Review: Alice in Borderland volume 1 by Haro Aso *spoilers* PART 2

 

I decided to split my blogpost for volume 1 into 2 because it would be hella long and I wasn't about that. Plus having the first part posted makes me feel accomplished. The end of part 1 really hooked me and I am sucked into the story now. 

Part 2 starts off with seeing flashbacks from their lives. Shibuki was an office worker. Chota had shitty parents and Karube grew up without a dad and a mom who slept around for money. Karube is fishing in the river because they cant rely on canned food forever. Arisu and Chota ask if they caught anything and Karube shows two bike seats and says there are no fish and then a big fish jumps out of the water. I laughed so hard.

While they are eating their fish, they talk about the rules and the visas. Karube suggests that they do another game that night to extend their visa number. He mentions that Chota should sit out and recover and that they can't relax and lose their primal instincts. Chota gets upsets because he believes that he wont be pulling his weight and that they will leave him behind. Shibuki offers to stay behind with him and I am grossed out because Chota is a little perv.

Karube and Arisu go into their chosen arena and see a lot more people. They make it by registration deadline and a voice over tells them that a serial killer is on the loose and that the game is tag. Creepy as fuck! They realize that the group of people must be new to Borderland and they decide to not tell the people what they know yet. Arisu starts to think about the future and will he eventually have to cut ties with his group.

A shady looking dude comes up and starts talking to Arisu and Karube and tells him about the people who may are useful and know the way of the games. He also tells them about the suits of the cards and what games they will be for. The tag game is a 5 of spades. They get the rules for the tag game and a time limit of 30 minutes to find the base in an unlocked apartment.

When the game started, I thought the shady guy Nitobe was going to be IT, but it is a guy shooting people while wearing a horse head. There is a character being shown that is observing every angle from one spot and he is inner monologuing about how the game is genius and that they will never kill more than him.

Arisu and Karube realize that the horse dude can't walk so fat, so they start checking doors. Karube yells down to the other players about the guy and to work together to stay alive. We see one of the women who is a rock climber jump off the balcony and save her self. Then we see a guy aska buff dude could he snap the horse guy's neck and we learn about the type of gun he is using, and how he wants to fight back against Borderland.

Karube and Arisu are getting irritated with all of the lcoked doors and the horse guy comes up behind them. They get separated and Karube thinks that Arisu is dead. The horse guy has a limited field of vision and can't see Arisu hiding. Karube comes upon the two military guys who are going to fight back and he joins them in fighting against Borderland.

Karube and the other guys are fighting back with fire extinguishers until Karube can get close enough to kill the horse guy. He is trying to make up for the fact that he abandoned Arisu in the hallway. Arisu is trying to figure out the motive and drive behind IT and find out where the base is before time runs out. Karube realizes that the horseman has multiple guns and aborts the mission. Arisu realizes that the horse guy is protecting a certain part of the building and that it where the base is. 

Arisu finds the apartment with the base and notices that there are two podiums and he has to touch both at once, or two people have to be together. Karube is trying to stay alive and get to Arisu and the other guy from the beginning who was observing everything shots the horseguy and gives karube a chance.

The rock climbing girl shows up and she and Arisu hit the buttons completing the game and detonating the bomb vest on the horse guy. Arisu starts feeling awfule for killing a person and the girl says he isn't the only one to blame. We find out her name is Usagi. The observant guy is named Chishiya and he tells that Karube owes him a favor and he will collect once Karube gets more accostumed to Borderland. He mentions the book Alice in Wonderland and his theories about Borderland. He also mentions that they listen to the taxi driver channels for information.

This part ends with Chishiya finding the body of the horse guy and realizing it was another player in his own game trying to survive. Chishiya is also stealing cards from the dead players to be able to leave.

I am so obsessed with the manga series now. I am definitely a fan of game stories that are deadly. The Hunger Games, Squid Game, and now this. I also did not know that the Zom 100 series is a spinoff of this. 

Review: Alice In Borderland volume 1 by Haro Aso *spoilers* PART 1

 

I have been wanting to watch this series since watching the first season of Squid Game. Finally picked up the manga because my daughter is in a manga reading mood. She did not want this one and I am glad because of the sexism and raunchy image of the girl in the very beginning.

