Here's our moving vlog :''''') ruclips.net/video/_zIz4QhgxKk/видео.html Only the first 10 min of captions for this vid are done but i hope to finish them very soon!!
glad im not the only one who's been struggling recently with finishing books lately! maybe theres something in the air, ive been seeing it a lot lately.
six of crows feels like a book that a really talented author put her heart and soul into, and the familiar feels like a book that a really talented author wrote because she had to write a book. she clearly put a ton of thought and effort into it, but it's just missing that character work that i've gotten so used to with her
"She refused to take part in a human sacrifice. She didn't wanna be burned alive. Shame on her!" 😂🤣😂 In every video, there is a sentence that makes my day. 😄 Thank you. 🤭
A natural history of dragons is one of my favourite series. As a scientist I found it to be some of the best portrayal of the hunger for knowledge and love of science that I also feel, except in an exciting fantasy setting with dragons. And whilst it's true that at the start Isabella is ignorant, naive and a little reckless that's because we all were at some point, more or less, and her character growth throughout the series is extraordinary. You are seeing her converge into her older self to the point where at the last book you no longer see them as different people. In addition, the "dragon science" feels incredibly like actual science, just applied to dragons. The illustrations of the dragon anatomy are exquisite as well and the world building felt very real, in my opinion at least. But you know, different strokes for different folks.
The Jasmine Throne is one of my favorite epic fantasy novels of all time. It does take a bit to get into the rhythm of the story especially with the multiple pov’s but I think as the story progresses it helps a lot with giving the reader a wider context of the powers at play. If you are a mood reader like me though you do have to be in the mindset to consume a very politics heavy read. I would encourage you to pick it up again at some point because I do think you would like it. Also the 3rd and final book comes out in November!
Also I have DNF’ed the 2nd book twice despite enjoying it just because I haven’t been in the right mood lolll. I am currently trying to read it again and I haven’t been able to put it down!
I liked The Jasmine Throne, but haven't started on the 2nd book yet (it's on the shelf tho). I agree it was big on political intrigue. I read it on vacation and could just chill out and give it my full attention, which helped I think.
I love the new background omg!!! Also some books I’m reading: -Legendborn (per seeing u recommend it) -Song of Achilles (too emotionally unprepared for the ending) -Lightbringer by Pierce Brown -Dune (I have been reading this for months now) -All The Young Dudes (I am absolutely obsessed with this book it’s amazing)
feel you so hard on the “taking months to read” Dune- i don’t know why but there are so many parts that feel like filler and i can’t focus enough for it 😭
it's so interesting to see the differing thoughts about the familiar!! i loved it because of the historical context and themes (i'm portuguese and a lot of our history parallels spanish history, especially during this time period), and my reading of the relationships ended up being filtered through that lens of repression and things unsaid (for me the off-page development felt like an extension of that secrecy and concealment), but i do see where it would feel underwhelming, particularly in contrast to her other novels! my main gripe with the book was its length, i think we needed a slower pacing throughout and a more drawn-out ending, but overall i really liked it!
I have been reading my way through the murderbot diaries as per your recommendation, and omg I’m eating them up! They’re so good!! Thanks for the rec because I likely wouldn’t have picked them up otherwise
Butter was my recent favourite but I totally understand the DNF, as someone who grew up in east Asia but moved to a western country during puberty, I felt very grateful that I didn’t have too much traumatic experiences with weight related issues compared to my friends back home. But I do think Butter sent me the positive message I need to evaluate my relationship with my own weight, it is so on point and profound for me! Also I loved the second half of the book a lot! The thriller’s element ticked in and I was over the moon. I also love the message Butter wanted to convey about modern relationships and friendship, how we don’t always need to put romantic’s relationship as our top priority. And the human connections and friendships I have seen in this book gave me so much encouragement to navigate the world and form meaningful relationships with people I truly care.
Your remarks have encouraged me to pick this up soon. I got the ebook and was unsure if/when I would read it because I'm prioritizing physical books in 2024.
off the page is an interestinggg place for relationship development! crossing my fingers that when the familiar comes in from the library that I can cruise through it on vibes because my hopes are so high!!!
I feel like The Tainted Cup is best read on audio. The narrator does a fantastic job of bringing out how campy the story is. I laughed out loud throughout, which is unusual for me.
Took your rec for Untethered Sky and I came back to say that omg, it did not disappoint. Loved the ending, I love it when authors break expectations. It hurt, but it hurt so good!
i absolutely loved the fox wife!! i’m so glad i made it my book of the month pick because it’s the type of book that i would have tagged as interested in at the library but then taken so long to get to, but because i had a physical copy i started it right away! it was my roman empire for like two months after i finished it 😂😂
I loooved The Will of the Many. But yeah, I told everyone I talked to that it was a Roman inspired fantasy about an MLM but set in a school. I think what really made it work for me is that I had just finished Crescent City 3 and so reading a book where secret plans and hidden motives are actually well written was a breath of fresh air.
Cari is so beautiful, the background doesn't matter! Thanx for these book recs! I purchased two of these books. One had already been a close consideration. Another new close one also emerged from what you mentioned!!!
