Wednesday, June 23, 2021

Review: Oona Out of Order! Margarita Montimore

Oona Out of Order
Margarita Montimore 


Purchase on Amazon



 



SynopsisIt’s New Year’s Eve 1982, and Oona Lockhart has her whole life before her. At the stroke of midnight she will turn nineteen, and the year ahead promises to be one of consequence. Should she go to London to study economics, or remain at home in Brooklyn to pursue her passion for music and be with her boyfriend? As the countdown to the New Year begins, Oona faints and awakens thirty-two years in the future in her fifty-one-year-old body. Greeted by a friendly stranger in a beautiful house she’s told is her own, Oona learns that with each passing year she will leap to another age at random. And so begins Oona Out of Order

Hopping through decades, pop culture fads, and much-needed stock tips, Oona is still a young woman on the inside but ever changing on the outside. Who will she be next year? Philanthropist? Club Kid? World traveler? Wife to a man she’s never met?


My Review!


At A Glance

Genre: Fiction; Science Fiction; Contemporary; Fantasy 

Love Triangle/Insta Love?: Slight obsession with a lover 

Cliff Hanger: nope.

Trigger Warnings: Major drug usage; Major alcohol usage 

Rating: 4 Stars


Score Sheet

All out of ten


Cover: 7

Plot: 8

Characters: 5

World Building: 8

Flow: 7

Series Congruity: n/a

Writing: 7

Ending: 8


Total: 7


Major issues: The freaking main character was super obsessed with how she looked, was fat shaming her self, and was overjoyed when she was skinny, i hated how she thought that way, like you are traveling through time, you shouldn't give two poops what you look like!

Best Part: I really enjoyed when Oona was in Asia, and all the details explained there, also all the references to things i grew up with or some things i legit wish where the way they were now. 

Worst Part: Oona was hella selfish 

Overall Feels Felt: Dude i would have so much time to read and do literally whatever i wanted, Oona didn't even scratch the surface 


Conclusion


Continuing the Series: n/a

Recommending: yep!


Final Thoughts: You know when someone askes you about what kind of super powers you would want, i have a new one, randomly go through life, granted it didn't go so well for our main character but i think i could do a bit better. Speaking of main character, Oona needed to calm down a bit, she didn't want to even try to listen to Kenzie when he was explaining things to her, she just ran away, then turned to drugs, i really don't know how she didn't die from overdose or have some major issues later in her life (or maybe she did, but we never saw it, i really want more books to show the other years). She was so freaking selfish when it came to seeking out Dale then what happened to Dale, then not leaving letters for her next jump then getting shitty when she arrive to no letter, like what, you can't be like eff future me, then instantly jump to "what the eff past me", THEY'RE ALL YOU. At least she stuck to watching her money and making sure she didn't eff that part up, but then that kinda of just comes off selfish as well, like she couldn't imagine living a poor person life so she did the bare minimum to make sure that didn't happen.  

SPOILERS

        I HATED how she went about seeking out Makenzie when she found out she had a kid, like you knew what would happen to him, you knew he would find you at some point, you know he needs to have a loving family right now since they're about to die, but nah you just went in there and EFFED up everything. why would you ever think that taking him to a concert was a good idea, like how can you think that would ever work, and all you did was dye your hair to hid your identity from his moms, you didn't cover your MASSIVE TATTOO WITH HIS FREAKING INITIALS ON IT. Also why would you stay with the husband that you divorce the year after, you know it was going to end badly, you knew you weren't happy, you knew you could just walk away and save you money and heartache but you just didn't, but then when you were mad at your mom, you ruined her relationship without a second thought, again, hella SELFISH. 




Wednesday, June 16, 2021

Review: Monument 14! Emmy Laybourne

 

Monument 14

Monument 14 #1

Emmy Laybourne 

Goodreads Page

Purchase on Amazon






My rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Synopsis: Your mother hollers that you're going to miss the bus. She can see it coming down the street. You don't stop and hug her and tell her you love her. You don't thank her for being a good, kind, patient mother. Of course not-you launch yourself down the stairs and make a run for the corner.

Only, if it's the last time you'll ever see your mother, you sort of start to wish you'd stopped and did those things. Maybe even missed the bus.

But the bus was barreling down our street, so I ran.

Fourteen kids. One superstore. A million things that go wrong.

When Dean raced out the door to catch the school bus, he didn’t realize it would be the last time he’d ever see his mom. After a freak hailstorm sends the bus crashing into a superstore, Dean and a group of students of all ages are left to fend for themselves.

They soon realize the hailstorm and the crash are the least of their worries. After seeing a series of environmental and chemical disasters ravage the outside world, they realize they’re trapped inside the store.

Unable to communicate with the ones they love, the group attempts to cobble together a new existence. As they struggle to survive, Dean and the others must decide which risk is greater: leaving… or staying.


Review:

    Characters: 

        Dean (Main character/writer of the "book")

                Dean is the writer behind the book as it's a journal and he's the one writing it, which he mentions a few times in case you ever forget. Not much to say about his personality, he's a typically teenage boy, obsessed with an older lady, whom just happens to get stuck with him in the store, how convenient for him *eye roll* he's a bit impulsive and does things just to look good in front of said girl, or picks options where he doesn't have to do shit, or if it makes it easier on him, he'll go with that, so again, typical teenage boy. 

            Alex (Dean's younger brother)

                    Alex was a real MVP in this book, he focused on thinking part and figured out how to make sure these kids could survive the longest and in the best shape. He needed more "screen" time, luckily book 2 is where he's writing the journal/book! 

            Jake/Brayden (dumb old kids)

                    They spent a lot of time high and drunk, so great role models. 

            Josie/Astrid (semi ok old kids)

                    Josie had a rough ass start, was in shock for a solid 2 days, but stepped up and became a "mom" to the younger kids. Astrid had a decent start, then when the compounds took hold of her and she found out she was type O (more on that later), she went AWOL, and her plot twist is decent? 

            Niko (old kid/boss)

                    Niko was elected boss halfway into the story, he was a boy scout yet still the kids were like nah dog we want the cool kids (jake/brayden) to be in charge, freaking idiots. He was decent, created a schedule, made the little kids go to school, took stock of everything, just really got them into a good place. if it was me thou, i wouldn't have never let those adults in, idc what they had to offer, fuck them. 

            Little Kids

                    We have like 6 or 7 little kids stuck in the store as well, most don't add much to the store at all, like the twins who lived next to Dean/Alex, most are just annoying, which i mean they're little kids dealing with no adults and the world ending, they acted better than i expected. 


    Plot: 

        Gist of this story, some kind of solar flare or some shit i don't remember, causes some major issues, first we have hail; The rocks of ice were all different sizes. Some little round marbles and some big knotty lumps with gray parts and gravel stuck inside them. Quickly it takes out the big kids buss, and the driver of the little kids bus, which she is another role model of mine, just straight up drives into the front of this grocery store to save her kids, freaking badass, and if that wasn't enough, she then backs up and saves most of the older kids. The older kids see some shit, their driver is killed, another kid is killed, Josie's friend hence why she goes into shock. Once the kids are semi settled into the store, and the alive driver goes in search of medical help, we get earthquakes, which messes up the store pretty bad. Last but the most important issue is when the chemical warfare plant in town cracks open and starts seeping chemicals into the air. These chemicals affect according to blood types so we have: 

        People with blood type A will develop severe blisters on all exposed skin. After prolonged exposure, the internal organs will begin to hemorrhage, leading to organ failure and death.

    People who have type AB blood suffer from paranoid delusions and possible hallucinations.

    There is confusion as to the effects on people with type B blood. It is possible they will suffer from long-term reproductive difficulties and sterility. But there is hope that people with type B blood suffer no consequences from exposure.

    People with type O blood, which is the most common blood type, will become deranged and violent. Avoid these people at all costs. Containing them in a closet or basement is advised, if possible.

Our main character Dean is type O, as is Astrid, and little Chloe. Alex and Jake are type B (which it mentions long term difficulties but Jake can't even get it up a few days after being exposed to the gas for a few mins, so they greatly underestimated that issue.) The twins are AB. Brayden is type A. They might have mentioned more but that's what i remember. 

