C.K. Robertson's Blog, page 5

Book Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses Trilogy by Sarah J Mass

Hello Readers & Friends,

I have just finished ACOWAR and am suffering from an extreme book hangover. I cried and am not ready to accept the fact that this trilogy is over and I will never be able to experience it for the first time ever again. I am fully invested. I am a Massassin. I thought that her Throne of Glass series was great but this is even better.

So, let's delve right into it. Book one, I gave 3.5 stars to. It's a nice Beauty & the Beast retelling which centres around a young mortal girl, Feyre, being forced to leave her family and live in the land of the Fae after killing one of their own whilst out hunting. Her captor, Tamlin, is High Lord of the Spring Court and essentially this is about the main bulk of the storyline. I found it a little slow for me at the start and Feyre was a little bit weak, so when I finished it I put the series down to rest and sort of forgot about it.


Then I joined Booktok, and everyone was going CRAZY about this trilogy. So I decided to pick up book two, and oh my GOD it blew my mind. The character development for Feyre is unbelievable, and the story suddenly goes from a fairytale retelling to a dark and luscious high-fantasy, filled with drama, action, betrayal and all those good things. I devoured this book, and think it's one of the best fantasies I've read potentially ever. So then I went straight onto book 3, and the ending was perfection. It was exactly what I had hoped for, all of the feels and dreams and just... it was everything.
I can't explain what it is about this trilogy that makes me so obsessed, but I think it's the deep draw I feel for the characters. They are all complex and unique to each other, as striking and relatable as the next. My personal favourites were Cassian and Azriel, but all of them brought something beautiful to the storyline - even smaller side characters.
This is a true good versus evil story, with intricate politics and war at its centre as all the faerie courts must choose whether they want to join the evil Hybern in its mission to enslave mortals, or stand with Feyre for what is good and true. The location descriptions were stunning and vivid, I felt like I could picture every street of Velaris as I read.

 I can't really rate this trilogy enough to be honest, I think the only flaw is that the first book isn't strong enough that people would be desperate to continue on with the series. But I also see that when you look at book 1 as part of a 3-book package, it's flaws were necessary. Feyre had to be kind of weak and terrified in book one to make her development all the stronger by book 3. And Tamlin and the Spring Court had to be kind of boring to make the Night Court in book 2 all the more deliciously intriguing. And the romance in book 1 had to be a little stale in order for book 2 to be... spicy, shall we say.
So yes, I won't go on for too long because I feel like I could prattle on forever. But what I will say is that I look forward to re-reading this series later in the year so I can enjoy it all over again - something I have only ever done with Harry Potter. So this is a big, BIG deal.
Love, C x

Juy Favourites: A Monthly Roundup

 Hello Readers & Friends,
We're officially closer to Christmas than not! I for one can't wait for Autumn to roll around - these London heat waves are quite enough. But anyway, this month was a very difficult month for mental-health wise. There were a couple of instances I couldn't even get myself out of bed. But I decided to make a full-blown plan for mental, spiritual and physical health which I'm now working on. Some tasks on it are little, like taking a walk every day, and some are massive, like unlearning learnt beliefs, which I'll probably need self-help books for, but I can't carry on this way. It's not fair to Steven or myself, so I am going to work my hardest to do everything I can to feel better. I'm back on my anxiety medication now as well, which I hope will help with my panic attacks which have been starting to resurface. I read a lot this month, whether it was to escape reality or not I don't know - but I read some brilliant books which I'm excited to share. 

July Book Roundup:Ten books this month! Really happy about that, I don't know why this month seemed to go in slow motion and drag - probably due to my mental health - but I feel like I just had so much time to sit and read. I particularly enjoyed Queenie and the rest of the ACOTAR series - my new all-time favourite.

Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams *****
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Mass *****
Paper Girls by Brian K Vaughan ****
Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson ***
A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J Mass *****
Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan ***
The Guest List by Lucy Foley ****
Midnight by Jacqueline Wilson **
Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge ****
The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan ***TV

Anne with an A - Netflix

Bronte recommended I try Anne with an E. It's not really my typical type of television show and I found Anne thoroughly annoying for the first two episodes, but she grows on you and once you get over her annoying, dramatic shpiels it's actually a really lovely and heartwarming show with a host of loveable characters, particularly the Cuthbert's who I have a soft spot for. I've enjoyed whittling the evenings away with this. 
Books

I could rant and rave about the ACOTAR trilogy for days - I was in such a terrible bookish hangover that I bought the special edition AND A t-shirt. I have a full review coming so I shan't bang on about it here, instead I'll talk about Queenie. Again, not something I would usually pick up to read (I don't generally opt for contemporaries) but it was incredible and I devoured it in a day. It follows Queenie, a young black woman in London navigating a bad break-up and racial micro-agressions. I just loved the characters, I found it to be so well written that I felt every heartbreak Queenie felt. It shines a light on important issues that we should all be discussing about racism in Britain today and I think that it's an important piece of modern literature for feminists and all women. A brilliant depiction of what I imagine it feels like to be a young black woman in Britain.
Misc.
Birthday

It was my birthday! I turned 28. Obviously because of lockdown we couldn't do anything big, but Steven managed to get us a reservation at a michelin star tapas restaurant where we stuffed our faces. It was delicious. And before getting my masked uber back home, we managed to pop into the Waterstones flagship which was just around the corner so I bought some new books. It was wonderful just to be in a bookshop again! The next day, for my actual birthday, we stayed in and made our own pizzas and watched Harry Potter, which to be honest is my perfect night in.



 How was your month?Love, C x 

Book Review: Battle Royale by Koushun Takami

Hello Readers & Friends,

A great review for you today! As part of my BAME book haul, I specifically searched for some Japanese authors to support alongside black authors, as I'm half-Japanese myself. Obviously, the first one to come up was Battle Royale. I watched Battle Royale when I was at school, so we're talking over a decade ago, and I couldn't really remember much other than what a rip-off the Hunger Games was! So I decided to get the book and re-investigate.

Much of the premise is identical to the Hunger Games. I couldn't believe that Suzanne Collins was able to rip it off this much and there was no lawsuit. But anyway, let me talk about the similarities:
Both books are set in a dystopian future, and features a group of children forced to fight to the death on an island. Both books have things such as 'danger zones,' lists of the fallen read out at specific times, teams overseeing the game who add in extra obstacles and make bets on the winners, and a corrupt government behind it all.

The main difference between them is that whereas HG focuses solely on Katniss Everdeen, Battle Royale looks into each and every participant of the game, dissecting their past histories and how they inform the decisions they choose to make in the game, which makes it super interesting. Another difference is that whilst in HG the players are randomly selected, in Battle Royale it is a class of schoolmates, meaning they all have pre-existing relationships and histories which make it all the more fascinating, and in my opinion, far superior to anything the Hunger Games could hope to produce.

That said, there is one character which is focussed on slightly more than the others - Shuya Nagahara, who quickly becomes a beloved favourite due to his bravery, loyalty and unwavering belief in the best throughout the story as he tries to protect his best friend's love interest, Noriko, who is injured right at the start. Shuya and Noriko are quickly befriended by the loner transfer student, Shogo Kawada, who ends up being critical to their survival. And, of course, there's the baddies: Kiriyama, leader of the boys group who turns out to be an actual psycopath (no, literally, his chapter explains he feels no emotions), and the broken, Mitsuko Souma who has a dark, dark personal life and takes to slaying all her classmates as a release.


