Fuss, Cuss & Discuss: Age gaps in books & why some people’s reactions confuse & amuse me

Hey there my lovelies!

It’s about time to implement my New Year’s resolutions and to start with my discussion posts! My last one was in September 2019 so shame on me for taking so long! *lol* Anyway, let’s not dwell on the past but rather focus on the future of my „Fuss, Cuss & Discuss“ post. 😉

I’ve been a member on goodreads for about 2 1/2 years now and there’s a topic that always returns and comes up again: Age gaps between book characters! Now the first thing you’ve to know about me is that my hubby and I have an age difference of about 9 years. Neither of us sees this as problematic and in all honesty when you reach a certain age and both of your lives head in the same direction, it actually isn’t an issue anymore.

So let’s explain my stance on age gaps and when they should be considered problematic (well at least in my opinion):

• 12 year old girl and 16 year old boy: NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! That would be so, so, so soooo damn wrong I can’t even!!! They are both at completely different stages of their lives. Their age gap might only be 4 years but at that age this makes all the difference!!!
• 20 year old girl and 26 year old girl/boy (let’s get a little bit of diversity into this 😉 ): Yes, go for it! They are both adults and they (supposedly) know what they want from life. (I have to mention that in Austria you’re an adult when you’re 18. At that age you’re allowed to drive, to drink and to marry. I’m aware that it’s different in other countries, hence the short digression. XD)
• 40 year old man and 60 year old woman/man: Well, they are old enough to know that their partner could be their own kid, but if they love each other and want the same thing, who am I to judge?

Well, that’s my opinion about age gaps in a nutshell. Still, in the bookish world there are more interesting things that can happen and it never ceases to amaze me how people think of them. One of the most interesting things are age gaps in YA and fantasy books. Why are they so interesting? Well, because in all honesty the way people react to those age gaps is amusing and sometimes, yes, I admit it, outright hilarious! *lol*

Want an example?

Okay, let’s go with „Throne of Glass“ here because this actually made me smirk when I read it. Warning: This is going to be spoilery so if you didn’t read the „Throne of Glass“ series or „Twilight“ yet, you better don’t continue to read! Fair warning, you still got time to leave this page! 😉

Are you ready?

So , in „Throne of Glass“ we have our MC Celaena Sardothien and at one point in the series we reach a moment where it’s mentioned that her former mentor and King of the Assassins Arobynn Hamel loved her and that she was intrigued by him too. At that moment in the series Celaena is about 17 or 18 and Arobynn is 38? Imagine the reactions of the people who read this! „Ewww“ and „This age gap is nauseous!“ were rather mild reactions. And okay, I admit it, that’s an age gap that wouldn’t be okay for me too, but then you always have to see things from the right perspective because and now comes the part where I couldn’t help but laugh:

People found it completely intolerable that Celaena and Arobynn had feelings for each other, but they were totally okay with the Celaena/Rowan ship! Which gets one big fat *LOL* from me! You wonder why? Well, because dear Prince Rowan Whitethorn might look like a 17 year old teenager but is actually 350+ years old! Funny just because he looks like a 17 year old teen it’s okay for them to be together? Let’s be real here: He’s about 312 years older than Arobynn and about 332 years older than Celaena! So if you ask me that’s a really unacceptable age gap. The about 20 years between Arobynn and Celeana are peanuts in comparison. *lol* Not that I don’t ship them, I’m all for the Celaena/Rowan ship but why do people think to ship them is totally okay and to ship her with Arobynn is wrong? From the age perspective it makes absolutely no sense.

The same thing could be used for „Twilight“ as well. I mean Bella is what? 17? And Edward is 100 years old? If you break it down to the basics Edward is a 100 year old creeper that watches a 17 year old girl while she sleeps! *lol* Yet everyone is riled up about the age gap between Bella and Jacob. Because, OH MY, Jacob is 15 and 2 years younger than Bella! The mere idea is so horrible, I can’t even! (notice the sarcasm in here! 😛 )

You can blame me for shipping Bella with Jacob but quite honestly if it comes to the age difference, those two are harmless in comparison to the Bella/Edward ship! XD Just saying!

And with that I’ve reached the end of my „Fuss, Cuss & Discuss“ post. There are like about a gazillion of other examples I could have used as well, but I’ll just leave it at that. I think after reading those two you already get the idea. 😉

So what do you say? Huge age gaps between the MCs of a book: YAY or NAY? Does it depend on the book genre? Would you be okay with a 15 years age gap between a faerie and a human? Would you see it differently if it would be a 15 year difference between the MCs of a contemporary book? Why is it okay in fantasy books? What’s your stance on age gaps in general?

Let’s fuss, cuss and discuss! 😛

*hugs’n’kisses*

The Sassy Library Fox

January Wrap-Up

I guess January was a fairly normal reading month for me. Five to six books seems to be my normal amount per month so I can’t complain. I feel like I was super lazy though. *lol* I recently discovered the series „Lucifer“ at the library and since they have the first three seasons I decided to borrow them from there. (Yeah, I don’t have Amazon prime if that’s what you were thinking. XD)

So a lot of my usual reading time actually went into watching „Lucifer“ instead of reading the hell out of my books. (With a kid you only have limited free time and you’ve to choose wisely how you spend it. ;P) Thus less time for reading. >_<

Apparently I still got some reading done (mostly at night) and here I am with my 6 January books. (Something tells me February will be even worse because it’s a much shorter month…) Also can someone tell me that I finally need to get my „Nevernight“ groove on!? With all those library books that need to be read I didn’t pick it up for ages, which is bad because I actually liked the beginning.

