Soundless by Richelle Mead

TL;DR turning a village upside down in a period of, like, four days

TBR #1179, added Apr 15, 2015

library ebook hold placed 9/17/16, #12; received 9/18/16 at #11

finished 9/23/16

I actually finished two Richelle Mead books in about a week lol. I was actually a little uncertain about it, because Vampire Academy is such a veteran to the YA genre (meaning it's that pre-2012 group I still haven't blogged about), and because Soundless didn't have as strong reviews as I was hoping for since the concept sounded so unique.

And the concept definitely was refreshing in being so new. It definitely kept me on my toes, and the progression of the story took different directions than I was expecting from it. (Which is good!)

... but I do have to agree with a lot of people on Goodreads that it wasn't dynamic (read: kind of boring) and that I did a lot of the mental picture-building myself. I was never as interested in the book as I wanted to be and I had to purposefully sit down and decide to read Soundless as opposed to the other ebooks I had checked out. (I got through Vampire Academy, Dearest, and The House of the Stone since I started Soundless.)

There also wasn't any cultural worldbuilding to it. They had Chinese-sounding names, and apparently all looked Asian, and wrote with characters. That's really all I got from it. Maybe there's something to be said about their social dynamics that makes them different from a Western society, but I think that was superficial and stereotypical. This wasn't really something I noticed while I was reading but it definitely stands out now that people on Goodreads have brought it up.

I also don't really agree with Fei miraculously getting her hearing back. I was a little apprehensive about that even before starting the book, and while it was explained better than I was expecting, I was also hoping that she would be the only exception. I don't think it's a good narrative to have deafness be something that can be magically cured.

I think some of the problem with Soundless was that the whole plot was shoved into the course of a single book, which made everything happen too quickly to feel realistic, and didn't give any time for worldbuilding. (Well, we actually did have some good chances for it, and we didn't get it.) I think it could've been more interesting if it didn't feel artificially rushed.

TL;DR it was pretty dull, but I don't feel right rating it just one star. I think the fact that I never felt like throttling any of the characters (or other aspects of the book) earns it that second star.

CWs: violence, death, injuries. These aren't terrible but the book is a little violent towards the end.

Dearest by Alethea Kontis

TL;DR v cute The Wild Swans retelling

TBR #1001, added Sept 15, 2014

library ebook (no hold) 9/17/16

finished 9/22/16

This was surprisingly hard to write a review for, so this is going to be really short. I apologize. (I worked more hours than normal the week I wrote this and I'm still trying to adjust to having evening classes. I've felt pretty zombie-like the past month.)

This is part of a series, which up until now I thought was a trilogy, but is actually bigger. I'm really excited that I have the chance to continue with the series and continue with more of the characters we haven't seen much of.

I think Dearest could be read without reading the two books that come before it, but it definitely helps to understand the story. I've read those them and still I had a few moments where I had to search my memory for what was being referenced. (I also have a pretty bad memory. All of them were vaguely recognizable, but I was trying to look for more specific details, and I suck with those.)

Friday was an enjoyable main character and heroine and she was so pure, like, she's practically like a saint. She spent almost the entire story helping other people out (instead of the story being about herself) and she worked so hard for them and never complained and like ... I could never do that lol. I liked her flock of children and her flock of boys (lol) a lot even though there were too many to get a good sense of all of them.

I think the pacing of the story might've been a little slow at times. (I think I read the book pretty quick overall, so I don't remember exactly.) There isn't really much action but there's definitely a lot of anticipation and working towards their goal. I don't think any specific scenes dragged out all that much. The story did wrap up well within the course of the book and had a satisfying ending. The ending surprised me a lot, actually. I was :OOOO the whole time. (Though I think an argument could be made that it was a little out of left field compared to the rest of the book.)

The romance was pretty cute even for being insta-love. I guess I'm willing to forgive that since there was actual framework in their worldbuilding for it to be legitimately fate and not just "oh, ~swoon~". They respected each other as people and sacrificed a lot for each other, which also gave it a lot of points in my opinion. And I mean, it's based on a fairy tale, so I'm willing to accept some suspension of disbelief since it was a pretty close retelling.

