Book reviews: Till alla killar jag har gillat | PS. Jag gillar dig fortfarande | Nu och för alltid, Lara Jean

Title: Till alla killar jag har gillat
Author: Jenny Han
Original title: To All the Boys I've Loved Before
First published: 2014
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Feelgood
Series: Till alla killar jag har gillat #1
Publisher: Lavender Lit
Format: Hardback
Pages: 362
Finished: 31/05/2019
Summary: Sixteen-year-old Lara Jean Song keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her. They aren’t love letters that anyone else wrote for her; these are ones she’s written. One for every boy she’s ever loved—five in all. When she writes, she pours out her heart and soul and says all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only. Until the day her secret letters are mailed, and suddenly, Lara Jean’s love life goes from imaginary to out of control.

My thoughts: This review will be short, because while I did like it a lot, there's not a lot of detail to go into. What enjoyed about this book had a lot to do with the characters and their relationships. This first novel focuses a lot on the relationship between Lara Jean and her two sisters, which was rather heartwarming at times. We also have the relationship between a single dad and his daughters, which was a representation of family structure that I loved to follow. And then there's the relationship between Lara Jean and the love interest, which was fun and not too expected (at least from my perspective). If I'd seen this as a movie, I'd probably have hated it, but in the format of a book, I found it cosy and nice. It was the best contemporary romance I've read EVER, I think!

Rating: 4,5/5

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Title: PS. Jag gillar dig fortfarande
Author: Jenny Han
Original title: PS. I Still Love You
First published: 2015
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Feelgood
Series: Till alla killar jag har gillat #2
Publisher: Lavender Lit
Format: Hardback
Pages: 339
Finished: 05/06/2019
Summary: Spoiler alert! Lara Jean didn’t expect to really fall for Peter. She and Peter were just pretending. Except suddenly they weren’t. Now Lara Jean is more confused than ever.When another boy from her past returns to her life, Lara Jean’s feelings for him return too. Can a girl be in love with two boys at once?

My thoughts: As the second book of the trilogy, this shifts the focus a bit from sisterhood to how Lara Jean deals with the troubles and doubts of romance. This novel brings up themes like jealousy, trust, and self doubt. I didn't find this as good of a read as the first book, but I did still enjoy it a lot, and I didn't get too tired of the romance. The author does a good job of making the reader agree with Lara Jeans thoughts and decisions, even if they seem hasty and irrational in hindsight. The romance is put to a test, and I like the problems it presented; they felt relatable and true to real life issues.

Rating: 4,25/5

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Title: Nu och för alltid, Lara Jean
Author: Jenny Han
Original title: Always and Forever, Lara Jean
First published: 2017
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Feelgood
Series: Till alla killar jag har gillat #3
Publisher: Lavender Lit
Format: Hardback
Pages: 342
Finished: 12/06/2019
Summary: Spoiler alert! Lara Jean is having the best senior year. And there’s still so much to look forward to: a class trip to New York City, prom with her boyfriend Peter, Beach Week after graduation, and her dad’s wedding to Ms. Rothschild. Then she’ll be off to college with Peter, at a school close enough for her to come home and bake chocolate chip cookies on the weekends.
Life couldn’t be more perfect! At least, that’s what Lara Jean thinks . . . until she gets some unexpected news. Now the girl who dreads change must rethink all her plans—but when your heart and your head are saying two different things, which one should you listen to?

My thoughts: This final novel in the trilogy takes place a year or so after the second book, and once again we have a shift of focus. Here, we witness Lara Jean's decisions about going her own way in life, and we see how she matures and handles disappointment and pleasant surprises. Throughout the series, I have loved to follow Lara Jeans life and perspective, as well as the feel good romance. I think this was a good end to the trilogy, and I highly recommend reading it (especially in summer time!).

