POC – Book Dust Magic

Book Review: The Shaadi Set-Up by Lille Vale @PRHGlobal #partner #romance

The Shaadi Set-Up by Lille Vale book cover

GIFTED / Today I bring you a review for a book I read some time ago, and had so much fun. I hope my review, although it is brief, will make you notice it and give it a chance.

The Shaadi Set-Up was published on Semptember 7th 2021 by G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers. It has 368 pages.
I want to thank the team from Penguin Random House Global for sending me an e-galley of this novel (in an exchange for an honest review).

About the book:

FROM GOODREADS /

High school sweethearts Rita Chitniss and Milan Rao were the golden couple, until the day he broke her heart. Now, six years later, Rita has turned her passion for furniture restoration into a career and has an almost-perfect boyfriend, Neil. The last thing she needs is for Milan to re-enter her life, but that’s exactly what happens when her mother, an unfailing believer in second chances, sets them up. Milan is just as charming, cocky, and confident as he was back in school. Only this time, he actually needs her business expertise, not her heart, to flip a hard-to-sell house for his realty agency.

While Rita begrudgingly agrees to help, she’s not taking any risks. To prove she’s definitely over him, she signs herself and Neil up on MyShaadi.com, a Desi matchmaking site famous for its success stories and trustworthy enough to convince everyone that she and Neil are the new and improved couple. Instead, she’s shocked when MyShaadi’s perfect match for her isn’t Neil…it’s Milan. Ignoring the website and her mother is one thing, but ignoring Milan proves much more difficult, especially when she promises to help him renovate the beach house of her dreams. And as the two of them dive deeper into work—and their pasts—Rita begins to wonder if maybe her match wasn’t so wrong after all….

Review:

I finished this book back in September and I am writing my review only now so I apologise it’s not as detailed as I promised it would be.

I got The Shaadi Set-Up via Netgalley when it was first published and I was so excited to read it, but as you can probably assume, life got in a way and it had to go on hold until now when I finally have more time to read and review (and go through all of my review copies).

I will be honest, as time passed I wasn’t as excited to dive into the story, but once I started reading I was swept away by how fun and good it was.
I had such an enjoyable time reading this novel. This was a romance comedy in all it’s glory and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Netflix movie based on it. It would be a good movie, let me tell you that!

The Shaadi Set-Up features love triangle and maybe it was obvious how it would resolve, but still all the scenes with “the wrong guy” were pleasure to read and some of my favourite scenes were because of him.

This romance has miscommunication trope, so I get why some readers would be bothered by it. I personally didn’t mind it.

I also want to state that this is own voices story and represents Indian culture.

Something I want to talk about: #BlackLivesMatter #BLM

I am starting this post with an apology.

I am sorry for not speaking sooner.

I could give you list of reasons why I kept quiet and non of them would be good enough, because what I realized is that in times like this, we have to speak up, talk about what we think is right, no matter where we are.

Silent support is not enough.

And still I feel like I don’t know how to be a loud supporter, but I want to change that.

What we all witnessed recently, the murder of Goerge Floyd in the middle of the day, with witnesses begging for his life, changed me (and I believe many of you too) for the rest of my life.

I realized how ignorant I was, thinking something like that was happening only in past, not that is happening still today.

I will never forget the look of pure satisfaction on the murderer’s face while he was taking Floyd’s life. I don’t want to say his name because I don’t want him to be remembered. I only want for George Cloyd to be the one who’s name will one day be learned in school, not the name of the police officer who did this.

And I wish we didn’t know about Floyd at all, that he was still alive and this kind of hatred wouldn’t exist at all.

Since then, we witnessed even more police brutality, and it has to stop.

Unfortunately we don’t have protests here in my country (Croatia) but I support everyone who goes to them.

I feel like from here I can’t do enough, and whatever I want to say, I feel has already been said or that I will mess up.

But what I have been doing since May 25th was talking with people from Croatia about it, and try to make them see how racism is our problem too, and not just something that happened far away.

It hurts me to say it, but I live in a country where racism is very high. So many people are open about it, and many who think they aren’t racist still do some racist things (like talking racist jokes or getting a picture with black people like they are some kind of attraction) without even realizing how bad it is.

I want to change that, and even though I know I can’t do a lot, I will still try to do as much as I can.

I also want to educate myself about black people and their culture, and I want to see where I make mistakes and correct them.

I also will support black creators, read more books written by black authors, show my support to black people in any way I can.

I want my son to grow up in a world where colors will be seen, but no one will be discriminated by it.

