Six Crimson Cranes | ARC review

Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim is one of my  anticipated release of the year and it did not disappoint. 

TW/CW: physical abuse, kidnapping

What can you expect :

• A lush retelling of The Six Swans fairytale
• East Asian rep on point 👌🏻
• Shiori – the female protagonist who is spoilt, judgmental (basically a flawed princess) but has an amazing character arc
• Forbidden magic
• A kickass side character who has no filter 😂
• Sibling bond that forms the basis of the story
• Twists from the original fairytale that make the story so much more better
• Monsters and snakes lurking around
• And did I say, dragons? 

*not summarizing the plot here *  But check out the blurb on Goodreads

Incase you are not convinced yet, If you have already read Spin the Dawn duology (I haven’t) I’m told there are recurring characters from there in this book, so a lot of Easter eggs to look out for.. 

If you are looking for a change from reading about faes and or fantasy royal families based on the west, or want to read something oriental AND YA, this book is for you. 

Elizabeth Lim surely has a way with words and I’m pissed at myself for not yet picking up her debut duology. I’m really really looking forward to this sequel.  I want more of a certain Dragon in book two ! 

Slight spoiler : There’s a curse in the book and I was acting up like I was the one inflicted with it and didn’t utter a word for hours while finishing the book 😂 But truth be told, one part of the curse made no sense to me, as to whether the bowl on the head can allow others from seeing Shiori’s eyes, whether she can see them or not.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for an eARC!! 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Do watch out for this amazing book that releases on July 8th 2021!!!

Ace of Spades | ARC review

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé was one helluva ride. 

An Anonymous texter known as Aces ruining the lives of two Black teens in an elite private academy that gives you ‘Gossip Girl- Pretty Little Liars- I know what you did last summer’ vibes but scarier. (I haven’t watched Get Out so these are the 3 comparisons I can make). That’s the one line plot summary I can think of but the book offers so much more!! One of the best books I read this year and to think it’s a debut, well done👏🏻👏🏻

Also +1 for the author to include trigger warnings at the beginning of the book. 

Even if you read the synopsis and go in with some knowledge of what the book is about, you will still not be prepared for it, I say!

Not sure how to be not-spoilery, but the horrifying things the main characters Chiamaka and Devon go through in the name of racism makes your blood boil and lose your faith in people. How hard is it to be just kind 😭

I hate that these systems, all this institutional shit, can  get to me. I hate how they have the power to kill my future, kill me. They treat my Black skin like a gun or grenade or a knife that is dangerous and lethal, when really, it’s them. The guys at the top powering everything.    

I liked the contrast between the two main characters and also the fact that they weren’t unnecessarily romantically involved just for the sake of the plot. Chiamaka is a complete badass and full of spirit, she knows what she wants and is willing to achieve it whatever it takes, even though she is rich she has to struggle her way through the top because of her skin color. Devon is an introvert with hardly any friends and a scholarship student who likes his invisibility. And when they are forced to join hands together to fight Aces, there evolves this beautiful friendship. The book also talks how being queer in a BIPOC community is like and the homophobia that exists. 

Totally recommended and I’m really looking forward to Faridah’s upcoming books. 

So so grateful to the publishers and Netgalley for the E-ARC. Also I’m very happy about the attention this book is getting and the way it’s getting special edition/ book of the month editions etc as compared to a white author’s book. I hope more BIPOC authors get this deserving treatment. 

My Rating:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Regretting You – Book Review

Disclaimer : I’m a mad Colleen Hoover fan, so this review might be biased 😀

Regretting You is told in alternate perspective from a mother (Morgan) and daughter (Clara) duo who have a strained relationship which is further tested after a tragic loss in the family. Morgan marries her high school boyfriend Chris after getting pregnant with Clara, so all she wants for her daughter is to not make the same mistakes as her. With both of them left to manage their grief, certain devastating secrets are revealed and things get MESSY!!.⁣
I loved Morgan with all my heart, her story broke me and warmed me throughout the book. There is ofcourse romance, but I loved the relationship arc of the mother daughter duo. (WHO AM I KIDDING, I totally cried for an unrequited love story which I WIL NOT talk about). The book can turn out to be heavy, messy and deep but it overwhelmed me. Colleen Hoover’s writing always does. You get all the feels while reading it and gives you things to think about.. ⁣⁣
⁣⁣ ⁣⁣

