#for review

[cozybearz]

[ID: Two mirror selfies of a pale person with long blonde hair wearing a navy blue sweater with a small necklace, and khaki pants with a brown leather belt. They are wearing a black face mask and the rest of their face is censored. End ID.]

hii ^_^

[shu-of-the-wind]

Character Guide and plot summary of SOTB to this point: 

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

The Investigators Lan Fan Huo, also known as Enkhtuya. Formerly a member of the Huo, one of the Yao’s sworn subordinate clans, Lan Fan’s true identity has been banished by the Dowager Empress. She is currently posing as a nomadic woman, Feiyan Ma, from the steppes, and acting as an imperial spy.

Side note, I finally have a facecast for Lan Fan! Dilraba Dilmurat.

His Imperial Majesty, Ling Yao, the Dawn Emperor. Extremely Stressed about declaring it open season on himself (romantically? Violently? Both? Who knows) by opening the Lotus Hall. Also extremely stressed about his job overall. He is half-brother to Mei Chang as well as Lien Hua, Xinzhe, and Dong Mao Feng, but defeated them in the race for the throne by bringing a Philosopher’s Stone to Xing. 

Her Highness, Imperial Cousin, Princess Mei Chang. Alphonse’s alkahestry teacher, First Governor of Chang-guo, and the half-sibling of Ling Yao and Dong Mao, Xinzhe, and Lien Hua Feng. Usually accompanied by her bearcat, Xiao Mei. Has feelings for Alphonse Elric. 

Alphonse Elric, a Western traveler and old friend of the Dawn Emperor. Despite Ling’s best attempts to keep him out of the ongoing situation, he’s as deep in it as anyone. Has feelings for Mei Chang, but is not voicing them. It’s possible he is unaware of them.

Suyin Ma. Also named Sarangerel. The wife of Shan Yao, and Feiyan Ma’s cousin. Suyin claims Fuu told her about Lan Fan’s past prior to her joining the Huo family, but has not elaborated on how, when, or why.  

Shan Yao. Suyin’s husband, Commander of the Imperial Guard, Lan Fan’s supervisor for her current mission, and Ling Yao’s older cousin. He has known both Ling and Lan Fan for over a decade and has many embarrassing stories in his arsenal because of it. Lan Fan is currently staying in Shan and Suyin’s rooms at Pubuchuan. 

Niu Lu. An alkahestrist trained by Mei and a former torturer for the Imperial Army, Niu Lu is currently serving as Lan Fan’s maid during her investigation of the Fengs. 

The Suspects The Triplets, Dong Mao, Xinzhe, and Lien Hua Feng. The triplet children of the Feng family, and Imperial Cousins in their own right, and as such half-siblings of Ling Yao and Mei Chang. They have come to the capital to tear the Dowager Empress from her position of power by whatever means necessary. 

The Dowager Empress, Huian Yao. Ling Yao’s mother. Ambitious, venomous, and ruthless. Appears to have played a role in the massacre of the Nohin people alongside the Retired Emperor, Ling’s father. Currently working with Minister of the Left Shen Liu to get one of her chosen subordinates into the role of Ascending Empress. Fond of poisons. 

Residents of the Imperial City Shen Liu. Minister of the Left and primary ally of the Dowager Empress, though they historically have not gotten along very well. Has been pressuring Ling to get married for at least the last eighteen months. He absolutely loathes Feiyan Ma.

Bao Zhang. Minister of the Right and founding member of the Reconciliation committee. He is reclusive and odd, rarely coming out into court even though he is one of the most powerful ministers in the Imperial City. He has a pet crow that delivers messages for him, and an assistant, Yue, who is a mathematical genius.   

Xiao Niao Song, First Governor of Song-guo. Head of the Song family, mother to Xiao Huan, Xiao Liu, and Xiao Xie Song. Another founding member of the Reconciliation committee. She respects Feiyan Ma and is seeking her advice on dealing with the nomadic peoples on Song-guo borders.

Xiao Huan Song, Second Daughter of the Song family. The Song Family’s entrant into the competition for the role of Ascending Empress. She is an alkahestrist. 

Jian Zhang. Imperial Master of the Horse and Bao Zhang’s cousin. Reclusive and resents politics. A former soldier, he served in the border wars with Thamasq. He is helping Feiyan Ma with Changchang.

The Cao Brothers, Aiguo and Heng. Aiguo Cao is Lien Hua’s fiance. He has appalling manners and a worse personality. Heng, his younger brother, is equally as unpleasant.  

