Stuck on Repeat

July 20, 2019August 3, 2019 ~ Taylor ~ Leave a comment

Another week has passed and that means it is time to discuss another group of songs that I have had on repeat all week! I have a couple of new songs, a couple of old songs, and just a bunch of songs that I love a whole bunch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIInyEWWW-s

“Wave” is the latest comeback from Ateez, the very group that got me into Kpop in the first place. This is my second comeback with the group and they never fail to disappoint.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tl-MG38-0E1

Got7 is a group that I told Chelsea I was having trouble getting into. While I knew and was in love with Jackson, I was having trouble getting into the group. We met up early May and her job that weekend was to get me into Got7. She accomplished her task!

https://youtu.be/Pm0_G8Zl0ek

When I first got into Kpop, Winner is a group that Chelsea was like “listen to them”. I gave them a listen but was not feeling it. Then this comeback happened and I was sold. There is something about Winner that confuses me but makes me so happy so I just decided to go with it and stop questioning them. All I know Mino makes me very happy.

https://youtu.be/waN7F0nSLk8

VAV is one of the most underrated groups I think in the entire industry. I love them and they are so incredibly talented. They need more recognition, for sure. Now is a wonderful time to join the VAMPZ fandom because there is comeback happening in the the next couple of days. So, join us and love these boys!

https://youtu.be/RGYIpwovVsc

Just the other day, I asked Chelsea what group I should get into next and she said, JBJ. So, I started getting into JBJ. Only to find out, that the member I would have chosen as a bias all but disappeared from the face of the planet. So, that being said, I am yet to make it any futher into the group but, I do plan to fall deeper in to the JBJ/JBJ95 hole.

July 19, 2019August 3, 2019 ~ Taylor ~ Leave a comment

While thinking of what to post for Friday, Chelsea reminded me that it was K-Drama day! While I have not been watching anything recently, I do have a couple I would like to watch in the near future. I also discovered I needed to update MyDramaList.com with all the shows I added to my Netflix watch list!

Perfume

Seo Yi Do is a top designer. Although he appears to be the perfect man on the outside, his personality leaves something to be desired. On top of that, he has about 52 phobias and 35 allergies.
Min Jae Hee is a middle-aged housewife, who has devoted her life to her family only to see it fall apart before her eyes. She discovers a miracle perfume that makes her look young again.After recovering her youth, she ends up walking the runway in one of Seo Yi Do’s fashion shows and signs with a top modeling agency to become a celebrity. Both of them get a second chance at romance in what is described as a fantasy romantic comedy.

I saw an ad for Perfume on YouTube and instantly asked Chelsea what it was and, like the goddess she is, she knew! So, onto the watch list it went.

I Hear Your Voice

Jang Hye Sung, a bold, sassy, thick-faced, comical, and a materialistic public defender who becomes a lawyer after overcoming poverty and painful memories from her childhood, comes to realization about society and justice after meeting Park Soo Ha, a 19-year-old boy who reads other people’s thoughts and Cha Kwan Woo, an innocent lawyer who lives a disciplined life. Jang Hye Sung is actually Soo Ha’s first love after she gave a decisive testimony on his father’s murder case 10 years ago and Soo Ha promised to protect her from the killer’s threats. Meanwhile, Cha Kwan Woo is Jang Hye Sung’s fellow lawyer, a cheerful and an idealistic former cop even though his character is a bit slow, he is nice and pleasant with a firm idea of his principles and justice. Together they will team up to find the justice in the courtroom and solve the toughest cases with less than 1% chance of winning.

This is a drama that I saw on Netflix and when reading the little synopsis, I knew it was something I could get into. It is definitely on my “next to watch” list.

