Book Spotlight: My Top 10 Illustrated Books

Welcome back to Musings of an Arthritic Artist!

 
Today's post is going to be my personal top 10 illustrated books. I'd say picture books, but a few of the books on this list aren't picture books. 

These books aren't fully ordered. Most of these are tied for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, so I won't number them. 

Let's get into my list!

Togo by Robert J. Blake

You can’t truly see how beautiful these illustrations are from a simple photo like this. The illustrations in this book are done in oil paints. This book is gorgeous. If I were to buy illustrated books in the future (which is most likely inevitable because of my career choice [author-illustrator]), I would definitely buy this one. I read this around eight years ago, but I’ve never forgotten it.

Togo is about the dog (Togo), who was Leonhard Seppala's lead sled dog during the 1925 serum run to Nome. You know, the serum run that Balto got all the fame for, despite Togo covering more land and going over more dangerous trails. This isn't to say that Balto shouldn't have gotten accolades for it. He certainly should have. After all, he did complete the run, but at the same time, Balto wouldn't have had the chance to travel the serum the rest of the way if it weren't for Togo, so it should really have been a team effort.

I'm definitely glad that Togo is getting more recognition now (starting in 1997 with a statue [albeit way smaller than the Balto statue] in New York, which used to be in Central Park, but is now in Seward Park), thanks partially to the Disney+ adaptation (which my sister and I watched and would re-watch). 

However, there were more under the rug mentions and recognitions of Togo in books. The main two I can think of are Togo by Robert J. Blake (the one pictured above; published in 2002), and Togo by Kate Klimo (published in 2014) which is the fourth book in the Dog Diaries series for children. I have checked out the latter before, but I never read it. I do still really want to read it. 

Anyway, Togo is one of the best picture books I have ever read, which is saying a lot, considering I've read at least 1,165 picture books in the last ten years (that's only counting the books that are documented on my Goodreads; that's not counting ones I read before I got a Goodreads account [though there are very few; I used to hate reading], nor the picture books that I've forgotten to count over the years [which has happened a lot])

I've read other Robert J. Blake books that I'd consider honorable mentions (Akiak: A Tale From the Iditarod and Swift)

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

This book is one of the reasons why I didn't title this post: Book Spotlight: My Top 10 Picture Books. If you've never heard of this book, this is a children's chapter book. You may be wondering, "Why is this on here, then?" or "Why does it have a Caldecott Medal?"

This is because The Invention of Hugo Cabret is the first children's novel/chapter book ever to receive the Caldecott Medal award, and in my opinion, this book couldn't be more deserving. According to Brian Selznick, this book is "not exactly a novel, not quite a picture book, not really a graphic novel, or a flip book or movie, but a combination of all these things." 

If you have heard of Brian Selznick before, chances are it's because he did the 20th anniversary editions of the Harry Potter series (I love those covers). He also wrote Wonderstruck (which my sister read, but I haven't) and The Houdini Box.

My mother and I watched Hugo (the movie adaptation released in 2011) before reading the book it was based on. On a separate note, I have to say that Hugo is one of my favorite book-to-movie adaptations. 

This book is 533 pages long, which is actually quite long for a children's/middle grade, however, in all actuality, the book is actually about 300 pages because 284 pages is just pure pencil drawings or photographs.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret, follows 12-year-old orphan, Hugo Cabret as he lives in a train station in Paris in the 1930s. This is a historical fiction novel. I don't want to say much more about it, because I feel as if it's the kind of book that you have to experience for yourself. It has a lot of historical elements sprinkled in (as it should), and gives a good introductory insight into the history of film and cinema.

Overall, I love this book, and like Togo, would buy this book for my collection, just so I could re-read it dozens of times. I would highly recommend this book if you:

1. are the type of person who loves the illustrations in picture books but hates that they are so short

2. enjoy film and the history of cinema

3. enjoy historical fiction novels

4. or are interested in reading all the Caldecott Medal winners (my mother and I had started doing that years ago, but we never finished; more books were awarded [obviously], and our library didn't have all of them).

This book (and the movie) caused my mother and I to spiral into a rabbit hole of film history. Both the book and movie reference original films, such as The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station (viewable on YouTube; film was released in 1895), which was one of the original films created. It was a 50 second silent film that was made by the Lumière Brothers, who were thought of to have the first public screening in film history. The train arrives at the station and ends up out of frame, which caused the audience then to get startled because they thought the train was really coming toward them!

Both the movie and book reference Georges Méliès (who is crucial to the plot), a French film director known for special effects and films such as A Trip to the Moon (1902; also available on YouTube; loosely based on From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne), which is regarded as one of the most influential films in cinema, and The Impossible Voyage (1904). He made over 500 films, but only about 200 have survived through war and other trauma.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of black and white movies (because of two reasons: I've always loved color and two, I nearly went completely colorblind because of a medication I was taking [long story; maybe I'll discuss it in the future]), however, I enjoyed watching The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station and A Trip to the Moon with my mother, and have since watched both a few times. Around the time that I watched the movie and read the book, I actually drew a picture of a scene in A Trip to the Moon (the scene where their ship [a capsule shaped like a bullet] crashes into the Man in the Moon's eye).

The Golden Mare, the Firebird, and the Magic Ring by Ruth Sanderson

The Golden Mare, the Firebird, and the Magic Ring is a story based on Russian folklore. 

The illustrations in this book are very realistic. I honestly don't have much to say about this book. I checked this out from my local library because the cover is breathtaking. The inside didn't disappoint.

According to Goodreads, I guess some people didn't like the illustrations in this book because it was the author's normal style. I wouldn't know; I haven't read any more of her books, but I love the illustrations in this one.

Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes by Rick Riordan (illustrations by John Rocco)

Honestly, there isn't much I can say about this book. I'm fairly certain that these illustrations were done digitally but don't quote me on that, and quite frankly, it doesn't matter to me whether they were done digitally or traditionally; the illustrations are still gorgeous.

This story tells the stories of the Greek myths that involve heroes (Hercules, Perseus, Atalanta, etc). Following the format of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, this is told in the first-person narrative of our favorite Riordanverse hero: Percy Jackson. 

This book gives a child friendly account of the Greek myths (because everyone who reads them knows they are laden with more adult content), while being entertaining. This book isn't exactly a picture book, though it isn't exactly a novel either, like The Invention of Hugo Cabret. These books are around 400 pages long.

Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes is illustrated by John Rocco, the same artist responsible for every US cover of the books in the Riordanverse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Heroes of Olympus, The Trials of Apollo, Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, and The Kane Chronicles), which means he already has a good track record, in my opinion. No one will ever convince me that those covers (plus this one and the one below) aren't gorgeous and are some of the best ones in middle grade.

