mermaird's reviews
325 reviews

How do I start this review? From where do I even start? My love for Chain of Gold is too immense that I can hardly come up with decent coherent words to write this review. I don't usually go for thick books, but if it's from Cassandra Clare, I feel that the thicker the book is, the better it is. I never want it to end honestly, even if it's painful (oh the bitter joy of reading any of the Shadowhunter's series).

I'll have to admit that I have yet to read The Infernal Devices trilogy, which took place before Chain of Gold. But I've read the manga/graphic novel of Clockwork Angel (the first book from TID) and have enough friends that are fans of the Shadowhunter series, so I know almost enough about Jem, Will and Tessa to not make my progress of reading Chain of Gold to be confusing. In case you haven't known, Chain of Gold takes place after TID, about their friends' and their own children.

Honestly, I just love everything about Chain of Gold. The plot, the characters, the twists, the romance (oh yes, the romance is almost intense but not too intense), the frustration—as much as I love this book, I'm also absolutely frustrated with it. Since the book reached 600+ pages, there are bound to be a LOT of things going, and certain times I literally forgot what had happened in the several previous chapters, but they never bore me and I kept flipping the pages forward eagerly. All the fights and actions are fleshed out in details that I can almost see them. And the ending? Oh the ending. It definitely left me screaming agonisingly for more.

What I like about Clare's writing style is that it's very easy to read; it wasn't overwhelming at all. The characters are mostly witty and interesting enough for me to want to know more about them. Despite being told from the third person point-of-view of more than one character, I don't think it made the story messy at all. In fact, I had wanted to know the feelings of each of the main characters without being influenced by them (I'm easily influenced by the characters when the story is written through a first person point-of-view), so the writing style of this book is absolutely perfect for me.

I fell in love very easily with the characters in Chain of Gold, especially Cordelia Carstairs. From the moment she first appeared in the book, I knew she's going to have a special place in my heart, and she did! She has the sweetest and kindest heart, yet at the same time her courage is probably so much bigger than the rest of her friends. She wouldn't hesitate to help those in need, and when she's in action with Cortana, she absolutely slays everything. Literally. I just love this girl too much (°◡°♡).:｡

I kinda have a love-hate relationship towards James Herondale. He's a wonderful person, calm, mostly rational, pretty much the leader of his friends, a protective brother, gorgeous—he's almost perfect. Almost. The fact that he has some dark powers related to his origin of being the grandchild to a demon, and the way he struggled to work with his newfound power made me love him more. But every single time he's with Grace Cartwright, I hated him. I know for a fact that there was a reason as to why he acted the way he did whenever Grace was present, but I still felt like smacking some senses into him. That one particular scene during the party where James did something to Cordelia because of Grace, I was absolutely fuming. Despite my frustrations over James, he's still a good person and I'm looking forward to have more of him and Cordelia in Chain of Iron soon.

Other characters that I loved are Matthew Fairchild, Lucie Herondale and Anna Lightwood. Matthew is James parabatai, and oh man, I just love this boy. There's something mysterious about Matthew; he's often found to be drunk without actually appearing to be drunk, but I felt like there's more to him than meets the eye. He's very protective of his parabatai, which is a given because that bond is closer than anything else, but I just appreciate his presence a lot. Lucie is the sweetest little soul and I loved her more for being a passionate writer. Just like James, Lucie is learning about her own power as well and I'm curious to see how she's going to use it. As for Anna, I don't actually know how to describe her, but I love her personality a lot. She wears menswear all the time and only date girls, and her personality is very fun and interesting. I like how fond she is of James and his friends, including Lucie and Cordelia. She reminds me of Magnus Bane, in a female form.

I could go on and on about how much I love Chain of Gold, but I would love to leave this review spoiler-free and urge you to read this book to experience the intense journey yourself. If you're a fan of the Shadowhunter series, what else are you even waiting for? But if you haven't read any books from the Shadowhunter series, I'd still recommend Chain of Gold if you're into young adult fantasy. That's the fun thing with the Shadowhunter series, despite having multiple trilogies/series in one huge series, starting any of them not in the right order will not affect your reading at all. Cassandra Clare is good in writing the world in details in each trilogy/series, so you won't miss out anything!