This gas is bad, and according to the news it was disperse in 3 to 6 months, which freaks out these kids, but we're told later on by Alex that they can live in the store for 20 to 24 months! Even is Alex is wrong and they have just like 12 months, they're still so much better off just staying in the store and waiting for the gas to go away so it'll be so much safer for them to go out and find their families (if they're even still alive, i mean, shit got bad out there). 

So why didn't this kids stay in the store, well lets go over that. First some grownups show up at the back door wanting in, Mr. w/e his name, and Robbie. The kids vote to let them in, why, well simply because they have "information". WHO DA FUCK CARES ABOUT INFO RIGHT NOW. like legit, you can just take trips up the roof, like send Jake or Alex since they're the best off going out into the gas, and watch what's going on out there. Alex makes a video walkie talkie, you can totally go out and place it somewhere and watch the feed for a few days so you can get the feel for outside. Or even better yet, you can just stay inside and live there just fine until the damn gas goes away, these kids are idiots. So anyhow they let them in, which ends badly for them, as Sasha (a middle schooler i think, she's only freaking THIRTEEN), Robbie claims she throws herself at him, she says otherwise, she has spent the entire book trying to get every male in this book to notice her, like giving herself a wet tshirt without a bra on type things. Sasha claims Robbie tried to rape her. So Robbie and Jake start fighting, a gun gets thrown in and Robbie is shot, he dies, but also Brayden gets shot, in the shoulder, it's pretty bad, becomes infected. Oh and the other adult Mr w/e his name dies as well, i would assume from blood poisoning based on his symptoms. The kids are super worried about Brayden, they send Jake out to find help, hospital is abandoned, but he finds a note on the wall that Dean and Alex's parents left saying they're in Alaska, Jake abandons them, big shocker, so Niko freaks out and wants to leave right away. When Jake was out, he took the video things, he left it sitting outside when he left, the freaking smart thing for Niko to do is watch the feed for a few days, see how bad it was outside, then plan out a way to get to Denver, but nah, he wants to leave 10mins after Jake leaves. 

Astrid and Dean want to stay behind because they're O and will maybe kill the kids in the bus, they keep Chloe too, which makes no sense, she's like 5yrs old, she's drugged and tied up, you have 4 teens on this bus, they can easily hold her down and drug her more during the trip, it makes no sense to leave her behind, i don't get it. You find out Astrid is 4 months pregnant and she is scared if she goes, the baby will be affected by the gas, which newsflash, you already exposed it when you went ape shit in the bathroom earlier but you do you. Also the twins stay behind because they "know" Dean, but like Alex left, and they knew him too, and they spent the whole book wanting their parents, so why stay? 

Overall i really like this book, i only lowered my rating because the way Dean talked about Astrid and how he was written sometimes, like this line;  Her shirt rode up during the scuffle and I caught sight of her lower back. Tan, muscled, gorgeous. (which how are lower backs "muscled") or this one; In the ruse of brushing away water, I ran my thumb over her eyebrow. It was a marvel of God, how perfect it felt under my thumb. It's an eyebrow dude like the fuck, and he also watched her try to have sex with Jake, which ick. 

Sunday, June 13, 2021

Review: Life As We Knew It! Susan Beth Pfeffer

 

Life As We Knew It

Last Survivors #1

Susan Beth Pfeffer

Goodreads Page

Purchase on Amazon


My Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5



SynopsisMiranda’s disbelief turns to fear in a split second when a meteor knocks the moon closer to the earth. How should her family prepare for the future when worldwide tsunamis wipe out the coasts, earthquakes rock the continents, and volcanic ash blocks out the sun? As summer turns to Arctic winter, Miranda, her two brothers, and their mother retreat to the unexpected safe haven of their sunroom, where they subsist on stockpiled food and limited water in the warmth of a wood-burning stove.


My Review!


