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mermaird's reviews
325 reviews
American Panda by Gloria Chao
4.0
When it comes to English young adult novels, Asians are mostly side characters, either a main character’s friend or simply unnecessarily there just for the sake of having Asian characters. But that’s not the case in American Panda. In this book, Asian rules (well, in a way 🤷🏻♀️)! .
Mei Lu is a Taiwanese American, and due to her heritage, it was hard for her to mingle around just like normal Americans. As an Asian myself, I know that most of us have really strict cultures and beliefs to follow, and in a way, I understand the struggle Mei had to go through. My culture and her culture are still different, but being Asian makes it close enough.
At first, Mei simply followed whatever her parents told her to, but it was hard because she is not going down the path her heart wanted. Throughout that time, my rate for this book has been solid three stars, but when Mei eventually finds her voice and fights for her dream, I knew that this is what I’ve been looking for ✨ .
I love the way Gloria Chao depicts the hardships of coming from the Asian heritage and living in America, despite actually being an American. You will be judged, and some may even look down upon you for no apparent reason. Sometimes even your own family will cage you simply because they think they know the best for you. But just like Mei did, some things are worth sacrificed if it means staying true to your own self.
And can we just talk about how cute Darren Takahashi is? I want a man that invents cute nicknames like Princess Pecan too 🐼💕 .
Mei Lu is a Taiwanese American, and due to her heritage, it was hard for her to mingle around just like normal Americans. As an Asian myself, I know that most of us have really strict cultures and beliefs to follow, and in a way, I understand the struggle Mei had to go through. My culture and her culture are still different, but being Asian makes it close enough.
At first, Mei simply followed whatever her parents told her to, but it was hard because she is not going down the path her heart wanted. Throughout that time, my rate for this book has been solid three stars, but when Mei eventually finds her voice and fights for her dream, I knew that this is what I’ve been looking for ✨ .
I love the way Gloria Chao depicts the hardships of coming from the Asian heritage and living in America, despite actually being an American. You will be judged, and some may even look down upon you for no apparent reason. Sometimes even your own family will cage you simply because they think they know the best for you. But just like Mei did, some things are worth sacrificed if it means staying true to your own self.
And can we just talk about how cute Darren Takahashi is? I want a man that invents cute nicknames like Princess Pecan too 🐼💕 .
The Restless Girls by Jessie Burton
5.0
I’m going to admit this: I fell asleep halfway through the book 🙈 but fret not, it’s because it felt like such a comfortable read that it lulled me to a sweet dream. In my head, I read out The Restless Girls word by word, just like I would tell someone a bedtime story (I’m definitely saving it for my children, if I ever have any ✨) .
The story is not only full of wonder, but it is also every bit fully women empowering 💫🔥 I love the very close sisterly bond between the princesses, the magical elements in it, and how clever the girls managed to outwit others.
And I absolutely love the fact that the princesses are brown girls. When I was young, almost every princesses (from the western culture) that I knew of had been white; I believe that it’s time that we prove that no matter what your skin colour looks like, you can definitely still be a princess 👑 💖 Rise and slay, girls! ✨🔥 .
The story is not only full of wonder, but it is also every bit fully women empowering 💫🔥 I love the very close sisterly bond between the princesses, the magical elements in it, and how clever the girls managed to outwit others.
And I absolutely love the fact that the princesses are brown girls. When I was young, almost every princesses (from the western culture) that I knew of had been white; I believe that it’s time that we prove that no matter what your skin colour looks like, you can definitely still be a princess 👑 💖 Rise and slay, girls! ✨🔥 .
Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare
5.0
My rating: 4.9 / 5 ★
It might be weird that I've never read any of Cassandra Clare's previous book series, but I decided to jump into Lady Midnight even though the story still revolves around the Shadowhunter world. And you know what? I have zero regrets! I love Lady Midnight with all my heart and I feel so protective towards Emma and Julian.
If you're aware of how thick Clare's books are, imagine going through all that 600+ pages and add frustration and love into it: it was stressful to go through, I had to give almost a month to myself to digest those pages. But I ended loving it to bits, all the frustration (and aching arms) were definitely worth it. The Blackthorns are amazing and I found myself loving each family siblings because they are all unique. For a book this thick, there's just so many things that I want to say, but also want to keep to myself.
The parabatai relation between Emma and Julian is beautiful yet agonising at the same time; I love Cassandra Clare so much for making my heart wrecked for these two. I do plan on trying to start Clare's previous works (just so I can understand the other characters more) and only then continue with Lord of Shadows, but my current TBR list is already drowning me and I probably cannot afford all them books at the moment, so it's either I borrow them from a friend or buy them sometime in the future. Whatever my decision is, I will definitely come back to this series soon, for Emma and Julian.
It might be weird that I've never read any of Cassandra Clare's previous book series, but I decided to jump into Lady Midnight even though the story still revolves around the Shadowhunter world. And you know what? I have zero regrets! I love Lady Midnight with all my heart and I feel so protective towards Emma and Julian.
If you're aware of how thick Clare's books are, imagine going through all that 600+ pages and add frustration and love into it: it was stressful to go through, I had to give almost a month to myself to digest those pages. But I ended loving it to bits, all the frustration (and aching arms) were definitely worth it. The Blackthorns are amazing and I found myself loving each family siblings because they are all unique. For a book this thick, there's just so many things that I want to say, but also want to keep to myself.
