A very Danish book haul

Hello, beautiful people!

Ah, to believe that two weeks ago, I was on the plane to Copenhagen. *sigh dreamily* Like I said in my last post, I traveled to Copenhagen last month and I completely fell in love with that city. I so wanted to remember every second of my time there, and while buying items in souvenirs shops can be fun, I was thinking that I wanted to bring back books that would remind me of Copenhagen and Denmark. I know that when my friend Aseel @ Lights and Pages traveled to Paris last year, she bought several books that reminded her of France, whether it was French literature or books in French. I decided to do that as well, because it's an excellent idea and to present you what I got in this little book haul, because obviously all those books have Denmark in common.

Fairy Tales: A Selection by Hans Christian Andersen

Genres: classics, fairy tales

You've all probably heard of Hans Christian Andersen, even if you don't recall his name: this Danish author is best-known for his fairy tales (he wrote so much more than that though!), such as The Little Mermaid, The Ugly Duckling, The Snow Queen, The Emperor's New Clothes and so many others. He lived in Copenhagen for quite some time, a boulevard was named after him and there is the statue of The Little Mermaid on a waterside at the Langelinie promenade. While my parents read me many of his tales before I went to sleep when I was a little girl, I am so curious to revisit them as an adult and I thought it was the best time to buy them, because I was in Andersen's city after all. I also read a French YA novel* last year that featured Andersen as a character and have been so curious about him ever since, so I really didn't need any excuse anyway.

*For French people, I'm talking about Animale : La Prophétie de la Reine des Neiges by Victor Dixen, that I adore, while I'm not a huge fan of his Phobos series #sorrynotsorry.

The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way to Live Well by Meik Wiking

Genres: non-fiction, psychology, self-help

This book has been all over bookstagram for the past year or so, I've been meaning to get to it for so long, but I don't know, when I bought books I wasn't really thinking about getting that one. However, when I was in Copenhagen, I felt so peaceful and happy, yes it was due to the fact I was traveling with my boyfriend, but more than that, it was the atmosphere of the city. The Little Book of Hygge was written by the CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen, so once again, if I didn't buy it here, when would have I gotten it? Anyway, Denmark is presumably the happiest country in the world and the reason for that is supposed to be hygge, which has been translated as everything from the art of creating intimacy to cosiness of the soul to taking pleasure from the presence of soothing things. This book's purpose is to try to make the reader understand hygge and it seems like quite an interesting concept, so I'm excited to finally discover what it's all about!

The Royal Physician's Visit by Per Olov Enquist

Genre: historical fiction

It's quite interesting that I bought this novel, because it was actually written by a Swedish writer and I got to Sweden right after Copenhagen, so it's pretty much the epitome of my trip. I first heard about this novel because Christine @ Wee Reader read and adored it, if she loves a historical novel, I know I will love it too. It's thanks to her that I discovered Susanna Kearsley after all. Anyway, The Royal Physician's Visit is set in 18th century Denmark, during the reign of Christian VII. His wife, Queen Caroline, fell in love with his most trusted advisor, the court physician Struensee. It also follows the conflict between Struensee, who is introducing Enlightenment ideas in Denmark and Guldberg, the cold-blooded religious fanatic. I so want to know more about Danish history and apparently it's done very well, so I'm looking forward to that. Besides, there is a movie called A Royal Affair with Alicia Vikander and Mads Mikkelsen that also tells this story and I'll be able to watch it right after.

Can you feel my love for Scandinavian countries grow? I sure can.

That's it for my little book haul today, thank you for reading!

Lots of love,

Lucie

Reading wrap-up + Favourites // April 2018

Hello, beautiful people!

I have to say... I am so sad that April is over, because it was one of the best months of the year for me and I was my best self most of the time, I think. April was made of lots of studying, writing my last assignments for uni, attending my last classes, writing so much of my master's thesis (I still have quite a way to go, but still), participating in a 24 hour readathon, figuring out a big piece of myself that had been missing and talking about it, watching Avengers: Infinity War, visiting my boyfriend in Sweden after almost four months of not seeing each other and wandering in Copenhagen and Stockholm together. Oh April, why do you have to go?

W H A T  I  R E A D

I had a great reading month, but if we're being honest, it's mostly due to the 24 hour readathon I participated in, I managed to either read entirely/finish/start four books. Once again, I read from so many different genres and enjoyed all the books that I read, so yay! In total, I also did four buddy reads this month (I'm including my buddy read of Middlemarch in that, even though we're not done yet) and I've been enjoying it more and more.

• Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux, 3/5 stars
• Portrait of a Murderer (e-ARC) by Anne Meredith, 3/5 stars
• The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty, 5/5 stars
• Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young (e-ARC), 3/5 stars
• The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic by Leigh Bardugo, 4.5/5 stars
• To Be Read at Dusk by Charles Dickens, 3.5/5 stars
• Odd & True by Cat Winters, 4/5 stars
• Warcross by Marie Lu, 4/5 stars
• Death in the Clouds by Agatha Christie 4/5 stars
• Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli, 4/5 stars
• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, 4/5 stars

My favourite book of the month was, of course, The City of Brass, which is such an amazing start to a fantasy trilogy. I also adored Leigh Bardugo's The Language of Thorns, it felt so good to be back in the Grishaverse after all this time and her tales were so amazing. For the rest, special mention to Leah on the Offbeat for being the book I needed to read this month and to The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society for being such a "me" book: I can't wait to watch the adaptation, even though it'll only come out in June here!

F A V O U R I T E  B L O G  P O S T S

Cait @ Paper Fury talked about autism rep and recommended books with good representation.

Kelly @ Another Book in the Wall explained why she believed sequels are typically rated higher than their predecessors.

Elise @ The Bookish Actress talked about why she always likes the middle books more.

Sayantani Dasgupta, author of The Serpent's Secret, guest posted @ Chasing Faerytales about folktales and myths.

Marie @ Drizzle & Hurricane Books asked how the hell do you review a book and it was so relatable. She also wrote an amazing review about To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo and I so want to read this book!!

Resh Susan @ The Book Satchel reviewed both The Song of Achilles and Circe by Madeline Miller, it was hands down my favourite review I read this month and I'm so motivated to binge-read the both of them as soon as I get my hands on them!

Me in Nyhavn, Copenhagen

F A V O U R I T E S

TRAVEL // Copenhagen, Denmark

Ten days ago, I was in Copenhagen and completely fell in love with this city. I was with my boyfriend and we walked everywhere, visited the city, castles, museums, ate a lot, it was so amazing. From the very first moments we were there, I started feeling that it was the type of city I could live in. Even though it's a capital, it's not as overwhelming than capitals like Paris or London (I love those cities too, though), it's so peaceful, maybe it's due to the way of living in Denmark, I'm not sure. But it's a city near the sea, when I've always been a sea kind of girl, it's a city where you can actually breathe as there are enough parks and let's be real, it's quite stunning. *sigh* I already miss it so much.

MUSIC // The Phantom of the Opera

The first book I read in April was Gaston Leroux's novel, which inspired the musical and while I definitely wasn't impressed by the novel (the narration wasn't great, but the story amazing), I knew I would fall in love with the musical adaptation... and that's definitely what happened. I know some people don't like it, but I watched the 2004 movie and adored it, and am planning to try to watch the musical on stage next time I'll go to London (it might be a long shot, but still). Depending on the time of the day, I have a different song stuck inside my mind*, even though The Music of the Night is my favourite (it is such a Kylo Ren song, by the way). Falling in love with musicals inspired by French novels is quite a trend with me, I don't mind it for one bit.

*if you caught the reference, here are phantom cookies for you!

Camp NaNoWriMo

I'm in the second year of my master's degree, which means I have to write... A master's thesis! To be more precise, it's my second one because we already had to write one last year. *cue intense crying* I'm not going to lie, it's pretty hard, especially considering how much we're supposed to write, so I decided that to motivate myself to write a huge part of it in April, I would do Camp NaNoWriMo. It was such an amazing experience, as you set your own writing goals and while I couldn't write every day because of my last assignments... or life in general, it was a huge success for me, because I love stats and competing with myself. While I'm not anywhere near done, I wrote so much of it that I know I'm on the right path. I got this. If you're in the middle of exams/big assignments/a master's thesis/anything stressful, you got this too.

PS: I won't talk numbers, because I know that seeing people talking about a number of pages stresses me out and it's probably the case for other persons haha.

Now, let's move on to TV shows, I put them all together, 

because once again, I watched a lot of TV shows!

A Series of Unfortunate Events (Netflix)

Finally, after more of a year of waiting, A Series of Unfortunate Events, adapted from Lemony Snicket's series, which was my favourite as a child (I named one of my family's cats after Violet Baudelaire, after all), returned with its second season. I have to confess that I watch it in French (gasp!), because I watch it with my family and it makes the experience all the better, especially when my 10 y.o. brother starts screaming that Sunny wasn't supposed to walk that early (he's so precious). In any case, once again, Netflix did a stellar job at adapting the novels, I was still as scared as I used to be during The Hostile Hospital, they so captured the aesthetic of the series, it makes me feel so nostalgic. I am eagerly waiting for season 3 next year, because The Carnivorous Carnival ends on such a cliffhanger (I knew it, but still) and I need more.

