 So far this year, in 2023, I have only read 10 2023 releases. And like, you might say that's not that bad. But as someone who's reading is my job, like reading books, like reading books is literally my job. That's not great. So I want to prioritize reading more 2023 releases. And I remember that Goodreads a little while ago posted this list called Readers Hit Books of 2023. I believe this is a list of the most popular 2023 releases so far this year. I think that's the idea. Some may be end of 2022 releases, but I think most of them are 2023 releases. And I believe it's split into genres. And so my idea for this vlog is my hand, look, whoa. My idea for this vlog is I want to have read at least one book from every genre. I read pretty widely, I read pretty much all genres in my reading. So I can't, I don't know, I haven't looked through the list. So I don't know what all the genres are, but I want to have read at least one, at least one from each genre is the goal. So I don't know how many books we're going to be reading in this vlog. It could be three, it could be 10. I don't know how many genres there are. I don't know what I'm really undertaking here. But shall we just look through the list together and find out what I'm going to be reading? I'm ready. Okay, whenever you're ready. I'm ready. Okay. I'm ready. Whenever you're ready. I'm ready. So, oh, first, okay, okay, okay, okay. First is contemporary fiction. I don't think I'm going to really have read. Okay, yeah. I haven't read any of these, but we're going to read Yellowface. Oh my God. Why is that not marked as want to read? Hello. What's going on? What's going on? I must have forgot to add that to my Goodreads. Oh dear, anyways. But let's, we'll read Yellowface for contemporary fiction. I am so excited. Are of Kwong is becoming one of my favorite authors. You guys know Babel was my favorite book of last year. So I'm really excited to finally get through Yellowface. Okay, fun. Historical, historical fiction. I don't, I don't think I've read any 2020. Yeah, I haven't read any of these nine. Okay, what one do I want to read? Have I heard of any of these? Oh, shit. I was kind of hoping I'd like own one at least from each genre to pick to read. Um, I own only them. I've heard of wayward actually lots of people have been recommending wayward to me. I think it's about three different women who all live at this house throughout different periods in time. I've had such good things. So I'll have to get my hands on wayward, but we're going to read wayward for historical fiction. So many people are going to love that. So many people who read loads of different things like I've seen people who love fantasy love it. I've seen people who read more like literary fiction love it. So I'm really intrigued to see what style of book it is. So wayward is historical fiction, mystery. Oh, I've read all the dangerous things. So we don't need to read anything for mystery, though I would have been happy to. I probably would have read Vera Wong. Why is that? What is going on? Have I got multiple books that I own that aren't, that means my own TBR is even worse than I thought. Dear God, I like refuse to believe this. What is going on? Gotta be one of the worst days I've ever had. Being deadly serious. Right, so yeah, don't need to read anything from mystery. Fantasy I've read fourth wing would have picked hellbent if I had never read fourth wing, but I've read a fantasy. Also, I'm very intrigued by the Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Fairies. Everyone has been raving about it. So maybe that's what I need to get to. But yeah, I've read a fantasy. So I need to read that sci-fi or we'll read that if not. No, I haven't read any. Okay, we're gonna read In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune. Oh my god, I'm reading like all my most anticipated books in this vlog. We're gonna read In the Lives of Puppets. TJ Klune, I have given two five stars. If this is a five star, TJ Klune cements himself as one of my favorite authors of all time because you've got to get three five stars. I think that's when Kayla came up with Origini from Books and Lotta Love. I just stole it, but it makes sense. You've got to give them three five stars before they're a favorite author. So that's exciting. So we've got so far what we got. Yellow face, wayward, In the Lives of Puppets. Horror. Oh, no, I haven't read any of the horror. We're gonna read A House with Good Bones because I own it. I'd want to read How to Sell a Haunted House by Granny Hendrix so badly, especially since my last vlog where I really, really enjoyed Southern Book Club's Guide to Saving Vampires. But I refuse to buy the UK cover and I can't find a way, it's not in Black Wells, but Depository's gone. I can't find a way to get the US cover and it's just so much nicer. So what am I supposed to say? But no, we're going to read A House with Good Bones by T. King Fisher. Gosh, that's exciting. I've been so excited for that one as well. Romance. I don't think I've read any romance. Okay, no. What are we going to read? We'll read yours, Julie. I read Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez. Was it the start of this year? Or last year? I don't know. I read it at my Patreon Book Club and everyone loved it. It's so good. And yours truly, I wouldn't call it a series. I haven't put it on my series spreadsheet, but I would call them companion books, you know? I guess they kind of are a series, but I'm just in denial that they are. And I'm just not recognizing them as a series because I don't want to add another book to my series spreadsheet. But we're going to read yours truly. You're following like the best friend from Part of Your World. That is exciting. I really think Abby Jimenez could be a new favourite romance author for me. Young Adult. Have I read any Young Adult? Oh, I have. I read Howly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute. I really want to get Warrior Gone Earth by Angie Booty, but I still haven't read, um, what's it called? Firekeeper's Daughter. But it doesn't matter because I've read, oh, I like the Davenports as well. And I've heard great things about Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross. So anyways, I've read one. Who cares? I've read Howly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute. And Nonfiction. I've read Spare. Is there any more? I feel like Nonfiction would be the last one. No. Okay, I've read Spare. So let me go grab the books that we're going to be reading. Okie dokie. So our TBR for this vlog. Oh my gosh. Look at the colour. What is it? Hang on. Should we like stop them wrong? Because I feel like that one looks like, oh, look how cute. Wayward is going to ruin it though. So our TBR for this vlog is these four books plus Wayward. I am so excited. These are all kind of like five star predictions to me. I'm gagged. Wow. Fucking got me gagged. No, it's your neck. Got