Biyi Chang. The Thirteenth Lady of Chang-guo, a distant cousin of Mei’s. She is shy, awkward, and quiet. She was also Suyin’s first friend at court. 

Caterina della Barbarigo. An Aerugan noblewoman and the fiancee of Dong Mao Feng, she struggles with Xingese cultures, languages, and customs. Lan Fan has offered to teach her more Xingese. 

Gen Chang. Lan Fan’s bodyguard, a former imperial guardsman, and a distant cousin of Mei’s. He may or may not have a slight crush on Lan Fan. He was assigned to guard Feiyan Ma after the Firebrand assassination attempt that nearly killed her.

Citizens of Xinjing Xiaoqing. A former firebrand, Xiaoqing is half-Qarashi and half-Xingese. Al is teaching her the basics of alkahestry in return for her assistance in infiltrating the Fires of God in the capital. She is an older-sister figure to Peizhi.

Peizhi. An assistant groom. Formerly a jockey in the Xuanwu ward. He owes Feiyan Ma his life, and is determined to repay the debt any way he can, up to and including getting into massive trouble with Xiaoqing. He and Changchang have a very special bond that seems to be related to his latent alkahestrical abilities.

Changchang. A trained warhorse who has gone half-feral due to abusive treatment. Lan Fan rescued her along with Peizhi, and is trying to convince her that humans are not universally shitheads. It’s not going particularly well.  

The Fires of God Father Shiloh Trener. The shadowy leader of the Fires of God. An Amestrian who learned (or convinced himself) that he is the son of the sun god, Leto after a forty day fever which culminated on the day the Elric brothers exposed Father Cornello as a fraud. In the wake of the  outbreak of Liore’s civil war, he led his religious community to the desert, and then to Feng-guo, where they are currently settled. 

Huli. “Fox.” A Firebrand and an assassin. Possibly Cretan or Amestrian. Has tried to kill the Fengs at least once (that we know of) and seems intent on fighting Lan Fan. Original name unknown.

Lang. “Wolf.” A Firebrand. A Xingese man working as a spy for the Feng in the Imperial City while simultaneously reporting all their doings to the Fires of God. He is mute, and speaks primarily through sign language. Original name unknown.

Sheng. “Weasel.” A Firebrand, an Aeurgan, and a former slave. Seems to be the leader of the quartet of Firebrands who are after the Fengs, or, at least, the only one that Huli will listen to. Original name unknown.

Mao. “Cat.” A young Firebrand, approximately sixteen. She has pursued alkahestrical treatments which have turned her into something similar to a chimera, but unable to shift back and forth between her human and animal forms, which means she has long, permanently extended claws, fangs, and hair that is more like long fur. Original name unknown.

Shu (formerly Shubiao, but I fucked up, that means computer mouse, please feel free to laugh your ass off at me). “Mouse.” A Nohin man and Firebrand that Lan Fan captured snooping through her quarters. His original name is Kazuki Sakari. He is currently in hiding after escaping imperial custody, and cannot reunite with his firebrand cohort for fear they will simply execute him for his failures.

PLOT SUMMARY: It is September 1918, three years after the ascension of the Dawn Emperor, Ling Yao, and troubles are brewing on the northwestern border of the Empire. The Feng, one of the Fifty Families of the Xing nobility, have been eliminating Yao spies sent into their territory, Feng-guo, for the past several months. Knowing that the Gathering, the bi-annual celebration and political meeting of all the Fifty Families at the capital, is approaching, Ling orders Lan Fan to take on the role of a steppes noblewoman and enter the imperial court to spy against the Feng triplets. The triplets—Sixth Prince Dong Mao, Seventh Prince Xinzhe, and Ninth Princess Lien Hua—are attending court formally for the first time since the Dawn Emperor’s ascension, and there are concerns that they are planning to assassinate Ling in an attempt to gain power and push the Yao out of ascendancy in the Court. 

