Shopaholic and Sister by Sophie Kinsella

What's the book about?

As you probably know by now, this is a series about a girl with a tiny problem with shopping...and by tiny I mean, this girl should've had her credit cancelled a LONG time ago. Well, Miss Rebecca Bloomwood has gotten married (that was the whole last book) and know is travelling the world for her honeymoon. As any trip, this comes to an end. But going back home proves to be bittersweet for Becky: her best friend has a new friend taking over her place, her husband is no longer the carefree Luke he was while on vacation (shocker) and biggest of all...she now has a sister.

What was the thing I liked the most? 

What I like about this series is how easily readable it is. Is always a fast read, a relaxed one and that's why I had it with me during vacation.

What about the main character?

Becky...she is a very sweet person. She has the best intentions at heart...is just that she doesn't seem to think ahead, which is why very often I want to shake her and tell her what were you thinking?. There is something that is starting to bother me, and is the fact that this is the 4th book in the series and she seems to not have learnt anything about managing her money. I realize that the name of the series is "Shopaholic" BUT you would think she would learn at least a bit, no?. 

The 10% moment

Entertaining as always, Becky is now in Milan, their last stop before going home. We've already read about some questionable choices she has made, buying wise, off course. There is this moment where Luke actually took her wallet away which I found endearing of her to actually think he wouldn't take it.

Final thoughts

In this book the novelty is Jessica, the sister. She is the complete opposite of Becky in the way she handles her money. I liked the fact that she was very conscious of her money, but I would've liked it better if things weren't so black and white between them. A sister that saves yet is aware that having a splurge once in a while is actually good for you? I like my characters with some gradients of personality, not extremes. Also I would've liked it if the story with Suze's new friend would've had a bit more of development. 

This is book makes part of my Sequel Challenge :)

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Before I jump into the review I want to say that this is the first Audiobook I've ever tried, and boy was I happy that I enjoyed it!

What's the book about?

This is a retelling of the fairy tale Cinderella. It has a hint of futuristic Sci-Fi. Linh Cinder is a mechanic and a cyborg. She lost her family when she was very young and was adopted. Unfortunately, her adoptive father die right after the adoption and her adoptive mother is not precisely thrilled of having her. Unlike the original story, she has a good relationship with one of her step-sisters. At the same time, a big epidemic is threatening the Earth: Letumosis, a strange and deathly plague. To make things worse, Queen Levana, the Moon Queen is pushing for Prince Kay to be her husband and eventually become Empress of the Eastern Commonwealth. 

What was the thing I liked the most? 

I don't know if I have mentioned this before, but...I loved Sailor Moon, I watched ALL of the episodes. Well, I would be lying if I didn't mention that I liked the obvious influence that Sailor Moon had in this book. But my favourite thing was the fact that unlike Cinderella and Usagi, Cinder was a strong character. Yes, sure, she had her teenager moments, of course. But she knew how to fend for herself, she didn't seemed helpless to me, and even when things got extremely hard for her, she didn't gave up.

What about the main character?

Cinder, I already mentioned the fact that for me she was a strong character. She was smart and kind. I could've done with a bit less of attitude, but considering her age, I suppose is normal. I guess her "identity" is quite predictable, particularly if like me, you know the Sailor Moon story, but since the book doesn't turn around this part of her story it was ok.

The 10% moment

Cinder has been introduced to Prince Kai, who needs her to fix her android. When she gets home we see the "lovely" interaction she has with her step-mother, or guardian (Linh Adri). We've also met Iko, an android that helps Cinder, and Linh Peony, her step-sister, a teen, very star crushed with the prince, but sweet to Cinder. Also, we've seen the first case of letumosis in the book.

 

Final thoughts

First of all...I hate cliff hangers!!! That's the problem of reading a series that is very recent! Now I want to read the second book but I will have to wait until is available in my library. It will be the physical copy, since the Auidobook is not available. 

I like the book, the characters in general, although not super deep were interesting and had enough on them to keep me guessing about them, except for Cinder off course. I liked the fact that, although SciFi, it wasn't plagued with weird terms, not everything need to sound foreign of high tech for it be SciFi, the fact that the author kept it fairly simple helped for the universe to be consistent with itself. Not everyone can build a huge universe in a first book. 

I've read some people saying that there was not Asian influence whatsoever, and I have to disagree, there is some, not a lot, but is there. Also, people seem to neglect the fact that this is not Earth as we know it now, it was after World War IV so a lot of things had changed, the political divisions have completely changed and that's normal after 2 huge wars.

