r.bookish

Hello everyone! In this blog post today i am going to be talking about a popular book series for the first time. This is honestly kind of a stupid idea, but i got this idea when i read the Caraval Series, so i thought, why not lets make this series into a massive blog post about my thoughts and whatnot. I did write another blog post in somewhat of a format like this, so as of right now, i’ll just follow that for this post. And each book won’t get a massive review here, since they will get their own review. 

As for the rating for these books Caraval was a 5/5 stars, Legendary was a 3/5 stars, and Finale was a 2/5 stars.

If you don’t know what this series is about, basically it follows two sisters, Scarlett and Tella, and they get this amazing opportunity to go to this carnival type event, which is called Caraval. So, these two sisters and Julian, who is a friend of Tella and then later Scarlett, go to Caraval. And throughout the book, a bunch of events occur, and then throughout the whole series. 

When i went into this series, i thought that this was a very romantic adventure fantasy book. Meaning that this would take place in a fantasy world, but also be very adventures and have a bunch of romantic moments between the sisters and their selected partners. Which to me, we didn’t get that to much. Like yes, we got the sisters with their romantic interests and parts here and there, but it was never overwhelming. And one of the romances happened in the first book, but we still got barely any development in the story. 

I feel like a bunch of people talk about the sisterly bond in this story. To me, i feel like yes, Scarlett and Tella did have a sisterly bond, but all sisters do have some sort of bond. I never thought it was a very good bond, since half the time the pair is never together, and when they are together, all they do is fight and argue. Which i found was quite annoying to me. 

It was also pretty annoying how they tried to be with their mother over and over again. Tella and Scarlett pretty much just made it their personality. To find her and just talk about her over and over again. I found it super annoying, since they kept trying to bring her back over and over again, even though the mother didn’t want to be found whatsoever, hence why she ran away in the first place. I honestly wished they just dropped that topic, but since that’s the whole plot of the final book, it obviously didn’t happen. 

If you follow me on instagram or goodreads (r.bookish) you’d know that i don’t read too much fantasy, and if i do, it’s mostly low fantasy, so they go back in forth from the real world, to this made up one. Or I read books like the kingdom keepers, which takes place in Orlando, Florida but they just bring Disney characters to life. With that being said, i think that the world building was very poor, and there wasn’t too much description of this Carval world. Pretty much all we got told that “everything was beautiful and magically” over and over again. And we didn’t get any map of the city, and for me, I imagined a lake and then a bunch of strip malls, which isn’t too fantastical. Which is something i know isn’t right, but they didn’t say anything about it. 

This goes back to the last point, but there was so much description about things that didn’t matter to the story, but not enough for the things we did need to the story. For me, i did not care whatsoever what Scarlett’s dress looked like, and how it changed so much, since it did literally nothing. I guess though you can make the argument, that showing the dress in great description shows that it likes Julian more than Dante or anyone else. Still  there was a lot of information that we didn’t need. 

In the next few paragraphs I’ll be talking about each character. 

Scarlett was a really great character in the first book. Granted, i did find her annoying, but i still think she had the right morals throughout the book. You can really see that she cares about Julian and Tella and even her Mother when they were younger. Like I already said, she got annoying in the next two books. I also found it kind of annoying that one minute she was in love with Julian, and so happy and they were talking about marriage and babies, and the next she wanted to be the fiance that the dad set her up with. 

Tella was somehow worse than Scarlett in the last two books. For me, I found her very selfish since in the first book she was just saying “thank you for coming Scarlett, but i don’t want you to save me.” and she was just so dramatic. And she was always the first person to push Scarlett to do something, but she never volunteered to do anything. Tella also had like 5 love interests. I honestly don’t know who she ended up with, since it was back and forth and back and forth over and over again. And to me it was very annoying cause literally nobody wanted her to be with 5 different people in pages of each other. 

Julian was a pretty great character. He was probably my favorite character in this series, and I’m not even going to lie. He really cared about Scarlett, and overall wanted the best for Scarlett, even if it wasn’t with him. And I really liked that part in book three. Julian really just wanted what was best for pretty much everyone in this series, which I found so much. 

Jack was a very annoying character, and I don’t understand why everyone was head over heels in love with her. I found him really annoying, and he was such a dick to literally everyone which was so annoying to me. And he was just an overall bad guy to me and just wanted to be with Tella 24/ 7.

Anyway, that’s it for today. I really liked writing this blog post, and talking about this series overall, and being kinda vague, so i don’t spoiler too much. But, i’ll totally do more posts like this in the future, since i really liked writing this one, even if this is three pages on google docs. 

hello everyone! today i am going to be talking about legendary by Stephanie Garber. i gave this book 3/5 stars. i hated this book a lot, so i’m not sure what to actually say about this, cause i just wanted to get through it so fast, so this might be a short review.

this book was so boring. there was literally nothing that was going on in this book. for me, i thought it was a pretty long book, for literally nothing happening, or if something was happening,

but, i did like Julian and Scarlet together. i really liked them together in the first one, so seeing more of them together in here, i was ready for this. but i still thought we saw more of them, just here and there in passing.

Tella was also so trusting in this book. she literally trusted so many people, and then next she would, she just got screwed over again and again. it was just so annoying, cause this happened like every 10 pages, which for one, did not need to happen.

Dante and Tella tried to get together over and over again. they got together, and then they just fought, and then broke up. it was so annoying cause i didn’t think that we need to see this after pardory, which breaking up and then getting back together.

i didn’t really care for the fact that we got the whole I’m trying to find my mother plot point. i mean the mom wanted to stay away form everyone, so why don’t they just let her be. like i get that you want to find you mom and everything, but damn just leave her be already.

there was also two love triangles. and it was insane because why would both sisters get a love triangles? like it was honestly kinda crazy, and it overall annoyed the hell out of me, because they weren’t even that great, not wrote or not even in the book.

there was also so much drama in this book. like for this whole book we had to put up with Scarlet’s bull shit and all of Tella’s stupid boy drama that didn’t mean one damn thing. and yeah, i honestly didn’t care for their whole drama, and sadly, it carried through in the next book.

anyway, that’s it for today. i also have a pretty cool post tomorrow which i’m pretty excited for, and if you like this post, i would definitely check out the post tomorrow.

hello everyone! today i am going to be talking about all the new books that are coming out in June. these are all the books i’m super excited for. i might have missed a couple, but my goodreads is completely messed up, so some of them might not be on this list or on my goodreads.

the falling in love montage by Ciara Smith. this book comes out June 9th. i’m pretty excited for this one since it’s an LGBTQ+ book about two girls who i think meet at a party, and then they eventually fall in love. i believe i only ever read one female female romance, so I’m pretty excited to get to this one.

i’ll be the one by Lyla Lee. this one comes out June 16th. i’m so excited for this one. i saw it on the Penguin Teen story months ago when they where shooting the cover, and since then, i’ve been so excited for this one. but this follows a bisexual, plus size K Pop singer/dancer. so this just sounds so amazing and i can’t wait to read this.

I killed Zoe Spanos by Kit Frick. this one comes out June 30th. this sounds like such a crazy and such a wild ride of a book. and since i’m really getting into mystery’s and thriller’s, i feel like this will be my cup of tea completely.

you say it first by Katie Cotugno. this comes out June 16th. i have a pretty much hate hate relationship with this author. i read two of her other books, and i completely hated those two, so i’m not sure why i’m eventually pick this one up and include this in here. i’m pretty sure this is a political romance.

if we were us by KL Walther. this one comes out June 2nd. this is another LGBTQ+ romance, and i’m pretty excited since this combines boarding schools and some LGBTQ+ romances and people.

the state of us by Shaun David Hutchinson. this one comes out June 2nd. this is another LGBTQ+ political romance. i’ve heard this is a worst version of red, white, and royal blue. but i still have hope that this will be some what of a better book.

all eyes on her by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn. this one comes out June 2nd. this seems like such a cool mystery story about how a girl and a guy went into a forest for a picnic, but the boy never walked out. and this whole story is told in the girls POV after the event i believe.

anyway, that’s it for today. i feel like so many amazing books are coming out this month, more then just the ones i included. so yeah, I’m so excited for a bunch of these books that are coming out.

hello everyone! today i am going to be talking about my June TBR. i have quite a few books i want to get to, but i’m also going to try to read some LGBTQ+ books, sometime this month.

