Review: While You Were Dreaming by Alisha Rai

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When I was approved on Netgalley for While You Were Dreaming by Alisha Rai, I was ecstatic. I’d read Alisha Rai’s contemporary adult romance series, and I enjoy when authors write in different categories. This is Alisha Rai’s contemporary YA debut.

While You Were Dreaming takes on a much different tone from her previous novels, while still maintaining a similarity to Alisha Rai’s style of writing. Sonia, the main character, is an Indian American teenage girl living with her sister Kareena in New York. Sonia is very into cosplay (she uses her mother’s machine to sew) and works at a sandwich shop. She also has a crush on James Cooper. . .who she ends up saving one day. However, Sonia must hide her identity because Kareena is not an American citizen.

Alisha Rai also writes about the negativities of the American immigration system from the perspective of a teen girl whose mother was arrested. I learned that legal aid is not provided to immigrants. Throughout this time, Kareena is working multiple jobs to support Sonia.

Thus begins a story of hiding identities (both willingly, and unwillingly, and physically and mentally). Let me tell you all, the amount I related to Sonia was A LOT. I am also a part of the Asian diaspora, and while I am not Indian American, I related to the fact that Sonia was figuring out her relationship with her heritage. This part of the book felt like my thoughts surrounding my Asian-ness were pulled right out of my mind.

Alisha Rai captures what it is like to feel like you don’t belong. She captures the beauty of sibling relationships and how they can help us through life even when we feel like we have no control over anything. While You Were Dreaming captures the very essence of the importance of holding onto hope and understanding that it is ok to need a support system – you don’t have to be a hero on your own. I greatly enjoyed Alisha Rai’s young adult debut and I highly recommend this captivating and reflective novel.

*I received a copy from Netgalley and Quill Tree Books. This did not impact my opinion on the book.

Mid-year Book Tag

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Ever since not setting a #-based reading goal, I have found myself enjoying more books that I read – in fact, a majority of them! So far, though, I have read 49 books this year including re-reads.

Best Books I’ve Read So Far

I Was Their American Dream: A Graphic Memoir by Malaka Gharib, As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh, I’d Rather Burn Than Bloom by Shannon C.F. Rogers, The Blood Gift by N.E. Davenport, Severance by Ling Ma, The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi, Drizzle, Dreams, and Lovestruck Things by Maya Prasad, Yellowface by R.F. Kuang, A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza, Peach Blossom Spring by Melissa Fu

Compared to last year, I have more books here that are contemporary than fantasy. I have also read more books that are not YA this year, so my reading tastes have changed. I love books about families and siblings.

Best Sequel(s) I’ve Read So Far

The Blood Gift by N.E. Davenport – a fast-moving, intense sequel to The Blood Trials. I hope N.E. Davenport publishes more books in this world in the future.

Biggest Disappointment

Surprisingly, none? I think this is mostly because I refuse to read a lot of the books that I see all the time online.

Biggest Surprise

Severance by Ling Ma; it was different from most of what I read. I enjoyed the critiques of capitalism and how it exploits workers through the lens of a dystopian future.

Favorite Author (Debut or New to You)

Maya Prasad!! Drizzle, Dreams, and Lovestruck Things was so cute and while I do not read as many YA contemporary novels anymore, this one stands out. I highly recommend her book! Also, DDLT has a sequel coming out this year in the fall, so definitely add it to your TBR. DDLT follows four Indian American sisters and their dad, who run the Songbird Inn, as they experience love through four seasons.

The Most Beautiful Book You’ve Bought or Received This Year

I bought this last year. My The Broken Binding copy of Babel by R.F. Kuang is so gorgeous. It has a cover different from my other two versions, red stained edges, and a red hardback with metallic foiling on the front.

What book(s) do you want to read by the end of the year?

  • Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Y. Davis

Favorite book to movie/tv series you’ve seen this year?

The Witcher, maybe! I like the show better than the two books in the series I read. Yennefer remains my favorite character and her development since the first season is so great to see. She is much more secure in her powers.

What books have you enjoyed this year?

Review: Serendipity – A Cute Young Adult Romance Anthology

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*Review written in 2022

Serendipity was one of my most anticipated anthologies of 2022, and I’m so grateful I got to read it early because of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group and Netgalley. The stories of this Young Adult anthology based around romantic tropes filled me with joy.