TSS: Packing books

Hello everyone,

I’m posting a bit earlier today but I have a good reason for it. You see…we are leaving on a trip later today and I want to make sure that everything is left tended. I am very exited to go, it will be my first time in Europe!! And even though the forecast announces a bit of rain, it is all in the positives, compared to the negative temperatures we are still having around here.

Anyway, I’ve been planning this trip for a month now, and I already know what I was going to pack, clothes wise that is. But I spent the last week thinking what exactly should I bring to read. You would think is an easy enough task, but as it turns out is not!

You see, we will be gone for only a week, but is a week full of long flights, long waits at the airport, trains, etc. And you have the fact that it is me we are talking about, so going without at least one book seems ludicrous to me. At the same time, since we are going for a wedding, most of our packing space is dedicated to fancy clothes, and I was told to leave some empty space in my bags since they have at least 4 books for me to bring back.

So you could think that with that my problem is solved, because I will arrive and there will be books waiting for me, right? Wrong! First of all, we won’t see the family until the third day of travelling which means a plane and a train in between, not to mention the inevitable waiting time, since they make me arrive super early to the airport to check that all my documents are in order (the perks of being a Colombian, sigh).

And then you can tell me, yeah, but you have a new e-reader, don’t you? You can “pack”  a bunch of books in that thing…true, very true, but which ones? I guess by now you have realized I am a huge over thinker to say the least.

At the same time that this was going on in my head, I happened to open my new account with OverDrive at my local library trying to get a copy of Dark Paces since I loved SharpObjects, something you probably already know with my review. Turns out they have tons of books both on EPUB versions and Audio. Now, I have never tried and audio book before since I always felt that unless I wasn’t doing anything else (quite rare in my life) I wouldn’t actually get the whole book, it would be like skimming it. But this is the perfect opportunity to give it a try, on the plane, listening to a book instead of the movie. I took out Cinder. I’ was curious about this one for a while, so two birds, one stone…well, one iPod, but never mind that.

Finally, along with my first audio book ever (I started it just to see if I liked the voice) I also got all the Beautiful Creatures books and the second and third book of Master Li and Ten Ox series.  All of them light, fun simple reads that seemed appropriate to me for vacation reading.

What about you, how do you choose what to read on a trip? Do you always pack a back-up book?

Sharp Object by Gillian Flynn

What's the book about?

Camille Preaker is a journalist living in Chicago. When a second girl is murder in her hometown, Wind Gap Missouri, her editor prompts her to go back to cover the story thinking this might be a big break for the paper. Camille isn't really looking forward it. A bad relationship with her mother, a bunch of memories that she has spent a lifetime trying to forget and a town to small to let her completely succeed at it. While trying to unveil the mystery a lot of the pain she left behind comes back to haunt her.  

What was the thing I liked the most? 

I love a good thriller. I just love it. It's been almost 6 months since I read The Ice princess which I loved and this one hit right on the same spot.  The characters built up smoothly but intriguingly enough to keep me interested. I have to tell you at a certain point I was sure I would give a 4 for this book and then it had a twist I did not see coming, which is way it gained its final star. 

What about the main character?

Camille is not a hero that is for sure. She is the protagonist but she is broken in so many pieces is impossible to count. Funny enough she is stable enough to guide us through the story. She can talk about herself and her past as if she was talking about someone else, with such detachment that I needed her to say that she was talking about herself before I realized it was the case. She has the worst relationship with her mother you can imagine and its from this ill relationship that all her issues come from. 

The 10% moment

Camille has left Chicago and although she could’ve arrived immediately to Wind Gap she stays in a motel to get “ one more night”  before facing her mother. The next day, she even does an interview before going to her mother’s place. Then and only then she will notify her mother that she is planning to stay with them. It is pretty obvious that they are not in the best terms possible. Some clues as to what the abductions of the girls were like are given, but a sense of mystery hangs in the air. 

Final thoughts

Wow, just wow. I had 50 pages to go and I realized it was midnight between Sunday and Monday. I knew I had to go to sleep but I just couldn't help myself I wanted to know what happened at the end. At the same time I was afraid of continuing because I kept telling myself this cannot get more twisted right, and then off course it did. I confirmed it was a good book when the next day the first thing that came into my head was the book. Everyone is full of issues in the book, but you keep saying it can't be that bad...oh but it is!. It was a great debut novel if you ask me, and I'm already in queue for the author's second book Dark Places