bone crier’s moon by Kathryn Purdie. this is a book club book for my book club. and i’m pretty excited for this book. it sounds like such a fun fantasy book about Ailesse who has grown up wanted to be a Bone Crier’s which i have no clue what the hell that means. but as everything goes she meets Bastien whose father gets killed by a Bone Crier’s.

the betrothed by Kiera Cass. i’ve heard such mixed reviews on this book. i really loved the selection, but i hope that it is really good. but, I actually have no clue what this book is about, since the description isn’t to great for this book, so i’m going into it kinda blind.

crave by Tracy Wolff. this sounds like such a cool read about vampires, kinda like twilight met fallen. but i still think that this might be such a cool read since its vampires and werewolfs, and of course it features a romance. and this book has been everywhere, so it’s about time i get to it.

house of earth and blood by Sarah J Mass. this will actually be my first SJM book I’ve read, and i’m pretty excited to dive into her book world. i haven’t looked to much what it’s about, but i believe that it’s a low fantasy book. which is honestly what i like.

the queen assassin by Melissa De La Cruz. i’m not sure how much i will like this book, but i think i won’t hate it, but i honestly have no clue. these kind of seems like a basic YA fantasy so i’m not sure how much i’ll love it.

they went left by Monica Hesse. i’ve seen this book everywhere on instagram and youtube. so i need to pick this one up ASAP. and i think this is a WW2 book about a family trying to get back together after they been separated.

The nightingale by Kristin Hannah. this is probably going to be the first book on this list that i pick up. and i’ve seen a bunch of people hype this up. i also think this might become a movie?? but i honestly have no clue if that’s a real fact, or just something that was made up.

the bro code by Elizabeth A Seibert. i’m so excited for this book. i think this is going to be such a great book to read and review. and from reading the description, it sounds like it has the trope of best friends sister, so i’m pretty excited.

the summer of ’98 by Tay Marley. i’m pretty excited for this one, since this is my first arc that i got. this also sounds like a fun summer read, since it takes place in the summer. and i believe that the main character love interest falls in love with a football player, which i think is pretty cool.

anyway, that’s it for today. i hope i get to most of these books and hopefully they will be somewhat good. i also hope to get to some LGBTQ+ books this month for pride month.

hello everyone! today i am going to be talking about all the books that i read this month, even though some of them weren’t the best, but some of them where still pretty good.

josh and hazel’s guide to not dating by Christina Lauren. i gave this book 5/5 stars. this was such a cute read, with characters that don’t really fit together by looks, but on paper they do. and i really like how it was friends to lovers, but also best friends brother, but Hazel didn’t know. and it also was a pretty funny book.

down among the sticks and bones by Seanan McGuire. i gave this book 4/5 stars. this was a pretty good book, but i do prefer the first book in series, but i will continue with the series. but, i didn’t like the parents and some of the times that Jill was in here cause she was kinda boring and mean.

the bromance book club by Lyssa Kay Adams. i gave this book 5/5 stars. i loved this book so much, and i thought it was such a cute book about a struggling married couple, which i thought was so interesting to read about. and even though the book was about their sexual life, it still had a ton of steamy scenes, which i liked a ton.

love her or loose her by Tessa Bailey. i gave this book 3/5 stars. this was kind of a hot mess of a book. but, it was still okay, not the best thing, but not the worst. this was pretty close to the bromance book club with the plot, but i do think that one was better then this book.

not the girl you marry by Andie J. Christopher. i gave this book 4/5 stars. this was a pretty great book. i actually dnfed this book earlier this year, and this time it was way better. but, the ending was so amazing and the dog was everything to me, and since it was a French Bulldog, which is a dog that i want to much.

the honey don’t list by Christina Lauren. i gave this book 4/5 stars. i enjoyed this book a lot, but we had this whole build up with the police that someone was going to die or this horrific accident, but it was just a fire. and i’m like why would call the cops, not the fire department, that just didn’t make sense to me. i also wish we got more of the two main characters together, not just every once and a while.

it ends with us by Colleen Hoover. i gave this book 5/5 stars. i don’t even know how to explain this book, but damn was it a wild ride. and there was somewhat of a love triangle in this book, and i felt that it was very well done. there is a triggers for rape, abuse, and miscarriage.