I love the Coldest Girl in Coldtown! It's my favorite Holly Black Book of all time. To me, the plot isn't dumb it's just simple? Its like a slice of life of the MC trying to live her best in this world Holly Black created, and to me even the "coincidences" in the story were set up in a way that it made sense for them to happen. Tana was a great MC and to me she was very smart and reacted/took actions in a way that made sense. I totally agree with you on the atmosphere and world, it's really really well done and enjoyable. The romance to me, actually had a solid foundation on the MMC's side and on Tana's side it felt like she was being impulsive/"just wanted to have some fun" at the start that started growing into more, so even though Romances aren't my thing, it was believable to me. I also liked the exploration of the theme of Identity throughout the book, with a secondary main theme of acceptance, and the use of those themes as "frameworks" to explore sub themes like love and mortality. Sorry for the long comment XD I love to think about things and thus tend to "hyper-analyze" whatever I read, even "popcorn" books. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown was so fun to think about! I just wanted to share some thoughts :)
Thanks for that comment! I also enjoyed the book. I think it's the most haptic of Holly's (even though I love her Faerie novels to death). It was the first vampire story I've read, so my expectations were... rather low as it never was really my jam, and I was very pleasantly surprised. I loved the world-building and it hit me hard reading the book post-Covid.
I am sooooo happy to hear you were board with A Natural History Of Dragons, I was starting to feel like i was the only one. I literally picked it up because 1) I LOVE dragons; and 2) I just finished Emily Wild's Encyclopedia of Fairies as well. I stopped reading at the 100 page mark and switched to the audio book from Libby, so I could just finish it . And to think I almost bought all 5 books because EVERYONE said it was so good.
Book taste really is so individual xD A Natural History of Dragons was 3,5 stars but book 4 and 5 in that series were 5 star reads for me while I slugged through Emily Wilde and would have DNFed if I didn’t listen on audio while doing other things and therefore won‘t continue the series :D
Personally, I liked "The will of the many" a lot because of how analytical the main character was. I enjoyed reading his reasoning and was awed many times by his choices. They were always the right choices!! It was exciting reading about a smart main character for once ( I know, the bar is in hell 😭😭). Other than that, I liked the metaphor of the pyramid scheme, making everyone responsible for that society. Even the ones on the bottom.
I just finished What the River Knows and it was pretty fun! Now I'm in the middle of Notes on an Execution and absolutely devouring it, loving it so far!
I really liked The Tainted Cup because I thought it deviated enough from the OG material to count as a retelling but not too much that it felt disconnected
Yes! Thank you for saying that the love between the characters in Not In Love is too physical. I agree with you completely Cari. It was a huge turn off for me. Definitely not my favorite out of Ali’s books. 23:00 I ate this up too, it was SO good ! I hope there is a sequel. Thanks for the recommendation! 27:21 I liked this book a lot. 31:08 I found the writing of this so fascinating and engaging. Leigh Bardugo is amazing! 37:52 Lost interest in this at 50%. 42:54 Ann Patchett is one of my favorite authors of the year. Her books are so atmospheric and engaging. Bel Canto is my favorite out the books I’ve read of hers. Love you so much!❤
I read Silver Under Nightfall because of your recommendation and it was everything I wanted in a vampire mystery romance. There is a lot more emotional building toward the end and maybe that is too far for you, but it kind of makes sense to me that Remy is emotionally adverse and responds more to physical connection. Also as a poly person, this is really fun and accurate to an already established couple taking on another lover. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it, it's probably my new favorite duology so thank you, I would have struggled to find this without you.
For a moment there when you were talking about fragile animals i felt like we were gonna have a 'kurt is a vampire' reveal moment. glad you're safe, best wishes.
It’s 0:23am, when i definitely should be asleep… however this is perfect timing so looks like im staying up to watch hehe! Thank you for all your content, Cari! I hope the rest of the moving goes well :)
i expected so much more of the familiar since leigh claimed it was her favorite thing she’d ever written, and six of crows is one of the best book series I’ve read across any demographic. i agree with others that it fell short, but i think we need to remember that “favorite work” doesn’t mean “best work”. she may really like it because she got attached to the characters, or it represented her culture in a way she could publish. six of crows is her best, but she may not feel a strong emotional attachment that causes her to proclaim it her favorite like the familiar. i’m glad she wrote something she liked even if it didn’t hit as hard for some of us. and i learned that important lesson that favorite doesn’t mean best from this book.
Spoiler warning - discussion below. In terms of the Familiar, I really appreciated how Bardugo explored hunger and desire, to rise by any means to be powerful and influential as the reader is taken through Luzia's dull daily routine that is suddenly changed by reckless action. The exploration of classism, religion and the historical moment was perfection, I agree the atmosphere was well thought out, the man attempting to stay in the kings favour mirrored her journey in some ways as well. In terms of the characters, I liked how the focus was on female interaction, between her Aunt, her mistress of the household and the prophet she meets, how they morphed through the story. In comparison, her relationship with the scorpion was subtle but I felt was pretty clear from their tension, the defiance in her language around him, and how he is brought literally back to life by her. The distance between sexes felt historical as well? But anyway, I felt the themes were great and particularly adored the ending.
33:12 The Familiar is a book that you need to have a lot of time for in my opinion. I caught the tension between the two main characters and thought it was a solid 3.5 (almost 4 stars). I had a couple of long flights so I read it then. I think if I was casually reading it before bed or for 30 min to an hour there, I would have been bogged down by it and felt it drag a bit.
