Natalina Reis's Blog, page 17

Demons Do It Better- Book Review

Demons Do It Better by Louisa Masters
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was such a fun read. Just what I needed. Loved Sam, Gideon and especially Alastair (he reminds me of a friend I had). There were a few spots where there was too much information and I skimmed a bit, but I have a tendency to not care for certain details so maybe it was just me. The banter was perfect, the mayhem top notch, and the friendships believable and fun. Definitely going to keep reading this series. Congrats Ms. Masters!

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Aspircholy-Not a Vegetable

As a linguist and a writer I am of the opinion the English language needs a new word, one that will translate and classify these feelings I have been having for a while. I think technically it’s envy or jealousy but in truth it is not. Let me explain. Envy and jealousy both evoke very negative feelings, some that in fact are normally accompanied by ill-wishing and even thoughts of revenge. If you’re envious of someone you might be sticking needles in that voodoo doll you bought on your last trip to New Orleans, right? Same with jealously which blinds you to facts and creates a sort of psychosis that makes you say and do some serious stupid stuff.

That is not what I’m feeling. Much to the contrary, this feeling is one of contrasts; if on one hand I am “envious” of someone’s success, I do not begrudge him/her that. In fact I am excited and happy for them. I want them to succeed. I’m happy that they are reaping the well-deserved fruits of their hard work and hope it only gets better. So what do I call this frustration and heartache I feel when I see other writers being successful while my books languish in total obscurity, collecting cyber dust on their pretty cyber covers?

The “experts” claim that the closest word to describe what I am feeling is “aspire” or “admire”, which I do, but there’s another layer to it. Aspiring to do something or admiring someone does not normally bring heartache with it, that terrible feeling of failure and/or rejection. It’s almost like a blend of aspiration and melancholy, so maybe we should induct the word aspircholy into the dictionary. Before you reject the idea hear me out.

The word aspire literally means to strive for and the suffix choly comes from the Greek word for bile. So if you put them together in a noun you get bile-producing admiration which is a lot less negative that envy or jealousy, right? Come on, guys, work with me. The word even sounds like asparagus and broccoli put together which everyone knows are great for your health.

All kidding aside what are some words you wish actually existed to express feelings or name something that so far no-one has been able to clearly classify?

Dowser Series #5 – Review

Maps, Artifacts, and other Arcane Magic by Meghan Ciana Doidge
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I continue to love Jade and her slightly airhead personality. She’s smart and strong but doesn’t believe herself to be and that’s just my kind of heroine. I missed Kandy–so glad she made a short appearance through a phone call–in this book but I’m sure she’ll be back stronger than ever. This installment of the Dowser Series also includes the budding romance between Jade and the Sentinel and let’s just say that sparks fly at some point.
Great story, great characters, great writing, awesome sense of humor. There was a scene in particular when Jade, Kett, and Warren (I may have his name spelled wrong) meet with three clueless young adepts that had me laughing out loud. Good thing I was not in public.
Highly recommend.

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The Longest Year

It was an unprecedented year for pretty much everyone around the globe. The pandemic not only (beside the obvious health crisis) closed businesses and made people lose their minds over toilet paper and hand sanitizer, but also caused the weirdest, most exhausting school year in recent history.

Which makes me think of my own teachers when I was in seventh grade. That year the old Portuguese colonies were given back their independence leading to a massive exodus of refugees. Our tiny country was flooded with thousands of people fleeing dangerous and unstable situations in the former colonies. Most of those refugees were school age children. Schools were overwhelmed and “new” locations had to be found on the fly.

That year I attended four different school locations, most of which were improvised and not appropriate for schooling. I am now in a position of looking back and thinking, “Holy crap, how exhausted those poor teachers must have been back then, trying to teach kids who were tired of being moved around from one building to another–each one farther away than the previous location–in classrooms that were not classrooms and with close to zero materials.

Colonia Balnear do Seculo/Vacation Club for children of low income families and one of my school locations

I wonder how many of those teachers came back the next year. How many decided to change careers or retire early. It’s been a lifetime but I finally understand why one of my young teachers burst into tears and ran out of the classroom on a particularly bad behavior day or why others just had us do “busy work”. Why so many of my teachers were often absent that year. It wasn’t because they didn’t care or because they were bad teachers. They were just bone-tired, exhausted. How do I know? Because I feel the same as this crazy school year comes to a close.

I’m an elementary school teacher (one of my two full-time jobs), a specialist who teaches language-based curriculum to children whose first language is not English. The 2019-20 school year ended with a bang when we were all sent home and told not to come back until further notice. Most of us didn’t come back until early 2021 when schools began to bring a small percentage of children to the school buildings one grade at a time.

Others, like some special education and English as a second language teachers were required to be in the building from the very beginning of the school year. I was one of them. My co-teacher and I had a small group of newcomers (children with no English) in person and many more virtual. We nearly went bananas for the first couple months as we tried to figure out how to teach one first grader, one second grader and over thirty fourth graders in person and virtually all at the same time while keeping up with different schedules for art, music, library, and PE. But we made it. After the initial chaos we actually found an effective rhythm. But it hasn’t been easy.

