Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Tragic Tuesday-induced feelings

I knew, we all knew, that this year was going to be difficult, to say the least. I expect the load, the stress. It's a "level up," as they say.

But this, this right now is not just a "level" up. This is a whole new different game, a different system, a different wold.

Sometimes I'm not sure what the aim is: to learn, or to get the necessary grades. I wonder: are we still concerned with standards here, or is this just a purge? A cleansing of the unwanted, the unsightly? Do we even know who we are and what we want?

To survive does not simply mean to study hard anymore. It now means dodging twice more bullets aimed at you with the goal of shooting you out of this place. No, you cannot simply study: you must be wary, you must be vigilant, or else you might be suddenly hit with something, an ambiguity, and it will always be against you. And then you find yourself thrown out.


Nevertheless, it is in times like these that I realize the great comfort family is and the great Rock my God is, and will always be. 


I will persevere. Whatever happens, I will never allow myself to walk away, whether in defeat or in victory, without the knowledge that I gave it my best, my all.


Monday, July 30, 2012

Zmeyette's Books for 2012 #48: The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead

It's time for my sporadic blog post! Hahaha seriously though, I would really love to blog but I just keep getting overwhelmed by stuff, especially school stuff. And I'm also lazy. I really need to develop more discipline.

Anyway, to breathe a bit of life into this blog again, I'm posting about a book I just finished. And since you already know it's been quite a while since I posted, don't be surprised at the book number jump. Oh well.

But before that, can I just say how disappointed/frustrated I am that I did not finish any book last month? And I only finished this book right before July ended! So sad.

Here it goes!


The Golden Lily (Bloodlines, #2)The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I think I'd forever be biased in favor of the Vampire Academy series, so everything stems from that. Rose will forever be my favorite dhampir heroine and Dimitri will forever be the hottest, most badass dhampir. VA to me, is always quite the fast-paced, rollercoaster ride.

Sydney's a very different character, which is probably why this was quite a more "chill" read for me. It was no page-turner for me, and honestly, it can bore me sometimes. But I do live for the Dimitri moments (though it hurts when he's getting a bit bashed-understandably, because we're more focused on everything from an outsider's POV, and a lot of Adrian's, at that), some Roza-Dimka sweetness, so I still read on.

I do like Sydney, though she really pales in comparison to Rose's narration and well, to Rose herself.

This is a nice book, though, and I did enjoy some of the romantic side of it all. And knowing Richelle Mead, Sydney Katherine Sage's world will probably fall apart even more in the next few books. I expect worldviews shattering, comfort zones obliterating, and a lot of new stuff and experimenting.

I'm a bit sad that Dimitri was said to be leaving in a while (please refer to a few paragraphs above to know why), but oh well, this is Sydney's tale. Darn.

And, (spoiler! spoiler!) I was right! Looks like RMead really went there. She. Went. There. Hello, forbidden human, and not just any human, but Alchemist-Moroi romance! And I'm sure she's just getting started. But I kinda like this. I think they're well-suited. They need each other. Someone that crazy and someone that rational. Perfect combination. They'll balance each other out. (On another note, referring to something Adrian said about wanting to better because of Sydney, See? Rose was right! She usually is! Just wanted to put that here. I love Rose so much, obviously)

Oh, I also like Sydney's passion for cars. Brings out some life in her. Kinda cute, too.

Anyway, on to the next book!  (And thank goodness, I thought I'd never finish another book with the way my life is going these days! XD)


View all my reviews

Monday, February 13, 2012

Zmeyette's Books for 2012 #13: Inescapable by Amy A. Bartol


Ok, so I don't know if I have some sort of subconscious need to redeem myself, because I've been devouring books lately. Maybe it's because I have an iPad now. It seems to unleash the reading monster within me. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but I have studies, and with the pace I'm going, it might be a bit unhealthy. Note to self: self-control is the key. It would be nice to develop it sometime this century.

Anyway, again, it will be noted that this is a jump from the last book I posted about. That's just because sometimes I don't feel like writing about the book or I don't have the time, and when I do write something about a book, sometimes I just don't feel like cross-posting it here, especially when it's not that long.

If you want to see the other books I've read, just click my Goodreads widget.

This next book is not about faeries anymore. Also, it contains a lot of spoilers, because even though I restrained myself from revealing anything, with the way the book was written, you'll have been spoiled already by what bits I gave away. So read at your own risk (if you even want to read it at all).

