TW: Violence, age gap

Orestin's Own follows the story of an aging knight (Solarys), an inexperienced priestess (Caelesta) and a necromancer (Malèbrand), who were forced to go on a journey together to seek for an ancient artifact that can bring an end to the darkness that threatens to destroy Everra. There was nothing bright or warm about this story, only bleakness and a rather depressing journey. If I were to describe the story with a colour, it would be grey.

Despite having three main characters, Orestin's Own was told only from the perspective of Solarys and Caelesta, which left Malèbrand to be a wild card throughout the entire story. While Solarys has an immense hatred against Malèbrand for causing the death of many of his fellow knights years ago, it was difficult to figure out how exactly the necromancer felt towards the knight. Caelesta, having no prior histories with any of the two men ends up being stuck in the middle, trying her best to not let the two murder each other, whether with words or even physically.

I believe what I love the most about this book is how soft yet strong Caelesta's character was portrayed. Although she's a priestess being sent to go on a journey following a prophecy, she possesses no strong powers. When the three were attacked by undead creatures along the way, Caelesta struggles to try healing the men and even herself. Her powers never grows stronger despite how much she prays, but she continues on with her own courage, no matter how small it is. In a bleak story where there seemed to be no hope, Caelesta lights it up in her own way. I may have said Malèbrand to be a wild card, but Caelesta herself can be confusing at times as her motivation is never clear. As much as I was able to read from her perspective, there is always something underneath, something that she keeps beneath her duty as a priestess.

To my surprise, the story did touch a bit on a potential romance. Nothing too hot or passionate, just a yearning and rather painful kind of romance. There is an age gap involved—Caelesta is around twenty, while Solarys is described to be around forty. And Malèbrand's age is never explicitly revealed, but I'm guessing he would be somewhere around Solarys' age as well, considering they have gone on the same war before. Some might find it uncomfortable, but to me, Caelesta is already an adult so she's allowed to be in love with anyone much older than her. There is a certain point where it feels that she yearns for both men, but this is no love story, so these feelings all come at great consequences.

Just as bleak as the story goes, the ending is not a happy one either. What makes the story really interesting is that I can hardly guess what might happen next, whether another group of undead creatures are going to attack them brutally again, or if they will hate each other and simply abandon everything—and the ending is a lot, LOT worse than that. My heart shattered for the fate of Solarys, and Caelesta finally realises her true feelings, while Malèbrand turns out to be better than I thought he would be.

I may have used "bleak" many times to describe Orestin's Own, but this book is a very well written fantasy with characters that are different than the ones I used to find in fantasy books. There is no indication that there may be a continuation to the story, but if there is, I'm definitely looking forward to reading more about Caelesta, Solarys and Malèbrand. Many thanks to the author for reaching out to me to provide me this book in exchange for my honest review.

If you're into character-driven dark fantasy with a great world-building and only a hint of romance, well this book will be perfect for you. This book is available to be purchased through Amazon. 

TW: Mentions of suicide and depression

The main point of The Forevers is that an asteroid will be crashing into Earth in a month. There is only 30 days to live, before the world ends in horrifying explosion. If this were to happen in real life, what will you do in your remaining 30 days?

Mae Cassidy and her peers continue to go to school as usual despite the approaching apocalypse, perhaps holding on to their hope that the government will figure out a way to divert the asteroid's path somewhere else. Apart from the asteroid, there had been multiple suicides committed among the students, and even though depression was announced as the reason for each death, something bigger is happening.

The story starts when Mae finds the body of her childhood best friend floating face down in the sea water. Although the adults insist that it was just another case of suicide, the breadcrumbs that Abi Wanton left behind for Mae proves that something else is going on. Mae is convinced that Abi did not commit suicide but she was murdered, and she will do anything to find the person who caused Abi's death. And Abi also left behind something that she and Mae started: the Forevers.

In terms of writing style, The Forevers is an easy read, but the storyline itself was quite confusing at times for me. I simply cannot see the direction where the plot was heading. But what I love about The Forevers is the murder-mystery, and the likeable characters. Mae is an okay character, but I love her best friend, Felix, and younger sister, Stella. Felix tries his best to avoid sleeping at all because he wants to live his life to the fullest, and I don't blame him. I most definitely would have joined if I were friends with him. Stella is the sweetest little bean, and while Sail sounds suspicious at the start, he ends up being quite nice too.

