Ywa

Consistently cute, I'll take it.

Cute but that's about it.

Unfortunately, somewhere between forgettable and obnoxious, for me.

The live adaptation was wonderful, I watched it three times in the span of a year and I rarely re-watch things. I was happy to find out the manga series was just as wonderful. The story and the characters are adorable.

Not much to say except that the series is beautiful and it made me so happy. I've tried to read manga in the past but the format didn't work for me. This year it just clicked. It also happened at a perfect time because it's been another incredibly stressful year at work, however, when I was reading this I was able to truly relax.

On the one hand, it wasn't a bad book, and I do enjoy Pacat's writing. On the other hand, it was completely forgettable, I can't recall almost anything that happened in it, and there's no reason for me to continue with the series. Cool cover, though.

The biggest flaw of this manga is that it's too short and it doesn't get to anything substantial, it would have worked much better as a series if we had the chance to get to know the characters better. But loved the premise of it, it was silly fun.

Update: I did end up reading the manga and I just don't see it. The premise is very alike but that's where the similarities end. The characters, the plot progression, basically everything is very different from the manga. The people review-bombing this book because of that are simply unfair.

I'm uncomfortable placing judgment on this book based on the plagiarism allegations because:

1. I don't rate books I didn't read at least a decent portion of so I can tell if it's for me or not and rarely find it's justified to rate books you haven't read. In this case, I read it from start to finish, and it wasn't bad for a YA. Most users claiming plagiarism quote second-hand sources. They haven't even read the book to make a true comparison with the manga.
2. I have yet to see receipts from these reviews denouncing plagiarism. I'll give you that; the synopsis sounds identical to the manga, and that's a little on the nose, however:
a. Author does admit to being inspired by the manga in the book's acknowledgments. One reviewer raged on that the author only admitted to it after being called out, yet the manga is literally mentioned in the author's notes.
b. Manga and novels are completely different environments.
c. Pleanty of fan-fiction work has been traditionally published as ‘original.'
d. I can't get my hands on the manga, so I can't compare the two other than the premise. One reviewer mentioned reading both and that they are very different except for the premise of fake dating for 7 days based on a dare.
e. One could argue that the fake dating trope is so widely spread that it's hard when something is a reinterpretation or a rip-off.
f. In the end, I just don't have enough data on the matter to be able to take a clear stance on this.

Going back to the actual book. I thought it was just fine. The characters were sweet, and I enjoyed the story overall. I would have preferred it if it were less instalovey and more suspenseful. I wasn't a fan of the angst at the end either.

While I don't agree with every idea presented in this book it was an enjoyable read, and it gave me a lot of food for thought. One of the things we agree on is that we should institute a Universal Basic Income.

“They tried to bury us . . . but they didn't know we were seeds?”

This was a beautifully written touching story about Efrén who is faced with one of the most horrific events one can experience as a child- being separated from a parent because of deportation. Efren's life falls apart when he comes back home to find his mother gone one day because ICE has detained and deported her. The anxiety of not knowing exactly where she is and if she will ever come back, is increased by having to assume responsibility for both himself and his younger siblings as their father is always working, to be able to keep the family afloat. This is probably something too many children have been going through, especially in the last few years, and it's heartbreaking.

“Maybe I don't know what fills it in yet, but I can look at the space around where I sit in the world, what creates that shape, and I can care about what it's made of, if it's good, if it hurts anyone, it makes people happy, if it makes me happy. And that can be enough for now.”

Unlike the majority in the book world, I was not impressed with McQuiston's first book (quite the contrary) and found this one much better. The romantic leads and side characters were not unlikeable, and the plot was reasonably engaging. There was a bit of a pacing issue in the book's first part, but it luckily picked up in the second half. I wasn't entirely convinced with the romance because there were not enough hints about August's feelings being reciprocated until quite late into the plot and the whole thing felt a little too one-sided, but I didn't have a bad time with this overall.

“Don't ask me to repent because I regret nothing. You can't save me because I'm not in peril.”

The short stories are well written and overall enjoyable but I didn't find the secret lives of these church-going ladies quite as fascinating as everybody else (unpopular opinion, I know).

Her judgment day would come, but for now, Pip walked and she promised. That's all. One foot in front of the other, even if she had to drag them, even when the hole in her heart felt too big to keep standing.

In my comment on the second installment, I was remarking that I was not too fond of the series moving away from the cozy mystery feel of the first book. In hindsight, after reading this sequel, I suspect this was a direction chosen from the beginning by the author. Even the name of the series spells it out: ‘A Good Girl's Guide to Murder'. That being said, I didn't find this book particularly compelling. Our heroine, Pip, has become quite a bland and unconvincing character since the second book, and she never regained the momentum. It's not that she lived enough to become a villain but that her motives for everything she did since the end of the first book are quite elusive to me. I can't say I had the worst time ready this, but it was quite far from the enjoyment I had with the first book.

