TBR Challenge summary

The year is (finally) ending and I actually like this moment of the year when it comes to check out blogs and sites where the subject is books. It's the time for "best of" lists and statistics and funny or special posts about books and I'm always curious to see that kind of content/information.

I'm planning some posts like that as well, just like I posted in previous years. I'll leave some of them to the early January but today I'm posting a brief summary on how was the TBR Challenge for 2020. What a miserable year altogether for everyone but I must confess I didn't "lose" my reading mojo and saw in it a continuity of my escapism M.O.

To me, reading is necessary and it helped me to carry on.

 

So, here is my list of books for the challenge and a few words about them. For me, the fun is in picking books I feel might be suited for each theme even if they don't end up being as wonderful as I might have expected.

 

January: Unchained by Elisabeth Naughton (short story)

This is a short story which makes more sense having read the previous in the series. It's a paranormal world with characters from the Greek mythology and in the main couple here is a pair of secondary characters who finally reach an HEA. It was under developed for me. 5/10

February: The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton (friends)

This is a sort of classic story about a group of friends who are part of a community and when they have a face off with guys from a different class, they clash but that allows the man character to think of life. It was good to read but didn't impress me much. 6/10

March: Fourteen Summers by Quinn Anderson (seasons)

I picked this for the word "summers", but the story of twin brothers reuniting with a childhood friend who becomes the boyfriend of one of them while the other felt jealous and envious felt very immature and boring to me. 3/10

April: Don't Speak by Katy Regnery (freebie)

This was a book I got for free and it tries to present a contemporary adaptation of The Little Mermaid. I thought the story to lack some planning as if some situations were a bit forced. I wasn't too fond of the main couple. 5/10

May: Foxfire Bride by Maggie Osborne (old school)

This is a book published in 2004 which might not be too old but the style definitely has that old school feel. The protagonist is an adventurous and fierce woman who wants revenge but on he way she meets someone who proves to her she can get past her past. 6/10

June: Starless by Jacqueline Carey (getaway)

I picked this one only because the action would take place in a fantasy world, a getaway from our reality. A wonderful first part about a boy learning to become someone special turns into a annoying, wasted second part to me. Still, it was engaging. 7/10

July: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee (family ties)

This fiction tale spawns decades and generations of a Korean family. I was looking for to see how all the characters dealt with life and I had a great time reading, and even the saddest parts were poignant and meant something. 8/10

August: Ghost Hunter by Jayne Castle (backlist)

I still have several books by this author to read and this is #3 in a futuristic/PNR series. There's a light mystery ongoing and the main couple will solve it while reuniting again and deciding to give it a go now they are more invested in each other. 7/10

September: The Dress by Jane L. Rosen (dress for success)

I loved this cute contemporary story about a group of characters who had in common a dress which is recognized as the dress of the season. We glimpse moments in the life of the characters and applaud them as they grab happiness. 9/10

 

October: Withering Hope by Layla Hagen (danger)

 I thought a heroine and a hero in danger after their small plane crashed would be the perfect read for this theme but it turned out that the development wasn't well executed by the author. I felt there were too many missed opportunities to make this a stronger story. 6/10

November: Out of Nowhere by Roan Parrish (series)

This is the 2nd installment in a trilogy and I actually liked it better than the first, I think the angst and the self recrimination the hero felt were very well done and I was completely invested in seeing the plot develop and how his HEA would happen. 8/10

 

December: Regency Royal Navy Christmas by Carla Kelly (festive)

This anthology has four short stories about characters who are connected to the royal navy in the 19th century. All stories happen during Christmas' time and although some details are a little uninteresting, for the most part they are sweet and encouraging. 6/10 

It was interesting to note that this challenge, even with slightly different (broader) themes comparing to the previous years, was still as diverse as it could. It's true I might not have as much luck as I wanted in how well I liked some of the choices but they all offered something to think about.

I see I only disliked one ( March) although two were close to be negative for me ( January and April). To make me feel better, two were very good (July and November) and one (September) was a very good surprise!

The ones I liked less were, mostly, due to how weak the writing as a whole felt like to me. I kept thinking something more could have been done to make those stories feel stronger/better.

 

It's fun to do this challenge, to let myself be immersed in the bookish stuff I surround myself with, to feel I'm doing something to occupy my time, to focus on things I like, to have something extra to do when it comes to my reading world.

Here's to more good reads next year!!

TBR Challenge: Carla Kelly - Regency Royal Navy Christmas

Even the squared away, efficient Royal Navy must surrender to the joys and misadventures of a
Regency Christmas. 

Four stories shine a light on Christmas during the Napoleonic Wars on land and sea –
In Boxing the Compass, a homesick frigate captain shepherding a convict convoy to Australia wants nothing more than to hold his infant daughter in faraway England. Perhaps he can enlist a prickly pair of convicts with a new baby to help him.
Wait Here for the Present, finds a spinster, chafing with boredom, helping a motherless lad get to Plymouth for Christmas with his surgeon-father. She can help, but love is the farthest thing from her mind.
In Slip #5, Captain McCulloch’s ship HMS Trident must spend a month in dry dock in Devonport. What better time to catch up on his reading? His plans are complicated by a bad cold, a good widow and her children, shy lovers, and dilemmas it seems only he can solve. Whatever happened to peace and quiet?
As a special bonus, The Christmas Angle introduces readers of the acclaimed St. Brendan Series to that unlikely genius, Sailing Master Able Six.
Readers are requested and required to come aboard for a Royal Navy holiday.

Comment: Finally we arrived at the last month of this bothersome and unhappy year. So much loss and worry and changes... Anyway, for December the TBR Challenge theme used to be holidays and now it's "festive", which is a broader word for any kind of situation where festivities are involved, not necessarily Christmas. But, at this time of the year, how to not pick that? That is why I chose an anthology from last year by Carla Kelly, an author I was familiar with and a writing style I tend to appreciate.

In this anthology there are four novellas, all featuring situations happening around Christmas' time and all about naval men. Each story is set on its own universe, although one is a prequel to a series, and can all be read as stand-alones. In all, a main couple takes central stage while several things take place and it is necessary for everyone to do their part in trying to accomplish certain tasks but the Christmas spirit also helps in making some dreams come true...