What I love most is that a lot of the stories focused on friends to lovers stories OR the start of a relationship. The authors effectively wrote short stories that left me satisfied with the promise of new and changed relationships. I also like the fact that some of my expectations for the main characters in the stories turned out to be different. Each main character felt real to me: I enjoyed the diversity of their hobbies and goals: one character thought she wanted to get back at her ex, another character realizes that she may not know her “enemy” as well as she thought she did, and another character realized that love may take risks. A new relationship may start from running into someone else in a new country, or with a friend you’ve known for over 7 years.

While every story focused on a romantic relationship, the friendships and familial relationships were also great to see. Serendipity left me feeling hopeful. It’s heartwarming to read stories about people my age experiencing love for the first time, and to feel like you’re a part of a great love story. Serendipity takes joy in the simple moments, in the simplicity of noticing all of the details of a person, and being open to knowing the entirety of a person, beyond how they may appear to look to the rest of the world.

Review: A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir

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A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir is the best book of the Ember Quartet. I think I love it so much because nearly every aspect is perfect. I first got into the Ember Quartet because I saw that there was a lot of press for ARATG. It was the first book by a brown Asian American person I read where I saw a main character who vaguely looked like me in a fantasy novel. (It is important to recognize that brown Asians have various and different experiences and come from all around Asia and so it’s important to say that if the Ember Quartet was made into a movie, Laia should be played by a Pakistani actress.) There will be spoilers for the first two books of the AEITA quartet.

At the beginning of ARATG, Laia, Helene, and Elias are all split up in different parts of the Empire. Helene is the Blood Shrike, Laia is learning how to use her invisibility powers, and Elias is the Soul Catcher. I appreciated seeing how much character growth happens throughout ARATG, and what sets this apart from the first two books is that we get to see Laia and Helene’s relationship develop, something that was a bit tenuous in the prior books. Elias is brooding this entire book – he pines a lot over his lost life and struggles to fully accept his identity as the Soul Catcher.

Laia remains my favorite character of the three. She is a heroine who defines herself by her kindness and hope. Laia is strong and her emotions are not a weakness. They do not have to be a strength. Her agency is also not defined by the people around her. However, Helene is still my least favorite character. Although she does begin to recognize the Empire as the colonizing force that it is toward the Scholars, she is not yet fully there in recognizing how she contributes to the oppression of the Scholars.

The world building in ARATG is the strongest of the Quartet. The scope of the world expands so much in this book, which is what makes it my favorite of the Quartet. It feels organic and is balanced with the rest of the narrative. For example, Musa of Marinn is a great new character who introduces us to an entirely new aspect of the world, and to wights. At the end of it all, though, Laia is the main character of the Ember Quartet and without her, the narrative would be nothing. She is the heart of these novels.

Why did you read the Ember Quartet? If you haven’t read it, are you planning to?

Of Light and Shadow by Tanaz Bhathena: Review

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Of Light and Shadow by Tanaz Bhathena. I love this cover.

Of Light and Shadow by Tanaz Bhathena is a new story set in the same world as Hunted by the Sky. You can read this book without reading The Wrath of Ambar duology. Admittedly, I have found myself reading less YA fantasy, but I enjoyed TWOA duology for Bhathena’s intricate world building and fast paced plot. The atmosphere of OLAS is different from TWOA.

Roshan and Navin come from two very different worlds. Roshan is a vigilante, while Navin is a prince. Roshan captures Navin, and they are interlocked in a power struggle for the majority of the book. Roshan and her family of vigilantes do not know why the land is facing a blight. I like that OLAS connects Roshan and Navin’s personal struggles with the struggles of the world around them; this book feels much more contained than TWOA duology – again, this is what makes it different.

Unfortunately, I did find myself lost while reading OLAS because I did not really comprehend the number of characters within this world. I also did not really understand the magic system, so I think I need to re-read this. Fortunately, Roshan and Navin are engaging characters who I wanted to learn more about. Roshan originally wanted to be a healer when she was younger, but when her parents were killed, she was adopted by vigilantes. Navin struggles with his relationships with his family. He can manipulate emotions. Both characters end up admiring each other but they do not fully trust each other or themselves.

While I enjoyed TWOA, I think I felt my mind wandering off too much for me to truly enjoy OLAS. I also read it over the course of 5 months, so I found myself picking up OLAS and not remembering what happened in the previous chapters. While Roshan and Navin are both interesting, I did not feel as attached to them as I did to Gul and Cavas in TWOA duology. I also liked the dynamic of Gul and Cavas more because of their relationship as friends first. If you are looking to get into the universe of HBTS, I would recommend reading OLAS as it is a standalone. I think this book can appeal to people who enjoy reading about adventure novels and are looking for a fast paced fantasy about the importance of recognizing that people are more than what society has stereotyped them as.

