Somewhat Reserved: 2018

WOW 2018 Reflections and 2019 Goals (A Long Post)

End of year December 29, 2018

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Last 2018 Mini Reseñas feat. Welcome To Lagos (eng)

Book Reviews December 21, 2018

I Was Born For This - Alice Oseman

Blurb: For Angel, life is about one thing: The Ark- a pop-rock trio of teenage boys taking the world by storm. Being part of The Ark's fandom has given her everything she loves - her friend Juliet, her dreams, her place in the world.

Jimmy owes everything to The Ark. He's their frontman - and playing in a band with his mates is all he ever dreamed of doing.

But dreams don't always turn out the way you think, and when Jimmy and Angel are unexpectedly thrust together they find out how strange and surprising facing up to reality can be.

I originally thought I wouldn't like this because it's a book about a boy band. It's not that I don't necessarily belong to any boy band fandom, but sometimes when you don't really fit into the fangirl 'mold' you feel really distant.

The novel also explores the expectations vs reality of internet friendships. There may or may not be an extra person who threatens their friendship.

The novel explored a lot of what goes on behind the scenes of boy groups and the ugly side of fandoms-especially the ones who physically hurt the people they are fans of.

I almost forgot to mention the parts on faith as Jimmy is Catholic and Angel is Muslim. I can't really say that I expected it to be well done as the author doesn't have a religion. To me it was really lacking but *sigh* as I said, I didn't expect much.

Read the Full Review on Goodreads!

Welcome to Lagos - Chibundu Onuzo

Blurb: Deep in the Niger Delta, officer Chike Ameobi deserts the army and sets out on the road to Lagos. He is soon joined by a wayward private, a naive militant, a vulnerable young woman and a runaway middle-class wife. The shared goals of this unlikely group: freedom and new life.

As they strive to find their places in the city, they become embroiled in a political scandal Ahmed Bakare, editor of the failing Nigerian journal, is determined to report the truth. Yet government minister Chief Sandayo will do anything to maintain his position. Trapped between the two, they are forced to make a life-changing decision.

Full of shimmering detail, Welcome to Lagos is a stunning portrayal of an extraordinary city, and of seven lines that intersect in a breathless story of courage and survival.

(Taken from Goodreads)

I buddy read this with Etinosa from Uwadis!

At first, I was very drawn to it, mostly because of the pidgin English in the dialogue (stupid reason, but still. shh. I rarely get to read Nigerian books).

I was pretty confused about the whole journalism as its not an area I'm well aware of.

The last thing I had a problem with was that there were too many characters for a 300+ page novel.

However, it was pretty funny so I think I might check out more things by this author.

Read the full review on Goodreads!

And there you have it. Finished! All the (English) mini reviews are done!

Feel free to tell me about your favourite reads or even least favourite read this year.

Byee!

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Mini Reseñas feat. American Panda! (eng)

Book Reviews December 09, 2018

The Astonishing Colour of After - Emily X.R. Pan

Blurb: When Leigh's mother dies by suicide she leaves only a scribbled note - I want you to remember.

Leigh doesn't understand its meaning and wishes she could turn to her best friend, Axel - if only she hadn't kissed him and changed everything between them.

Guided by a mysterious red bird, Leigh travels to Taiwan to meet her grandparents for the first time. There, Leigh retreats into art and memories, where colours collide, the rules of reality are broken and the ghosts of the past refuse to rest...

But Leigh is determined to unlock her family's secrets.

To remember.

Um... I'm kinda disappointed?

You see, one of the worst parts is that it wasn't even a 'bad' book - the writing was lovely, some parts of the story were really funny.

But the book dragged a lot.

The magical realism intrigued me at first but eventually bored me as I progressed through the novel.

The discussions about mental health and grief were pretty well executed in my opinion.

Full review on Goodreads!

Rainbirds - Clarissa Goenawan

Blurb: Ren Ishida has nearly completed his graduate degree when he receives news that his sister has been murdered - stabbed one rainy night, with no leads to the culprit. He heads from Tokyo to the town of Akakawa to conclude her affairs, failing to understand why Keiko ever left their family for this desolate place.

But when Ren is offered Keiko's now-vacant position teaching at a prestigious local cram school and her bizarre former arrangement of free lodging at a wealthy politician's mansion, he decides to step into her shoes in order to better understand her life. As he comes to know Akakawa's eccentric figures and delves into his shared childhood with Keiko, Ren realises that his sister kept many secrets, even from him.

