[REVIEW] The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

This is a book I did not expect to like or rate it high. To be honest, I was interested in reading this book because of its high ratings on Goodreads and rave by book tubers. Of course, the beautiful cover partly contributes. I'd gotten on reading it without knowing what is it about and the result was pretty shocking.

Goodreads synopsis: Winning what you want may cost you everything you love. 

As a general’s daughter in a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has two choices: she can join the military or get married. But Kestrel has other intentions. One day, she is startled to find a kindred spirit in a young slave up for auction. 

Arin’s eyes seem to defy everything and everyone. Following her instinct, Kestrel buys him—with unexpected consequences. It’s not long before she has to hide her growing love for Arin. But he, too, has a secret, and Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for a fellow human is much higher than she ever could have imagined. 

Set in a richly imagined new world, The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski is a story of deadly games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart.

Firstly, I love the story. I believe it's because it's hard to guess what would happen next and you've no choice but to keep reading it. (I finish it in one evening.) I find it hard to explain the mixed feelings I had reading this. The starting was a blur, when the author starts introducing the two communities, Herrani and Valorian. It took me a few chapters to fully understand what's going on, I'm slow I know. So basically, the Valorian conquers the Herrani land years ago and the Herrani(s) are slaves to them. The main character, Kestrel is a Valorian and she stumbled upon an auction and bought a young slave Herrani. Of course, the rest would be the forbidden love between them.

However, there's a twist which I hadn't see it coming. (read the book) The whole plot twist really got me into the story and wanting more. From reading this, I felt the pain, the sorrow and the emotions are pretty strong. Kestrel was torn between being with her love one or loyal to her people. It might seem cliché but it's a whole new feeling while reading it.

Kestrel and Arin are one superb pair. They might be from the different communities but in fact they share the same passion and character. This leads them to each other and they can't help but to fall in love with each other.

Need I say more because the rest is for you to find out when you read it. I believe this is a dystopian, historical (kinda), young-adult fiction. It's the 1st book of The Winner's Trilogy. I highly recommend this because not many books surprise me as this does.

Summer

you can get this book from book depository: The Winner's Curse

[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] All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

When I first heard about this book, I knew it will be amazing, instantly. Historical fiction is not a genre I like venturing into because I tend to get bored easily. Strangely, I'm rather interested in the history regarding WW2. The summary of this book gives the vibe of romance but to my surprise, it's not. 

Goodreads summary: From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, a stunningly ambitious and beautiful novel about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II. 

Marie Laure lives with her father in Paris within walking distance of the Museum of Natural History where he works as the master of the locks (there are thousands of locks in the museum). When she is six, she goes blind, and her father builds her a model of their neighborhood, every house, every manhole, so she can memorize it with her fingers and navigate the real streets with her feet and cane. When the Germans occupy Paris, father and daughter flee to Saint-Malo on the Brittany coast, where Marie-Laure's agoraphobic great uncle lives in a tall, narrow house by the sea wall. 

In another world in Germany, an orphan boy, Werner, grows up with his younger sister, Jutta, both enchanted by a crude radio Werner finds. He becomes a master at building and fixing radios, a talent that wins him a place at an elite and brutal military academy and, ultimately, makes him a highly specialized tracker of the Resistance. Werner travels through the heart of Hitler Youth to the far-flung outskirts of Russia, and finally into Saint-Malo, where his path converges with Marie-Laure.
Doerr's gorgeous combination of soaring imagination with observation is electric. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, Doerr illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another. Ten years in the writing, All the Light We Cannot See is his most ambitious and dazzling work.

All I can say is that ATLWCS is the most stunningly written fiction I ever read this year. The author, Doerr's writings was beautiful, almost enchanting. He could describe every vivid details as if he was presently in the book, alive with the characters. Everything felt so surreal and unbelievable. Of course, the story is amazing. The multiple characters' views regarding their current situations and feelings are coherently matched. 

This story is unbelievably lengthy. It's the only thing which distracted my love for this book. However, because the chapters are short, the reading process didn't seem unbearable. I took quite some time (not my usual speed) finishing this book. Even so, I couldn't help be amazed by the story. It's heart-warming to read, especially about Marie-Laure and her father's relationship. I love the miniature model building of the place they lived in built by her father. I love how her father trained Marie to memorise the streets and surroundings and not give up on her. 

It's crazy all the while I was reading this book, waiting for the moment for Marie and Werner to meet and later realised that it's not even the main thing of this piece of fiction. There seems to be something miraculous about the story which pulled me into reading it. The settings, the characters, the writings, the language, everything were so perfectly plotted and there's nothing much to complain about, even though I find Werner's ending surprisingly heart-breaking. 

I highly recommend this book to everyone. It's a beautiful, epic and miraculous read. 

Summer

PLEASE ORDER THIS BOOK: All the Light We Cannot See

[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

Bout of Books 11 + TBR

Finally I'm participating in a read-a-thon and it's the Bout of Books 11. I'm pretty excited as this is my first time. So, the rules are pretty simple: just read as much as you can in a week's time (18/8-24/8) and post about your progress on any social networking site (Twitter, Tumblr, blog, Youtube or others) with hashtag #boutofbooks.

