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amandasbrews's Reviews (458)
Sweet, comforting, fun, sweet, family-focused, light
Tokyo Dreaming is a wonderful addition to Izumi’s story. Though I loved Tokyo Ever After more (which is common for me and sequels), this still holds a special place in my heart. Tokyo Dreaming gives us a glimpse into Izumi’s life as she learns to blend her two selves. Just like any other major life change, when we settle down into everyday life again, we start to grapple with how to reconcile our two selves from before and after the event. I love Tokyo Dreaming because it doesn’t let us get swept up in the whirlwind of excitement of becoming an overnight princess and a happily ever after, it’s about the challenges that came after a major life change and a major change in family dynamic. In this sequel, we’re allowed to see Izumi and her family struggle with their new normal. We get to see them decide how they want to find their voice and build their lives.
Quick Summary: After Izumi learned her father was the Crowned Pince of Japan, she became a princess overnight. Now, she’s finally settling into her life as a princess when she overhears that the Imperial Household Council refuses to approve the marriage of her parents, Izumi pledges to become the picture-perfect princess to make up for her mother’s lack of status. Unfortunately trying to be someone you’re not isn’t all it’s cut out to be. As Izumi starts to become what everyone wants her to be, she starts to lose herself in the process. In the process of giving her mom and dad a happily ever after, will she lose her own?
Tokyo Ever After was one of my favorite reads of 2021. It was the first book I’ve ever read where the Asian American protagonist went to the country where her parents are from and is accepted. Izumi may not have been fully accepted easily as the princess of the nation, that always has to come with struggles, but she was never questioned on whether she was Japanese. Izumi was able to go to a place where everyone looked like her and everyone accepted that she looked like them as well. I cried a lot.
As a mixed race person, this is a magical phenomena I could never imagine for myself, but inside this series, I’m able to dream. Tokyo Dreaming picks up from Izumi learning how to exist in Japan in the previous book and allows her to begin her life where her heart is. It is a delightful extension to that dream that Tokyo Ever After made possible for me. It helped me imagine what that could be like and I never want to let it go. This series takes The Princess Diaries, one of my favorite movies as a kid, and gives it back to Asian Americans. Tokyo Ever After gives us our magical princess story and Tokyo Dreaming gives us our princess life.
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Tokyo Dreaming is a wonderful addition to Izumi’s story. Though I loved Tokyo Ever After more (which is common for me and sequels), this still holds a special place in my heart. Tokyo Dreaming gives us a glimpse into Izumi’s life as she learns to blend her two selves. Just like any other major life change, when we settle down into everyday life again, we start to grapple with how to reconcile our two selves from before and after the event. I love Tokyo Dreaming because it doesn’t let us get swept up in the whirlwind of excitement of becoming an overnight princess and a happily ever after, it’s about the challenges that came after a major life change and a major change in family dynamic. In this sequel, we’re allowed to see Izumi and her family struggle with their new normal. We get to see them decide how they want to find their voice and build their lives.
Quick Summary: After Izumi learned her father was the Crowned Pince of Japan, she became a princess overnight. Now, she’s finally settling into her life as a princess when she overhears that the Imperial Household Council refuses to approve the marriage of her parents, Izumi pledges to become the picture-perfect princess to make up for her mother’s lack of status. Unfortunately trying to be someone you’re not isn’t all it’s cut out to be. As Izumi starts to become what everyone wants her to be, she starts to lose herself in the process. In the process of giving her mom and dad a happily ever after, will she lose her own?
Tokyo Ever After was one of my favorite reads of 2021. It was the first book I’ve ever read where the Asian American protagonist went to the country where her parents are from and is accepted. Izumi may not have been fully accepted easily as the princess of the nation, that always has to come with struggles, but she was never questioned on whether she was Japanese. Izumi was able to go to a place where everyone looked like her and everyone accepted that she looked like them as well. I cried a lot.
