Review: Land of Big Numbers

 Thanks so much to the publisher and Bookish First for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for review!

Synopsis

A debut collection from an extraordinary new talent that vividly gives voice to the men and women of modern China and its diaspora

Gripping and compassionate, Land of Big Numbers depicts the diverse and legion Chinese people, their history, their government, and how all of that has tumbled—messily, violently, but still beautifully—into the present.

Cutting between clear-eyed realism and tongue-in-cheek magical realism, Chen’s stories coalesce into a portrait of a people striving for openings where mobility is limited. Twins take radically different paths: one becomes a professional gamer, the other a political activist. A woman moves to the city to work at a government call center and is followed by her violent ex-boyfriend. A man is swept into the high-risk, high-reward temptations of China’s volatile stock exchange. And a group of people sit, trapped for no reason, on a subway platform for months, waiting for official permission to leave.

With acute social insight, Te-Ping Chen layers years of experience reporting on the ground in China with incantatory prose in this taut, surprising debut, proving herself both a remarkable cultural critic and an astonishingly accomplished new literary voice.

Review

★★★

This was a book I didn't remember entering the raffle for, so I was surprised when I won and it showed up at my door. To be completely honest, Land of Big Numbers is a book I would have never picked up normally, so I'm glad that Bookish First granted me the opportunity to review it because I did end up enjoying it.

Land of Big Numbers is a short story collection, each following different characters touching on aspect of Chinese culture. It covers a large range of topics, and most of the stories have a speculative element that I loved. Some have more obvious connections to an element of Chinese history/government, and others have a more broad insight into the culture and human nature in general. I am a Chinese American, so some aspects were more new to me than others, but I think it would be more difficult for someone non-Chinese or someone unfamiliar with the culture to completely understand. That's not to say that this book is hard to follow along, as I think you can still gain a lot from this book no matter where you're from.

If you enjoy short story collections, or something about human nature then Land of Big Numbers is definitely a book you should check out!!

Starfish Review

So I won this book in a giveaway, but I wasn't really sure what to expect from it. I didn't know it was middle grade so that was a nice surprise!

Starfish follows a young girl named Ellie, who faces many bullies at school for her weight. In addition, her best friends moved away leaving her feeling lonely and friendless. Her mother also keeps making snide comments at home, and leaving hints for her to get a weight-reducing surgery that Ellie is terrified to even consider. Fortunately, Ellie has allies in her dad, her therapist, and her new neighbor, Catalina, who loves Ellie for who she is.

My favorite part of Starfish was that it was written in verse. There were short half poem half vignette style snippets that were simple but also extremely profound. I could really empathize with Ellie and her self-hatred, and it was so heartwarming seeing her begin to open up to her therapist and realize her self worth. I think that this will be an amazing book for young girls to read and feel validated. 

Super Fake Love Song Review

 If you’re looking for a teen romance that doesn’t require much commitment, then look no further. Super Fake Love Song was a cute read, and I loved how cheesy it was, but I wasn’t the most invested in it. It played on typical tropes, but put a little twist on it and I enjoyed that aspect of the book. My favorite part was the friendship between Sunny and his best friends. Their banter was so fun and I actually chuckled at a few lines. I also loved how obviously he crushed on Cirrus. He was so adorable, and I didn’t finds character as annoying as the protagonist from David Yoon’s previous book. The representation was awesome, and I’m so pumped about the rise in Asian MC in YA.

A couple things that prevented me from really loving this book was the piling miscommunication between Sunny and Cirrus. I know that the plot rides on him and his little white lie about being in a band. I think its a lazy plot device and it’s way overused at this point. Other than that, I think this is a sweet love story about a boy finding himself and learning about his own interests! 

The Beautiful: Review

The Beautiful: Review

This book is amazing! I love that it brings back vampires (an old favorite), but in a very different way. Celine was such a lovable main character! I loved how snarky, smart, and sweet she was, and she deserves the world. Her story arch was so satisfying to watch unfold. The whole time I was rooting for her and Bastien :) The chemistry between the two was great, and I was desperately wanting them to kiss. Also, Bastien was just so precious! 

Plot wise, the mystery kept me on my toes. I thought I had predicted the twist, but I was totally off! New Orleans is such a rich and sinister setting, and Renee Ahdieh made it feel so atmospheric. 

Overall, I just loved about almost everything in this book and need a sequel stat!

4.5 stars

Four Dead Queens Review

Four Dead Queens Review :(



I don't think it is fair for me to give a rating since I DNF'ed this book at 200 pages, but it was just soooo unbelievably boring. I only cared about the bits following Keralie, but the book alternates between her perspective and one of the queens. I didn't care why they were dying, and how their storyline related to Keralie's. I don't even really know what I wanted, but it wasn't this :( I really wanted to like this book since it got so much hype and the cover is just gorgeous, but sadly this just isn't for me.

I will say the writing was good for a debut novel, so I would definitely consider reading Astrid Scholte's books in the future! I just hope the plot and characters are more interesting than this one :(

Recent Reads 7/07/19

Recent Reads

Instead of doing full review of these books, I thought I would do mini reviews of them! So here are the books I have recently read:

(P.S. click the links of the books for the synopsis of the books :))

The Hate U Give: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 

So while I have had this book for a while now, I didn’t pick it up until recently because I was scared I wouldn’t love it as much as everyone else did. But I am glad to say that I LOVED IT. This is such an important story, and it clearly deserves all the hype. Even though Star and I are very different, I still found myself identifying with certain aspects of her. She was scared and confused, but believed in her relationships with her friends and family, but most importantly she believed in herself to stand up for what she believed was right. I recommend this to anyone who hasn’t read it yet!

A Curse So Dark And Lonely: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 

This is another hyped book that I was skeptical about. I have seen it all over Instagram and I know that it was a Fairyloot book as well. Originally, I wasn’t interested, but then one of my friends recommended it to me, and Brigid Kemmerer is coming to a bookstore near me with Kasie West, so I decided to pick it up. Boy am I glad I did. This was such a good retelling of Beauty and the Beast; it may even be one of my favorites. The representation is awesome and important as you don’t see many fantasy books with disables main characters (Harper has cerebral palsy). I couldn’t put it down and devoured this! 

Letters To The Lost: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

After enjoying A Curse So Dark And Lonely, I wanted to check out Brigid Kemmerer’s other books. Letters To The Lost was such a surprise. Going into it I knew it dealt with grief, but actually reading it and being in both the main characters heads made me feel so many emotions. It was hard reading about Declan’s self destructive behavior was painful to read, and the whole time I wanted to grab his shoulders and shake him to realize that he deserves so much more. Juliet has her own hardship and grief to overcome, writing letters to her mother to cope. She was so strong, and their friendship and eventual romantic relationship was balanced so well and developed naturally. I will definitely check out more of Brigid Kemmerer’s books. 

Always Never Yours: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

I’m still debating between a 3.5 or 4, so for now I’ll round it to a 4. Going into this, I had pretty high expectations. And while I still really enjoyed it, Always Never Yours was not my new favorite book. I love the whole Romeo and Juliet “retelling” following a modern Rosalind idea. The Shakespeare references were fun and I loved Megan’s character. The love interest Own was also really sweet and genuine, and throughout their whole friendship I was giggling at how cute they were together. The one thing that I really didn’t like was the cheating aspect. i think it could have been easily avoidable 
:( 

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Summer TBR

Summer TBR :)

Here are just some of the books I am really hoping to read this Summer!

-The Raven Cycle Quartet

I read The Raven Boys about two years ago and really enjoyed it! I don’t why I haven’t continued this series considering how much I loved the first book, but I’m hoping to rectify this over the summer. Plus my library has all the audiobook, so I have no excuse not to get to them! 

-The Merciful Crow

I received an early copy from a friend who works at a bookstore and I still haven’t gotten to it :) I hope to read it before it comes out, which is like a couple weeks, so I better get a move not it! 

-The Poet X

I recently acquired this book, and I’m hoping to read it soon. I’m pretty sure it will be a quick read since it is told in verse. I also might check out the audiobook since Elizabeth Acevedo narrates it herself!

-The Last True Poets of the Sea

Same as The Merciful Crow, I received an early copy and I really want to get to it before it releases! But this one doesn’t come out until October, so I still have some time :) (Plus it is blurbed by Madeline Miler! How can I not read it now?)

-Looking for Alaska

Since I am so excited for the 8 episode Hulu mini series adaptation of this book, it is only fair that I read the book first! Also, I have the Penguin mini edition, and it is so darn cute and pocket sized, so I can bring it anywhere ;)

-Bright We Burn

After finishing Now I rise about a month ago, I am in desperate need to pick up the conclusion of this trilogy! And I Darken and Now I Rise are two of my favorite books of this year, and I have no doubt that I will absolutely love this one as well!

-Aurora Rising

The Illuminae Files are some of my favorite books of all time, and I was super sad when the series came to an end last year. When Amie and Jay announced their new book together, I immediately preordered it! So this is at the top of my TBR haha :)

-We Hunt the Flame

This is the July pick for the Barnes and Noble YA book club (that meets every second Thursday of the month), and I have to read it by the 11th of July

Review: Heretics Anonymous 😃

Heretics Anonymous: Review

“I believe in love. I believe in the love Lucy shows me, the kind I'll try hard to give back to her in full. I believe in things I can't put into words, but things I know to be true. 

