I'm Reni, and I love books, coffee, and yapping. Feel free to grab a beverage of your choice and stick around!
I will be posting once a month with my three highlight reads, and maybe even a book I really disliked. I may get back into posting every single review here like I used to do, but that's currently on hold.
If you want more bookish reviews, my best friend @janchei-reads is a professional bookseller and hilarious book reviewer, so it's worth stopping by her blog!
2026
My reviews are here: Reni's Reads of 2026
2025
I've managed to read 101 books in 2025, which I'm super proud of! You can find all my reviews here: Reni's Reads of 2025.
If you want a short recap of my favorite and least favorite books of the year, you can find it here: Reni's 2025 Recap
This book is about a young woman and her attempts to not get destroyed by life itself. She works at a 7/11 after quitting college, but spends her time counting calories instead of working. She's afraid of commitment and has trouble establishing friendships, until she meets a snarky fifteen year old girl who starts working at the store.
Irene Park loves romance novels—so much so she’s made a career of them as an online book reviewer with a massive following. But Irene’s real life dating story? Non-existent. So when she starts her freshman year of college, she sets her sights on finding true love using the one thing she really understands…romance book tropes.
If only it were that easy. Enter Aiden Jeon, Irene’s online book review rival and biggest nemesis. When Aiden challenges her to see who can find love-by-trope first, he becomes the one person standing in her way to getting everything she wants both professionally and personally, too.
Overall Rating: 2.5/5 🩷
Idea: 3/5
Plot:2/5
Characters: 2.5/5
Worldbuilding: 2.5/5
Narration: 2.5/5
Entertainment: 2.5/5
Full Review
This will be a shortened version of my initial review because fuck you tumblr for eating my last post. I might add the details in later when I feel like it.
So, this book was honestly worse than the 2.5 rating I gave it, but it had a good idea and a solid start, so here we are. But when it got bad, it got bad I tell ya!
Irene is an extremely unlikeable character: She's rude to everyone and always assumes the worst, she's super egocentric and just expects everything to work out for her because she struggles with being an unassuming middle child. Okay. However, my biggest beef with her is totally personal, but I felt like she could have been written as an AroAce character who comes to terms with only liking fictional romance (there was a whole section that was basically copied from my 14 year old AroAce brain. I even sent it to @janchei-reads ) but NOOOOY of course she finds a guy and everything is fine. Ugh. And Aiden is a lil' boring to be honest, but a much nicer person with genuine struggles. That isn't really a good thing though, because - this is supposed to be a rivalry, and he's the most supportive person in Irene's life lol. He never saw her as a rival to start with, so what the hell?
And the plot about "finding love through romance novel tropes" sounded funny enough (and totally like something my younger self could have come up with) but instead of the hommage to the romance genre I expected, I got a very weird collage of random date summaries they both went on - only to jump into fake dating a few pages later anyway to THEN jump into a real relationship. So like what was the point now?
Also I love me some HEA okay, but the ending was too happy even for me. It wasn't realistic at all.
So like. Meh.
This Book May Be For You If...
... you like romance as a genre, romance tropes, Korean characters, college setting
Glänzende Spiegel, definierte Körper, legere Flirts am Tresen. Die Protagonistin in Verena Keßlers knalligem Roman liebt ihren neuen Job im MEGA GYM. Es gibt keinen Leistungsdruck, keine Überstunden, dafür liebenswerte Kolleginnen und einen Chef, der stolzer Feminist ist. Alles perfekt, wäre da nicht die klitzekleine Lüge, zu der sie sich im Einstellungsgespräch hat hinreißen lassen. Sie habe kürzlich erst entbunden, hat sie behauptet, und jetzt wollen alle Babyfotos sehen und fragen ständig nach „dem Kleinen“. Doch erst, als Bodybuilderin Vick auftaucht, wird klar, dass ein erfundenes Kind nicht das einzige Geheimnis dieser verschwiegenen Erzählerin ist. Eine Geschichte über Obsession, Ehrgeiz und die selbstzerstörerische Kehrseite schöner Oberflächen.
Overall Rating: 5/5 🏋♀️
Idea: 5/5
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 5/5
Worldbuilding: 5/5
Narration: 5/5
Entertainment: 5/5
Full Review
Wow, this book was incredible! I almost didn't get it because the cover is so ugly (if you ask @janchei-reads she'll agree that an ugly cover is a valid reason to not get it) but I'm SO glad I did! Let's get into it, shall we?
EDIT: Omg y'all this book will be getting an English translation so there's literally no excuse for you to not read this!!!
Our nameless protagonist starts working at a gym because she wanted (or needed?) a fresh start in her life. The reason is gradually revealed throughout the book, and that was a really smart move by the author. We get to learn about her new life as the gym desk lady, and the people working with her. We also have to navigate the protagonist's habit of lying - for one, she invented a child to justify her unfit body and her need for the job.
A huge motive of the book is perfectionism - physically, as the protagonist starts being sucked into the fitness lifestyle, but also mentally, because we learn that she's been an overachiever and crucial figure at her old, very important job. That perfectionism lead to her initial downfall, and it looks like the cycle is about to repeat itself.