As a mixed race person, this is a magical phenomena I could never imagine for myself, but inside this series, I’m able to dream. Tokyo Dreaming picks up from Izumi learning how to exist in Japan in the previous book and allows her to begin her life where her heart is. It is a delightful extension to that dream that Tokyo Ever After made possible for me. It helped me imagine what that could be like and I never want to let it go. This series takes The Princess Diaries, one of my favorite movies as a kid, and gives it back to Asian Americans. Tokyo Ever After gives us our magical princess story and Tokyo Dreaming gives us our princess life.
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I'm just here to support more Viet authors always
6.15.2022 OKAY LET'S DO THIS
6.15.2022 OKAY LET'S DO THIS
Relatable, fun, exciting, cute, delightful, validating, sweet
Seoulmates is exactly as comforting as I thought it would be when I opened it up and read Susan Lee’s author note. I read nearly the entire thing in one sitting because I just couldn’t put it down. Susan Lee builds such a sweet romance and a main character that truly speaks to my heart. I’m so honored and validated to have a character like Hannah in the world. The story itself hits all the right beats that I hope for in a romance and I can’t recommend it enough.
Quick Summary: Life is going all according to plan for Hannah Cho until her boyfriend Nate breaks up with her at a party. In her crumbling life, the last person she wants to see if her ex-best friend, Jacob Kim. But at the worst time possible, Jacob’s coming back to town. And because their moms are best friends, they are all staying in the same house. When blackmail, a bucket list, and two meddling mothers come into play, it seems Hannah and Jacob are in for a K-drama worthy summer
Full review on my blog Bookish Brews
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Seoulmates is exactly as comforting as I thought it would be when I opened it up and read Susan Lee’s author note. I read nearly the entire thing in one sitting because I just couldn’t put it down. Susan Lee builds such a sweet romance and a main character that truly speaks to my heart. I’m so honored and validated to have a character like Hannah in the world. The story itself hits all the right beats that I hope for in a romance and I can’t recommend it enough.
Quick Summary: Life is going all according to plan for Hannah Cho until her boyfriend Nate breaks up with her at a party. In her crumbling life, the last person she wants to see if her ex-best friend, Jacob Kim. But at the worst time possible, Jacob’s coming back to town. And because their moms are best friends, they are all staying in the same house. When blackmail, a bucket list, and two meddling mothers come into play, it seems Hannah and Jacob are in for a K-drama worthy summer
Full review on my blog Bookish Brews
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I'm just going to pretend that weird stalking part didn't happen
Bookish Brews | Twitter | Pinterest | Tumblr | Facebook
Bookish Brews | Twitter | Pinterest | Tumblr | Facebook
Sweet, fun, light, funny, relatable, real, honest, cute
Circling Back to You is one of my most anticipated romances of the year, especially after I read The Donut Trap (you can read my review here!) and loved it last year. Julie Tieu is a wonderful writer of light, fun, and sweet contemporaries, and Circling Back to You is just as delightful as her debut. Circling Back to You hits the nail on the head with this office romance. It tackles challenges that workplace friendships and romances are bound to have, maintains the so many comforting romance tropes, and adds in a wonderful family dynamic for both characters which gives everyone so much depth. I found myself not only rooting for the romance, which happens quite a bit in romances but also for each character individually. An absolute delight of a book!
Quick Summary: Cadence and Matt are best friends in the office. When work sends them on a business trip to their hometown, Matt asks Cadence to pretend to be his girlfriend for a family gathering. Given the opportunity to see each other in a new setting, they both start to change their perspectives on what their friendship really is. But just as they finally start to see their relationship for what it really is, promotions and new opportunities begin to arise that would tear them apart. Matt and Cadence must work together to get through these challenges together… or not.
Circling Back to You does a wonderful job of connecting the characters’ families into the romance. Too many romances are too isolated from the rest of the world but Tieu makes Cadence and Matt’s world so relatable and well-rounded. The way that the family dynamics affect the characters and their relationships ties so perfectly into the characters’ personalities, it gives the reader a perfect opportunity to get to know the characters. No family is perfect but our families help shape who we become, so it is a joy to read about Cadence and Matt’s families.
