Heartless (a come from behind win)// A Review!

So, Marissa Meyer has done it, Rad Readers!

Why did I have any doubt in the first place? Why should I even be surprised? Marissa Meyer wrote the Lunar Chronicles and currently, I have read both Cinder and Scarlet, have Cress on my bookshelf, and am mad at myself for not finishing it yet. So, you could say I am a fan of her other work. The Lunar Chronicles is a retelling of the Cinderella story and this is the retelling of the Alice in Wonderland story. Obviously I am familiar with Cinderella but I have genuinely no knowledge of Alice in Wonderland and I was worried that it might have taken away from my reading experience, and honestly, it might have because for the large majority of the beginning of the book I found it frankly rather boring and tough to follow. I can't say though that it would be different if you did know the story because I just don't know the story! However, obviously because of the title of this blog post, I thought the ending was its saving grace and the two main characters of this book I found pretty absorbing! Let me brief you a bit on the story...

So, Catherine lives in Wonderland and in Wonderland she is the best baker in all of Hearts. Everyone knows that, especially the king... who is not married... who has a particular fondness for Catherine. This is most definitely a one-way affection, as our king is in general just a bit odd, also because her priorities lie somewhere else. She knows her gift for baking and she wants to pursue a career in it, running a bakery one day. However in this world that is not something a woman does, and more so, not something her family would allow of the next potential queen. The first time that she -literally, not even figuratively- runs away from the king's proposal she runs into Jest, the court Joker who is a character surrounded by mystery and excitement. This is also eventually where Cath's interests lie, and at the risk of being found out by her parents and the king, she and Jest unofficially, secretly form a relationship (uh oh...). What is empowering about this story is how Catherine is determined to live life on her terms, pursue what she wants, love who she wants, but in a world of magic, monsters, and most unfortunately, misogyny, her fate seems to have other plans.

So, as I said previously, I was not really into the book for the first couple hundred pages at all. I was on page 200-ish and I remember just sitting there thinking how nothing has happened yet in the story. For a stand-alone novel as well that is pretty rare because that doesn't leave you a lot of time to transition into the action or even have action at all (I do like the fact that it is a stand-alone novel though, too many trilogies in the YA genre if you ask me, brevity is an art form). For a lot of it, we just read a back and forth with Catherine and whoever about the bakery dreams, or a long scene just to further emphasize how unfit this man was to be king and how Catherine is not into him at all. I found this pretty redundant, that the message is easy to gather the first couple times it is brought up and that at a certain point the reader is just beat over the head with it.

**To break the pace of the review a little bit, I would like to touch on the character of the king. It is difficult to pinpoint what exactly it is that is so weird about him because Meyer never explicitly tells the reader. The way she writes him though makes you cringe whenever you read about him or what he does, it just further proves what a talented writer she is. From the way she describes how he takes Catherine's hand, weakly, how they are damp, etc. just makes him sound like such a meager dude! However, what I found confusing about this was the fact that it almost takes away from the feminist themes, the idea that the King is unfit to be Catherine's husband because of his stature. I know there are other reasons expressed why he isn't fit (he's awkward, accidentally rude, somewhat of an airhead, etc.) but Meyer spends a lot of time describing what physically makes him wrong for Catherine. I don't think this is very empowering at all, and sure it is likely that primarily girls are going to read this book, but that is not to say only girls will read this book and if a female were to be characterized in a manner like this I think the response would be very different. I'm not saying this is a make or break to the story, I only really noticed it upon reflection and I just think it might be a thought to keep in mind. Another implication I felt unfair on the king's behalf was the idea that this weakness also made him unfit to be king. I thought it almost made sense for the king of Hearts to be not very Kingly because this is a land that is 100% at peace, never goes to war, and aside from the new monster problem has never encountered real problems, so prior to now it was never truly a requisite for the king to have any type of governmental authority or power.

