ale reads

ale. xxiii. she/her. hispanic. ace. books reviews, or an attempt of it. reviewing on goodreads, wix, netgalley and tumblr.

[yellowpoet]

The best advice really is to just write. Write badly - purple prose, stilted conversations, rambling descriptions. Don’t delete it, pass go, take your $200, save all your garbage in a big folder. Look at how much you’ve made - it doesn’t matter if it isn’t perfect, isn’t polished, it was practice. Every time you write you learn a little more, and find another piece of your voice.

[possum-adjacent]

“If you’re only going to write when you’re inspired, you may be a fairly decent poet, but you will never be a novelist — because you’re going to have to make your word count today, and those words aren’t going to wait for you, whether you’re inspired or not. So you have to write when you’re not “inspired.” … And the weird thing is that six months later, or a year later, you’re going to look back and you’re not going to remember which scenes you wrote when you were inspired and which scenes you wrote because they had to be written.”

- Neil Gaiman

this made me realize i was literally just using inspiration as an excuse to procrastinate

[some-stars]

me sitting here today thinking how much i don’t want to finish off the kidfic sequel bc wehhhhhhhh getting slapped in the face with this post

[jackironsides]

‘WRITE IT BADLY. Write it badly, write it badly, write it badly, write it badly. Stop what you’re doing, open a Word document, put a pencil on some paper, just get the idea out of your head. Let it be good later. Write it down now. Otherwise it will die in there.’

— Brandon Sanderson on overcoming writer’s block to create a first draft as a professional author (quoted in this tumblr post here)

‘Writing tip of the day: it is perfectly acceptable, when working on a scene that vexes you, to write “DUMBEST VERSION” along the top of the page and start from there.   As I, a human who has been writing professionally for 25 years, just did. Give yourself permission to suck.‘

— John Rogers (on his twitter here)

[americachavez]

more rich people should fight on live tv for my entertainment

[wik-likes-studying-and-books-de]

27-03-22

a guide to the pomodoro method

here's a guide to the pomodoro method for people who struggle with time management :) the full article can be found on my blog here!!!

[weltenwellen]

People my age around me planning their wedding or having children... dude I can barely structure my day

[alesreadings]

Hi, bookworms. Today, I come here with a big-ass recommendation.

Thanks a lot to Netgalley, Holiday House and Alexene Farol Follmuth aka Olivie Blake for the e-arc!!!

Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. (Yes, Bel, my mom would say something for this, lmao)

This was hell of a ride, so, let's start.

I'll try to not to spoil things, so, I'll give a general review.

Bel Maier doesn't know what she wants to do with her life once school is over. And by accident, she ends up showing a talent: engineering. So, Mrs. Voss sends her straight to the robotics club. Worst of all? All the boys ignore her. And Neelam—the other girl on the team, doesn't seem to like her either.

Teo Luna (my boy) sees potential in Bel, so he helps her out to polish her talent and to build up bots.

FYI, I don't understand a shit about physics, hydraulics or robotics for the matter (I once read a book of nuclear physics and had a really hard time trying to understand something, but it was a good thing that I had a base back then, lol), but I pretended like I did. Please, I'm a literature girl, I envy (in the good way, always in the good way) the girls and women in STEM— they're fucking baddasses and goddesses. They rule the world.

I liked the way Alexene/Olivie showed up how hard it is for girls to try to fit in a world/worklplace/study place "ruled" by men, or at least with men on them. I can totally confirm this. Let me explain. My career (literature) is plagued by girls, there's a lot of us and like 11 boys (in my classes) but teachers (mostly men, ugh) only ask for their opinions to the boys, what about us? Well, we can overreact or argue. We don't "share our opinion", we just fucking yell and fight— which I've done with many teachers because, duh! I'm not a fucking dumb and I am so fucking smart (mind you, it took me years to accept the fact that I'm smart because people told me for years that I wasn't smart, not even a bit) and I have good opinions of my own.

So, even if it's not the same study/work field, I get it. I get how frustrating is try to prove your own worth, work your way and show how worthy you are. It's tiring and exhausting.

I really liked Neelam. Once I understood her position and hear her thoughts, I loved her. At first, I was unsure why it was that she didn't like Bel, but I get it now.

