#emojiathon

[becauseliteraturethatswhy]

My TBR pile for the June #Emojiathon Twitter Reading Challenge! (Link to the list of prompts here)

 😒 - A book I'm annoyed I haven't read yet: King Lear 

 🍬 - Guilty Pleasure Read: Attack on Titan No Regrets Vol. 1 

 😱 - Thriller/Horror: The Devil in the White City 

 🎁 - A Gifted book: The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England (I really need to finish this one up!!)

Who else is planning on participating in this reading challenge? :)

[sparkyyoungupstart]

#emojiathon begins…in like 2.5 hours when I have a break 👌 I was busy today and honestly it took a bit for me to realize it was June because, unlike may, tumblr doesn’t have an appropriate meme to herald it’s arrival. Anyway! #TheDiviners! Buddy Read! 👯‍♂️! Yay!

[bookworm221]

To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

[winterroseposts]

Trigger warnings: violence,mentions of s*xu*l ass*ult

Emojiathon pick - a book you're annoyed you haven't read 😒

I tried to get through this 3 times in the last 3 years and never managed till now.

Lost voices #3

Mermaids are being hunted by the government while Luce is trying to warn all the mermaids she meets. Eventually, she meets the Twice Lost. Mermaids lost when trauma transformed them from human girls into mermaids and again when they were cast out of their tribes.

SPOILERS

There's a good idea, but the execution is poor. Luce finally leading the mermaids as a general,not a queen is interesting character growth. I really liked that she went out to join the first mermaids rather than follow Dorisns' plan and turn back into a human.

There's a lot of troubling implications in this book. Mermaids are human girls transformed by trauma. They've been sinking ships for centuries. The army is ma**acring mermaids. Dead mermaids turn back into humans. So noone is even slightly bothered by the fact that they're m**dering children?

Dorian, Luces' ex who tells Luce because her problems aren't real. Her dad's missing, and she was ab*sed by her uncle. What about that screams fake problems? He then lies to the human girl he starts dating and the only reason he starts protesting the mermaids' treatment is to get Luces' attention. As soon as the Twice Lost win he's busy planning out Luces' life for her.

Then there's Catarina, who turns back into a human against her will. She's been through terrible things and has only spent 16 years as a human. The rest of her life was as a mermaid. Her ending is falling in love with her therapist.

2.5 Stars

[winterroseposts]

Emojiathon pick: book about music 🎶

Trigger warnings: torture, s*xual a**ault

Aidan McAllister is cousin to a king and a once-in-a-generation musician. From the Kings' palace to the camps of the dragon legions to the poorest villages, Aidan travels the length and breadth of the kingdom.

Until at 21, he's imprisoned in his own kingdoms' dungeons with no explanation for 17 years. When he's suddenly released he only wants to know what he was accused of and who sent him to be tortured in the dark.

SPOILERS

While this isn't a fast paced book, it's an interesting world and a character driver story.

Aidan differs from the usual fantasy protagonist being a bard rather than a knight or wizard. The book does a good job of showing how his imprisonment affected him.

While most of the book is from Aidans' POV, other characters have a few chapters. The secondary protagonist is Lara. A young woman from the Ridemark clan. Determined to prove that women can ride dragons despite clan law, she steals a dragon and ends up being attacked by him.

Lara is where the book falls short. She's a complicated character filled with guilt and self-loathing. Her interactions with Aidan involve her almost constantly belittling him. Even after seeing the proof of his suffering with her own eyes. It makes it very hard to root for them as a couple.

The very short romantic section is a little tropey and doesn't fit in smoothly with the rest of the book. Despite this, it was an enjoyable read. And it makes a nice change to find a stand-alone fantasy.

4.5 Stars

[winterroseposts]

Next pick for Emojiathon!

Book published in 2016/17

Book 2 of the Tale of Shikanoko

Shikanoko wanders the Darkwood, lost. The Kakizuki false emperor rules the eight islands, and the Autumn princess takes the true emperor into exile.

Trigger warnings: violence, death, grooming, s****l ass*ult

SPOILERS

The story is fast-moving with interesting characters.

The downside is a lot of sexism and victim blaming. Shikanoko a**aults Aki who's told him she's going to be a shrine maiden. And she blames herself for being attracted to him. Aki dies at the end of the book and, of course, forgives Shikanoko before she does.

Taakaakira, a Kakizuki warrior, keeps the orphan preteen daughter of a rival warrior hidden away. He has her trained to become the perfect woman so he can marry her later.🤮 Can we say grooming? Even the turncoat spy calls him out on it.

Even the girl - Hina's - teacher's greatest regret is having "no man's love." Really great progress in the year 2016 🙄

2 Stars

[winterroseposts]

Emojiathon - A book set outside your country ✈️

Nombeko Mayeki is born in South Africa during apartheid. She teaches herself mathematics and - with the help of her trusty scissors - learns to read.

Unfortunately, she gets run over by a drunken engineer. This puts Nombeko on the path to Sweden with some very sensitive cargo.

SPOILERS

A clever, funny book with a fast plot and interesting characters. It's drawback is suffering from babies ever after. Why would an intelligent person like Holger 2 and a genius like Nombeko think having a child is a good idea?

Nombeko is an illegal immigrant, which isn't an insurmountable problem. Holger 2 doesn't legally exist. Only his twin brothers' birth was ever registered. Oh, and they're literally sitting on a nuclear bomb!

4.5 Stars

[winterroseposts]

Heads, You Lose by Lisa Lutz & David Hayward

Pick for Emojiathon - A book that makes you laugh 🤣

Former romantic partners Lisa & David collaborate - if you can call it that - on a murder mystery. Pot growing siblings in a small town suddenly discover a headless corpse on their property.

Both authors write alternate chapters & keep sniping at each other. Meanwhile in the actual story the bodies keep piling up.

This was very funny. While the writing experiment of two authors completing a mystery round robin style hasn't created a perfect story, it's still entertaining.

The authors trying to send the plot in the direction each of them wants leads to a spate of murders and a convoluted ending but it's a fun ride.

3.5 Stars