B+/B | Japanese ghosts and folklore? Fatal Frame-esque atmosphere? I’M SOLD SIGN ME UP.
Read moreBook Review: The Girl from the Well (The Girl from the Well #1) by Rin Chupeco
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.
Read moreBook Review: The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women by Kate Moore
A- | A provocative, heart-wrenching book that documents the brave women who fought for their lives against major corporations who cared little for anything else except for the profits being made by the radioactive substance, radium. “Lip, dip, paint”. These women shined bright thanks to radium, but they also suffered its poisonous consequences after ingesting the paint containing the radioactive substance. This book goes into the girls’ lives, smiles, struggles, pain, suffering, and then eventual deaths. It is not for the faint of heart, but this book should be required reading in US History courses.
Read moreBook Review: Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim
A+ | A spectacular and solid fantasy novel that has everything I love: magic, a protagonist I can connect with, side characters that feel human, a romance that is actually believable and developed rather than shoved down my throat, an actual journey.
Read moreBook Review: Inside the Masque by R.T.W Lipkin
F | This book deserves zero stars. If I could just give it a zero in every review site I can, I honestly would just to warn people to not waste their time on this terrible novel that masquerades itself as a crime/mystery novel. It was bad from start to finish and I can’t believe I actually wasted my time on this.
Read moreBook Review: A House of Rage and Sorrow (The Celestial Trilogy #2) by Sangu Mandanna
A-/B+ | A sequel that continues to enchant with its worldbuilding and the characters were much more compelling here and in the previous book. However, the book is bogged down by unnecessary romance.
Read moreBook Review: A Spark of White Fire (The Celestial Trilogy #1) by Sangu Mandanna
B | A solid science fiction/fantasy. The worldbuilding was far more compelling than the characters themselves. The romance was unnecessary and just felt forced. Worldbuilding and the ending are what saved this book for me.
Read moreBook 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.
Read moreBook Review: The Weight of a Soul by Elizabeth Tammi
C-/D+ | While the premise was good and interesting, the execution was unfortunately mediocre at best. The story drags on and on. The characters are boring. Although grief and denial are explored here, it was difficult to feel anything because things felt dry, flat, and stale. This book might be called The Weight of a Soul, but there’s little weight or soul in this book.
Read moreBook 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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