This review is honestly a mess, but that's exactly how I felt after reading Chain of Gold. A good and satisfying kind of mess that leaves me wanting so much more.

Thank you Pansing for sending me this review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Quoting the synopsis of this book itself, "So what if she's poised to be the last unmarried member of her generation of the Tang clan? She doesn't need a man to feel fulfilled, no matter what her meddling relatives have to say about it." I was honestly expecting this book to be about a woman who fights to show that she doesn't need a man to have a good life. Well, it sort of did, but at the same time, it absolutely didn't.

Having a rather successful career as a lawyer, a posh condo to call her own, and great friends to have fun with, Andrea Tang's life would have been enough for her, had it not been for her meddling relatives that constantly pegged on her love life. When she found out that she might become the last woman in her clan to get married, a.k.a becoming the last Tang standing, it somehow became a mission for her to find a man to settle down in a marriage. And so this is where the hooking ups started.

Plotwise, I wouldn't say that Last Tang Standing has an amazing storyline that blew my mind, but it was still fun to go through. Being a woman myself, I know how it feels to be reduced to someone who needs to find a man in order to "have a good life", so seeing how Andrea had to suffer through that after breaking up with a long time boyfriend, constantly worrying about being embarrassed in front of her relatives for not being married yet just made me feel sorry for her.

I may be blessed to have parents that don't bother me about getting married, but I hate to acknowledge that Last Tang Standing actually depicts the reality of many women even to this day. A woman's worth should not be measured by a man, and though this book didn't actually end up becoming about that (not with the multiple love interests suddenly coming to Andrea's way), I do think that it still allows the topic to be discussed. We're definitely still far from getting a world where everyone can accept that women are enough on her own if she wants to, but I believe books like Last Tang Standing can help more of us to see that.

When it comes to characters, Last Tang Standing has quite a number of interesting ones. Although I don't fancy how the book turned out to be some kind of a love mission, I still loved Andrea Tang plenty. She's a very fun character, and I enjoyed her sassiness as well. She's able to stand on her own, and I like that there was certainly character growth as Andrea acknowledges her worth more and more as the story progressed. Her casual snarky remarks, especially the petty wars between her and Suresh, her colleague, were much joy to read too.

I think despite being the "last Tang standing", Andrea still ended up getting marvellous choices when it comes to her love interests. Eric Deng, a wealthy entrepreneur who caught her attention in one of the parties she went to was a real gentleman, much older than her, but would definitely lavish her life well enough to change her life completely. Suresh Aditparan, her attractive colleague and rival was like a forbidden fruit, but putting their rivalry aside, they were supportive of each other and actually admires one another's skills. Both Eric and Suresh have strengths and flaws that complement well with Andrea, and I honestly didn't know who to team up with, but over the course of the story, I think Andrea chose the right person for her in the end.

Overall, I would say that Last Tang Standing is a fun and a rather quick read. The fact that the story was written in a journal/diary style made it more intimate and I was able to relate myself with Andrea and understand her better. This book may not have been the kind of feminist story that I was looking for, but it is still a good story that shows a woman's strength and independence, written in a very enjoyable way. I'm actually excited to read Lauren Ho's future works!

Thank you to MPH Distributors and HarperCollins UK for the Netgalley copy of Last Tang Standing in exchange for my honest review.

A single parcel connects strangers, acquaintances and enemies, creating a set of unlikely friends that stick to each other for the sake of learning the truth about the sender of the parcel. Sophie was the first one to receive the parcel from her best friend, and the trail that followed became a cruel game of learning the truth of how their lives interconnected with a single person.

The story was written in a vague way; from the beginning to the middle of it, I honestly felt like there was no point at all in the story. I couldn't grasp why I should care that Freya, a girl that seemed to be liked by everyone who suddenly disappeared without even telling her best friend, left a parcel behind to her friends. But then I realised that no, the story was not at all about Freya, but about what was learned by those whom she left behind.