I should say I liked all stories for what they were: glimpses of ordinary people's lives at a time where rules and behaviors were very different but at the same time, everyone felt the season as something special and not as materialistic as nowadays. All stories have some sort of good deed happening, some sort of giving much more highlighted than any receiving any character could get. After all, it is a cliché to say Christmas is a time to give something to others and not be focused on what we might receive in exchange. I think all stories were able to convey this idea and, for that alone, the overall feeling I had when finished was one of tenderness and warmth.

However, being familiar with the author's style, I knew her characters would be very practical and would just take matters into their own hands if something had to be done. I can appreciate this and in a full length book, the general ideas would seem without pointless content. In shorter stories, though, despite the romantic notions/gestures, it still feels as if the characters act too quickly, take certain things (emotionally speaking) for granted too easily. I felt as if the characters had a role to play, had a task to finish and despite the good elements in all stories, the main couples' relationships felt rather flat. Yes, it«s amazing how easily the author can convey personality and values in such short novellas, the characters feel complete, the plots feel rich, but things weren't original in execution nor in romance.

A summary on each story:

Boxing the Compass - This was a story the author based on her own family's experience. I liked the idea of a captain missing his family while at sea and how it came o happen a mother with a baby child was on board and he was able to hold the child. The story has some interesting content, namely the fact the ship carries prisoners to Australia and the captain is able to make a wrong right while showing his good side and his understanding as a husband and a father. This was sweet enough.

Wait Here for the Present - In this one we meet a spinster woman who is alone since the death of her brother some months before. She does a good deed by helping a young boy who is waiting for a father that doesn't arrive when scheduled. She then travels with her butler and the boy to a different city where the boy's father is a navy surgeon. She finds love, a family and a goal there. This was very sweet, fulfilling, but the main couple seemed to fall in love so easily that I doubted how they found time in such hectic situations they faced. Still, it was my favorite.

Slip #5 - Having need of repairs on his ship, captain McCullogh is staying in Devonport and plans on occupying himself reading. The problem is that he gets sick and it's the widowed daughter-in-law of the repair company who take cares of him. With time he comes to realize there's more to that graceful woman than what he assumed and he falls in love with her and her children and can't help but be in the middle of family dramas. I liked this one too but, again, the romance seemed to come out of nowhere.

The Christmas Angle - Apparently, this one is a prequel to a series featuring a special man. Able Six has the ability to remember everything he reads but he is quite poor despite his abilities. Of course, with the help of friends and of Christmas, he and the young woman who falls in love with him while he is on rest between navy assignments, can dream of a better future. This one was intriguing, had interesting details such as how someone different is seen by others in the 19th century. I also felt the romance was too quick for the circumstances but in the future I might try the series that follows.

 

Basically, all stories were special, had well defined ideas, heroes that never go past beta status but are amazingly self aware, strong and fair in their actions/decisions, heroines who are loyal, surprisingly able and dedicated, and apart from the lack of pages to develop romances which create more tension before they are admitted, this was a good effort but not as magical as I imagined they could be.

Grade: 6/10

TBR Challenge: Roan Parrish - Out of Nowhere

The only thing in Colin Mulligan’s life that makes sense is taking cars apart and putting them back
together. In the auto shop where he works with his father and brothers, he tries to get through the day without having a panic attack or flying into a rage. Drinking helps. So do running and lifting weights until he can hardly stand. But none of it can change the fact that he’s gay, a secret he has kept from everyone.
Rafael Guerrera has found ways to live with the past he’s ashamed of. He’s dedicated his life to social justice work and to helping youth who, like him, had very little growing up. He has no time for love. Hell, he barely has time for himself. Somehow, everything about miserable, self-destructive Colin cries out to him. But down that path lie the troubles Rafe has worked so hard to leave behind. And as their relationship intensifies, Rafe and Colin are forced to dredge up secrets that both men would prefer stay buried.

Comment: A few more reads gone, more days passed, still a lot of worry on what is going on in the world, but it does feel nice to have routines to continue. It's time for another TBR Challenge post and this month the theme is the all encompassing "series". It wouldn't be difficult for me to find a book to suit this theme, the problem would be to pick one but I ended up choosing this one simply because it was next on my list of books to read.

In this book we meet Colin Mulligan, a very troubled man who isn't in the best of places in his life. He is a closeted gay man who has spent his whole life being who he felt his father would have wanted him to be, which would include mocking one of his younger brothers precisely for being gay. Colin now lives on his own and that means it's easier for him to escape once in a while to a bar where gay hookups often happen. He is not in a good place so his hookups are always attempts to punish himself, until the day Rafe, a guy who watched as Colin is attacked, helps him. Then, since Colin is a mechanic along with his father and his other brothers, Rafe leaves his car and a note for Colin, which is the first step into how they start working together to help a group of teenagers at a youth center Rafe works in. But will Colin be able to let go of his prejudices, of his fear, of all the negativity he carries and grab happiness?

This is the second installment in the Middle of Somewhere series by Roan Parrish. I have read the first book back in 2015 (yes, I know...) and although I no longer remember details, I remember Colin was featured as the most antagonist character because of how he treated Daniel, his younger brother and the protagonist of that first book. I think I got such a bad impression of Colin it felt hard to imagine a redemption, but now, years later, I finally got to it and I should say I liked this story more than I did the first one.

I felt this book was much more emotional than what I expected but, for me, this was a good thing. I liked how the author portrayed Colin's feelings and his POV on what was happening. Colin has fixed himself in such a way, he can't seem to get out of a denial spiral over his feelings and his thoughts. He is gay but he feels his father, the person he most admires and doesn't want to disappoint, would not like him anymore. Throughout the novel, we have glimpses of why Colin got to evolve with such thoughts and how the conflict of who he is and who he pretends to be started to cause him so much pain.

One method to escape this, was to mistreat his brother Daniel, especially when he came out to the family and moved away. Colin felt this was something he couldn't do so he took it out in anger and verbal abuse. Seeing things from Daniel's POV in the other book certainly made readers dislike Colin but everything can be seen in so many different angles, having Colin's made me feel sorry for him. There are sections of the book where his head space is really down, he has depression, he has panic attacks, his thought process is so set on a way, he physically feels the effects of all that pain.