I was super convinced by your recc for Butter and i got it! Really enjoy reading it but its pretty intense to read. Im not surprised that you stopped reading it. Fun video ❤
i just finished reading The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert and ohhh my god it was so good!! it’s like a fairy tale supernatural mystery (???), i’ve never read anything like it. it was amazingly written, the characters were easy to connect to and love and i cannot stop thinking about it, HUGE 10/10 for me!
the way my eyebrows show up when you said you ordered a copy of Fragile Animals. Hoping my hold on it comes in soon because it sounds really intriguing
I always love watching these videos! I didn't notice any noisiness when you opened your window! Can't wait to see what set up you end up doing for your books
This was so cozy to listen to/watch while I'm recovering from the tail end of a cold 😊 With regards to the audio- honest opinion is there is a bit of noise in this video, not a deal breaker and was able to tune it out. However, my FAVORITE audio you've done is when you had a hand held mic and spoke into it while doing your ACOTAR summary videos- I had out those on repeat a few months ago while working on a stressful project, and the CRISP audio with the hand held moc was just EVERYTHING... if you would consider holding a hand held mic for these sit down videos, I would ENSURE that I watch EVERY single one, and likely more than once! 😍
I absolutely LOVED The Coldest Girl in Cold Town. It’s so well written that I was completely immersed in the story and read the whole thing in one sitting. I was slightly disoriented when I stopped reading and had to come back to reality. I thought it was such a usual idea to bring this fantasy into juxtaposition with today’s (2013) underbelly, and they fit together so well. I think Holly Black weaves reality and fantasy together well in her books and haven’t read one yet that I didn’t like. Btw, I could only just hear the fan at the end and it was actually quite nice, not intrusive at all. 😊
Sounds fine. I will read The Familiar because I haven't read anything else of Leigh's surprisingly. I had a sever reading slump so I read The Midnight Sun , nearly 700 pages, LOL! It worked, familiar enough but different enough. I'll try The Whispering Dark and Fragile Animals.
catalina sounded like it was throwing shade at anthropology professors but no one writes about anthropology (correctly, at least) so imagine my surprise when i googled the summary! definitely going on my tbr
lol yes!! definitely interesting to see how certain anthro students/professors (in the book…and probs irl) will be interested in “the culture” but not the actual people
it might be because I just haven’t read much or at least can’t remember much (lol) but I read the sample for Fragile Animals and the voice of that book is so unique lol. I’m positive there’s weirder out there but just overall, very interesting!!
I read Bel Canto recently. I completely agree! I really did not care for the epilogue. I suspect you may enjoy some of Ann Patchett's other works. I would especially recommend Tom Lake. It is narrated by Meryl Streep. Dutch House by the same author is narrated by Tom Hanks. Both are good, but Tom Lake is so quietly beautiful.Highly recommend the audiobooks for these two particular books.
I read a few good books in April. I reread Carrie on April 5th for the 50th anniversary (just don't bring up the movie), I then read The Running Man, then read Roadwork, and I just started The Tommyknockers on the last day of April.
Cari I NEED to hear your thoughts on Nights Edge and First Light by Liz Kerin. It’s a competed duology, vampires + sapphic love + difficult mother / daughter relationship. I devoured it!!
I mostly read books written by women, not intentionally but because i feel like women write about things I’m actually interested in, or from a perspective that best captures my interest. So because of this, i don’t see any issue with men mostly or only reading men. People should be able to freely explore and engage their preferences without judgement.
Yes but you dont look down on people reading books by other authors. The people im talking about specifically think that cishet male authors are superior and thats a problem.
YAY NEW HOME!!! thank you for the reviews, i love hearing ur recs and what you have to say! Ah! The background sound didn’t bother me btw, I was too focused on what you were saying to rly notice it so you are fine
More short book recs: The Past is Red by Catherynne M Valente, Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor, and Mossa & Pleiti series by Malka Ann Older. The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill was also good but pretty intense.
I had an ARC of "The Tainted Cup" and ended up giving it 3.5 stars. It was fine, the magic system was cool, but I didn't connect very strongly with anything or anyone else, I've already forgotten a lot of it. I had no idea it was being hyped up until I watched this and then went to Goodreads and saw it has almost 10k reviews saying "RBJ HAS DONE IT AGAIN!" like, ok....done what? lol. I also just finished "Butter" and was low-key nervous when I saw on StoryGraphy you'd DNFed it! It really was heavily (no pun intended) weight-focused. I ended up giving it 3 stars, I liked the topic and the writing but it was SO long and very introspective, so felt slow. The marketing focusing so much on the crime journalism aspect felt misleading to me, and then there was not the resolution I wanted from something I spent so much time reading. So, IMO, you didn't miss a ton. I liked "Your Blood, My Bones" but had some strong opinions about certain elements, so I'm curious to hear your thoughts!
Sound check seemed totally fine with the door open! I'm glad you finally put to words what put me off The Familiar lol. Also something about the detached-ness of the writing style made it a bit hard for me to get through. i ended up having to get the audiobook to finish it 🤐
Ah, blessed are the mornings I wake up to a new Cari video to keep me company at breakfast! 🙏❤ PS: Excited for your new place btw, I'm looking forward to all the new book recs, life updates and shenanigans happening there. 😉🥰
I just binged Ninth House and Hell bent for the past two days (absolutely loved them), hopefully they don’t put me in a slump cause they were so good😭. Congrats on moving🎉!
I need motivation to read hell bent😭 ninth house was so hyped up and i gave it a 4.25 stars but I don't remember anything. Looking back I'm like "did I really like it?" I should put hell bent on my tbr though😅
@@-brxken-7789 i read hell bent a couple days after ninth house. i was so hooked on the story and tension between Alex and Darlington. Hell Bent is a really good second book and I really enjoyed the cinematic aspect of the series. It dragged, but only because I was so invested in what was going to happen. Highly anticipating book three, especially after Hell Bent!
