The Constellation of Moon

2018 Wrap Up, 2019 is Here!

Posted on January 1, 2019

Happy New Year you book dragons, fire bugs, whatever you are! 🙂

Cliche but wow, it is 2019 already, can you believe it? Which to me means I will keep wiritng 2018 instead of 2019 for the next few weeks while I adjust, I have a piñata party to finish preparing for, and big things coming for this year.

But before plunging headlong into this New Year, all shiny, I wanted to recap on my 2018 and do a super speedy summary.

I launched my 101 for subscription boxes and it was a good hit (mostof it still works, however I do not subscribe to the same boxes anymore). Also, yes I know that wasn’t in 2018 but wait, there’s a reason.

Someone tagged me in a “how many subscription boxes did you buy this year?” kind of Tweet, and lo and behold, I counted. Want to guess how many I bought this year? (It is a rough number because I may have missed a few special edition boxes).

I bought over 65 subscriptions boxes. 12 Book Box Club, 12 LitJoy Crate, 5 Illumicrate (this includes the Shades of Magic/Vicious special box), about 6-9 Fairyloot boxes, around 6-8 Yume Twins, 12 Stickii Club (plus one advent calendar), 3 or 4 Owlcrates, one Holiday special crate from Spearcraft, one or two Junior boxes from those that do Junior version, 3 or 4 Wildest Dreams boxes… And seriously I have lost count.

On my last post I hinted of reducing the number, and this is why! I have bought so many boxes, have not caught up with reading all the book in them and decided I want to catch up and also bulk less. So I am sticking with LitJoy, Illumicrate and Book Box Club, with a top up of Owlcrate and some Fairyloot boxes, and maybe a few special ones, but definitely going to try to be more picky about it.

What else did I do in 2018?

Preorders! Loads and loads of preorders! I preordered over 150 books during 2018 (some where 2019 books, but I only decided to start counting properly per year in the last week, so yeah some overlap there). Which meant I bought 4 new bookcases and I have now run out of places where I can put bookshelves (oh dear!)

And the blog has kept mostly to a post every other day (with some contributions from Bea, just to make it more interesting).

And finally, my goodreads goal was 100 and I read 145.

So, let’s jump to 2019!

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My goals are relatively simple:

Keep blogging, reviewing books.
Goodreads challenge of 120 books for the year.
Keep preordering and supporting authors, but be selective.*
Try to love my body more, as I tackle body dysmorphia (which didn’t affect me as a teenager but has it’s claws on me as an adult)
Do a monthly giveaway on Twitter (which I have done for at least half of 2018)
Loose 1-2 stones to help my joints deal better with HMS (Hyper Mobile Syndrome)
Write the stories I start then stop then start again and never properly finish because I am tryng to adapt them to please everybody. I am going to write for one reader only, or at least just one in mind.

*I am compiling a spreadsheet of all my 2019 preorders, which you can view here if you’d like to check it out. I made it for my own record keeping but people were interested so I decided to share because sharing is caring!

That’s all from me today. Hope you had a good 2018 (or as good as it could be) and here’s to a 2019 that’s a little bit better than 2018 (hopefully).

Subscription Boxes

Pokemon Holiday Parade Yume Twins Unboxing

Posted on December 30, 2018

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Let’s go everyone!

December’s Yume Twin’s box was all about pokemon (sadly I had not as much Pokemon goodness as I wished for, but nevermind). Starting from the far left and going towards the right (yes, it’s a weird layout, that’s what happens when you do a “panoramic” puzzle instead of the wisdom of a normal puzzle).

A Pikachu rice mold. I like rice molds, they’re cute, they make great onigiris and it is fun. However, Pikachu has thin ears so I predict a failure for me because I am not that good at it (and do not have the patience for fiddly ears). However, it is a great add on and fun!
Bonus cozy fluffy socks, which I squeaked a little about when I unboxed because I love cozy socks and have had to get rid of some so it was perfect to get new ones in here!
A Pikachu case. It comes with a carabiner and it looks quite sturdy, almsot like a game console kind of case, but it doesn’t seem the right size for either the 3DS or the Switch, so I am still trying to figure this one out.
Hello Kitty (or Pokemon, but I got Hello Kitty) stickers and sticky notes. Which brought me back to my childhood where I had a CD game for my Windows 98 computer (yeah, I am old now, oh well)
A pocket animal plushie, in this case a cow for me, which is super cute, so no complaints there. It is squishable and good as a key ring and against stress.
And at the end we have a charm, I got Vaporeon but you could get several different Eevee evolutions or even just Eevee or Pikachu with a Pokeball. Cute too.