This book.... :)

...was =D

...basically another case of pretty cover syndrome. Okay, let's be real: the book wasn't that bad, after all, I was able to finish it despite not caring about the main character. I also liked the writing.

I believe this book was surprised to have a mystery element to it but that part was fairly weak. I might check out another book from this author if the main character isn't some creepy person because the writing and dialogue were pretty good.

Full review on Goodreads!

This Side of Home - Renée Watson

Blurb: Identical twins Maya and Nikki have always agreed on the most important things. Friends. Boys. Schools. They even plan to attend the same historically African American college.

But as their Portland neighbourhood goes from rough-and-tumble to up-and-coming, Maya feels her connection to Nikki and their community slipping away. Nikki spends more time ay trendy coffee shops than backyard barbecues, and their new high school principal is more committed to erasing the neighbourhood's 'ghetto' reputation than honouring its history. As Maya struggles to hold onto her black heritage, she begins to wonder with whom -or where- she belongs. Does growing up have to mean growing apart?

I have to admit, I was pretty excited to finally read this because it was on my TBR for quite a while and because it's a book focusing on black characters.

This book is basically a coming-of-age story about twins who are preparing for college. It's set in Maya's perspective and shows how uncomfortable she is with the changes happening. The book touches on gentrification, a process of renovating a district to conform to middle class taste.

There's also talk about being 'black enough'. I could also relate to the part when Maya mentioned being proud of when a black person does something good and ashamed when black people commit crime.

If you want to find more about the black community in America, then this would be an interesting read to pick up.

Full review on Goodreads!

Seven Ways We Lie - Riley Redgate

Blurb: Paloma High School is ordinary by anyone's standard's. It's got the same cliques, the same prejudices, the same suspect cafeteria food. And like at every high school, each student has something to hide - from Kat, the thespian who conceals her trust issues onstage, to Valentine, the neurotic genius who's planted the seed of a school scandal.

When the scandal bubbles over, and rumours of a teacher-student affair surface, everyone starts hunting for someone to blame. For the seven unlikely allies at the heart of it all, their ordinary-seeming lives result in extraordinary change.

Just like there are seven sins, there are seven characters that have one of those sins and there are seven perspectives. Honestly, even writing two separate perspectives can wreck your head so I was really impressed by the author's ability to create different voices.

The book starts off with Olivia's perspective, who has a reputation for sleeping around so she is immediately accused of having the scandal with one of the teachers.

My favourite character was basically Valentine. However, I thought he was a girl when I first started his perspective? So that was kinda awkward?

Honestly, this book is pretty much about an American high school but was way more interesting than a lot of high school books so that was nice.

Full review on Goodreads!

American Panda - Gloria Chao

Blurb: At seventeen, Mei Lu should be in high school, but skipping fourth grade was part of her parent's master plan. Now a freshman at MIT, she is on track to fulfill the rest of this predetermined future: become a doctor, marry a preapproved Taiwanese Ivy leaguer, produce a litter of babies.

With everything her parents have sacrificed to make her cushy life a reality, Mei can't bring herself to tell them the truth - that she 1) hates germs, 2) falls asleep in biology lectures, and 3) has a crush on her classmate Darren Takahashi, who is decidedly <i>not</i> Taiwanese.

But when she reconnects with her brother, Xing, who is estranged from the family for dating the wrong woman, Mei starts to wonder if all the secrets are truly worth it. Can she find a way to be herself, whoever that is, before her web of lies unravels?

Wow. Wow. Wow.

Mei was pretty interesting. She wears a fringe to hide her mole on her forehead, which has been criticised before. She has also mentioned several times that she's not skinny but 'chunky'. She was one of those sheltered kids (like me).

Mei's mum could be pretty draining at times but she was pretty funny at other times. And the character development was pretty interesting.

I choked on my tea. "Do either of you know who Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant or LeBron James is?"

"We don't know them because they're not as good as Jeremy Lin," my mother said with a shrug.

A darn good character driven book that featured complicated family dynamics!

Full review on Goodreads!

So those where my mini reviews! I don't think these are going to be the last ones of this year. Maybe the second last? I hope your reading year went better than mine. Hm... and my end-of-the-year post is coming soon!

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Emergency Contact = #OwnVoices Korean-American Character feat. Interesting Relationships

Book Reviews November 28, 2018

Hi guys. Welcome back to my more 'regular' reviews. I also decided to use a different style of title because my usual ones are more bland? Anyway, let's get onto the review!

