Hey! So, in case you’ve missed my earlier posts, I got into cross stitching over Lockdown, and have been at stitching some of my favourite characters and quotes. Last week, I had a go at the Six of Crows characters (I guess this is my way of doing fanart) and I’m so happy with how it turned out! I tried to add in some little details like all the height differences haha; Wylan has a flute and Jesper has some cards. What do you think?
This is going to be my last post before Christmas, so if you celebrate it, have a great day 🙂
Hey everyone! This week’s prompt is all about books I want for Christmas… I can’t belive that IT’S IN THREE DAYS! The tag was originally created by The Broke and the Bookishbut is now hosted over at That Artsy Reader Girl. What books do you want for Christmas (or if you don’t celebrate it, what are the top books are on your WTR list?). Have you read any of mine? Let me know in the comments 🙂
From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout
You Should See Me In A Crown by Leah Johnson
Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley
Pet by Akwaeke Emezi
Crier’s War by Nina Valera
I got through a lot of TV shows during Lockdown, and I was pretty excited to find out that a lot of them were based on graphic novels…
The Umbrella Academy: The Apocalypse Suite by Gerard Wayne (did you know that?!) and Gabriel Ba
Hey everyone! Today, I thought I’d take a step back from books (shocking, I know) to review a book adaptation I watched this week. Cinema Sunday is a really fun tag hosted over at Escape 2 Fictionand I thought I’d give it a go. I can’t work out if that site no longer exists or if my computer is playing up, but never mind. Here’s the tag!
Have you seen One Day? Read the book? Which do you prefer? Let me know in the comments!
Back in January, I read One Day for the first time and instantly fell in love with it. Find my review of it here 🙂 It’s a standalone novel by David Nicholls that follows Emma and Dexter through their lives on same day every year. It’s a great idea, but I wasn’t sure how well it would translate onto the screen.
As it turns out, not very well.
One of my biggest problems was that there was no consistency with the length of time spent on different years. Yes, they’re not all going to be the same length but one of the days was, I kid you not, about 30 seconds long. And then the final ones were around half an hour. The best part about the book One Day was that it was full of little details that created an overall sense of really knowing these characters. And if I hadn’t read the book before, I WOULD HAVE BEEN SO CONFUSED (referring back to the fact that one of the years was 30 seconds long).
Emma was played by Anne Hathaway (who I loveeee) but I don’t think she was done justice! First of all, Emma is supposed to be from Yorkshire. Anne Hathway is not from Yorkshire… and she wasn’t for most of the film 😂. There was the occasional twang on a word but otherwise it was just the generic posh-british-accent-that-some-americans-seem-to-think-is-how-everyone-speaks. Additionally, in the book, Emma is intellectual and shy but in the film they just turned her into a nerd. That was annoying. The film focused more on Dexter – whose plot was probably more suited to the film (ie more dramatic/full of drugs). But it’s not a film about Dexter, it’s about both of them!
To conclude, One Day is a brilliant book. I knew it would be interesting to see how it was adapted, but I thought it was a shame how much stuff was missed out. The ending was really sweet and almost made up for it – butit was only great because it followed the book directly! 😦 If you’re looking for a more interesting take on girl-meets-boy then I’d highly recommend the One Day film. But if you’ve read the book before, you’ll be dissapointed!
ITS CHRISTMASSSSS! (That was meant to be the scream from Merry Xmas Everybody.). (The best Christmas song in my opinion, although I’m open to suggestions 🙂 ). I’ve been nominated by Fajar over at The Write Path (check out their blog here, the graphics are always amazing). These tags are perfect for the lead up to Christmas – hope you enjoy!
Baby It’s Cold Outside Book Tag
Rules
• Thank the person who tagged you and link to their post.
Snow Day – what’s your “comfort book”? Simon vs the Homosapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli is just such a happy book (we don’t talk about the film). Also, I like reading the ends of my favourite romance books if I’m feeling down.
Snow Angels – What’s a book that you love so much you would want to be buried with it (a little morbid, but…) I’ve never been asked this before! Um, I feel like I might need to read a few more life changing books before I can anser this. It doesn’t feel right to just name a YA book (although I’d like to be buried with some books. It’ll keep me busy hehe).
Warm Socks – What’s a book that makes you feel warm inside?(The fluffiest, cutest romance you’ve ever read?) THERE’S SO MANY!! The most recent one I can think of is What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli (seeing a trend here?) and Adam Silvera. Find my review of it here 🙂
Hot Cocoa – What winter-themed novels have you recently read? Last week, I finished The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper. It was set at Cjristmas and I was pretty excited of my timing!
Sledding – What’s a book with the best plot twists? Who’s an author that always keeps you on your toes? I read the last book in the Murder Most Unladylike Series by Robin Stevens earlier this year. It’s been a series that I’ve quite lieterally grown up with and I was so sad to see that it was over. But she’s an author that always has brillian plot twists…
Ugly Jumpers – What’s a book with the ugliest cover? It depends on how lenient I’m feeling , but there’s been some shockers this year haha. Normally, a book might be released with an ugly cover and then a decent one is released a few years later. But I feel like the opposite happened with Carry On by Rainbow Rowell (one of my favourite books. ever.) What do you think?
Movie Marathon – What’s the last book you binge read? i’ve been pretty busy with school (hoping to do a lot of binging in the Christmas holidays – but I read How The King Of Elfhame Learned To Hate Stories by Holly Black in a day.
Letter to Santa – What’s a book that’s on your wish list this year? I’m asking for:
From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout
You Should See Me In A Crown by Leah Johnson
Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley
I Nominate:
I think there’s been a little bit of a mix up with some of the nominations (I posted it before I meant to so the alerts went out, then my computer deleted most of the nominations so I couldn’t remember who I tagged. 😦 ) If you think you were one of the ones who were deleted, please let me know and I’ll sort it out!
Hey everyone! This is one of my favourite weekly tags, so many people do it it’s really fun. Anyway, WWW Wednesday is hosted over at Taking On A World Of Words, check out their site 🙂 If you’ve had a go at this tag, feel free to link in your post in the comments. And without further adieu, here’s what I’ve been up to this week!
A Book I’m Currently Reading
I got The Dark Is Rising series sorry sequence for my birthday. At first I was a bit skeptical but I can now see why they are classics. I’m hoping to have finished tje series by the weekend (although its taking forever) so keep an eye out for my review 🙂
A Book I Finished Recently
I finished The Versions Of Us last week, and I was dissapointed. I guess I just had high expectations that it didn’t quite live up to, but it was still a fun read.
You dont understand how flipping excited I am to read this.
It’s sat on my shelf for about 5 months (oops)(wow it’s actually a long time now I think about it) becuase I keep saying I’ll read it after a particularly terrible book. Luckily everything I’ve read recently has been pretty good so I’m just going to read it next. Becuasehaving and not reading a book for 6+ months would probably be a record for me. What’s the longest you’ve had a book on your shelf?
Speaking of, here’s my Top 20 In 2020! (What can I say, I need to plug stuff at every oportunity 🙂 ).
What are you reading at the moment? Have you read any of these? Let me know in the comments!
A man is walking down a country lane. A woman, cycling towards him, swerves to avoid a dog. On that moment, their future hinges. There are three possible outcomes, three small decisions that could determine the rest of their life.
Eva and Jim are nineteen and students at Cambridge when their paths first cross in 1958. And then there is David, Eva’s then-lover, an ambitious actor who loves Eva deeply. The Versions of Us follows the three different courses their lives could take following this first meeting. Lives filled with love, betrayal, ambition but through it all is a deep connection that endures whatever fate might throw at them. Blurb from Goodreads
Clever idea, right? At first, the concept was what interested me… even if I was worried from a review I’d seen on the back talking about its ‘tear jerking conclusion’. (Whenever I see a statement like that on a book, this TikTok sound starts in my head. The one that’s like Oh nO. oH no. Oh nononono…). But more on that later.
The Versions Of Us was sometimes a bit confusing. It spanned between three different versions of the same year, that all were (prettyloosely) derived from the moment Jim and Eva first met. The versions were very similar in some parts, with all the characters attending the same events and the only changes being who they were with or the names of their children – there was a lot of children. Can you see why I got confused? So the repetition of the scenes could become a little boring but for the most part the pacing was really good.
“You have made a cage for yourself, my love. You think it’s impossible to get out. But it is not impossible. You need only to open a door.
Like I did. And like anyone can who has a choice.”
THE VERSIONS OF US
I didn’t like that Jim’s ‘greatest painting’ was also called the Versions of Us. When book titles that aren’t just the name of something, you have to be sneaky putting it into the book. And it was really layered on thick, especially at the end. It was all: three pOsIble paths. tHreE versions that cOuLd hAvE been taken (I know! I read the book!!) Personally, endings are so important because they leave you with your overall impression of a book. And my impression wasn’t the best: it was one of those endings where it’s two characters talking somewhere. One of them is like “Are you ready to go??’ and the other swipes a curl behind their ear and looks in the sunset and says in a quivering but very firm voice “Yes. I’m ready.”
IT CAN SOMETIMES BE POWERFUL BUT IT FELT REALLY CRINGEY.
Also, Jim and Eva didn’t seem like nice people! They weren’t that likeable, Jim especially, and I REALLY disagreed with some of their actions. (Spoiler: there was a lot of cheating.). It surprised me how I was much more invested in the side characters. However, the writing was very rich, high quality, not humorous like I’d anticipated. It made you think about mortality, how relationships change and had some strong moral ideas.
He is old enough now to know happiness for what it is: brief and fleeting, not a state to strive for, to seek to live in, but to catch when it comes and to hold on to for as long as you can.
WISE WORDS 🙂
Basically, the Versions of Us is addictive. It had a clever concept that I feel could have been carried out in a smoother way, but it was well paced and the characters were fleshed out. One review on the cover described it as One Day meets Sliding Doors and I can’t put it better. So, if you like the look of it, or like either of them, I would recommend that you try The Versions Of Us. But not if you want a read that isn’t confusing!
Hey everyone! I’m back with another tag (thanks so much for tagging me in these, they’re so fun). Meg from Meg’s Magical Musing nominated me for this one – go check out her site, she has a great taste in musicals haha. So, here’s the tag! What would your answers be?
Rules:
Thank whoever nominated you
Answer the questions
Nominate up to 9 other bloggers an and ask them five new questions
Notify the nominees through their their blog by visiting and commenting on their tag
List the rules and display the “Ideal Inspiration Blogger Idea” logo
Provide the link of the Award creator of of the Inspiration award as Rising Star from: https://idealinspiration.blog
The Questions
What is an unpopular standalone or series you think deserves more attention?
If you could live in one of the fantasy worlds, what would it be?
If a minor character ends up as the main character of a book, who would you choose?
If you could combine different literary characters into a book, who would you choose?
What character would you love to spend time with?
My Answers
What is an unpopular standalone or series you think deserves more attention This sounds a little niche, but I recently finished reading Macbeth for school and I actually really enjoyed it (which surprised me too!). I feel like it’s often over analysed which takes away from actually what a great play it is.
If you could live in one of the fantasy worlds, what would it be? These are some good questions!
If a minor character ends up as the main character of a book, who would you choose? There’s so many I could pick! I’d love to have a marauders spin off of the Harry Potter series, but I’m scared it would ruin all my headcanons. We got a Magnus and Alex spinoff… I liked Heather and Vivienne in the Folk of the Air series and a spin off from them might be interesting?
If you could combine different literary characters into a book, who would you choose? I don’t know if I’m supposed to choose characters that might create like an interesting dynamic – but I think it might be funny to have all the variations of a specific trope or character. I can picture funny scenes between all the different Little Mermaids, or Chosen Ones, that have appeared in literature over the years.
What character would you love to spend time with? THESE QUESTIONS ARE SO GOOD, AND DIFFICULT, AT THE SAME TIME. I’d like to meet SimonSnow and give him a hug because he needs it 😦
Hey everyone! This week’s prompt for Top Ten Tuesday was all about Christmas books. I got you guys to guess what books they from a snippet of the cover (here’s a linkto it in case you missed it!). The tag was originally created by The Broke and the Bookishbut is now hosted over at That Artsy Reader Girl. So here are the answers… let me know how you get on!
