Month: April 2021

discussion

Let’s Talk Bookish – Qualities of a Book Boyfriend/Girlfriend?

Fives @ Down The Rabbit Hole

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme, hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books & Dani @ Literary Lion, where they discuss certain topics, share their opinions, and spread the love by visiting each others’ posts.

APRIL 9: QUALITIES OF A BOOK BOYFRIEND/GIRLFRIEND? (Suggested by DANI)

Prompts: Do you have any book boyfriends/girlfriends? What makes you fall in love with them? Is there anything all your favorite book boyfriends/girlfriends have in common? Do you prefer they come from certain genres?

This is such a fun one, I can’t wait to see what everyone else who is participating says about this one. Unfortunately, I don’t think my own response will be that exciting, since I’m not really one to romanticize characters and wish they were real to be my boyfriend or girlfriend. If anything, I would want to be the character, rather than date them.

One of the first characters I definitely remember wanting to be, or to be friends with, was surprise surprise, Hermione Granger. Cliché right? Haha. I guess I just wanted to be smart, but also what I wouldn’t give to be a precocious child attending Hogwarts (as we all once dreamed at age 11). But I definitely never wanted to date her.

My favourite type of character to read about or read in the perspective of definitely follows a common trend. I tend to really get behind the strong female heroines who are breaking down social norms and facing the cruel world with their head held high. Something about the freedom in the way they live and approach their lives really inspires me. Characters like Evelyn from The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo or Sayuri from Memoirs of a Geisha, something about going through hardships and making it out through the fire – yes! And my most recent love, Audrey Rose Wadsworth from the Stalking Jack The Ripper series, simply brilliant.

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1.5 star, adult

Review: Long Road to Mercy by David Baldacci

Fives @ Down The Rabbit Hole

Introducing a remarkable new character from #1 New York Times bestselling writer David Baldacci: Atlee Pine, an FBI agent with special skills assigned to the remote wilds of the southwestern United States who must confront a new threat . . . and an old nightmare.

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. Catch a tiger by its toe.

It’s seared into Atlee Pine’s memory: the kidnapper’s chilling rhyme as he chose between six-year-old Atlee and her twin sister, Mercy. Mercy was taken. Atlee was spared.

She never saw Mercy again.

Three decades after that terrifying night, Atlee Pine works for the FBI. She’s the lone agent assigned to the Shattered Rock, Arizona resident agency, which is responsible for protecting the Grand Canyon.

So when one of the Grand Canyon’s mules is found stabbed to death at the bottom of the canyon-and its rider missing-Pine is called in to investigate. It soon seems clear the lost tourist had something more clandestine than sightseeing in mind. But just as Pine begins to put together clues pointing to a terrifying plot, she’s abruptly called off the case.

If she disobeys direct orders by continuing to search for the missing man, it will mean the end of her career. But unless Pine keeps working the case and discovers the truth, it could spell the very end of democracy in America as we know it…

Oh man. For what is supposedly a mystery book, I had such a hard time reading through this. It also had elements of suspense and thrillers but it was just….so boring. And the title and backstory don’t even really make sense to me? Let’s just say I borderline didn’t finish it. Maybe I shouldn’t have.

Long Road to Mercy follows an FBI special agent, Atlee Pine, who specializes in the rural part of West America. Her tragic backstory includes a twin sister who was kidnapped at age 6 from their own house – a man had snuck in and spoke a nursery rhyme to choose which sister he would take. 30 years later, Atlee is still on the hunt for what happened to her sister.

Or so you’d expect.

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4 star, YA

Review: A Pho Love Story by Loan Le

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

If Bao Nguyen had to describe himself, he’d say he was a rock. Steady and strong, but not particularly interesting. His grades are average, his social status unremarkable. He works at his parents’ pho restaurant, and even there, he is his parents’ fifth favorite employee. Not ideal.

If Linh Mai had to describe herself, she’d say she was a firecracker. Stable when unlit, but full of potential for joy and fire. She loves art and dreams pursuing a career in it. The only problem? Her parents rely on her in ways they’re not willing to admit, including working practically full-time at her family’s pho restaurant.

For years, the Mais and the Nguyens have been at odds, having owned competing, neighboring pho restaurants. Bao and Linh, who’ve avoided each other for most of their lives, both suspect that the feud stems from feelings much deeper than friendly competition.

But then a chance encounter brings Linh and Bao in the same vicinity despite their best efforts and sparks fly, leading them both to wonder what took so long for them to connect. But then, of course, they immediately remember.

Can Linh and Bao find love in the midst of feuding families and complicated histories?

When Dimple Met Rishi meets Ugly Delicious in this funny, smart romantic comedy, in which two Vietnamese-American teens fall in love and must navigate their newfound relationship amid their families’ age-old feud about their competing, neighboring restaurants.

A true ode to Vietnamese culture and cuisine, A Pho Love Story delivers an insightful look into foods shared and eaten and the dynamics of family who have survived the horrors of a civil war. While you may instantly think this is a Romeo and Juliet kind of retelling, I am here to tell you that it is so much more.

Linh and Bao work at their respective family restaurants which are unfortunately situated across the street from each other. Told from childhood that they should never, ever interact with the enemy, they were like two passing ships in the night only seeing one another from afar but never interacting even at school. Looking at this synopsis, of course you would think this is just a simple own-voices kind of romance story. It is, I agree, but there is just so much more about Linh and Bao than a sit-in Juliet and Romeo with feuding restaurant families.

Continue reading “Review: A Pho Love Story by Loan Le” →