mermaird's reviews
325 reviews

No rating because I DNF-ed this.

Witches Steeped in Gold is a Jamaican inspired fantasy of two young witches, enemies whom are forced to combine their powers to bring back order into their world. It is a story about vengeance, betrayal and distrust. With such a promising and intriguing description, I was almost sure that I would fall madly in love with this book—I have been dying to read more witchy-reads!

Alas, my high expectations fell flat because not only I find myself struggling to read through the story, I also find myself unable to empathise with any of the characters. It pains me to say this, but despite the high ratings for this debut book, I decided to DNF this book. I reached halfway through the book, and I do not wish to force myself to finish it any longer.

I think I may have a problem with the writing style of this author. No hate towards the author, but I felt like the way Smart writes was as if she was trying to be... smart with me. Oh. Well, I was not trying to make a pun or poke fun at the author, but the sentences were worded rather complicatedly that most of the time, I had to repeat the paragraphs over and over. The first 100 pages were exhausting, I really struggled to get through it, and ended simply skimming through the pages. I wish the author could have been more straightforward with her words, but this is probably just my personal opinion.

As for the two main characters, Iraya and Jazmyne, I did not like them enough to want to finish reading the book. The story was told in first person point-of-view of both Iraya and Jazmyne, their chapters alternating. But sometimes I was confused as to who was narrating the chapter, it was difficult to differentiate their voices, making the reading process more frustrating. Iraya seems to be all about vengeance, and although I understand that she certainly should have trust issues, I hated how bitterly she treated most of the people around her. There wasn't much I can say about Jazmyne, since her character barely contributed anything to the plot. She kept questioning herself and literally had no actions at all.

The story was described to be "two sworn enemies becoming allies to take down the woman threatening their worlds", but even halfway through, they barely met each other. Jazmyne may have hatched some plans to use Iraya on her fight, but thanks to her constantly putting herself down, she barely could make anyone trust her words. And that was it. From what I gathered from other people's reviews, it seemed that the two witches only formed alliance almost at the end of the book, before it ended in a quite terrible cliffhanger. I don't think I have enough interest in me to find that out myself.

Witches Steeped in Gold has been a promising debut book initially, but sadly I just could not find myself to like it that much. If you're a beginner reader, I wouldn't recommend reading this as the writing style can be confusing, even to me who has read a lot of fantasy books. But if you enjoy reading fantasy and love stories about independent witches and warriors, then there is no harm for you to try reading this book!

Many thanks to Pansing for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Witches Steeped in Gold is now available in all good bookstores!

Full review on my book blog!

The Forevers by Chris Whitaker takes place in a time where an asteroid is set to crash on Earth in 30 more days. I was expecting it to be filled with some grand adventure before the apocalypse, but apparently Mae Cassidy and her peers seem to think that going through their mundane life as usual to be the perfect choice.

Kind of boring, but hey, at least Mae's best friend, Felix, goes on a mission to never sleep at all as much as he can because he wants to live his life the fullest. And Mae is also set to solve a murder-mystery, when her childhood best friend was found dead after several other suicides.

It's a story of friendship and hope, a bit heavy with mental health issues because of the impending doom, but overall an easy and quick read. Many thanks to Pansing for sending me the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is quite possibly the most adorable book I have ever read! I requested to read this book on Netgalley because not only am I a cat lover, but I also used to have a cat named Carrot too. I missed my old cat, so I was hoping this book could soothe my longings.

Diary of the Cat Named Carrot is a picture book with diary entries, supposedly from the perspective of Carrot, a female orange tabby cat. The entries are dated from when Carrot was born, and then was adopted into the family, continuing until around a year living with the family. Carrot is a very sweet cat; even without the diary entries, the pictures themselves showed how much she enjoyed living with the family that adopted her. The family has three young daughters, and the girls always included Carrot in whatever they did.

The fact that Carrot simply let her family dress her up and take pictures of me really awed me. I have always wanted cats that love you so much to the point they let you do whatever you want with them (with love, of course) but unsurprisingly they never came to me. The cats that I had (and the strays that I fed) all had attitudes and would never give in to me! Seeing how gentle and well-mannered Carrot seemed to be made me love this book more.

I really had fun reading through this book—the pictures of Carrot and the girls are adorable, and some of the diary entries are hilarious too. It was a quick read as well, with only 160 pages and half being pictures of the cat. But personally, I probably would not have purchased this book myself. Although the contents are cute and fun, they were not that meaningful to me. Perhaps because I was not a follower of Carrot on her social medias, and also because I do not know the family of Carrot personally. I would think that this book would really be lovely for those who have followed Carrot's journey prior to the publication of this book.