**Now back to you regularly scheduled program (book blog... you get the joke hopefully

There were also some inconsistencies in the beginning as well. For example, when talking about Catherine's dreams it is mentioned that when she dreams of lemon trees she wakes up with a fully grown one at the foot of her bed, and then another part where she mentions she has seen Jest in her dreams before as well. This aspect of the story -unless I missed it- never develops, or is explained really at all. I liked Catherine and I liked that she was a driven woman in a world where that is the societal norm, we love a good underlying feminist theme here on C8's rad reads, but at a certain point, it's just like... okay, we get it, let's make it go somewhere this time.

Long story short, it takes a long time for it to get somewhere but at least when it does it goes somewhere pretty phenomenal! Any scene with Jest in it was a good one and that is fact, not opinion. Marissa Meyer did such an amazing job writing him. He is so mysterious, unique, and layered and you could just picture him (as well as the world they lived in) so clearly in your head. The fantastic writing was honestly the biggest thing I noticed about the book! I digress, once Jest was in the picture this book was undeniably hard to put down. Action sequences were thrilling (as I'd expected having read the first two books of the Lunar Chronicles, I knew what Meyer had in her repertoire so to say). At that point, it was a five-star read just for the entertainment factor alone.

Finally, the ending was just beautiful. Its tragedy was something I didn't see coming. I was utterly floored and it is awesome when a book can do that to you. *Spoiler alert* When Jest died and Cath gave up her heart caring only about revenge and ridding herself of the wretched pain of grief and heartbreak, I felt for her. Meyer does such an amazing job at making you connect and feel for the character that when Catherine starts slipping when she starts becoming a different person entirely you are so sad to see her go. It was amazing writing, and I loved how it broke the trope of the "nice girl." No, Catherine was no nice girl anymore, she would not sit back anymore. They killed Jest so she would manipulate the king into making her queen and from there she would behead Peter and begin her reign as heartless (loved the full circle to the title of the book, by the way, love how you only understand it in the end). It was a fast read once the good parts came along and I would recommend that you give this book a shot (also if you haven't read the Lunar Chronicles you should absolutely give them a shot too because I have yet to encounter a bad Marissa Meyer book)!

Keep it cool and keep on reading,

- C8 ;)

"Scythe" Is An Absolute Masterpiece // A Review

Hello rad readers! Right off the bat, I need to let you all know that this is a must read for sure. In other words, an absolute banger of a piece of literature. It is totally different from basically anything I've read before.

P.S. this review will have no spoilers in it ;)

A little summary-- In the future, science and the human race is so advanced that there are no more struggles. There is an artificial intelligence that rules them and ensures that there is no pain, no hunger, no sadness, disease, war, poverty, and they even found a way to beat death. Because nobody dies naturally, of old age or accident, over population became a problem so they had adopted a system where a special group of people, Scythes, decide who dies. These Scythes kill, or as they say, "glean" selected people to keep the population numbers in check. Interactions with Scythes lead Citra and Rowan to become Scythe apprentices, training to become a killer in this society, something neither of the two want to become. They must, however, succeed, because if they don't they will be killed themselves.

I loved this book so much and have so many positive things to say about it! The idea in the first place is all absorbing and fascinating, and then the actual story itself is so thought provoking that I feel like it has really upped my standards in my rad reading life. All that takes place in this book is so wack and wild and it makes my brain twist into a pretzel. If you haven't read Scythe yet, I highly recommend it! I gave it 4/5 stars on GoodReads and think it is a total game changer in the world of us Rad Readers!

So, as a beyond avid GoodReads user, I can't help but note that it only has 2% of 2 star and below rated reviews. Those reviews mostly point out the rather melancholy gist of the story, which I understand to a degree. If they find that they overall theme of the book is death then I fear that they have missed a lot about it. In fact, most of the negative reviews that I had read, the reviewers admitted that they didn't finish the book because they didn't like the negativity and disturbing themes in the beginning of it. That right there is a C8's Rad Reads no go. Here on the rad reader site, we know that we must virtually always finish a book once we start it! Things can take a major turn in the last 200 or 100 or even 50 pages. Does that make it a masterpiece? No, but it does make it a better book than if you were to just stop in the middle of it. One time, long ago, I was reading Matched by Allie Condie. It was so bad upon the first couple chapters that I elected I would put it down for good, but one day, I decided to open it back up and read it through. No, my opinion didn't change, I still didn't like it, but now I feel as though I justly didn't like it. How can I fairly discredit a book that I never even finished!? I can't!

