The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

“She was a dangerous, dangerous girl. A plague. A Mountain of Adamant who tore the iron from ships, sinking them to their watery graves without a second thought. With a mere smile and a wrinkle of her nose.”

 I must warn you that these last weeks I've had the worst reading slump and so it's possible that my opinion on this book was affected by it, still I believe that even if I hadn't had such experience my opinion on it wouldn't have been very different. That said, I just thought that The Warth and the Dawn wasn't all that great.

“Some things exist in our lives for but a brief moment. And we must let them go on to light another sky.”

 This book, as you might already know, is a retelling of One Thousand and One Nights. As far as retelling go I've always thought the most interesting thing about them is how the author manages to entwine parts from the original story with clever twists of his or her own invention. And it seemed to me, that The Wrath and the Dawn had very little of that as the story is basically the same. There is a king that marries a different girl every day, and each dawn the new queen dies by his command, however when the newest queen begins to tell him stories night after night, the king, entralled by her storytelling allows her to live in order for her to finish her tales.

 The only differences I could find were the Kalid's motives behind the death of his wives and Shahrzad own reason to marry the boy. Other than that there are no new additions, it's basically the same story but devoid of the richness of the original book. The characters seemed a bit watered-down and the description of the enviroment a bit plain, I'm not saying that it didn't have it's moments because it did, for example there were parts of the dialogue between Kalid and Shahrzad that were frankly brilliant but besides that I don't think I would ever choose this book over the source material, maybe it just wasn't for me. I know it has fairly good reviews and some people like it very much but I think that compared to other brilliant retellings out there it's just not that good.

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Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

“I missed you every hour. And you know what the worst part was? It caught me completely by surprise. I'd catch myself just walking around to find you, not for any reason, just out of habit, because I'd seen something that I wanted to tell you about or because I wanted to hear your voice.”

 I finished this book weeks ago, and yet my little bookish heart is still confused about it. On one hand, I wanted to love this, I mean it's Leigh Bardugo, I swear by Six of Crows. Then there's the whole Russian inspired setting that always (and I mean it) catches my attention. But I think that in the end, I liked the concept behind the book more than the actual material.

“This was the truth behind the handsome face and the miraculous powers, the truth that was the dead and empty space between the stars, a wasteland peopled by frightened monsters.”

 Alina Starkov is an orphan, she has known Mal (her best friend and crush) her entire life, and he is without a doubt the most important person in her life. When an accident occurs it is revealed that she has a very special skill which she had been unknowingly repressing since she was a child. Because of this she is sent to the Little Palace, a place where Grisha (people with abilities such as hers) train as soldiers under the command of a man known as The Darkling. Things happen and then she's running for her life.

 As I mentioned before I love Leigh Bardugo's writing, and though I was aware that this, beign the first book she wrote might not have the same quality as her newest work, I was still drawn to it. However though while I was reading it I was very invested in the story, after I finished the book I must admit it felt kind of hollow. Alina's characterization seemed a little flat and while I wanted (I really did) to love Mal, I ended up rooting for The Darkling. No surprise though, the bad guy always gets me (see Holland from A Darker Shade of Magic for example). I wouldn't say it was a disappointement because it wasn't but I'm still debating on reading the next one or not. I guess we'll see.

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The Hearts We Sold by Emily Lloyd-Jones
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“But were they truly victims? If they made a deal, knowing fully what they were trading for a wish--but then again, could a person ever truly know the consequences of giving away their heart?”

 This was a bit of an out-of-the-reading-slump book for me, I had read a painfully bad book before so this was a pleasant and quiet change in comparison. The Hearts We Sold is an Urban Fantasy book with quite an interesting premise, it caught my eye while I was browsing through Book Depository and suddenly I had to have it, turns out my bookish sixth sense was right for once.

 Dee Moreno has become pretty good at taking care of herself, but when money to pay for her education runs out she's forced to sell her heart to a demon and do as he pleases for two years until she can get it back again in exchange for enough money to support herself. Meanwhile she hangs out with the other heartless kids and fights some other-world beigns that threaten to destroy reality. I thought the plot was amazing, it was a very unique storyline that balanced enough drama and quiet moments to maintain my attention and keep me turning the pages.