Anyway, let’s stop complaining and head to my statistic! 😉

Books read: 6

Pages read:  1.903 (6 books and 1.903 pages is actually a pretty decent start for 2020! 😀 )

Average rating: 4 (Funny, I think I never had an even number without a decimal before. *lol*)

Books that were on my reading list:  3 (2 from 2019 and 1 from 2020! Yes, you read right!! I actually already read one of the books that’s on my 2020 list!! XD I’ll rock this list!! I’m sure of it! XD)

January Reads:

       

       

Stealing the Wind:

Don’t judge me! I barely read any smut last year so I kind of craved it at the beginning of 2020. *lol* And as smut goes this was actually a pretty fine book. „Stealing the Wind“ was the first book in an m/m mermen series and I was surprised about the focus on the plot. The beginning was rather strange but once the story accelerated I found myself enjoying this immensely. So if you ever wondered how mermen do the nasty live together this might answer your questions… thoroughly! 😛

One Day in December:

This book was such a surprise!!! It was on My Book List 2019 because someone recommended it to me last year and I can’t thank that person enough! This was such a sweet love story. Yes, there were some things I wasn’t okay with but the issues were addressed (which is more than I can say for other books) and the ending was absolutely beautiful and perfect! If you want to read more about this book you can do it here!

The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy:

I absolutely loved this! Feminism, strong women, decent reps, mystery, dragons, adventure… the list of what this book had to offer is long! 😉 It might have been a brick of a book but buy was it fun to read it. Also Monty and Percy had a cameo and they are still as adorable as they were in „The Gentleman’s Guide“! I can’t wait to read book 3! XD

Green but for a Season:

It was about time I tackled this short story. I always wondered how Aimeric and Jord ended up together, but unfortunately this book didn’t really deliver what I hoped for. Their love story was only a small part of the storyline and this just wasn’t enough for me. On the positive side, this had a lot of info about young Laurent and how he became the person he is in „Captive Prince“. So there’s that!

The Upside of Unrequited:

This was a typical Becky Albertalli book and it definitely made me feel all the fluffy feels. ❤ There were some things I didn’t like about the book though so it actually got 3,5 paws rounded up to four. If you want to read more about my issues with „The Upside of Unrequited“ you can do it here.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban:

Harry Potter! Do I have to say more? *lol* Once again I was amazed by all the details I missed when I read it for the first time. There are so many things that make sense now! Also Lupin is the best DADA teacher they ever had and I love him to bits and pieces! Plus I realized that „Movie Snape“ and „Book Snape“ are two very different people! And if you ask me „Book Snape“ just can’t be redeemed! There I said it! XD

How was your January? Did you read awesome books and if yes, what was your favourite? Which series are you addicted to? Did you watch „Lucifer“ too and what did you think of it?

Talk to me and let me know!

*hugs’n’kisses*

The Sassy Library Fox

December Wrap-Up

Who am I? And how did I manage to read 8 books in December? They weren’t even short ones because most of them had between 280 and 480 pages! I guess the holidays might have given me time to finish some of the books I already started in November. Well, at least that’s the only explanation I can come up with. *lol*

December wasn’t just a great month when it came to books though. All those family gatherings left us with a full stomach and after some of them it would have been great if we could have just „rolled“ back home. XD My family is fun like that! Haha!

Last month might have been a busy one regarding work but since I was lucky enough to get two weeks off during the holidays I actually managed to recover from the stress. So there’s that! And now, without further ado, let’s head to my statistic! 😉

Books read: 8

Pages read:  2.680 (Woah, I was quite on a roll in December, wasn’t I? I think I didn’t read that many pages in any of the other months.)

Average rating: 3,88 (So many 4 star reads! XD)

Books that were on my reading list:  4 (2 from 2018 and 2 from 2019. And here I read so many books in December but still not even half of those that were on my lists… somethings gotta change in 2020! *lol*)

December Reads: 

    

   

 

They Both Die at the End:

This book broke my heart! Rufus and Mateo were so perfect for each other but urgh Adam Silvera had no mercy with my poor soul! >_< I loved the promise of the book and the idea of a world in which everyone knows the day on which they die caused me to have some serious thoughts. Amazing read and highly recommended! Keep your tissues at hand though!

Flame in the Mist:

2019 officially turned out to be the year of retellings and I’m glad I read so many of them. „Flame in the Mist“ definitely was a great one and I enjoyed it immensely! I was so intrigued by Ranmaru and Okami that I couldn’t help but be totally engrossed in the story! Plus the ending! ARGH! I need to read book two soon!