I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Have you ever read a book and immediately have the thought, "This is the book that I should have grown up with"? Well, Rumaysa is that kind of book for me. I have read many fairytale retellings, but I have never came across a retelling where the main character is a Muslim, or even a POC. Perhaps I just haven't read that much, but I'll admit that Rumaysa is still one of a kind.

Rumaysa: A Fairytale is a combination of three fairytale retellings: Rapunzel, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. The difference is that Rapunzel is known as Rumaysa, Cinderella as Cinderayla, and Sleeping Beauty as Sleeping Sara. The main character is of course, Rumaysa, and after escaping the witch's tower, she goes on an adventure to look for her parents and came across Cinderayla and Sara.

What I love the most about this book is that even though it stayed true to most parts of the original fairytale, the changes made to it made the stories lovelier and more fun. I also love that each girl has their own strength and qualities, and none of them were depicted as meek or in need of some saving from a boy.

Rumaysa is both brilliant and quick-witted, having figured out how to escape on her own without waiting for a random prince coming to save her. She also has sass and a no-nonsense attitude, which was really refreshing to read. But the most important part is that she has great kindness and compassion in her, despite enduring a lot of harshness from when she was younger. While Cinderayla's character was written quite realistically, I find Sleeping Sara to be relatable. I most definitely will have a difficult time waking up if I have slept for too long.

Apart from the independent female characters that I love, the elements of Islam and South Asian cultures sprinkled generously throughout the book were also part of the charm. From what I understood, there were some Bengali foods and culture mentioned. The holy month of Ramadan was mentioned and the ball in the original Cinderella tale was changed into an Eid Ball, and I absolutely relish them.

Rumaysa: A Fairytale easily became one of my favourite releases in 2021, and the best retelling that I have ever read. The Muslim and Asian elements made me feel proud—this is the very kind of book that my people should read while growing up as it shows that we should be proud of our culture and belief. Your skin colour is beautiful no matter how light or dark-skinned you are. And the girls also show that you should just be yourself and you do not need to depend on boys to save you.

I believe anyone who enjoys reading fantasy and retellings will enjoy reading Rumaysa: A Fairytale, no matter how old you are. Many thanks to Pansing for sending me the review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Dawn of the Witch follows the journey of Saybil, a rather dull magic student thanks to his memory less and expressionless face, who is on a quest for a special training. He is joined by a teacher, Loux, a seemingly non-threatening woman because of her childlike form, but is actually quite deadly, and two other students, Holt, a cheerful girl with huge...breasts, and Kudo, a human-sized lizard. After reading the somewhat negative reviews of this book, I decided to read it without any expectations.

Surprisingly, I quite liked the premise of the story. The main character, Saybil, may be a tad boring because he is unable to form any kind of expressions on his face, but I find the secret behind his past that caused his memory loss to be quite intriguing. It is also proved that he is not entirely emotionless, as there was a time where Holt noticed his hands shaking when they were in danger, although his face remained stoic. And another time when a betrayal takes place, Saybil forces himself to smile and accepts his fate, which I believe can be seen as a character growth, or perhaps his true emotions slowly emerging.

Despite having no problems with Saybil and the rest of the characters—Holt and Kudo appear to have dark pasts as well and it made me like them more—the main reason as to why I can only rate this book as 2.5 stars is because of the way the artwork was drawn. I admit that in some sense, the artwork is beautiful, BUT the way female characters were depicted is just too much. The characters were sexualised so unnecessarily that I find myself feeling disgusted almost throughout the whole story. Holt was drawn with breasts so big and her scenes were always drawn in a lewd way; her chest was always in the focus to the point I could not take her character seriously. Despite having a small body, almost resembling a child, Professor Loux was also sexualised. Her scenes were drawn from a low angle, just so that her underwear can be scene.

These extreme sexualisation to the female characters helped nothing in the plot, and it was absolutely unnecessary. Even though I find the plot to be acceptable and I am curious about what Saybil and his friends are going to face next, I do not think I will be able to continue this series. I just hate that the female characters are being made to be viewed as sexual objects.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Kodansha Comics for the e-copy of The Dawn of the Witch, Vol. 1 in exchange for my honest review.

TW: Rape and sexual assault/abuse, violence, physical abuse, mentions of suicide and self-harm, PTSD/panic attacks

But for the Mountains is a literal nightmare, especially for girls. It was confusing at first, but after realising with a horror, even the first page of this book started with the main character, Arden, being sexually assaulted.

Arden Thatcher grew up being sexually abused by the people that gave her a place to live. When she was given a chance to escape and enroll into the National Women’s Institute, she thought that her life would change. Instead, it was like she broke out from a prison, to yet another prison. The whole institute was simply a ploy for the Prime Minister's son to find a partner—and the rest of the girls will either be returned to their family or benefactor, or sent to a neighbouring country to feed the politicians' desires. Despite Arden's efforts to change the fate of the girls—and her own, changing something that was already ingrained in the society was a lot harder than anyone could ever think about.

