Review of ARC You Exist Too Much by Zaina Arafat

You Exist Too Much is a book about a Palestinian American woman who has a toxic relationship with her emotionally abusive mother. The fact that our protagonist is bisexual, further drives a wedge between them. From the blurb, I thought this book was more about merging her religious and sexual identities in a positive way to accept herself. In actuality, it's much more about the protagonist cheating on her partners, idolizing unattainable women, and sowing distrust with her manipulations. The main character was extremely unlikable because she recognizes these unhealthy patterns but continues to make these kinds of choices. Additionally, the story jumps around a lot in time and place; making it feel unorganized. However, the writing was beautiful and the main character felt like an actual person.  I gave this book 3 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley for giving me an early copy. This book will be published on June 9, 2020.

May Wrap Up #1

Well, quarantine is helping me read a lot. However, I'm definitely noticing a change in my reading tastes right now. I'm enjoying more plot-driven books rather than slow character based stories. These are the five I've read so far.

The first story I read was a short story called Gods of Risk by James S.A. Corey. This focused on some backstory for Bobbie and her family after the events of book 2. I love this series so much already and it was neat getting a peek into Mars life. It was a bit too short though as it ended right at the climax. I gave the book 3.5 stars.

Then I picked up The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco. This was a retelling of a Japanese folklore that the movie The Ring is based on. It was creepy and paranormal. It kept me turning the pages as I wanted to learn all about this vengeful spirit and why it had decided to protect a specific boy. I gave it 4 stars.

I decided I wanted another page-turner so I picked up Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel. This was a psychological thriller based on a true story. A mother is found guilty of poisoning her daughter over the years to get attention from others; a condition known as Munchhausen by proxy. The story starts when the daughter, now a grown woman, picks her mother up from prison after her five year sentence. The mother is expecting revenge but definitely doesn't see what's coming for her. I found the mother and daughter both equally fascinating and kept waiting for the twist. I definitely didn't see it coming. I couldn't put the book down and finished it in one day. I gave it 5 stars.

Afterwards, I read Life After Life by Kate Atkinson. The premise is a woman gets to relive her life over and over again, making changes or improvements. It is historical fiction, set in the early 1900s. The writing was beautiful and compelling, but that's where my praise ends. The reason for reliving life is never explained and she is only a tiny bit aware of her former lives. She gets panicky at a point in time where something bad happens and tries to avoid it. Sometimes she remembers full details of conversations or places with no real distinction of why it is that way. Towards the middle, I thought I knew where they were going with the reliving gimmick. However, they went there, and then she died and was reborn again and all her efforts were undone. It ends abruptly, with no real closure or sense of purpose. Additionally, it was incredibly repetitive as she relives some scenes identically. The author literally copy and pasted whole paragraphs. It felt unnecessarily padded out and I awarded it 2.5 stars.

I knew I wanted something quick and compelling after that so that I wouldn't go back into a book slump. I decided to continue on with the Dresden Files series with Fool Moon by Jim Butcher. It was a similar set up as the first book. Murders happen, police call in Dresden, he tries to protect them from the supernatural by omitting info, they get suspicious and arrest him, he gets away and tries to clear his name and save them from the baddie. However, the lore they introduce on werewolves was super interesting, more depth is added to the crime boss Marcone, and the sassy and witty banter just made this super pleasurable to listen to. It definitely helps that it is also narrated by James Marsters.

May TBR

I'm not quite out of my slump yet, but the Magical Readathon definitely helped. I am going to keep this list fairly short to allow for some mood reading.

1. You Will Be Safe Here by Damien Barr
2. You Exist Too Much by Zaina Arafat (ARC)
3. Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel
4. The Girl From the Well by Rin Chupeco
5. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
6. Gods of Risk by James S.A. Corey

    

Reading Update #2

I have now finished the 5 remaining prompts for the O.W.L.s readathon.

Transfiguration (a book with shape shifting)- The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling 3.5 stars
This was a re-read of Rowling's book of fairy tales set in the wizarding world.. I listened to the Audible full cast audiobook and really enjoyed it.

Care of Magical Creatures (a beak on the cover)- The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware 3 stars
I don't typically pick up mysteries or thrillers so I was hoping for a suspenseful page-turner with lots of twists. This was not that. There was very little suspense, and the very few twists that existed, I guessed. The writing style was well done but the characters' motivations were thin. I might even downgrade it to a 2 stars.

Ancient Runes (heart in the title or on cover)- In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick 4 stars
This is the true story of a whaleship being sunk by a whale in the 1800s This sinking is what inspired Herman Melville to write Moby Dick. This is a story of survival of nearly 3 months in the open ocean and it was incredibly readable for a nonfiction.

Defense Against the Dark Arts (set at sea or on the coast)- Cantoras by Carolina De Robertis
I cannot rate this book. My head space when reading it very likely affected my desire to pick it up. It took nearly two weeks to finish because it was grim and I was having difficulty connecting to the characters. However, the ending made me cry. I finally felt something for the characters. I think I would've loved this book if I had read it at a different time. It's about five lesbian women in 1970's Uruguay who are living through a dictatorship and must hide their true selves.

Divination (randomly chosen)- Two or Three Things I Know for Sure by Dorothy Allison  2 stars
I love Bastard out of Carolina by the same author so I decided to pick up her memoir. I learned that the novel was largely autobiographical. However, this memoir reveals very little and is written in as more of a philosophical essay rather than a narrative style. She endured abuse and decided to rise above but we don't get any actual stories. The whole thing is chaotic, lacks focus, and is nonlinear. At 94 pages, I felt she could've written much more.