The romance was cute, funny and soft. I liked Bel and Teo together and separated. They're really smart, clever, also funny, and a couple of nerds, and weirdos. And the way that Bel transformed Teo into a Swiftie? *chef kiss*

I love nerds, they're my weakness, trust me. And Teo is my new fictional boyfriend, one of my faves. Straight to the top 10 shelf.

The side characters were okay. I don't complain. Jamie and Lora were wonderful. But Dash? Dashius ma boy, love of my life. He's the fucking MVP, I love him so much and I must protect him at all cost.

I liked the complexities of Bel and Teo's families. Teo is basically the perfect guy: excellent grades, going to MIT, captain of the soccer team, a nerd, a fucking handsome nerd, funny and smart, but even he has problems that he struggles with, and many flaws, and I liked it.

I thought I was gonna prefer Gabe over Luke, but nah, Luke is way better and a good boy. He supports Bel all the way and he's funny, too.

In overall, this book was really amazing. I was hesitant once I heard Alexene was Olivie Blake, the one who wrote The Atlas Six, because I'm not liking TAS as I thought I would and I have it on my "on hold" shelf, lol. Buuuuuut, I liked this book, a lot for my own sanity. I mean, please, I have to keep a reputation of a cold-hearted bitch, and this book made me cry and throw my phone away and blush several times.

I truly loved it. I found a new comfort book and a new fave one!

[alesreadings]

4 stars.

Trigger warnings: drugs, alcohol, murder and mention of attempted rape.

There are spoilers ahead, I've warned you!

I gotta admit that this was my first Reverse Harem (that I remember, lol) and it wasn't that bad. I mean, it's not that I hate RH, but I've never read one, and I kind of loved it.

We follow Allison, a total normal girl who loves to read and fell in a rabbit hole following a dude with rabbit ears! After she falls and pops out in a weird-ass place, she finds out that she's in Underland. Holy fuck, an Alice in Wonderland retelling (perhaps my favorite at this moment, lol) and she starts to wonder what the hell is going on.

The first thing Allison sees is two naked guys, but not random naked guys. Twins. Tee and Dee. They're charming, funny and hot af! And they're a gift from the King to Allison-who's-not-Alice. Allison is supposed to go and marry the Red King and fulfill a prophecy and all that thing.

The story is good, the pacing is fast and the worldbuilding is dark and cool. I liked the descriptions of some beasts. This book has it all: multiple and hot love interests, magical and random shit, the classical characters turned into sexy dudes.

The characters were good, funny and hot. I fell for Dee, Tee, Rab, Lar, North and Chesh. But if you ask me, in between the twins, I prefer Tee, he's hot af. But my faves are Rab, North and Chesh.... Rab is just *chef kiss*

My only trouble with this book is how short it was. This book is short for no reason. And the cliffhanger was even better! If something happens to North, I will set this world on fire. Also, I had to wait until the last two chapters to have some smut, boo-ho. And it wasn't even between more than 2 characters. But, I will wait. I'm patient for this one, jsjsj.

In overall, I enjoyed this book so much, it was funny and entertained!

[alesreadings]

2.5 stars.

Well, that was... a little bit disappointing.

Saying that "After the Wedding" is a psychological thriller is a mislead. I think that is a mislead to what the book is really about. Thriller would be more appropriated for me, idk, don't mind me.

At first, it was kind of hard for me to pick up the pace: the first half of the book was hard, but then, the second half paced up quickly. I honestly thought this was more of a family drama, but it turned out to be organised crime, which was okay, but it wasn't for me. Some characters were flat, one dimensional and didn't feel like they had something to do here, but okay.

I don't actually know how to feel about Jessica. I feel empathy for her, but then, I ended up disliking her completely. The book had potential, but it didn't make my expectations.

I lost interest at some parts of the book, and I wanted to dnf too because I couldn't stand Christine and then Jessica got more unbearable than I thought.

The thriller was fine?? Well, not even fine, but again, I wouldn't tie "psychological" and "thriller" together at all.

[alesreadings]

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC in exchange of an honest review!

Watch out for some spoilers. I always warn because it seems like I can't write a review without spoilers, lmao.

A house swap gone wrong. That's the premise and the main attraction.