Rating: 4,25/5

Reading Theme of June, 2019

Dragons

Smaug from "The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien

Dragons are ancient mythical creatures that are part of countless different cultures. The English word for dragon seems to have popped up back in the early 13th century, though "dragon" comes from the French word of the same spelling, which in its own turn comes from latin "draconem", which comes from the term "drákōn" in Ancient Greek. Obviously, dragons are old news, but even today we seem to have a clear  fascination for the fictional creatures. They are featured in modern literature and films, such as "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" by J.K. Rowling, as well as "The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Dragons have a few well known characteristics; they're serpent-like, have wings, and breathe fire. However, whether they are seen as evil or not depends on what culture you ask. In western culture, dragons are seen as beasts or magical creatures. In tales, one can find a young male hero who has to defeat a great and evil dragon in order to save a lady in distress. In contrast, eastern Asian culture views the dragon more like a sort of god and is a sign of prosperity and peace. Here, dragons are worshipped, whereas in the western world, they are feared.

Now that you know a bit more about dragons, I hope you are excited to read a book this month that features these mythological beings in one way or another. I personally don't have very much experience with reading books centred around dragons, which is why I'm particularly looking forward to this theme. Despite not having read a lot of dragon books, I do own a fair amount of unread books that do. Therefore, I won't recommend any books this month, but instead show you what I might choose to pick up! Here is a fancy list of five options:

• "Drakarna" ("Talon") by Julie Kagawa
• "Eragon" by Christopher Paolini
• "Drakryttaren" ("Dragon Rider") by Cornelia Funke
• "Seraphina" by Rachel Hartman
• "Guards! Guards!" by Terry Pratchett

Perhaps you can find inspiration from this list? Or maybe you have other books on your TBR that would fit this theme perfectly? Either way, I'd be thrilled if you decide to join me in my dragon reading this month.
Happy reading!

Video in Swedish

Covers in the World: The Dark Elements

English covers 1:

Is this a YA fantasy series or an erotica series? It's hard to tell.

English covers 2:

These cover just look sloppy. Who did these? I wonder how much money they made from working less than half an hour on these.

English covers 3:

These are actually decent! At least for being English covers of Armentrout books. I don't think I'd be attracted to these covers specifically in a store, but at least they look alright.

Spanish covers:

I like the colours! I can't say for sure if these covers fit the contents of the books, since I haven't read them yet, but they seem a little better fitted to contemporary, I think.

German covers 1:

Decent! But not very eye-catching.

German covers 2:

I can't pinpoint which, but this reminds me a lot of the covers to another fantasy series. Either way, they're ok.

Dutch covers:

Um... ok? No thanks.

Turkish covers:

Nah... similar to the English covers, but they don't do it better.

Polish covers:

A bit more dark and gloomy. They're ok, though maybe a bit ugly. Just a bit.

Russian covers 1:

Hehe Russia never fails to amaze me. These are messy; the colours clash, there's a lot happening, and there's no good composition of it all. Nope.

Russian covers 2:

Better! Wish Russia would have gone for this style instead for the entire trilogy.

Indonesian covers:

Wooow! I love these! So fiiiine! Pity these are not for the English ones. Wish they'd finished the series as well.

Italian covers:

*cough* NO

Book reviews: Just Dreaming | Rebel Belle | Miss Mayhem

Title: Just Dreaming
Author: Kerstin Gier
Original title: Das dritte Buch der Träume
First published: 2015
Genre: Fantasy, YA
Series: The Silver Trilogy #3
Publisher: Square Fish
Format: Paperback
Pages: 349
Finished: 06/05/2019
Summary: Spoiler alert! The course of dream travel never did run smooth--at least, not in Liv Silver's experience. Able to visit other people's dreams (whether they want her to or not), Liv has solved mysteries, unearthed difficult truths, fought madmen, and escaped life-threatening peril, all from the comfort of her own bed. But Liv's troubles are just beginning...