Inescapable (The Premonition #1)Inescapable by Amy A. Bartol
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

By the time I started to read this book, I either did not take note of what kind of story this is, or I simply forgot, or maybe it just was not mentioned, but the point was, I practically had no idea. This meant that I was in the dark the whole time as to what the mystery was really all about at the beginning of the story. However, that did not annoy me at all. I was actually enjoying being in the dark for that one, and thinking about it. It was also a pleasant surprise when the reveal finally came.

So, angels. Huh. I did not expect that. Well, I actually was not expecting anything (please refer to previous paragraph), but I was kind of hoping it wasn't a vampire story (I don't know why. I got a bit nervous, though, when Reed exhibited all those speed and extra-sensitive hearing and compulsion-like ability, because it almost seemed like vampire to me). I like Unearthly, and I'm not making any comparisons here, because to me, well, they're not comparable. It just didn't occur to me to compare, and I was satisfied with both. A little more in this book than in Unearthly (Tsk, I just said I wasn't going to compare!), but it's not that I don't like Unearthly, I just like this book more. If you get what I mean. Probably because the angels in this story are closer to my idea of angels, with all the warrior thing, and the lack of emotion going on. Sometimes I don't really get myself, because now that I think about it, Unearthly has all the glory and the hallowed thing going for it, but for some reason, Amy Bartol's angels resonate more with me. Maybe it's because Unearthly focused more on angel-bloods, and in Inescapable I had more exposure to actual angels, and got to see their sense of duty and mission. And I don't necessarily connect ghosts with the idea of the existence of angels, so that was a surprising and interesting tie-up, and it actually went together smoothly. I liked that too. She was even able to incorporate the idea of soulmates and reincarnation! I never thought that it could be compatible with the idea of Paradise, Hell and angels, but Ms. Bartol was able to do it.

But I haven't actually touched or mentioned anything about the story, which centered on an angel-blood herself. A very special one at that. An enigma, to use Reed's words. That's probably because I enjoyed that part of the story so much, where I didn't know, just like Evie, what she was, and what was happening to her. Check it out for yourselves.

So, let me just run through the characters and what I have to say about them, since I won't really say anything about the story (although that doesn't mean there won't be any spoilers. There will probably more spoilers this way actually, I think).

Genevieve "Evie" Claremont: I like her; she's really clever, courageous, and I like the emotions she portrays.

Reed Wellington: Hot. I like his sense of duty, and how his smiles are rare and precious things to come by. I also like how his character developed, and how he has his moments of cuteness.

Alfred: A totally heartbreaking character. The guy I should have, but did not, see coming. Whew.

Russell: A precious character, although I'm Team Reed all the way. I really like this guy as well.

Zephyr: Well, I thought I wouldn't like him, the way he was introduced, but I really do! I like how he's all military-like but oblivious to simple human things, and he has his cute moments too.

Buns & Brownie: Yep, they're a package. These two were a pleasant surprise, at first I didn't really care that much about them, but once their reveal happened, their awesomeness shines through.

Uncle Jim: He's a lovely guy, but he shows how this story, even though it's paranormal, still goes with realistic scenarios, and that everything's not perfect and rosy. I like that angle he brings to the story.

I don't know if what I wrote made sense, but those are my feelings on this book. I really like it. Weirdly, sometimes I get Twilight-ish vibes from it, but maybe it's just because stories sometimes have that formula? Although Reed did do that Edward Cullen way of watching the girl sleep, albeit he has a better reason for doing it, and not just for kicks. Anyway, that's not really a bad thing for me since I don't hate on Twilight anyway.

Having said all that, I'm off to read the next book.





View all my reviews

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Zmeyette's Books for 2012 #4: The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa


So, book no. 3 is The Iron King, but I don't feel like giving it a review. Maybe in the future, although I doubt that. Since I'm going with my "no pressure" theme from now on, I'm just posting what I want to, even if that means skipping some of the books I've read, because I'd rather have that sense of being disjointed and that lack of continuity rather than not writing and posting anything at all.

In any case, I shouldn't even be justifying myself. Hahaha.

So, here goes the 2nd installment in the Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa, 'The Iron Daughter.'


The Iron Daughter (Iron Fey, #2)The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ok, I've just finished reading The Iron Daughter and The Iron Queen in quick succession so I might not know which detail is from which book, and I might not be at my most coherent right now.

But I just have to write about this book.

