Title: Because You Love to Hate Me: 13 Tales of Villainy

Author: Ameriie

Genre: Young Adult, Short Stories

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Publication Date: July 11th, 2017

Pages: 368 pages

ISBN: 1681193647 (ISBN13: 9781681193649)

Format: English version - Hardback

Start date: January 1st, 2018

Finish date: January 15th, 2018

Where to buy: The Book Depository - Hardback or The Book Depository - Paperback

Book Synopsis:
Leave it to the heroes to save the world--villains just want to rule the world.

In this unique YA anthology, thirteen acclaimed, bestselling authors team up with thirteen influential BookTubers to reimagine fairy tales from the oft-misunderstood villains' points of view.

These fractured, unconventional spins on classics like "Medusa," Sherlock Holmes, and "Jack and the Beanstalk" provide a behind-the-curtain look at villains' acts of vengeance, defiance, and rage--and the pain, heartbreak, and sorrow that spurned them on. No fairy tale will ever seem quite the same again!

Featuring writing from . . .

Authors: Renée Ahdieh, Ameriie, Soman Chainani, Susan Dennard, Sarah Enni, Marissa Meyer, Cindy Pon, Victoria Schwab, Samantha Shannon, Adam Silvera, Andrew Smith, April Genevieve Tucholke, and Nicola Yoon

BookTubers: Benjamin Alderson (Benjaminoftomes), Sasha Alsberg (abookutopia), Whitney Atkinson (WhittyNovels), Tina Burke (ChristinaReadsYA blog and TheLushables), Catriona Feeney (LittleBookOwl), Jesse George (JessetheReader), Zoë Herdt (readbyzoe), Samantha Lane (Thoughts on Tomes), Sophia Lee (thebookbasement), Raeleen Lemay (padfootandprongs07), Regan Perusse (PeruseProject), Christine Riccio (polandbananasBOOKS), and Steph Sinclair & Kat Kennedy (Cuddlebuggery blog and channel).

As you can see that these books were compiled from thirteen authors short stories. Each of them got a challenge from youtuber, book blogger, and book enthusiasts out there to do a short retelling from the infamous villains out there. There are retelling from Gaston in the Beauty and the Beast, Jim Moriarty, The Sea Witch, Hades, and so on.

~ Favorite Quotes ~

“Villains, the deliciously wicked.”

“Her name is Grace, and she is on fire.”

“We love to hate them and they hate to be loved.”

 

~ My Thoughts ~

What I like about this book:

1. What made fell in love over a book was its cover. I was really falling hard for this book cover, the dust jacket to be precise. The combination of purple gradation was matched with the dark rose in the middle. It really shows that villains are around us but they full of thorns in a dark world of them. But unfortunately I don’t like the cover of its paperback. Although in the same picture but the color is different which I felt it was not pretty enough.


2. Through the short stories, I can compare the writing style of one author to another. I can fell the differences of each author style from the authors which works I had read before and from them who I had not. I found some unique style in conversation such as using a script conversation style. There was also one that used the second person point of view. It was rare for me to read that second POV story. And honestly I didn’t like it. I could not grasp the real idea ekekeke.


3. This was not a long book which suit me to finish this book faster than my other thick series (although the real thing was, I finished it in two weeks, meh!!)

What I don't like about this book:

1. I guess I am not into a short stories compilation books which more than two or three stories. There were some things that should be written more. I was curious enough with the realization that there will be no continuation of the stories. This feeling decreased the stars I gave to this book.


2. There are some stories that I could not understand (mostly from the author that I hadn’t heard before). And also that second POV story was one of my dislikes. I could not grasp the point and it felt weird to read from “my” point of view. Basically the story is good but I was not into it.

 

~ Conclusions ~

Those likes and dislikes above that made me gave 4 stars out of what the community hype and what it mostly gave. As the conclusions:

• I won’t re-read this book as well as any kind of book except my favorite.


• This book deserved to be collected. I was in love with the cover design. Wasn’t this dust jacket lovable?


• I am still considering to buy books in short stories anymore or not. But one thing for sure that I am definitely gonna buy the Star Wars books which written in so many great authors point of view.

