Candy Bunny Reader

TW: Kidnapping mentioned.  My first two-star book review of the year?!   Firefly Wedding by Oreco Tachibana is set in the Meiji era of Japan. Our MC Satoko is living with a heart condition, and hopes to secure a good marriage. But one day while she is out in town she gets kidnapped, and in order to save her life, she proposes to marry the assassin holding her hostage, named Shinpei. They escape together, travel from place to place, meet unusual people, and even watch fireflies.  It sounds like an okay story on the surface but...ugh! There were a lot of things happening in the story that made me really uncomfortable. I especially did not like love interest Shinpei--he was so creepy and psychotic! Well, I am not sure what I expected from a character who was an assassin.  Yeah, this was disappointing. I won't be reading the rest of the series.  

                                                  (Made in Canva by me. Photo of book found on Google Images) Note: this is the second book in the Norendy Tales series, the first book being The Puppets of Spelhorst, which I read and reviewed last year. You can read that review here . Yes, another great Kate DiCamillo book! The Hotel Balzaar is set in a hotel and follows a girl named Marta and her mother, who is a worker at the hotel. Marta's mother always tells her to stay out of trouble and stay of of sight. Marta usually entertains herself talking to the doorman, looking at a painting of an angel, and watching a grandfather clock with a cat chasing a mouse on it. All the while, she wonders when her father will return from the war going on in the background.  One day, a mysterious old woman and her pet parrot come to stay at the h...

  Today's poem was inspired by the classic shojo anime "The Rose of Versailles". The original manga is by Riyoko Ikeda. In about a week a reboot movie for the series is coming out! The first above is of the ending song of the original anime (from 1979) and the second video is of the trailer of the upcoming reboot movie.  Here's my poem inspired by the series: "There is a revolution On the horizon I feel it in my soul The citizens of France Can’t stand What this monarchy is doing This young king and queen Just engage In frivolous trivial petty matters Spending spending spending Tax money On dresses On jewelry On royal balls Meanwhile The average citizen Doesn’t have enough money For the doctor Or food Or any other basic necessity Oh dear I wonder how all this will be viewed In the future When this part of French history Is recorded And then studied."

  I think Rachael Lippincott is slowly becoming a new favorite author of mine! Before we start, the title of this book is quite misleading. It is not a retelling of Pride and Prejudice. It has P&P in the title because the main character Audrey gets transported back in time to the Regency era, which is when P&P also happens to take place. So even if you weren't a fan of P&P like me, you might still like this book! But why does Audrey get transported back in time to the Regency era? Well, things haven't been working out so well for her recently. She just broke up with her boyfriend Charlie and has just been waitlisted in her dream art college. Audrey has had no inspiration to do any art, and has gotten bored working at her family's convenience store every day. Although, one frequent visitor to the store is a mysterious man named Mr. Montgomery. One day, to pay for his newspaper, Mr. Montgomery gives Audrey a quarter. It's a magical quarter that transports he...

  Welcome back to me showcasing all the underrated books I love, part 11! This time we have all middle grade books. 1. Schooled by Gordon Korman - 13 year old Capricorn was raised by his hippie grandmother who homeschooled him. After she gets seriously injured and has to stay in the hospital for a while, Cap stays with a non-hippie foster family and goes to public school for the first time in his life. 2. Smile by Raina Telgemeier- the wholesome graphic novel memoir of the author when she dealt with with typical middle school shenanigans--and teeth problems.  3. The Doll People Series by Ann M. Martin -a series of books of the adventures of an antique porcelain doll named Annabelle and a modern plastic doll named Tiffany.  4. Honus & Me by Dan Gutman- a baseball loving boy named Joe can travel back in time to any time period to meet his favorite baseball player if he sleeps with the baseball card of said player the night before. In this book, he meets Honus Wagner.

