Rachel Reads & Reviews

Sharing books for everyone

  • Happy Anniversary

    It’s official! It’s been one whole year since I started this blog. I’ve done 24 interviews, 415 posts and I’ve definately read a lot of books.

    So to celebrate let’s think about special books. I, for one, still remember the first book I got from the public library. Of course I can’t find the exact title now but I remember it vividly. It was a lower school retelling of what I now recognized as the myth of Midas and his golden touch (always been into Greek mythology. But in this case, I just chose it because of the dog on the cover). It was all about a poor boy who gets the chance to turn things into gold, sprucing up his scruffy appearance so people will no longer make fun of him. But when he turns his dog into gold, he realizes love is more important than gold any time.

    Another one was this Strawberry Shortcake World of Friends book. You know how franchises make cash grab books and dvds and all that so it has little plot but more focused on sharing recipes like tea, hot cocoa and crepes. I know, so exotic. But I was 5. I remember I insisting on using it with my mom so we could make a “professional” meal for my grandparents.

    So what books provide special memories for you? Comment below?

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  • Ranking Desperate Duchesses

    And they’re not desperate as the title might make you think. We’re in the Georgian era people and unlike the stuffy ton, the parties are more decadent, the games, the rich more careless and everyone is out for their own pleasure. Yes, I say pleasure. All these dukes and duchesses are well-acquainted with the complications of lust and leave tattered reputations behind them with relish. But what of love, well that’s where the excitment comes in as James’ heroines fight and scheme for the hardest seduction of them all, seducing one’s heart.

    1. This Duchess of Mine: Jemma and Beaumont’s romance has been almost the foundation of the series, lurking in the backgrounds of almost all the books and finally come to head. The series begins after Jemma returns from Paris (where she fled after seeing Beaumont tupping his mistress and waited three years to retrieve her!), only for the purpose of making an heir since Beaumont is losing time with his irregular heart. Love should be dead between them but it isn’t, affection remains and after the will-they-won’t-they jealousy of Villiers/Jemma/Beaumont the wife and husband are determined to seduce the other all over again. Of course, they do this in totally ineffectual ways with Jemma trying to treat him like any other lover providing competition when Beaumont, staid and sturdy Beaumont doesn’t want to play games. He wants her even though he’s horrible at saying it. And even worse, his honor and his duty still means more to him despite the stress it gives him and lessening his life. The love between them is so intense and the centerpoint of chess and illicit pleasure makes the story my favorite. It’s a culmination of love, choice and loyalty and it’s wonderful.

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  • Gillian Claire Swearingen Interview

    Gillian Swearingen is a college student at the Columbus College of Art and Design, creator of Archie Art April (an Archie themed fanart challenge) and regular contributor to Archie Comics. She graciously took the time to talk about her life-long love for Archie, researching the depth of Archie history and her possible future in the industry.

    1. What did you first begin getting into Archie Comics?

    I think I was in fourth grade. I always liked comics in general like the ones my Mimi’s (Grandmother) had in her house or ones I read from the library. I guess because of that someone put an Archie comics in my stocking and instantly I was like “I love it!”

    I read it at the dinner table and I kept going throughout the day. It was the only one I had for a while and I’d reread it a lot. Then my Mimi spotted it and she’d show me that right next to all the Harvey comics she had, she had stacks of Archie comics. From then on she’d take me to all the places where we could find digests and started my collection.

    2. How did you start Archie Art April?

    So Archie Art April came about because I had been doing Inktober and Huevmber for a couple of years. The year before I started Archie Art April, I had done Inktober 2020. I did all the prompts from the list and I tried to draw them all with Archie. Then I did Huevember the next month which was easier since I matched colors to the characters. And because I had done these art challenges with Archie, I was trying to find another one to do.

    So it was 2021 when I started and it was the fun of creating a new challenge with the characters I loved. Now they’re not my favorite illustrations I have done since I was working two jobs, but I was getting to draw and it was fun.

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  • More Thoughts on Tales from Shadowhunter Academy

    Cuz apparently I’m still not over it.

    Maybe it’s a bit nitpicky or maybe I’m biased because I enjoy Simon/Isabelle/Sizzy but I want another Tales from Shadowhunter Academy. And this time I want it to truly focus on Simon and Izzy.  

    What I mean is that while the anthology format was entertaining and showed many parts of the Shadowhunter world it necessitated Simon sharing the spotlight.

    He had to share with Magnus/Alec in Born to an Endless Night. Shared it with The Circle flashbacks in The Evil We Love. With the Blackthorns in Pale Kings and Princes. With James and Matthew in Nothing But Shadows. With Jem and Tessa in The Whitechapel Fiend. You get the idea.

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  • There’s Something About Sweetie Review

    We bring things back to the Patal family about two years later with Ashish Patel suffering through the throes of the worst kind of hurt, heartbreak. Celia cheated on him and it seems his mojo is lost for good. He can’t flirt, can’t play basketball and he can’t even work up his Ash-smolder. Worse is that whenever he tries to put himself out there, he word-vomits to the hottest girl in school. He just feels that he won’t ever get over his heartbreak. What does it say about him that the one girl he ever loved didn’t love him back? Is there something about him that prevents him from forming a real connection?

    Sweetie Nair sort of has a similar problem. The thing is she has never dated and her mom seems set on preventing her unless she gets thin. In fact a lot of things seem out of reach for Sweetie because she’s not thin enough accoridng to Amma which she knows is totally BS. If only she could get the courage to tell her mom that and move on from her internalized fatphobia to embrace everything she is. She’s the best athlete, a great singer, loyal friend, top student, she is all those things and her outward appearance shouldn’t define her.