Despite her discomfort—Lan Fan is the Emperor’s Shadow first and foremost, and is extremely discontented with having to leave her position and her charge as Ling’s guard—Lan Fan takes the position. She is posing as Feiyan Ma, the “cousin” of the wife of Shan Yao, the commander of the Imperial guard and one of Ling Yao’s cousins. Shan’s wife, Suyin Ma (also known as Sarangerel) is pregnant, and wants a member of her family to be with her in the capital throughout her pregnancy and the birth of her first child. Mei Chang, in illicit support of Lan Fan’s position, provides Lan Fan with a maid and guard of her own, Niu Lu, a half-Drachman noblewoman who is a talented alkahestrist as well as a professional spy and torturer. Despite a rough start in the capital, Lan Fan manages to befriend at least two of the Feng triplets, along with Mingli Chen, a particular friend of Xinzhe Feng. She accompanies them to horse races in the lower districts of the capital, during which she saves a young jockey and his irascible, traumatized mount, a former war horse named Changchang. Thanks to her actions, Lan Fan meets a young woman, Xiaoqing, who is ana-Qarashi and Xingese. She is attempting to teach herself healing alkahestry to assist people in the Xuanwu districts of the capital, the poorest and most destitute people in the area. 

While attending a party at the Chang estate, Lan Fan saves the Feng triplets from an assassination attempt by a masked intruder, who is later identified as Huli, a warrior and spy from a Letoist religious cult known as the Fires of God. The Fires of God believe that Shiloh Trener, an Amestrian who formerly lived in Liore, is actually the son of the Sun God, Leto, come to earth. The group is gathering recruits and converts in preparation for the end of the world. Their base of operations is in Feng-guo, and the Feng triplets, along with their uncle, Mengyao, have been trying to keep the ongoing political damage a secret from the other Fifty Families as well as the Emperor. Xiaoqing, who used to be a firebrand, lost her mother to the cult, and she and her father left Feng-guo and fled to the capital to get away from the chaos. 

During this time, Lan Fan has been struggling with her work as a spy. She does not feel that she is capable of pretending to be another person, let alone that she has the right to act as a noblewoman, particularly when she was raised from a very young age to be an imperial bodyguard and shadow. Putting herself in the spotlight in any way makes her deeply uncomfortable. She struggles with interacting with Ling on a more equivalent footing (noblewoman to emperor, as opposed to servant to emperor) and with the emperor’s attention. Ling asks her to go riding with him in the mornings, which is of particular note to the gossip grapevine, as the Dawn Emperor has been extremely reluctant to even discuss the potential of marriage, let alone lavish any special attention on any noblewoman at court. 

Ling is struggling as well, in ways that Al (who is in Xing to study Xingese alkahestry) doesn’t particularly understand. When Al attempts to push and states that Ling, as emperor, can do what he wants, Ling lashes out and states that he can’t do what he wants where Lan Fan is concerned, because the last thing he wants to do is make her uncomfortable and force attentions where they may not be wanted. He knows that he has feelings for Lan Fan, and that they’re more than likely returned, but he also knows that Lan Fan’s identity is wrapped in her honor and her service as bodyguard, and that so long as that state of affairs continues, nothing can possibly happen between them. However, due to Lan Fan’s role as spy, and their attempts to get the Feng to remain interested in and trust Feiyan Ma, Ling is caught between his wish to keep Lan Fan alive, safe, and happy, and courting Feiyan Ma to ensure that she remains politically and materially relevant to the people they are investigating. 

Meanwhile, the investigation is escalating. The day before the Gathering opens, Lan Fan catches a firebrand spy—a Nohin man—snooping around her rooms. The man, Kazuki Sakari (referred to as Shu by himself and firebrand cohort) was attempting to find information about Feiyan Ma after her interference in the assassination attempt on the Feng triplets. The discovery of a Nohin man rattles Lan Fan, who is also Nohin, and has been hiding her identity for over a decade with the help of her grandfather. During the Gathering ceremony, Lan Fan discovers that Xinzhe and Mingli are lovers, which could get them executed due to anti-sodomy laws in the imperial court. She promises Mingli she will keep their secret. However, during her attempts to research queer love, she is drawn into a meeting with the Minister of the Left, the Dowager Empress Huian Yao, and the Song Family regarding the complex issues surrounding the northwestern borders and raiding by nomadic steppes peoples, such as the Ma. During the debate, Lan Fan brings up the massacre of the Nohin people, backed by the former Emperor, Ling’s father; the Dowager Empress threatens to have her exiled. Ling settles tempers, with difficulty. The following day, the Firebrands attempt to assassinate Lan Fan, which results in her being poisoned. 