Arisu doesn't care about school or going to college and I have to admit, I was about to put the book down because it is too relatable with what I am dealing with, with my olderst daughter. He is friends with a guy named Chota who is a total sleeze and I am already annoyed with his laugh. Arisu goes to the bar where he meets up with a friend named Karube. We learn that Karube is a middle school drop out who saved Arisu and Chota from being shaken down by local thugs.

Had no idea if you die a virgin, you will turn into a fairy. Chota reminds me so much of Mineta from My Hero Academia. Why does every manga have to have a pervert. I have a sneaking suspicion that Chota is going to turn into a rapist in this series. I hope he dies. 

All three guys are walking to a town where they can meet up with runaway girls and they stop at a train station. They then see what they think are fireworks and realize that it is 4 in the morning and the firework is getting bigger. They wake up back in the bar and everything is coated in dust. I swear if this whole series is a dream world, I will riot. 

They step outside the bar and find the town completely neglected and abandoned. Chota and Arisu call it their paradise. They find the food moldy with an expiration date of 2010. They are walking around outside and they are having fun and bowling. Karube is waiting for Arisu and Chota to come to their senses and then a woman walks out of the bathroom and tells them that they have been entered into a game and that this is not a dream.

The first game starts with a 3 of clubs being shown on a screen. Shibuki tells them that the game has started and that they have to work together. They have to choose fortunes and the game will be over when all the lanterns are out. Karube draws his fortune first and signifies him as a leader and he asks Shibuki if she has seen someone die. Chota draws his fortune next and he gets a math equation that he has to answer out loud. Chota gives an estimate and with a wrong answer, flaming arrows start firing at him. The little idiot. 

While Shibuki is trying to figure out her fortune, Arisu is having an inner monologue about how he was a spoiled brat who worried to much about his small anxities and took for granted his life of ease. It is so freaking relatable to my oldest.... I need escapism not to read what I am living. Karube is trying to pull an arrow out of Chota's leg and Arisu is the last to get his fortune. He pulls the terrible fortune, which was very predictable. His question is what is earth's population in 2010, and it will let him round to the nearest billion. They start feeling hopeless and Arisu is such a Midoriya from My Hero. Inner monologues are such a drag especially when they are so pitiful.

We get more backstory on when Arisu was younger and he was being picked on by the school bully and Karube came and saved him. To get back at the bully, Arisu let the whole school know that he had a massive mole with a white hair and the next day the whole school was calling the bully Mr. Mole. Karube tells Shibuki that Arisu's power of observation will be useful for the fortunes.

Arisu gives an answer and it is wrong. 100 million flaming arrows start flying, but Arisu has figured out where the arrows are coming from and which direction on the cards should be the safest. The take the direction that was given on Karube's card because he was the goof fortune. They go south and find nothing. Karube startes digging and finds a bunker. They climb inside and the game is complete. They then get sent a visa, and they leave to go to the hospital to gather supplies. 

Shibuki tells the guys about Borderland and that there is a different game every night and the arena can be in any location. They are in the hospital and Chota is being a cry baby and he asks Karube if it was possible that aliens did this and are watching them play these games... and I immediately thought DUNGEON CRAWLER CARL!

Arisu is walking around the hospital and he comes across a person hiding. They say that they are leaving the game because it never ends and that their visa is about to expire. They push Arisu into a room and he sees the person die. Arisu then learns the purpose of the playing cards. His three of clubs tells him he has three days left to live, and to stay alive they have to keep playing the game.

Review: Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker

 

This cover is absolutely gorgeous. I also read this for the Goodreads reading challenge. All of my reads this year are for this challenge it seems. This is the first book that I have read from Kylie Lee Baker and while I sadly did not enjoy this book, I will be reading her backlist titles.

We follow a college student named Lee who has went to Japan to be with his dad and his girlfriend. They have jusy purchased this tiny house in Japan and Lee is running from things. He is a very unreliable character and he is hooked on antihestimins, mostly benadryl. He takes them to dull the world around him and the voice of his dead mother who went missing in Cambodia when he was little.

It is constantly implied that her body was stuffed into a rolling suitcase and to be able to do that, some of the big bones had to be broken. Then we learn that he may have killed his roommate and that is why he ran. He also can't remember where he dumped the body.

