The Pen and Book Files

  "Writing a prequel is hard. Writing one that can stand alone is even harder. Tessa and company are invaluable for fans and new readers alike. It keeps you glued until the last page."      A special thanks to Jane Austen for pushing me to write this review from beyond the grave. This piece is especially written due to my own (many failed) attempts to finish Pride and Prejudice.       The number of times that I have opened Pride and Prejudice, only to scarcely get through more than a page or two, is likely to be alarming to any reader of Austin’s work. The historical record it provided was complete, but I don’t know if I understood much of it. Turning back to my shelves, I discovered an old friend of mine: The Infernal Devices, telling the story of the people who would become the ancestors of the first Shadowhunters I was introduced to.      Tessa Gray, Will Herondale, and Jem Carstairs. Tessa was the only one who had been introduce...

"Blake's final work of the Bright Falls series is strong and satisfying, both as a standalone novel and as an end to a trilogy. Full of heart and well-rounded characters that you'll love even from their shortest appearance."  Now, this is how you write a fake romance. Not even this is how you write a fake romance- this is how you write forced proximity that involves mutual sexual attraction, which then leads to a romance. Yes, there is sexual tension from the beginning, but the characters don't hate each other and then turn around to begin having sex. They're both completely developed, fleshed out, with one having a sassy streak and a confidence to match it. Gosh, this is so much better than Icebreaker. Yes, Iris is a little uptight from the expectations put on her- both self-imposed and those put on her by her family- but the frustrations are dealt with in a healthier manner. Stevie, despite her uncomfortableness at being placed into close proximity with Iris...

It's been a while since Fourth Wing took BookTok by storm, catapulting itself to the top of people's TBR lists with promises of dragons, and sass, and sassy dragons. The avid chatter caught my attention, but I held off on reading the book for precisely that reason. With opinions clamoring for your focus, skewing your independent perspective with their own, it was impossible to tell if the book deserved the praise that it was being handed. So, I waited... and waited... and waited some more. I readily admit that, upon buying the book from a wholesale club, I finished Fourth Wing in two or three days. With that being said, there were a few fairly large snags in the plot which disrupted my sense of disbelief. When a character is written specifically for a trope, they can be difficult.  Xaden knows that he is unlikeable- not just from Violet's perspective, but by the quadrant as a whole- and uses it to his advantage when his life becomes entwined with the daughter of his father...

 Here’s a silly little post about the cat that’s been wandering around my neighborhood lately. He’s pretty friendly! One of my friends commented that my messages read like poetry, so I turned the text into a poem. [originally posted on Instagram.] 💞 There was cat yesterday. The cat likes me. He was following me back to my house. This is not my cat. It is my neighbor’s cat. I cannot catnap a cat.  I still don’t know the cat’s name, so I’m calling him Kitty Cat. His ears twitch when he hears me talking. The cat distribution system cannot be denied. 

I love this book. That's the entire review. (Just kidding.)  I found out about Albertalli after the hype surrounding Love, Simon . While at a local street fair, I wandered into a nearby bookstore and randomly found it. To my surprise, I loved it from the first page. Not simply because of Imogen's confident little sister, or the many animals that she has in her home. (Is there a way to magic up some of those cats into real life? No?)  What pulled me in from the first page was Imogen herself, introduced with anxiety. Imogen was disproportionately nervous. More than that, she was anxious. Anxious about this social situation that she had procrastinated over for so long that it actually started to create a rift in her relationship with one of her best friends, Lili. This first introduction to Imogen's character caught me like a fish in a net, but without the existential crisis attached. Imogen is a sweet, aesthetically oriented people-pleaser with a large helping of social anxie...

  “The lucid picture that this book paints of those with disabilities asks, who knows our limits better than ourselves?” “Verónica’s story is raw and relatable. Her limitations are defined by other people since she was young, and the moments she stands up for her own capabilities will stick with me for a long time. In its authentic telling of a disabled body, Sylvester peels back the layers to reveal the life which exists in full bloom underneath.” Much like my adventure in discovering Late Bloomer, picking up this future love happened by accident. It was May, the gateway to summer and known to lovers of fantasy as Mermay. Sometimes MerMay, and sometimes #Mermay, this annual competition and art challenge is hosted on Instagram and TikTok to celebrate "creativity, community, and above all... MERMAIDS." (mermay.com) After this celebration ends, it leaves me in a drought. It is in these moments that I search for books about mermaids, seeking to lose myself in their fantasy.  On ...