paper towns by john green. i gave this book 4/5 stars. this was a pretty great book, which i thought was pretty shocking to me. and i think that the whole road trip aspect was pretty cool, and i think that it was amazing that i got to read about the road trip when i’m stuck at home.

the couple next door by Shari Lapena. i gave this book 4/5 stars. this was a pretty strange book, and i’m not even sure how i would rate it, but i still liked it. i think it was pretty weird, and i thought it was going to be more mysterious. but it wasn’t, like i could tell you who did it, and of course i was right.

the odyssey by Homer. I gave this book 1/5 stars. i had to read this book for school, and i hated it so much. i had no clue what it was happening throughout most of the book. it was pretty boring, and kinda long.

a good girls guide to murder by Holly Jackson. i gave this book 5/5 stars. i loved this book so much. I thought the whole mystery part was done very well though. i also wish there was more romance throughout the book from not just slightly at the end. but i still think it was amazing.

turtles all the way down by John Green. i gave this book 3/5 stars. i was very under whelmed with the book and the plot. but, i did like the mental health in the book, since i think it would be helpful to people. but it did get to much at times, and the whole mental health thing just got annoying. this was a reread.

my lovely wife by Samantha Downing. i gave this book 4/5 stars. this was a pretty good book. but, i think the kids where interesting addition to this story. the ending of this book was insane, and i love it so much. but, i do wish it wasn’t so rushed.

undercover bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams. i gave this book 3/5 stars. this was a good book, but not as good as the best. i feel like the romance was a B plot, where the whole rape plot line was the first one. and i wished we got more romance.

roomies by Christina Lauren. i gave this book 3/5 stars. i really liked some of their life before the whole marriage part of the book. i thought it was so cool that there was fake marriage, and then they later got back together.

it sounds better in my head by Nina Kenwood. i gave this book 4/5 stars. this book was so amazing. i really think this should be in more of high school today, since i think that so many teenagers should read this book, since it talks about divorce, body image, acne, scars, and first love.

Anna and the french kiss by Stephanie Perkins. i gave this book 3/5 stars. this book was way better the first time i read it. but, the story was still pretty cute, and i still liked it a ton. but, Anna cried a ton and i found some of the characters annoying.

you deserve each other by Sarah Hogle. i gave this book 3/5 stars. Nicky was so annoying throughout this book. and it was annoying that the in laws where up always there and wouldn’t live them alone.

finale by Stephanie Garber. i gave this book 2/5 stars. this book was the second most boring book i read this month. and i think that there was no real plot in this book whatsoever. and for most of this book i had no clue what was even happening.

after we fell by Anna Todd. i gave this book 1/5 stars. this is such a stupid book. i hated this book so much, but i feel like the romance was better than the other books, but it was still a stupid book. and all the twists where some of the dumbest things i read.

first love by James Patterson and Emily Raymond. i gave this book 2.5/5 stars. i reread this book, and i totally loved it more the first time. but, i did think that this is pretty much the fault in our stars, but with felonies and USA traveling.

DNF- if i never met you by Mhairi McFarlane, would like to meet by Rachel Winters, and a good marriage by Kimberly McCreight.

anyway, that’s it for today. i had a pretty great reading month, and i think that i still read some pretty good books this month. and i hope i have just a great reading month in june.

hello everyone! today i going to be doing the Disney princess tag. this is a pretty fun tag since i love disney and also books. so it’s honestly the best of both worlds.

1. Snow White – Name your favorite classic

the outsiders by SE Hinton. i’m not sure if this would count as a classic, but i personally think it is, so we’re just going to go with it. this is a book that is so close to my heart, and i’ll probably try to get it for three more prompts.

2. Cinderella – Name a book that kept you reading well past your bedtime

love and getalo by Jenna Evans Welch. i stayed up so much longer when i read this book, and i don’t regret it. this is such an amazing book, and i honestly so amazing, so i wasn’t to mad in the morning.

3. Aurora – Name your favorite classic romance

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. i don’t really care for this book, but it’s the only classic romance that I’ve read, so i kinda have to pick it.

4. Ariel – Name a book that’s about making sacrifices and fighting for your dreams

escaping from Houdini by Kerri Maniscalo. i feel like this prompt is good for the book since a bunch of crap happens to the characters and they go on this boat and leaving their families to get to America.

