Dewey's 24hrs Readathon [TBR]

Yes, I've decided to sign up for Dewey's 24hrs Readathon in midst of my finals. (IKR?) Well, this readathon takes place on the 23rd April 2016 and every participants from all over the world would be starting at the same time. Since I'm located in Cardiff, I would be following the British Summer Time which starts at 1PM till 1PM of 24th April 2016. It's not a lot of time but I have studies to do while participating in this readathon, I'll just have to see what's gonna happen. 

Anyways, my TBR would be a simple one. I plan to finish up the rest of the novellas in Tales From the Shadowhunter Academy by Cassandra Clare and many other co-authors. I'm currently at 'The Evil We Love' and would be starting my readathon from there.

TBR List

Starting point: 4% of The Evil We Love

Pale Kings and Princes

Bitter of Tongue

The Fiery Trial

Born to Endless Night

Angels Twice Descending

After I'm done (if I actually did finish) Tales From The Shadowhunter Academy, I can finally start Lady Midnight (The Dark Artifices series)! But so far, the above is my TBR for Dewey's 24hrs readathon. 

Comment down below if you're joining this readathon and what do you plan on reading!

Summer 

Review: City of Heavenly Fire

City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A beautiful conclusion to the Mortal Instruments series. Despite the awfully thickness of this book, it was a swift read. The storyline flows much better than the four middle books in the series, perhaps I was in the mood to read it. (I take back my words, City of Fallen Angels is still my favourite of all.)

-below are spoilers to the series and The Infernal Devices series-

As usual, this book is written in multi-perspectives narrations and some bits in third person view. This book introduces new characters, such as Emma Castairs and her "institute family". I feel that her POV was not serving any purpose, whatsoever, other than Cassandra's effort to introduce readers to her incoming new series, "The Dark Artifices". The other most complained POV was Maia's. Despite all the dislikes, I find her stories do serve more purposes that Emma's.

After 6 books, I still do not feel any attachments to Clary & Jace and I think this is the main reason that this series isn't one of my favourite. However, I do enjoy reading them and my favourite is still Simon. Oh, Simon, my dearest. Yes and the special appearance of Tessa and Jem. *in tears of joy* I can't help myself to squeal in excitement whenever their names were mentioned and find myself sharing a inner joke with the character 'yep, I know what ya talking about'.

I do feel that Jem deserves a paragraph of me thanking him due to his contribution to me liking this book. So, thanks Jem.

Every series deserves a beautiful ending and I would say this book does its justice. However, I do think that it's a bit too long and I would do whatever for some of its length given to The Ruby Circle.

View all my reviews

[REVIEW] The Ghost Bride by YangSze Choo

Funfact: This is my first book written by a Malaysian author. *round of applauses*

The Ghost Bride is a paranormal (& romance) asian fiction which sets place in one of the states of Malaysia, namely Malacca. This book contains many hearsay customs and traditions of Chinese (of Malaysia) and supernatural believes. Personally, being a Malaysian chinese, I do still heard or lectured on various superstitions make known on this book.

Goodreads synopsis: "One evening, my father asked me if I would like to become a ghost bride..." 

Though ruled by British overlords, the Chinese of colonial Malaya still cling to ancient customs. And in the sleepy port town of Malacca, ghosts and superstitions abound. 

Li Lan, the daughter of a genteel but bankrupt family, has few prospects. But fate intervenes when she receives an unusual proposal from the wealthy and powerful Lim family. They want her to become a ghost bride for the family's only son, who recently died under mysterious circumstances. Rarely practiced, a traditional ghost marriage is used to placate a restless spirit. Such a union would guarantee Li Lan a home for the rest of her days, but at a terrible price. 

After an ominous visit to the opulent Lim mansion, Li Lan finds herself haunted not only by her ghostly would-be suitor, but also by her desire for the Lim's handsome new heir, Tian Bai. Night after night, she is drawn into the shadowy parallel world of the Chinese afterlife, with its ghost cities, paper funeral offerings, vengeful spirits and monstrous bureaucracy—including the mysterious Er Lang, a charming but unpredictable guardian spirit. Li Lan must uncover the Lim family's darkest secrets—and the truth about her own family—before she is trapped in this ghostly world forever.

First of all, I want to congratulate Ms Choo for writing such an epic story about the Malaysian customs (mainly focusing on the Chinese community), especially the afterworld of the dead. It was unbelievably mind-blowing and certainly convincing, as those are the beliefs that I have learnt of and practised since childhood. Believe it or not, acts of superstitious can sound really absurd but some may hold a few hands of truth. Enough scaring, what I'm trying to say it's that whatever written in this book is certainly what the older generations truly believe in and some were still practiced in the later generation.

Everything written in this book was so relatable that I couldn't help but to be convinced by the story. Many things which were written in this book seem to be the answers to those customs I've been asked to follow. Of course, there's no proof to what will actually happen after death but through our customs and beliefs, we believe in having an afterworld for the dead to wander around before their reincarnations.