 TW: Mentions of death and injuries Do you have a favorite stand-alone book about pirates? The Pirate Captain's Daughter by Eve Bunting follows Catherine, the daughter of a notorious pirate captain. After her mother dies, Catherine decides to join her father's pirate crew as a musician, all while disguised as a boy named Charlie. Unfortunately, being a pirate isn't as romantic as she thought it was! Most of the crew is pretty aggressive or dismissive, the conditions on the ship aren't very sanitary, nor is the food any good. Aside from her father and another member named Mr. Trimble, she does find companionship in the cabin boy around her age named William, and (kind of) Red, one of the other musicians. There is the constant worry that everyone will find out she is a girl. Additionally, one particular pirate, named Herc, really wants to steal a jewel that Catherine's father stole a long time ago, and he and his little friend Hopper really don't make things easy...

The last time I made a post talking about anime was way over a year ago! I have sooo many favorite shows, and I want to talk more about them. Here are parts 1 and 2 if you missed them or want to see them again. 1. Several of the Pretty Cure series.  PreCure is a magical girl franchise has been going on since 2004, and every season is a different story. So far my favorite seasons that I have seen are: HeartCatch Precure (the first one I watched!), Delicious Party Precure, Star Twinkle Precure, and Soaring Sky PreCure. Every season follows the same formula: an alternate magical world gets in trouble with some bad guy and their minions. Some magical being (usually an animal-like fairy) comes to our world to seek out the PreCure, the teenage girls from our world who become magical to fight the monsters the bad guy tries to attack our world with. As more monsters appear, they become more powerful, our protagonists have power-ups, and then they defeat the big bad! The series overall ha...

Another great book by Kate DiCamillo ! The Puppets of Spelhorst is about 5 sentient puppets: a boy, a girl, a king, an owl, and a wolf. They get bought by an old sailor with the last name Spelhorst. After the sailor dies, the box gets donated, bought, and gifted to two young rich sisters--Emma and Martha. They decide to write a play for the puppets that they can perform, but before they can, the puppets get into some mishaps in and around the girls' house. Eventually the play is performed, and the puppets find out what their true purpose is. I love the whimsical style the story was written in. It felt like a modern day fairy tale. I'd say this book is like a mixture of DiCamillo's two other most popular books: The Magician's Elephant and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. They are both short books with a huge emotional impact, and they are both about sentient toys.  Apparently this is also the first in a series. I can't wait to read more! It is a pure 5 star ...

  I love anything Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows put out! My Imaginary Mary is about two young women. They are fictionalized versions of Mary Shelley (here she isn't married yet, so her last name is Godwin) and Ada Lovelace.  Mary loves to write and comes from a literary family, but hasn't been feeling very inspired lately. She's also in love with one of her father's apprentices, Percy Shelley. Ada loves math, science, and inventing things, but does not get along well with her mother.  The two girls find out from one of Ada's tutors, Ms. Stamp, that they are fae. Not fairies! Fae in this world have the ability to magically create anything with just the right tools and their minds. Well, Mary's fae powers awakened first, Ada has trouble with hers. Together, they create Pan, a talking humanoid robot who can move and perform many tasks just like a regular human.  However, a mad scientist finds out about Pan, and he want to pass off the girls' in...

All the books I read in February! I read a total of 7 books.  I've been reading mostly sequels lately, but they were all really good! Links to certain books will be provided if applicable. I hope your reading month went well, too! 1. One Piece Volumes 19, 20, and 21 by Eichiro Oda. 4 stars, 5 stars, and 5 stars, respectively. 2. Serafina and the Twisted Staff, and Serafina and the Splintered Heart, both by Robert Beatty. Both 4.5 stars. 3. Prarie Lotus by Linda Sue Park. A middle grade historical fiction book about the half-Chinese Hanna and her father going to live in a small new town in South Dakota. Hanna faces a new school, opening a new dress shop with her father, and some racism. Full review here .  4 stars.  4. They Called us Enemy by George Takei. A graphic novel memoir of actor George Takei's experience in the Japanese internment camps during WW2. Full review here .  5 stars.

