Cinder, Marissa Meyer | Book Review

"Favourite Young Adult Book of the Year"

5 *****

Cinder, a gifted mechanic in New Beijing, is also a cyborg. She's reviled by her stepmother and blamed for stepsister's sudden illness. But when her life becomes entwined with the handsome Prince Kai's she finds herself at the centre of a violent struggle between the desires of an evil queen - and a dangerous temptation.

***

I absolutely loved reading this book. It has quickly soared to my list of favourite YA books and now has a home amongst Divergent and Hunger Games. I've come across Cinder for a while now on Instagram and it was perfect that my bookclub "Clockwork Readers" chose this to be our very first read.

I will admit that it took me a while to enjoy the book since life got in the way disguised as daunting essays and university reading. When that ceased (temporarily), I devoured the book in two days! It's a 5 star rated book for me because I cannot fault it. Cinder is such a cool and confident chick but at the same time she makes realistic decisions. I loved her relationship with everybody: how she loved Iko and Peony, detested Adri and Pearl and bickered with Dr Erland (the latter by the way gives me all kinds of masochistic elderly Doctor Who feels).

The opening scene in the book where "the [market] square was filled with shoppers and hawkers, children and noise" is still fresh in my head and it captured everything this book is: sarcastic, sweet, hilarious and unexpected. And the robots in this book? Iko is my new guilty pleasure! I was squinting at her lines with a growing suspicion that she sounded awfully like R2d2 and that Marissa Meyer was a Star Wars fan. She couldn't describe such lovable and hyperactive robots and NOT be a Star Wars fan and I was right! And the banter between Cinder and Iko was the cutest: Cinder, the ever so serious teen cyborg and Iko running wild with her fantasies and crazy plans.

And can we talk about the amazing Prince Kai please? I loved how Marissa didn't focus on his looks so much. Instead, you get a real sense of his kind personality, especially paired with that smile... I can visualise it now. When Cinder first peeks at him at the market, when he can't stop grinning in the elevator and when that smile falls at the...well we're not going to spoil it now are we? Cinder and Kai's banter is the bomb too! I've been complaining about the lack of sass between characters in YA books but this one ticked all the feels. The chemistry between them was too funny to even be romantic. Kai's desperate proposals and Cinder's refusals reminded me how Prince Charming in the Cinderella fairytale kept looking for the foot to fit the glass slipper. Hands up who would have said "yes" the first time Kai asked?

Oh and that Queen Levana? You'd think Cinder's stepmother Adri is bad but Levana is a whole new category of B A D. She makes my blood boil with her slimy, conniving threats and blackmails. *shudders*

Also that plot twist at the end?! Cinder's reaction to the revelation was basically short of:

Although I had an inkling towards the middle of the book, Marissa never let me become sure of it and that was the BEST PART ABOUT CINDER. I couldn't predict anything! Knowing it was a Cinderella retelling, I was initially sceptical about this. Cinderella is my favourite fairytale and I've watched several adaptations of it but I loved how Marissa played with certain tropes and manipulated them into this action-packed, greasy, metal-tinkering epic story.


Next one! Next one! Scarlet, come to me...

***

Have you read Cinder or do you plan on reading it? If you have read it, whose your favourite character?

Life of a Fangirl

You're watching a tv show or a movie. You've heard its really good, you've been recommended to watch it or you've finally succumbed to Netflix and Amazon Prime. You like the concept, the characters, the pace... then you're hooked. You can't get enough of this show.

Welcome to the Life of a Fangirl:

Noun: A female fan, especially one who is obsessive about comics, movies, music, or science fiction

Verb: (of a female fan) Behave in an obsessive or overexcited way

1) First things first, binge watch every episode and re-watch every favourite scene on YouTube.

2) Sleuthing time! Search up your favourite characters and find their respective actors or actresses. Google and Wikipedia will become your best friend.

