Cosmic Lattes and Books

Book Review: Uprooted

* Author: Naomi Novik
* Genre: Fantasy/Fairytale
* Page Count: 435
* Date Started: April 27th
* Date Finished: May 4th

A Brief Description

Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.

Her people rely on the cold, driven wizard known only as the Dragon to keep its powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as falling to the Wood.

But Agnieszka fears the wrong things. For when the Dragon comes, it is not Kasia he will choose.

Goodreads || Amazon

“There’s no kindness in offering false hope.”
Naomi Novik

My thoughts

This book is a fairy tale that is worth reading. It tells the tale of Angieszka and a mysterious wizard called the Dragon. The Dragon takes a girl from Angieszka’s valley every 10 years, and when the girl comes back, she is nothing like she was when she left. Her ties to the valley cease to exist, and she moves away never to return.

The writing was atmospheric and the characters real and believable. I liked most of them and the stakes felt real. The world felt magical and real, almost like I could reach out and touch it. The stakes felt real, and the powers that were against them were powerful, and almost felt insurmountable. There were a lot of twists and turns in the story and it was action packed, particularly the last 100 pages or so.

There was some romance, but it was not the main focus of the story, in fact it was second to the rest of the story, and it progressed naturally! No insta-love here! The romance also made sense for the way that the tale progressed.

The one thing I’ll say is that the magic system was very loose. It was definitely a soft magic system and didn’t have hard and fast rules. I typically prefer my magic systems to be well defined and to have limits, but overall, I think this was done really well. There were some limitations and consequences, but the actual act of doing magic felt too easy? Overall, I’d say that this is a very minor pet peeve for me, and did not detract from my enjoyment of the book at all!

I would highly recommend reading this! It was a very wonderful world built around East European folklore and the characters were enjoyable.

Have you read this, or anything else by Naomi Novik? What did you think? Share your thoughts below!

~Cam

May TBR

Okay, so I know that this is SUPER ambitious, but I have THIRTEEN (13) books that I want to read this month. May of them are over 500 pages. I don’t know why I want to try and be so ambitious this month, but I’m free from school for at least the next two-ish weeks, so I have the time. Some of these books I’ve been pretty excited for as well, so I feel like I can get through them quickly!

Classes ended for the Spring semester a few days ago and I’m so happy to have some time off. School was becoming very stressful, and I’m glad I now have the time to enjoy reading and other things.

The Calculating Stars- Mary Robinette Kowal

Have you read any of these books? How did you feel about them? What are you reading in the month of May?

I hope this post finds you safe and healthy!

~Cam

April Wrap-Up

What have you been up to? I’ve been doing some reading, and I’ve been really into fantasy books lately. Anything that really distracts me from all the sh*t going on in the world right now. Animal Crossing and books are the only thing that are keeping me sane. I’ve also been buying lots of books lately. I’m also including a book I DNFed, because why not?

DNF

Not finished, but I love it so far! I’m continuing to read this in May.

From now on, I’m going to start reviewing books again. I’ve had a tough time getting my life together, but now that Summer semester is starting, I should have more time to devote to my blog. I’ve wanted to get back into this for a long time, and I’m going to really put the efforts into it.

What have you read this month? What are you looking forward to reading in May?

~Cam

WWW Wednesday-4/22/2020

Hi, I’m still alive. I’ve been doing some reading and trying to get back into blogging, but with COVID-19 and the semester starting to wrap up, I have been very busy with my classes and making sure I’m on track to graduate. Here’s a random post, hopefully the first of many coming to you in the future!

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam over on Taking on a World of Words.

The idea is pretty simple, every week you dedicate a post to the three W’s:

What are you currently reading?

What have you just finished reading?

What are you going to read next?

What am i currently reading?

This is the sequel to Assassin’s Apprentice which I just finished reading, and loved. I’m enjoying this story a lot, and am excited to see where the author takes the characters. I have a feeling that I’m going to be heartbroken when all is said and done. I love how beautiful, yet simplistic the writing in these books is. It’s hard to explain, but it’s both at the same time. Poetic simplicity.

What have I just finished reading?