I obviously rated it a 5 ⭐️. I have highlighted so many lines that (even though have nothing to resonate with me) pulled all the heartstrings. ⁣⁣
⁣and the reason I chose this quote, is precisely why I named my blog Little voids. ⁣

The House in the Cerulean Sea ~ Book Review

A female garden gnome with a beard 

A green blob who doesn’t have an identity but thinks he is a boy

A wyvern with hoarding affinities 

A feisty forest sprite and a boy who can turn himself into a dog (a were-dog?)

And there’s the devil’s spawn , Antichrist! 

Meet the 6 kids that steal your heart and light up the world in this beautiful book. Get ready to be sucked into their innocence and the fiercely protective Arthur ❤️

Shield your heart, Mr.Baker, because that is what they go for first!

You know who should read this book? JKR, no offence! Bcos this book is all about treating people, especially marginalized ones, equally and understanding that they belong to this world as much as anyone else. And for someone who hardly reads between the lines because of my privileged ass, Even I found so many parallels comparing to the real world and bawled my eyes out! 

if you want to read something deeply satisfying and at the same time educative, you must absolutely pick The House in the Cerulean Sea. It will forever be on my favourites shelf and for sure will be the book I read to my future kid.

Tweet

Let me tell you this book has some of the best characters you will fall for and cherish. Chauncey melts my heart and I can’t even start about Theo, the wyvern. The amazing character arc of Linus Baker and this gem called Arthur Parnassus and the naughtiest kid Lucy. I’ve highlighted so much in my ebook that I’m badly aching for a physical copy , but damn you Quarantine! You just need to read to understand why!.

If its not already obvious, All the stars in the world !!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Shibani Perez (@bookishly_sweety)

Daisy Jones & The Six

I CAN’T GET OVER THIS BOOK EVEN AFTER MONTHS!!!!

This book is the best-est that I read last year and it obviously made it to my most favourite books list.

Every book out there is mostly a piece of fiction, that’s common knowledge. But certain books strike so real that you can find it really hard to believe that the characters didn’t exist in real life. Probably why everyone feels that way about this book is its unique form of story telling – it’s completely written through interviews. So this post is not exactly a review, but an outlet for my gushing emotions whenever I think about this book.

When I finished listening to this book, it was freaking 2am. And I was crying !!! So much of Ugly crying. I mean, I never cared about Rock n Roll bands. Ever! And I was crying over a fictional band. From the 1970’s.

Fair warning, continue, if you have already read the book!

The first few chapters are told in parallel about Daisy growing up in L.A with absentee parents and brothers Billy and Graham Dunne forming their own musical band. The interview goes on about how The Six were formed and the band members start narrating the rest of the story – the drugs, the women, the heartbreak and everything in between. Billy Dunne comes off as this controlling lead singer who takes pride in the music he writes and never lets the band go from his track. As this book is in interview format you can see how the change in Billy’s behaviour affects his brother and his bandmates. The relationship between Camila and Billy – is like the Biblical Love.. you know like love is patient, love is kind stuff? Its all about faith and trusting the other. Initially I shipped Camila and Billy, I’ll be honest.

When Daisy joins The Six, I was eagerly waiting for her to meet Billy. Because the Daisy of the first few pages didn’t make an impression on me. I kinda hated her and I loved Billy. Controlling, edgy Billy. Not the carefree, spirited Daisy. I know I’m a weirdo. So I was waiting to see how these two would get along. When Daisy and Billy put their heads together and create a song for the first time, I swear the imagery in my mind was pure magic. There were fireworks in my sky, let me tell you 😊 And I’m the kind of person who hates the “other” man/woman in a relationship, but me shipping Daisy and Billy was even more shocking to my own self. But, speaking in Anne Shirley terms, they both are kindred spirits, okay? They are MEANT to be!!

