REVIEW: Crimson Frost by Jennifer Estep

Crimson Frost by Jennifer Estep
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

In my review of book 3, I declared that the series officially sucked. Crimson Frost is book 4, and I expected that suckiness to continue. And it did for the first half of the book, and then OMG... it actually turned — sssh, careful I don’t want to scare away this feeling — *whisper* it actually turned things around and got GOOD! You read that right, good. G-O-O-D! Say it loud, say it proud. Goooood!

The first half of the book

The last book was so bad it crushed my motivation, despite my friend’s encouragement, to read the next book, Crimson Frost. I would pick up Crimson Frost, read a page, immediately put it down, and read another book. It was only because I was really bored and resolved to clear my NetGalley reviews queue that I finally scrounged up some ugly clump of motivation to read Crimson Frost.

OMFG was the first half of the book aggravating. It was bad enough that Gwen was a pathetic excuse of a heroine, but when the Protectorate, the magical government, finally deigned to show up they turned out to be a pathetic excuse of a law organization. Where the fuck were these people in book 1? I could forgive their absence in about book 1 because nobody knew how bad things were going to go. But then what about book 2? And book fucking 3? Where. Were. They? End-of-the-world terrorists have hit the school and tried to kill a bunch of students, particularly Gwen, especially Gwen, Multiple fucking Times and you don’t even send at least an investigator?

When they finally show up in book 4, they arrested Gwen and announced to the entire school that she was a suspected Reaper. They openly and loudly accused her of belonging to those end-of-the-world terrorists who have been terrorizing the students and their families since forever. You know, those people who murdered their loved ones, sometimes right in front of their faces, making for some traumatic memories and shit. What the ever lovely fucking hell? Let me break it down by the number of how WRONG what happened there:

+ 5 reasons to rage

1) Gwen was already an outcast at the school. The Protectorate just effectively cemented her social status. What is with Young Adult fictions’ irrational and perpetual desire to ostracize their protagonist? For fuck’s sake, Gwen was already a special snowflake. Making her out to be like Jesus is over the top.

2) Gwen is a minor. Shouldn’t there be some laws protecting minor’s identity in an on-going investigation? Not to mention the preclusion of a death sentence if she is found guilty. Do the Protectorate simply not give a shit if the accused is a child or an adult? So many ethical issues there that I was shocked to stupor.

3) How is announcing Gwen is a suspected Reaper to the entire school going to help the investigation? What fucked up law enforcement protocols were the Protectorate following? Is suffering your peers’ homicidal rage part of the punishment for being accused? Do the Protectorate believe guilty until proven innocent? Was the Protectorate so primitive in the science of law enforcement that they have no idea that a secret investigation would make the process go faster, smoother, and more productive? How the hell have these people managed to conceal the magical world from the humans all this time?

4) Recall that Gwen is a special snowflake, particularly that she is Nike’s Champion. Nike is the Greek goddess of Victory, and out of all the deities across the world she is the only one who defeated Loki. Yeah, I’m pretty sure a Champion wouldn’t be a Reaper, especially not a Nike’s Champion. By pretty sure, I mean absolutely sure if the sarcasm was too subtle there. If being Nike’s Champion is not a sign of innocence, that Gwen is the chosen one to defeat Loki once and for all, I don’t know what is. Admittedly, I could understand why the Protectorate would need proof but the fact that Vic the talking sword, which only a Nike’s Champion can wield, is in Gwen’s possession should have been all the proof that they needed.

5) Speaking of Nike, helloooooo! Your Champion is in fucking trouble. Some serious fucking trouble. What the hell are you currently doing that you can’t make an appearance for a few seconds and tell it straight to the Protectorate that Gwen is innocent? I get the trial by fire, adversity builds strength and character, blah blah blah, but this was unnecessary. Nike is not doing herself a favor by having someone she picked as Champion die by the hands of people that are supposed to be on her side. You do not endear your followers by treating them like diapers; you’re supposed to be the good guys. Honestly, I’m beginning to become racist against the deities and think Loki is not the only one who needs to be done away with once and for all.