Beth and Niall Kildare, along with their two children, don't have a lot of time to go to vacations since Niall is always busy at his work, he's a fantasy novel writer and someone very recognized, and Beth has to stay at home and take care of the kids. One day, Niall says he has found the perfect place to go in vacations: do a house swap with some strangers in Italy. At first, Beth is not sure if it's a good idea until Niall convinces her to do it. In Italy, the Mason family, Amber, Renzo and their two children, are also thrilled with the idea of going to England for a family vacation.

Since moment one, the house swap goes wrong.

Niall is someone I couldn't stand since chapter one, when we first met him. He's always saying how he's the one who works a lot and never has time to relax and spend a few hours with his family (mostly because he's in his office, writing). But then, things get worst with him and ugh, I wanna fucking punch him. He gaslights Beth for everything and anything. He treats her like she's crazy and like she doesn't care for him. Niall: shut the fuck up. And then, he "tries to relax with his family", but oh, there's more: he isolates himself and when Beth confronts him for something, he tells her she's crazy.

The pacing was fast once you pick up after 10 chapters perhaps. I felt pity for Beth, because she deserved someone better, who didn't take her for granted, someone who really appreciate her and didn't gaslight her the way Niall did.

I didn't like Amber, at all. She's a damn psycho and was playing with Beth for something she didn't do. The guilty one was Niall. I mean, the real victim here is Beth, because she was the one believing her marriage could be saved, yada, yada, yada. And then, she realizes that Niall has been unfaithful to her.

I honestly thought that the murder was gonna happen around the 50% of the book, not at the 80%, because I was expecting the entire book for Niall to die.

Overall was fine. I can't say I totally hated it, but I didn't love it either. The end tho, was pretty amazing and something we all deserved. Amber, however and as I said, is a psycho and I don't know if there will be a second book for what she said, so...

[alesreadings]

It took me a while, friends, it took me really a while. On my goodreads updates, you can see that I first started King of Scars on March 31st, 2021. A year ago. However, I had a hard time trying to connect with Nina again.

Warning, my review has spoilers!

I've always loved Leigh's writing and her way to tell a story. I'm a goddamn sucker for Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom and I must admit that Shadow and Bone wasn't her best job, but Nikolai saved the trilogy tbh. I was really excited to start King of Scars because Nikolai is my favorite boy ever.

Yes, this might be a review of me drooling over Nikolai Lantsov, and I'll fight anyone for him.

This book follows Nikolai, Zoya and Nina after Ruin and Rising and Crooked Kingdom, 3 years after the War in Ravka. I honestly thought this book was gonna be more focussed on Nikolai, well... I'm your local clown. Don't get me wrong, I still love it, but the more I think of this book, the more I find flaws on it.

The main reason why it took me a while it's because of Nina. She's one of my favorite female characters but what Leigh did to her here... I just can't. What the fuck was this? I mean, I was excited to see her grief process and everything and I cried so so so fucking much when she let go Matthias because it hurt me so bad in Crooked Kingdom. Leigh, I will never forgive you for this. But the moment Hanne stepped in, everything went to trash. I like Hanne, but since the first moment I knew who she was and who're gonna be endgame. It pissed me off because I felt that Nina's grief was gone in 0.1 seconds. Idk if she stills thinking and grieving Matthias, I skipped her chapters and I'm not ashamed of it. If it hadn't been for that, I would have put this book again in my "on hold" shelf or dnf'd.

Nikolai is the king of my heart (iykyk) and my everything. He's the main reason why I stopped liking the same dark haired and badboy dudes. I mean, they're okay, but a blond king, a charming and funny boy who's arrogant but sweet and romantic and a fucking gentleman who fight with his own demons? That's hot af and what drew me to him.

I was really really really in love with the Darkling when I first read Shadow and Bone (and Ben Barnes feeded my obsession, lol) and then I ended up ditching him when I met the handsome Nikolai Lantsov. Holy fuck, I fell for Nikolai really hard and at this day, my standards are really high just because of him.

Zoya's development was great. I was expecting to see and know more about her for a while, and knowing more of her background and past helped me out to understand her more and to reassure her 1st position of my favorite female characters, along with Jude Duarte. Her friendship with Juris was okay, but a bit short and rushed if you ask me.