*Note: Thank you to the publisher and the Fierce Reads YA Influencer List. This did not influence my opinion of the book.

Have you read any of Tanaz Bhathena’s books? What did you think of them?

reflecting on my relationship to my Asian American identity

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academia

Since elementary school, I have become more connected to my Filipino American and Asian American identities, but I’ve had to educate myself outside of school to do so. In high school Filipino Americans and Asian Americans were represented either in terms of the model minority myth, immigration, or discrimination. I expected for curriculum to be different in college. I was looking forward to being a part of an academic community that would hopefully explore a multitude of perspectives. 

Unfortunately, this was still not the case. In my literature courses for the year, there were no books by Asian Amerian authors. I also found out that most of the professors teaching about Asian Americans were white people. Fortunately, I found spaces for Asian Americans to learn, which is important, and also to live and have fun. Those spaces helped me know that my Asian Americaness and Filipino Americaness can only be defined by myself.

However, I still question the systems where the “canon” of some of my classes does not include Asian American authors. During my first year of college, I learned that it took two years for an Asian American Literature class to be approved as an accepted class for the core literature requirement.  It is 2023, and the university I go to, in a city that has one of the largest Asian American populations in the U.S., does not have an Asian American Studies program, or at least more classes about Asian Americans taught by Asian Americans. Administrations use students to show that they’re so progressive, but they can’t have any actual progress without actually implementing student ideas. You can’t put us on display for your DEI initiatives and then decide that we’re not worth listening to. 

reading

My journey of reading books by Asian American authors with Asian American main characters started about 10 years ago when I read Dumpling Days by Grace Lin. Pacy, the main character, goes to Taiwan with her family because they are celebrating her grandmother’s 60th birthday. The first fantasy/science fiction novel I read by a Filipino American author was Ignite the Stars by Maura Milan, and the first Young Adult fiction book I read with a Filipino American main character was Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay. 

Compared to what I read most five or even three years ago, I have read much more of a variety of novels by Asian Americans (variety in range of genre and in range of storylines). I was so happy when I read The Jasmine Project by Meredith Ireland – Jasmine is adopted and Korean American and this is a fact that is allowed to exist. The focus of the novel is on her living her life, and the joy she finds in embracing her goals. I’m an Asian American adoptee and I never read a book with an adopted Asian American main character, and by an author with the same identity as me until 2021. 

Another book that I loved was Boys I Know by Anna Gracia. While June is Taiwanese American and I am Filipino American, I related to her saying that she used to latch on to any Asian representation she saw because there was “so little representation” where she lived, which was the same for me growing up as an adopted person in family of white people. The city I live in does have a large Asian American community, and I sometimes feel like I should’ve done more in my youth to be “more” Asian American, to connect to this community. I appreciate that Gracia writes “there is no percentage threshold or visual requirement to be considered Asian” in her author’s note. 

I am glad that there is a range of stories for Asian American youth, including stories about joy and in which we can live in fantasy worlds. These books let me know that I don’t have to prove my identity to anyone. I can just exist. Someday, I want to write a book about a Filipino American adoptee living with lupus because that’s my experience. Asian Americans have a variety of stories, and I hope for publishers to recognize this all year and every year.

*originally posted on my Bookstagram @solaceinreading_

Did you learn about Asian American history in school?

The First Binding by R.R. Virdi – My Thoughts

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This is the longest book I have read since Babel (I think). The First Binding by R.R. Virdi has been on my to be read list since last year, and I finally started it on January 1. I was intimidated by the size, but once I started reading I knew I wanted to know what would happen at the end. TFB is a frame narrative style fantasy novel that I have not seen in any of the fantasy novels I have read. Ari, the main character, is a storyteller, and the narrative flashes back between his youth and his present time.

About 25% of the way in, I realized that I would have preferred Eloine as a main character over Ari. She is a mysterious woman who Ari tells most of the stories to. No spoilers, but I am so glad that R.R. Virdi included her perspective. While Ari seems to be very closed off and sort of like an unreliable narrator, Eloine seems to be upfront about her unreliability. Eloine, I think, is also interesting because sometimes, women can fall into the stereotype of only being there to advance the man’s story, but Eloine has her own story.