Apart from that however, there is not really anything special about the plot. The concept of being a 'Forever' baffled me and I still don't really get it, but what I deduced was that it bore the resemblance of of a cult, but perhaps one can say its a belief or hope, where they get themselves tattooed with the word 'Forever' on their wrists by Mae. Since they cannot use the term forever any longer because of the approaching asteroid, being part of the 'Forevers' is probably just a way to cope with the fear. It is a sad yet hopeful thing.

Overall, I did enjoy reading The Forevers, mainly thanks to its characters. If you love books with murder-mystery, friendship and hope, this book may be a great read for you. Many thanks to Pansing for sending me an ARC of the book in exchange for my honest review. The Forevers will be published into this world on 8th of July 2021!

Have you ever read a book and immediately have the thought, "This is the book that I should have grown up with"? Well, Rumaysa is that kind of book for me. I have read many fairytale retellings, but I have never came across a retelling where the main character is a Muslim, or even a POC. Perhaps I just haven't read that much, but I'll admit that Rumaysa is still one of a kind.

Rumaysa: A Fairytale is a combination of three fairytale retellings: Rapunzel, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. The difference is that Rapunzel is known as Rumaysa, Cinderella as Cinderayla, and Sleeping Beauty as Sleeping Sara. The main character is of course, Rumaysa, and after escaping the witch's tower, she goes on an adventure to look for her parents and came across Cinderayla and Sara.

What I love the most about this book is that even though it stayed true to most parts of the original fairytale, the changes made to it made the stories lovelier and more fun. I also love that each girl has their own strength and qualities, and none of them were depicted as meek or in need of some saving from a boy.

Rumaysa is both brilliant and quick-witted, having figured out how to escape on her own without waiting for a random prince coming to save her. She also has sass and a no-nonsense attitude, which was really refreshing to read. But the most important part is that she has great kindness and compassion in her, despite enduring a lot of harshness from when she was younger. While Cinderayla's character was written quite realistically, I find Sleeping Sara to be relatable. I most definitely will have a difficult time waking up if I have slept for too long.

Apart from the independent female characters that I love, the elements of Islam and South Asian cultures sprinkled generously throughout the book were also part of the charm. From what I understood, there were some Bengali foods and culture mentioned. The holy month of Ramadan was mentioned and the ball in the original Cinderella tale was changed into an Eid Ball, and I absolutely relish them.

Rumaysa: A Fairytale easily became one of my favourite releases in 2021, and the best retelling that I have ever read. The Muslim and Asian elements made me feel proud—this is the very kind of book that my people should read while growing up as it shows that we should be proud of our culture and belief. Your skin colour is beautiful no matter how light or dark-skinned you are. And the girls also show that you should just be yourself and you do not need to depend on boys to save you.

I believe anyone who enjoys reading fantasy and retellings will enjoy reading Rumaysa: A Fairytale, no matter how old you are. Many thanks to Pansing for sending me the review copy in exchange for my honest opinion. This book is now available in all good bookstores!

Find me and my review featured on Twinkl's World Kid Lit Campaign!

Witches Steeped in Gold is a Jamaican inspired fantasy of two young witches, enemies whom are forced to combine their powers to bring back order into their world. It is a story about vengeance, betrayal and distrust. With such a promising and intriguing description, I was almost sure that I would fall madly in love with this book—I have been dying to read more witchy-reads!

Alas, my high expectations fell flat because not only I find myself struggling to read through the story, I also find myself unable to empathise with any of the characters. It pains me to say this, but despite the high ratings for this debut book, I decided to DNF this book. I reached halfway through the book, and I do not wish to force myself to finish it any longer.

