Series Review | To All The Boys I've Loved Before Duology by Jenny Han

To All the Boys I've Loved Before Duology
By: Jenny Han (@jennyhan)
Published By: Simon & Schuster
Genre: Contemporary
Pages: 288 // 337
Goodreads // Book Depository

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before:
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is the story of Lara Jean, who has never openly admitted her crushes, but instead wrote each boy a letter about how she felt, sealed it, and hid it in a box under her bed. But one day Lara Jean discovers that somehow her secret box of letters has been mailed, causing all her crushes from her past to confront her about the letters: her first kiss, the boy from summer camp, even her sister's ex-boyfriend, Josh. As she learns to deal with her past loves face to face, Lara Jean discovers that something good may come out of these letters after all.

PS: I Still Love You:
Lara Jean didn’t expect to really fall for Peter.
She and Peter were just pretending. Except suddenly they weren’t. Now Lara Jean is more confused than ever.
When another boy from her past returns to her life, Lara Jean’s feelings for him return too. Can a girl be in love with two boys at once?
In this charming and heartfelt sequel to the New York Times bestseller To All the Boys I've Loved Before, we see first love through the eyes of the unforgettable Lara Jean. Love is never easy, but maybe that’s part of what makes it so amazing.

“You'd rather make up a fantasy version of somebody in your head than be with a real person.”

I just guess I just hate fluffy, romantic, flimsily-written contemporaries. I just happen to be a fantasy person. This duology was HIGHLY praised and claims to be romantic and awesome. I was expecting something more exciting, and I was, yes, expecting a love triangle, but this series came out to be a huge disappointment. Yes, I did read the second book, but after what happened in the first book, who couldn't? Han's writing also consequently happens to be pretty darn addicting.

Let's be positive and happy and discuss what I liked! I loved the family dynamics and how prominent her family and siblings were in her life. My friends and I often bake, and I liked the baking aspect of this novel. Lara Jean (LJ because I don't want to type) is always baking cookies and delicious treats, and they just make me so hungry! The novel didn't exactly embrace the Korean culture of this novel very well; it must be since her father is white and her mother passed away that they don't focus on this. I would have really enjoyed that detail if it was written well.

However, LJ is such a pain. She's naive, immature, and did I mention SPOILED? She's sixteen, and probably way more immature than I am. Her narration makes me want to cringe how much she whines. After all the pretty drastic events that occur in this novel, she doesn't mature at all. She's still the baby she was in the beginning. And does it just feel like LJ is a bit clingy? A tiny bit? 

The romance was a hopeless mess. It was like this "love triangle", if you even want to call it that. I like to refer to it was a love mess. It's OBVIOUS who she's going to get together with, and although I like him, he just feels plain and a simple cookie-cut main interest. I don't even understand how they got together. SPOILER: Did I mention that the other guy is her sister's EX? Do you know how revolting that is? *shudders* In the second book, there's ANOTHER love mess thing.

Plot? What plot? Uh, they literally just get in fights and do nothing and LJ seems like she has nothing going on in her life. She has no activities, and it just seems she just stays at home and does nothing. The first book's plot was decent, but the second book's "plot" was stupid and did not help the story at all.

Let's discuss! What did you think about the To All the Boy's I've Loved Before Duology?

Final Rating: 

❄❄❄

Book Review | Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

*image via bookvibes on instagram

Lady Midnight (The Dark Artifices #1)
By: Cassandra Clare (@cassieclare)
Published By: Margaret K. McElderry Books on March 8, 2016
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 720
Goodreads // Book Depository

The Shadowhunters of Los Angeles star in the first novel in Cassandra Clare’s newest series, The Dark Artifices, a sequel to the internationally bestselling Mortal Instruments series. Lady Midnight is a Shadowhunters novel.

It’s been five years since the events of City of Heavenly Fire that brought the Shadowhunters to the brink of oblivion. Emma Carstairs is no longer a child in mourning, but a young woman bent on discovering what killed her parents and avenging her losses.

Together with her parabatai Julian Blackthorn, Emma must learn to trust her head and her heart as she investigates a demonic plot that stretches across Los Angeles, from the Sunset Strip to the enchanted sea that pounds the beaches of Santa Monica. If only her heart didn’t lead her in treacherous directions…

Making things even more complicated, Julian’s brother Mark—who was captured by the faeries five years ago—has been returned as a bargaining chip. The faeries are desperate to find out who is murdering their kind—and they need the Shadowhunters’ help to do it. But time works differently in faerie, so Mark has barely aged and doesn’t recognize his family. Can he ever truly return to them? Will the faeries really allow it?

Glitz, glamours, and Shadowhunters abound in this heartrending opening to Cassandra Clare’s Dark Artifices series.

