Catching Up

It has been a very long time since I've yapped about books here! My initial excuse for this was that I haven't been reading, which was true for some point of time, but now that I've written out all the books I've read since the last post I realize that isn't necessarily true. 

However, a good amount of these books I read on vacation, which was way back in June. And I have a very short term memory, so most of these are just going to be flash reviews from the fragments I remember.

Books Mentioned

• Cool Doji Danshi by Kokone Nata
• Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez
• Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter
• Between Us by Mhairi McFarlane
• Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
• The Red Palace by Jane Hur
• The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
• The Apothecary Diaries by Natsu Hyuga
• Frieren: Beyond the Journey's End by Kanehito Yamada & Tsukasa Abe

Cool Doji Danshi by Kokone Nata

Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5)

I have never read a more delightful story than Cool Doji Danshi. It truly checks all the boxes: it's beautifully drawn, has a variety of interesting characters, it's heartwarming, and of course it's absolutely hilarious. I was first drawn to this webmanga due to its simplistic yet visually pleasing art style, and I thank all the group order managers on twitter for hosting so many group orders for the franchise, I just couldn't ignore it anymore. The drama also has such a great cast of actors from JO1 idols to Yuta from NCT.

Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez

Rating: ★★★★ (4/5)

I had so much fun reading Yours Truly. It was a surprise, to be completely honest, since I wasn't the biggest fan of Part of Your World, which is the preceding novel to Yours Truly. I enjoyed the love interest a lot more in this story, and I liked the tension between the two main characters as compared to the couple in Part of Your World's more strangers to friends to lovers dynamic.

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter

Rating: ★★★+0.5 (3.5/5)

Please do not do what I did and read this book in a dark plane while sitting next to strangers. I've heard that this book is unsettling and gruesome, but I heavily overestimated my capacity for stomaching unsettling content. However, this was such a thrilling read. The minute it picked up around 25% of the way through, I was hooked and couldn't put it down. It was well-plotted and the suspense was built at a great pace. All of the mysteries unfolded very satisfyingly. I didn't sleep much on this 13 hour plane ride, partly because I was scared out of my wits but also because this was a gripping read. Though I'm not the biggest fan of thrillers, I enjoyed this one.

Between Us by Mhairi McFarlane

Rating: ★★+0.5 (2.5/5)

This was very okay, to be completely honest. I don't remember much of it, but I remember not feeling much for the main couple. I felt more for the main character's disintegrating relationship with her ex and her internal struggle with her ex's new project and the parallels it had with her life. I also couldn't adapt to the odd chapter structure the author utilizes. Sometimes a chapter would end in the middle of a conversation and pick up right where the conversation left off. Though it wouldn't have bothered me if it happened once or twice, it occurred pretty consistently, and ended up irking me more often than not.

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

Rating: ★★★ (3/5)

I really wished I liked this one, but it was very overwhelmingly okay. I actually enjoyed the first half of the book more than the second half, which is why I doubt I will be picking up the sequel, unfortunately. The first half had a lot of charm to it; I liked the setting, the vague yet intriguing magic interwoven into the plot, and I liked the dynamic between Iris and Roman. I personally feel like the dynamic was lost on me during the second half of the book and the progression of their relationship accelerated far faster than I wish it would have. I also might have had high expectations for it, since everyone only had good things to say about the book. Unfortunately, it didn't meet my expectations but it was still an enjoyable read, just not my favorite.

The Red Palace by Jane Hur

Rating: ★★★★+0.5 (4.5/5)

This was so good. Thank you Chloe Gong for such a great recommendation. Both main characters were such a joy to read about, and their relationship developed so naturally. I loved how the mystery unfolded, and I love a good historical setting and Hur really nailed it with this one.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

Rating: ★★★★ (4/5)

For the longest time, I refused to read this book. The reviews of it were scathing, and I don't hold so much nostalgia for The Hunger Games Series as most do despite reading it as a child. However, when the movie blew up on TikTok, I was influenced to give it a try. It surprised me in a very good way. I wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. From reviews that I read on Goodreads, it seems that those who did not enjoy it as much had expected it to be a completely different book, more adjacent to the original trilogy. I, on the other hand, loved how character-centric it was. Though I, too, was an enjoyer of the high stakes of the original trilogy, I am also an enjoyer of a good character driven book. It was fascinating to see how Snow's experienced shaped the man he grew to be. Though his thinking has been twisted from the very beginning, it was also clear that he had the capacity to care. However, though every experience was a moral fork in his journey, we watch him consistently choose the wrong path until he reached a point of no return. Another aspect of this story was the romance, and I didn't touch on it much because I wasn't the biggest fan of it. I didn't really feel the chemistry between Lucy Gray and Snow, but I thought that Lucy Gray was a phenomenal character and she played a very key part to Snow's character development.

The Apothecary Diaries by Natsu Hyuga & Touko Shino

Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5)

I am very pleased with starting off the year with 2 very amazing manga. This was such a funny read. I love Maomao, she has such a fun personality and I love her dynamic with Jinshi. I'm historically a huge fan of stories set in Ancient China, so this was right up my alley. I loved the palace politics, and I also enjoyed how some parts of the story are quite mature and dark. The dichotomy between the humorous nature of Maomao & Jinshi's antics and the dark nature of the palace was very intriguing to read, and I feel like the authors really struck a good balance between the two opposing atmospheres. 

Frieren: Beyond the Journey's End by Kanehito Yamada & Tsukasa Abe

Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5)

It is truly a feat for a book to move me, lover of all tragic stories, to tears. Frieren was able to accomplish that easily within the few chapters of the first volume. There is something so special about this story. It's a celebration of friendships, and it is a story that really makes you believe in the Ralph Waldo Emerson quote, "It's not the destination, but the journey that matters."

Yamada is truly a master at creating group dynamics that tug at readers' heartstrings. Both the current era group and Frieren's previous group have such a heartwarming friendship. The characters themselves have such distinctive personalities with lovable quirks that are unique to them. The magic system is very simple and very nostalgic, and though the simple plot of the story is Frieren and her group making the journey to the Demon King's old abode, the overarching plot of the story is Frieren retracing her steps from her 10 year journey decades before, and finding out that she knew much more about the people she loves than she allows herself to believe.

Frieren is a story about a near immortal elf who feels as if she has taken the people around her for granted after attending the funeral of one of her former adventure companions. It is a story that really tugs at the heartstrings and is a celebration of how fleeting yet beautiful life is. 

⸺ ⁕⁕⁕⁕⁕ ⸺

I truly have missed reading regularly like I used to, and I've come back to post my musings every once in a while to motivate myself to get back into it since I have a lot more time on my hands. There are so many books that have released in the past months that I've completely missed out on, so I'm very excited to finally read them!

—璇