The songs that Billy and Daisy write together – I WANT TO hear them!! I cannot stop waiting for the TV series and I’m dying to listen to the songs.

And oh my god, I can’t even talk about the show in 1979, Chicago Stadium!! I cried so much.. It felt so much real, like its happening to my friend, to me! Thats how a book should be, imo. Only THE BEST you know. And I don’t even wanna talk about the ending. Okay ? I hated Camila more towards the end. But towards the end, is when I truly loved Daisy.

I know this post has been only about Billy and Daisy but I couldn’t help myself. The next best characters in this book are Graham and Karen. I could totally write a separate post about them.

“I wish someone had told me that love isn’t torture. Because I thought love was this thing that was supposed to tear you in two and leave you heartbroken and make your heart race in the worst way. I thought love was bombs and tears and blood. I did not know that it was supposed to make you lighter, not heavier. I didn’t know it was supposed to take only the kind of work that makes you softer. I thought love was war. I didn’t know it was supposed to… I didn’t know it was supposed to be peace.”

It’s an all-star read for me and I’m very much looking forward to the TV series.

84 Charing Cross Road – Book Review

“I don’t browse in bookshops, I browse in libraries, where you can take a book home and read it, and if you like it you go to a bookshop and buy it.”

This is a wonderful book of letters written between an American writer and the employees working in a used book store in the U.K..

Let me tell you this isn’t a romance book filled with love letters ( bcos I had that misconception). The letters are written through a span of 20 years and has nothing but lots of love for books, appreciation for used books particularly non-fiction and a growing intercontinental friendship.

Growing up, I loved the idea of penpals. (Writing letters to strangers who turn into friends, was one of my biggest fantasy when I was a little girl, but it never came true bcos a) I was lazy and b) yup, just laziness.)

But Helene not just sends letters inquiring about books but also sends the employees and their families, lots of food as gifts over Holidays. And you know what makes it more heartwarming? This is all real, just like Helene loves only the real thing and not fiction, these events really happened and the letters were made public and into a book.

Even though I wasn’t aware of half the books she mentions in the letters, I could relate with her the whole time. You can see how the friendship unfolds from the way Frank and Helene address each other in the beginning and how informal it gets later. There’s so much I loved that I’m finding it hard to express how deeply broken I was, by the end of the book. Such a short sweet read! 

Do not forget to pick this book up, if you are looking for something to warm your heart, to resonate with a bookworm’s struggle in finding the right editions and just plain old-fashioned epistolary novel between strangers who have one thing in common – Books! 

I can’t not leave without the much popular quote from the book –

“If you happen to pass by 84 Charing Cross Road, kiss it for me? I owe it so much.”

5 🌟 and more! 

The Travelling Cat Chronicles |AudioBook Review

The Travelling cat Chronicles written by Hiro Arikawa and translated by Philip Gabriel, is a touching, bittersweet and beautiful story of a young man in his thirties – Satoru – and his cat, Nana. When you come across a story with a pet involved, you know you are in for a heartbreak. And yes, this book will have it’s fair share of making you cry.

The Movie Adaptation

Satoru is this amazing guy – who has lost his parents early in his life, has been forced to move around a lot during his school life, thus making new friends in every school and in every part of his life – yet leads life with no complaints. When he is really young, he and his friend find a stray kitten and circumstances make Satoru to adopt the cat and he loves it more than his life. When he is forced to move, he has to send the cat away to a relative and is very much heartbroken. All through his teenage, he plans to save money and visit his dear cat but fate once again closes the door on him.

Now an adult, Satoru is living alone and when he finds a street cat under his car, he immediately develops a liking towards it because it of its shocking resemblance to his old pet. When the stray cat is wounded, Satoru takes him in and moves houses for the sake of him and the two of them start bonding. After an amazing couple of years together, destiny forces Satoru to find a new home for Nana and goes on a travel to find his old friends to ask for their help. The story is about how Nana and Satoru meet his friends from every part of his life and what happens to their friendship in the end.