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 18th and runs through Sunday, August 24th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 11 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog.  - From the Bout of Books team

My finishallthesesoicanbuymorebooks TBR pile:

1. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

2. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Path

3. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

4. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

5. The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

6. The Ghost Bride by YangSze Choo

They are not in a particular reading order. 

:: Actually I will be travelling for a fews days during the week so I'm not that sure I can finish this pile of mostly classics. (I'm not a good classics reader.) Also, if I could not finish The Mortal Instruments series this week, I might continue it during the Bout of Books week.

Happy Reading!
Summer

[REVIEW] How To Fall In Love by Cecelia Ahern

First off, this is my first Cecelia Ahern book. I admit I have not yet read PS, I Love You (her best selling book). A friend highly recommended How To Fall In Love to me while we were book-shopping. The story was captivating and I trusted my friend to give it a go.

Goodreads synopsis: She has just two weeks. Two weeks to teach him how to fall in love – with his own life. Adam Basil and Christine Rose are thrown together late one night, when Christine is crossing the Halfpenny Bridge in Dublin. Adam is there, poised, threatening to jump. Adam is desperate – but Christine makes a crazy deal with him. His 35th birthday is looming and she bets him she can show him that life is worth living before then. Despite her determination, Christine knows what a dangerous promise she’s made. Against the ticking of the clock, the two of them embark on wild escapades, grand romantic gestures and some unlikely late-night outings. Slowly, Christine thinks Adam is starting to fall back in love with his life. But has she done enough to change his mind for good? And is that all that’s starting to happen?

I'm a huge contemporary-romance reader and this book is the book for readers of my kind. It's romantic (obviously), adorable and heart-wrenching (not severe). It always touches me when the main character is acting as the third-wheel and helping the person he/she loves to get back to her/his lover. It's always heart-breaking and brings me to tear when the main character could no longer endure the pain and broke down. (I think this is kinda spoiler-y)

This story was written from the first person's view, Christine Rose. It's about how her life intertwined with the attempted suicide man she saved, Adam. Christine was broken (in a way) but that did not stop her from always reaching out to help others. Her father said she is always thinking while he and Chrstine's other two sisters do. I think that's what really touches me. I don't think it's her guilt towards  Simon Conway, it's her genuine kind heart which made her helped Adam all the way.

The other really interesting part was (what I called) 'the outburst'. I wouldn't want to spoil anyone reading this but I couldn't help to not talk about it also. If you're afraid of being spoilt or anything, just skip this paragraph. It was about the discovery of Christine's mother's suicide attempt. I was shocked to read about this part, when Christine was near to break down. The author played well at this explosive part. I felt that Chrsitine's trying to help because she had gone through it. She didn't want anyone to turn out to be like her mother. Also, Adam's sudden change of behaviour. That was really unbelievable, almost too fake.

This book was, to me, incredibly heartfelt. The references to self-help books are such a metaphor to tell us to follow our hearts and not everything can be formulated. A very satisfied 5-stars romance.

Summer

I hope you'll read this book: How to Fall in Love

[REVIEW] A Dog's Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron

I would never pick up an animal book/movie unless I'm practically stuck with it. Because I always cry reading an animal book or watch an animal movie. If you won't believe me, try watching Hachi. So, I was still traveling and I really need a book to read while waiting for flight and train. I saw this book in my brother's luggage and I thought "why not?".

Goodreads synopsis: This is the remarkable story of one endearing dog’s search for his purpose over the course of several lives. More than just another charming dog story, A Dog’s Purpose touches on the universal quest for an answer to life's most basic question: Why are we here? Surprised to find himself reborn as a rambunctious golden-haired puppy after a tragically short life as a stray mutt, Bailey’s search for his new life’s meaning leads him into the loving arms of 8-year-old Ethan. During their countless adventures Bailey joyously discovers how to be a good dog. But this life as a beloved family pet is not the end of Bailey’s journey. Reborn as a puppy yet again, Bailey wonders—will he ever find his purpose? Heartwarming, insightful, and often laugh-out-loud funny, A Dog's Purpose is not only the emotional and hilarious story of a dog's many lives, but also a dog's-eye commentary on human relationships and the unbreakable bonds between man and man's best friend. This moving and beautifully crafted story teaches us that love never dies, that our true friends are always with us, and that every creature on earth is born with a purpose.

I never expect myself to love with this book and gave it a 5-stars rate because I thought it would be one of those normal reads. I was wrong, clearly. This book is written from a dog's perspective, yes, a dog's. It was so brilliantly written that I almost thought the author himself is a dog, ahem. This is a book where all my favourite aspects are in it. It's witty, touching and so surreal. 

I knew I would cry in the end and I did. I was so surprised with the plot twist and it made me cried a bucket. The story was so well craved and so well written. I did not believe the plot twist and I was tearing in joy. On the other hand, this book is adorable. The dog's innocence would make me laughed and smiled. The little comments about the cats and wagging its tail when its name is mentioned by its owner. I couldn't put the book down, the story just drew me in. Even though it was quite a small book but it felt so long. 

The reason I really adore this book is that it really does touched my heart. I once had a dog and it passed away a few years back. While I was reading this book, all the memories just flew back and they were all good memories. I don't know how the author did it but he did it. I'm convinced that he was a dog incarnation. 

Whether you're an animal lover or not, just go read this book. 

Summer

PLEASE READ IT: A Dog's Purpose