Freya was introduced as someone very pretty and likeable, but when all the puzzle pieces were connected, she was actually someone who just always made herself the center of attention. Despite not really fond of the flow of the story, I was able to relate to the story because I've known people like Freya. They're the kind of "friends" that do whatever that pleases them, and we'll end up sacrificing parts of ourselves in the guise of being their "supportive friend". I think it's ironic that she dated someone just like her, someone whose prettiness and status hid their manipulative and selfish traits. This kind of friend can break you worse than an enemy, and I've been there enough to know how Sophie felt.

But Sophie probably had it worse. I like the strength her character has; she was diagnosed with lupus, a systemic autoimmune disease that occurs when your body's immune system attacks your own tissues and organs. I've heard of lupus before, but I only learned what it actually is about thanks to this book. Judging by the acknowledgements, I believe that the author made enough research for the disease and created a good rep for it through this story. Being sick as she is, I felt that the things she had to go through because of Freya to be cruel. Her biggest flaw is probably caring too much for Freya, someone who couldn't give back the same amount of love that she gave out.

Other than Sophie, I like Win's calm and collected character as well, but my favourite character would probably be Sunny, Win's younger sister. She was not part of the trail that Freya left behind, but her existence definitely made the story brighter. I'm able to relate myself more to Sophie and Win, people who enjoyed quiet moments, but I like being in the presence of bubbly people like Sunny. I'm fond of Lucas as well, and there were rare moments that I find Ryan to be fun too.

Throughout the story, I was ready to give it a 3 stars, but the way it ended changed my mind. I like how the characters learned their worth by the end. They learned how to let go of people that shouldn't stay, and instead keep those that know their worth close to them. Friendship is supposed to work both ways, and I believe that the four of them will be able to do so without demanding anything from each other.

In the end, this story is about learning the truth about real friendship, those who you need to let go and those who you need to keep holding on. I probably won't recommend this book to anyone that I know, but I do acknowledge that this book is good for young adults as it focused on teen drama and friendships.

Many thanks to Pansing for sending me a copy of Every Little Piece of My Heart in exchange for my honest review.

There were many reasons as to why I absolutely wanted to pick up this book: 1) It has the prettiest cover, and it's also pink! 2) The main male character works in a café. I find books with characters who bake or work in bakeries to be very cute. 3) The two main characters are awkward people and they prefer communicating through text messages. Definitely my kind of people! 4) A lot of my bookstagram friends recommended this book to me, and they rated this book with 5 stars.

I wanted so badly to love this book, yet unfortunately, it fell short of my expectations.

I loved the interactions between the two characters, Penny and Sam. As someone who is more comfortable with communicating through text messages, Penny and Sam's interactions are so adorable and funny. They connected so well and it was obvious that they were perfect for each other.

But despite rooting for their relationship, I find that I don't really love the characters as their own person. Penny is strong and independent, she can also be a fun person to talk with if you're able to connect with her, but I felt like there was nothing special about her to make me love her character wholly. And while I think Sam is cute, he too, didn't have that unique spark that could make me love him more. This is mostly just my own preference, and I should clarify that there weren't any major flaws in both of them. I don't hate any of them, I just couldn't like them enough.

This book is a rather light read, but it also touched heavier subjects such as anxiety, obsession and sexual assault (it was not graphic and was only mentioned briefly, but if you're uncomfortable reading anything related to sexual assaults, please proceed with care). I believe that I'm not knowledgeable enough in regards of anxiety, so I couldn't say much about this matter, but I personally think it's written well in the story. The obsession part was something that Sam went through, and I'm glad that he managed to overcome it. As for the sexual assault part though, which happened to Penny, I felt that it was dropped too sudden into the story. In no means am I demeaning the struggles of rape victims, because I know it's difficult for rape victims to open up about it. And I am glad that Penny didn't allow it to bring herself down, and she found the courage to talk about it with Sam, but I still felt like it was placed into the story out of nowhere.

Overall, Emergency Contact is a relatively nice read, with adorable text messages in between. Although Penny and Sam were each other's emergency contacts, there weren't really much "emergency" situations in the book as I had imagined. I probably placed too much expectations on this book, and sadly I didn't end up loving it as much as I had hoped to.

I realised that I've never written a proper review for Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow, despite already finishing it several months ago. This is the kind of book that I'll always hold dearly in my heart, but I don't think I'll ever find the right words to describe how I feel about it.