The narrative voice in the book simply floored me and I actually cried at one point because I could just relate too much lol. It was especially embarrassing because I finished it during my work break today!
This Book May Be For You If...
... you like character studies, (criticizing) the gym/fitness bubble, stories about type A people, stories about mental health
A gifted art forger, Truyan Saigas has the unique ability to paint the future. But when her father is lost at sea, not even magic can heal her family, or save her two younger sisters from the dangerous consequences of her mother's gambling debts. Then Elang, a mysterious dragon lord, offers her a deal: in exchange for a fresh start for her mother and sisters, Tru must enter a marriage contract and join him in his desolate undersea palace.
Once there, Tru will embark on her most dangerous forgery yet. To infiltrate the tyrannical Dragon King's inner circle and paint a future so treasonous, it could upend both the mortal and immortal realms . . .
Overall Rating: 3.5/5 🐉
Idea: 4/5
Plot: 3/5
Characters: 4/5
Worldbuilding: 3.5/5
Narration: 4/5
Entertainment: 3.5/5
Full Review
I'm not the biggest romantasy reader and generally dislike stories in which characters have to fake get married, because the reasons are usually pretty dumb and it doesn't make much sense. And I will say, I absolutely felt like this also applies to this book - HOWEVER, the rest of it was really good so I'll forgive the author for making that choice. Generous, am I not? Anyway, let's get into this, shall we?
The premise can be easily summarized as "Beauty and the Beast retelling with underwater dragons and art forgery", which is one hell of a premise - and it works sooo well! I was extremely happy that the FMC being an art forger wasn't just a one-off thing, but a really defining trait of hers with major plot relevance! The dragon curse was well-executed too, and I liked that both lead characters have their own goals and interests aside from each other. There were some passages that felt filler-esque, but nothing too offensive.
The characters are all pretty great, and Truyan is an amazing protagonist! She's sassy, observant, talented, brave, and very capable to solve problems on her own. Elang, the MMC, is a great foil for her. He's more quite, has a passion for reading and gardening, and keeps people at an arm's length. They are an amazing couple, and while I did find the miscommunication trope rather annoying, I really rooted for them until the very end (and the ending itself was just sooo good!).
The side characters are all really good too, especially Truyan's sisters (though I still don't understand why Tru disliked her sister Fal so much for absolutely no reason lol) and the water demon Shani, who is probably my favorite character of the book. The antagonist was a bit flat though, because his motive remained unclear, at least to me. Overall the cast is really strong though, so this book is gor character readers!
The worldbuilding wasn't too detailed, but there are some really interesting ideas regarding the underwater setting and the magic, and since it's a romantasy book, I can forgive the lack of focus on the worldbuilding.
So yeah, this book is definitely a recommendation on my part, especially for those who like romantasy with a believable couple.
This Book May Be For You If...
... you like dragons, sassy FMC, forced marriage, curses, underwater settings, Chinese mythology, strong family bonds
When Kansas sweetheart Maggie Lathrop is crowned the winner of America’s most popular dating show, her life is transformed overnight.
Suddenly, Maggie has it all: a gorgeous husband, an immaculate Los Angeles mansion, and an entourage of glamorous friends. Despite picture-perfect appearances, the world Maggie has created is shattered after she’s found murdered in a desolate warehouse. As her sister, Emma, attempts to uncover the truth about Maggie’s life, a deadlier side to Hollywood is revealed. Because being beautiful can have the ugliest consequences.
Overall Rating: 3/5 🔪
Idea: 4/5
Plot: 2/5
Characters: 3/5
Worldbuilding: 3/5
Narration: 3/5
Entertainment: 4/5
Full Review
This was an entertaining summer read with a few weaknesses, but overall a lot of entertainment value for people who like to delve into the unhinged world of reality TV shows like The Bachelor. One of my good friends is a reality TV watcher, so we read this as a buddy read. Let's get into it, shall we?
Maggie is murdered and her sister Emma is left behind, trying to solve the murder. She's aided by her best friend Jill, and Jill's boss, famous actress and producer Amanda. They make quite the unlikely detective troupe, but it works. Kind of.
We switch between those three POV as well as Maggie's POV in form of flashbacks that are mostly narrated as the reality TV episodes, which I thought was pretty neat! I do feel we could have done without Amanda's perspective though, to be honest. She had her own storyline going on, which didn't really add anything to Maggie's murder case. I get that it was supposed to be a red herring storyline, but the complete lack of importance in the end was just really annoying. I felt like my time had been wasted.
The characters themselves were rather believable: everyone had their good and bad sides, did some dumb shit, and then some smart shit, and they were all loveable enough for me to root for. Some characters were downright unlikeable without being actually evil, which was a nice touch for a thriller I think! However, their relationships often didn't make sense or had setups that went nowhere. For a good chunk of the book, it's a theme that Jill feels invisible next to Emma, and that she's losing herself in the caretaker role. It gets even commented on by another character that Emma's sister Maggie had a similar effect on people, but it was just dropped. Amanda also was weirdly obsessed with Emma for no good reason (I'd thought they'd end up as a couple tbh but no) and that, too, was dropped without a second thought. The most intriguing character was Maggie, to be honest. She's super sweet and caring, but also a huge bitch. She didn't deserve to be murdered, but what she did really wasn't okay. And I loved her the most for it!