Characters: 

    Miranda (main character: 

        A 16yr old high schooler, living in urban Pennsylvania, obsessed with a figure skater who trained in town has to grow up real quick when a meteor hits the moon. Miranda is legit obsessed with this figure skater, like talks about it a lot, stalks him online, is on forums for stalking him further, etc, which i get, i love ice skating, but only to the point that i'll watch it whenever it's on. Miranda spends a good 75% of this book just outright BITCHING about everything; "why can't i go swim knowing that west nile is killing everyone" "why can't i go ice skate on the frozen pond knowing it's below zero out and can turn into a blizzard in mins" "why can't i eat more than a can of food for dinner knowing there is NO OTHER food in the damn world" "why do i have to share a room with everyone knowing i would literally FREEZE TO DEATH if i slept alone". last time i read this (in 2014), i didn't notice or at least i don't remember her bitching as much but damn girl i just can't with you. THE FREAKING MOON IS FUCKING SHIT UP, GROW THE FUCK UP. *pretty sure i have a tumor after dealing with her shit*

    Jonny (Miranda's younger brother)

        I have no issues with Jonny, thou i really thought it was weird they still sent him to baseball camp with all this shit going on, i wouldn't be ok if it was my kid, i would worry so freaking much. 

    Matt (Miranda's older brother)

        Matt really took charge, became the man of the house real quick once he got home from school. I did worry a lot about him health wise since he was taking on so much with so little food, but he knew it was in everyone's best interest if at least someone in their family survived so he rather his younger siblings have that food. 

    Mom (i'm sure they said her name a few times, but i didn't catch it)

    MY FREAKING ROLE MODEL 100% legit i inspire to be this woman, she took charge, got them all the food and things they would need to be better off, took care of her elderly neighborhood, knew it's family first when shit goes down, freaking didn't eat most days so her kids would be good, knew never to take anything for granted. just i am in awe of her, and i took notes, and i just hope i can be like her if something major went down in the real world. 


Plot:

    The synopsis pretty much tells you the whole plot! the only slight issues i had was towards the beginning when this is said: They had charts and computer projections and graphics, but basically they looked like big kids at Christmas. when they talk about the scientist, how can they have all this shit, yet fuck up so badly. you're telling me they didn't have enough photos and graphs of this thing to not get a more correct estimate of how big this was and how bad it would be?! maybe it's only movie science that i've seen, but i think they really should have had a better idea of the outcome. 


Misc:

    Trigger Warnings: Eating disorders; suicide

    Tropes: none that i can think of. 

    Format I read: Kindle; 353pgs; English

    Tagged/Shelved As: Young Adult; Dystopia; Science Fiction; Apocalyptic; Survival


    

Saturday, June 12, 2021

Library Hauls! (June 5th and June 9th)

 



Review: Tokyo Ever After!

 

Tokyo Ever After 

Tokyo Ever After #1

Emiko Jean

Goodreads Page

Purchase on Amazon


My rating: 3 out of 5 stars. 




Synopsis: Izumi Tanaka has never really felt like she fit in—it isn’t easy being Japanese American in her small, mostly white, northern California town. Raised by a single mother, it’s always been Izumi—or Izzy, because “It’s easier this way”—and her mom against the world. But then Izumi discovers a clue to her previously unknown father’s identity…and he’s none other than the Crown Prince of Japan. Which means outspoken, irreverent Izzy is literally a princess.


In a whirlwind, Izumi travels to Japan to meet the father she never knew and discover the country she always dreamed of. But being a princess isn’t all ball gowns and tiaras. There are conniving cousins, a hungry press, a scowling but handsome bodyguard who just might be her soulmate, and thousands of years of tradition and customs to learn practically overnight.

Izumi soon finds herself caught between worlds, and between versions of herself—back home, she was never “American” enough, and in Japan, she must prove she’s “Japanese” enough. Will Izumi crumble under the weight of the crown, or will she live out her fairy tale, happily ever after?


My Review!

Characters: 
    Izumi (Izzy) Tanaka (Main Character)
        Izzy Izzy Izzy, i really liked Izzy, for one she references the Avengers! She has the major issues of being an "outsider" in her town, she's Japanese in a white town, she wants to find herself and her identity. She grew up with only her mom, ask about her dad a few times, but otherwise felt like her childhood with just her mom was enough, til one day she and her BF finds a poem from her dad to her mom (which is hecka romantic that her mom was using it as a bookmark 18 ish years later). Izzy of course finds out she's a freaking princess, which knowing that she was already having issues finding herself just because she was Asian in a white area, she wasn't going to have the best time trying to be a princess among all these royals who have grown up living their royal life and knowing all they know. She was crazy impulsive, didn't think twice about how her dumb shit would reflect on others, didn't think about how a royal should react to shit, nah, she just did what she wanted. She was all into finding herself but didn't put really any effort into learning how to be a royal, like that could have very well been your "true" you and you just didn't even try, ugh. 

