Shadow and Bone TV Show – Watching experience and Review! ✨💕 *tiny spoilers!*

Hello lovelies! 🥰

I have finally gathered my thoughts and emotions to write a proper review of the Shadow and Bone tv show! I have been here since they announced the cast and I also fangirled at the teaser trailer. And finally the day was here!!

I had a reread of the book on thursday and then I stayed up until 1am to follow the Premiere online on Facebook and woke up early to kind of finish my cross stitch and take a picture for my Instagram account:

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and then I started watching when the show came out at 9am on Netflix. Here’s my twitter thread if you want to see my slightly delirious and giddy live reactions (with spoilers!!)

I cringe every time they call him general Kirigan lol

— karla ♒️💜 (@anotherbookwrm) April 23, 2021

And miracle of miracles I posted a picture on my IG story that I was about to watch the show when one of my friends in LA, Redgie told me she was watching it at the same time so we decided to watch the show together. It made my watching experience 1000x better because we LAUGHED, CRIED AND FANGIRLED TOGETHER. We pressed pause and replayed the same moments together and teared up at the same time; It was amazing:

She was heaven sent! I could share my excitement and impressions live with someone who understood how much the series meant to me and how surreal it all felt to see my favourite character on screen.

But since Redgie was in LA, we watched the first 4 episodes together and then she went to bed because she had to work the following day and I went and ate lunch and then I resumed and binged the 4 last episodes with popcorn and a 30min nap between episode 7 and 8!

It all feels like a fever dream and this is what I wrote when I finished each episode:

• Episode 1: AMAZING. A bit confusing with the back and forth but can’t wait to see what’s next. MALINA STAN RISE
• Episode 2 was slower but beautiful Darkling moment + The Cut and Malina
• Episode 3: NINA, HELNIK 19:50, Jesper and the goat, Alina and Mal as her true north
• Episode 4: MALINA NAITON RISE, HEIST PREPARATION, MILO THE GOAT
• Episode 5:DARKLINA MAKEOUT, BIG REVEAL
• Episode 6: The dregs and ALINA TOGETHER, MALINA TOGETHER, HELNIK
• Episode 7: STAG STAG STAG, NO MOURNERS NO FUNERALS

And I was too overwhelmed to write something after episode 8 haha.

I have no major complaints because I am blinded by my love for the series but I just feel uncomfortable with the added racism in the series; when they cast Jessie Mei Ali, I thought it was going to be a case of blind casting which is the process of casting a role without considering the actor’s ethnecity, but that was not the case at all. I wish it were! It would have been refreshing. It’s not my place to talk about AAPI racism but from the reviews I have seen, this seems to be a widespread sentiment and they really could have handled things better. That’s really the only issue, but still worth mentionning.

Other than that, I think the cast was perfect. As in perfection. I loved every scene. It was nice seeing The Little Palace, the keftas, the Stag or the Cut on screen! I enjoyed every single moment.

They ARE their characters!! They all portrayed the characters so well and my soft heart died with the helnik scenes which were almost as identical as the books.

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Look at the dialogue here and then watch episode 5 and 6 and thank me later. Did I mention that it was my favourite ship? I even think this is where my love for the enemies to lovers trope comes from.

Now this is me after watching the show, I have barely been able to read or focus on anything else.

So I’m going to rewatch it again with Redgie on Saturday! If you are craving for more content; head over to twitter where most of us are losing it and sharing interviews, edits and stills form the tv show! And if you haven’t watched the show yet, I hope you enjoy!!

The Viscount Who Loved Me (Bridgertons #2) by Julia Quinn – book review! (aka my new favorite romance novel)

Hello lovelies!

I just finished this book and my heart hurts. It is so full of light and happiness and dare I say love?

Just like the whole world I watched the Bridgerton tv show and I loved it. The story featured some of my favorite tropes: enemies to lovers, and fake dating. I also cannot tell you how much the representation meant to me. People of color in Regency-era?? Yes yes yes.

Title: The Viscount Who Loved Me (Bridgertons #2)

Author: Julia Quinn

Synopsis:

1814 promises to be another eventful season, but not, this author believes, for Anthony Bridgerton, London’s most elusive bachelor, who has shown no indication that he plans to marry.
And in truth, why should he? When it comes to playing the consummate rake, nobody does it better…
—Lady Whistledown’s Society Papers, April 1814But this time, the gossip columnists have it wrong. Anthony Bridgerton hasn’t just decided to marry—he’s even chosen a wife! The only obstacle is his intended’s older sister, Kate Sheffield—the most meddlesome woman ever to grace a London ballroom. The spirited schemer is driving Anthony mad with her determination to stop the betrothal, but when he closes his eyes at night, Kate is the woman haunting his increasingly erotic dreams…Contrary to popular belief, Kate is quite sure that reformed rakes do not make the best husbands—and Anthony Bridgerton is the most wicked rogue of them all. Kate is determined to protect her sister—but she fears her own heart is vulnerable. And when Anthony’s lips touch hers, she’s suddenly afraid she might not be able to resist the reprehensible rake herself… (Goodreads)