In sum, for the first half of the book, Gwen sucked. The Protectorate sucked. Last but not least, Logan should quit calling Gwen “Gypsy girl” because it’s not endearing; it’s aggravating. Use her fucking name, Logan. Her name is Gwen; use her fucking name.

The last half of the book

I did not expect the last half to be good, but it was. Shy of great as a matter of fact. I loved that Gwen took action of her own initiative to rescue herself, that she was not going to let herself become a Joan of Arc repeat. She investigated. She acted with caution unlike the last book where she did not whatsoever and ended up being like one of those characters from a teenage horror movie who you yell at for being a dumbass and give little pity when they inevitably die due to their dumbassness. Though there were moments when she wanted to pull a Lone Hero act, she thankfully did not and trusted her friends to help her investigate, provide backup in battles, etc.

There was teamwork. There was fucking teamwork. Hallelujah! You don’t know how rare it is for a YA protagonist to work in teams out of their own free will, who depend on their friends, who don’t wait till the end when things are desperate and bad to finally accept some goddamn help when the protagonist realizes that their special snowflake status ain’t gonna save the day. Gwen was actually honest and cooperative with her friends from the start of troubles.

Moreover, Gwen was finally kicking some ass. Okay, I admit it was illogical how she suddenly turned from an amateur warrior to a competent one who was on equal footings with the Reapers who have been warriors their entire lives. She hasn’t mastered her powers whereas the other Reapers have yet she was able to kick their asses. However, at this point I’ll take what I can get. Gwen had her ass kicked book 1 through 3; it’s wearisome and pathetic. The heroine’s fighting skills were based on cracked logic in book 4, but at this point I’ll accept it, embrace it even, if it meant not having the heroine be the bad guys’ favorite punching bag.

+ my favorite scene

I actually have a favorite scene in the series now, I kid you not. It is the scene when Gwen and Logan were battling to death at the end. Gwen have been through a couple of near-death events now, but this one I finally felt all the feelings. I finally felt enough to be wowed.

In Conclusion

I rate Crimson Frost 3-stars for I liked it. Series, you have achieved redemption. Don’t fuck it up.

Goodreads | Amazon

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REVIEW: The Runaway King by Jennifer A. Nielsen

The Runaway King by Jennifer A. Nielsen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

After the awesomeness that was book 1 — read my review for book here, I held high expectation for book 2. Woah did I regret doing that. Book 2 exercised my suspension of disbelief hard. Immediately, there were signs portending disappointment. Towards the ending, they bloomed like prickly weeds, and I was left with a rather bitter taste as if I literally ate a weed.

+ the protagonist
Jaron bugged me. He was rude to the people who didn’t deserve it. No, I did not care it was intended to distance and shield them from the danger of being around him. It was juvenile and short-sighted. The times when Jaron was kind, he was kind mostly to the people who didn’t deserve it. They should have been killed for the sake of his life and the relief of my great annoyance. Goodness was I annoyed! How many times does someone have to try to kill you before you accept the fact that they don’t just like you? Honestly.

I stopped thinking Jaron was clever and started seeing him in full display as a Gary Stu. The plot forced itself to portray him as clever when in reality nothing he did was actually clever but instead was reckless. He succeeded only by an incredible amount of luck. So much luck that I swear I could hear the story’s internal logic cracking like an elephant on thin ice. How Jaron overcame obstacle after obstacle, each more seemingly insurmountable than the previous, was difficult to digest.

+ Roden
For 99% of the book, I could not understand for the life of me why Jaron insisted on obtaining Roden’s loyalty when Roden did nothing to earn it. Nothing at all. Roden was homicidal towards Jaron and not to mention useless. I was waiting for Roden to die like the expendable villain that he was. What happened to Jaron and Roden towards the end left me flabbergasted and steamed. When Jaron revealed his reasons for why he wanted Roden at the end, I immediately called bullshit. Utter, utter bullshit. I seriously questioned Jaron’s competence to rule as king. Hell, I questioned his intelligence; I think all that fighting and blood loss Jaron went through obliterated some brain cells.