Obviously, since this is a romance, once he starts to interact with Rafe, his mind opens up and we get to see his softer side. He feels attracted to Rafe, he knows Rafe is gay but he would not be OK with being with him romantically.. well, until it was clear they were into one another. I think the evolution of their relationship was believable, within the confines of a novel of course, and I think both their issues were addressed as it was possible without moving this book into a silly or a miserable level. Sure, some things might not be as realistic as one could imagine, but I liked how the author made them talk, spend time together, start to trust one another...

Closer to the end, there were some scenes/situations I wasn't too fond of, but although they didn't ruin the book for me, I felt they weren't as well accomplished. Still, putting aside the details I would change, it felt the author did think about how to develop things in a way I liked reading. Following Colin's mind in some chapters was quite hard, what he said/thought made me feel like crying because I could understand how easily someone can let go and follow dark thoughts. At the same, time, I felt this added more layers to Colin and made me appreciate him more and how he manages to turn around and slowly becoming someone more stable.

All things considered, this was a book that worked out for me. There's a third book too, I might get to it next month or soon, but I admit I'm not eager... hopefully, I will be positively surprised as I was with this one. I think the author is talented and if something clicks, then that makes it easier to appreciate the book. If I like the next book too, I might invest more in the author's other work.

Grade: 8/10

TBR Challenge: Layla Hagen - Withering Hope

Aimee’s wedding is supposed to turn out perfect. Her dress, her fiancé and the location—the idyllic holiday ranch in Brazil—are perfect.
But all Aimee’s plans come crashing down when the private jet that’s taking her from the U.S. to the ranch—where her fiancé awaits her—defects mid-flight and the pilot is forced to perform an emergency landing in the heart of the Amazon rainforest.
With no way to reach civilisation, being rescued is Aimee and Tristan’s—the pilot—only hope. A slim one that slowly withers away, desperation taking its place. Because death wanders in the jungle under many forms: starvation, diseases. Beasts.
As Aimee and Tristan fight to find ways to survive, they grow closer. Together they discover that facing old, inner agonies carved by painful pasts takes just as much courage, if not even more, than facing the rainforest.
Despite her devotion to her fiancé, Aimee can’t hide her feelings for Tristan—the man for whom she’s slowly becoming everything. You can hide many things in the rainforest. But not lies. Or love.
Withering Hope is the story of a man who desperately needs forgiveness and the woman who brings him hope. It is a story in which hope births wings and blooms into a love that is as beautiful and intense as it is forbidden.

Comment: The year is quickly going to its end and, for all of us, seeing 2020 end will likely be a good moment...

So, it's time for another post in the TBR Challenge and in October the theme was "danger" which could, obviously, mean several types of stories/ideas. I went with a story where the protagonists would be in danger because their small private plane crashed in the jungle and they would have to find a way to survive until helped came. I had high hopes for this because the idea felt like an interesting one but the result wasn't as well executed as I hoped for.

When this story begins, heroine Aimee is traveling to her fiancé's ranch on Brazil, where they will be married. She decided to go a day earlier than planned and that is why the only person with her is Tristan, the pilot. However, something goes wrong and the plane crashes in the middle of the Amazonian jungle. They both survive without big injuries but the plane crashed into an area surrounded by water and that means they need to wait months until the water level decreases so they can start to walk and find help, if that doesn't come before that. In the meantime, they need to help one another, they need to find a way to keep predators away, they need to find food and all the time, they only have each other for company and for support when some days get harder. Is it any wonder they bond over their experience? What about Aimee's fiancé, a good guy they both care about but who isn't there when their feelings get too strong for them to ignore...?

As often happens with romance novels, here too did I create an idea in my head of how this story could develop and how the situations would be portrayed to show case how the protagonists would slowly start bonding and falling in love. The idea of the story isn't original but done well could be quite a fascinating read. I think there were some details which worked out well enough and the fact this has an HEA is good too but there are a few elements which I didn't appreciate much and made me downgrade how I felt about this book.

This is a story about how two people survive and deal with a traumatic experience. But it's also a romance. I'm certain that it can be done, but when it came to this book, the first thing I disliked was how the story is told in first person. I think this was a very poor choice because for it to work or the "voices" of these characters had to be perfect or the focus should have been in something else and not the romance. The way things play out, it felt like they only thought about sex and did things no one would be fully prepared to do as easily as they accomplished them. To me, this made the story feel very superficial and rushed (the short page count also doesn't help).

Another little issue I had is how, by this being first person, the whole situation and their feelings need to be shared by the characters, mostly the heroine's. The story is told to us by them, and not shown. So, for me, every thing they accomplished, every feeling they had, every thought they wanted to share, every action they took was told. I feel I didn't get to see any evolution of them, nor improvement or change because they were put in such a situation and had to survive. It seems the only change they had to be worried about was the emotional one and, even that, was told to us in a very unbelievable manner... it felt weird to think people could talk and behave like that when their lives were in danger!

I thought this book would mostly deal with how they started caring for one another but in a slow, unassuming kind of way. As if they "couldn't" help it. And the way this plot develops? They certainly could help it because everything happens in a quick time frame (yes, this can be debatable if one doesn't live through the same thing) and they manage rather easily to find food and they take showers in the plane's bathroom, etc. I felt the author wrote things so that the situation would look bad but not irreversible.

Tristan and Aimee tell us about their personal lives here and there but I had the impression there weren't too many layers to them...the goal was a romantic one, of course. Also, for such a dire situation they see themselves in, I was not moved enough to connect with their fears and doubts on whether they could survive or how they would deal with possible problems in the jungle. As it happened before with other books where my opinion ended up being the same, it just felt as if the author wanted to use this element, that element, the other and so on, to get to a point and the "how" didn't have to be as layered/complex.

This story has two epilogues, one surely works as closure so we can see what happened to their life after they were rescued and there's a second one so the author could put a bow on a specific detail the characters do during the plot. I think this second one was totally unnecessary, rather pointless, considering the tone and the type of the story. 