me fucking gagged. No. This is exciting. I'm really excited this vlog. What am I going to start with? Well, I can't go for the colour coordination. Look at her. Anyways, I don't know what I'm going to start with. I have reading spritz my patrons in like half an hour. I think I'm going to do a poll in 20 minutes actually. I think I'll do a poll and let them decide because I'm up for anything. I'm kind of equally anxious about reading them all though so I don't want to make this decision on my own. So I'll do a poll in the live chat and I'll probably read whatever they pick. Am I ready for yellow face yet? I feel like my instinct is to start with yellow face but I don't know if I'm ready. Okay, wish me luck. Let's get going. Hello cuties. I am 150 pages into yellow face. I decided to start with yellow face. I gave on reading spritz my patrons. We did a poll. We did a poll on what I should start from this reading vlog and yellow face by far was the winner. And if you don't know, basically we have got literary darling Athena and our protagonist, her friend, literary nobody. Blah blah blah blah. That's quite harsh. Kind of like a not a failed author but definitely not a successful author. June and Athena is incredibly successful and June is incredibly jealous of her. And one night Athena dies. This is in the first chapter okay. She chokes on pancakes and dies. June steals her manuscript. Now Athena is Asian and June is not. And the book is talking about Chinese laborers in World War One and June is just like I'm gonna like rename myself June a person because that's kind of racial ambiguous. Do some author shots and make me look a bit tan. And we're just gonna go for it girlies. This is my book now. Yeah he's terrible your honor. He's really terrible. So that's basically we need to know. And it is this absurdist satirical look on the publishing industry but also about like particularly book Twitter and like book Twitter's opinions. And it's very interesting. I'm having a great time. This is very different to I've quite I should say Rebecca because this is Rebecca F. Kwong had previous stuff because this you could read in one sitting. I think I'm gonna read this in basically two sittings because I'm just literally gonna finish this right now. Just I'm I was supposed to be doing other stuff today and I'm like you know what no I'm just gonna read this book okay because I don't want to do anything else. I'm really enjoying it. I think it's a very interesting book. My first assumption is I think I'm very glad I went to the author talk in London that Rebecca did for this and I think it's very very interesting right. June is a terrible character right. June is a terrible like like in terms of as a person she's doing evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil doing evil stuff right. Like the way that she has taken this manuscript and she has like her logic and how she's changed it is so like a white person like with a lack of any kind of morals or intelligence around racial issues and context and she's just like a girl June whether and then I think I think people spoke about this at the talk like you're in her head and you start like not being on her side but like you do have to have to constantly remind yourself how just deluded and like terrible she is. It's a very well written character. June is a very interesting take on unreliable narrator terrible narrator unlike one narrator she's a very interesting take because also this book is talking a lot about the way that book audiences and award bodies and book twitter react to books right and there's certain points it's very interesting that June makes that Rebecca kind of made but June is making it's like when you do a math problem and you get the right answer but with the complete wrong working out like June is making similar points to what Rebecca made but like with the complete wrong ideas behind it so for example Rebecca spoke in that talk about how she thinks that this idea of own voices that you can only write stuff that you've experienced is damaging particularly also for for the authors that we expect to write own voices stuff because our ideas around what is what we want to read what not by we I mean like the entire reading population there is ingrained ideas around what is appropriate for black authors or Asian authors or Latino authors to write and they can be incredibly limiting and like you're basically forcing authors of color to pander to the stories that white audiences expect from them right and so I don't think she believes that that kind of limitation on only right what you've experienced of course is caveats like if you're going to write something outside of your experience it has to come from a genuine place with research etc etc but June is making the same points but it's like completely wrong completely wrong working out complete wrong logic behind it but I just think that's interesting and I think like I said you can I'm going to read this book in two sittings and I think you can but I think this book would benefit from reading it a second time reading it once to like you know it's fun it's quick pace wherever but reading it a second time to really get to like the heart of what Rebecca is trying to say in each different scene because I think there's many different ways of where she's critiquing publishing critiquing authors critiquing white authors who do shitty things critiquing book twitter like I think there's a lot of layers to what she's saying in this that easy to miss or pass over in the first initial read so that's kind of my initial assumption I mean that's just something that I thought about having gone to her talk but it's saying a lot about just just just gosh the steps that June makes to like justify her actions to herself are just like ridiculous it's so different a thing that I feel like I've read from RFKwang before but I am loving it I don't know however if it's going to be quite a five-star don't say that I'm kind of feeling like it's a four-star right now just because I feel like as someone who is so caught up in the book of community like nothing about this like it is so spot on but the book has to schedule a line between appealing to people who are like terminally within the book community like we are and also people who aren't and so I just feel like there's certain elements that it's like yeah okay like I expect I mean I don't I don't know if I'm too in it I'm really loving it I just don't if it's quite a five-star I've been really picky with my five stars this year I think I've only had like 10 11 12 something around that like solid absolute five stars this year I've been pretty picky with them yeah anyways I'm gonna finish it but I am really enjoying it and I think it's saying a lot of interesting things I'm hoping it's I feel like the first half was more of our critique part where we're critiquing all the different elements of of the