Tag: deep blue

Posted in Book Tags

DNF Book Tag

Posted on by Madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Saturday bibliophiles! I went back to school on Wednesday and…I’m already tired, but it’s great to see my friends again and there wasn’t much homework this week, so I’m happy. For now.

Anyway, I was in the mood to do a book tag, so here we are. I found this tag over at Fatma @ The Book Place, and the tag was originally created by Gunpowder, Fiction & Plot on YouTube.

Let’s begin, shall we?

📖THE DNF BOOK TAG📖

1. DO YOU DNF?

David throwing a Ravkan edition of Shadow & Bone a... - Tumbex
the chaos that this gif radiates

Indeed I do. It happens less these days, what with my taste slowly being fine-tuned over the years, but I still end up DNFing a handful of books every year.

2. IF YOU DO DNF, DOES IT COUNT FOR YOUR FINISHED BOOKS FOR THE MONTH?

It Still Counts GIFs - Get the best GIF on GIPHY

I’ve only started to keep track of the amount of books I read per month this year, but I still count them. I read part of them, anyway, and they still count towards my Goodreads goal, so I still think they count.

3. IS THERE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DNFING & JUST PUTTING THE BOOK DOWN FOR A LITTLE BIT?

evan peters quicksilver | Tumblr | X-men apocalypse, X men, Evan peters

Well…uh…I’ve never had an experience where I just put the book down for a little bit (I can’t read more than one book at once unless there’s a book for school involved), so I wouldn’t know…

4. WHAT POPULAR BOOKS HAVE YOU DNFED?

A Curse So Dark and Lonely (Cursebreakers, #1) by Brigid Kemmerer
Amazon.com: Red Queen (Red Queen, 1): 9780062310644: Aveyard, Victoria: Books
An Absolutely Remarkable Thing: A Novel (The Carls): Green, Hank: 9781524743444: Amazon.com: Books

I DNFed A Curse So Dark and Lonely, Red Queen, and An Absolutely Remarkable Thing at different times for different reasons (didn’t like any of the love interests/couldn’t hold my interest, every bad YA trope known to man, and some SERIOUSLY iffy bisexual rep, in order), but everybody else seems to love these ones…not my cup of tea, really.

5. WHAT ARE SOME BOOKS YOU WISHED YOU DNFED?

Amazon.com: Night Owls and Summer Skies: 9781989365250: Sullivan, Rebecca: Books
Buy Deep Blue: Book 1 (Waterfire Saga) Book Online at Low Prices in India | Deep Blue: Book 1 (Waterfire Saga) Reviews & Ratings - Amazon.in
Amazon.com: Wings of Ebony: 9781534470675: Elle, J.: Books

When I read Night Owls and Summer Skies, I didn’t know that it was acceptable to DNF an ARC, so I tried to plow through it…I ended up finishing it in about an hour and a half, but it just sucked the whole way through. I felt obligated to finish Deep Blue because I’d bought it, but it didn’t get better. At all. PAIN. And Wings of Ebony…man, I feel really bad about giving this one such a low rating, but the only good thing I have to say about it is that I loved the unapologetic approach to racism/colonialism. Otherwise…yikes.

6. HAVE YOU EVER RE-ATTEMPTED TO READ A DNF, AND WAS THIS SUCCESSFUL FOR YOU?

Damn abbreviation forma GIF on GIFER - by Rainseeker

Nope. Usually when I DNF a book, I hate it with a passion, and even if middle school Madeline did it a bit too frequently, there’s usually no going back with DNFs for me.

7. WHAT DO YOU DO WITH DNFED BOOKS?

Library GIF - Find on GIFER

If it’s on my Kindle, I’ll delete it, and if I borrowed it from the library (which is most often the case), I derive great joy from forcefully shoving it in the return machine. Usually I don’t end up DNFing books that I bought physical copies of, but in that case, I donate them.

I TAG:

Disappoints GIFs - Get the best GIF on GIPHY

Today’s song:

ksjdhfskjdfh my shuffle just said “hey let’s throw Madeline back to April 2019 for a bit, how about that”

That’s it for this book tag! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Posted in Goodreads Monday

Goodreads Monday (3/29/21) – Feathertide

Posted on 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 is a fairly recent addition to my TBR and was released last May, and it sounds like a fascinating blend of mythologies! We really need more quality mermaid fiction out there.

Let’s begin, shall we?

GOODREADS MONDAY (3/29/21) – FEATHERTIDE by Beth Cartwright

Feathertide by Beth Cartwright

Blurb from Goodreads:

A girl. 

A secret.

A life-changing journey. 