So, this book with characters facing danger wasn't all bad, but it might feel I've focused on the negative aspects more... well, they did caught my attention more too and I can't help thinking my expectations really betray me sometimes....

Grade: 6/10

TBR Challenge: Jane L. Rosen - The Dress

Legend has it that every season there is one dress. The dress that can make your career, ignite a spark with that special someone, or utterly transform your life. For Felicia, who has been in love with her boss for 20 years; for Natalie who has sworn off men since her ex dumped her – for them and for others, life is about to change.
And all because of their brush with the dress of the season, the perfect little black number that everyone wants to get their hands on… 

Comment: This is the third Wednesday of this month, which means it's time for the TBR Challenge post. For September, the theme is "dress for success" and that can mean quite a lot. 

The most obvious choice would be to pick something where clothing has got to be special or plays an important role in the plot and browsing my shelves back in January when I chose the titles to go with the themes, voilà, I had a book titled The Dress and what could be more appropriate?

In this book we meet several characters who all seem to be linked somehow because of a dress. In fact, the dress of the season, as often happens in the fashion world when a specific dress is labeled as such. A dress that is so perfect, so suitable that every woman wants to own or wear one. Thus, from the point of view of several characters, some repeated, others not as much, we embark on a cute and (at times) tender journey through the minds of all those people whose lives somehow are affected by the existence of the dress.

I didn't have many expectations going into this book except that I was confident it might appeal to me somehow. After all, I had added it to my TBR at some point because something had made me think it would be a good idea. I'm so glad that it was a good bet for me because I liked it a lot.

I'll say something right away, though: this is not a perfect book nor is its execution the best it can be, considering the style and the plot. However, I still liked it a lot and it worked very well for me.

I'll try to explain why.

Each chapter is told from one POV. It's true that there are several characters whose POV we get while the story moves along and although I can't say there is one I like a lot more than the others, I found I liked everyone of them and what they were telling. 

The characters are simply drawn, have simple wishes and even though most of their interactions somehow revolve around the existence of the dress, not everything is about it.

The story starts with a runaway model showcasing the dress and the old worker about to retire who has made the dress with his own hands at the label that is now producing it.

We get the sense the dress can have different meaning to people, depending on where in life they are at so it was cute the first two narrators were the young girl now revealing it to the world and the older man who has made it.

However, the characters that more often "speak" are three women: Natalie, Andie and Felicia. All of them wear the dress at some point and that is also a starting point to why their lives took a turn for the better.

I'm not a fashion expert nor do I really care much about it but I did like how the author tried to embody in this novel that sentence by Yves Saint Laurent (also included in the beginning of the book) that says it's not how a dress fits a woman that matters but who she is inside with it on.

Thinking on this, I liked all these three main characters and their emotional journeys. It was also cute to have secondary characters' POV and how that helped the story move along. We have little snippets on those characters' lives and their interactions with others but in the little things I thing relies the bst part of this book: how we can find happiness in such a simple thing as wearing  dress that makes you feel happy and confident while meeting the man you'll love, the one you have loved and the one that makes you believe in love.

The author has done a very simple structure, has created very basic characters but whose charm and dreams are so well deserved because their attitude and their goodness deserve to wear a beautiful dress that allows them to grasp the things they feel worthy of finally getting.

There are also situations that are cute, sappy yes, but I couldn't care less because they made me smile. 

There is some conflict as well, but everything is easily overcome and each lesson something that makes the whole story feel a little stronger.

I know this might not work for many, it's too simple, it's too easy, it's too fairy tale like/dreamlike and nothing really profound happens.

I understand but I liked meeting these characters, knowing what is in their heads for the little while we follow their POV and the things they face.

There's a little in all of them that makes this a worthy read if one likes these types of books (woman's fiction and chick lit). Somehow it made my day to have read this and I'll cherish the experience, even though there are things I'd still change.

Grade: 9/10

TBR Challenge: Jayne Castle - Ghost Hunter

After leaving her too-secretive fianc-powerful ghost hunter Cooper Boone-botanist Elly St. Clair starts over in the thriving metropolis of Cadence City. But when one of her new friends disappears in the eerie catacombs beneath the streets, Cooper turns up just in time to help-and this time he's holding nothing back.

Comment: Time does fly, no way around it, and it's again time for the TBR post. For August, Wendy has reduced the backlist glom to Backlist, and we can interpret anyway we might think of.

Since my imagination doesn't need to go that far, I'm sticking to the meaning of the word and I chose a book by an author whose titles are quite a few in my TBR pile.

This is not the only one I could pick but I decided to go with PNR.

In this third installment of the Harmony series by Jayne Castle, we once again follow the events set in a planet which emulates Earth, after many colonists remained stranded due to a rift in dimensions. Now, centuries after, society is pretty much like the one on Earth but, of course, bearing in mind the differences in the planet, especially the way the minerals there affect humans and even the animals and how many show some paranormal abilities.

It should be said the author included a note in the beginning which explains this a little bit.

The protagonists used to be a couple but after Elly discovers some things about Cooper, she decides to put and end to their engagement and moved to a bigger city. However, months later, due to a case on going near her, Cooper returns to her life and besides helping with the ghost case on had, could it be they could go back to how things used to be?

To summarize: the second book in this series I had read in 2013 but surprisingly, I still had a pretty decent idea about the world, how it came to be and some of the main ideas the author developed in this sci-fi/PNR world.

The stories follow a very predictable pattern: there's a mystery/situation the protagonists see themselves in, they need to join forces to solve it and they fall in love in the process. There can be some slight variation but this is it. In fact, there's no real change from the author's contemporary books under Jayne Ann Krentz and her Amanda Quick's historicals.

Since there is no real challenge in how the stories develop (had we read some book of the author, no matter the genre), the fun is on the details of the background and personality of the characters.

This said, I should share I've been a lot more dedicated to the historicals, where in my opinion, the author's style was a better fit, but overall, I prefer when the main couple isn't immediately aware of one another. This trope of the "second chance" mixed with "lovers reunited" isn't really that appealing to me and I wasn't particularly eager to know how Cooper and Elly would fix things between them but mixed with the plot, I thought it wouldn't be too badly done.