I liked the box, but it was a bit sad because there wasn’t as much Pokemon in mine as I wished, and I hoped there would be a Pokeball themed item (maybe a lip balm, or a plush Pokeball or something).

Also, this is my second to last box of YumeTwins for now, as I am cutting down on my boxes (or trying to), There are reasons, which you can read about on New Year’s post 🙂

Books, Subscription Boxes

Rule the Stars Book Box Club Unboxing

Posted on December 28, 2018

The last Book Box Club of the year, and it has some interesting things in it. (Plus I didn’t guess this book, so yay!). Starting from the theem card and going clockwise:

Theme card, with a cute blue and pastel decoration.
The secret clubhouse invite, still personalised. I love the fact that those are still personalised in every box. It is one of my favourite things (but not the only one for sure) about Book Box Club.
Astronaut bath bomb. Isn’t it super cute? I loved it so much, it’s a cute shape and perfectly tehmed (and the blue matches the theme colours, so perfect too).
This Splintered Silence by Kayla Olson. This book gives me a bit of “The Loneliest Girl in the Universe vibes, and I genuinely hope it is as good as that one was.
Book Box Club 2019 calendar! I had my artwork in this year’s calendar but didn’t make artwork in time for this one, so woops! But the artwork from all the artists is gorgeous and I love it!
The Binging bookmark, which helped remind me to get this book on preorder.
A Cinder inspired candle, full of glitter, all the shiny!
A cool double sized zipper pouch/purse, which shows different pictures or rather, gives you a “front” and “back” view of it.

So let’s see, I liked the box but it wasn’t my most favourite sadly. Still, I am looking forward to another year of Book Box Club!

Book Review, Books

Only Love Can Break Your Heart Review

Posted on December 26, 2018

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Only Love Can Break Your Heart by Katherine Webber

Sometimes a broken heart is all you need to set you free… Reiko loves the endless sky and electric colours of the Californian desert. It is a refuge from an increasingly claustrophobic life of family pressures and her own secrets. Then she meets Seth, a boy who shares a love of the desert and her yearning for a different kind of life. But Reiko and Seth both want something the other can’t give them. As summer ends, things begin to fall apart. But the end of love can sometimes be the beginning of you…

Rating:

I struggled a little with this book. It has some really really good things, but it also has some pet peeves so it was hard to rate it highly due to them (and there were sadly a lot).

One of the topics of the book is what the concept of love is, and another is grief. Both give it really good points, and they are explored in an amazing way. Each character affected by the death of Mika grieves differently and you can see this (and as the story progresses, Rei becomes more aware of it too) which I found really good. This grief not only affects each of them and who they are, but their relationships and as I mentioned above, it is done very well. (I would even add, the grief you feel for different deaths/loses is different in itself. You think you know what grief is after one and then another one happens and it is not the same!)

However, Reiko was an extremely spoiled person and that meant low points. Life is so “easy” and she just can’t seem to think outside her circle, even when things aren’t going the way they are meant to (or that she thinks they should be going).

The homecoming party was odd, and I know that it is part of what spurred the whole book but it felt a bit empty. However, things start to get better from this point on in the book. For most of the first half, all I did was cringe a lot about almost everything going on. And there is a huge case of parents that are there when needed as plot devise but absent the rest of the time, conveniently. (I understand it is hard to make parents be part of the story, but in this particular one, they should’ve been less a plot devise and more part of it, they could’ve played a bigger better part).

Still, I liked some parts and even had to share a quote (last paragraph of page 286, UK paperback edition) with my friends, because it was just very perfect and I had to. And I found the exploration of “who do we fall in love”, and how people change (or our perception of them, or even ourselves change) a refreshing topic and it was a lot less romance than I expected it to be (which in this case is a plus).

Moon recommends

I’d say to give this lovely book a spin. If you’re more curious on explorations about grief try Letters to the Lost and for some reason this book reminded me of Floored, so why not check that one out too?

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and that whatever the circumstances it was as good as it could be.

