Rachel Reads & Reviews

Sharing books for everyone

  • Ranking Jane Austen

    Sense and Sensibility: This one is a bit from bias because I liked the pictures best in the kids version I read before getting into the real version. Even so, I enjoyed how it focuses on family as much as romance. And having Elinor and Marianna as protagonists offer two heroines for readers to relate to. If you don’t get Marianna’s melodramatics, you’d like Elinor’s reserve and maturity or vice versa. They both go through their own heaps of development and learn to better understand the other (moreso with Marianna toward Elinor). Plus as an only child, and just generally enjoy sibling dynamics and seeing familial dramas play out as it does here.

    Pride and Prejudice: Ah who could argue against Pride and Prejudice with its timeless tale of looking past first impressions. I can’t add much but Darcy and Lizzie are really an ideal match as they recognize their mistakes and their own flaws, and change so they can better enjoy their similarities of wit and observation. It’s just such a good romance.

    Emma: I heartily enjoyed Emma even though Austen originally said that she’d be a protagonist that one might dislike. I think Emma’s flaws of pride and meddling and spoiledness are all part of her charm as the novel brings her down a few pegs as she tries her matchmaking schemes. Plus all the characters are enjoyable like the stately Knightley, the charismatic Churchhill and dreamy Harriet. It’s also helps that she has her fair share of good intentions even though they don’t always turn out the way she means to. And like, Northanger Abbey it is a relatable tale on society, which is why it is readily available to adaptations like Clueless.

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  • YA Protagonists and Relatability

    After reading the Black Widow duology, I started wondering. When writing tie in or spin offs or side adventure books involving popular characters like Marvel heroes or whatever, are the original young adult characters really necessary?

    I wrote in the Black Widow review that I had been expecting more insight to Natasha’s past and her missions from the Red Room, but it was vague. It was less about Natasha as a hero, but her as a mentor figure for the real main character.

    I found the same in the DC’s new series giving side adventures to the heroes like Wonder Woman: Warbringer where there was some focus on her finding out about Man’s Land, it was also about the three unsuspecting teens who end up embroiled in Ares’ plot.

    I know the point of these teen protagonists are to be the entry point for readers unfamiliar with the property. They’re the rookies who are being introduced to the world the same time as the readers, they’re relatable.

    But I’m not interested in them. Not only do they have the same sort of coming of age, learning to harness their power character development. But since I already have some knowledge of Wonder Woman and her mythos, I don’t need to be reintroduced. Plus I picked the book up to see Wonder Woman’s journey, not this random person’s. I want to see her side adventures with the Amazons or Steve Trevor, not her teaming up with a civilian.

    So what are your thoughts? Do you want the teen protagonist in the book or would you rather focus on the main event? Is it necessary to include the person in order to make it YA? Or should it be part of the New Adult genre since the heroes are generally in their twenties than their teens in the books?

    Comment below!

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  • Lovely War Review

    Set in the backdrop of WWI, two loves stories intertwine as the couples face trauma, and bigotry with the help of the gods.

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  • Stephanie Plum #1-5 Reread

    So I decided to reread the Stephanie Plum books since I think I gotten into a funk where I just skim and skip to the funny parts I remembered. So this time I reread it and I paid attention.

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  • Disney Descendants: School of Secrets Review

    Unlike my post on the Isle of the Lost, this one will be an actual review of the series overall.

    Unlike the Isle of the Lost series, this has some leeway in escaping continuity issues. They are not to set up movie plots or examine the main characters. This focuses on side characters that appear in the adjacent web series (which has its own drama of being considered canon or not). These characters wouldn’t be focused otherwise so Jessica Brody has plenty of space to explore development and the wider geography of Auradon. It’s all very slice of life than fantasy adventure which keeps in tone with a middle grade series.

    Brody’s strength is the tone of her books that perfectly match with the Disney medium. In all of them, I felt like I was watching a movie, it has its heartwarming moments, humor, talking animals, adventures and the power of friendship throughout it all. Plus she has great fun with incorporating specific Easter Eggs and cameos in each book. They’re all standalones so it allows readers to pick and choose which book they’d like depending on the property.

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  • Isle of the Lost and the Difficulties of Continuity

    Okay, I’ll admit when I first heard of the Descendants movies involving Kristen Chenworth way back in 2014, I had made fun of it. Especially the unimagenative names given to the children of the characters. I mean Evie – Evil Queen, Jay- Jafar, it just seemed so lazy.

    But then I read the first Isle of the Lost book by Melissa De La Cruz. It immediately captured my imagination/ Not only in how she described the almost dystopian kill or be killed mentality of an island filled with the worst villains imaginable, and their kids living in various states of neglect, abuse and starvation. But also the good side, Auradon where all the Disney heroes live happily ever after in a democratic bucreatic kingdom which has its own problems as Prince Ben (of Beauty and the Beast) finds out.

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  • #SoMaternal and Mothering Books

    People Like Her by Ellery Lord

    This book is a semi-mystery focusing on mommy blogger and icon, Emmy Jackson, her husband, Dan and the mysterious stalker that seeks revenge on for having an ideal life that feeds the insecurities of others. It’s a book about the darker undercurrent of internet fame and the obsessions behind it.