All and all, this is my honest opinion only. Every person may have a different perception and taste. Maybe you have different opinions. If you would like to share feel free to leave your comment below. :)

 

 

Regards,
Sandrine JB

Title: Almost Midnight

Author: Rainbow Rowell

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Short Stories

Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books

Publication Date: November 2nd, 2017

Pages: 144 pages

ISBN13: 9781509869947

Format: English version - Hardback

Start date: December 23rd, 2017

Finish date: December 24th, 2017

Where to buy: The Book Depository - Hardback

Book Synopsis:
Midnights is the story of Noel and Mags, who meet at the same New Year's Eve party every year and fall a little more in love each time . . .
Kindred Spirits is about Elena, who decides to queue to see the new Star Wars movie and meets Gabe, a fellow fan.
Midnights was previously published as part of the My True Love Gave to Me anthology, edited by Stephanie Perkins and Kindred Spirits was previously published as a World Book Day title.

~ Favorite Quotes ~

“The whole world is dancing with you.”

“And it's okay. Just... I need you to take me with you.”

“If you like someone, you should have to make an effort.”

~ My Thoughts ~

What I like about this book:

1. Can you not see the beautiful cover? It is amazinggggg. I love the cover design. I love the glittery part. And I live the combination of dark Blue and pink color of it. This was my dream to be able to design a good cover but unfortunately I was not creative enough, akakakakak.


2. Currently (after knowing fantasy books), I am not into contemporary books. I am just got bored easily. So it was good for me to read contemporary in short story version. So it was straight to the climax without too much drama. But I am pretty sure that due to this book I will read contemporary books again in the future (not only in short stories format).


3. This was a very light read and a good rest after a hard, dark, long book such as Red Rising. My reading mood was back thanks to this little beautiful book along with another Mangas.


4. Since it was light, the conversation was also easy to grasp, very Rainbow Rowell style. I once read one of her book years ago although only for a few chapter but I liked how she wrote and suite to any range of age (starting from young adult of course).

What I don't like about this book:

1. I know it only contained of two short stories, but it made this book very tiny unlike other hardback books I had. I just don’t really like the idea that hardback books has so many different sizes.


2. Well apparently I don’t have any other dislikes :-D.

 

~ Conclusions ~

Those likes and dislikes above that made me gave 4 stars out of what the community hype and what it mostly gave. As the conclusions:

• I won’t re-read this book as well as any kind of book except my favorite.


• This book deserved to be collected. I was in love with the cover design. So magic and used a dark blue gradation color which was my favorite color.


• Although I gave this book a four-star rating, this was not categorized as my favorite. I just love the cover so much :-*.

All and all, this is my honest opinion only. Every person may have a different perception and taste. Maybe you have different opinions. If you would like to share feel free to leave your comment below. :)

I also will like to recommend the kids birthday parties Santa Fe Springs (http://www.jumpersjungle.com/santa-fe-springs/) if you are plenty a party for the little ones, last week I attended a party hosted by them and it was so fun.

Regards,

It was a fun staycation. On new year’s day (1-2 Jan 2018), me and my family went to Aston Bogor Hotel and Resort. After a long time, finally we can stay at this hotel. I was eyeing this one for a very long time. Why? Because I heard and read so many good reviews about this hotel. Another thing is that I want to hide for a moment from a crowded environment.

Actually it was a sudden decision to stay there. We didn’t plan anything to do a staycation on new year. But suddenly my husband said that it would be fun that we stayed at a nice hotel and spend the entire day there. He suggested me to book this hotel. I was pessimist that we would get a room (another same rate hotel was fully booked though). But after checking their own hotel site, they still had some rooms. Initially we would like to book the 2 bedroom condotel but I was late only for a couple hours. So then we booked 2 1-bedroom-condotels. Below is the full review of this hotel.

Name: Aston Bogor Hotel and Resort
Hotel Class: [star rating="4" numeric="yes"]
Address: Bogor Nirwana Residence, Jl. Dreded Pahlawan, Bogor Selatan, Mulyaharja, Mulyaharja Bogor Selatan, Mulyaharja, South Bogor, Kota Bogor, West Java 16132, Indonesia
Phone Number: (0251) 8200300
My Rating: [star rating="4" numeric="yes"]
Trip Advisor Rating: [star rating="4" numeric="yes"] of 1,273 reviews
Trip Advisor Official Description: The Hotel and resort located just 5 minutes from the center of Bogor and 45 minutes from Jakarta. Situated within the secure complex of Bogor Nirwana Residence, it allows for easy access to the wonderful Jungle Water Park, Orchard Walk, 4D Cinema, Jungle Mall and along with superb meeting and banquet facilities it's the ideal destination for families or conferences

Check In & Check Out Experiences

The check-in went smooth. I reached there on 12 o’clock noon time hoping that we could get early check-in. I forgot that we checked-in on the first day of new year. So it was full with so many people checked-out after new year’s eve at the hotel. Although like that, I was thankful that we still could enter our room at 1 o’clock afternoon.