Lady Midnight Review

July 18, 2019July 20, 2019 ~ Taylor ~ Leave a comment

25494343 Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare
Publication Date: March 8, 2016
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Genre/Subject: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance, Paranormal
Pages: 688
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

“The Shadowhunters of Los Angeles star in the first novel in Cassandra Clare’s newest series, The Dark Artifices, a sequel to the internationally bestselling Mortal Instruments series. Lady Midnight is a Shadowhunters novel.
It’s been five years since the events of City of Heavenly Fire that brought the Shadowhunters to the brink of oblivion. Emma Carstairs is no longer a child in mourning, but a young woman bent on discovering what killed her parents and avenging her losses.
Together with her parabatai Julian Blackthorn, Emma must learn to trust her head and her heart as she investigates a demonic plot that stretches across Los Angeles, from the Sunset Strip to the enchanted sea that pounds the beaches of Santa Monica. If only her heart didn’t lead her in treacherous directions.
Making things even more complicated, Julian’s brother Mark—who was captured by the faeries five years ago—has been returned as a bargaining chip. The faeries are desperate to find out who is murdering their kind—and they need the Shadowhunters’ help to do it. But time works differently in faerie, so Mark has barely aged and doesn’t recognize his family. Can he ever truly return to them? Will the faeries really allow it?”

I first started this book in 2016 after it came out because I had just finished The Mortal Instruments and was still knee deep in my obsession with the series and the Shadowhunter world. What I did not expect was to hate Emma the first time meeting her. So, I got 90 pages in and stopped. I was not in the mood for her or her attitude.

Coming back to it now that the trilogy is complete and having finished it on audio, I can say, I hate Emma a little less. While she is still arrogant and annoying, she is a little more tolerable. I did however fall head over heels in love with the Blackthorn family. Julian has been the acting head of their household and the love he has for those children broke my heart, but in a good way.

My main issue with this book is, it was too long. I usually have no issues with the length of Cassie’s books but I feel like this was about 100 pages too long. The beginning was incredibly slow, even in audiobook form. Then I got about 250 pages in and I found myself avoiding the book entirely. Things really started to pick up around the 400 page mark when the ball actually started rolling on the plot and things were happening.

I understand the desire for world building and expanding since this is a new group of characters and a new Institute but having come from the previous books and knowing how the Shadowhunter world works, it just seemed redundant. That being said, the addition to this world and the new information we were given was very interesting and I am curious to see how the rest of this new trilogy goes.

Comeback: A K-Pop Novel Review

July 14, 2019July 14, 2019 ~ Taylor ~ Leave a comment

Comeback: A K-Pop Novel by Lyn Ashwood and Rachel Wood
Publication Date: June 8, 2019
Publisher: Ashwood&Rose
Genre/Subject: Romance, Contemporary
Pages: 309 on Kindle
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Emery Jung is living his dream. Known by his stage name M, he is loved by millions of fans around the world as a member of the rising K-pop group NEON, but all fame comes with a cost, especially when one slip up can have viral consequences.

Alana Kim is trying to forget. After a tragic loss sends her spiraling, she escapes to her family in Korea, abandoning her love of music along the way. However, her plans are derailed when she literally runs into M, the famous K-pop idol.

When their paths collide, Emery and Alana must work together to prevent a scandal from ruining NEON’s success, sparking a journey of friendship, love, and healing. Unfortunately, fame and love aren’t easily compatible, especially in the world of K-pop.

Lyn and Rachel noticed I was a fan of Kpop and asked if I wanted to read their book! I was sent a copy of this book from the authors in exchange for an honest review. Of course I agreed. It mixed two of my favorite things. Kpop and reading, so how could I say no?

The book switches between Emery, or M, and Alana’s points of view and we meet Emery first. He is backstage at a music network in Seoul, South Korea as he prepares with his group, NEON, for their latest comeback when he turns around and knocks into someone getting tea all over his white pants. That someone he knocked into was “A” a girl he met a couple summers ago at Han River.

As the book progresses, we learn that “A” is Alana and there is a lot that poor Alana is dealing with. The first and largest issue being PTSD after the tragic loss of Alex, her brother. Alana has cut music out of her life because of this loss and while she works in the K-pop industry, she avoids anything involving her one time favorite group, NEON.

