"Fragile Eternity:" I CALLED IT!// Book Review

Well... well... well, Rad Readers,

I am going to pop a quick I told ya so, and I knew it all along in there. Yes, it is an acknowledged fact proven by science that 'Ink Exchange' was a pretty bad sequel in the 'Wicked Lovely' (series that started out so so so very stron), but it is also a fact that 'Fragile Eternity' was a total and absolute Rad Reads CERTIFIED BANGER!

I would like to pat myself on the back for knowing that we were merely in a second book slump, and that this series wasn't doomed for the worst after a fantastic first book. (Divergent-esk..? No shade but, like, we can all admit it now...) I was so nervous to read this book because I was so scared that this series was going down the dumps, but Melissa Marr would never disappoint us Rad Readers!

Anyways, this will be a fairly spoiler-y review, so for those of you that have not yet read 'Fragile Eternity,' this is the third book in the 'Wicked Lovely' series. There are a few more books after this one (that I will definitely be reading), but before you read 'Fragile Eternity,' read 'Wicked Lovely,' and (unfortunately) 'Ink Exchange to catch up. Check out my review on 'Wicked Lovely if you want to know what the main gist of the story is about. AND, for those of you that are all caught up in the series but after the wreck of 'Ink Exchange' you wonder if it is worth it to keep tracking along, I will say that absolutely yes it is.

We are back following our main characters Aislinn, Keenan, and Seth. The drama is better than ever, the stakes are high, and you really never know what could come next. When you think you have a character all figured out, when you think you know who's side they are on... BANG! Plot twist! The plot has never mattered less to me though, because can we talk about CHARACTER DRIVENNN!! All I care about is what is going on in Aislinn and Keenan's lives, I literally could not care less about this impending war between courts. It is a nice subplot, but to me the main plot is all about the characters! And weirdly, I liked that. It is a nice break from these extremely complicated universes and laws and worlds that we all read about all the time. Is it intellectually provoking? Far from it. Is it a fun book about stupid drama and cool characters? Totally. All in all, great book, great characters, exciting action, fun drama, give it a read if you haven't already!

The main focus of this addition to the story is that Seth is a mortal and because of this he is growing more distant to Aislinn. Aislinn is getting more involved with the summer court. 1+1=2, this+that= Seth trying to gain immortality. We saw how that worked out with Voldemort... never a good move to aim for immortality when you simple are just not meant to be immortal. Appropriate, I think that this is entitled 'Fragile Eternity.' I digress, Seth's yearning, Aislinn's suffering because of it, and Keenan's reaction to the both of them is the heart of the novel.

Okay, now for those of us that have read this beauty-- I think we can all agree that there were parts of it that were certainly a little confusing. A lot of important parts and laws of this world have either been skimmed over or they were explained in massive information dumps that I just skimmed over because I HATE information dumps, but regardless, my biggest qualm was the fact that I didn't really understand why these faeries needed Seth to get to the Summer Court? Was it just because they didn't like a mortal having a say in their world? But he didn't even have a say, he just hung around the people that had a say? I don't know I felt like the way that was all explained was either too brief and vague, or too boring and seemingly unessential to care about. Like, why are Niall and Donia all of a sudden bad guys? I could have sworn they were on our side, like, a second ago? I think if there is a really important point to understanding a story it should be given in the middle of some sort of action or high stakes moment because otherwise if it seems boring, honestly I and many many many others will skim over it. Thus, there was a lot about this book that I was reading and my brain was just going "?????" but I kept on going and I kept on loving it because I love these characters so much. Or rather, I should say I love their drama so much.

Seth? He's holding Aislinn backkkkk! She could be so much better off if she just let him go entirely and that is why I quite liked this book, because we didn't get to see him hold her back because he was GONE! I gasp! No. No I don't. His decision to go pursue something so incredible problematic and dumb wasn't unexpected, but the direction that the story took afterwards, and the ending certainly caught me by surprise.

