Book Review: "Women on Top" by Michelle Miller

“Women on Top” gives you the idea that you’re going to read about women that create paths for others to follow or to influence people in some way.

The title fools you as well as the book cover.

Reading about women that enjoy their femininity, their works, their sex life is perfectly fine, the problem is that this book is about spoiled women that have a lot of privileges in their lives (I know they’re people that have good luck and that can have extraordinary experiences, that’s not wrong, what’s wrong is their personalities). The thing about these characters is that their main purpose in life is to find men, based on their appearance or status; the thing about these characters is that their resilience is proven if one of them sweats.

The stories could’ve been handled better, especially because these are short stories. Here you can find descriptions that aren’t relevant, things that won’t be mentioned again, and even tables attached as if they were essays.

The pacing, in general, is slow at the beginning of each story and too fast at their endings, which makes you feel dissatisfied. They’re unnecessary flashbacks, masochistic love, and some naïve woman. Also, there’s mentioned that the universal feminist dream is ending up with a man and family. Equality? Not in this book.

Both women and men have no depth, they only have lives filled with lies, pathetic people, expensive wine bottles,  and fashion brands, whose purpose is to show knowledge in that area somehow. Almost everything is about convenience and s*itty people can still get some kind of reward.

The image of love is wrong, although we all can fall in any of them, of course (masochistic, toxic, stupid). There’s a sentence that made me cringe intensely. A man takes one of these women to an art gallery because it had reminded him of her. That sounds kinda cute, right? And the resemblance turns out to be: “[He took her there] because he was thinking about her vagina.” Add a sarcastic smile here, please. Oh, mother of Thor!

The few tiny good things, a couple of sentences, intertextuality, and plot twists aren’t enough to make this book worth it. I’d definitely not recommend this book to anyone unless, like the author, such person has a fetish for khakis and calves.

I could read this book thanks to NetGalley and Amazon ;)

MICHELLE MILLER wrote pseudonymously until the publication of her debut novel, The Underwriting, which was translated into twenty languages and developed for television with Fox. She holds a BA and MBA from Stanford University and, in a past life, worked at JP Morgan's private bank. Michelle lives between London and Asheville, North Carolina, where she was born and raised.

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Book Review: "The Bird King" by G. Willow Wilson

This book was disappointing and for a moment I thought I wouldn’t finish it. The beginning of it totally caught my attention, though.

As the synopsis says, the story is set during the reign of a sultan that falls into the hands of the Spanish Inquisition, a situation that changes the lives of two friends, Fatima and Hassan. The story looks promising at this point because we can read a little bit about the traditions held around that time and place (Iberian Peninsula), like the way Fatima and Hassan arrived at the palace, the way they served their masters (Fatima as a concubine and Hassan as a magic mapmaker, as well as their subsequent longing for freedom, and how this freedom looks even more impossible to achieve with the arrival of the Holy Office representatives.

In order to save Hassan of a terrible fate involving his talent with mapmaking, he and Fatima embarked in a journey that I think it lacked a feeling of adventure and emotion, which made it boring; a journey that also added unnecessary characters that didn’t have enough background to make you feel anything for them, not love nor hate (and I'm afraid to say I felt nothing for the main characters either). Also, they were parts that were a little bit confusing to me, but I have the feeling that it was because of the Kindle format I got.

This story wasn’t for me. Definitely.

I could read this book thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic ;)

G. WILLOW WILSON is the author of the acclaimed novel The Bird King, co-creator of the Hugo and American Book Award-winning series Ms Marvel, and has written for some of the world’s best-known superhero comic book series, including The X-Men, Superman, and Wonder Woman. Her first novel, Alif the Unseen, won the 2013 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, was a finalist for the Center For Fiction’s First Novel Prize, and was long-listed for the 2013 Women’s Prize for Fiction. In 2015, she won the Graphic Literature Innovator Prize at the PEN America Literary Awards. Her work has been translated into over a dozen languages. She lives in Seattle.