+ the pirates
The book spent an inordinate amount of the plot developing the bad dudes’ fearsome reputation. When the reader, via Jaron, finally met them, they turned out to be less fearsome than the countryside robbers Jaron encountered in the middle of the book. These pirates respected and protected their female servants. They adhered to a pirate’s code and kept their promises like honorable knights. They weren’t greedy as they were said to be, because if they were they would have tortured Jason until he confessed the location of the kingdom’s treasury. They were basically good guys in bad guys’ clothes who were no more bloodthirsty than the average soldier.

The only actual bad guy in the bunch was the leader of the pirates, and how things ended with him, so ridiculously contrived, made me want to slap somebody. It seriously discredited the leader as a swordmaster and cracked the plot’s internal logic some more.

+ the love triangle
I didn’t really believe there was a love triangle in book 1, but to my disgust book 2 proved me wrong. Imogen and Jaron like each other but can’t be together, because Jaron is a king and Amarinda is promised to be the king’s wife. The romance between Imogen and Jaron was about as convincing and real as a flying pig, and as terrible to read as if that flying pig shit on my head. I felt I got shit on some more when I read how the issue resolved itself.

Isn’t this book supposed to be a Middle Grade? I know I tagged it Young Adult, but the publisher list the book as Middle Grade. Love triangle in a Middle Grade? Has Young Adult been infested by a nearby genre with its laziness?

+ Amarinda
I felt really bad for Amarinda. No one wanted her. Hell, it seemed like even the series doesn’t want her. She still played an important role in book 2, but barely. As the story progressed, it was getting to look like the character was introduced in the series as an afterthought.

Book 2 never developed her beyond the tragic princess from some far away, forgettable kingdom book 1 established her to be. For all the talks about how Jaron’s kingdom was in danger and they have no allies, why did no one ever ask Amarinda’s kingdom for help? Why couldn’t Amarinda or Jaron break off the engagement? “Because the story said so” is not an answer, but that was what essentially was given. Did anyone ever bother to tell Amarinda’s kingdom that the dude she was supposed to marry, Jaron’s big brother, is dead, and Jaron is now her new fiance? If so, what did they think? Where were the political ramifications? Too many questions, and none of them answered.

Once I started examining Amarinda’s backstory, I saw how poorly it was developed. I saw the lack of a strong reason for her character. I started cynically thinking the only reason she was in the series to make for a ridiculous, shitty love triangle.

In Conclusion

I rate The Runaway King 3 stars for I liked it. Surprised? Me too. In spite of all the issues, I managed to enjoy the story...somewhat. The pacing was fast so I never had a long moment to dwell on the issues as they popped up. There was a good twist, some wrapping up of loose ends, and great progress made in the series overall. I didn’t even mind the cliffhanger ending, though half of that was due to the lowering of expectation and subsequent loss of anticipation for the next book. One thing was for sure, I wasn’t bored at least.

Fair warning. That 3 stars is provisional. I will downrate if book 3 sucks ass because how the series is overall affects my very subjective ratings. Hell, even book 1’s 5 stars rating is provisional.

Goodreads | Amazon

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REVIEW: The Nightmare Affair by Mindee Arnett

The Nightmare Affair by Mindee Arnett
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The plot was good. The characters, not so much.

+ the protagonist
The book was written exclusively in 1st person POV from Dusty’s side. I love this type of POV, but I quickly found Dusty lacking as a heroine in many ways. When you remove her special powers and circumstances, she was as plain and uninteresting as her (nick)namesake, dust. More than plain, to my perpetual discomfort, Dusty didn’t exhibit prudence, caution, or any apparent trait that showed she had any sense of self-preservation. I generally liked Dusty, but her irreverent attitude aggravated me at times.

When a teacher teaches you a potentially life-saving magic trick, you practice the shit out of it. Dusty never did, but instead depended on luck and an emotional rush to work her magic. WTF? If people being murdered at the boarding school where you live is not a maddeningly strong incentive to practice self-defense magic, I don’t what is. Worse, throughout the story Dusty had more than one teachers revealing vital information, but she did nothing with the information to protect herself. No, she blabbed and placed herself and people she told in more danger, emphasis on more.

