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dearrivarie


Hello everyone! I'm bringing back the mini-batch reviews since I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed with writing longer ones but still want to share my thoughts on some of the books I've been reading. I would love to turn this into a little series as well and am struggling to decide on a name so if you have any suggestions I'd love to know! My current ones that I'm debating are between snapshots and/or mini letters (to go with my "letter" (?) theme of the blog. 

pages: 432 | source: netgalley e-arc
publication date: February 09, 2021
genre: YA fantasy
content warning: graphic portrayals of violence, blood

B O O K S H O P*    |    G O O D R E A D S    |    A M A Z O N*


The Gilded Ones is the first in a debut YA fantasy trilogy that follows Deka in a world where girls must prove their purity by bleeding red or die. After being ostracized her entire life because her father married someone outside the village, Deka's has been waiting for her ceremony to finally be accepted by her community. However, when she ends up bleeding gold, instead of facing judgment and death, Deka is given a second chance and offered a place at the emperor's new army against the alaki monsters. This book was so immersive with the folklore and religion playing huge roles in the story. As Deka's primary motivation for the majority of the story is searching for her second chance and purity, we get to delve into an interesting conversation between how a patricarchal society uses religion to oppress its women. 

Deka did suffer a bit from the "special snowflake" treatment and is really the only character with a complex arc and tangible development throughout the story whereas the supporting characters just serve to spotlight her. Despite this imbalance, her main group of friends still were fleshed out enough that made them distinct in my mind and definitely leaves room for their stories to grow with the future books. I will say, the romantic sub-plot would have to be the least developed but it's not such a big hindrance to this first installment. For a debut, The Gilded Ones definitely sets up a fascinating world and an even more exciting journey ahead full of questions to answer.

ultimate verdict: sisterhood to death and beyond

pages: 400 | source: netgalley e-arc
publication date: March 02, 2021
genre: YA fantasy, gothic
content warning: small depiction of blood/gore

B O O K S H O P*    |    G O O D R E A D S    |    A M A Z O N*

Down Comes the Night is a gothic fantasy that is aptly dedicated to "the girls who feel too much." Wren is the illegitimate daughter of the queen's sister and a skilled healer who finds herself on probation after choosing to heal an enemy soldier against orders. To avoid being reassigned, she takes the offer of a reclusive lord from the neighboring neutral country to heal his sick servant in hopes that she'll secure an alliance and win back favor. Everything about this book is addicting and atmospheric and brings back my fears of creaky old mansions. I honestly cannot pinpoint exactly what made this book so addicting but I genuinely became so invested with the characters and the plot that I could not stop reading.

Wren definitely had to grow on me because of how she allowed her emotions to control her actions so recklessly at first. Her relationships with Una and Isabel is rocky to say the least and leaving them behind seems incredibly irrational but I love how Allison Saft really took her emotions and taught her (and the reader as a result) how to use them to make her stronger. As she learns more about the other side through Hal and begins to question how wars are meant to solve the problem, her character development honestly blooms so beautifully. Speaking of Hal, I don't have much to comment on him per say but I absolutely adored seeing his relationship with Wren unfold, it's really one of those stories where the romantic subplot just works so well in highlighting the main character's arc without overpowering the storyline.

This is definitely a story that just evokes so much reading happiness because of the experience and makes me kind of sad that it's just a standalone. However, the story truly takes advantage of being a standalone to explore how religion and war are tied together and also throw in a soft romance that leaves all the room for yearning. 

ultimate verdict: impending wars blur the lines between black and white


pages: | source: netgalley e-arc
publication date: March 02, 2021
genre: YA contemporary
content warning: eating disorders, body dysmorphia 

B O O K S H O P *   |    G O O D R E A D S    |    A M A Z O N *

Yolk is a story of family and how sometimes life makes things so messy you might struggle to keep yourself afloat. Jayne Baek wants to find herself and joining the masses at New York City gives her the anonymity she seeks to make a new identity. But being an artist in the city and establishing her own presence can be tough when there are just so many people and so many different definitions of success. When she finds out that her older sister June has cancer, she's forced to reconnect with a sibling that she's tried to distance herself from and learn how to be a family again. Reading this book was like experiencing whiplash because Jayne and June have one of the most tumultuous relationships I have ever read about. As an older sister, I was either experiencing major secondhand cringe or relating immensely to June since the story is told through Jayne's perspective. 