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  • A Frozen Heart Review

    As we all know when a popular movie comes out, we must have the movie in novelization form. How else will we learn what the characters are thinking? Even though it’s basically a rehash of what we already saw onscreen.
    Well, Elizabeth Rudnick’s book takes a creative angle in simply focusing on the point of view of the false couple. Anna and Hans.

    Now Anna’s side of the story is decent. It fits in line with what we see in the movie, we get a little more of how lonely she was in the palace, how much she misses her sister, a bit more of the sadder side to the usually upbeat princess.

    But the true star of the novel for me was Hans. It gives his backstory! We see his life on the Southern Isles with his brother who are awful. His dad is awful, in fact most of the men in the family seem to be tyrannical sadists, and the women beaten down and scared. Hans even says he feels bad for the women arranged to marry one of his brothers, that he knows she’ll end up as withdrawn and listless as his mother. The implication of spousal abuse is pretty dark!

    Not to mention, the line where he gives himself splinters because the pain makes him feel better. Okay, self-harm references too, just wow.

    So, yeah I’m all prime to feel bad for Hans. I’ll admit in the movie I enjoyed him because he wasn’t the typical villain, but now this makes me even more sympathetic.

    But don’t worry Frozen fans, he is still cold at the core. While it does keep some sympathy on him in the beginning, showing that his scheme to marry Anna in the beginning was geuine and he didn’t first plan to murder her (He figured she’d be a pretty trophy wife more or less and let him do the ruling) and mainly focused on his desperation that this was his one shot to leave the Southern Isles.

    But even though Hans was disgusted by his father’s cruelty and disregard for others, he does not see those traits in himself as he does the exact same things. After the backstory, the book pretty much follows the movie but it does an interesting job in depicting Hans from beaten down thirteenth brother, hopeful and desperate to meet Anna, to a cold man obssessed with getting the throne. It was great because it didn’t feel out of character but a natural progression of his darker impulses taking over, out of desperation sure but just because he is so desperate to leave his home, doesn’t mean he should have manipulated and stepped on so many people to get his way.

    An excellent book if you want to get more insight into Hans and the making of a sociopathetic chameleon. And Anna too. But let’s be honest, Hans is the true star of the book, we already Anna’s story from the movies and there is not much more insight given here.

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  • 4 books-Mini Reviews

    I was going to put all 4 titles but it looked clunky. Now here’s 4 books I read over April that were good but I didn’t feel like they warranted one big review each.

    Dangerous Play by Emma Kress

    Now this teaches me not to judge a book by its cover or title or summary. Unlike what I thought this is not about theatre kids. The play refers to field hockey play as in sports. My bad. Though you must admit it does look like they are standing on a stage rather than a parkor warehouse. Anyway, this book tackles sexual harassment and double standards in the school system that allows boys to get away with molesting and catcalling, and not getting into what they do during alcohol-fueled parties.

    After a near miss, Zoe and her hockey teammates decide that they’re fed up with the treatment and the lack of accountability. They decide to form their own secret vigilante team rescuing near-rapes and beating up the rapists.

    I felt that part was a bit unrealistic, however the book is saved as Kress does realistically show the split between teammates who feel like they’re going too far, the anger of those who want to do it after being harassed so much, and the effects it has on the girls’ mental wellbeing. Zoe also goes through a separate sidestory dealing with her home life and her complicated feelings with her parents after her dad suffers a permenant accident on the job. It serves a nuanced take about caretaking on the side of the caretaker and the caretakee and the strain it brings with one doing their best and the other wishing they could get better faster and stop being seen as “broken.” Good for those who like female friendship, adreneline and family bonds.

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  • Book Highlight: Black Widow Duology

    The Black Widow duology came out back in 2016 which I believe was the original timeline for the Black Widow movie premiere. But of course it got pushed back until 2019 so these books brought the hype very early and you can see some evidence of their movie inspiration in the pages.

    As one can guess from the title the main plot point of the books concern with the infamous Red Room. The Russian academy that trained highly skilled assassins through brainwashing and known for torture, homocide, sterilization and other deeds. It is where Natasha practically grew up, and it is where her red ledger stems from as she dedicates her knowledge of espionage in her new career as superhero.

    There’s no Yelena (though she appears in the second book for a cameo) rather there is Ava Orlova who was experimented by the military though that past is hazy. All she really remembers is how Black Widow saved her and how bored she is with her current life in SHIELD’s protective custody. However, their mysterious past is tied up with the Red Room reunite them as girls all over Eastern Europe go missing. Suspiciously timed with the disappearence of Red Room tech, so when Ava runs off to investigate, they end up teaming up to save the world.

    Honestly, if you’re looking for more Natasha backstory, this one is sort of vague. But then again, I’m not a big Marvel buff so maybe the Natasha chapters revealed some great insights into her mind. But even so, she still felt closed off and reserved even within her inner monologue. I guess she feels better not thinking about those things she did in the Red Room, but it sure felt like a let down.

    Ava was the real main character of the books, and because it’s YA, it had the classic plot of newbie figuring things out, making mistakes, getting into trouble, bonding with mentor. It was all the same thing with a Marvel gloss.

    The second book has more superheroics than espionage which I suppose Marvel fans will enjoy, spy fans may not depending on your taste. It has more action and more traveling plus more Avengers cameos like Iron Man and Captain Marvel.

    If you’re a Black Widow fan, you’ll probably enjoy the books though don’t expect any major revelations as they were probably saving it for the movie.

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