young adult

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Cassandra Clare’s The Bane Chronicles

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2.0 Stars

This was a courtesy rating because Magnus Bane is a great character and there were two short stories in this book that I enjoyed, the rest just sucked. I have a love/hate relationship with Cassandra Clare. Some of her books are actually good (personal favorite is The Infernal Devices series) and some are just garbage that she seems to be producing to squeeze every last penny out of the Mortal Instruments series and the Shadowhunter universe. That being said, one of my favorite characters that she has ever created is Magnus Bane. Magnus Bane is a biracial (Asian and white), bisexual warlock. He is incredibly stylish and his personality is amusing. A writer can do a lot with a character such as him, especially when this character is an immortal warlock. So how could this book be so bad?

The book is comprised of eleven short stories that take place throughout the eternal life of Magnus, so the time periods and countries change with each new tale. In some of the stories, you run into characters from other Cassandra Clare books which is cool for her fans. Some of the stories read like fan fiction, which probably has to do with Clare not being the only writer in this collection (featured authors: Sarah Rees Brennan, Maureen Johnson, and illustrator Cassandra Jean). Due to its fan fiction vibe, this book gives me a familiar feeling. It reminds me of when I go to a convention and the overwhelming awkwardness of my fellow nerds makes me wince in second-hand embarrassment.

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The collection of short stories features artwork by Cassandra Jean at the beginning of each story accompanied by a notable quote from the story itself. I thought it was a nice touch.

On a completely different note, there’s a line in the book that bothers me, “And it was nice to see a neighborhood where not everyone had white skin.” It is confusing to me that this sentence was put here because in all of Clare’s work there is a serious lack of minorities as main characters. Supporting characters, there are a few sprinkled in, which is great but never the main character. She also makes a point to describe these characters as being “stark white” or extremely pale all the time. Why pretend? Magnus Bane is the closest thing to a diverse main character and now that he gets his own book it’s utter shit.

I paired this collection with Forager Brewery‘s Untitled Art. because if Magnus Bane was a craft beer he would be this. It pours a dark burgundy/purple color which I thought was appropriate for Magnus. The bottle is also very pretty. It is a blackberry Berliner Weisse, a bit tart and incredibly enjoyable.

Quotes:

“Trust. It is like placing a blade in someone’s hand and setting the very point to your heart.”

“Love did not overcome everything. Love did not always endure. All you had could be taken away, love could be the last thing you had, and then love could be taken too.”

“One can give up many things for love, but should not give up oneself.”

Format: Hardcover.

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Danielle Fisher’s A Bit Witchy

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 1.5 Stars

I received this book in exchange for an honest opinion and review.

So I enjoyed the lead character, Lena, in the beginning for a few reasons; one of them being she wasn’t described as being an impossibly perfect girl. In fact, she’s full figured, dirty minded and incredibly clumsy. I enjoyed her self-deprecating way of speaking and thinking.

On the other hand, the men in this book are all overtly horny at all times. They all sound like fuckboys. It was funny the first few pages but after a while, it became trite and annoying. The constant objectification of women and Lena’s somewhat begrudging acceptance of it I honestly didn’t dig.

The lore of this book is hella disjointed. Since it’s the first book in the series, it should have a lot more background information that is explained clearly. The entire guardian angel premise was confusing and was not fleshed out enough. So there’s a god who assigns angels but also reincarnation is a thing but none of this is ever explained. And where did the Fates come from, are they similar to the ones in Greek mythology? In addition to this, the story didn’t flow well. The author introduces characters and then they disappear and you never hear from them again. What happened to them? The battle scene towards the end was an incoherent shit show. I had no idea what the hell was happening. The conversations throughout the book are terrible, often times cringe worthy.

I feel like this book has potential due to its interesting concept but at best this reads like an incomplete first draft. Also, I think the book needs a different title, there is nothing witchy about this book; the title is misleading.

I decided to pair this book with GolfBeer‘s G-Mac’s Celtic Style Pale Ale. There is no distinct flavor to this beer or anything that makes it stand out. The book has potential unlike this beer but I felt it was an appropriate pairing; a mediocre beer for a mediocre book.

Format: E-Book.

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Marissa Meyer’s The Lunar Chronicles

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4 .0 Stars

This series was incredibly enjoyable. All the books in this series are retellings of fairy tales in a sci-fi-esque future. All their stories intertwine to create a riveting and awesome adventure. Cinder is a super rad protagonist. By her name you can imagine that she is a reimagined Cinderella. She is a funny, sarcastic, and spunky cyborg mechanic. She is a great feminist, actually, all the female leads are great feminists.( I also love Iko! She is hilariously fantastic. Wolf and Scarlet make my heart ache. ♥)

As a brown girl, it is refreshing to read a Young Adult series where all of the characters are not white by default. I grew up reading books with white characters and always found it difficult to imagine myself as one of the characters, to relate to, or fully indulge myself because of this sometimes. Thank you, Marissa Meyer, for doing what all these other Young Adult authors whom I have read seem to be unable to do; and that is to make a diverse group of characters. Not only personality wise but ethnically too (Interracial love! YAY). This really made it great for me. Not only are there various races but also people from different planets, androids, and cyborgs. It’s great. It might not concern many readers but diversity is something I look for in my books. I’m excited for all the nonwhite teens who will read this and think, “Yaaasss Princess Winter is Black like me!” or “Cinder is Asian like me! Finally!” Ok, I’m done.

Although some stuff was predictable there are still numerous surprises and you won’t even breathe from anticipation, once you get towards the end. I was excited to see what happened after each installment. I am so sad that it’s over. I  might just read the entire series again!

I definitely see various tidbits that were inspired by Sailor Moon in the series which makes the fangirl in me squeal.

I paired this series with Rogue‘s Morimoto Imperial Pilsner. This beer starts off tasting sweet with a floral scent and finishes with a somewhat bitter taste (not too harsh) that reminds me of Cinder’s “take no shit” attitude.

List of the books in the series, in order of release:
∴ Cinder
∴ Scarlet
∴ Cress
∴ Fairest
∴ Winter

Formats: Paperback. Hardcover.