Moon and Coffee

books reviews and all of life's in-betweens

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Rise of a Queen by Alexis Samson

A disappointing follow-up to Fall of the Elves, this book proves and is a reminder that second book syndrome is (unfortunately) a thing. Rise of a Queen does not live up to its predecessor and falls flat. Yes, this book continues to build on the beautiful, breathless lore from the first book. Unfortunately, it is not enough to save this book from the glaring issues such as awkward and languid pacing, nonsense fillers, ridiculous dialogue, and characters with no other purpose aside from making Zariah look more interesting. Silly scenes would ruin the tension. Oh, how that irked me beyond measure. Then there’s the lack of diversity, along with there are questionable attitudes and dialogue towards humans by the “superior” elves.

Please note: there’s spoilers because I have to discuss a few things.

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Moon & Coffee Reimagined

Surprise!

Happy birthday to me!

I’ll be honest: while I liked the theme I used, I was never really happy with how this blog looked. The theme itself was fine, but the graphics I made just weren’t there. Yet despite my unhappiness with how things looked, I left things be because I had neither the time nor the energy. Or, quite frankly, the talent.

In my head, I thought, “Better to use what little free time I had for reading books and writing reviews.”

But with my nursing degree completed and RN licensure on its way, I decided to take the leap.

And thus, change is here!

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Beneath the Moon : 2020 Wrap-Up

2020, you son of a b!tch — you have been a wild and crazy ride. Worst ride I’ve been on, to be frank. It’s crazy to think that this time last year, I was packing for my trip to Tokyo and Manila. No doubt, I’m repeating what others have said in their reflections: I feel like I’ve aged a decade in this year alone.

I’m going to be honest — this post is hard to write. How can I put this entire year into a few short paragraphs? Would it even be possible to describe the fear, confusion, paranoia, anger, anxiety, bliss, and jubilation I felt this year? Whirlpool? Yes.

I had to write and rewrite this multiple times over because it was starting to turn into a rambling mess. Easier said, than done. Even so, being able to reflect is an important skill to possess. How else can we learn from our mistakes and not repeat them if we don’t take the time to look back? In the end, I saved those bits and pieces onto a Google doc that I can read in the future.

In the midst of all this good news that I will share, I want you to please take the time to read up on current events. We all want to be able to cut out a safe space for ourselves in the middle of the chaos. However, I believe that those of us with platforms should use our voices to uplift the voices of those calling out for help and to share legitimate, true facts with our readers/viewers.

Here are just a few things that I hope you would take the time to read up on:

I especially want to highlight those links about COVID-19. Please continue to take this pandemic SERIOUSLY in 2021. We are not out of the woods. Keep our communities and frontline workers safe.

Wear your mask over your nose and mouth.

Wash your hands with soap and water — or antibacterial hand sanitizers if you don’t have access to soap and water.

Social distance whenever and wherever possible.

No large gatherings — especially indoors.

Remember your actions impact everyone around you. Even if your family and friends are not directly impacted, your actions are impacting the community and making it harder and harder to reopen. Furthermore, your actions help spread the virus and thus lead to hospitals becoming overwhelmed. You may not

Quite frankly? If you’re unable to wear a mask due to “medical issues” (like that “asthma” you claim to have), you really shouldn’t be outside! Stay home! Why risk getting sick since your “asthma” makes it so unbearable? After all, you wouldn’t want to have a tube stuffed down your throat to help you breathe, right?

Now, to good news!

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Book Review: Tsarina by Ellen Alpsten

F | Gratuitously jammed packed with explicit rape, incest, violence against women, awkward sex scenes, more rape, pregnancies, torture, and oh look, more sex — Tsarina is nothing more than poorly written erotica masquerading as historical fiction. It felt like Tsarina tries too had to be like D&D’s version of Game of Thrones. It’s a try-hard edgy, full of awkward and/or violent sex, and misogynistic treatment of female characters. While there is nothing wrong with erotica or sex in books, Alpsten takes it to the extremes in this novel. It is lewd and terribly written. Alpsten managed to take such colorful humans and turn them into one-dimensional caricatures who think of nothing but sex and drinking. There’s no plot here but showcasing sex, sex, violence, and more sex. Politics gets thrown out of the window here, along with the pacing.

I genuinely feel sorry for Catherine I that this book is attached to her name now.

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ARC Review: The Ikessar Falcon by K.S. Villoso (Caffeine Book Tour)

A+ | Thrilling, intricate, phenomenal. I genuinely don’t think I will ever be able to describe how much I adore The Ikessar Falcon by K.S. Villoso. Every single detail is ornate and elaborate. This book is a grand cathedral wherein every single element — from the stone to the artwork to the chandeliers to the pews — were carefully selected and lovingly crafted to bring this world and these characters to life. Like its predecessor, this adult fantasy succeeds in being so full of life and being so unapologetically Filipino by reflecting those good and bad aspects of Filipino society.

Warning: I am assuming that you have read The Wolf of Oren-Yaro before reading this review. Please click below at your own discretion.

Trigger warnings for this book include the following: sex, violence, threats of sexual violence made against children.

I received an ARC copy of this book from the publisher and Caffeine Book Tours as part of my participation in their #DethroneTheDragonlord tour. Thank you Shealea from Caffeine Book Tours and to Orbit Books for providing me with this copy in exchange for this honest review.

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Beneath the Moon : August/Wikathon 2020 Wrap-Up

August went by ridiculously fast. It feels like yesterday I was setting up my Wikathon TBR. Now, we are 14 days away from my first day of Med-Surg 2! Oh lord, help. My hands are shaking just from sheer anxiety and excitement.

What did I do this month?