     Akio (body guard/love interest)
        Royal body guard, tall, handsome, can kill you easily, fades into background easily as well, what's not to love. Akio is 100% devoted to his family and to his pride of being a royal guard which as been passed down in his family. he wants to be in the Japanese version of the air force, but when his mom gets sick and his dad has to step down as a royal guard, Akio steps up and becomes the guard instead, so again, very devoted to his family and understanding that you have to make some sacrifices for your family. but then in walks Izzy and this dude's poor world is flipped. 

    Asian Girl Gang (Izzy's friends from home)
        You don't see too much of them, mainly just texts, but Izzy does do a fair amount of talking about them or flashbacking to stuff involving them so you get a few looks into their world. Its really nice that Izzy could find some other Asian friends in her small "white" town, but it does make me wonder why she was freaking out so much about being a "minority" in that town if she can find 3 other Asian girls to be around, like what? 


Plot:
        Hidden princess plots always come across weird to me, especially in this day in age with all the 23 and Me shit, and all the social media out there to expose this kind of stuff, like look at TMZ, then can find anything and dig for any kind of story, granted i don't know much about Japanese media, but i feel like there was no way the royal family never looked into what had gone on with Izzy's mom when she spent so much time with the prince, you're telling me they didn't follow up with her at any point after he came back home, didn't notice her pregnant ass a few months after he left?! they mentioned how he had guard with him while in college, so they had to notice his interest in her and like i said, DO A FOLLOW UP. also seeing as he hadn't provided an heir 17yrs later, you would think that the royal people would have started digging?! but i digress. 

    the whole princess falling in love with her guard thing, hate it, it's almost Stockholm Syndrome in my mind, you're spending all your time with this dude, you rely on him tons, it's his freaking job, he literally has to jump in front of a bullet for you because again IT'S HIS JOB, and the freaking princess always takes that as like him falling for you, but dude, he has to be nice to you, has to be right by you all the time, has to have your best interest in mind, like you're almost taking advantage of him. i just don't like it. 

    small thing that annoyed me so much, so when their affair is outed, Izzy is told that Akio is at home, and his house is SURROUNDED by the press, so Izzy writes him a letter to have him meet her somewhere, and is upset when he doesn't show.... HOW WOULD HE GET OUT OF HIS HOUSE WITHOUT BEING FOLLOWED?!  and she takes that as him breaking up with her and just freaking leaves the country, like overreacted much. UGH. 

Misc: 
    Tropes: Hidden princess, insta-love ish, enemies to lovers 
    Trigger warnings: racism 
    Format I read: Kindle, 336pgs, English 
    Tagged/Shelved As: Young Adult; Contemporary; Romance; Cultural/Japan

Wednesday, June 9, 2021

Review: Arsenic and Adobo! (Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mystery #1)

 

Arsenic and Adobo 

Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mystery #1

Mia P. Manansala 

Goodreads Page

Purchase on Amazon

YouTube review





SynopsisWhen Lila Macapagal moves back home to recover from a horrible breakup, her life seems to be following all the typical rom-com tropes. She's tasked with saving her Tita Rosie's failing restaurant, and she has to deal with a group of matchmaking aunties who shower her with love and judgment. But when a notoriously nasty food critic (who happens to be her ex-boyfriend) drops dead moments after a confrontation with Lila, her life quickly swerves from a Nora Ephron romp to an Agatha Christie case.


With the cops treating her like she's the one and only suspect, and the shady landlord looking to finally kick the Macapagal family out and resell the storefront, Lila's left with no choice but to conduct her own investigation. Armed with the nosy auntie network, her barista best bud, and her trusted Dachshund, Longanisa, Lila takes on this tasty, twisted case and soon finds her own neck on the chopping block…




My Review!