I liked that Dusty was frank with her friends, but was it really necessary for her to blab everything, including state secrets, to basically everyone who asked? Dusty was no dimwit; she even suspected her mother. I wished she was conscious of the strong possibility that people who act friendly towards her might be doing it with malicious intention, and perhaps the bad things that happened wouldn’t have so bad as they was at the end.

I also blamed the magical PTB for those bad things. It boggled my mind how the magical PTB never once set protective details on Dusty. You have a girl who is prime to national security, has a predilection for trouble, and lives in an enclosed place where a murderer is on the loose, and you don’t have people hiding in the shadows watching over her? I... *facepalm*

+ the best friend
Shallow development, forgettable character, replaceable character. The best friend role could have been taken by anyone, and the story would have worked fine. She only showed up when it was convenient to the plot and Dusty’s needs.

+ the love triangle
It was between the hot human jock and the hot half-breed geek. I was thankful the romance only took dominance in a limited handful of scenes, and that Dusty didn’t completely let herself become besieged by unnecessary boy trouble. However, I wished she was committed in her romantic decisions. I didn’t like that the boy she didn’t choose paired up with the designated mean, slutty girl. It was awfully cliche and contrived on several levels, and potentially offensive if you have been reading too many YA with too many mean girls who exist only to foil the virginal and socially outcast heroine.

I didn’t care for the jock; one of the many reasons for that was the soulmate trope attached to his character. WTF? Was this a YA or a PNR? I love PNR, but a soulmate trope in YA is ridiculous. The other reasons were that he was pretty bland (as a character overall, not because he was human), he didn’t really do anything for me to like him, and for the most part he didn’t contribute much to the mystery solving beside being Dusty’s medium. Half of the times, he hindered more than helped.

I liked the geek. Hail to the only student in the story who actually took their education seriously because everyone else, especially Dusty, didn’t seem like they did. Arkwell Academy felt like such a slacker school. Anyway, I wished there were more scenes with him. More importantly, I wished things at the end did not turn out the way that they did with him. It was bittersweet.

On the upside, the love triangle resolved itself by the end. In spite of the bittersweetness, it was mind-blowing how it converged with the mystery plot and became part of the great twist.

+ the plot
The mystery plot was the best part of the book. Red-herrings and suspects rose as the story progressed. The plot had me guessing on everything, and I loved it. I got excited every time the plot imparted a revelation. I liked that they were dished out periodically so I didn’t get bored or impatient. The pacing ranged from steady to fast, the transition smooth. I was exhilarated when I learned the story was unexpectedly based in the Arthurian legend. Despite a few loose ends, the ending was satisfactory.

In Conclusion

I rate The Nightmare Affair 3 stars for I like it. The characters needed improvements, but they were decent enough. The fluffiness was minimal, and the mystery was spectacular.

Goodreads | Amazon

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NEWS: LGBT YA recognize, criticism kinks, blogging and taxes, too many books (2&1/2men)

From Malindo Do's tumblr (2013 January 28)

"The Top 10 titles on the American Library Association’s 2013 Rainbow List, recognizing GLBT books for children and teens."

Woot. Woot. Recognize!

Five Criticisms You Won't Often See in My Reviews by Christina (2013 February 6)

"There are certain things I basically never notice that are bemoaned by other readers, and particular qualities I harp on constantly that might not bother others."

Very interesting read. I need to think about my own criticism kinks.

Tax Deductions and Blogging—What You Need to Know (2011 August 11)

"You may not be aware of this, but if you generate income from a blog, you may be able to take tax deductions for expenses related to your blog endeavors."

Something to think about in the future.

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Picture of the Day

fuCking midTerms!! x_x

source: tumblr

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NEWS: killer cats, cutesy cats, cutesy ponies, 4 giveaways, love is fart

That Cuddly Kitty Is Deadlier Than You Think (2013 January 29)

"For all the adorable images of cats that play the piano, flush the toilet, mew melodiously and find their way back home over hundreds of miles, scientists have identified a shocking new truth: cats are far deadlier than anyone realized."

Shocking, indeed.