community and then the second half I kind of want it to get like even more absurdist and ridiculous I want it to veer off like reality a little bit there's been hints that it could happen and I want it to commit but I think it's incredibly clever how it is basically having to go everyone having to go everyone and saying no one is right within publishing right there's so many layers of flaws to what is going on that I just think I just think it's so clever anyways I will check in really once I finish hopefully like in a couple hours good evening how are we doing it's quite late but I just finished Yellowface by RF Kwang Rebecca F Kwang don't know why I'm speaking like this I'm gonna get this four stars I really enjoyed it wasn't a five star but that's okay you know Miss Rebecca is gonna go on for a long and varied career and I imagine you know so far I've already had four and five stars from her it's fine I really enjoyed this I want to make clear with what I was saying in the first clip about own voices in particular is I still think it's incredibly important that we uplift own voices and that we encourage own voices stories but I just think this book is examining the idea and how do we kind of allow authors if they're coming from a good place to write about other cultures but we have a lot of terrible examples of white authors writing outside their race and doing it terribly like well June's an extreme example I really enjoyed this I really enjoyed it I think the way it looks at the ingrained racism within publishing is very interesting I could have actually had a little bit more of the publishing side of it there was a lot about June as this like like in her Dalulu land like her the authors experience there's a lot about Twitter and like Twitter reactions I think I could have done with a little bit more of a publishing process I almost think it would be basically this is like a minor not really a spoiler but like when June signs a publishing contract it's with smaller indie press and I think it would have been even more interesting if it would had been with a big five like the equivalent of a big five I don't know if she wanted to steer away from that she would have been in trouble but I think it would have been even more interesting to see how the publishing mechanisms work within such a large kind of structure like the big five who don't know the big five oh can I name them Harper Hussher Simon and Shista Penguin who am I forgetting it's Macmillan you do first I liked the way this ascended however I do think we could have cut 40 pages 50 pages from this book I watched actually recently Mara from books like where I'll leave a link down below did a stream about like our books a bit too long and I think it's true at the moment that like books I'm reading a lot of books I think Mara felt the same that these books aren't way way too long but books reading books that could have been cut by 40 50 pages is still a little bit of a pacing issue and I've been noticing that too so I think it could have been cut a little bit but yeah you know talking about white privilege talking about how you know people co-opt trauma that isn't their own and like idea of that within a creative industry where is the line between no ideas an original idea and then you know copying people and drawing from others trauma you know there's discussions around Athena when she was alive like interviewing survivors of XYZ particularly Asian survivors of XYZ and then just like using their stories almost directly in her stories and I just think that's an interesting just I think there's so many interesting discussions and like I said I think it's the kind of book that you could read multiple times to get different kind of ideas and meanings from so we're after a pretty strong start four stars I mean there was always a hope I'd give this five stars but I'm glad to have read it I have actually already started a bit of the House with Good Bones by T. King Fisher so let's get into that next I'm very very excited for this. Okie dokie so I am now halfway through House with Good Bones I'm really like loving it should we say loving it? Beastie, bloody eyes on these high quality goats. I'm really really enjoying this so all you need to know it says haunting southern gothic it is that kind of vibe it's horror we are following a character who has to move back home with her mother because like something's happened with her work so she's kind of just moving in there temporarily while she waits for the work thing to be fixed she's an archaeologist there's a problem at the archaeology side that's in the weeds we don't need to know that so she moved back into the house and this is the house that they lived at for a while with her grandmother it was originally her grandmother's house and she gets to the house and stuff has changed right her mom used to have the house painted in these bright colors whatever now it's all white her mother has put back up this painting that her grandmother had of like a confederate wedding and she's like what the fuck my mom is like very anti racist what the fuck is going on here that's concerning so there's just lots of weird changes around the house and her mother is kind of acting like scared of something I think we can kind of you know predict where it's going but I'm loving it loving it this is my second teaking fissure but I feel like it's my first like proper go with her because my first book was what moves the dead which is kind of like a novella isn't it and I'm just like this could be a five star I know I have the feeling like we're gonna get multiple five stars in this vlog I don't know why I just I just believe in my soul that we're going to but all of that first half I've pretty much just read via the audio I haven't really picked this up physically the audiobook is great this is a very niche reference but the audiobook narrator and it kind of the tone that this is written in if anyone played this is an important part of my life if anyone played the Nancy Drew games as a kid right I love them dearly I would still play them today they're incredible but you know Nancy there's a very specific there's all the same narrator of Nancy throughout and Nancy had a very like kind of like even when things were going shit she kind of joke about it in the games I don't know the tone of narration this is really reminding me of the Nancy Drew mystery game it's from her interactive I've connected the two dots you didn't connect shit but I've connected them so I don't know how to explain other than that it's kind of like the the narrative voice is very humorous and I'm just eating it up I'm loving it I am loving it I think the haunting that like the gothic kind of like unsettlingness is done really really well there's been a few kind of like bigger occurrences that are a bit scarier but there's a kind of things that can be explained away and I'm enjoying how that is building