I love every aspects of this book, from the story to the characters. However, I find the ending was quite abrupt. Another thing about this book which slightly annoys me is the usage of vocabularies. This was pointed out by my friend and I do agree with her. Some words are unsuitable. It's not that I'm afraid of bombastic words, but some actions need not be described with such "hard" words.

Apart from that mild problem of words usage, I'm quite satisfied with this book. I like that Li Lan has picked the right guy in the end. :D

Summer

I recommend this book to everyone - The Ghost Bride (other editions available)

[REVIEW] The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

I received this book from a Tumblr giveaway.

First impression - the cover is one of my favourite book covers. The photography is so stunningly beautiful. I believe this trilogy has the most beautiful and relatable book covers ever. However, they say 'do not judge a book by its cover and I find that idiom very suitable in reviewing this book.

Goodreads synopsis: Mara Dyer doesn’t think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.  

It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed. 

There is. 

She doesn’t believe that after everything she’s been through, she can fall in love. 

She’s wrong.

As I implied above, yes, this book is not in my favourite list. It's enjoyable but the characters are annoyingly perfect. If this were my first young adult paranormal romance, I might hug this book and rave about Noah. The truth is that Twilight is my first YA paranormal romance so this book didn't struck me as appealing as it should be.

First off, Noah is the problem and the sadly protruded problem is him being too perfect. If you have not guess it already, yes, he is another hot-i-dont-have-to-study-but-i'm-smart-becoz-i've-photographicmemory-skipclasses-pickfights-becoz-dont-touch-my-girl-hotbody-changedgirlfriendslikecloths-but-i-see-you-are-the-one guy. Everything else is self-explanatory. On the other hand, our main heroine, Mara Dyer is the damsel in distress for Noah to be attracted to and saved. Actually, Mara does not get on my nerves that much because of her paranormal-ness but Noah does. His character struck me as too perfect and no character should be perfect for the story to go on.

"You have to be an artist and a madman, a creature of infinite melancholy, in order to discern, at once, the little deadly demon among the wholesome children," he said, his British accent melting around the words, his voice smooth and low. "She stands unrecognised by them and unconscious herself of her fanatic power."

Who the hell will say something like that?

Secondly, I like the creepy and eerie feelings during the first 1/3 of the book but how did it suddenly projected to some flowery high school romance drama. I wanted to know what's going on with Mara and all that was told is Noah is hitting on Mara. The relationship was widely mentioned because this is in fact, a paranormal romance novel.

Look on the bright side, I did enjoy this book as it was a fast read. The chapters are left off as mini cliffhanger and you would be eager to read the next chapter to find out what's going on. I also really impressed with the idea of Mara's ability. It's not vampire or werewolf or magic or fallen angel but something unexplainable. That idea of supernatural power is not something you would easily come across in fictions, even paranormal fiction.

Seeing that I sped through this book but unwilling to continue (maybe next time) the series, I gave it a 3-stars. If you like paranormal romance and Noah is your type of guy, maybe you'll love this book.

Summer

pretty cover book: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

White Hot Kiss (The Dark Elements Trilogy) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Picture adapted from Jennifer L. Armentrout's official website.

It'd been forever since I've met another favourite paranormal YA book. (The Infernal Devices excluded, the series is beyond classification.) I heard nothing but good things about the author, Jennifer L. Armentrout and of course I have to go check out her books. Much dismay, I am currently still stuck at Onyx, the 2nd book of the Lux series. To be honest, I did enjoy Obsidian but the second book just bores me in the middle part. However, I will try to read through it, maybe I would change my mind after I finish it.

Back to White Hot Kiss. When I first heard of this book from Sasha (Youtube channel: abookutopia), I've been wanting to get my hands on it. I just didn't have time. (even now, classic excuse but it's an excuse) Then, one fine day, in the midst of my finals, I just had to make myself even busier with finals and I start this book. Here goes the classic tragic of me getting so hooked to this book I couldn't put it down until I finished it. I mean, demons and gargoyles? I'm so interested.

Goodreads synopsis: One kiss could be the last. Seventeen-year-old Layla just wants to be normal. But with a kiss that kills anything with a soul, she's anything but normal. Half demon, half gargoyle, Layla has abilities no one else possesses. Raised among the Wardens—a race of gargoyles tasked with hunting demons and keeping humanity safe—Layla tries to fit in, but that means hiding her own dark side from those she loves the most. Especially Zayne, the swoon-worthy, incredibly gorgeous and completely off-limits Warden she's crushed on since forever. Then she meets Roth—a tattooed, sinfully hot demon who claims to know all her secrets. Layla knows she should stay away, but she's not sure she wants to—especially when that whole no-kissing thing isn't an issue, considering Roth has no soul. But when Layla discovers she's the reason for the violent demon uprising, trusting Roth could not only ruin her chances with Zayne…it could brand her a traitor to her family. Worse yet, it could become a one-way ticket to the end of the world.