Emery and Alana have a love story that deals a lot with Alana’s guilt of losing her brother, Emery’s pressure from the fame of NEON, and their attempts to not fall in love with each other. I really enjoyed this book and while the ending was too abrupt for me, Comeback was a fast read and was an enjoyable inside look of the industry that has taken over my life these last few months.

These Witches Don’t Burn Review

July 4, 2019July 10, 2019 ~ Taylor ~ Leave a comment

These Witches Don’t Burn by Isabel Sterling Publication Date: May 28, 2019 Publisher: Razorbill Genre|Subject: Young Adult, Fantasy, LGBT, Pages: 336 Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Hannah’s a witch, but not the kind you’re thinking of. She’s the real deal, an Elemental with the power to control fire, earth, water, and air. But even though she lives in Salem, Massachusetts, her magic is a secret she has to keep to herself. If she’s ever caught using it in front of a Reg (read: non-witch), she could lose it. For good. So, Hannah spends most of her time avoiding her ex-girlfriend (and fellow Elemental Witch) Veronica, hanging out with her best friend, and working at the Fly by Night Cauldron selling candles and crystals to tourists, goths, and local Wiccans. But dealing with her ex is the least of Hannah’s concerns when a terrifying blood ritual interrupts the end-of-school-year bonfire. Evidence of dark magic begins to appear all over Salem, and Hannah’s sure it’s the work of a deadly Blood Witch. The issue is, her coven is less than convinced, forcing Hannah to team up with the last person she wants to see: Veronica. While the pair attempt to smoke out the Blood Witch at a house party, Hannah meets Morgan, a cute new ballerina in town. But trying to date amid a supernatural crisis is easier said than done, and Hannah will have to test the limits of her power if she’s going to save her coven and get the girl, especially when the attacks on Salem’s witches become deadlier by the day.

So, this was a last minute, buying on a whim kind of book. I did not expect to get to it as soon as I did. I thought “oh, I’ll get to this around Halloween” which is when I try to save a lot of my witchier books. The themes of paranormal books, especially those that are witch centered, always feel better to read in October. Anyways, I listened to this book on audio and holy cow was it amazing.

Isabel is a debut author so the attachment she managed to cause between the characters and I is amazing. It normally takes a while for a character and I to click, if we even do, but Isabel managed to do just that within the first few pages of These Witches Don’t Burn. Also, while I do not pick up much on the atmosphere of books, this one made me feel like I was in the middle of it all, watching these scenes unfold. I held my breath with these characters, I gasped with them.

Hannah is a character who is dealing with some PTSD of an incident in New York and she is also recovering from a breakup from her best friend and girlfriend, Veronica. The relationship between these two made me roll my eyes, not because of the cliche of it but because Veronica annoyed the crap out of me but I still adored her.

Another thing that this book touched on besides lesbian witches is the addition of bisexual characters as well as a transexual character! I had a feeling going into the book that the main character was lesbian but the addition of the bisexual representation and then the transexual character was a very welcome surprise.

Eliza and Her Monsters Review

July 4, 2019July 4, 2019 ~ Taylor ~ Leave a comment

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Publication Date: May 30, 2017
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Genre|Subject: Young Adult/Contemporary/Mental health
Pages: 385
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

In the real world, Eliza Mirk is shy, weird, and friendless. Online, she’s LadyConstellation, the anonymous creator of the wildly popular webcomic Monstrous Sea. Eliza can’t imagine enjoying the real world as much as she loves the online one, and she has no desire to try.

Then Wallace Warland, Monstrous Sea’s biggest fanfiction writer, transfers to her school. Wallace thinks Eliza is just another fan, and as he draws her out of her shell, she begins to wonder if a life offline might be worthwhile.

