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amandasbrews's Reviews (454)
Mmmmm... this book is full of food from so many different cultures, my mouth was watering the whole time.
Check out my full review here!
Delicious, light, mouth watering, multi-cultural, comforting, and fun!
Arsenic and Adobo was such a cosy and comforting read. I was so happy while reading all of it! This is one of those fast and breezy books that you can read really quickly and have a great time. Those books are the absolute best sometimes! I loved the descriptions of food, and the diversity within this book. It really made me feel like we can come together over food and everything will be just a little bit better.
Arsenic and Adobo follows Lila, a girl who has come home to recover from a horrible break up, to work in her family restaurant. While home, she has to deal with meddling aunties and saving her Tita Rosie’s restaurant. Everything starts to fall off the rails when an annoyingly rude food critic drops dead immediately after eating Lila’s experimental dessert. And of course, since Lila served him, the detective seems to think that Lila is the only suspect, unless she can find the true killer and clear her name! Keep reading...
I received a free copy of this book for participation in a book tour, and I'm leaving this review voluntarily
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Check out my full review here!
Delicious, light, mouth watering, multi-cultural, comforting, and fun!
Arsenic and Adobo was such a cosy and comforting read. I was so happy while reading all of it! This is one of those fast and breezy books that you can read really quickly and have a great time. Those books are the absolute best sometimes! I loved the descriptions of food, and the diversity within this book. It really made me feel like we can come together over food and everything will be just a little bit better.
Arsenic and Adobo follows Lila, a girl who has come home to recover from a horrible break up, to work in her family restaurant. While home, she has to deal with meddling aunties and saving her Tita Rosie’s restaurant. Everything starts to fall off the rails when an annoyingly rude food critic drops dead immediately after eating Lila’s experimental dessert. And of course, since Lila served him, the detective seems to think that Lila is the only suspect, unless she can find the true killer and clear her name! Keep reading...
I received a free copy of this book for participation in a book tour, and I'm leaving this review voluntarily
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Gearbreakers has so many things in it to get excited about, mechas, rage against the government, a queer relationship. It is fast-paced in a delightfully creative world. Unfortunately, it fell short for me. I couldn't connect to the characters at all and I found the fascination for each other grounded in so little it confused me. I was excited to get into the world at the beginning but sadly nothing gripped me. I wouldn't say this is a bad book at all, and perhaps it just wasn't the book for me, but nothing gripped me to keep me interested. I found myself daydreaming while reading rather than focusing on the story in the book. I absolutely think this book would be good for some, just not me.
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Never in my life did I ever imagine seeing people who look like me in historical fiction, let alone a story like the Titanic. Honestly this is something I didn't know I needed. Check out my full review here! :)
Here's a preview:
Fun, real, heartwarming, thought provoking, witty, and charming.
Luck of the Titanic is the Titanic story I wish we all knew. Move over Rose and Jack, make way for Val and Jamie. Never once did I ever imagine to be able to see someone who looked like me in a historical fiction about the Titanic. I didn’t even realize that people who looked like me were aboard in the first place! It was a whole new experience to see people like me exist at all before modern day. Historical fiction so often, especially about events we hear about often like the Titanic, has never felt relatable in the least to me. Until this. This book brought me that. It told me that even in historical fiction, we can see diversity. People who look like me.
Quick summary: Luck of the Titanic is a historical fiction that works to tell the story of the six Titanic survivors of Chinese descent. It follows twin siblings, Valora and Jamie Luck, two twin British-Chinese acrobats traveling aboard the Titanic’s maiden voyage, which was the same time of the Chinese Exclusion Act. Determined to make it to America, Valora brews a plan that will allow them to get into America before the ship makes it across the Atlantic.
I can absolutely say right off the bat that my favorite part was that this book kept me guessing. I read this with Saima, and we both kept guessing what would happen wrong. I say that this is my favorite part because it was very impressive that a book about a major historical event, one that is so famous we all know the story, ends up being surprising at all. I was very impressed with that alone that made my experience of the book go up a ton! Continue reading...
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Here's a preview:
Fun, real, heartwarming, thought provoking, witty, and charming.
Luck of the Titanic is the Titanic story I wish we all knew. Move over Rose and Jack, make way for Val and Jamie. Never once did I ever imagine to be able to see someone who looked like me in a historical fiction about the Titanic. I didn’t even realize that people who looked like me were aboard in the first place! It was a whole new experience to see people like me exist at all before modern day. Historical fiction so often, especially about events we hear about often like the Titanic, has never felt relatable in the least to me. Until this. This book brought me that. It told me that even in historical fiction, we can see diversity. People who look like me.
Quick summary: Luck of the Titanic is a historical fiction that works to tell the story of the six Titanic survivors of Chinese descent. It follows twin siblings, Valora and Jamie Luck, two twin British-Chinese acrobats traveling aboard the Titanic’s maiden voyage, which was the same time of the Chinese Exclusion Act. Determined to make it to America, Valora brews a plan that will allow them to get into America before the ship makes it across the Atlantic.