It's true the romance doesn't take center stage and the development of it doesn't get too much variation from the expected, but it was still nice to see them talk, explain each other's POV on why the engagement ended and of course Cooper is one of those heroes who acts as if the heroine should know his feelings anyway. At the same time, Elly just assumes things and despite her profession of love - which the reader is aware of - she didn't give enough time for Cooper to explain... yes, yes, otherwise where is the conflict.... but this can become rather annoying.

Still, I liked they fixed things by the end of the book.

As for plot, nothing amazing there, except why the villain acted the way we see. I admit I didn't make that much of an effort trying to guess who the bad guy is but to be honest, who cares, after all we would get to that somehow. This is not a thriller, where motives and means would truly matter. I think it's safe to say the story is quite simple and easy in terms of crime solution and not that too different from the author's usual trademarks.

All this said, though, I suppose one could wonder why would it be worth reading this. The truth is that, despite the obvious flaws, this story was still easy to read, easy to engage with, easy to connect with the characters and offered some hours of quietness and simplicity and a little bit of distraction from the loud and complicated daily life.

It's not literary prizes contended, no, but it fulfills its goal to entertain and to make readers want to know more about he planet and the special little things that exist in it.

This said, I'm very likely going to read the next installments. At some point.

Grade: 7/10

TBR Challenge: Min Jin Lee - Pachinko

Profoundly moving and gracefully told, PACHINKO follows one Korean family through the generations, beginning in early 1900s Korea with Sunja, the prized daughter of a poor yet proud family, whose unplanned pregnancy threatens to shame them. Betrayed by her wealthy lover, Sunja finds unexpected salvation when a young tubercular minister offers to marry her and bring her to Japan to start a new life.
So begins a sweeping saga of exceptional people in exile from a homeland they never knew and caught in the indifferent arc of history. In Japan, Sunja's family members endure harsh discrimination, catastrophes, and poverty, yet they also encounter great joy as they pursue their passions and rise to meet the challenges this new home presents. Through desperate struggles and hard-won triumphs, they are bound together by deep roots as their family faces enduring questions of faith, family, and identity.

Comment: despite the current worries of the world, time does not stop and it's once again time for the TBR Challenge post. In July the theme is "family ties" which is purposely a rather broad theme and the reader can go different directions with this. 

For me, family ties makes me think of sagas, of those books that follow a family through years. I looked through my TBR and I had this book to read which I think it would suit the theme very well, for it follows a few generations of a family since the 1930s until the 1990s.

In this book we meet a poor Korean family through time and adversity right from the moment Japan takes over Korea until more current days. In all this time, the different generations of the family face many obstacles and prejudice but they always find a way to make it through while keeping up with traditional values.

The main character has to be Sunje, whom we meet as a young girl and follow until she is an old woman. As Sunje faces many problems, she also meets loving people and has hard won successes and her family is the reason for all her sacrifices. Moving along with the changes of the time and society they are living in, we can't help but caring for her and those she loves. However, nothing is ever simple and some things can't really be solved, only dealt with as best as they can...

First of all, this is a very rich novel set in a place I'm not familiar with and that means anything I say is obviously minimal and can't really encompass all the layers and features of Korean and Japanese culture which the author tried to depict and exemplify.

I liked reading this book because it did allow me to learn more about the history of different cultures and, although this is not the first novel I read set in an Asian background, it was still fascinating and touching to see how things are so intrinsically different from what I tend to be exposed to the most.

The book starts in the 30s, around the time Japan has annexed Korea and all the instability the region was facing comes across the page. Of course we are able to read about this as a backstage subject, since the focus is on the fictional characters and how their lives are affected by their surroundings.

Sometimes, it does seem so odd how the characters react to some situations but we cannot forget the way of life in the beginning of the past century was seriously different from contemporary life and all the politics and economics have changed, even though, culturally and financially, many families maintain the same traditions.

Sunje is born of two poor parents but they love her and have always shown that love to her. When Sunje gets pregnant while not married, of course that was cause for a great shame (it still is nowadays in so many places) and worry, especially for her mother, since her father had died before. This description is very simple but reading the book, the author has managed to create this moody atmosphere where we can both feel the worry Sunje's mother feels for her but the resignation that what is done is done. I also felt really sad for Sunje for she kept thinking how disappointed her father would feel. Haven't we all, somehow, felt this? The dual love/worry we might not be what out parents want us to be?

The whole book presents many daily life situations, many custom and tradition issues which we might understand or not, based on our own experiences. I could spend hours and hours dissecting each little choice the characters make but there's no time. Let me just say these characters feel alive, they feel so human and flawed as well as deserving of a voice that it felt like spending time with fascinating people. Even the "villains" if one wants to use this word, have their merits. The author didn't try to create a saga where we have good people and bad people doing good and bad things. 

The "good" guys still make less than wise choices and the bad guys pull the strings but not always with bad intentions.

I'd say the biggest issue for me is that since we follow Sunje and her children and grandchildren, and other family members and friends, there's a big cast to focus on. This is not the problem because they all feel well fleshed and complex, even with small descriptions or scenes. 

I think the issue is how, by wanting to encompass so many years and around four generations (Sunje, her parents, her children, grandchildren) and so much history and geographic distances, it's inevitable the pace doesn't feel the same throughout the whole novel. 

We do spend more time on some moments than in others and the constant change of year (for instance, we have a chapter in 1967, then the next one is in 1974, etc,) makes the matching changes/evolution of the characters to feel choppy, sudden, without enough context. 

The history notions, the mention of traditional aspects, the focus on discrimination and alienation are ever present through the book. Yes, this happens mostly on the Japanese side since so many Koreans had to live in Japan but it still exists nowadays, according to the last pages of the book, where we can glimpse how in a more subdued manner. It does intrigue me, because there are many similar traditions between the two countries but history does that... it influences how every single new generation is seen and acts upon the other people. It's not only in Asia, of course, but that was what we saw in this novel. There are so many little subjects here, that it would really be too difficult to address them all. 

There are many amazing moments, many amazing situations the characters face and successfully overcome. But there are also some sadder and despairing ones and I admit I shed some tears here and there thinking of it.