I'm hoping it's going to go a little bit batshit crazy towards the end but I just can't go over how much I'm really loving the style this has written the main character the way that she views the world the kind of like jokey tone this is told in throughout all this kind of gothicness I love the setting I love the premise it's a very contained book like the book is really just about her mum yes they're going to other places but like the house is the main setting and what's going on with her mum is the main setting there's all these vultures everywhere it's getting weird I'm just loving it I'm loving it I'm loving it I just think T. Kingfisher rightfully so has been getting so much hype I'd say over the past year or two and I just need to read all of her stuff because this is so good it is so good so yeah I'm gonna go read the second half but um this could be like this could be a five star I'm having really good feelings now I do just want to show you quickly the other day I haven't actually properly looked at it yet because I wanted to open it with you I got a very unexpected package from pan mcmillan I wasn't expecting this but let me show you what we've got so this is I believe this dark descent by kaelin joseson I'm gonna be honest I haven't heard much about this book I don't really know anything about it we're gonna find out together you are cordially invited to varadals prestigious something races a spectacle that only happens once a decade interesting okay they sent me we got a cute little bookmark we have got oh my god there's something with like a wax seal on it this is fancy okay so that's like crazy about the book and I'm guessing oh steeped in Jewish folklore with illicit romance and a crap kingdom all this explosive wire fantasy is perfect fans of liba do you go six of crows they also sent me there's a cookie okay if you want to if you want to get on my side as a publisher you got sending food is a good way and there's don't send me cashews because I'll eat those vegan chocolates which have loads of cashew stuff in them and I will feel very unwell because turns out I'm allergic to cashews that's how I found out I was allergic to cashews and was because of publisher sent me vegan chocolates with like cashew paste cashew extra like loads of the chocolate was made up of cashews turns out I'm allergic I suppose I should thank them actually because I would never have known and then look at the book wrapped up with this horse let me let's take this off how cute is that that's very cute but listen the fans are six of crows that is me that is me so thank you book break slash paramount million for sending that over I'm gonna go eat my cookie and I'm gonna go read the second half of a house with good bones I finished ask a boat I look rough today I let my hair dry and it was like men I had a productive day like I got up this morning guys I did a dance did a dance work out this morning I broke my record for calories burnt on a dance workout and then I had a shower and washed my hair and then I let it air dry so I could like get on with shit because my hair takes like fucking 20-30 minutes to dry but it's left it kind of in a weird shape anyways be careful of your tongue I don't need to be careful of my tongue be careful of your tongue when you're talking about women's luck I finished house with bones by teaking fisher I'm gonna give it 4.5 if you watched my last vlog where I was a booktube twin test video and I read I gave two books 4.5 and I'm kind of like am I being harsh am I just being really picky and just not giving books 5 like 5 stars I should give 5 stars but like I said that video I have a video I really want to do that I need more 5 stars for and make my life easier if I could do that video fucking tomorrow but I can't I'm gonna give it a 4.5 it wasn't quite a 5 for me but I already know that me and teaking fisher we're gonna vibe I just loved the kind of like mundaneness with this crazy horror I just thought it was written so so well and I remember Mara from books like why speaking in her review of this about how it's kind of like an allegory for when young adults suddenly find their parents becoming like racist or right wing because of the media or whatever or like developing views that seem totally incongruous with the rest of their beliefs and I would 100% agree with that I also think and I don't want to again to like spoil the territory but I also think it really um talks about how one generation tries to shield the next generation from the trauma of the generation beforehand and so on and so on or at least I think this happens lots isn't a sort of universal thing but like a mother will shield her daughter from the trauma of her grandmother and before that and after that the same cycle happens you're always trying to shield your children from the trauma of what came before to give them a better life and I just think that's really interesting that's something that I think a lot about in my family and like the sacrifices that have been made by my family members and the different lives that each of kind of my generations of my family has had um you know I didn't talk about it a lot but my nan um came from like poverty in Ireland and so just thinking about her path to my path and the differences I think is really interesting so yeah I love teaking fishers writing I still haven't found a five star but I know we're on the cusp we're gonna five star eventually me and teaking fisher it's not out of their own possibility yeah I would really recommend this this is why some of my favorite horror I've read I just couldn't quite give it a five star like I feel like I prefer it to a lot of other horror I've read I mean what horror have I given a five star is there anything on my horror shelf moon of the cross did snow the weight of blood did I give you of the witching five stars wilder girls if you count that as horror I don't know but this is definitely up there for me in horror and I just loved it I think I'm gonna go start wayward next I thought let's like put this in the middle because this is the book that I didn't already have on my tbr that I don't really know anything about is that a stick that I can take off yeah that you're coming off I'm gonna go make dinner for my family and so I'm gonna start the audiobook for this I just know we're following women from three different points in history let's have a look actually 2019 1942 and 16 19 and I don't know if they're related like if it's generational but I know they're all at this wayward cottage it's called wayward wayward cottage and I know it's witchy that's all I really know so I'll maybe check with you once I've read the first 100 pages I reckon I'll get close to that whilst cooking probably with the audio on what kind of my initial thoughts are because I don't really know anything other than that I'm a little bit nervous about the split timeline element because we know that's not