3) Follow them on all their social medias so you'll know what they're acting in next. Certify them as your official baes.

4) Proceed onto watching everything your baes have acted in.

5) Stumble across fandom edits and laugh and cry about them for hours.

6) Showcase your love for your fandom on your social media and squeal at your screen every time someone admits they love it too.

7) If step 6 fails, beg your friends and family to watch it with shameless salesmen tactics and promises of being their slave for the rest of your life.

8) When step 7 is a success, share tumblr edits for hours. You're doing it right if your photo gallery has more of these than personal selfies.

9) Declare a national holiday when panning to re-watch your favourite movies or tv shows. All day pyjamas, salt-and-sweet popcorn and chocolate are required.

10) Plan to watch the new movie or episode in the fandom months ahead or stake out your camp on the day of the premiere. Yes, on the day... even in winter.

*** Which of these things have you done? It's okay to admit it. We can fangirl together! *** 

String of Unread University Books

Hey blogosphere! *waves excitedly* Now that my university has broken up for the Christmas break, I've sat down and counted how many of my semester one books I have not read. Guys, it is not pretty...

.... Out of 35 books, I've officially read 23. Read 'em and weep.

Let me just start off saying that as an English Literature student, I study four modules. This means that on average I have to read four separate books a week unless one book is studied for two weeks. I know I should start them one or two weeks earlier - scratch that, I should have started in the summer - but my New Year's Resolution is exactly to do that. It's just that I try to read on the days that I'm not in university but my mum is currently very ill and not having my grandma around anymore means that she's often alone to do things at home. The perks (according to my mum) of living so close to university is that I can help her so that's where most of my free time is dedicated. I Rest My Case!

Since my books for semester two are still in transit, I'm going to try and finish some of the books pictured above.

1) Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte: Part of my Victorian Fictions module but I previously studied this for my A-Level English Literature coursework so I didn't feel like I needed to re-read it. This is an amazing book about poor and plain Jane Eyre's journey from an orphan growing up in a hostile family then later a corrupt boarding school for girls to an independent governess who softens the stoic heart of Mr Rochester. It's a beautiful classic and one to re-read again and again.

2) Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte: Studied this in week 1 of Victorian Fictions and I really wish I had started it before. It was fascinating to explore the relationship between Heathcliffe and Catherine and to see how this isn't just a love story but one with bitterness and greed and jealousy. I will definitely finish this!

3) Bleak House, Charles Dickens: Urgh. Just urgh. 200 pages was the furthest I went into this 740 paged monster. You just read more and more, trying to consume the pages and it becomes even less enjoyable. It's meant to be this huge commentary on the hypocrisy and futility of the Chancery court using the case of Jarndyce vs. Jarndyce hence why so many characters are introduced but you're just left with a great headache. To this day, I still have no idea what the bloody hell the case is about! That said, I did prefer Esther's narrative over the omniscient third person narrator's but I don't plan on finishing it anytime soon because just imagine trying to write an essay on that?

4) Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie: My baby. I will definitely finish this because it's the first text I've studied in my 'Post Colonial and Global Literature' module based on post-colonial India. Rushdie implements magical realism into this important historical narrative to highlight the difficulty in creating a new identity for India and its neighbours after the British finally leave. It's such a deliciously complex book that's so well written you can't help just pausing and thinking "damn".

5) The Moonstone, Wilkie Collins: This is another one that I am definitely finishing because I LOVE IT. It's a sensational crime mystery about the Koh-I-Noor diamond but what I love about it is the voice of the head butler who narrates the case to the reader. He's really witty, knows which characters to confide in and I can just imagine him hobbling around the house of his mistress's with his walking stick. Cute stuff.

6) Vanity Fair, William Thackeray: I honestly knew I was never going to finish reading this beast even if I studied it for two weeks. I just watched the 2004 movie adaptation. Like Bleak House, this novel is a commentary on society. It follows the journey of clever Becky Sharp in her rise to power and affluence using first, employment and later, marriage. It questions whether you blame the opportunist or the society that makes opportunism necessary. Unlike Bleak House however, Thackeray's writing is SO much more enjoyable and wittier so it'll be one for the summer holidays I think.