I think I may have a problem with the writing style of this author. No hate towards the author, but I felt like the way Smart writes was as if she was trying to be... smart with me. Oh. Well, I was not trying to make a pun or poke fun at the author, but the sentences were worded rather complicatedly that most of the time, I had to repeat the paragraphs over and over. The first 100 pages were exhausting, I really struggled to get through it, and ended simply skimming through the pages. I wish the author could have been more straightforward with her words, but this is probably just my personal opinion.

As for the two main characters, Iraya and Jazmyne, I did not like them enough to want to finish reading the book. The story was told in first person point-of-view of both Iraya and Jazmyne, their chapters alternating. But sometimes I was confused as to who was narrating the chapter, it was difficult to differentiate their voices, making the reading process more frustrating. Iraya seems to be all about vengeance, and although I understand that she certainly should have trust issues, I hated how bitterly she treated most of the people around her. There wasn't much I can say about Jazmyne, since her character barely contributed anything to the plot. She kept questioning herself and literally had no actions at all.

The story was described to be "two sworn enemies becoming allies to take down the woman threatening their worlds", but even halfway through, they barely met each other. Jazmyne may have hatched some plans to use Iraya on her fight, but thanks to her constantly putting herself down, she barely could make anyone trust her words. And that was it. From what I gathered from other people's reviews, it seemed that the two witches only formed alliance almost at the end of the book, before it ended in a quite terrible cliffhanger. I don't think I have enough interest in me to find that out myself.

Witches Steeped in Gold has been a promising debut book initially, but sadly I just could not find myself to like it that much. If you're a beginner reader, I wouldn't recommend reading this as the writing style can be confusing, even to me who has read a lot of fantasy books. But if you enjoy reading fantasy and love stories about independent witches and warriors, then there is no harm for you to try reading this book!

Many thanks to Pansing for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Witches Steeped in Gold is now available in all good bookstores!

Amok follows the story of Putera Mikal, the prince of Maha, the first city-state of Terang. All Putera Mikal wanted was for his faith to be acknowledged by Kudus, the God of Terang, and finally gain access to the Amok Strength that all royals are supposed to possess when they come of age. Yet no matter how Mikal kept his vows to Kudus, he was still weak, while his father who defied Kudus continued to flaunt his Amok Strength.

When Maha was suddenly invaded and destroyed by their enemy, Mikal was thrown into sufferings and humiliation—especially when his best friend, Yosua, who used to be his servant, was suddenly revealed to be the enemy's Raja Muda (Crown Prince). And Mikal was forced to bow and turned into Yosua's servant. And no matter how much Mikal prayed, Kudus continuously denied the Amok Strength from him.

I just want to take a short moment to express my appreciation towards the elements of Malay traditions and cultures that were included in Amok. Reading so many Malay words and things like silat (a Malay art of self-defence), our clothings like baju kebaya and samping, titles/positions like Baginda Paduka, Bendahara, Laksamana, etc.—they all felt so close to my heart. They made me enjoy reading the book, and feel proud at the same time to finally see my traditions in a fantasy book.

Amok is quite a fast-paced read and I could not put it down as I kept wanting more of it. One moment, Putera Mikal was only whining because he could not gain the Amok Strength and the rest were at peace, but the next moment, he was betrayed by his very own best friend. It was easy to like Mikal; despite never having enough confidence in himself, he always tried his best for the sake of his people. There were times where he could be seen as a brat, but who can blame him? He was turned from a prince into a servant overnight, and to made it worse, he had to be his best friend's servant.

I loved Yosua from the moment he first appeared in the story. Unlike Mikal who was reckless and rough around the edges, Yosua is softer and much more patient than his prince. Just like Mikal, his position was changed overnight too, from being a servant, to being his best friend's Tuan (Master). Their friendship was put to a terrible test, because unlike in Maha, Yosua's people were more savage and cruel to their servants. In order to keep Mikal safe, Yosua has to play the role as a cruel Tuan. His fierce loyalty towards Mikal rather surprised me, but it still did not change the fact that he had betrayed Mikal.

Apart from Mikal's growth throughout the story, Amok also focused on the bond between Mikal and Yosua. I think there was nothing more heartbreaking than Mikal being abused by someone that used to be his confidant, someone that he used to consider as a brother. Mikal was broken to the point he lost all hope that left him as an empty shell, and at the same time, Yosua was torn apart because it was the only way to protect Mikal. It was agonising to see these two boys, forced to suffer the consequences of the actions made by adults. The amount of violence and abuse can be rather traumatising, and I find myself gasping and shaking when reading these parts.