Room & Room Service

Our one-bedroom Condotel was spacious enough. We got a room at the 5th floor of the second tower. The room consisted of four separated area, they are Living Room, Bathroom, Bedroom, and Balcony. The living room was spacious enough to do a big family gathering and it had a one set of a sofa and its small table that are from Wellington’s Fine Leather Furniture, a TV above a small cabinet, a set of dining table with two chairs, a microwave, a one door (big) refrigerator, a washbasin, an electric kettle, two cups, three mineral water, and coffee-tea-sugar sets as compliments.

I asked for a balcony that had garden view and they gave us directly viewing the swimming pool, I asked also why the swimming pool looked so clean and they told me they contacted some swimming pool management companies before. It was nice, the garden was amzing since they used the best tools from https://bestofmachinery.com/what-size-chainsaw-sharpener-do-i-need/. I love reading there while hearing children swimming down there, the children were having a lot of fun, almost as fun as when their party was at the Jumper's Jungle. Moreover, we can see a stream near the pool. The sound of the streaming water was relaxing. The balcony had a small table with two wooden arm-chairs - find modern chairs at Woodsfurniturenz.co.nz - based on my knowledge I can see how they chose the best option between a worm drive circular saw and a sidewinder when making these chair.

I love the bedroom so much. It was not big but enough for sleeping. What I like the most was the bed near the window so we could easily see the garden view (swimming pool) out there, and they used some patio covers at night which I like a lot, so at the end I was able to learn more about patio covers in Del Mar. It also had a small TV two bedside lamps above a two bedside tables, a big wardrobe with two bathrobes, two pairs of sandals, a deposit box, and a full-sized mirror next to it.



While the bathroom itself could not be access inside the bedroom. The access was from the living room although it was next to the bedroom. It was not big enough and no bath-up of course. It only used a shower. But it had a hair-dryer and a vanity from https://www.bathroomsandmorestore.co.uk/product-category/and-more/. By the way, I like the smell of the soap. As for towels, we were only given two main big towels and a bath mat (without hand towels).

Hotel Area

This hotel had such a small but spacious area. If seeing all at once, I can say it was compact, not so big but had everything in it. They have three not to tall room towers, three swimming pools (although in the same center area), a gym room, a kids small playground, a kids corner, and several halls for meeting and parties. I might say that it was quite far walking from the lobby to our room. But do not worry, they had golf-cart facility to escort you from the lobby to each particular tower. Well us personally, we didn’t try the cart and as far as I saw, no one used the cart. The cart was a dainty piece of beauty which got me thinking of owning one back at home. About its prerequisites, I didn't have to worry because I knew where to find the top rated golf cart batteries and other components. But for now, we were just fine to walk because the scenery was good enough to enjoy.

Facility

I already mentioned above that this hotel was near complete, they had pools, gym arena, kids playground, kids’ corner, halls, and even spa treatment if you want. But unfortunately we only tried the pool (kids pool and adults pool) and kids’ playground. The pools were open from 6 AM to 6 PM. The plus side of the pool that they have pool guards, even two at each pool. Our kids could play at the adults’ pool as long as they were under guard. What I liked was that each adult pool had two corners with dividers for them who could not swim and just want to sit on the steps of the pool. They were also safe for kids.

My daughter also played at the small playground. They had two toddler slides and two swings on sintetic grass. They are safe for toddlers who liked to run here and there. My daughter could not stop playing, hahaha.

Breakfast

My rate of a hotel was most influenced by its breakfast. This hotel surely had a great breakfast. The breakfast was held at the Batoe Tulis restaurant near the front lobby. The food choices were varied. It had western and local food (although mostly western). It had choices from appetizers until desserts. Well I didn’t try the local food, but for the western one I loved the pancake, hash brown fries, and salad. But unfortunately the area was not big enough. It was very crowded!!! (blame the high season though :D).