So how DO you get a cardigan on a pony? (2013 January 21)

"Shetland ponies and Fair Isle knitwear are beloved across the world, so why not combine the two? The result is two cosy-looking mares dressed in button-down Fair Isle jumpers to promote the Year of Natural Scotland." 

Cute!

Cats That Look Like Pin-Up Girls (24 Pics) (2013 January 8)

LMAO!

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Giveaway News

Follower Appreciation Mega Giveaway! Win a Kindle Fire!! - end on February 7, 2013.

$50 Amazon Giftcard - ends on February 14, 2013

'Blind Date With a Book' Valentine's Day Giveaway! - ends on February 18, 2013

One Year Blogoversary Bash! - ends on April 3, 2013

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Quote of the Day

Love is like a fart: If you have to force it, it's probably crap.
— Lena Beana (@Lena1xoxo) January 30, 2013

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REVIEW: Trickster by Jeff Somers

Trickster by Jeff Somers
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

For a book that has blood magic, human sacrifices, and explosion scenes, it was not highly exciting as I had expected. A book of master storytelling as blurbed it was not.

The story largely consisted of the good guys running away, from one place to another that made me think poorly of the characters and flashbacks that were so seamlessly written that it took me a few seconds to realize a few of them were flashbacks. The book kept my attention, but it was under a fog of boredom.

The Characters

+ the protagonist
I liked Lem in the beginning but his White Knight Complex quickly wore me down. First, it was annoying; the damsel in distress trope is overused in Urban Fantasy. Second, it was inconsistent with his occupation as a Trickster, a grifter who uses blood magic. I was having a hard time reconciling Lem having ethics with Lem being a grifter.

Overall, the biggest issue I had with Lem was that he was yet another Urban Fantasy protagonist who had great power but didn’t use it because of “reasons” which in this case was Lem’s fear of succumbing to power-hungriness. His reason was valid, but he and his companions were in a desperate situation that strongly called for desperate measures. His reason no longer held water.

It frustrated me how Lem missed many opportunities to be clever or ruthless or showed he was more capable than standing up (foolishly) to bad guys. He should have done something other than running away, or if he was going to be an outright coward, he should have thrown away the White Knight Complex. I hated his noncommittal attitude.

+ the sidekick
Mags as a dimwitted, brawny sidekick was more than stereotypical, it was slightly offensive. The character seemed to have special needs. There was no doubt Lem love Mags like a true brother but that didn’t excuse Lem’s negligence. Many times I was angry at Lem for involving Mags in dangerous matters.

+ the damsel in distress
Surprisingly, Claire wasn’t annoying. I liked how she wasn’t going to let herself become a damsel in distress and took an active part of rescuing herself from her predicament with Lem and co. I give points for the book making the main female character a strong, capable character. I would have given more points if her character wasn’t someone with a bad past like everyone else in the story.

+ the bad guys
While the good guys were found lacking, the bad guys were great. They were somewhat stereotypical but they weren’t flat. Unlike the infamous Countess Bathory of history, Renar has real and powerful magic, and her ritual to immortality would work. Her prodigy, Amir, is equally ruthless and ambitious, though he could work harder at hiding his backstabby streak.

The Writing

+ the pacing
The pacing was too slow for a book full of supposedly exciting things. It wasn’t slow in a mind-numbingly way; it was slow in the “this can be edited further” way.

+ the magic lingo
I didn’t like the magic lingo. I found its usage a tad excessive for an Urban Fantasy, and it was unevenly explained. The vernacular would have been sufficient and made the story an easier read.

+ plot hole
Why did it never occur to Lem to take normal jobs like non-magical people do? It was told many times that being a Trickster was hard and risky, but it was never really explained why anyone would become one. It was strongly suggested to me that being a burger flipper was more lucrative than being a Trickster, not to mention the lack of danger. I can partially understand if an amoral person becomes a Trickster, but Lem was someone with ethics and supposedly with common sense.

+ the worldbuilding
It was gritty as advertised. The book sucked at maintaining a strong sense of suspense, but it did at least maintain a strong sense of place. Lem and his companions moved around a lot, and never once did I get lost as to where they were and where they were going.