Percy Jackson's Greek Gods by Rick Riordan (illustrations by John Rocco)

This is the companion book that goes with Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes. This one follows the same format (Percy Jackson narrates the myths), however the myths are different. Instead of the heroes, this book focuses on myths involving the Greek mythological gods (Zeus, Athena, Poseidon, Apollo, Hera, etc.).

This book has the same type of illustrations as Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes. I feel as if I said everything I need to say about this above, so I'll leave this one here.

Pierre the Penguin: A True Story by Jean Marzollo (illustrations by Laura Regan)

Pierre the Penguin: A True Story tells the story of Pierre, an African penguin who lives at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco (prior to his death from renal failure in 2016). Pierre molted and ended up with bald spots on his body.

It tells the story of how an aquatic biologist took care of him after she noticed how much he was shivering (Pierre wouldn't swim much because he would get cold and could die from hypothermia). She tried many different measures, including a heat lamp, but these proved to be ineffective in the long-term. 

She came up with a solution. She collaborated with a wetsuit manufacturer to design a wetsuit custom fitted to Pierre's body. It had Velcro, so it could be adjusted if Pierre gained or lost weight, meaning he never had to get refitted for one. This proved effective and he began swimming with other penguins, wearing an all-black wetsuit.

I loved the illustrations in this book, and I loved learning about Pierre (especially since he was a penguin; penguins are my favorite animals). 

Whales Passing by Eve Bunting (illustrations by Lambert Davis)

Whales Passing is a story about a boy and a father who are watching from a shore as Orca whales (are also called killer whales, though they are really a species of dolphin) swim in the ocean. The boy has a very imaginative mind and envisions what their life must be like under the sea. He imagines conversations that they may have.

Overall, it's a very simple story, but I enjoyed it when I read it and the illustrations look both realistic and animated, which I really like.

Titanicat by Marty Crisp (illustrations by Robert Papp)

Titanicat is a picture book that follows fictional Jim Mulholland, who has signed on to be a cabin boy for the Titanic. One of his duties is taking care of the ship's cat (tortoiseshell breed). Sometime during the book, the cat cannot be found and the Titanic is about to take off. Jim has to find her before the ship casts off.

The illustrations in this book are gorgeous (as are, in my opinion, all of the books in this list). The complicated thing about describing picture books is that they are so short that sometimes there isn't much to discuss.

Titanicat is a simple historical fiction picture book that introduces the RMS Titanic for young readers, while avoiding the tragic side of the ocean liner. 

A Mother's Journey by Sandra Markle (illustrations by Alex Marks)

A Mother's Journey is a picture book that talks about a mother emperor penguin's voyage to find food, which is full of hardships and struggle.

I loved reading about the mother emperor penguin's journey. To me, it feels very much like a Mother's Day book. The mother is trying to make her way across a harsh landscape, avoid predators that wish to eat her, and get home to her mate and newborn chick before she starves.

Okay. I understand that that may not fully seem "cheerful", but in my opinion, it really showcases how much work mothers have (regardless of species), and how much she'll do for her child/children.

Sergeant Reckless: The True Story of the Little Horse Who Became a Hero by Patricia McCormick (illustrations by Iacopo Bruno)

Sergeant Reckless: The True Story of the Little Horse Who Became a Hero is a biography of Sergeant Reckless, a Mongolian horse who was the daughter of a race horse. She was sold by a Korean stable boy to members of the United States Marine Corps, and was intended to be a packhorse.

She quickly become a part of the unit and served in the Korean war. Her duties were carrying supplies and ammunition, and she sometimes helped to evacuate wounded.

Her military career lasted nine months, where she did 51 solo trips to resupply troops on the front lines. She was wounded in combat twice. In 1953, she was given the battlefield rank of corporal. In 1954, she was battlefield promoted (promoted while deployed in combat) to sergeant, many months after the war ended. Following the war, she was given military honors, the most notable of which were two purple hearts and the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal.

Afterward, she made television appearances and attended the United States Marine Corps birthday ball. In 1959, she was given the title of Staff Sergeant.

This was a really interesting story. I had never heard of Sergeant Reckless, though I was glad that I eventually did.

If you couldn't tell by now, I really enjoy picture books that involve animals or historical fiction, particularly if the illustrations are gorgeous.

That's the end of my top 10 list of illustrated books!

I hope you enjoyed the post!

See you Thursday,

Lexi K🖌

Speculative Fiction Set in Africa: War Girls by Tochi Onyebuchi (Spoiler-Free Review)

Welcome back to Musings of an Arthritic Artist!

 

Today I'm going to be reviewing a book I had checked out from my local library to read during quarantine.

That book is War Girls by Tochi Onyebuchi.

This review will be spoiler-free.

Without further ado, let's get into the review!

War Girls is told from the perspectives of two characters. Two "adopted" sisters named Onyii and Ify. The interesting thing about the perspectives is that they are in third-person. This might not seem like anything different, because there are dozens of YA stories told from third-person (I can think of at least 10 that I've read in the last few years). 

What makes this interesting is the tense it's told from. Every book I've read is either first-person present, first-person past, or third-person past (whether or not it's limited or omniscient is irrelevant). Instead, War Girls is told in present tense. This is the first sentence: 

"The first thing Onyii does every morning is take off her arm."

To me, this is one of many things that sets War Girls apart from other YA books I've read/started.

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I feel as if War Girls is the kind of book you need to be in the mood for. Some books you can read whenever, while others you have to feel a certain way or be in the mood for a certain thing, and to me, this is one of those books. 

This isn't a YA book you would pick up because it's lighthearted. In a book titled War Girls, I'd hope you wouldn't assume that this is a lighthearted read. It's a speculative fiction YA novel that takes place in 2172, but is meant to tell a partial history of the Nigerian Civil War/Biafran War/Nigerian-Biafran War that began in 1967 and ended in 1970. I say partial because it is still fiction, and Tochi Onyebuchi took inspiration from other aspects of African history, as mentioned in the Author's Note.

I don't think the writing style is for everyone. I found it very interesting and different, which is why I didn't rate this book low because it wasn't what I was used to. 

This book--at least for me--had many things going for it. The cover is gorgeous, there are siblings (adopted or not, it doesn't matter--I tend to love them all), it was separated into parts (makes it easier to read a section), and it falls under Fantasy (even though it leans more toward a full-on sci-fi route). War Girls also covers many topics, such as the effects of war, sisterhood, family (blood and not-blood related), country corruption, and child soldiers.

It even has characters that I enjoyed (a few being female, which is a rarity for me). Personally, my favorite character was Agu. He was just so sweet, and I loved him. 

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I had already known what the basic plot of this book was months before I decided to check this out. What I didn't know about was the historical inspiration behind it. I had known because months before I had seen this book listed as a giveaway on Goodreads. I read the synopsis and decided to enter it. On the giveaway, it was marketed as a "futuristic, Black Panther-inspired Nigeria," so I was immediately interested. I enjoyed watching Black Panther with my sister, and have since read some of the comics.