Essenz der Götter:

Now that was a book from an unknown Austrian author that lives close to my town. *lol* I didn’t read a German book for ages so it took me quite a while to get into it and to be entirely honest I had issues with the genre. I expected a young adult fantasy book and in the end it turned out to be a romance. So if you read it as the romance it’s supposed to be this was actually a good read. Just don’t go into it thinking it’s fantasy! 😉

Circe:

I absolutely adored this! I always was a huge fan of the Odyssey and Odysseus himself so I already knew about „Circe“ when I started to read the book. Still, this was an amazing read and Madeline Miller once again nailed it! I swear when it comes to Greek mythology she’s my go to person! (or author in that case! *lol*) If you want to read my full review you can do it here!

Death Masks:

Book five of the Harry Dresden Files and I’m still not tired of our awesome wizard! 😉 This time around our hero has to face not only a Red Court member but also his ex-gf and a handful of demons that want to get a grip on „The Shroud“. Yes, the one and only! So there’s a lot of trouble brewing in Chicago and of course Harry’s once again right smack in the middle of it! 😛

Into the Between:

Now this book was a total surprise! Anna Webb offered it to me as a review copy and since it’s been on my goodreads TBR for two years I couldn’t say „no“ to such an offer! When I started to read „Into the Between“ I never thought that I’d end up loving it so much, but the longer I read the more questions I had and the mystery of it all kept me reading until the very last page. I even bought a copy of the second book now because seriously, I NEED ANSWERS!!! Yep, that’s how much I loved it! ❤ If you’re interested you can read my goodreads review here!

Cinder:

Definitely one of the best books I read this month! ❤ I loved everything about it! The Star Wars vibes, the fairy tale atmosphere! It was just great and I couldn’t get enough of it! Prince Kai was an adorable love interest and Cinder one of the coolest, down-to-earth heroines ever! I still don’t get how she managed to keep her hands off of him because let’s face it, I would have been all over him in a heartbeat! *lol*

Glitches:

After finishing „Cinder“ I just wanted to know a little bit more about her time before she came to Adri and her family. So I decided to read this short story and it kind of helped me to understand her relationship with Peony and Garan. If you’re looking for a short addition to the main story this is a really nice and fast read. 🙂

This said: How was your December? Did you get a lot of reading done? Were you busy with family gatherins as well? Did you eat too much and what’s your typical holiday meal? XD What was your favourite book in December?

Talk to me and let me know!

*hugs’n’kisses*

The Sassy Library Fox

My Book List 2020

Hey there my lovelies! =)

In my „Preparing my Book List 2020 & The “How many books of my TBR 2019 can I pack into the last 4 weeks of the year” challenge. ;-P“ blog post I mentioned that I would try to read 40 books this year and that there were only 33 on my list so far. I asked you for recommendations to fill in those last seven blank spots and boy did I get many awesome suggestions! XD

In fact it were so many that I made a bowl with all of them and blindly pulled out seven of them! *lol* Thank you so much for participating! I really appreciate all the time and effort you put into your answers and I hope you’ll find your recommendation at the end of the following list! ❤

So here I go:

1.) Ninth House – Leigh Bardugo

2.) The Priory of the Orange Tree – Samantha Shannon

3.) The Upside of Unrequited – Becky Albertalli

4.) This Savage Song – Victoria Schwab

5.) The Starless Sea – Erin Morgenstern

6.) House of Salt and Sorrows – Erin A. Craig

7.) Wayward Son – Rainbow Rowell

8.) Call Down the Hawk – Maggie Stiefvater

9.) The Wicked King – Holly Black

10.) Stalking Jack the Ripper – Kerri Maniscalco

11.) A Curse So Dark and Lonely – Brigid Kemmerer

12.) The Wise Man’s Fear – Patrick Rothfuss

13.) Aurora Rising – Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

14.) The Dragon Republic – R.F. Kuang

15.) The Foxhole Court – Nora Sakavic

16.) Serpent & Dove – Shelby Mahurin

17.) And I Darken – Kiersten White

18.) Iron Gold – Pierce Brown

19.) Evenfall – Ais

20.) The Language of Thorns – Leigh Bardugo

21.) Scythe – Neal Shusterman

22.) The Final Empire – Brandon Sanderson

23.) Red Seas Under Red Skies – Scott Lynch

24.) Ghosts of the Shadow Market – Cassandra Clare

25.) Chain of Gold – Cassandra Clare (release date: March 3rd)

26.) Ship of Magic – Robin Hobb

27.) I Wish You All the Best – Mason Deaver (release date: May 5th)

28.) Imagine Me – Tahereh Mafi (release date: March 31st)

29.) Vengeful – V.E. Schwab

30.) Wicked Lovely – Melissa Marr (re-read)

31.) Furies of Calderon – Jim Butcher (re-read)

32.) Broken Throne – Victoria Aveyard

33.) The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (release date: May 19th)

34.) Uprooted – Naomi Novik

35.) Radiance – Grace Draven

36.) Ruby Red – Kerstin Gier

37.) The Coffin Maker – Breeann Allison

38.) Frogkisser – Garth Nix

39.) Sword of Kaigen – M.L. Wang (I actually pulled it out, Hamad!!! *lol*)

40.) Old Magic – Marianne Curley

I’m really looking forward to read all of those books and I hope that by the end of the year I will have ticked them off my list. Considering it all, I wasn’t doing all that bad with My Book List 2019 and I’m pretty sure that I’ll continue to scratch out the remaining books of my old list in 2020. 😉 To post it on here definitely helped me to read the books I planned to read and it kind of forced me to keep to some sort of reading schedule. (Which is definitely a good thing when it comes to me. *lol*)

Anyway! What about you? Did you already read some of the books on my list or are you planning to read them in near future? How many books do you want to read in 2020? Are you looking forward to some of those new releases too? Let me know!