This book was so good. I loved this book. Again, similarly to the second book in the series that I am currently reading, the writing was simplistic. This is a coming of age story about the bastard son of a prince and his life in the court of the King. He is apprenticed to the assassin of the King… as you can imagine with a title like “Assassin’s Apprentice” hehe. This was definitely a set up book, so I’m intrigued to see where the characters go in the next two books.

What am i reading next?

I plan on reading Uprooted by Naomi Novik next. I don’t know much about this book, but I know that it’s a fairytale-esque story which I am all for. I’ve read the first book in the Temeraire series by the same author, so I’m hopeful that I’ll enjoy this book as well!

What is you WWW Wednesday? Link it in the comments below, or just let me know! I’m interested to discuss them.

Have a great day, and as always keep reading!

~Cam

April TBR

These are some of the books I’m planning to read in April! What are you planning on reading?

This is How You Lose the Time War- Amal El-Mothar and Max Gladstone

The Throne of the Five Winds- S.C. Emmett

These are just some of the books that I have planned to read in April! This is a little overly ambitious, especially since this is the end of the semester and I’ll have final exams coming up, but hopefully I’ll get them done! What are planning on reading in April?

~Cam

Ten Signs You are a Book Lover

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl

This weeks Top Ten Tuesday is the Top Ten signs that you are a book lover! It’s exactly how it sounds, it’s just ways that people will know that you are a book lover. Here are 10 of mine~

1. I have at least one book on me at a time

I carry books with me -everywhere.- I could be going to the grocery store and there will be a book in my purse, because I just -might- have the opportunity to read while waiting for my deli products? I’m not the only one? Right?

2. I have at least 3 to 10 books on my nightstand at a time

Yeah, I’m sure most readers have a growing pile of books on their nightstands of all the books they are currently reading or interested in reading. Just me? Cool 🙂

3. I have a room dedicated to books

I mean, you don’t -have- to have a room filled with books to be a book lover. A corner or a wall is enough, but I happen to have an extra bedroom that is filled with bookshelves and books, and it’s probably one of my favorite rooms in the entire house.

4. I read at parties

Yes. I read at parties. I bring my book and if I get bored or happen to be having some sort of anxiety, which tends to be often, I sit and read my book. If I’m not reading, I at least have my book or my Kindle in my purse.

5. I read during commercials and ads

I’ll have a book next to me at all times, and if there’s an ad or a commercial whether it be on TV or a Youtube ad, I’ll pop open the book and read for a little bit to kill the time. I can’t be the only one who does this?

6. I talk about my favorite books, or currently reading, or recently read books… a lot

I probably annoy my close friends with how much I talk about fictional characters and worlds, but, it’s endearing? Right? I’ve given some pretty good suggestions on what books people should read next, so I’ve got that going for me.

7. WHEN i GO TO THE LIBRARY i COME HOME WITH AT LEAST 10+ BOOKS

I love to go to the library just to peruse the shelves for new books to read. I get as many books as I can carry and check them all out. There are times when I get too many and there is no possible way that I can read them all in the time given, without extending the due date at least, but it motivates me to read more.

8. i CAN NEVER LEAVE THE BOOKSTORE WITHOUT BUYING SOMETHING

You certainly don’t have to own all of your books to love reading. Going to the library and checking books out is just as valid, but every time I go to the bookstore I leave with at least one new book. I can’t help it. Even if I go in there “just to look” I know that I’m going to leave with something.

9. Half of my Christmas and Birthday wishlists are books

Okay, more than half, but still.

10. People IRL will tell me about a “new” book that came out, and I will have already read or heard of it.

I think everyone who is a book lover follows accounts that talk book news, so we always hear about new books that peak our interest us.

What about you? What are some of the signs that let people know that you are a book lover?

~Cam

February Wrap-Up

Here are some of the books that I read in February! Thanks for checking it out! ❤

~Cam

Book Review: Rogue Princess

Author: B.R. Myers
Genre: Sci-fi, Young Adult
Page Count: 298
Date Started: February 15th
Date Finished: February 21st
Spoilers? No

A Brief Description

A princess fleeing an arranged marriage teams up with a snarky commoner to foil a rebel plot in B. R. Myers’ Rogue Princess, a gender-swapped sci-fi YA retelling of Cinderella.