My newcomers classroom this year.

We thought life would go back to some normalcy once all the grades were back even if only partially in person, but it just got crazier. Parents were allowed to decide whether their children would be coming to school in person or only virtually every quarter since. What people obviously were not aware of was that every time there was a change even if only by one student, it meant a whole lot of changes for anyone in the school. Keep in mind that we were required to keep students apart by at least 6 feet, the kids were not allowed to share materials and they couldn’t sit together in the cafeteria as before. Considering the size of our school, this became a real challenge even with only a fraction of the school population. Since the beginning of 2021 we, teachers and other school personnel, have been constantly adapting to new schedules, new groups of kids, new everything. It has left us exhausted and brain-drained.

Despite the craziness of this school year, teachers are still being asked to teach summer school, to tutor, to take classes during the break when they really should be recharging and getting ready for next year because it will be another crazy year. 2021-22 will be the year that those on the top will demand that us in the field will perform miracles and make up for a whole year and a half of mostly missed instruction.

Under the Power vs Novoland

It’s no secret I love Chinese period/fantasy dramas. After having watched amazing productions like Eternal Love, Ashes of Love, and The Untamed I have apparently become much pickier about what I watch.

I am currently watching two C-dramas, Novoland Castle in the Sky (2016) and Under the Power (2019). I started watching the former because of the actor who plays the main male character. I had just finished watching Joy of Life (I’m still mad that the second season hasn’t been released yet after that ending) and loved it. I particularly loved the way Zhang Ruoyun played the main character so when I found out that he played the main role in Novoland I was super excited. Imagine my disappointment when I quickly realized the show left much to be desired.

Novoland Castle in the Sky (series poster)

This shows fails in so many ways. The acting is terribly over-dramatic (I’m guessing these were all novice actors at the time), the settings are obviously cheaply made and poorly finished (you can actually see spots of paint where it bled over the edges), and the plot (which has so much potential) is so ridiculously repetitive I got tired of it really quickly. The only saving(ish) grace is the female main character played by Gabrielle Guan who does the best acting of the show. I might go back to it at a later date and finish watching it, but for now it’s on the backburner. Life is too short to watch mediocre stuff.

By contrast, Under the Power is one of the best C-period dramas I have watched to date. The acting is excellent, the characters (including the supporting ones) are well-rounded, beautifully crafted, and believable (even when in the middle of a kung fu fight), and the settings feel real and “finished”.

Under the Power (series poster)

Tan Songyun, who plays the main female role, is amazing. She’s a natural. Her acting does not feel like acting. She plays a likable, strong female who is not perfect but very smart. She’s a mixture of a tomboy and a girly-girly and it comes across so real and adorable. Unlike other C-drama female characters, Xi Shui, does not get constantly tricked, and however kind-hearted and generous, she does not allow herself to be stepped on. I also love that the romance between her and Lu Yi, played by the great Ren Jialun (who I was not crazy about before but am now), does not fall into some of the usual traps of C-drama (like going along with the family’s idea that they are incompatible due to class status or whatever) and they both solve their relationship problems by doing the sensible thing: talking about it.

Picture by OnDemandChina English Official Channel

There is a lot of humor from how the two main characters romance develops from a mutual dislike to admiration and respect and eventually love and also from some of the supporting cast. Xie Xiao (played by Ethan Yao) is hilarious as the clueless, immature friend who is capable but always sticking his foot in his mouth. Or Xi Shui’s brother, Yang Hue (played by Lu Hong), who is shy, loyal, and awkward, doggedly and humbly pursuing the love of his life despite her indifference.

Even the villain, the despicable Yan Shi Fan (played by Han Dong) is amazing. The contrast between his genteel ways and love for art and his immoral, unsavory desires and cruelty is played to perfection by this actor.

Yan Shi Fan (series poster)

I do hope this drama breaks another of the C-drama common traps, which is a terrible ending (either one of the main characters dies or then there is this ambiguous ending that leaves you guessing). I want all of these characters (minus the villain: kill him, please) to have their happy ever after. I’m in the last ten episodes of the series and both excited about and dreading the end. I totally recommend this drama to anyone who loves C-drama with romance, mystery, and some history.

Chain of Iron – Review

Chain of Iron by Cassandra Clare
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’m truly loving this series. The characters are amazing and the snark is back. I’m a little pissed at the end just because I will now have to wait until the next book comes out to find out what happens and truth be told I’m also a little annoyed with James for (spoiler alert) having allowed Grace to hug him at the end. Come on, James, you are smarter than that.
Can’t wait to read the next one. A quick word of praise to whoever the cover artist is. Amazingly beautiful covers in this series. Couldn’t recommend enough.