Some negative reviews claimed that for a YA book, it was boring. To that I ask, did we read the same book? Never a moment in this story did I think it was boring. How can you get bored of a story when you are always scared that someone is about to get Gleaned, or one of our main characters are in trouble, or we are looking at evil Scythes who mass glean entire mall food courts or airplane passengers? How in the world can one find that boring! It's terrifyingly intriguing. Sure, the first couple months Citra and Rowan are apprenticing, it isn't the most fast paced of events, but the lessons they are learning and the topics being discussed are very intriguing, and that is undeniable. That is how Neil Schusterman built the world. Without that somewhat slow pacing we would have a very surface level understanding of this world which would take away from one of the best things about this book! The complexity of the world. The last time I read about such a well developed complex world was when I was reading the shadow hunter books!

The world, I find so fascinating, because it really doesn't sound like a crazy dystopian science fiction created world. It sounds like something that could really happen and that is almost what is so engaging about it. "The Cloud" in the book is eerily reminiscent of "the cloud" that we store all of our pictures and computer or phone data in today. The idea of an intelligence knowing all about everyone is eerily similar to the security systems being developed in certain countries. Don't get me wrong, I don't think that one day we will have a selected group of people going around killing people, but I found the believability of this world to be one of the most gripping aspects of the story. I was so impressed by all of it!

I loved these characters so much, but what I loved even more was the fact that while their morality, values, and beliefs are being questioned, so is the readers. If you want to think deep, this is the type of book for you. Where books like The Selection or The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer are some of my favorite book series for purely the entertainment factor, and I constantly say that a book does not have to be deep to be good, this is one of the best books I've read because of the extreme depth and complexity and intrigue of it. Reading about princesses and vampires and shadow hunters is really really cool and all, but every so often getting your hands on a book that makes you take a step back and think about life and humanity and yourself, it is very much worth lots of praise. While this book does have depth, it also has what makes young adult books so great as well, believable characters and fun dynamics. The two main characters, Citra and Rowan, were so strongly written. You can really see them develop as the story goes on, there is no insta-development or sudden realizations or insta-loves (a trope that I cannot stand... I swear some authors don't realize that just about everything in life takes time) and that type of character dynamic makes you want to keep on reading.

Just about everything in this book was incredible, I didn't want to spoil anything because I wanted to dedicate an entire blog post as to why everyone should read this book. Although this will not take a spot on my "raddest reads" list, it is certainly an amazing and fascinating book that I think you should totally check out!

Ave atque vale!

- C8 ;)

Cruel Beauty/ A (Rant) Review

Think Beauty and the Beast but extremely problematic. Buckle up Rad Readers, this was a rough ride...

If this if the first review you are reading of mine, you might want to start somewhere else. I don't usually do rant reviews. I typically like the majority of the books that I read or at least have something good to say about them, however I cannot say the same for this. Brace yourself rad readers because things are about to get a little heated. :)

Ugh, to be completely honest it was really tough finding something good enough or really analytical enough to write a review on this book, but I dug deep in my rad reader brain and I now think I have found respectable enough reasons to talk about this book. In all honesty I picked this book out because it was $3 at the goodwill bookstore, the title was 6/10 funky, and when I read the back of the book it really did sound promising. Biggest let down of my life thus far... and I am not being dramatic.

A description for your benefit...