*hugs’n’kisses*

The Sassy Library Fox

Top 15 of my bookish 2019 – The Awesome, The Meagre & The Series

Hey there my lovelies!

The old year is coming to an end (pretty soon I might add) and since this worked out so nicely last year I thought I might give you another round of „The Awesome, The Meagre & The Series“! Considering that my reading goal was pretty low this year and that I only set it on 40 books, I was surprised to realize that it ended up being 80. (YES, I actually made it to 80!!! XD) And just like last year I thought that I read no horrible books until I took a closer look at my list and noticed that there were actually a few that got a pretty low rating from me. *lol*

Anyway here’s a short summary of my reading year 2019! Read about „The Awesome, The Meagre & The Series“! 😛

I hope you’ll enjoy it!

The Awesome:

– Red, White & Royal Blue:

This book was pure fluff and definitely the biggest surprise of this year! (Well, at least for me it was! XD) So many people wrote great reviews about it and this only caused me to crave it even more! At the end I wanted to read it so badly that it almost hurt! lol* I’m so glad I eventually managed to get to it because even though I had problems to get into the writing style at first, I still wouldn’t have wanted to miss out on this! ❤ Alex and Henry were pure MAGIC & LOVE!!! This book gave me so much hope and I’m so glad Casey McQuiston wrote it! If you want to read my in depth review you can do it here!

– The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo:

I loved Evelyn Hugo and the way her story was told! This woman was amazing and I could totally imagine her as a real and famous person! All the press clippings made this seem even more real and I was completely taken by her story! By the end of the book it felt like Evelyn Hugo actually lived and my feelings were all over the place! ❤

– Vicious:

V.E. Schwab definitely was my personal revelation of 2019. I loved „Vicious“ so much!!! The cat-and-mouse game between Victor and Eli gave me life and the fact that neither of them wanted to give up because they both thought they were right made this even more intriguing! But who was the actual villain? I’m still puzzling over this question, and I’m still not sure what the right answer is. *lol*

– The Cruel Prince:

I have no idea why I waited so long to read this! Like seriously, what’s wrong with me? Maybe I already knew that I’d love it! I mean there are cruel and cunning faeries in this and everyone is plotting and scheming so what’s not to love? *lol* Plus FAERIES!!! I love to read stories about my own kind. 😛

– We Are Okay:

I never thought I’d end up loving this book so much but this was one hell of an amazing read! The way Nina LaCour described grief was so tangible and real that you could feel it through the pages! „We Are Okay“ had a tough topic but it dealt with it in a gentle and beautiful way and I couldn’t help but adore it! ❤

The Meagre:

– Grace and Fury:

What can I say about „Grace and Fury“? Well, I really didn’t enjoy that one. There were way too many series and book tropes mixed into one and the more I read the more it felt like I was reading something already familiar. When I go into a book I just want to be surprised, I’ve nothing against a few tropes if they are done well, but they just didn’t work out for me in this one. I’m sorry to say it, but this just wasn’t for me.

– Leah on the Offbeat:

Urgh. This was another one of my disappointments this year. I was really looking forward to read this but when I actually got to it I had to realize that I didn’t enjoy it as much as I’d hoped I would. I didn’t get warm with Leah and I missed all the fluff that was „Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda“. Plus the bi-rep. *shakes head* Let’s just say I wasn’t very happy with it.

– Anna and the French Kiss:

I liked the first 50% of the book but after that it got really frustrating and I just couldn’t. The characters and their situation didn’t feel right for me so I couldn’t give this more than 3 paws. I don’t want to spoil anything in here but I was not okay with the way the love story developed and even though I’m pretty sure that a lot of people love this book all I can say is „I guess it just wasn’t for me.“ >_<

– Genuine Fraud:

How to put it nicely without hurting E. Lockhart’s feelings? *lol* Well, let’s just say I loved „We Were Liars“ and I was more than just a little bit disappointed by this one. I still don’t know where Lockhart wanted to go with it and if we’re already „genuine“ I have to admit that nothing in this book made sense to me. XD Sorry, but that was a clear „no“ from me.

– VOX:

If 2019 taught me anything then it’s the fact that I better keep my greedy hands from dystopian science fiction books. *lol* No matter if it was „VOX““ or „The Power“ the injustice in those books always made me angry and I just can’t read them without being upset afterwards. XD So I figured I better avoid that genre for a while. Might help to put things into perpective.