Girl in Pieces is beautifully written and brutally honest about the darkness of depression and trauma. For me, this was the first book that wrote about living in a mental institution and it really helped to open my eyes more on the struggles of those who suffer with mental health issues.

Charlie is one of the strongest characters that I've ever read, and I rooted for her happiness even from the start of the book. She suffered so much at a young age, and I hate that even if this is just a fiction, it does happen to so many other girls in this world even until today. I wish that all girls and women are protected from men that want to give nothing but harm to them.

When Charlie got involved with Riley, it was obvious that Riley is a huge red flag, but for someone as young and desperate as Charlie, I understood why she set her eyes on him. I'm glad that in the end, Charlie realises her worth and are able to stand on her own.

Girl in Pieces is not a book to be read when you're going through a rough patch or dark moments as may pull you down and make you feel worse. Apart from that however, if you're confident that you won't be affected by it, I would definitely recommend this beautiful book

Six years ago, this was one of my favourite books. Rereading this again when I'm more matured definitely feels different. I used to love every aspect of this book, but now... not so much.

Full review soon? Maybe.

The Elephant in the Room is a heartwarming and pleasing story about a young girl who had to face a long separation from her mother, and found comfort in befriending an old man who won the state lottery, a circus elephant called Veda, and an autistic boy named Mateo.

I consider the story to be quite delightful. I like Sila's character; she was definitely upset about being separated from her mother and it changed her bright personality to quiet and reserved in school, but ever since befriending her three new friends, I feel that she tried her best to have a more positive outlook on her life. There was a reason why Gio, the old man, was so keen to get to know Sila more, and the reason between their friendship was rather bittersweet.

I also like the fact that Sila tried her best to let Mateo just be himself. I have no personal experience with an autistic person; the closest that I have would be a friend's brother. The boy is entirely sweet when we met, but I only spent little time to know him so I wouldn't say I know anything much regarding autism. I am aware that there are different spectrum of autism, and I appreciate the author by approaching the matter through Sila's eyes. There were times where Sila couldn't get Mateo at all, or his reactions annoyed her, but she did her best to try to understand the fact that his way of dealing with the world is different than hers. And that's how the greatest friendship is built—by the efforts of understanding each other's differences.

I would say that those are the things that made this book a pleasant read. However, I will have to continue this review with several things that didn't sit right with me.

I will start with the fact that this book is a story about a Turkish girl, written by a white person. Sure, Sila is considered an American citizen since she was born in the country, but her parents are Turkish and the fact that this was written by someone entirely not of the race is a bit iffy. I did read the author's bio mentioning that she used to live in Istanbul, but that definitely did not mean she could use the Turkish identity simply because of that. Not to mention the fact that Sila "supposedly" speaks Turkish with her parents at home, but not a single Turkish word was ever mentioned in the book. She even called her parents "mom" and "papa". The author could have at least used the word mom and dad in Turkish, which was the least that she could do.

I also find it hard to swallow that the author tried to make Sila someone very American. There was a moment where she noticed that her favourite sweater was the colour of the American flag, and it all just feel weird to me. Sure, in reality, someone like Sila is allowed to be proud of being American however she wants. But this book is written by someone clearly non-Turkish, and for her to write about a Turkish girl to be proud of being American just sounds demeaning.

And then there's Veda, the elephant. I love animals, and I love stories with animals in it, but Veda's case is a bit weird to me. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with the elephant—she's just a sweet circus elephant that was rescued and the main reason why Sila could bond closer with Gio and Mateo. Somehow, the author decided to include chapters from the perspective of the elephant herself. And that, is where it gets weird. I know animals do have feelings and memories too, but writing it down in the way a human would react or feel, feels too weird for me. I would've understood if the main character is Veda, but it's not. This is my personal thought though, someone else might have found Veda's chapters to be heartwarming. I just felt that it did not serve any purpose to the story.

Overall, reading The Elephant in the Room was relatively easy. Although I did enjoy the storyline, there were things I couldn't accept, and I didn't really fancy the author's writing style either. It was too descriptive and there were many info-dumping, which sometimes made me want to skim over everything. This would still be a good book for young readers that wish to slowly get into reading though, because the language is rather simple. Many thanks to Pansing for sending me this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Another favourite Disney princess