What I drank prior: I had 5 beers at happy hour. With no food. It's a thing.
(Editor's note: Well i feel like crap this morning...) Spoiler-free Overview:
So yeah, there's this girl, she goes for her witch's exam and she gets a weird reading. So because of this she ends up as an apprentice at this town called Lull. This town in the past has had little no no issues but as soon as our MC Arianwyn shows up so do a bnch of other things. There's a scary dark wood. We see a lot of signs that show it's a lot more than she expected and things go from there. Spoiler-free Thoughts:
I loved this book. Its very reminiscent of HP1 in that there's a villain, we don't know what it is but we know it's coming, typw of story. And the MC has a lot to overcome. Characters: The MC Arianwyn is amazing. SHe's very well developed. Her supporting characters... not so much. But her best friend, Salle, is cute. Her frenemy Gimma is super annoying, intentionally. Also, I love the 'adults' in this book. While we don't know how old Wyn is, its pretty clear who the 'adults' are. The district supervisor is sterotypically quirky but also fiercely loyal and i loved that. The other supporting characters are great too.
Plot: As far as plot goes, its pretty typical, there's a Big Bad they have to defeat. But what makes this story differnt is that we don't know what the Big Bad is until 2/3 the way through the book and it's not what you'd expect. I'm down for it. Also, I never felt bored. THe story was well paced and i gobbled it up. Writing Style: Pretty great. It's done well enough that i can see what's goin on without spoiling the story. I always love when that happens. Rating: 3.5/5 Shots. I loved it. Its a middle-grade story that will last throughout the ages, What to pair it with: Red wine. I love red wine.
COMMENT DOWN BELOW: What stories have you gobbled up recently?
Until next time, we remain forever drunkenly yours,
Sam
The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh What I drank prior: I am on the train back from kickball. It was a big night. We won the first round of playoffs :) Spoiler-free Overview:
This is a retwlling of a thousand and one nights. The king marries and kills a different chick every night. Our main character Shahrzad decides she wants to try her luck and marries him. She tells him a story and survives the first night. Everything kind of goes from there. Spoiler-free Thoughts:
I completely thought that I was gonna think this was a cheese fest and hate it. I fucking adored this book. Read it during Dewey's 24hr readathon in a couple hours and these people are now my precious children and all of you can fight me about t. Characters:
I LVOE THEM. Seriously all of them. They are very well developed. We know the motivations behind all of them. And we grow with them. I just love it. Plot:
The pacing was good. I only know that because I real it in one sitting and I didn't even care. I was curious enough about what was going to happen next that reading it in one sitting was perfect. Writing Style:
It's beautiful. The end.
Just fucking read it. I cannot wait for the final installment. Pairing: a super fine red wine. Like the kind you spend more than $15 on.
Rating: 5/5 Shots. DUH
COMMENT DOWN BELOW: I know we're late to the party for this duology. What did you think? Also, what are your fave guilty pleasure books?
Serafina and the Twisted Staff by Robert Beatty What I drank prior: A bottle of wine and at least 7 beers... what am I to do? Spoiler-free Overview:
Look.... This is middle grade. So there's that. But anyway. So after what happened in the last book, we have Serafina, the awsome girl, and the nephew of the awesome dude trying to find out what's going on in this world. So there's shit going down.... animals are goin nuts, some weird guy is showing up and hungting down Serafina. In disguise and stuff, just like the last book. She's gotta figure out who it is and why.... ALL OF A SUDDEN there's a new wild character like her, a boy... dun dun dunnnnnn. She's left to determine where she belongs.
Spoiler-free Thoughts:
I adored this. Mr. Beatty has done it again. What a brilliant middle gade.
Characters:
They are still wonderful. Sera's conflict, Braeden's conflict, THE UNCLE. Man, he's such a great character. He takes care of his own and I love it. I had to remind myself not to be super suspicious of characters because its middle grade... because how oftern do we find good parental figures in fantasy huh? Rarely if ever. Also liked te newly introduced characters.
Plot:
Also wonderful. great story while leaving it open for more. Rating: 4/5 Shots. What to pair it with: Red wine. Something with a good body, because man, this book was excellent and well rounded and beautiful.
Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake What I drank prior: a bottle and a half of wine? maybe? idk i lost count
Spoiler free overview:
So basically each queen has triplets and each triplet has an ability, either poison, elements, or nature. And like, these triplets gotta fight to the death for the crown. So basically this whole story is about that.
Each queen and how their lives are and how they're gonna kill their sisters etc. ADVENTURES HAPPEN.
Spoiler free thoughts:
Ok. So I went into this thinking I was gonna love one triplet and hate the other two. Like I wanted to have a hero that I could stand behind. I DIDNT GET IT. I loved all the sisters for their own reasons. Ok. that's not really true cause I didn't really like Mari so much, but for spoilery reasons.
Characters: Seriously I love them all. They're just wonderful. Well developed and adored. I even hate the villains. They're so great.