  Another book I wanted to read for a long time that I finally got around to reading! Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park is a historical fiction middle grade novel about a half-white, half-Chinese girl named Hanna who moves with her father to LaForge, South Dakota (not a real town). There she goes to school and is able to graduate. Then she and her father set up a boutique and try to find ways to get customers to come. It's not always easy. A lot of it stems from Hanna herself experiencing racism. But with the help of her new friends in her new community, she is able to achieve her goals.  Well, this was a perfect example of "I liked it but I didn't love it". I think part of it was because the book is pretty short, so everything is resolved pretty quickly. But it was still a great book! The writing is very beautiful and atmospheric, and the characters are all very well-rounded. Plus a happy ending. So I gave it 4 stars. Trigger warnings include death of a parent and so...

(Pic was found on Google Images) The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett is an adult historical fiction literary novel about the Vignes twins--Desiree and Stella, and their families. The Vignes family is black and they are light-skinned black people. They lived in a town called Mallard, in Lousiana, which was a town with mostly light skinned people. As they were growing up, the sisters were inseparable. Life wasn't always easy, but they had each other. But when they moved to New Orleans to get jobs, Stella decided to pass as a white woman in order to get a job as a secretary. Then she fell in love with her boss, a white man named Blake, and they moved to Los Angeles and had a daughter named Kennedy. Stella decided to lie about her true heritage and family.  The other sister, Desiree, got in a relationship with a black man named Sam, and had a daughter with him named Jude. Desiree got a divorce from Sam because he treated her poorly, and so she and Jude moved back to Mallard to care for...

(Pic was found on Google Images) So I actually read this book last month. But it's not too late to talk about it! Frenchman's Creek by Daphne du Maurier is a classic historical fiction book set in the 17th century in the UK. It is about Dona St. Columb, a noblewoman who has grown disillusioned and bored with her high class life and decides to engage in escapism to one of her estates in the countryside. While there, she finds out the house has been used as a hideout for a French pirate. She meets the French pirate and his crew one day while out for a walk, and falls in love with him. He also asks her to join his crew. Dona decides to lie to everyone in her social circle back home that she is sick and is not to be visited, but the truth is that she escapes to the Frenchman's pirate crew! She goes on a little pirate adventure with him and makes herself his unofficial cabin boy. However, her little trick causes a lot of tension back home, as everyone in the community knows abo...

  Aka the best books of this year, along with their respective reviews. Tell me your best books of the year! Here are mine... Among the Brave by Margaret Peterson Haddix Heartstopper Volume 4  by Alice Oseman Heartstopper Yearbook by Alice Oseman Legends and Lattes  by Travis Baldree Sleeping Around  by Morgan Vega Talli: Daughter of the Moon  by Sulhya Among the Enemy by Margaret Peterson Haddix Among the Free by Margaret Peterson Haddix Bone Volumes 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 by Jeff Smith Milk and Honey  by Rupi Kaur Nancy Drew and the Bungalow Mystery  by Carolyn Keene Witch Hat Atelier Volumes 1 , 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, and 10 by Kamome Shirahama Nancy Drew and the Mystery at Lilac Inn  by Carolyn Keene Garlic and the Vampire  by Bree Paulsen Garlic and the Witch by Bree Paulsen Laziness Does Not Exist  by Devon Price Chef's Kiss  by Jarrett Melendez The Doll People set Sail by Ann M. Martin How to be Ace  by Rebecca Burgess One Pi...

I read a total of 7 books! It was a great reading month. Links to full reviews will be applied when necessary. Let me know how your reading month went! 1. The Last Cherry Blossom by Kathleen Burkinshaw -a historical fiction book set during and after WW2 in Hiroshima, in Japan. We follow the everyday life of 12 year old Yuriko as she deals with new changes within her own family and also best friend, Machiko. We also see her deal with the aftermath of the Hiroshima bombing. It is loosely based off of the author's mother's own life. This book will take you through a rollercoaster of emotions! I gave it 5 stars . Full review here . 2. Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend -a middle grade fantasy book about Morrigan Crow, an preteen girl who doesn't have the best life. She was born on Eventide--considered an unlucky day in her community. She is blamed for everything bad that happens, and her curse dooms her to die on her 11th birthday. But on her birthday, ...

