. Often, I think, not even a year. And this goes through the somewhat sticky process of real life and people and their choices.

I enjoyed the characters and how different they were. They grew in their own ways, each with their own moments of love in different varieties. Love and loss and denial and sadness, all real things in life and they were presented well.

This is one that I would probably read again. Enjoy.

The Color of Magic

This very odd book is rather fantastic.

The story follows Rincewind, an "incompetent" wizard who only knows one spell, that's so powerful he doesn't dare use it, and Twoflower a former insurance clerk, now bumbling tourist who wants to see everything there is to see on the other side of Diskworld including tavern brawls, pirates, heroes, dragons, magic spells, and everything else that he's heard of from the docks. Oh, as well as Twoflower's luggage chest that walks on its own with about a hundred legs, and Death, who is spotted quiet often and is quite a character.

This book is a very well thought out Dungeons and Dragon's campaign (rolls of the dice included) with the most entertaining characters.

Terry Pratchett's writing style may not be for everyone, which is understandable because the way it describes things is rather obnoxious but in a humorous way. There were times when things happened and I had to go back because "What just happened?" As I said, it may not be for everyone but I laughed out loud and nearly fell over while I was jogging because of the way things were said or the weirdness of Twoflower.

I think the world that Terry Pratchett made is unique yet still has the basics of "typical fantasy." Magic, the Gods, Death, and pretty much the universe has been warped and changed to the delight and curiosity which is Twoflower and us as the reader. I mean, what fantasy world has dragons and jet planes? You tell me. ;)

While I was looking online a bit about this book, I found out that it is also a movie!!! WHAT!?! Starring Sean Astin, David Jason, and Tim Curry... I about died. The movie, I believe, is based on The Color of Magic and The Light Fantastic. The rest of the Disk World series and lore might be in it too, but because I haven't seen it, I don't really know for sure. I do plan on finding out though, just for a laugh because I'm sure Sean Astin will to a phenomenal job as the ridiculous tourist.

Wow.

Stepsister

Stepsister is a story of what happens after Cinderella and her prince glide away to their castle and "live happily ever after."

Isabelle cut off her toes to try and fit into that slipper, her sister Octavia cut off her heel. Now they are known as the ugly stepsisters and are somehow supposed to still function in their village society. Not only do they have those repercussions, but there is now a war going on that is infiltrating their part of France and Fate and Chance are fighting for her life, and on top of it all, Isabelle wants to change. She wants to be better and the whole world is literally crashing down on her. Can Ella's fairy godmother help even an ugly stepsister like her?

This is a big time "girl power" book. For people who like Tamora Pierce, you will like this. This book contains many themes and morals to the story all trying to empower women and empower self in general. Finding yourself and being okay with yourself, especially when it may go against what tradition or society dictates. I'm sure many young women and young adults enjoy this book and can feel motivated to do more by reading it.

I very much enjoyed the characters and how different they developed. Though, now that I think of it, it seems like the only people who really changed except for Isabelle... So that was lacking a little. But over all they were fun characters to read about. Chance is probably one of my favorites. Jennifer Donnelly could have a lot of fun with the Grimm Fairy Tales with Chance and the Fates. And because of how well this one was written, I'd read them too.

I thought it was well done. Read well. I don't have really any problems with it, except that some might think that it was too preachy to the "girl power" side. But because it had basic self-empowerment, I can let it slide and happily enjoy the book.

Entwined

I picked this book up years ago and after reading through the first couple of pages gave it back to my local library (go support your libraries, ladies and gents. It's worth it!). I knew I wanted to read it again or at least give it a try, but when my library was "weeding" the books they were going to get rid of this one. So for $0.50 I snagged it, hoping I'd get to it eventually. Well, I got to it eventually, lol.

This is a fairytale retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses. Azalea is the eldest of eleven princesses whom she loves and takes care of while their mother is deathly ill. Their mother is pregnant and sick and on the night the youngest is born she dies. The girls and the King grieve in different ways, but all are subjected to mourning for a year. Merry Christmas, everyone. The thing that the girls love most is dancing and because of mourning they are denied this. They get scolded and reprimanded for sneakily doing it in defiance of their father, knowing "Mother would have let us do it." The castle they live in is a magic one and they find an enchanted room in their fireplace where a man with magic has been imprisoned by the same magic he uses. He invites them all down every night to dance and enjoy themselves. They greedily take the opportunity. Between arguments with their father, grieving over their mother, being forced to be alone in mourning, and the occasional "political business" where gentlemen would strut around trying to entice the princess into political marriages, they dance.

