Review: The Martian

The Martian by Andy Weir
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

After reading this, I know that science fiction ain't my thing. Most of the time, I couldn't imagine what the author was talking about. I was that bad in science, I even feel stupid saying out loud.

Well, this is for sure one hell of a ride book. I can't bring myself to read this book after putting it off so many times. The science terms and theories bored me, only Mark's wittiness kept me reading. I find myself drifting off whenever some theories are being explained (no matter how easy it seem).

I picked this book up hoping that I would shed some light on science fiction genre but I guess I would never go back there again. Nevertheless, it was an interesting read. The writings were supposingly easy to read but the science/space terms made it so complicating.

I would definitely pick this up again in the future when I'm more in mood to learn more.

For any space, astronomy geeks out there, this is a book for you.

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Review: Women Who Think Too Much: How To Break Free Of Overthinking And Reclaim Your Life

Women Who Think Too Much: How To Break Free Of Overthinking And Reclaim Your Life by Susan Nolen-Hoeksema
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ignoring the overly sexist title, the tips provided by this book were pretty insightful. I hardly ever read any self-help books but I picked this up because of the problem I'm facing myself. It's embarrassing to admit but I think it's more important to find out the problem and face it than lying to yourself. Well, I could get a little over-sensitive sometimes and I prone to overthink (says in the title).

Coming back to the book, it wasn't an overly theory-fied book. The author provided stories along with her theories to make it more applicable and readable. I like that the author wrote would jot down her points in chart form at the end of the section, making refer-back more easier.

Well, since it's a self-help book, it wouldn't help if you didn't follow the guides or tips given. I would say some of the tips given were already tried by myself before I even found out this book. It's pretty legit. :)

Guess, this is not really a recommendation unless you're facing this problem or just wanting to expand your knowledge regarding "overthinking".

Summer

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Review: Crazy Rich Asians

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It'd been a fun ride reading this book. Always been a pleasure reading Asian fiction. I like to constantly check on whether the facts written were truth or not and knowing more about my roots. There isn't a huge difference in both Singapore's and Malaysia's culture. Reading about it just made me feel so much "at home".

First off, I would like to congratulate Kevin Kwan for bringing such accurate informations about the culture side of Singapore (or even Malaysia). As I have mentioned there isn't a big difference on both countries' culture, either on food or language. I find myself laughing out loud when stumbled upon those swear words. They are basically what we always use. But I would not dare comment on the accuracy of the rich level of Asians.

I love how ridiculously fun to read about Asians, how insanely rich they are. It's almost impossible to imagine how crazy some Asians can be. It's also incredibly annoying to agree with the fact that some adult Asians are prone to be that stubborn and single-minded about their traditions.

I definitely want to give a shoutout to Charlie for he is the sweetest in the book. The plot was well thought off and some parts did surprised me.

Overall, the story is so much of a fun and easy read regarding Asian facts and fiction. Recommend to readers who like to know more about Singapore or ready to commit to a crazy mind-blowing roller coaster ride to the insane rich world.


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Review: What Lies Within

What Lies Within by James Morris
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Oh boy did I take a long time to finish this book. I kept putting it off and on because I couldn't get into the story in the beginning. I would like to apologise for taking this long to finish this book.

"What Lies Within" is a thriller-science-fiction-ish book. It was suspenseful and fast-paced. The suspenseful plot would keep you reading until you have finished the story. The plot was refreshing and new; many occasions where I find myself in awe with what happened.

However, I had some slight problems with the first quarter of the book as it was pretty plain and I felt the story was being dragged for no reason. That was partly the reason why I couldn't get into the book as well as I should have. After that, I practically flew through (with occasions of assignments and heavy workload) it.

I also had problem with Shelly (the protagonist) because I don't feel attached to her. I constantly find myself questioning why did she do what she's doing and why would she even think that way? Maybe that's the perks of (usually) a female protagonist.

Overall it was an interesting and compelling read. Recommend to any thriller or even crime&investigation readers out there.

I've been sent a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.

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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.

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Review: Beautiful Disaster

Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I wanted so badly to rate this 5-stars but I couldn't deal with Abby's bitchy-ness. But I would've to agree that this is too addictive. I could pull up an all-nighter just to finish it, if I do not have work during the weekdays.

[spoilers]
Travis is a crazily possessive boyfriend. Omg. Boy, you need to chill. And Abby is extremely annoyingly bitchy and slutty. I got annoyed with her keep going on and off with Parker when she knew that she didn't like him. She's also doing the same to the other random guys. However, I do enjoy her badassery moments during the poker game.

Not only that, I love the other characters in the book too: Shep and America, Finch and the Maddox family. Can't wait to read about the Maddox brothers in the other series by Jamie McGuire.

I think Beautiful Disaster is one of the pioneer New Adult books out there and I enjoy reading about this kind of classic bitchy-college-romance of New Adult. Their age almost match mine and the narrators (the main characters) are often not having childish dialogue and thoughts. I appreciate that.

If you're looking for a light read (but this isn't really one) or wanting to try out New Adult (mature contents alert), definitely pick this up. Consider this as a New Adult Classics.

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Review: Searching for Someday

Searching for Someday by Jennifer Probst
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"...if he had a heart left to give, it would've broken right there."

I never thought I would love this book as much as now. Clearly, I didn't have a very high expectations due to the previous few romance I've read these past few weeks. This came too much as a surprise and it caught my heart, wrenching in an unspeakable way.

Jennifer Probst writes generously, giving away too much informations yet didn't fail to bore me in reading. This book speaks a lot for not only the main couple of the story but draws attention to the other side characters. I felt drawn to Kate's girl friends as much as I love Kate and Slade. It's not just a book about romance, but friendship and other qualities. I love how every aspects seem to be well balance.

The romance was, to me, very believable . Even those sex scenes didn't make me cringe in disgust. The relationship between Kate and Slade was built up slowly and Jennifer Probst has done a wonderful job in both hero and heroine's character development. The little magic "touch" effect was pretty dainty too.

I would say I'm pretty impressed with this book and definitely worth the read, if you're looking into romance genre. I've read my fair share of this genre so I'm confident in my recommendation.

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