Book Review

How To Make Friends With A Ghost Review

Posted on December 24, 2018

How To Make Friends With A Ghost by Rebecca Green

What do you do when you meet a ghost? One: Provide the ghost with some of its favorite snacks, like mud tarts and earwax truffles. Two: Tell your ghost bedtime stories (ghosts love to be read to). Three: Make sure no one mistakes your ghost for whipped cream or a marshmallow when you aren’t looking! If you follow these few simple steps and the rest of the essential tips in How to Make Friends with a Ghost, you’ll see how a ghost friend will lovingly grow up and grow old with you.

A whimsical story about ghost care, Rebecca Green’s debut picture book is a perfect combination of offbeat humor, quirky and sweet illustrations, and the timeless theme of friendship.

Rating:

Well, if Dickens can write A Christmas Carol full of ghosts, I can post a review of a book that tells you how to befriend one! (befriend a ghost, not a book, that is a matter for another post/day).

I stumbled into this book amongst my Amazon recommendations, because I read a lot of picture books, middle grade and YA. And apparently a lot about ghosts (?). And I am very glad I decided to buy it.

The illustrations are gorgeous (and Rebecca Green is both author and illustrator) and so dreamy but also have a slight vintage feel and reminded me of the drawings in old classics.

The book is less of a story and more a “how to guide”. Probably the best how to guide I have ever read. It starts by telling you how to find a ghost to befriend. It also gives you a some Do’s and Don’t’s, with helpful instructions and even a few recipes to cook for your ghost or how to make your ghost friend much happier.

And the ending is one of the sweetest ones possible. (Won’t spoil it, but it was really nice and explains why having a ghost friend is the best kind of friend you can have).

Also, yes, I changed my background puzzle. Funny side story, it is a 1000 piece puzzle, that somehow came with one piece duplicated and one missing (so it is the 1000 pieces, technically no piece missing, except there is). And the duplicate kept confusing me a lot. But at least it has a Christmas/winter mood 🙂

Moon recommends

Read How to Make Friends with a Ghost, because it is sweet and lovely, and friendship is important. And I hope you have a good Christmas Eve. If you don’t celebrate, have a lovely day, if you do, don’t stress too mcuh and enjoy the family and company.

Thanks for taking the time to read my reviews and musings 🙂

Book Review, Books

Shadows on the Moon Review

Posted on December 22, 2018

Shadows on the Moon by Zoë Marriott

On my fourteenth birthday when the sakura was in full bloom, the men came to kill us. We saw them come, Aimi and me. We were excited, because we did not know how to be frightened. We had never seen soldiers before.

Suzume is a shadow-weaver. She can create mantles of darkness and light, walk unseen in the middle of the day, change her face. She can be anyone she wants to be. Except herself.

Suzume died officially the day the Prince’s men accused her father of treason. Now even she is no longer sure of her true identity.

Is she the girl of noble birth living under the tyranny of her mother’s new husband, Lord Terayama? A lowly drudge scraping a living in the ashes of Terayama’s kitchens? Or Yue, the most beautiful courtesan in the Moonlit Lands?

Everyone knows Yue is destined to capture the heart of a prince. Only she knows that she is determined to use his power to destroy Terayama.

And nothing will stop her. Not even love.

Rating:

I got this book and the companion (Barefoot in the Wind) at Walker’s YA Winter Wonderland Event (which was amazing!). I had eyed it before the event but my never ending TBR meant I hadn’t prioritised it (shame on me).

The book is set in the Moonlit Lands which is similar to Japan but not exactly. There is magic, and the Moon is the “god(ess)” of this world. Suzume has a happy life, and is celebrating her birthday, when men come and kill his father and her cousin. She manages to escape by wishing herself to not be there and for them not to see her.

This is a “retelling” of Cinderella, but not the usual kind. Suzume has lost her identity with the shock of everything, and part of her suspects what caused it but then another part of her is in survival mode, and as such she makes use of her shadow weaving inadvertedly.

It was interesting to read it but at times I felt there was a lot trying to happen in one single story that maybe wasn’t necessary. However, all in all, the shadow weaving was an interesting concept and I wish there had been more on that and less on other parts of the story.

The revenge plot line isn’t an immediate “you killed my father (and cousin) prepare to die”. It takes a while for Suzume to figure out who exactly did this and why, despite the fact that it is easy to see it as a reader.

There is also her learning on how to use shadow weaving, and I like Youta, though it felt like he was just there as a plot devise, which I wished he wasn’t, because he was one of my favourite characters (and the hunting falcon).

