Mina's Updates

Mina has read 'Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, Vol. 1'

Thu, 08 May 2025 12:35:26 -0700

Mina has read Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, Vol. 1 by Luo Di Cheng Qiu

Mina added 'Fall In Love, You False Angels, Vol. 1'

Sat, 01 Feb 2025 03:58:54 -0800

Mina gave 4 stars to Fall In Love, You False Angels, Vol. 1 (Paperback) by Coco Uzuki
bookshelves: netgalley, 2025
Please do not be fooled by the cover like I was originally, this is NOT a girl's love title. But it is a cute, hetero, shoujo manga. It follows Otogi, the most popular girl in school - who is always composed, polite and has the perfect looks. Most people don't realize though, that she curated this persona on purpose and the real Otogi is way more snarky and calculating. She works together on the student council with Toki, who seems to be her perfect match - as far as appearances go. Otogi wonders if he also hides behind a mask at school so she starts paying more attention to Toki (it also doesn't hurt that he is rather nice to look at) but cannot find any fault in him. One afternoon the two take the train together and after some people start harassing them, Otogi snaps and reveals her true colors. To her shock Toki actually seems to be into this side of her and the two start spending some time together and truly getting to know each other, with Toki introducing her to a few of his friends and inviting her to meet up outside of school as well. I think this manga has a lot of potential for a nice slowburn romance and to play with the stereotypical shoujo tropes. The first volume was cute and it left room for the characters to grow and for more depth to be introduced.

Mina wants to read 'Extras All For The Game'

Sun, 05 Jan 2025 02:53:24 -0800

Mina wants to read Extras All For The Game by Nora Sakavic

Mina is on page 228 of 288 of The Chalice of the Gods

Tue, 24 Sep 2024 10:22:00 -0700

Mina is on page 228 of 288 of The Chalice of the Gods.
Mina wrote: I love Percy's humor but the writing style is a bit.. off. This book has a very "this is written for the younger generation of readers" feel to it which makes it more goofy than it needs to be.

Mina wants to read 'The Golden Raven'

Fri, 06 Sep 2024 06:49:52 -0700

Mina wants to read The Golden Raven by Nora Sakavic

Mina added 'The Sunshine Court'

Mon, 15 Jul 2024 10:01:35 -0700

Mina gave 5 stars to The Sunshine Court (All for the Game, #4) by Nora Sakavic
wow, okay, I cannot tell you how much I loved this book!

finishing AFTG left such a hole in my heart, it was so raw and emotional and I just really cared about the characters. so when I heard that we were getting a new book - and that it’s be a shared POV between a new couple I was overjoyed but also very wary. there was no reason to, really.

this was a lovely book that kinda starts before book 3 ends, and fits Jean’s personal story around book 3’s finale. as I have read AFTG quite a few years ago I don’t remember enough details to comment on how seamless this was, but I appreciated the effort and the cameos!

I loved to see Neil a bit, to know how he was doing and that he tried to help Jean. Jean was a really morally grey character in the first three books, you could tell he wouldn’t be a bad person if he was living under different circumstances. it was heartbreaking but also very uplifting to see how he was able to leave the team that treated him horribly for a new one that let him enjoy his life again. I liked that it was realistic in how he reacted to the change, and even tried to cling to Evermore at the beginning, yes, it was horrible there but at least he knew how to survive in that life. it was better than the unknown world. Jeremy has always been really lovely and I like that we learned a bit more about his family, how he isn’t always that happy-go-lucky person but someone who also has hard things to deal with. I liked the rest of the team as well, although sometimes I wish they stepped back and let Jeremy and Jean have their moments, I liked that they helped Jean to figure out life outside of the Nest. I can’t wait for the sequel but I am also kind of scared to see how the rest of the story continues, as this volume was rather calm and peaceful compared to book 1-3!

I know this book is going to destory me and I will end up thanking Nora for it

Mina added 'Greywaren'

Mon, 15 Jul 2024 09:57:14 -0700

Mina gave 3 stars to Greywaren (Dreamer Trilogy, #3) by Maggie Stiefvater
It was a strange experience, reading this series. As much as I loved the original Raven Cycle books, I had so much trouble finding the same enthusiasm for the Dreamer Trilogy.

The tone/style shift was one reason: the magic of feeling that everything will work out in the end, is gone, and replaced by the harsh, and quite depressive realities of adult life. As someone who loved how the series gave me hope in my 20s, and longed for some more during Covid, it was quite the smack in the face.

Another reason was the fact that the Dreamer Trilogy was supposed to be Ronan’s story. And more often than not it felt like the books were about the secondary characters while he and Adam barely got any scenes, even in the final book. And it didn’t help that I couldn’t make myself care about any if the new characters, Jordan, Henessy, Carmen or Liliana were all just utterly boring if you ask me, and felt like they were part of an entirety different story. It was strange how little I felt about them given how in TRC even the most vile antagonists were introduced in a way that you couldn’t help but be intrigued about them. I love Matthew and Declan has redeemed himself to me at the beginning- only to ruin all that by his choices in book 2. I didn’t need book 3 to tell me he made a mistake, it was all painfully obvious and honestly frustrating to read.

I absolutely loved Ronan and Adam, and their parts were beautiful. I just really don’t understand why there was a need for this big overarching plot that distracted us from the main story: the relationships between the characters. And it just felt so utterly foreign and disappointing that Gansey, Blue and Henry were gone for years. Along with the ending it just felt really lackluster to see where they can from and what disappointingly mundane lives they ended up with.

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I am so excited for these books to happen.

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Mon, 15 Jul 2024 09:45:11 -0700

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Mon, 15 Jul 2024 09:44:26 -0700

Mina wants to read 'The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi'

Mon, 15 Jul 2024 09:18:29 -0700

Mina wants to read The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty