Moon and Coffee

books, travel, nursing, and all of life's in-betweens

Flash Review: One Dark Throne (Three Dark Crowns #1) by Kendare Blake

A+ | People always talk about “second book syndrome” and I can tell you straight up? This book absolutely does not suffer from it. It is everything I had hoped for and more. This book is so good that I didn’t even notice it was midnight on January 1st because I was so enthralled. It is fast-paced and it doesn’t leave you time to breathe because there is always something happening.

I loved Katherine even more in this book. If I had to rank which queens are my favorite, it would be Katherine, Mirabella, and Arsinoe. They are all compelling, interesting characters, but I think that Katherine has become the most interesting one. She is ruthless, out for blood, and I gotta say, I’m looking forward to seeing what the next with her (& her sisters, of course, but mostly Katherine).

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Book Review: Beneath the Haunting Sea (Beneath the Haunting Sea #1) by Joanna Ruth Meyer

A-/B+ | If there’s one book I can hold up as the PERFECT example of how to do mythology, this is that book. The mythology within this gothic book is stunning. And the worldbuilding? chef kiss. You guys know how much I adore excellent worldbuilding. This rich mythology and worldbuilding are wrapped up nicely with a super exciting (but not so well-paced) plot and characters you want to strangle and hug. Unfortunately, this doesn’t get a perfect grade because of it’s pacing and unnatural, forced romance. Nonetheless, the ending was satisfying and well worth the less cool parts.

Minor spoilers below.

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Flash Review: Frozen 2: Forest of Shadows by Kamilla Benko

A | Not gonna lie, I did a double-take reading this book. I had to check whether this was middle grade or YA. But in any case, this book was fantastic. Kamilla captured Anna’s voice so well because she doesn’t erase Anna’s insecurities and we see Anna flourish in the book. I love how we get more of Anna and Elsa’s childhood here along with worldbuilding for Arendelle. Since I had seen the movie first, I think that this book gives the sequel even more flavor (& I thought Frozen 2 was very much a lush and gorgeous movie). But the information we get in this book about Anna and Elsa’s childhood as well as on their mother adds so much to Iduna’s character.

I loved this book. It was a quick read for me, but definitely, for young readers (aka the intended audience), this may take them a few days. But wow, is it worth a read.

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Book Review: The Bone Witch (The Bone Witch #1) by Rin Chupeco

A+/A | A mesmerizing, rich foundational novel dedicated to worldbuilding an introducing the characters, Rin Chupeco’s The Bone Witch envelops you in Tea’s world, in Tea’s story, and in Tea herself. It lays the groundwork through the intricate worldbuilding and to the characters that live and thrive in the world. It is almost like a villain’s origin story — focused solely on establishing who Tea is, the world around her, the people around her, and the magic she wields. Despite there being no plot, this is moot when compared to just how masterfully Rin builds up this world and hooks you to it and its stories.

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Book Review: Ottoman Women Builders: The Architectural Patronage of Hadice Turhan Sultan by Lucienne Thys-Senocak

A+ | A wonderful, well-written biography about Turhan Sultan who became de facto ruler of the Ottoman Empire. This book gives you an insight to Turhan Sultan’s life as well as her architectural patronage — one of the big indicators of her power and prestige. It goes into how she used her building projects to not only make a name for herself but also to spread a message to her son and to the people. This book is absolutely well worth the read for any history student or causal history lovers.

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Book Review: Serpent & Dove (Serpent & Dove #1) by Shelby Mahurin

A+ | A beautifully rich and addictive fantasy novel that has everything I could want in a book: magic, a protagonist and a deuteragonist who I can connect with and who have solid characterizations and development, side characters that are well developed and whom you can fall in love with too, a super well developed romance that is so utterly believable and that I completely supported, on-point writing that grips you from start to finish, a world full of wonder and spectacular imagery, and a plot that is fully fleshed out and refuses to let you go even at the end.

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Book Review: A Slow Death: 83 Days of Radiation Sickness by Hiroshi Iwamoto (NHK TV Crew)

A+ | A short, provocative work documenting Hisashi Ouchi’s intense medical treatment. It doesn’t hold back with its descriptions and images of what happened to Ouchi’s body after the criticality accident in Tokaimura. There is nothing that can prepare you for this book because short as this book may be, it’s unrelenting in speaking the truth about what happened to this poor man.

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