As for the other students, they all have their own backstories and react in very different ways to the game. Some play out of overwhelming fear, distrust and paranoia. Some shy away, hiding and witnessing their friends being killed. Some try to outwit the game, searching for a way to defeat the government. I loved all the characters, though I admit I found it quite hard to follow along with who was who. We already know I struggle with names (Chain of Gold's Matthew, William, Thomas and James was too much for my brain to distinguish!) so I did really struggle climatising to the Japanese names which all are spelt very similarly. On top of this, they used their first and last names interchangeably, so while there were 42 students I felt like I had to memorise 84 names. At the start of the book there was a list with all the students names and numbers which helped, and the first chapter of the book quickly ran through most of the characters so I highlighted their names and descriptors and just kept flicking back to be sure I was on the right path. One example which I found extremely tricky was two best friends, called Yukiko and Yumiko! To me, this is like having two best friends called Sarah and Sara, and having to distinguish between them accurately. But by the end, the five main characters who I already mentioned were well-known enough that I didn't have to think about it at all.

Overall, I think this book will become one of my all-time favourites. It was super fast-paced despite being a chunky 630 pages, and I could barely put it down! Each chapter was short and sweet, and left me wanting more. The translation was great and as I said, I really fell for the main character Shuya and was really rooting for him throughout the story. I also had a soft spot for Kawada and Noriko, so it was nice to have a trio that you really hoped would win, otherwise the book may have fell flat. Obviously I gave it 5 stars!

Love, C x

June Favourites: A Monthly Roundup

 Hello Readers & Friends,
As we come into month 4 of lockdown, I've struggled a lot this month. I struggled with reading, and finding motivation to do anything at all really. I was on the very last run of my 9 week couch-to-5k programme and fell, spraining my ankle so badly that I had to get crutches and was sofa-bound for a while, which made me even more lethargic and angry. I still can't exercise and am feeling both restless and lazy all at once :( I'm hoping next month (my birthday month!) I can start exercising again and will feel more positive in general. 
June Book Roundup: So last month was my best month and I read 12 books. This month was comparatively shite, and I only managed to read five books. But Battle Royale was giant at 640 pages, so counts as two, right?!

Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick **Heir of Fire by Saraj J Mass ***** (review to come)A Forget-Me-Not Summer by Sophie Claire ***Battle Royale by Koushun Takami ***** (review to come)The Clapback by Elijah Lawal
TV

Malcolm in the Middle - Streamed
This month Steven and I have fallen for Malcolm in the Middle all over again. This was one of my favourites at school, and we've been streaming it online every night and crying with laughter. I think it's so underrated! I used to fancy Reiss so much when I was at school, I guess I was into that badboy trope even then hahaha! Steven and I have been laughing at how much we're similar to Hal and Lois now. 
Books

Battle Royale was a phenomenal read, one of the best books I've read in a while. It was pacy and page-turning and I really enjoyed it. And, I'm just gonna say it - it's so much better than Hunger Games! I wont say too much as I have a full review coming soon but I really recommend this to anyone who can handle a little gore. 
Misc.

@byckrobertson Rainbow ##shelfie

Book Review: Heir of Fire by Sarah J Mass

Hello Readers & Friends,

Today I'm reviewing the third book in the Throne of Glass series, Heir of Fire.  You can see my reviews for book 1, Throne of Glass, and book 2, Crown of Midnight, here and here. I feel like whilst my feelings for the first two books were exactly the same (first 100 pages sucked and were a bit fluffy, last 200 pages were incredible), this book really stood out and I could see Mass really develop in her writing. I gave this book 5 stars and really, really enjoyed it.

The plot wasn't overly confusing, although I did have two questions and if anybody has the answer then please let me know!
- Celeana was meant to be off on this mission to kill people for the king. At the very start of the book she was (kind of) kidnapped and taken away elsewhere, and the entire book for her is spent in this other location, training. How is it that news never reached the King that his Assassin was missing?! I kept waiting for a scene where Chaol would hear she was missing and go crazy but it just...never came!
- If magic is gone, how does Dorian have it? Perhaps this was explained somewhere but it's kind of confusing and I think I must have missed it.

So moving on from my two confusions, I felt that Celeana's character finally begun to feel really, really 3-dimensional and deep. I feel by this point that I really know her well, and I understand how she reacts to things and why. She's been through a lot and you can see it starting to rip her apart, but aren't damaged characters the most fun to read? I think so.