@@morganhyde3225 all I remember was that Darlington or whatever he's called was hot. And demons🤷💀 I think that's enough reason to continue honestly. Oh yeah and that MC was thirsting over his feet
Silver under nightfall was one of my fave books of last year, but I went into it knowing about the polyamory-romance aspect of it. The sequel is also really good, with far more plot!
I also recently dnf’d Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson. The first two books in the series were really good but they are mammoths to finish 😭 so yeah looking forward to all your recommendations 💕
thats a vibe, I didn't dnf it but oathbringer was definitely the SA book that took the most out of me to finish even though it has one of my favourite scenes in the entire series
to anyone who has read five broken blades, first of all, did u enjoy it and second of all did it have any smut/kissing? It sounds like an interesting story but I don’t want to accidentally read smut.
I enjoyed The Tainted Cup! But it for suuuure dragged on a bit more than it needed to. Wasnt perfect but I am still thinking back on it a month laterr. The story, characters, world, etc were so cool and we didn't get enough. Hoping the next book gives more of that🤞
Okay i randomly found coldtown and i pretty much agree. It also made me feel like creeped out a little!!! Idk how else to explain it but i was reading at night and i was looking around my apartment a lot. I had so much fun w that book. It felt like 2013 so much to me too hahahah
at the beginning of april i read My Year of Rest and Relaxation which def put me in a slump. didn’t pick up another book til a few days ago. i binged Legendborn and am almost done with Bloodmarked so yay!
If you wanna give an oldie but goodie Gothic book you should give The Monstrumologist series a try!! Think monster horror with Gothic and existential elements, a coming of age story with flawed characters and an overarching mystery!! A YA series that doesnt feel YA at all! It's one of my favorites that came out a decade ago that didn't get a lot of attention! Not a perfect Siri, but an incredible series. One of my favorite series of all time, maybe my absolute favorite! Not perfect but so good!! Also A Monster Calls is a stand alone coming of age about a child coming to terms with his rage and grief. So so good!!
I haven’t read The Familiar yet, but I’ve been really looking forward to reading it because the main character is Jewish and it takes place during the Spanish Inquisition. My family is Moroccan and a lot of Jews were persecuted and banished from Spain during that time, so there is a chance that is where my family came from hundreds of years ago. I also haven’t read another Leigh Bardugo book yet so I feel like I would enjoy it more before I’ve read Six of Crows, right? 😅
It was a real struggle to finish The Familiar 😢 to many characters and I had no connection to any of them. Only finished it cause it was a Leigh book. 🤷♀️
![Noob To Max With DRAGON REWORK In Blox Fruits [FULL MOVIE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LnBMOinoOvA/mqdefault.jpg)
Here's our moving vlog :''''') ruclips.net/video/_zIz4QhgxKk/видео.html
Only the first 10 min of captions for this vid are done but i hope to finish them very soon!!
Its been a Big Emotions week over here already I feel VERY unprepared for this change omg
can we help make captions? i love these videos & have some time to help typing!
6:27 All I can think about when you talk about this is the Friends episode where Monica teaches Chandler about the seven erogenous zones.
NEW HOME WOOOOOO
going to need you to come back and bestow some bookshelf wisdom on me and my one broken ikea shelf :')
AHHH i cannot wait for all the jack and cari content!!! 😻
glad im not the only one who's been struggling recently with finishing books lately! maybe theres something in the air, ive been seeing it a lot lately.
maybe the changing of the seasons/weather but who knows haha i just want to have a good reading month :''')
The books have not been good this year. Hoping 2nd Half turns it around.
Maybe Mercury is in Gatorade or something
@@machinegunlament lollll retrogade
I thought it was just me 😭
six of crows feels like a book that a really talented author put her heart and soul into, and the familiar feels like a book that a really talented author wrote because she had to write a book. she clearly put a ton of thought and effort into it, but it's just missing that character work that i've gotten so used to with her
"She refused to take part in a human sacrifice. She didn't wanna be burned alive. Shame on her!" 😂🤣😂 In every video, there is a sentence that makes my day. 😄 Thank you. 🤭
To those struggling to read in april i just wanna thank you for giving me your energy for reading i finally got to read after years of yearning.
A natural history of dragons is one of my favourite series. As a scientist I found it to be some of the best portrayal of the hunger for knowledge and love of science that I also feel, except in an exciting fantasy setting with dragons. And whilst it's true that at the start Isabella is ignorant, naive and a little reckless that's because we all were at some point, more or less, and her character growth throughout the series is extraordinary. You are seeing her converge into her older self to the point where at the last book you no longer see them as different people. In addition, the "dragon science" feels incredibly like actual science, just applied to dragons. The illustrations of the dragon anatomy are exquisite as well and the world building felt very real, in my opinion at least.
But you know, different strokes for different folks.
Yeah I feel the first book is weaker because she is so reliant on the people around her whereas in the later books she has much more independence
Didn’t notice any sound issues or noise on my end! Love the glimpse of the new room! Congrats on the move! 🎉
The Jasmine Throne is one of my favorite epic fantasy novels of all time. It does take a bit to get into the rhythm of the story especially with the multiple pov’s but I think as the story progresses it helps a lot with giving the reader a wider context of the powers at play. If you are a mood reader like me though you do have to be in the mindset to consume a very politics heavy read. I would encourage you to pick it up again at some point because I do think you would like it. Also the 3rd and final book comes out in November!
Also I have DNF’ed the 2nd book twice despite enjoying it just because I haven’t been in the right mood lolll. I am currently trying to read it again and I haven’t been able to put it down!
Hmm never heard of it. What's it about?
