Anna Dressed in Blood

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Tina

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
Anna # 1
Tor Teen, 316 pages

Just your average boy-meets-girl, girl-kills-people story. . .

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father’s mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn’t expect anything outside of the ordinary: move, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he’s never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, but now stained red and dripping blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

And she, for whatever reason, spares his life.

Everyone who knows me in real life (and even online) know that I am a great big chicken. I don’t like anything scary, both in movies, TV or books. Oh, I used to like them when I was younger, but I always, always scare myself silly that I end up not being able to sleep peacefully or go to the comfort room for a week or so because my imagination kept bringing up all the scary things I heard/read/talked about. I know there’s a delicious feeling to being scared, but when you keep on running in and out of the comfort room to pee for a week, it’s not fun.

That’s one of the reasons why I delayed reading Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake until know. I borrowed this from Maria after our Quezon trip with other Goodreads friends but I never picked it up. I always put it off because I said I had no time, and then I said I won’t read it yet because it’s Christmas and I don’t want to be scared, and then I said I won’t read it yet because I don’t have any company at home and God knows what happens when I’m scared at night and alone. This week, though, I got my brave face and finally, finally picked it up, hoping that my parents’ presence at home would make me less frightened.

Like I said: I’m a big chicken.

Cas Lowood is a ghost hunter — not the ones you see on TV but someone who puts ghosts who harm living people to sleep. It’s not like those normal Healthcare Administration Jobs that other people got, but Cas feels this is his destiny. When his father died, he took over the “business” with his white witch mom and their pet cat, and they moved from one place to another, killing these ghosts. Cas and his mom arrives in a town where the famous ghost called Anna Dressed in Blood haunts a house. Anna was killed fifty years ago, her throat cut open spilling over the white of her dress, making her look like she was dressed in actual blood. Cas was just expecting to kill her and move on, but he finds it extremely difficult to do so — Anna was not an ordinary ghost, and for someone who’s full of rage and kills anyone who enters her house, she shows mercy and spares Cas’ life.

Anna Dressed in Blood was one of those books that made it to many people’s Best of 2011 lists, too, and I promise, if it wasn’t a scary novel, I would have read it earlier. I managed to read the book in broad daylight most of the time and I realized soon after that it wasn’t as scary as it was. It was scary, but it wasn’t like Paranormal Activity 3 scary because the setting was very different from where I live and stay. I had a general impression of watching a Supernatural episode while I was reading Anna, but with less of the hot brothers. ;) It stopped being that scary after that particular part at the first visit to Anna’s house, and then everything just felt like a big mystery until the twist comes. I had to breathe a sigh of relief when I felt more comfortable with the story without having the need to close the book and get my nerves together. :D

It’s a surprisingly fast read and I found myself devouring the story. At its core, Anna Dressed in Blood is more of a paranomal novel than horror, but it isn’t the usual one with a whiny heroine and a brooding hero. True, Cas has some kind of arrogance with the way he does his work but he grew on me, and his brooding periods didn’t really have that much screen time. Anna was a mystery even up to the end, and I feel like there is still more to her than what was revealed in the story. Their relationship was…well, kind of cute, and I know how odd that sounds in a horror story. Let’s just say it was one of those pairings that was very interesting to read.

I love the supporting cast in this one: Thomas, Carmel, Cas’ mom and especially the cat, Tybalt. Novels with animals are a huge plus for me. I like Thomas’ stubbornness and Carmel’s courage in the face of the unknown. Cas’ mom reminds me of someone who would offer tea and cookies to her son’s friends and amaze them with stories. Anna Dressed in Blood‘s characters feel like a well-rounded sort of bunch, and it was a pleasure to read them.

Reading Anna Dressed in Blood felt like I was watching a Supernatural episode, sans the brothers and the car and the shooting. I really enjoyed reading this book. This book didn’t change my aversion to anything scary, and I still won’t go read the real horror novels or go watch scary movies anytime soon (maybe ever). But I think I am most definitely reading the sequel, Girl of Nightmares, when it comes out this year.

But I will probably read it in broad daylight again.

Rating: ★★★★★

My copy: Borrowed from Maria

Other reviews:
The Book Smugglers
The Midnight Garden
Reading is the ultimate aphrodisiac
The Nocturnal Library

A Conspiracy of Kings

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Tina

A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner
The Queen’s Thief # 4
Greenwillow Books, 352 pages

Sophos, under the guidance of yet another tutor, practices his swordplay and strategizes escape scenarios should his father’s villa come under attack. How would he save his mother? His sisters? Himself? Could he reach the horses in time? Where would he go? But nothing prepares him for the day armed men, silent as thieves, swarm the villa courtyard ready to kill, to capture, to kidnap. Sophos, the heir to the throne of Sounis, disappears without a trace.

