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A Fire Endless

A Fire EndlessTitle: A Fire Endless
Author: Rebecca Ross
Series: Elements of Cadence #2
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Format: Audio
Pages: 512
Length: 16h 15m
Narrator: Ruth Urquhart
Source: Owned
Reading Challenge: None
Rating:

My Thoughts

I’m so happy I read A FIRE ENDLESS. It’s everything I wanted in a sequel / conclusion. I was hooked as soon as I started reading and didn’t want to put it down. I loved the Gaelic / Scottish feel to the story and I loved Ruth Urquhart’s narration. Her Scottish accent added so much to the story.

I loved seeing Adaira grab hold of her lineage without sacrificing where and how she was raised. I also loved seeing Torin and Sidra growing into their roles as Laird and Laird’s consort. I thought there was a perfect balance of romance and story, which made my heart happy!

I loved getting a chance to experience life in the West and seeing how different it was from the East. I loved learning more about the Folk, their origins and history, and their hierarchy. I especially loved being a part of the Spirits realm and seeing how it worked. I guessed Bane’s backstory and was excited to see that I was right.

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An Offer From A Gentleman

An Offer From A GentlemanTitle: An Offer from a Gentleman
Author: Julia Quinn
Series: Bridgerton #3
Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance
Format: Audio
Pages: 358
Length: 12h 22m
Narrator: Rosalyn Landor
Source: Library
Reading Challenge: None
Rating:

Also in This Series: The Duke and I, The Viscount Who Loved Me
My Thoughts

AN OFFER FROM A GENTLEMAN is my favorite of the Bridgerton series so far. I absolutely adored the CINDERELLA (and EVER AFTER) retelling aspect of this one. I loved getting to know Benedict better as we don’t see or hear much from him in the previous two novels. I loved Sophie. She was the perfect stand-in for Cinderella. I especially loved the immediate connection she had with Benedict. Their banter and sexual tension was so much fun to read.

The edition I read had a second epilogue, which I enjoyed (not quite as much as the second epilogue for THE VISCOUNT WHO LOVED ME, but much more than the one for THE DUKE AND I). I loved getting to see Posey’s happy ending as well as get a glimpse into Benedict’s and Sophie’s life together.

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Witch Please

Witch PleaseTitle: Witch Please
Author: Ann Aguirre
Series: Fix-It Witches #1
Genre: Magical Realism, Romance
Format: Audio
Pages: 368
Length: 10h 31m
Narrator: Ava Lucas
Source: Library
Reading Challenge: None
Rating:

Also in This Series: Boss Witch
My Thoughts

I basically read WITCH PLEASE in one sitting because I loved it so much. I loved the characters, especially Danica and Titus. Their chemistry was instant and the sexual tension between them was amazing and leaves you wanting for more, creating a cute, fast-paced steamy romance. I loved the setting and the small town feel. The description of the people, shops, and scenery had me ready to book a plane ticket so I could experience it first hand. And, thanks to the descriptions of all the pastries in Titus’ bakery, I’m craving cinnamon rolls and gingersnaps now!

I especially loved the lit bit magic and wish there had been a bit more. I loved the concept of witches and how their magic works. I would love to learn more about them.

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Eleanor & Park

Eleanor & ParkTitle: Eleanor & Park
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance, Young Adult
Format: Audio
Pages: 328
Length: 8h 57m
Narrator: Rebecca Lowman, Sunil Malhotra
Source: Owned
Reading Challenge: Book Club
Rating:

My Thoughts

I knew nothing about the story or characters when I first started reading ELEANOR & PARK. I’ve read three other Rainbow Rowell books so I was really excited to read this, and I’m sorely disappointed.

I really wish Rowell had written Park as a white person because she didn’t represent his Korean heritage very well (properly). I feel like making him half-Korean only served as a plot device to make him seem like a misfit, a huge problem in and of itself. I feel like the story suffered a great deal because of the bad Asian representation and uncomfortable descriptions of Park, Josh, and Mindy. You could definitely tell that their Korean heritage was from an outsider’s perspective.

I especially hated that the audiobook made it sound like Mindy was Chinese and not Korean. Linguistically speaking, her accent would’ve been different and she would’ve spoken English a lot better than she was portrayed to because she was immersed in English ALL. THE. TIME. She wasn’t a recent immigrant nor was she surrounded by the Korean language on a day to day basis. She also didn’t have access to Korean shows, music, or Internet links because the story’s set in the 1980s. Everything around her was English. Her broken English made her seem stupid and unable to learn the language. It annoyed the hell out of me because of my linguistic background.

I also hated that Mindy didn’t share her heritage with her sons. Park says more than once that he didn’t know what it meant to be Asian. Even if Mindy was sad to leave her country in pursuit of love, I feel like she would’ve shared her culture with her sons. The family didn’t even eat Korean food at their house. I could’ve totally gotten behind Park feeling different from the other kids in school and learning to be proud of his heritage, but none of that was explored.

I can see why there has been a lot of controversy surrounding ELEANOR & PARK and why a lot of P.O.C. readers felt uncomfortable reading it. Not only was there bad Asian representation, there was also bad Black representation. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was one of the books that was a pre-cursor to the Own Voices reading / writing movement. It definitely shows why Own Voices is important.

I did think it was a cute romance and I loved how much Eleanor and Park leaned on each other to survive their day to day hardships, but the problematic portrayal of P.O.C. characters overshadowed the good in my opinion.

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Ariadne

AriadneTitle: Ariadne
Author: Jennifer Saint
Genre: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction
Format: Audio
Pages: 308
Length: 11h 59m
Narrator: Barrie Kreinik
Source: Owned
Reading Challenge: Book of the Month
Rating:

My Thoughts

I really love Greek Mythology even though I don’t remember most of the details I learned about each myth back in high school. I was excited to read ARIADNE because I also love retellings. However, I don’t really think it can be considered a retelling as it was just a written account of one version of Ariadne’s mythos. Retellings should put new spins on old myths or fairy tales.

Despite that ARIADNE isn’t a retelling, I still enjoyed reading it and relearning about her. The writing was interesting and kept me engaged. I wanted to know what was going to happen and I hoped the story would go a certain way. I also loved the inclusion of her sister Phaedra’s life outside of Crete. I now look forward to reading Jennifer Saint’s other books surrounding Greek mythology.