After discovering a lost tea dragon in the marketplace, Greta learns about the dying art form of tea dragon care-taking from the kind tea shop owners, Hesekiel and Erik. As she befriends them and their shy ward, Minette, Greta sees how the craft enriches their lives—and eventually her own.

SECOND BOOK: Rinn has grown up with the Tea Dragons that inhabit their village, but stumbling across a real dragon turns out to be a different matter entirely! Aedhan is a young dragon who was appointed to protect the village but fell asleep in the forest eighty years ago. With the aid of Rinn’s adventuring uncle Erik and his partner Hesekiel, they investigate the mystery of his enchanted sleep, but Rinn’s real challenge is to help Aedhan come to terms with feeling that he cannot get back the time he has lost.

THIRD BOOK: Over a year since being entrusted with Ginseng's care, Greta still can't chase away the cloud of mourning that hangs over the timid Tea Dragon. As she struggles to create something spectacular enough to impress a master blacksmith in search of an apprentice, she questions the true meaning of crafting, and the true meaning of caring for someone in grief. Meanwhile, Minette receives a surprise package from the monastery where she was once training to be a prophetess. Thrown into confusion about her path in life, the shy and reserved Minette finds that the more she opens her heart to others, the more clearly she can see what was always inside.

Tea Dragon is a series of graphic novels with STUNNING illustrations. I have never read a graphic novel before but I really wanted to get to it and I decided to start off with these ones, and honestly I'm so glad I did. I was incredibly delighted with how amazing the illustrations where, I just stared at them haha. 

(photo from amazon)
There are 3 books in this series:

How could you not love this? I honestly want really into the storyline itself since it wasn't that interesting so there is not much to say about it but the artwork payed off and it was 100% worth it.

Like I said, I have never read graphic novels before but I will surely be reading more from this author since I was pleasantly surprised!

-This is the first one: The tea dragon Society

-The second one: The tea dragon festival

-The third and last one: The tea dragon tapestry

You can read the three of them in one sitting and all of them are so beautiful.

So I gave all of them

5/5⭐️

YOU CAN BUY IT HERE

The Ice Palace

'How simple this novel is. How subtle. How strong. How unlike any other. It is unique. It is unforgettable. It is extraordinary' Doris Lessing 'I'm surprised it isn't the most famous book in the world' Max Porter, author of Grief is the Thing with Feathers 'She was close to the edge now: the ice laid its hand upon her' The schoolchildren call it the Ice Palace: a frozen waterfall in the Norwegian fjords transformed into a fantastic structure of translucent walls, sparkling towers and secret chambers. It fascinates two young girls, lonely Unn and lively Siss, who strike up an intense friendship. When Unn decides to explore the Ice Palace alone and doesn't return, Siss must try to cope with the loss of her friend without succumbing to a frozen world of her own making.

The ice palace was such an interesting book, as you could have read in the sinopsis, we follow a girl named Siss who makes a friend called Unn and mysteriously disappears (Unn). I saw it on GoodReads and thought it was going to be an incredible story since it had amazing reviews so I decided to give it a go. 

I was very disappointed with it and finished the book very unsatisfied, maybe it was because I didn't quite understand the story or maybe because I didn't got the moral of it. I didn't felt the characters, it all seemed incredibly fake and didn't make a lot of sense.

I was so confused, why did it had such good reviews? Did I read the same book? Am I missing something? So I went back to Goodreads and started reading more and more reviews. And that's when I saw one that made me realized that I wasn't the only one. 

I feel like it's a popular tale, maybe Swedish, and that's why it was so confusing to me. ( I actually have no idea if this is accurate so please if you something about it, tell me in the comments below).

But there was something that I did liked, the setting of the story, the description of Sweden and being transported to there. I imagined as a beautiful Swedish forest, loads of snow and white, and the beautiful ice palace, crystalline and stunning, (similar to Elsas palace haha). That was what made me kept reading it, the descriptions of the wonderful place, it really did made me travel there.