As Lan Fan recovers in the Emperor's chambers, Al, Mei, and Peizhi, the jockey that Lan Fan rescued, learn that the Firebrands have been smuggling in massive amounts of weapons from Thamasq into Feng-guo, in an attempt to raise an insurrection against the Feng family and take over the province. Shu escapes custody and flees to a Nohin safehouse. As a result of the attempt on Feiyan Ma’s life, the Emperor’s Shadow—Lan Fan—is exiled permanently from Xing after complaints registered by the Dowager Empress. While Lan Fan herself is not going anywhere (the position of Emperor’s Shadow has been filled by a soldier with a similar height, build, and qi signature as Lan Fan), she now has no identity to return to after the job is over. Her life and her existence as Lan Fan Huo, particularly as the Emperor’s Shadow, has been terminated by Huian Yao, and Ling was unable to do anything to stop it. She is angry about this but feels horrible for being angry with Ling, specifically; she has not explicitly forgiven him but understands this was not his fault, and is hiding from her own complicated emotions about the entire situation.

Lan Fan throws herself into the investigation of the Fengs and the Firebrands, as well as her role of Feiyan Ma, meeting regularly with Xiao Niao Song, the head of the Song family, as well as other important members of the imperial court, including the Minister of the Right, Bao Zhang, a reclusive administrator who puts her name forward as a member of a new political group, the Committee for the Resolution of Human Rights Abuses, Conflicts, and Injustices, or colloquially the "Reconciliation Committee." Additionally, Lan Fan meets Dong Mao Feng’s betrothed, an Aerugan woman named Caterina della Barbarigo, and one of the Feng retainers, a mysterious woman named Lotus who seems to have a strong bond with Dong Mao. 

Finally, Lien Hua Feng makes the decision to trust Feiyan Ma, and reveals that the goal of the Feng is not to assassinate the Dawn Emperor, but rather his mother, the Dowager Empress, as revenge for Huian Yao poisoning their mother and killing their baby sister in utero twelve years before. The problems with Yao spies being killed in Feng territory was the result of a misunderstanding; the Feng believed the spies were sent by Huian Yao, not the Emperor, and summarily executed them, while the Emperor believed that Feng spies on the border were part of a plot to overthrow him, not investigating the internal goings-on of Feng-guo. Lien Hua also introduces Lan Fan to one of her own spies in the palace, a mute man named Lang, who Lan Fan knows is a double agent for the Firebrands. Lan Fan does not reveal Lang's betrayal to Lien Hua in the moment. Instead, she asks Xiaoqing to infiltrate the Firebrands’ base of operations in the capital, and Xiaoqing, wishing to avenge her mother, agrees. 

The Gathering closes, and many families return to their home provinces. However, due to the Emperor’s announcement that he is going to begin his search for a wife, many families summon daughters and cousins to the court in an attempt to take the role of Empress. The Emperor is retreating to Pubuchuan for the winter, a mountain palace with many hot springs to last them through the long snows. Only ten families have been invited. It is here that the battle for the role of Empress will occur—and Ling has already asked that Lan Fan participate, in her role as Feiyan Ma, to keep up the ruse of their courtship. Lan Fan agrees.

[jocolatemousse]

1. Is our lack of a strong national identity a factor in the weakness of the rule of law in our country?

2. How does our geography, as an archipelago, affect the validity/efficacy of adopting foreign institutions?

3. Though somewhat related to the two previous questions, what institutions (or features of institutions) have we developed that are unique products of our country's history?

[grxceblqckthxrn]

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[joshbyerly-blog]

Ninja Gaiden Atari Lynx for review prototype cartridge

[bookaddict24-7]

REVIEW: 16 Ways to Break a Heart by Lauren Strasnick

Release Date: July 25, 2017

Age Group: 16+

Genres: Romance, Contemporary

Rating: 1/5 Stars

Original review on Goodreads here. (To view points marked as “view spoiler” go to my original review on Goodreads)

Be warned: This is a rant review and IT IS LONG. I haven’t posted a full review on here in a long time, but it’s late and I wanted to share. There MIGHT be spoilers, I honestly didn’t care too much because this book is just UGH. Okay, happy reading!

I received a copy via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review

This book is a disaster.

That's probably the best way to describe WTF I just read (okay, speed read because I couldn't, for my sanity, take my time to read the ridiculousness of this book). I even made notes because I was just so confused while reading this that I needed to keep my thoughts straight. 

Everything in this book was toxic. I literally asked myself multiple times why I was still reading this book because all of the characters were just so unnecessary and (view spoiler). I get that not all characters are made to be likable, but this isn't even about that. These were just characters who were just given so much leniency and they were just horrible characters. They weren't even the kind of characters you love to hate. I just can't with these characters. 

