Obviously, me reading this in 2022 and this being written in 2003 - some stereotypical and prejudicial way of thinking is mentioned in this book so be warned if you do pick up this book.

I read this for my geography class and this book follows the author through Louisiana's coastland where he meets those severely effected by the wetland loss. He witnesses the traditions of shrimpers, learns about the culture of Cajuns, the native Houmas, and Vietnamese throughout south Louisiana. He also meets with professionals - conservationists, groups helping what little they can, politicians, and people who work in the oil field.

I think if you have no clue about Louisiana and it's rapid coastal land loss and cultural loss this is an easy read and can scratch the surface of both. Being over 20 years old, the language of this book is not the greatest but it does show how the people who live in the marshes and bayous of Louisiana are often seen as the lowest of the low. Being they all live off the land and provide for themselves with what's around them and mostly concerning themselves with the catch.

The biggest theme or message from this book is to find a way to prevent further land loss/cultural loss and the very real possibility of losing South Louisiana as a whole. The culture, the land, the people are all at risk. Louisiana's bayou has a rich history and it can literally be completely submerged by water in our lifetime.

I think this book can be read without the knowledge of Wuthering Heights, but I'd probably appreciate this story more if I had read it recently. (Although I'm more of a Charlotte Bronte fan, not so much Emily, so it may not change my feelings much if I had done a reread).

Catherine and Heathcliff are two recklessly, co-dependent teens haunted by their past and the lack of knowledge of their past. They stumble upon things that begin to help them understand themselves. The author does well letting Catherine have a voice of her own in the remix, where as Catherine's story in Wuthering Heights was told from the lens of other characters. Heathcliff struggles being a "nobody" in the original and does so in the remix, but it also focuses on the fact that Heathcliff was of a different origin than everybody else. I love the historical setting, I rarely get to read books set during the British colonial era of India. You have the gothic setting, very doomy and gloomy, with harsh subjects and immense emotion between characters. I did enjoy the way the chapters seemed as if Catherine and Heathcliff were almost speaking to each other despite not being near each other.

I think this is a really well done book and if you're looking for a gothic remix of a classic that's a bit more hopeful than the original, this is a great one to read! I think people who enjoy old, gothic romances will enjoy this one.

CW: physical abuse, alcoholism, racism, slavery, etc.

Disclaimer: I received What Souls Are Made of as an ARC and I'm voluntarily leaving this review.

I really love the Manga Classics series!!

This was another great read, as it is one of my favorite gothic romances. I loved seeing Jane Eyre come to life in manga format. The art style is great, the story is faithful to the original Jane Eyre and at the end of the manga they give rough sketches, references, and story behind creating the manga! I'm definitely going to have to buy a copy of this for my own collection!

Disclosure: I received Manga Classics: Jane Eyre as an ARC and I'm voluntarily leaving this review.

This was a cute & cozy fantasy romance. Although the setting may be morbid in topic since it's the undertaker business and to do with souls/death. I really enjoyed this and it was a fun, quick read. I laughed so many times from the sarcasm and I love when a book can do that.

Hart and Mercy were cute. They have the "I hate you for being so hot" vibes and are oblivious to their feelings for each other. There are some steamy scenes and there is mid-size/plus-size rep.

If you're going into this for massive world-building, don't. It is a some what straight forward plot with a pantheon of gods, old and new which it does get into and the overall it is a romance. But, don't expect something hyper detailed.

If you like the sound of a cozy fantasy romance, with oblivious love interests, sarcasm, some steamy scenes, pen-pal trope, 30+ year old characters, cute families, & lgbtq+ rep then I'd definitely recommend this!!

Disclaimer: I received The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy as an ARC and I'm voluntarily leaving this review.

I read this for my discord book of the month for August <3

I went into this knowing it was a super hyped book on every platform. It did well enough for me to enjoy it! I really appreciate that the retelling/mythology felt super researched and it showed. SOA retells the the Iliad from the POV of Patroclus.

I really enjoyed most of this book, although it did get slow during the middle. Which I think could just be the actions of the characters trying to push off their prophecies and trying to outlive fate. I loved the relationship that Achilles and Patroclus had in the beginning but by the end I really loved Patroclus and Briseis together. I loved the fact that Patroclus found himself during their time in camp and using the things taught by Chiron. But, with everything I knew the prophecy wouldn't change so I knew what would happen. I didn't get super emotional with this read like I thought I would but I did enjoy the writing and the well thought out retelling.

Overall, if you enjoy the story of the Iliad and the setting/characters/mythology behind Homer's epics in general I'd definitely recommend this.

I haven't read a Who Done It in a while and this one was a wild ride. I had my suspicions as to who could've done all this and I ended up being somewhat right. This is absolutely bat shit, crazy, obsessiveness. Secrets everywhere and who's trying to keep them under wraps.

CW: abuse, domestic violence, bdsm, obsessive behaviors, self harm, murder, death, grief

This is for the thespian goths out there. This book has the dramatics of a Shakespearean play mixed with the melancholy, supernatural vibes of a gothic novel.