Reading Update Part 1

So far I've completed 7 O.W.L.s. They aren't all the original choices because I'm a mood reader but this is what I've read so far.

Astronomy(read at night)- Sachiko by Caren Stelson  2 stars
I didn't really care for this. This is about a young girl who experienced the atomic bomb in Nagasaki. The chapters alternate between factual information about the war and bomb dropping and her personal story. Even though this is YA, it felt more like middle grade. It got overly moralistic and had a very shallow telling of the politics of World War 2. Additionally at 144 pages, it still felt too long. Definitely could've been a short story.

Arithmancy(read outside your fave genre)- Let's Pretend this Never Happened by Jenny Lawson
4 stars
I read Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson recently and wanted some more zany essays about her crazy life. This is her first book and unfortunately. it shows in the writing. I still found it funny but the essays were a tad formulaic where she tells an outrageous lie, and then scales back to the truth. Additionally, there were a lot more transcripts of conversations with her husband which also felt a bit repetitive.

Charms (white cover)- The Whisper Man by Alex North 4 stars
This is a thriller about the Whisper Man. He was caught abducting and murdering young boys 20 years ago but now its happening again. Is it a partner, a copycat, or something more sinister? This was a page-turner and very creepy. I finished it within 2 days.

Herbology (starts with "M")- The Marriage of a Thousand Lies by S.J. Sindu 3 stars
I had really high hopes for this book. It is about Lucky, a Sri Lankan woman who is a lesbian and in a fake marriage with a gay Indian man. When she finds out her best friend and former lover is getting ready to marry a man, she must make a decision. Unfortunately, I felt she didn't have much agency in this book and generally just went with the flow, even when it wasn't in her best interest. I also felt the other characters were pretty flat. However, the writing was excellent and taught me some of Sri Lankan culture.

History of Magic (includes witches/wizards)- Storm Front by Jim Butcher 4 stars
This was great. It hooked me from the first chapter. It is set in Chicago and follows a wizard detective who works with the police to solve inexplicable crimes. There is humor and lots of action. I'm definitely planning to continue the series.

Muggle Studies(contemporary)- Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert 4 stars
This was an odd book for me to enjoy. I don't tend to like romance because I feel the conflict is contrived and unbelievable in many cases. However, this was a slow burn romance with characters who had real difficulties and their conflicts were almost always believable. Additionally, the protagonist Chloe has chronic illness which felt authentic. It was refreshing to see representation for chronic illness because I felt understood.

Potions (under 150 pages)- The Butcher of Anderson Station by James S.A. Corey 5 stars
This is a short story set before the first book in the Expanse series. It was great back story on Fred Johnson, whom we meet in the first book. I loved it and am even more excited to continue with the series.

I have qualified for Culinary Sorcerer and am now continuing my exams to get as many as I can.

April TBR/ O.W.L.s Magical Readathon

It's that time again where I must sit my O.W.L.s at Hogwarts. Due to a slump, I've decided to go for a career that will have only 4 required exams although I've assigned a book choice for the other prompts if I get to them.

The career I plan to go for is Culinary Sorcerer. This requires 4 subjects.

Arithmancy (a book outside your favorite genre) - Let's Pretend this Never Happened by Jenny Lawson


Charms (a book with a white cover)- The Whisper Man by Alex North


Potions (a book under 150 pages)- The Butcher of Anderson Station by James S.A. Corey



Herbology (a book starting with "M")-  Marriage of a Thousand Lies by S.J. Sindu



The other prompts that I will do if time allows:

Ancient Runes (a heart on the cover or in the title)- The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne
Astronomy (read a book at night)- Sachiko by Caren Stelson
Care of Magical Creatures (a creature with a beak on the cover)- The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware
Divination (a randomly chosen book)- Two or Three Things I Know for Sure by Dorothy Allison
D.A.D.A. (a book set at sea or on the coast)- Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
History of Magic (a book with witches or wizards)- The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Muggle Studies (a contemporary)- Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
Transfiguration (containing a shape shifter)- Ptolemy's Gate by Jonathan Stroud

Review of The Book of Koli by M.R. Carey

I received an ARC of The Book of Koli by M.R. Carey. It is a dystopian novel about a small walled- off community that lives in fear of trees and other dangerous creatures beyond their borders. Koli, a boy of fifteen finds out a secret that threatens to change the hierarchy of the community and is exiled by the leaders to prevent the secret from coming to light. We then follow the adventure outside the walls.

This had the misfortune of being read as I learned the pandemic was spreading to my country. Due to the anxiety and fear of the pandemic, reading a dystopian was not the best idea for me and therefore it took me almost a month to finish. I will try to be as objective as possible.

This story has a very slow start. While the blurb mentions that Koli will leave the safety of the walled community, it doesn't happen until nearly halfway into the book. Once he does, the story picks up and is actually quite thrilling. One stylistic choice I didn't care for is the way Koli and the others talk.
They constantly speak with poor grammar, similar to a toddler. I "et" instead of "ate" or I "shooted" instead of "shot." I did get over this after a while but it did impact my enjoyment. On the other hand, one thing I think Carey did well was his world building. He invented new creatures, plants, and technology which helped me envision the world. Overall, I gave this book three stars. It is the first in a series and I will most likely pick up the next one. Thanks to Netgalley for giving me an ARC. This book will be published on April 14th, 2020.