The second main character is a girl called Sen and she is in a different time period and she is secretly training to become a samurai because a failed rebellion has killed all samurai. Her father went to the rebellion and he is the only one that came back alive. He is seen as a coward in Sen's eyes but she cannot tell him that. He is brutal in her training and he hates that his wife is babying his sons. They are living in the same house that Lee and his dad are now occupying. Lee and Sen meet through the closet and Lee wants to know if he can contact his mom. Sen learns that she dies with her family and not in battle.

The ending was a clusterfuck and it was so confusing. I feel that the answers that I wanted were walked around and there was a lot of stretches of disbelief.

Review: The Evil In You by Jutta Maria Herrmann

 

this was a fast paced thriller that had me gripping my seat. i read this while my kids were at library events and my face was very expressive. i was getting scared, disgusted, and angry. there should be a trigger warning for the dog death because it was very brutal and i almost dnf'ed the book and threw my phone I was so angry.

I read a good chunk of the book in one sitting and then came back to it and I don't know if it was the length of time between or if the book got predictable and just became the same as all of the others. It also got really boring and when it came to the main character going into the hospital after seeing her own face on the news, just made no since to me.

The ending was just sad and again predictable

Review: The Ballad of Falling Dragons by Sarah A Parker *SPOILERS*

 

My most anticipated read of the year, and of course it is a 5 star. I have been constantly thinking about the first book ever since I finished it, and every pushback of the release date for this was painful. 

This picks up right where the first left off and we get more time with Kyzari and the little folded note that she names Nee. Kyzari is being kept prisoner by her uncle the scavenger king named Arkyn, who is ruthless, diabolic, and just straight evil. Kyzari is wondering who was in the cell before her, and we learn that Raeve was held in the same cell in the first book. I cried alot while reading because of Arkyn ripping Nee in half and killing it. 

Raeve learns through flashbacks that she is Elluin and that Kaan has known the entire time. Kaan is trying to keep his kingdom together and not fall apart by his brother's hand. There is a prophecy that comes to be that all of the moonplumes will fall and it will be catastophic and deadly.

Kaan and Raeve go to the scavenger king's land, The Shade, to end this shit once and for all and Kaan finds out that Kyzari is not his niece but his daughter. Kaan then has to battle against Raeve while Arkyn and his kingdom watches. Kaan refuses and the moonplume fall begins and starts decimating the underground. Kaan goes after Arkyn and Raeve goes to the cell to save Kyzari. She then finds her outside in the destruction in the arms of the God Clode.

The book ends with Sereme bringing back to life a person who will be bad news to Raeve and Kaan.

When the first book came out, it was announced that this was to be a five book series. The author's note at the end of this book states that the third will be the last. I am gutted and I do not want this series to end.

Review: People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

 

My first Emily Henry book done. I am so glad that I found this in a little free library and I will always remember the day I picked it up because that is the day we rescued our new pup Vulpix, along with her three brothers and two sisters off the side of the road.

I read this for the Goodreads reading challenge and to finally watch the movie, which I have to say I liked even better than the book. Blasphemy, but I still liked the book. I give this a 4 star and the movie a 4.5 because of the changes but it still made sense.

We follow Poppy and Alex who are best buds who meet in college on a roadtrip back home. Poppy is spunky and fun and carefree, and Alex is a routine guy who follows rules. It was also very easy to picture the characters thans to the actors who play them. 

This book jumps around the timeline and at first I thought I would have gotten annoyed, but it made so much sense. It wasn't clunky and choppy and confusing. It was like a tangent based story. I keep having to remind myself not to put what I liked about the movie into this review because this is about the book. What I liked in the movie, is completely different in the book. 

I did get annoyed with Alex when he thought that Poppy was changing her mind about settling down, and I just wanted to shake him and ask him why did he want that for her so badly when they have been besties for so many years. He should have respected her choices, but eventually they get together.

Review: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

 

I started reading this big boi last month in May and I have been immersion reading. Sadly my traslated copy does not have an audio book, so I have been listening to another transalted edition and following along. It is the same with just different wording... obviously.

. As I am writing this now, I am over 700 pages and it is June 3rd. I am reading this for my classics challenge and also the spring goodreads reading challenge. I want all of the bookmarks this year. 

I finished this book back in June and it put me in a slump. I slowed down massively on my reading and I did not want to write reviews. I took a month and a half long break from blogging and it was a much needed rest but then I started to miss it.

