The Layaway Dragon

Dragons? Shifters? Revenge and plots? Of course I signed the fuck up for this!

I was so excited for Slither, though I had to put off reading it for a bit with a sickness making the rounds and unable to concentrate. Once I got into it though, it flew by.

Of course there’s more to the situation than Elanor knows. Her being so naive and oblivious at first was a bit frustrating. I didn’t know or guess everything right away but it made me itchy waiting for her to clue in.

Soon she got her head in the game though, when she made a move and was finally included in the plotting, it was fantastic! She got things and was so capable. But then missed some pretty obvious clues again. Like talking about the old man, the riddler, the hostage? Come on!

I LOVED Patience! She reminds me of another character by the same name in the Elderling Realm. I really hope my ship for her sets sail in the next book *crosses fingers*

I like Adom and his plans for the dragons, though he has to know he can’t run both areas without a second. I wonder if someone will come up in the next installment to help?

The changeling’s abilities were obviously convenient. ‘Oh, if only we could do [this] but that’s not possible, no one can do that. [Hit roadblock] Guess what the next changeling can do!? *shock* Okay, it wasn’t story killing or anything, but felt clunky and amateurish with the execution.

I did not see the ending reveals coming and am dying to know what happens next with Elanor and Patience.

Great dragon fantasy, with a realm I want to know more about with the Sun setup, plots I want to follow, and ships I want to sail. If only it wasn’t so obviously and clunky with the plotting….

I was so excited to read this one but it wound up to be really disappointing. At least it's short and the foundation is solid so I don't feel cheated.

↠False starts. Kept putting it away after a page or paragraph due to waning attention.
↠It wasn't clear in the story that Halal was a local witch, I just though she was like every other black woman and trying to save the world from foolishness.
↠WTF?
↠It is creepy, but I have no idea what's going on in the end and why I should be terrified.
↠Why grab the guy if you're going to just let him be rescued? Why rescue him? Why stay there? Why not leave the stupid one behind?

I there's certainly potential, and the historical tale was interesting, but I don't get it. Of course, I'm not religious, so maybe that's where the disconnect lies.

*Shrug*

After winning a copy of Berry's It Lives, she sent a link to read this story for free.

I enjoyed Suspect far more than It Lives. While It Lives is shorter with a more original premise, Suspect hooks quickly, easily, and packs plenty of action.

➜Characters were typical but solid and interesting
➜The reality and perspective of drug-addicted people were well done and respectful
➜The mystery and suspense are built well
➜Didn't guess the identity of Judas
➜Didn't see the ending coming
➜Love to read more, especially what happens next

With a price point of zero for a well-spent hour, I highly recommend checking out Suspect.

Angel Berry clearly has the ability and ideas, so I'll keep an eye out for more of her work.

Basically: an f/f Aladin where the Genie is the Princess and they're living in magical realism contemporary England. No fun animal companions but sarcasm and flirting are abundant.

↣Rebel's heart condition isn't just when it's inconvenient.
↣Includes hunger pains and the toll it takes, which is an important part of growing up struggling.
↣Book nerd who steals stories to survive. Now that's my kind of girl.
↣the apple scenes are adorable. (you'll get it when you read it, but trust me.)
↣Loved Anjeline's past with Solomon and the backstory
↣Rebel's lineage isn't a surprise at all.
↣Several of the plot turns aren't surprising.
↣Rebel was conveniently clusty at times.
↣Typical good vs. evil problem, which contributes to the obviousness to some plot points. Not necessarily a bad thing, but if you're looking for something different, come back when you're ready.
↣Foxy older brother thief, mermaids, fairies, court plots, Romeo & Juliet romance in the background.
↣While they're story could continue with the next magical problem, everything is wrapped up and can be read as a standalone.


If you liked my How to Make a Wish review from yesterday and like fantasy or magical realism, definitely give The Wishing Heart a shot. They've both got super cute f/f romances with relevant issues, drama, and their own form of magic.



Top Quotes:

Who keeps company with the wolf, will learn to howl.

Not everything written is truth. Just like not every story is false.

Nope. Not dead. Pain meant she was still breathing.

I tried, I really, really tried.

I couldn't make it half-way before I started skimming. I like the girls, their friends, their family, and their jokes. Okay, so I don't care for sports or jock culture in general, but it didn't bother me in the first book!

I don't know why, I just couldn't stay engaged.

It's not terribly long, only 202 pages. The plot moves forward with their evolving powers, dating, and fighting bad guys.

While I skipped and skimmed, I see there's interesting developments. The cast expands and find counterparts like them.

I should love everything about this.

Yet...nothing. No spark. I'm completely apathetic. *sigh*

Sorry.

I signed up to review because the blurb was intriguing and unique. At first, I had no idea what I had gotten myself into and struggled. It didn’t hook me right away while feeling random and pointless.

Give it 50 pages though, give Thaniya 50 pages to introduce threads of her life and start weaving them together. 50 pages for a unique perspective and intersection that’s overlooked and missing from pop culture.

I was hooked by 35.