My thoughts: I didn’t let as much time go by as I did between reading the first and second book of this trilogy. I read “Dream On” in January and realized that I wanted to finish the series soon, before I forgot too much. Now I’ve completed the whole thing, and I’m happy that I did so now and not later on.
I appreciate Gier’s writing mostly because of the way she portrays her protagonists. Both Gwen from the “Ruby Red” trilogy and Liv from this trilogy share the same humour and absolute awkwardness when it comes to pretty much everything in life. I feel that I have been able to relate a lot to both of these characters’ quirky and insecure sides, as well as their sarcastic and snarky ones. What’s more, I love the interactions between Liv and other characters; she has such different ways of acting with them, which I find very realistic. The romance was also chill; it wasn’t necessarily explosive or too dramatic, like most young adult romances. No, it was more laid back, and their relationship went through problems that I felt are more true to actual teenage couple problems. I appreciated that a lot.

The main problem I found with this series was its handling of mental illnesses; more specifically psychopaths. Liv has the same assumptions about psychopaths that most people seem to have; that someone who “acts crazy” and has bad intentions is immediately labled as a psychopath. I found that the way in which the topic was treated in this series heavily alienated the illness in a way that definitely isn’t good for anyone. Ultimately, this is what lowered my grade from a 4,5/5 stars to 4,25/5 stars. It’s not a huge change in rating, but it matters to me.
Besides that flaw, I recommend this series to anyone who wants to read quirky and fun young adult fantasy, and to anyone who has enjoyed other works by Gier. Let’s hope more books by her get translated into English!

Rating: 4,25/5

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Title: Rebel Belle
Author: Rachel Hawkins
Original title: Rebel Belle
First published: 2014
Genre: Fantasy, YA
Series: Rebel Belle #1
Publisher: Putnam
Format: Hardback
Pages: 345
Finished: 18/05/2019
Summary: Harper Price, peerless Southern belle, was born ready for a Homecoming tiara. But after a strange run-in at the dance imbues her with incredible abilities, Harper's destiny takes a turn for the seriously weird. She becomes a Paladin, one of an ancient line of guardians with agility, super strength and lethal fighting instincts.Just when life can't get any more disastrously crazy, Harper finds out who she's charged to protect: David Stark, school reporter, subject of a mysterious prophecy and possibly Harper's least favorite person. But things get complicated when Harper starts falling for him—and discovers that David's own fate could very well be to destroy Earth.

My thoughts: “Rebel Belle” was the book that I decided to read for May month’s reading theme; something pink on the cover. If this cover isn’t pink, I don’t know what is.
I have earlier read the first two books in Rachel Hawkins’ “Hex Hall” trilogy, which I remember that I enjoyed a lot. This book had a lot in common with those books; the main character has the same type of humour and cluelessness in the face of epicness. “Rebel Belle” was a light read that didn’t demand much concentration or emotional dedication, which I can appreciate from time to time. Overall it was decent; the plot was pretty investing, the romance was nice, and the protagonist was entertaining. Nothing mind-blowing, but totally alright.

Rating: 3,5/5

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Title: Miss Mayhem
Author: Rachel Hawkins
Original title: Miss Mayhem
First published: 2015
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Series: Rebel Belle #2
Publisher: Putnam
Format: Hardback
Pages: 272
Finished: 23/05/2019
Summary: Spoiler alert! Life is almost back to normal for Harper Price. The Ephors have been silent after their deadly attack at Cotillion months ago, and her best friend, Bee, has returned after a mysterious disappearance. Now Harper can focus on the important things in life: school, canoodling with David (her nemesis-turned-ward-slash-boyfie), and even competing in the Miss Pine Grove pageant.
Unfortunately, supernatural chores are never done. The Ephors have decided they’d rather train David than kill him. The catch: Harper has to come along for the ride, but she can’t stay David’s Paladin unless she undergoes an ancient trial that will either kill her . . . or make her more powerful than ever.