Everything Sucks! (Netflix)

I screamed a lot about it two weeks ago on social media, because I'm still not okay with the fact that Netlix decided to not renew it for a second season when it's been out for... TWO MONTHS. Everything Sucks! is set in 1996 in the town of Boring, it follows high school life, with all its ups and mostly its downs, it has lots of pop culture references, one of the most diverse cast of characters and the representation is amazing. I wrote an entire blog post about it that will describe it so much better, but I watched the entire thing in one evening because I couldn't stop.

Black Lightning (CW and it's on Netflix)

A few months ago, one of my friends recommended me Black Lightning and I finally got around to watch it (I think I finished it before she did in the end, haha). This show airs on the CW and is based on a DC comics character, but hear me out, for once you don't have to be all caught up with four different shows because there is no crossover (so far), FINALLY (I'm so done with their stupid technique to make me watch their superhero shows, I dropped out of half of them at this point lmao). Anyway, Black Lightning follows Jefferson Pierce, who stopped being the vigilante Black Lightning nine years ago, after seeing the effects it had on his family. However, he is forced to become a vigilante once again when a local gang leads to increased crime and corruption in his community of Freeland. 

In many ways, Black Lightning reminds me of Netflix's Daredevil that I adore too. BUT, one of the things that make Black Lightning particularly amazing is the diversity. Not only are all the main characters black, but it's set in a black community (only two significant characters are white, but they're secondary) and has an openly lesbian character*, Anissa Pierce, which is the best character of the show. It also has amazing family dynamics, the plot is brilliant and we binge-watched the entire thing in three days with my boyfriend, when we've barely watched any TV shows for the past year. It's so good.

*I'm highlighting this even more considering Everything Sucks! had a lesbian character too, but got cancelled and there is so little representation that I needed to point this out even more, okay I'm done ranting.

Last but not least,

The second season of Legion (FOX) is currently airing and if you've been following me for a while, you know that I adore this show (and here is why), which was my favourite of 2017. Sadly, I only had time to watch the first two episodes (which means I'm two episodes behind already, I hate life), but I adore it so far and I can't wait to catch up and continue as it airs for the next few weeks! I'm only half-including it in this because I literally watched two episodes, that's so little, but I LOVE IT ANYWAY. Bye.

L O O K I N G  A H E A D

A new category, to focus on what I'm looking forward to for the next month. Not much in my life, because I'll just be writing my master's thesis, but I will need distractions (and reasons to procrastinate it) at times. 

> There are two movies I'm particularly excited about for May, the first one being The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, because Adam Driver is in it and it will be released in France the day it premieres at the Cannes festival (aka May 19th). Solo: a Star Wars story is also coming out this May and I have a complicated relationship with it, because I am terrified I will be disappointed by it, but I'm starting to form hopes... As it's the only Star Wars content I'll get for a while. Oh Episode IX, come faster, you're already driving me crazy.

> For TV shows, I'm just excited about the second season of Dear White People, which will be released on Netflix this Friday! The first season was so amazing, I hope it'll also be the case for the second one. I am in the mood to start so many TV shows though, it's not great for productivity.

> For books, there aren't a lot I'm specifically looking forward to, but We Are Young by Cat Clarke is coming out this week, I adored Girlhood that I read last year by her, so I want more. As I also need to feed my Star Wars addiction, Most Wanted by Rae Carson, a Solo novel by a YA author, is quite an anticipated release for me. It follows Han and Qi'ra and that's all I know. See, that's what I was talking about, I'm starting to have hopes for Solo, it's not good. *cries*

How did April treat you? What were your favourite books of the month? 

Any new favourite things in general?

Lots of love,

Lucie

Everything Sucks! on Netflix // Currently Watching

Hello, beautiful people!

Yesterday, I started watching Everything Sucks! on Netflix, which is made of ten episodes of about twenty-five minutes. Little did I know I would end up staying up late to binge-watch the whole season, yet, I couldn't stop myself. In the middle of binge-watching it, I learnt that Netflix had announced the show's cancellation last week, when it hadn't even been on their website for two months (I don't get why they did that after two months when they wait forever to renew their shows??). After finishing the first and apparently unique season we'll ever get, I just didn't understand, especially since it was a show so full of hope. Why does Netflix keep cancelling (most of) their diverse shows? *cries forever* Let's hope the social media campain #RenewEverythingSucks will work...

WHAT IS EVERYTHING SUCKS! ABOUT?

It's 1996 in a town called Boring in Oregon (yes, it's a real town), where high school misfits in the AV and drama clubs brave the ups and downs of teenage life in the VHS era. The show mainly follows Luke O'Neil (Jahi Di'Allo Winston), an aspiring filmmaker and Kate Messner (Peyton Kennedy), the principal's daughter figuring out her sexuality, who both come from single-parents households, trying to discover out who they are.