I really enjoyed the ending of this book. The beginning was a bit cheesy, which is why I didn't get very far the first time, and the middle was a little elongated more than it really needed to be, but the ending was very well done. Highly intriguing and engaging where I finished the last 200 pages in a day--where as I somewhat struggled picking it up in the middle. It was worth it in the end. I'll definitely be keeping this book on my shelf and will probably read through it again later.

The driving force of this book was more to do with Father/Daughter relationships more than "I love this boy" which is different than most YA books out there. Yes, there is romance, but moral of the story is family. They learn to grieve together and it's not something that happens over night. That build up of Parent/Child relations is what took the middle of the book so long. It was needed and important for the end, so I'm glad it was there, but it might drag a bit for some. Family is first. Loving family first where boys and potatinal marriages are second. Different and good.

There is a struggle some authors have in keeping different character (especially lots of different characters) separate and distinct. Heather Dixon does a good job with this. All the girls are flower names, but they are all in alphabetical order so then we as the reader can at least guess as to where they land in age. Azalea is 17 or so all the way down to baby Lilly. We can keep them in order because of their names. There are also a lot of gentlemen who come and go throughout the story and, through their names as well, we are able to keep them separated as well as given a bit of their personalities. Lord Teddie is rambunctious, Lord Bradford is practical and a good political while still being kind, Lord Fairweather is constant and stiff. Names and personalities here were well straightened out for the most part, which is hard to do with so many people.

The setting was fun, and the magic in the world was simple, yet different. The large portion of magic at the end, the climax and resolution of it all, was set up well enough but there was one part I had a problem with due do lack of explanation--which gave its excuse of it possibly being "Old Magic" therefore mysterious. Slight cop out, but I guess it works.

The only thing that I can complain about is the slight cheesiness of the dancing toward the beginning. It got better as it went on and it might have to do with the fact that I'm not a dancer, really, and don't get the fascination so much. Good for them if they do, but it was kind of cheesy to me. The reader can get over it and it's not so bad, just push on and it gets to be better.

In the end, it's a really good book. Heather Dixon did a really good job at portraying this story which often gets over looked for other "princess classics." Read it and enjoy.

Sense and Sensibility

Jane Austen's first published work Sense and Sensibility has been read over and over again for more than 200 years. It is a classic that has been loved and survived the years because it's a good book full of vibrant characters and an engaging story.  

After the death of their father, Elinor, Marianne, Margaret, and their mother are forced out of their home to live in a cottage in a different county while their half brother and his wife take over the family estate. Their time in this cottage, making new acquaintances and enjoying the countryside, is quickly changed to lovestruck conversations when Marianne is saved by a young gentleman and love blooms. For Elinor though love is a trying thing when she learns that the man whom she admired is in love with someone else whom she also is acquainted.

I think this book has stood the test of time, unlike many of the other romantic stories of the time, because it hits home more than some of the others. The things that Elinor and Marianne deal with, loss of father, home, loves, sickness, surviving monetarily as well as plain surviving your family relations and acquaintances. These are things that we all struggle with at one point. We read things that are often similar to our own lives via theme or circumstance. Sense and Sensibility does that, even to today, which is fascinating. There have been many critics, papers, articles, and readers of this book over the years and if you search them out can find a lot of enlightening information and opinions.

I like the play on opposites that is presented here. Elinor is the sensible one in the family (rather logic based) and Marianne is full of sensibilities (and can often let her emotions run rampant). Willowby vs Colonel Brandon, The Ferrar's brothers, John Dashwood vs Sir John Middleton, even the rolls that men play vs women and how they are portrayed (hunters vs mothers). The way Austen plays with opposites is engaging and can be thought provoking.

The characters, though, aren't only opposites of one another, but they are their own people. They aren't merely a stereotype but do have their own personalities and quirks that make them unique.

This, again, is an older book. Classic for a reason, but not everyone's cup of Sleepy Time tea. It's language is different and more wordy than what present novels give. There were times when I needed to put it down because my head was starting to ache or I couldn't pay attention because of how the language was constructed. It is what it is. I also have the Oxford World Classics edition which honestly read more like a textbook than a novel which might be published in a different format. But it did have a lot more insights, critiques, and definitions which were very much helpful and fun to look up without having to go very far. It also had a good introduction by Margaret Anne Doody who has done many other critiques and papers for the Oxford World Classics company. Again it was very enlightening to aspects that I didn't see my first "read through" during college. In the end, be forewarned that it is older, wordy, and "harder" to read for the "modern" reader.

Read it. Enjoy it. Take it slow if you need and please go and find articles about it. They can be very enjoyable.