“When we dance the earth trembles. When our steps fall on the earth we feel the shudder of life beneath us, and the earth feels the beating of our hearts, and we become one with the earth. We shall not sever ourselves from the earth. We must chant our being, and we must dance in time with the rhythms of the earth. We must keep the earth.”

A beautiful little collection of meditations reflecting on humans' relationship with and impact on nature from the perspective of a Kiowa elder deeply connected to his ancestor's values.

“Love and hate are both rooted in passion.”

This story is no longer holding my attention, the whole who-murdered-my-twin shtick, I don't care for it.

Overall, a whole lot of nothing happens in the sequel. Emilia ends up in hell and settles in at Wrath's court. [inserting] descriptions of lavish rooms, dresses, and foods yada, yada, yada. She does a little bit of asking around and gets exposed to a few mildly perilous situations but clues are basically handed to her. That's all folks. And the dun-dun-dun, ‘big' reveal at the end.

I was also not expecting the amount of non-PG. How old is Emilia again? And who is tagging this as YA??! Never mind that Emilia and Warth spend a lot of time with each other's naked bodily vessels, some rando demon/prince of Hell propositions her very bluntly, no euphemisms at all. There was also no build-up between her and the Prince. It's so convenient that they're betrothed to each other so they can just go at it. And isn't it just endearing how protective and caring he is despite being the king of hell and whatnot? The fact that he lies to her all the time is not a problem at all.

There's really no mystery here, at all, despite the synopsis/cover suggesting otherwise. The final reveal was quite underwhelming.

“What would you risk dying for—and for whom—is perhaps the most profound question a person can ask themselves. The vast majority of people in modern society are able to pass their whole lives without ever having to answer that question, which is both an enormous blessing and a significant loss.”

While I don't agree wholeheartedly with everything in this book, I did resonate with it overall. Some ideas could use further inquiries as they were too neatly backed up only by the author's anecdotal conclusions. However, it's still a compelling exploration of how small communities such as indigenous tribes can promote individual happiness and improve mental health.

Exactly what one could expect from someone who has a PhD in Philosophy and writes a book on neuroscience. You're probably better off with listening to an Andrew Huberman podcast instead.

This series is still enthralling even after 11 years. This is the 4th time I've read the first book and I loved every second of it.

This is by no means a bad book, it was actually quite enjoyable. But I didn't develop any special connection with it, hence the rating.

I didn't enjoy this at all, I thought the writing was juvenile, the characters unlikable, and the plot ridiculous. The worst part about it was the adoption story, this review is basically how I feel about it.

This was a painful experience.

First read: July 2013Pretty much disliked reading this. Not a fan of any of the characters. Re-read:August 2021The plot of this book is still ridiculous, I just can't take it seriously even in the context of make-belief. The only character I really enjoy is Simon...okay and maybe Isabella at times. But I was in the mood for something silly and fast-paced so my experience with this was better this second time around. I'm still not in the slightest tempted to pick up the next one in the series and find out what happens next. The ending of this book and that plot twist is just too lame, I don't care for it and I don't want to invest further time into this.

First read: September 2014Not a great start to the series. Celaena is a vain spoiled brat and the book is just soaked in overused tropes. After being brutally exploited in a mine as a slave, she only needs a good bath and a dress to look amazing, apparently. And she's very focused on this aspect and quite proud about it, despite the fact that she's not there to look good, ya know? Priorities. She reminds me of Mac from Darkfever. I could bet SJM was inspired by that series. I still can't fathom how she can be so chatty and flirty when she was just one step away from death at Endovier. Anyone going through that experience could've barely gathered their thoughts and summoned enough energy to open their mouths for a good while. I know it's fantasy, but does she have to be so blatantly unrelatable? Celaena wasn't the only thing that bugged me about this book. The love triangle is ridiculous. Dorian is so stale, I don't see what's so great about him. I also can't see why he fell for her so quickly. Why he trusted her immediately despite the fact that she was, supposedly, the kingdom's deadliest assassin. Then everybody is so bloody gorgeous and masters deadly skills at such a young age. But Chaol's and Nehemia's characters were better. I wasn't too invested in the plot because I was too put off by Celaena's irritating demeanor. I heard the next book's better, so I'm going to give it a try.Re-read: August 2021I finally read The Assassin's Blade novellas for the first time and the collection wasn't that bad so I thought a re-read of the first Throne of Glassmight be worth it. But my experience with it was no better than the first time, I can't bring myself to care about Celaena and her world. I have to accept these books are just overhyped and not for me.

I agree with people that this was better than the first in ‘Throne of Glass'. The Celaena in this one was more badass and more sympathetic. But still, I'm not particularly drawn to the world of this series.

First read: May 2014Second read: August 2021I suppose it's true that you should re-read one of your favorite books to get out of a reading slump. It wasn't as impactful as the first time but that's to be expected as I read it a long time ago and my tastes were a bit different back then. I didn't remember the main character being this unlikeable, I did wonder for a little while why I liked it so much back then but, at the same time, I re-read it in one sitting and I was able to truly disconnect and get immersed in a story for the first time in a long while. I guess I'm still counting this one as a favorite.