I talk about it in this video :') hahahha
Yeah i could feel myself losing concentration and this is NOT a book where you can do that so its a soft dnf, a 'will return later' dnf :')
I liked The Jasmine Throne, but haven't started on the 2nd book yet (it's on the shelf tho). I agree it was big on political intrigue. I read it on vacation and could just chill out and give it my full attention, which helped I think.
I love the new background omg!!!
Also some books I’m reading:
-Legendborn (per seeing u recommend it)
-Song of Achilles (too emotionally unprepared for the ending)
-Lightbringer by Pierce Brown
-Dune (I have been reading this for months now)
-All The Young Dudes (I am absolutely obsessed with this book it’s amazing)
yesssss legendborn!!!
feel you so hard on the “taking months to read” Dune- i don’t know why but there are so many parts that feel like filler and i can’t focus enough for it 😭
@ Dune: i really enjoyed co-reading Dune. There is a podcast called Gom Jabber where every 50p are discussed.
"Multiple ring walls and giant monsters that try to destroy the wall and eat you" sounds like Attack on Titan to me 😂
What book was that?
Yes, same thought over here! So The Tainted Cup is just Paradis with water instead of grasslands.
@@lucycallaway7613 Attack on Titan ? That's the name of a Japanese manga and its anime adaptation.
@@DragonHeart29 thank you. I found out already but thank you for bothering to tell me.
@@lucycallaway7613 Sorry, I answered as soon as I saw the comment 😅 I didn't get a notification for it.
it's so interesting to see the differing thoughts about the familiar!! i loved it because of the historical context and themes (i'm portuguese and a lot of our history parallels spanish history, especially during this time period), and my reading of the relationships ended up being filtered through that lens of repression and things unsaid (for me the off-page development felt like an extension of that secrecy and concealment), but i do see where it would feel underwhelming, particularly in contrast to her other novels! my main gripe with the book was its length, i think we needed a slower pacing throughout and a more drawn-out ending, but overall i really liked it!
I have been reading my way through the murderbot diaries as per your recommendation, and omg I’m eating them up! They’re so good!! Thanks for the rec because I likely wouldn’t have picked them up otherwise
Butter was my recent favourite but I totally understand the DNF, as someone who grew up in east Asia but moved to a western country during puberty, I felt very grateful that I didn’t have too much traumatic experiences with weight related issues compared to my friends back home. But I do think Butter sent me the positive message I need to evaluate my relationship with my own weight, it is so on point and profound for me! Also I loved the second half of the book a lot! The thriller’s element ticked in and I was over the moon. I also love the message Butter wanted to convey about modern relationships and friendship, how we don’t always need to put romantic’s relationship as our top priority. And the human connections and friendships I have seen in this book gave me so much encouragement to navigate the world and form meaningful relationships with people I truly care.
Your remarks have encouraged me to pick this up soon. I got the ebook and was unsure if/when I would read it because I'm prioritizing physical books in 2024.
I cannot believe you ACTUALLY read Butcher & Blackbird. 😂😂😂 You’re a trooper.
if my fairy bookmother says read it, i read it!!!
I’ve read that book and cannot eat cookies and cream ice cream with a straight face to save my life.
We were here for the vampire mystery but all we got was vampire smut.
off the page is an interestinggg place for relationship development! crossing my fingers that when the familiar comes in from the library that I can cruise through it on vibes because my hopes are so high!!!
yeah i really wanted more from the relationship but the general atmosphere and plot of the book was good enough to carry my attention!!
Hi Cari! Can't wait for the video of saturday haha so excited for your new apartment, so happy for you and Kurt 🎉
i cant wait to share!! and thank you!!
I feel like The Tainted Cup is best read on audio. The narrator does a fantastic job of bringing out how campy the story is. I laughed out loud throughout, which is unusual for me.
Took your rec for Untethered Sky and I came back to say that omg, it did not disappoint. Loved the ending, I love it when authors break expectations. It hurt, but it hurt so good!
Im so glad you mentioned the talk of weight in Butter, i had that on my TBR but will most definitely give it a miss...
cari video just saved my bad day
hope tomorrow is a good day!!
i absolutely loved the fox wife!! i’m so glad i made it my book of the month pick because it’s the type of book that i would have tagged as interested in at the library but then taken so long to get to, but because i had a physical copy i started it right away! it was my roman empire for like two months after i finished it 😂😂
I loooved The Will of the Many. But yeah, I told everyone I talked to that it was a Roman inspired fantasy about an MLM but set in a school. I think what really made it work for me is that I had just finished Crescent City 3 and so reading a book where secret plans and hidden motives are actually well written was a breath of fresh air.
Cari is so beautiful, the background doesn't matter! Thanx for these book recs! I purchased two of these books. One had already been a close consideration. Another new close one also emerged from what you mentioned!!!
I love the Coldest Girl in Coldtown! It's my favorite Holly Black Book of all time. To me, the plot isn't dumb it's just simple? Its like a slice of life of the MC trying to live her best in this world Holly Black created, and to me even the "coincidences" in the story were set up in a way that it made sense for them to happen. Tana was a great MC and to me she was very smart and reacted/took actions in a way that made sense. I totally agree with you on the atmosphere and world, it's really really well done and enjoyable. The romance to me, actually had a solid foundation on the MMC's side and on Tana's side it felt like she was being impulsive/"just wanted to have some fun" at the start that started growing into more, so even though Romances aren't my thing, it was believable to me. I also liked the exploration of the theme of Identity throughout the book, with a secondary main theme of acceptance, and the use of those themes as "frameworks" to explore sub themes like love and mortality.