***How about you guys? Any books that you couldn't get into or just could not complete? I'd love to know why so I don't feel like the worst example of a literature student.***

Thank you for reading!

Rima

December Book Haul

Ooh look at this! A new blogpost within one week. Maybe I really have matured and started taking up the responsibility of regular posts now that I'm a twenty year old fledgling.

This is my book haul and reading list for December. There was a point during November where I was tired of looking at my university books so I annoyed my dad into buying me books for the Christmas holiday. I plan to wind down with some young adult fiction, romances and medieval epics whilst wrapped in bed and stuffing my face with chocolates from the neighbours.

A quick blurb of each book from Goodreads and why I bought them is below:

1) An Ember in the Ashes, Sabaa Tahir

"Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.

It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.

But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.

I'll admit with both hands in the air that I bought this for the cover. Isn't it gorgeous?! You're lying if you say no. Anyways, my friend Aleema and I wanted to buddy read something and this book was catapulted to the top of our list based on the hype around it. You should check out Aleema's Instagram: she's based in England like me and her feed is all things jaw-dropping and fluffy. 

2) Me Before You, Jojo Moyes

"Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick.

What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane.

Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that.

What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time."

I've been recommended to read this by several Instagram friends because it's a tear jerker. It's Christmas time. It's cold outside but it's warm inside. I'm totally in the mood for a tear jerker. Being a typical bibliophile, my "to-be-read" is too embarrassing to count but what made me buy this is because the movie adaptation is going to be released in June 2016 starring Hunger Games and Love, Rosie's Sam Claflin and Game of Thrones' Emilia Clarke. Yes please.


3) Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

"“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.”

So begins Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, an expanded edition of the beloved Jane Austen novel featuring all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie mayhem. As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton—and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she’s soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers—and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield. Can Elizabeth vanquish the spawn of Satan? And overcome the social prejudices of the class-conscious landed gentry? Complete with romance, heartbreak, swordfights, cannibalism, and thousands of rotting corpses, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies transforms a masterpiece of world literature into something you’d actually want to read."

I first saw this book years ago in WHSmith and was shocked that someone would dare parody Jane Austen's classic. Recently I heard that it was adapted for the big screen and is to be released in February 2016 starring BBC's Great Expectations, Romeo and Juliet and Riot Club's Douglas Booth and Downton Abbey and Cinderella's Lily James. Being a sucker for movies with my favourite actors I knew I had to read the book. Noticing a pattern here? The things I do for my baes really belongs in a separate blogpost...

4) The History of the World in Bite-sized Chunks, Emma Marriott

"History is a rich, varied and fascinating subject, so it's rare to find the whole lot in one book...until now. "The History of the World in Bite-Sized Chunks" pulls it all together, from the world's earliest civilizations in 3500 BC to the founding of the United Nations in 1945, passing by the likes of Charlemagne, the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean War, to name a few. Here's your chance to introduce yourself to the full spectrum of world history, and discover just how the modern world came to be."

This would have been bought weeks ago when I saw it perched on the counter in Picadilly's Waterstones but it was £15 and I told myself to calm down and to think rationally. The whole time while I was paying for the books in my hand, I was trying to fathom the awesomeness of this book. The whole history of the world written in one tiny book? *Mind blown* Anyways, watching BBC Two's The Last Kingdom has made me wish I knew more of the Viking-Saxon history than my already limited knowledge. This book won't do justice to such a terrifying and inspiring era but it's a start.

5) A Game of Thrones, George R. R. Martin

"Summers span decades. Winter can last a lifetime. And the struggle for the Iron Throne has begun.