The Series:

– The Illuminae Files:

Everyone who’s watched my progress with this series was bound to notice that I kind of devoured those books! *lol* I started to read „Illuminae“ in February and I never stopped. XD This was so, so, so damn good!!! I just loved everything about this series and the twists and turns had my head spinning and my mind reeling! This was nothing but amazing! ❤

– The Lies of Locke Lamora:

When I started to read this I never thought I’d end up enjoying it so much, but Locke and his band of bastards swept me off my feet and I became attached to each and every one of them. Locke’s mind and his noble thief attitude? Adorable and so very intriguing! I can’t wait to dive into „Red Seas Under Red Skies“ next year! I’m so ready for this! 😀

– A Court of Thorns and Roses:

This was a reread but if anything I loved it even more the second time around! There were so many details I missed when I paged through the series about two years ago and I really appreciated those little bits and pieces. Plus I fell in love with Lucien all over again! I just love that man! Yes, Rhys is awesome too, but Lucien owns my heart!!! ❤

– The Poppy War:

This book was just… well WOW! I didn’t read such a great fantasy book for quite a while and R.F. Kuang has all my respect for pulling this off. Still, there were quite some tough topics in this one and it certainly was no easy read. So if you want to read it I can totally recommend it, be careful and aware of all those triggers though. 😉

– Kingdom of Ash (Throne of Glass Series):

I started this series in 2017 and I finished it at the beginning of 2019. Considering there were 7 books (8 if you count „The Assassin’s Blade“) this was quite a feat! And so damn worth it!!! „Kingdom of Ash“ was such a great finale that I still didn’t finish writing my review! *lol* I hoped that I’d manage to write it until the end of the year but as it seems it will hit my blog in January. (Holiday Hiatus what did you do? XD) For now all you need to know is that I loved it! 😛

So this was my year 2019 in 15 books! How was your 2019? Was it a successful reading year? Did you manage to read all the books you wanted to read? Are there some you’ll take into the next year? Were you disappointed or surprised? Let me know in the comments! 😉

This said I wish you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR and I hope that your 2020 will be amazing!!! ❤

*hugs’n’kisses*

The Sassy Library Fox

November Wrap-Up

Well, I guess it’s no surprise that I didn’t get as much reading done as I wanted to in November, but as you already know two of my wisdom teeth got removed. Which was really no fun! I had the operation two weeks ago and it’s still kinda hard to chew so I hope it will get better until Christmas because it would be a shame to miss out on all the awesome food! XD

I still have about two weeks left until the holidays start, so I think I should be fine by then. 😀 (Always optimistic! 😛 ) Of course last month wasn’t any better when it came to illnesses and my reading schedule, considering all the trouble we went through I’m pretty happy about the 5 books I was able to read though. (I have no idea how I even managed to do this, but I won’t complain. *lol*)

And last but not least I started with my „How many books of my TBR 2019 can I pack into the last 4 weeks of the year“ challenge! (As it seems not all too many. XD) But the year isn’t over yet! 😉 Plus if you have any book recommendations don’t hesitate to send them my way. There are still 7 spots left on „My Book List 2020“ and I want to fill them with YOUR favourites! I already got a lot of suggestions but I decided to wait a little longer until I pull them from my bowl! I know we’re all busy and I wanted to make sure that everyone got a chance to take part in it. 😉

This said let’s finally get to my statistic!

Books read: 5

Pages read:  1.467 (Considering the hell this month was it’s actually pretty amazing that I managed to read all those pages! *lol*)

Average rating: 4 (There was one book I rated 2 stars and apparently that sets down the entire rating. XD)

Books that were on my reading list:  2 (2 from 2018 and none from 2019, Jeez! What did I do??)

November Reads: 

   

 

We Are Okay:

This was definitely an unexpected 5 paws read! I never thought I’d love this book so much but the way this was written was just perfect. I loved how Nina LaCour captured the atmosphere and the feelings of Marin, how she was able to convey that profound sense of loss. Just amazing! ❤ If you want to read my full review you can do it here!

Batman: Nightwalker:

This was a really nice book to read in between. I kinda enjoyed the approach of Batman as a teen and it was nice to see not only the gloomy side of him but also the friendly one. I mean if you’re familiar with Batman you know that he’s portrayed as either the elusive rich ladies‘ man or the embittered misanthrope. Still, before he became Batman he was a teen like everyone else and I was glad that the book was able to convey that! XD Also: The mind games!!! ❤ Do I even have to say more? *lol*

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets:

Ahh it’s so good to reread this series! 😀 I should have done this ages ago but for some reason I always read new books instead of HP! Well, I don’t regret that I started with my reread and I’m already looking forward to read „The Prisoner of Azkaban“. And let me tell you this: The foreboding in those books isn’t only real but also overwhelming!!! There are so many details I didn’t notice when I read it for the first time! ❤

Grace and Fury:

Okay, „Grace and Fury“ was one of the few books that actually only got two paws from me and if you know me, you also know that it’s pretty rare for me to give such a low rating. So what happened? Too many tropes, too many similarities to other already well known series, a predictable plot and unpersuasive characters. You name it! If you actually want to read more about the many reasons why I didn’t like this book, you can read my rant here! *lol*

The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein:

And here’s another book that surprised me. In a good way of course. 😉 Mara recommended it to me at the beginning of October and I decided to give it a shot. And tell you what? This was one of the best retellings I ever read. I loved how Kiersten White wrote this and yes, this was kinda dark but I lived and breathed for it. XD All told „The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein“ was a great Halloween read for scaredy cats like me and I can totally recommend it! 🙂

So how was your November? Did you get a lot of reading done? Were you busy with other things? What was your favourite book? Do you have any book recommendations for „My Book List 2020“?