My thoughts: Slight spoiler alert I'm sad to say that this second book in the series was a disappointment compared to the first one. I had several problems with it, though I admit I didn't hate it. I'm just underwhelmed. No one flaw was greater than the others for me, and had there been less of them, I might have liked this as much as the first. However, I expected more.
First of all, the story lacks character interactions in general. Because the main character does not interact with the other characters in the story (even though she mentions them in her narration) they fall flat, and the story starts appearing fabricated. Of course I know that the story is fictional, but a good book should have you feeling that the story has some truth to it. Miss Mayhem, or rather this series, does not deliver on that front.
Another problem was the plot of this book, which was typical for the second installment in young adult trilogies. Sure, things happened, but they were rushed through and easily forgettable, causing me to think that the author only wanted to brush over this novel in order to get to the third and final one. I can understand that urge, but a good trilogy contains three good books, not just two.
There were smaller things that it lacked as well. Most of all, I think it lost its charm. I laughed at parts in the first book, but I found no such moments in this one. I also found that the romance, which I enjoyed before, felt very bland now. In fact, all but one of the relationships between protagonist and supporting character were bland.
All of this, despite that I still kind of like the story and want to know what happens, urges me to give this book a lower grade than I thought I would. I will most likely not finish reading this trilogy.

Rating: 2,75/5

Reading Theme of May, 2019

Pink!

Dolores Umbridge from "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" by J.K. Rowling

(This is super late because I forgot to publish it... oops!)

The colour pink is definitely a part of mostly every day of our lives, in one way or another. Pink sky, pink skin, pink clothes, etc... Hate it, love it, or just live with it; either way there's no getting away from it (unless you choose to go to extreme lengths). Like all colours, this light shade of red is a symbol for a number of different things. What comes to mind right away is the "pink ribbon" for support of victims of breast cancer and Japanese cherry blossom. In modern times, pink might also be viewed as closely connected to femininity, though it has not always been this way. In fact, red and pink used to be associated with masculinity, since they were seen as strong and somewhat aggressive colours, while shades of blue were considered feminine, since they were softer. The change came with the end of the world wars, when parents of baby boomers started appointing pink to girls and blue to boys. The trend, and norm, seems to have stuck since then.

So! Pink is the reading theme of May, and unlike the other two reading themes we've had, this is the first one to refer to book covers. For May, I encourage you to read a book that has something pink on the cover. It can be a very pink cover, or a not so pink cover. It's up to you! Either way, I hope you have fun reading. And remember; no book is too big or small! Any reading is good reading <3

If you are, however, in need of some recommendations, here are some pink books you might want to have a look at:

• "Soulless" by Gail Carriger
• "Dream a Little Dream" by Kerstin Gier
• "The Witches" by Roald Dahl
• "Jam" by Yahtzee Croshaw
• "Born Wicked" by Jessica Spotswood

Happy Reading!

April Wrap Up 2019

Wrap Up video in Swedish

Books read in April

1. "Så talade Zarathustra" ("Thus Spoke Zarathustra") by Friedrich Nietzsche
2. "Red Queen" by Victoria Aveyard
3. "Death Most Definite" by Trent Jamieson
4. "The Magicians of Caprona" by Diana Wynne Jones
5. "Reptilrummet" by Lemony Snicket

Star of April
Gotta give it to "Death Most Definite" by Trent Jamieson; yet another good Australian read for me. It was funny, action packed, and a real page-turner.

Biggest disappointment of April
I'm sorry, but "Red Queen" by Victoria Aveyard really didn't live up to my standards... Go see my review for a more detailed opinion.

Surprise of April
I mean, "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" was a bit of a ride, wasn't it...?  I guess you could call that a surprise lol.

Theme of April
This month featured "a skeleton in the closet" as the theme. I chose to read "Death Most Definite" by Trent Jamieson, seeing as it follows an Australian reaper who works for the family business and transfers souls from this world to the next. It was a fun read and I recommend it!