As Warden of the north, Lord Eddard Stark counts it a curse when King Robert bestows on him the office of the Hand. His honour weighs him down at court where a true man does what he will, not what he must … and a dead enemy is a thing of beauty.

The old gods have no power in the south, Stark’s family is split and there is treachery at court. Worse, the vengeance-mad heir of the deposed Dragon King has grown to maturity in exile in the Free Cities. He claims the Iron Throne."

This was previously bought but I'm starting it over the Christmas holidays in preparation of studying it in my Arthurian Literature module. Exciting right? If I had my way, I would have read this popular series alongside the tv show in the summer but my university lecturers have other plans and to be honest, I wouldn't mind being immersed in another medieval world now that The Last Kingdom is over.


That's all from me now. Let's see how many of these I can actually finish in the holidays whilst battling with my university reading list.

What books have you bought recently and what books are you going to be reading during the festive break?

20 Things To Do In My 20s

I've hit the dreaded digits today. I'll admit I wasn't looking forward to turning 20 just because it marked the end of my teenage-hood and the time for me to start adulting. The expectations of responsibility is a horrifying prospect and I basically don't want to grow up. But...some of my friends who have already turned 20 told me that stepping up to the big 2 and 0 is the start of a decade of big desicions, failed interviews, mistakes and adventures. We get busy trying to achieve our biggest ambition that we start forgetting the little dreams so I've decided to make a list of 20 things I want to do in my 20s.

1) Sleep under the stars.

2) Go on a long drive in the country.

3) Complete my first novel and dedicate it to those who believed in me.

4) Take my family on Umrah (minor pilgrimage to Mecca).

5) Cut my hair short and pray my mum doesn't kill me.

6) Visit Scotland, Ireland and Nottingham (Robin Hood, I'm coming!).

7) Stay at a beach overnight.

8) Read all of Shakespeare's plays ad poems.

9) Learn to ride a horse. (I'll need one if I want to live in the country later).

10) Learn to use a sewing machine so I can make my own Inayah dresses. 

11) Be stranded in the middle of nowhere and successfully get myself home. 

12) Meet my Instagram friends in person! 

13) Live in a suburban house. 

14) Go on a hike in the countryside before dawn and watch the sun rise.

15) Watch an oriental film without subtitles.

16) Hand in an essay 24 hours before the deadline (God please! I already know I'm going to procrastinate with my dissertation...).

17) Learn how to jump start a car (just because). 

18) Enrol on an Arabic course to understand the Qur'an better.

19) Go on a hot air balloon ride.

20) Check off this list and come up with 30 things to do in my 30s.

I hope you enjoyed reading my list of dreams at 20. What top 5 things do you want to accomplish in the next 10 years? 

Until next time.

Rima 

Taking Stock

The last time I blogged was a month ago. I'm awful at making promises I know. I'm off from university for a week so I finally have time to sit down and write for you. My good friend Alliyah from Risk To Write has done a post where you take stock of the things in your life. Considering I've been away for so long I felt a life update was due so here goes:

Reading: Midnight's Children, A Simple Story, The Romance of the Forest. I'm still halfway through the first book even though I studied it a few weeks back at university (I know, I'm that bad of a procrastinator). The other two books I'm studying in my Women's Writing module and it's so interesting to see how female writers were presenting the differences between educated women and those trapped in the domestic sphere.

Watching: My weekly TV schedule these days consist of The Apprentice, Downton Abbey and of course TEEN WOLF. I started watching the latter six weeks ago and I'm currently on season 5, episode 4. I love how every episode is always thrilling, hilarious and epic. To this date I don't think I've been satisfied with watching one episode before I fell asleep; that's how good the cliffhangers are! And Downton Abbey. Oh dear. I was shocked after discovering that last Sunday aired the penultimate episode and there's going to be a hiatus before the Christmas special because I was thinking "Was that it?" It seemed the whole season was burdened with a row over the village hospital and tiny squabbles. There were no important character developments besides Daisy and Mr Mosely passing their exams. Having said that the last half of the penultimate episode was really enjoyable especially when Lady Mary broke down and confessed why she couldn't marry Henry.