Talk to me and let me know!

*hugs’n’kisses*

The Sassy Library Fox

October Wrap-Up

I actually thought that October would be a horrible reading month for me but judging by the figures I was way better off than I initially though. Which is kind of crazy if you think about all the action I had in October. >_<

My little one a had very severe otitis media and such a high temperature that I was worried sick! She even had to take antibiotics for a week and for a few horrible hours we thought that she might have to stay in hospital! Thankfully the medicine kicked in and she recovered rather quickly. Which was basically the only good news I received throughout all of October.

Well, that and the Frankfurt Book Fair. Of course, there was a series of mishaps while we spent our time in Frankfurt, but in general we had a really nice stay. XD To travel with me is always rather chaotic and I guess my bestie just figured that out too. *lol* (Seriously, from malfunctioning elevators and room cards up to a bus that never showed up and a map that mislead us basically everything was represented. *shakes head*)

Despite the odds everything turned out kind of okay at the end of October though. Well, for October at least. I’m here typing this at the beginning of November with an inflammation of two of my wisdom teeth and a laryngitis on top of it. And before you ask: No, I can’t talk right now! I feel like Arielle! Completely and utterly voiceless! >_<

Fortunately I can still write which is basically the only thing that keeps me sane right now. That and the knowledge that I’ll get my wisdom teeth removed at the end of November which might once again affect my reading schedule. But enough of all that horrible news! Let’s think about good things like my statistic for this month! 😉

Books read: 6

Pages read:  2.701 (As it seems I finally managed to get my Netflix addiction under control and therefore read really long books! *lol*)

Average rating: 4,17 (Even more picky than last month! :P)

Books that were on my reading list:  4 (1 from 2018 and 3 from 2019)

October Reads:

       

       

The Cruel Prince:

I loved this book so much! ❤ If you want to know how real faeries are done, search no more! You found the right book! Ruthless, cunning, cruel and wicked are the words that describe it best! 😉 This was definitely my favourite read of October and the only book that got five paws from me! So yes, the hype is real! If you want to know more about „The Cruel Prince“ you can read my full review here!

Crazy Rich Asians:

I really enjoyed this one even though there were moments I couldn’t believe what I was reading. Like seriously! The people in this book are filthy rich and how they spend their money is just crazy, but then again the book is called „Crazy Rich Asians“ for a reason. *lol* To be honest, I didn’t like about 75% of the characters in this book but the other 25% were so nice that they made up for it. XD

What If It’s Us:

This book was so great because it was realistic! If you want a fluffy and sweet romance this might be the wrong story for you. Ben and Arthur’s love story is very honest, a little bit sweet and most of all very relatable. They fall in love, they struggle, they try to make it work and they deal with their problems and insecurities. I really appreciated „What If It’s Us“ because it was so mature and unique. 🙂

The Titan’s Curse:

Uncle Rick did it once again! XD I love his books because they are always entertaining and a lot of fun! This book was way darker than the first two though and I’m pretty sure that it will only get even darker from now on. It’s like with the HP series, the older the characters get, the more serious the books become. Still, I love Percy and his defiance! Give me more! ❤

The Stickman’s Legacy:

Now that was quite a read! *lol* One of the longest books I finished this month and a very interesting one at that! I might have had some issues with the pacing but overall I really enjoyed it. If you want to read my detailed and very confusing review you can do it here!

The Poppy War:

I’ve been warned that this book would be tough to read but no warning could have ever prepared me for the last third of „The Poppy War“, because damn there happened quite some heavy stuff! >_< And Rin! Woah! Don’t even get me started about Rin’s transformation! There’s no review for this yet, but be ready for one of my super long and very detailed essays! *lol* The Poppy War definitely deserves it! 😉

How was your October? Did you read many books? Did you visit the Frankfurt Book Fair as well? Which kind of genres did you read and did you like them? Any creepy book recommendations for next year?

Talk to me and let me know!

*hugs’n’kisses*

The Sassy Library Fox

September Wrap-Up

Remember when I said August was my worst reading month? Oh, well, scratch that! *lol* I think September was even worse. I might have read more books than in the month before, but two of them were only 38 and 112 pages long, so they were short stories instead of real books and it looks way more than it was. XD

Despite everything 3 of them were on on My Book List 2019 though and I’m happy to announce that I’m finally ticking off the books that are on my list! *lol* It only took me 9 months to get there but I think I can handle it now. Haha!

I guess it’s good that I stopped procrastinating and if I continue this way I might even be able to read at least 20 of those 40 books! Which truth be told, would already be some sort of achievement for me. *lol* Last year I was off way worse so I’m definitely improving! Well, by my standards at least. ;P

I don’t know if October will be even worse, but at least I’ll have a good reason to read less because if everything goes according to plan I’ll be at the Frankfurt Book Fair on October 19th!!! XD I’m so pumped and I can’t wait to go there. Maybe I’ll even dress up in a HP uniform because they have a huge Cosplay Event going as well. ❤ Ahh I’m so ready for this!!!