I believe in us. I believe in this. 

Amen.” 

Heretics Anonymous by Katie Henry follows 17 year old Michael who begins at a catholic school as an atheist. His father’s job made his family relocate, moving again, and Michael desperately needs friends. So when a girl named Lucy in his theology class stands up against their teacher, he thinks she might be the perfect no-catholic friend. However,, Lucy isn’t an athirst, she’s an aspiring priest. Instead, she introduces Michael to the outcasts of St.Clare, and together they can all be themselves, forming a secret (vigilante-ish) club they call Heretics Anonymous.  

This book was unexpectedly funny. While listening to the audiobook, I found myself laughing out loud multiple times. Michael was snarky and sarcastic, but the book was still respectful of other’s religion. While the topic of religion was consistently challenged, it wasn’t anti religion, and the underlying theme and core message was acceptance and tolerance. It shows that everyone’s beliefs can be (and are) different, but we should all be able to coexist peacefully and respect others beliefs. Michael, the main character has many flaws, like being extremely stubborn, a bit obnoxious, and impulsive , but it adds to the overall narrative when you see how much he grows from the beginning to the end. His relationship with his father is very strained, as he blames his fathers job for moving for moving their family around so much and uprooting him from friends that he continues to make over and over again. As they tiptoe around each other until Michael has enough and drama ensues. Their relationship grows so much by the end, and it made me really happy to see them understand and eventually forgive one another. 

In addition, I loved the whole Heretics Anonymous gang! Lucy is a fierce feminist, aspiring to be a priest, and who does not take shit from anyone, including Michael. She challenges unjust and prejudiced aspects of her religion, but still learns a great deal from Heretics Anonymous, especially Eden. Lucy is a loyal Catholic that recognizes its faults, yet still remains adamant in her faith. Ari was so fun to read about, and was fiercely protective of his friends. Max was super quirky and so damn precious, and Eden was totally badass!

All together, the group enlightened one another and introduced them to new perspectives, creating an amazing, healthy friendship that was an absolute pleasure to read! 4 stars, I recommend this book to anyone looking to learn, laugh, or just read about really good friends :)

"I don’t believe in God, but that doesn’t mean I believe in nothing."

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Review: Again, But Better ♡

Review: Again, But Better ♡

I inhale sharply. “I might like you more than the shawarma.” 

"Damn. Shawarma was basically why you wanted to come back and study abroad again in the first place."

I went into Again, But Better with pretty low expectations. There were many, many mixed reviews and I didn’t know what to expect. I knew that this book had a magical element in the second half and that the main character, Shane, was heavily based on Christine herself. I think knowing to expect these things before starting to read this heightened my enjoyment of this book.

Again, But Better follows Shane, who has been doing college all wrong, and is determined to reinvent herself by deciding to study abroad in London. There she meets a slew of new friends and a cute boy named Pilot (like the pen). Along her journey of self discovery, she travels to new countries and experiences everything from first kisses to finding her passion in life.

This book is as much of a romance between Shane and Pilot as it is Shane discovering what she wants to do with her life. The first half followers her breaking out of her shell and putting herself out in the world, like spending a semester abroad in London, and exploring cities like Rome and Paris. The travel aspect of this story was authentic and a joy to read, as you could clearly tell Christine drew from her own abroad experiences. While this book received some backlash of how similar Shane is to Christine, I didn’t mind the similarities. The constant references to things in 2011 did get a little excessive at some points, and I can definitely see why many people did not enjoy that aspect. 

The jump from 2011 to 2017 was a surprise for me, and I find the approach that Shane took to find closure a little strange. While the character growth was obvious, I just found it unbelievable she was “stuck” in the situation she was in with her life a couple years later. Why did it take her six years to suddenly realize she was unhappy in her current relationship and still hung over Pilot? Why didn’t she reach out to him beforehand if she was still not over him? Also the whole subplot with Amy was really messy. (spoiler) I don’t understand why the cheating that was included in this book because it doesn’t really add anything other than the driving force that keeps them apart. The force that could have kept them apart could have been Shane trying to balance boys and her passion like it did in the latter half. Instead the cheating just made me extremely frustrated and dislike Pilot.

Overall this was a 2.5 star read (rounded to 3 stars) since there were many aspects I enjoyed, like the travel and the parts about Shane’s internship, but also parts I couldn’t stand like the whole Amy situation. 

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