5 stars: Persephone – Queen of the Underworld and Goddess of Spring. Persephone is my favourite goddess because she is full of contradictions – she represents both strength as queen of the underworld and a softness as a floral maiden. She teaches me how it’s okay to be both. If Persephone appears, that means that the book was one of the best books I’ve ever read, that it holds a particular place in my heart and that it is now part of my favourite books ever.

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It has been announced that there would be a second season of the Bridgerton TV show and I couldn’t be happier because I adored this book.

This book feels as if the author looked inside my head and wrote everything I loved. When I read the synopsis I was hooked right away and now that I read it I can’t stop thinking about it. I didn’t know I needed Sexy Pride and Prejudice books in my life but here we are; I will only be reading Rake (aka Regency-era fuckboys) romances from now on.

The writing style was fantastic. It was fluid, swift and easy to read. The author flawlessly alternated between dialogue, plot and description. I couldn’t get enough. I wish this book were 800 pages long and even then it wouldn’t be enough.

The romance was OFF THE CHARTS. The chemistry was insane and instant; This is classic enemies to lovers and what I love most about this trope is the yearning and banter; when everyone can see they love each other except the protagonists. I got all of that and even more. Their interactions were always electric and it made me believe in love; I want to experience that and I feel like this is what romance novels are about.

I loved all the 19th century elements from this book. I loved reading about their traditions and way of life. The focus on appearances and manners were so interesting and I loved the irony used by the author. I think the dual perspective was so well-done and different from anything I’ve read. We got to glimpse each of their thoughts and see how they each felt during an event. It was so good. I highlighted so many quotes and passages! I repeat: I cannot get enough.

One thing I really liked about the tv show and that was present in this book is the family aspect. I loved the bond that Kate shared with her sister Edwina, how sincerely she cared for her. I also loved the way she was close to her stepmother Mary. Their bond was so beautiful to read about and I nearly had a tear in my eyes. The Bridgertons were also fun to read about; I loved how they teased each other and their whole loving and chaotic dynamic; especially during The Pall Mall game (which was my favorite scene of the book).

I think I cannot give this book justice if I don’t talk about the smut. I have no words. The wedding night scene was one of the best smut scenes I have ever read; it was sincerely wonderful; it was explicit but not crude and I loved the way it was written. This scene will live in my mind forever.

I also liked the fact that we explored different aspects of the story; Kate and Anthony each had issues that they needed to overcome and their personal journeys were wonderful.

But I gave this book 5 stars because of all the little things that made this book great: Kate’s dog Newton, Lady Whistledown’s columns, Anthony’s thoughts when he was falling for Kate, the mallet of death, the second prologue, the intimacy from little acts of service like when Anthony helped Kate with her bonnet and so many little things that went unnoticed. I cannot recommend this book enough.

Have you seen the TV show or have you read the books? Let me know in the comments!

Karla xx

Day #17 – Shadow and Bone teaser; it’s happening!!

Hello lovelies!

Happy day #17 of blogmas! Only a week to go!

The greatest thing happened today. We, the Grishaverse fans, finally got a teaser for the Shadow and Bone TV show and a date!! It will be available on Netflix in April 2021.

Beware, this post is basically me fangirling over the teaser.

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This was my reaction when the trailer was released:

I audibly SCREAMED when I saw Morozova’s stag!! It’s so beautiful!! I can’t believe it’s finally happening!! And then the stag becomes light with Alina’s powers I-. I started chanting “sankta Alina, sankta sankta Alina” like a madwoman. This is too much. My poor heart can’t take it. And also can we mention Ben Barnes’ voice when he says “You and I are going to change the world”??? I died, I’m dead. We are going to see the Darkling, Alina, Zoya, Mal, Nikolai, Genya and all the others on our screen!! This is what dreams are made of. We don’t deserve this but I will gladly take it.

But most importantly we are going to see the DREGS!!! I cannot wait to see all of my chaotic babies together. I won’t be able to handle it. This is one of my favourite duologies (soon trilogy?) ever and I will die. I think the cast was wonderfully chosen and I have no doubt they will live up to all of our expectations!! I personally can’t wait to see the big heist. I saw it as a movie in my head while i was reading and getting to actually see it will feel surreal.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CI53hkEg8fI/

I mean, look at them!!