Buying: My friends still ridicule me for spending near £110 on two midi dresses and trousers at Inayah. I honestly didn't know that you could find more modest dresses and trousers in Western stores like ASOS, Forever 21 and even Primark so I am hitting my head against the wall. However, I can't wait to go shopping soon because I am in need of warmer winter clothes.

Listening: Some inspirational, thought-provoking lectures on the impact of colonialization held at my university.

Feeling: Urm not too great to be honest. I have so many things riding on this year and the pressure is real.

Planning: My next blog on the lack of 'people of colour' in Young Adult literature and my feelings on being an Asian Muslim and writing for a career, (look out for it in two weeks time!)

Wishing: I had a novel idea because while I do post prose poetry on Instagram I can't help feeling I'm wasting time and just want to be working on long story in my free time.

Enjoying: Reading texts for 'Women Writing', 'Postcolonial and Global Literatures' and 'Victorian Fictions', stimulating seminar discussions, my amazing, intelligent and sometimes crazy friends, and the support of my family.

Eating: As healthy as possible whilst being Asian and living with a mother who believes in eating at least one meal of rice and curry every day.

Hoping: To pass my theory and driving test by the end of this year (started learning two years ago!). To get an overall First in second year of university. To be selected for a writing internship.

Thinking: Of how I'm going to finish reading four books for next week, catch up on six unfinished novels and revise my theory test all in one week.

Lacking: The motivation to exercise, the ability to procrastinate and the determination to pursue my dreams when people around me think I'm not being practical.

Trying: To make everyone around me happy.

Drinking: Green tea, lemon-infused water and tea. My doctor has reprimanded me for lowering my vitamin D and Iron levels again which I admit I had stopped taking my supplements out of pure laziness but apparently I don't drink enough water which I think is a load of BS. They obviously haven't seen the number of visits I make to the 'ladies' in a day!

Wanting: To be gaining experience at a writing internship placement to show my family that getting a PGC and teaching is not the only employment for Literature graduates.

Cooking: Thankfully since my mum has been back from Bangladesh I've not had to cook as intensely as I did during last summer. However when my siblings are bored of Asian food, she forces me to whip up a pasta dish.

Deciding: To get off my butt and immersing myself in university this year in terms by attending more extra curricular lectures and activities. Second year has come too quickly.

Wearing: My comfortable (and ridiculously expensive) midi dresses or ethnic tunics paired with simple trousers or leggings. Colder weather has made me bury myself in layers and layers which may lead me to look like an Inuit but at least I'm warm!

Needing: To finish this blog as soon as possible and get back to reading. I have three assignments due next week and if I don't start now, it's not going to look pretty.

What have you guys been up to? Do you relate to any of the above things?

Please let me know I'm not the only procrastinating sorry mess of a university student.

Red Queen, Victoria Aveyard | Book Review

Hello blogosphere! *virtually waves excitedly* I've missed you. I haven't had the time to sit down and review all the wonderfully amazing books I've read in the past one and half month and for that, I'm sorry. But I'm here now and boy have I got a diamond to rave about today. The Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard is a highly acclaimed book to grace the Young Adult literature market and it didn't fail to impress me.

It tells the story of Mare Barrow, a Red living in a world ruled by Silvers who exclusively posses supernatural abilities. But Mare discovers she may be more Silver than she'd like to think bringing her before the Silver court where she is hidden in plain sight. This sparks her determination to fight the regime that has harmed those she loves from the inside but Mare is also involved in a game of love and betrayal.

I will shamefully admit that when I saw its ridiculously photogenic cover everywhere on Instagram, I did roll my eyes thinking: 'Oh, here we go again, another Divergent/Hunger Games concept. I then bought the book to discover what all the hype was believing it would be a 'meh' read and it just stood on my shelf looking pretty, occasionally pulled it out for booktags on Instagram.