 I have honestly never experienced anything that Jayne and June go through but I still saw snippets of my life in the way they interacted with each other and the world. The rawness of the story also captures the complex conversation that I think many first-generation Asian Americans have with their immigrant family's experience. Jayne also struggles with an eating disorder and body dysmorphia throughout the novel and that's just another difficult topic this story tackles. Yolk delves so deeply into the inner workings of relationships that it gets super raw and sometimes uncomfortable, but it's the humanity of the characters that makes it relatable and 100% worth reading.

ultimate verdict: family is family no matter how messy

A huge thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review these books. As a note, receiving these books do not affect my opinion in any way, all thoughts are 100% my own.

If you've read any of these books, please let me know your thoughts! Down Comes the Night and Yolk both release on March 2nd so be sure to check them out once they hit shelves!

*Links with an asterisk are affiliate links where when used, will give me a small commission at no additional costs to the buyer (as of 2/21/21)
9:48 PM No Comments

Sadness is part of our inspiration. Others might bottle up their sadness and pour it out on certain occasions, but we let it pour from us and into our medium. It's the same for most emotions, and we do it so that we can make room for more.

    isbn: 978-1534441934 | pages: 416
    publication date: 02/19/2021 | source: simon & schuster arc / coloredpagestours
    genre: ya contemporary | 10 scale rating: 7.2

    A M A Z O N    |    G O O D R E A D S    |    B O O K S H O P
    B O O K D E P O S I T O R Y    |    B A R N E S A N D N O B L E S    |    I N D I E B O U N D
    I N D I G O    |    B A M !    
a story of family and relationships
A Phở Love Story is a debut young adult novel from Loan Le that follows two Vietnamese-American teenagers as they navigate friendship, family, and finding their passions. Coming from families of two competing pho restaurants, Linh and Bao have only seen each other in passing, but after an instance of kindness and an assignment for the school newspaper, they start spending more time and seeing new aspects of each other. The relationships in this book are what make it such an endearing and memorable story. 

Reading about their families made me take a step back and just appreciate all that my parents have done for me and the support I've received in my career choices even if there have been some arguments along the way. I really appreciated how Bao and Linh's relationship gradually developed - there was an initial spark of interest but we got to see their feeling grow for each other which brought on all the cutesy feels.

proudly asian american
 This story represents a sense of familiarity and representation that makes me crave more stories that are unapologetically embracing the Asian American voice. As someone who is not Vietnamese, but grew up in a big cultural city on the East Coast, so many elements of this novel reflect life moments I've experienced from parental communication struggles to the comfort of sharing food with a loud (and gossipy) extended family. I was rolling my eyes at the auntie circles and relating so much to Linh's sister Evie's experience as the older sibling. 

Despite Linh and her family having different visions and definitions of success, they never lost their line of communication with each other and that really touched me. A lot of times as a child of immigrants, it's hard to reconcile our parents' ideals of the American Dream with our own passions, and reading Linh's perspective just really resonated with my own thoughts and experiences. I honestly loved both sets of parents and learning about their stories made me more eager to take the time to listen to the stories of my own parents.

A Phở Love Story read like a snapshot from my own life and just further exemplifies the importance of writing and sharing these stories from all different backgrounds and cultures. I know for a fact that this story is an example of something I sought for as a teenager and I'm so glad that it's officially out for current and future generations of Asian Americans to read and feel seen.


about the author

Loan Le is the youngest child of two Vietnamese immigrants hailing from Nha Trang. She holds an MFA degree in fiction from Fairfield University, also her undergraduate alma mater. A Pushcart Prize - nominated writer, her short stories have appeared in CRAFT Literary, Mud Season Review, and Angel City Review. Loan is an editor at Simon and Schuster's Atria Books imprint and lives in Manhattan. A Pho Love Story is her first novel. 
W E B S I T E    |    G O O D R E A D S    |    T W I T T E R
I N S T A G R A M    |    T I K T O K


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Images taken from Unsplash

!! giveaway !!
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Be sure to check out the other stops of the #APhoLoveStoryTour and a huge thank you to Colored Pages, Loan Le, and Simon Teen for allowing me to read and share my thoughts!

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8:00 AM No Comments

 

Hello everyone! In honor of Lunar New Year coming up on February 12th, I wanted to share some book recommendations based off of the Chinese zodiac. I'm honestly so excited for LNY because it's my first time in four years getting to celebrate with my family after being away at college and I'm ready for all the yummy food (and red envelopes of course). This is also the first year where, since I'm working full time, I can give out red envelopes which just makes me feel like I've unlocked some special level of adulthood.

I tried to choose books where the characters displayed certain traits of each zodiac animal and referenced this website if you're interested in finding out and learning more about your own zodiac!