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Alexandra, The Dorky Writer - Chapter 7

Capable: [ˈkāpəb(ə)l]  1. Having the ability, fitness, or quality necessary to do or achieve a specified thing. 2. Able to achieve efficiently whatever one has to do; competent.

The Dorky Writer had already read that definition some time ago. She knew that such adjective wasn't the one that would describe her. She was aware of that, she accepted it. The bad part was that there were some that "believed" in her and this would sometimes lifted her spirits enough to make her believe that achieving things was actually possible. The Dorky Writer thought she could do it. In her way to getting out of the dark, dry path, she realized that all she needed to survive was wrong. The planning was wrong, the map was wrong, the advice she had taken before was wrong. And she was alone. There were no fairies anymore... there were no thorny trees trying to stop her; even they had realized she wasn't worth the effort. The Mighty Thesis had won even before facing it in real life. Alexandra felt disappointed and angry. Yet, this was not surprising.

I had the silly idea that this chapter was going to be way different. I had to take some time. The thesis' protocol needed my full concentration because it was the first time doing something that intense. I read as much as I could, I struggled to get some material, I had big conflicts against myself because I found projects online that looked similar to mine, but at the end I could finish this first 15 page protocol and, even though I wasn't satisfied with it, I felt relieved because I had done it! My ideas were on paper, my classmates were supportive with it, the teacher never said anything wrong about it. All was good.

And then it wasn't.

The second part of the Thesis Seminar started on the first days of September. I knew this was going to be stressful but I was only counting on me arriving late because I started to work on Saturdays again, not that my whole project would be set on fire and die.

Almost a week ago I arrived to class while one of my classmates was explaining her project. I realized I was going to explain just after one more classmate and for the first damn time I didn't feel so bad that I had to talk in a room full of people. I already knew what the problem was, I already knew what I wanted to express in my paper. Again, a couple of my classmates, like in the previous Seminar, looked interested in what I was saying. The teacher got confused. He started asking me questions and I started to get anxious of course. All that I wanted to say, the ways I wanted to do it disappeared. I now realize that I might have answered with things that I actually didn't want to say. In the eyes of everyone, because everyone were watching me, I was wrong. And while the teacher helped one of them to focus on his idea, he didn't do the same for me. I got him too confused apparently. All that time he couldn't stop saying "I still don't see how that could work; I still don't see the problem; I still don't understand."

I couldn't continue with the work that day, which consisted in the hypothesis part. I felt attacked (I know I wasn't but when you're anxious you feel everything is about you, no matter how much you wanna stop it), I felt stupid, vulnerable and unable to flee.

I understand how these papers must be done. I understand where I can be wrong now that I think about the situation again, which leads to tears, unfortunately, but what I can't understand is why previous teachers didn't tell me where I was wrong. Why they let me come to this class if the protocol wasn't correct. And that is related to the disappointment part, of course, the disappointment about myself on one side and the belief from people that love me on the other, telling me I'm capable of doing it when I feel I can't.

My heart and brain are telling me to go to school and quit. But I'm afraid of that too because I can see the face of the school's principal already, telling me to stay and then I see myself staying but not because I want to do it.

I felt better this week, because I know I don't have to go, but I have the feeling next week won't be good at all.

End of Chapter 7.

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Alexandra, The Dorky Writer - Chapter 6

The Dorky Writer took the path the fairies had suggested, but none of them told her that the bushes would have long and thorny arms that they would try to stop her. One of them grabbed her by the ankle and made her stumble:

"Grab that silly map of yours and look for answers in another damn forest. The way you move, the way you walk suggests you don't even know the final destination. A good explorer would know basic survival skills, but you know nothing." 

The Dorky Writer deserved it, she already knew she was too naïve and immature, but that was a painful reminder... or maybe that the sign she needed to forget about the Mighty Thesis. Yet, how many times hadn't she given up already and how many times she had picked up her books, quills, and ink? 