So, we are in a dystopian (kind of mythological --hints of Greek Mythology sprinkled throughout) society where Nyx has been arranged since birth to marry the evil demon ruler of her kingdom. This is the case because her father made a bargain with him and promised that in return he would marry off one of his daughters to Ignifex (the demon). All Nyx's life she has planned to kill him and break the curse that has confined her people in this kingdom for thousands of years. However when she meets him she is unable to do it (for whatever reason she finds him endearing which -trust me- she should not). Strangely enough he is not what she expected and as she is trying to force herself to do what she has trained all her life to do she can't help but be drawn to Ignifex and his mysterious back story and castle. However, her chance to kill him and save her people has an expiration date and with time running out she needs to make a choice, and with resent towards her family and a change in heart towards her sworn enemy, circumstances are not as easy as they may seem.

Okay, so I just need to say this to get it out of the way, because the moment I was introduced to Ignifex's character and as he persisted to be just as evil and terrible as Nyx had prepared for, I just kept mentally screaming at my book that he is not different than she expected at all! He is evil and terrible and rude, she just reacted differently than she imagined she would!

There, glad we got that out of the way... Now onto a more poised evaluation of a very bad book.

This is the first in it's series, and having finished it, I can confidently say that I do not care at all about what happens next. I finished this book a week or so ago and I didn't even remember what the ending really was so I had to go back and reread. That is how un-impactful this story is!! Even rereading I was still so confused by the ending, there are too many plot holes to count and the way that everything is phrased is just... well, for lack of a better word... extra. Circumstances could have been told in far simpler terms and made much more sense, and definitely do not take that to mean that this is of a higher reading level. Certainly not. Take this to mean that the way this is written is just poor. I know that sounds harsh, but if you read this book (which I do not advise of you) you would understand my frustration. I could have been reading Turtles All the Way Down, or rereading The Goblet of Fire for the 6th time, but instead I wasted a good two or three days of my life in a confused and frustrated state.

I digress, I am not here to complain about time, I am here to complain about this book.

Allow me to present to you a quote from another more positive review I read:

"It's a dark tale that stabs you in the heart at every turn and constantly throws all new levels of craziness into the mix."

It stabbed me in the heart because I could feel a physical pain from the amount of precious time and life I was waisting reading this, and the "new levels of craziness" I would describe as 5 foot wide gaping plot holes, the only level of craziness provided to me was an annoyingly high degree of confusion. I'm sorry. I'm getting heated.

Now, as we all know I love to do, let's talk characters...

Oh boy, here we go.

Ignifex is terrible. Nay, volatile.

That should do it, but I will elaborate if I must. I am absolutely 100% tired of this "bad guy isn't that bad, just misunderstood" trope. If I've said it once, I've said it a million times, look no further than my Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi review. I love that book and that series so far (I'm currently reading Restore Me) but the whole Warner-charachter transformation thing we have going on? I'm not into it. Once a bad guy that mercilessly kills thousands, ALWAYS a bad buy that mercilessly kills thousands. Once Ignifex is a demon that has killed and imprisoned an entire kingdom for some three thousand years, ALWAYS a demon that has-- okay. You get the gist. I found no redeemable qualities about him.

Nyx has what us non-delusional folks would called Stokholm Syndrome with just a little sprinkle or sociopathic tendencies. She went in there like an absolute queen. The first 100 pages or so I thought I was going to really enjoy this book. I liked the fact that in the beginning she was unapologetically bitter about the fact that her life was so completely unfair. She hated her sister, father, aunt, and everyone that had betrayed her. I am so tired of characters being so selfless. No, that is not how normal people react. If your father sold you off to a demon for marriage before you were even born, you should be angry! Nyx was and I loved that. However, once she gets in the castle, once she hesitates to kill Ignifex, things all started to go down hill from there. I have already delved into the extend to which things went down hill above. I do not think you guys need or frankly want to hear any more of my aggressive ranting to get the picture.

All in all 1/5 stars. First 100 pages? They had something to offer. The following 200 give or take? They fueled the fire that resulted in probably the meanest review I have and will ever produce here on this blog.

I apologize you all had to see me like this. Take this as a lesson. Absolutely don't read this book if you value your time.

Actually, who am I to tell you what to do? Read this book if you like, but you know that I for sure would not recommend it.

Stay rad my readers... stay rad,

-C8 :)