What? Me? Joining a readathon? Believe it my friends! Wikathon was created by Filipino content creators and is celebrating Filipino authors! Don’t mind me as I am incredibly excited about this.
Read moreBeneath the Moon: Wikathon TBR
Book Review: The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller
C+ | Oh man this book is pure, entertaining garbage fire. The book is fast-paced and easy to read. I would have finished it in less than a day. But I had things to deal with. This book is ridiculous and over the top, but I adored that! I had fun reading it. But dear lord God. Even though it is a fun read at face value, there are so many issues with this book from plot to worldbuilding to the characters. It never reaches its full potential.
Read moreBeneath the Moon: Current Situation in the Philippines
I want to take a moment to highlight what’s going on in the Philippines and ask that you please educate yourself about what’s going on in my homeland. Democracy and the democratic process are being threatened. Freedom of speech and freedom of the press are slowly being destroyed.
Recently, ABS-CBN was denied its franchise renewal and was shut down. Why? Simple. Members of the current political regime didn’t like that they were being called out by members of the press. Journalism is there to protect the people and the democratic process, not to be puppets for those in power. All of this happening during the COVID-19 pandemic. So instead of Filipino politicians doing something right by the Filipino people and ensuring mass testing was available along with ensuring that the hospitals all around the country had the PPE, ventilators, and medications they needed to treat the patients, they were too busy worrying about nonsense. Oh, hubris.
But this is not all that’s going on. In addition to the shutdown of ABS-CBN, the Anti-Terrorism Bill was also passed. This bill is meant to stifle dissent. Since its passing, activists and protestors have been harassed and arrested unlawfully.
Democracy is a fragile being; it cannot exist when people are unable to dissent, face state-sanctioned violence by the police and military, and when journalists who strive for the truth are treated with scorn.
Those of us living here in the US, especially, need to pay close attention to what is going on in the Philippines. Don’t ignore this because what is happening in the Philippines can certainly happen here.
What can people do?
I ask that you please pay attention. I ask that you please listen to Filipino voices and educate yourselves. When you see a Filipino post news links or informational posts or carrd links, please retweet and share.
Stop asking yourself why you should care.
The Philippines isn’t just a vacation spot. It’s not just a tropical country that makes the news every so often because a Filipino wins a beauty pageant or a singing competition. It’s not just that country white chefs go to so they can talk about our cuisine.
The Philippines is home to millions of human beings, each one with their own lives, families, ambitions, and dreams. This fact alone should be enough for you to pay attention.
Book Review: Daughters of the Lake by Wendy Webb
C | Has a book disappointed you because it just had so much potential but never fully reached it?
That’s how I feel about Daughters of the Lake by Wendy Webb. It is a gothic, historical fiction, mystery novel that is blended in with a very typical ghost story. It tells the tale of Kate and the woman whose body she discovered. It jumps between POVs, with Kate dreaming of the past and uncovering the secrets and events that lead to the woman’s death.
The concept was pretty cool. But execution wise? It was weak and didn’t have enough substance. A huge part of the issue lies in the pacing and the fact that we were told more than we were shown. There was also the fact that the dead woman whose story is the driving force in this novel had the personality of a rock while she was alive.
Read moreBook Review: Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall
B+ | If there are two words I could use to describe this book, it is haunting and creepy. This book have me goosebumps in the best of ways. It had be on the edge of my seat the entire time not just because of the twists and turns we were forced upon while we walked with the characters on the road, but also because of all the horrors they encountered.
Read moreFlash Review: The Haunting of Ashburn House by Darcy Coates
B | I love horror. It is one of my favorite genres, but I haven’t read too many horror books to be quite honest with you. I picked this up on a whim when I went to Barnes and Nobles @ Union Square when they reopened. I was hoping it would help spark that desire to read, but I didn’t expect much else.
The Haunting of Ashburn House by Darcy Coates was a pleasant surprise. I really enjoyed it. The book is creepy and I admit that my heart was pounding throughout the book. The protagonist is naive and frustrating at times. I shook my head a lot with her actions and decisions. But with how things are with people refusing to wear a mask despite the fact it’s for their own safety and that of others, her actions are 100% believable — even though they are idiotic actions. Still, it kept me on my toes until the very end. I actually did not expect what happened to have happened. I was thinking of something else completely. But I enjoyed the ending nevertheless.