But when Eliza’s secret is accidentally shared with the world, everything she’s built—her story, her relationship with Wallace, and even her sanity—begins to fall apart.

Holy hell. This. BOOK. Eliza and Her Monsters is the first book I have read by Francesca Zappia and I am so sad that it has taken me this long to get to it. The easiest 5 Stars I have given this year. But that was expected.

Something about having your own little corner of the internet to be yourself, let your creativity and personality be free makes my heart so happy. When I was in high school, I would have loved for my own corner like Eliza created for herself. Books about fandoms always have a soft spot in my heart.

Eliza deals with social anxiety and that was something I knew going into the book. While I was not looking for a book that had a main character who suffers from a similar form of anxiety as I do, it was refreshing to see myself in Eliza. I was a lot like Eliza when I was in high school so it was a little validating to see that through this book, a lot of people are coming and saying they had similar experiences.

One thing that I did not see mentioned in some of the trigger warnings is PTSD. While I do not want to give too much about this aspect, I did want to bring it up because I have not seen it talked about in some of the reviews I looked at before I picked the book up. I was told by my lovely co-owner Chelsea about the character and their PTSD.

Taylor’s 2019 Mid-Year Freak Out Tag

July 3, 2019July 2, 2019 ~ Taylor ~ Leave a comment

This tag is all over the place right now because it is the prime time to start freaking out about what books you still need to read before the end of the year. I don’t know about you but I am about 26 books behind on my Goodreads goal so I am freaking out a little bit! Anyways, the point of this tag is to talk about what you have read so far and to assess what you are excited to read for the last few months of the year. There are 13 questions, so let’s get right to it!

Question 1
Best book you have read so far in 2019.

Easily, out of the 27 books I have read this year, The Bride Test by Helen Hoang is my favorite. There is just something about her writing that draws me to her works and I will always recommend her to those asking for romance suggestions.

Question 2
Best sequel you’ve read so far in 2019.

This. Freaking. Book. I cannot even begin to explain what this sequel has done to me without giving everything away. The Wicked King by Holly Black is that kind of book that when I finished this book early in the year and instantly knew I needed the third and final book of the trilogy. If you have not read The Cruel Prince and then The Wicked King, you need to do yourself a favor and do so. These are easily two of the best fae based books I have read in a long time.

Question 3
New release you haven’t read yet, but want to.

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo is the first in a new Grishaverse duology following Nikolai. I received this a couple days after it was released in January and the fact that I have yet to read this hurts me. The Grishaverse is one of my favorite book based universe so I am DYING to get to this book and I will get to it before the end of the year.

Question 4
Most anticipated release for the second half of the year.

Of Ice and Shadows by Audrey Coulthurst is one of the two of my most anticipated books for the second half of the year. This is the sequel to Of Fire and Stars which was one of my Top Five books from 2018. This book releases on August 13.

The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black is the third and final book in The Folk of the Air trilogy. I mentioned The Wicked King earlier in this tag and to reiterate, I needed this finale the second I closed the book on the end of The Wicked King. This book is released (the day after my birthday) November 19th.

Question 5
Biggest disappointment.

Fairest by Marissa Meyer is a novella in the Lunar Chronicles. While novella’s are not necessary to read, this one though, I was told I needed to read it before I go on with the series. I wanted this novella to make me pity and feel something for Levana besides hatred. I wasn’t even half way through the novella and I despised her and her attitude. This was such a let down because I really wanted to like this novella but I struggled not to DNF it before getting halfway.

Another book that was a disappointment, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. So, this book was a disappointment because I was so confused as to why everyone loves it so much! I think it is mostly my fault for thinking it was going to be this wonderful classic when really, I did not get the hype around it.

Question 6
Biggest surprise.

Grace and Fury by Tracy Banghart is easily the biggest surprise during the first half of the year. One of my most trusted friends did not enjoy it and another of my friends DNF’d it. I expected it to be tolerable but it turned out to be fantastic! I listened to the audiobook in the span of like a day. It’s a fast pace book and really enjoyable. I look forward to getting my hand son the sequel soon!

