Ale's bookshelves.

Let's start saying that I wasn't sure if I should read this trilogy or not because I did not finish Legend and never picked it up again. I just couldn't. Tella was driving me crazy, just like everyone else. But I did get to meet Jacks and fell for him (to be honest, he was the main reason why I picked up Caraval in the first place).

I saw the hype a while ago for this book and finally I gave up...

Definitely the best decision I've made this month.

I devoured this book. I couldn't sleep, eat or think straight because my heart aching for Evangeline and Jacks.

My thoughts these last 3 days revolved around them.

Evajacks.
Evajacks.
Evajacks.

“The Fates weren't dangerous because they were evil; the Fates were dangerous because they couldn't tell the difference between evil and good.”

The synopsis really got me, and I thought about giving Stephanie a second chance.

I loved the writing so much. Despite of not liking Caraval as much as I would've loved to, I did like the writing because somehow it felt magical. I really loved the soft descriptions of places, feelings, colors, etc.

It was fast paced and the plot was good, tbh. It kept me glued to my seat reading, reading and reading... I didn't even care about anything else.

“But hope is a difficult thing to kill, just a spark of it can start a fire.”

The characters were wonderful.

I loved Evangeline so much, even if sometimes I wanted to kick her for being so naive... But I'll admit that I'm just like her. I love how determined she is to achieve her goals, to get the things she wants, how she hopes. Gods, I found myself wanting that same hope, yearning it because somewhere in my path, I lost it. I admire her determination and her faith, her optimism for people and things. Evangeline sees the bright side of people and tells herself that not everyone is bad and... Gods, I love her so much for it. And also for believing that every story has the potential for infinite endings.

“Even as a savior, he was still wretched.”

My beloved Jacks is everything, just as Evangeline. I love how arrogant he is, how he also has determination and he's stubborn as hell. I relate to him as well because we both have a distorted definition of love, lmao. Also, he's a Scorpio. Of course he'll be intense and will feel things intensively. We're water signs, what did you expect? I guess that's why a part of me said "same" with some things, lol.

“When we feel, it's intense and consuming. It devour us and drive us.”

Say it louder, LaLa, for the people in the back.

Nobody will know how fast my heart was racing and how I was so excited, screaming, giggling and kicking my feet in the air over Evangeline and Jacks.

I love how since the very first chapter Stephanie gave us little hints of many things.

“[...] She'd read that the Prince of Hearts' church held a different aroma for everyone who visited. It was supposed to smell like a person's greatest heartbreak.
[...] The dim mouth of the church was slightly sweet and metallic: apples and blood.”

Thank you, Stephanie, for breaking my heart since the beginning because I couldn't handle it after I realized about it... I just lost my shit. Completely.

I'm obsessed with this book.

“I'll never comprehend humans.” Poison sighed. “All of you seem to welcome our lies, but you never like it when we tell the truth.”

“I don't But still owe me one more kiss, and until I collect it, you're mine, and I do not like to share.”
“If I didn't know you better, I'd say you sounded jealous.”
“Of course I'm jealous. I'm a Fate.”

“Stop flashing your fangs. I'm the only one who gets to bite her.”

Alexa, play Labour by Paris Paloma.

I had a long time without reading a good book in which I could say "Yeah, I can relate with you."

The Haunting of Alejandra is one of those books. In advance, sorry if I get too emotional.

Please, read some trigger warnings before you pick up this book!

What got me into this book at first was its name. I don't often see books with my name on it, lmao. Then, I read the synopsis and it caught me. My first thought was "I must read it. Now."

I grew up hearing tales like La Llorona despite of not being mexican myself, and seeing it as a retelling was wonderful.

This is a sad, beautiful and tragic story about a multigenerational curse passed down to the women in Alejandra's genealogical tree. There is something devouring women's emotions and feeding from their sadness, their sorrow and depression, and driving them crazy or to commit suicide.

Some quotes from this book hit home.

"Half her life lived as a shadow."

"Alejandra held no illusions of having any value in the world."

"Was she difficult to love?"

"Alejandra only knew she couldn't do the next eighteen years like this, then lie on her deathbed thinking of how she'd spent her short precious time on Earth."

"How could you learn about love from someone who gave you nothing but pain?"

"Alejandra didn't know how to articulate that she would rather die than experience another day in her current existence, as herself."

"I'm not who I used to be, but I didn't like that version of me much when I think about it because of regret... I guess I don't like this version of me either."

As someone who has grown up seeing the generational trauma in her family, I for sure know how Alejandra feels because I feel the same way, too. Of course, I don't have kids, and I don't want because I want to break this cycle of conditioned love in which I grew up.

While reading this book, I felt like I was reading my own thoughts, and while I was crying so bad, I felt like I had written this book. It felt too personal and intimate.

The Haunting of Alejandra explores depression, generational trauma, sadness, mysogyny and how women had (have) to deal with this since perhaps the beginning of the times. It was outraging at some point to read Matthew's lines and imagine how hard it must be for women to deal with this. Quitting their dreams and hopes just to have kids for a man who just see them as an object and someone who had no right to talk, think or behave in other way that wasn't as expected.

This book made me feel seen and understood, like I'm not alone, like I'm not wasting my life as I've been thinking since I was like 12 years old, like there is hope for me and I can achieve my dreams, even if that's what they are: dreams.