The series is interesting in that it seems to adapt the fairy tales closely (at least to how I know them), but there are so many being put together that there are a lot of interesting crossovers in them. It's a little bit like The Lunar Chronicles to me, but TLC takes a lot of liberty in terms of worldbuilding and interpretation of the story. The Woodcutter books exist within a fairy tale-like world and keep a lot of that magic to them, but they add to the story by including threads of other fairy tales going on at about the same time.

(I'd live in their world, tbh.)

That was more than I expected to be able to write lol ;; Overall I'm really enjoying this series so far, and I'm considering re-reading the beginning books if I get a chance. I don't know if any other books are out in the series just yet but I'm definitely going to continue with it.

TL;DR I read through the book pretty quickly and it was a nice read, and it's been a nice series. It's definitely worth checking out if you like fairy tale retellings that are closer to the source than recent trends have been and aren't all dark and depressing.

So far this is only the second retelling I've found of The Wild Swans, so if you'd like another, Spinning Starlight is a sci-fi one that focuses more on the sister of the family and her journey.

Halloween Book Recs

In compiling this list into a shelf on Goodreads, I realized I own copies of the majority of the books. Usually I'm not one for the scarier side of Halloween, so this is a little surprising.

(Though I'll admit, none of these are jump-scare books. They're just along the lines of creepy or unsettling.)

The Archived by Victoria Schwab

This book is about ghosts and has a very cold aesthetic -- almost like wandering through underground passages or cellars with dirt walls. It's definitely a fall book, and I think the association with ghosts / the dead places it perfectly as a Halloween book.

There's a sequel titled The Unbound that I haven't read yet, and Victoria Schwab has started work on the third book, but so far there aren't any details about when it could be published.

Nameless by Lili St. Crow

This is about vampires and also felt pretty cold, but it also takes place towards the winter, so that might be part of it. It's definitely an unsettling world overall. There's a lot of mystery and secrecy that continue past the end of the book.

This is part of a series, though those books focus on Camille's friends. I've added the next book to my TBR but I'm not sure if or when I can get my hands on it.

Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink  and Jeffrey Cranor

The Welcome to Night Vale podcast series definitely is a very Halloween aesthetic, with what all goes down in their town. The book isn't quite as creepy, since there isn't the added benefit of sound effects or Cecil's voice, but it still effectively captures the series. The series in general also reminds me of cold weather and fog due to listening to the beginning podcasts during our Alaska trip.

This is part of a multi-media series with a large and ongoing podcast series, and I think there are other books being released, but I don't know much about those.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

This is all about ghosts and the metaphorical skeletons in the closet, and I'm pretty sure it takes place around Halloween as well. It's got a very cold and creepy feel to it but I found myself still enjoying it a lot. The characters are all very endearing.

This is part of a series, which I think is four books and just wrapped up recently. I have the next book on my ebook TBR and hopefully I'll get to it sooner rather than later.

Need by Carrie Jones

This one is rare for YA in that it focuses on pixies, rather than faeries and the Courts. It takes place in the middle of winter, but I think it's also fitting for Halloween with all the mystery. (I think it might also come off as juvenile to some people, though.)

This is part of a series (trilogy?) that I read back in middle school, and I'm trying to make my way through it again. I enjoyed it back then and so far I've still found it enjoyable.

Dark Star by Bethany Frenette

This takes place around Halloween and deals with demons, so it's perfect, right? I listened to most of the audiobook when we were in Alaska, so I associate it a lot with fog and chilly weather. The audio book narrator's voice was totally fitting for it.

This is part of a series, but I know my library doesn't have any of the books, so I'm restricted to when I can find good deals on the books on Amazon [cries].

Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge (Also: Cruel Beauty)

Crimson Bound is a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, and Cruel Beauty one of Beauty and the Beast. Both are darker retellings, and they take their own directions with the stories. They can also be a little morbid, which makes them feel like perfect Halloween books.

The books aren't related to each other (despite how similar their covers look). They both have the same vibe going, though.


So there we go! I was surprised that I had this many books to add to the list. I own all of them but Nameless and Rosamund Hodge's books. I think a lot of these books could also stand in for rainy day reading during the fall (which it feels like we've gotten a lot of lately).