I really like the struggle she has as she trains and tries to grow her skills, I find it super realistic which is something that again, makes it all feel more real. Nothing is easy for her, which makes her all the more likeable as a heroine. Her character development is just phenomenal.

We meet a couple of new characters, including Rowan who I find interesting. His storyline in this book was very, very similar to Chaol's in book 1 (the reluctant trainer) but I like that she's got this close male friend with no romantic interest, as I was getting tired of all the romantic interests she was accumulating! I find Rowan a little scary, which is probably part of the attraction towards him as a character. He's unpredictable, but you spend the whole book hoping for the best from him.

Another character we've met who I am OBSESSED with and would LOVE to see a side series about is Manon, a ruthless Blackbeak witch who is struggling against being who she wants to be and who the clan want her to be. I was completely entranced by every chapter she had, they were actually my favourites in the whole book. Can't get enough of her storyline. I also found that having these side-stories made the book feel like it went really quickly, I was always wanting to tuck back in to see what was happening to who.

Overall the tone of the book felt a little more adult, much darker and exciting than the last two books.
I absolutely loved it!

In fact, it bred some new concerns for me about my own books. I'm due to do a video update on my first fantasy book, Enmity, but reading the character of Celeana who has many similarities with my main character, Maia (fire-wielding power and unwanted leadership) has made me reconsider a lot of my story. I don't want people to compare Maia with Celeana, and having such a popular and well-written character up against my own makes me nervous. I'd never want someone to read my book and think that I did a Battle Royale on Throne of Glass, so I am definitely going to relook at my own books now.
Stay tuned for that update!

Love,
C x

Writing Playlist & Sudio Headphones

Hello Readers & Friends,

Today I'm sharing a playlist I've made!
The reason for this blog post is that I was kindly contacted by Sudio and asked if I wanted to try out some of their headphones. I am strangely anti-apple, and so haven't been able to jump on the earpods trend, so I was excited to be able to test out an alternative.

I went for the TOLV model in black, because I liked the little rose gold detailing. I liked the white as well, but didn't want them to get grubby! They connected really easily with Bluetooth and I've used them so many times now without having to recharge yet - so far so good!

I get anxiety about walking around with headphones on, I know it's weird but I have to know what's happening around me at all times! So I don't walk around with them in, but I have braved up and used them on some runs and it's really been great. At first they kept popping out so I messaged the guys over at Sudio who suggested I try out one of the different size caps - your headphones come with lots of different size buds to try. I found a size that fits and now they're snug and comfortable and don't fall out for the whole run.



I've also found using them in the house useful. While Steven and I are both working from home and taking breaks at different times, it means I can listen to music or watch a TV show while he takes a call without me causing background noise, and I honestly don't even notice they're in. I also have my conch and tragus pierced in my left ear and it STILL doesn't fall out, which I really thought would happen.

Anyway, the lovely people at Sudio gave me a code: CALLIE2020 which you can use if you decide to treat yourself to a pair for 15% off. I'm tempted by the over-the-head pairs as well, as I love having big headphones. We'll see... Maybe I'll take the plunge!

So in the spirit of listening to music, I thought I'd share a relaxing acoustic playlist which I've been listening to while I read and write.




Let me know what you listen to when you're relaxing!

Love,
C x

*This is not a paid advertorial. I was kindly gifted the headphones but all opinions are my own! 

Book Review & Race Talks: The Clapback by Elijah Lawal

Hello Readers & Friends,

As a result of the BLM movement I decided to make the move to read one educational race book per month, and The Clapback is my first for June. Hopefully this means the race conversation (at least on my channels!) will be consistent and keep on happening, rather than just a blip as a result of a trend.

I gave this book four stars - I struggle reading non-fiction and this one in particular is heavy on the stats and number shares, which is obviously necessary to reinforce it's points but I found I could only read a chapter at a time before my brain was ready to burst! This is obviously personal though, if you're used to reading educational text you'll probably breeze through this.