One day, I needed relief from my university reading (I'm reading Charles Dickens' Bleak House and is it me or is it very dry?) and thought I would reward myself for beginning my university's reading list (yes, the situation is that bad) and started Red Queen. The opening paragraph set the tone of the book perfectly:

'I hate first Friday. It makes the village crowded, and now, in the heat of high summer, that's the last thing anyone wants. From my place in the shade it isn't so bad, but the stink of bodies, all sweating with the morning work, is enough to make milk curdle. The air shimmers with heat and humidity, and even the puddles from yesterday's storm are hot, swirling with rainbow streaks of oil and grease.'

Doesn't that sound busy and dirty and beautiful? Suddenly, all I wished for with my imaginary, red Dorothy heels is to click them together and wish to live in this vibrant setting.

When I was allowed to reward myself with Red Queen again, I immediately dived in. The first few chapters where Mare describes the Stilts aka the village for the Reds, I did cringe at the similarities between that and Katniss' home in District 12 in The Hunger Games. Poverty, guards, wealthy oppressors... ring any bells? But where Aveyard saves it is with the Scarlet Guards' video broadcast on page 36:

'Until you recognise us as human, as equal, the fight will be at your door. Not on a battlefield but in your cities... You don't see us, and so we are everywhere.'

Brrr, this part gave me the goosebumps.

I like to make notes of epic moments in a book if I'm reading a hard copy and Red Queen certainly did not fall short on them. On page 190, you witness the planning of the revolution (and a major shocker that I couldn't believe was true) and I remember thinking, 'this must have been how the likes of Lenin have felt when planning their individual revolutions.' I didn't like that it involved betrayal, lying and honestly felt quite uncomfortable but I also knew that this was the right thing to do. As a society, we encourage our people to fight against oppression in whatever form that is but it's all well just saying it when the true bravery is being strong enough to enforce it yourself. That's what Mare taught me. She was definitely an inspiring protagonist which I thank Aveyard for *virtual applauding noises are heard* but I would also like to think that YA authors are starting to realise that being able to decide between two hot guys is not the only way to show a protagonist is independent.

This was another book where the protagonist's relationship with their family is genuine and you don't feel it has been created for the sake of it. I almost cried at the death of a family member who will not be named for obvious reasons but oh my gosh, I choked up. I kept saying, 'it's not fair, it's not fair, it's not FAIR.' You're shown why the revolution is necessary (even if you were warming to the Silver Princes Cal and Maven which I totally was) and consequently, you notice a similar realisation in Mare and it is a beautiful change.

A lot of people on Instagram and Goodreads spoke of the oh my God Plot Twist in Red Queen and oh. my. God. I did not see that coming. Like I actually closed the book, shook it a couple of times to check if it was broken, opened it again to that awful page and NO. It was still there! Why Victoria? Why did you do this to my heart? Why? I can't say anymore because a) my heart is still healing and b) you might hate me if you're interested in reading this beauty.

Finally, I love many things about this book and let's be honest Cal is way up there at Number 01. I don't want this review to be about which guy is hotter in this book because I believe Red Queen is far more focused on other themes and for that my heart does little dances. I especially love this sentence on page 215 where Mare realises that:

'This world is Silver, but it is also grey. There is no black-and-white.'

BOOM. How epic did that sound! And how true is it? Argh I'm so excited for the sequel Glass Sword to come out in February 2016. I can't wait to find out how Mare expands the revolution and defeats her enemies. The world may be Silver but Mare will no longer accept that.

I'm going to leave you guys here because writing this review has made me itch to read Red Queen all over again and I can't. Okay maybe a chapter...

*** I want to hear from you! Have you read Red Queen or would you like to? Have you ever read a book that you scoffed at but it turned out to be amazing? More importantly, are you Team Cal or Team Maven? Comment below people. ***