2020 – Page 6 – The Bookish Mutant

Book Review Tuesday (12/31/19)–The Gilded Wolves

Posted on December 31, 2019 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Tuesday, bibliophiles, and happy New Year’s Eve!

I have this book to thank for (partially) getting me through finals, so that’s an automatic three stars right there. Just kidding, but seriously.

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Though I had mediocre expectations for it, The Gilded Wolves was ripe with intricate world-building, unique characters, and lavish and unforgettable writing. Unfortunately, that made for a bit of confusion and convolution, but for the most part, that was overshadowed by all of its other aspects.

Enjoy this week’s review!

The Gilded Wolves

In an alternate, 19th century Paris, trouble–and magic–is brewing.

Séverin has been harboring a deep grudge ever since the line of his House was deemed dead, and his power stripped away. He now ekes out a living as a hunter of artifacts, stealing from Paris’ magical elite. But his reputation hasn’t gone unnoticed: the Order of Babel, an all-seeing organization that oversees all the world’s magical elite, soon hunts Séverin down, and forces him into finding an artifact more famed than anything he’s ever hunted. His reward? The resurrection of his House, and the reclamation of his birthright. Calling on a band of unlikely misfits, he must scour all of Paris to uncover this artifact, before time runs out.

The only thing that irked me about The Gilded Wolves was that I often found myself having to second-guess myself and try to remember wait, why are they doing this? Maybe it’s more of my fault than the book’s, but the plot did feel rather convoluted at times.

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Other than that, The Gilded Wolves was most definitely a success! The world-building was so intricate and lush, and I loved exploring the alternate, magical Paris that Chokshi dreamed up. The characters worked so well together, and the prose was flowery, but not so much that it was unenjoyable. Overall, The Gilded Wolves was a hit with me! Solid four stars.

The Gilded Wolves is the first in a trilogy; the sequel, The Silvered Serpents, is slated for 2020 (!!!), and there is currently no information about the third and final installment, other than the fact that it’s likely to be published in 2021.

That’s it for this week’s Book Review Tuesday! Have a great rest of your day, and enjoy your New Year’s Eve!

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Books, Goodreads Monday, Movies

Goodreads Monday (12/30/19)–Seven Devils

Posted on December 30, 2019December 30, 2019 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Monday, bibliophiles, and welcome to…wow, the last Goodreads Monday of 2019…

Sheesh, this year really sped by…

Anyway, I came across this one over the summer, I think, and I was hooked from the first sentences of the synopsis. It hasn’t come out yet, but without any reviews and only the synopsis, I am BEYOND excited to read this one!

Let’s begin, shall we?

GOODREADS MONDAY (12/30/19)–SEVEN DEVILS by Laura Lam and Elizabeth May

Blurb from Goodreads:

This first book in a feminist space opera duology follows seven resistance fighters who will free the galaxy from the ruthless Tholosian Empire — or die trying.

When Eris faked her death, she thought she had left her old life as the heir to the galaxy’s most ruthless empire behind. But her recruitment by the Novantaen Resistance, an organization opposed to the empire’s voracious expansion, throws her right back into the fray.

Eris has been assigned a new mission: to infiltrate a spaceship ferrying deadly cargo and return the intelligence gathered to the Resistance. But her partner for the mission, mechanic and hotshot pilot Cloelia, bears an old grudge against Eris, making an already difficult infiltration even more complicated.

When they find the ship, they discover more than they bargained for: three fugitives with firsthand knowledge of the corrupt empire’s inner workings.

Together, these women possess the knowledge and capabilities to bring the empire to its knees. But the clock is ticking: the new heir to the empire plans to disrupt a peace summit with the only remaining alien empire, ensuring the empire’s continued expansion. If they can find a way to stop him, they will save the galaxy. If they can’t, millions may die.

So why do I want to read this?

Alright, not gonna lie, I was hooked even before they had a coherent synopsis on Goodreads. Why? Simple: All it had was a release date, and something along the lines of “perfect for fans of Rogue One.”

Aaaaaaand, you’ve got my attention.

From the sparse reviews I’ve seen, it’s been oft-described as a “feminist, queer space opera”. And honestly? That’s all I ask for in a book. That’s what I want to write, in the first place. Plus, the cover. GORGEOUS.

Seven Devils doesn’t come out until August 2020, but you can bet that I’ll be anxiously awaiting its release until then. 😉

That just about wraps up this week’s Goodreads Monday! Stay tuned for more content later in the week, and though I’ll be posting all throughout the week (or I’ll try, at least), have a Happy New Year!

Random, Stories, writing

On Writing, and Overcoming Unexpected and Frustrating Obstacles

Posted on December 24, 2019October 26, 2020 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Two posts? In one day? It’s more likely than you think.