I have the feeling this will be long and about a lot of things that might not be related with the first part of this chapter. I don't know how many times I wrote and rewrote this and all of those possible chapters were completely different compared to this final result, they were about my music tastes while writing or about my inability for decision making regarding the thesis. And do you know what  made me write in a more 'coherent' way? I'm supposed to be writing something else and I'm prone to procrastinate... I'm starting to see a pattern there and that's not good, no, no, no, no, no.

We've been learning about different types of research in the last month at school. I've felt so lost and overwhelmed with new information and vocabulary, which has made me walk in circles through the dark woods. There's some soft moonlight that manages to illuminate the path, though: The teacher has been giving us some exercises that are related to them, so we can differentiate and understand them better. The first exercise was alright. It was about Grounded Theory and we had to make a comparative table that appeared in the book. I tried to apply the problem I want to write on my thesis, so it wasn't so bad (maybe I'll use that theory!), but then we learned about Biographies and Memoirs as an investigation method as well, and the low confidence I had disappeared. The teacher asked us to explain a problem through a personal perspective; it could've been about someone we knew or about ourselves. My first thought was about explain anxiety or writer's block, something I already have in here (OK, now  I'm suddenly realizing I express better about myself and my issues better in English, what's happening?) 

I couldn't stop thinking about that problem... I still can't... BUT I couldn't write about it so I ended up with this. Curious thing is that I think this could work too! I'm explaining my situation, my issue, using my 'experience.' The thing that could not work would be that they'd need background for this but maybe not for Chapter 2, for example, which explains what I wanted to write about in the first place... CAN YOU READ THE ANXIETY HERE? I'm writing this in my class... I'm anxious, I need help! I can't run away. DAMMIT!! If you can't understand this tiny part, I'm sorry! But I need to vent!

EDIT: Ok. I ended up reading my 'live' writing at class... kinda. My out loud reading is crap. My English pronunciation made it more difficult, and I CAN'T FUCKING BELIEVE I DARED TO READ IN ENGLISH! It was the right idea, though. My brain is melting. We've been around 32°-34° C in the last hours and that didn't help. 

I ended up writing about The Dorky Writer Adventures (silliest name ever but the only one that's on my head right now) as the result of previous anxiety transformed into sentences and vague ideas that have meaning at the end. This time was a little different because I'm not making corrections; I'm not changing a thing. I let my anxiety speak and let it as it was: a mess. I know this isn't my best chapter (I'm not saying the others are good), but I decided to share it as a personal experiment, to reread and evaluate myself later, to see how different I am when I write in an organized way and in an anxious one. 

End of Chapter 6.

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Book Review: "A Dash of Flash" by Millie Thom

I attended a short story course at school that changed my literary views some years ago. Firstly, because I discovered that you can tell an entire story in no more than one page and with a wide range of resources ㅡplot twists, cliffhangers, parodies, uff! Secondly, that you can receive a huge impact from those tiny stories, and finally, that these aren't so easy to write precisely for the first two statements (or maybe they're but not for me *insert stressed emoji here*).

Even though Thom's book can be read quickly, I couldn't do it because of work and school, but I think such thing helped in the end because I could read a bit here and there and from time to time. Furthermore, the plots are so varied that it's not necessary to read it that fast or read it in the provided order, so I'm sure you can find a story that pleases you, or maybe you like them all! The magic about this kind of fiction is that you actually don't know what to expect: you can receive a sudden spark of inspiration because you want to write your own version or maybe you get an avalanche of shivers because of that impressive plot twist.

This is a very light reading and I recommend it to people that enjoy short fiction, but mostly to those that have never tried it before. My rating might not be the highest, but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it, I just think some of the stories weren't read in the right moment for me, but this situation can be completely different for someone else!