Question 7
Favorite new author (debut or new to you).

Isabel Sterling is a new to me author and according to my research, she is also a debut author so her book These Witches Don’t Burn seems to be her first. I finished this book between the late hours of June and the early hours of July. It was not a book I intended to read so soon but am I glad I did!

Question 8
Newest fictional crush.

Jack Lim from Somewhere Only We Know by Maureen Goo. While Jack starts out as a deceptive jerk, he comes to realize his feelings for Lucky mean much more to him than getting a coveted position at a tabloid company in Hong Kong. I think his devotion to giving Lucky a day away from her K-Pop Idol status, even if it is for a story, was adorable. She wanted a day away and Jack was he perfect guide for that.

Question 9
Your new favorite character.

Asha Grant is the older cousin of Katy Grant who we know from Illuminae and from Gemina. Well, we meet Asha in Obsidio and she quickly became one of my new favorite characters in the series and one of my favorite female characters of all time.

Question 10
A book that made you cry.

Hate List by Jennifer Brown is the first book to have made me cry this year. Now that I think of it, it is the only book to have made me cry this year. It wasn’t until the end of the book that the tears spilled over. I listened to this on audio book so towards the very end when the book was closing and the music was coming on, I cried. The ending of this book was beautiful and I cried out of happiness for the main character.

Question 11
A book that made you happy.

Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia made me so happy. This is one of the first books where social anxiety was actually done well and made me see myself in the character. It is easy for me to relate to any character with social anxiety but the level that Eliza felt made me feel not so alone because I have seen many people identify with her for this very reason. The book was amazing as well so it was an added bonus that this ended up being a Five Star book.

Question 12
What is the most beautiful book you’ve bought so far this year (or received)?

I mean, look at this cover! A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer is a retelling where the main character has cerebral palsy and that is something I have never read about in a YA book before so I am hoping the inside of this book is as stunning as the outside.

Question 13
What books do you need to read by the end of the year?

I had to scroll through my TBR on Goodreads to find something that grabbed me enough to make me feel like I needed to read it before the end of the year. A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir is the one that grabbed my heart and squeezed. I am honestly surprised that I am yet to have picked it up considering how much I love the previous two books in the series. So, by the end of the year, I will have read this book and cried with everyone else.

And that is the end of my Mid Year Freak Out tag! I am curious what book you feel like you have to read by the end of the year! Let me know in the comments. Maybe it is one I still need to read as well!

Taylor’s June 2019 Wrap-Up!

July 2, 2019July 10, 2019 ~ Taylor ~ Leave a comment

June is over . . . Like Chelsea has said, it’s hard to believe the year is over half over at this point. After finally coming out of a reading slump, June was the month I got back into reading and ended the month reading 10 books! I am going to start with the lowest rated books and move to the highest rated.

10. Everyone’s a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too by Jomny Sun ★ ★ ★

9. The Gilded Wolves by Roshni Chokshi ★ ★ ★

8. The Diviners by Libba Bray ★ ★ ★ ☆

7. Two Dark Reigns by Kendare Blake ★ ★ ★ ★

6. Somewhere Only We Know by Maureen Goo ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

5. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by JK Rowling ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

4. Obsidio by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufmann ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

3. Grace and Fury by Tracy Banghart ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

2. Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

These Witches Don’t Burn by Isabel Sterling ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Taylor’s July 2019 TBR

July 1, 2019July 1, 2019 ~ Taylor ~ 4 Comments

It is the start of another month! Where is all the time going? I swear just yesterday it was the end of April and now we’re going into July. Anyways, with the beginning of a new month, that bring a new TBR! First up, I will list the books I plan on reading for the Random Dance Play-athon!

Random Dance Play-athon TBR
1. Utopia by Ateez – Read a book set in a place you dream of visiting