Now, talking about Juris... What the fuck, Leigh? That's what I was asking myself constantly while reading this book. I get that you need a plot and everything, but bring back the saints? What was the purpose? Bring back the Darkling? As I said, I was in love with the Darkling a while ago and I also felt betrayed, lol, but please, let him rest, the dude was okay burning on that pire with that whole dramatic thing of Alina saying his name.

But the most important thing is... Are you fucking telling me that Alina stabbed him with a butter knife and they had this dramatic-ass last scene for nothing? That Nikolai had a fucking demon inside him just like a vessel for the Darkling? Ugh, no, this makes and doesn't make sense at the same time. Look, once more, don't get me wrong, I like Leigh's books, but I don't understand this (perhaps I will get it on Rule of Wolves, idk).

Juris and Gregory were okay. Juris was very cool and he was good with Zoya. Gregory and his little bear with wheels made me cry when he died, haha. But Elizaveta? I should have known that the Darkling was still very popular, even after his dead... Sigh.

Also, where the hell Isaak came from? It was really random and unexpected, and he fucking died. JAJAJKSJDHJDFH I was laughing so hard because it didn't make any sense.

I didn't care a lot about Genya, Tolya, Tamar and David... they were just there. Does it make sense? I don't actually know. But it says a lot about me feeling weird toward this book.

Unfortunately, I won't pick up Rule of Wolves anytime soon because I have tons of books that I'm currently reading haha, but I definitely will in a future.

See ya nextime, bookworms!

[alesreadings]

4.75 out of 5 stars.

As a little reminder to you, if you haven't read this book and don't want any spoilers, please, don't read further. I may drop a couple spoilers and I might not be aware of it.

Holy shit. This was a hell of a ride.

I don't even know how to begin to describe the way I feel towards this book. I just read the synopsis and said "why not? it looks interesting", it captivated me since the first moment. I practically devoured this book.

Liv Stay is a single mom of three girls who just moved to Lón Haven, a little Scottish island, to do the job of painting a mural inside of a Lighthouse, the Longing. She needs the money, she's struggling with being a single mom who has lost her husband and is running away from something.

The atmosphere is dark, gloomy and eery. At first, The Longing looks like a normal and abandoned place left to its own, but there are more deep things going on there. I really liked the dark vibes and how the MCs described it all.

The characters were okay and I don't complain much about them. They were complex and had their own story very well written. I do complain about Rowan, Brodie and Bram tho.

The story is split in various times. Yes, times. We start with Liv in 1998, then with Sapphire in the same year and then we have Luna in 2021. At first, it seems like a mix of the years and the things that are happening, but then we move to the year of 1662 and you begin to understand that the story it's not just about Liv, her struggles and her daughters. It's also about Patrick and Amy. And it's also about women who were tortured and burned and killed by people who thought they were witches, who casted dark spells to curse people and kill them, or to bring the "wildlings" and make bad things happen to the folks of the island.

Liv doesn't believe in those fairy tales of "wildlings" being fae disguised as children with the purpose to wipe out the bloodlines of their families. But as weird shit starts to happen, and mostly when her two daughters go missing, Live starts to wonder if perhaps those tales are true after all. Isla tells her that the only way to prevent that her entire bloodline is wipped out, and her daughters come back safe and sound, Liv has to kill the wildling.

In 2021, Luna, Liv's middle daughter, is a grown up woman, who has made her life —of course, with some traumas and aftermath of her thinking that her mother abandoned her in the woods—, and who also looked for her mother and sisters for so many years, with no real clue of what happened to them. One day, receives a call. They tell her that they found her little sister, Clover. When Luna goes to the hospital where they have Clover, she finds out that her sister did not grow up. Clover is still seven years old. Luna has some blank spaces in her memory of what really happened in the island.

It's here where the story turns interesting —at least, it did for me— and we discover all the layers of the story itself. There's more buried in here than we think. I did have a hard time at the beginning trying to differentiate the mcs perspectives because sometimes it was mixed. Gladly, I made my way through it and I didn't have much more problems, l

After a while, we understand that it was not any wildlings, but something with the Longing and like a portal... It was like the tv show, Dark featuring witches and eery vibes. We learn how a rational and logic-minded person can lost their shit when weird or emotional things happen, how that thin line between reality and tales can be crossed in one single step.

