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The Bookish Fairy

Young adult, magical realism, and every book in between infused with fairy dust...

Latinx Month Reads

October 9, 2019

Featured in Frolic Media

Latinx Month (AKA Hispanic Heritage Month) is making my Cubanita heart burst with joy especially since this is the ultimate year for the Latinx book community! Now with the prevalence of Latinx authors popping up all over the place especially in the YA genre and amazing readathons like Latinx-a-thon that encourages readers to read more inclusively I literally have no shelf-control!

This year is such an exciting time to read Latinx books because it used to be that the only books that were getting published were issue books and now Latinx books are featuring Latinx characters doing some really  cool things such as opening up portals to another universe, a Wiccan bringing her bff back from the dead, and baking magical Mexican treats! Here are my TBR recs that will take you through September and all the way through October 15th! 

like water for chocolate
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

Like Water for Chocolate catalogs the history of the De La Garza family and tells the story of Tita. Tita is gifted with the ability to cook food in a magical way where it makes others feel what she feels. When Tita meets Pedro she falls hopelessly in love with him but Mexican tradition requires her to be unmarried and to watch after her mother till she dies. Pedro’s feelings for her is very requited and he marries her sister Rosaura so that he can still be close to Tita. The pining begins in this delectable tale of love, the transformative power of food, and how love can conquer all. 

Laura Esquivel’s Mexican tale is a classic in magical realism literature. My recommendations always begin with Like Water for Chocolate for anyone that wants to get into the genre of magical realism. This novel is unique and immersive in that Tita’s broken heart is translated through the mouth-watering Mexican food that she creates. The profound connection between Tita and Pedro will give you heartache and it perfectly articulates the heart-wrenching feeling of not being able to be with the one your in love with. 

Dreaming in Cuban
Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia

Dreaming in Cuban represents a story about a family that is ultimately divided by the Cuban revolution and the complicated feelings that it ensues. This character-driven novel tells the story about each character and their unique perspectives about their bittersweet island. Christina Garcia recounts Cuba in such a lyrical fashion and perfectly captures the beloved beauty of the island and its disintegration. 

This is one of the best books that I have ever read that details the honest feelings about the Cuban revolution. When I read this story I felt that each character represented someone in my family and it made me appreciate the struggles that my family went through during the Cuban revolution. Christina Garcia’s story is an ultimate Cuban gem that is supremely underrated and needs more recognition. The writing is beautifully poetic and captures the beauty and ruin of Cuba. 

The grief keeper
The Grief Keeper by Alexandra Villasante

Marisol has always wanted to have the opportunity to live the American dream. Although her dreams come crashing down when she falls for a girl named Liliana. Marisol is forced to leave her home in El Salvador after her brother is murdered and her sister’s Gabi’s life is threatened. When they are caught crossing the border, Marisol is presented the opportunity to stay in the United States when she is asked to become a grief keeper. In this experimental study, Marisol is taking away the grief of someone suffering to be transferred over to her. Essentially the main subjects of the study are white teen girls from wealthy families and Marisol is assigned to take away their grief.

This is the group book for this year’s Latinx-a-thon and although this book is still on my TBR, I can already see that this will be a stunning read. Villansate’s book explores many heavy and controversial subjects about immigration, the society we live in today, and I have a feeling this book is going to completely shatter me. 

Sal and Gabi break the Universe
Sal & Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez

Sal Vidon is a gifted magician who is capable of getting a raw chicken into his bullies locker and even bringing back his mom from the dead! Being the new kid in Miami, he meets the ambitious Gabi Real who has Sal all figured out and soon Sal brings Gaby into his universe of magic. Until they realize that they could potentially put their universe in danger they go on an adventure to save the universe and it is filled with ropa vieja, atomic wedgies, and many laughs along the way. 

Sal & Gabi is like a rollercoaster that I don’t want to get off of. The characters are very dynamic, relatable, and it almost feels like they are going to grab you from the page and take you through their crazy teleportals! This is the kind of novel that you can gobble up in one sitting and not even realize it!

Undead Girl Gang
Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson

Mila Flores is a kickass teenage Wiccan who lives life on her terms and doesn’t care what anyone thinks about her as long as she has her BFF Riley by her side. Until Riley is involved in a suicide pact with two other resident mean girls. Mila is on a mission to find out how her best friend Riley died and she refuses to listen to anyone’s explanation. Mila puts her Wiccan skills to use and brings her best friend Riley and the other girls back to life. Together they have to unearth the truth about their death and uncover their murderer before the spell wears off in seven days. 

I was completely sold by Lily Anderson’s book when I heard that it is a clever mix of Mean Girls, Hocus Pocus, and The Craft! This is everything I want in a novel and it is the ultimate read to gear up for Halloween! 

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Filed Under: Catfairy Categories<3

Roomies by Christina Lauren

April 12, 2019

Roomies by Christina LaurenRoomies by Christina Lauren
Published by Gallery Books on December 5, 2017
Genres: contemporary, New Adult
Pages: 368
Buy on Amazon, Buy on Barnes & Noble, Buy on Books & Books
Goodreads
four-stars

From subway to Broadway to happily ever after. Modern love in all its thrill, hilarity, and uncertainty has never been so compulsively readable as in New York Times bestselling author Christina Lauren’s romantic novel.

Marriages of convenience are so...inconvenient.

For months Holland Bakker has invented excuses to descend into the subway station near her apartment, drawn to the captivating music performed by her street musician crush. Lacking the nerve to actually talk to the gorgeous stranger, fate steps in one night in the form of a drunken attacker. Calvin Mcloughlin rescues her, but quickly disappears when the police start asking questions.

Using the only resource she has to pay the brilliant musician back, Holland gets Calvin an audition with her uncle, Broadway’s hottest musical director. When the tryout goes better than even Holland could have imagined, Calvin is set for a great entry into Broadway—until his reason for disappearing earlier becomes clear: he’s in the country illegally, his student visa having expired years ago.

Seeing that her uncle needs Calvin as much as Calvin needs him, a wild idea takes hold of her. Impulsively, she marries the Irishman, her infatuation a secret only to him. As their relationship evolves and Calvin becomes the darling of Broadway—in the middle of the theatrics and the acting-not-acting—will Holland and Calvin to realize that they both stopped pretending a long time ago?

Bookish Thoughts

There is nothing that tugs my heartstrings more than a meet-cute! All the teen shows I consumed made me desperate to recreate my own meet-cute since the fifth grade. I remember distinctly walking around school with my Beverly Hills 90210 bookbag, strategically dropping all my books in front of my biggest crush and watching him walk right past me while I sadly picked up all the books myself.

Once Upon a Time…

Roomies is one of my favorite meet-cutes because I love romances that have that infatuated love at first sight feeling. Holland Bakker falls in love with Calvin from afar while watching him play guitar in a New York subway. She has admired the guitar-playing Calvin McLoughlin for months until they literally collide in a New York City subway. Holland has always been a girl that never takes chances until she spontaneously marries the swoon-worthy Calvin to save him from deportation and giving him the opportunity of a lifetime to play music for Broadway.

Pixie Pop Culture…

While You Were Sleeping is the movie that cemented my obsession with the falling in love from a person from afar trope! Even though, this movie has quite a twist it has all the swooniness, sexiness, quirkiness, and cuteness you can ever ask for!

via GIPHY

Good vs. Evil…

Holland Bakker’s supposed best friend Lulu would play an evil role in this story. Lulu is someone that is completely unsupportive of Holland, manipulative, holds her back, and is completely selfish. She is the kind of best friend that says she wants you to be happy but then tries to sabotage you at the same time. 

Luckily good wins in this novel! Holland Bakker is someone that commits an incredible act of kindness by helping Calvin McLoughlin with his immigration papers and marrying him which results in him continuing to inspire people with his music and achieving his dreams. And of course, it doesn’t hurt that he is heart-stoppingly hot!   