Princess Delia knows her duty: She must choose a prince to marry in order to secure an alliance and save her failing planet. Yet she secretly dreams of true love, and feels there must be a better way. Determined to chart her own course, she steals a spaceship to avoid the marriage, only to discover a handsome stowaway.

All Aidan wanted was to “borrow” a few palace trinkets to help him get off the planet. Okay, so maybe escaping on a royal ship wasn’t the smartest plan, but he never expected to be kidnapped by a runaway princess!

Sparks fly as this headstrong princess and clever thief battle wits, but everything changes when they inadvertently uncover a rebel conspiracy that could destroy their planet forever.

Goodreads || Amazon

There is no greater power than the power of choice.
B.R. Myers

my review

Rogue Princess by B.R. Myers is a gender-bent Cinderella retelling that takes place in a far off solar system. The two main characters are Delia, the princess of Astor, and Aidan who is a chore boy in the palace that Delia resides in.

The two characters meet after Aidan sneaks on to a ship that Delia is using to attempt an escape from the palace to run away from the duty she has to marry a prince and secure an alliance with one of the nearby planets. This is the only thing she can do to save her failing planet.

Okay, so first things first, I enjoyed this book overall. I thought the characters each had their own individual voices and there were some twists and turns that left me reeling. The world building was also pretty fantastic. The world was fleshed out and had a very rich culture and you can tell that the author put a lot of work and effort into fleshing it out. I also loved the way most of the characters interacted. I loved the relationship that Delia had with her sister Shania. Shania had me laughing out loud at multiple different spots in the book. There were also some things revealed later in the book (major spoilers that I won’t go into here) that had me YELLING.

The problems that were facing Astor, which was, in short, an energy crisis, were real and pressing issues that really drove the plot. Delia had to choose to marry a prince to save her planet or choose her own happiness and she could not have both.

While all this is going on, there is also a rebel plot that is brewing and could destroy the life that Delia knows and cherishes. So, Delia has some problems. I loved how headstrong and stubborn Delia was, how she was unwilling to bend or break and how she was willing to do anything to save her planet while also not compromising her happiness.

All of this being said… I felt like the relationship between Aidan and Delia progressed far too quickly. I felt like there was no real buildup. They met maybe twice, had only talked for a little bit and were already thinking of other in terms of “I love them.” Delia didn’t even know Aidan’s name for a good bit and she was already thinking of marriage. I enjoyed their relationship more as the book progressed and after I suspended my belief on the speed of which they were “in love.”

Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who loves fantasy/sci-fi YA. Think Cinder by Marissa Meyer.

I hope everyone has a great night and as always keep reading!

~Cam

Goodreads Monday-2/17/2020

Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme that was started by @Lauren’s Page Turners. The meme is pretty easy to follow, to participate simply choose a random book from your TBR and explain why you want to read it!

And hte number I got was 304! Number 304 on my TBR list on Goodreads is Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl. I currently have 530 books on my list and I want to try and get this down by the end of the year. *Hopefully*

Neverworld Wake- Marisha Pessl

Once upon a time, back at Darrow-Harker School, Beatrice Hartley and her five best friends were the cool kids, the beautiful ones. Then the shocking death of Jim – their creative genius and Beatrice’s boyfriend – changed everything.

One year after graduation, Beatrice is returning to Wincroft – the seaside estate where they spent so many nights sharing secrets, crushes, plans to change the world – hoping she’ll get to the bottom of the dark questions gnawing at her about Jim’s death.

But as the night plays out in a haze of stilted jokes and unfathomable silence, Beatrice senses she’s never going to know what really happened.

Then a mysterious man knocks on the door. Blithely, he announces the impossible: time for them has become stuck, snagged on a splinter that can only be removed if the former friends make the harshest of decisions.

Now Beatrice has one last shot at answers… and at life.

And so begins the Neverworld Wake.

Why I want to read this

To be honest? I loved the cover. This was a pure cover buy. I loved her book Nightfilm as well, although that book was classified as adult and this is her foray into YA. Either way, this one has been on my list for a while, and I’m hoping to read it by the end of 2020~

Tag your Goodreads Monday in the comments! What is a random book that is on your TBR and why do you want to read it?

Have a great day!

~Cam