Plot: So it wasn't super well paced. The middle was like... meh? but i enjoyed it. The ending made up for it. There were enough twists and sections that i was like "you have GOT to be fuckign kidding me...." parts that it made up for it. Like. Look. I'm all for a love story, but DONT FUCK WITH MY SHIP. I can't stand it. But it's like a hurts-so-good kinda pain.
Also, if you're not a fan of typical YA tropes, read this book. It's real good at not having them.
also i want a mountain lion
Writing Style: It wasn't gorgeous but it kept me on my toes.
Spoilerssssssss:
Okay.... here we go.
Why the actual fuck did Jason have to do that huh? Is it because of the weird pagan magic bit? Like, literally no one is drawn to someone the way he is drawn to Mari. I had one guy i met in college, that i found later in life, that i feel physically connected to, but not so much that it overcame my consent. I feel like that's what happened. He literally didn't want to fuck her but he did, and that bothered me.
Also, Petyr and the fuckin void. Like, what? And she comes back anyway so like... what?
Lastly, so nature queen is a poisoner? like, i thought mama queen qwas able to know who could do what? this makes no sense and i need to know whats up. right now. what is poison queen supposed to do now? UGHHHHH
What to pair it with:a good red wine would be fucking awesome with this book.
Rating: 4.5/5 shots. And only cause the plot lagged a bit in the middle... i seriously can't wait for the next one.
What I drank: few
brews and a half bottle of the literal world’s best Malbec. I’m not lit but I’m
classy with it so, pish posh, hoe.
Spoilerfree: OK I
borrowed The Three Body Problem from my roommate, Frank, who borrowed it
from his brother, who stole it from their dad’s cabinet. None of them knew what
it was about. It’s a work in translation from Chinese, and the first, apparently,
of a trilogy or some shit, by Liu Cixin. Who knows. All I know is this:
·It’s a sci-fi novel in the purest sense of the
word
·Apparently it’s the all-time most read sci-fi in
Chinese history
·It’s not the “easiest” read, for a number of
reasons (which I shall attend to, calmate)
·This entry’s spoiler free section will be
particularly free of spoilers, just because when I wrapped my head around what
was actually happening in TBP I
WAS GODDAM FLABBERGASTED. But maybe I’m dumb; in any case I wanna leave no
clues
The novel takes place in China between the cultutral
revolution and “present” day, and it’s characters are all goddam profesors
and/or generals, (there’s a character list on page, like 1, so no spoilers yet;
don’t fret) so you get the impression some real shit is poppin off. Readers see
a number of time/plot lines unveiled for them simultaneously, starting with the
murder of Ye Zhetai in the 1940s, the ascencion of his widower, Ye Wenjie, into
the ranks of a military surveillance base in the ‘50s, and the abrubpt and the
hallucinations of a nanomaterials expert, Wang Miao (three bodies, get it?) in the
year 2007. Ze Winjei and Wang Miao meet up in present day in the context of an
open source, online, VR computer game/real time physics experiment called “The
Three Body Problem” wherein they have to deduce some wild fuggin physics
(google “three body problem” and check it out, it’s actually crazy to
conceptualize and Liu Cixin does a phenomenal job explaining it to laypeople).
Hilarity and murder and madness ensue. Yeah. From a game. It’s
like halo or some shit, but real ppl are waking up dead when they “lose”.
Writing Style
There is a fuckton of like cultural references and
historical events for which the narrator, Ken Liu, leaves ample and enthralling
footnotes. Between them, the characters’ involvement and understanding of the
major plots at hand are unveiled. To be honest, this novel was NOT easy to read.
A large part of it was the frequent and
deep scientific language. I’m not an idiot. I’m good at words, and I love
science. However comma I found myself rereading numerous passages to try to
understand exactly what the author wanted to convey. Paragraphs about microwave
radiation and the function and fashion of nanoparticles were hard for me to
follow. But das me doe.
Additionally, and more what I think bothered me, was the
pacing, the syntax, the dialogue. I found them hard to fall into, if that makes
sense. I mean, I’m a native reader of English, the novel was written in Chinese,
and the translator worked to adhere to the structure and feel of a Chinese novel.
It was an accomplishment in that regard, and It was work to read. I wanted to
read it, so I did, and the unveiling of these spoilers was ultimately sexy as hell. I was mad happy with it though, At
a few points I had to put her down and sit back and, like, reflect on how I didn’t
see the shit coming.
Impressive. no
bullshit.
Spoilers: quick and
durty
Sooooo the “game” that the world’s leading scientists were
playing for funsies was sent to them, on purpose. BY ALIENS MOFUCKER.
Whole time, this novel is the first 11 minutes of
independence day, wherein jeff Goldblum “OH My God”s and realizezs that shit is
fucked for all humanity. Turns out there’s a planet with a real 3 body problem,
and if they don’t get out, they gon’ die. Their 3 hot ass suns gon flambé their
asses. Over medium.
turns out this Chinese military tech in the 1950s accidentally gets in
contact with them, and the relationship they establish threatens to unravel the
world’s government and scientific communities. basically, she finds out what they're going through and invites them to Earth. gives our goddam address, like, "hmu when you outside." mad childish.
