July ’18 Wrap Up + Book Haul

I had a TBR set up for July! I should know better than this, because it never works out for me personally. So if you set up your own little monthly TBR’s that’s great!

The books I had set up on my TBR for July was: Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas, Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick, Ascend by Amanda Hocking, The Beast us an Animal by Peternelle van Arsdale, and finally, The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan. I unknowingly had a fantasy theme going on! Though I did not intend to have it that way…

I ended up not completing/reading all of the books on this months TBR. Of the 5 I had set out to read, I only read one. Which I’m honestly not even upset about. So these books will go back on my shelves in hopes of reading them some other time! 

Dawn of the Arcana Volume 03, by Rei Tōma | Manga Review #39

Princess Nakaba of Senan is forced to marry Prince Caesar of the enemy country Belquat, tantamount to becoming a hostage. While Caesar is pleasing to the eye, he is also selfish and possessive, telling Nakaba outright: “You are my property.” With only her attendant Loki at her side, Nakaba must find a way to cope with her hostile surroundings, her fake marriage…and a mysterious power!

Princess Nakaba of Senan and Prince Caesar of Belquat only married each other for the sake of peace between their two warring countries, so no one expected there to be love between the unlikely couple. Nakaba is starting to warm to Caesar, however, and her attendant Loki doesn’t like this one bit. Are Loki and Caesar destined to be enemies? And how does Nakaba’s power, the Arcana of Time, fit into all this?

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I know I say this about every other manga review I write, but I genuinely kind of forgot what happened in the second volume. However! Reading the different volumes is like going on a different adventure with every volume I read. Same characters, same overall story, yet a new adventure every time.

I went into reading this third volume kind of remembering what happened in the second volume. Nevertheless, this story is a great one to read, and I enjoyed what happens in this one! I especially liked learning more of the Arcana.

One of the things I liked in this 3rd volume was that Caesar stood up for his wife (Nakaba) to his King Father and Queen Mother. Which is no small feat since everyone in the Belquat kingdom, save for Caesar himself, seems to hate Princess Nakaba.

I am enjoying the fact that Nakaba is trying her damndest to not fall in love with Caesar, yet her heart isn’t listening at all.

Seeing what Nakaba can do with the Arcana is amusing. I wonder what her powers will grow into, and how effective her seeing will be. Seeing Nakaba work through her own thoughts was entertaining, and honestly, a little sad as well. Like, I don’t like seeing Nakaba sad because she’s usually a bright girl.

Seeing the secrets of Belquat was puzzling, because now the reader (and the characters) know what is really going on.

What happens at the end of this book is something that I adore about this series. — I enjoy getting to see Caesar act like a normal kid. I don’t actually know how old these characters are, but I do know that they’re highly entertaining and that I’m enjoying getting to know their stories.

This Akhil character is interesting. I wonder how his character will play out for the rest of the series.

My overall thoughts on this third volume is that the story seems to be making smooth progress. Of course there are bumps and lumps throughout the story to make things interesting, but I’m enjoying those as well.

I give Dawn of the Arcana Volume 03, 3.5 stars!

Happy Reading!
— Adele

June 2018 Wrap Up + Mini Book Haul

Hello, friends! How are you doing? — Today’s post is my Wrap Up post for June. We’re already 6 months into the year! The older I get, the faster time flies past me.

My TBR for June was actually only 3 books. These books were Sea of Change by Kelley Armstrong, Graceling by Kristin Cashore, and Eve by Anna Carey.

The first week of June, I actually participated in a readathon, dubbed #goatathon, over on tumblr! Three of the four books that I had planned on reading during the Goatathon were the books I marked as my June TBR! So that worked hand-in-hand for me.

Dawn of the Arcana Volume 02, by Rei Toma | Manga Review #34

Princess Nakaba of Senan and Prince Caesar of Belquat only married each other for the sake of peace between their two warring countries, but things take a surprising turn when Caesar finds himself falling for his strange wife! Caesar tries to get Nakaba to return his feelings, but she maintains that he is her enemy and that she hates him. So when Nakaba has a vision of Caesar getting killed, will she say anything to save him?

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I genuinely didn’t know what to expect going into this second volume, since it feels like it’s been an age since I last read the first volume of Dawn of the Arcana. So I was quite nervous for the characters honestly!

The plot escalates quite quickly! Everything about this story engages you in the story. From the art work, to the characters, the pace of the story. As well as the fact that we see more of a development in the overall story within these 4 chapters.