This is a well written story about generations of women haunted by a creature that feeds from their sorrow and mysery, by crushed dreams and hopes... Gods, I don't even know how to describe this, but it made me feel like I'm not alone. These women are so fucking strong, who stand up and fight, who kept secrets and held their tears for their own privacy, who fought in the Mexican Revolution, who followed her dreams...

In the end, I was crying so bad, and felt like a weight was lift from my shoulders because I found hope and light like I hadn't known before. So, yeah, this is a rec if you like horror, retellings and women of color saying "fuck men", then this one is for you.

Well, well, well, R.F. Kuang, you really surprised me.

First of all, I found this incredible and really informative post of Everything You Need to Know Before You Read "The Poppy War" by R.F. Kuang, which I highly recommend to read before to pick up this trilogy. Also, read the trigger warnings before. They might be helpful!

I started this book last year and didn't finish it before because I haven't bought books 2 and 3 yet, not because this book was boring. Trust me, The Poppy War is anything, except boring.

The Poppy War is a book filled with history and East Asian culture, as Tiffany says in her post. I honestly haven't read The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang. I'm embarrassed to admit that I didn't even know what had happen in China during WWII, and I do like history, but after this, I'm going to pick Iris' book and educate myself on the matter.

The premise of The Poppy War is amazing. It's captivating and for sure you don't expect many of the things that are about to happen.

This isn't a book with romance and a happy ending. Please don't pick it up if you expect romance.

I guess one of the reasons why it took me so long to finish it, beside of not having books 2 and 3, is because it's heavy. There's a lot of history and I had to do some research of some things, and I also took my time reading every chapter... Also, uni is killing me. Please, bear me. It happened the same with The Way of Kings.

Anyway.

There's a lot of rage and hatred. Gods, I can't even start to explain how much I was amazed of Altan's anger or Rin's hatred.

The characters were amazing. Rin, Kitay, Altan, even Nezha, Jiang, etc.

I admire Rebecca's way to tell a story, to make it so powerful, and yet so emotional and raw. And human. I felt Rin's anger and hatred, I wanted to shatter the world after chapters 20 and 21. After everything she saw and experienced. I was shocked and I had to close my book and take a few minutes to put my shit together and stop crying at the brutality that was narrated in those chapters.

Yeah, I read the trigger warnings, but still, once you reach those chapters (especially chapter 21)... I could not think of anything else that the masacre and the brutality, the despair and the anger. Holy shit. I was so pissed off and after some things that I've read of the atrocities committed by the imperial Japanese soldiers in real life.

No. I just coulnd't.

I had to brace myself to keep reading. I admit that I was crying so bad when Venka was telling her story and the story of some other women... It was really hard.

Part I is all fun and games (not fun and games in its entirety, but you get me), and part II and III are the real deal. Despite of reading the synopsis and some reviews without spoilers, I still didn't know what to expect, or what I was really getting into.

However, The Poppy War is now one of my favorite books and Rebecca Kuang one of my favorite authors. To being her debut novel, The Poppy War is brutal, full of rage, hatred, shamanism, death and death. I'm deeply in love with her writing style, with her characters and the way to depict war and human emotions. How humans play with forces beyond their understanding and with powers that they can't dominate entirely.

I kind of hated Nezha at the beginning, but now I need to know if he's okay or I'll se this world on fire.

This is, by far, one of the best books I've ever read.

Also, if I said something that was off, please let me know and I gladly will correct it and educate myself about it.

I can't believe what I just read.

Those 7 words have to summarize how I feel. But not in a bad way! Hell no.

Project Hail Mary it's my very first Andy Weir book, and I'm sure as hell that it won't be the last book that I read.

It's been 2 days since I finished it and I'm still trying to gather my thoughts and write a proper review because I'm speechless.

Ryland Grace is the science teacher that I've always wanted. I would have learned a lot from him and it would have impulsed me to study some science career or even astronomy (which was one of my biggest dreams ever). I'm a nerd as well and this book felt so warm and my heart was really happy while reading it.

Anyways, Ryland Grace wakes up from a coma, findinm himself in a spaceship and that he doesn't remember a single thing. Not even his own name. However, he thinks he's not alone, because two of his crewmates are with him... Only to find out that they're dead. Like very dead. Well, damn, he's alone. In space.

He tries so hard to remember why he's on the spaceship and what's the purpose of this travel... But the answer is not something that he will like.

As he start to remember things, Ryland finds out that he's the only one that can help humanity and Earth to not to die and find a solution to a problem: a bacteria that's eating the Sun's energy. However, he finds that he's not alone in space as he thought.

This book is well written. Is a mix of a bunch of experiments and dark humor at some parts. It's the perfect mix for me!

Andy Weir really surprised me! Sure, I don't know many things about physics or chemistry as I wished, but the more I read, the more I searched some of those things and they made sense. Ryland's passion for science is wonderful. I found myself wishing I could be a scientist too!

I was anxious the whole time, not knowing what was going to happen next, not knowing if Ryland was going to make the Hail Mary explode or if he was going to die in one of his crazy experiments.

I loved the feeling of hope, anxiety, almost dying of several heart attacks, comedy, relief, angst and hope. Hope above all.

This book is something wonderful and brilliant at its best. Andy Weir did an amazing job in here and it's now definitely one of my favorite books ever.

I highly recommend it if you like science, crazy teachers who loves his students and is passioned for what he does, and really weird humor. I totally loved it!