Blog Tour : Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim (+INTL Giveaway!)

Title : Spin the Dawn
Author : Elizabeth Lim
Series : The Blood of Stars #1
Genre : YA fantasy
Release Date : July 9th, 2019
Publisher : Knopf Books for Young Readers

⭐⭐⭐⭐

GOODREADS | AMAZON | BOOK DEPOSITORY

Project Runway meets Mulan in this sweeping YA fantasy about a young girl who poses as a boy to compete for the role of imperial tailor and embarks on an impossible journey to sew three magic dresses, from the sun, the moon, and the stars.Maia Tamarin dreams of becoming the greatest tailor in the land, but as a girl, the best she can hope for is to marry well. When a royal messenger summons her ailing father, once a tailor of renown, to court, Maia poses as a boy and takes his place. She knows her life is forfeit if her secret is discovered, but she’ll take that risk to achieve her dream and save her family from ruin. There’s just one catch: Maia is one of twelve tailors vying for the job.

Backstabbing and lies run rampant as the tailors compete in challenges to prove their artistry and skill. Maia’s task is further complicated when she draws the attention of the court magician, Edan, whose piercing eyes seem to see straight through her disguise.

And nothing could have prepared her for the final challenge: to sew three magic gowns for the emperor’s reluctant bride-to-be, from the laughter of the sun, the tears of the moon, and the blood of stars. With this impossible task before her, she embarks on a journey to the far reaches of the kingdom, seeking the sun, the moon, and the stars, and finding more than she ever could have imagined.

Steeped in Chinese culture, sizzling with forbidden romance, and shimmering with magic, this young adult fantasy is pitch-perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas or Renée Ahdieh.

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Monthly Recap : June ’19

i am finally done with sophomore year of college! june was the month where i had my final exams, and now i can finally read and blog all day (okay, not really). i had a 2-weeks holiday at the beginning of june, but since it was right before final exams, i couldn’t fully enjoy it since i had to finished various assignments. but still, that didn’t stop me to went to nearby city for a couple of days with my parents to refresh my mind. and then in the last 2 weeks of june, i had my final exams. honestly, i didn’t think i did well on some of them, but for now i’ll just enjoy myself rather than being stressed and just wait for the actual score to come up.

Tiffany’s Summer ’19 TBR

hosted by jana @ that artsy reader girl

 

can you believe that we’re almost halfway through 2019? summer is one of my favorite season, purely because summer usually means school holiday so i’ll have loads of free time to read. unfortunately, not this year, since i joined another event committee that’ll take most of july and august, so basically i have no holiday this year. so i’m not sure if i actually can read these books, but i hope so since i’m pretty behind on my goodreads challenge *hides in shame*. anyway, here they are :

Would You Give Authors Second Chance?

okay, firstly, i’m really bad at writing title, so what i actually mean is, would you read books by author whose previous work you didn’t enjoy? i recently went through my goodreads’s shelf, and while i rarely rate a book below 2.5 stars, i realize that those authors whose books i did give below 2.5 stars are most likely wouldn’t get second chance from me. books are pretty expensive here and i’m basically a broke college student, so i’d much rather buy books i know i’ll love or like. plus, time is money (spoken like a true finance major student), so even if somehow i got the book for free, the book will most likely be my lowest priority, and let’s be honest, lowest priority is almost as the same as forever in my TBR.

Review : First & Then by Emma Mills

Title : First & Then
Author : Emma Mills
Genre : YA contemporary
Release Date : October 13th, 2015
Publisher : Henry Holt and co.

⭐⭐⭐⭐½

GOODREADS | PURCHASE

Devon Tennyson wouldn’t change a thing. She’s happy watching Friday night games from the bleachers, silently crushing on best friend Cas, and blissfully ignoring the future after high school. But the universe has other plans. It delivers Devon’s cousin Foster, an unrepentant social outlier with a surprising talent for football, and the obnoxiously superior and maddeningly attractive star running back, Ezra, right where she doesn’t want them: first into her P.E. class and then into every other aspect of her life.Pride and Prejudice meets Friday Night Lights in this contemporary novel about falling in love with the unexpected boy, with a new brother, and with yourself.