Characters: 
    Lila (main character) 
            What can i say about Lila? well she comes across like any normal mid 20's first  generation immigrant girl. grew up in a small town, Shady Palms (which is that a Golden Girl's reference?!), orphaned and was raised by her aunts, she feels a strong sense of duty to her family which she actually throws to the side to pursue her dream of going to culinary school. Lila moves to Chicago, goes to college, and of course falls in love, what could go wrong.... boy cheats, she drops out, moves back home to help with the restaurant. overall i didn't mind Lila, she had some real annoying moments of selfishness, held some major resentment against having to be in this small town, was still in love with her high school sweetheart Derek, ignored her best friend's dream of opening a café together. She was a bit on the slow side when it came to figuring out this damn crime. she literally forgets the name of the Mexican restaurant in this small ass town, yet referred to it a good 4 times before and then just be like "what's the name of it again?". Also the damn girl talked way too much about food, i get it you, you love food, you want to be a baker, cool girl but damn, talk about something else. 

    Adeena (MC's best friend)
            we don't get much on the best friend other than she is vegetarian and is a Muslim so can't have pork, thou she has a brother and it seemed like he was eating whatever was handed to him by Lila without caring if it had pork or not. i liked Adeena, she was smarter than Lila, always reminding her to not go investigate by her self, which of course Lila did. i also very much supported Adeena when she got super shitty that Lila was deflecting EVERY SINGLE TIME Adeena brought up opening a café with her, dude she's your best friend, you have been complaining non stop about wanting to bake your shit and all that, but when Adeena askes her to do it, Lila is like "nah dude i don't want to stay in this small town", so you rather try to open a small café in a BIG town and get fucked by the Starbucks down the street, idiot. 

    Derek (love interest #1/formal lover of the MC/"bad guy")
        From what we learn of Derek, he had some major issues in college, which no one seemed to notice or were too busy living up their lives to give a shit about Derek's issues *cough cough* Armin *cough*. He got caught up in drugs, which is typical in a small town, tried to make ends meet, tried to do the good thing, was killed anyway. Poor Derek. Lila was very much still in love with him, they had the whole 1st grade bullshit going on, pulling pigtails and calling each other names. At least Lila was invested enough to solve his murder, thou it was 100% only because she didn't want her family to lose their restaurant.

    Armir and Dr Jae (other love interest/lawyer/dentist/not too important to the plot)
        Not much to say about either of them, they're just here to be the love triangle we needed? wanted? how lucky of Lila thou to have a lawyer and a dentist vying for her heart. 

    Aunt Rosie and the Calendar Crew
        I liked them, they were cute, they poked fun at Lila, but it was in a loving way, they had their connections and helped Lila throughout the investigation even if Lila didn't see it nor thanked them for it. 


Plot:
    i was crazy bored in the middle of this book, you get the murder pretty close to the opening of the book, and the vast majority of the middle is literally just Lila going to random restaurants and eating their food, then going into SO MUCH FREAKING DETAIL about the food she ate. sure the plot kinda moved after she visited these places, not in Lila's mind thou, just in the readers mind because i quickly caught on to the shit going in, whereas Lila was just like "oh good food......... oh right the murder". you do have a few suspects lined up and some of them make perfect sense, yet the actual killer *sigh* i just didn't like it, you only really get a few "clues" along the way to who it is, which i will admit i didn't notice til after it was revealed but i would think there would be more early on considering how much Lila and this person interacted. if Lila said "ube crinkles" one more time thou, i was going to lose my damn mind. 


Ending:
    Because this is only book 1, and in my experience with cozy mysteries, they will never end on a cliff hanger, the crime will always be solved in that book, which here it was, so the ending was just meh. just a feel good ending since Lila is finally going to have her café/bakery with Adeena (will you never know, they just got the deed to the place so they might never do it). the next book in the series is already listed on Goodreads, and has a title: Homicide and Halo-Halo; and had a release date of February 8th 2022. will i read it? eh, we'll see. 


Misc:
    Tropes: 
        Love Triangle between Lila, Amir, and Dr. Jae (thou you can say Derek is in there too, if he hadn't died). 
        Second Chance Romance with Amir, Lila had feelings for him in high school but felt weird since it was her BFF's brother. 
    Format I Read: Kindle; 336pgs; published May 4th 2021; English 
    Tagged/Shelved As: Mystery; Fiction; Mystery Thriller; Cozy Mystery; Contemporary
    Trigger Warnings:  Verbal Abuse; Death; Drugs; Violence; Kidnapping/Hostage Situation