It was different seeing a known passive character to act so vengeful. Something about another character has me concerned, since they play a pretty vital role in the story. I also don’t like that there seems to be a love triangle going to happen? Anywho…

What I liked about this second volume was that these chapters were incredibly fast to read. But these few chapters are also really engaging. While reading I could easily palce myself in the story and watch everything play out like a movie.

I give this second volume of Dawn of the Arcana, 2 stars!

Happy Reading!
— Adele

May 2018 Wrap Up & Book Haul

Hello! Today’s post will be my monthly wrap up for May. As you can see by the title, haha. I also ended up buying quite a few books, so check those out as well!

Knowing that I probably wouldn’t stick to it, I actually came up with a TBR this month!

My TBR for May included: The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson, A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas, Under the Empyrean Sky by Chuck Wendig, The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima, Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson, and finally, A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab.

I ended up reading way more books that I thought I would’ve this month, since May is typically one of the busiest months of the year for me. Yet I ended up reading 08 books, and 10 manga. Not bad if I do say so myself!

Library Reads | #37

Library Reads: I’m a huge fan of libraries. I tend to visit the library quite a bit, so these posts are where I document the books I’ve borrowed from the library of my hometown, or one of a few of the library systems that I visit. 

I’ll tell you a little but about what I expect from the book, or the author’s writings. Whether what I say is a sentence long, or a few sentences. From doing these posts I hope to spread a little bit of my love for libraries, while also informing you of books that you may not have known of!

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These are the books that I borrowed between March 20th — April 20th.

Let me know if you’ve borrowed or read any of the following books!

October 2017 Wrap Up + Book Haul

Hello! Today’s post is my October 2017 Wrap Up + Book Haul!

October is one of the busier months for me personally. It’s busy because here in Canada we celebrate Thanksgiving on (or around) the 12th of October. Then it’s my birthday on the 25th (Two more years until my champagne birthday! Not that I’m going to drink, haha). After that, it’s Halloween!

In October I had 7 books on my TBR this month. Seven books is completely over ambitious for me, since I never really end up reading what I want to read. The books that were on my TBR this month were: The Ocean at the End of the Lane, by Neil Gaiman; Milk and Honey, by Rupi Kaur; Midnight at the Electric by Jodi Lynn Anderson; Shutter, by Courtney Alameda; Evil Librarian, by Michelle Knudsen; Labyrinth Lost, by Zoraida Córdova; and finally, The Madman’s Daughter, by Megan Shepherd.

Dawn of the Arcana Vol. 1, by Rei Tōma | Manga Book Review #04

A medieval fantasy where a princess’s mysterious power alters her fate! Reads R to L (Japanese Style).

Princess Nakaba of Senan is forced to marry Prince Caesar of the enemy country Belquat, tantamount to becoming a hostage. While Caesar is pleasing to the eye, he is also selfish and possessive, telling Nakaba outright: “You are my property.” With only her attendant Loki at her side, Nakaba must find a way to cope with her hostile surroundings, her fake marriage…and a mysterious power!

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I took a chance with reading Dawn of the Arcana, and I’m so glad that I did.

Library Reads #30

Library Reads: I’m a Library Lover, so these posts are where I document the books I’ve borrowed from either one library, of a few libraries. I’ll tell you a little bit about what I expect from the book, or the author’s writings. Whether what I say is a sentence long, or a few sentence’s. From doing these posts, I hope to spread a little of my love for libraries, while also informing you of books that you may or may not have known of!

These are the books that I’ve borrowed from the last 2 weeks of July, up until the end of August. Enjoy!

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Evil Librarian by Michelle Knudsen

August 2017 Wrap Up

Hello everyone! Today’s post is that of my August 2017 wrap-up. How has your August been? — It’s incredibly hard for me to believe that August has already come and pass. That tomorrow is September.

It’s always hard for me to finish my monthly TBR lists. I usually have at least 6 or 7 books planned out that I want to read. With having only 2 or 3 books on my monthly TBR now, I’ve found that it is much more manageable for me to accomplish the list I’ve made.

My TBR of this month had 3 books on it. The TBR books were: Undead and Unwed (Undead, #1) by MaryJanice Davidson. Then there was Switched (Trylle Trilogy, #1) by Amanda Hocking, and finally, You’re Welcome, Universe by Whitney Gardner. I managed to read all of this months’ TBR! This is the first (or second, I can’t really remember) time I’ve managed to read what was on my monthly TBR!