Book Review: Zona: The Forbidden Land by Fred G. Baker

Check out my newest review here!

Sarah J. Maas and misleading Fantasy.

After reading Crescent City and writing the book review, I simply chalked it up to the fact that this book was a product of too much hype. It was okay but didn’t nearly give what was promised. However, I then had a conversation with my sister who had less than pretty things to say about Court of Thorns and Roses, another bestselling series of the same author. It came to my attention that there is something more to be discussed when it comes to Sarah J. Maas books and the immense support her books get.

The common critiques given during the conversations with my sister was that the fantasy elements were pretty half-hearted, the romance was tepid, characters were silly and most of all, it reads like a fanfiction. Which would be great but the book industry still doesn’t take fanfictions seriously whilst giving Sarah J. Maas a pedestal for writing great “epic fantasy” so… are we looking at a little hypocrisy here?

Speaking of the book industry, we have our main problem. If you told me that Crescent City by Maas was a romance story between a Fae/Human and an Angel after they were thrown together for an investigation on the Fae/Human girls’ dead friends then my review would’ve been far kinder. Except that’s not how Crescent City was marketed. Even in the blurb section, it describes this book as an “epic adult fantasy” when really it should be a “fantasy romance”. Am I only one who thinks that this is an incredibly important distinction? Especially when looking for books to read.

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SERIES: GOLDEN LOTUS

This was a series I wrote and I finally got myself to post it.

You can find it on Wattpad and Inkitt (the full story is still to be posted here).

Book Review: Crescent City by Sarah J. Maas

While all the chaos brewed by both Mother Nature and her mischievous children who can’t seem to follow simple safety rules, the book industry still continued to soar with some new releases.

One of the most popular and talked about releases was Crescent City by Sarah J. Mass. I spent a good month or four reading this book so today I have compiled my thoughts below.

Note: These book reviews are my own personal observations and experiences so if it does not align with your own views then that’s completely normal. Stories will have different interpretations and the beauty of it is that no view is the same. Friendly debates are welcome but please keep it civil.

Content Warning: mentions of murder and sexual content.

Book Information:

• Author: Sarah J. Maas
• Year Published: 2020
• Page Count: 800
• Genre: Fantasy
• Pacing: Drawling | Slow | Suspenseful Build | Fluctuating | Steady | Fast | Vague
• Type: Fantasy | Mix | Realism

Adaptations and Immersing Characters

Other than figuring out whether to get the right eye or hair color, getting actors to truly embody an existing fictional character is challenging and far too underestimated. Sure Zendaya could dye her hair red to appease the over-dramatic fandom but that doesn’t really make her Mary Jane nor does Daniel Radcliffe just having glasses makes him Harry Potter. In the point of view of a reader, I will be talking about three of many elements that aren’t taken into enough consideration when adapting stories.

Pros & Cons: Original vs Fanfiction

Original and Fan-fiction have always had a clash for many reasons. However as time went on, both mediums are now starting to live together in the entertainment industry. Perhaps not in full harmony but whether each party likes it or not, both mediums now have an interest and use in todays’ market.

This week I wanted to talk about some of the pros and cons of each of these mediums (including the community around them) and how they contribute to entertainment audiences:

#StayHome Book Recs

For this week, I have collated my Top Five favourite books ranging from fantasy to fashion. If you’re ever looking at your bookshelf and there’s nothing to read, give these selections a go!

“It takes you that long to write a book?”

A question clearly giving away that someone has never written or finished a book in their entire life. Writer whether aspiring or otherwise go through a series of people who love pretending they know what it means to be a writer. Less than pleasant but well-intentioned is usually the nicest way to describe them but this post is not to completely bash this collection of people. Instead I wanted to touch on the three points usually involved in the writing process.

These are obviously based on my experiences and every writer will vary on their process but what you see in print or in online book stories has a gruelling journey that no one sees. Hopefully with a few words on this post, people (especially non-writers) can understand why it takes someone that long to write a book.

What you need to know about fan-fictions (before you judge them)

Fan-fictions may be an unconventional way to begin this new blogging scheme but I find that people jump onto the negative bandwagon far too quickly when it comes to this topic. While my experiences in both original and fan-made fiction are not as vast as some others, I do see this lack of diverse knowledge behind what fan-fictions are to people and why it is still a fairly popular medium in entertainment.

WHAT ARE FAN-FICTIONS?

If you do not already know, fan-fictions are transformative creative pieces either inspired by or contain characters from a TV show, movie or book. Fan-fictions also involve fictional characterisations inspired by celebrities mostly by their name and physical features depending on the genre or universe.

WHY DO PEOPLE WRITE FAN-FICTIONS?