In Conclusion

I rate Tricksters 2-stars for it was okay. The good guys were meh, the plot — disappointedly meh, and there was a plot hole. Book 1 was a subpar start of the Ustari Cycle series. If you are up to date on all your favorite Urban Fantasy series and looking for another promising series, try Tricksters.

Goodreads | Amazon

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REVIEW: Paul's Dream by Rowan McBride

Paul's Dream by Rowan McBride
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I didn't enjoy this book. I thought at the least I could enjoy the smutty parts, but the kooky dream scenes got in the way.

+ the dream scenes
The plot had many dream scenes. Some of them I liked such as when Paul helped a little girl find her stuffed animal, but most of them I found frustrating and boring. I didn’t like how long it took for someone to say to Paul, “hey, dude, you’re a dreamwalker, and magic is real.” I really hate it when the protagonist is kept in the dark about their abilities and the reality of the world. I hate it more when there is no strong reason to do so like in this book.

When Paul finally was told so, I didn’t like it when Paul actively practiced dreamwalking and Kian helped, sex and sexually charged talking were involved. I found it inappropriate and unhelpful because Paul had powerful magic and it shouldn’t have been treated as a light matter. People could get hurt, Paul could hurt himself, and he did. Magic training and sexy times should not be mixed.

+ the world building
Paul is a powerful dreamwalker. I understood the abilities of a dreamwalker and why Paul was important, but I didn’t understand what role dreamwalkers play in the magical world. I had no problem imagining the lawyer-y non-magical setting, but the magical world eluded my grasp. The book threw details here and there, but nothing stuck and connected to make decent world building. I found the world building ambiguous.

+ the characters
The story was largely told from Kian and Paul's sides in 1st person POV. I couldn't connect with either character. I tired of Paul's indecisiveness, i.e. “I want Kian, I don't want Kian”, “Kian loves me, Kian loves me not.” Kian was rather pathetic and spineless; I expected more out of Kian when Asher confronted him, especially when it’s a serious matter of true love. I found the characterization of the couple shaky for a big part of the book, specifically the middle. Moreover, the couple’s dialogue was cheesy; usually, I don’t mind cheesiness, but frustrated by the couple, I did. The romance ran hot and cold too many times for my patience, and honestly, I wasn’t fully convinced the two suited each other.

+ my least favorite part of the story
I was frustrated by the many missed opportunities to preemptively end the villain. It could have been entirely avoided if Kian killed the dude in the first place at the beginning of the book, or near the end of the book if Kian went to Asher for help before meeting the villain. Kian knew full well was that the villain was never going to let things rest; the villain was a villain for goodness sake.

I also blamed Asher because if he had done his job as guardian of the city he would have known what the villain was up to and squashed his evil scheme before anyone got hurt. Most of the scenes Asher was in or mentioned in, there was a lot of talk about how powerful he was, how smart he was, his legacy, his position, blah blah etc. I couldn’t believe the villain managed to pull off his evil scheme off of Asher’s radar. There was no excuse for it.

+ my 2nd least favorite part of the story
After so much shit had happened with the villain, I couldn’t believe the romance ran cold again. Really, Paul? The fuck is wrong with you? It’s not everyday someone risked, admittedly in an avoidable conflict, his life for you, loves you, and came back from a soul-breaking-and-imprisonment evil magic for you. Where was the logic? This was one of the examples of the shaky characterization; logical lawyer Paul was not acting logical and lawyer-y.

In Conclusion

I rate Paul’s Dream 2-stars for it was okay. I’m disappointed by many issues that stood in the way of what should have been a decent smutty read since the story was a sexual awakening.

Goodreads | Amazon

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NEWS: men and high heels, wtfkery shit in Florida, when to DNF, YA giveaway, fuck you reality

Why did men stop wearing high heels? (2013 January 24)

"'One of the best ways that status can be conveyed is through impracticality,' says Semmelhack, adding that the upper classes have always used impractical, uncomfortable and luxurious clothing to announce their privileged status." 

No kidding. Wow, makes you wonder that perhaps in a parallel universe, men are wearing high heels, and women are not.