I'd say the biggest issue I felt was developed is the notion of identity. Who are we? Is it being born in a specific country the only identity card we have? Are we not more than just that? Is our family history, our cultural background, our family's roots the only thing that should shape the way others see us? I can't still answer this, despite the radical way one or two characters in the story tried to do.

All issues aside, which could be developed more exhaustively in a non-fiction work, I had a great time reading about these characters, knowing what they thought and felt, empathizing and feeling sorry for them... history and fiction is quite well mixed in this book but I don't think I'd forget the book so soon.

Grade: 8/10

TBR Challenge: Jacqueline Carey - Starless

Destined from birth to serve as protector of the princess Zariya, Khai is trained in the arts of killing and stealth by a warrior sect in the deep desert; yet there is one profound truth that has been withheld from him.
In the court of the Sun-Blessed, Khai must learn to navigate deadly intrigue and his own conflicted identity…but in the far reaches of the western seas, the dark god Miasmus is rising, intent on nothing less than wholesale destruction.
If Khai is to keep his soul’s twin Zariya alive, their only hope lies with an unlikely crew of prophecy-seekers on a journey that will take them farther beneath the starless skies than anyone can imagine.

Comment: In June, the theme for the TBR Challenge post is Getaway, which can mean many different things and can be interpreted rather vaguely. I thought about a getaway that would mean a different place from the usual, a place where things would be out of the normalcy we live in, so for me, the getaway I envisioned was a fantasy world.

In this book we have a world where the children of the two main gods, the sun and the moon, rebelled and were cast from heaven to live on Earth and then became patrons of the different lands where they landed.

When this story begins, young 9 year old Khai is training among a brotherhood to become the shadow of a princess, meaning a sort of companion/bodyguard, so that a prophecy can be met, where certain situations must align. Therefore, if things follow as expected, a group of people from different origins will defeat the rise of evil and save the world.

Khai knows his fate is interwoven with that of princess Zariya but will he become the right person, the right shadow? What about all the obstacles in his path after he finally meets his princess for the first time?

This fantasy story is divided into three parts: the time spent in the desert, where the brotherhood lives in during Khai's childhood, the court right after he and his princess meet and things start to be shaped and the sea, where they and a few other characters will join forces to defeat an evil god.

During the second and third parts, the two main characters, Khai and princess Zariya, are 16 which makes this an obvious YA book. 

I didn't know that prior to start, I thought the characters would just grow up into adults at some point of the story. Since this is a fantasy, the YA elements aren't so hard to endure as it would in other genres (for my personal taste).

I loved the story I was given during the first part. I liked everything about Khai, about his training, about his personality, his fears and determination to become the person everyone expected of him. I liked his interactions with his fellow brothers, with the things he had to learn. All in all, the first part of this story was everything and more I would want from a fantasy novel. I admit I thought some romance might develop at some point too and I foresaw interesting developments for steady but innocent Khai.This was made even more thrilling when a really good twist comes up! I started dreaming about this and that and possible scenarios to come, depending on how the relationship Khai would have with the princess might develop.

Then the second part comes. Some hints are given about certain....choices. I stared to wrinkle my brow at some possibilities, not because of them per se but because of the plot was being lined up and because of how Khai saw himself.

I slowly started to lose hope. This isn't huge on romance but that was not what I was more disappointed at. I really thought, based on how the author had outlined the whole world and the mission of saving it by a certain prophecy terms, that things might go on a specific road. 

By the time the story reaches the third part, I was more in it for the closure on the plot lines than because of the characters themselves.

It's all rather relative, isn't it? What works for some, what doesn't... I keep repeating here that blurbs often mislead and make the reader assume one thing and then another is the actual outcome. If done right, this is amazing, the wonder of being surprised by the author's talent and choices but there are times...oh well.

This is the first time I read something by mrs Carey. I liked her prose, the story was easy to rad, the descriptions easy to imagine. But combining the blurb, my own (somewhat failed) expectations and a few details that would be too spoilerish to add, I just think this book didn't quite reach its best promise.

I can say the "good guys" win the day, although the end wasn't as special as I imagined. I could debate some details I disliked or would change but I was really sad over the fact that the first part of the story was so great and the rest wasn't. The pace felt unbalanced since the first part was very detailed, very rich in both descriptions and emotions and the other two parts were bland and as if things had to be moved to a specific point by then.

I started to dislike how the relationship between the main characters developed. It was too easy, too static, filled with clichés which become obvious after we have the big picture. It's not that I didn't like how they end up together, but the process and their inner thoughts to get to that status (mostly on Khai's side).

Considering the whole novel, there are good things about it, others not so good but I keep wishing this could have gone better had the main characters been reluctant partners, had they met different romantic interests and how that could have affected their own "bond" and how would that play in the big scheme of saving the world. If this had been the path, I think the story could have had a much bigger impact.

Grade: 7/10

TBR Challenge: Maggie Osborne - Foxfire Bride

Fox is a woman as feisty as they come. Once the most sought-after scout west of the Rockies, she led folks through wild, unexplored terrain–until a gunshot wound ended her guiding career. She’s living a calmer life when a handsome stranger appears with an urgent request to take him to Denver immediately. The gold coins he offers catch Fox’s eye–and so do his sharp good looks. Fox can’t resist the chance to guide again, and can’t ignore the fire that burns in her body whenever she sees this oh-so tempting man.
Matthew Tanner has received a startling telegraph: His father is being held for ransom in Denver. With time running out, Matthew must find the best scout money can buy. When the best turns out to be a woman with gritty good looks and a wild mane of red hair, Matthew is both shocked and intrigued. Can Matthew and Fox’s mutual desire and growing love survive the perils of their journey, or will their secrets destroy each other?

Comment: This month the theme for the TBR Challenge post is "old school" which I always tend to link with books written in past decades, usually historicals, and focusing on romance stories that aren't as seen nowadays because they are often told in specific ways and featuring specific tropes too. I also tend to think these old school romances had to develop a certain way and these days even writers of historical novels are much more eager to change the rules or the tropes or just bet on quirky/out there plots.

In this book we meet Fox, an unconventional heroine but who deep down regrets her life has not followed a more traditional path.

The story begins when she and older friend/father figure Peaches are hired to be part of a team to guide a rich man to Denver, though secondary routes that might be dangerous, in order for him to carry a huge amount of gold part of a ransom mission.