Hotel Benefit

To get more benefit, sign-up to the Archipelago hotel member and we could get any additional discounts. Beside that, the hotel guests (with or without above member) could get a 50% discounts if they one to play at the The Jungle Waterpark Bogor, The Jungle Fest Bogor, and Jungleland Sentul. Somehow affordable right?



All and all, I (and my family) liked to stay at this hotel. It was a nice ending of our long holiday. These reviews were based on my opinion only. Different people has different experience and taste. But hopefully this can help you to choose a good place to do a staycation. Do you have another recommendation of staycation near Bogor? Feel free to leave your recommendation at the comment below.

Regards,

Title: The Young Elites (The Young Elites #1)
Author: Marie Lu
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: October 7th, 2014
Pages: 355 pages
ISBN: 0399167838 (ISBN13: 9780399167836)
Format: English version - Hardback
Start date: December 22nd, 2017
Finish date: December 31st, 2017
Where to buy: The Book Depository - Hardback or The Book Depository - Paperback
This book already has its Indonesian translation that you can find at your nearby local bookstores or any Indonesian online bookstore.

Book Synopsis:
I am tired of being used, hurt, and cast aside.

Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever. A decade ago, the deadly illness swept through her nation. Most of the infected perished, while many of the children who survived were left with strange markings. Adelina’s black hair turned silver, her lashes went pale, and now she has only a jagged scar where her left eye once was. Her cruel father believes she is a malfetto, an abomination, ruining their family’s good name and standing in the way of their fortune. But some of the fever’s survivors are rumored to possess more than just scars—they are believed to have mysterious and powerful gifts, and though their identities remain secret, they have come to be called the Young Elites.

Teren Santoro works for the king. As Leader of the Inquisition Axis, it is his job to seek out the Young Elites, to destroy them before they destroy the nation. He believes the Young Elites to be dangerous and vengeful, but it’s Teren who may possess the darkest secret of all.

Enzo Valenciano is a member of the Dagger Society. This secret sect of Young Elites seeks out others like them before the Inquisition Axis can. But when the Daggers find Adelina, they discover someone with powers like they’ve never seen.

Adelina wants to believe Enzo is on her side, and that Teren is the true enemy. But the lives of these three will collide in unexpected ways, as each fights a very different and personal battle. But of one thing they are all certain: Adelina has abilities that shouldn’t belong in this world. A vengeful blackness in her heart. And a desire to destroy all who dare to cross her.

It is my turn to use. My turn to hurt.

~ Favorite Quotes ~

“It is pointless to believe what you see, if you only see what you believe.”

“I am tired of being used, hurt, and cast aside. It is my turn to use. My turn to hurt.”

“Don't cry. You are stronger than that.”

 

~ My Thoughts ~

What I like about this book:

1. I am a cheesy romance sucker. What made me fall in love at the first place was the thing between Enzo and Adelina. A book without a little spark of romance is same as a food without salt, ekekekekekek. But after reading Warcross I’d already prepared of what Marie Lu would do with those two characters. And the result was I was not prepared enough. My heart was broken into pieces.


2. Damn the plot twist. I love plot twist by the way, but somehow this kind of twist was unbelievable. How could you do that to me Marie Lu? I realized that there will be something that made the main character would not die (or was he not the main character?) Ahahaha too many questions. I just I have to read the second book, immediately.


3. I always love a magic theme over a book. Magic, Fairy, and Science Fiction are and will always be my all-time favorite (of course with romance in it). The magic in this book was different with any kind of magic that we read. I love the idea that magic triggered from a plaque for those who were destined to be that strong enough. To me the idea was realistic in unrealistic world.


4. The conversation style was easy enough to grasp. It was very natural and flowing like we were in it (beside that this book is using 1st POV for Adelina part and 3rd POV from another characters.

What I don't like about this book:

1. I know this is a young adult book, but somehow a bit bothering me from the writing style of Marie Lu that it was like a bit middle grade conversation style. It is like reading teenlit stories. Well, I didn’t blame her. It was just my taste that evolved to a style like a new adult style of conversation (since my age was not in the young age anymore hahahahaha).


2. Although I like the dust jacket so much but the unusual size of the books made it unmatched with my other books. I didn’t have any other collections that match with this one (yet). Needs a lot of skill to take a good pictures from this book for me (unlike the other pro bookstagrammers, wehehehehe).

 

~ Conclusions ~

Those likes and dislikes above that made me gave 4 stars out of what the community hype and what it mostly gave. As the conclusions:

• As a person who never re-read, I still do not know whether to re-read this one. But, probably not.


• This book deserved to be collected. I was in love with the cover design. So magic and used a dark blue gradation color which was my favorite color.


• I will definitely read this series until the end. I can’t wait to read the second book. Psst, my second book is the signed copy version (yeayy!!). I got it in a cheap price at the Book Outlet.

All and all, this is my honest opinion only. Every person may have a different perception and taste. Maybe you have different opinions. If you would like to share feel free to leave your comment below. :)

Regards,

Title: Red Rising

Author: Pierce Brown

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Fantasy

Publisher: Del Rey (Random House)

Publication Date: January 28th, 2014

Pages: 382 pages

ISBN: 0345539788 (ISBN13: 9780345539786)

Format: English version - Hardback

Start date: December 9th, 2017

Finish date: December 12th, 2017

Where to buy: The Book Depository - Hardback or The Book Depository - Paperback

Book Synopsis:
"I live for the dream that my children will be born free," she says. "That they will be what they like. That they will own the land their father gave them."

"I live for you," I say sadly.

Eo kisses my cheek. "Then you must live for more."

Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations.

Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children.

But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity already reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.

Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity's overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society's ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies... even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.

A post shared by Books & Pops 🇲🇨 sandrinetungka (@sanwabooks) on Nov 18, 2017 at 3:03pm PST

Disclaimer: This review may contain spoiler!

 

~ My Rating ~

[star rating="3.75" numeric="yes"]

~ Goodreads Rating ~

[star rating="4.26" numeric="yes"]
(141,287 Ratings)

~ Favorite Quotes ~

“Break the chains, my love.”

“Patience is the better part of valor. And obedience the better part of humanity. Listen to your elders.”

“I am no martyr. I am not vengeance. I am Eo's dream.”

 

~ My Thoughts ~

What I like about this book:

1. I love action superhero movie so I pictured this book as I watched those superheros that were transformed from nothing to something and had those wonderful superpowers. Darrow was changed into a human that I adore the most. And you know what, I pictured him as Rhysand :-D. I really loved the part when Darrow transformed something new. Only I was hard to picture Darrow before he changed. I already pictured him very awesome :D.


2. Another thing that attracted me was its dust jacket. The simple red wings was very minimalist and cool. Do not have so many ornaments but it really showed how hard to live in a territory that full of racist but want to rebell.


3. I was so crazy with the twists here and there (at least now I realize that I always looked for twists in a book, haha, to me plot twists made the book even more awesome). It was something unpredictable, although there had some parts that were also easy to be predicted.


4. The setting area of the book was unusual. In some parts I pictured a world like in Avatar the movie, in some parts like watching Star Wars, and in some parts like seeing The Lord of The Ring battle area. The experience of reading related to another planet (in this case is Mars with so many other territories) was just epic. I really want this book to be transferred into a movie. It would be very awesome to see all the science fiction combine with colossal effect.

What I don't like about this book:

1. This book was full of politics which make the sentences hard. For me who hate politics, it was hard to easily grasp the meaning of some harder parts. Well, I admit I was not clever enough, ekekekeke.


2. There were some parts of the writing style that bothering me. In my point of view, some parts should be described well because it was part of the climax but unfortunately it was just described flatly just like reading a flat diary. So I didn’t get the excitement in reading that part that should be awesome.

A post shared by Books & Pops 🇲🇨 sandrinetungka (@sanwabooks) on Nov 19, 2017 at 6:32pm PST

 

~ Conclusion ~

Those likes and dislikes above that made me gave 3.75 stars out of what the community hype and what it mostly gave. As the conclusions:

• I surely will not re-read this book again. To hard for me. But this one deserves to be kept and collected. I am definitely not gonna unhaul this book ever!!


• I love Darrow soooo muuccchhh. This is my third book boyfriend after Rhysand and Kaz Brekker on my list, HaHa.


• I will definitely read this series until the end. I heard that the next books will be very great than the first book. Especially the fourth book, Iron Gold, that will be released in this month of January. It has gorgeous white cover. I fall in love with it easily (it will be cool if I can have the signed copy version :D).

All and all, this is my honest opinion only. Every person may have a different perception and taste. Maybe you have different opinions. If you would like to share feel free to leave your comment below. :)

 

Regards,