I had this on my want-to-read shelf on Goodreads for a while. A few days before we went to the library, we wrote on sheets of paper the books we thought seemed interesting by looking at the online library catalog. I had three and a half sheets of wide ruled paper with books written on them. I had separated them into my "priority/ideal" list by a star system. 

Zero stars meant that it could wait. One was that I was somewhat interested, but it wasn't a must at that moment. Two meant that I'd ideally like to pick it up. Three was the highest. If a book was labeled with three, it was a priority. I was in the mood for it, it sounded interesting, and I really really want to read it.

War Girls fell under this category. The only problem was that when I looked at the YA section under Onyebuchi, I couldn't find it. Luckily, I found it on display in the YA section. I don't remember why it was on display, but it was, so I picked it up.

Honestly, this book was a pleasant surprise. I expected to like it, but I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. I picked this up a few times to read it, but I never got far. Finally, I decided to get farther. Our library books had been due with zero renewals left, and I knew that if I didn't finish any of the other books we checked out, I had to finish War Girls.

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This book is a relatively quick read, however the middle is a tiny bit on the slower side. The time jumps between parts might confuse and annoy some readers. I think that if you enjoy Black Panther, speculative fiction, sci-fi, and YA, you might enjoy this. It's a very different kind of speculative fiction novel than some other books I've seen. It covers a very different time in history, one that takes place in Africa. 

There are quite a bit of Nigerian words sprinkled in here and there (Igbo and Yoruba), which I thought was intriguing. There are also racial slurs used for both groups on either side of the war, however they are written in Nigerian, which I also found different. 

Overall, I really enjoyed War Girls, and gave it a rating of 5 stars. I thought it was interesting, it had some history of Nigeria in a futuristic setting (which I found fascinating), and it felt very Black Panther-esque. I could see myself re-reading this at a future time.

That does it for my review of War Girls! I hope you enjoyed this post!

See you next week,

Lexi K🖌

Does Writing Improve My Autoimmune Disease and Mental Health?

Welcome back to Musings of an Arthritic Artist! 

Today is going to be another personal post, this one involving the impact writing has had on me, especially regarding my mental health, arthritis, and creativity.

Let's get into the post!

King, Alexandria. Musings of an Arthritic Artist. 2021.

Emotions can both positively and negatively affect my mental and physical health. It makes being an empath hard. I can feel other people's emotions as if they're my own, however this becomes a major problem if I internalize those feelings or dwell on them. I try my best to avoid that, but sometimes I fail. I’ve learned what I can and can’t handle. 

Unless it’s necessary, I avoid reading or watching the news (it’s usually not necessary; I get the most important news from my parents and sister). Watching the news is boring (unless it’s for local sports), and reading and watching it does a number on my mental health, which in turn, can do a number on my physical health.

As I mentioned in my book review for New Moon, the second book in the Twilight Saga, I have to be very careful, because it's no secret that depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses can emerge from living with autoimmune disease and other chronic illnesses, along with being an empath. I have personally never been diagnosed with a mental illness, but I'm aware that there is a relatively high risk of me developing one. Once you have one chronic illness, the chances of developing another are even greater. Especially if you're already a highly sensitive person.

Personally, I get my depressive spells every now and again (along with anxiety-type episodes), but I'm not sure if that's normal or not. I don't know enough "normal" people to answer whether my episodes are normal or not.

Now that I've done a basic intro to how cautious I need to be, I'll get into the point of this post, which is writing.

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Common advice for self-care/mental health is that writing down the emotions you feel helps, usually when you write in a journaling format. This helps to get your thoughts out of your head, at least somewhat. This might work for a lot of people, but not me. I have tried diaries dozens of times, but I'm never consistent. I'll go months without writing anything. 

I have been incredibly interested in writing for the past 4 years, since I was in my early teens. I have been trying to write a book since. When I started, I didn't have much experience. I didn't know anything about characterization, plot, pacing, or any of those fun writing tidbits. I wrote in passing. It was a hobby. I've thought about being an author-illustrator since I was a child, but I never thought much about chapter books or novels. 

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In 2017, I gave it a try. I started a middle grade urban fantasy that quickly became a YA urban fantasy. I wrote characters I still love to this day, but when I was writing, I always felt distanced from it. I wasn't engaged, and there wasn't much emotion involved. It was a relatively dull draft, even though I edited it dozens of times. I still intend to finish it, but it isn't a priority.

In 2018, I began a different story, this one a YA fairytale retelling with Greek mythological aspects. That project was better than the previous one, and I am definitely going to go back and finish it. Until I started my new project, this one had the largest word count at around 50,000 words.

In 2019, I began feeling overwhelmed over the amount of creative writing projects I had started. I had about a dozen fairytale retellings going. I had fantasy stories galore. I have 44 different stories saved on my computer, though I know there are quite a few more. I never exceeded more than 30,000 words on a single project. This may seem like a lot, but most of the stories I began were only 10,000 at most. No ideas could hold my attention. I always started a different one depending on my mood.

Looking back, I guess it's kind of silly to have gotten overwhelmed over this. I'm only a teenager, and I was already worried about not finishing any of the projects I had already started. Then again, that's one of my problems. I'm great at starting projects, but I never finish them. In fact, I have quite a few art projects that have yet to be finished.

I guess I needed a global pandemic to come up with the story idea that has motivated me to continue writing it. The Greek myth inspired fairytale retelling had kept motivating me to finish it, but it required more research than I had time (and energy) for. After all, I am still in high school. I have responsibilities, studies to focus on, and a chronic illness to manage. 

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At the beginning of the 2020 pandemic, I had started a quarantine diary, which was a private place for me to share what I did and how I felt on specific days, separated by day (blank) of quarantine (in case you are wondering, my sister and I haven't been out in public in 381 days, and no I haven't gone insane).

This became overwhelming. Even though I was writing all my emotions down, it wasn't helping. My mind was still a mess. It wasn't helping my arthritis, instead only helping to exacerbate it. During this quarantine period, I had four joints that had been bothering me, one still to this day. 

Around this time I had been doing a lot of pondering on chronic illness. It was the second week of May, we still hadn't known much of anything about the virus, and I knew everyone in my family was more susceptible. At the time, my family and I were quarantining in our house away from each other. My sister was in charge of bringing food to my door. 

It was a difficult time. There was a lot of stress, in my room especially. My father could've been sick. My mother could've been sick. My mind was truly an awful place. Despite that, I still motivated myself to be on a schedule, waking up every morning at 6 and going to bed no later than 10:30. My sister and I were considered more on the "safe" side, but we were still separate for precautionary reasons. 

The stress seemed to pile and pile. The worst part was that this was two weeks before my seventeenth birthday. I didn't even know what would happen that day. Would we still be in quarantine? Would I have to spend my birthday by myself in my room? Because my mind refused to stop racing, I began distracting myself by watching YouTube, movies, and doing SAT Prep on Khan Academy. I wasn't motivated enough to pick up any of the writing projects I previously mentioned.