The setting was fun and very entertaining - rich and famous people being completely unhinged and murderous is just fun to me, I don't know lol. However, I had expected the book to satirize the entire industry a bit more (like Liann Zhang did in Julie Chan is Dead) but that sadly didn't happen. Oh well, it was still a nice read! The murderer though was extremely obvious and after a while I was annoyed at their lack of intelligence.
This Book May Be For You If...
... you like reality TV, multiple POV, female friendship, family dynamics, messy characters
Über den alltäglichen Wahnsinn, eine Frau (im Internet) zu sein – highly relatable!
Botox oder »in Würde altern«, zu viele Selfies auf Instagram posten oder jeden Beauty-Trend auf TikTok mitmachen? Frauen im Internet stehen unter ständiger Beobachtung. Jedes Like kann zur Anklage werden, jeder Kommentar zum Politikum. »Wie kann sie nur?«
Sophie Passmann ist selbst Teil der widersprüchlichen Welt weiblicher Selbstdarstellung in den sozialen Medien. Radikal selbstkritisch seziert sie die Phänomene, die eine ganze Generation prägen: von der asketischen Disziplin einer Hailey Bieber über die kalkulierte Görenhaftigkeit von Charli XCX bis zur neurotischen Perfektion von Taylor Swift. Warum sind wir alle so fasziniert von Frauen, die uns etwas vormachen – und gleichzeitig hassen wir sie genau dafür? Sophie Passmann betrachtet den Zeitgeist wie niemand sonst: klug, selbstreflektiert und höchst unterhaltsam.
Overall Rating: 1.5/5 💅
Full Review
This book by a German author is apparently hailed as "analytical of women in media", dashed with "a sharp intellect and critical self-relfection" and well, spoiler, those are all fucking LIES because this book is a self-serving, pseudo-intellectual commentary on rich white women on the internet. I wish I were lying, but that's basically it.
Sophie Passmann writes about women - examples include Taylor Swift, Hailey Bieber, or Charli XCX - or trends she follows on instagram and tiktok ("clean girl, brat, girl math), and basically describes her thoughts on controversies or whatever. And, I'm really sorry, these thoughts are neither critical nor analytical nor overly self-reflective. On the contrary: Her ideas are the absolute bare bones of feminist thinking. All her "study objects" are rich, white, young women - and you'd think she'd at least take notice how she (a rich, white, young woman) pidgeonholds herself there. But no, she doesn't even do that. Intersectional feminism? Never heard of her. And her ideas in general aren't anything groundbreaking either. She writes about ironic reclaiming of words like "slut", or how the Kardashians are unjustifiably critized for being rich and bad people (yes!).
So like... I don't even know what Passmann wanted to say. I'm convinced she doesn't either.
This Book May Be For You If...
... you like social media and celebrities
... you don't mind superficial takes on feminism, no intersectionality, no critical thinking, a bit of egocentrism
Being You: A New Science of Cosciousness by Prof. Dr. Anil Seth
Finished on June 30th 2026
Genre: Nonfiction, Neuroscience
Synopsis
Being You is not as simple as it sounds. Somehow, within each of our brains, billions of neurons work to create our conscious experience. How does this happen? Why do we experience life in the first person? After over twenty years researching the brain, world-renowned neuroscientist Anil Seth puts forward a radical new theory of consciousness and self. His unique theory of what it means to 'be you' challenges our understanding of perception and reality and it turns what you thought you knew about yourself on its head.
Overall Rating: 4.5/5 🧠
Full Review
If you're big on internet memes you might recognize the name Anil Seth: He's the neuroscientist who got tasked with explaining The Dress controversy! Well, imagine him talking about The Dress, and also several other things relating to your brain, and boom, you have this book!
The primary notion of this book is to explain how, at a neurological level, humans experience the world and themselves. He proposes two main theories, aptly titled The Controlled Hallucination Theory and The Beast Machine Theory, which can be veeeeeeeery roughly explained as follows: "Your experiences, including your perception of selfhood, are made-up, or 'controlled hallucinations' based off statistical probability" and "Consciousness is nothing metaphysical; it's strictly (neuro-)biological". He does so by explaining different aspects of consciousness (conscious level, conscious content, conscious self) and drawing juxtapositions to other scientific theories.
While the material may be occasionally difficult to understand for people with no background in neuroscience or at least psychology or math, Seth explains everything in a rather casual and easy-going manner, so that you don't feel bad about yourself for maybe not understanding everything. I'd actually love to hear some of his lectures one day!
This Book May Be For You If...