10 Unpopular Bookish Opinions

hosted @ that artsy reader girl

 

hi everyone! i’m back with another (controversial?) TTT post! fun fact, but i originally didn’t want to do this week’s TTT because i couldn’t think of any unpopular opinions, but i really want to post something here since it’s been so long. so yeah, here it goes (also this is a state-your-opinion-but-no-judgement space, okay? you love what you love ❤ and also my non-controversial heart couldn’t handle it) :

1. paperbacks are better than hardcovers. as someone who live internationally where books are pretty expensive here, i really wish publisher would release the paperback version at the same time as the hardcover. having to wait a whole year to read a book is kinda painful, especially if said books have a sequel and everyone is excited for it and then you’re just…starting.

Blog Tour : Fake It Till You Break It by Jenn P. Nguyen (+Giveaway)

for tour schedule, click here

Title : Fake It Till You Break It
Author : Jenn P. Nguyen
Genre : YA contemporary
Release Date : May 28th, 2019
Publisher : Swoon Reads

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Kobo

⭐⭐⭐½

Mia and Jake have known each other their whole lives. They’ve endured summer vacations, Sunday brunches, even dentist visits together. Their mothers, who are best friends, are convinced that Mia and Jake would be the perfect couple, even though they can’t stand to be in the same room together.After Mia’s mom turns away yet another cute boy, Mia and Jake decide they’ve have had enough. Together, they hatch a plan to get their moms off their backs. Permanently. All they have to do is pretend to date and then stage the worst breakup of all time—and then they’ll be free.

The only problem is, maybe Jake and Mia don’t hate each other as much as they once thought…

Monthly Recap : April ’19

is it just me, or april lasted for a day?? because it definitely feels like that (or maybe i’m just busy with college this month so i didn’t realize that april has come and go). anyway, in a nutshell, this is what happened in april :

First Ten Books I Reviewed!

hosted by jana @ that artsy reader girl

 

hi everyone! this week’s topic is first ten books i reviewed on the blog (because fun fact : i started my blog first before i made a goodreads account). i love these kind of topic because it gave me an excuse to re-read my old reviews and laugh about it. and now you guys can watch me judging these reviews and laugh along with me. anyway, here they are (beware! some of them are awfully ridiculous) :

1. fangirl by rainbow rowell (december 5th, 2014)
fangirl is the very first book i’ve ever reviewed, and i think it’s time to spill the secret : i haven’t actually finished it! at that time, i really really want to post something (because new blog and all), so around 3/4 of the book i just skimmed the rest to know how it end and write a review. so yeah, being the first review, you can guess it was a) awful, and b) full of bad grammar. bad review aside, did you notice i’ve been blogging (albeit on and off) for almost 5 years now?

ARC Review : Descendant of the Crane by Joan He

Title : Descendant of the Crane
Author : Joan He
Genre : YA fantasy, historical-fiction
Release Date : April 9th, 2019
Publisher : Albert Whitman

GOODREADS | PURCHASE

⭐⭐⭐⭐½

Tyrants cut out hearts. Rulers sacrifice their own.Princess Hesina of Yan has always been eager to shirk the responsibilities of the crown, dreaming of an unremarkable life. But when her beloved father is found dead, she’s thrust into power, suddenly the queen of a surprisingly unstable kingdom. What’s more, Hesina believes that her father was murdered—and that the killer is someone close to her.

Hesina’s court is packed full of dissemblers and deceivers eager to use the king’s death for political gain, each as plausibly guilty as the next. Her advisers would like her to blame the neighboring kingdom of Kendi’a, whose ruler has been mustering for war. Determined to find her father’s actual killer, Hesina does something desperate: she enlists the aid of a soothsayer—a treasonous act, punishable by
death, since magic was outlawed centuries ago.

Using the information provided by the sooth, and uncertain if she can trust her family, Hesina turns to Akira—a brilliant investigator who’s also a convicted criminal with secrets of his own. With the future of Yan at stake, can Hesina find justice for her father? Or will the cost be too high?