Tag Archives: Historical Fiction

Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid | Book Review

Sometimes there comes along a book, like Carrie Soto is Back, that addresses such a specific set of issues and questions, that it makes you wonder why you’d never thought of it in detail before. Questions like: Why is it okay for a man in the public eye to be aggressive but not for a woman? Why is it okay for a man to be unsmiling and intense but when a woman does it, she’s labeled a b*tch? Why is it that an ambitious man is seen as just that but an ambitious woman becomes callous and unfeeling in the eyes of the public? And this sexism is turned around and slapped back onto the woman’s shoulders, calling it her overreaction, that she can’t take a joke.

Carrie Soto is Back is a smack in all these faces. Taylor Jenkins Reid, through Carrie Soto’s story, takes us through the unfairness that the world pulls out every time a woman takes center stage. And it is proof, yet again, that even though things have gotten a lot better, we still have a long way to go.

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan | Book Review

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan was the first book I read in 2023 and almost immediately, in a fit of emotion and productivity, wrote the review. I even uploaded this review to Instagram and Goodreads, too, I think. But somehow, to put my thoughts about this book here, seemed too intimidating for me. Maybe because writing a review on the blog needs me to open up more of myself than I would for the other media. There’s more space here for me to spill my thoughts and I know that once I start, it usually takes me more energy than I can spare to stop. And The Joy Luck Club is a book that makes me do this. Yes, it’s a confusing thing to reconcile oneself with, but it’s still a powerful narrative.

Dust Child by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai | Blog Tour Stop

Hello and welcome to my blog tour stop for Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai’s newest book, Dust Child! I was supposed to write a post about the progress I’ve been making on this story. Instead, here I am, writing a full review because of how invested I was in it. Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai does it again with this book, infusing it with a gentle understanding and compassion that makes me such a huge fan of her writing. I read Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai’s debut novel The Mountains Sing in December 2022 and it marched its way onto my favorites of the year list. That (and more) made the author an instant favorite, propelling Dust Child into my most anticipated book releases of 2023 list.

The Daughters of Madurai by Rajasree Variyar | Book Review

There are some books, very rare, that grab at an issue and twist it until it’s nothing but a bunch of bare threads. Everything that constitutes it is out in the open – circumstances, decisions, relationships, reasons, strengths, weaknesses, heartbreaks – all of it. For us women, especially, each of these threads are as important as the other, because we simply cannot afford to be shortsighted. And yet, push us far enough and we will harness all our strength and push back so hard, you’ll find yourself questioning your reality. Putting all of this – a complex web of feelings and thoughts and decisions – into one book is a feat in itself. And Rajasree Variyar does it in fabulously in The Daughters of Madurai.

The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai | Book Review

Historical fiction is a difficult genre to write in, especially because the times are so far back in the past that you have to be extremely careful with your research. You can’t disrespect the past while you write your story, and you have to get things exactly right. But when authors do get it right, they manage to blow you away in more ways than one and in ways you’ll often not see coming. Among this population of authors is Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, who, after seven years of research, published the book The Mountains Sing, a story set before and during the Việt Nam war. I became an instant fan of her when I finally read it in December 2022. And not just because of the book.

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid | Book Review

Celebrities’ lives are always beyond what we can even begin to comprehend. What we see in the media is such a small fragment of what their lives actually are like. The pressure to perform, to look good, to have that perfect balance or at least look like it – all this, while staying true to themselves is one that simmers under their smiling, picture-perfect facades. And there’s one author – among the many, I’m sure, but my favorite of them – who does it amazingly well: Taylor Jenkins Reid.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid | Book Gush | #Blogtober22 – Day 2

Sometimes you read about a character so wonderful, so enigmatic, that their charm drips off the pages and into your mind and heart. One such was this book: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. There’s so much I want to say about her here, in written format too, but a year and a half after having read the book for the first time, I find myself at a loss for words. It’s a paradox, really. A side-effect of the aura the book exudes.

Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jedrowski | Book Review

I read Swimming in the Dark in June and it’s taken me a long, long time to write this review, because every time I think of this book, my heart breaks and my eyes fill up. That’s not to say that this is a sad book. It’s a very matter-of-fact narration and that is exactly what will reach inside you and shake your very core.

The Curse of Anuganga by Harini Srinivasan | Book Review

Historical fiction is a genre that requires a lot of research. And if you combine it with a murder mystery, a lot of work goes into getting everything in place and making sure that there are no loose ends.

Harini Srinivasan’s ‘The Curse of Anuganga’ is a combination of historical fiction and murder mystery that is set in 403 CE in the city of Nandivardhana.