Be Prepared

Be Prepared was a cute little story about the trials of a ten year old misfit.

Vera doesn't really fit in with all the rest of the girls in her neighborhood. They are more wealthy, they have both parents, and they don't come from Russia. She moved to the USA when she was five, but the rest of the kids don't get it. They invite her to things, but she still feels like the outcast. During the summer they all go off to their own camps and she stays at home, until she finds out that there is a Russian kids scout camp. After some begging, her mom lets her and her brother go the following summer. Only summer camp isn't what she expected it to be. She finds that it's more of the same. She's the youngest in her troupe, they are all already friends and have known each other for years, and she's very much alone. Invisible. This is where she was supposed to find friends, so where are they?

It was a well drawn true-mostly story of Vera Brosgol's time at camp. She even has some of her letters and pictures from her time at camp. Vera is also the author of Anya's Ghost, which I didn't realize until I read the author bio.

I think this is a very potent and prominent story for many people. Trouble with friends is always something hard and pretty much everyone goes through it at some point. So it touches many people right in the hearts.

I think many people would enjoy this simple, well depicted story. It might even be one that I'd put on my bookshelf. Eventually.

Saint Anything

Saint Anything is a good book and this audiobook has a good reader.

Sydney has always lived in her brother's shadow. When he started doing drugs and getting drunk, her parents had eyes only on Payton and the drama he was dragging their family through. When he ended up hitting a kid with his car after being out drinking, everything changed. And nothing changed. Payton went to jail and everything stayed Payton oriented. Sydney was, as she had been for years, invisible. The good kid. The kid with good grades and always kept her nose clean. Nothing to worry about, so easy to forget.

She then makes the decision to change high schools. She was known as "Payton's sister" never actually Sydney and desperately wanted to not have that stigma. There she finds friends that dissipate the monotony and feels seen for once. Sydney finds that she likes it.

I really liked Sydney and the individuality of all the other characters. It's actually pretty hard to find a good young adult novel with parents being prominent characters that aren't just "my parents" or "the evil bad guys who never want me to have fun" let alone parents who have personalities are individuals with their problems and equal strengths. It's even rarer to find parents in YA novels who actually get along and have each others back. This was nice to see that change where everyone, not just the teens, are real people who have wants and ambitions that go beyond the scope of the plot line of the novel.

The setting that they are in are the same for Sarah Dessen's other novels and characters make appearances from other stories. Seaside Pizzeria makes its appearance in Sarah Dessen novels as well. They are fun little easter eggs that she lays around.

I think one of my favorite things is when the cover and title finally make sense. Those little light bulbs that go one were very pleasing even if one of them took to the end for me to finally get. That was probably my fault. I also very much like it how her books, like this one, come full circle. Practically every loose end is tied and the metaphors she uses work well for the story she is creating. Finding the carousel and the sinkhole and even the thrift stores and valuable things that some people have either lost, given away, or forgotten runs powerfully through the story.

The predictability of the book was kind of sad. I knew what was going to happen long before it did, but it was still satisfying nonetheless.

I love Sarah Dessen's books for the characters and metaphors she uses. They are both always strong. The hopeless romantic in me loves the romance that takes place too. It makes it a fun, enjoyable read, that are often different and give voice to someone who is searching for their own.

Please enjoy.

Blackmoore

Blackmoore is the second book Julianne Donaldson wrote and it was very well presented.

Kate comes from a very scandle-infused family where all she wants is to be free. Blackmoore is supposed to be her way to escape all of the ever past and move toward India with her aunt Charlotte, who--like Kate herself--has promised she'll never marry. But after making a deal with her mother so then she can actually get to her friend's estate, she finds herself still caged with sour memories filling her mind. Henry, is there. Blackmoore is his home. He has always been and will always be there to help her get out of the sticky situations she gets herself into, and her time at Blackmoore seems to breed these.

This story was far more lively than her previous book Edenbrooke and there seems more at stake here. There are many more thematic elements as well, which carry the book along and wrap it up neatly. Black birds and cages and the freedom of flight... they were well put together.

I tried to read this book with a book in my hand and found Kate at the beginning to be very annoying. More snobbish than I was wanting to spend my time with for the moment. But when I got the audio CD with Cassandra Campbell reading, I found I enjoyed it a lot more. It just took time to get there. Development of the character, depth to Kate grew the farther we went into the book. Cassandra Campbell did a great job with the many voices and tones throughout the story, which livened it up very much.

I do wish there was more character description. There was little to none in the book of the actual characters. There wasn't as much scenery either, which saddens me a little. We get the basics of the place and people, but nothing that paints a full picture as the story goes on. For the life of me I can't remember what Kate or Henry look like aside from Henry's "granite colored eyes." I would want more of them and the settings around them to give depth the story.

