Quick Review: Complete Writings of Phillis Wheatley

i really like Phillis Wheatley's style of writing! it's very descriptive, using beautiful language to describe the skies, heaven, hell, grief, death, seasons, religion, etc. it's also easy to read (i personally read them out loud like a dork), but i never read poetry so i was apprehensive that it would be difficult and convoluted like required-reading poetry usually s, but it's not! i had to google some words tho, fo sho. 

since i don't know how to read poetry, i just read the whole things over a couple days. maybe this is why the language started to be very repetitive. this is also probably because the majority of the poems are about death. my favorite ones were the ones about Africa, the religious ones, and SOME of the death ones. The unpublished "On Atheism" ones i like too.

"celestial skies/days", "heavenly muse" "bosom burns/fills" are some of the phrases that were repeated (like, gorgeous, but after like ten pieces that have it, it gets repetitive). 

her story of being brought as a slave from Africa to Europe, her aptitude for learning and her success as the first published African woman is, obviously, really intriguing and inspiring as well. she's awesome.

TBR Shelf

TBR

I just reorganized my shelves and I put aside the books I'm intending to read before the school year is over. I just wanted to share! Which should I read next?

A Small Rant About My TBR Shelf

Afterworlds and The Diviners are some fantasy YA books that I've heard a lot about. Also, as of right now, I have already read The Bone Season and it was a great fantasy. I am working a review for that which should be up in a couple of weeks!
Emma and East of Eden are some classics I need to tackle. I have only read Gatsby this year, which was a painful disappointment. Discord on Method and Related Writings seems like an interesting, although tougher read. I definitely need some more complex works to tackle.
I snuck in The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, because I always need a quick, fluffy, romance!
Hero of Ages is probably the next one I will be picking up because this Mistborn series is all I can think about as of late. The Wise Man's Fear is my biggest regret because I haven't read it yet. WHY HAVEN'T I READ IT YET?! Also, that giant beautiful book, The Way of Kings, is just there because I NEED TO READ IT.

Just a note... of course this isn't my entire TBR list. That would probably take up five or six fully stocked bookshelves, but these are just the books that are next in line to be read. I also got Burial Rites recently, and I really want to read that, too. Hopefully I won't get too distracted. But that's by TBR shelf update! Hopefully I clear it out soon!

Quick Review: Red Queen

Red Queen a very hyped, YA fantasy that I have been hearing a lot about and I was very excited to read it. It was not very impressed with the book. I didn't hate it, but I wasn't very interested in the story, nor was I engrossed with the characters, setting, or magic system, which are all integral parts of what makes a fantasy book a good fantasy book. 

The writing with very simplistic and easy to read. There wasn't a whole lot of depth in the characters. The "plot twist" was anticlimactic, when it should have been really cool and shocking. The main plot points and overall ambiance of the book held a lot of similarities with many other YA dystopians. A pretty girl goes from a thieving, poor background to becoming a princess in a couple of days (The Selection trilogy, anyone?). It felt very forced and unnatural that anything like that could have happened in such a strict society. 

Of course... of course... there was a love triangle. It was awful, and I hate that trope. The YA genre just continues to flog that trope, and it needs to stop. It wasn't executed very well. I didn't feel anything with Mare. It was very "telling instead of showing." (*Spoiler: At one point, Mare's brother dies. I don't feel like she was upset/angry about this, expect for texts that literally said that Mare was upset). 

There was an uprising from a group of rebels to take down the government (Hunger Games, Divergent, Red Rising, literally every other YA dystopian). Another trope used was how our protagonist is a new breed of human, that has never been seen before (Mistborn).

Overall, it was very simplistic and typical YA dystopian fantasy. There were a lot of re-used elements. I really hope it does get better. 