Spoonful Chronicles doesn’t follow a linear path. Different chapters start, revolve, or end on a dish or ingredient. Along with her rules of cooking there’s insight, humor, and quotables. It’s not a traditional narrative, Thaniya speaks to the reader and is aware she’s writing it all down.

~~There are some threads that feel unresolved, like her friend that ends up having a mental breakdown.
~~That and Thaniya’s “measuring mental illness” could’ve been handled better.
~~Love the sections about her college friend, their drama, and their falling out.
~~There’s a McDreamy. I LOVE how Thaniya described him. “Nose read for directions” is one of my favorite phrase that I won’t be forgetting anytime soon.
~~The revelations about her husband and their courtship towards the end made things just *click* for me.
~~Love the bringing the sleeping kids in from the car scene.
~~Thaniya with her kids and talking about her kids is adorable.
~~Totally understand the reflection and wondering how one ended up they way they did.
~~The Mango chapter about immigrating, especially the first passage was mesmerizing and informative.
~~It felt a tad long towards the end, but it’s worth it.
~~Love the ending, quite a powerful punch.

MEMORABLE QUOTES:

I entered the world of cooking the same way I entered my sex life. Tragically unprepared, but feverishly curious.

I outran a nightmare, losing all facility for dreaming along the way.

Cry me a river and I shall pollute it!

“Give the poor Iraqi man a break!” I say. “He has enough intolerable burdens to deal with as is, why should happy?”

Only your mother is willing to cook for you badly.

Better than I'd thought it would be

I've watched this show with my daughter. She's a hug fan so of course I had to get the book series for her.

Shes and advanced reader but gets bored and its hard to get her to read beyond homework. She flew through this book though!

I read it with her and am surprised how much I enjoyed it. I think it's better than the TV show. Fuller characterization and background to make it feel realer.

It also has good modern talking points parents will appreciate like coping with stress, goofing off as kids, and social media attention.

Once we got to the competition it stole my attention away from my adult books and I had to find out what was going to happen.

I'm impressed and am excited to read more of this series with my daughter!

I read Beck Medina's Fantastic Mess of Everything last year and praised the anxiety and medication rep while the romance was sweet.

So when Medina emailed me with an offer of reading this short story, I jumped at the chance.

Or Best Offer is a cute romance story, much like Fantastic Mess of Everything. Cara is a typical YA protagonist but coping with the divorce, cleaning compulsion, and social anxiety. She's cute, obscenely crushing on this particular boy, and her best


Also, I want some of the Heartbreak brownies!

I don't know why, but I just love this turn of phrase:

Liam rolls his eyes again, this time it carries his body to his car.

Cara won me over with this little gem on page 7-8:

Her eyes are wide and glistening, but they lead to an infinite source of heartache. Like she's watching that scene in Fox in the Hound where Fox’s owner leaves him in the woods. You know, the saddest scene in the history of filmmaking.

Minor Sidenote: Shortly after this moment Cara says she's out 250 bucks because of Noah, but shouldn't it be $500???

This is the brief mention of race and color:

“It's not flattering on your brown skin is all I'm saying.”

I sigh. I always thought black was a good color on me, considering my olive skintone.

My sister Kelly got Mom’s fair skin, and I got my dad’s. All I remember about my dad is that he and I share the same small, soft nose, square forehead, and, in Jess’s words, brown skin.

Maybe I'm out my lane, but isn't that just heartbreaking? She doesn't want to be brown and wants to be olive like all the popular YA heroines so they can cast white girls as the leads.

It also has a great message about boys and chasing them, which applies for girls & nb people too, and trying to force a connection and romancing a fantasy.


This is one of several reasons I wish it was a bit longer, had a bit more Cara and Liam and Kelly and Jess. But on the other hand, pining and whining over Noah for a long period of time would be dreadful. Cara gets over her issues quick for the progression of the story, and it would be nice to get more detail on and flush it out.

So Basically: Cute, Funny, Real Characters, Real Issues, Wish It Was Longer.

I JUST finished this and I'll be back with a full review, but I wanted to add some notes.

TW: Transphobia, Rape, Pedophlia, Suicide,

--At first I was impressed with how0 they kept using someone's preferred pronouns. Then the situation took a nasty turn. It was disturbing how the character's started describing them, how all of a sudden their birth sex was apparent and how they'd been fooled! To make matters worse, they were not transgender by choice but were the villain by choice. So again, in a book with a setting where m/m, f/f, and bisexuality is accepted as normal and unremarked upon, the T gets phobia and villainy. Sano doesn't even agree about keeping "the secret" because of respect, but because it threatens his master's regime! UGH.

--While the shogan doesn't have an active harem of boys in this installment, just pages at this time, there are references to his history and I'm sure he won't be celibate for long.

--There is a victim of rape with her brother being the perpetrator. This is referred to as "incest" as if she was a willing participant. The victim blaming is excruciating and society is her adversary to justice and peace. She has PTSD, anxiety, and is the one to commit suicide.

An aside: Apparently in this society, incest is perfectly normal as is it resulting in children.

--I'm always impressed how Rowland keeps things fresh, evolving, and progressing.
--Holy fucking shit, that ending!!

I JUST finished this and I'll be back with a full review, but I wanted to add some notes.