Anyway enough of my musings! Let’s move on to my statistic instead!

Books read: 6

Pages read:  1.775 (Urgh! 147 pages less than last month. I blame it all on Netflix, „Glee“ and „The Blacklist“. *lol*)

Average rating: 4,5 (I’m getting more picky again. XD)

Books that were on my reading list:  5 (2 from 2018 and 3 from 2019)

September Reads:

   

   

Interview with the Vampire:

It was about time I finally picked this up and I’m so glad that I put it on My Book List 2019! If not I probably still wouldn’t have read it and this really would have been such a shame. I mean I watched the movie about a thousand times (Young Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise?! Just too delcious and yummy to resist! *lol*) Anyway, I really enjoyed to read IWTV and I was happy to get some background infos that were lost in the movie! If you’re interested in reading my full review you can do it: here!

Opal:

AKDFLASDFJSLKDFJASKDJAJ!!!! Do I even have to say more? *lol* It was sooo damn good to be back in Maggie’s world and I loved this short story so much! I’m basically Ronan Lynch and I love and adore Adam Parrish so yes, this was all sorts of amazing for me! ❤ It was really interesting to see them through Opal’s eyes and I love that little rascal to bits and pieces! XD Goodreads review

Wonder Woman – Warbringer:

This read like a movie and I really enjoyed it! The side-characters were amazing and I really would have liked to see this as a film adaptation. *lol* Unfortunately I saw the plot twist from miles away and I had the feeling that the MCs weren’t fleshed out enough. Despite all of this it was a quick and entertaining read though! So if you want to read all of my thoughts you can do it here!

The Color Purple:

An amazing classic that addressed a lot of touchy subjects. While I read the book I realized why it’s banned in some countries but if you ask me it’s a book that SHOULD be  read! Such an intriguing story about two sisters that live in two entirely different worlds, yet still continue to write each other throughout the course of many years.

A Court of Mist and Fury:

Do I even have to say that this was AWESOME!? *lol* This was a reread but I think I loved it even more the second time around. There are so many things I missed when I read it for the first time and my review is probably going to be super long. XD Chapter 54 though. *shakes head* No matter how old I become or how often I read ACOMAF this chapter will always get to me. ❤ *sobs*

Shadow Me:

Kenji Kishimoto is one of the best things ever and I’m so glad he finally got his own short story! This was everything I wanted it to be and I loved to get his POV! I always knew that deep down within him, he’s a very serious person, but boy, I had no idea how tough his life is. >_< This book made me want to give him a long, good hug and only caused me to love him even more! ❤ Want to read my thoughts? You can do it here!😛

How did you fare in September? Did you manage to read many books or did Netflix get in your way too? *lol* Which kind of books did you read and did you like them or not?! Are you going to the Frankfurt Book Fair as well? And if yes, will I see you there? XD

Talk to me and let me know!

*hugs’n’kisses*

The Sassy Library Fox

Fuss, Cuss & Discuss: My top 5 requirements to grant 5 paws – Or the reason why I’m so easily pleased

Hey there my lovelies,

I recently sat in the train and thought about the main reasons that make a book an awesome book for me. (I guess I might have had a J.K. Rowling kinda moment there *lol* Only that she started to write the HP series when she commuted and I only came up with a blog post. XD Which is the reason why she’s such a good author and I’m not. *lol*)

Well, anyway *clears throat* after thinking about it for a while I came to the conclusion that there are five requirements that automatically make me want to give a book 5 paws and I thought I might share them with you. Plus since I wanted to go for a few discussion posts every once in a while I decided this might be the right moment to invent them. 😛
(Look at me, all business and professional. *lol* It only took me almost a year to get there…)

Of course, I wouldn’t be me if I wouldn’t make a blog post that rhymes so in future you’ll find my discussion posts under the name: “Fuss, Cuss & Discuss” which seemed to be pretty appropriate the moment I thought it up. XD

So without further ado here come “My top 5 requirements to grant 5 paws” Not necessarily in that order, mind you:

1.) Complex and 3D characters:

When it comes to books I love nothing more than complex characters! I live and breathe for them and if they aren’t only multi-layered but also morally grey I’m already looking like the cat who ate the canary. 😛 There’s nothing better than awesome characters and in my opinion a book lives and thrives on a great and diverse cast!

Best character driven books I know: The Raven Cycle Series by Maggie Stiefvater, The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb

2.) World Building:

Okay, I admit I might be pretty biased here but if I read a fantasy book or a book that plays in another world I want to have a map!!! XD There are authors who write the most beautiful and vivid worlds but if I don’t have a map on which I can follow I always feel kind of lost. So yes to be creative and to flesh out the world is wonderful and will instantly cause me to give the book one more paw. But if you add a map to it? Well, this gets extra kudos from me! *lol*

Great world building WITH a map: The Codex Alera Series by Jim Butcher, ACOTAR Series and Throne of Glass Series by Sarah J. Maas

3.) Emotions:

I can only speak for myself here but when I read a book I want to feel something. I want to laugh, I want to cry, I want to be either angry or happy, maybe even both, but most of all I want to feel with the characters. If a book manages to evoke emotions from me it’s already a good book. No matter if those feelings are bad or good, as long as I feel them with all my heart the book already did its job. *lol* I once told my family: “A book that takes you to another place and forces you to think is amazing. But a book that makes you feel, a book that causes you to laugh or cry, well THAT is a truly great book.” 😉 And I still stand by it!

Books that quite literally kill you with emotion: Cassandra Clare’s Shadowhunter books – The Infernal Devices, The Dark Artifices; The Shatter Me Series by Tahereh Mafi

4.) Plot twists & storyline:

I hate plot twist, but I also love them so you might say I love to hate them? *lol* I’m not easily surprised but when a book actually manages to make me question my sanity I can’t help but love it for this audacity. XD I guess when you read as many books as I do there comes a point when nothing can surprise you anymore, or at least you think nothing can. Well, and then there comes an author who says: Muahaha! I dare you! And the next thing you know is that you’re emotionally destroyed because their storyline and plot twists ripped out your heart. So yep, I’m a sucker for shocking plot twists and well thought out story lines. 😛

A book series with plot twist that will get you on your knees: The Red Rising Trilogy by Pierce Brown, The Illuminae Files by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

5.) Quotable:

As you can already tell from my super long reviews I love, love, love and love quotes! If a book has amazing quotes I’ll instantly like it. I collect them, I treasure them, I know some of them by heart and if anyone quotes books or movies to me I’m a goner. ❤ Some quotes are just beautiful and true. =))

Books with amazing quotes: Six of Crows Series by Leigh Bardugo, anything by Cassandra Clare, The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

So this were „My top 5 requirements to grant 5 paws“! What about you? What makes a book a great read for you and do you agree on some of my requirements? If yes, which ones!? Let’s fuss, cuss and discuss! 😛

*hugs’n’kisses*

The Sassy Library Fox

 

 

August Wrap-Up

Let’s just face the truth and get it over with: August was one of the worst reading months ever! *lol* T_T There was so much going on in my life that I barely managed to read anything and the 5 books I was able to read actually kind of managed to keep my sanity intact. XD

Considering it all it’s a wonder I even managed to read them! This month was just crazy… a funeral, a birthday, a hen night and a wedding. I really had it all. >_< (The latter three occasions were a lot of fun though, and a really nice reason not to pick up a book! 😛 ) Anyway, despite my problems to find some time to read, the books I eventually ended up reading were pretty awesome. Out of five there were three I gave 5 paws and two of them even happened to be on My Book List 2019!

Let’s hope it will continue this way! I was careful to borrow the books that are on my list and I’m determined to read as many of them as possible. I might not be able to read all 40 I initially put there, but I’ll be damned if I don’t get close to it. *lol*

So without further ado, here is my monthly statistic and summary!

Books read: 5

Pages read:  1.922 (*cringes* Bloody hell! This really gotta be the worst reading month I ever had. *lol*)

Average rating: 4,6 (Funnily enough those 5 books I actually read were all pretty awesome! XD)

Books that were on my reading list:  3 (1 from 2018 and 2 from 2019)

August Reads:

   

 

Vicious:

I could still kick myself for not reading this sooner! *lol* V.E. Schwabs story about Victor Vale and Eli Ever was one of the easiest 5 paws I ever had the pleasure to hand out! Morally grey characters, the question of good and evil, a friendship that turned into hate, danger, suspense! This book had it all! ❤ If you want to read my super excited review, you can do it here!

Red, White & Royal Blue:

I love this book with all my heart and I’m so glad I read it!! ❤ It was amazing and this even though I had a tough time getting into the writing style at first. Still, the longer I read the more I loved this and yes you can argue that there is too much poltics, you can say it’s unrealistic and sappy, but for me those are all reasons that made the book so perfect!! Alex and Henry are LOVE!!! And they gave me hope, so thank you for that Casey McQuiston. ❤ 😀 My full review!

Warcross:

I really wish I would have loved this more than I did. „Warcross“ got 3,5 paws from me and I rounded it up to four. So what happened? The plot was rather predictable and I think the world wasn’t explained enough. I would have wanted there to be more details and I kind of missed that special spark! I usually love Marie Lu’s books but unfortunately this didn’t really work out for me. I know I’ve an unpopular opinion but I can live with it. *lol* Still, I’m looking forward to „Wildcard“ and I’m sure Marie Lu will rock my socks! XD

Flutter:

This one was a really intriguing read and I never read anything like it before. If you like a little bit of romance that’s mixed with a dash of suspense and a pinch of mystery you should definitely give it a try. 🙂

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone:

It was so much fun to go back to Hogwarts and to start school with Harry, Hermione and Ron! ❤ I got really nostalgic while reading this and I’m planning to continue to read the entire series. I’ll do it slowly and I’ll savour every page! XD HP always feels like home and is such a comfort read. 😀 P.S: I’m still mad my letter never arrived!!! *lol*

How was your August? Did you manage to read more books than I did or was it a busy month for you as well?  XD Which books did you read and can you recommend me some of them? 😀

Talk to me and let me know! 😉

*hugs’n’kisses*

The Sassy Library Fox