    So when her Amma says no to an arranged date with Ashish Patel because she feels Sweetie isn’t in his league, Sweetie’s done. She’s unleashing the Sassy Sweetie project to prove to herself that she can achieve happiness just the way she is.
    As for Ashish, he is reluctant about this idea to allow his parents to arrange him up but it worked for Rishi. . . Only his ideas of his parents picking up a boring, traditional Indian girl to “tame him” are blown out of the water immediately when he meets Sweetie and she challenges to him a race that leaves him in the dust. She’s strong and insightful and beautiful but can he really give her the emotional connection she deserves with Celia clouding his thoughts?

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  • The Princess Diaries #4-6 Reread

    It’s been a few month but I finally got my hands on the next three volumes in the series and wow, lots of things are happening as Mia enters the new year with her new boyfriend. Unfortunately, they’re spending the winter break away from each other and it gives Mia lots of time to anxiously worry about the state of it when she gets back.

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  • Fairest Review

    Since I tackled Ella Enchanted, I decided to read another of Levine’s classic fairytale retellings. This time she tackles Snow White and she does it with plenty of twists and panache. I’ve said before, but I’ll repeat again I really admire her imagination when building her magic system and creating distinct languages, lore and other worldbuilding details in her kingdom of Ayorthia.

    Aza is of white skin, red lips and dark hair just as in the original tale but these features do not make her beautiful. Rather they make her stand out as ugly accompained by her larger side. In fact, most of the time she hides away doing laundrey in her parent’s inn because guests treat her cruelly or are plain appalled to look at her. For if there’s one thing Ayorthians care about it, it’s aesthetic beauty.

    At least she has her angelic voice, possibly the best in the land. She certainly can do things no one else can like illusing where she can throw her voice and mimic anyone or any object.

    So in a surprise twist of fate, one of their guests-a duchess needs a companion when her current one falls in to accompany her to the king’s wedding. While Aza is mortified at the thought of thousands of others seeing her ugliness, she cannot deny herself a chance to see the castle, the king, the royal event of the century.

    It is while she’s in the palace, she meets the dog-loving Prince Ijori, and the childish future Queen Ivi. Two sudden companions who admire her voice. The Prince for her creativity and the Queen who wishes Aza to be her voice.

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  • Book Highlight: The Valentine’s Hate

    If you like enemies to lovers this is the one you should read for today, Valentine’s Day. It all started when Lizzie Alonso and Brian Anderson were in second grade when he called her card stupid. Then eighth grade when an unrequited crush and bra stuffing led to the humilating Tiolet Titties nickname. Then eight grade when they got suspended for hurling cupcakes at each other.

    So it’s quite unfortunate when they are forced to spend a week of prenuptial festivities in Mexico. Not that it matters, Lizzie’s here to take her bridesmaid duties seriously and be there for her BFF until she gets roped into pretending to be Brian’s fake fiance.

    Yeah it’s that trope. Predictably, the forced proximity together brings them to move past their negative impressions and talk about their hardships, families and other incidents that they hadn’t been able to see in their surface-level rivalry. Of course, there’s fears of revealing their new feelings once the charade is over and a grand declaration that will be sure to charm hearts.

    While parts of it is cliche, Halston keeps things moving with its quick-paced romance and added layer of family approval and expectation that fuels the characters. Plus Brian’s journey as an author and seeing how much his books connect with younger readers is super heartwarming, I loved it.

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  • Beautiful Darkness Review

    Readers, we return to the small town of Gatlin, South Carolina where the Daree Keen is the teen hot spot, DAR runs the town and Lena Duchannes’ life has been irrecoverably changed when she brought Ethan back to life and inadvertedly caused her substitute father, Macon Ravenwood’s death.

    Ethan Wate understands the complicated grief Lena is going through but that understanding can go so far when Lena’s caster world adds other obstacles. Convinced that she’s to blame for Macon’s death, Lena is sure that she’s destined for Dark and starts pulling away from Ethan and getting friendly with Dark Casters like Ridley and the mysterious John Breed. But Ethan can’t give up on Lena.

    Nothing in sleepy Gatlin is as it seems and it becomes clear that Ethan’s world has always been tangled up with the Caster conflicts, and he may be the key to getting to the bottom of it before the balance of it all goes haywire.

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  • From Twinkle, With Love Review

    This epistoloary novel is made up of letters from Twinkle to her favorite female directors like Ava Duv, Mira Nair, Nora Ephron etc. (they’re more diary entries than letters really) that immediately bring readers up to speed to who Twinkle Mehra is.

    A junior in high school, Twinkle dreams of becoming a film-maker and despite her initial nervousness and apprehension, accepts the shy, geeky Sahil Roy’s offer to make a film for the school’s Midsummer Night Festival.

    You see, Twinkle has always been a wallflower, shy and invisible but the chance to get into the director’s chair for real elevates her beyond her dreams. Not only is she doing what she loves, but she starts to believe she can finally become one of the “silk feathered hat’ people instead of a “groundling” (Gotta love those Shakespearean way of dividing the geeks and the populars). Maybe her best friend, Maddie who has been distancing herself from her will become as close as sisters again? Maybe her big crush, Neil Roy will finally notice her. She’ll be visible!

    But that’s not all. She becomes convinced that this will be the solution to all her problems when Maddie gets cast as the lead thus necessitating more time together and Twinkle starts getting anonymous admirer emails from N. Surely, it must be Neil!

    However, the more time she spends with Sahil in filming, getting props and just talking, Twinkle begins to fall for the “wrong” Roy twin. Totally off her script but Sahil’s sweet, compassionate nature and his love for movies makes it clear that maybe her plot for happily ever after is not as good as what is right in front of her.

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