MY THOUGHTS ON THE SHOW

I knew I would end up loving Everything Sucks from the very first minute, when it started talking about the Star Wars prequel movies and how the characters were pretty sure they wouldn't be good. I was born in 1996, so I thought it was a funny reason to watch it: it felt so nostalgic of that time. It was full of pop culture references (from movies to items such as Tamagotchis!) and had an amazing soundtrack (not to be cliché, but Oasis? HELL, YES). It does use '90s clichés, but that's all the fun. Once I finished it, I just wanted to get to the nearest store to dress like the characters (but it might be because I adore Emaline).

It's not the type of show that will necessarily enthral you right in, it took me a couple of episodes for that to actually happen, which is also linked to the fact that there was bullying and homophobic slur (which was the point) at first, it made it a bit hard to watch. Like I've read in some reviews that I agree with on that, the show is a bit all over the place, like teenagers are, so that felt realistic, but because of that, it took me a bit of time. 

THEN

I

FELL

FOR

IT.

Everything Sucks! is a coming-of-age story that felt so authentic: it reminds you how awful high school sometimes was when you weren't popular or things like that, it navigates relationships, heatbreaks, unrequited love, figuring out your sexuality, trying to find your voice and what you love in life. Yes, everything does suck, but that's reality. Yet, it's also so full of hope. It's funny, it's heartfelt, it's relatable. More than that, it has amazing representation and that's why it's even more heartbreaking that it got cancelled.

#RenewEverythingSucks

Keep Everything Sucks

Great storyline? Black male lead? LGBT+ main characters? Dyslexic main character? Talks respectfully about depression/suicide? AMAZING ACTORS?

WHY WOULD YOU TAKE THIS SHOW AWAY????

AND GIVE 13RW A SEASON 2?? IT'S A ONE PART BOOK??

— #SAVEEVERYTHINGSUCKS (@sxnshineinabag) April 10, 2018

(Sorry for the shade thrown on 13 Reasons Why with this tweet, even though I 100% agree with it) 

I adored so many of the storylines, and as all the characters came together in the second half of the season, it became better and better. While some of the secondary characters felt two-dimensional in the first half of the season, they all had their own stories in the second half and I came to care for them all. Most of the characters started off a bit two-dimensional because of the '90s clichés, but then the show went way farther than any '90s TV shows would have gotten away with and that's why it's amazing. It also followed some of the characters' parents and while they didn't have a lot of screen time, I came to root for them as much as for the kids. 

My favourite story arc was without a doubt Kate's, who was coming to terms with the fact that she was a lesbian and I can't say anything without spoiling, but the way they did it felt realistic, especially for the 1990s (the concert scene was amazing, I'm still crying). She's the type of character that everyone can relate to, that's supposed to be YOU and it worked. She's such a teen icon and we need more characters like her on television. The award for best character development goes to Emaline, my personal favourite, she goes from being this arrogant theatre teen to a kinder and more romantic young woman, figuring out how to be her own person, because she needs no man (spoiler alert: the type of character I love the most).

I really love Emaline. UGH I miss her so much already.

Overall, Everything Sucks! isn't a perfect TV show, but it deserves so much more publicity than it got for the past two months. It's nostalgic, authentic and has great representation. I truly couldn't stop watching it, because I was holding on to hope that it would go the way I wanted, it more than did, and if Netflix truly doesn't pick it back up again, I'll never get over it (the only show I feel like that about is Agent Carter and I'm still bitter after two years), because I need more, I want to see my favourite characters grow together. Please, Netflix.

Have you watched this show or do you want to?

What's your favourite TV show at the moment?

Lots of love,

Lucie

Reading wrap-up + Favourites // March 2018

Hello, beautiful people!

I can't believe March is finally over, it was an eventful and tiring month, sometimes amazing, sometimes awful, but that's life, I guess. What I want to remember out of it are moments such as Disneyland Paris, Livre Paris, where I met Victoria Schwab, Marissa Meyer and Diana Gabaldon (!!!), seeing my best friend every week, despite not living in the same city, watching amazing TV shows and helplessly falling in love with books. There were so many positive things happening in March that I hope it will outweight the way I felt most of the time in my future memories.

W H A T  I  R E A D

In March, I decided not to have a monthy TBR anymore and it was such a nice feeling: while I read tons of books during the first ten days of the month, I "only" read four books during the last three weeks of it and I felt so great about it. Reading isn't a competition after all, even though it feels like it at times (I'm mainly the one competing with myself, but still), it was so nice to just take my time with books, for once.

• Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, 5/5 stars
• The Cruel Prince by Holly Black, 4/5 stars
• First Ladies of the Republic: Martha Washington, Abigail Adams and Dolley Maddison, and the Creation of an Iconic American Role by Jeanne E. Abrams (e-ARC), 3.5/5 stars
• The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley, 3/5 stars
• The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher, 4/5 stars
• Renegades by Marissa Meyer, 5/5 stars
• Star Wars: The Last Jedi by Jason Fry, 4.5/5 stars
• The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar, 3.5/5 stars
• Villette by Charlotte Brontë, 2/5 stars
• Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi, 5/5 stars
• Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie, 4/5 stars

I completely fell in love with three books this month, Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, Renegades by Marissa Meyer and Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi, I wouldn't be able to pick a favourite out of these three! I also had my first big disappointment with Villette by Charlotte Brontë, but it was a buddy read and ranting about it to my friend was hilarious and made the experience enjoyable somehow.

F A V O U R I T E  B L O G  P O S T S

Ashleigh @ A Frolic Through Fiction went to Haworth to visit the Brontë Parsonage and she made me want to visit it even more, someday.

Evelina @ Avalinah's Books talked about book smugglers in Lithuania at the end of the 19th century.

Marta @ The Cursed Books explained why blogging might be bad for your reading and what you can do about that.

Elise @ The Bookish Actress talked about the "not-like-other-girls" trope, and why we need more 'unlikable' heroines (her posts are amazing in general though, I can't believe I just discovered her blog!).

My lockscreen, aka one of my favourite Star Wars fanart. 

I found it there, but I'm not sure who the artist is, sadly.

F A V O U R I T E S

TV SHOW // Jane the Virgin

I watched a lot of TV shows that I adored this month, but Jane the Virgin won everything. If you don't know, this one has been on my favourite shows list for a few years now, but I forbid myself to watch it if the season hasn't finished airing yet. Why, you will ask? Because whenever I watch it, I enter the ultimate stage of binge-watching, aka I won't do anything but watch it and it always ends in cliffhangers, so I can't bear to wait each week. I wasn't supposed to watch season 4 just now because of that, but I obviously did. Oops. 

Season 4 is absolutely amazing so far, it's been delivering so many important messages that matter even more to me on a personal level and that's why the binge-watching was even worse than usual. This show always makes me feel better, makes me smile no matter what, it was no different for season 4. I cannot wait to continue watching it week after week, even though it will mean I'll scream every time it ends on a cliffhanger, but oh well. There is no point in forbidding myself to do things that will make me happy. I also love Petra even more than usual, this season. She's the type of character I can't help but love, I have to say that the Petra we've been seeing lately is the best.

TEA // Empress Grey from Marks & Spencer

I was carburating to Jasmine Tea in February, but considering how winter-y the weather still was in March, I needed to drink a more winter-y tea again. As M&S is a loyal friend of mine, I tried this one out from them and adore it, I've been drinking it during breakfast every morning for the past few weeks (it goes very well with porridge, I have to say!). It makes me feel so warm, more comfortable in my own skin on a daily basis and that's what I need from a good tea.

TV SHOW // The Good Place

I finally watched The Good Place and it was one of the best things ever. The Good Place follows Eleanor Shellstrop, who lands in an idyllic afterlife only to discover that she has been mistaken for a very good person. Certain that she lived a bad life and is destined to be sent to hell if she's discovered, Eleanor tries to keep her presence a secret even though it causes disruption to everyone around her. The Good Place is one of those shows that's weird, in a very good way (like Legion*). It's the kind of show that you binge-watch because you want to understand what's going on. I usually need to have a show where an episode is about 20 minutes long on the go, it's perfect for breakfasts or study breaks, I am so glad I had this one in March. It was absolutely hilarious, had such a diverse cast of characters and I cannot wait to watch season 3!

*can you tell that I was rewatching Legion while I was typing this? 

BEAUTY // Green clay masks

Doing face masks has become a weekly tradition for me lately and after trying out several of them, I have settled on green clay masks this month and I adore them. They always make me feel like my skin is all new and clear whenever I'm done with them. They're perfect in my Sunday self-care routing while I'm watching a TV show now. I've started to use more beauty products lately, so stay tuned, maybe I'll have things to say in the future, even though I have no idea about what I'm doing lmao.

MUSIC // Found/Tonight

I don't listen to a lot of new music each month, but this one song was more than enough. Found/Tonight was the March Hamildrop and oh my, nothing can tops this. N O T H I N G. Found/Tonight is a mash-up between You Will Be Found (Dear Evan Hansen) and The Story of Tonight (Hamilton), performed by Ben Platt (the original Evan Hansen) and Lin-Manuel Miranda (the original Alexander Hamilton). A portion of proceeds from the song are going to the #MarchForOurLives initiative. It's simply everything and to quote Evan Hansen, words fail to tell you how much I adore it and how much I listened to it on repeat this month.

TV SHOW // Star Wars: The Clone Wars & Star Wars: Forces of Destinies

I managed to have daily Star Wars content in March and that's everything I ever needed. I started watching The Clone Wars and adore it. Like many people, I'm not the biggest fan of the prequel trilogy (it has its good parts and its... less good parts, shall we say), so I wasn't intending to watch The Clone Wars any time soon, considering it's set between Episodes II & III, but I had to watch it if I wanted to watch Star Wars Rebels, so. Anyhoo, I actually adore it, it's another 20 minutes long show perfect for short breaks and I even came to like Anakin Skywalker at times, which is an improvement. Let's be real, though, Ahsoka Tano is the best character and I love her to pieces. Thanks to my little brother for telling me the first two seasons were on Netflix France, even though my responsabilities weren't as happy about it.

My fierce baby

On the other hand, I watched Star Wars: Forces of Destinies and it's so cute, it's on Disney's YouTube channel, each episode lasts three minutes and mainly follows the female characters of Star Wars (in season 2 there is an episode only focusing on Luke, which I liked, but why??). I watched the episode of Rey and the Porgs five times because I'm ridiculous and would watch anything Star Wars, even if it's supposed to be for kids or something. I can't wait for May, because we'll get the rest of season 2 (more content from The Last Jedi, YES) and Kylo Ren* will appear at some point!

*Did you really think we would get through a monthly wrap-up without mentionning Kylo? Think again. *evil laughter*

What did you read this month? Any new favourite books?

Lots of love,

Lucie

The Radical Element, an anthology edited by Jessica Spotswood // Book review

Hello, beautiful people!

In 2016, I discovered my favourite YA anthology, A Tyranny of Petticoats, a historical fiction and fantasy anthology, which focused on telling the stories of a diverse array of heroines. When I heard that a follow-up project was in the works, I couldn't be more excited about that and had to get my hands on it as soon as possible. Lucky for all of you, The Radical Element is coming out today, and I'm sharing my review with you all to (maybe) convince you to read it. While I'm at it, I have to say that you do not need to read A Tyranny of Petticoats first, it's an amazing anthology, but the two of them are independent (and complementary) and different authors contributed to them.

The Radical Element, an anthology edited by Jessica Spotswood

Authors included: Dahlia Adler, Erin Bowman, Dhonielle Clayton, Sarah Farizan, Mackenzi Lee, Stacey Lee, Anna-Marie McLemore, Meg Medina, Marieke Nijkamp, Megan Sheperd, Jessica Spotswood, Sarvena Tash

Published: March 13th 2018 by Candlewick Press

Genres: short stories, young adult, historical fiction

Number of pages: 320

Goodreads summary: In an anthology of revolution and resistance, a sisterhood of YA writers shines a light on a century and a half of heroines on the margins and in the intersections.

To respect yourself, to love yourself—should not have to be a radical decision. And yet it remains as challenging for an American girl to make today as it was in 1927 on the steps of the Supreme Court. It's a decision that must be faced whether you're balancing on the tightrope of neurodivergence, finding your way as a second-generation immigrant, or facing down American racism even while loving America. And it's the only decision when you've weighed society's expectations and found them wanting. In The Radical Element, twelve of the most talented writers working in young adult literature today tell the stories of the girls of all colors and creeds standing up for themselves and their beliefs—whether that means secretly learning Hebrew in early Savannah, using the family magic to pass as white in 1920s Hollywood, or singing in a feminist punk band in 1980s Boston. And they're asking you to join them.

MY THOUGHTS

Disclaimer: I received this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Reviewing and rating anthologies is usually tricky, because you can't always love all of the short stories they are made of; yet, for The Radical Element, I can say that I enjoyed all of them and that the messages the anthology was trying to get through were executed well.The Radical Element is an empowering read that focuses on young women who didn't fit within the norms of society, who were marginalized and learnt to respect and step up for themselves. 

The short stories manage to make you learn historical details you might not have suspected, especially since the stories of those young women would be stories erased from the records of history. In a way, it puts the stress that history was made as much by women than by men, even though so many of them had to work in the shadows (for that, I'm considering Lady Firebrand, which was one of my favourite stories) and thanks to some of the authors' notes, you might even get recommendations for non-fiction history books on women. 