The writings was the usual-typical YA style, if you know what I mean. However, usually I would pay more attention to the storyline first, later the writings. But I still have to address this issue. Only when the writings is so tremendously bombastic that I couldn't ignore it but to make notes for it.

The story. It was amazingly fresh. I've never came across with a paranormal book about gargoyles. More to that, the gargoyles are hunting demons to send them back to hell. Additionally, our heroine, Layla is a half Warden and half demon. Warden is a much better name for Gargoyles, I see. Adding to the mess, she's having a not-yet-DTR relationship with this spicy-hot demon, Roth. God, gargoyles are cool enough, the author has to add another swoon-worthy hot demon. How can anyone resist? The story. (back to the point)

I was thinking through this and I cut off one star from Goodreads. 

To be honest, I was speeding through the book I did not make any notes.

I'm torturing my mind and my readers.

There was one part in the middle of the story you will be spoilt. YES, that part ________. I wasn't really thinking through when I read it because I thought it's a series, maybe it'll happen in the later books but NO. It kills that all the flashbacks keep coming back. It's really crucial for me to start writing a review after I read a book. Memory starts to deteriorate. & needless to say, this book gives a cliffhanger, a mild one. When you read the second book's synopsis on Goodreads, you'll know what's going on. (My advice: don't read it)

Roth. Roth is like Patch from Hush Hush, Daniel from Fallen (Daniel is too good to be in this category), Will from TDI (no, the series cannot be classified under anything, it has its own genre of awesomeness), Adrian from Bloodlines and Stefan from Vampire Diaries. I think I know why I really enjoyed this book. It's Roth. Definitely. His tattoo. His smirks. Oh God.

I notice that this is the most un-proper review I've ever written. Roth- The books is too good. Just. Go. Read. It.

I'm a huge fan of paranormal series, actually.
Summer

I've convinced you: White Hot Kiss

The Infernal Devices trilogy by Cassandra Clare

original post

I had to write this post as I couldn’t sleep. 

This post will not be a normal book review. It would just be a full post of me going on and on about how I love and hate this trilogy. Plus, I’m pretty sure there are tons of review about this trilogy already. I shall not go with the flow. 

I love this series God knows how much.

First book: Clockwork Angel SYNOPSIS LINK -

First off, why, William Herondale? Will, Will, Will, Will. I love him. I love him. He’s everything I adore about the classic (should be) Victorian era man. My love for Sherlock Holmes, my love for the Victorian era, my love for steampunk & paranormal & crime-mystery… the list goes on. Yes, Will. He’s too much for me to handle. He’s too much for me not to adore him. 

"The first time I showed you the library, you told me your favourite book was The Wide, Wide World. I thought you might want to know that I… read it." His head was down, his blue eyes looking up at her through those thick dark lashes; she wondered how many times he’d gotten whatever he wanted just by doing that. 

& that would be the part where I fell in love with Will, catastrophically. 

I would try hard not to detest the ending, of killing Will and letting Jem live with Tessa, forever. (Not forever because Jem is now a mundane.) I shall not think ill of Jem and think of this as the redemption for Jem’s kind heart. *cough* hardly *cough*

Oh, those book-covers are certainly most gorgeous I’ve ever seen. It’s hard to find the hardback of it and I’ve ordered them and waited for almost 2 weeks for the last book. Well, if you have not notice the inner dust jacket of Clockwork Princess, the family tree of the Castairs, Herondale and Lightwood family till the current TMI year. 

Yes, the writing. Cassandra Clare is a pure genius. It was so beautifully written, I just gone awe after I read the Clockwork Angel. Everything, even those chinese phrases (well, I do understand the pinyin) were of high-class. 

Actually, I was reluctant to continue the series after C.Angel but I heard spoilers all over the bookworld. Plus, my friend convinced me to & I’m glad I did. Overall, it was a perfectly written series. Plots, climaxes, writings, characters, foreign languages and book covers; everything killed me. 

Flaw, there was, but purely judgemental it seems. I didn’t enjoy Tessa’s fidgeting over 2 boys. Well, I believe in one-to-one relationship in books but that’s only my preference. How on earth can you fall in love with 2 persons at the same time? Maybe because they both were parabatai, that’s why Tessa could. 

Thanks cassandraclare, I’m now having the worst case scenario of post-series-hangover. Thank you for this amazing, beautiful written work. I’ve gone so attached to this series that I never thought I would have. It’s too magnificent, it’s like a star shines so bright at night and you couldn’t ignore it but stare in awe. 

Those who still have yet to give this series a go. Read it. Please please please. You’ll not be disappointed. 

Definitely 6-stars on goodreads,

Summer 

to get into the series:

Clockwork Angel / Clockwork Prince / Clockwork Princess 

or have a marathon:

The Trilogy box set (hardback)