Instead, I had continued writing in my quarantine diary, but I began to lag behind on entries, as per usual. I lacked the motivation. Even though I was writing my emotions down, I was still dwelling on reality because the diary itself was reality. I didn't wish to focus on the world around me. I didn't want to focus on the world that felt as if anything and everything could go wrong.

I started reading, but that didn't work either. I wanted to read a young adult, middle grade, or children's book about someone who had chronic illness or a disability, but I barely found anything (at least at my library at the time; my library has since gotten more e-books about autism and things like that--it still isn't the same, but I'd definitely read them if I was in the mood). I couldn't get into any other story. I don't know why that's the kind of book I wanted to read. To be honest, I probably started at least a dozen, but at the time, I DNF'd them all. I wasn't feeling any of what I picked up. 

Instead, I began writing two stories. I have a story about a teenage girl with juvenile idiopathic arthritis who has a service dog, and a YA fantasy novel with a main character who has chronic pain. There are more layers besides that, however. I wanted to write the book I had so badly wanted to read at the time, knowing that somewhere, someone else probably wanted the same thing. However, I just knew that I had to write this story first and foremost for myself. I began pouring my heart, soul, and emotions into the Fantasy story. 

I'm still working on it. It's been one of the main things keeping my heavy emotions at bay. It's better than feeling miserable and lashing out at my family. It's better than falling (metaphorically) into a dark abyss, and having to scramble to find my way out. 

It's been almost a year since I began that story (now a series), and I have about 75,000 words on the first book alone, about 145,000 across four books, though I didn't write parts of the fourth book until last August.

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I will say that writing has definitely helped my mental health. I feel as if I'm calmer, less stressed, and I feel as if I put up fronts less. I still do, but they're less frequent (my family can't really tell when I am or not, however that's the point). Generically speaking, my family knows I put on a mask. They know I bottle up emotions, though they don't always know when or why, but I digress.

Another thing that sometimes helps my mental health is drawing, however that can get messy. If my wrist starts feeling worn, I end up stressing about that (one of my biggest fears is using my wrists so much that I won't be able to draw, write, or paint anymore; this in turn sometimes leads to me having a fear of drawing or using my hands). I can't type or write all the time either, but I can at least brainstorm, interview characters, or plot ideas in my head, without having to use my hands. I could think of drawing ideas, but that'll just make me want to draw more, so I tend to avoid that unless I need them.

For me writing helps, as long as what I'm writing isn't worsening my mental health, which is what the quarantine diary had been doing at the beginning of this pandemic. When I journal, I am never consistent and for me, the emotions I write down feel too real. I worked around that, and poured all of my emotions into the YA Fantasy series I mentioned above, so it functions as an emotional outlet. The story itself is pretty heavy emotion-wise, especially for me, but I'm enjoying myself, and I'm hoping I can get this plot worked out to where I am comfortable having someone else read it (that someone beginning with my older sister). 

But until then, it'll stay as it is.

That's it for this post! I hope you enjoyed it!

See you Thursday,

Lexi K🖌

Further information:

Arthritis Foundation: Juvenile Arthritis and Depression (opens in new window)

Arthritis Foundation: Arthritis and Mental Health (opens in new window)

Arthritis Foundation: How Stress Affects Arthritis (opens in new window)

Arthritis Foundation: The Emotion-Pain Connection (opens in new window)

Arthritis Foundation: Juvenile Arthritis and Body Image (opens in new window)

New Moon is Worse Than Twilight: Here's Why (Spoiler Filled Review)

Welcome back to Musings of an Arthritic Artist! 

Today is another book review! This one is a review for the second book in the Twilight Saga, New Moon. Two weeks ago, I reviewed Twilight. Now, it's time to talk about the sequel.

There are major spoilers ahead for both Twilight and New Moon, so if you've never read them and wish to (for whatever reason), I'd recommend closing this tab, because this entire review is a spoiler. 

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, let's get into the (minor rant) review! 

I cannot fathom how high the average rating is for this book on Goodreads. This one has an average rating is 3.55 (granted, this is a pretty low average as far as Goodreads reviews go, but it is still higher than I believe it should be). Twilight fine. It's better than this one. This one has so many more problems than the first one. Let's just get into the review. I'd rather not drag this one out any longer than it has to be.

The writing:

The writing is still mediocre and weak. There are words sprinkled in here and there (not subtly, either) that are "large" and "fancy" words that seem as if they're there just to make us think that Mrs. Meyer is clever. I couldn't get over how much use there is of the word "russet." Every single time Jacob comes onto the page, Bella (and Mrs. Meyer) feels the need to mention that he has russet skin. We know he's brown, can we get other descriptors? Oh wait. We did. He has dark brown (almost black eyes). Other than that, he's just a towering sixteen year old after his transformation. 

There is also an abundance of the phrase "velvet voice" to describe Edward. What does velvet even sound like? As far as I know, it is a fabric and the soft, downy fur that deer have when their antlers are growing. Does Edward have a velvet voice because of the many deer he kills because he's a vegetarian? What does velvet sound like? I can't even imagine Edward's voice (Robert Pattinson doesn't count). In Jacob's defense, at least I know what russet looks like. I can't say the same about Edward's velvet voice. Velvet is used a total of 16 times within these first two books (12 in New Moon)! Russet is used 7 times within two books (5 in New Moon).

The story:

The main thing I despise about the Twilight Saga is the amount of red flags in these books (for Edward, Jacob, and Bella; everyone has done something that contributes to an unhealthy relationship, Bella included; I'll elaborate on this later) and the fact that we read the books from Bella's point of view. That's the worst part. I don't want to read 500+ pages worth of this girl's thoughts. She's boring, dense, and not the kind of girl I would be friends with, much less talk to. 

New Moon begins on Bella's eighteenth birthday. Bella accidentally gets a paper cut while opening a gift from the Cullens. A drop of her blood drips from her finger. This leads Jasper to have an episode where he tries to attack her. Luckily, he doesn't succeed; the other Cullens are able to stop him. 

A few days later, Edward tells Bella that he and his family are leaving. Not long after, Bella finds out that there are no remnants Edward even existed. Her birthday present (which was a car radio) has been ripped out of her truck and the photos she and Edward took together have vanished. 

Bella falls into a deep depression for four months (though I know it's closer to 6-9) because Edward is no longer involved in her life. 

I'm not going to go too in detail with the plot because, in complete honesty, not much happens. Three-quarters of the book is spent by Bella's mundane thoughts, doing dangerous things, and messing with her best friend's feelings.