I could read this book thanks to the author and Booktasters ;)

MILLIE THOM is a former geography and history teacher with a degree in geology and a particular passion for the Anglo-Saxon and Viking period. Originally from Lancashire, she is a mother of six grown-up children and now lives with her husband in a small village in Nottinghamshire, midway between the town of Newark and the lovely old city of Lincoln. When not writing, Millie enjoys long walks and is a serious fossil hunter. She is also an avid traveler, swimmer, and baker of cakes!

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Book Review: "The Ingredients of Love" by Nicolas Barreau

Previously posted on Goodreads!¹

The tagline of this book says "This book will make you happy" (I read this book in Spanish, so I'm not sure if the phrase goes exactly like that). BUT this is my tagline: "This book will make you feel like The Hulk!"

I don't like to say this, but I really hated this story.

First of all, this is sold like an intelligent, charming, and blah story when is the contrary. God, I'm so angry that I feel that I'm also writing in a not intelligent way!

We have this total cliché plot of lies and a pair of immature persons in their 30's hat act worse than teenagers. We have Aurélie, who's recently been dumped, so she ends with a two-day "depression", and I'm using quotation marks here because that's what the synopsis says, not what happened; she forgets about this when she reads a book "about her" and saves her life. At first, when I found this book, I thought this would be metaphorical... my mistake. The character of the book is actually her, physically, so I DON'T UNDERSTAND how a book that describes my physical appearance can save me. Then, because she has practically seen heaven, she goes nuts when she tries to find the author.

Then we have André, a person that at first I believed was the one with common sense... NOPE! He falls in love at first sight (falling in love like that isn't the bad part) and creates an awful story around himself just to get in touch with Aurélie. He's the bridge between "the author" and this girl. He doesn't get the hints Aurélie gives him about not being interested and he doesn't understand. There was a moment that got me on my nerves:

"'Do you know that you're a really bad person, monsieur Chabanais?'

'Yes, I know. I'm worse than you can imagine.'" 

And I was like: "FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, GIRL! PAY ATTENTION!"

He gets so obsessed that he makes things that aren't healthy in any way. But, "he's in love" and that's what matters, right? (This f****** weirdo). And Aurélie HATED HIM most of the time and then... loved him? WT...

And the writing? Barreau spoils himself saying things like "I looked at the writing, as it was the key to unveil Miller's mystery. And it was. But I couldn't see it at that moment." Lord, have mercy! Also, the synopsis says that this book is filled with books, recipes... I'm sorry, but there's no mention of a real book and the recipes are attached at the end of the book, resulting in a waste of sheets.

NICOLAS BARREAU was born in Paris, the son of a French father and a German mother. He studied romance languages and literature at the Sorbonne and worked in a bookshop on the Rive Gauche in Paris but is far from an inexperienced bookworm. With his two other successful novels The Woman of My Life and You'll Find Me at the End of the World, he has gained an enthusiastic audience. The Ingredients of Love is his second novel.


¹This review was written and originally posted on my Goodreads profile in 2016. It might now present minor changes in structure or corrections but has not changed its intention.

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Book Review: "Stars Above" by Marissa Meyer

Previously posted on Goodreads!¹

It was a nice touch to gather all these short stories. The thing is, that you have to be familiar with the entire Lunar Chronicles series (well, The Little Android can be read separately, I guess).

All of these are SPOILERS if you haven't read or finished The Lunar Chronicles.

The Keeper: ★★★★☆ Loved to read about Michelle Benoit and the problems she had when Cinder arrived to her farm... and she named Cinder! I almost cried!

Glitches: ★★★★☆ (More of a 4.5) I'm a weak person when it comes to Cinder. This is the story of how she meets the Lihns and Iko! (Reread)

The Queen's Army: ★★★★★ If by any chance you don't like Wolf, this short story will change your mind! I just liked him, now it's different!

Carswell's Guide to Being Lucky: ★★★☆☆ (3.5) You can meet the Thornes and that story about Kate.