I liked Liv and her daughters' story. It was an emotional journey and I shed some tears towards the end of the book —on the last 3 chapters. You can feel her struggles with her illness, raising 3 kids on her own —one of them being a rebel teenager— and trying to protect her family. I liked Saffy, Luna and Clover as well. I felt bad for Saffy after Brodie played with her and tricked her to give him her v-card. Ugh, fucking and disgusting men. Luna grow up as a broken kid, haunted by the ghost of her past and what happened with her mother and sisters and how she tried so bad to get her family again. I wanted to protect Clover at all cost.

Patrick was okay and wasn't at the same time. My guessing is that he did those awful things because Amy put a spell on him, idk. He was in love, he saw his mother being burned and could not do anything to stop it. He traveled through time just to get back to Amy, as he always knew he would.

In overall, this book was fast paced, had really good eery/paranormal/terror elements that transported me to Lon Haven with Liv and her daughters, and with Patrick and Amy, and made me feel very very very sorry for all those women who were hunted and killed for being "witches". It's a story about family, love and folklore and myth that is very well written.

Definitely a comfort book and one of my favorites!

[sagihairius]

you ever hear a new song and immediately go “oooh the fake scenarios in my head are gonna love this”

[traumasurvivors]

It’s okay to heal at your own pace. This is your healing journey, no one else’s. 

[amargedom]

“You have to have a dream so you can get up in the morning.”

—

[alesreadings]

Caraval by Stephanie Garber.

3.5 stars. “Every person has the power to change their fate if they are brave enough to fight for what they desire more than anything.”

my spotify playlist ; my pinterest board and my we heart it collection Well, well, well... Look who it is. Yes, me, your favorite clown. Once more, if you haven't read the book and don't want spoilers, please don't read further. There can be minor or major, so, be careful! I take back something: this book had not been on my shelf for 2 years, bUT FOR 4 YEARS. My dear friend Dai is reading this review, so, hi Dai! I gotta admit that this book had its entertaining parts, and some of them that were weird. Said that, let's start. Plot: Scarlett and Tella live with their abusive father (holy shit, I hate this guy). Scarlett will get married to a count, someone who she doesn't know, hasn't seen in person and who only communicates with her through letters. Scarlett thinks that this marriage will save her and Tella from their father, but suddenly, Legend, the master from Caraval, responds to one of the many many letters that Scarlett wrote to him throughout the years. Legend is inviting her to Caraval. The idea is pretty good, but Scarlett knows what will happen to them if they run away. Tella is conviced she will run and so, she plans to scape with Julian, the sailor with whom she was "kissing". But things get complicated and when Scarlett and Julian arrive in the island of Caraval, Tella is missing. Scarlett, as the good sister she is, starts to looking for her little sister. I don't mind this. The premise and the synopsis was really interesting. But I was waiting to see more magic. I mean, the elements were good and there was some magic, but I felt like me and Scarlett were high as fuck running over random places with some random and suspicious dude. The thing with the clues was very off to me. The fact that Scarlett found all the clues was easy. I mean, no matter where she went, the clue was there. She got them all so easy. And why the other participants didn't get any of them? I know that years' show was especially made for Scarlett, but, really? Many "plots" were predictable. Like, Julian working for Legend and being his brother. Also, when Julian "died", I was like "yeah, I saw that coming". I do, however, liked the vibes and the aesthetic, it was magical. I liked some descriptions. Some names too! There were many places' and people's names in Spanish that was so exciting! The map of my copy was in Spanish and I was like "uhm, there's something wrong with this?" but no, Isla de los Sueños, Castillo Maldito, and many more in Spanish were correct and :') I was screaming for it, jsjsjs. Romance: Uh, your local clown isn't a big fan of insta love. Yes, it felt like it happened a lot of days, but actually they were like 5 and in one of them, they were dead as fuck. Scarlett says to Tella that she can't fall in love with someone who just met... Uhm, Crimson, hun, same with you. *sips tea in the corner* Characters: *sigh* Scarlett was annoying. She's naive (yes, I know because she's been living all her life in a little island, isolated and under the domain of her father. I was reminded of it enough times) and not always just in the normal way. I wanted to kick her several times. Please, dear Crimson, make one lonely decision for your own, is it too much to ask? However, she was brave enough to attempt to jump from a balcony for her sister. She also loves Tella so much and you can see it, her devotion and love. Scarlett is determined to marry someone (even if she might not be happy) to save Tella. The little thing of Scar seeing emotions as colors was confusing for the descriptions. Julian... Well, I can't say a lot of him because I don't know him very well. He lied, several times, but was willing to die in order to help Scarlett. *sigh* Oh, teenage love. His story or plot twists were kind of predictable? When he said his family was related, I got it, everything. He's interesting tho and I wanna know more about him. Tella I actually don't know a lot of her. She's reckless and I like her more than Scarlett, but we just know things as "Tella would make this decision", "Tella would do this", "this is the kind of thing

