[Announcement] New Header!

15:46 Cilla 2 Comments

Hello friends! Last week, I took a short break from blogging to spend some much-needed quality time with my family. I thought it would be perfect to come back with this update. I have a new header!!

My wonderful and talented friend, Elise, created the wonderful image above. I've dreamed about this picture ever since I started the blog, and she's actually brought it to life. 💜You'll see it on my Twitter as well, and if you like, you can grab my button from the sidebar!

You should check out Elise's art in her Etsy shop! She creates watercolour painting of awesome babes of pop culture. You should also follow her on Instagram and see what project she's working on next!

I'm so psyched about this update, and I hope you love it too!

[Review] The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi

08:00 Cilla 8 Comments

[ARC Review] the princess saves herself in this one by Amanda Lovelace

08:00 Cilla 0 Comments

Let's start this off by stating what may soon become obvious: technically speaking, I don't understand poetry. I don't know much about the different structures or techniques. The only thing I understand is when poetry moves me, though I can't intelligently tell you why. It's why I like reading the lyrics to songs, and why I burst into tears when I first listened to this. The title - the princess saves herself in this one - immediately grabbed my attention. My first ever blog had a similar sentence as its tagline. I don't usually read poetry collections, but I wanted to read this one.

It's a difficult book to review as usual. Not only because I have no preference for a particular structure of poetry and so has no criticism or observation to offer in that area, but also because the poems feel so raw and personal. I can't criticise her writing. Some of them struck a deep chord with me, some of them didn't. There are some that I would love to share, because I think a lot of people should hear them. Overall, I'm awed by the bravery it takes to bleed your heart out onto the pages like Lovelace has done here. By the time I reached 'the queen' part of the book, I was absolutely rooting for her.

I think there are girls out there who should read this collection and who would see themselves in it, if not parts of it. As for me, I probably won't go out of my way to read more poetry in this form, but I appreciated having read this book.



Reading this book contributes to the following challenges:
❥ Goodreads Challenge

[ARC Review] Ida by Alison Evans

08:00 Cilla 0 Comments

Ida has something I wish to read more of (diversity), something that I'm fascinated by (parallel universes), and something I can totally relate to (feeling stuck with life). Pack all of those up with an eerie, gripping plotline, and voila! You get a book you can't put down.

The thing I love most about Ida is the diversity. Ida has a Vietnamese mother and a German father. She identifies as bisexual and is in a relationship with a genderqueer person. Her cousin is also genderqueer. These are just parts of the characters' identities - no big deal in their day to day, though I sensed hints of the larger society's biases against them. It was a big deal for me, however, as it was the first time I read a book with genderqueer characters. It was eye-opening, in that I had to check some of my ingrained assumptions about pronouns.

The plot revolves around Ida's ability to switch between different universes. The thing is, she doesn't know that she can do this - she thinks she's travelling back in time. There are two aspects to this that I love. The first is the way Ida uses her ability to fix any mistake or change even the smallest decisions, like choosing a different shampoo. If I could time-travel, there's a 90% possibility that I would do exactly what Ida did. The second is that, in the story, there is a company whose job is to watch out for people like Ida who are unaware of the consequences of switching. These characters, genderqueer and ageless, are as fascinating as Ida, and I'd love to read more about their work, lives, and how the company came to be.  

On the down side, there are points during the storywhere I felt like I've missed something. I had to backtrack to understand why Ida was so jumpy at first, and I was confused about the terms she used to describe her ability. At times it sounded like she knew she was switching universes, when she wasn't supposed to know about it yet.

While I couldn't relate to her extraordinary ability, I could relate to that feeling of not knowing where you're heading, or trying your hardest to move forward but you just can't seem to. I'm not sure if it's the intention, but the concept of parallel universes is particularly fascinating to me in this context. There might be different versions of yourself and your life out there, but perhaps at the end of the day they're all moving in the same direction and you have to make the same decisions in any life.