always my favorite that bitch is so fucking evil why would she say that but usually I have a bigger problem when it's two so I don't know how I'll deal with three we shall see anyways I'll check in with you once I've finished dinner probably okay 100 pages in it's okay I am thinking that the triple it's not even a dual timeline the triple time timeline is it's not my favorite because having the same problem again well I I've read a hundred pages of a book but I felt as the police that's the sound of the police I feel like I've only read 30 pages of each story right like we've barely scratched the surface of any kind of substance and all the characters just feel lacking they feel like such stereotypical without nuanced versions of each of the kind of stories they are you've got a witch on trial you've got a young woman in a in a rich family stifled by their you know lack of heart and soul and then you've got a woman who is fleeing abuse to a family cottage in the countryside right it's kind of the three stories set in three different times and it's fine but they all feel like particularly for me that the older two the witch on trial and the girl you know who loves the trees and you know her dad doesn't understand they just feel like such like you know I feel like those stories have been told a hundred times before and then the idea is obviously that all these women are going to be related in some way and there might be some like witchy thing going on I'm not hating it it's like a three right now if I had to rate the first 100 pages I'm also getting the feeling that I get I don't know if I've told you guys before right like I can read long books right but it's something about consuming I've read yellow face a house with bones and this this has been three days so far this log and I don't usually read that quickly and I've been reading the books quickly because I'm interested and because I want to get this video actually in a timely manner but I it hasn't really been a struggle to read those books that quickly but I am feeling like when I consume too many stories I get a bit overwhelmed and this is like fucking three stories I'm like it's not exactly helping it feels also very like stereotypical British writing plot I don't know how to describe this to you but there's something about like mainstream general modern fiction in the UK that isn't like it's not reaching for the book or whatever like kind of marketable general fiction but that thinks it's a little bit clever it's like doing something they're all the same they all write the same they all are in this same font they're probably all published by Harper Collins I'm just gonna carry on listening and reading it's okay it's okay it's okay I need to want to talk about it why do I keep doing that voice what the hell is going on I am on page 226 of wayward I am still so bored I'm really bored and it is the triple timeline it is it is it I know it is it's the cult pro okay I just can't do it what is it about me I just don't like it I don't like it because literally I've read what almost 130 pages since I last spoke to you nothing's really happened nothing's really happened because that's only like fucking I can't do maths but like 45 pages of each story so what is there to talk about what is there to talk about nothing I am enjoying the the most like present day timeline perhaps the most it's about a woman kind of finding herself after abuse and kind of rebuilding her life but I would just want you there's a lot of violence against women in this it's just quite sad really it's quite sad it says that it's empowering I don't know I just find it a bit depressing everything that's happening and there hasn't really been much witchiness yet there's been a hint there's been like hints of witchiness but there hasn't been much and I'm just bored I have nothing else to say to you pardon me with dnf like I am tempted to dnf it better this point let's just finish the book but like it's not bad do you know what I mean the writing isn't bad it's just so derivative of like this kind of genre of like British historical fiction think like I think Bridget what's her name Bridget Collins blurbs it it's like similar to her I mean I don't think I've I've ever read her I don't know it reminds me of just any kind of generic British historical-esque thing that I've ever read I don't feel connected to any of the characters gripping exhilarating empowering magnificent fierce intricate I would not prescribe any of those adjectives to this book personally but I know I want to communicate to you that I know a big part of a barrier for this with me is that timeline issue because it's just something that doesn't work for me as a reader right we all have things that work for us don't work for us that's just something it doesn't work for me I think the endings could be interesting they just need to go somewhere I feel like nothing has happened nothing has happened the moment I just put it down to like a 2.5 but I don't think it's bad I don't think it's bad and I think if timeline stuff isn't an issue for you then you may enjoy it I don't know guys I'm just gonna go ahead and finish it I can't believe this has been like one of the most popular releases of the year I feel like in the UK and I'm just I really couldn't care less I could happily DNF it now but I'm not going to I'm gonna finish it and give you my thoughts because at this point I just want to get another book on my like red list for the year because if I've already put in the hours I might as well finish it off let's let's see if it picks up at the end right well I finished it I finished it guys I'm gonna give this 2.5 okay I'm giving us 2.5 I was just bored right and I know and you know we all know that a massive barrier for me in this was the triple timeline I hate her I tell you now I just like I'm I don't care it's like a 300 page novellas where I barely got to know the characters and barely any character development happened you know I don't mind a dual timeline where there's one main timeline I don't like your timeline when there's like two competing for dominance and even though in this one the present day timeline was the one that we felt like we were truly in like you felt like you were in that one and you were kind of using it to learn about the two of the past timelines it still didn't work for me it didn't work for me and like if you're gonna do witches give me a vibe give me like I need a witchy vibe or some kind of vibe it needs to be atmospheric you say witches I say atmosphere like that if they're intrinsically linked and I think perhaps like some of them kind of had a I don't know the violet one is set in 1942 that could have been in the 1920s or even Victorian times like it wasn't distinct the one then 1619 you know I guess but also there was no cohesion right I think that's the problem there was no cohesion because you couldn't really establish a vibe