Book Review: Wintersong by: S. Jae-Jones

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Book, Book Blog, Book Review, books, New Adult, review, S. Jae-Jones, Wintersong, Young adult

Life,” he said softly, “is more than flesh. Your body is a candle, your soul the flame. The longer I burn the candle…” He did not finish.
“A candle unused is nothing but wax and wick,” I said. “I would rather light the flame, knowing it will go out than sit forever in darkness.” – Wintersong, S. Jae-Jones

Initial Thoughts: I was immediately drawn to Wintersong after I had read that it was inspired by the movie Labyrinth. When I was in high school, my David Bowie obsession began after watching Labyrinth. Labyrinth is the story of a teenage girl who lives her life daydreaming instead of growing up. One night, she is forced to babysit her baby brother. After her brother’s relentless crying, the girl wishes that her brother would be stolen away by goblins. To her great surprise, her wish comes true. The goblin king himself, (played by David Bowie) comes to steal the child away. The girl tells the goblin king that she did not mean what she said, but it is too late. In order to save her brother, the girl must pass through a labyrinth of many dangers to find her brother before time runs out.

Summary

Dark, romantic, and unforgettable, Wintersong is an enchanting coming-of-age story for fans of Labyrinth and The Cruel Prince.

The last night of the year. Now the days of winter begin and the Goblin King rides abroad, searching for his bride…

All her life, Liesl has heard tales of the beautiful, dangerous Goblin King. They’ve enraptured her mind, her spirit, and inspired her musical compositions. Now eighteen and helping to run her family’s inn, Liesl can’t help but feel that her musical dreams and childhood fantasies are slipping away.

But when her own sister is taken by the Goblin King, Liesl has no choice but to journey to the Underground to save her. Drawn to the strange, captivating world she finds—and the mysterious man who rules it—she soon faces an impossible decision. And with time and the old laws working against her, Liesl must discover who she truly is before her fate is sealed.

Rich with music and magic, S. Jae-Jones’s Wintersong will sweep you away into a world you won’t soon forget.

The Review

Ever since she was young, Liesl has dreamed of the Goblin King. He was her friend, her confidant, and featured in all the stories Liesl’s grandmother would tell Liesl and her siblings when they were young. Years later, at eighteen years old, Liesl lives in the shadow of her brother’s musical talents and in the shadow of her sister’s beauty. Liesl does not quite belong, and she has quite forgotten the Goblin King.

On the last night of the year, Liesl’s grandmother warns her to take heed of the Goblin King, as it is known from the legends that the Goblin King will visit the mortal world and search for his bride. Before, Liesl would help her grandmother keep the Goblin King at bay, but not this year. Liesl has turned her back on the legends of her childhood. Little does she know, her sister, Kathe, would be snatched away by the Goblin King, and the only way to save her is to descend into the Underground.

I had

Book Review: Amelia Unabridged by: Ashley Schumacher

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arc, Ashley Schumacher, Book Blog, Book Blogger, Book Review, books, Netgalley, review

Ashley Schumacher’s devastating and beautiful debut, Amelia Unabridged, is about finding hope and strength within yourself, and maybe, just maybe, falling in love while you do it.

Initial Thoughts: When I pressed “request book” on Netgalley,I did so with my fingers crossed. I really really wanted to read this book. The cover, the title and the premise all jumped out at me. It was as if the book was telling me, “read me! Read me!”

Summary

Eighteen-year-old Amelia Griffin is obsessed with the famous Orman Chronicles, written by the young and reclusive prodigy N. E. Endsley. They’re the books that brought her and her best friend Jenna together after Amelia’s father left and her family imploded. So when Amelia and Jenna get the opportunity to attend a book festival with Endsley in attendance, Amelia is ecstatic. It’s the perfect way to start off their last summer before college.

In a heartbeat, everything goes horribly wrong. When Jenna gets a chance to meet the author and Amelia doesn’t, the two have a blowout fight like they’ve never experienced. And before Amelia has a chance to mend things, Jenna is killed in a freak car accident. Grief-stricken, and without her best friend to guide her, Amelia questions everything she had planned for the future.

When a mysterious, rare edition of the Orman Chronicles arrives, Amelia is convinced that it somehow came from Jenna. Tracking the book to an obscure but enchanting bookstore in Michigan, Amelia is shocked to find herself face-to-face with the enigmatic and handsome N. E. Endsley himself, the reason for Amelia’s and Jenna’s fight and perhaps the clue to what Jenna wanted to tell her all along.

The Review

On the day Amelia’s father left, Amelia and Jenna’s friendship had begun. Years later, Amelia and Jenna are still inseparable as ever, and they are huge fans of the Orman Chronicles. To Amelia, Orman is not just a simple book series, it is the series that got her through a difficult time in her life. Amelia and Jenna have only one summer left before they begin college, and they decide to go to a book convention to meet the reclusive N. E. Endsley, author of the Orman Chronicles. Upon arriving at the convention, Amelia and Jenna discover that Endsley decided not to show up. Disappointed, they fly back home. On the plane, Jenna tells Amelia that she met Endsley briefly, and the two have a huge fight ending with Jenna leaving for Ireland for a few weeks.

A few weeks later, in Ireland, Jenna is killed in a car accident. Amelia is left directionless and does not know where to turn, until a mysterious package shows up addressed to Amelia.

Amelia Unabridged is a young adult contemporary novel that takes us on a journey through dealing with grief and finding your place in the world. I think every eighteen-year-old has the same feeling of restlessness that Amelia has when it comes to knowing what you want to do in the future. Jenna tells Amelia that she should be an English Literature professor, and she makes a detailed life plan for the two of them. But after Jenna’s death, Amelia begins to question Jenna’s plan.