The parabatai relation between Emma and Julian is beautiful yet agonising at the same time; I love Cassandra Clare so much for making my heart wrecked for these two. I do plan on trying to start Clare's previous works (just so I can understand the other characters more) and only then continue with Lord of Shadows, but my current TBR list is already drowning me and I probably cannot afford all them books at the moment, so it's either I borrow them from a friend or buy them sometime in the future. Whatever my decision is, I will definitely come back to this series soon, for Emma and Julian.
1984 by George Orwell, Anine Kierulf
2.0
1984 is definitely one of the hardest reads that I've been through, and I didn't end liking it much. It's probably just not my type, but I feel like the story is difficult to digest. I think the messages inside the novel are brilliant, but I couldn't enjoy the way it was written; they felt too gloomy and grey (which is exactly the point of the story).
This is probably a great classic literature for others, but it's not meant for me.
This is probably a great classic literature for others, but it's not meant for me.
All We Could Have Been by T.E. Carter
5.0
This book totally captured me with “this town is full of boys with nice eyes”. I love boys with nice eyes, and I love the boys with nice eyes in this story.
There’s so much to love regarding All We Could Have Been; the rawness of the pain that Lexi had to suffer because of what her brother did were overwhelming but I love the fact that despite all the betrayal she faced, she still has HOPE inside her. And that hope is what makes her stronger to face her life forward.
I couldn’t get why this book is titled the way it is at first, but then I realised that it somehow brings the message of ‘all we could have been’, if only we’re strong enough to be honest about our true self.
Many thanks to Ppansing for sending me this copy in exchange for an honest review.
There’s so much to love regarding All We Could Have Been; the rawness of the pain that Lexi had to suffer because of what her brother did were overwhelming but I love the fact that despite all the betrayal she faced, she still has HOPE inside her. And that hope is what makes her stronger to face her life forward.
I couldn’t get why this book is titled the way it is at first, but then I realised that it somehow brings the message of ‘all we could have been’, if only we’re strong enough to be honest about our true self.
Many thanks to Ppansing for sending me this copy in exchange for an honest review.
Twisted Reunion by Mark Tullius
4.0
First and foremost, I would like to thank Mark Tullius and @BookTasters on Twitter for providing me with an ebook copy of Twisted Reunion in exchange for an honest review. I apologise for taking too long to complete the book and come up with this review.
Although I do love reading short stories because of how convenient they are, I am usually not too fond of reading a short story collection in one go, because I tend to lose focus due to too many different characters, and it gets to a point where I simply don't care about any of the characters anymore. This is one of the reasons why it took a while for me to digest Twisted Reunion.
I would honestly say that I have some mixed feelings over this short story collection. I'm quite a fan of horror reads, and I would say that even though the stories were not that terrifying, they are undeniably horrific if it would to be happen in reality. Mark Tullius combined several supernatural elements with psychopathic human beings, making most of the horrors enjoyable to be read. Unfortunately, I couldn't find myself enjoying all the stories to the most. Some of them had characters that I couldn't even comprehend or empathise with, while a few others just left me baffled as to what I just read.
But for more than half of the short stories in this collection, I truly enjoyed them to bits. The one where "an artist whose paintings become reality" particularly left the best impression on me, mainly because of how beautiful it seemed to hint at first, but things slowly went down to hell once the artist finished her paintings. Another one that was very memorable to me was where "a man who longs to rid himself of an annoying companion". I thought I had an idea of what their relationship was supposed to be at first, but then I was proved absolutely wrong at the end and it just made the whole story make sense in a better way.
Overall, I did enjoy reading Twisted Reunion a lot. I think that Mark Tullius is a great writer, and I would love to read more stories (especially horrors) from him in the future. Most of the stories, if not all, involved a huge deal of violence and horrific events, so if you're comfortable with that, then this book would be perfect for you!
Although I do love reading short stories because of how convenient they are, I am usually not too fond of reading a short story collection in one go, because I tend to lose focus due to too many different characters, and it gets to a point where I simply don't care about any of the characters anymore. This is one of the reasons why it took a while for me to digest Twisted Reunion.
I would honestly say that I have some mixed feelings over this short story collection. I'm quite a fan of horror reads, and I would say that even though the stories were not that terrifying, they are undeniably horrific if it would to be happen in reality. Mark Tullius combined several supernatural elements with psychopathic human beings, making most of the horrors enjoyable to be read. Unfortunately, I couldn't find myself enjoying all the stories to the most. Some of them had characters that I couldn't even comprehend or empathise with, while a few others just left me baffled as to what I just read.
But for more than half of the short stories in this collection, I truly enjoyed them to bits. The one where "an artist whose paintings become reality" particularly left the best impression on me, mainly because of how beautiful it seemed to hint at first, but things slowly went down to hell once the artist finished her paintings. Another one that was very memorable to me was where "a man who longs to rid himself of an annoying companion". I thought I had an idea of what their relationship was supposed to be at first, but then I was proved absolutely wrong at the end and it just made the whole story make sense in a better way.
Overall, I did enjoy reading Twisted Reunion a lot. I think that Mark Tullius is a great writer, and I would love to read more stories (especially horrors) from him in the future. Most of the stories, if not all, involved a huge deal of violence and horrific events, so if you're comfortable with that, then this book would be perfect for you!