So unfortunately I could give it more that 2 stars, I wish I could have get the story and actually believe it but at least I visited an amazing country.

Over all i gave it:

2/5⭐️

YOU CAN BUY IT HERE

These Violents Delights

A blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red, leaving the city helpless in the grip of chaos. At the heart of it all is eighteen-year-old Juliette Cai, a former flapper who has returned to assume her role as the proud heir of the Scarlet Gang&;a network of criminals far above the law. Their only rivals in power are the White Flowers, who have fought the Scarlets for generations. And behind every move is their heir, Roma Montagov, Juliette&;s first love&;and first betrayal.

But when gangsters on both sides show signs of instability culminating in clawing their own throats out, the people start to whisper. Of a contagion, a madness. Of a monster in the shadows. As the deaths stack up, Juliette and Roma must set their guns&;and grudges&;aside and work together, for if they can&;t stop this mayhem, then there will be no city left for either to rule.

These Violents Delights was such an unexpected read, I started knowing a little bit was about but did not fully know the story. From what I had heard it was a Romeo and Juliettte Re-telling and I was there for it. When I actually started it, I thought it was a bit slow (regarding the romance story line) but I thought that it would get better. What a surprise when it didn't. 

The story fully focuses on the "chaos" that is happening in Shanghai and not so much on the main characters ' relationship story line. If I was to read a book that was promoted as "Romeo and Juliette retelling" I would expect their love as the most important thing and the "chaos" as something more in the background.

Even though I was a little bit disappointed with the book, I have to say I loved the chinese cultural references, I think it is so interesting and I really appreciated whenever that came up I honestly think that it was make me somewhat enjoy the book as well as the historical context since it was such an amazing point,  it made it a lot more interesting as well.

If you are looking for an urban fantasy with some romance that is kind of based on Romeo and Juliette, I would highly recommend this book, but if, on the other hand, you are looking for a romance packed book with something interesting happening in the background, then this book is not for you.

Even though it was not a book that I will forever remember, it gave me a fan and entertaining time. 

SPOILERS!

I do not know if it was because I wasn't focused when I read it but I did not understand the villains point of view and why he did it. The villain was a little bit plain and I didn't felt him or his reason for killing all those people. I felt like he was missing a very important background story and, for a villain, i didn't have enough time to really get to know him. 

There are also some characters who were not needed, and that made the story so much more slow, I even felt like they were there for filling purposes.

Over all i gave it:

3/5⭐️

YOU CAN BUY IT HERE

The Inheritance Games

To receive her inheritance, Avery must move into sprawling, secret passage-filled Hawthorne House, where every room bears the old man's touch -- and his love of puzzles, riddles, and codes. Unfortunately for Avery, Hawthorne House is also occupied by the family that Tobias Hawthorne just dispossessed. This includes the four Hawthorne grandsons: dangerous, magnetic, brilliant boys who grew up with every expectation that one day, they would inherit billions. Heir apparent Grayson Hawthorne is convinced that Avery must be a conwoman, and he's determined to take her down. His brother, Jameson, views her as their grandfather's last hurrah: a twisted riddle, a puzzle to be solved. Caught in a world of wealth and privilege, with danger around every turn, Avery will have to play the game herself just to survive.

I loved the plot, a girl who inherits a fortune from someone she doesn’t knows sounds popular, doesn't it? However, the story is incredibly unique. I liked that it was not only about money because if it had been, it would have been extremely boring, but that there were some stories about the family and their past that in the end all came together at the same point. I didn't find it boring at any time, on the contrary, I just wanted to read more and more.

As for the characters, I was convinced by the attitude of the protagonist, although it is true that I missed a few moments of relationship with her sister. Also I  didn't know much about the history of her family's past and the few times something appeared, it was strictly necessary for the solution of a part of the puzzle. I  would have loved to know more about her mother, what happened, even about her father, but above all I really missed the  relationship she had with her sister.

