Rebecca's Thoughts

Here are some fun reading stats (aka. i am very far behind on my goals!!)

Top 10 Books… for now!

his fellow thieves. But an act of betrayal sets him on a new path – one of blood and vengeance, which eventually leads him to a soldier’s life in the king’s army.

Fighting under the command of Lady Evadine Courlain, a noblewoman beset by visions of a demonic apocalypse, Alwyn must survive war and the deadly intrigues of the nobility if he hopes to claim his vengeance. But as dark forces, both human and arcane, gather to oppose Evadine’s rise, Alwyn faces a choice: can he be a warrior, or will he always be an outlaw?

You can find by review of the first book here (The Pariah) and my review of The Traitor here!

#9 – This Is How You Lose The Time War – Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Goodreads Synopsis – Among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandant finds a letter. It reads: Burn before reading. Thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions. Now, what began as a taunt, a battlefield boast, grows into something more. Something epic. Something romantic. Something that could change the past and the future.
Except the discovery of their bond would mean death for each of them. There’s still a war going on, after all. And someone has to win that war.

I liked what this book was trying to do! I think the characters and this cat-and-mouse dynamic was really fun and interesting. There was something however that fell a little flat for me. I’m not sure what it was exactly, but I think that despite my praise for the characters, their dynamic never really felt earned and I’m not really sure why these two people like each other let alone love each other.
I also think that that the first 70 or so pages feel somewhat inconsequential until you get closer to the end of the book; which for a book that is only 200 pages seems like a large chunk of the book that had me not really caring about what was going on.

I like what this book was trying to do, which is why it is on this list, but I don’t think this is like, one of my all time favourites or anything. There is immense respect though.

#8 – Dune (Dune Bk. 1) – Frank Herbert
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Good Reads Synopsis: Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, heir to a noble family tasked with ruling an inhospitable world where the only thing of value is the “spice” melange, a drug capable of extending life and enhancing consciousness. Coveted across the known universe, melange is a prize worth killing for…
When House Atreides is betrayed, the destruction of Paul’s family will set the boy on a journey toward a destiny greater than he could ever have imagined. And as he evolves into the mysterious man known as Muad’Dib, he will bring to fruition humankind’s most ancient and unattainable dream.

You can find my review here!

#7 – Yellowface – R.F. Kuang
⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

Goodreads Synopsis – Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars. But Athena’s a literary darling. June Hayward is literally nobody. Who wants stories about basic white girls, June thinks.
So when June witnesses Athena’s death in a freak accident, she acts on impulse: she steals Athena’s just-finished masterpiece, an experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese laborers during World War I.
So what if June edits Athena’s novel and sends it to her agent as her own work? So what if she lets her new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song—complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo? Doesn’t this piece of history deserve to be told, whoever the teller? That’s what June claims, and the New York Times bestseller list seems to agree.
But June can’t get away from Athena’s shadow, and emerging evidence threatens to bring June’s (stolen) success down around her. As June races to protect her secret, she discovers exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves.

I really liked this book. I think June is a really interesting character and I think she really carried this novel. I find her thought process to be fascinating and her fall from grace to be very satisfying. June is a horrible person, but the character is written so well that I wanted to see what she would do next.

I think much of the discourse around this book pertains to its commentary, and how shallow much of felt. I’m not really in a position to speak to the validity of the satire and criticism, but much of the book felt like a Erasure Percival Everett. I think both of these books are different in their delivery and message, but to me at least, they work as excellent foils to each other and the satire in both of these novels work for me and their discussions on race and how society reviews “diverse books” is very important, especially in today climate.

I think that R.F. Kuang wrote a book from her perspective and how she sees social media and book reviews. It felt like an honest books written about things that she cares and thinks often about. Despite the criticism thrown at Twitter discourse and its apparent vapidness, I think that this book was written with curtsy and from a good place. At no point did this book feel like it was against Twitter or Goodreads, rather rightfully criticizing the bandwagon nature of social media and its often flash in a pan mentality to literary criticism and who it should be directed at.

Alcmene: Herc’s mother (She has knives everywhere)

Hylas: Herc’s first friend (They were more than friends)

Megara: Herc’s wife (She’ll tell you about their marriage)

Eurystheus: Oversaw Herc’s labours (Definitely did not hide in a jar)

His friends, his enemies, his wives, his children, his lovers, his rivals, his gods, his victims.

