April TBR

Why, oh, why publishers hate me??? There is a gazillion books that I wanted to read for months now that are being released on the first two weeks of the month and them weeks with nothing, ugh, let's hope I turn into a reading machine in like 5 seconds to read all of these books.

My most anticipated read: 

The Upside of Unrequired by Becky Albertalli
To be published on April 11, 2017 by Balzer + Bray

Seventeen-year-old Molly Peskin-Suso knows all about unrequited love. No matter how many times her twin sister, Cassie, tells her to woman up, Molly can’t stomach the idea of rejection. So she’s careful. Fat girls always have to be careful.

Then a cute new girl enters Cassie’s orbit, and for the first time ever, Molly’s cynical twin is a lovesick mess. Meanwhile, Molly's totally not dying of loneliness—except for the part where she is. Luckily, Cassie's new girlfriend comes with a cute hipster-boy sidekick. If Molly can win him over, she'll get her first kiss and she'll get her twin back.

There's only one problem: Molly's coworker, Reid. He's a chubby Tolkien superfan with a season pass to the Ren Faire, and there's absolutely no way Molly could fall for him.

Right?

Geekrella by Ashley Poston

Shadowcaster by Cinda Williams Chima - this is a very long shot, because I still need to catch up on the Seven Realms series and start this one, but hope is the last to die

The End Of Our Story by Meg Haston

Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett

Is it just me or the covers just match so perfectly??

Give to the Sea by Mindy McGinnis 

The Freemason's Daughter by Shelley Sackier

Duels & Deception by Cindy Anstey

Spindle Fire by Lexa Hillyer

Fireworks by Katie Cotugno - I loved 99 days and I can't wait to try this new story of hers.

PopCorn Corner: One Day at a Time (2017) - Season 1

One Day at a Time (2017) - Season 1
Created by Gloria Calderon Kellet & Mike Royce
Episodes: 13
Runtime: 30 min.
Genre: Comedy

Follows three generations of the same Cuban-American family living in the same house: a newly divorced former military mother, her teenage daughter and tween son, and her old-school mother.

I started watching ODaaT in a whim because I was craving some comedy and all my regular tv-shows are on hiatus and I'm so glad I did it! This show won me over right in the first episode with it's wonderful cast and the presence of diverse and important themes being discussed on each episode.

What makes this show stands out among all the other comedies out there is it's fearless disposition to discuss openly about controversial themes, while still making me laugh. The fact that the family is of Cuban origin but already lives in the USA for a while comes into the picture a lot, it shows the struggles of new comers with the stories of Abuelita, and the mixed heritage with Penelope and her kids, having being born in the USA but still identifying with a lot of Cuban traditions. I do have to say that I didn't particularly enjoyed the way the Cuban Revolution was presented here, I'm not Cuban so I can't begin to fathom what was for those who lived there and the impact it still has in the lives of Cuban people, not only those who live there but also those who can't come back to their home country, but I think that this being a American made tv-show and having such a firm position of being against it just leaves a bad taste on my month.

Still, there are a lot of great things to like about it, it brings a lot of everyday discussions to the table, like sexuality, feminism, religion, Penelope's character arc is being really well done, she has to deal with a separation and coming back to normal life after having worked in the Army, I loved the way it dealt with therapy and medication. Actually all of these topics were handled in a extremely good way, we have Abuelita that usually stands for the older and more traditional form of views and the newest generations often fighting about their beliefs, and despite they having different opinions a lot of times the show manages to show how both sides have their reasoning and the family always works to stay together and come to a consensus.

In case you didn't noticed yet, I love this show and I can't wait for the second season next year, it has a great cast with a chemistry that resembles of a real family, some great laughs and important discussions that are relevant not only to Cuban-Americans but to everyone.

Verdict: 7 out of 10 stars

Who Wore It Best: Heartless by Marissa Meyer

Hey guys, today I'm here with a new feature: Who Wore It Best! It's pretty straight forward, basically I'll pick a book and show the different covers it got around the world and give my impressions on it and a little poll at the end for you to say which cover you liked best, let's get this party started!

The first runner in this super important and relevant contest is

The black US cover, this is the original cover, I was a bit dissapointed by it, it's not in any way ugly but is pretty... Boring, sorry cover, I swear I'm a nice person but maybe if you had a bit of glitter or more wonderland imaginary stuff I could love you.

From what I could gather this was a Owlcrate special edition, so it's a harcover just like the black US just in the white US version. I think I love this one less than the black counter part, at least the red in the other one stood up, now it's just black and white and meh.

This is the UK and DEFINITELY my least favorite, I just found so weird to only have the lips and chin of the model in the cover, and it seems like they covered the model with white powder. 