In a way, this book reminds me of those good scary stories I used to hunt for when I was younger. For someone like me who hasn’t read too many horror novels, this felt a bit like a homecoming. I’m definitely going to check out Darcy Coates’ other books in the near future!
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(Caffeine Book Tour) Book Review: Unravel the Dusk by Elizabeth Lim feat. International Book Giveaway
A+ | There aren’t enough words in any language that I can speak — English, Tagalog, and German — that can describe how much I adored this book. It is simply spectacular, beautiful, lush, and stupendous. It is a million times these words. Elizabeth Lim’s writing shines and there is no rest in this novel. Maia is absolutely my favorite protagonist, hands down. And I didn’t think I would love Lady Sarnai more than I did in the last novel. It is everything I want in a book, but especially everything I want to see in a sequel/conclusion to a series.
This is a spoiler-free review as part of the Caffeine Book Tours #UnravelTheDuskTour. Make sure to check out the details for the international giveaway below!
Read moreBook Review: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
C+ | This is a hard book for me to review because I am very conflicted. I kept flipping between giving the star rating for Goodreads. Why? This book is a mixed bag of good, bad, and what in the heck is happening? I don’t hate the book. If anything I actually enjoyed this book, even though it is very slow and drawn out. It’s entertaining, has decent worldbuilding, and it certainly got reactions out of me. However, this book is a lot of telling and not enough showing with very awkward pacing. It’s just mediocre. Entertaining, but mediocre nevertheless.
Read moreFlash Review: Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Nuclear Disaster by Adam Higginbotham
A | If you’re interested in reading about Chernobyl and want a good place to start, consider this book. Midnight in Chernobyl is detailed, extensive, and the research is obvious in every page. Most importantly, it’s also accessible and the writing is very easy to read and follow, making it a great place to start.
Definitely one of my top nonfiction reads and highly recommend.
Book Review: Her Body and Other Parties (Paperback) by Carmen Maria Machado
C- | Yeah, no. I would give this book a higher grade, but unfortunately, I did not have fun reading it.
Unfortunately, while I enjoyed “The Husband Stitch”, “Inventory”, “Mothers”, “Real Women Have Bodies”, and “Eight Bites”, the only one I truly enjoyed to the point where I would reread it is “The Husband Stitch”. The first short in this book was the best one and it just inched downhill from there. Unfortunately, it bottomed out for “Especially Heinous” and only just inched it’s way back up a little with “Real Women Have Bodies”, and “Eight Bites”.
I can’t deny the fact that this book is visceral, haunting, and provocative. It is definitely one of those books that forces you to look inside, think, and understand. I liked how it explores the various ways that women and our bodies are treated by men and society as a whole. I can’t deny that Machado’s writing is stunning with imagery that will make your skin crawl.
But “Especially Heinous” ruined this book for me. And, okay, that’s one short story. However this short dragged on and on and on. I had thought of skipping it altogether, but I foolishly thought, “It’s going to get better.” I should have listened to instinct because the more I read, the more annoyed I became. By the end of “Especially Heinous,” I was just utterly exhausted.
I did my best to keep an open mind for the rest of the stories, but I just couldn’t bring myself to care. The only reason why I continued the book was because it’s such a short book and it would have been ridiculous to DNF it when I was already 60-something% of the way in.
I wanted it to be so much more. The potential was there to have something great. But it just missed the mark.
I spent more time trying to reread passages in the later shorts just to try and unconfuse myself because I was just confused. Could the burn-out I’ve been feeling with the quarantine and the stressful semester have made things worse? Maybe.
But whatever the case, I just did not enjoy this book. I don’t mind books that challenge me and force me to think. However, this book just went over my head most of the time and it frustrated me. The confusion added with the fact that I felt like this book missed the mark in achieving its potential lowers the grade to a C-/2.5 stars.
Now, the big question: should you avoid this book despite the low rating I’m giving? No. My review of this book is entirely based on the emotions I felt reading this book and unfortunately, they were not good ones. Again, I can’t deny that the writing was poignant and I think Machado did a great job trying to explore what men and society do to women and our bodies as a whole, I could not get past the utter boredom and frustration I felt from “Especially Heinous” and going forward.
Do I think other people might enjoy this book? Absolutely. If you are looking for a feminist literary fiction book with those moments of horror and you don’t mind pausing to try and interpret what you just read, then this is a book for you. If you’re curious about the book and want to give it a shot, then I highly suggest borrowing it from the library or from a friend if they have a copy.