This is a story about a survivor, a girl who had to suffer simply because she was born a girl. I love Arden's fierce character and her smart wits; although she was never prepared to be enrolled into the institute by her benefactor, she was clever enough to find matters that can help to her advantage. She was able to climb to the top spot on her own. I also love the no-nonsense side of her. When she realised the actual meaning of the whole institute, she despised the idea and rejected the Prime Minister's son's approach. She was independent, and with the way how she focused only on trying to bend the rules so that girls are allowed better lives, I believe that she had great leadership qualities.

Although I wish the story did not have a lot of focus on the romance, but I still do appreciate both of the male love interests. Declan, son of the Prime Minister, sounded sketchy at first and I had a hard time trusting him; he seemed too good to be true. But then his flaws were revealed, and though he was not a bad guy, his privilege as a Prime Minister's son also meant that he did not know most of the horrific things going on in the society. As for Beck, he might seem gruff and had a lot of hatred against everyone, but he understood Arden easily and did not hesitate to be there for her. Both characters are good male characters with realistic flaws.

The storyline was gripping, and as much as I loved it, I was also appalled by all the horrifying matters that Arden had to suffer. It had a rather open-ending, which I think could mean the author wanted readers to make their own conclusions, or perhaps giving room to a possible sequel. But for the Mountains was not an easy read, but an important one. It highlights the inequality when it comes to the treatment given between men and women, which still happens until this very moment. I hate that certain men still viewed women and girls as sexual objects and nothing more. This is just a proof that this book somehow portrays the bitter truth of this world.

I would love to recommend everyone to read But for the Mountains, especially if you love female characters that tries their best to survive their harsh fate, even if they have to overcome their fears. But please do note about the trigger warnings first.

Many thanks to Netgalley and REUTS Publications for this book in exchange for my honest review.

Ivy Lovely grew up as a scaldrony maid, tending to the scaldrony dragons that serve purposes in breathing fires in the castle's kitchen. She's a dilligent worker, if not rather clumsy and too curious. Only having a dwarf as a best friend, Ivy wished she could spend her days sketching and reading and no longer be a scaldrony maid—until one eventful day, she was kicked out of the castle before being whisked away to Halls of Ivy, the academy of magic in Croswald. She soon learned how to wield actual magic in school and more secrets from her past slowly started to unravel.

I had a hard time getting into the world of The Crowns of Croswald. I will not say that I disliked the writing style, but I find it difficult for me to grasp the way the author described the places and people in this book. The premise of the plot as a whole is very intriguing, yet I feel like there were too many info dump. I am aware that since this is a fantasy story, it made sense that there are to be many descriptive parts for its world building, but Ivy spent a lot of time alone on her own to discover things and the lack of dialogues to buffer the moments made my reading progress very strenuous.

Unfortunately, I did not like Ivy's character all that much either. I love outspoken and curious characters, but with Ivy, she just seemed too reckless and can be annoying at times as well. At some point, I find it hard to care what answers she wanted to seek, and wished that she would just lay low for once. I do however, like her interactions with Fyn, a senior who appeared to always be there for her (sometimes rather suspiciously too), and with Rebecca, her new classmate and roommate. The times that she spent with Fyn or Rebecca were some of the only moments where I do think Ivy is actually nice.

Although I found it hard to go through The Crowns of Croswald at first, the story is still enjoyable for me as a whole. The climax of the book is much exciting, and it was wonderful to see how Ivy used her power when facing the villain. I like how the book is concluded, and I actually do look forward to Ivy's next adventures in the sequel.

Many thanks to the publisher for reaching out to me, and thank you Netgalley for the e-book copy of The Crowns of Croswald. I only realised belatedly after accepting to review the book, that I actually won a physical copy of it before in a giveaway.

Yves is one of the gentlest and kindest of the Benedicts, except when he lost his control over his powers. This book didn't have much scene of him with Phoenix, save for their first and second encounter, but it's more to how Yves views himself and how he wished to find his soulfinder.

I could relate to him when it comes to not having much belief in himself, but it's heartwarming to see how fierce he was when he told Phoenix that he'd do everything he can just to let her stay with him. In a normal world, calling someone you met only twice as "mine" might sound a bit predatory, but in this series where soulfinders exist, I feel it rather cute that Yves didn't hesitate to call her as "his" Phoenix.

I also love how this story shows more of how close the relationship between the Benedict brothers, and how Sky fits so well with them. My heart is just so full of love for them ❤

Reading Teasing Xav made me miss Xav so much more; he's my absolute favourite out of all the Benedict brothers