... you like neuroscience, philosophy, thinking about the brain, meta-cognition, transhumanism
After an accident that leaves her with partial amnesia, Naomi tries to piece together the fragments of the last three-and-a-half years of her life. She discovers that she has a tennis-champion boyfriend but can't remember him, is co-editor of the yearbook with a quirky guy who wears a smoking jacket, her parents are divorced, and she apparently hates her mother. She has friends who simply don't seem that attractive any more and, despite having meticulously kept a diary during the now-lost years, she only wrote about what she ate every day in it! But when a girl loses three-and-a-half years, she gets a chance to reinvent herself. After all, who is to say that everything has to stay the same?
Overall Rating: 2/5 📸
Idea: 5/5
Plot: 1/5
Characters: 1/5
Worldbuilding: 2/5
Narration: 2/5
Entertainment: 2/5
Full Review
I literally just texted @janchei-reads about the book, and I just have to shamelessly quote myself here:
"You can tell she had a very clear idea what she wanted the book to be, and then she just hit herself in confusion until the book was finished lol. It was so aggravating to read, especially because the prose was super pretentious and that just doesn't land if you miss the point of your own book lol" - so... let's get into it, shall we?
I usually like amnesia storylines (yes, sue me if you will) because there is something deeply unsettling about the fact that our sense of identity is made up entirely of potentially flawed memories. That one "favorite movie" you have had since you were a child? Better not rewatch, you might hate it. Always been "the funny one" in class? Yeah, never mention that at your reunion if you want to keep that image.
Losing your memories during your formative years sounds simultaneously awesome and frightening, especially if you, like the main character Naomi, can't recognize yourself in the snippets you learn of your old life. So, the premise was great!
... and that's literally it for me.
The characters sucked so bad! Naomi used to be a bitch, and surprise, she stayed a bitch! She tries to reinvent herself by cutting her hair, ditching old clubs like tennis or yearbook in favor for theater, but nothing really changes about her. She doesn't reflect her former or new interests, she just does it with a shrug. She's also constantly lying to her poor dad and the one friend she has - but then again, Will isn't really her friend. She is basically in a love-quadruple with James (the guy who rescued her but is troubled himself), her best friend Will who is super possessive of her, and her soon-to-be-ex Ace, a tennis player. None of them are likeable, none of them have chemistry, why is this even a topic in this book??? And why does she eventually end up with one of them instead of flying solo? Ugh.
The plot just didn't go anywhere - we learn that her dad wants to get married and that just happens without much conflict in the end. Her mum's new family wants her to stay over, and she does, but they don't bond or anything. There's this thing with Naomi's photo project, and it's done within two sentences. The amnesia plotline itself is resolved around the halfway point, but even after that Naomi doesn't really change or grow or... anything.
The narration was super pretentious, as already mentioned, and wanted to be much more than what the book offered. I could visualize the author patting herself on the shoulder for being oh so smart while writing the blandest, most surface-level YA book you could possibly write.
So yeah, no, this book was not for me at all.
This Book May Be For You If...
... you like amnesia storylines, love quadruplets, family issues
... you don't mind a very slow plot, no introspection, petty drama, unlikeable main characters
Als Nick auf seinem Smartphone ein vertrautes Icon in Gestalt eines roten E entdeckt, glaubt er zuerst an einen Zufall. Aber dann wird ihm klar: Erebos hat ihn wiedergefunden …
Der sechzehnjährige Derek hingegen ist nur kurz misstrauisch, als das rote E auf seinem Handy aufleuchtet. Zu spät begreift er, dass er selbst zu einer Spielfigur geworden ist. Und es um viel mehr geht, als er sich je hätte vorstellen können …
Overall Rating: 4.5/5 🎮
Idea: 4/5
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 5/5
Worldbuilding: 5/5
Narration: 5/5
Entertainment: 4/5
Full Review
I'm generally apprehensive of continuations that release years later, because the book often feels obsolete - and at worst, it ruins the previous book entirely. So I was hesistant to pick up Erebos 2, because the predecessor is one of my all-time favorite books (see me raving about it here). I wasn't at all disappointed though and anyone who wants more of this crazy game can read it without any worry!
What I liked most about the book is that the same amount of years has passed in-universe as it has in real time between releases. Nick is now a fully grown adult and tries to manage his studies and a part-time job. That made it easy to get back into it, because it all felt very realistic. Nick, this time, isn't participating in the game willingly, which is a nice angle to take. There's also a lot of characters who come back, like Victor, Speedy, Emily, Jamie and even the antagonistic Helen! All of them have very believable paths (yay for Emily going into psychology and Jamie into law!!!) and it was just. Gah, so good. I was reuniting with old friends! (Also I was heartbroken at the Emily/Nick situation but yeah that's just life, I get it).
There are also new characters - a "next generation" of new players who play willingly. The biggest representative is Derek, a second POV character; and I think the dual POV really lends itself to the story, as Nick and Derek experience the game very differently! Overall though I wish there had been more focus on player interaction, but I understand why it didn't happen.
So, my one complaint: The ending was extremely surprising to me, but the idea was really good! However, I think it might have been a little over the top to reactivate Erebos for the means - it also felt a little out of left field to have the game's goal be something good this time, as it was acting INCREDIBLY hostile and evil. I feel like there was a bit of a disconnect, which put me off a little. However, it was still good, just not quite as good as the previous book.