because they were set in such different time timeframes there was no cohesion throughout the book I didn't feel like the pacing was great I didn't care about the characters but if multiple timelines doesn't and here's the thing I don't like read a book and I'm like oh it's I think like dual timelines or triple timelines what about bad I think they're bad I don't it just doesn't work for me okay which doesn't work for me so there's nothing more to say about you I don't know I don't have anything else to say it was boring but it only gets bad I think the writing's okay I can see that other people could enjoy this but for me it's 2.5 but this was the only book that wasn't already on my tbr and that I had to pick up for this video the two books left in this log I'm gonna start yours truly next because my heart feels like it needs cleansing I need something joyful and I really enjoyed part of your world but I've been in it I gave it a four and we're following the best friend from that in this so I'm just gonna read as much as I can tonight I've got the audiobook again for this because I loved the audiobook could part of your world I thought it was such a good audiobook so we just see but yeah I need anything to get I was just boredom guys and oh that was the other thing about wayward I knew that was one other thing I wanted to say the stories were so predictable right I knew where each I knew from the beginning either they're so like archetypal and I like that in some things like I like a good archetypal character and like a murder mystery that's fun right but these stories was I've read them I've read them a hundred times before each of these three stories that you knew exactly where they were going to go you just didn't know maybe quite how they'd get there but you kind of knew what the resolution of all of them would be you just didn't know quite know the path it was pretty predictable anyways we're leaving that in the past and I'm gonna go head and start yours truly I've got my love heart pajamas on I'm in the mood for love guys I'm in the mood for love I am halfway through yours truly this is exactly what I needed off the wayward it's rough it's uh I love it I love it feel alive again guys I am really enjoying yours truly so this is a romance we met Brianna our main girly in part of your world by a few minutes she was the bestie and now she's the main girl it's time to shine a new doctor arrives at the hospital she works at first it's a little bit like I don't know but then they start like writing letters they start writing letters to one another like leaving them leaving them on the locker and then it's like fake dating as well and I don't know maybe like pushing as my second favorite romance author I seem to like science by I was thinking actually I think I gave part of your four in my recollection it's more of a 4.5 actually I would give that a 4.5 now and I'm like do I prefer this to part of your world is it as good okay it's freaking me out I think that's part of a problem with romances when they're like a series is I really compare them because it's like a series but like each romance you're comparing each romance to like another romance whereas fantasy it's like the whole book right we are comparing how does this romance connection hit compared to the previous book anyways I think aviamenez is really good at writing not cringe romance so much romance or like contemporary with the hint of romance books that I read are cringe I hate to break it you guys they I'm they currently cringe okay I'm this is the this is the bottom line everybody was thinking it I just said it okay I have a low cringe parameter when it comes to particularly romance and like contemporary like I can be set off quite easily but no cringe I'm loving them I'm loving them I can't put it down the audiobook is amazing we have both perspectives I think that's the same in part of your world you have you read from both perspectives in the romance and just like seeing how they're feeling towards one another in these situations it's just beautiful it's just loving it I'm loving it it's like I imagine I'm not a kind of girl need to like smile and kick my feet but it's like in my head I'm like and usually I like grump sunshine this isn't grump sunshine usually the only references are it higher grump sunshine he has got like quite severe social anxiety she's definitely the more outgoing one of them but it's like a really nice dynamic but like they're both out these really serious relationships she's just getting divorced from like a 10 year marriage and so neither of them are like oh should we do we but the connections there girly the connections there he's a very lovely giving person but also I feel like we haven't got into like the whole you know there's going to be a third act conflict but I already know I'm not going to get pissed off by it well let me not say that because sometimes it could be miscommunication I feel like these two have got miscommunication in their tool belt I mean almost all romance third act conflicts I've read are some form of miscommunication if someone gets the wrong end of the stick and storms off through either anger or usually like self doubt and insecurity and then they come back together I mean it's usually what it is but I just feel like she's good at writing flaws and my mom was saying that she's read this as well and she was yeah she was saying she's good at writing flawed characters and I feel like she is they're not just like you know amazingly have issues they have something working through I'm really I'm feeling the love I'm feeling the love I'm just going to finish this tonight guys I'm going to go light a candle I'm going to get I'm starting to want to get a little bit or tumble I can't believe I just said that out loud mustard now here's the thing I actually need to speak to you about this like it is insane to me that you American girlies view August as the start of fall because for I know you go back to school the end of August now we go back to school at the start of September so August is the only month in the UK that you have entirely off in the summer holiday so to me August is the month of summer the month of summer usually we've just had a shit weather we've had like no summer where I live I know like we're incredibly lucky in the grand scheme of things like so many places in the world have had extreme heat but I feel like we haven't had a summer so I'm kind of like ready to lean in into the full vibes I'm usually not that kind of girl I am a summer girl but we haven't had any and so unless it miraculously appears I'm kind of ready to lean in so I'm going to light a candle I'm going to get cozy I might put like an ambience video off my laptop and we're going to finish I'm just loving their connection I think they're so sweet I really love them and the fake dating is quite enjoyable fake dating sometimes I don't love that oh it's