Happily Ever After…

Falling in love with a person before you met them is one of the other tropes I live for. There is nothing like falling in love with someone before even meeting them because it’s very rare we come across people that make us feel this way in our lifetime. The chemistry between Holland and Calvin was undeniable and it was the kind of romance that kept us asking for more. There were certain parts of the book that was a complete tease and some steamy scenes that made me feel like I needed to puff on a cigarette if you know what I mean! Unfortunately, I did have to bump this book from five stars to four stars because the middle end of the book got incredibly dramatic when I wasn’t prepared for it and because of it the pacing was a bit off. Even though, I had some issues with the pacing this book was still unputdownable! This is the perfect HEA for me because the girl finally gets the guy she always wanted! 

four-stars

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Filed Under: Catfairy Categories<3, Review by Title Tagged: Fluffy and Sexy Romance, Girl Gets the Guy, Hot Irishman Musician, Love From Afar Trope, New York Subway Love, Swoony Musician from Afar

Book Girlfriends I Would Ride or Die For

March 26, 2019

Featured on Frolic Media

We all have book boyfriends that we love and fangirl over but in honor of Women’s History Month, it’s time to honor the ladies in literature that I wish were my real BFF’s! These are the ladies who I would wear friendship bracelets with, buddy read with, go on road trips with, and for the age-appropriate characters have endless mimosas over brunch with!

Here is a list of my five book girlfriends that I would ride or die for…

Lara Jean from To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before…

 Lara Jean loves her boys from afar and prefers to profess her love for her crushes through the form of love letters which she stores in an adorable teal-colored hat box. Then one day all the letters are delivered to all her crushes and that’s when Lara Jean’s world is forever changed.

I want to live in the world of Lara Jean and raid her adorable vintage outfits and use her heart hole puncher! After all, how can you not love a girl who has a heart hole puncher? Lara Jean is a person who is inherently herself and she doesn’t care what other people think of her and that’s what makes her full of awesomeness! She also has exquisite taste in guys because Peter Kavinsky is one of my top book boyfriends. I would go thrift store shopping with Lara Jean and eat her homemade snickerdoodles any day of the week!

Daisy Jones from Daisy Jones and the Six…

 Daisy Jones lived the rock star life before she became a rock star. She was famous for hanging out in clubs on the Sunset Strip, taking drugs, and sleeping with the most famous rock stars. Her dream is to be a bigger part of the rock ‘n’ roll scene by singing and writing her own music. When she gets the opportunity to be in the up-and-coming band The Six history is ultimately made and they become the iconic 1970’s band Daisy Jones & The Six.

My girl Daisy Jones has that ineffable and whimsical cool-girl quality that is difficult to emulate no matter how hard you try. Daisy Jones has the perfect balance of heartbreaking vulnerability and fierceness that at the end of the day all I want to do is hug her, tell her I love her and then dance alongside her to an Iggy Pop song! She is the girl that would be my ultimate concert buddy and that would totally rock out with me at a Coachella concert!

Janie Morris from Neanderthal Seeks Human…

Janie Morris is having the worst day of her life when she loses her apartment, job, and boyfriend all within a span of a day. Then she meets Sir McHotPants (aka Quinn Sullivan) who makes her an offer that changes everything…

My heart has a soft spot for Janie Morris because she was the first quirky character that I read about before I knew the word quirky was a trending thing at the time. Janie Moris is definitely a girl I can relate to in more than ways than one mainly because I tend to say the most awkward and off the wall things at inopportune times. I love Janie Moris because she is the epitome of adorkable and she is someone that can make me laugh simply for just being her geeky and random self! She is the perfect person to go “pretend knitting” with and swoon over her awkward encounters about Sir McHotPants!

Sloane from Since You’ve Been Gone…

 

The story begins when Emily receives a note with a list of thirteen things to accomplish for the summer. The only thing is that she has the list but her best friend has disappeared. “In a well-ordered universe” she would only accomplish things that are in her comfort zone…until she finally steps out of it and hugs random guys named Jamie and falls in love with an adorable red-head named Frank…

Sloane is the best friend that any introverted girl in high school could ask for! She lives her life on her own terms without a care in the world! She has an adventurous spirit and is the ultimate person you want to spend your summer with! Sloane comes up with the coolest summer activities such as going for a pizza crawl, finding the best cupcake in their town of Stanwich, and mapping out vintage flea markets in search for a nice pair of heart-shaped sunglasses. I love her passion for life and would totally watch a double feature of Troop Beverly Hills and Clueless with her while drinking soda from Twizzlers anytime!