The Castle of Otranto is said to be the grandfather of gothic fiction and I can appreciate it for what it has inspired from the past, present, and possibly the future with new modern gothic novels coming out. I myself am not the biggest fan of novels written for the stage, so this book wasn't exactly for me. The book has long drawn out monologues that can be found in dramas and an omniscient voice narrating the story.

But let's get into the gothic vibes: obviously it is set in a castle with haunted corridors, prophecies, melodrama, grief, death, hysterics, and a damsel in distress. Manfred tries to escape fate and the prophecy he is known to have. After the event of his son, he soon goes absolutely bonkers and turns into a tyrant. You have Theodore the knight in shining armor so to speak, Isabella the damsel in distress, and Manfred's own family in the cross fire of his tyranny.

I think it was fun to read something that inspired one of my favorite genres, although it may not be my favorite and something I come back to often.

Covers Chapters 1-7

god I’ve missed young Naruto

*4.5 Stars*

Every one of Suri's books has a long build up and this one was no different. Although much was happening for the second book for the Burning Kingdoms series. The build up is worth it for me in this series. Suri isn't afraid of hurting some feelings and I love that.

The prophecies are being fulfilled, regardless of how the characters' think it will end up. Malini plays political games that are needed to see her where she wants to be; Priya is bound to Malini with reckless and scorning love; Aditya and Rao are trying to serve the Nameless as best they can; Bhumika is doing what an elder can to survive and build up Ahiranya, which seems to be growing stranger by the day. New characters are met and things are going down in this book.

The scene between Malini and Priya in this one??? *chef's kiss*

If you want politics, action, religious wars, enemies to lovers, sapphic rep, south asian rep, and powerful women in many roles, then give this series a whirl!

Disclaimer: I received The Oleander Sword through NetGalley and I'm voluntarily leaving this review.

I want to start out by saying this was one of my most anticipated reads of this year and I really wish I could’ve loved it, but sadly I didn’t. This book was just not for me and that’s okay. I hope it finds whoever it is meant to.

Babel is a thematic response to The Secret History and thematic response it is. This book, like her series before, highly focuses on colonialism, the exploitation of people in colonized areas, trade being a major influence on politics, war, rich vs. poor, and a colonized or marginalized character trying to liberate themselves from oppression.

Babel is supposed to follow four uni undergrads that are plucked from their lives to be expendable translators, sponsored by benefactors, for this spec-fic version of England and the tower of Babel. However, it mostly follows Robin, who is primarily focused on compared to the other three in the group: Ramy, Letty, and Victoire. I can say that Robin is probably the best written out of the group since you spend the most time with him in the story, however even this fell flat by the ending – there’s little to no character development with Robin. He’s naïve, he’s cowardly, and the mixed-race kid of the group who struggles with his ties to Canton and England. Ramy comes from a more prominent family in India and basically just fights with everybody over everything, sometimes just to get a rise out of another character. Victoire is French Kreyole and is just there to be a sort of peacekeeper between the group. Letty also came from a prominent family in England, and she’s fleshed out to be the evil white lady that doesn’t see color until it affects her and nobody in the group really likes her, she’s just there to be a catalyst of future events. I guess I should’ve put spoiler warnings for that since you won’t find that out until well after 50% into the book and only through 3 chapters that give you this info. Other side characters are reduced to footnotes in the book, and this makes it hard to even care about the plot or chaos that occurs nearing the end of the book.

You wade through a sea of slow, info-dumping with snippets of the plot peeking out to keep your interest every 25% or so. This book reads like a narrative non-fiction book with a sprinkle of magic that could or could not have been in this book. The magical mechanics could’ve been removed, and the plot would’ve probably remained the same, however it would take out the etymology and the power of language Kuang highly focused on throughout the book. The mechanics of this fictional world relies on words, their translations, and the exploitation of expendable, overworked people from poor or foreign backgrounds. Its very much reminiscent to the needs that allowed the Industrial Revolution to occur (which is also present in the book but powered through silver and words instead of coal and steam engines), but whatever. I will say that the book does seem like something Kuang is highly educated in and well researched on. However, this didn’t keep me interested. Throughout the entirety of this book, I felt like I was reading somebody’s peer-reviewed academic journal. I love reading about these subjects, I love history and often read about these things as I study them in university but even that didn’t make it enjoyable for me. The subjects felt forced and that there was no room to think for myself on these things; this extends to even her characters where if they are the villain – that’s all they are, nothing more.

Overall, this book was a bombardment of themes she’s already explored, arguably more entertaining in the Poppy War series, but more in depth in Babel. The use of footnotes to gloss over characters, motives, and events instead of 1) just leaving them out or 2) putting them in the story and elaborating on them made it extremely hard to get through or care about certain characters or things other than the theme of the book which may have been Kuang’s intent for all I know. I really wish I could’ve loved this, but I ended up finishing it out of pure spite by the end, instead of enjoyment. It’s a well-written book, on themes that should be discussed, but it was overall not enjoyable to me. The characters were stereotypical, the plot twists were predictable, the chaos and death I was supposed to care about – I didn’t when the characters weren’t developed enough for me to care. I’m sad with this one man, like I said it was one of my most anticipated reads for me this year and it was just a let down of all sorts.

Disclaimer: I received Babel as an ARC and I'm voluntarily leaving this review.