going to be a wedding as well we're gonna I feel like we're leading up to a wedding is that a sport? No I can tell you that that's right at the beginning his ex-girlfriend is now getting married to his brother I'm gonna complete state of shock I forgot what I was gonna say and he's like trying to be cool with it I'm like my guy you could very easily not be cool but he wants like the family to be okay I'm like oh Jacob you're too kind and precious stop it anyways I'm looking forward to the wedding I hope like she goes down at the wedding that's like the drama in me let's just say the devil made me do it no okay let's just say the devil made me do it I'm really excited I finished yours truly by Abby Jimenez I'm gonna give this a four star I feel like we've had like other than wayward good really good books so far but I just guys I said we were gonna get multiple five stars in this vlog and it hasn't happened I'm just being harsh with my five stars this year apparently only 11 this whole year and a lot of them even aren't like my favorites all-time five stars what's going on anyways I do think I prefer part of your world I do prefer part of your world I prefer the relationship in this and the storyline and like the small town vibes I think I just had more of my kind of vibe and I so that's reason number one it's not five star and reason number two there's only two reasons really reason number two it's not five star is I do think this is a bit long why does a romance need to be basically 400 pages I just don't think a romance ever needs to be at all how long is part of your part of your world is pretty long too to be fair they're both around the same length I just don't I don't think they need to be that long no it's true oh it's true I think we can do bish bash bash we can get it done I think also this is like a minor spoiler but like romance is can you ever spoil them they are not together for a massive portion of this book this is not like a they fall in love quickly and then together then they break up this isn't that's not what this is they're like not together they're fake dating for a lot of book but they're not together for a lot of it and I wish we could have seen a bit more of them like actually in a relationship I felt a little bit blue-balled by it not gonna lie but I think this tackles you know serious issues really well anxiety um stuff around pregnancy you play a big role in the latter half of this book Brianna's brother has I don't know what the correct word is but like kidney failure I believe and I think those issues are all handled really well and I love Abby Jimenez's writing I love her relationships it's just a fourth star for me it takes a lot I've only given one romance oh no yeah but Buena I've given yeah but one is like not like your typical typical romance though it's got a bit more like a literary fiction edge but yeah Buena and the love hypothesis are the only romances I've ever given five stars so it takes a lot I enjoyed it it was fun it was exactly what I needed the moment it was light-hearted I really enjoyed it now we have one book left I've got it in into green to like the you know we gotta match look at the sprayed edges of that can you are they focusing look at that tell me you're not going to cry we have got one book left in the lives of puppets by TJ Klune I'm just going to read this book date I have got no plans no I got no plans today nothing nada I've got no plans other than reading this book and finishing this vlog I'm really excited as you guys know I've given TJ Klune two five stars already with the house of the serenity and under the whispering door they always make me cry so I'm prepared to cry so if we get one more five star it's a favorite author all time I'm really excited all I know is that we're following like a family of of robots I think I'm gonna start it I'll check with you probably on about a hundred pages but I am just really excited to just have a chill day read this book have the best time and live my life anyways let's I'm really this has to be five star I need a five star I just need five stars what is going on why do I not get you five stars anymore what's going on if I just become too picky anyways but don't even know the sounds like coming out I'm a hundred pages in I've read the first hundred pages of In the Lie of the Puppets I don't know I don't know what I'm thinking I don't know if I'm I'm not loving it or what the fuck you better f***ing take that back right now you better f***ing stop right now so story of this is we're following Victor who is a he-man with loads of robots they've got this kind of found family as TJ Klune always does there's always like a found family his dad is like adoptive dad is there and then they've got like a little hoover like a little moving robot hoover and then like a nurse robot who's very like loves pain she's called nurse ratchet which is like a I know that's a thing isn't it it's like a character it's like an evil nurse so she's like that um I think this has been a very slow start I do get the feeling this is a kind of book that could ramp up after like the halfway mark and then you love the second half and forget how the first half was kind of slow but it's slow it's like dragging for me a little bit oh no what's wrong with me I want a five star TJ Klune should give me a five star but I'm just a bit but nothing's happened they've found this is the first hundred pages it's not a spoiler they found another robot and the scrap heap and they're like trying to put him back together and save him so he's going to be a character throughout this as well there's no intrigue for me really all we've been doing is like making robots and explaining this little tree house that they live in that's like on the cover and on the spine and like we've had character development so far I'm just not loving it guys I don't know what to say to you I don't want to talk about it what is going on I'm actually quite upset at one point I want to come outside and have a little cry I don't want to talk I don't want to chat I want to chit chat I want to kiki I don't want to I'm hoping it will ramp up but for me there's nothing there's nothing about the world that is making me want to read on something about the writing I mean obviously I love TJ Klune's writing but something about it I'm feeling disconnected from I'm feeling disconnected from the characters whereas usually I kind of fall in love with his character straight away it doesn't have I don't think the same cozy feel to it that house of serenity and under the whispering door have it feels quite different tonally and I just think perhaps I wasn't expecting that it feels a bit like whiplash I'm like what what the fuck is going on like this isn't what I expected so maybe I need to like get rid of any expectations but I'm really hoping that my enjoyment of this picks up because it's feeling like a drag it's feeling like