Book Review: The Sun and Her Flowers by: Rupi Kaur

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Book, Book Blog, Book Blogger, Book Review, Poetry, review, Rupi Kaur, The Sun and Her Flowers

despite knowing
they won’t be here for long
they still choose to live
their brightest lives

– sunflowers

(The Sun and Her Flowers, by: Rupi Kaur)

Initial Thoughts: After reading Milk and Honey, Rupi Kaur’s first poetry collection, I became a fan of her work. Her poetry is very simple in construction but makes a profound impact on the reader. I couldn’t wait to read her second collection, The Sun and Her Flowers.

Summary

From Rupi Kaur, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of milk and honey, comes her long-awaited second collection of poetry. A vibrant and transcendent journey about growth and healing. Ancestry and honoring one’s roots. Expatriation and rising up to find a home within yourself.

Divided into five chapters and illustrated by Kaur, the sun and her flowers is a journey of wilting, falling, rooting, rising, and blooming. A celebration of love in all its forms.

this is the recipe of life
said my mother
as she held me in her arms as i wept
think of those flowers you plant
in the garden each year
they will teach you
that people too
must wilt
fall
root
rise
in order to bloom

The Review

Rupi Kaur’s second collection, The Sun and Her Flowers delivers exactly what you would expect from Indian-born Canadian poet Rupi Kaur. The book is full of poetry that touches life, love, suffering and healing while emphasising feminism and nature. Like her first poetry collection, Milk and Honey, Kaur includes illustrations to accompany the poems.

Book Review: Milk and Honey by: Rupi Kaur

i am a museum full of art
but you had your eyes shut” – Milk and Honey, Rupi Kaur

Initial Thoughts: I haven’t read many poetry collections. Poetry and I have had a tumultuous relationship (more about that here). I have seen Milk and Honey advertised everywhere in the past few years, and I am a little late to the party to read this poetry collection.

Summary

Milk and honey’ is a collection of poetry and prose about survival. About the experience of violence, abuse, love, loss, and femininity. It is split into four chapters, and each chapter serves a different purpose. Deals with a different pain. Heals a different heartache. ‘milk and honey’ takes readers through a journey of the most bitter moments in life and finds sweetness in them because there is sweetness everywhere if you are just willing to look.

The Review

I truly wasn’t sure what to expect.

Milk and Honey is a poetry collection written by Indian-born Canadian author Rupi Kaur. There are four chapters that tell a story of hurt and healing. The chapters are called “the hurting,” “the loving,” “the breaking,” and “the healing.”

There is something striking about the images Kaur paints in her poetry.

You tell me to quiet down cause my opinions make me less beautiful but i was not made with a fire in my belly so i could be put out i was not made with a lightness on my tongue so i could be easy to swallow i was made heavy half blade and half silk difficult to forget and not easy for the mind to follow” – Milk and Honey, Rupi Kaur

Although my experiences are different from the experiences Kaur describes, I was able to feel the emotions cutting through me like a knife. I could feel the rage, frustration, hurt and elation.
I first listened to the audiobook read by the author before reading the poems in book form afterwards. I enjoyed the audiobook a lot because you can actually hear Kaur’s voice, and you get to experience the rhythm of the poetry as she intended it to sound. I still wanted to read the book as well because poetry has a visual aspect in the way the lines are placed on the page. I also discovered that there are illustrations drawn by Kaur that complement the text.
In Milk and Honey, the poet describes a torturous relationship with her father. The dynamic of abuse has shaped her perspective of men and of her own self-worth. The poet’s insight on her own upbringing allows her to reject most of the toxic values she has been taught. However, she admits that the dynamic between herself and her father has shaped the way she chooses romantic partners and sees herself. She has no choice but to grow from the painful experiences in order to continue forward.
Later on, the poet examines her romantic relationships. Her observations are jarring and brutally real as she tackles loneliness and dependence in a relationship that was once sweet and is now toxic and harmful.
This striking poetry collection has stayed in my mind long after I finished the book. It is a book of pain and healing as it is a celebration of femininity. 
Trigger warning: there are many mentions of sexual assault, abuse and violence towards women in this collection that may make readers uncomfortable.

Final Rating:

About the Book

Title: Milk and Honey
Author: Rupi Kaur
Year Published: 2014
Pages: 204
Genres & Subjects: Non fiction, poetry, feminism

Until Next Time,

-Alice

 

 

Book Review: Fangirl by: Rainbow Rowell

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Book Blog, Book Blogger, Book Review, books, Fangirl, Rainbow Rowell, review

In new situations, all the trickiest rules are the ones nobody bothers to explain to you. (And the ones you can’t Google.)” – Fangirl, Rainbow Rowell

Initial Thoughts: I am a big Rainbow Rowell fan. Her books are absolutely magical and very relatable.

Summary

Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan..

But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving. Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words… And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

The Review

It was spooky how much I was able to relate to Cath on so many levels. That’s the beauty of Rainbow Rowell novels. Rowell writes such realistic characters and dialogue. It effortlessly comes to life and flows off the page.

“Smiling is confusing, she thought. This is why I don’t do it” – Fangirl, Rainbow Rowell

Cath is a brilliant fanfiction writer who loves to write about Simon Snow. When Cath enrolls in college, she expects to room with her twin sister, Wren. But when Wren decides to find new friends, Cath finds herself having to navigate the world alone for the first time.
I ended up reading Fangirl after reading Rowell’s spin-off novel Carry On, and it made all the difference. Carry On Rowell’s version of Cath’s fanfiction about Simon Snow. If I hadn’t read Carry On before, I probably would have wanted to skip over the Simon Snow parts. But, because I had fangirled over Simon Snow and Baz myself, I was able to relate to Cath in a whole new way. I would definitely recommend reading Carry On first for an immersive experience.