5. Belle – Name a book with a smart and independent female character

a good girls guide to murder by Holly Jackson. Pip Fitz-Amobi is such a smart and independent character, and it was just so amazing to me. she did have help from Ravi, but i think that she did a ton of the work by herself.

6. Jasmine – Name a book with a character who challenged the social conventions of his or her world

the book thief by Markus Zusak. i’ve never read this book, but i think that it fits so well to the prompt. so, i can’t talk to much about this book, since i never read it.

7. Pocahontas – Name a book with an ending that was a roller-coaster of emotions

caraval by Stephanie Garber. the ending of this book was insane. i was just blown away on everything that happened in the end of this book. there was so many emotions and it was just insane for everything to happen.

8. Mulan – Name a book with a kick-youknowwhat female character

the cruel prince by holly black. Jude was such a kick ass female and i thought it was so amazing. she honestly kicked so much ass throughout the series, which i thought was so amazing for female character in a fantasy book.

9. Tiana – Name a book featuring a hardworking, self-made character

eliza and her monsters by Francesca Zappia. this was a hard one to pick, but then i realized that Eliza made her own online comic book, and had like millions of people read it, so i thought she fit pretty well into this whole prompt.

10. Rapunzel – Name a book that features an artist

an anatomical shape of the heart by Jenn Bennett. i’m not sure if you would actually call her an artist, but she does draw hearts and dead bodies and stuff. so i guess she is an artist, so i guess she would count.

11. Merida – Name a book that features a mother-daughter relationship

the selection by Kiera Cass. this might be cheating a little bit since they aren’t really together for most of the series, but i think it still counts to some degree. but i think they had a really good relationship because America went to the selection for her, so i guess it counts.

12. Anna and Elsa – Name a book that features a great relationship between sibling

to all the boys i’ve loved before by jenny han. i was going to pick the outsiders, but since i already picked it, i’ll go with this one. i think the sisters had an amazing bond, and really did so much to the story.

13. Moana – Name a book where the main character travels a great distance

the loose ends list by Carrie Firestone. this might be cheating, since it’s a all about family traveling together. but i still feel like the main character does go to all these amazing places with her family.

anyway, that’s it for today. i had a lot of fun to do this tag, and since it was disney and books, so what can go wrong. Moana wasn’t in most of the tags that i read, but the one that i settled on, it had it in, so i just included it.

hello everyone! today i am going to be talking about Miss Peregrine’s home for peculiar children by Ransom Riggs. i gave this book 2/5 stars, which i wasn’t hoping for, i wish it was so much better, since i love the movie so much.

my biggest issue was that everything just went in circles. so when the grandfather died, Jacob had this massive heart attack and mental breakdown. which is completely understandable, but what happened was Jacob would get help, he’d get better, and then there will be some freak out, and it would go back to the start. i just found it annoying, because we already got threw this event, then we go back.

i also found Jacob so dramatic and annoying. like every little thing that happened in this book, we got either a massive freak out, or something that would/will change his life. it was just so annoying because all he did was overreact. i just found it annoying, and i think he was just always overreacting again and again.

there was also so much description in the story. i personally thought it was over the top, like i don’t need to know what every little thing looks like, and about all the different people, and how old everyone is.

i have no clue who any of the people are. like i knew who the parents, grandpa, friend, and then the person in the bar. like all the people in the town, and then all the peculiar children, it was just like word vomit it me.

as for the peculiar children, they didn’t really explain about who each person was. like we didn’t even get our basic ‘oh this is so and so, and his power is this.’ we needed to like put to and to together, and figure out who they where in the movie, which i would was hard.

i honestly wish we got more explanation on how these people became peculiar children. like were they just born with these powers, was their some accident, did their parents have the powers, so now the kids have them. like how did they get it.

i found it weird that Jacob was with his grandfathers girlfriend. like i personally thought it was so weird, since this same girl was in love with his grandfather, he’s with. i just found is so gross. like it was just weird to me.

as for the romance that happened, i wish it wasn’t a thing. i felt like it was just a c plot, and i think that this book would be better without it, since it didn’t really do anything for the plot. and like they only talked,and i don’t even think they kissed.

anyway, that’s it for today. i feel like this was pretty short, but it was right to the point with my thought. and two i didn’t take to many notes when i was listening to it.