Series started

1. "Red Queen" by Victoria Aveyard
2. "Death Workers" by Trent Jamieson

Oldest on the shelf
This month it was probably "The Magicians of Caprona" by Diana Wynne Jones. I'd started reading this book several years ago and didn't finish it until now, which means I've had it for a while. Most likely it's been with me since 2013.

Overall thoughts

Not as bad as March felt! I can feel that I am heading for better reading times (is what I say now, though it might turn out that all goes to hell in May idk). I'm looking forward to the books I'm planning to read next month.

PS: this post was delayed because I had a hard time finding the time (and energy) to film the video :P

Top 10 Series I Have Yet to Finish

I did a similar post back in 2015, which I recently read and thus realized how many series I haven't finished that I really should finish. To share my "laziness", here's a list of the top 10 series I should have finished by now, but haven't!

10. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - Jane Austen, Seth Grahame-Smith, Steve Hockensmith

I decided to include this one, not because I really
want to finish the series at the moment, but because
 I only have one book left (which I own) and I think
 I'd actually enjoy reading it. However, it's
likely not gonna happen soon.

9. Hex Hall - Rachel Hawkins

The one reason I haven't finished this is because
 the last book is so damn difficult to find in
 hardback. That's it. I could order it secondhand
off Amazon or something but idk if I trust that
enough, and it is still sort of high prices for a
second hand book tbh. Other than that, I remember really
 liking the first two books, and I would like to read the
last as well!

8. The Cahill Witch Chronicles - Jessica Spotswood

I'm not the biggest fan of this trilogy, but I did enjoy
 the first two books fairly much. Despite that, though,
 I have yet to finish the last book. I own it, it's in
my shelves with the others in the series, but I just
 haven't gotten around to reading it.

7. Reckoners - Brandon Sanderson

I pretty much loved "Steelheart" when I read it, and
 shortly after that I picked up the last book in the
 trilogy on a book sale. However, I never got my
hands on the second book, leaving me stuck. I have
 no doubt I'll buy the second one at some point,
 but the question is "when?".

6. The Lunar Chronicles - Marissa Meyer

This is a very decent series! At least as far as I've
 read. While the second book didn't exactly blow
 me away, I did adore the first book and I find the
 world in this series fascinating. I just need to buy the
 final two books and get on with the reading!

5. Shades of Magic - V.E. Schwab

How come that I haven't finished this awesome series
by one of my all time favourite authors? Well, the
 books are expensive as hell, so I never get around to
buying books 2 and 3, even though I would love
to read them and thus finish the series.

4. Penryn & the End of Days - Susan Ee

This is an action packed apocalyptic trilogy
that follows a badass girl and a fallen angel on
their quest to basically save the world. I love this series,
 and I think I'd love the last book as well. It's not
even that big of a book, so I'd manage it well.
Better get on that soon!

3. Daugher of Smoke and Bone - Laini Taylor

It's not even been that many years since I read the
 second book, but I haven't gotten to the third one
 yet. I own it and all; I even have it signed for
 me. I met Laini Taylor herself but still haven't
 read "Dreams of Gods & Monsters"... shame on me!

2. Engelfors - Mats Strandberg & Sara Bergmark Elfgren

This is a Swedish trilogy, of which I loved the
first two books. I think what intimidates me
about the last book is both its size and the fact
that it's been years since I read the last book. What
if I don't remember enough? Well, I should give it a
try anyways!

1. Lux - Jennifer L. Armentrout

Out of all the series, this is the one I should really
really finish. I loved this when I read it, and the
 final book, which is the only one I have left,
 really isn't that long (unlike some of the
other series I want but have yet to finish). I need to
get to this, even though I fear I might remember too
little or that my tastes have changed too much
for me to enjoy it fully...

So that's it! Those are the 10 series that I'm most ashamed I haven't finished yet. However, I think I'll get to some of them this year; I have already finished a few that would have been on this list otherwise!

Maybe I should do a similar list, but with the series I'm most happy to have finished? Or a list of series I definitely won't finish? Yeah, I might.

Bye for now tho!