Anyway, it's a captivating story, which hooks a lot, easy to read and enjoyable and with a really interesting story that you just want to know more about. For all this I give it a 4.25, I am sorry not to give more but as I said, I miss something more of the protagonist.

I think that in 2021 the second part will come out and I can't wait to read it! 🤍🤎

4,25/5 ⭐️

 

In Gold Coast, Long Island, everything from the expensive downtown shops to the manicured beaches, to the pressed uniforms of Jill Newman and her friends, looks perfect. But as Jill found out three years ago, nothing is as it seems.

Freshman year Jill's best friend, the brilliant, dazzling Shaila Arnold, was killed by her boyfriend. After that dark night on the beach, Graham confessed, the case was closed, and Jill tried to move on.

Now, it's Jill's senior year and she's determined to make it her best yet. After all, she's a senior and a Player--a member of Gold Coast Prep's exclusive, not-so-secret secret society. Senior Players have the best parties, highest grades and the admiration of the entire school. This is going to be Jill's year. She's sure of it.

But when Jill starts getting texts proclaiming Graham's innocence, her dreams of the perfect senior year start to crumble. If Graham didn't kill Shaila, who did? Jill vows to find out, but digging deeper could mean putting her friendships, and her future, in jeopardy.

They wish they were is a mystery book that follows Jill Newman, a girl who studies in an elite high school were rich people go. There is this system were a group of people called the "players" selects young students to make them players as well. For that, they have to go through a bunch of tests to prove that they are worth the place in the players. Obviously, being in this elite group comes with so many advantages, like tests answers, so going through a hard time will pay off. Jill is going through the pops at the time and during one of them, a friend of hers also trying to go through the pops dies. What happened? Who killed her?

This book not only contains mystery but you will also see the characters ' interaction between each other, love, hate, friendship...  

It was a great time reading this book honestly, I have to say, I didn't LOVED IT but it was okay, for me I felt like there were some moments in which the interactions between the characters were a bit surreal and even if the end was a huge plot twists it didn't really make sense, I felt like it was a bit rushed and it lacked more background story.

I also felt like the characters were not developed as much and it was really hard to get to know and understand them, there are some of them within the player group that didn't have a part in the story and felt like they were just there but with nothing to do with what was happening. It would have been really interesting to see all of them more involved.

Despite all of this, it was a fast read and it kept me wanting to know more. If you like mystery, high school drama, pretty little liars and gossip girl combined you will love this book.

SPOILERSS!!!!!

Okay lets talk about the ending of this book, no I was absolutely not expecting that it was him, specially because probably like so many of you guys, I LOVED him at the beginning of the book, like the relationship that he had with Jill was beautiful and I wanted them to end up together SO BAD, but anyways, how I felt about this was betrayed haha but I also felt like it was so rushed, you didn't hav  clues from the beginning (or at least I didn't saw them) and the suddenly right at the end there is a lot of information about him and shaila super fast, I didnt even process it and then right at the end they tell you that it was him. The fact that you couldn't really guess it made not like it as much but still, it was good.

3/5⭐️

When You Were Everything

Now Cleo wants to erase every memory, good or bad, that tethers her to her ex-best friend. But pretending Layla doesn't exist isn't as easy as Cleo hoped, especially after she's assigned to be Layla's tutor. Despite budding friendships with other classmates--and a raging crush on a gorgeous boy named Dom--Cleo's turbulent past with Layla comes back to haunt them both.
Alternating between time lines of Then and Now, When You Were Everything blends past and present into an emotional story about the beauty of self-forgiveness, the promise of new beginnings, and the courage it takes to remain open to love.

When you were everything is a contemporary book that follows Cleo, a girl whose world is falling apart, she has lost her best friend and found herself alone. That pretty much sums up what the book's about.