The Clapback: Your Guide to Calling out Racist Stereotypes does exactly what it says on the tin. Each chapter focuses on a different topic and stereotype, and it dissects the origin of the stereotype, modern-day instances and explains why it's so harmful to help you combat someone you hear using it.

I will admit as a half-white woman it was uncomfortable to read some parts, but that's a good thing, as it shows how much I was learning. We're not meant to be comfortable hearing about all the things our ancestors did against black people, and when we're learning about how false and harmful things we ignorantly believed to be true are, it's normal to feel guilt at just how stupid we've been! It's all a part of the learning process, and as we learn we can better ourselves and fight better for our allies.

The last chapter notes a difference between racism and racists. You can be a part of racism without being a racist, whether it's singing along to rap songs that use slurs or falling for repeatedly-used stereotypes without questioning them, and I'm very much a guilty party when it comes to these things. It was very eye-opening for me, but rather than dwell on past mistakes it's important to look forward and use what I've learnt to speak up and out against any other prejudice that I may see happening.

Particularly when I was at university, my friendship group was made up of a lot of black people and jokes were made that I can now see were unacceptable, though we didn't realise at the time. To be clear as well, even the black people were making some of these jokes, in the same way that I joke about my 'asian eyes'. During that time at university, I dated a Caribbean boy for a few years and I always remember when we went on holiday and he laughed and told me 'black people can't swim, I'll just sink!' At the time, I hadn't heard this stereotype before, but this book explained the origin of that myth - which I don't think he even knew! It was just something he had heard and repeated - and this is exactly what the book teaches us not to do.

I think this book does a brilliant job of using humour to keep such a horrible topic light, Elijah is a funny and relatable guy and it hurts to read about some of the racism he himself has experienced.
This book covers everything, and I think it's a great jumping-off point for anybody looking to educate themselves on microaggressions and systemic racism.
The chapters are: Identity, Sport, Police, Sex, Food, Work, Targets, Drugs, Dance, Dating, Immigration, Language.

It's also very important to mention that this book is written by a British author! So while many Brits sit around and say 'it doesn't affect me, it's all happening in America,' whilst he does use American examples, most of his studies are British, and pertain to the UK in particular, so it really hits home.

I'll very quickly touch on most of these and what I took from them:

Identity hit me the hardest, as a mixed-race person myself. It really made me question who I am, why I so often make jokes about my race, and how comfortable I feel in myself. As a result of this, I bought a ton of Japanese books to learn more about my culture. It was a very philosophical chapter, I really enjoyed it a lot.

Sport discusses the stereotype that black people run faster, and can't swim. It goes into the sciences behind these two topics, and the origin of the stereotypes, as well was why they are so harmful. It explains why 'positive stereotypes' such as black people are faster, or better dancers, are also harmful when we might not think they are.

Police is a hard-hitting chapter which obviously dissects police states, police brutality and the murder of many black people as a result.

Sex looks at the stereotype that black men are well endowed, and the festishisation of black men. It also looks at negative sexual portrayals of black women.

Food explains the origin of the stereotypes that black people love fried chicken and watermelon. I think this is probably one of those stereotypes everybody perceives as harmless and uses for the basis of jokes (we've all seen the Water-melowne! Vine video), but the story behind them is actually horrible and illustrates how harmful it is when these stereotypes become normalised.

Work looks at the treatment of black people in the workplace, and institutional struggles.

Targets of course is dissecting the idea that black people are unfairly targeted and why - this overlaps with police a lot, naturally.

Drugs again overlaps with police, but it looks at why black people are associated with drugs, stereotypes to do with Rastafarians etc, and dispels them all using credible UK statistics.

Dance examines the 'positive stereotype' that black people are great at dancing. Whilst looking at this, it shares a lot of positive cultural traditions which was really nice to learn about.

Dating is all about interracial dating, why many black people feel they should not date outside of their race, and the struggles they face when in an interracial relationship.