Overall, Ida was an excellent, thought-provoking read. Not only did I love the science-fiction-y concepts that the plot involves, but also the way it is grounded in the very real struggles of young adults.



Reading this book contributes to the following challenges:
❥ Goodreads Challenge
❥ #ReadDiverse2017
❥ #DiverseReads2017

[Cake Break] Let's Catch Up

08:00 Cilla 6 Comments

I love Jamie at Perpetual Page-Turner's feature here, where she talks to her readers as if they are meeting up for coffee. I adore getting to know a little more about her this way, so I'd like to follow her lead and maybe make some connections myself! I'm adapting it slightly because I go for sweets over coffee. So, have a cake break and chat with me?

Hii! It's been a while since we last caught up with each other. How have you been? I hope 2017 has been kind to you so far, and I hope you're okay. Watching the news, it feels like the world is spiralling, and it's a relief to (sort of) see a friendly face. Today, I have my nutella toast, but I'm dreaming of this:

Photo credit: Nuts About Tella. If we were sharing this doughnut...

I'd tell you that I've been feeling a lot of gratitude for the friends that I have. I've always had trouble making friends, mainly 'cause I'm an awkward turtle about initiating conversations. In recent times, there have been moments when I feel sad that my efforts to pursue friendships haven't been reciprocated. Lately I've been catching up with everyone, however, and I'm reminded that I already have awesome people in my life. It's always good to make new friends, but I'm also happy with what I have.

I'd ask you if you have any recommendations for an easy, healthy breakfast. You may have noticed by now that I'm weak for Nutella. Last year, I got into a bad habit of having it on toast for breakfast practically every day. Yeah, it's not good. So I've been working on breaking that habit by eating breakfast parfaits, or good old eggs and bacon. I'm always open for recommendations though!

And on that note, I'd tell you that I've been cooking and baking a lot! Well, more than I normally ever do, anyway. It's the restlessness of the holiday, I tell you. Since around Christmas time, I've tried about seven different new recipes. Mind you, I haven't gotten them perfectly right, but I haven't burnt down the kitchen either! What's a skill you'd like to get better at?

I'd ask you if you've ever read mangas. Until I was in about fifth grade, my mother actually banned my sister and I from reading mangas, believing that we'll benefit more from getting into the habit of reading 'proper' books. I don't know if she was right or not, but she did let us read them eventually. Cardcaptor Sakura was my favourite, and I recently found out they're doing a new series for it! I've read a few chapters and they gave me the best kind of nostalgia.

I hate to end this on a depressing note, but I'd have to confess that I'm scared about where the world is heading. I watch the news about what's happening in USA, and I feel helpless and angry. I see the reactions of the Australian government to the immigration ban, and I worry for my future as an immigrant here. I talk to my parents about what's going on at home regarding attitudes to people like me, and I'm not sure it'll be safe for me to keep calling it home. So where do I belong? If we're heading for disaster, where will I go? If you share similar fears, I hope you know you're not alone. I don't know how to make it better, but I stand with you.

[Rewind] January 2017

08:00 Cilla 16 Comments

Hello there! Welcome to the first Rewind post of 2017. 😊 It's been a good month, personally. I've actually had a social life for once! (My thesis supervisor's response to this, "isn't there a rule that you can't do that while doing your Masters?") I've enjoyed my summer break so much, and I'm half dragging my feet to get fully re-immersed in uni. Before we move forward though, let's have a look back at January.

[Book Talk] Rarely Writing Negative Reviews: Is it a Problem?

08:00 Cilla 34 Comments

I was updating my review archive when it occurs to me that I have given very few negative reviews over my blogging life. For reference, I've written nine 2-stars reviews out of 55 reviews on this blog. The rest of the reviews range from 3 to 5 stars, and the occasional DNFs. This makes me wonder: why? How have I managed to avoid giving negative reviews?