Sorry for the long comment XD I love to think about things and thus tend to "hyper-analyze" whatever I read, even "popcorn" books. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown was so fun to think about! I just wanted to share some thoughts :)
Thanks for that comment!
I also enjoyed the book. I think it's the most haptic of Holly's (even though I love her Faerie novels to death). It was the first vampire story I've read, so my expectations were... rather low as it never was really my jam, and I was very pleasantly surprised. I loved the world-building and it hit me hard reading the book post-Covid.
read all of the raven cycle…… obsessed. i just. cant put to words. LOVE
I am sooooo happy to hear you were board with A Natural History Of Dragons, I was starting to feel like i was the only one. I literally picked it up because 1) I LOVE dragons; and 2) I just finished Emily Wild's Encyclopedia of Fairies as well. I stopped reading at the 100 page mark and switched to the audio book from Libby, so I could just finish it . And to think I almost bought all 5 books because EVERYONE said it was so good.
Book taste really is so individual xD A Natural History of Dragons was 3,5 stars but book 4 and 5 in that series were 5 star reads for me while I slugged through Emily Wilde and would have DNFed if I didn’t listen on audio while doing other things and therefore won‘t continue the series :D
I love the artwork next to you! Literally adorable
Personally, I liked "The will of the many" a lot because of how analytical the main character was. I enjoyed reading his reasoning and was awed many times by his choices. They were always the right choices!! It was exciting reading about a smart main character for once ( I know, the bar is in hell 😭😭). Other than that, I liked the metaphor of the pyramid scheme, making everyone responsible for that society. Even the ones on the bottom.
Yes! It is so rare for a main character to make smart choices. I loved that as well.
The background noise at the end was calming actually 😅😅
It's been years but I remember loving The Coldest Girl in Coldtown.
I read it recently and absolutely LOVED it too. In fact I haven’t found any book of Holly Black’s that I haven’t loved, at least yet 😊
I just finished What the River Knows and it was pretty fun! Now I'm in the middle of Notes on an Execution and absolutely devouring it, loving it so far!
I really liked The Tainted Cup because I thought it deviated enough from the OG material to count as a retelling but not too much that it felt disconnected
Cari, you’re practically glowing! And you seem higher energy too. It’s probably the move, right? So happy and exited for you 🤍
Yes!
Thank you for saying that the love between the characters in Not In Love is too physical. I agree with you completely Cari. It was a huge turn off for me. Definitely not my favorite out of Ali’s books.
23:00 I ate this up too, it was SO good ! I hope there is a sequel. Thanks for the recommendation!
27:21 I liked this book a lot.
31:08 I found the writing of this so fascinating and engaging. Leigh Bardugo is amazing!
37:52 Lost interest in this at 50%.
42:54 Ann Patchett is one of my favorite authors of the year. Her books are so atmospheric and engaging. Bel Canto is my favorite out the books I’ve read of hers.
Love you so much!❤
I read Silver Under Nightfall because of your recommendation and it was everything I wanted in a vampire mystery romance. There is a lot more emotional building toward the end and maybe that is too far for you, but it kind of makes sense to me that Remy is emotionally adverse and responds more to physical connection. Also as a poly person, this is really fun and accurate to an already established couple taking on another lover. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it, it's probably my new favorite duology so thank you, I would have struggled to find this without you.
For a moment there when you were talking about fragile animals i felt like we were gonna have a 'kurt is a vampire' reveal moment. glad you're safe, best wishes.
It’s 0:23am, when i definitely should be asleep… however this is perfect timing so looks like im staying up to watch hehe! Thank you for all your content, Cari! I hope the rest of the moving goes well :)
i expected so much more of the familiar since leigh claimed it was her favorite thing she’d ever written, and six of crows is one of the best book series I’ve read across any demographic. i agree with others that it fell short, but i think we need to remember that “favorite work” doesn’t mean “best work”. she may really like it because she got attached to the characters, or it represented her culture in a way she could publish. six of crows is her best, but she may not feel a strong emotional attachment that causes her to proclaim it her favorite like the familiar. i’m glad she wrote something she liked even if it didn’t hit as hard for some of us. and i learned that important lesson that favorite doesn’t mean best from this book.
thank you for book inspo! i’ve been struggling so bad with finishing new books that i’ve reverted back to rereading comfort books 😅
Spoiler warning - discussion below.
In terms of the Familiar, I really appreciated how Bardugo explored hunger and desire, to rise by any means to be powerful and influential as the reader is taken through Luzia's dull daily routine that is suddenly changed by reckless action. The exploration of classism, religion and the historical moment was perfection, I agree the atmosphere was well thought out, the man attempting to stay in the kings favour mirrored her journey in some ways as well. In terms of the characters, I liked how the focus was on female interaction, between her Aunt, her mistress of the household and the prophet she meets, how they morphed through the story. In comparison, her relationship with the scorpion was subtle but I felt was pretty clear from their tension, the defiance in her language around him, and how he is brought literally back to life by her. The distance between sexes felt historical as well? But anyway, I felt the themes were great and particularly adored the ending.
Love the background! So excited to see how it evolves as you settle in more in the new apartment 🥳😍
33:12 The Familiar is a book that you need to have a lot of time for in my opinion. I caught the tension between the two main characters and thought it was a solid 3.5 (almost 4 stars). I had a couple of long flights so I read it then. I think if I was casually reading it before bed or for 30 min to an hour there, I would have been bogged down by it and felt it drag a bit.
Windows open sounded totally fine, and I empathize with the stuffy sweaty apartment woes. Get that breeze!!!!