In The Iron Daughter, Meghan Chase is at The Winter Court in fulfillment of her contract with Prince Ash. I got to say, her time her quite annoyed me. Meghan can be really stupid, and that made reading The Iron King difficult for me before. But in The Iron Daughter, I already have an idea of Meghan's character, so I continued on, even if her stupidity annoyed me so much, because looking at it objectively, it's actually valid for Meghan to be emotional and easily heartbroken and believe whatever treatment Ash gives her, since ultimately she's human. And part of what makes her an amazing character is this reality of her, that she's not some perfect character who sees everything for what it really is, who can be deceived and who can fall prey to her emotions, making some wrong decisions here and there because of it.

I just can't help getting annoyed, and maybe that in itself is a sign of the effectiveness of these books.

Moving on, Meghan gets caught up in another predicament, having been in the wrong place at the wrong time, which means being around when the Scepter of Seasons was stolen. This is the starting point for Meghan's new quest, which is to get the scepter back and stop the brewing war between the Summer and Winter courts that the theft has sparked.

Ok, at this point in this review I realize even more how much the details are blurred in my mind, so I'll just go straight to the reason why I just had to say something about this book.

Really, it's to pay homage to one character that really stood out to me throughout the entire book.

But before that, I would just like to note that since the end of the first book up to this book, I've been liking Puck's wit more and more.

And now to that character: Ironhorse.

This character, ever since he appeared in this book and till the end, all I kept saying about him as I read, was that he's such a precious one. He's a big giveaway, and just by observing how he acts around Meghan and how he treats her confirmed my suspicions that the successor to the throne of the Iron realm is, indeed, Meghan. But I love how Ironhorse never revealed it until the end, and how he chose to just support Meghan in any and every way he could, even beyond his death (but that's for the next book). I am awed by his loyalty, and even his actions against Meghan in the first book are justified because he's just like that, loyal to whoever is the Iron monarch.

Also, I just love how Puck never seems to get tired of calling Ironhorse various names.

I also enjoyed seeing Meghan and her new powers, and how she knows her priorities, and despite all of her shortcomings knows her values and will fight for the people she loves. Even if it is against another person she loves.

Now that I've gotten that off my chest, I also see how disjointed this "review" is. But suffice it to say that with this book, the Iron Fey series has really started to grow on me.

The ending was also quite heartbreaking but lovely, and was quite the twist, but you'll have to see it for yourselves, I guess. I'm not spoiling it here.



View all my reviews

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Zmeyette's Books for 2012 #2: Delirium by Lauren Oliver


Yes, yes, I haven't posted about what happened to the other books I've read last year. But I'm posting this now, to keep myself from stopping completely from posting anything. I am not going to stress myself too much about blogging, since the physical world is already stressful enough as it is. And this is book no. 2 because the first book I finished this 2012 was The Hunger Games, which was a reread. Anyway, enough of this, let's see about my latest read!


Delirium (Delirium, #1)Delirium by Lauren Oliver
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Amor deliria nervosa.


From the very start, the premise of this book has intrigued me, which is why I was so glad to have finally been able to read it. In the world Delirium, love, instead of being a "many splendored thing" is deemed to be a disease, and one that can actually be cured. This has led to a lot of changes in society and government. And this is the world Lena Haloway grew up in. In her world, upon reaching the age of 18, you get "cured," are paired off with someone suitable, and then assigned your place in the world. Good music, poetry, and art are not allowed. Sounds kinda boring, a bit sad, but then this is peace, this is order, and this is definitely better than the alternative: the chaos and the other dreaded effects of the disease called love, which can actually lead to death. So yeah, this is better. Here, all is well.


But of course not. Because Lena's world, and all her beliefs and core values are about to be shattered by that winking boy with amber eyes. Nothing will be the same again.


I really enjoyed reading this book. As I've mentioned, I was intrigued by the premise of this book, and I wasn't disappointed when I got to read the book. I enjoyed the way Lauren Oliver narrated the book, especially giving glimpses of the society Lena's in by starting every chapter with snippets from books and other such material  in that world, especially from The Safety, Health, and Happiness Handbook or The Book of Shhh). The way the people interacted, and how their worldview is really different, with the central premise of love being a disease, and it being unsafe, was really an interesting and refreshing thing to see.


All in all, I can't wait to see how the events will unfold, and I'm sure Lauren Oliver has a lot of twists up her sleeve. Excited for the next book!


I love you. Remember. They cannot take it.


View all my reviews