Hey look! Another all time favorite! And that bookmark that matches the book was signed by the author herself.  The Last Cherry Blossom by Kathleen Burkinshaw is a historical fiction book about Yuriko Ishikawa, a 12-year old girl living in Hiroshima, Japan during WW2. The story follows her daily life and other surprises before the city gets bombed, and the aftermath of said bombing. A lot of the "daily life" stuff in this book mostly centers around Yuriko and her family. She grew up living with her single father, and then one day her single aunt Kimiko and cousin Genji start living with them, shaking up the house dynamic, which Yuriko doesn't like. She also doesn't get along with with aunt Kimiko and Genji. Yuriko's father also starts dating another woman named Sumiyo. Aunt Kimiko also starts dating a guy named Akira. The adults then get engaged and have a double wedding. Luckily, Yuriko gets along well with her new stepmom and step-uncle.  Yuriko is also not pop...

  My third Kate DiCamillo book (the first two I read were Because of Winn-Dixie and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane waaaay back when I was elementary school. This one was also great! The Magician's Elephant is about Peter, an orphan living with an elderly soldier named Vilnia Lutz, finds out his little sister Adele is still alive after hearing it from a fortune teller. The fortune teller tells Peter that an elephant will lead him to his sister, but Peter doesn't know where to find this elephant.  Meanwhile, Adele (yes, she's alive!), is living in an orphanage, and she keeps having dreams of an elephant visiting her.   At the same time, a magician is in the city and he performs a magic trick at one of his shows that goes wrong. Instead of summoning a bouquet  of lilies, his accidentally summons an elephant. The elephant lands on a noblewoman named Madama LaVaughn, leaving her paralyzed. The magician is put in jail for destruction of property. The eleph...

  (Pic was found on Google Images) Yup, another book I read months ago during the HarperCollins's strike and I am just now reviewing. It's my first Daphne du Maurier book! Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier is about a young woman (her name is never mentioned in the book, but the fake name I came up for her is January 😂) who, while on vacation in Monte Carlo, meets and marries a widower named Maxim de Winter. When she goes to live with him in his estate (called Manderley), she sees that everyone associated with Maxim (his family, friends, and other people working on the estate, especially the head housekeeper Mrs. Danvers) can't stop talking about and reminiscing about Maxim's first wife, named Rebecca, and how wonderful she supposedly was. The MC then feels that no matter what. she will always be in Rebecca's shadow. But then a dark turn of events happen that completely change her views on Manderley, Maxim, and especially Rebecca.  I will tell you right now I gave it 4 ...

  Another sweet graphic novel you need to read! The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang  is a YA historical fiction graphic novel about a young girl named Frances who lives in France at the time it was still a kingdom. She is a seamstress working in a clothing and tailor store. By surprise, she gets hired to make clothes for the prince of the country, Prince Sebastien. As she gets to know him, he has a secret: sometimes he likes to wear dresses and look like a girl. But he doesn't want anyone else to know about it because it might ruin his reputation as a future husband and king. Throughout the course of the story, Frances and Sebastien deepen their friendship and try to achieve their individual goals of becoming a famous dressmaker and gaining the confidence to show their gender-nonconformity in public, mostly through sneaking off to parties. and such. This was such a cute book! The artwork was gorgeous, the characters were great. I might be a little bit biased because I ju...

  🐰COFFEE BOOK TAG🐰 I saw this tag over at  @paperbacksandicedcoffee  and I thought I would do it! The book in this picture is Listen to Your Heart by Kasie West. ☕Expresso (A book that was hard to get through) Palace of Mirrors by Margaret Peterson Haddix. The first half was OK, but the second half was a huge jumbled up mess and got really confusing. ☕Cappuccino (A book everyone has read but me) Too many to list! I guess I'll just say Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I've known about that book since I was a kid, and I still haven't read it. ☕Latte (a sweet read) Kisses and Croissants by Anne-Sophie Johanneau! I feel like that book was written specifically for me. ☕Mocha (an emotional read) Close Enough to Touch by Colleen Oakley. ☕Macchiato (favorite read of the year) I already said Kisses and Croissants, but I also really loved I'll Be the One by Lyla Lee. Feel free to do this tag if you see it! What is your favorite coffee or drink?