Mary H.K. Choi

Romance, Contemporary, New Adult

For Penny Lee high school was a total nonevent. Her friends were okay, her grades were fine, and while she somehow managed to land a boyfriend, he doesn’t actually know anything about her. When Penny heads to college in Austin, Texas, to learn how to become a writer, it’s seventy-nine miles and a zillion light years away from everything she can’t wait to leave behind.

Sam’s stuck. Literally, figuratively, emotionally, financially. He works at a café and sleeps there too, on a mattress on the floor of an empty storage room upstairs. He knows that this is the god-awful chapter of his life that will serve as inspiration for when he’s a famous movie director but right this second the seventeen bucks in his checking account and his dying laptop are really testing him.

When Sam and Penny cross paths it’s less meet-cute and more a collision of unbearable awkwardness. Still, they swap numbers and stay in touch—via text—and soon become digitally inseparable, sharing their deepest anxieties and secret dreams without the humiliating weirdness of having to see each other.

(taken from Goodreads. ~~Literally copy and paste~~)

Okay, so this story was so character driven that even I doubted that I was going to finish it. And Contemporary is my go-to genre. That may not make sense but basically, this book has no plot whatsoever. ~~Not that I even understand the concept of a 'plot'~~.

Emergency Contact has two main characters: Penny Lee and Sam Becker. Though Penny Lee is Korean-American, this book wasn't mainly about her experience being a minority. It featured a lot of her internal struggles with writing, friendship, romantic relationships and her mother.

"How is it possible that you're this stupid?"

Obviously, not all East Asian mothers are 'tiger moms' but it's pretty difficult to say the above quote to your mum and get away with it. Sure, Penny's mum is a bit messy but that was so harsh.

Penny and her mother Celeste are pretty much opposites: Penny's moody and (~~somewhat~~) reserved, while Celeste is bubbly, extroverted and what many would consider as hot. This causes Penny to worry about how men look at her mother.

I was warned beforehand that there would be casual racism for example,

"You're so organised. I bet you're a math genius or something. Let me guess - you're an overachieving Asian kid who skipped ten grades? Are you secretly twelve years old and a freshman in college?"

"Come on, Penny," said Mallory after a while. "I was just teasing."

I'm just glad Penny called her out for it instantly. Mallory does get better later on but I just don't like her. I can't vibe with her. Not my kind of person.

Sam had an ex-girlfriend who was older and richer than him and made him feel terrible from time to time.

I personally found Sam okay. He was a decent guy and was pretty darn smart. He could even bake as well!

The relationship between him and Penny was so slow burn, I didn't even mind. Though I don't personally think that Sam's 'boyfriend material' despite his strengths, I was surprisingly cool with everything.

The writing makes the story incredibly fast paced. I found the book funny at first but then it started to feel a little less interesting in the middle and then picked up at the end. However, that was personally my experience. I didn't read this book 'quickly enough' so that might have influenced the feelings I have towards it.

Penny was definitely one of the most relatable main characters I've ever read. She definitely isn't as nice (not that I'm a SAINT) and I'm definitely not as smart but we definitely have these high standards of ourselves and other people. We're always trying to find the perfect friend and sometimes family can disappoint as well. We often shut people out and almost try to communicate with people telepathically, whilst getting mad at why they don't know why we're mad. (Then again, sometimes people need to take a hint, you know.)

Lastly, I need to talk about the Asexual representation and after reading this book, I'm wondering where it is? Sure, at certain parts she might seem like she is but just because you're not emotionally ready for sex yet (or again), does not mean you're Asexual. Especially if you've been through what Penny's been through. She definitely does feel sexual attraction as well. JUST SAYING.

I'm intrigued with what the author is going write next.

Thanks for Reading

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WOW 2018 Reflections and 2019 Goals (A Long Post)

Last 2018 Mini Reseñas feat. Welcome To Lagos (eng)

Mini Reseñas feat. American Panda! (eng)

Emergency Contact = #OwnVoices Korean-American Character feat. Interesting Relationships

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Response to the Letter Addressed to 20 Year Old Self

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WOW 2018 Reflections and 2019 Goals (A Long Post)

Last 2018 Mini Reseñas feat. Welcome To Lagos (eng)

Mini Reseñas feat. American Panda! (eng)

Emergency Contact = #OwnVoices Korean-American Character feat. Interesting Relationships

Featured post

Response to the Letter Addressed to 20 Year Old Self

Followers

You Can Also Find Me Here!

Blog Archive

Check out These Other African Reviewers!

Have any questions for me or about my blog?

Search This Blog

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