So yeah, overall my expectations got met, and then some! I'm super happy with my decision to read it!
This Book May Be For You If...
... you like video games, dual POV, political conflict, family conflict
Mel ist genervt von ihrem eintönigen Alltag und ihrem Freund Max, der sich nur noch für Partys und Fußball interessiert. Kurzerhand bewirbt sie sich deshalb bei der Castingshow "Misfit Models". Mel freut sich riesig, als sie dort angenommen wird, lernt jedoch schnell die Schattenseiten des Showbiz kennen. Nichts läuft so, wie sie es sich erhofft hat. Gut, dass Kameramann-Azubi Luke da ist, der immer ein offenes Ohr für sie hat. Mit seiner humorvollen und schlagfertigen Art schleicht er sich schneller in ihr Herz, als Mel lieb ist. Aber was ist mit Max? Schließlich muss sie sich entscheiden: Ist sie bereit, sich ihren größten Ängsten zu stellen, um ihren Traum vom Modeln zu verwirklichen?
Overall Rating: 4/5 🌟
Idea: 5/5
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Worldbuilding: 3/5
Narration: 4/5
Entertainment: 4/5
Full Review
This book combines a few things I care about: Body positivity and exposing casting shows and reality TV for the toxic BS they are. And what can I say, this book does it very well! It's a book that I wish fourteen year old Reni had been able to read tbh. Let's get into it, shall we?
Protagonist Mel is fat - and I mean, actually fat. She's a German size 44 (a US 14/16) and not just "curvy in all the right places" - and she's confident and wants to be a model. She's also funny and smart and a very loyal friend. When she gets invited to participate in the casting show "Misfit Models" she wants to do it mostly to inspire other girls like her - and that desire actually shines through in her thoughts and actions, which is a very nice change of pace from most "plus size" leads I've read so far!
The casting show was described in a very authentic and engaging way - the author herself had once participated in the German version of "America's Next Topmodel", which is equally as toxic and horrible. Heidi Klum and Tyra Banks are both just skinny mean girls (except they are way too old to be acting like this!) and that experience really shines through in this book! I had wished for a little more content though - the book spans about a week and we got two photo shootings and one runway walk. It just fell a little short. So did the other participants, sadly! There were only two characters that were actually relevant: Chloé, Mel's best friend on the show (whom I lowkey expected to be exposed as an atagonist, which never happened lol) and the actual antagonist Charly who is a fatphobic bitch all around. The other participants were silent background characters which I thought was a missed opportunity.
Instead, the focus lay more on Mel's love life, which starts off with a bad relationship and ends with her getting into a good relationship with a camera guy called Luke. He was a decent character and a good love interest, I just. Really didn't care for him and the love story lol.
The ending felt realistic to me and it was overall very satisfying. I really liked this book a lot and will recommend it to any girl who struggles with body image (so like 99% of girls out there 🥲)!
This Book May Be For You If...
... you like body positivity, female friendship, casting shows like ANTM or GNTM, reality TV in general
... you don't mind the book being in German, a superfluous love story
Stella Etc. 1 - Frankie, Peaches and Me by Karen McCombie
Finished on June 21st 2026
Genre: Pre-Teen Fiction
Synopsis
Wish you were here! Stella, along with her mum, dad and mildly mad twin brothers, has just moved from buzzy London to the sleepy seaside town of Potbay. Not only has she had to leave her best mate Frankie behind but she's also kissed goodbye to Seb - only the guy she's ever liked. Still, Portbay's got its own charms; they might just take a little discovering...
Overall Rating: 3.5/5 🧚🏻♀️
Idea: 3/5
Plot: 2.5/5
Characters: 4/5
Worldbuilding: 4/5
Narration: 4/5
Entertainment: 2.5/5
Full Review
This series is one of my childhood favorites and I decided to give it a re-read since I impulse-bought them all on a fleamarket lol. And I will say, even though they are 20 years old (wtf) they hold up incredibly well and are definitely worth a read! Let's get into it, shall we?
The good part is that I already know where the series is going, so I stayed with book one even though it's considerably slower than the other novels in the series. It sets off with Stella getting used to her new home in a small seaside town called Portbay - no comparison to her former life in London! The book spans her first week there, and it's mostly her getting to know the town while also moping around like any thirteen-year old would do if they moved. There is some ongoing friendship drama between Stella and her clique - why is her best friend Frankie so avoidant and weird??? - which adds some nice drama and a clear framing (this book ends with Frankie visiting her and them engaging in a conflict)..
The biggest selling point of this book is clearly the protagonist herself, Stella. She's thirteen, she sucks at sports, she likes to draw caricatures of the people around her, and she's incredibly witty; but only in her head! Actually, she's extremely shy and also a stutterer! And when I tell you I was SO happy as a kid when I learned that about her, because I wasn't a stutterer, but selectively mute and... well, also a stutterer now that I think about it lol. That representation was mindblowing to me at the time, and it frankly still is because it's not really something that a lot of kid's books talk about.
Furthermore, the book talks about racism in small towns, anxiety (in kids and adults!) and the importance of honesty, but everything in a fun and age-appropriate way.