As I'm more interested in the 19th century than in the 20th century, I have to confess that I loved the short stories set from 1838 to 1927 more, because those are set in time periods that compel me, but that's personal preference and they all were pretty good. My personal favourites were Lady Firebrand by Megan Sheperd, Glamour by Anna-Marie McLemore and Better for all the world by Marieke Nijkamp. Some of them include fantasy elements, which I really loved, considering mixing history and fantasy is one of my favourite things. I discovered several new authors through this anthology and will make sure to check some of their novels out. 

Another thing I loved was that it didn't have a lot of romance, it was sometimes hinted, it was sometimes shown, but it wasn't the focus of the story, it was more about growing on your own. I would have liked to see more f/f romances though, it was hinted once in Step Right Upand there was a f/f romance between secondary characters in Take Me With U, but I wanted a bit more. 

Now, I have to say that if you read the stories one after the other without reading anything else on the side, the endings of most of them must feel a bit repetitive, but it goes along with the main message of this anthology: it's about getting through obstacles that prevent you to be who you are and embracing your difference and that's such an important idea. I believe that this anthology should be read by as many young women as possible, to show them that they got this and that they can dare dreaming and fighting for what they want. 

The representation in this book is fantastic – or that's what I felt, but for that, it's important to check out what #ownvoices reviewers have to say – and quite a few of those short stories were #ownvoices. This anthology is an accurate representation of what it is to be American when you feel like you're not wanted, when you're different from what the norm wants you to be: it tells the stories of women of colour, disabled women, women from different religions. It is an amazing example of the diversity young adult literature has been getting and what it deserves. 

Overall, The Radical Element is one of the best YA anthologies I got to read, alongside A Tyranny of Petticoats which is its close second (it makes sense, considering A Tyranny of Petticoats was edited by Jessica Spotswood and focused on similar themes). It delivers such important messages and might have a lasting impact on young adults who will read it, as its heroines were relatable and might make you want to fight harder to defend what you believe in. 

Individual ratings of the stories: 

• 1838, Savannah, Georgia – Daughter of the Book by Dahlia Adler 4/5 stars 
• 1844, Nauvoo, Illinois – You're a Stranger Here by Mackenzi Lee 3/5 stars 
• 1858, Colorado River, New Mexico Territory – The Magician by Erin Bowman 3.5/5 stars 
• 1863, Charleston, South Caroline – Lady Firebrand by Megan Sheperd5/5 stars 
• 1905, Tulsa, Indian Territory – Step Right Up by Jessica Spotswood 4/5 stars 
• 1923, Los Angeles and the Central Valley, California – Glamour by Anna-Marie McLemore 5/5 stars 
• 1927, Washington, D.C. - Better for all the world by Marieke Nijkamp5/5 stars 
• 1943, Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts – When the moonlight isn't enough by Dhonielle Clayton 3/5 stars 
• 1952, Brooklyn, New York – The Belle of the Ball by Sarvena Tash3.5/5 stars 
• 1955, Oakland, California – Land of the Sweet, Home of the Brave by Stacey Lee 3/5 stars 
• 1972, Queens, New York – The Birth of Susi Go-Go by Meg Medina3.5/5 stars 
• 1984, Boston, Massachusetts – Take Me With U by Sarah Farizan 3.5/5 stars

Are you planning on picking up The Radical Element? 

Which anthologies are your favourites?

Thank you for reading,

Lots of love,

Lucie

My most anticipated releases of 2018 (part 2) // Grabby Hands #10

Hello, beautiful people!

Back in December, I decided to revive my Grabby Hands feature where I talk about all of my most anticipated book releases. I am now doing those posts every three months, which is why today, I'm going to talk to you about my most anticipated releases from April to June; it's the Spring edition, I guess. This isn't the list of all the books I'm anticipating, because it would be too long, but the ones I really need to get my hands on like... Now.

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland - April 3rd

Genres: young adult, historical fiction, fantasy

Dread Nation is an alternate history novel set after the American Civil War... Except there are zombies. Because of the new laws, Afro-American and Native-American children are forced to attend combat schools to put down the dead and it follows a girl who attended one of those schools, returning home when she finds herself in the middle of a conspiracy. I know many people don't like books with zombies and I thought it would be my case until I read Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard (btw, READ IT), that was also historical fiction. I've always wanted to read more novels set during the American Civil War, so the time period interests me, even though it's alternate history, and it seems to focus a lot on oppression as well. I've seen great things about this one, I cannot wait to read it.