"Lex malla, lex nulla. A bad law is no law.”

I wasn't even sure I was going to pick this one up, since I wasn't particularly fond of the last three books of Clare's Mortal Instruments series, but I still picked it up. THANK GOD FOR THAT. Cassandra Clare has grown so much as an author, and this book definitely reflected that. Lady Midnight was jam-packed with amazing characters, a fabulous plot, and an extremely EXTREMELY amazing romance that was also painful to read and broke my heart into a million gazillion pieces.

The characters were all just so much fun, and the Blackthorns may just be my favorite Shadowhunter family. YA Fiction just doesn't have enough family themes (HELLOOOOOOOO, YA FICTION!! WE LOVE THIS SO PLEASE ADD IT AND DON'T KILL OFF THE PARENTS!!!) ALL OF THEM JUST LOVE EACH OTHER SO MUCH AND IT'S JUST LIKE I LOVE THEM ALL. It pained my heart to see how Julian took care of ALL of them and loved ALL of them. I loved some of the relationships between some of them. I adored Ty and Livvy, and how much Livvy does for her twin. Dru holds a special place in my heart; she's so much more different from the rest of them. Tavvy was super adorable and I loved his innocent little heart. 

  

Cristina and Emma's relationship was #bestfriendgoals, and I loved how Emma how had a girlfriend to talk to. Cristina is like the steady rock to Emma's life, and basically everyone else as well, and they just supported each other so well. The conversations they have together are just sassy and sarcastic and just absolutely hilarious.

The plot was so amazingly awesome and thought-out and just so much BETTER than her previous novels. Except for Clockwork Princess though. *cries* 

SPOILER SECTION!!! IF YOU HAVEN'T READ LADY MIDNIGHT YET, GO READ IT!!! AND THEN COME BACK. SERIOUSLY. YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE SPOILED!

_________________________________________________________________________________ 

Um, can we just talk about Julian and Emma's relationship? It was the most heartbreaking thing I've ever read. I mean, from the beginning, we just know that they're going to get together, DUH. Cassandra Clare has this forbidden love thing going on that I just can't help but fall for. ALSO IN THAT STUDIO OF JULIAN'S - when he was like NO ONE CAN COME IN, I just knew that those were pictures of Emma. And his short speech to Emma about love and what he thought of it was just incredible. <3 <3 <3.

Did anyone suspect Malcolm Fade as being the murderer? I think I guessed that pretty close to when they were guessing it, so I don't think I'm much better ._. I did NOT see that coming. Magnus was just a trustable warlock, that I suppose we have this weird connatation that warlocks are good. I guess Cassie proved us wrong, once again.

Can we just talk about the potential love triangle that might happen? Is there going to be some Mark, Kieran, Cristina (wait, there's Perfect Diego. I guess she's out), and Emma love triangle going on? Or maybe Julian, Mark, and Emma love triangle? AT THE END, I COULD NOT believe that Emma Carstairs was asking Mark to be her fake boyfriend. Like, Mark and Julian's relationship isn't like perfect or anything, so ARE YOU TRYING TO MAKE IT WORSE?!?! I did think that Kieran tended to be a little clingy, and that made him lose major points in my shipping book. Also, did anyone ship Cristina and Mark even though Kieran was there. I did, until Perfect Diego came. OH THE SHIPS. SO MANY OF THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Kit being the Lost Herondale, eh? I thought that was a bit random, and that it was just randomly put in there, but I hope he has like...a purpose...in the next book. ALTHOUGH I DID SEE THIS THEORY: TY AND KIT...eh? Clare might add another LGBT+ couple!!! :) I see it. I do. Although them becoming parabati wouldn't be my first choice, I would still love it, even if inside, I'm crying for Livvy because if they do become parabati, she's probably get like SUPER upset (I'm talking depressed upset.) 

I STILL WISHED THAT THEY EXPLAINED MORE ABOUT WHY PARABATI CAN'T BE LIKE, IN LOVE LOVE LIKE THAT. Jem explained it a little in the end, and it just broke my heart. Julian and Emma are just like perfect for each other. I HAVE MANY THEORIES ABOUT HOW JULIAN x EMMA WILL WORK OUT, OKAY (Is it Jemma or Jula, or Eulian or Emmlian or whatever TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK IT IS. (um, I'm talking about their ship name if you didn't know. i can be confusing at times ._.))

Theory 1: They take away that law but the parabatis must go through extensive training to learn how to control their powers.

Theory 2: Julian and Emma get rid of their parabati-ness (idk how this is supposed to happen ?!), Emma and Cristina become parabati, Julian and Emma can get together.

Theory 3: They take away their Shadowhunter-ness. I know.    

Let's discuss! What did you think about Lady Midnight?

Final Rating: 

❄❄❄❄❄