Immigration was also super interesting for me, as both of my parents are immigrants. It looks at the stereotypes associated with being an immigrant, why these are so harmful, and why politics is working against us right now. (As if we didn't already know, *coughTrumpcough*).

Language looks at the use of the word n*gger, it's origin, and why it's not okay for white people to use it, even if we're singing along to Kanye West Goldigga. I found this chapter really was a great lead-on to the conclusion as it reinforces everything we have learnt in the book so far. This chapter is when the concept that you can take part in racism without being a racist is explained, which was uncomfortable, but necessary to hear. It's always hard to think that you have unknowingly contributed to racism in your life, but now that I've learnt so much from this book it is easier to stop this cycle and begin being better at being actively anti-racist.

Overall, I found this a great first book to start my educational journey and I can't wait to start the next one.
My next read for July will be Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge. Feel free to read it alongside me and we can discuss at the end of July!

Love,
C x


**Despite being a Hodder book, this review is 100% unbiased and I paid for this book with my own money, I did not receive it through my job and all views are my own and not affiliated with Hodder in any way.

Video: Rant Review - Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Hello Readers & Friends


Today I'm sharing a rant review video I uploaded where I discuss all the reasons I hated Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick.

I bought it after seeing it in various 'guilty pleasure' Booktube recommendation videos, and was hoping for something along the lines of The Selection series, but with angels. Unfortunately I found it to be a messy, mucky plot with an Edward Cullen-style badboy character and a dumb, 2D heroine.

I know a lot of people will disagree with me on this book, I gather it's quite a beloved YA Fantasy for many people and probably offered some solace and escapism for many teenagers when it was originally released, but between the rubbish romance, suicide jibes, and generally rubbish storyline, I just couldn't enjoy it.

Watch me go through all my annotations below!



Love,
C x

Book Review: Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare

Hello Readers & Friends,
Today I have a big of a bleh book review.I actually am super disappointed.Cassandra Clare's books make me feel a lot of emotions. There's been no question up until now that I love her twisty plotlines and amazing writing. Sometimes I love her characters, sometimes I hate them, but either way her writing has always made me feel something.
My favourite is The Mortal Instruments series, because I loved Clary and Jace. The Infernal Devices wasn't any less good, but I hated Will and Tessa, so I didn't enjoy the book as much. But I've always been aware that it was a personal disliking of the characters and their decisions that made that book a dud for me, not the writing or anything else. When I heard there was a new series coming out, I was so excited that I bought the Fairyloot collector's edition.
The book is stunning, really beautiful. But unfortunately for me, it was such a dissapointment!


The plot was okay - not as great as all her previous books which always had interesting side-plots happening. This book was centred around a single storyline, to do with mysterious demons coming and killing during daylight. The problem is that we didn't really have an emotional connection to anybody who was hurt by these demons, making it more of an intriguing mystery than an emotional must-find-out-what's-happening-to-save-our-beloved-characters adventure.
There were too many main characters, and all of them sounded exactly the same as each other. There was no distinguishing Thomas from James or any of the other boys, and there were about 200 side-characters which were difficult to keep up with. There was no steamy romance, two luke-warm romances that I personally couldn't have cared less about.
All in all, the thing that made it the most disappointing was that the book made me feel nothing. I rated it 3 stars, because I feel like I'll have completely forgotten it in 6 months and nothing of interest really happened in it!
I have a ranty vlog review video here:

What did you think? Am I on my own on this one?
Love,C x

Decolonizing Your Bookshelves

Hello Readers & Friends,

Following up from my recent post on systematic racism,  I wanted to share some of the books on my shelf that support writers from ethnic minorities. The majority of these are written by black authors, but I also wanted to pick out some east-Asian to celebrate my Japanese heritage, as on reflection I have read barely anything by a Japanese author or with Japanese representation.

So I saw a post about 'decolonizing the bookshelf' which revolves around 'actively seeking out and reading work by authors whose work has been disadvantaged by colonialism'. This was perfect for me! As I share some of my favourite fiction titles in this post, it's worth highlighting that all of these books were 5-star or 4-star reads. So some incredible talent in the below list and I really encourage you to try them out if you haven't already!