In another plot point, Jacob is now a werewolf and has had a growth spurt. He can transform at will into a wolf (this plot point is largely based on the La Push Reservation Quileute folklore; see this link: Seattle Art Museum)

She begins spending a lot of time with Jacob Black (who was initially introduced in Twilight, but didn't get much page-time). They find some motorcycles, Jacob fixes them, and they proceed to ride them. Jacob promises to take Bella cliff-diving.

They find out that the redheaded vampire who was James' mate (the vampire who tried to kill Bella in Twilight), Victoria, is at large trying to kill Bella as revenge. She believes that killing Bella will be suitable revenge for Edward killing her mate.

On the day Jacob intends to take Bella cliff-diving, he and his Quileute pack patrol for Victoria. This causes Bella to jump off a cliff alone, knowing that the only way Edward will come back and be with her is if she endangers herself by doing something reckless (she had promised him that she wouldn't do anything reckless when he left). 

Bella determines her life isn't worth living if she isn't living with Edward. This sends a bad message for the target audience (people around my age and younger). It paints a picture that life is only worth living if it's with a man/significant other (an undead one at that). 

I'm the kind of person who would like to get married and have a family, but I definitely don't live my life for the sole purpose of finding a man who'll love me. If I had my heart broken (which is most likely inevitable), I wouldn't think it was the end of the world. I'd still have my hobbies and my family. My life wouldn't suddenly fall apart if one guy in billions doesn't want to love me forever. 

Bella's sole goal in life (if she even has a life), is being with Edward. Edward is her life, Edward is her sole reason of existing. This book is problematic because it makes it seem like a person should be dependent on another, regardless of gender, as demonstrated by Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined. This is a really harmful and incomplete way of living. 

My main problem with the representation of depression in this book is the same problem I mentioned in my Best and Worst Books I Read in 2020 (linked here: Best and Worst Books I Read in 2020 (opens in new window)  post. Personally, I have never been diagnosed with a mental illness, but due to being diagnosed with autoimmune disease, I have experienced depressive episodes (my sister can attest to that), and I am at a higher risk of developing a mental illness in the future. My problem is that by the end of New Moon, Bella has seemingly been cured of the depression that she was in for months. It isn't like she was depressed for a few days to a week. She was depressed for literal months, and then the moment Edward comes back to her, this issue is never spoken of again. Ever. 

There are two more books after this that follow Bella's point-of-view, and her mental health isn't anything that is touched upon. It's just this one-time occurrence, and I have a problem with that. I may not be diagnosed with depression, but it is a chronic mental illness, and as someone who lives with a chronic illness (albeit different), it is extremely unrealistic for Bella to have these feelings for months, and be completely a-okay afterward. Depression, mental illness, chronic illness, and autoimmune disease aren’t curable, and for Bella to be cured completely once Edward is back is ridiculous. She rarely even gets sad in the later books. She never experiences the same exact feelings and thoughts that she did in New Moon. 

It seems as if depression and mental illness was just something Mrs. Meyer decided to throw in for drama and angst. Otherwise, it's pointless. I'm just going to say this real quick. I need to get it off my chest:

"You can't love someone out of chronic illness or mental illness."

Does love and having a support network help? Of course they do. But at the end of the day, that person you love will still have depression. No matter how much someone loves me in the future, I'll still have autoimmune disease. I'll still have a chronic illness that I will have to manage for the rest of my life. I could be given all the love in the world, and I still won't be cured. 

With that thought, I'll continue on. I've ranted enough about this.

It is revealed later in the book that Alice saw Bella jump off the cliff in one of her premonitions. Rosalie tells Edward that Bella is dead because she dove off a cliff. This causes Edward to become suicidal, so he decides to travel to Italy to the Volturi (the largest vampire coven who are basically the unofficial royal vampires). He intends to provoke them so they will kill him (a vampire can only be killed by another vampire). Bella and Alice then travel to Italy to stop him.

By the end of the book, everything is resolved. Once again, everyone lives happily ever after.

___________________________________________________

Three quarters of these books are spent with Bella's mundane "life" that is full of boring events, and then more boring events, especially in this book. You could make the argument that the first Twilight is romantic. I don't believe that's the case (see my review here: Book Review: Twilight (opens in new window)), but to each their own. You can't even make that argument with this book. I wouldn't count what Bella and Jacob have as "romance." It's kind of similar to the first book, where there are many things about it that are dysfunctional on many levels. 

I say it isn't "romance," because for the majority of the book, Bella only uses Jacob for her own personal gain. She only uses him as a way to escape her thoughts and hallucinations of Edward. To me, what Jacob and Bella had in this book wasn't romantic. It was pages upon pages of a girl using her best friend to get what she wants, and nothing else. 

It was hundreds of pages of Bella selfishly using Jacob without caring about the consequences. Granted, I have my issues with Jacob, which will be touched upon in my review of Eclipse.

The characters:

Bella Swan 

She's still an annoying, dramatic girl with no life. Edward leaves her and she falls into a depression for at least four months (I know it's more). I get heartbreak is just that--heartbreaking--but she is so dramatic, it's ridiculous. She's still flatter than a piece of paper. She still doesn't have any hobbies besides reading and re-reading Wuthering Heights for the millionth time (though I'm not even sure she does that). 

Let's talk about that thing I mentioned I would discuss later in a previous paragraph, which is how Bella also contributes to an unhealthy relationship almost as much as Edward. 

Bella befriends Jacob in the first book, but he's barely there. They become closer in this book after Edward leaves Bella. She realizes she has feelings for him, though the love she feels for Edward never leaves. She mentions many times that Edward is perfect, and Jacob could never be Edward (obviously). She comments that there is pretty much no competition between Jacob and Edward, but she would settle for Jacob if she can't have Edward. 

This is wrong on so many levels. The entire book Bella pretty much uses Jacob for her own personal gain. She's settling for second-best, which is Jacob. She can see a happy life with him, but still dwells on Edward.

This is what I have the problem with. Bella pretty much leads Jacob to try to engage in a relationship with her. She is only using Jacob to do irresponsible things, which she believes will alleviate her heartbreak (motorcycling, cliff diving, etc.). She only uses Jacob as much as he is useful. The minute Edward comes back, she pretty much forgets about him. They're still (kind of) friends, but Bella never puts her foot down and tells Jacob that their relationship will never go farther than a platonic friendship. She basically plays with Jacob's feelings. 

All I know is that since I read these books, Bella hasn't made any sense to me, and I doubt she ever will.

Edward Cullen

Edward was better than in the last book, though that isn't saying much. He left Bella, believing she was better off without him, but obviously didn't know Bella well enough to realize she would shatter the minute he walked away.

Jacob Black

Okay, I'm cheating a bit. Technically, Jacob was introduced in the last book. He is the one who basically tells Bella what Edward is. I just didn't talk about him in my review for the last book, because I didn't deem it necessary. I decided to focus on Edward and Bella, but now I can't skip out on Jacob anymore, seeing as he's in almost three-quarters of the book. I liked Jacob. He was there for Bella when she needed happiness and joy. Jacob was an enjoyable character to read about. He genuinely cared about Bella, and tried to make sure she was as happy as possible. 