In Attolia, Eugenides, the new and unlikely king, has never stopped wondering what happened to Sophos. Nor has the Queen of Eddis. They send spies. They pay informants. They appeal to the gods. But as time goes by, it becomes less and less certain that they will ever see their friend alive again.

Across the small peninsula battles are fought, bribes are offered, and conspiracies are set in motion. Darkening the horizon, the Mede Empire threatens, always, from across the sea. And Sophos, anonymous and alone, bides his time. Sophos, drawing on his memories of Gen, Pol, the magus—and Eddis—sets out on an adventure that will change all of their lives forever.

One of the series that I really loved from my 2011 reads was Megan Whalen Turner’s The Queen’s Thief series. It took me a while to finally read them, but when I did, I was so glad I did. And I was so glad I had the first three books on hand because I don’t think I would have been able to wait for so long to read up to The King of Attolia. I had to wait a bit before I got to the next book, though because I wanted my books to match. :D In retrospect, it was a good decision since the next book in the series, A Conspiracy of Kings, shifted the focus from our favorite thief Eugenides to his friend and heir to the king of Sounis, Sophos.

Spoiler warning for the first three books in the series from here on out.

Sophos has disappeared while the events of The King of Attolia was happening, and Eugenides wonders where he is and how he is doing constantly. The Queen of Eddis wonders, too, but they hear nothing from him until one day, someone shoots a pea to the face of the King of Attolia. Here we find out what exactly happened to Sophos — from an abduction to escape, to being a slave and seeing his father, to making plans and meeting old friends and learning, just how it really is, to make the difficult choices for the good of the kingdoms of Attolia, Eddis and Sounis.

Going back into the world Megan Whalen Turner created was a mixture of relief and comfort — comfort because it’s become such a familiar place in my imagination, and relief because I know in my heart of hearts that this will be a good book. And it was. I’ve always had a soft spot for Sophos, and I was glad to read more about him in this book. A Conspiracy of Kings is really about how Sophos rose to power, and how he changed from a reluctant heir to a real king. This isn’t a fun, riches to rags to riches story, though. Okay, yes, it is fun because of all the banter and the jokes and the conversations, but this book had almost the same atmosphere of The Queen of Attolia: lots of inter-kingdom politics, threats of war and of course, conspiracies. Oh, there was some romance, too, which wasn’t as surprising because it has been hinted at since The Thief. A part of me squee-d when they finally talked about it here. :D

But don’t worry: Eugenides is still very much present in this book. There’s not as many Eugenides scenes, but he has a big influence over the major events in the story. In fact, Sophos often thought about his thief friend, and it was nice to see the thoughts of someone who actually liked Eugenides. I really liked how Sophos’ friendship with Eugenides has developed in A Conspiracy of Kings, especially their private conversations, almost like how brothers would address each other. Eugenides and Sophos may be kings, but they are still friends and this relationship was perfectly executed in this novel.

A Conspiracy of Kings is a very good follow up to the series, and like with the first three books, I was surprised at the turn of events at the end. I knew there was some kind of twist, and try as I might, I had no idea what it was until it was finally there. And that just makes this book a very good read and definitely an awesome reread too. Now since the is no word yet about when the next book is coming out, I think it’s time to read some of the recommended books (by MWT and other fans) that are similar to the series that we love. There’s a pretty long list on the link up there. :)

But please, please, MWT, don’t make us wait too long. :)

Rating: ★★★★★

I made sure to finish this book in time for Chachic’s The Queen’s Thief week. I liked the series, but if you want to see someone who is a BIG fan, then Chachic is your girl. Head over to her blog this week because it’s filled with so much Eugenides / MWT goodness. :)

My copy: paperback from Book Depository

Other reviews:
Chachic’s Book Nook
Janicu’s Book Blog
Book Harbinger
Angieville
The Book Smugglers

Reviews for other Queen’s Thief books:
#1 The Thief
#2 The Queen of Attolia
#3 The King of Attolia

Angelfall

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Tina

Angelfall by Susan Ee
Penryn and the End of Days # 1
Feral Dream, 255 pages

It’s been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.

Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.

Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl.

Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels’ stronghold in San Francisco where she’ll risk everything to rescue her sister and he’ll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

Remember that Paul Bettany movie, Legion? The one where he plays Michael the archangel who goes down the earth in defiance to God because apparently He has given up on humans and is off to destroy the world using His angels. Michael, however, would have none of it, so he goes to this middle of nowhere town to save this baby that one girl is about to have because that baby will apparently save humanity.

I hated that movie.

I have another blog entry dedicated to why I didn’t like that movie, so I won’t really write about it here. However, I had to bring it up because Angelfall by Susan Ee reminded me of that movie. The key difference between Legion and Angelfall is how surprisingly good the latter was that I dropped almost everything I read just to finish it.

The world has ended, and all Penryn Young wanted is to keep her family safe. With her dad gone, she was left to take care of Paige, her crippled sister and her paranoid-schizophrenic mother. In normal circumstances, Penryn would have a pretty challenging time doing that on top of her other responsibilities, but now that there are killer angels out to kill humans, it just got a hundred times more difficult. As Penryn leads her family to get somewhere safer, they stumble upon an angel execution. They got caught as an audience, which led to saving the angel but her sister being kidnapped. Penryn teams up with the known enemy to get her sister back, even if it means getting deeper into the messy world of killer angels.

Like I said: Angelfall is a surprise. People I follow on Goodreads gave this book such high ratings but I was wary because the only other angel book I really liked was Cynthia Hand’s Unearthly series. Anything else other than that, I approach with caution. But Angelfall started out great, with a sense of danger and urgency that I remember reading and feeling last from The Curse of the Wendigo (Rick Yancey) and The Ask and the Answer (Patrick Ness). I can easily imagine the ruins of the city that they lived in and was trying to escape, the paranoia of the darkness and the fear when the single feather landed on Penryn’s sister. There’s a certain grit in the story that almost makes me want to close my eyes in fear of knowing what would happen next.

Penryn is a great heroine – determined and loyal, stopping at nothing to save her sister. Yes, it may seem similar to how Katniss was in The Hunger Games but she didn’t strike me as her carbon copy (even if their names are kind of odd). Penryn is strong and her combat skills are so cool (why she knew all these self-defense moves was one of the first creep-factors in the novel), too. I don’t think she would even need the help of the angel if she knew where she was going after her sister was abducted. And speaking of the angel, Raffe is also a pretty good match for Penryn. He’s a pretty secretive fellow but it never really bordered on cliche. I liked how his secrets (some of it, anyway) were revealed in this story, and how his relationship with Penryn developed. Yes, there is some kind of romance in this book, but it was never put on front seat of this novel, thank goodness. Penryn and Raffe were highlighted more as an unlikely team of survivors rather than a couple, which just about sets this book apart. No insta-love here folks!

This book doesn’t take an easy way out on the apocalypse and destruction and the horror. There were several times when I was reading it and I jumped when the phone rang, which meant it was engrossing and I was thoroughly creeped out. There were some scenes that were a bit…well, gruesome is the first word that comes into mind. It’s not too graphic, but it leaves imprints on the imagination that may tend to stay for a while. It just shows how brutal the world that Penryn and Raffe live in is, and also how darkly creative the author is with Angelfall.

As far as the angel mythology goes, it’s pretty sound, even if a part of me is a bit doubtful of how Raffe’s beliefs came to be in the story. Perhaps it’s just me and my faith that’s coming in to disagree, so I’m still (stubbornly) thinking that it just cannot be. But that’s just me — the mythology and theology (I guess you can call it that?) in the story never came close to being offensive for me anyway. The angel politics just raised a bit of questions that I trust will be answered in the next books.

Overall, Angelfall by Susan Ee is a pretty excellent book. Gruesome, creepy and scary but absolutely fun to read. I can’t wait for the next book in the series.

Also, I’m going to recycle a line from a previous review: did I tell you this book is indie? Yes it is. And that it’s also a finalist for the 2012 Cybils Best of Fantasy & Sci-Fi award? :)

Rating: ★★★★★

My copy: Kindle edition

Other reviews:
reading is the ultimate aphrodisiac
The Midnight Garden

Saving June

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Tina

Saving June by Hannah Harrington Saving June by Hannah Harrington
Harlequin, 336 pages

‘If she’d waited less than two weeks, she’d be June who died in June. But I guess my sister didn’t consider that.’