Also, while I found Ari’s backstory interesting, I am interested to know how R.R. Virdi will catch up to the present time when The First Binding takes place in. Ari seems to be a lot more jaded in the present time, although when he is a child, there are hints of the intensely, closed off man he will become. The majority of the book is focused on Ari’s time as a child which I was not expecting to be so interesting, but R.R. Virdi does a nice job of combining Ari’s story as a child and his time as an adult.

I am excited to see where The First Binding series goes and after that ending, I look forward to learning more about Ari and even more about Eloine. R.R. Virdi’s writing feels like hearing a story told by Ari, complete with the effects of Ari’s magic. R.R. Virdi also questions what magic and power means, and how the stories of magic and power can be manipulated by the people at the center. What I found most compelling about The First Binding is how the story questions the truth and the truth of magic as it impacts all of the people across the world of TFB.

Reading Update: January-March 2023

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I always seem to read less in winter, which is not surprising because second semester always seems like more work. I have read around the same amount of books for college that I have for fun. For college, I have read Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, part of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Wollstonecraft, Sor Juana’s poems and Response, and Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince.

Here is what I have read for fun this year:

  1. The Fortunes of Jaded Women by Carolyn Huynh:
  2. The First Binding by R.R. Virdi
  3. Rosewood by Sayantani DasGupta
  4. As Long As The Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh
  5. Against White Feminism by Rafia Zakaria
  6. Send Her Back by Munashe Kaseke
  7. Everyone Hates Kelsie Miller by Meredith Ireland
  8. Meet Me in Mumbai by Sabina Khan
  9. She’s Nice Though by Mia Mercado
  10. She Memes Well by Quinta Brunson
  11. I Was Their American Dream by Malaka Gharib

And here is what I am currently reading:

  1. Everyone Hates Kelsie Miller by Meredith Ireland
  2. Babel by R.F. Kuang
  3. Noli Me Tangere by Jose Rizal
  4. Of Light and Shadow by Tanaz Bhathena
  5. Immortal Longings by Chloe Gong

Reviews

The First Binding by R.R. Virdi – For being over 500 pages, The First Binding is captivating, emotional, and well-woven. I like how TFB is structured a lot differently from other novels I’ve read – there are stories interwoven throughout and a frame narrative. I never felt confused about the timelines of the novel. The two main timelines are between the main character’s childhood and his present time. I wanted to know more about the main character’s journey right before the present story, but I think we will get that in sequels to TFB. Overall, TFB is a promising start to an immersive epic fantasy series.

She’s Nice Though by Mia Mercado – This is the third memoir I have read this year. There were a few sections I skimmed, but I related to the various stories about growing up Filipino and a woman. I appreciated Mercado’s humor throughout, and I am hoping to read her books in the future. I decided to read this book because of the cake on the cover, and I was very excited when I found out that Mercado is a writer and is Filipino.

She Memes Well by Quinta Brunson – This is something different from what I usually read, but I really enjoyed Quinta Brunson’s memoir. I love Abbott Elementary, so when I read this, I was thinking about how Brunson mentions that she sold a show at the end of the novel. That show is Abbott Elementary!! I remember watching Brunson on Buzzfeed when I was still in middle school, so it is exciting to see her story from her childhood through 2021. I appreciated the sections about her life in college because Brunson affirmed for me that it is ok to not have everything figured out during this time in my life, and that having goals and going after them even if the road to your endgame is long is natural. I highly recommend SMW to my fellow college students.

The Future. . .

I would love to blog more consistently, so I am thinking of setting aside time in the morning each day to write. Even if I do not publish whatever I write, I think it’ll be helpful for me to improve my writing skills and to dedicate more time to this blog. My Bookstagram @solaceinreading_ will always be my first love, but I am finding that being on Instagram and social media so much is not conducive to me doing what I actually want to do, which is read, write, and other things.

How is your 2023 going? What would you like to see from my blog?

Book Statistics 2022

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This year, I read 164 books. Out of 164 books, I absolutely loved 13.

The Ikessar Falcon and The Dragon of Jin-Sayeng by K.S. Villoso – this is such an underrated fantasy series about a woman who is not afraid to go after what she wants and who is not afraid to avenge herself.

All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir – the best YA novel of 2022.

The Blood Trials by N.E. Davenport – review withheld in support of the HCP Union.

Debating Darcy by Sayantani DasGupta – I loved this one and related to it so much. I did MUN in high school, while the mc of this book did debate.

Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li – I love reading about art museums in books, and I am glad that Li challenges the role that art museums play in the continuing negative impacts of colonization.