I'm waaaay over the recommended age bracket for these books, but I can't wait to read the rest of them lol.
This Book May Be For You If...
... you like diverse characters, friendship stories, seaside towns, fat cats
Yuki, who’s always been Deaf, is used to communicating with sign language and her phone. But she’s not used to English, so when a tourist from overseas asks for directions, she nearly panics…until a handsome stranger steps in to help. His name is Itsuomi, and it turns out he’s a friend of a friend. A charismatic globetrotter, Itsuomi speaks three languages, but he’s never had a Deaf friend. The two feel drawn to each other and plan a date on a romantic winter’s night…but Yuki’s friend is afraid that she might be setting herself up to get hurt. Could this be something real? Or will these feelings melt away with the snow?
Rating: 4/5 🤟
Idea: 4/5
Plot: 3/5
Characters: 4/5
Dialogue: 3/5
Worldbuilding: 3/5
Entertainment: 4/5
Artstyle: 4/5
Full Review
I'll never give up on my quest to become a manga girlie, so when my friend and fellow Ace booknerd Katha recommended this manga to me, I jumped on it! And I started out hating it, but Itsuomi grew on me quickly. And Yuki is my new favorite blorbo because she's cute and deaf just like me okay. So let's get into it, shall we?
The meet-cute between Yuki and Itsuomi was super cringe, Imma be honest. As a deaf person, I found him irrating as shit and super condescending - but he mellowed out quickly. He does have some weird presumptions about Deaf culture and treats it like a whole different "world", which fascinates him because he's a globetrotter. And. Hm. I kiiinda get it, but also weird, so please don't ever tell your Deaf friends something like that. The good thing is: Yuki doesn't take this shit. She's suuuper cute and a bit shy, but she is also very open about things that bother her and I really loved how she standa up for herself!
Also her friend is a good support and I liked how most "intimidating" characters like the pretty girls in college are actually very sweet and welcoming towards Yuki. The only horrible character so far is Yuki's best friend Whatshisface. He knows Sign, but just uses it to be an asshole.
The artstyle is very pretty and the story is cute enough for me to continue the manga for a while! I'd recommend you check it out if you want to read a cute romance with some very interesting insights into Deaf culture - the team behind the manga also employs a Deaf woman who proofreads the Sign Language and gives some bonus insight into Japanese Deaf Culture, so that was super interesting!
This Manga May Be For You If...
... you like cute shojo manga, romance, Deaf culture
Die Mathematikstudentin Charlie sitzt mit einem blauen Auge in der U-Bahn. Eben hat sie noch »schlechter Mensch« gegoogelt, jetzt ist sie auf dem Weg zu einem Antiaggressionstraining für Frauen. Nur wenn sie daran teilnimmt, darf sie weiter bei ihrer besten Freundin Ella wohnen. In die eigene Wohnung kann sie nicht zurück. Doch mit den »Schwerverbrecherinnen«, die sie in der Gruppe anzutreffen vermutet, will Charlie nichts zu tun haben. Ist es denn ihre Schuld, dass ihr Exfreund Valentin sie immer wieder zur Weißglut trieb? Dabei hatte es gut angefangen: Mit ihm an der Seite fühlte sie sich endlich schön, als besserer Mensch. Bis es eskalierte. Erst im Austausch mit den anderen Frauen beginnt Charlie, sich ihrer eigenen Verantwortung zu stellen, die Geschichte neu zu erzählen. Mit Ellas Unterstützung kämpft sie sich aus der Spirale von Wut, Schmerz und Scham heraus.
Overall Rating: 5/5 👿
Idea: 5/5
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 5/5
Worldbuilding: 4/5
Narration: 5/5
Entertainment: 5/5
Full Review
Yay me for reading two books today! :D
I'm glad I'm reading so many great books this year! This one is truly a highlight! It offers an underrated perspective of domestic violence - that of the woman who's a perpetrator.
Let's get into it, shall we?
First off: Charlie, the main character, fucking sucks. She's manipulative, aggressive, deeply insecure and just toxic towards everyone, even her best friend Ella. Is she a bad person? Well... not completely, but fundamentally, yes. Until she decides to change, she mentally and later physically abuses her boyfriend. Valentin isn't the "perfect victim" either though - he is distant, cheats on Charlie a few times and is bad at communicating. He didn't deserve anything Charlie put him through.
The book makes it clear that we are NOT supposed to sympathize with Charlie. The book also makes clear that abusers aren't "just" that. In her group therapy, Charlie encounters several women: Amy is charged with battery after she had retaliated against her boyfriend's repeated sexual harrassment. Natalia is depressed and overwhelmed - and deals with it by being cruel to her daughter. Irma drinks and beats her husband because she's delusional and thinks beating your husband is an act of liberating yourself from the patriarchy. Katie stalked her ex-partner and takes her notes very rigorosly (and with putting little hearts for i-dots) because she wants to be better.
Abuse has many faces and many reasons. None of them are good. None of them are justified. None of them are the victim's fault. But they are there, and they should be worked with. Seldom are abusers "just" that. They are still people, even if it's easier to dismiss that thought.