TW: Transphobia, Rape, Pedophlia, Suicide,

--At first I was impressed with how0 they kept using someone's preferred pronouns. Then the situation took a nasty turn. It was disturbing how the character's started describing them, how all of a sudden their birth sex was apparent and how they'd been fooled! To make matters worse, they were not transgender by choice but were the villain by choice. So again, in a book with a setting where m/m, f/f, and bisexuality is accepted as normal and unremarked upon, the T gets phobia and villainy. Sano doesn't even agree about keeping "the secret" because of respect, but because it threatens his master's regime! UGH.

--While the shogan doesn't have an active harem of boys in this installment, just pages at this time, there are references to his history and I'm sure he won't be celibate for long.

--There is a victim of rape with her brother being the perpetrator. This is referred to as "incest" as if she was a willing participant. The victim blaming is excruciating and society is her adversary to justice and peace. She has PTSD, anxiety, and is the one to commit suicide.

An aside: Apparently in this society, incest is perfectly normal as is it resulting in children.

--I'm always impressed how Rowland keeps things fresh, evolving, and progressing.
--Holy fucking shit, that ending!!

I'm sorry, I tried. Got all the way to last leg of the journey before meeting The Big Bad for their showdown and started skimming.

I wasn't hooked or engaged, it was just killing time without anything better to do and when I had other stuff to do, I didn't pick it back up. I had to make myself go back but I can't do it anymore.

I found it bland and the writing uninspired, like a science report. Which is such a pity because I really liked Aeryn and Theo. Theo was the more engaging perspective throughout. Aeryn is a bit stiff, but won me over.

I think the foundations are there, but it's lacking spark. I hate to be so vague and unhelpful, but it's just a gut feeling. *shrug*

https://storiesforcoffee.wordpress.com/2017/04/07/the-whole-thing-together-by-ann-brashares-review/

Trigger Warning: Attempted Rape, Neglectful Alcoholic Parent, Drunk Driving,


I absolutely loved How to Make A Wish. It's adorable and painful, awkward and real. I was in as soon as I read the f/f couple part, but really I love "issue" books like this. I love books where the families aren't all dead or perfect. Where bills and jobs weight as much as they do in real life.

I grew up without a mother and an alcoholic father. I was working as a dishwasher real young to help out. Plus it gave me something to do while chilling at the bar all the time. Why are books that reflect my life, the lives of my friends, boiled down to "issue" books and disregarded as a ploy? My life is more than one event, and even if it is only the one thing, that one thing matters, okay? Statistics are real people. I just...fuck anyone who disdains for those of us.

If it's a bad book, diss that part, not the reality.

↣Hooked right away
↣Living with her asshole ex is an issue but it quickly becomes more of a back-burner one. Grace also realizes stuff about herself, Ex is still a douche but not a comic book villain.
↣Being bisexual and being a lesbian for Grace and Eva have consequences and considerations, but it's not a "coming out" book. The main "problem" isn't that they're attracted to each other or in a relationship. The biggest gay hardship is making Maggie crawl out of a bottle long enough to remember Grace coming out.
↣Realistic, authentic issues with an alcoholic parent. My father is/was an alcoholic and that push and pull of child-caretaker riding the edge is painful.
↣Lesbian sex! And I don't mean that in a creepy way, but in the bout damn time way. It's the best kind: fumbling, awkward, and adorable.
↣Love how Grace is bisexual, and describes her realizing it, how experience isn't necessary for your identity
↣Female masturbation is included, but again not creepy or voyeuristic.
↣Eva is awesome. She colors adult coloring books for anxiety, rails against being called "exotic" and is trying to cope with losing her mom.
↣Luca is a great best friend. And yes, they're actually only friends. He's funny and not a macho guy with toxic masculinity.
↣There is some friction between Luca's girlfriend and Grace, as Grace has to face some unpleasant facts.However, it's not a full on war and they come to terms.
↣Grace is awesome. She loves Cherry coke and is scared of water beasts like me :D
and her pathology is on point. She's unwittingly in this cycle, continues playing her role, and is in denial in a real way. It takes hitting rock bottom, effort, and pain to halt the fucked up trajectory they're on. Her realization is so fucking familiar. Even when you're aware and fighting to be normal, things like this fuck you up in ways you don't see until it smacks you in the face.
↣Grace's mom Maggie is very familiar with the bar fly women I've known. It's depressing.
↣The lifeguard crush reminds me of Sandlot, which is a good thing.
↣Ending is perfect.
↣The denial and trauma of dealing with the rape threats and the bars and the fear of unknown men that is all anxiety-inducingly real. I do wish there was more support and acknowledgement but given Grace's issues, it's understandable why she doesn't have the vocab for it.


Top Quotes:

My entire life is one gigantic just.

I just never know when a good day is going to turn to total crap.

I read this one as a middle-school kid and LOVED it. I can still vividely picture the ending with them. <3

https://twitter.com/nickyoflaherty/status/850505070089306113

https://twitter.com/anoutlawlife/status/850483436662009857

Took a minute to get into but pretty damn good! I'll be back with a full review shortly.