After Sunshine Passes By: ★★★★☆ This is the story of how Cress ended up in the satellite. Made me cry a bit because she never stopped being a dreamer.

The Princess and the Guard: ★★★★★ All things about Luna and Lunars are perfect! And Levana's there (I love her because she's a well-written villain). This is a story about Winter's early steps.

The Little Android: ★★★★☆ Another twist with another fairytale, The Little Mermaid, but of course, instead of a mermaid you have an android, because why not! This story doesn't add any relevant backstory of TLC.

The Mechanic: ★★★☆☆ (3.5) Kai's point of view when he meets Cinder.

Something Old, Something New: ★★★★★ (x20!) A perfect epilogue of The Lunar Chronicles, all the beloved characters are there! This story is set two years after the battle in Luna.

MARISSA MEYER is a fangirl at heart, with a closet full of costumes, a Harry Potter wand on her desk, and a Tuxedo Mask doll hanging from her rearview mirror. Han and Leia are still her OTP. She may or may not be a cyborg. Marissa is also the NYT bestselling author of a number of books for teens, including The Lunar Chronicles, the Renegades Trilogy, and Heartless.

¹This review was written and originally posted on my Goodreads profile in 2016. It might now present minor changes in structure or corrections but has not changed its intention.

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Book Review: "Someone Else's Fairytale" by E.M. Tippetts

Previously posted on Goodreads!¹

This is, indeed, a lovely modern fairytale.

What I liked about this book is that, apart from the love story, we can also see a GOOD background of the protagonist and you can understand perfectly why she may seem a bit cold (the best part is that she isn't) and even confused in some cases. Chloe is definitely a nice example of how a woman should be written. She had strong walls surrounding her, but she was still described as a mature, independent, and strong human being.

Jason is that kind of guy who gets what he wants without trouble...until he meets Chloe. The important thing about his is that he realizes this is some point of the book, showing that even if you're the most perfect superstar in the eyes of everyone, you can be one of the most insecure persons on Earth.

I'm not so fond of the ending, it was quite predictable, but I really enjoyed reading it.

E.M. TIPPETTS is a former attorney with degrees in philosophy, politics, and economics from Oxford University and business law from UCLA. A lifelong New Mexican, she now lives in Santa Fe with her family. She is a devoted member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and thus often includes LDS (Mormon) characters in her work. When she isn't chasing her small children or writing, she designs jewelry, sculpts with polymer clay, and runs her formatting company, E.M. Tippetts Book Design

¹This review was written and originally posted on my Goodreads profile in 2016. It might now present minor changes in structure or corrections but has not changed its intention.

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Alexandra, The Dorky Writer - Chapter 5

The Dorky Writer already knew which path to choose, but the old fairies in the woods advised her to take the left side of the fork instead. Both of the paths looked different of course. One of them was full of fruity trees that whispered soft words to her, telling her that the answer could be there, while the other didn't look terrifying but had just some scattered and sad bushes waiting for some attention. That's where the fairies told her to go, but why? She wouldn't have enough food or water to survive.

"There will be hard moments for you, but the further you travel, the easier will be for others to follow. Keep going further, and then more dorky writers like you can pass through both paths with no problem later." 

"That sounds wonderful and everything, but that would let me weak for the moment I face The Mighty Thesis," The Dorky Writer said after she put her notes, some ink and quills in her bag.

"And that's where you'll know if you're worthy to win or not."

I was very afraid to tell a teacher about the idea I had for the thesis, because saying something about it would make it more real. The thing is that way before we discussed about it, another idea came up, an idea I also liked and that I hadn't considered it. So when the real moment to discuss the subject of investigation arrived, I had two ideas instead of one but with no problem to start.