I can absolutely say right off the bat that my favorite part was that this book kept me guessing. I read this with Saima, and we both kept guessing what would happen wrong. I say that this is my favorite part because it was very impressive that a book about a major historical event, one that is so famous we all know the story, ends up being surprising at all. I was very impressed with that alone that made my experience of the book go up a ton! Continue reading...
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Finished this one! Check out my full review here!
This book was a delight to read! I thought the world was so unique with just the right amount of humor and romance that it really kept me interested. The way that Chinese culture was sprinkled in throughout was done so nicely that it mixed in with the worldbuilding perfectly. This book really packed so many things into one book I was really impressed!
The Language of the Flowers is about a young woman, Lan, who wakes up from a traumatic accident in someone else’s body, thousands of years in the future. She diagnosed with amnesia and is blindly thrown into the life of Elizabeth, who’s body she now inhabits. Haunted by the vow that she made to her love, to wait for his return, she hopes that true love can span millenia. Until her arranged marriage turns out to be a better arrangement than anticipated. Continue reading...
Bookish Brews | Twitter | Pinterest | Tumblr
This book was a delight to read! I thought the world was so unique with just the right amount of humor and romance that it really kept me interested. The way that Chinese culture was sprinkled in throughout was done so nicely that it mixed in with the worldbuilding perfectly. This book really packed so many things into one book I was really impressed!
The Language of the Flowers is about a young woman, Lan, who wakes up from a traumatic accident in someone else’s body, thousands of years in the future. She diagnosed with amnesia and is blindly thrown into the life of Elizabeth, who’s body she now inhabits. Haunted by the vow that she made to her love, to wait for his return, she hopes that true love can span millenia. Until her arranged marriage turns out to be a better arrangement than anticipated. Continue reading...
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Aaaaaah, I loved this!!! Read my full review here at Bookish Brews, and check out a preview down below!
Review Preview:
The Infinity Courts reminded me exactly why I love to read YA. I loved every bit of this book, and it had my undivided attention from the very start until the very end. The feeling of satisfaction after I finished reading this one was pure book bliss!
I received a free copy for participation in a blog review tour for this book
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Review Preview:
The Infinity Courts reminded me exactly why I love to read YA. I loved every bit of this book, and it had my undivided attention from the very start until the very end. The feeling of satisfaction after I finished reading this one was pure book bliss!
I received a free copy for participation in a blog review tour for this book
Bookish Brews | Twitter | Pinterest | Tumblr
Read my full review here! ✨
I feel like this book was one of the most anticipated of the year for so many people. Rightfully so. The topics are incredible. The complex look into colonialism and how that affects literally everyone involved was unmatched. The way that lost children look for a place of belonging, and not finding it anywhere. The way that it is written for us to really understand just how complex that relationship is was amazing. I found myself questioning with Touraine at every turn, and sympathizing with the confusing identity and loyalty. Absolutely fantastic.
Unfortunately, this book didn’t grip me in the way I was hoping. The worst part is that I couldn’t even tell you exactly why. I thought the relationship that Touraine had with Luca vs Cantic vs the Sands was absolutely wonderful. I thought the topics were so important and I was very interested in learning about them and hearing them be explored. But I just kept spacing out. I only have good things to say about this book, but I was still not drawn in as much as I could have been. I wouldn’t let that count you out at all, though! It is probably just me. Read more...
*I received a copy of this book for free and am leaving this review voluntarily*
Bookish Brews | Twitter | Pinterest | Tumblr
I feel like this book was one of the most anticipated of the year for so many people. Rightfully so. The topics are incredible. The complex look into colonialism and how that affects literally everyone involved was unmatched. The way that lost children look for a place of belonging, and not finding it anywhere. The way that it is written for us to really understand just how complex that relationship is was amazing. I found myself questioning with Touraine at every turn, and sympathizing with the confusing identity and loyalty. Absolutely fantastic.
Unfortunately, this book didn’t grip me in the way I was hoping. The worst part is that I couldn’t even tell you exactly why. I thought the relationship that Touraine had with Luca vs Cantic vs the Sands was absolutely wonderful. I thought the topics were so important and I was very interested in learning about them and hearing them be explored. But I just kept spacing out. I only have good things to say about this book, but I was still not drawn in as much as I could have been. I wouldn’t let that count you out at all, though! It is probably just me. Read more...
*I received a copy of this book for free and am leaving this review voluntarily*
Bookish Brews | Twitter | Pinterest | Tumblr
Incredible! I absolutely loved this story. Read my full review here!!!
Read the full review HERE. :)
3.5 very human, sword fighting, heartfelt stars!
Big Takeaway:
The Sword in the Street is a lovely book that takes a nice spin on fantasy by really doing a great job in presenting very real and very believable interactions between a wonderful set of characters. It touches on relationship problems and victories in a way that I never see enough of. It was absolutely refreshing.
I received a copy of this book for free for participation in Caffeine Book Tours :) All opinions are my own.
3.5 very human, sword fighting, heartfelt stars!
Big Takeaway:
The Sword in the Street is a lovely book that takes a nice spin on fantasy by really doing a great job in presenting very real and very believable interactions between a wonderful set of characters. It touches on relationship problems and victories in a way that I never see enough of. It was absolutely refreshing.
I received a copy of this book for free for participation in Caffeine Book Tours :) All opinions are my own.