Harper Scott’s older sister has always been the perfect one so when June takes her own life a week before her high school graduation, sixteen-year-old Harper is devastated. Everyone’s sorry, but no one can explain why.

When her divorcing parents decide to split her sister’s ashes into his-and-her urns, Harper takes matters into her own hands. She’ll steal the ashes and drive cross-country with her best friend, Laney, to the one place June always dreamed of going California.

Enter Jake Tolan. He’s a boy with a bad attitude, a classic-rock obsession and nothing in common with Harper’s sister. But Jake had a connection with June, and when he insists on joining them, Harper’s just desperate enough to let him. With his alternately charming and infuriating demeanour and his belief that music can see you through anything, he might be exactly what she needs.

Except June wasn’t the only one hiding something. Jake’s keeping a secret that has the power to turn Harper’s life upside down again.

I’m late to this party, I know. I’ve had Saving June for a while now, but I put off reading it for no reason other than I didn’t feel like reading it yet. Even in the midst of all the other people singing praises to this book, I just didn’t feel like it yet. It occurred to me as I was making my reading list for this year that I may end up not reading this for a long time if I don’t bump it up my TBR.

‘If she’d waited less than two weeks, she’d be June who died in June. But I guess my sister didn’t consider that.’ June was the perfect daughter, and Harper was kind of okay being in her shadow. As with all siblings, they don’t really get along 100% of the time, but being related to each other, they still connect somehow. Until June kills herself, and it left Harper and her family’s lives in a wreck. There were no signs leading up to June’s suicide, and Harper felt that maybe, maybe if she paid more attention, she would’ve caught it. But she didn’t. Reeling from this, Harper finds some California postcards and a mysterious CD in June’s room, and decides to bring her sister’s ashes to California, where she had always dreamed of going. Then comes Jake Tolan, another equally mysterious guy who shows up at June’s wake. When he hears of Harper’s plans to go to California with her best friend Laney, he offers them a ride for the road trip without really disclosing why he wanted to do it. The three of them head to California, unsure of what exactly to do except that Harper figured that if she couldn’t get there when she was alive, the least she could do for her sister was to bring “her” there.

My initial reaction to Saving June? “Poor Harper.” I don’t know how it feels to lose someone in my immediate family, much less to suicide, but I’m pretty sure it must really suck bad. Harper’s difficulty to grieve on top of her mother’s breakdown just makes it harder, and I don’t know what to make of her. Interestingly, it was kind of easy to forget that Harper’s sister was dead at the start of the story, almost like that was written on purpose. Perhaps it was, too, because every time Harper remembers that June is gone, it’s a reminder for me too, and it makes me wonder how she can deal with all of it.

Hannah Harrington’s characters are really fleshed out in this book — Harper, Jake, Laney, even June. I really like that Laney was with them in the road trip, too, because I think she provided a good balance between Harper and Jake’s chemistry and it made the book not just about the simmering romance but how different people grieve for a friend’s loss.

I also like how the author managed to weave the faith aspect in the story, and I think it captures how a grieving person would think about faith and religion. Harper’s doubts felt authentic but never really disrespectful, and while her Aunt Helen was presented as almost a villain, it wasn’t really exaggerated that it would show people who cling to their beliefs at times of loss as silly. I really liked some of Harper’s musings about it, too:

It must be comforting, to have a faith like that. To believe so concretely that there’s someone — something — out there watching guard, keeping us safe, testing us only with what we can handle. (Kindle location: 331-332)

I get why people have faith in a higher power. Some people need it. They need to believe they’re not alone. (Kindle location: 1983)

I liked how the story was built up — from the various places they stopped at for the road trip, the romance and all the way to the end, when the twist came. The road trip kind of made me laugh — I can’t help but feel that something bad should happen to them brought about by people who just show up in the middle of nowhere. It kind of reminds me of the sort-of road trip part in Mira Grant’s Deadline, where they drove through deserted towns. The scene in New Mexico (I think?) where they stopped at a deserted road kind of made me expect zombies to come shuffling and get them. The romance had that slow burn again, reminiscent to the way the romances in Flat-Out Love and The Truth About Forever were built up. Jake and Harper’s push-and-pull chemistry was entertaining to read, with the potential to leave readers holding their breaths while they wait to see who gives in first.

The twist at the end didn’t really feel like such a big of a shock — I was expecting for a catch to come in after they had finally done what they said they would do. However, the build up and the resolution to it was very good, so it didn’t really bother me that much anymore. I liked how everything wrapped up in the end, and I think Saving June‘s ending was close to perfect for me.

