Yearly Archives:: 2016

Friday, September 16, 2016

Review: Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter

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I received this book for free from Tor Teen in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Review: Vassa in the Night by Sarah PorterVassa in the Night by Sarah Porter
Published by Tor Teen on September 20th, 2016
Genres: Urban Fantasy, YA
Source: Tor Teen
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three-half-stars

In the enchanted kingdom of Brooklyn, the fashionable people put on cute shoes, go to parties in warehouses, drink on rooftops at sunset, and tell themselves they’ve arrived. A whole lot of Brooklyn is like that now—but not Vassa’s working-class neighborhood.

In Vassa’s neighborhood, where she lives with her stepmother and bickering stepsisters, one might stumble onto magic, but stumbling out again could become an issue. Babs Yagg, the owner of the local convenience store, has a policy of beheading shoplifters—and sometimes innocent shoppers as well. So when Vassa’s stepsister sends her out for light bulbs in the middle of night, she knows it could easily become a suicide mission.

But Vassa has a bit of luck hidden in her pocket, a gift from her dead mother. Erg is a tough-talking wooden doll with sticky fingers, a bottomless stomach, and a ferocious cunning. With Erg’s help, Vassa just might be able to break the witch’s curse and free her Brooklyn neighborhood. But Babs won’t be playing fair. . . .

Inspired by the Russian folktale Vassilissa the Beautiful and Sarah Porter’s years of experience teaching creative writing to New York City students.

Here is the thing about this book, it would have hands down been a favorite of the year were it not so flipping confusing. I am not the kind of person that is immediately turned off from a book when something doesn’t make sense to me. In fact, I enjoy it when my mind is being twisted into a pretzel because everything is SO COMPLICATED but that isn’t Vassa in the Night. Vassa in the Night has beautiful writing, an interesting plot and a gorgeous atmosphere but the problem is that the world building needs a LOT of work. I don’t understand at ALL how the world works. This book is trying so hard to be whimsical and eerie that the bare bones are kind of just forgotten about. I need at least some things to make sense so I can get behind other things that don’t and that’s basically the problem here. NOTHING makes sense. NOTHING AT ALL. I don’t how how the story gets from point a to b. I DON’T KNOW THINGS and it is bothersome.

But I did say this book would have been a favorite of the year if it hadn’t been confusing and the reason for that is that this book is exactly the kind of fantasy that draws me in. It’s got so many things going for it. Vassa is a great character and easy to get behind, the book is structured like a fairy tale even though it is set in a more urban setting, so it basically wins (or would have won) and there are some great relationships in this book even though Vassa considers herself a lone wolf.

I really did want to love this book and I am not entirely sure that I didn’t not love it. There is just SOMETHING about this book that makes me want to cuddle with it and declare it a masterpiece even though I was unhappy with the amount of confusion I experienced. You could say that I am confused about my feelings 😉 (I KNOW I AM TRASH)

Whatever else I might say, I can say that I did enjoy this book and might even recommend it to an actual human who is willing to deal with all the confusion to immerse themselves in this beautifully written fairy tale. I also made a mood board for it because this is the kind of book that inspires lots of confusions and a mood board. This mood board has been approved by a friend who has read the book but is probably biased because she is my friend.

Check the mood-board out here: https://www.pinterest.com/rashikabahl/vassa-in-the-night/

[pin_board url=”https://www.pinterest.com/rashikabahl/vassa-in-the-night/” size=”custom” image_width=”200″ board_width=”600″ board_height=”400″]

three-half-stars

3.5 Hot Espressos

Review: The Women in the Walls by Amy Lukavics

Posted by on 09/13/2016 • 9 Comments

I literally don’t know how to start this review because there are a lot of things to say but they can all just be covered with a big NO. There is potential in this book but it’s all potential that is unrealized. From the spoilt MC who is a cardboard cutout to the world building, this book is just lacking. It isn’t BAD but it isn’t GOOD which is especially disappointing because I was really looking forward to reading this book.

The MC was a clear let down but I was really upset that the MC’s cutting is not at all talked about in ways that isn’t a character trait. It’s used as a description of the MC in the way an adjective might be used.

There are…

Fresh Batch (September 11th – 17th)

Fresh Batch (September 11th – 17th)

Posted by on 09/10/2016 • 4 Comments

Fresh Batch, posted weekly, keeps you up to date on the hottest releases of the upcoming week.

Flavor of the week:

The Forgetting Sharon Cameron Publication date: September 13th 2016by Scholastic Press

Goodreads Purchase

What isn’t written, isn’t remembered. Even your crimes.

Nadia lives in the city of Canaan, where life is safe and structured, hemmed in by white stone walls and no memory of what came before. But every twelve years the city descends into the bloody chaos of the Forgetting, a day of no remorse, when each person’s memories – of parents, children, love, life, and self – are lost. Unless they have been written.

In Canaan, your book is your truth and your identity, and Nadia knows exactly who hasn’t…

Review: And the Trees Crept in by Dawn Kurtagich

Posted by on 09/08/2016 • 8 Comments

I read The Dead House last year and immediately fell in love. It was eerie, scared the bejezus out of me, and twisted my mind into a pretzel. I LOVED the thriller aspects, the mystery and just the plain horror of it so I was excited to dive into And the Trees Crept In. While I definitely enjoyed the novel, I wasn’t as blown away by it as I was by The Dead House.

This novel starts with a happily ever after. Silla and Nori  have escaped their abusive household and are ready to start over at their aunt’s but then things go downhill. Kurtagich is the queen of building tension. When I was half-way through the novel, I had no idea how things could get any worse but holy…

Fresh Batch (September 4th – 10th)

Fresh Batch (September 4th – 10th)

Posted by on 09/03/2016 • 3 Comments

Fresh Batch, posted weekly, keeps you up to date on the hottest releases of the upcoming week.

Flavor of the week:

Empire of Storms Sarah J. Maas Series: Throne of Glass #5 Publication date: September 6th 2016by Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Goodreads Purchase

The long path to the throne has only just begun for Aelin Galathynius. Loyalties have been broken and bought, friends have been lost and gained, and those who possess magic find themselves at odds with those don’t.

As the kingdoms of Erilea fracture around her, enemies must become allies if Aelin is to keep those she loves from falling to the dark forces poised to claim her world. With war looming on all horizons, the only chance for salvation lies in…

Review: The Boy is Back by Meg Cabot

Posted by on 09/01/2016 • 8 Comments

Earlier this year, Remembrance came out – an adult add-on to one of my favorite series growing up – and I was d.i.s.a.p.p.o.i.n.t.e.d. I had come to expect so much from Meg Cabot but the book failed to deliver and I was filled with sadness. But when I heard about The Boy is Back, I was pumped and ready to dive into the book. Fortunately, The Boy is Back is as amazing as a Cabot book should be and filled with all the sugary goodness that makes me squeal with delight.  

I am trash for good second chance romance novels and even though it was Meg Cabot,  I was a little vary because I hate the second chance romances where two people were in love in HS and 10 years later,…

If Book Titles Were Literal

Posted by on 08/30/2016 • 16 Comments

Book Titles. They have the power to be enticing but also confusing… Sometimes they have something to do with the book and other times they are just a metaphor. What if book titles were literal? What if the book title was an accurate representation of what would be inside the book? I am going to reconstruct synopsises (IDK THE PLURAL okay?) of some books by taking their titles literally.

1. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

The night sky has fascinated many brilliant minds across the centuries but a recent study found that the stars in our night sky aren’t perfect. They have faults, are broken and all of them might explode into supernovas at any given point. What does this mean for the fragile life on Earth? Do…