Listening to you talk about books, what a great way to wrap up my day ❤❤❤
Oh yes I was waiting for this one💌
thank you for being hereeee haha
@@caricanread thank your for your work and your amazing recs!!!
I was super convinced by your recc for Butter and i got it! Really enjoy reading it but its pretty intense to read. Im not surprised that you stopped reading it. Fun video ❤
i just finished reading The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert and ohhh my god it was so good!! it’s like a fairy tale supernatural mystery (???), i’ve never read anything like it. it was amazingly written, the characters were easy to connect to and love and i cannot stop thinking about it, HUGE 10/10 for me!
the way my eyebrows show up when you said you ordered a copy of Fragile Animals. Hoping my hold on it comes in soon because it sounds really intriguing
the coldest girl in coldtown is the downright most edgy tumblr girl emo twilight ahh book ive ever read, and it's really fun.
I always love watching these videos! I didn't notice any noisiness when you opened your window! Can't wait to see what set up you end up doing for your books
This was so cozy to listen to/watch while I'm recovering from the tail end of a cold 😊
With regards to the audio- honest opinion is there is a bit of noise in this video, not a deal breaker and was able to tune it out. However, my FAVORITE audio you've done is when you had a hand held mic and spoke into it while doing your ACOTAR summary videos- I had out those on repeat a few months ago while working on a stressful project, and the CRISP audio with the hand held moc was just EVERYTHING... if you would consider holding a hand held mic for these sit down videos, I would ENSURE that I watch EVERY single one, and likely more than once! 😍
I absolutely LOVED The Coldest Girl in Cold Town. It’s so well written that I was completely immersed in the story and read the whole thing in one sitting. I was slightly disoriented when I stopped reading and had to come back to reality. I thought it was such a usual idea to bring this fantasy into juxtaposition with today’s (2013) underbelly, and they fit together so well. I think Holly Black weaves reality and fantasy together well in her books and haven’t read one yet that I didn’t like. Btw, I could only just hear the fan at the end and it was actually quite nice, not intrusive at all. 😊
Sounds fine. I will read The Familiar because I haven't read anything else of Leigh's surprisingly. I had a sever reading slump so I read The Midnight Sun , nearly 700 pages, LOL! It worked, familiar enough but different enough. I'll try The Whispering Dark and Fragile Animals.
Congratulations on the move!! 🎉🎉 The sound is great, not noisy at all!
catalina sounded like it was throwing shade at anthropology professors but no one writes about anthropology (correctly, at least) so imagine my surprise when i googled the summary! definitely going on my tbr
lol yes!! definitely interesting to see how certain anthro students/professors (in the book…and probs irl) will be interested in “the culture” but not the actual people
Heyhey love the new room! Excited for this video, bookreading will get better!
thank you!!!
I could hear the fan when you pointed it out and paused for us to listen, but i didn’t notice at all before!
it might be because I just haven’t read much or at least can’t remember much (lol) but I read the sample for Fragile Animals and the voice of that book is so unique lol. I’m positive there’s weirder out there but just overall, very interesting!!
Thanks for the review and congratulations on the new home! (Not noisy at all, I didn't even notice the background noise before you mentionned it^^)
I read Bel Canto recently. I completely agree! I really did not care for the epilogue. I suspect you may enjoy some of Ann Patchett's other works. I would especially recommend Tom Lake. It is narrated by Meryl Streep. Dutch House by the same author is narrated by Tom Hanks. Both are good, but Tom Lake is so quietly beautiful.Highly recommend the audiobooks for these two particular books.
As someone who LOVES Jasmine Throne, i DNFed both the first and second book before getting through it
Yeah i feel like its going to be the same for me 🥲 a lot of my favs were dnfs at first so im not losing hope!
I read a few good books in April. I reread Carrie on April 5th for the 50th anniversary (just don't bring up the movie), I then read The Running Man, then read Roadwork, and I just started The Tommyknockers on the last day of April.
🎉🎉🎉
cari your new apartment looks amazing, i’m so happy for you!! happy friday (for me - just!) 💓💕💗💞
thank you :'''''') and hope you have a lovely weekend!
Cari I NEED to hear your thoughts on Nights Edge and First Light by Liz Kerin. It’s a competed duology, vampires + sapphic love + difficult mother / daughter relationship. I devoured it!!
Really love listening to this while cooking, like a podcast!
It sounds pretty good! You are good at editing!
I mostly read books written by women, not intentionally but because i feel like women write about things I’m actually interested in, or from a perspective that best captures my interest. So because of this, i don’t see any issue with men mostly or only reading men. People should be able to freely explore and engage their preferences without judgement.
Yes but you dont look down on people reading books by other authors. The people im talking about specifically think that cishet male authors are superior and thats a problem.
During the little sound test at the end, sounded fine to me!
YAY NEW HOME!!! thank you for the reviews, i love hearing ur recs and what you have to say!
Ah! The background sound didn’t bother me btw, I was too focused on what you were saying to rly notice it so you are fine
More short book recs: The Past is Red by Catherynne M Valente, Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor, and Mossa & Pleiti series by Malka Ann Older. The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill was also good but pretty intense.
A NEW CARI VIDEO YAAASSSSS
Cari reading Butcher & Blackbird was NOT on my 2024 bingo card 😂😂
I’m reading The Wager right now and I’m loving it!
I am currently reading the Last Tale of the Flower Bride and loving it so far)
I had an ARC of "The Tainted Cup" and ended up giving it 3.5 stars. It was fine, the magic system was cool, but I didn't connect very strongly with anything or anyone else, I've already forgotten a lot of it. I had no idea it was being hyped up until I watched this and then went to Goodreads and saw it has almost 10k reviews saying "RBJ HAS DONE IT AGAIN!" like, ok....done what? lol.