I believe that the religion in this story was inspired by certain elements in the teachings of Islam and Christianity, perhaps even including bits of other religion. But I am glad to say that the author wrote it well without disrespecting any of the mentioned religions. The source of power for the Maha royalty's Amok Strength and the fate of Mikal's father were also similar to the story of Samson—who appears in the Old Testament of the Bible—an exceptionally strong hero of the Israelites of the ancient Near East. (More on that here: http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Pr-Sa/Samson.html)

Amok is a story of questionable faith, unending loyalty and hopeless rebellion in a war, all caused by the greed of someone with huge power. The writing style is impeccable, and I honestly loved every single part of the story with my whole heart. Although there were a lot of pain, the story was concluded very well. If you enjoy reading fantasy that focuses on the growth of the main character, friendship that are put to test in a terrible condition, powerless princes and changed positions (which is now my favourite trope), then Amok is perfect for you!

Wait, you know what? Whatever your reading preferences is, I am definitely recommending this book to you. This is a book that no one should miss!

Many thanks to the author, Anna Tan, and Teaspoon Publishing for the e-ARC copy in exchange for my honest review. Amok will be released on 24th of June 2021, and you can pre-order a copy now on https://teaspoonpublishing.com.my/shop/amok-paperback/ or https://books2read.com/amok.

I'm going to pre-order a physical copy for myself too after this!

But for the Mountains is a literal nightmare, especially for girls. It was confusing at first, but after realising with a horror, even the first page of this book started with the main character, Arden, being sexually assaulted.

Arden Thatcher grew up being sexually abused by the people that gave her a place to live. When she was given a chance to escape and enroll into the National Women’s Institute, she thought that her life would change. Instead, it was like she broke out from a prison, to yet another prison. The whole institute was simply a ploy for the Prime Minister's son to find a partner—and the rest of the girls will either be returned to their family or benefactor, or sent to a neighbouring country to feed the politicians' desires. Despite Arden's efforts to change the fate of the girls—and her own, changing something that was already ingrained in the society was a lot harder than anyone could ever think about.

This is a story about a survivor, a girl who had to suffer simply because she was born a girl. I love Arden's fierce character and her smart wits; although she was never prepared to be enrolled into the institute by her benefactor, she was clever enough to find matters that can help to her advantage. She was able to climb to the top spot on her own. I also love the no-nonsense side of her. When she realised the actual meaning of the whole institute, she despised the idea and rejected the Prime Minister's son's approach. She was independent, and with the way how she focused only on trying to bend the rules so that girls are allowed better lives, I believe that she had great leadership qualities.

Although I wish the story did not have a lot of focus on the romance, but I still do appreciate both of the male love interests. Declan, son of the Prime Minister, sounded sketchy at first and I had a hard time trusting him; he seemed too good to be true. But then his flaws were revealed, and though he was not a bad guy, his privilege as a Prime Minister's son also meant that he did not know most of the horrific things going on in the society. As for Beck, he might seem gruff and had a lot of hatred against everyone, but he understood Arden easily and did not hesitate to be there for her. Both characters are good male characters with realistic flaws.

The storyline was gripping, and as much as I loved it, I was also appalled by all the horrifying matters that Arden had to suffer. It had a rather open-ending, which I think could mean the author wanted readers to make their own conclusions, or perhaps giving room to a possible sequel. But for the Mountains was not an easy read, but an important one. It highlights the inequality when it comes to the treatment given between men and women, which still happens until this very moment. I hate that certain men still viewed women and girls as sexual objects and nothing more. This is just a proof that this book somehow portrays the bitter truth of this world.

I would love to recommend everyone to read But for the Mountains, especially if you love female characters that tries their best to survive their harsh fate, even if they have to overcome their fears. But please do note about the trigger warnings first.

Many thanks to Netgalley and REUTS Publications for this book in exchange for my honest review.