RAT (鼠) - adaptable, cautious, can be impulsive but has good self-control
the bone witch by rin chupeco
I promise that it was not my intention to start this list with The Bone Witch but the minute I read the description "can be impulsive but has good self-control" I thought of Tea. She experiences and discovers so much throughout the trilogy that forces her to be incredibly adaptable to her surroundings and despite impulsively raising her brother from the dead, she learns to control her bone witch abilities as her story unfolds.

OX (牛) - diligent, endurance in work, stubborn and can struggle with communication
the poppy war by r.f. kuang
I feel like a bunch of characters can really work for the OX as they are all incredibly diligent and show great endurance throughout the trilogy. For the stubbornness and difficulties with communication, that could definitely be narrowed down to Nezha and Rin mostly following the events of The Dragon Republic. 

TIGER (虎) - natural leadership, independent, can be impatient, faithful
the wolf of oren-yaro by k.s. villoso
Queen Talyien is the definition of someone who is dedicated to her country, her legacy, and her family. The first two books follow her essentially trying to do what she believes is best for Jin-Sayeng and while some of her decisions may be questionable, she is still such a powerhouse as a queen in adult fantasy.

      
RABBIT (兔)- smart moderator, loyal, strong sense of responsibility
counting down by with by tashie bhuiyan
I haven't read this yet, but I do have an ARC and plan on getting to it this month. However, just by reading the synopsis, Karina sounds like someone who is extremely dedicated to her family and I think the events that unfold within the story will reveal more of her personality and strengthen her loyalty to those she loves.

DRAGON (龍) - ambitious dreamers, can be unapproachable
these violent delights by chloe gong
Ambition + Dreams = Juliette Cai and Roma Montagov. I'm half-way through this book and am already bursting with emotions for these characters. They are just crafted in a way that offers so much conversation about the balance between tradition and change. The unapproachable part is mostly tacked on because I would be so in awe of Juliette that I could never approach her in real life.

SNAKE (蛇) - idealists, eloquent and social, life of luxury
anna k by jenny lee
Anna K is YA luxury in a book. There are decadent parties, overindulging in the vices, and of course, all the scandals. The characters come from lives of extreme wealth and I think have a bit of idealist in them - they're also trained to be incredibly aware of societal trends/gossip which is very snake-like  in my opinion.

      
HORSE (馬) - sociable, self-expressive, independent
i'll be the one by lyla lee
Skye is vibrant, talented, and truly an icon. I could not stop smiling when reading I'll Be the One and I think her personality goes really well with that of the HORSE. She learns to love herself and her passions even more through the story and takes on the incredibly toxic K-pop industry with so much body positivity and genuine nature.

SHEEP (羊) - hard-working, well-dressed, sympathetic
spin the dawn by elizabeth lim
Well-dressed = Maia and that's the truth, though to expand, she is also hard-working personified. To save her family's business, she dresses as her brother and enters a competition to become the emperor's tailor only to go on a life-altering journey to make three mythical dresses. 

MONKEY (猴) - intelligent, curious, love for adventure
warcross by marie lu
I would say that Emiko corresponds pretty well to the MONKEY because very few people can hack into the world's most elite virtual tournament. Her skills combined with Hideo's unrefusable offer takes her on an adventure uncovering more secrets about Warcross and its founder.

      

ROOSTER (雞) - warm personality, sociable
to all the boys i've loved before by jenny han
I could not not put this book somewhere on the list so ROOSTER it is. Admittedly, I've only read the first book because I ~struggle~ to read YA contemporaries, but I already know that Lara Jean has the warmest personality ever. Only someone like a ROOSTER would write love letters to forget their crushes and maybe I'm projecting based on the movie but Lana Condor also just feels very sociable to me.

DOG (狗) - helpful, cautious, introverted but sincere
starfish by akemi dawn bowman
Kiko is an incredibly talented artist and her sincerity shines through with her art. Her journey to accepting her talents and finding her worth outside of her toxic mother is one of the most beautiful coming of age stories I've ever read.

PIG (豬) - clever, out-going, warm-hearted
the gilded wolves by roshani chokshi
Doesn't "clever, out-going, and warm-hearted" not remind you of basically the entire gang in The Gilded Wolves? Each member takes their strengths and passions and together they work to restore and reclaim Severin's heritage (amongst other things). This is also a little shameful call out that I have not yet finished The Silvered Serpents because I'm too scared to watch one of my favorite groups unravel  😭.

      

I tried to specifically include authors of Asian descent, but I'm sure I've missed a bunch of really good comps! 

What is your Chinese Zodiac and which bookish character would you pair with your animal?

9:00 AM 7 Comments
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DearRivarie

DearRivarie
Hi there! My name is Rivalie (Riv for short). Welcome to my blog where I share book reviews, discussions, and more fun things! Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a fantastic day! 🌸

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