In general, it was a good twist to Cinderella, and the ending didn’t leave me annoyed or anything. It tied up nicely and made you feel satisfied. But it didn’t stick to me as mucha s I wish it had and I didn’t care much for Suzume, but rather I was curious how the story in general would pan out rather than because I cared about her. This is an odd thing for me, since I usually become either quite invested in the world, the side stories or characters, but for this book, the main thing was the story itself.

Moon recommends

There a lot of retellings of different fairytales, like Cinder for Cinderella (and Shadows on the Moon), or Hunted by Meagan Spooner (or any of Robin McKinley’s retellings, Beauty is one of many).

Book Review

Help, Thanks, Wow Review

Posted on December 20, 2018

This will be a short informal style review, with “spoilers” as this is a non fiction book.

I don’t talk much about religion because I believe religion is a personal choice and if someone asks I am happy to talk about it, but in general I don’t really feel like pushing my thoughts and beliefs to others (nor do I want them to push theirs to me, thank you very much). However, this review will talk a bit about religion, so feel free to skip it.

Before I bought this book and it arrived I had been in a bit of a rut. I felt sad, kind forgotten and felt like I wanted to believe more, but at the same time, I am not big on churches, so wanted something that would refresh my faith and my brain. I prayed that the next book that I decided to read of non fiction would be the right one.

It was. Help, Thanks, Wow is written by Anne Lamott, author of Bird by Bird (one of those books that are recommended reading about how to write). And mostly it explains what she calls the 3 essential prayers. You can “sum up” all prayers into one. And I have to say it makes sense. I have never been one to pray a long flowery litany of words out loud. My prayers are full of doubts, questions, anger, pleas and so much more, they are raw. And I kept thinking this was not the best as I couldn’t pray the way others do.

This little book however explains that your prayers can be so simple. A “Help me God/being/universe/whatever, I just can’t cope with the world today” is perfectly fine. It also reminds you that each day is a new day and that things don’t work perfectly, so your prayers aren;t answered the way you want them to. This made me smile, because I hate it when people tell you that your prayer wasn’t answered because you didn’t pray hard enough or something is wrong with you, or things like that.

It can also be a “Thanks for letting something happen (or not)”. Which I tend to do a lot for example I pray “thanks for letting me catch the bus in time”. They are really short, and I do them throughout bthe day (peppered with the Help ones too).

The final prayer is “Wow”. This is are for the breathtaking, for the surprises, for the sunset or sunrise that is just amazing. For that letting out the breath you didn’t realise you were holding…

Reading through it all was refreshing and made me feel like I wasn’t all the wrong and that having questions and challenging beliefs (in my own beliefs) is not a problem or something to be afraid of. Questions, pleas, anger, are good. It means it is a faith that is alive. And I like that. This little book gave me a new breath, a refresh and it was quick and easy and good to read.

I am glad I read it and I have got some more of her books to read once I need a pump of energy and faith.

Subscription Boxes

Smugglers & Thieves Book Box Club Unboxing

Posted on December 18, 2018

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What do we do with a drunken sailor? Early in the morning! ♪♫

Now that you have great background music for this unboxing, let’s go matey! Starting from the book on the top left, and going clockwise:

Only The Ocean by Natasha Carthew. I haven’t heard much of this book but it looks interesting and I am intrigued by it.
A Six of Crows Kaz and Inej tea towel, as if they were part of a card. I love the depiction of them and tea towels are one of those things that are usually a welcome item in a book box because it is hard to have too many teatowels (though I admit, the fabric of this one is a tiny bit not as absorbent as I’d like but oh well).
A quote and waves hanging banner. I am not the biggest on hanging stuff but I like somehow the simple yet soothing effect of it.
Print of the cover of the book. I do love that cover, it is gorgeous!
Promotional bookmarks from publishers.
Theme card and Clubhouse invitation (as always, the personalisation part of it is one of my favourite things.
Ship to neverland pin. Really dreamy gorgeous.
Wish bracelet. I adore receiving them and am happy that the girls keep sending one every now and then!
Promotional postcard..
Jack Sparrow chibi version magnetic bookmark.

A very blue box, and I liked it quite a bit. I am now eagerly awaiting for my next one to arrive and to see what the last box of the year is. Do you like bookboxes? I definitely recommend this one as you can get to chat with the author and ask questions later on.