The Dawn of the Witch follows the journey of Saybil, a rather dull magic student thanks to his memory less and expressionless face, who is on a quest for a special training. He is joined by a teacher, Loux, a seemingly non-threatening woman because of her childlike form, but is actually quite deadly, and two other students, Holt, a cheerful girl with huge...breasts, and Kudo, a human-sized lizard. After reading the somewhat negative reviews of this book, I decided to read it without any expectations.

Surprisingly, I quite liked the premise of the story. The main character, Saybil, may be a tad boring because he is unable to form any kind of expressions on his face, but I find the secret behind his past that caused his memory loss to be quite intriguing. It is also proved that he is not entirely emotionless, as there was a time where Holt noticed his hands shaking when they were in danger, although his face remained stoic. And another time when a betrayal takes place, Saybil forces himself to smile and accepts his fate, which I believe can be seen as a character growth, or perhaps his true emotions slowly emerging.

Despite having no problems with Saybil and the rest of the characters—Holt and Kudo appear to have dark pasts as well and it made me like them more—the main reason as to why I can only rate this book as 2.5 stars is because of the way the artwork was drawn. I admit that in some sense, the artwork is beautiful, BUT the way female characters were depicted is just too much. The characters were sexualised so unnecessarily that I find myself feeling disgusted almost throughout the whole story. Holt was drawn with breasts so big and her scenes were always drawn in a lewd way; her chest was always in the focus to the point I could not take her character seriously. Despite having a small body, almost resembling a child, Professor Loux was also sexualised. Her scenes were drawn from a low angle, just so that her underwear can be scene.

These extreme sexualisation to the female characters helped nothing in the plot, and it was absolutely unnecessary. Even though I find the plot to be acceptable and I am curious about what Saybil and his friends are going to face next, I do not think I will be able to continue this series. I just hate that the female characters are being made to be viewed as sexual objects.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Kodansha Comics for the e-copy of The Dawn of the Witch, Vol. 1 in exchange for my honest review.

Ivy Lovely grew up as a scaldrony maid, tending to the scaldrony dragons that serve purposes in breathing fires in the castle's kitchen. She's a dilligent worker, if not rather clumsy and too curious. Only having a dwarf as a best friend, Ivy wished she could spend her days sketching and reading and no longer be a scaldrony maid—until one eventful day, she was kicked out of the castle before being whisked away to Halls of Ivy, the academy of magic in Croswald. She soon learned how to wield actual magic in school and more secrets from her past slowly started to unravel.

I had a hard time getting into the world of The Crowns of Croswald. I will not say that I disliked the writing style, but I find it difficult for me to grasp the way the author described the places and people in this book. The premise of the plot as a whole is very intriguing, yet I feel like there were too many info dump. I am aware that since this is a fantasy story, it made sense that there are to be many descriptive parts for its world building, but Ivy spent a lot of time alone on her own to discover things and the lack of dialogues to buffer the moments made my reading progress very strenuous.

Unfortunately, I did not like Ivy's character all that much either. I love outspoken and curious characters, but with Ivy, she just seemed too reckless and can be annoying at times as well. At some point, I find it hard to care what answers she wanted to seek, and wished that she would just lay low for once. I do however, like her interactions with Fyn, a senior who appeared to always be there for her (sometimes rather suspiciously too), and with Rebecca, her new classmate and roommate. The times that she spent with Fyn or Rebecca were some of the only moments where I do think Ivy is actually nice.

Although I found it hard to go through The Crowns of Croswald at first, the story is still enjoyable for me as a whole. The climax of the book is much exciting, and it was wonderful to see how Ivy used her power when facing the villain. I like how the book is concluded, and I actually do look forward to Ivy's next adventures in the sequel.

Many thanks to the publisher for reaching out to me, and thank you Netgalley for the e-book copy of The Crowns of Croswald. I only realised belatedly after accepting to review the book, that I actually won a physical copy of it before in a giveaway.