Fox feels attracted to Tanner, the "boss", but although she feels like having an adventure, she also has a hidden goal in mind for she wants to reach Denver too, so she could find and kill the man she has always known to be responsible for how her life went.

With many adventures and some drama and even a road trip romance, will Fox be able to deal with her regrets and accept the apparent second chance in happiness she is given?

 This was a story filled with adventure. It's very fast paced, there is always something happening, something to deal with and, on one hand this is good because there's no time to waste on unnecessary things. The author has to rely on the characters' actions so that readers can grasp their personalities and positive aspects instead of being told every single thing.

I like this style because it can allow the reader to get the information between the lines but, on the other hand, it can make things sound a little simplistic and I assume this might be one reason why the style is considered "old school". It seems as if nowadays there's more eagerness to see fresh, innovative things and styles.

This aside, the story was a good one. The main characters have a mission, a goal and they face some adversity while the protagonists decide on a love affair until they end their journey.

As for the plot, nothing really to say, this is a simple story whose best feature is in the character's development and in the question on whether the characters will do what they say they will when the mission is over. There were some doubts regarding this but I confess I wasn't that worried or eager to find out the - let's call it - twist since I feel that was rather predictable.

What makes reading this genre a more interesting experience for me is to see how the romance develops. I must say that while it was different because the heroine also wanted it to happen, I wasn't as impressed by it and actually felt it brought my enjoyment of the story lower. I'm a little old fashioned, I suppose, and I much prefer romances where both partners go into it with some mystery, with some discovery to make. It wasn't as fun to watch if they discussed it like a business transaction! 

I would have preferred to slowly become aware of the other, of thinking, debating if the other might feel the same... I guess I would have liked a more well done tactic of "they couldn't help it but fall in love" and this love story didn't feel like that to me.

As a whole, there was nothing wrong with this story but I missed that something "extra" that all the books I liked the most need to have for me to put them in that level.

I think the fact there is some dragging in the middle with the journey taking over the whole book and the final resolutions being so easily and quickly summarized make things feel like they were rushed in the end.

While reading this I kept wondering that there is a reason why these books tend to be considered old school so they aren't as well received nowadays but at the same time, there is a reason too why old school can be a synonym of "established" and that is because the plots work.

I liked this book in general even though it wasn't as spectacular as I would have wanted.

Grade: 6/10

TBR Challenge: Quinn Anderson - Fourteen Summers

Identical twins Aiden and Max Kingsman have been a matched set their whole lives. When they were children, Aiden was happy to follow his extroverted brother’s lead, but now that they’re in college, being “my brother, Aiden” is starting to get old. He’s itching to discover who he is outside of his “twin” identity.
Oliver’s goals for the summer are simple: survive his invasive family, keep his divorced parents from killing each other, and stay in shape for rowing season. He’s thrilled when he runs into his old friends, the Kingsman twins, especially Aiden, the object of a childhood crush. Aiden is all grown-up, but some things have stayed the same: his messy curls, his stability, and how breathless he makes Oliver. Oliver’s crush comes back full force, and the feeling is mutual. Summer just got a whole lot hotter.
Fun-loving Max takes one thing seriously: his role as “big brother.” When Aiden drifts away, Max can’t understand how his own twin could choose a boy over him. Summer won’t last forever, and with friendship, family, and happily ever after on the line, they’ll have to navigate their changing relationships before it’s too late. 

Comment: Today is the 3rd Wednesday of the month, which means is time for the monthly post belonging to the TBR Challenge. The themes for this year have become broader so people can have more options (although one can choose to not follow the theme anyway). I have said before that the fun for me is precisely the fact I can try to match a book to a theme so this month the theme being seasons was quite the challenge.

After some indecision, I went with the obvious and picked a book that has one of the seasons on the title.

In this new adult romance we have the story of three childhood friends: twin brothers Aiden and Max and their former childhood neighbor Oliver.

Now, all three are just entering their 20s and they are reunited after years apart due to Oliver's parents divorce. In the past, Max has always been the adventurous one, initiating all their plays and games and that hasn't changed, although the fact both Aiden and Oliver are gay has brought to life a closer companionship they never thought of in the past and that now is turning into something more.

This means the reunion makes Aiden and Oliver feel closer and think of the other as much more than just a friend. How can Max, always the one they would look up to, feel being put aside now the others found a different connection? Can they maintain their childhood bonds? Can the twins still be each other's compass?

I think the idea of this book was a good one and that is why it was on my TBR. Twins who have always shared a lot, who have a special bond for several reasons have welcomed, as children, a friend who had a more complicated life at home. At some point they separated but now they are young adults in their 20s they find themselves in the same place where they played years ago and they might be in close universities as well, right after the summer ends.

They are now young men and they see things differently but they all hope their friendship can be rekindled as if it never stopped. One of the twins and their friend are attracted to one another but would the other twin feel left out if they prefer to be together alone instead of with him?

I thought this would be an interesting premise and all the details felt right. However, the development of the story didn't go the way I assumed: a complex evolution of these characters while dealing with situations that affected them all.

In fact, for me, the development was very superficial, very weakly treated and instead focused on things that didn't feel well thought of.

The purpose of this story was to showcase how someone would feel like a third wheel if the two people they are closest to would become a couple. We all have friends in these situations and we all certainly have felt jealous if our company wasn't as obviously appreciated as that of another person. The psychological aspect of this was the interesting part of the whole book because twin Max was the one put aside. Not as if the others didn't want him around but they wanted to see if what they felt had somewhere to go and that means time alone.

I think Max was a character that behaved well enough, he did seem to have filled his role well and I could commiserate with him: it's normal to feel jealous, to feel one's company wasn't welcome, to feel displaced even if rationally one would understand the others were falling in love (were they?).

What I think wasn't as well done and was, in fact, very boring to me, was how Oliver and Aiden's relationship progressed and how whiny and mindless they seemed at times.

There was a lot of drama because they seemed to feel misunderstood, because they let secondary things get in the way of their budding love, and because of who knows what. At the same time, they were so bent on seeing if they could be a couple, they put everything aside and felt it was unfair how Max wanted to spend time with them.