Deep in Providence by Riss M. Neilson – a book by a multiracial Filipino author!! With Filipino main characters! So happy to read more books with Filipino representation.

The Chosen and The Beautiful by Nghi Vo – the best Gatsby revisioning I have ever read.

Siren Queen by Nghi Vo – Nghi Vo is officially one of my favorite authors of all time.

Babel by R.F. Kuang – review withheld in support of the HCP Union.

Meet Me In Mumbai by Sabina Khan – I am adopted and I felt so seen by Khan’s novel.

The Atlas Paradox by Olivie Blake – I am obsessed with this trilogy and Belen!! I would love a novel just about her.

Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments by Saidiya Hartman – a historical nonfiction novel I highly recommend.

Of 164 books, 48 were YA Fantasy, 49 were YA Contemporary, 4 were YA and multiple genres (including dystopian, time travel, etc) 24 were fantasy, 10 were fiction, and 5 were nonfiction. I did not finish 12 books; however, a majority of these are ones that I plan on going back to. This added up to about 120 books, so I may have miscounted as I was going through my Goodreads list.

Next year, I am not going to set a reading goal. This year, my goal was 75, which I met in June, but I want to focus on reading more nonfiction/analytical books this year, as well as re-reading these books.

I find myself reading less YA, but Young Adult (which is not a genre, it is a category) will always have a special place in my heart because it was the first place I saw myself represented as a Filipino and Asian woman and person. I am not quite sure how I would define my reading tastes, but I do know that I want to read more books about Marxist theory, precolonial society, specifically in Southeast Asia and the Philippines, and about women-led movements in the Global South by woman of the global majority.

What books did you read this year? I would love to know which ones you loved and which ones you want to read in 2023!

13 Midnights, 13 Characters : Midnights by Taylor Swift

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Reputation is still my favorite Taylor Swift album, but I do love Midnights. My top three are Lavender Haze, Maroon, and Paris.

Lavender Haze

“I feel the lavender haze creeping up on me / Surreal / I’m damned if I do give a damn what people say”

TJ Powar from TJ Powar Has Something to Prove by Jesmeen Kaur Deo: TJ Powar learns that she doesn’t have to prove herself to anyone.

Maroon

“The burgundy on my t-shirt / When you splashed your wine into me / And how the blood rushed into my cheeks / So scarlet, it was maroon”

Lucie Churchill and George Zao from Sex and Vanity by Kevin Kwan: I think Maroon fits Lucie and George because their first meeting is fleeting. I mean “the rust that grew between telephones” describes how they grow apart so perfectly.

Anti-Hero

“I’ll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror”

Nasir Ghameq from We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal: Ah, the Prince of Death. He is so angsty and thinks that no one could ever understand him. . .until he meets Zafira.

Snow on the Beach

“Flying in a dream / Stars by the pocketful”

Elias Veturius and Laia of Serra from An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir: this song is so calming and perfect just like Elias and Laia’s relationship.

Midnight Rain

“He wanted it comfortable, I wanted that pain / He wanted a bride, I was making my own name / Chasing that fame, he stayed the same / All of me changed like midnight rain”

Zafira bint Iskandar and Deen Ra’ad from We Hunt the Flame Hafsah Faizal: Deen Ra’ad, gone too soon.

Question. . .?

“Cause I don’t remember who I was / Before you painted all my nights / A color I’ve searched for since”

Orion and Rosalind from Foul Lady Fortune Chloe Gong: I mean did I speed read this book because Chloe Gong’s writing is that good? yes. BUT I do think this definitely fits these two spies and their relationship.

Vigilante Shit

“You did some bad things, but I’m the worst of them / Sometimes I wonder which one’ll be your last lie”

Juliette and Roma from These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong: I couldn’t not include Juliette and Roma on this list.

Bejeweled

“And you can try to change my mind / But you might have to wait in line”

Parisa from The Atlas Six Olivie Blake: Parisa is an icon and she’d fit in the Bejeweled music video perfectly.

Labyrinth

“I thought the plane was going down / How’d you turn it right around”

Hypnos and Enrique and Zofia from The Gilded Wolves Roshani Chokshi: These three have the best chemistry. I love them.

Karma

“Addicted to betrayal, but you’re relevant”

Severin and Laila from #TheSilveredSerpents: If you’ve read the ending of Serpents, you know what I’m talking about.

Sweet Nothing

“All that you ever wanted from me was / Sweet nothing”

Noor and Sal from All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir: I love them, I miss them, their love will live in my mind forever.

Do you agree with these pairings?