I ended up giving this a 2 star. I am just not meant for Russian classics or just Leo Tolstoy. I had the thought that he was in the room with all of the people and just shadowing them and just writing everything that he heard and saw. I was bored with the society parts and was really interested in the war parts. 

Also finidng out that this was adapted into a miniseries with some actors that I have watched and really enjoyed before made me more interested and helped me put faces with names. 

Review: Is This A Cry For Help by Emily Austin

 

DNF at 40%.

I could not continue this whiplash. I was expecting some big drama surrounding the ex but finding out that she broke up with him 10 years ago, and that she blames herself for it seems very selfish in my opinion. She also blames this for her mental breakdown... which I question.

This also gave me the ick when she was talking about the baby's missing fingers and that the baby wouldn't be able to flip anyone off with her left hand and that she wont be able to wear a wedding ring if she was into that sort of thing when she is older. The fact that she only thought of those things, and not what she will probably go through as a child and possible bullying, shows that Darcy is not a good character and that she has no compassion for the things that truly matter.

Also her theory on the porn and censorship and what she would do as head honcho would be a complete overhaul. But Darcy, during your mental breakdown, you were offered a management position in the library and you turned it down.

I truly do not understand darcy as a character.

Review: Trust by Hernan Diaz

 

I have had this book on my radar since it came out and I found a copy at Goodwill a year ago. I picked this up this month because it fulfills two Goodreads reading challenges for the spring. When I read the synopsis, I was confused because it says the first story is based on a book about a character in this. So I start thinking that this is a nonfiction and I do some research. 

I had to wrap my head around the fact that the author created a fake book to be able to advance this story and Bonds is not a real book. So Bonds the "book" is about a guy named Benjamin Rask. He is an only child living in New York with his parents who are socialites and big wigs. Benjamin is great with math and he becomes a stock trader or something like that, I kept thinking of him as a day trader.

He becomes filthy rich and he gets marries to a woman named Helen. Helen has just come back from Europe with her parents and she finds that she is the perfect fit for Benjamin because he keeps to himself and only makes appearances in public to keep his status up. Helen then becomes ill and it is similar to what ailment her father had, and she goes back to Europe to the sanitorium that her and her mom put him in.

The second story in this book is the"real" Bejamin Rask. His name is Arthur Bevel and it is basically a retelling of the first story Bonds, except names weere changed and the attitude towards family and social events were totally different.

The third story is about Arthur told through the eyes of a woman named Ida and he is trying to clear his and his wife's name from a defamatory book called Bonds by Harold Vanner. Bevel hires Ida to takes his dictation so she can write his autobiography. The whole time while reading this, I got Donald Trump vibes and it gave me the ick. We also get Ida's life story and how she is the daughter who an anarchist Italian immigrant father who tells stories and maybe embellish some to make himself sound tough. He gets angry when something doesn't go his way. 

Ida eventually gets an apartment from Bevel because he wants her to be close so they can finish the book. He dies of a heart attack before that and we also get future timeline of Ida as an older woman and she is finally able to learn more about Arthur's wife Mildred. She learns that he has narrated her completely wrong and he took all the credit for her ideas. While Ida is looking through all the paperwork that has become available since the estate of the Bevel's became a museum. Ida finds a hidden diary of Mildred's and she takes it.

The fourth and final story is the diary. It is very chaotic and it is her thoughts and routine during her stay in the sanitorium in Europe. She is dealing with cancer and it is her final thoughts. She also puts down that she told Arthur how to beat the ticker tape and he eventually does it making him an enormous fortune and she calles him a criminal and they don't talk for two years. That was surprising because throughout the book, we are led to believe that they were close and didn't have any qualms. 

It shows that trust was not there in the marriage and it makes the reader question, can we really trust the government and the federal reserves and the stock markets. 

Review: The Poet Empress by Shen Tao

 

I love Asian fantasy and I almost always give them 4 or 5 stars and this was no exception. I picked this up thanks to the spring goodreads challenge and I liked it. Throughout the book, it was a three star and I was kind of getting over the repetitive narrative of Terren being awful and a monster and that the royals were out the get each other and our main character Wei being so disbelieving of the betrayals.