I will include snippets of the synopsis because I don't think anyone will ever really be ready for the disaster they will encounter when they read this book. 

Here's the first paragraph of the synopsis:

Natalie and Dan were electric from the moment they met. Witty banter and sizzling chemistry made falling in love easy—even inevitable. He was in awe of her subversive art and contagious zest for life; she was drawn to his good-guy charm and drive to succeed as a documentary filmmaker.

Yes, the start of the book is a letter from Natalie detailing their encounter and how there was immediate chemistry--but there's also an attempt in the first letter at alluding how Dan, the male protagonist, is a manipulative asshole that completely hid his true self when they first met. I will touch on that later in this review. What this paragraph doesn't allude to is how Dan's jealousy becomes a big issue with Natalie's "success", and how she basically thinks he's wasting his time with his documentary because he's spending so much time working on something that's important to him, instead of spending time with her. Because you know, someone else future dream? Fuck that, right? 

Second paragraph:

But that was before. Before hot tempers turned to blowout fights. Before a few little lies turned to broken trust. Before a hundred tiny slights broke them open and exposed the ugly truth of their relationship.

OKAY. Hot tempers. HA. Whoever created this synopsis failed to mention the mild physical and verbal abuse, the slut shaming, the manipulation, the triggering comments of wanting to "commit suicide" introduced as jokes. Shit is not funny. I find it really freaking troubling that this is such a huge part of the novel and its alluded to as "hot tempers" and "blowout fights". Also, "Tiny Slights" is like putting a kid's superhero bandaid on a bleeding gash. These two people were HORRIBLE together and look, if the synopsis explained it as more than just a little troubled relationship, then maybe I'd be writing a different review, but honestly, WTF.

Rest of synopsis: 

And now Natalie wants Dan to know just how much he broke her.

Over the course of one fateful day, Dan reads sixteen letters that Natalie has secretly, brilliantly hidden in places only he will find. And as he pieces together her version of their love story, he realizes that she has one final message for him. One that might just send his carefully constructed life tumbling down.

Okay, for starters, this was not a "LOVE STORY". This was a nightmare that was attempting to pass as a romance. 

This synopsis makes it seem like this book had a female character who was SO clever about her delivery of her revenge, which by the way was(view spoiler), but really it was her literally dropping off letters throughout his school and life. Honestly, I thought Natalie was fucking nuts and I'm sorry, I don't mean to be offensive or anything, but seriously fuck these characters. The last sentence of that synopsis says that she has a message that "might just send his carefully constructed life tumbling down." SURPRISE: She spent the whole fucking book ruining his life. She destroyed a guy that actually did sound legitimately good.

Look, Dan wasn't a saint by the end of everything. But one of the things that really, really screwed with my mind was how this girl was a legit nightmare. She was controlling, manipulative, and abusive and basically got Dan to put her as number one in his life despite of who and what he was giving up, yet when he starts to do other less than boyfriend-ly things on the side, suddenly he's the villain of the story. I might be wrong here, but it dangerously felt like the character of Natalie going through what she was describing as a horrible relationship because he wasn't who she thought he was was being validated for her actions because Dan almost (view spoiler). 

Dan had his shit, too. His jealousy about Natalie's life wasn't fair, and he also said and did questionable things, I just don't want Natalie's actions to be pushed aside because suddenly he's not a saint in our eyes anymore. Abuse and manipulation CAN NOT be justified just because the victim decides to do other shady stuff. One is not a lesser issue than the other. At the same time, I'm not defending Dan because he was also a massive asshole. 

One of my final points is going to be about the layout of this book. I get what was being done with the letters and the messages and such, but like it felt like it was trying too hard to be either Thirteen Reasons Why or Why We Broke Up. I haven't read the former (but watched the TV Show) and hated the latter. I just wanted to throw the similarities in there because it felt like Natalie's letters were just so over the top dramatic and just really really annoying. 

I'll leave this rant on the note that the ending is 10/10 dramatic and 10/10 unnecessary and just as messed up as this relationship. Also, wtf was up with that one final reveal? Like, not only was it cliche but we had absolutely NO LEAD UP TO IT. I wish I had a physical copy of this book so I could pull a Bradley Cooper.

I don't recommend this book for anyone, sorry. I don't normally say this, but I legitimately did not enjoy this at all and I was just so shocked that this was even a thing. 

Happy reading!

[cozybearz]

my mom's old snoopy book, published 1958