Circe by Madeline Miller - April 10th

Genres: fantasy, historical fiction, retelling

Okay, I have to admit that I have yet to read The Song of Achilles, even though I've seen people on bookstagram raving about it. My only excuse is that I need to get the Bloomsbury Modern Classics edition and well... I'm not ready for this book to destroy me, like it did for everyone else. Anyway, I'm quite curious about Circe, which follows the Greek mythology character of the same name, a witch who was banished by Zeus to an island, where her path is intertwined with many important characters: Hermes, Daedalus or even Odysseus. I've heard so many great things about Madeline Miller's writing, I'm so ready to jump into this one!

Last Shot: A Han and Lando Novel by Daniel José Older - April 17th
Genres: science-fiction

It's no secret that I've been completely obsessed with Star Wars ever since Episode VIII came out last December (I already loved Star Wars, but it got so much worse). Last Shot is coming out right before Solo: A Star Wars story and I have to say that I'm really not excited about that movie*, but I added Last Shot on my TBR because I really want to read more Star Wars novels. Apparently, it follows different timelines and as I've always been curious about Han's character, I knew that I wanted to read it, but I didn't need it right this instant, you know? AND THEN. We got an excerpt involving a two years old Ben Solo. BEN SOLO. I adore him so much, he's my ultimate weakness, I need every single piece of information on him. I need to know everything. I'm so obsessed. Maybe it'll help me keep faith until Episode IX is released, but let's be real, I'll just cry every time they talk about him**.

*maybe it will not be as bad as I think? Maybe I'll end up enjoying it? One shall live in hope.

** I'm so sorry, but I'm emotional about him 24/7, I can't be calm when I talk about him, oops.

Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli - April 24th
Genres: young adult, contemporary

A new book by Becky Albertalli is always something to rejoice about. I really enjoyed Simon vs. the Homosapiens Agenda, her debut, but my personal favourite is The Upside of Unrequited. This one follows Leah, Simon's best friend that we met in his novel and as a matter of fact, I don't really know much about it, except that Leah is bisexual. Now that I think about it, if it has Becky's name on the cover, it will most likely be amazing. I know she has sensitivity readers who loved this one, which means the representation must be good.

Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young - April 24th
Genres: young adult, fantasy

Sky in the Deep is Adrienne Young's debut novel and the premise sounds so exciting. It follows Eelyn, who was raised to be a warrior and fights alongside her clansmen in an ancient rivalry against another clan, until they face her brother who was supposed to have died on the battlefield. She is then forced to flee into the mountains, her clan is raided by a ruthless clan supposed to be a legend and to ally herself with someone she doesn't think she can trust. This is a Viking-inspired fantasy novel, I've been looking for Vikings books my entire like. 

The Oddling Prince by Nancy Springer - May 15th
Genres: young adult, fantasy

So anyway, this one is set in Scotland. This is the main reason I need it. I always need books set in Scotland. It involves dark secrets, faeries, royalty, brothers and from the summary, it says that it "explores the darkness of the human heart as well as its unceasing capacity for love", honestly it sounds so good? Now that I've read The Cruel Prince by Holly Black, I know that I need more ruthless faeries in my life (hopefully it'll be like that). Nancy Springer also wrote the Enola Holmes series that I adored as a child, it followed Sherlock Holmes' younger sister, she was one of my heroines, so I'm curious to read another of her novels.

On The Come Up by Angie Thomas - June 5th
Genres: young adult, contemporary

This is another case where seeing Angie Thomas' name is more than enough to make me want to read this book. On The Come Up follows Bri, a young woman who wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time, which comes with a lot of pressure considering her father was an underground rap legend who died before getting his big hit. When her mother unexpectedly loses her job and her family might become homeless, Bri no longer wants to make it, she has to make it. I cannot wait to read another book by Angie Thomas.

A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir - June 12th 2018

The wait is almost over. Finally. The Ember series has been one of my favourite YA fantasy series for such a long time and I can't believe we almost waited two years for the third book. It was for the best, I'm sure of that, but oh, it was excruciating. It's my fault for reading A Torch Against the Night on its release week, because I have no restraint, but oh well. I can't say much considering it's the third book in a series, but I cannot wait to reunite with all the characters and see what will happen next.

A Thousand Beginnings and Endings, anthology edited by Ellen Oh and Elsie Chapman - June 26th 2018

A Thousand Beginnings and Endings is an anthology focusing on reimagining the folklore and mythology of East and South Asia. It has star-crossed lovers, meddling immortals, feigned identities, it involves fairy tales, myths and folklore. I don't know all the authors who are contributing to this anthology, but reading an anthology is also about discovering new authors, right? I'm quite looking forward to reading stories by new-to-me authors, as well as to get some more out of the authors I already know, such as Renee Ahdieh or Julie Kagawa. I've come to really enjoy anthologies, so I hope I'll love this one as well.

Are you excited for any of these books? 

What are your most anticipated releases for April, May and June?

Lots of love,

Lucie