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urbanflorals · 6 months

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Kenji: Self care is actually getting in fist fights with randoms in dark alleys.

Juliette: No, self care is stuff like taking a bubble bath, or putting on a lot of makeup if you like it, or taking a nice warm nap!

Aaron: Self care is the burning heat when rage washes over you!! Self care is when you feel the bones crack under your powerful fists!! Self care is the fear in your enemies’ eyes!!!

Nazeera: Lmao self care is taking your birthday cake just so I can eat the frosting.

Kenji : If you touch my birthday cake I’ll make you eat your hands.

#Shatter me memes #shatter me #shatter me incorrect quotes #juliette ferrars #aaron warner #kenji kishimoto #nazeera ibrahim #aaron x juliette #kenji x nazeera #ignite me #restore me #defy me #imagine me #unravel me #tahereh mafi #popular books #books

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wakingupnexttoyou · 4 months

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I gotta live read this one... Because I'm 5% in and this shit is WILD already. Soooooo. Spoiler warning obviously.

This girl's parents died. She goes home to deal with their house..... It's FULL OF DOLLS.... And the attic hatch is boarded shut..... I would have walked right back out of that house you guys 😂😂😂😂😩😭

#today's read #what i'm reading #how to sell a haunted house #grady hendrix #horror #booktok #popular books #bookstagram #canada #canadian

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basicallyanotherwitchesthing · 1 month

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David Paul Lyday - Come Die For Me - Popular - 1977

#witches #possessed #occut #vintage #come die for me #popular books #david paul lyday #satanic possession #satan #death #1977

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ismahanescorner · 3 months

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The Apothecary Diaries | Gush!! 🩷

heya!! so i’ll prolly be doing more of these gush-y review-esque posts about stories that i’m consuming in multiple media formats!

if you’ve been following along with my wrap-ups, you’d know that i binged the apothecary diaries manga in december (i’m currently waiting on vol. 11 to be released). i’m also watching the anime weekly (i can’t wait for temple rescue coming up!!). i also have the light novel on hold from my library so i can read ahead!! 😅

the story isn’t all that new or innovative if you’re an avid enjoyer of historical chinese (east asian) court dramas. however, it is very compelling and intriguing, and the pacing of reveals is pretty good as well!

the characters are instantly loveable and are the reason for my current -tiny- hyperfixation with the story. i just adore maomao and jinshi!!! 😍😍😍

if you’re in the same camp of being swept by your overwhelming love for these two idiots, please let me know so we can gush together!! 🤭🤍

🖼️ collage by me! 😊

#the apothecary diaries #books #manga #top books #popular books #book recommendations #light novel #chinese drama #collage #anime #jinshi #maomao #c drama #court drama #china #ismahane’s corner #gush review

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thetypedwriter · 5 months

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The Brothers Hawthorne Book Review

You know, this book is pretty good! You might be taken aback by my surprise, but Jennifer Lynn Barnes’ series about the wealthy Hawthorne family has been fun at best and poorly characterized at worst.

The entire series has been carried on its entertaining elements: from the puzzles, riddles, and enjoyable (albeit predictable) twists and turns, only the plot and its labyrinthine lines has made these books enjoyable at all.

However, this book tones down the puzzles and focuses a little more on the characters, a recipe that works really well for me and what I’ve essentially been begging Barnes to do since the first title, The Inheritance Games.

This novel, called The Brothers Hawthorne, is a misnomer. It’s only about two of the brothers, Jameson and Grayson, leaving Nash and Xander as one-dimensional as they’ve always been. But hey, I’ll take it. Two brothers getting some characterization is better than the zilch we’ve been getting in previous books.

The book alternates POV’s between Jameson and Grayson, chronicling different plotlines of them trying to solve two very different mysteries.

Jameson’s story follows a rather thin chain of events where he gets entangled with a secret club called The Devil’s Mercy. The club boasts clients of only the rich and powerful variety, a club that Jameson can’t help but be tantalized by.

Jameson’s chapters simply follow him trying to get into The Devil’s Mercy, gain the attention of the man in charge, the Proprietor, and then solving a puzzle put forth by the Proprietor against other competitors for Vantage, a Scottish castle that belongs to Jameson’s estranged father.