I have also been buying more non-fiction titles to educate myself on systemic racism, but most of them are temporarily out of stock so have not arrived yet - this is great news! It means so many people are out there trying to educate themselves as a result of the movement that suppliers are running out of stock! Incredible!
I don't want to read them all at once though, I want to make sure my journey of self-improvement and awareness is not rushed or as part of a trend, so I'm going to try to read one book per month so that the conversation is always being re-raised as I review my reads.

ANYWAY, without further adieu...



Books I've read:The Hate U Give by Angie ThomasAn incredible YA story set in modern-day America and inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement that follows the story of sixteen-year-old Starr, who witnesses her best friend Khalil get shot and murdered by a police officer. It follows her struggle for justice and the difficulty of standing up and speaking out when you're afraid.
“Sometimes you can do everything right and things will still go wrong. The key is to never stop doing right.”

Noughts & Crosses by Malorie BlackmanThis is super popular as it has the TV adaption now as well, but I read this for the first time when I was maybe 8 or 9. Noughts and Crosses is set in a world where race is turned on its head and you have Sephy, who is black and from a world of wealth and privelege, and Callum, a white 'nought' who has nothing. It's about how two childhood friends have to fight against society to be together.


The Belles by Dhonielle ClaytonA YA fantasy about The Belles, a group of women who have the power to control beauty, who can change anything physical and create perfection. A wonderfully diverse YA Fantasy with the price of beauty and what it means to be beautiful as key themes. I got this in a Waterstones as a 'blind book' purchase and am so glad I did!

To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny HanA happy YA about Korean-American Lara Jean, and what happens when a box of her private love letters get mailed out. The hit Netflix adaption was great, but I was disappointed by how much less her Korean culture was in the film compared to the book. I really liked reading about asian culture in this story, albeit in a very lighthearted way.


Frankly In Love by David YoonAn amazing YA contemporary romance which follows Korean-American Frank, and what happens when he falls for Joy, who is white. His family only want him to date Korean girls, and this is quite a beautiful story that looks at the complexities of Asian families clinging onto outdated traditions and culture and how it affects their younger generations growing up in America.


Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi AdeyumiA West-African inspired YA fantasy which Adeyumi wrote after being inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement. A story that follows heroine Zelie as she tries to reclaim the magic stolen from her poeple, to set the maji free from oppression. "You crushed us to build your monarchy on the backs of our blood and bone."


To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper LeeOne everyone should read once. Set in the 30s in the Deep South, the story of a black man charged with the rape of a white girl and how it all is perceived through the eyes of young Scout Finch as her father, Atticus, acts as the defendant's lawyer. A beautiful and great anti-racist story.

Books I've added to my shelf and have not yet read...
Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams'A darkly comic and bitingly subversive take on life, love, race and family'

The Clapback by Elijah Lawal'In order to have an honest and open conversation about race, we need to identify areas where things are not right.
The Clapback: Your Guide to Calling Out Racist Stereotypes examines the evolution of the negative stereotypes towards the black community and arms you with the tools to shut them down once and for all.'
Me and White Supremacy by Layla Saad'Me and White Supremacy teaches readers how to dismantle the privilege within themselves so that they can stop (often unconsciously) inflicting damage on people of colour, and in turn, help other white people do better, too.'

Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dare'Meet Adunni, a teenage girl born into a rural Nigerian village.
Aged fourteen, she is a commodity, a wife, a servant.
She is also smart, funny, curious, with a spirit and joy infectious to those around her.
And despite her situation going from bad to worse, she has a plan to escape: she will find her 'louding voice' and get her education, so that she can speak up for herself - and all the girls who came before her.'
Battle Royale by Koushun Takami'Battle Royale is a high-octane thriller about senseless youth violence, and one of Japan's bestselling - and most controversial - novels.'



What are you adding to your shelf?

Love,
C x