REVIEW: The Bone Season

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon
Genres: Adult Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Romance
Published: August 2013 by Bloomsbury USA
Pages: 452
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 7.5/10
Description: The year is 2059. Nineteen-year-old Paige Mahoney is working in the criminal underworld of Scion London, based at Seven Dials, employed by a man named Jaxon Hall. Her job: to scout for information by breaking into people's minds. For Paige is a dreamwalker, a clairvoyant and, in the world of Scion, she commits treason simply by breathing. It is raining the day her life changes for ever. Attacked, drugged and kidnapped, Paige is transported to Oxford – a city kept secret for two hundred years, controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. Paige is assigned to Warden, a Rephaite with mysterious motives. He is her master. Her trainer. Her natural enemy. But if Paige wants to regain her freedom she must allow herself to be nurtured in this prison where she is meant to die. The Bone Season introduces a compelling heroine and also introduces an extraordinary young writer, with huge ambition and a teeming imagination. Samantha Shannon has created a bold new reality in this riveting debut.

The Bone Season is a very rich and unique take on a dystopian future in which clairvoyants exist, and are pretty much hunted down and murdered simply for existing. I enjoyed this fantasy thoroughly!

One of the biggest flaws in this novel is the beginning and how slang and unknown terms are immediately thrown at the reader. I felt like I was never really introduced to the terms of this book, and I had to flip to the back dictionary a lot, which took a lot out of the story line. Once I did get a feel for the language and slang, the book did get much better, however the confusion that those terms cause will turn off a lot of readers. The beginning was certainly the weakest part, as the starting chapters should draw readers in, not turn them off. 

The story line stayed at pretty much the same level the whole time. I rarely felt super nervous or happy or excited or scared for these characters or for the situations currently happening. It wasn't boring, and I personally enjoyed the slower, less-dramatic prose in which Shannon writes, but for anyone who is bothered by it, the story starts the same level throughout most of the novel. Toward the end, it does get super fast-paced and thrilling. It is worth to stick around for it.

I LOVED THE ROMANCE. I do not even care what anyone else thinks. It was FANTASTIC.
*Spoilers Start* I was secretly rooting for Warden and Paige to get together and they did AND IT WAS BEAUTIFUL. *Spoilers End*

The world-building was very rich in the book, but I definitely wanted more of it! There is a map of the city and some descriptions throughout, which are very interesting, but I felt like I needed more from it. The bits of lovely world-building that we do get are fantastic. I loved the atmosphere that Shannon created in Oxford, especially with the slums and the main halls. The ambiance of mysteriousness in the woods was great, it felt like wild, beautiful, and dangerous all at the same time. My problem with the world was that Shannon focused a lot on Paige's mind and her stream of consciousness, which is all well and good, but the world was just so rich that interesting that I felt we deserved a bit more of it!

Overall, The Bone Season was a great fantasy read. It was super unique; I rarely read books on clairvoyants. The action, especially at the end, was extremely thrilling and played out like a movie. The romance was perfect and not over-bearing. It was hardly part of the novel, but the small role it played was fantastic. The world-building was rich and intricate, and I definitely was left wanting to know more about this world. Recommended to those who are looking for a unique fantasy that is slower-paced and interesting.

REVIEW: Catch You Later, Traitor

Catch You Later, Traitor by Avi
Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Middle Grade/YA
Published: March 10, 2015 by Tundra Books
Pages: 304
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 7.5/10
Description: The Collison's are an ordinary family, and Pete's a normal kid... until the FBI show up at his door and accuse him and his family of being Communists. Set in 1951, during the Red Scare - when the cold war was really beginning to solidify - this suspenseful, middle grade novel explores the impact of the War on an average American family. As Pete digs into his family history, using the sleuthing skills he's learned from Sam Spade and radio dramas, his world is rocked. Is his dad really a Communist, and his grandfather too? And what does that make Pete? Is that why his friends won't talk to him anymore? Based on the author's own childhood experiences, CATCH YOU LATER, TRAITOR explores the meaning of belonging, the pain of ostracism and isolation, and the power of paranoia and fear that so easily turns neighbour against neighbour. Written by Newbery winner, AVI.

Catch You Later, Traitor was a very engaging historical fiction Middle Grade/YA novel that is set in 1951 during the Red Scare. It has such a unique premise. I have not read any books, much less a YA book, that revolves around the Red Scare and it was utterly fascinating to delve into the paranoia and the fear that America was plagued with at this time.