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Dating the Intern- New Release

Author: Natalina ReisTitle: Dating the InternGenre: Contemporary RomanceRelease Date: May 1, 2021Cover Designer: RMGraphXAVAILABLE NOW!Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0918RB3XBAll Links: https://books2read.com/datingtheintern Who would have thought that pretending to be in love could feel so real?Ivory Tower is the successful owner and CEO of an online dating service who prides herself in matching her clients with their true love. Everyone except herself. When a TV studio wants to spotlight her company live on air, Ivory runs into a problem: she can’t produce the boyfriend she needs so she doesn’t look like a fraud.When Li Qiang, her ten-years-younger and toe-curlingly-handsome intern, offers to pose as her boyfriend, Ivory thinks her problem has been solved, but it’s going to take more than the perfect algorithm to get out of this situation. Li Qiang is too easy to love and too hard to forget, and the question remains: Does he really love her or is he only playing his role? Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0918RB3XBAmazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0918RB3XBAmazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0918RB3XBAmazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0918RB3XB Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon | InstagramNatalina wrote her first romance at the age of thirteen. Since then she has published eleven romances that defy the boundaries of her genre. She enjoys writing all kinds of rebels and outcasts into her stories and she always roots for the underdog.

Natalina doesn’t believe you can have too many books or too much coffee. Art and dance make her happy and she is pretty sure she could survive on lobster and bananas alone. When she is not writing or stressing over lesson plans, she shares her life with her husband and two adult sons.

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Six of Crows- Book Review

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

So I have conflicting feelings about this book. I loved the writing. The characters are so well developed with all their qualities and flaws, their backstories, their secrets, their loves. The world developing is pretty amazing too and there are some great surprises along the way (which in my book is always a good thing).
There were a couple things that bothered me. The ending was one of them. I know this is a duology so I’m not going to dwell on it. I know there will be a resolution for it in the next book.
The first chapter really bugged me. I get it that the author is setting up the stage for us to understand what the drug did to the Grisha but when pretty much all of those characters disappear, never to be mentioned again, I had to question the need for that chapter. I felt cheated because I thought the young guard, Joost and the Grisha girl he liked would be the MCs and when they vanish from the story and a whole new group of characters is introduced I felt a little confused.
I also felt at times that Kaz was way too smart, too cunning, always guessing the possibility of things happening when things were really impossible to predict. His character is great–his reason for the gloves blew my mind–but it did feel a bit too unrealistic at times (and yes, I’m aware this is a fantasy).
Another thing that bugged me was the sheer number of voice actors involved in the audiobook. To hear so many different voice interpretations for one character was just weird.
But all in all it was a great read and I will be definitely reading the next book in the duology. Great escapism.

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What’s In a Setting?

I find that the setting of a story is extremely important to set the mood. In the case of Of Scales and Fire the setting goes even further. As I wrote the series I felt as if the places where the plot was progressing was more like a character than just a setting.

This book was originally titled Monking Around (a title I still love because it makes me laugh and I’m all for chuckles) because of one of the settings in the story, a real place in Sintra, Portugal called Convento dos Capuchos (Capuchin Convent). It is a very different “convent” from all the others in the country and possibly the world. A mysterious, peaceful place that is thought of as a convent when it was built and inhabited by a male religious order (the Capuchins) not nuns.

Ancient rocks and stone building. Convent of the Capuchos, Sintra, Lisbon Region, Portugal

This is a place that was built within a mountain blessed with a micro-climate that provides for an idyllic atmosphere. It was a place of meditation and simplicity and every building blends in with nature around it.

Stone stairs covered moss in Medieval cloister of the Convento dos Capuchos or Capuchin monastery in Sintra, Portugal

It was the perfect setting for many scenes in my book. In it by itself it lent mystery to the story while providing some sexy moments and even some laughs. It also provided my main character, Aiden with the optimum chance to find out something about his own nature.

Stone table at the Medieval cloister of the Convento dos Capuchos or Capuchin monastery in Sintra, Portugal

Of course, setting a story in an old, almost mystical convent also provided this author with a unique chance to add magical monks to the cast of characters. Who could ask for anything more?

**images purchased by the author from Deposit Photos**

Anatomy of a Cover

Cover by BookSmith Design

We all know the saying, “don’t judge a book by its cover,” right? The truth is that most of us do. I certainly admit to having bought books in the past because I fell in love with the cover. But I think we all can agree that a cover can and should say a lot about the book.

I am very fortunate to work with great cover artists who are amazing at taking the little information I give them and coming up with covers that truly speak to what’s inside. Of Scales & Fire is no exception. Here’s a quick rundown on the symbolism of what’s in its cover.

On the top background there are scales, but not just any scales. Merman scales. How do I know they are merfolk’s? Well, you’re just going to have to trust me on this.Our lovely and sexy couple “crowns” the cover and hints at the interracial relationship of my two main characters, Aiden and Naël.The tagline tells the potential reader that there will be lots of humor and magic creatures in the story within.The color scheme of reds and ochres point at the earthy and fiery tones of the setting, the main characters’ relationship, and the plot.The bottom part is taken by a picture of underground Roman galleries, one place where a very important and revealing part of the story takes place.

Does this look like something you’d be interested? Grab a copy now.