Tella would like", but we don't get to see her. Yes, I know she was kidnapped and that's why she wasn't there, but like barely in everything Also, the "party" that Legend threw at the end, it didn't feel like a party at all. Like, Scarlett didn't described much more than Angelique talking with Julian and then he explaining everything and them kissing. Look, you see me ranting over little things that I didn't like about Caraval. But I did like many other things. The writting wasn't that bad, the names were cool and, once more, the vibes and aesthetic. Despite of rating Caraval 3.5 stars, I will continue the series because the atmosphere is wonderful, and the prologue left me with questions too. aLSO, I NEED TO MEET THE FAMOUS JACKS AND FALL IN LOVE WITH ANOTHER BLOND ARROGANT AND CHARISMATIC DUDE. Overall: It wasn't bad, tbh. I hadn't many high expectations because lately, many good books end up crushing my hopes and the hype for some books is a fucking lie. Even books break my heart in the most awful way *dramatic air* Anyhow, tHE FUCKING VIBES. I NEED A FUCKING CIRCUS. I have a new guilty pleasure, jsjsjs. Don't mind the "my embarrasing guilty pleasure" shelf. Just guilty pleasure, lol.

[alesreadings]

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard.

1.5 stars.

“The truth is what I make it. I could set this world on fire and call it rain.”

here's my playlist for the book/series. Hi, friends! Welcome to Walmart's section of books: typical YA books! My name is Ale and I'm glad to help you around to find what you want. If you follow me around, I can show you our big collection fo YA books. I'm warning you, it has spoilers, you've been warned! What are you looking for? Oh, a dystopian setting with a rebellion? Perfect! We have some of them. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins; Divergent by Veronica Roth, Red Rising by Pierce Brown... What? A dystopian setting with a rebellion and a speshul girl? Ok, so, let's take Red Rising off the list. Ohhh? A dystopian setting with a rebellion and a speshul girl who has habilities? The Hunger Games is perfect for you then? No? The speshul girl has to have superpowers? In that case then, let me present you Sprinkles Red Queen by Victoria Averyard. Do you want a summary? Fine, then. Mare Barrow, our dear horse and sprinkles girl, lives in a dystopian world divided by Silvers and Reds, the first ones have superpowers and the other ones are basically slaves. Mare belongs to the Red ones. She's speshul, but she doesn't know it until she's hired to work in the castle, for the king. Then she falls into an electrical dome, in front of a lot of nobles and rich people, and she's electrocuted like a mosquito in an electrical trap, but Mare doesn't die. She discovers that she can manipulate electricity. Our dearest king Tiberias spares her life and turns Mare into a lost princess, just to controle her and avoid questions of why a Red has superpowers that only Silvers can have. So, the king and queen bethrod Mare and Maven, the charming prince, to unite their houses. In any case, Mare hates the Silvers, because of how much pain they've inflicted to the Reds for decades and she's decided to play their little game just to save her family and her best friend Gale Kilorn (do you see how it sounds like Kylo Ren? Anyone? Just me? Oh well). The guy who saved her and gave her the job that led Mare to become a princess, Cal, is secretly in love with her... But he's her enemy and he doesn't know it. Mare joins to the rebels when she finds out that her big brother, Shade, has been killed in the army. Do you want more explanations? Oh, do you want to know about the plot and tropes? Okay, here we go. The idea was pretty good, if I may say, but it was poorly executed. We have Katniss Mare going to the Capitol king's summer palace just to pretend to be like them and hide her red blood and marry Maven. Oh, the sweet and understanding Maven. We also have girl-on-girl-hate, the speshul girl with unique powers, the "I'm not like the others" type of girl, the typical "dark haired psycho and moral grey interest love", a love triangle/square that I don't know where the hell it came up, the typical mean blonde girl and her squad of mean bitches too. What about the characters? Mare. She doesn't have much braincells and is self-unconscious to what happens around her... Like what really happens because she's to busy trying to become a lady, trying to spend time with her fiancée, the charming and handsome prince Maven Calore. Mare makes questionable decisions and then regrets because she can't handle a shit. She's contradictory Mare signs up for the rebels and then she's regretting about her decision. Why? The attempt of moral dilemma is poor. I mean, hun, if you signed up for this, you gotta think about the consequences. Mare's so eager to avenge Shade that she says "yes" to the attacks without a doubt, but when the moment's here, she's doubting and regretting, but there's no turn back. Let me show you some examples. "Blood will spill tonight." And then, a moments later: "If all goes to plan, he'll never hug his sister again. Evangeline will have lost a brother, just like me. Even though I know that pain firsthand, I can't bring myself to feel sorry for her. Especially not with the way she holds on to Cal." "Children." The words rip out of me. "He's a father". Our dear Mare is constantly saying that she's no one's fool, that she was the one

lying and cheating and betraying everyone... but, dear Sprinkles, you didn't see that coming? (iykyk) You were just another pawn, and Julian warned you about it, but you just didn't listen. You never listen or pay attention. She's not very smart and you can see it clearly. I guess there's a reason why's she's named after a horse, right? She's very flat and has no development. And before you say she has, she doesn't. Join to a rebellion just for grief is not development, no when you're not doing things right and you're constantly blaming yourself for everything, when you in first place agreed to it. Cal. The prince who rescued Mare of her miserable life, offered her a job and condemned himself as well. Unpopular opinion: I like Cal more than Maven. I like more the charming and good prince, the kind one who has a bright smile, than the bad guy. I guess I learned my lesson with the Darkling JAJAJAJKSHD #sad. However, he's not the big deal either. He's flat and has zero development, as Mare and Maven. Cal can't make a decision for himself, which makes me believe that Aveyard didn't planned that very well. ALSO, I PICTURED HIM BLOND THE ENTIRE TIME, even he's dark haired. I was like "oh, I forgot he's not blond" and it was very disappointing. Maven. You know? I imagined him as a 15 y/o boy instead of 17, since Mare described him the very first time. To me, he's just a little boy. Unpopular opinion: I don't like Maven. I think in reality HE'S THE WHINY BOY, not Cal. Maven has daddy issues and is momma's boy. Look, I understand the fact that Maven is jealous of Cal for having everything he doesn't, but oh dear gods, can you just shut the fuck up? You're annoying, little boy. Another unpopular opinion, but I wanna protect Cal. The way he's at the end made me feel bad for him. He lost everything for a girl who tried to rob him and betrayed him, and oh!, played with him. #F for Cal. Maven's betrayal was and wasn't obvious and lemme tell you why. It was because Mare is stupid as fuck and doesn't see shit and it was obvious the way Maven got close to her and Elara stop bothering her, duh. And it wasn't because he's flat too. He hasn't so much depth beyond his jealousy and resentment towards Cal *roll eyes* I do believe however, that he kind of felt something for Sparkles, but his mother cut if off quickly. I don't ship Maven x Mare... They don't have that spark, well, neither Cal x Mare or even Mare x Kilorn (the fuck??). Maven being the villain.... It doesn't click for me. I mean, I can't picture a 15 y/o little boy (i know he's 17 pls) playing to be a king. It's funny tho. I would be a better villain to this series than Maven or Elara. Ugh, just please. I liked Evangeline, tho. Despite the girl-on-girl-hate and the "I'm better than you 'cause I'm queen bee". She's interesting and I wanted to know more about her. The names? You have Kylo Ren, Gisa? Shade? Tiberias? Ptolomeus or whatever? A mix of weird ass and common names (also, Calore without the "e" is Calor = Heat, which has kind of sense. Follow me for more free Spanish lessons) and then, you have Mare Molly Barrow. I don't get the Bone Marrow joke, but, Mare? Horse? Really, Victoria? Do you want me to talk to you aboy the hype? I didn't know if this belongs in my "big hype, big lie" shelf or not, because the reviews are mixed: people loved it or hated it. But it goes there anyways. Also, I had to rename my "10 years late" shelf to "I'm too old for this shit" because age is really hitting me and this book is too YA. You know why's the half star for this book? Because of the aesthetic. That wasn't bad and also it was fast paced to me, even tho I laughed so bad at these characters and wanted to punch everyone here. However, I'm not gonna continue the series because this was a disappointment, even if I knew it before start it. That was all, my dear friends. If you wanna buy the book, please go to the cashier to take it. If you don't, we don't blame you. See you next time!