Weetzie Bat from the Weetzie Bat Series…

Weetzie Bat is a magical realism story about a girl who lives in Shangri-La who is looking for more in her tiny sparkling universe. When she makes three wishes Weetzie realizes that life and especially love can be the most complicated of them all…

Weetzie Bat wears heart-shaped glasses and literally sees her Shangri-La world through “heart-shaped glasses.” She lives life to the fullest and she is the person you want to ride through the strip with while drinking pink champagne and eating pastrami burritos at Oki Dogs. Weetzie Bat is my inspiration growing up because she appreciated the beauty around her even when she was feeling the most pain in her life. She falls in love with the sexy and brooding filmmaker My Secret Agent Lover man who she shares heart-stopping kisses that taste like apple pie a la mode mixed with chocolate. Weetzie Bat is my muse, my inspiration, and when the world gets scary I try to adopt Weetzie Bat’s ability to simply see the beauty through the pain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Filed Under: Catfairy Categories<3, YA Book Lists Tagged: Book Girlfriends, Book Girlfriends I Would Ride or Die For, Book Girlfriends of Romance, francesca lia block, jenny han, morgan matson, Penny Reid, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Women's History Month

Waiting on Wednesday: Fake Plastic Girl by Zara Lisbon

March 20, 2019

Waiting on Wednesday was created by Breaking the Spine, and is now hosted by Wishful Endings (as Can’t Wait Wednesday). It’s a feature where they discuss one of the most anticipated upcoming book releases. The anticipated book release is Fake Plastic Girl by Zara Lisbon released on March 26, 2019! 

Catnopsis

Celebrity-studded parties that last long into the night. Camera flashes and designer clothes. And a body found floating in the Venice Beach canals.

But let’s start at the beginning.

Justine Childs is your average teenage girl, until the day ex-child-star Eva Kate Kelly moves in across the way. Eva Kate is gorgeous, seductive, and eager to invite Justine into her glittery world. Their relationship intensifies quickly, but there is a lot they aren’t telling each other, and in the midst of the whirlwind, a girl lies dead. Who killed Eva Kate? Justine swears her innocence—and she’d like you to hear her side of the story.

Why I’m Waiting

Lately, I have been in a California kick since reading Daisy Jones & the Six! This mystery novel set in the classic setting of Venice Beach where a gruesome murder occurs sounds like the ultimate read to feed my California addiction! The book cover is insta-love and the story seems to have a haunting Great Gatsby feel with a cool California vibe. The Great Gatsby is one of my top favorite classic novels and I am always drawn to Great Gatsby style retellings! I am not your typical mystery reader but the fact that this is set in California with a Great Gatsby-like essence sounds like the perfect elements of an unputdownable book! 

What is your can’t-wait-Wednesday book release?! Chat with me about your most anticipated releases for this year!

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Filed Under: Catfairy Categories<3, YA News Tagged: Great Gatsby Retelling, Great Gatsby Vibe, Rich Kids Murder Mystery, Unputdownable book, Venice Beach Murder, YA Thriller, Zara Lisbon

Baby-Sitters Club Reboot?!

March 7, 2019

Honestly, it feels like yesterday when I would sing the theme song to the 1990 tv show version of the Baby-Sitters Club! These books and the show always gives me nostalgic feelings because they are the reasons why I fell in love with reading in the first place! I was so obsessed with the Baby-Sitters Club growing up that I remember being in the fourth grade and begging my parents to start my very own Baby-Sitters club and of course they thought I was deranged because I was only ten-year-old at the time! 

When the Baby-Sitters Club movie came out in 1995, I was fangirling majorly especially since my favorite character Dawn of the Baby-Sitters Club was played by Larisa Olenick! At the time, I was a dedicated fan of The Secret World of Alex Mack and I would watch it religiously every week! 

The announcement was just released this Tuesday, March 5th that they are going to be doing a reboot of The Baby-Sitters Club with a ten-episode series on Netflix! I am glad they are doing a tv show reboot of The Baby-Sitters Club because although I loved the series as a kid, it was a show that was very much in its own time and the acting/writing was like a tacky afterschool special. It has been stated that the episodes will tackle modern issues that teen girls face today and I am so excited that they are promoting female entrepreneurship to inspire young girl everywhere!

 

 

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Filed Under: Catfairy Categories<3, YA News Tagged: Baby-Sitter Club Reboot, Baby-Sitters Club Netflix series, Female Entrepreneurship

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