Every thesis is born because of the need to know something or to answer a question related to the subject of investigation, and this need is called a problem. My problem was that that problem wasn't actually clear, of course. I doubt it, but if you read the first chapters of this insanity, I was kinda sure to talk about women's memoirs and how different they are from one to another. Hell, I already had an idea of what to read but I stopped because of my lack of money to get the books (a downfall of not having good libraries here). The thing is that in another class, before taking the first Thesis Seminar, I mentioned something related to fan fiction. I don't really remember how and why I mentioned it, but my teacher said that investigating about that would be very awesome and different because it was related to my specialization, which is Creative Culture. I have to remind you that this teacher, who is the principal of the school too by the way, didn't know about the idea I already had in mind.

So, the weeks went by, I couldn't write a thing in here again but book reviews, another kind of writer's block I suppose, and then the first Seminar arrived. I mentioned that I had two ideas and between the teacher-principal, who was acting as a substitute for that session, and my classmates, advised me to take the fan fiction subject and find a problem, find a reason why I should defend it, because there are a lot of similar works related to comparative texts (women's memoirs in my case) as written final works. 

After that session, ok, why, oh God, why do we have to share these thoughts out loud? My anxiety kicked me out right on my head! my mind was so crowded I had to hide my school notebooks and books under the bed and I better started to clean so I could keep my mind focused on something else. I couldn't even tell my boyfriend or my mom about it, no matter how much I needed to talk about it with anyone because I wasn't really sure what was going on. Had I really chosen an unexplored and almost empty path? I know it's not completely empty, I mean, there are a lot of trails inside that are full of wonderful written fics but I'm going to go beyond that. And I'm more than scared.

This work has changed and it has changed completely... and I haven't actually really started! I think I have a tiny question that demands to be answered, but it won't become real until I talk with the actual teacher of the Seminar. Until then...

End of Chapter 5.

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Book Review: "Hardened Hearts" [edited] by Eddie Generous

When we think about love stories we always end up thinking about flowers and chocolates, about kisses and walks during a warm sunset. Happy endings. But the line between love and horror is as thin as the single page of a book. 

Hardened Hearts caught my attention since the very beginning with the foreword by James Newman, which reminds you that, indeed, love isn't easy, that makes you bleed and hurt and rage. I think that Newman wrote the perfect book summary: They are stories about sexual love and love between star-crossed romantics, but also included here are stories of a guilt-ridden father's love for his little girl, obsessions with inanimate objects, and even one woman's unnatural, and shared, love for a spider (!).

Love is strange...

I almost wrote this review in a different way, focusing on each story, but then I thought that I could end up spoiling some of them, because WOW! They were 3 of them especially that I'll totally reread whenever I have the chance! What I can say about it, is that this is one of those books that you can't put down easily. I had to, because of work and school, but it's not like the stories left my mind, really. There was one story that reminded me of my first heartbreak, there was another that made me feel terrible and hoping it would never happen to me, and another one that made my jaw drop because the ending wasn't what I was expecting.

Hardened Hearts tells you about self-love, love after death, sexual love, family love, broken hearts, and maybe some kinky love (WOMAN, A SPIDER, REALLY? Haha, sorry, my fear is speaking here); its characters are varied and inclusive, full of fear and doubt but some kind of hopeful as well, so I think almost everyone can feel identified with at least one of their sentences. 

The writing of all of them was impeccable and dark, and for some stories, I was left wanting more. If there's a chance to make a Volume 2 of this, please, don't hesitate to make another compilation!

The authors you can find in here are:
Gwendolyn Kiste
Somer Canon
Calvin Demmer
Theresa Braun
John Boden
Tom Deady
J.L. Knight
Madhvi Ramani
Scott Hallam
Robert Dean
Leo X. Robertson
Jennifer Williams
Erin Sweet Al-Mehairi
Sarah L. Johnson
Meg Elison
James Newman
Eddie Generous

The only reason I gave this book 4 stars is because there are some stories with explicit sex, drug abuse or rape. I don't mind the topics, I've read them in other stories, but I think is important for other people that might feel threatened by these. Please be careful when reading or recommending this book.