The writing style definitely reminded me of the old Mystery/Detective books I used to read obsessively as a child. The protagonist, Pete, was a surprisingly complex character. He does undergo some character development which is fantastic for this genre. He is independent and inquisitive and is a great little detective. I loved how he is unabashedly sneaky and curious.  

Baseball was a dominant part of this story that sort of represented how our protagonist was doing at the time. Although I'm not a baseball person myself, I definitely appreciated how the stats were kept accurate and how all the baseball bits were exciting. 

Although the book is marketed as Young Adult, it could easily be Junior Fiction as well since the prose is very simple and easy to understand. 

Overall, Catch You Later, Traitor was a very unique mystery novel, that explored a very interesting part of history that was twinged with paranoia and doubt. It was also very reminiscent of the old mystery novels one used to read as a kid, which further enhanced my experience. Recommended to readers of any age, but specially younger readers as I think they'll enjoy it! 

THOUGHTS: The Well Of Ascension

The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson 

*Spoilers for Mistborn and The Well Of Ascension* 

A great sequel to Mistborn indeed! This book captured a kingdom that is now a mess after their tyrannical God-figure was destroyed in the events of Mistborn. Sanderson absolutely nailed it. 

TWOA is definitely a slower paced book, especially in the beginning. This isn't a bad thing, Sanderson captured the sort of "reeling" ambience of a land that is a giant mess. 

There is a far larger focus on politics and military strategies, which furthers the complexities of this storyline. While Elend and the rest of the crew seeks to quell the human forces that are upon Luthadel, Vin feels a far darker force than mere human armies. 

I LOVED how Sanderson created this slowly growing feeling of dread in the reader. How one can sort of tell that some evil is stirring, yet everyone else is focused on human affairs and we don't really know what this evil force is. The suspenseful ambience Sanderson creates is just superb. Sometimes, even I forgot about the foreboding evil that existed because I was caught up in the war, Elend's politics, Tindwyl's lessons, Ore-Seur's origins, and many other factors. Not to mention Sazeed's tablet of information and of course, his meticulous and calculating research always made for extremely interesting chapters. 

I really loved this book. The ending was like an explosion of madness, and the slower paced bulk of the book that contained a lot of important information simply enchanted ones experience of the crazy action that occurs during the Siege of Luthadel. 

I did suspect the twist of OreSeur and TenSoon, but it shocked nonetheless? I loved the dynamic of Vin and OreSeur/TenSoon. Just the frankness the of Kandra coupled with Vin's attitude made for a lot of great chapters. I cannot wait to finish this trilogy.

THOUGHTS: Ms. Marvel

I

Ms. Marvel, Volume 1: No Normal by G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona 

Marvel Comics presents the new Ms. Marvel, the groundbreaking heroine that has become an international sensation! Kamala Khan is an ordinary girl from Jersey City — until she's suddenly empowered with extraordinary gifts. But who truly is the new Ms. Marvel? Teenager? Muslim? Inhuman? Find out as she takes the Marvel Universe by storm! When Kamala discovers the dangers of her newfound powers, she unlocks a secret behind them, as well. Is Kamala ready to wield these immense new gifts? Or will the weight of the legacy before her be too much to bear? Kamala has no idea, either. But she's comin' for you, New York! It's history in the making. 

Ms. Marvel was a fantastic comic!

I am somewhat of a pessimist in terms of superhero comics as I think the genre is kind of tired and the majority of superhero comics have really dry, repetitive story arches. However, stuff like Ms. Marvel comes around every so often to revitalize the genre. 

The premise is so refreshing! As the lady at the bookstore described, "basically just if Malala Yousiefi was a superhero." 

I loved the art just in terms of the way Alphona captured faces. He draws the exaggerated and derpy face so well. It's quirky and adds a nice touch to the comic. 

The storyline itself was, admittedly, fairly predictable and relatively dry. However, it was super relatable and the little bits of pop culture scattered throughout kept me entertained. This being said, it is just the first bind up, it's only the first 6 issues. Since it's just an origin story esstentially, it's not that fair to judge it soley on plot. I hope in future volumes the story becomes better!