WTFkery shit in Florida (2013 January 23)

"In Florida, there are violent people, naked people, poopers and masturbators — but rarely is one man the total package."

O.o

IMO: When To DNF (2013 January 29)

"The bottom line is, I read for fun and nothing else, so if I’m not enjoying the story even a little bit, even enough to mark it one star, I shouldn’t be reading it."

I couldn't agree more. Yet, DNFing is hard for me. I have this irrational need to finish a book when I start it. To lessen the suffering, I skim. Skimming is as close I'll ever get to consciously DNF a book.

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YA Giveaway News

Awesome JANUARY Giveaway! ends on February 1, 2013.

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 Picture of the Day

source: imgfav

Booyah, motherfucker!

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NEWS: sex in YA Romance, sex in literature, writing non-western fantasy, 2 giveaways, alien vs ignorance

# Sex Content in YA Romance from the M/M Romance Community's POV (2013 January 11)

"Interestingly, there is no corresponding lack of extreme and excessive violence. Do our authors think that brutal and gory violence is more acceptable than sex in young adult romances?"

Sex scenes in YA is a foregone issue for me. I'm more worried about whether the romance is abusive or not. Visit my GR thread to see the discussion. On a related note, link via Wave...

# A List of Published Fiction Containing Illegal Sexual Activities (2007 May 30)

"There are texts on here that are pillars of the literary canon, and there is shameless porn that comes wrapped in brown paper. There is material that condemns the illegal sex, material that celebrates it, and everything in between."

So if it's classified as literature, it's okay... O.o

# Writing Non-Western Fantasy for the Unqualified (2013 January 21)

"If I only wrote what I’m qualified to write, then all my stories would be about sheltered white girls in the suburbs."

I would love to read more Asian fantasy.

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Giveaway News

YA blog Sparkles and Lightning has two giveaways! A Very Merry Christmas which ends on ends January 29, 2013 open to all readers and New Year 2013 Giveaway which ends on ends February 5, 2013 for those readers who love YA.

Best of luck... not! I wanna win! Give me all your luck! >:D

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Picture of the Day

source: tumblr

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REVIEW: Makeshift Miracle, Book 1 by Jim Zub & Shun Hong Chan

Makeshift Miracle Book 1: The Girl from Nowhere by Jim Zub & Shun Hong Chan
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

+ the plot
The watercolor illustrations are beautiful, but there was no hiding the shallow story. I didn't see a plot. What I saw was a couple of extraordinary events strung together in a way that left me confused. For six chapters, containing 105 pages beginning with chapter one, not much happened. I got more out of the story by reading its summary on Wikipedia. Seriously.

The characters were no better.

+ the protagonist
I liked Colby because I instantly related to him, but I was quickly disappointed when I saw how quickly he came to care for Iris as if she was a good friend when the appropriate action, one more consistent with his demeanor, should have been his being wary of Iris. After all, the girl literally fell from the sky, naked, and when he tried to save her she teleported them both back to his house. Obviously, she's an alien, until the story says otherwise, and an amnesiac one at that. Colby's lack of prudence bugged me.

+ the alien girl
Iris was unbelievable. For someone who has amnesia and strange powers, she was disturbingly calm. There was no effort to discover who she was, where she came from, and whether or not Colby was an ally or an enemy. All she did was pull a woe-is-me act and cook. The relationship between Colby and Iris was surreal.

+ the steampunk guy
Esurio was my least favorite character. He annoyed me greatly. For someone who traveled to another world, he showed great incompetence. He shouldn't have assumed he was in friendly territory. He should have approached other people with caution, or at least adjusted his look so he wouldn't stand out. Does he not know the word 'discretion'? Moreover, why was he talking to himself? I think he was missing some screws in his head.

In Conclusion

I rate Makeshift Miracle, Volume 1 2-stars for it was okay. It would have been a better story if the story's elements were remixed to make a comedy manga. The story would have been stereotypical, but it would have been enjoyable and not confusing.

You can read this volume online for free at the official website. Be advised that the website hasn't been updated for years.

Goodreads | Amazon

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