Book Review

Easy Prey Review

Posted on December 16, 2018

Easy Prey by Catherine Lo

Only three students had access to a teacher’s racy photos before they went viral. There’s Mouse, a brainy overachiever so desperate to escape his father and go to MIT that he would do almost anything, legal or not. Then there’s Drew, the star athlete who can get any girl’s number—and private photos—with his charm but has a history of passing those photos around. And finally there’s Jenna, a good girl turned rebel after her own shocking photos made the rounds at school last year, who is still waiting for justice. All three deny leaking the photos, but someone has to take the fall. This edgy whodunit tackles hot-button issues of sexting and gossip and will have readers tearing through the pages to reach the final reveal.

Rating:

This book surprised me. In a good way, of course. I started reading it and wasn’t too sure what to expect, the premise is interesting. Someone has leaked “nudes” of their teacher and it appears it has to be at least one of them (who had a project together), but the question is who is it?

The book had me guessing for a big part of it (mostly because I kinda suspected who it was, but I kept telling myself that wasn’t what was happening, there was no way… well, yes way!) but it kept me wanting to read more, to find out how exactly they went from becoming a team to this disaster.

Why would anyone leak the pictures? Was someone outside of them trying to frame them? So many questions, and it was nicely wrapped up at the end.

One of my favourite characters was Jenna’s mother. And it was interesting to see what family and life situations were behind each of the three main characters. I liked that it wasn’t just doing cliches, but rather asking why do we follow the cliche? And it was a good read.

(This is so hard to review because I want to gush about the ending and who actually did it, but I can say that it was a genius idea and I really really loved it).

What I can say is that it is a very feminist read. It was in a way empowering and it also questioned a lot of what happens when nudes are leaked on the internet. How it affects the parties involved in different ways. And how it is usually the girl’s fault for letting someone take the pictures (which is very unfair! this is done under trust and there is not a consent on them being shared online to everyone) with little consequences for the one who took them and the one wo leaked them. It does well in making you ask those interesting questions about gender roles and gender expectations, specially during teenage years, when you define your “role” in life a little more and try to find who you are and where you stand.

All in all, this was a good “mystery” and it was also a good “thinking” piece, and feminist.

Moon recommends

For feminist reads and the mystery, Easy Prey definitely wins. I would also recommend One of Us is Lying (it touches more on the effects of expectations and social media and relationships) and It Ends With You (it touches on social cues and prejudices, more scary).

Subscription Boxes

Clever Ruse Illumicrate Unboxing

Posted on December 14, 2018

This is the full unboxuing of Illumicrate and it’s still one of the first few themed boxes they make. I am a bit undecided about them. I love the special edition boxes they make, however I think I loved the non-themed boxes more than the themed one. I feel a little like trying to stick to the theme adds items that have less value. But I blable, let’s unbox it!

Starting from the banner on the top left and going clockwise:

Caraval/Circus inspired Banner. This one was very much a “why?” item. I do not use banners, bunting is even a bit too much (who has all the wall space and everything for all of it?) And it didn’t feel special enough, I even initially thought it was a Hufflepuff inspired item rather than circus, which doesn’t really help the item sadly.
Underneath is an utterly striking gorgeous Mulan isnpired scarf (it is silky, soft and it is more one of the old “bandana” silk squares that can be used for hair or as a scarf, or many other uses) and I do love it very much!
Wooden bookmark. I am also on the verge of this item, don’t get me wrong it is lovely, but I prefer paper bookmarks. Woodmarks are too thick for most books and crack more easily than paper bookmarks.
There was an envelope with the origami instructions for This Mortal Coil promo stuff. I had preordered This Mortal Coil, so I had on my bookcase one already made to showcase how it should look once completed 🙂 I liked it.
Poppy War promotional bookmark.
Stag (I am told it is Sarah J. Maas books inspired but I thought more of The Light Between Worlds and Narnia than of her books when I saw this) necklace.
Coffee cup “wrap”. I was pleased to get this one (though I know others weren’t). I have several travel mugs and only one has a “heat” protecting wrap, and now I have this one to use too! Welcome item that wasn’t the usual (and this made me think a lot of the core of Illumicrate and why I have been subscribed for so long to them).
Two books!!!! Tamora Pierce’s Wild Magic (I am told this is a good book and I am eager to read it soonish) and the main event, Empress of All Seasons, which I am very excited about (and it came with bookplate and letter).

All in all I liked the box, though I would’ve prefered a bit more variation and less sticking to the theme, but that’s the way most book boxes work nowadays (I loved the randomness and non themed bit of Illumicrate, but that’s my opinion, doesn’t mean I will stop getting them now, I won’t until I am not getting happy feelings out of receiving and unboxing my boxes).