Hey everyone! This week’s prompt is all about books I want for Christmas… I can’t belive that IT’S IN THREE DAYS! The tag was originally created by The Broke and the Bookishbut is now hosted over at That Artsy Reader Girl. What books do you want for Christmas (or, if you don’t celebrate it, what books
Name: How The King Of Elfhame Learned To Hate Stories
Author: Holly Black
Illustrator: Rovina Cai
Published: 2020
I can’t find a good blurb for this book – none of them properly express just how gorgeous this book is. I’m worried this post won’t be able to either.
(Another reason I’m worried is because I can’t find any of my notes, but I’m sure I’ll manage haha).
In case you’re confused, How The King Of Elfhame Learned To Hate Stories is a (heavily) illustrated novella to accompany the Folk Of The Air series by Holly Black. I’d recommend that you check out my review of the first book, ‘The Cruel Prince’, here and read the book! or this might not make much sense! It’s one of my favourite fantasy series and I highly recommend them.
Anyway, this book gives the unheard narrative of Cardan’s side of the series. The stories are taken from before, during and after the Folk Of The Air but they had similarities running through them that made it feel more like a novella than a collection of stories. Plus, it describes Fairyland from the perspective of someone who couldn’t be more accustomed to its ways. Jude, the narrator of the other books, is brought into the world by her parents’ murderer aged seven (I know), yet Cardan has been raised there since birth as the son of the King. It meant an slightly different interpretation of the world that he calls home, compared to one Jude grew to hate.
Some might think of him as a strong draught, burning the back of one’s throat, but invigorating all the same.
You might beg to differ.
So long as you’re begging, he doesn’t mind a bit.
ITS SO GOOOOOOOOD
I loved watching Jude and Cardan fall in love all over again. Their relationship is so messy and complicated and gorgeous; this book reminded me why they’re one of my OTPs. But, it wasn’t just the first book from the perspective of the love interest (*cough* MIDNIGHT SUN *cough*). Maybe I should have read the series again before reading this, as there were a few characters I had to think back to remember? But the main thread through the stories was that of Cardan meeting with this troll woman, and learning to hate stories. Obviously. There was a sense of repetition throughout these meetings that made it feel fairy tale-esque (as I’m sure was the point ha), and the illustrations that accompanied it changed subtly with every addition to the story, which made me smile.
THE ILLUSTRATIONS!
Gold and royalty and cruelty, the rich fantasy of the Folk of the Air trilogy was captured so well. Often I find books with illustrations childish… and the other times I think that they look good, the characters look nothing like in my head. Heh, nOt tHiS TiMe! it was the attention to detail that made it: I’d think one was okay, look more closely and find my favourite yet. All the illustrations were quietly gorgeous, the colour schemes quite muted, but little things all added together to create a vibrant painting of this world.
The troll woman was actually terrifying (look right) and Jude wansn’t too glamourous which I liked. Often in fanart, I think that she looks too perfect – you can’t forget that SHE’S A WOMAN WITH A SWORD. Cardan was his hauty self (they’re the textbook definition of a bisexual’s worst nightmare haha) and I like how a small tilt of his body could change his whole demeanour. Rovina Cai is infinitely talented. So without further ado, here are my favourites!
They aren’t spoiling anything, but if you want to save the illustrations for your first read, skip this next bit.
Zoom in, you can see the arrogance splashed across his face. And she has a sworddddd
I love how absorbed Cardan is in the book (maybe he doesn’t hate stories after all…)
In my head all the palaces were quite cramped and underground (I don’t know why either) but the sheer size and elegance of this room messed with my head.
Nobody: Cardan in the human world: what ees dees strange piece of dough
Which one is your favourite?
Honestly, I don’t want this world to end. I haven’t read The Modern Fairy Stories (know what I’m asking for for Christmas) and I think that there is an ebook novella somewhere? If anyone could clear that up in the comments I would be very thankful 🙂 How The King Of Elfhame Learned To Hate Stories was a beautiful addition to this world and perfect for fans of fantasy.
And fans of sword wielding girls and their angsty boyfriends 🙂