(Caution: This may be a bit spoilery since this part comes somewhere at the end of the book, but I can’t not share it)

Maybe it’s a mistake, maybe I’ll get hurt in the end. But maybe not. I loved June. I still love her, and that will never change, but for the first time in my life, I truly, truly don’t want to be her. I don’t want to be so scared all the time. So alone. I want to believe something can be worth it. Worth the pain. Worth the risk.

Ah. Saving June, you remind me why we all need saving sometimes. Now I understand why this book made it into so many Best Of lists last year.

Rating: ★★★★★

Other reviews:
Chachic’s Book Nook
Book Harbinger
inkcrush

Flat-Out Love

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Tina

Flat-Out Love by Jessica Park
CreateSpace, 400 pages

Flat-Out Love is a warm and witty novel of family love and dysfunction, deep heartache and raw vulnerability, with a bit of mystery and one whopping, knock-you-to-your-knees romance.

Something is seriously off in the Watkins home. And Julie Seagle, college freshman, small-town Ohio transplant, and the newest resident of this Boston house, is determined to get to the bottom of it.

When Julie’s off-campus housing falls through, her mother’s old college roommate, Erin Watkins, invites her to move in. The parents, Erin and Roger, are welcoming, but emotionally distant and academically driven to eccentric extremes. The middle child, Matt, is an MIT tech geek with a sweet side … and the social skills of a spool of USB cable. The youngest, Celeste, is a frighteningly bright but freakishly fastidious 13-year-old who hauls around a life-sized cardboard cutout of her oldest brother almost everywhere she goes.

And there’s that oldest brother, Finn: funny, gorgeous, smart, sensitive, almost emotionally available. Geographically? Definitely unavailable. That’s because Finn is traveling the world and surfacing only for random Facebook chats, e-mails, and status updates. Before long, through late-night exchanges of disembodied text, he begins to stir something tender and silly and maybe even a little bit sexy in Julie’s suddenly lonesome soul.

To Julie, the emotionally scrambled members of the Watkins family add up to something that … well … doesn’t quite add up. Not until she forces a buried secret to the surface, eliciting a dramatic confrontation that threatens to tear the fragile Watkins family apart, does she get her answer.

Flat-Out Love surprised me last year because it just started popping up on friends’ blogs and Goodreads profile around the same time. It took me a while to get myself a copy (because I was hoping someone would buy me the ebook for Christmas, LOL) and I finally took the initiative to request for a copy when people started putting this book in their Best of 2011 lists. What is up with this book that everyone seemed to love it?

Julie Seagle is excited for college, but her excitement was dampened because of a little housing hijinks. But the Watkins came to the rescue after her mom calls her old friend and soon, Julie moves in with them, up until she finds a new place to live. The Watkins family seem like any other normal family in Boston, except for the presence of Flat Finn, the cardboard cutout version of the eldest son who said to be traveling all over the world. But there seem to be something off everywhere, and Julie being the fixer that she is, wants to find out what. And if it includes falling in love with the real 3-dimensional Finn who’s currently traipsing all over the world…then why not, right?

So, I was surprised by Flat-Out Love. Yes, even as I was reading it, it kept on surprising me. It was a bit longer than I expected, but it was hardly boring. The characters felt real and their banter genuine. Julie was very easy to relate to, and like her, I loved and enjoyed my college years. Reading the book made me miss my own college years — choosing classes, meeting new people, studying for class and writing papers. Julie’s relationships with the rest of the Watkins family was so fun to read, especially her friendship with Matt and Celeste. Celeste was an odd girl but I thought she was a darling. Matt was your typical geek, but it wasn’t the only reason why I liked his character. Like Julie, he has a very distinct voice and character, and yes his defining moment in the book made me shed some tears, too.

The secret wasn’t really hard to guess. I already had a guess about it early on, and I was wondering if my hunch was wrong. I wasn’t. I’m sure other people would also be able to guess, but don’t stop reading there. It’s so easy to get invested in everyone in the story and I wanted to know what exactly happened, why the secret was such. That, and because I really like everyone already, I just really wanted everything to work out for everyone. It’s like I’ve become friends with all of them and with good friends, you just want the good for them.