But above all I will hear so many of my favourite quotes (or rather moments that hint at them) played on screen like:

“What about the nobodies and the nothings, the invisible girls? We learn to hold our heads as if we wear crowns. We learn to wring magic from the ordinary. That was how you survived when you weren’t chosen, when there was no royal blood in your veins. When the world owed you nothing, you demanded something of it anyway.” –

Inej Ghafa, Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo.

And most importantly:

“No mourners, no funerals. Another way of saying good luck. But it was something more. A dark wink to the fact that there would be no expensive burials for people like them, no marble markers to remember their names, no wreaths of myrtle and rose.”

My sister and I actually wanted to get matching tattoos of “No Mourners, No Funerals.” because we used to part of the phone with these words. This series is so dear to my heart and I can’t wait to finally see everything come together

What did you think of the trailer?? Are you as excited as I am?? Let me know in the comments!

Karla xx

September Wrap up! (Or should I say, life update?)

Hello lovelies!

Today officially marks my first month in Paris and it wasn’t as glamourous as Emily in Paris, but it was still okay. I have been in my biggest reading slump of the year; first because school started and also due to the fact that I unexpectedly had to look for a new apartment. Everything was very stressful and I was constantly on the verge of crying. When not even books provided me comfort, I understood that I needed to take time off. So I did.

I owned the fact that I was in a reading slump and I took time to take care of myself.. Instead I just lied in bed and I watched Gilmore Girls. These girls were my temporary lifeline, until I found my way back to books. When I started feeling better, I picked up Vampire Academy which I had meant to read for a while and I was pleasantly surprised. I’m definitely picking up the next books in the series. I sincerely hope I will manage to read more books this month and pick up the various hobbies I abandoned.

There was also the stress of meeting new people, getting along with said people, navigating living in a new city (Paris at that) and… a circulating ruthless pandemic. I have never wished for escapism more in my life. I am happy to say that I have been sightseeing as safely and has often as I can, and that I am planning a bookstore/ library tour because Paris has so many to offer. At first I kept taking pictures of everything I saw and then I calmed down and reminded myself that I live here now; which is still surreal to me. I also got close with two incredible girls in my class and I’m so grateful I met them. I also had an apartment breakthrough which has allowed me to breathe for the first time in weeks and I have to say that I’m loving my new classes and my teachers. Things are looking up! So there are not a lot of bookish stats for September so I’m turning this into a Paris diary for you.

This is one of the universities I get to go to (This is the University of Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas ) and it is breathtaking; I’m still in awe whenever I go there. The other is la Sorbonne.

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Then this is me sightseeing; I live a few minutes away from the Louvre, and due to the coronavirus and the lack of tourists and it feels as though the place is privatized just for me.

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Wrap Up

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

This is exactly the type of books about vampire that I love to read about! It was so fun to dive into this new world and its own dynamics. I have heard that the the series only gets better! I love Rose; she’s unapologetic and caring and it was so refreshing to read about a confident sixteen-year-old in YA. Stay tuned for a review.

My TBR for October

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Most anticipated release of October:

The Invisible Life Of Addie Larue – V.E Schwab

Synopsis:A Life No One Will Remember. A Story You Will Never Forget.

France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.

Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.

But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.

Did I only watch this movie for Henry Cavill as Sherlock? Yes, yes I did.

HOWEVER I have to say that the whole cast and production were amazing. I had a really good time watching the movie and it was nice to have a young female protagonist for once. Millie Bobby Brown is phenomenal and she has a big acting career ahead of her. I also liked the diversity and the talk about intersectional feminism. Kudos Netflix!

That’s it! I hope you all had a wonderful September and I wish you all a happy October! Happy reading 🥰

Karla xx

BLM resources.

August Wrap Up!

Hello lovelies!

I can’t believe we’re in September already! This year has been pure chaos and the month of August certainly lived up to that. Let’s dive into my wrap-up!

August was my best reading month ever!! I had the time of my life. I read so many amazing, diverse and interesting books. I highly recommend all of them! (Except the one I gave two stars to).

August statistics

Books read: 11
Total pages: 3654

5 Stars ★★★★★

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Beach Read – Emily Henry. This is one of the best romance books I’ve ever read and it was the perfect summer read. It dealt with so many topics and had so much depth and I might never recover. You can see my full review here.

Take A Hint, Dani Brown – Talia Hibbert. This was so so cute and Zaf and Dani live in my mind rent free. I cannot recommend this book enough. You can see my full review here.

Bérénice – Racine. This is a French Classic and my friend recommended it to me and it was one of the best plays I’ve ever read. I would love to see it live.