 It’s time to hear their stories.

Told with humour and heart, Herc gives voice to the silenced characters, in this feminist, queer (and sometimes shocking) retelling of classic Hercules myth.

You can read my full review here!

#5 – The Heist (Fox and O’Hare Bk. 1) – Janet Evanovich & Lee Goldberg

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Goodreads Synopsis: FBI Special Agent Kate O’Hare is known for her fierce dedication and discipline on the job, chasing down the world’s most wanted criminals and putting them behind bars. Her boss thinks she is tenacious and ambitious; her friends think she is tough, stubborn, and maybe even a bit obsessed. And while Kate has made quite a name for herself for the past five years the only name she’s cared about is Nicolas Fox—an international crook she wants in more ways than one.             

Audacious, handsome, and dangerously charming, Nicolas Fox is a natural con man, notorious for running elaborate scams on very high-profile people. At first he did it for the money. Now he does it for the thrill. He knows that the FBI has been hot on his trail—particularly Kate O’Hare, who has been watching his every move. For Nick, there’s no greater rush than being pursued by a beautiful woman . . . even one who aims to lock him up. But just when it seems that Nicolas Fox has been captured for good, he pulls off his greatest con of all: He convinces the FBI to offer him a job, working side by side with Special Agent Kate O’Hare.
Problem is, teaming up to stop a corrupt investment banker who’s hiding on a private island in Indonesia is going to test O’Hare’s patience and Fox’s skill. Not to mention the skills of their ragtag team made up of flamboyant actors, wanted wheelmen, and Kate’s dad. High-speed chases, pirates, and Toblerone bars are all in a day’s work . . . if O’Hare and Fox don’t kill each other first.

My full review can be found here!

#4 – The Heist (Fox and O’Hare Bk. 1) – Janet Evanovich & Lee Goldberg

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Goodreads Synopsis: In Ejaculate Responsibly, Gabrielle Blair offers a provocative reframing of the abortion issue in post-Roe America. In a series of 28 brief arguments, she deftly makes the case for moving the abortion debate away from controlling and legislating women’s bodies and instead directs the focus on men’s lack of accountability in preventing unwanted pregnancies.
Highly readable, accessible, funny, and unflinching, Blair builds her argument by walking readers through the basics of fertility (men are 50 times more fertile than woman), the unfair burden placed on women when it comes to preventing pregnancy (90% of the birth control market is for women), the wrongheaded stigmas around birth control for men (condoms make sex less pleasurable, vasectomies are scary and emasculating), and the counterintuitive reality that men, who are fertile 100% of the time, take little to no responsibility for preventing pregnancy. 

Full review is here!

for future generations. Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his

blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children.

But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity already reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.

Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity’s overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society’s ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies… even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.

My Red Rising Review! (The first book in the series!)

Golden Son Review (Book 2)

Morning Star Review (Book 3)

blond Gala Novak. They have little money, but that’s hardly going to stop them from having a good time. 

 In her diary, Isa describes a sweltering summer in the glittering city. By day, the girls sell clothes in a market stall, pinching pennies for their Bed-Stuy sublet and bodega lunches. By night, they weave from Brooklyn to the Upper East Side to the Hamptons among a rotating cast of celebrities, artists, Internet entrepreneurs, stuffy intellectuals, and bad-mannered grifters. Money runs ever tighter, and the strain tests their friendship as they try to convert their social capital into something more lasting than their precarious gigs as au pairs, nightclub hostesses, paid audience members, and aspiring foot fetish models. Through it all, Isa’s bold, beguiling voice captures the precise thrill of cultivating a life of glamour and intrigue as she juggles paying her dues with skipping out on the bill.

Full Review Can Be Found Here!!

outrageous directive: secure a dozen eggs for a powerful Soviet colonel to use in his daughter’s wedding cake. In a city cut off from all supplies and suffering unbelievable deprivation, Lev and Kolya embark on a hunt through the dire lawlessness of Leningrad and behind enemy lines to find the impossible.

By turns insightful and funny, thrilling and terrifying, City of Thieves is a gripping, cinematic World War II adventure and an intimate coming-of-age story with an utterly contemporary feel for how boys become men.

Full Review is Here!!