The book starts out with Wei being with her family while they bury her little sister who has died from the famine that is decimating the nation. Wei is hopeful for blessings to come to her local village from one of the princes that is supposed to come to the festival. They go to the town and they are looked down upon because of how they are dressed and how they smell.

One of the princes does in fact show up, and it is Prince Isan who has the magic of growing fruit instantly. He also tosses out blessings, and Wei's little brother Bao catches two. The prince then informs the citizens that he second brother has been named Heir and he is looking to fill his inner court with concubines. Wei is instantly interested because she wants to take care of her village. She goes back and everyone starts giving her prized possessions for her offering basket. The day of the selections, the eunuch that is part of the inner court has to choose one girl. He chooses a girl that made fun of Wei and her family. Wei immediately begs for a chance in front of everyone which is seen as embarassment in the villagers eye, but it is desperation to keep her village fed.

Wei is also chosen because the eunuch can have a good laugh. She is then placed with hundreds of other girls and taught how to please her prince and use techniques to get planted with seal bearing sons. On the day of the selection process, a girl in front of her in line attempts to kill Prince Terren. Then Wei is up next and she is the first that Terren officially gives a title too and he names her his empress.

From then she is constantly being betrayed by the other concubines, she is being blackmailed by the current empress and being tortured nightly by Terren. She eventually learns that the only way to kill Terren is through a heart poem because he has a magic ward around him that makes him impossible to kill.

She then has to gether stories from old advisors and she commits treason and learns how to read because in this world, women being literate is treasonous. It gets kind of repetitive after a while but the ending was shocking and it made me cry. 

Review: Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid

 

Thanks to the Goodreads spring reading challenge, I had to pick this one up. I was not expecting to read this one so soon, but I did finish it in three days. 

It was also very easy to read because I could picture the actors as their characters. Everyone knows what Heated Rivalry is. It is about two hockey players named Shane and Illya. They start their hockey careers at the same time and this starts their rivalry in the media because they are both head to head for first round draft pick.

Ilya is a Russian hockey player who was chosen as first round draft pick and Shane was drafted second. They are also drafted to rival teams which is another boost to the rivalry.

Throughout their careers, the rivalry is still going strong and they hate each other. But behind closed doors, they are railing each other whenever their teams play each other. Ilya is comfortable with his sexuality and he is bi. Shane, throughout the whole book is paranoid that they will be found out and he is constantly wanting to end the relationship. He even starts dating a actress who eventually asks him does he like women and he tells her that its a complication. They even bring up square peg in round hole, and then he compares it to himself that he likes to be the hole rather than the peg and I died laughing.

Ilya is also dealing with family issues back in Russia. He can't come out in Russia because it is illegal and his father is a important minister who is dealing with Alzheimers. Ilya's brother is constantly asking him for money. Once his father dies, he doesn't go back and he can be safe from persecution. 

Shane and Ilya start to get closer in the feelings department and one summer, Ilya goes to Shane's summer house for two weeks. This is the first time they have been together during the summer, and then one day Shane's dad shows up. They end up coming out to him and his mother and they also help with Ilya start the process to become a Canadian citizen. 

I also read the novella between this book and the next book. I am starting to lean more towards watching the show. 

Review: The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness *SPOILERS*

 

I have read the third book in the All Souls or A Discovery of Witches series, and this one is by far my favorite of the three. I gave it 5 stars because the beginning made me cry. I love ghosts, and the inclusion of Phillipes and Emily's ghosts hit me in the feels. It made me cry when Emily said that she didn't get to say goodbye and she didn't want to leave them. It hit close to home because I am still grieving my grandmother who died in 2024 and I had to leave her in the hospital.

Anyways, this picks up right where the second book leaves off. Diana and Matthew arrive back in present day and see everyone at Sept-Tours. Diana learns that Peter Knox killed Emily and she begins grieving and Matthew is distraught because he really liked Emily. Sarah is trying to cope with smoking and drinking large amounts of whiskey. She is being looked after by Fernando who was the mate to Baldwin's brother Hugh. Fernando is trying to help her process the loss and he calls her the widow, which demands a large amount of respect in his culture.

The book takes place in multiple areas including France, London, Massachusetts and Venice. We learn of a new foe and he is awful. I genuinely got the ick because this character was introduced in book two and we get information that he is known as the bad seed. This character is raping witches and trying to get them like Diana and Matthews twins. He crosses Diana's path while she is in the Bodliean trying to get the manuscript and he tells her that he hopes her twins are girls.