Alice Cullen

Alice is still my second favorite character (second only to Jasper, who we sadly didn't get much of). I don't feel the need to comment much on her, because I don't really have any issues with her. 

Rosalie Cullen

Not going to lie, I don't like Rosalie. I mean, I guess that's the point, but she just seems entitled. She was the one who told Edward that Bella had jumped of the cliff to commit suicide (that's what she believed). She is "married" (I only put the quotations because she's gotten remarried a million times) to Emmett, who I don't feel the need to talk about. One, because I don't have a problem with him, and two, because I don't care enough about him to feel as if he's worth discussing.

Overall Thoughts

If you want my more in-depth (and cynical) thoughts regarding this book, check out this post on my sister's blog at The Real World According To Sam (opens in new window). 

Overall, I give New Moon a rating of 1.5 stars. It is arguably the worst book I've ever read (tied with City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare)

So those were my thoughts on New Moon. I hope you enjoyed this review!

Until next time,

Lexi K🖌

7 Simple Ways to Escape Artist's/Writer's Block

Welcome back to Musings of an Arthritic Artist! 

Today I'm going to be going through my seven tips for getting out of artist's and writer's block. I am not a professional artist or writer, however I have gone through creative block dozens of times. 

I don't want to make it seem as if I'm an expert because I'm not. To quote the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates,

"The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing."

On that happy note, let's get right into the post!

King, Alexandria. Musings of an Arthritic Artist. 2021.

1. Explore Nature

Nature is a great place to find inspiration. There's something refreshing and enjoyable about getting fresh air while drawing or writing. When it comes to writing, I tend to have a difficult time describing the outdoors, so it helps me flesh out a scene. The best part about drawing while outside is that the lighting is already set up if you intend to draw something. 

The sun casts shadows, which makes drawing a bit easier since you don't have to think of where your light source is going to be because it's already there. If you can, take a walk. You'd be surprised at the ideas you can come up with when walking around, whether they're visually artistic or literary.

Best and Worst Books I Read in 2020 (Spoiler-Free)

Welcome back to Musings of an Arthritic Artist! 

Today I'm going to be talking about the best and worst books I read in 2020. Two of these books were new releases, while the rest have been out for at least a couple years.

Without further ado, let's get into the post, beginning with the best books I read. 

Best

These books aren't in any particular order, as I find it difficult to rank books I enjoy. All I include here are synopses and my spoiler-free thoughts.

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

Salt to the Sea is a YA Historical Fiction novel that takes place during World War II. This story is told from the perspectives of four characters. Joana, a Lithuanian nurse, Alfred, a Nazi and fanatic of Adolf Hitler, Florian, an East Prussian, and Emilia, an orphan from Poland. 

It tells the story of Joana, Florian, and Emilia trying to reach the MV (motor vessel) Wilhelm Gustloff, a German armed military transport ship (Alfred is aboard the Wilhelm Gustloff). 

The Wilhelm Gustloff was originally meant to be a cruise ship, then it served as a hospital ship in 1939 to 1940. Its mission during World War II was to evacuate German refugee civilians from East Prussia, Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, and Estonia.

I thought Salt to the Sea was well written. I thought the first sentences in the first four chapters went together very well, and I frequently think of those sentences during random times. The story itself is in first person by the characters I mentioned in the last paragraph. It has around 100-200 chapters, but the chapters are very short. All in all, the book is 391 pages, so it's pretty standard for a YA novel.

I'm glad there are books that cover this since schools don't (I only know because my sister didn't know about it when I told her about it, and I assume my parents don't know either). People constantly reference or talk about the RMS Titanic, but I've never heard anyone mention the MV Wilhelm Gustloff. Basically, the ship was attacked by a Soviet submarine, causing it to sink. An estimated 9,400 people died, which makes it the largest loss of life in a single ship sinking in history.

More than 1,500 people who were on the Titanic died of the estimated 2,400. I'm not saying the Titanic wasn't tragic; it definitely was. One loss of life is too much, but let's say 1,700 people aboard the Titanic died--that still leaves 7,700 that would've died on the Wilhelm Gustloff. Again, I'm not trying to come off as insensitive, because they are both very tragic for very different reasons.

Overall, Salt to the Sea was very thought provoking. It's one of the best books I've read. I gave it five stars on Goodreads. If you enjoy historical fiction, I'd highly recommend checking this book out. This book is about a tragic time in history, so it is a bit heavy emotionally, but I'd still recommend it.

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

Clockwork Angel is the first book in The Infernal Devices series, which is a prequel spin-off of The Mortal Instruments. I have been wanting to read this series for a while, but I knew that I had to read City of Bones and City of Ashes first (I'm reading by publication order). While the original three books in The Mortal Instruments series weren't a favorite of mine, I did definitely enjoy Clockwork Angel.

This story follows Tessa Gray, an American girl, as she tries to locate her missing brother in London. She crosses paths with the Shadowhunters, including Will and Jem, the two mysterious boys she is attracted to.

This story is a mix of Historical/Speculative Fiction and Urban Fantasy, because this story takes place in 1878. The plot has the standard "Down-worlders" (paranormal creatures like vampires, demons, warlocks, werewolves) that The Mortal Instruments

has.

Most people who love this series love Will, and I do, but I don't. I actually like Jem a bit more than Will. He's a bit more level-headed. On a certain level, I relate to him more, but we'll see what happens.

I find this book to be more enjoyable than City of Bones, the first book in The Mortal Instruments series. I hope the rest of the series isn't a letdown. I'm excited to read the last two books in this series. What I'm not looking forward to is the rest of The Mortal Instruments series, however maybe the added trilogy in that series will be better than the first trilogy. Maybe we're finally done with the aspect I hated that I will mention later in this post.

The Trials of Apollo by Rick Riordan

Yes, I'm aware that this is a series and not a single book, but I had to include it here. 

The Trials of Apollo is the spinoff series of The Heroes of Olympus which, in turn, is the spinoff of Percy Jackson and the Olympians. This is the third series in the Camp Half-Blood Chronicles, which includes the other two series I mentioned.

I read all of these books in 2020. My mom, sister, and I had gone to the library just before the pandemic got incredibly bad so we would have some books to read during quarantine. 

While there, The Hidden Oracle was one of the books I picked. I would've picked the other ones up as well except they were checked out at the library we went to, so I ended up reading The Dark Prophecy, The Burning Maze, and The Tyrant's Tomb (The Tower of Nero wasn't out yet) as e-books. I read those four at the beginning of the pandemic in March, and honestly, I'm glad I did. Those books kept me from going insane for the first few weeks. 