I also just finished "Butter" and was low-key nervous when I saw on StoryGraphy you'd DNFed it! It really was heavily (no pun intended) weight-focused. I ended up giving it 3 stars, I liked the topic and the writing but it was SO long and very introspective, so felt slow. The marketing focusing so much on the crime journalism aspect felt misleading to me, and then there was not the resolution I wanted from something I spent so much time reading. So, IMO, you didn't miss a ton.
I liked "Your Blood, My Bones" but had some strong opinions about certain elements, so I'm curious to hear your thoughts!
Sound check seemed totally fine with the door open!
I'm glad you finally put to words what put me off The Familiar lol. Also something about the detached-ness of the writing style made it a bit hard for me to get through. i ended up having to get the audiobook to finish it 🤐
I have the polar opposite reaction to The Familiar, the more I think about it (which is not much, really), the less I like it.
Ah, blessed are the mornings I wake up to a new Cari video to keep me company at breakfast! 🙏❤
PS: Excited for your new place btw, I'm looking forward to all the new book recs, life updates and shenanigans happening there. 😉🥰
I just binged Ninth House and Hell bent for the past two days (absolutely loved them), hopefully they don’t put me in a slump cause they were so good😭. Congrats on moving🎉!
I need motivation to read hell bent😭 ninth house was so hyped up and i gave it a 4.25 stars but I don't remember anything. Looking back I'm like "did I really like it?" I should put hell bent on my tbr though😅
@@-brxken-7789 i read hell bent a couple days after ninth house. i was so hooked on the story and tension between Alex and Darlington. Hell Bent is a really good second book and I really enjoyed the cinematic aspect of the series. It dragged, but only because I was so invested in what was going to happen. Highly anticipating book three, especially after Hell Bent!
@@norarose302 Ooooo maybe I will read it in the future👀
@@-brxken-7789it probably helped I read them back to back😂I just got sucked in and needed to know the ending!
@@morganhyde3225 all I remember was that Darlington or whatever he's called was hot. And demons🤷💀 I think that's enough reason to continue honestly. Oh yeah and that MC was thirsting over his feet
I always want to read Rin Chupeco's books because they have such great concepts, but the writing burns me every time. 😭
Thank you for modeling putting a book down when it's too triggering. Been there too!
MIGHT THROW MY ENTIRE TBR FOR THE WHISPERING DARK
Silver under nightfall was one of my fave books of last year, but I went into it knowing about the polyamory-romance aspect of it. The sequel is also really good, with far more plot!
Fan is nice, light background white noise, no problems there
So now you're home❤ so exciting left here in about it
The audio at the end of the video was loud but not in a bad way (in my opinion) it added cozy ambience for me :)
I also recently dnf’d Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson. The first two books in the series were really good but they are mammoths to finish 😭 so yeah looking forward to all your recommendations 💕
thats a vibe, I didn't dnf it but oathbringer was definitely the SA book that took the most out of me to finish even though it has one of my favourite scenes in the entire series
i would highly recommend the bone with trilogy by Rin Chupeco. It is very focused on its characters and worldbuilding, its sooo good!
to anyone who has read five broken blades, first of all, did u enjoy it and second of all did it have any smut/kissing? It sounds like an interesting story but I don’t want to accidentally read smut.
I give a detailed (no spoiler) review in my recent vids!
as someone who did not like six of crows or shadow and bone, I loved the familiar!
It’s not overly loud or even off putting with the window open 😊 if you need it open then open it.
I enjoyed The Tainted Cup! But it for suuuure dragged on a bit more than it needed to. Wasnt perfect but I am still thinking back on it a month laterr. The story, characters, world, etc were so cool and we didn't get enough. Hoping the next book gives more of that🤞
yeah for me it really only picked up once our main character got a bit more of a personality hahahha
@@caricanread 100% 😂😂
Okay i randomly found coldtown and i pretty much agree. It also made me feel like creeped out a little!!! Idk how else to explain it but i was reading at night and i was looking around my apartment a lot. I had so much fun w that book. It felt like 2013 so much to me too hahahah
at the beginning of april i read My Year of Rest and Relaxation which def put me in a slump. didn’t pick up another book til a few days ago. i binged Legendborn and am almost done with Bloodmarked so yay!
If you wanna give an oldie but goodie Gothic book you should give The Monstrumologist series a try!! Think monster horror with Gothic and existential elements, a coming of age story with flawed characters and an overarching mystery!! A YA series that doesnt feel YA at all! It's one of my favorites that came out a decade ago that didn't get a lot of attention! Not a perfect Siri, but an incredible series. One of my favorite series of all time, maybe my absolute favorite! Not perfect but so good!!
Also A Monster Calls is a stand alone coming of age about a child coming to terms with his rage and grief. So so good!!
Looks like it was a good month if you could film a 52 minute video about it! lol. Congrats on the new house!
I haven’t read The Familiar yet, but I’ve been really looking forward to reading it because the main character is Jewish and it takes place during the Spanish Inquisition. My family is Moroccan and a lot of Jews were persecuted and banished from Spain during that time, so there is a chance that is where my family came from hundreds of years ago. I also haven’t read another Leigh Bardugo book yet so I feel like I would enjoy it more before I’ve read Six of Crows, right? 😅
It was a real struggle to finish The Familiar 😢 to many characters and I had no connection to any of them. Only finished it cause it was a Leigh book. 🤷♀️