I saw there was a hashtag “AllLivesMatter” and even though it is true, let’s not take this importance away from black people.

That is what Black Lives Matter is trying to prove. That black lives matter as much as other lives. There should be no difference.

There are so many organizations where you can donate money to show your support.

But I want to link you to youtube video that you can watch, filled with adds, where all the money that the maker of the video will make, will go to support BLM movement.

Watch video HERE.

I probably made mistakes so feel free to correct me.

I will get back to everyone even though it will probably take some time because these days taking care of my 3 months old baby is taking all of my time (it took me literally days to finally finish this text).

Take care of yourselves and those around you!

People vector created by freepik – www.freepik.com

One with good anxiety representation: Verona Comics by Jennifer Dugan @PRHGlobal #partner #comics #VeronaComics

Today I want to share with you my review for Verona Comics, a ya contemporary that talks about anxiety and first love, that took me by surprise.

It was published on April 21st 2020 by G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers. It has 352 pages.

I want to thank the team from Penguin Random House Global for sending me an e-galley of this novel (in an exchange for an honest review).

About the book:

FROM GOODREADS / From the author of Hot Dog Girl comes a fresh and funny queer YA contemporary novel about two teens who fall in love in an indie comic book shop.

Jubilee has it all together. She’s an elite cellist, and when she’s not working in her stepmom’s indie comic shop, she’s prepping for the biggest audition of her life.

Ridley is barely holding it together. His parents own the biggest comic-store chain in the country, and Ridley can’t stop disappointing them—that is, when they’re even paying attention.

They meet one fateful night at a comic convention prom, and the two can’t help falling for each other. Too bad their parents are at each other’s throats every chance they get, making a relationship between them nearly impossible…unless they manage to keep it a secret.

Then again, the feud between their families may be the least of their problems. As Ridley’s anxiety spirals, Jubilee tries to help but finds her focus torn between her fast-approaching audition and their intensifying relationship. What if love can’t conquer all? What if each of them needs more than the other can give?

Review:

When I got Netgalley widget for Verona Comics I was pleasantly surprised. I am in a reading mood for ya contemporaries lately, and this book showed up in just about right time.

Since I like to go into my books blind, I only read summary briefly, and thought this would fun ya romance.
Boy, was I wrong!

What I thought would be fluffy and cute love story turned into serious novel that talks about anxiety with suicidal thoughts in such a strong and realistic way.

Don’t get me wrong, this book still had lots of cute and heart warming scenes, especially at the beginning, but as the story progressed the serious tone was louder and louder.

I am not sure if this is own voices story, but from my perspective, as someone who suffers from anxiety even today, and had suicidal thoughts before, I can say that Ridley’s character was realistic.
I could totally understand him, so many of his thoughts and actions I found familiar, especially those what were written in italics.

Verona Comics also represents lgbtq community and POC.

Other then that, it also touches subject of family dynamics, which is very important for the story.

I enjoyed comics reference. Who would say that it is such a competitive business?
Then again, I guess all businesses are.

This novel is written in first person, following two perspectives: Ridley’s and Jubilee’s.

I enjoyed the story, but I have to admit that I didn’t feel the chemistry between two main characters, which took some enjoyment from my reading experience.
All the other parts of the story, from family relationships to friendships were well written.

This is fast paced story, and easy to read.

I think ya contemporary lovers will enjoy this one!

The one of huge importance: And the Stars Were Burning Brightly by Danielle Jawando #booklovers #bullying #fiction

GIFTED / Today I want to talk about one book that I read back in February, but haven’t reviewed it until now. It is, in my opinion, one very important book that talks about bullying and where it can lead if we close our eyes.

I received And the Stars Were Burning Brightly via Netgalley, and I want to say thank you to publisher Simon & Schuster UK for providing me a copy.

This novel was published on March 5th 2020 and it has 368 pages.

About the book:

FROM GOODREADS / An emotionally rich and current story of suicide, mental health, bullying, grief and growing up around social media.

When fifteen-year-old Nathan discovers that his older brother Al has taken his own life, his whole world is torn apart.
Al was special.
Al was talented.
Al was full of passion and light…so why did he do it?
Convinced that his brother was in trouble, Nathan begins to retrace his footsteps. And along the way, he meets Megan. Al’s former classmate, who burns with the same fire and hope, who is determined to keep Al’s memory alive. But when Nathan learns the horrifying truth behind his brother’s suicide, one question remains – how do you survive, when you’re growing up in the age of social media?

Review:

And the Stars Were Burning Bright is such a wonderful, heart wrenching story with important topic (bullying) more people should talk about.