Reading these books was one of the highlights of 2020 for me. I had been wanting to read these ones since 2019, but I elected to read Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard first because it's a shorter series, being only three books long. I'm glad that I waited.

When The Tower of Nero came out, I read it as an audiobook because that was the only way my library had it online (they bought the e-book copy a few days after I listened to the audio). It was the first audiobook I listened to, and I really enjoyed it. The narrator (Robbie Daymond) did a really good job differentiating the voices, because these books have a large cast.

(If you're interested in reading the Goodreads review I wrote for The Tower of Nero, here's the link: The Tower of Nero: Alexandria's Review (opens in new window))

These books follow Apollo, who has been turned into a mortal by Zeus after the events of The Blood of Olympus (The Heroes of Olympus book 5). He has to complete these trials as a human named Lester Papadopoulos in order to regain his godhood. They're told in first-person from Apollo's perspective, which is a nice change of pace from the third-person narration in The Heroes of Olympus. 

You don't have to read Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Heroes of Olympus before reading these, but I'd recommend it, because there are a lot of references to old events and characters, plus spoilers for the conclusions of both Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Heroes of Olympus.

An Ember in the Ashes Quartet by Sabaa Tahir

This is another series I read the entirety of last year. I had heard good things about this series, plus I thought the premise was interesting.

This story has a world based on ancient Rome, and honestly, I could tell. I enjoyed the setting, the romance, and I loved the characters. Laia is one of my favorite female protagonists, which is saying a lot since most female protagonists tend to either annoy or bore me. I have more male protagonists that I like than female ones.

An Ember in the Ashes follows two protagonists who switch off telling the story in first-person.

Our first protagonist is Laia, a scholar girl who decides to risk her life to spy for rebels that promise to rescue her brother, who was arrested for treason.

Our other protagonist is Elias, the finest soldier at the school Laia infiltrates (a school that trains children and teenagers to become deadly soldiers for the government [Martial Empire]). He wants to be free of the life he's been forced into.

I don't want to speak much about it, because I feel like this is a story you should go into with very little information, because that's how I enjoyed it. All I knew was that this was a YA Fantasy/Romance that took place in a world based on ancient Rome. That's literally all I knew. 

Personally, I loved this series. I tend to have a problem with most series, because usually when I read a trilogy, I love the first two, but I end up liking the third one less (this happened with The Hunger Games and Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard). This happens especially when a series is longer. I had initially thought this series was a trilogy, until I found out that the fourth and final one was slated to come out December 2, 2020 (I read the fourth one about a week after it was released, because my library got it as an e-book). 

When I started this series I loved the first two, and I kept wishing that the third one was just as good. I didn't even give every book in Percy Jackson and the Olympians or The Heroes of Olympus five stars, even though I love both those series.

The An Ember in the Ashes Quartet didn't disappoint. I gave every book in this series 5 stars on Goodreads because I loved the story, the characters, and the romance. This series left me wanting more. I don't think this series is for everyone (as most books aren't), but it's one of those series that I highly recommend. 

I think I've talked enough about this series. Let's move on to the next book.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

I feel like everyone has heard of this book by now. This is one of my sister's all-time favorite books, by one of her all-time favorite authors. I read this book toward the beginning of quarantine last year, around the same time that I was reading the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer.

I had never read a Jane Austen book before reading Pride and Prejudice, but I had heard a lot about it and my sister had made me watch the movie with Keira Knightley not long before I read it.

This story follows the Bennet family, most notably, Elizabeth Bennet in Regency England. I'm not going to say much about the plot, because I have a hard time describing it. It's one of those books that you should just read yourself to see if you like it. If I try to summarize the plot, I'll just do it a disservice, because it won't do the book justice.

While I think this book is unarguably the best classic I read last year (arguably the best classic I've ever read), I don't think it's for everyone, though I think it's worth trying to read.

It's a decently descriptive (though not "annoyingly" so) book, and it's full of what most people would consider "intelligent" language because this book is seen as a "smart" person book. There are a lot of large words, though they aren't used pretentiously. The language just flows gorgeously with the book. 

Pride and Prejudice has a high AR (accelerated reading) level, being listed as a 12.0 (senior in high school vocabulary level), so it is a book that is more difficult to read as far as language goes, even though I understood enough of the words to get the gist (context clues are an amazing tool).

I gave this book five stars, and I definitely think it deserves all the accolades it has gotten in the past 200 years. This book is a classic for a reason, and it is deserving of being a good one.

Animal Farm by George Orwell

Animal Farm is another classic I read last year. I read this one not long before I read Pride and Prejudice. This one was very easy to get through. I read it within three hours. By ten that morning, I had already been done with it.

Animal Farm is meant as an allegory for the Russian Revolution of 1917, stretching to the Stalinist era in the Soviet Union. 

It tells the story of a group of animals that live on a farm. The animals wish to be free of the humans that overwork and mistreat them. Therefore, the pigs take over. Under this rule, the "lower class" animals believe they will work less and be treated more fairly. They believe they will live in a paradise of justice and equality.

The amount of imagery, metaphors, and slogans in this book is crazy. I read it and it left me thinking, which I'm going to assume is the point. 

I really enjoyed the version I read (the Kindle edition published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2009). This was one of the three different editions my library had as an e-book. At the time, this was the only one available to borrow. I'm glad I read this edition.

I have no clue if these are included in every edition of this book, because this is the only edition I've read. At the end of this book, it has essays written by George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair if don't want to use his made-up name) that give context in regards to the time period this was written about. I enjoyed those essays, believing they added more to my overall enjoyment and understanding of Animal Farm. I enjoyed getting the allegorical and satirical story, while also getting the history behind it.

An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson

This was a book I also read as an e-book from my local library (most of the books I read in 2020 were e-books). This is a YA Fantasy/Romance novel.

An Enchantment of Ravens follows Isobel, a human artist that paints portraits for the fair folk, who are magical beings that live in their kingdom.

The fair folk are immortal, but they cannot bake or paint without crumbling to dust, so they crave human Craft (which we would call baking, drawing, painting, and other creative endeavors). Therefore, Isobel is constantly getting clients to paint portraits for.

One day, Isobel gets her first royal patron, Rook (the autumn prince), as a client and makes a grievous mistake. Isobel paints "mortal" sorrow in Rook's eyes. The fair folk have rules about showing mortal weakness. This portrait causes problems. Rook could lose his throne, and even his life.

Because of this, Rook whisks Isobel away to stand trial for her crime, but trouble comes their way, both romantically and deadly.

I feel as if that's all the information needed to read this book. I was incredibly interested in this book because Isobel is an artist, and I haven't read (or seen) many YA books with protagonists who are artists (I can only think of three off the top of my head, including this one). I also enjoy Fantasy and Romance, so I was hoping I would enjoy this one.