Queen of Shadows – Sarah J. Maas. WORTH THE HYPE. It’s my favourite of the series so far.

4 Stars ★★★★

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Party of Two – Jasmine Guillory. It feels like the author looked inside my head, saw exactly what I wanted and needed to read and wrote it.

Get A Life, Chloe Brown – Talia Hibbert. This was one of the steamiest, funniest, healthiest and cutest books ever written. It tackled so many subjects and Talia Hibbert handles them with care and love.

The Hunter and the Mage – Kaitlyn Davis. I received this ARC for the second book in The Raven and the Dove series and I think I even liked it more than the first book. Full review to come.

Shatter Me – Tahereh Mafi. This is a beloved books in the book community and my sister’s favourite series so I just had to read it. I think the beginning was too slow-paced for me but once it picked up I couldn’t put it down. I really can’t wait to read the second book in the series since it is a lot of people’s favourite and we get to see Warner a lot more so there’s that too.

3.5/5 Stars ★★★

This book. Phew. I had such a great time reading this book because it was a historical romance with a Black main character!! How haven’t I read this sooner? Since it dealt with the Civil War, the topic of slavery and racism were dealt with but it was more triggering to me than I thought so I can’t give it more stars but the romance is definitely 10/10.

2 Stars ★★

I had so many expectations for this book but it was so bad it nearly made me angry. This is quite sad because I love The Selection series by the author.

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Favourite posts by fellow bloggers

BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS | STANDALONE BOOKS EDITION BY SOFII @ A BOOK. A THOUGHT.
I loved the format of this book recommendations! And Sofi has impeccable taste so I cannot recommend this post enough.

5 Reasons I Love Audiobooks by Liza @ The Inharmonious heroine
I'l a fervent defender of audiobooks and Liza summed up perfectly why you should like audiobooks too!

Blue chocolate chip cookies for the best character ever – Happy Birthday Percy Jackson 💙 by erin @ Reading On A Star
This is one of the cutest and heartwarming posts I've ever read! I love that people get attached to characters so much that they feel like our close friends, even if they are fictional; and this post celebrates this.

6 books that feel like a hug by Margaret @ Weird Zeal
Let's be real here, we all need a hug right now. 

September is Snatching my Check ~ My 10 Most Anticipated Book Releases BY: Rachelle Saint Louis
Rae just shared so many incredible books that are coming out this month and I love how she puts forth diverse books!

August was so weird because there were really good moments but also very bad ones so I really don’t know how I feel. I’m really grateful for the escapism books offered so it wasn’t so bad.

I am also under a lot of stress because I am moving to Paris on Saturday and it’s what I’ve always wanted but it is also intimidating and scary since we’re in the middle of a global pandemic.

I’m still very hopeful because I’m going to meet so many new people and start my master’s degree and I missed going to class. This new chapter is so exciting!! I’m going to send positivity into the world and pray for the best.

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I have mostly watched dance movies for some unknown reason and I loved it! My personal favourite was Work It because the chemistry between Sabrina Carpenter and Jordan Fisher was off the charts! It wasn’t perfect but I had a good time. Also is there anything Jordan Fisher cannot do?? Feel the Beat was good too and I loved the representation! But the romance wasn’t very convincing even if the actors had chemistry. My sister recommended Battle to be because there’s Lisa Teige and she also stars in Skam but it was quite disappointing and the ending was quite abrupt and so many questions.

I also watched Ghost for the first time ever and it is now one of my favourite movies!! The cast and their acting was phenomenal and the plot was so interesting and clever! I loved it.

Spot some of your favourites? What were some of yours? Let me know in the comments! Karla xx

April Wrap-Up!

Hello lovelies!

I hope you are all well and safe. Being quarantined is starting to be a little hard but I am so grateful for everything I have and the conditions I am being quarantined in. One of the highlight of my quarantine has definitely been my free time, and by free time, I mean reading time. I had an amazing reading month, not necessarily in terms of quantity but certainly in terms of quality.

Discussion post: Shadow and Bone TV Show cast announcement!

So Netflix just announced the cast for The Shadow and Bone trilogy and Six of Crows duology! I would be lying if I said that I was enthusiastic when I heard that Netflix had bought the rights to the Grishaverse. It’s a fact universally acknowledged that adaptations can be either amazing (To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before) or truly bad (Divergent). But I am officially happy to say that I changed my mind! And that reason is Mr. Ben Barnes. I think the word love doesn’t begin to cover it. He will forever be my Prince Caspian, he’s the perfect cast for Sirius Black (and the beautiful Dorian Grey). He has an amazing voice, he’s a great actor and seems like a genuinely nice person. And I was so so so excited to learn that he played the Darkling!