The characters themselves were well done. They all had their own personalities and traits which set them apart from each other and made it so none of them were mistaken for another. Even many of the party guests had their own distinct tones, voices, and personalities which set them apart as different. Which was fantastic! Way to go Julianne!

I would recommend this to anyone really who loves the regency era in British history who is looking for a sweet romance. My biggest  pro here is that it's clean which is often hard to find in the romance section of any library or bookstore.

Enjoy!

Chibi Vampire AKA: Karin

Chibi Vampire other wise known as Karin is the story of an un-vampire.

Karin is a strange young girl not only in the human world where she has the occasional nosebleed and is considered sickly at times; but also in the vampire world where she doesn't bite people to suck their blood, instead she bites people and gives blood. She can also walk around in sunlight, doesn't have the heightened senses a normal vampire does, and can't wipe people's memories as needed after biting someone. All in all, she is strange.

Things seem to run smoothly in the Marker household with Karin going to school and the rest of her family staying up all night, until a transfer student enters the class. Karin finds that her blood level increases quickly and nosebleeds happen more often when ever she is around Kenta Usui. In him she's found her bloods affinity, the type of emotion her body yearns to bite. When they bite a person normal vampires suck that emotion out. So if a person is super stressed and a vampire bit that person they would become stress free for a short period of time. This could be considered helpful and kind of a cool take on vampires. It is a 14 volume series so after she finds out how to cope with Usui, her grandma wakes up, and a new girl comes into town looking for the Markers and a specific vampire in their family.

I think it is a very well thought out and well done story. The overarching plot was interesting and cute, engaging and hysterical at times. I love the family dynamic throughout the series and the ending kind of had me angry. I really liked the epilogue episodes. They satisfied me enough to accept the decision that the writers made. The Marker family was full of fun, intersting characters with their own personality that rounded the family.

If you have enjoyed the anime before you read the manga, that's great. But know that the manga and anime are vastly different. The anime derails from the manga after only a few episodes. Sadly Winner St. Clair makes no appearance in the manga. This fact made me very sad. But the manga is really good and I do recommend it. An oldie but a goodie.

Fruits Basket Another

FRUITS BASKET!!! My all time favorite manga has made a very short sequel series.

And it's not finished yet, but man I wish it was. When I say short, I mean short. Three volumes, or so, short--which comparatively to the original series at 23 volumes is not a lot. Natstuki Takaya is still releasing chapters every week in honors of the new edition of Fruits Basket. I love them so much. But sadly none of the original cast shows up.

This story follows a very "shy and self-conscious" girl named Sawa Mitoma. She constantly feels like an inconvenience and a burden to all who are around here and believes if she looks only at the ground, she won't be a hindrance to anyone. But bumping into a Sohma (what every other girl in the world wants to do) has started to turn her would upside down. She has suddenly, somehow, made it into the student body presidency alongside Hajame and Mustuki Sohma. All kinds of Sohma's come out of the woodworks in order to help Mitoma find a bit of self confidence.

It is sweet, well drawn, and fun to see the next generation of Sohma's and the people associating with them. From and expanded YUKI-club, to stepping on someones face because they are laying on the floor like a cat *cough cough*, to many other little things. *sigh* It is really cute and I can't wait for the rest of it to come.

I may update this once all the chapters are out.

Edgedancer

As a side story (novella) to Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive series, as expected, it was a joy to read.

We were first introduced to Lift (one of Brandon's favorite characters) in the second book in the Stormlight Archive series, Words of Radiance, in the interludes between the normal chapters. As soon as I read about how "awesome" she was, I fell in love with her.

This is Lift's story starting with some interlude chapters from WoR, but then continues after she leaves the Azir palace. She heads to Yeddaw a very peculiar city dug into the ground. Why she is there, we don't really know until the end and she really figures it out herself. Not only is Lift there with her Voidbringer Wyndle, but Darkness is in the city for some reason and Lift sets herself on a mission to find out.

This is a very small book also found in the Arcanum Unbound compilation of stories. It was a quick, short read only really taking two in-story days. But when it comes to Brandon a short story always ends up turning into a small 200 page book *smiles* and we are happy to have so much.

Lift is one of Brandon's favorite characters (he says so at the end of this story) and she is one of mine too. I find her funny and childlike, deeming her radiant powers as "awesomeness" because she doesn't know anything else to call it. Some people, I know, get rubbed the wrong way by this, so it is up to you if you like her but I think she's a doll.