The focus on Jameson, for lack of a better description, is boring and ridiculous. It’s in my opinion that Barnes couldn’t think of anything better for Jameson to do than finding more rich people who are also hungry and who also love to play games. I like the bits with Jameson and his father, but there weren’t enough scenes of them.

Unfortunately, only a handful are sporadically sprinkled throughout the book. If there had been more of Jameson coming to terms with his complicated relationship with his mysterious father, it would have been much more interesting than anything dealing with The Devil’s Mercy.

Grayson’s plotline, on the other hand, is handled with much more care and consideration. Even though the stakes are much lower (no Scottish castles or jumping onto bell towers) it's a hundred times more intriguing because I actually learned about Grayson’s emotions, his ties to his family, and his flaws. With Jameson, you kind of do, but it’s shallow and not nearly as deep as Grayson’s begrudging affection for his half-sisters.

Grayson’s story essentially revolves around keeping the true nature of Sheffield Grayson (his father) dead and buried and away from his sisters. He sabotages their efforts in learning what happened to Sheffiled Grayson with the mentality of protecting them. However, the more time he spends with them, the more his affection—and his guilt—grows.

While not the most novel of plotlines to exist, the emotions feel real at the very least. It’s the first time in the entire series where Grayson and Jameson feel like different, distinct people to me and not just pretty archetypes for Avery to agonize over.

Grayson’s family dynamics fascinated me much much more than any cockamamie game Jameson was playing in England because he’s constantly hungry due to an inferiority complex stemming from childhood.

The relationships Grayson builds with his sisters and their mother, in addition to coming to terms with the fact that he’s not perfect and certainly not okay, is a heavier reckoning than Jameson trusting Avery with a secret that’s not that deep and not that interesting.

Speaking of Avery, her bits were so painful that it hurt.

Every time Jameson or Grayson mention her I wanted to retch. Her and Jameson are just so perfect together. Perfect to the point that it’s unrealistic and fake. Every time Jameson solves a riddle, Avery is right there with him, equal in terms of logic and intelligence.

I get that Barnes wants to portray Avery as smart, but the idea that they’re completely and utterly synchronized every single step of the way feels so paltry and disingenuous that it makes me actively dislike any part of the book that contains both of them.

Jameson on his own is tolerable. Jameson “burning” for Avery and “breathing” for Avery is absolutely stupid. Thank goodness she was just a side character in this and didn’t have her own POV.

Other than the complaints about Avery, The Brothers Hawthorne is an enjoyable read. Could the characterization be more complex and sophisticated? Yes. Is the plot pretty foolish and duplicitous? Yes. Is it more enjoyable than the last few books of the same series? Also, yes.

Will I read the next installment? Unfortunately, yes.

While The Brothers Hawthorne is a step in the right direction, these books are still more candy cotton fun than true substance. You know what though? Sometimes that’s okay. Not every book you read has to have an intricate plotline with heavy elements and intense characters.

Sometimes books can just be fun.

Sometimes all you want is cotton candy.

Recommendation: The Brothers Hawthorne is probably my favorite book in the series since The Inheritance Games. If you’re still on the Jennifer Lynn Barnes’ bandwagon, don’t jump off now. Read The Brothers Hawthorne and enjoy the morsels of characterization that get tossed your way.

Score: 7/10

#the brothers hawthorne #the inheritance games #jennifer lynn barnes #ya book rec #yaromance #ya fiction #book blog #book review #book recommendations #book rec #popular fiction #books #popular books #top books #favorite books #book recs #7/10

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motherfeyre-archeron · 2 months

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What's one popular booktok book you didn't like?

I wanna see if we have any commons

#books you hated #popular books

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the---hermit · 2 years

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Bunny by Mona Awad

I know everyone who talks about this book says it's really weird, and I was expecting it to be weird, but not this much. I had no idea where it was going for the whole time, but I had a lot of fun with it. It has been described as dark academia, mostly because we follow a group of creative writing students at uni, but that is just a frame for the story. There's some other typical dark academia elements, like a very closed off group of students in which the main character gets sort of accepted, but again the book is so much more than that. The base of the story is set around this group of girls who call each other bunny, and in general tend to act like little girls. It was the only thing that I knew before reading the book, and to be honest I think the less you know about this the more enjoyable it will be. As I was saying this is really weird. There's no way you can see what is coming next, only at the very end I could imagine where things were going, but it's such an absurd story it's worth diving into not knowing much. This is described as a psychological horror as well, and I can see why. There is a sort of tension in the background at all times, and I found myself anxious while reading it. I think it's really worth the hype, I have no idea how the author came up with the ideas behind this book, because as I was saying it's totally absurd. It's also really fast paced and the writing flows amazingly, I think I read it in just a two or three of days, and I am a slow reader. I definitely recommend giving this novel a try, and I think it will stay in my mind for a while now.