[alesreadings]

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.

I gotta admit that I first watched the movies before read the book... I thank my brother because he one day said to me "Let's to to the movie theater. I gotta show you something", and that was it. I fell in love with The Hobbit movie. I remember a 13 y/o Ale being amazed of what she saw in the theater and totally invested with the story, the characters, the plot, etc. (Also I remember myself saying that I want to write something big and worth to hit the big or small screen, and I still hold to that, even if I know it's not entirely possible.) So, my brother is guilty of throwing me into this world. And I love it. Tho I wish I had read the book first. I had the chance these days and I loved it. I know it's a children story, that the good and exciting things are in LoTR, and I can't wait to read it, but The Hobbit it's now one of my favorites and a comfort read! Don't have much to say about it, just that I really loved it and cRIED LIKE A BITCH BECAUSE I LOST FILI AND KILI IN THE MOVIE AND HERE TOO. TOLKIEN LOVES TO PLAY WITH ME, RIGHT? I loved Bilbo's journey and now I expect that kind of journey when I turn 50, lmaoooo. In some way, Tolkien taught me that I can accomplish my dreams of becoming a writer.

[alesreadings]

The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling.

my spotify playlist; my pinterest board My review has some spoilers ahead, so watch out! Well, well, well, I enjoyed this way more than I thought. And I liked that. I didn't have high expectations because many books have let me down in the past because of the hype... It seems like I'm learning, lol. I was very reluctant with this book, as I said because of the hype. Buuuuut, clearly I made a good decision I've made this far. If I had read it before, when the hype was at its peak, I would've rated it with 5 stars or so. 4 starts is good for me tho. The vibes in this book are pretty good; that's something that I really loved. Like Sabrina ft Hocus Pocus ft Halloweentown, but they fuck, lmao. The cherry on top for me was Mr. Purrcival speaking. I fucking love cats. Even more black cats. I'm the owner of two black cats, so, the love is strong, lmao. The characters were good. They weren't as flat as I thought they'd be. Don't get me wrong, I loved them, but as I said, I didn't have high hopes, lol. But, anyways, some characters were lovable and I also wanted to kick some of them (Simon, Amanda and fucking Gryffud, I'm talking with y'all). They didn't have the greaaaaat development, but it was okay to spend the time. (I just had a tiny hard time with the names, very acotar vibes, so yikes, but the rest was okay) aLSO, AUNT ELAIN IS MY FUCKING QUEEN WITH STEVIE NICKS LOOK AND VIBESSSS. But, I wished I had known more of Rhys' bethrodal or whatever it was. Why his father wanted to force him to that? Why Simon (Rhys' father) never mentioned it again? Who was that girl who Rhys was supposed to marry with? I kinda wanted to know that, but well. The romance was also okay. For moments it looked like insta love, but then I remembered that they dated like for 3 months. And then they spent 9 years separated. The less I think of the insta love of 2 days, the better for my sanity, believe me. The smut was good? Magic sex, that's a better term for it. It was also cool, intimate and sweet. Vivi, if I met someone like Rhys, I wouldn't let him go off bed, too. It was funny. I was actually laughing at Rhys' stupidity and his weird comments that he made when things were bad, lmao. Vivi, I'm jealous and happy for you. You're the most badass witch and have this sarcastic and charming asshole. Girl, I envy you because this is the thing I will never have. Sooooo, overall. It was a funny and cozy read. I actually felt the witchy Sabrina-Halloweentown-Hocus-Pocus vibes and I really really liked it, even more than I thought. Definitely a comfort reading! Ignore the "my embarrasing" in the my guilty pleasures; that embarrasing is for Crave, lmao.