Thankfully, this one didn't disappoint. Generically, the average rating on Goodreads isn't very high, being 3.66, but if you enjoy art, Fantasy, Romance, YA, and fairy-like creatures, I'd recommend it. It isn't for everyone. It kind of falls under the Insta-love trope, but that didn't bother me. The only thing that bothered me was that I wish it was a bit longer. In my opinion, I thought it was resolved well, but I wanted more. It's only 300 pages, compared to the 350-500 I was used to reading last year.

I really enjoyed the characters. Isobel was a strong character that didn't annoy me. She isn't the kind of girl searching for a prince charming, which I generically don't mind because I love fairy tales, but the Twilight Saga gave me my fill of that last year.

I gave this book five stars on Goodreads, mostly because I enjoy art and fairies. 

Worst

These books were the worst books I read in 2020, ordered from "best" to worst. Again, these "mini-reviews" are spoiler-free.

The Crucible by Arthur Miller

The Crucible is a historical fiction play that is supposed to take place during the Salem Witch Trials in 1692-1693. Since it's a 143 page play, there isn't much of a summary to give on it. It was written as an allegory for "McCarthyism," which was a time where the American government accused others of being communists, leading to "witch hunts" (Second Red Scare). 

I read this in April during the beginning of quarantine. I was in the mood to read a classic, but I also wanted something short. I had just read Animal Farm by George Orwell a week prior (which I listed as a favorite 2020 read). I was looking online at standard high school assigned reading lists and came across this one, so I checked it out as an e-book. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't great. I gave it three stars on Goodreads. I just don't think it's re-readable for me. It isn't the kind of short book I would re-read for the fun of it. If I had to, I would, but I wouldn't search this play out. I'd sooner read a different classic.

Midnight Pearls: A Retelling of The Little Mermaid by Debbie Viguie

Midnight Pearls is exactly what the title says--a retelling of The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen. Unfortunately, this retelling disappointed me. This was a book I bought at a local library bookstore for about seventy-five cents. I was excited because I was only about eight and it was the first YA book I ever owned. 

At the time, my sister had been reading YA books in high school, therefore I was excited to have a Young Adult book of my own. I had picked it up dozens of times and had never gotten far. This book is only 208 pages long, so I had tried reading it when I was younger because it's on the shorter side. 

It follows Pearl, an unusual girl who was found by a fisherman and raised by him and his wife. She doesn't look like the other people in her village. She has incredibly pale skin, dark blue eyes, and silver hair. She's best friends with James, the prince of the kingdom they live in. Suddenly, the kingdom is in danger and Pearl's past threatens to tear the two of them apart.

 
There isn't much more I can say without spoiling it. Again, it's only around 200 pages. This book only has twelve chapters. I read through it in a single sitting in the morning while I was alone. About halfway through, the romance bothered me. The characters were fine, but everything that happened before was pretty much erased and tossed under the rug as if it never happened.

The part I enjoyed the most was the sibling dynamic of two characters introduced in chapter five. I enjoyed their relationship and wish there were more moments between the two. This book was a three as well (it was bumped up because of the siblings). I did enjoy it, but I hated the romance and the ending.

New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

Where do I begin with this book? I read this series throughout 2020 just because I could. All four books technically count under this list, but I'm particularly speaking about New Moon, which was undoubtedly the worst book in this series. 

In case you don't know (somehow), Twilight follows the story of seventeen-year-old Bella Swan, a normal, plain, clumsy girl who moves to Forks, Washington to live with her father after her mother and baseball playing stepfather decide to move to Florida. She transfers to Forks High School and proceeds to meet the mysterious bad boy, Edward Cullen, in her Biology class. They begin to have feelings for each other, but Edward has a secret. He's a vampire (this isn't a spoiler, it's literally on the blurb).

I can't talk super in-depth about New Moon without spoiling the events for Twilight, but I will try my best. 

This book was a pain to get through. Compared to the two days it took me to read Twilight, this one took me around two weeks to finish. I couldn't stand the constant self-pity Bella wallowed in after the first couple chapters. This wouldn't normally be a big deal, but this book is 563 pages long. For about 450 pages of it, we are stuck in Bella's mind. She is super depressed (and has been for months), but is suddenly cured within the last hundred pages. 

What was the point of her wallowing in self-pity and being depressed for months, if she's just going to suddenly be fine and never have these thoughts and feelings again? I don't understand it. Her "depression" isn't really touched upon in the last two books, because she's suddenly "cured." If this is going to be conveniently solved, why bring it up to begin with? Just to add word count? Pretty bad way to add words if that's the case. 

I go more in-depth on my sister's blog at this link--The Real World According to Sam--and on my own blog. (If you wish to read my spoiler review for New Moon, it's linked here: New Moon is Worse Than Twilight, Here's Why (opens in new window))

I gave New Moon a two on my Goodreads, but it's really 1.5 stars. The last book in my list just barely edges New Moon on problems. It edges it on a microscopic level. Both are very problematic, for very different reasons. At least I understand how some girls would think the same way Bella does. Don't let my ratings deceive you. The last book is only rated higher on my Goodreads for one reason. 

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare is the second book in the Mortal Instruments series, which follows 15-year-old Clary Fray, who lives in New York and is flung into the world of the Shadowhunters, special humans who hunt demons. 

I can't say much about this without spoiling it, and I'm not going to waste my time going in-depth explaining why I disliked this book so much here. Maybe I'll do a review for it in the future, but at the moment I don't feel like writing about it. I gave it three stars on Goodreads, but it's really a 2.5. 

I'm going to preclude this by saying that I was spoiled for this series by the internet regarding the plot twist at the end of City of Bones. To be honest, if I hadn't been spoiled, I most likely would've DNF'd this book, especially after the incident in the Seelie Queen court. If you've read it, you know exactly what I'm talking about. If you don't, I don't care to mention it. The most I can say without spoiling is that I particularly hate the choice of "forbidden romance" Mrs. Clare decided to go with. 

At least the forbidden romance aspect in Twilight made sense and didn't make a specific scenario romanticized enough to seem palatable (even though it obviously isn't).

Most people dislike this series because of how similar to Harry Potter it is, and I can't really say I disagree, but I find this less of a problem than the forbidden romance aspect I mentioned in the paragraph above. Another common complaint is Mrs. Clare's writing style. I didn't think it was great, but it was better than the Twilight Saga. After all, let's not forget this little gem from New Moon (page 476, paragraph 3),

"Aro started to laugh. "Ha, ha, ha," he chuckled."

In my opinion, City of Ashes was the worst book I read in 2020. I could've done without the forbidden romance angle. That was the worst part about this book. Other than that, it was fine. It didn't need this extraneous detail. What was the point? Honestly, if the two scenes I hated most weren't included, I probably would've enjoyed it more. Unfortunately, they were, and I didn't. 

So there you go! 

Those are best and worst books I read in 2020. I intend to do another for 2021, as long as I have at least two books I disliked.

See you next post,

Lexi K🖌