Born covered in the feathers of a bird, and kept hidden in a crumbling house full of secrets, Marea has always known she was different, but never known why. And so to find answers, she goes in search of the father she has never met.

The hunt leads her to the City of Murmurs, a place of mermaids and mystery, where jars of swirling mist are carried through the streets by the broken-hearted. 

And Marea will never forget what she learns there

Feathertide is an enchanting, magical novel perfect for fans of Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus and Katherine Arden’s The Bear and the Nightingale.

So why do I want to read this?

Wave Storm GIF by Evan Hilton - Find & Share on GIPHY

Even though the thing in the synopsis about it being recommended for fans of The Bear and the Nightingale turned me off a bit (I DNF’d that one a few years ago), Feathertide sounds like a lovely fantasy! I’m always drawn to anything and everything with mermaids (to varying degrees of enjoyment *coughcough DEEP BLUE SUCKED coughcough*), but this one sounds like it puts an inventive twist on it. There’s an interesting dichotomy presented with a girl covered in feathers and a city of mermaids, which…wouldn’t normally mix, I would think, so I’m eager to see how Cartwright handles the contrast.

But either way, I’m down for a piece of magical realism with strange creatures and quests for missing parents. Sign me up!

Past Life Memories Spell - Witchy Things | Black and white aesthetic, White aesthetic, Past life memories

Today’s song:

That’s it for this week’s Goodreads Monday! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Posted in Books, Goodreads Monday

Goodreads Monday (9/23/19)-Crown of Coral and Pearl

Posted on by Madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Would you look at that! I didn’t forget Goodreads Monday this week! 😀

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Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme started by Lauren’s Page Turners ; all you need to do to participate is to pick a book from your Goodreads TBR, and tell everyone why you want to read it.

Without further ado, let’s begin!

GOODREADS MONDAY (9/23/19)-CROWN OF CORAL AND PEARL by Mara Rutherford

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Blurb from Goodreads:

For generations, the princes of Ilara have married the most beautiful maidens from the ocean village of Varenia. But though every girl longs to be chosen as the next princess, the cost of becoming royalty is higher than any of them could ever imagine…

Nor once dreamed of seeing the wondrous wealth and beauty of Ilara, the kingdom that’s ruled her village for as long as anyone can remember. But when a childhood accident left her with a permanent scar, it became clear that her identical twin sister, Zadie, would likely be chosen to marry the Crown Prince—while Nor remained behind, unable to ever set foot on land.

Then Zadie is gravely injured, and Nor is sent to Ilara in her place. To Nor’s dismay, her future husband, Prince Ceren, is as forbidding and cold as his home—a castle carved into a mountain and devoid of sunlight. And as she grows closer to Ceren’s brother, the charming Prince Talin, Nor uncovers startling truths about a failing royal bloodline, a murdered queen… and a plot to destroy the home she was once so eager to leave.

In order to save her people, Nor must learn to negotiate the treacherous protocols of a court where lies reign and obsession rules. But discovering her own formidable strength may be the one move that costs her everything: the crown, Varenia and Zadie.

 

So why do I want to read this?

Simple. I’m desperate for a good mermaid book.

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Sorry, I had to slip this in somewhere.

Okay, maybe it’s not exactly a mermaid book, but it seems like a good execution of the concept of undersea kingdoms. If all goes well, it sounds like Crown of Coral and Pearl has a lot of political intrigue and some interesting world building. I’m not expecting another Smoke Thieves, but here’s hoping that we’ll get *something* as good as that.

And let me elaborate on the whole “desperate to read a mermaid book” thing. I haven’t read a book in years that has executed the concept of mermen well. Case in point: Jennifer Donnelly’s Deep Blue. Avoid this one at all costs; the mermaids were uncreatively designed, as was the kingdom. And, there was the unrealistic dialogue and the onslaught of awful puns that the author seemed to think that we were going to take seriously. Just stoooopppp. Ally Condie’s Atlantia has a similar plot to Crown of Coral and Pearl, but it fell into a nearly identical trap: corny dialogue, cardboard characters, etc. So yeah, I really need a good mermaid book. Soon. Right now. 🅱LEASE?

Crown of Coral and Pearl came out a little under a month ago, so here’s hoping I can find it and read it soon! 🧜‍♀️

 

Thank you so much for reading! Have a great rest of your day, and take care of yourselves! I’ll be back tomorrow for this week’s Book Review Tuesday, and I’ve also been (discreetly) tagged in my VERY FIRST BOOK TAG…so I’ll be getting to that soon as well! (Thanks A Little Haze Book Blog !)