“It was like pulling a curtain back, peering behind a mask made of smiles and quips. This was the real James, this young, bright, desperate thing. There was a burning intensity to his eyes, and she saw for the first time a boy who would sell his heart--not for some hobby, but because he thought it was the only way to life the life he wanted. They had that in common.”

 However it was the characters that I actually loved, I thought each one of them added a new edge to the story that made it real in my mind as well as relatable. And the romance, it was just wonderful; I feel like so many times YA books place all their bets on the brooding, misterious bad boy that I am kind of tired of it. This book steps aside from that kind of trope and presents this kind, thoughtful boy that feels damn real in the middle of all the changes going on, I love him.

 Lastly I'd like to mention that on top of all the awesomeness above, this book also includes wonderful representation and a good handling of themes like depression and parental abuse, which on the later's case is really hard to come by on the genre. Of course it's not completely perfect, there are a few things I didn't like too much like (view spoiler)[the "we're actually aliens" explanation near the end (hide spoiler)] but mostly this book was awesome and a very fast read for me.

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The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

How could a woman who looked so old still place so much importance on being attractive? (...) she saw now that there was something far worse than being ugly: being ugly and thinking you were beautiful.

 Honestly, at times I wondered if I was reading the same book as everyone else, pretty much because I couldn't find a single element in common between this book and all the glowing reviews on Goodreads. And to make it worse, this particular book was labeled after two other works I actually really like, which are The Hunger Games and A Song of Ice and Fire, both known for their great collection of strong female characters whose kind is notably absent in The Queen of the Tearling.

 So let's see, the story opens with Kelsea, a girl who is the only heir to her country's (The Tearling) crown. She has been raised outside the capital in an attempt to keep her from beign murdered before she becomes of age to be Queen, and also been kept from any human interaction besides the one involving her tutors. On her nineteenth birthday a troop of very good looking (yet pretty much useless) men appear on her doorstep and prepare to escort her back to the palace so she can be crowned. From that moment on the book takes almost two hundred pages (give or take) to describe her journey to the capital, it becomes terribly boring and painfully slow as Kelsea keeps whining and giving detailed descriptions of trivial things no one cares about; allow me to illustrate:

“Red hair was a recessive gene, and in the three centuries since the Crossing, it had bred slowly and steadily out of the population. Carlin had told Kelsea that some women, and even some men, liked to dye their hair red, since the rare commodity was always valuable.”

 The protagonist's trail of thoughts never seemed to vary much from the making of terrible decisions, with which she hopes to get into her people's good graces, and the constant, bitter reminder that she is very ugly. Overall this book held none of my interest, the writing style was nothing especial and it was in desperate need of some serious world-building. The first chapter lead you to believe it's some kind of medieval fantasy but it turns out that this story is actually happening in the future (why would people in the future decide to live without the improvements of modern life? Like penicillin for example?). There are a lot of inconsistencies and lack of common sense, that combined with the highly unlikable heroin are a definitive no for me.

 On a last note, I really hope Emma Watson backs out of this project, she's above this kind of mess.

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The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone's soul, becomes their blood and self and purpose. That tale will move them and drive them and who knows that they might do because of it, because of your words. That is your role, your gift.”

 I love this book more than I can possibly say, so much that it is a mystery how long it took me to pick it up. Many times I discarded it or pushed it aside while influenced by the ammount of mixed reviews it had, people seemed to either love it or hate it; and then there was the fact that I didn't feel especially drawn to it. But oh how wrong I was.

“The past stays on you the way powdered sugar stays on your fingers. Some people can get rid of it but it’s still there, the events and things that pushed you to where you are now.”

 Celia and Marco are rival magicians in a competition that was set up when they were merely kids by their mentors, the background to which is Le Cirque des Rêves, a place that is at times more dream than reality; populated with fortune tellers, contortionists and acrobats as well as with tents full of impossibly magical things like gardens made entirely of ice, a jungle of moving origami animals and a whishing tree lit up by a thousand candles.

“Everything I have done, every change I have made to that circus, every impossible feat and astounding sight, I have done for her.”