I gotta tell you, this is one amazing book and you MUST read it. Go on! Even if you aren’t a cat lover (hell, I ain’t one) you cannot stop falling in love with Nana’s sass and feisty narration. The author draws a beautiful picture of Satoru and his friendly and compassionate and patient nature that one can’t stop wondering “is he for real”. The man cries for a cat !! How can I not fall in love with the story?

Satoru might be reaching out to his friends for help but in the end he is helping each of them knowingly or unknowingly. He values his friendship so much – both human and feline!.

This is a simple yet an unforgettable journey for both Satoru and Nana and the part where they visit Hokkaido Island is so vivid and the imagery is beautiful.

But its not something to be sad about. As we count up the memories from one journey, we head off on another.

Special appreciation to the translator and LOTS OF LOVE to the narrator George Blagden of the audiobook. He was soothing to listen to and funny when reading Nana’s lines.

My rating 5 stars.

100 Days of Sunlight | ARC review

Author: Abbie Emmons
Source: E-ARC received through NetGalley
Releases on : Aug 2019
Buy the book from Amazon

I requested for this book after seeing its beautiful cover and through the recommendation of a bookstagrammer friend.

Tessa Dickinson is a home-schooled, 16-yr old poetry blogger who lives with her grandparents. She has no friends, except for her blogging community friends who she group-chats with. When Tessa loses her eye-sight in an accident, she becomes miserable and angry and is no longer the same person she was before. In an attempt to cheer her up, her grandparents decide to run a advertisement looking for help – a typist – someone of Tessa’s age to write in her blog while she dictates. Enter Weston Ludovico, son of the newspaper where the ad is about to be printed. He decides to help Tessa even though she refuses it and shuts the door in his face. He loves how he is poorly treated by Tessa not because he is some sick psycho but because he lost his legs three years ago and is tired of people treating him differently. The book describes 100 days of Tessa’s life where she is temporarily blind and how her pessimistic self changes over the period.

When I first began with this book I thought why was Tessa’s character written this way – so pessimistic, so cold and inconsiderate about actual visually impaired people who might be reading it. But let me tell you, this book has been written through the point of view of Tessa, who is recently blind, is unable to accept it and is rightfully angry about it. And there’s a whole lot of sunshine and positive aspects that come up later in the book that makes the initial whining acceptable and realistic.

Weston’s story was sooo good, so so good. I loved how the alternating POV’s were used, from Weston’s past and Tessa’s present. I fell in love with how reckless he is initially showed and how he doesn’t quit and grows through his pain and does not allow the amputation to stump his life. Instead of using all of it to Tessa and giving a TedX talk to her, he gradually shows her there’s so much to life, so much more to experience and I totally loved how obnoxiously optimistic he is. And Weston’s family ? God!! I loved every sibling of his and his mother, his best friend Rudy. They aren’t just secondary characters and I loved how Abbie Emmons has given importance to every one of them.

This isn’t your Insta-love story, because Tessa can’t see and Weston isn’t there to fall in love with her (initially..) but to help her cope up. This isn’t about absent parents, prom dates, drugs or college applications. This is about finding light in the darkness and accepting yourself. This is a heartbreaking-uplifting kinda book that balances out romance, grief, friendship, family and happiness altogether.

“You’re not your asthma,” I continued “or your diabetes or you depression or your anorexia or your social anxiety. You see, most people would look at me and say that I have every right to be miserable. But I don’t. I have no right. And neither do you.”

Obviously, a 5 star read for me, considering it’s a debut that is so beautifully written.

A Very Large Expanse of Sea |Book Review

|Best Books of 2018| YA Fiction|

Author – Tahereh Mafi

Other books by author – Shatter me series, Furthermore Duology.

Publisher : HarperTeen

Get the book from Amazon.in

A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi was a book gifted to me by a lovely friend (@natsinbookland )in Instagram.

If there was one YA book I would recommend to anyone, this would be it! I loved this book, I loved it for it’s representation of post 9/11 America, I loved it for the way it depicted the glorious pre-Facebook days, I loved it for showing how devastatingly painful, the life of a Muslim American teen can be in those days.

