A Day in Bookland

  I enjoyed this because Thomas focuses mostly on the internal conflicts of the main character and how her decisions affect her and everybody around her and still deals with a lot of racial issues that Black (and Brown) young people have to deal with in the US, especially in poor neighbourhoods. Bri is a teen going through a difficult time. She can seem hot-headed, opinionated and, at times, selfish, but she is just trying to be herself, help those she loves and pursue her dreams of becoming a rapper. I was reminded though of why I rarely read YA contemporary fiction these days: one, dramatic teens (don't get me wrong, I get where they are coming from but still makes my eyes roll) and two, intentional lack of communication between adults and kids which drives me up the wall. Follow

  I picked up The Duke and I because I wanted to watch the tv show and I can only say: what a disappointment. Went into it obviously not expecting a literary masterpiece but an entertaining, easy to read book set in the Regency era. I knew I was going to encounter sexist remarks (coming from both male and female characters) and was fully prepared to not get super mad at them. And although the first half of the novel was enjoyable: I thought the family dynamic is probably the best thing about this book; the second half was an absolute disaster. Not only the writing gets absolutely horrendous but there is also sexual assault (tw for rape) and the character who does it faces no consequences whatsoever. Reading that scene completely destroyed my enjoyment of the novel and I am pretty sure I won't be continuing with the rest of the books. Follow

  Encuentros con libros  by Stefan Zweig is an essay collection and it was my very first time reading him and I have to say it won't be my last. I really enjoyed his writing style and you can tell how much he loved books and reading. However, I would point out that there is not a single essay here dedicated to a female writer although I am unsure if it is because the editor of the collection didn't include one or Zweig simply didn't write any. And you can also tell from the very beginning that the author comes from a very privilege background - in one of the essays he is surprised by the fact that an Italian man he has met during his travels can't read nor write... as if he couldn't fathom that illiterate people were a reality. As I said above though, what I take from this collection is Zweig's passion for books and literature. Follow

The Burning God is the last book in the trilogy so not going to talk much about plot and there won't be any spoilers. I just want to give my general thoughts. I think this was a fitting conclusion. Heartbreaking but fitting... and dare I say, unavoidable. It is not an easy journey to go through. There is not a moment to breathe. It is all relentless destruction with this one. And page by page, Rin unravels. The trauma, devastation and betrayal she has suffered throughout is impossible to escape. One complain I have is that it felt like Kuang sacrificed character-driven moments (which were more present in the previous two books) for the sake of the plot. All in all though, an impressive trilogy but not for the faint-hearted. Follow