And since there’s love on the title…how about the romance? Well, the previous ~~ravers~~ reviewers of Flat-Out Love were right to rave about it. The fun conversations, the “moments”, the slow and steady and delicious burn…awesome. It had all the good romances in it — even the ones that didn’t work out. Reconciling everything after all has been undone¹ was kind of a challenge, and I couldn’t really wrap my head around it for a bit. Still, it doesn’t make the novel less enjoyable. I had a big smile on my face when I got to the last page. I meant what I said on Twitter when I finished this novel: What a deliciously satisfying read. ♥

Oh and did I tell you this book is indie? :)

Rating: ★★★★★

My copy: Review copy from the author. Thank you!

Other reviews:
Chachic’s Book Nook
Janicu’s Book Blog

More information: Flat-Out Love website / author blog

I apologize for the vagueness, if I say anything more it would be spoilery. But those who’ve read this would understand :D [↩]

Astigirl: A Grown Girl Living on Her Own Terms

Posted on January 8, 2012 by Tina

Astigirl: A Grown Girl Living On Her Own Terms by Tweet Sering
Flipside Digital, 156 pages

Far from the grownup she thought she would be, Tweet Sering, 30-plus and tormented by a raging discontent with stale notions of how one must live, strips herself of the trappings of adulthood—no job, no savings, no insurance, and not even a credit card—and resolves to begin growing up again.

In this memoir that is by turns sharply funny, intelligent, outspoken, but also pained and bewildered, Tweet shows her readers how being astray can turn into being astig (tough). Her essays remind us of long, late-night chats with our favorite friend, so that the substance of the go-for-broke account of her journey is not muddled by easy sentiment, but shines with a desire to cheer us on into our own journeys of being a tough girl. An Astigirl.

When the new year rolled around, I was more than ready to start a new book, eager to start filling my 2012 shelf. However, it felt like the books I was starting weren’t really making the cut. I couldn’t really get into it. It may have been just some kind of New Year blues or something — I don’t know. I received Astigirl as a review copy from Flipside on the first day of work and was all set to read it later in the month. Until decided to take a peek at it after work…and I could not put it down.

Astigirl: A Grown Girl Living On Her Own Terms is Tweet Sering’s account of how she turned into her own kind of tough girl. Tweet talks about a range of things: from a fan letter to Angelina Jolie, to a family discussion on whether Manny Pacquiao’s politics, to how she let go of her finances, to how she decided to drop everything to follow her dream. She talks about serious things about a man she loves and her art, and how she was asked to write her grandmother’s biography to seemingly not-so-serious things such as how she wants to strangle Bella and kick Edward as she read New Moon. With a warm, personal tone akin to a friend sharing her experiences to another, Tweet Sering makes her readers feel that if she can do it, then we can, too.

Ah. That almost slump I had was instantly gone after I read the first entry in this book. Astigirl is the perfect book to read for the new year. It’s got all this freshness and honesty that no other fiction book can offer. I thought it would be all about the kind of toughness that I wouldn’t be able to appreciate or relate to, but I was wrong. Think of this as sort of a Filipino version of Eat Pray Love, but less of the annoying over-privileged “I have money to travel all over the world” feel. In fact, Tweet talked about how she didn’t really feel a strong attachment to money, something I know I had to learn.

I was kind of glad I read this on my Kindle because it makes it easy to highlight quotes. Believe me, when I got to the middle, I realized I was highlighting almost every other page. Maybe it was because of the new year, or maybe it was because Tweet Sering talks about things that every young Filipino woman is thinking but is too confused or too afraid to set out for: to do something meaningful. I would share with you my favorite quotes but they’re too many of them, so you’ll just have to read it for yourself. :)

Being nonfiction meant not everyone will agree with this, but it also means that it can be read again and deliver a different message altogether. Astigirl is a great book to start the year with, and I think it would also make the perfect gift for girlfriends and girl friends. I don’t necessarily agree with everything and I thought some of the entries were a bit long, but I really enjoyed the book and I would definitely browse through it again.

So, if you’re a Filipino woman in your 20′s or 30′s and if you’re feeling a little beat from life or you need a little inspiration, get Astigirl by Tweet Sering. It will do you a lot of good, and hopefully, it will also give you that push you need to go after what you need to do to be your own Astigirl.

Rating: ★★★★★

My copy: ebook, review copy from publisher. Thank you! :)
Buy a copy: Flipreads | Amazon

One More Page

Tag Archives: 4 stars

Anna Dressed in Blood

A Conspiracy of Kings

Angelfall

Saving June

Flat-Out Love

Astigirl: A Grown Girl Living on Her Own Terms