TW: depression, suicide

At the start of this manga, Natsumi was attending the funeral of her younger sister, Haru. She was seen discreetly slipping a picture of Haru with her fiancé, Togo, into the casket with Haru's body before the funeral ended. Natsumi later started dating Togo after he asked her out after the funeral ended, and she accepted with the condition that they visit the places he visted with Haru during their dates. Sounds horrible, right? I wholeheartedly agree, but Haru's Curse is more than just a story about a sister "stealing" her dead sister's fiancé.

Haru's Curse is a story about Natsumi and Togo, the closest people to Haru and how they dealt with grief and guilt after Haru's death. Haru and Togo were engaged for an arranged marriage, and while Haru helplessly fell in love with Togo, it seemed that it was not the same case for him. He ends up asking Natsumi out after the funeral, using his parents as an excuse. Shockingly, Natsumi agreed right away, giving him a condition for agreeing to it. Their relationship stayed as a secret between them, and while their feelings start to bloom towards each other, the guilt of betraying Haru continued gnawing at their hearts.

I saw a few other readers saying that Togo is toxic for asking Natsumi out, and not reciprocating Haru's feelings at all despite dating her for more than two years. While I agree to a certain level that that behaviour is toxic (I mean, how could you even ask your dead fiancée's sister to date you right after your fiancée's funeral?), I would not say that Togo is a bad person. For a start, he got engaged to Haru because of his parents, and he was kind towards Haru during their two years of relationship. Despite catching feelings for Natsumi, Togo did not acknowledge it and was ready to marry Haru. He only approached Natsumi when Haru was gone. Not exactly something applaudable, but Togo should not be blamed for wanting someone that he truly loves. And if Togo is toxic for asking Natsumi out after the funeral, who's to say that Natsumi is not toxic as well, for accepting to be in a relationship with him? 

The original manga in Japanese consisted of two books, but the English version is combined into a single book, in two parts. In the first part, the story is told from the perspective of Natsumi and Togo. From just a few pages, it was obvious how much they both wanted to care and love each other, yet the guilt held them back. In the second part, readers are exposed to Haru's perspective, which I really appreciate. I love Asuka Konoshi's artwork; not only are they beautiful, but the expressions for each character are so vivid and clear that you can easily understand their emotions.

Natsumi's character is easily likeable. She is attentive towards those around her, and she tries her best to be cheerful and happy around her family, despite knowing that her father doted more on Haru. She loves Haru a lot; she even confessed to Togo that she was probably in love with her sister, because Haru was the only real family to her. This caring part of her was what drew Togo towards her, without both of them realising it. While Togo may seem rather emotionless most of the time, I rather believe that he is just not good at expressing himself. Growing up following whatever his mother wanted, he never had any dreams of his own—and this changed when Natsumi entered his life. 

I like that Haru's character is present too, although she was no longer alive. Her character is portrayed realistically, which is proven in one of the online journals she left behind: she mentioned that she would not willingly witness Natsumi and Togo marrying each other. Perhaps she noticed earlier, the small accidental interactions between Natsumi and Togo, and she knew that she would never experience the same thing. My heart broke for her, but feelings are something that is very complicated.

I do not think that either Natsumi or Togo are at fault for accepting their feelings for each other. They respected Haru and only acknowledged their feelings after Haru's death, although the timing is still not great. It may be considered as a betrayal to Haru for some people, but Natsumi and Togo deserve their happiness as well. It's a very complicated matter, and both of them will carry the guilt for a long time. Despite Haru saying that she could never accept Natsumi and Togo to be with each other, if Haru lived, I am rather sure that eventually she would learn to accept it. Sure, she will resent Natsumi for it, but their sisterly bond is stronger than that and it would not easily be broken just because of a man.

The story has a rather open-ended ending; though readers will know that Natsumi and Togo are trying their best to make things work, there's no saying that another hurdle would be coming right at them soon. It is also clear that they still carry the guilt, or as they called it: Haru's curse. The story focuses a lot on their grief and guilt, and the romance are not strongly shown. I ended up liking this story more than I expected, because the topic of "stealing your dead sister's fiancé" is actually something I am uncomfortable with. But the way Asuka Konishi presented the story made me able to easily empathise with both of the main characters.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Kodansha Comics for the review copy in exchange for my honest review.