Keenan? Heavily unpopular opinion, but my favorite character by a mile. I like that he is kind of conniving and moral questionable. I also like that when it comes down to it he knows what his duties are as a king more than his duties just as a regular dude. I think it is very fair and people shouldn't hate his character because it is realistic of how a real monarch would act. I don't get how people can prefer Niall over Keenan because when the going gets tough, Keenan sticks around, but Niall goes running. Anyways, I respect Keenan's cunning and very Slytherin-esk nature. I think he's the most exciting and unpredictable character torn between Aislinn and Donia even though he knows that he's only using Donia which I think is hilarious but also tragic but also so realistic. All I'm saying is, class A power move knowing where Niall is and not telling anyone. It's not his place to get involved in Niall's issues. He's not a fairy and he's not in the Summer Court. It would benefit Aislinn if she let Niall go and Keenan knows this, for selfish reasons yes, but he still is right.

I will also make an amends to another statement, aside from the vagueness I did have a problem with the fact that I am kind of getting used to, out of this series, the rush and excitement only to end in an inevitable cliff hanger. I find myself here about to write about the ending of this book and I realized that there isn't really much to write because the book didn't really end if you know what I'm saying. I understand that the story needs to continue because, ya know, there are more books in the series, but I just hate when there isn't really a conclusion at all and it's just kinda like... well, guess you just have to buy the next book?

Anyways, I was very pleased with this story, it is like the author knows exactly what we want to read about and she has started to deliver. I loved 'Wicked Lovely,' hated 'Ink Exchange,' and finally 'Fragile Eternity' is a return to the former!

Team Keenan all the way,

-C8 ;)

'The Sun Is Also A Star' Is DEEP!// Book Review

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book! I actually gave it 5/5 stars on GoodReads! I put off reading it for a very long time because I've never really been into contemporary works. There is only a handful of them that I have liked, but this is a very charming, short and sweet novel. I think I am absolutely going to have to read more contemporaries, and give them another shot. 'The Sun Is Also A Star' is easy to get through. I found it to be a super quick read. The chapters are short and I think that it is absolutely meant to be read quickly. The events that take place in the book happen in only one day, so reading it all in one day really contributed to the reading experience for me. It makes it all feel so rushed, which is how it feels for the characters, and the moment to moment writing is phenomenal. It legitimately feels like you are following a step behind them the entire time, going through all of this with them.

This is absolutely a perfect quarantine read, when you have nothing to do but read for six hours straight and then watch the two-ish hour movie immediately after! (I also just have to say book>movie of course, but the movie was actually really good!) It's easy to relate to.

These characters are genuine and raw, and it is just a statement of fact that you will end up attached to them. The themes are interesting. A central focus is the butterfly effect. The smallest thing can lead to a billion other things changing the course of someone's life. The 'one small act of kindness' kind of vibe is certainly looked into as well.

There is a part of this book that demands you just let the rules of reality go a bit. There are parts that are fairly unbelievable, but that is also supposed to be the essence of the story in a way. It is somewhat feel good, but at times totally heart wrenching. You will just have to read it to know what I mean.

The story follows Natasha and Daniel who both live in New York City. Natasha is a Jamaican immigrant, but New York is really the only home she knows as she has been living in America basically her entire life. However, her family is being deported tomorrow. She is trying to do everything she can to stop that from happening. Daniel is a Korean-American boy who has been trying to live up to his parents expectations his entire life. They want him to be a doctor, but he wants to be a poet... He has a college interview that day, but he isn't even sure if he wants to go to college. Natasha is very practical. She is a realist, believing in only the facts and science. Daniel is a dreamer. He believes in fate, destinies, and something divine. With Daniel on his way to his interview and Natasha on her way to save her own life, the two bump into each other, exchange stories, and the course for the rest of their day, and soon their lives, changes.

Check it out!

- C8 ;)

"Hush Hush" Is Better Than You Think It Is!!// Book Talk

What's up Rad Readers!