That is one of my biggest fears since having three daughters myself. The ending was page turning and it made me excited for the fourth book. I am really excited to watch the third season now, even though I know that they may have changed some things. 

Review: The Giver by Lois Lowry

 

Another classic read off of my 5 year classics list and I am sad to say that I will not be completing that list before July. 

I have had a bind up of all four books in this series since 2020 and I have been wanting to read this for years. If I think back, I do think that my 7th grade teacher read this outloud to us but I did not remember anything. My hubby also watched the movie years ago and at the time, I thought that the black and white was a stylistic choice that the screenwriters and directors decided, but that is not true.

This is a dystopian where we follow a 12 year old boy named Jonas who has been chosen to be the next receiver of memories. It is the highest honor and he gets to be the most respected. He gets to ask rude questions of the citizens and to lie. Those two things are forbidden. When you break a rule or ask a question, you have to apologize. The citizens or people around you automatically forgive you and you go about your day.

The citizens live in communities that live in Sameness. Everyday is the same with meal times and bedtimes and everything. You have to talk about your feelings every night and every morning, you have to talk about your dreams. You are assigned your future at 12. Jonas' dad is a nuturer who helps take care of the babies who around their first birthday are given names and given to their parents. If they are not ready, then the are released.

We also learn that the old people are in a community center and taken care of and when it is there time, they are also released.

We learn what release actually means and The Giver who is teaching Jonas and giving him memories is against everything. 

I do wish we got more about why everything went to sameness and who made the rules and are there other commuities like this. 

While reading this, I was seeing parallels and same situations from Brave New World and it also reminded me of Divergent. I am intrigued to continue the series even though I gave this a three. I am wanting to learn more about the world.

Review: The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

 

My hubby has been nagging me to watch the movie with him since this came out and I finally got to it because of the Goodreads bookmark challenge for spring. I had such high expectations because I really like the actors that are in the movie. It was also easier to picture the characters while reading except for the character of Joyce. 

I had never watched anything with Celia Irmie before and I couldn't picture Joyce clearly. I also found her character rather annoying with the journal entries. But movie Joyce, I really liked her after watching. I will not be continuing in this series, but if they do adapt the sequels I will be watching with my family because my hubby and daughters loved it.

This book follows four old people who live in a retirement village in England. Three of the four are in a little group called the Thursday Murder Club. They meet every Thursday in the jogsaw room because it is vacant. They go over old cold cases that another resident had when she left the force. Her name is Penny and she is one of the main baddies but not really a baddie. She is close friends with Elizabeth who is the leader and a former MI5 or MI6, don't really know the difference. 

Penny is in a coma and she is only shown when Elizabeth stops by to update her and visit. Elizabeth asks Joyce one day for some medical advice because Joyce was a nurse. Elizabeth brings Joyce into the club to figure out who murdered a girl and did the boyfriend do it.

While they are trying to figure that out, the owner of Coopers Chase named Ian is being a dick. He is wanting to dig up the graveyard and build new flats. The residents are against it and a priest named Father Mackie. We learn his story which is sad but was cut out of the movie. There is another owner of Coopers Chase named Tony Curran. Ian decides to cut him out of any future dealings and Tony gets pissed.

Tony is killed in his home and the Thursday Murder club is on the case. They get the officer who came to talk to the residents about safety and phone scams on the case. There was a lot of humor at the beginning of the story but it was nonexistent when the book started to get boring. Ian eventually moves forward with his plans to dig up the graveyard and there is protests. When Ian is on the way home because the work is stalled and he cant do nothing because the police need to go through legal channels, Ian drops dead.

They find out that Ian died from an overdose and that now all of them are suspects.The other storyline that was so unnecessary and was cut out of the book was Bernard's plotline.

By the end of this, I was skimming because I honestly did not care about the other plotlines or who killed who.

Review: The House With The Golden Door by Elodie Harper

 

I started this series back in 2024 and I gave the first book The Wolf Den 4 stars. I enjoyed the ancient roman time period and the fact that this takes place in Pompei. It has taken my library a long time to finally get this book in stock and I had high expectations. 

I ended up giving this a 3 star because I enjoyed some parts, especially with the rumblings of Mt. Vesuvius. It doesn't erupt in this book and it is only mentioned the one time. This book suffers from second book syndrome and it dragged. 