This books is a must read, y’all!!!

#OwnVoices – Tahereh Mafi has written this book to share her own experiences of being stereotyped and her struggle with racism and her love for breakdancing. This book is brutally honest and makes you ashamed, angry and regret the things we knowingly or unknowingly do against a community.

“I was stuck in another small town, trapped in another universe populated by the kind of people who’d only ever seen faces like mine on their evening news, and I hated it.”

Shirin is the angry teen who is tired of moving around, transferring to multiple schools before completing high school and is forever pissed off about people asking her questions about her hijab. She puts on a tough exterior so that people will leave her alone and not make small talk or pass racist comments that they think would affect her. She doesn’t shy away from talking back and this applies to English teachers who think she is out of place in an Honors class. Shirin isn’t entirely perfect too, she is prejudiced against people just like they are against her. And thats what makes it more relatable.

When socially-awkard Ocean and Shirin are paired for Bio, there isn’t any sparks flying. There isn’t any Insta-love, exchanging of numbers and planning dates by the end of the week. This is early 2000, mobile phones and talk times are costly and people just don’t reveal everything on social media.

I loved how Ocean and Shirin start interacting, each knowing so very little about the other. Ocean is a sweet guy, who is ignorant of the hatred and whiplash Shirin gets around school and slowly learns about her world. I loved all the mixed emotions going on in their minds. So raw and heart-warming!

Just like Shirin and Ocean, I loved Shirin’s relationship with her brother Navid, #goals!!

This book isn’t mainly about the love between two young people, but about how people around perceive it and treat them based on it. If not for the story line, read this book for its characters, pick it up to see how they affect you , resonate with you long after you finish it.

The more I got to know people, the more I realized we were all just a bunch of frightened idiots walking around in the dark, bumping into each other and panicking for no reason at all.
So I started turning on a light.

All the stars for this book!! 5/5 rating.

 

 

 

The Color of Bee Larkham’s Murder – Book Review

Some books make you want to jump in and write a review so that the whole world knows about it. One such book that I read recently is.. Sarah J Harris’s The Color of Bee Larkham’s murder.

You can find the synopsis of the book from GoodReads

When I first came across the title of the book last year during its cover reveal, I was much intrigued. When I heard of synesthesia, it perked my interest.

The book is about 13-year old Jasper Wishart, who has this condition called Synesthesia because of which he not only hears sound but also sees the color of them. For example, his father’s voice is muddy ochre, the days of the week have specific colors and even knocking doors, whispers , sighs have colors. Jasper cannot also recognize faces, because of which he remembers people through their voices. Or the color of them.

 

My life is a thrilling kaleidoscope of colors only I can see..

Since Jasper can see colors, he loves painting the colors  – the everyday sounds – around him. Having lost his mother who is the only person who understands and shares his ability to see colors, he copes with his life watching people through binoculars from his window. When he notices parakeets, his favorite colorful birds, on his neighbor’s tree, he befriends Bee Larkham, the estranged daughter of his neighbor, just so he could spend time watching the birds from her bedroom window.

An unusual, unhealthy relationship forms between the two of them and when Bee goes missing, Jasper is the only one who knows what happened to her but he can’t really tell. Or can he?

This book is brilliantly written and told in alternate time periods – before Bee went missing and the present – from Jasper’s point of view. You can see the amazing efforts of Sarah J Harris when she talks through Jasper explaining colors and the difficulty of trying to make others understand the colors. The young child misses his mother terribly and this just breaks your heart when you read it. The book also brings to light an important topic – but no spoilers !!

Trying to find his mother in Bee, he falls in a rabbit hole of emotions and is caught between love and hate.

Must read this book, I cant recommend it enough!!

My rating : 5 STARS !!!!

      

also find this review on Goodreads page

About the book:

Author: Sarah J Harris

Publishers : HarperCollins

Published on: April 2018

Source: Own copy

You can buy the book from here:  Amazon.in