 The prose is both detailed and elegant, entwining different character's perspectives and timelines as the competition affects both the Circus and their lives. There is a dream-like quality to the story that brought up a smile on my face every time I opened this book. In a way I think it reminded me why I like to read so much, presenting such an enchanting idea packed with detailed descriptions that translate into flavors and sights that are almost impossible to come up with in real life.

 But what made me most happy I think was the incussion of the rêveurs, people that follow the Circus around, chasing that longing for adventure, magic or just a life out of the ordinary that sometimes takes place in one's heart. That is at least what drives me to books most of the time, a chance to explore what in any other way might be impossible for me to experience, a different life or world where if only for a moment I can live and be part of a story so different from my quiet little life.

 To wrap it up I can only say that it has been such a long time since a book reached out to me in the way The Night Circus did, it is truly enchanting. My only regret is perhaps that I will never be able to physically visit it, but the book I will definitely re-read a hundred times.

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The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“Daddy once told me there's a rage passed down to every black man from his ancestors, born the moment they couldn't stop the slave masters from hurting their families. Daddy also said there's nothing more dangerous than when that rage is activated.”

 All my life I've lived in a relatively safe neighbourhood, my parents have always made sure my brother and I didn't need anything, there's always been food in our table, and I've never been in a position where I feared the authorities, even if I don't always agree with them. This book proposes an entirely different story, one at least I have never experienced.

 Starr is a black girl who attends a fancy school and yet lives in a poor (and dangerous) neightbourhood, her parents struggle so she and her brothers can attend there. One night Starr becomes the only witness when a white cop shoots her unarmed friend Khalil, and this sends her carefully balanced world spiralling. The Hate U Give is a beautiful, heartbreaking story about what life looks like when you are in the wronged part of society, the part which lives in fear of beign pulled by a cop and constantly has to deal with the stereotypes everyone else places above their heads.

“That's the problem. We let people say stuff, and they say it so much that it becomes okay to them and normal for us. What's the point of having a voice if you're gonna be silent in those moments you shouldn't be?”

 This book made me consider my life again and the struggle so many people have to deal with just because they were born in the non privileged side of society, how easy is to overlook the way they're pushed around as if their lives didn't matter. But most importantly, how desperately we need to change the society we live in, to never be quiet in the face of discrimination, because it is outrageous we let this kind of things happen these days. Whether is letting a cop walk away with murdering an unarmed young man or staying silent when a friend makes a cruel joke about someone because of the color of their skin.

---

 Toda mi vida he vivido en un barrio relativamente seguro, mis padres se han preocupado de que a mi hermano y a mí no nos falte nada, siempre ha habido comida en nuestra mesa, y nunca he estado en una posición en la que sienta miedo de las autoridades, aunque no siempre esté de acuerdo con ellas. Éste libro propone una historia completamente diferente, una que al menos yo nunca he experimentado.

 Starr es una chica de color que atiende a una escuela muy cara y vive en un barrio pobre (y peligroso), sus padres se esfuerzan para enviarla y a sus hermanos a dicha escuela. Una noche Starr se convierte en la única testigo cuando un policía blanco le dispara a su desarmado amigo Khalil, y esto envía su cuidadosamente balanceado mundo en un espiral. The Hate U Give es una bella y desgarradora historia sobre cómo se ve la vida cuando te encuentras en el lado perjudicado de la sociedad, el lado que vive con miedo de las autoridades y que constantemente debe lidiar con los estereotipos que el resto pone sore sus cabezas.

 Éste libro me hizo reconsiderar mi estilo de vida y el esfuerzo que muchos deben hacer simplemente porque nacieron en la parte no privilegiada de la sociedad, lo fácil que es ignorar que son tratados como si sus vidas no importaran. Pero más importantemente, que tan desesperadamente necesitamos cambiar la sociedad en la que vivimos, nunca estar callados en la cara de la discriminación, porque es indignante que dejemos que éste tipo de cosas ocurran hoy en día. Tanto como dejar que un policía asesine a un jóven desarmado o quedarse cayado cuando un amigo hace una broma cruel sobre alguien sólo por el color de su piel.

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