Amara is finally a freed woman and is living in the house her lover is renting for her. She has her own slaves and she is distraught over leaving her friends at the brothel. She makes a deal with Felix and she gets ownership of Victoria and Britannica. She immediately gives them their freedom and she has to find out a way to pay Felix for them.

She ends up selling Victoria as a sex slave and musician which she doesn't mind at all. Britannica starts teaching Amara how to fight and she gets a new life goal of becoming a gladiator. Amara is really stupid in this book and makes a lot of questionable choices. One is that she falls in love with Rufus' slave Philo, who is tasked with keeping an eye on the house and to spy on Amara.

Amara eventually gets pregnant by said slave and Rufus can't deal with that gossip because he is soon to be married. He lets Amara go but he is still looking after them because he believes the child is his. If he found out that he is not the father, Amara would be sold back into slavery and the baby would automatically become a slave because of her father Philo. 

The book ends with Amara becoming a concubine once again to a wealthier and richer patron and leaving Pompei for Rome. She has to leave her baby behind and she will only be able to see her once a year. 

This book was very repetitve and dragged and it was basically one big pissing contest or a my dick is bigger than your dick. Amara made stupid decisions and people are becoming pawns to her.

Review: The Mandalorian Manga Volume 1 by Yusuke Osawa

 

I am obsessed with Star Wars and I love The Mandalorian. Grogu is my love and I can not wait to see the movie later this month. I was at a library event with my kids and they saw volume 3 on the shelf and they wanted to read it. I requested this one and it is basically the first episode of the first season.

We see Mando going into a bar and saving the target of the bounty. We see him put the guy in carbonite on the epic Razor Crest. If you haven't watched the first season, watch it and then read this because it will help you remember names and all that. 

This is definitely targeted towards children, but I likw seeing the cutie illustrations of Grogu.

Review: This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page

 

This was a book that I read for a Goodreads reading challenge and the reviews that I heard and watched for this told me that I would be crying my eyes out the whole time.

The first two chapters had me sobbing and hugging Cayce super tight. Then I finished and gave this book a two star. I did not cry anymore, just a couple of sniffles but nothing else. This book became so relatable and not in the good way. I did hug my hubby a couple more times, but there was a part with the mother in law and that gave me anxiety because I do not have a good relationship with mine... its basically non existent and there is a lot of tension and no contact for a reason.

I thought that the mother in law would want to have a talk about money and that is a big red flag and if you couldn't tell, that is the whole problem with mine. So while reading, I was dreading getting to the conversation but thankfully it did not go in that direction. 

The other thing I predicted about a 1/3 of the way in and it is one of my biggest pet peeves. I hate when a spouse dies and the other moves on a year or two later. I am not a fan and I would not get with anyone else if something like this happened and it is very obvious from the beginning who the love interest will be.

The last thing that hit me in a hard way and I just could not give this a 5 star is that Alfie, the bookstore owner took over after his dad passed away.... FROM PANCREATIC CANCER. 

It is like this book was written with all of the trauma that is currently affecting my life because my mom has pancreatic cancer. I read that part and I immediately threw the book down. I just could not deal with this book anymore and I did not even care about the books that was left behind for Tilly. 

Review: The Dustin Experiment by J.L. D'Amato

 

One of my new favorite Stranger Things books. This has made it to my top three because the author made Dustin have experiences without retelling an episode of the show, like some of the previous Stranger Things books,  ie Runaway Max. 

I also really loved Eddie in this book and found him to be written better than his own book Flight of Icarus. 

I have been waiting since last year to read this, before the fifth season started actually and my library took forever in ordering it and then someone requested it and kept it longer than the three week limit. 

Anyways, Dustin has always been my favorite character and the events in this book take place during the beginning of season 4.

The boys have just started high school and they are missing Will and El. Max is absent and we learn why in the show. Dustin is trying to keep the group together, but Lucas is joining the basketball team and hanging out with the enemies. Mike and Dustin join the Hellfire Club and honestly, I can't sing Eddie's praises enough.

Dustin wants to enter the science fair with the guys, but they are not in it. Dustin fixes Eddie's amp and walkman and he gets an idea for his project. Eddie introduces him to the heavy metal music that makes Eddie Eddie. 