I thought this book was really fun! I don't understand why everyone seems to hate it and give it such poor reviews. Perhaps they are trying to keep this gem hidden from the world!? It is definitely riddled with cliches, but in some cases just because its overused doesn't mean it's bad. It all depends on how the author puts their own spin on a cliche. There is a reason something is overused after all... because it's... ya know... good. The writing is engaging, I think that the goal of this book was to entertain. I'd say said goal was certainly achieved. Are there themes? Well, not really. Is there a greater significance? Nope. Does that make the book bad? NO! It's just fun, okay! @EveryoneThatDidn'tLikeThisBook, Stop taking everything so seriously! Read a fun book! It's not like you need to analyze its significance or symbolism or character development in an essay all the time! This isn't The Great Gatsby for goodness sakes! Just enjoy a story for goodness sake!

Hush Hush is a paranormal fantasy novel, but I would even say that it is a little like a thriller. There were certainly some very spooky moments throughout the story. It has an eerie feel and secretive/mysterious tone. We follow our main character, Nora Grey, who begins to have some very out of the ordinary things happen to her. Someone breaking into her house and ransacking her room, someone running in the middle of the road toward her car and smashing in her windows. However, when she calls the police or her friends to help her figure out what is going on, there is no evidence. Everything returns to order. A spotless room and perfectly intact car. Nora has no idea how to explain what is happening to her, but she thinks it may have something to do with Patch, a new student to her high school who somehow knows everything about her. She doesn't know if she should turn to him to solve this problem, or run as far from him as she can. She feels watched and followed, but with no evidence or hope for a reasonable explanation, she starts to wonder if it's herself that she has to worry about. Is she losing her mind or is the truth just more unsettling than she ever could have thought?

I would say that there is a very equal balance in the story from focusing on the plot and focusing on the characters and developing their individual stories.

I found the plot intriguing. I certainly wanted to know what spooky scary Patch's deal was. I was curious to find out an answer as to what was going on with Nora's life. The closer we seemed to get to an explanation, the further the story complicated and I think that this is a tell tale sign of a well thought out novel. It proves that the author certainly had it all mapped out, I think. A lot of reviews that I have read or watched claimed that as the story complicated and progressed it got more confusing. I couldn't disagree more. I didn't find it confusing at all. As it got more complex, I actually felt like I was able to understand it more. I thought that it developed Nora's situation into something bigger than just her, and I thought that made it more exciting to read about. I also felt like as it got deeper I cared about it more. It wasn't just some annoying girl in high school that someone was messing with, it was more complicated than that.

Patch is by far and wide the best developed character. He has depth and intrigue. You only find out what is so spooky about him (barely) towards the last hundred pages or so, but it wasn't annoying or boring, I didn't think. Rather than the author just telling us straight up, she gave us time to speculate, to come up with out own answers, and to wonder. She did that through the mastery and, well, almost silence that surrounds Patch and I thought that was cool! Nora is 100% the person that you want to yell at in a horror movie. Like an "Ohhhh!!! Ahhh!!! Ehhhh!!!!! Whyyyyy!!!! NO DON'T DO THAT!" kind of yell. I think that proves the authors success in getting the reader invested in her story. Besides the two main characters however, we really only get a surface level understanding of the rest. That was fine though, the rest of the story didn't concern them much. However, at the end you find out that there is something EXTREMELY important about someone but you don't get to know him literally at all so you do feel a little cheated. Sorry if that was low key a spoiler but that is really the only way to describe the situation.

Okay rad readers, that is about all I have to say for that. I believe I gave this book 4/5 stars on good reads. It was more like a 4.35 if you are getting specific, but ya know, what can ya do? I would absolutely recommend reading this. I thought it was super fun and reminded me a little bit of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. Nora is like a less exciting and baller Mara, but Mara is so baller that it would be hard for someone to not be less baller than her. You get it. What I'm saying is that I liked this book very VERY much, and certainly intend on picking up the rest of the series. A quarantine must have, I would say!

Don't listen to reviews, read the book yourself and then form an opinion on it!! You will more likely than not be pleasantly surprised.

Perhaps I should have titled this blog, defending Hush Hush for too many paragraphs haha!

Read on!

- C8 ;)