It explores the dark side of human beings and the ways to recover from loss.

I have to admit, I didn’t know about And The Stars Were Burning Brightly before it was READ NOW on Netgalley, but as I noticed it, and the premise sounded interesting to me, I couldn’t help myself. I had to read it.

And I am so glad I did give it a shot. I read it few months before it’s publication, but because of technical difficulties I wasn’t able to review it before (aka I postponed it because my computer broke).

The story follows two main characters: Nathan (who’s brother Al killed himself) and Megan (who was friends with Al but kept that friendship secret).
As they lost the one they loved, their lives intertwined.

The story is written in somewhat unique way.
It has two POVs written in first person: Nat’s and Meg’s, but every chapter starts with Al’s thoughts, that often includes space and stars, but also life.
I am grateful for Al’s parts.
However, I have to admit that Meg and Nathan sounded too similar at times.

This is emotional story, which is understandable because it covers serious topic, so be aware that it could make you sad.

I would recommend this book, and I would like to read more novels with the same theme because bullying and suicide is something we should all be more aware about.

Book Review: Every Time a Bell Rings by Carmel Harrington #EveryTimeABellRings #BookReview #Christmas #MagicalRealism

Title: Every Time a Bell Rings

Author: Carmel Harrington

Publisher: HarperImpulse

Date: November 19th, 2015

Pages: 416

Format: Paperback

Source: Purchased

Synopsis (from Goodreads): An angel gets its wings…

Belle has taken all the Christmas decorations down. This year they won’t be celebrating.

As foster parents, Belle and Jim have given many children the chance of a happier start in life. They’ve loved them as if they were their own. They shouldn’t have favourites but little Lauren has touched their hearts. And now her mother is well enough to take her back and Belle can’t bear the loss.

Hence, Christmas is cancelled.

So when Jim crashes his car one icy December night, after an argument about Lauren, Belle can only blame herself. Everything she loves is lost. And Belle finds herself standing on The Ha’Penny Bridge wishing she had never been born.

But what happens to a Christmas wish when an angel is listening…

Will Belle realise, before it’s too late, that her life is the most wonderful life of all?

Inspired by the timeless tale of beloved Christmas movie, It’s a Wonderful Life, Carmel Harrington’s next book tells the story of Belle, a young woman and foster carer from Dublin who faces the hardest decision of her life this Christmas on The Ha’Penny Bridge.

Full of Irish charm, magic, and the warmth of the festive season this is an emotional, heartwarming story that will stay with you long after you’ve reached ‘The End’. Perfect for fans of Cecelia Ahern & Jojo Moyes.

Review:

Trigger warning: This book talks about child loss.

Every Time a Bell Rings was on my wishlist for the longest time, and this year I decided to grant my wish and bought myself a nice paperback to start a festive season. It was my first Christmas read of 2018 and I am so glad I chose this novel to be the one, because I loved it so much.

Fist advice that I’d give to everyone who wants to read it is to avoid synopsis on the back (or on Goodreads, and yeah, I know I am guilty of pasting those here) because they give too much away.

The story follows Belle and Jim from their early age. We get to see their lives trough years, and most of the events we see happen’ around Christmases.

The story talks about fostering and it manly focuses on this topic, showing us what it’s like to be foster child but also what it’s like to be foster parent. Because of that factor, I can say that I learned a lot about something I knew very little about.

From all the serious subjects this story brings, there is one particular that can be triggering (I mentioned it in the trigger warning) and that is just heartbreaking.

After something like two thirds of the book we get to see the heart of the story, as dash of magical realism plays it’s part.
When I reached that part, the Christmas Spirit really hit me hard, filled my heart with joy and made me want to celebrate life.
I understand my words may sound like exaggerating to you, but if you(‘ll) read the story, you(‘ll) probably get them.

The writing style was really good. The novel is written in first person, from Belle’s POV.

The cover is so beautiful and eye catching, and it was the first thing that caught my attention, but after reading the book I do have one comment, a thing I’d like to be different.
Belle represents POC, she is black, so I wish the girl on the cover was black too. I wish they showed her curly hair because it was mentioned more then few times in the story.

As you could conclude from my words, this book represents diversity, because main character is POC and it also talks about fostering.

In the end, I just want to mention that my copy of the novel has an interview with Carmel Harrington in it, and I really enjoyed reading her words, hearing her say she believes in angels and where her idea came from.

I’d recommend this novel to readers who’d like to read something to put them into Christmas Spirit, but don’t hesitate when it comes to books with more serious topics.