I read this for the studybr w/ knives horror reading challenge for the psychological horror challenge.

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highladyofterrasen7 · 7 months

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When you’re reading a popular book and meet all the characters everyone talks about

#bookstagram #books #sarah j maas #twisted series #king of wrath #things we left behind #throne of glass #popular books

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annelisreadingroom · 2 months

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Have you read any books from Brandon Sanderson? I have read only one but I'm currently in the middle of The Way of Kings. It's the second Brandon Sanderson book for me.

#books #booklr #bookblogger #book photography #fantasy books #book and flower #brandon sanderson #popular books #popular author #oathbringer #fantasy reader

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shy-tidal-waves · 8 months

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"Isn’t it awfully convenient,” Harry added, “that when men make the rules, the one thing that’s looked down on the most is the one thing that would bear them the greatest threat? Imagine if every single woman on the planet wanted something in exchange when she gave up her body. You’d all be ruling the place. An armed populace. Only men like me would stand a chance against you. And that’s the last thing those assholes want, a world run by people like you and me."

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Taylor Jenkins Reid

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beltediris · 6 months

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are they still making that If We Were Villains show? If so I need to be let into that writers room immediately ‼️ like I have notes…

#books #if we were villains #hbo max #limited series #book adaptation #dark acamedia #popular books

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urbanflorals · 6 months

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Avery: What if the person who named Walkie Talkies named everything?

Jameson: Pregnancy tests are Maybe Babies

Nash: Socks are Feetie Heaties

Xander: Forks are Stabby Grabbies

Jameson: Defibrillators are Heartie Starties

Nash: Nightmares are Dreamy Screamies

Xander: Stamps are Lickie Stickies

Grayson, annoyed: You are disappointments

#the inheritance games #avery grambs #jameson hawthorne #grayson hawthorne #nash hawthorne #xander hawthorne #a very risky gamble #the brothers hawthorne #the hawthorne legacy #the final gambit #jennifer lynn barnes #books #popular books #incorrect quotes

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wakingupnexttoyou · 8 months

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Just finished these two and OMG why do I not hear more about these???? This series was sooooo amazing. Much better than the shadow and bone series!!! I don't understand how they haven't been made into big movies yet!!

5⭐ for both of them!

I fell in love with the characters. I literally cried over them. Jesper and Wylan deserve happiness forever because they are sweet babies ❤️

The actual story was so great. All the elements that go into a big heist with a lit of moving parts. The political aspect of the story. The risks of working with other people. It was just absolutely amazing!! 10/10 would read again.

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basicallyanotherwitchesthing · 6 months

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Elisabeth Barr - The Storm Witch - Popular - 1976

#witches #storm witches #occult #vintage #the storm witch #popular books #elisabeth barr #irene edwards #regency gothic #1976

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bookishlyvintage · 4 months

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Lovelight Farms by BK Borison [x]

#book review #audiobook #lovelight farms #bk borison #romance #fake dating #childhood friends to lovers #booksta favorite #bookstagram #books #reading #mini review #flat lay #kindle #bookblr #booklr #holiday reads #popular books

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thetypedwriter · 9 months

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The Starless Sea Book Review

The Starless Sea Book Review by Erin Morgenstern

This book made me feel like I was drowning.

In honey.

If you don’t get that reference, don’t worry. Morgenstern will beat you over the head with it every single chapter until you can never see honey the same way again.

Now, I feel like I’m in an odd camp where I actually haven’t read Morgenstern’s famous masterpiece The Night Circus. I’ve always wanted to get around to reading it, but it always seemed to slip right past my to-be-read pile.

So when The Starless Sea came out, I thought yes! This is my chance to get in on a Morgenstern book early.

Too bad I didn’t like it.

The Starless Sea starts off really interesting. There’s a series of vignettes that hook the reader right away, including a pirate and a girl, an acolyte in training, a dollhouse village, and a fortune-teller’s son. The fortune teller’s son turns out to be the main protagonist of the novel—Zachary Ezra Rawlins.

Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a hermit-like young man in his mid-20’s studying game design. He ends up finding an old book at his university’s library in which his real life childhood memory is one of the chapters. The other chapters of this old novel? All chapters that we as readers have been consuming since the first page. Very meta, Morgenstern.

Understandably baffled, Zachary Ezra Rawlins sets on a quest to uncover the book’s secrets, leading him to the very real underground world of the Starless Sea, including its inhabitants, puzzles, and magic.

Throughout the journey, Zachary Ezra Rawlins meets other characters connected to the Starless Sea in some capacity and finally gets the answer to the question that has plagued him since childhood: what would have happened if he had opened that door?

I genuinely wish I could go more in depth about this book’s plot, but there’s only one main problem—this book doesn't have a plot. Go ahead and read that sentence again. I’ll state it once more for good measure: As an objective third-party outsider with absolutely no stakes in the matter, The Starless Sea contains no discernible plot to speak of.

I can say that the plot was a convoluted mess that didn’t make any sense. Zachary Ezra Rawlins (yes, it does get annoying repeating this again and again, yet Morgenstern opens every chapter with it) goes deep down underground past the Harbor into the Starless Sea for…reasons.

He encounters numerous puzzles and magic and lots of rooms that Morgenstern likes to describe in excruciating detail, mainly that they’re dripping in honey and occupied by cats. The other people he encounters don’t answer most of his questions, leaving the reader bewildered and frustrated.

One character in particular is a man that Zachary Ezra Rawlins falls in love with for seemingly no reason at all. They have about three stunted conversations, including one where the other man whispers menacingly in his ear in the dark about bees and owls and swords for ten minutes, and then Zachary Ezra Rawlins is risking life and limb in the abyss of the Starless Sea to rescue him.

Another character is trying to blow up the Starless Sea for inane reasons that don’t make sense, but essentially get boiled down to she’s trying to protect it.

The other characters include Zachary Ezra Rawlins’ college friend who gets way more page time than she needs to, the keeper of the Starless Sea that answers nobody’s questions, Mirabel who is apparently the embodiment of fate, and her parents, who have been trapped in time and space for…a long time?

None of these characters called to me. None of them were awful, but all of them outside of Zachary Ezra Rawlins were either too brief, underdeveloped, or abstract for me to connect with on any kind of emotional level.

I wanted to connect to Zachary Ezra Rawlins, but none of his actions held much depth, his thinking was too shallow, and his commitment to his love interest Dorian actively didn’t contain any kind of logic or understanding.

You might be wondering: if she didn’t like the nonsensical story or the characters, did she like anything?

Indeed, I did. The setting of The Starless Sea was really incredible. I’m always in awe of people’s creativity and imagination, both qualities Morgenstern seems to have in droves. The descriptions of the rooms, the Harbor, and the Starless Sea itself were all intricate, beautiful, and extremely symbolic.

I wish I could say that I liked Morgenstern’s writing, but it really grated on me. What started off as moving writing, well-crafted sentences, and intentional symbolism turned into a repetitive slog that drove me up the wall.

I like symbolism as much as the next person, especially subtle symbolism, but Morgenstern’s symbolism is the opposite of subtle.

Morgenstern’s symbolism wants to beat you over the head with a key. Or a bee. Or a sword. Or a crown. Or an owl. You get where I'm going with this. What could have been a really cool series of motifs turned into a pretentious drone that aggravated me more and more as I continued to read.

Overall, I was really disappointed with The Starless Sea. With a little more plot direction, tightening of the characters, and less symbolism, The Starless Sea could have been an alluring and fantastic read to rival the everlasting fame of The Night Circus.

As it stands, however, The Night Circus would only need to contain a recognizable plot to be better than The Starless Sea for me.

Recommendation: If you are a Morgenstern fangirl and will be reading The Starless Sea regardless of what I say, fantasize about the incredible setting of The Starless Sea and hope to forget about everything else. If you’re like me and haven’t delved into Morgenstern’s worlds just yet, start and end with The Night Circus.

Score: 4/10

#the starless sea #erin morgenstern #the night circus #book blog #book review #favorite books #top books #popular fiction #Popular Books #Book Recommendations #book recs #book rec #4/10

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