The other day, I added a little image to the sidebar of this blog, the winner image for NaNoWriMo 2019. I’ve seen a lot of bloggers post about their progress with it, but I neglected to even think about updating my progress on here, for no apparent reasons other than my inherent laziness. But yes, I did participate in NaNoWriMo 2019 (It’s a lovely program for all you writers/aspiring writers, if you haven’t tried it out). 2019 was my third year participating, and I can speak to the amazing results that it produces. 20,000 words, people, 20,000 words!

And on that subject…yes, I love to write. I want to be a writer when I get older, and I’ve currently got 3 WIPs in progress…none of them even close to finished, but we’ll just ignore that. Even though I wanted to go into biology until about middle school, I think that my passion for writing’s always been there, it just took me a while to realize that it was more of a passion than a hobby. (*glances at my current grade in Honors Bio* yeeeeesh, okay, goodbye, biology…) Currently, I’m not super comfortable with sharing the premises of said WIPs, but one of my goals in 2020 is to try and overcome that fear, little by little. I mean, I’ve got to do it eventually if I want to get these bad boys published…

Two of my three WIPs are kind of on hold at the moment, as I kind of hit a lag of inspiration for both of them. That, and both of them were written before it dawned on me that I should probably outline things before I write them down.

The third one was the one that I started during NaNoWriMo 2019. For now, all I’ll say is that Star Wars was a major, major influence on it, and it involves a lot of patriarchy smashing, rock music, and reluctant familial bonds.

On the subject of said sci-fi WIP, I encountered a problem with it the other day. I had about a half an hour before I was going to leave to see The Rise of Skywalker with my family, and I decided to crank out some writing. I’d gotten to a scene that I’d played over innumerable times in my head, and I was absolutely ecstatic to get back to writing. But…all of my dreams were crushed when I opened up the file and got a series of messages about invalid file formats and Pages not being able to read it. With a little help from my mom (thank you so much for trying to help, by the way) and the internet (thanks for nothing, Mr. “Your file is probably toast”…I mean, you were right, but…), I tried to do technological CPR on my writing, but to no avail. I was considerably frustrated and distraught at the thought of almost 40,000 words, 60 pages, and many long hours of writing had promptly been flushed away.

But after the initial shock (and a healthy dose of Star Wars), I decided to try and turn my attitude around. Maybe this could be a growing opportunity, an opportunity to start all over, but with some different elements. I’d wanted to change my perspective from 1st to 3rd person anyway, right? And so, I polished up what’s done of my outline, (See, past self? It’s not so bad…), and I started the WIP over last night. (And I actually saved the file to my computer and backed it up on my Writing flashdrive, so that’s probably a better idea.) I’m only at about 1 1/2 pages and barely 1,000 words, but hey, you’ve gotta start somewhere.

Moral of the story? Anything can be an opportunity to start anew. Whether or not you’re dealing with an uncooperative Pages file, starting over, though it can be awfully tedious, is not your enemy.

Oh, also, save important documents in more than one place. That’s always helpful.

Books, Goodreads Monday

Goodreads Monday (12/9/19)–A Song Below Water

Posted on December 10, 2019 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Monday, bibliophiles!

Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme created by Lauren’s Page Turners. All you have to do to participate is pick a book from your Goodreads TBR, and explain why you want to read it.

This one caught my eye not long ago: Not only is it a premise set around sirens, but a) they’re POC sirens, and b) it’s a pretty obvious metaphor for the other? COUNT ME IN! I’ve yet to read it (obviously…), but I’ve got high hopes…

Let’s begin, shall we?

GOODREADS MONDAY (12/9/19)–A SONG BELOW WATER by Bethany C. Morrow

Blurb from Goodreads:

Tavia is already at odds with the world, forced to keep her siren identity under wraps in a society that wants to keep her kind under lock and key. Nevermind she’s also stuck in Portland, Oregon, a city with only a handful of black folk and even fewer of those with magical powers. At least she has her bestie Effie by her side as they tackle high school drama, family secrets, and unrequited crushes.

But everything changes in the aftermath of a siren murder trial that rocks the nation; the girls’ favorite Internet fashion icon reveals she’s also a siren, and the news rips through their community. Tensions escalate when Effie starts being haunted by demons from her past, and Tavia accidentally lets out her magical voice during a police stop. No secret seems safe anymore—soon Portland won’t be either.

So why do I want to read this?

As I said earlier, I’m always aching for a good mermaid/siren novel. Not only that, our siren protagonists, Tavia and Effie, are both POC.

What I got from the synopsis is that the whole siren/human situation is an incredibly dicey one, with a history of prejudice, discrimination, and fear. (Sound familiar? Hello, almost every minority that I can think of in the U.S. and elsewhere…) If all goes well, this sounds like an excellent metaphor for minority groups and the other, well-supported by its plot and characters. And who wouldn’t swoon over that gorgeous cover?

A Song Below Water doesn’t come out until June of next year, and you know that I’m eagerly awaiting its release! 😀

Thanks for stopping by, everyone! Stay tuned for more content later in the week! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and remember: you are so loved. 💗

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