That doesn't mean we should forgive our abusers (Valentin doesn't, and he's completely right to do so). Some, like Irma, need to be locked away for their victim's safety. Yet, they are humans.
This book is a good lesson to remember, without sugarcoating anything. I loved it!
This Book May Be For You If...
... you like character driven stories, morally grey/bad main characters, complicated relationship dynamics, mental illness narratives
... you don't mind German language, the above mentioned content warning topics
When twenty-five-year-old Takako's boyfriend reveals he's marrying someone else, she reluctantly accepts her eccentric uncle Satoru's offer to live rent-free in the tiny room above his shop. Hidden in Jimbocho, Tokyo, the Morisaki Bookshop is a booklover's paradise. On a quiet corner in an old wooden building, the shop is filled with hundreds of second-hand books. It is Satoru's pride and joy, and he has devoted his life to the bookshop since his wife left him five years earlier. Hoping to nurse her broken heart in peace, Takako is surprised to encounter new worlds within the stacks of books lining the shop. And as summer fades to autumn, Satoru and Takako discover they have more in common than they first thought. The Morisaki bookshop has something to teach them both about life, love, and the healing power of books.
Overall Rating: 3/5 📚
Idea: 3/5
Plot: 2.5/5
Characters: 3/5
Worldbuilding: 2/5
Narration: 3/5
Entertainment: 3/5
Full Review
Where was the bookshop???
Listen. If you advertise a book, the advertising should be accurate. If I buy a book that's about a woman working at a bookshop, and I don't get exactly that, I'm annoyed. Good thing is that the book itself was still quite okay, or else I'd be much more pissed. Let's get into it, shall we?
The book itself is really short so I was done with it on one train ride (and then stranded without any more to read, ugh). It was a fine read, but definitely not more than that. Takako herself wasn't particularly likeable at first, and she grew a little, but she remained very... bland. So were most of the characters, except her uncle Satoru. He was the best character in the entire book, and I wish he had been the main character.
There were two main plots which were both really short. Plot A spans a year and 90 pages, and it's about Takako coming to the bookstore and opening up. Everything is rather surface level and a bit rushed, which is a bummer because there was some true potential there! Takako gets roped into playing cupid, she finds friends, she works a little at the store and finds a passion for reading... and then it gets dropped for plot B which is about Takako and her aunt bonding. Eh. The ending was nice enough, and I see why people like it! There is some emotional depth in the story, and in the narration itself, but overall it was missing the "healing power of books" thing that was heavily advertised, and the sole reason I bought this.
So overall it's a nice read for when you want to relax for an hour and need a little low stakes entertainment! It just probably wasn't for me.
This Book May Be For You If...
... you like Japanese healing fiction, short books, family dynamics
... you don't mind shallow characterization and a rushed plot
Olive O’Brien is a plus-size influencer with half a million followers and big dreams. And she’s feeling the pressure to stand out while staying true to herself. To cope, Olive finds solace in an unexpected place: the DMs of Jasper Rafferty, the world’s hottest movie star, where she feels safe to share her hopes, fears, and secrets because it’s not like he’ll read them. Until he does. Kind of.
Career-wise, Jasper’s younger brother, Jude, is in free fall. After an interview gone wrong, Jude now has the thankless job of managing his brother’s social media accounts to help reboot his own image. Olive’s messages are unexpected, and her wit and vulnerability catch his interest. How can “Jasper” not respond? And how long can Jude keep up the ruse?
As the DMs get flirtier and more personal, the bigger question is what’ll happen when Olive finds out she’s fallen for a fraud. It might not be what either of them expects.
Overall Rating: 1.5/5 💚
Idea: 3/5
Plot: 1/5
Characters: 1/5
Worldbuilding: 1/5
Narration: 1/5
Entertainment: 2/5
Full Review
I'll be honest, I mostly bought this book for the cute cover (the German edition is so cute!) and because it has a fat FMC because I'm always on the hunt for good fat representation. Also my friend @janchei-reads basically bullied me into buying this so, thank you I guess. If I didn't love you as much as I do I would hate you now. So anyway, let's get into this, shall we?
The plot attempted way too much and the pacing was simultaneously slow and overloaded at the same time. So Olive spams her deepest, most personal thoughts into the DMs of the most popular actor ever. Said actor's brother reads them, falls for her, and pretends to be his brother. At the same time, they both know and hate each other because they regularly cut each other in line at a coffee store - but both wear glasses so they are unrecognizable alright. Then Olive cyberstalks the account and finds out she's been lied to, she's mad for two seconds. They make up and out until the DMs are leaked by an "antagonist" who is completely irrelevant to the story, so??? Then Jude has to apologize for the leak to Olive even though he had nothing to do with it.