I could read this book thanks to author Theresa Braun and Booktasters ;)

THERESA BRAUN was born in St. Paul, Minnesota and has carried some of that hardiness with her to South Florida where she currently resides with her two fur babies, who are her creative sidekicks. She enjoys delving into creative writing, painting, photography and even bouts of ghost hunting. Traveling is one of her passions--in fact, her latest adventure took her to Romania for a horror writers' workshop where she followed in the steps of Vlad the Impaler. She writes horror fiction and the occasional romance. 

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Book Review: "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë

Previously posted on Goodreads!¹

This book... this book...

It took me ages to finish because I was reading it on my laptop, thing that now assures me that if I want to read e-books, I must buy a proper e-reader. 

The writing style reminded me a bit of Charles Dickens' David Copperfield because he started telling the story as a boy and we, as readers, were growing up with the main character all along; it has both ups and downs, sometimes you're reading catastrophes and sometimes long periods of joy.

Charlotte Brontë wrote down perfectly the role of a well-educated and at the same time passionate girl who never gave up in the dark times of her life, thing that I admire because in the books I've read recently, I see female main characters crying and laying down, sometimes being reckless in tue subsequent actions because their lives are just not worthy enough. Jane Eyre is completely different and shows that even in different ages, women can be as strong as men and even stronger in love situations.

Oh, Rochester. The man made me want to throw the book and cry because of his secret. There were times I didn't believe in his love for Jane and everything seemed suspicious for me. Even though I felt that Jane wasn't going to feel completely happy without him, I understood that with her relationship with St. John, and if she had chosen him instead of Rochester, I would've hated this book forever. (I reckon my ship in this book is very clear).

CHARLOTTE BRONTË worked as a governess and spent some years teaching at a boarding school in Brussels; her unrequited love for the school’s headmaster, informed her novels Villette and The Professor. It was the passion and rebellion of Jane Eyre that earned her fame, and when visiting London she moved in the best literary circles, befriended by Mrs. Gaskell and Thackeray – the latter remembered ‘the trembling little frame, the little hand, the great honest eyes’. Shirley, written during and after the tragic deaths of her three siblings within a single year, displayed Charlotte’s engagement with both women’s rights and radical workers’ movements.

¹This review was written and originally posted on my Goodreads profile in 2013. It might now present minor changes in structure or corrections but has not changed its intention.

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Book Review: "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin

Previously posted on Goodreads!¹

What an incredible book.

I must say that it was difficult to me at first because it has too many main characters, so in my very humble point of view, that's what made this story different from others I've read.

The work can't be better, it has a mix between medieval and magical references and the character developments make everything very real.

My favorite above all was Daenerys Targaryen, her story, her characters, everything. She was only a 13-year-old girl who had to become a woman in order to save her lineage, and she changed from a frightened and bullied girl into a wise and brave woman who'd have more pants than Joffrey Baratheon. I also loved Tyrion Lannister because he demonstrated that he had the Lannister name, but not their ideas, something that makes him a very strong and self-centered character.

I need to know what's next. Unfortunately, I need to save money first and stay away from spoilers.



GEORGE R.R. MARTIN is the much-celebrated writer of the famous A Song of Ice and Fire series. He was born on September 20, 1948 in Bayonne, New Jersey and grew up to be world-renowned Science Fiction and Fantasy writer. Martin obtained his early education from Jane Donohoe School and Marist High School moving on to B.S (1970) and M.S (1971) degrees in Journalism Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. These days Martin is a member of Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America and of Writers’ Guild of America, West. He resides in Santa Fe, New Mexico.


¹This review was written and originally posted on my Goodreads profile in 2013. It might now present minor changes in structure or corrections but has not changed its intention.

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Book Review: "The Evolution of Mara Dyer" by Michelle Hodkin

Previously posted on Goodreads!¹

Ok, I'll probably change my rating another day, but today, it'll be like 4.5ish. The thing is, I think I loved it because this is the first book in months that made me want to read at 2 a.m. (I missed that), but at the same time it was like "OMG, this entire plot is making me crazy and angry."