My favorite part of Circling Back to You is how both Matt and Cadence are both working to improve their lives from the beginning. They are both looking to further their careers, which eventually presents challenges to their friendship and romance, but it made the characters so much more relatable. Both of them are at the start of their careers and they are still working on climbing but Tieu is able to illustrate beautifully how much climbing the ladder can affect our personal lives. It is relatable, difficult, and important to read characters growing through this. So many people go through this stage in their life, or maybe they are still in it, and they might feel less alone by reading characters who also struggle with how much they are willing to let work affect their personal lives.
Bookish Brews | Twitter | Pinterest | Tumblr | Facebook
Circling Back to You is one of my most anticipated romances of the year, especially after I read The Donut Trap (you can read my review here!) and loved it last year. Julie Tieu is a wonderful writer of light, fun, and sweet contemporaries, and Circling Back to You is just as delightful as her debut. Circling Back to You hits the nail on the head with this office romance. It tackles challenges that workplace friendships and romances are bound to have, maintains the so many comforting romance tropes, and adds in a wonderful family dynamic for both characters which gives everyone so much depth. I found myself not only rooting for the romance, which happens quite a bit in romances but also for each character individually. An absolute delight of a book!
Quick Summary: Cadence and Matt are best friends in the office. When work sends them on a business trip to their hometown, Matt asks Cadence to pretend to be his girlfriend for a family gathering. Given the opportunity to see each other in a new setting, they both start to change their perspectives on what their friendship really is. But just as they finally start to see their relationship for what it really is, promotions and new opportunities begin to arise that would tear them apart. Matt and Cadence must work together to get through these challenges together… or not.
Circling Back to You does a wonderful job of connecting the characters’ families into the romance. Too many romances are too isolated from the rest of the world but Tieu makes Cadence and Matt’s world so relatable and well-rounded. The way that the family dynamics affect the characters and their relationships ties so perfectly into the characters’ personalities, it gives the reader a perfect opportunity to get to know the characters. No family is perfect but our families help shape who we become, so it is a joy to read about Cadence and Matt’s families.
My favorite part of Circling Back to You is how both Matt and Cadence are both working to improve their lives from the beginning. They are both looking to further their careers, which eventually presents challenges to their friendship and romance, but it made the characters so much more relatable. Both of them are at the start of their careers and they are still working on climbing but Tieu is able to illustrate beautifully how much climbing the ladder can affect our personal lives. It is relatable, difficult, and important to read characters growing through this. So many people go through this stage in their life, or maybe they are still in it, and they might feel less alone by reading characters who also struggle with how much they are willing to let work affect their personal lives.
Bookish Brews | Twitter | Pinterest | Tumblr | Facebook
Riveting, encompassing, dark, fast-paced, worrisome, mysterious, creepy
Burn Down, Rise Up was a complete surprise to me. I don’t know what I was expecting but I wasn’t expecting a high-stakes, action-packed, paranormal thriller… Cosmic horror? This book is so many things and they are all put together so well. The history of the Bronx tied in with a cosmic horror-esque mysterious game with a worrisome mystery somehow balanced each other out in this truly exciting contemporary thriller. I can’t wait to read more from Vincent Tirado because this book really blew it out of the water. I was at the edge of my seat the entire time.
Quick Summary: The Bronx has been plagued by mysterious disappearances for over a year. No one can explain them but the residents of the Bronx aren’t surprised because they know that they only search for the white kids anyway. When Raquel’s crush Charlize’s cousin goes missing, Raquel starts to pay attention. Raquel and Charlize team up to investigate but soon discover that they are in way over their head and find themselves mixed up with a terrifying urban legend called the Echo Game.