So yeah that is one big clusterfuck, made even worse by the characters being absolutely terrible. I really wanted to like Olive, but she's arrogant, rude, dismissive of her best friend Annie, and just. Ugh. I hated her. She's the type of character I would definitely fight if she were real. Her whole "I'm a plus size instagram model" went from "basically unknown" to "I inspire people to copy my style" real quickly so. Ugh. Otherwise, her being fat was irrelevant because she loves her body and is perfect in every way. Her love interest Jude is marginally better but he is a wet towel of a character. Boring, boring, boring. His whole conflict of "I love acting but I'm in my brother's shadow and hate the limelight" went nowhere lol. Why continue acting in Hollywood if you hate being in public so much??? There were some side characters but they were either unlikeable (the villain whose name I forgot, Jasper - Jude's more popular brother, Jude's assistant Dylan) or completely irrelevant (Jude's sister Cait, Olive's best friend Annie) so...yeah.
The banter between Olive and Jude was genuinely cringeworthy to me. I had to pause sometimes just to recover. There were some messages that were quite cute, but overall I didn't feel any chemistry between them to be honest.
Also, I felt like everything was over the top and exaggerated. Olive isn't a mere plus-size influencer - she's working with the best fashion photographers in the world. Jude isn't a reasonably famous actor - he's part of the most well-known legacy family of Hollywood giants. Even Annie's fiancé isn't just an IT guy - no, he hacked the Pentagon at age 15 and is an absolute genius. Again, the only normal one is Annie who works as an ER nurse. Like what the fuck is that? I'm all for wishfulfillment and suspension of disbelief, but it was waaay over the top and too much.
So yeah. Bought it for the cover, got my just deserts, I guess.
This Book May Be For You If...
... you like Hollywood drama, influencer drama, fake identity, enemies to lovers (kinda)
... you don't mind cringe dialogues and over the top characters and worldbuilding
Prince Arris knows that marriage means murder. After poorly wording a wish to a sea witch, all one needs to rule the Isle of Malys is the heart and hand in marriage of the kingdom's heir. Thus, Arris expects that the day of his marriage will be the one of his murdering. His only chance at a long life is finding true and lasting love. When Arris's parents announce a tournament of brides to compete for the throne, a slew of eligible, lovely and (possibly murderous) bachelorettes make their way to Rathe Castle. But Arris cannot tell who is here out of love for him . . . or lust for power.
Until he meets Demelza. As a veritas swan, Demelza's song wrings out the truth. Forced into hiding, Demelza strikes a deal. Arris will provide her with safekeeping in exchange for her truth-telling song to sort through his potential brides. While Arris is used to dodging death threats and Demelza is accustomed to fighting for her voice to be heard, to survive the tournament of brides requires a different kind of bravery. And perhaps the bravest thing one can do is not merely protect one's life but find the courage to chase a life worth living.
Overall Rating: 5/5 🦢
Idea: 4/5
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 5/5
Worldbuilding: 5/5
Narration: 5/5
Entertainment: 5/5
Full Review
If you're at all into fairy tales, please go and read this book! I honestly bought it purely for the cover and the pretty pink glitter edges (and because it fit my haul of very pretty fantasy-fairytale books lol), but this might be the best book I've read this year! I loved everything about it! Let's get into a bit more detail, shall we?
Okay, so the idea reads like pretty basic fairytale stuff: Demelza is a veritas swan and as such, her heart grants eternal life to the one who cuts it out of her chest. Sounds miserable, right? Even worse when your own dad is like, "ey so how about I cut out your heart? Don't worry I'll resurrect you tho? :)" yeah. Demelza goes into hiding and helps prince Arris to suss out the real one among his murderous bride-contestants. See, Arris is cursed and his potential bride gets great powers if she kills him. Also... not great. So, they are made for each other alright! True love and all that?! Well, not quite, as this book makes a lot more nuanced points about love, and what you truly need to love someone and to be loved. It's just. Gah, beautiful!
All the characters were great. Literally all of them. Demelza is a language and history buff, but she has a horrible singing voice (a rarity along veritas swans!). Her mother and sisters are all beautiful, graceful, talented veritas swans and she... takes a bit after her dad, Prava, who's a murderous wizard who wants eternal life, but also cursed himself to experience period cramps out of solidarity for his daughters lol. He's absolutely batshit insane and I love him! Arris is doomed to die, which makes him a daydreamer and eccentric. His sister Yvlle is a necromancer with a creepy eye that just floats around because it refuses to stay in its socket. Their parents are happily married, despite - or because of - the queen's frequent attempts to murder her husband (ey it's an offical part of the curse so she at least has to keep the charades up!). All the side characters are awesome and complex and none of them felt like side characters. I love how most of the contestants become genuine friends Emelda, Ursula and Tavi especially.
The worldbuilding is just SO creative, whimsical and magical! We have sentient castles, weird creatures, amazing magic systems and lore-hints that make me want to read an entire series about every realm mentioned in the book.
The writing itself is also just FABULOUS! The prose and narration, while sometimes complex, is soooo rich and beautiful. Some passages I read multiple times to understand (English is not my native language), some I read multiple times to soak up the sheer beauty. The dialogue was contrastingly witty and hilarious. The pacing was not too slow, but it also was slow enough to really immerse yourself into the story.
Yeah so. Please read this book!
This Book May Be For You If...
... you like fairytales, curses, multiple POV, fantastical worldbuilding, competitions, beautiful prose