I like how everything's written, even though is told in a space of one-two weeks; it's direct and the author makes you feel exactly as Mara, you just simply want to scream at her family and make them understand, but NO :) So, well done, Michelle!

Now, the things I didn't like: I didn't make a review of the first book, but my opinion about Noah hasn't changed, I just like him a little bit maybe because I'm sick of the same stereotype of boys in young adult books: handsome, with the need of feeling pain, and the money that helps with everything.

So I didn't suffer when the possibility of his death came.

Don't take it wrong, I like that he's the catharsis in Mara's life, I even love that is not only a catharsis in a metaphoric way. 

Dr. Kelly was a nice revelation as Jude's accomplice, also there was a special something that made this book even more magical and mysterious, so I want to read the next one immediately.

All I know is that it was a mistake reading it now because I have to wait a lot for the uncountable questions I now have. Dammit!



MICHELLE HODKIN is the author of the Mara Dyer Trilogy, which was a New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling series. The trilogy, which includes The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, The Evolution of Mara Dyer, and The Retribution of Mara Dyer, was described as “haunting and dreamlike” by Cassandra Clare and “darkly funny, deliciously creepy, and genuinely thoughtful” by Veronica Roth. Hodkin grew up in Florida, went to college in New York, and studied law in Michigan, before finally settling in Brooklyn last year.


¹This review was written and originally posted on my Goodreads profile in 2014. It might now present minor changes in structure or corrections but has not changed its intention.

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Book Review: "Rising" by Holly Kelly

Previously posted on Goodreads!¹

I really, really, really wanted to like this book, it just wasn't for me.

I wanted to read this book after I read the plot and saw the cover; also I was happy because I found it free on Amazon. I'd never read a book about mermaids/dagonians, I hadn't read about Greek myth actually, and this has a little of it, for instance, you find names like Triton who has an important part in this story and Poseidon.

I was so disappointed, though.

The book starts with the plot that Xanthus wants to avoid a war between humans and Dagonians, but you don't actually see a lot of that. I was really excited when I read that there were several deaths of these creatures because of human behavior with the environment! You don't see that often in a fantasy book, but the story is more focused on the love part, I mean, it was kind of obvious that it was going to happen, but still, I believe it needed to be deeper. But what was more important to me, well, it is with all the books I read, is that the narrative was too simple. There were characters that I believe were unnecessary (but I think it's because there's another book and the characters can be explored then (?)), their development wasn't enough, and something was resolved pretty easily.

Everything about Triton and Sara was just UGH! NO THANK YOU! I realized she was his daughter in seconds, and then he saves the day in a very easy way, a way that destroyed everything that was already destroyed, NO THANK YOU.

Also, I am aware that if I would've read this in my teenage years, I would've loved it, because in that time I had an incorrect idea of what a healthy relationship is, and Xanthus is, for me, a total Edward Cullen. He's overprotective, obsessive, and controller towards her girlfriend... so, the only difference I could find was that he's got a fin. A lot of people believe that this is the perfect relationship... well, I won't go into this!

There was at least a moment where Sara tells Xanthus that it is important for all women to also share their opinions! Maybe that's why I gave another star.


HOLLY KELLY is a mom who writes books in her spare time: translation -she hides in the bathroom with her laptop and locks the door while the kids destroy the house and smear peanut butter on the walls. She was born in Utah but moved around a bit, living in Kansas, Texas, and Hawaii where she studied marine biology. She's now back in Utah. She's married to a wonderful husband, James, and they are currently raising 6 rambunctious children. Her interests are reading, writing (of course), martial arts, visual arts, creating Halloween props, and spending time with family.



¹This review was written and originally posted on my Goodreads profile in 2015. It might now present minor changes in structure or corrections but has not changed its intention.

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