I think this is from Australia and OH MY GOD, my favorite of them all. I just loved the font and the head of the Queen of Hears and the thorns surrounding her, I really loved this one and is the one I'll be searching to add to my shelves. 

This is from the Dutch edition (I think, somebody pls help me) and I think is the most different, is my second favorite and is just beautiful, it reminds me of a fairy tale cover and this illustration is amazing. 

Now is your time to tell me which one is YOUR favorite in the poll bellow.

Who Wore Best the Heartless Cover

March TBR

So, here I'm again trying to make a official TBR and to stick with it... Oh, well, we can never give up on hope. This time around I'll try to focus more on ARCs that I own and NEED to read, so that way I'll at least try to get to it, I hope.

My most anticipated read is:

Traitor to the Throne by Alwyn Hamilton
Series: Rebel of the Sands #2
Expected publication March 7, 2017 by Viking Books for Young Readers

The sizzling, un-put-downable sequel to the bestselling Rebel of the Sands!

Mere months ago, gunslinger Amani al'Hiza fled her dead-end hometown on the back of a mythical horse with the mysterious foreigner Jin, seeking only her own freedom. Now she's fighting to liberate the entire desert nation of Miraji from a bloodthirsty sultan who slew his own father to capture the throne.

When Amani finds herself thrust into the epicenter of the regime—the Sultan's palace—she's determined to bring the tyrant down. Desperate to uncover the Sultan's secrets by spying on his court, she tries to forget that Jin disappeared just as she was getting closest to him, and that she's a prisoner of the enemy. But the longer she remains, the more she questions whether the Sultan is really the villain she's been told he is, and who’s the real traitor to her sun-bleached, magic-filled homeland.

Forget everything you thought you knew about Miraji, about the rebellion, about djinni and Jin and the Blue-Eyed Bandit. In Traitor to the Throne, the only certainty is that everything will change.

The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Seven Days of You by Cecilia Vinesse

Nemesis by Brendan Reichs

100 Hours by Rachel Vincent 

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman

Legend - Marie Lu

Legend by Marie Lu
Series: Legend #1
Published on November 29, 2011 by Putnam Juvenile

What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic's wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic's highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country's most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem. 

From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths—until the day June's brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family's survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias's death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.

This was a re-read so that maybe I could finally finish reading this series this year (I re-read this in January, now it's March and I still haven't picked up the second one -.-). Anyway, this was a fun ready, it had a it's fair share of distopian tropes but the high pacing, adventure like nature and mysteries kept me turning the pages.

I have to say that the worst part of it is the romance, this book is super short and as soon as they look at each other June and Day can't stop noticing the eyes or hair or abs or whatever of each other, I do have to say that the romance is a side part of the story and never overtakes the plot so that is a good thing, but they still kiss and think a lot about each other pretty early on.

Day and June are both good characters, if a bit stereotypical. Day is (sort of, but not really) part of the resistance of this government, he's a fugitive and a criminal, I was a bit disappointed that we don't really see him in action; he falls into the trope of being the whole noble hero. June is part of the government, having being trained by them she is in a path to greatness until the death of her brother, she them starts to unravel secrets and not trust this organization anymore.

Overall this was a good book, it had a few cliches and the plot makes it hard to create a deeper connection to the characters, since there is so much to find out, also so many questions, I really should get to the second book soon.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - John Tiffany, Jack Throne, J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by John Tiffany, Jack Throne and J.K. Rowling
Series: Harry Potter #8 (sort of)
Published on July 31, 2016 by Pottermore

Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, a new play by Jack Thorne, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the eighth story in the Harry Potter series and the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage. The play will receive its world premiere in London’s West End on July 30, 2016. 

It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children. 

While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places.

Well, this was a disappointment, I was really excited to read this since seeing the play is basically impossible for me (geographical and more importantly, monetary wise) but honestly, right now I'm happy I didn't expend a lot on money on this, I imagine it's better as a play thought it would still be a disappointment.

The first thing that stood out to me was that this plot is just so big and disjointed to fit into something small like a play, it passes through years in sentences or paragraphs, leaving the pace all over the place. Other thing is that this plot seems like a plot hole in the Harry Potter books that are already out there, and I hate it, honestly this universe is really well though and re-reading the books is always great to see all the foreshadowing to the future things, but this story just came out of nowhere and didn't made any sense.

Also, it tries to have this whole plot, sort of mystery thing and also a character arc but it ends up falling short on both attempts, we don't have enough time with the characters to care deeply about them and we don't have enough of the mystery to be excited by it. The voices of the old characters were all sorts of wrong too, specially Harry, I kind of hated him in here and it didn't felt like coming back to the familiar characters that I know and love.

Well, this was a bad idea, I did fond some passages funny and there was a comeback of one character that warmed my heart but other than that this was just a sad attempt to revival one of my favorite series.