Burn Down, Rise Up shines in its writing. The worlds that the characters go to during the Echo Game are remarkably easy to picture without being too densely detailed in the writing. Tirado strikes the perfect balance of building the world just enough to let the reader fill in the blanks. This is an especially important skill when writing settings that are similar to parallel worlds like the Echo Game. The sharp writing and world-building kept me at the edge of my seat throughout the entire novel.
Full review on my blog Bookish Brews
Bookish Brews | Twitter | Pinterest | Tumblr | Facebook
Burn Down, Rise Up was a complete surprise to me. I don’t know what I was expecting but I wasn’t expecting a high-stakes, action-packed, paranormal thriller… Cosmic horror? This book is so many things and they are all put together so well. The history of the Bronx tied in with a cosmic horror-esque mysterious game with a worrisome mystery somehow balanced each other out in this truly exciting contemporary thriller. I can’t wait to read more from Vincent Tirado because this book really blew it out of the water. I was at the edge of my seat the entire time.
Quick Summary: The Bronx has been plagued by mysterious disappearances for over a year. No one can explain them but the residents of the Bronx aren’t surprised because they know that they only search for the white kids anyway. When Raquel’s crush Charlize’s cousin goes missing, Raquel starts to pay attention. Raquel and Charlize team up to investigate but soon discover that they are in way over their head and find themselves mixed up with a terrifying urban legend called the Echo Game.
Burn Down, Rise Up shines in its writing. The worlds that the characters go to during the Echo Game are remarkably easy to picture without being too densely detailed in the writing. Tirado strikes the perfect balance of building the world just enough to let the reader fill in the blanks. This is an especially important skill when writing settings that are similar to parallel worlds like the Echo Game. The sharp writing and world-building kept me at the edge of my seat throughout the entire novel.
Full review on my blog Bookish Brews
Bookish Brews | Twitter | Pinterest | Tumblr | Facebook
Smart, fun, sweet, profound, delightful, lovely, strong
The Last Gifts of the Universe is a lovely and well-rounded science fiction novel. Rory August has a delightful way of balancing the darkness of a mysterious phenomenon destroying all life in the universe, a soft love story, the very human feeling of loss, and the hope to save us all. It is exciting, dark, and light all at once, making it such a wonderful cozy read. Speculative fiction is strongest when it is used to enhance universal human emotions or experiences. The Last Gifts of the Universe manages to make deep space, multiple worlds, and alien species feel like home.
Quick Summary: The universe is dying. When the Home planets achieve the technology to explore the stars, they find nothing but bones and ashes of a dead universe. The people of Home don’t know what happened, but they do know that they must be the last ones left and whatever came for the other civilizations is coming for them. Scout is an Archivist sent on a mission to find answers. To find salvation. Tasked with scouring dead planets for the last gifts: technology, information, cultural rituals; Scout miraculously finds a surviving message from someone who witnessed the world-eating entity. This could be what Scout needs to save everyone.
Full review on my blog Bookish Brews
Bookish Brews | Twitter | Pinterest | Tumblr | Facebook
The Last Gifts of the Universe is a lovely and well-rounded science fiction novel. Rory August has a delightful way of balancing the darkness of a mysterious phenomenon destroying all life in the universe, a soft love story, the very human feeling of loss, and the hope to save us all. It is exciting, dark, and light all at once, making it such a wonderful cozy read. Speculative fiction is strongest when it is used to enhance universal human emotions or experiences. The Last Gifts of the Universe manages to make deep space, multiple worlds, and alien species feel like home.
Quick Summary: The universe is dying. When the Home planets achieve the technology to explore the stars, they find nothing but bones and ashes of a dead universe. The people of Home don’t know what happened, but they do know that they must be the last ones left and whatever came for the other civilizations is coming for them. Scout is an Archivist sent on a mission to find answers. To find salvation. Tasked with scouring dead planets for the last gifts: technology, information, cultural rituals; Scout miraculously finds a surviving message from someone who witnessed the world-eating entity. This could be what Scout needs to save everyone.
Full review on my blog Bookish Brews
Bookish Brews | Twitter | Pinterest | Tumblr | Facebook