Dustin asks Eddie to take him to the science fair and they go. We learn that Eddie is afraid of ducks because one of the participants has a duck named Frodo Quackins and he can do tricks. I love that we got some Lord of the Rings refrences because it is fitting. 

Dustin goes on a side quest while at the science fair to figure out who is sabotaging projects. He figures it out and makes some new friends along the way. He also has to figure out what he wants to do because he gets a once in a lifetime opportunity to attend an elite science school. He has to choose between his passion and his friends.

This book is my 2nd favorite out of all of the Stranger Things books that I have read. Nothing will beat the first book where we learn the origin of Eleven and her birth parents. My third favorite is Hopper's book. 

Review: Accidentally Yours by Christina Lauren

 

still reading the little short stories when my kids have library events. This one took me a month to read, not because it sucked but didn't have time to sit and read on my phone. I did give this a 4 star because I really enjoyed it and it was memorable. 

This is about Veronica who just left her dude bro job because she was not appreciated enough and one day she joins this zoom meeting that is not hers. She secretly stays and watched the presentation and she is apalled by how bad the marketing is. She lets the people know that this company will sink and how bad their marketing scheme is, and then she dips out.

Jude, the CEO of this company tracks her down and emails her offering her a month retainer to help them gets the project off the ground. She refuses and eventually she agrees when she is offered 7000 a month, along with a new desk chair... which made me giggle.

What both of these people don't know is that they have interacted before... on multiple occasions in a specific place where they have a love for their mailman Larry. 

The progression of the relationship was cute and I loved their banter. A good romance book with banter will always be a win for me. This short also solidifies my love for Christina Lauren writing, even if this is my second reading of their work.

Review: Attack on Titan volume 1 by Hajime Isayama

 

I do not need to be starting another Manga series, but my kids want to read it with me. To be honest the cover does nothing for me and makes me not interested. 

The very beginning was very confusing because it throws you straight into the story. We follow a boy named Eren and his sister. Eren is talking about the titans with the gate guards and they are just chilling and living life. Eren says that he wants to leave the walled city and he wants to join the survey corps because he hates being caged. 

Eren tells his parents that he wants to join the survey corps and they lose their minds. He runs off after his mom forbids him to join and then they see a titan that is over 50 meters tall, which is the height of the wall around the city.

The titan punches a hole in the wall and all of the little titans get in and start eating the people. Eren's mom is trapped unfer the rubble of the house and the kids are trying to save her and they get picked up by a neighbor who rushes them to safety leaving the mom behind. We see a titan pick her up and maybe snap her spine and then throws her into it's mouth, which was graphic as hell.

We learn that the colossus titan made it through the outer wall and now all of the survivors are behind the second inner wall close to the center. Eren vows to end every last titan on Earth. We are then shown a group or batallion size of people listening to a instructor. He then calls out 10 people who will be on the front line and be expected to give up their lives if the colossus titan attacks again. The first person is Eren's sister and then Eren gets called. 

The ten get the opportunity to join between three sections. The one that the top ten is exclusive to is the military police where they will be next to the king and be comfortable and not have much to do. Jean and Eren get into a fist fight because Jean is talking about how he can relax when he becomes an MP and Eren is pissed because he thinks that is the reason why so many people died in the attack because they were lazy and not prepared because of the relaxed mindeset. 

I am curious as to what Eren's father injected him with after his mother died. It gives him splitting headaches. I am betting that Eren's dad has something to do with the titans because he wanted to show Eren something in the basement before the colossus titan appeared.

The colossus titan shows back up and punches through the second gate. Eren finds out that he is intelligent. He goes to attack and thinks he does but realizes that the titan has vanished. I am getting bored because I am not interested in the same coversations and scenes. 

After the attack, the commanders go back to splitting up the garrison to where they are needed and Eren is wondering about the origins of the titans. We learn that they have no sexual organs and that they have survived over 100 years without eating, so they eat people purely for killing purposes. They also regenerate their heads if they get cut off. 

Once again there is another attack and the top ten students get descimated. Eren gets his leg bitten off an we see a flashback of when he was little and he was shown a book by Armin about the outside world and the sea and salt and deserts. Eren gets eaten and it is implied that he does it on purpose because he wants to see the outside world.

The volume ends there and I can safely say that I will not be continuing this series because I was bored.