When we leave the novel TBP,
nobody knows if the aliens are coming, if people are gonna be ready for their
arrival, or even if the humanity can survive the inevitable ideological
fracture of advanced extra-terrestrial life reaching us at all. tune in next ime on dragon ball Z
Pairing: a dope
ass red wine because it’s tasty, then you get to the last quarter of the bottle
and realize YOURE FUCKED, YO.
RATING: 3.55/5 I mean
it’s a cool read but I finished it because I WANTED to finish. I was never
compelled to do so. that being said i'm not ready to give up on the series. vamos a ver.
What I Drank Prior
A whole bottle of the best Pinot Grigio I’ve ever had. Literally, ask Virginia. We’re going to start buying this shit by the case. And now I’m working on glass two of a Pinot Noir. I guess I like the Pinots….
Spoiler-free overview:
I don't think this review is going to be as fun as my others, because this book's style and mood do not reflect drunken debauchery. So how do I even begin to explain this book.
We start with a spectacular magician's show. After the show, these two dudes, hereforto known as Gray Suit and Crazy Man, they get together and decide that there's going to be a competition between two people. And let the best side win?
These two people are Celia and Marco and they a'start a'studyin'.
We also start hearing about this beautiful Night Circus. THey call it by some french-ass name. Le Cirque des Rêves (I googled it, don't judge me). The whole point of the Circus is that it opens at midnight and goes until the wee hours of the morning. Le Cirque is the "venue" for this competition between Celia and Marco. Neither know what the rules are, to be completely honest, even after finishing the novel, even I still don't know what the rules are.
Anyway, this novel covers over a decade of time as this competition goes on. Relationships, jealousy, fear, creation, inspiration, creativity, and love develop over time and Le Cirque des Rêves takes you on a journey into a dream.
Spoiler-free thoughts:
Holy crap guys. I mean. Just. I finished this book today. I thought maybe I needed some time to think about this book before I wrote anything about it. But then? I had some wine. And then some more wine. And I couldn't keep my thoughts in any longer.
You GUYS. This book is beautiful. Seriously. It takes you on this magic carpet ride straight Aladdin style. NOT EVEN JOKING. Okay OKAY. I'll get into more specidics in a minute. This book was so well written and captivating. I have one *minor* complaint that's noted in the spoiler-ey section but other than that, i adored this book. If anyone is looking for something that will integrate you entirely into the story, this book is for you. I wanted to know more about each tent. THough, I think that was the point. No one knows everything about the circus except maybe Marco and Celia, though even they don't know HOW it works. Their whole purpose is to beat the other, though they are unsure why.
Plot
So to be completely honest, I listened to this on audiobook from the library. Narrated by Jim Dale. The FABULOUS Jim Dale who also performed the audiobooks for Harry Potter. Need I say more? *momentary pause while i finish my second glass of wine fromt he second bottle* Alright, i'm good now. The plot was so incredible engrossing. You FELT like you were a part of the circus. You WANTED to be at the circus. And the whole time, you're never really rooting for one side or the other for the competition. I feel like the competition was just a side story. The whole time, you're just trying to figure out what's going on at the circus is, only to realize at the end that the competition is all that matters. Just. Just. Wow.
Characters
These characters are so well developed it's not even funny. Since you get to see thm over the course of their entire lives almost. Celia was a beautifully complex character. What am I even saying, Marco was also beautifully written. Their relationship was beautiful. Their competition, was beautiful.
My favorite characters were the twins. Watching them grow up and become their own? Incredible. I JUST loved them.
It's really not fair for me to talk about thos eindividually. Because they were all so enthralling.
The main character, I feel, is the Circus itself. How it changes and effects others. Everyone is involved. Everyone loves it. It becomes the central factor the story revolves around. Anything and everything that happens effects the Circus (man that's a hard word to spell when drunk) and you really feel invested in its future.
Writing Style
Have I not described this enough? THe writing was beautiful. Stunning. Incredible. Out-of-this world. You are totally engrossed in this novel from page one. Literally. Read it.
SPOILERS
YOU GUYS! The ending of this story was just beautiful. I loved how Celia and Marco's relationship develops. It's how relationships should develop. None of this insta-love crap. Sure. Marco think she's beautiful from the moment he saw her, but he didn't lvoe her until the tour of the brownstone. OK. We're not sure it was a brownstone but that's how I thought ofit. Though, I didn't really like that they both took the "oh my gosh, i want to sacrifice myself for you" side. But hey, it worked. At least Celia tried to separate herself (ok both of them) from the circus is pretty cute and a great strategy.
Also, I absolutely adore how the book ended. With Gray suit and Widget talking in the pub. Like.... for realz. Awesome.
Rating
4.75/5 shots. I wish I could give it 5/5. But that one minor thing in the spoilery section got rid of .25 for me.
What to pair it with: A fine wine. Something that you drink to feel sophisticated and mysterious. Maybe even a black and white cookie.