I don't think I felt sympathy towards Oliver and Aiden. Their relationship was cute yes, especially since it was Aiden's first experience with being in love but deep down I would say the problem of the whole book was how it was written and how the author chose to develop these characters.

We have the POVs of the three guys and considering that I found both Oliver and Aiden's issues as being done in such a tiresome manner, I preferred Max as a narrator. Perhaps had there only been one narrator I'd have liked it more because the focus of this book would not have been the romance, but actually how one relationship affected three people.

I think the author chose to deal with things in a very superficial manner, the intimacy scenes were unnecessary... she could have written this more in the fiction vibe and not the romance one.. or the other way around, but the way it was, the focus was in many things and neither was done properly.

Even the personal issues each character has sounded very childish. At times this looked more YA than NA but, to be honest, most of the time, these are not distinguishable for me anyway.

There's an epilogue which is the fluffiest of them all and was already a given... I don't think it added anything to the story.

The characters came off as too immature, they didn't seem to have grown up because they didn't really need to, after all their problems could have been dealt very easily had they thought of them differently. Childish does seem a good word for some scenes.

This is a story that was not a good one for me, I'll likely won't remember much of it in the near future but I'm certain it worked out for others. I don't think I'll return to this author, though.

Grade: 3/10

TBR Challenge: S.E. Hinton - The Outsiders

The Outsiders is about two weeks in the life of a 14-year-old boy. The novel tells the story of Ponyboy Curtis and his struggles with right and wrong in a society in which he believes that he is an outsider. According to Ponyboy, there are two kinds of people in the world: greasers and socs. A soc (short for "social") has money, can get away with just about anything, and has an attitude longer than a limousine. A greaser, on the other hand, always lives on the outside and needs to watch his back. Ponyboy is a greaser, and he's always been proud of it, even willing to rumble against a gang of socs for the sake of his fellow greasers--until one terrible night when his friend Johnny kills a soc. The murder gets under Ponyboy's skin, causing his bifurcated world to crumble and teaching him that pain feels the same whether a soc or a greaser.

Comment: The February post for the TBR Challenge prompts readers to choose something related to the theme "friends".

Wendy, our host, has picked some more vague/broader themes this year, so that people could more easily fit any read in each month. Personally, I don't mind either way but the vagueness does make me doubt more what to choose whereas a more specific theme (like the ones before) more easily limit my options and I pick something more quickly too.

For this month, therefore, I chose this title because the only thing I knew about it - I avoided comments and reviews on purpose - was that it is considered a classic by some people and that it featured a group of friends and their POV on social and personal relationships with those in different social areas than theirs. Thus the fit into the label "friends", according to my thought process.

This is the story as told by protagonist Ponyboy, of two weeks in the lives of his group of friends and how they see their future and how they compare themselves with other groups.

I went into this story, which had been recommended to me in 2017 for some reason, only knowing it was about a group of young guys and that some readers would label it along the lines of To Kill a Mockingbird (which I loved but who doesn't?) and Catcher in the Rye (that I liked but wouldn't re-read).and I was expecting some kind of coming of age tale, perhaps larger tan life characters and a life lesson, all packed into what apparently isn't a big book.

My ebook edition has a note from the author, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the book's publication and that also helped give me an idea about the story.

I was not aware this book is (or was) used as part of mandatory school reading. I can now see why, since this has become a sort of classic now.

My edition also has some notes/letters from the actors who were in the movie (which I haven't seen) based on this book and that was a nice surprise, especially since some were quite young and now they are mostly familiar for other roles.

Anyway, so the book itself was pretty much what I'd come to expect: a group of friends who feels at the margins of a society that only helps those who have the means to do so and always punishes those from a poorer background. 

I could immediately see where things were going but I must say some scenes really felt like they were staged to create bigger impact, not everything felt to me as being the "natural" course of action or the more realistic way things would develop.

The descriptions from Ponyboy's POV are easy to grasp and to imagine but his thought process was innocent enough to allow me to try to put myself in his shoes. Several of the situations he is in make me feel sympathetic to his problems and his difficulty to explain why society is so discriminatory to those seen as being from the "wrong side of the tracks".

However, some dialogues felt like they didn't fit the kind of life those guys were living in. This was written in the 60s and a lot of the setting and description does ft that so I suppose the words used, the storytelling reflect the author's moment in time when writing.

But for me, in this contemporary date and with so many other similar books to compare this with or even other material (including non fiction articles, movies, real people's stories) just make the story cute, one addressing a necessary subject but... not as huge in the message conveyed as I imagined.

The idea is smart, the situations Ponyboy relates are still as valid and as urgent today as they were 50 years ago, society has not changed that much in such time but I was reading and still easily maintaining the emotional distance from that story.

The dramatic scenes/moments in the story didn't really touch me, I felt bad and felt sorry for some of the things and the characters' plights but I was not emotionally touched by what was happening.

I suppose that, from the author's POV, the idea was to make a point, to make people think about what was happening and not as much to dazzle people with her narrative style. Still, I can't avoid thinking like a reader and while the story is pertinent, it was not as engrossing as others in the genre were.

Perhaps this seems sacrilege for some readers and perhaps I'm not focusing on what matters but stories with coming of age tales can be difficult to enjoy if one removes the emotional content. I liked the fact those guys defended one another and they felt like they had to take action to not let others (the rich guys) get away with continuous humiliations and provocation. I think the lessons Ponyboy is supposed to learn are quite obvious but not easy if one thinks about real life struggles.

All in all, this tale of a strong friendship was special, it was good to read about and to think about the situations portrayed (the unfairness and the hopelessness of the consequences of poverty) and I understand why students, especially young ones, can gain a lot by reading this.

As a reader of fiction, though, it was not the amazing plot nor the amazing narrative I expected. I can't help thinking too about how easy it should have been for the guys to just ignore the rich guys and live their lives according to their own style anyway but, of course, it's never as simple to turn the other cheek if we are living in that moment.

It was good to finish the story but to summarize: this was more worth it for the context in which it was written, for the importance of the message but the execution failed to move me, in particular because the author didn't fully convince me those characters went beyond the practically static role they played.

Grade: 6/10