I think the rest of the posts this month are book reviews, with one or two NaNo-related posts. I'm already gearing up for NaNo with my friend, so I'm already looking past Halloween lol. Here's to a good October!

Casanova Progress: Jul - Sept 2016

It's time for another update post on Casanova! (A very pitiful one OTL.) I started this post series so I would keep track of my progress on the story over the course of the year. This will be my last post in 2016 -- the final one will be in January.

This is the same picture that I posted in my July Camp NaNo reflection. I did really well during this Camp NaNo, too, and that momentum got me some better ideas of the story (and my license lol).

August wasn't as great in terms of Casanova progress ... I went to Otakon over my birthday weekend and spent a lot more time stressing about school than I probably needed to. (Ironically, that part should've generated a lot of ideas for Casanova, and I think I did channel that anxiety into a couple days' worth of writing.)

..... aaaaand September was even worse ;;; I don't think I ever updated my post about school -- I changed my schedule to drop my TV production class and add three geography classes, all of which meet once a week in the evening. I've been having some trouble getting used to that schedule and I've felt pretty exhausted this whole month. 

Despite this seemingly slow progress I've made, I did finally start working on the first chapter, even if it took me past the first day of school and isn't quite done yet. I've still been doing a lot of thinking about Casanova, even if I'm not writing for it as much. 

I'm still a little torn on my NaNo plans. I would love to re-write Casanova from the bottom-up and see if I can get a more coherent draft this year, but I'm also afraid that I won't have enough motivation or ideas to propel me through the entire month. I've managed to win NaNo the past three years and I don't want to break that streak. 

That said, I'm more partial to doing Casanova again than trying my sci-fi Nutcracker retelling or another idea that's come about entirely from Pinterest. I do really want to get this story touched up and presentable to other people. Based on my track record from this year, NaNo is probably going to be the only way I'll have enough structure and motivation to get my re-write done ... One of my close friends is doing NaNo this year, so hopefully we can get each other through the challenge.

I still have the rest of October to decide. I'm definitely going to let myself rest and stockpile ideas so I can attack November with lots of ideas, Casanova or not. I'll probably have to put in a lot of extra work for my geography classes so I can have most of the difficult work of my final projects out of the way by the time the 1st rolls around.

[sigh] 

Hopefully these next few months will go well!

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

TL;DR ... it's a school for vampires

not on TBR

library ebook (no hold) 9/17/16

finished 9/20/16

That's probably my most eloquent TL;DR yet B) lol

I found Vampire Academy in my library's ebook catalog when I sat down and went through the entire thing to find every available book I could read. (I'm not kidding. It took me like two hours.) I figured since there weren't any holds on it, and it was almost a classic of sorts, I had no reason to try it out. 

I knew VA was on the older end of the YA genre, or at least what the genre has been during my time. I'm not sure if it's from before the Twilight fad or was caught up in that whole thing, but if I'd known about VA back then, I totally would've sided with it instead. 

VA was pretty easy to get through. The narration kept the story moving, and the non-action-y parts of their school lives was pretty glazed over. (Although I think that could be a little detrimental, depending on how you feel about the speed of the plot.) Rose was an interesting main character and despite my initial predictions, I would actually read more about her. 

The distinctions between the different types of vampirism was cool, but a little hard to keep track of at first, and I still feel like I don't have enough history to their world to understand how they got where they were. I'm pretty sure this is a big series, though, so I have a feeling that might get resolved by the end of it.

The rest of the characters were interesting as well, but I didn't feel like I got to know them quite well enough. All of the interactions we saw advanced the plot -- which, I mean, is good to have -- but it also didn't give much room to know them as people outside of the story surrounding Lissa. We didn't get to see much detail that made them feel human. 

(Though, I guess they aren't.) 

I was reading this concurrently (ish) with Soundless, which is a much newer book by Richelle Mead. (I didn't like that as much, unfortunately. I'll have a review up next month.) The first Vampire Academy book was promising enough that I'm willing to continue with the series, but I haven't added the next book to my TBR yet. 

TL;DR it was a solid three-star book for me and I think it's worth the try for most people, especially in the aftermath of the Twilight trend. 

On a related note, I'm wondering if it's worth it to try and track down this movie adaption the cover was talking about. I had no idea until I saw the little sticker on it.