This world is a small part of Roshar and Brandon gave a chance to explore more of this world that we won't get while reading through the Stormlight Archive because of lack of screen time. Roshar is thought out and very well developed. Each culture is vastly different with their own pros and cons and quirks which makes it real.

I think the part that I enjoyed, almost, the most is that we get to see changes in the characters as they are working through their own internal struggles. Not just Lift as she's coping with growing older, but other important character to all of the series. This book covers a jump that happened to particular characters that were brushed over in Oathbringer, so this book gave more of an explanation.

It can be read on it's own, but there will be references to other important things that might fly over the readers head if unacquainted with the Stormlight Archive. It's possible, but you end up missing out on a lot. For those who don't want to read all 1100 pages each of the Stormlight Archive, if you wanted to read this and get a taste of Roshar, read it. Enjoy it. Then pick up The Way of Kings because you'll like that one too.

In the end, there was more screen time for Lift and Wyndle, whom I love and enjoy reading about.

Magician's Gambit

The third book in the Belgariad series is my favorite of the first three.

It picks up directly where Queen of Sorcery. Running out of the snake country, through Maragor, the Vale of Aldur, and Ulgo Land all to get to sneak into enemy borders to get the Orb of Aldur in on of the most well guarded and scary temples of Torak.

I enjoy this book so much because of the diversity of cultures that are presented as well as the background we get on Bargarath. Mara is so sad and my heart breaks for the God. Relg, the zealot of UL, can be annoying to some but he grew on me. He also gets better when he meets a certain woman who makes me laugh.

As always in this series, the map and culture explanation was very important to David Eddings. So there is a lot of traveling in here, but unlike those cultures we explore in Queen of Sorcery I think these people and cultures are so vastly different which makes the comparison more interesting. Ulgo Land and Maragor are one of the most intriguing.

We, again, have many of the same recurring characters who are up to their old tricks, so much so that Silk gets himself in major trouble and has a little PTSD from his experience all the while Barak makes fun of him for it. They are my favorite characters throughout most of the series. Comic relief, okay. I love them.

I recommend this whole series to anyone who is starting to get into fantasy, teens for sure.

Juliet

Juliet by Anne Fortier takes Shakespeare's story of Romeo and Juliet and turns it on it's head. This novel jumps between present day and 1340 and flows well between the two times and stories that mingle with one another.

Julie Jacobs has been taught the story of Romeo and Juliet since she was in the cradle and has been strictly forbidden from going to Italy when she was in that cradle. But after her Great-aunt Rose dies, she is given instructions in the will to find a magnificent treasure in Italy that her mother (who has also passed away two decades previously) was on the cusp of finding. When she arrives in Sinea, she finds the box that her mother left for her alongside stockers in the night and long standing family feuds riddled with knives in the back. In her mother's treasure box she finds the true story of Romeo and Juliet and just how wrong Mr. Shakespeare was in his depiction as well as evidence showing that Julie Jacobs is actually the great-great + grand niece of the original Giulietta Tolomei. ie Romeo's Juliet.

With the mix of finding out the true story of Romeo and Juliet and modern day Capulet's and Montagues', there are twists and turns everywhere. Shadows hide in shadows and no one is what they seem to be, ever. Even Julie's, supposed Romeo has many skeletons in his own closet and climbing in and out of balconies is a thing he's not afraid of doing. That being said, there were many hypothesis that were dashed to pieces because of the unexpected.

I really enjoyed this book. I listened to as an audio book and the narrator (Cassandra Campbell) did a fantastic job between the different voices. I originally got it to listen to while I was running and it made me want to keep walking so I could listen more. I was sitting at my kitchen table, in my car, or walking around with my headphones in so I could finish it and know what happened next. All in all I couldn't put it down.

The setting, historical and present day, made me want to go and visit Siena. I am sure Anne Fortier spent much of her time researching there in Siena, trying to get into different places because the descriptions were vivid and full. I hope she went there and enjoyed herself. A lot of research went into this story and her hard work shows.

Characters, like the setting, were vivid and complemented each other. Past and present characters felt very much alive. My heart ached at some points and at others I physically fist bumped the air while at the gym that wasn't originally part of the exercise. Things they did, squabbles and bickerings, cute and quiet moments were well presented and made me really feel for them as betrayals, misunderstandings, and a plethora of other Romeo and Juliet moments happened.

It was well done and one I would recommend if looking for a romantic thriller.

I will warn the reader, because I don't like it, that Janice is rather crass at points. If it was a book I would have skimmed through the dialog and moved on. I was just glad I wasn't listening to those parts while preschooler was in the car.