Ended up going to the beach one last time. Sort of spent the month trying to force myself back into my nursing student shelf so that was interesting. It felt nice, actually. It was especially helpful that I ordered an office chair for myself which means I can finally study in peace w/o my back hurting after sitting for 10 minutes.

Overall? Pretty good month personally.

Book-wise? August was just as good.

As you may know, I took part in Wikathon. Here are the books I read for this month for Wikathon (along with a last minute edition):

  1. Where Dreams Descend (Kingdom of Cards #1) by Janella Angeles (The Filipino Diaspora | Review)
  2. Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier (New to Me | Flash Review)
  3. How She Likes It by Carla de Guzman (S2PID Love | GR Review)
  4. Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay (Hosts’ Choice | Blog review to come – GR Review)
  5. Lalani of the Distant Sea by Erin Entrada Kelly (Filipino SFF | GR Review)
  6. Wicked As You Wish (A Hundred Names for Magic #1) by Rin Chupeco (Filipino LGBTQIA+ | Blog review to come – GR Review)
  7. Better At Weddings Than You (Chic Manila #9) by Mina V. Esguerra (The Modern Pinoy | GR Review)
  8. The Farm by Joanne Ramos (Review)

I want to thank the hosts of Wikathon!

I am glad I took part in Wikathon. It was an incredible experience. Not only did I get to read these awesome books by Filipino authors, I got to meet and talk to so many fantastic Filipino book bloggers. What a way to end my summer! Thank you so much to the hosts, to the Filipino bloggers I ended up talking to as a result of this readathon, and to the Filipino authors themselves for writing these books.

Am I upset I didn’t get to the other books on my Wikathon TBR? Not really because there’s always next time! Maybe I’ll get to them in the near future. All depends on what the reading cravings demand.

Updates to be Aware of:

  • I’ve received my schedule for the Fall 2020 semester. Only waiting for exam schedule now. This will effect my reading and reviewing capacity, so once I get the exam schedule, I will update you guys on activity levels.
  • I will be taking part in #goodreadance2020 — the details of which you can check out on Shealea’s blog — and I will be posting a plan of attack.

Looking Ahead

This semester is going to be a rough one. Medical Surgical Nursing II is my last class in the RN program and is worth 9 credits. I have class basically Monday – Thursday, but every day I will be studying for this class and prepping. My activity level on this blog (& bookstagram) will fall to bare minimum.

Aside from my review of The Ikessar Falcon for the blog tour (check out the tag on twitter and instagram btw #DethronetheDragonlord), I have nothing else review wise planned/queued at the time of writing this wrap up. I’m hoping that I can maybe write my full reviews for Wicked As You Wish and Patron Saints of Nothing, however I’m not sure as I do also want to try and read another book before school starts while I try to read and begin reviewing for med-surg.

In any case, I will see you guys around! Have a great Fall semester to all the students going back to school. Stay safe and healthy. Please wear your masks, perform hand hygiene, and remember that collective cooperation will help keep the curve flat.

— Veronica 🌙

Book Review: The Farm by Joanne Ramos

B | This is the sort of book that — if I was an ethics professor — I’d want my students to read. It will not only force you to examine your own beliefs on the immigration experience, parenthood, surrogacy, a surrogates rights, and wealth, but it will also anger you and make you uncomfortable. It is a reflection on our society, class, reproductive rights, parenthood, the American dream, and on the Filipino immigrant experience. The book is solid. However, Ramos’ execution could have been better.

Now, before I get into the rest of this review, please note that this is an #ownvoices review. I make this statement as a Filipino immigrant living in NYC with a Filipino mother who made the move here to the US before sending for me so I could have a better life here.

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Flash Review: Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier

A | I usually don’t start reviews like this but I feel the need to warn any potential readers of what you’ll see in this book, especially since I know a number of people who are reading this for Wikathon.

This book is not for the faint of heart. It’s not for people looking for a warm, fuzzy, and cozy mystery/thriller. No. This book is brutal and gut-wrenching. It doesn’t hold back at all. There is abuse, violence against women, murder, and multiple rape scenes. Please remember to take care of your own mental health.

Now, I enjoyed the book a lot.

From the start, the book gripped me and refused to let me go. I know. I got through the book so fast. I sort of wished I used Bookly to find out exactly how many hours it took me to read the book. But I just couldn’t stop. Had it not been for the fact I was determined to play video games last night, I would have finished this book in one sitting. It’s that good.

But you know what? Despite the fact that I enjoyed it, the book unsettled me, specifically because of the rape scenes.

I was not at all prepared for this, especially because none of the reviews I saw mentioned them. I think what’s making it worse to the point it’s lingering is the fact that the scenes were so raw and brutal.

Still, I would absolutely recommend this book to those who can handle reading this.

It’s a good book. Even though we know what happens to Angela in the end, it’s learning about what lead to her death and the immediate events after that kept me going. It was also the mystery of those dead women and their kids. Even though I ended up guessing the twist at the end, Jennifer still managed to surprise me.

Again, give this book a shot if you are okay with the above warnings because it is absolutely worth picking up.

Goodreads | BookShopOrg | IndieBound | Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

Book Review: Where Dreams Descend (Kingdom of Cards #1) by Janella Angeles

A+ | Lush, breathtaking, show-stopping, splendorous, marvelous, decadent, exquisite. These are just a few words that I can use to describe Janella Angeles’s debut novel. Many of the reviewers I trust have described this book as something akin to a dessert. You know what? I agree. It’s a salted caramel cheesecake. It’s that Bake Cheese Tart from Japan that I adore so much. I have not fallen in love like this with a book in a long, long time. There are some things that I hope Janella improves upon in the second novel. However, these issues did not take away from the fact that I absolutely enjoyed everything that this book offers.

Read this for Wikathon w/ Rose, aka @thatbookishteacher, and you should absolutely check out her blog.

There might be minor spoilers below.

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