something I'm having to force myself through at the moment I don't want to do this anymore I don't want to be the reason why guys it's not hitting life could be worse no not really this is the worst this is the worst this is the worst it is not hitting how a tj klune book should hit it's not it's not what is going on I don't want to I can't do this I can't do this I'm like 250 pages in I fall asleep whilst reading it once I'm really I'm not loving it what I can't even I can't even contemplate this being a reality I'm kind of in denial like I'm just I'm not it's not happening it's like a three maybe even a 2.5 probably not his thing in enjoyment this is probably a three but I am in shock right I've only ever given tj klune five stars the idea of how little I'm into this is astounding that I'm like the disappointment like takes away another half a rating I cannot believe what is happening to give you vibes it's Pinocchio retelling kind of it's also got Wizard of Oz vibes which I do like but I'm bored as fuck it's not hitting like it is trying to make emotional found family you know what it means to be human points like it's trying to like you know what tj klune books try to tap into something like meaningful I'm not connecting me and it we're not vibing usually his points on like oh my god so poignant yes let's get into it I'm like okay okay I was in pure shock I thought I might have misheard I don't even know how to move on from this I don't know how to like live a life after this this is one of the most traumatic experiences I've ever gone through the characters are fine like the little hoover vacuum guy is funny I oh by the way I caved and got the audio book I was like I'm not into this maybe you're gonna make it better it has a little bit I really like the voice that the audio book writer does for the vacuum guy but at the end of the day so much of our cast is robots and they are one note in their characterization they have they have a stick all these robots they have a stick which you know they keep being a promise that they're gonna like learn and grow wherever they are but they are but like it's still the stick they are the yet to evolve from their stick the stick is funny if this has been a novella it's too long why is it this long nothing has really happened in 250 pages well things have happened but not 250 pages worth guys guys I'm in denial this cannot be happening I'm gonna finish this tonight by the way I'm gonna finish log tonight I'm gonna finish this tonight I've got that much left right I've read that much what is happening I'm not loving a tj clone I'm not feeling like emotional I'm not feeling like it's warm and cozy and I'm not feeling like it's saying his books have always spoken to me so much you're under the whispering door I view as like you know really changed the way I view grief at a moment that that really mattered to me and this I'm I could not give less a fuck about anything in it I'm gonna finish it guys what I how am I supposed to live okay I literally just finished in the lives of puppets it's like 10 o'clock at night no it's 20 to 10 it's not quite 10 o'clock I literally just finished it and I'm gonna oh this one's tricky actually I'd say that last section that I just read was probably like a four star actually I did enjoy that last section from page 250 to 400 whether but the first heart first 250 pages was was uh 2.5 so I think I'm gonna set one of three I could be convinced to give it a 3.5 but then I'm gonna round it down to a three on goodies anyway I'm gonna go with a three a three is my instinct it's a three star is it no let's go 3.5 I'm giving it 3.5 but I am gonna round down to a three on good reason I've gotten over my sadness because I did enjoy that last bit but like I didn't enjoy it on tj clone levels and the the messaging didn't connect with me I didn't feel like at times it was kind of on the nose and at times I was like I don't actually know what this book is trying to say like what's it trying to do I think it's a bit different to some of his other books and I think if you go in with that expectation it might be okay for you I just it it's a bit forgettable for me it's beyond belief which is just beyond belief I don't think the characters land I don't think the messaging lands until the very end but like I want to be connected to you throughout right I want to be connected throughout I felt like a lot happened in this last bit oh I just guys I don't want to talk about it but it's not terrible we're giving it 3.5 but I just expected a five star from this I cannot believe we didn't have a single five star that was whole vlog let's rank actually what we've read on this vlog in terms of my enjoyment this is my order wayward at the bottom the house with good bones at the top I would put yours truly above yellow face I've just been feeling like I think yellow face is amazing but I just think again similar to I guess tj clone with rebeck RF quang like it's not quite as I don't know the poppy the poppy water energy and babble feel so massive right they feel so influential they feel so they feel like such a gargantuan undertaking I don't know the right word for it and yes yellow face is influential within what it's saying about the publishing industry and it's important but I just feel like there was a gravitas too maybe it's because they're like fantastical and like we associate that kind of gravitas with like fantastical stuff that was in RF quang's previous works that I don't think is quite in yellow face because I think I kind of liked that from her like I liked it's almost like pretentious isn't it they're like oh these are like you know saying so much and they're long and they're these big novels and they're like take your agents to read them and they're intimidating and yellow face isn't that but I think I kind of liked that from her I don't know this is like 10 o'clock at night thoughts okay but I'm glad we've done this vlog because I have read well wayward not but the other four were 2020 three releases that I was so excited for and so looking forward to and books that I wanted to prioritize reading so I'm glad that I finally got around to it but we have mixed successes my number one recommendation is probably a house of good bones by teacon fisher this was my favorite anyways I hope you enjoyed this vlog I don't know how long it's gonna be but thank you for watching anyways let me know if you've read any of these and your thoughts on them I would love to know if you have different thoughts to me did you love analyzed puppets did you not like house of good bones I'm about to sneeze um thank you guys so much for watching if you got to the end comment a yellow or a green heart because if we ignore wayward we did have a fantastic color scheme with these four so comment a yellow or a green heart if you got to the end thank you guys so much for watching and I'll see you very soon in another video bye