#tbrbusterchallenge2022

Last read:

• Title:Demonia
• Author:Bernardo Esquinca
• Number of Pages: 167
• Rating:★★★★☆
• First published: 2011
• Read: March 31, 2022 - April 10, 2022

Thoughts:

• This is the second Esquinca’s anthology that I read and it contains the short story (El contagio) that made me want to buy his books and read more from him.
• My preferred stories were Adonde voy siempre es de nocheandEl contagio. I also really liked Manuscrito encontrado en un departamento vacíoandEl gran mal.
• In this book, I noticed more obvious recurring themes, especially the protagonist browsing in bookstores of used books. That was very present. Also, the story El gran mal reminded me of Pabellón 27.
• Overall, I enjoyed this one more than Los niños de paja. Moreover, I plan to read the next anthology: Mar negro. Although, I want to start the first novel of the Casasola Saga, since detective fiction is one of my favorite genres. 

I read a lot more this month which was good, although two out of the four books were pretty average. It took me a while to finish reviews with work and everything, hence only finishing this now. I also borrowed quite a few books from the library, and all the books I read were library books.

I’m still doing @bookbandit‘stbrbusterchallenge2022to get through as many books on my TBR as possible!

I also answered @lizziethereader‘s book qns: fave reads of the yr,buying a book twice,how previous book influences enjoyment of current read and did the Last Book I… tag game.

Things of mine to check out: quotes,currently readingandjust finishedbook pics!

READ & REVIEWED:

★★★★The Duke & I by Julia Quinn (Bridgertons #1) [REVIEW]

★★★The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory (The Wedding Date #1) [REVIEW]

★★★★1/2 Iron Widowby Xiran Jay Zhao (Iron Widow #1) [REVIEW]

★★★The Paris Apartmentby Lucy Foley [REVIEW]

You can check out my Goodreads here!

WATCHED & REVIEWED:

The Weekend Away (2022) dir. Kim Farrant[REVIEW]

Killing Eve Season 4 [REVIEW]

HeartstopperSeason 1 [REVIEW]

The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn’t matter that the girls often die from the mental strain.

When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it’s to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister’s death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected—she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed.

To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia​. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily.

Rating:★★★★½

Iron Widow was my first 5 star read of books new to me this year, and there are so many reasons to love it. The character depth is incredible, and I love the dynamics between all of the different characters, particularly Zetian, Yizhi and Li Shimin. There is so much character development and growth throughout the narrative – the plot is interesting and I love watching how the characters react to everything. It’s incredibly amusing, and I really connected to the writing almost immediately, so much so that I had to force myself to slow down to read. And I will definitely have to buy Iron Widow so I can re-read it.

I absolutely adore Zetian and she’s such a refreshing character, because I am sick of protagonists that are never allowed to ‘stoop’ to the level of the villians. I love that she’s full of vengeance and willing to do whatever it takes, even when that means doing some dark things to people. She’s genuinely such a well-rounded character and it’s so easy to feel a connection with her and her circumstances. Zetian gets things done. I love how she uses people and their reactions and emotions to her advantage. She is a powerful badass.

The polyamorous relationship that develops between Zetian, Yizhi and Li Shimin is beautiful and such a significant aspect of the novel. On first look, Zetian and Li Shimin are much more similar people and have similar approaches. However, it becomes clear that Yizhi belongs with them and not only supports their efforts, but is also willing to get his hands dirty. 

So much of Iron Widow focuses on the structural oppression of women in this world, and the ways in which Zetian fights it after the murder of her older sister. She not only sets her sights on completely destroying the murderer, when she finds herself in a powerful position she uses that power to further her cause and fight against this oppression. It’s something she’s tried to fight her whole life, starting with the ways in which her family treated her because she’s female. She refuses to be shamed or silenced, and when someone attempts to hold something over her, she lets it go so she won’t have to let go of her power.

But what’s also important is that she learns that not every woman has the power to fight back, and it’s not on the victims to stand up and fight, particularly when it can make their situation worse. Zetian also importantly learns that all women are different, and will not necessarily stand up for each other. In fact, some women will actively fight against the cause for all women in order to maintain the power they currently have.

In terms of what didn’t quite work for me, I found it difficult getting into the technical side of the world-building, especially as Iron Widow dives right into it without explaining anything. Towards the end of the novel, particularly during the final battle, I did find myself drifting. It didn’t help that the battle also felt a little off pace.

The big plot twist at the end of Iron Widow was obvious to me based on earlier foreshadowing and comments made by certain characters. It’s also the kind of twist I’ve seen before, but I am interested to see how it will affect the characters in the next book.

Warnings: violence & abuse, suicide ideation, sexual assault, alcohol addiction, torture, sexual assault/misogyny, racism, body modifications

So I got covid at the end of May, meaning I actually managed to finish reading People We Meet On Vacation before the end of the month, watched a lot of Netflix, and actually kept mostly up to date on my reviews, so this wrap up is somewhat on time this month haha!

I’ve had a pretty bad time with thrillers lately (the book ones, I’ve enjoyed a lot of random ones on Netflix), so I was happy that I absolutely loved The Younger Wife! The other two books I read this month were pretty bland for the most part. I also finally finished watching Superstore!

I’m still doing @bookbandit‘stbrbusterchallenge2022to get through as many books on my TBR as possible!

I also did some tag games: 9 people I want to know betterandspring scavenger hunt.

Things of mine to check out: quotes,currently readingandjust finishedbook pics!

READ & REVIEWED:

★★★The Maidensby Alex Michaelides [REVIEW]

★★★★★The Younger Wifeby Sally Hepworth [REVIEW]

★★★½People We Meet On Vacationby Emily Henry [REVIEW]

You can check out my Goodreads here!

WATCHED & REVIEWED:

SuperstoreSeries Review[REVIEW]

Our Father (2022) dir. Lucie Jourdan [REVIEW]

6 Underground (2019) dir. Michael Bay[REVIEW]

Love, Simon (2018) dir. Greg Berlanti {RE-WATCH} [REVIEW]

Hypnotic(2021) dir. Matt Angel & Suzanne Coote[REVIEW]

Run(2020) dir. Aneesh Chaganty[REVIEW]

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Currently reading Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzalez