PaperbackGoddess shares her thoughts and opinions on all sorts of books: new ones, old ones and maybe even some that you have never heard of. (You may also spy occasional reviews or commentary on other book related items and topics.)
My March reading selections are going to begin with completing what I didn't from my January/February list. I live in upstate New York where the winters are quite cold, and my 38 year old furnace went out three times within the last two months (and always at the coldest points - go figure). It was out for an entire week in mid February, while it was ~6°F out side. When it is that cold, you can't even think, much less sit around and read, so I missed out on some time. Fortunately, after all that, we now have a new furnace.
The books included this month are a combination of titles chosen to clear review backlogs and TBR lists, and reading challenge books.
I decided to shelve last month's Alice Au Pays Des Merveilles by Lewis Carroll for a bit longer because while my French vocabulary is coming along, there is still a good deal in the book that I do not know well enough.
I will be actively reviewing the other books as I finish them. I am still constantly posting past reviews that never made it up as well. I still have quite a backlog to post. I mention new posts on BlueSky as well as FB and Insta (until I find a better alternative).
Last month's Buddy Read (book club style read-along) on TheStoryGraph went well and am planning another one for April. I think I am going to aim for every other month. You can find me on there as @paperbackgoddess. When I decide on the book, I will try to make a post on social in case anyone wants to join in.
And, as always, I am open to and love discussion, so I invite you to grab a book and read along!
ISBN: 9781952435003 447 Pages Available in Paperback, Audiobook, and on Kindle Trigger Warning: Gore, Death, SA
Synopsis:
When four college kids are buried alive and there’s only one way out, don’t ask questions. Just survive.
After barely escaping a torturous series of undiscovered tunnels far beneath the Sierra foothills, Mae and her friends emerge, dehydrated and nearly dead from starvation. But everything Mae knows and loves is now gone. Through some bizarre tangle in time, they’ve been reeled back into the past. To a time that, according to Mae—“is constipated with antiquated gender inequality.” With danger lurking behind every tree and no easy way home, they must begin adapting to their new surroundings before it’s too late. So, when struck with an unexpected opportunity, Mae is faced with the difficult choice of returning to her own time or living out the greatest adventure of her life and carving her own path in history. Gin Westcott’s debut novel is BOOK ONE in the unique Tangle of Time series that will take you through an exciting, historical, and romantic adventure that you won’t be able to put down.
My Thoughts:
When I read the synopsis for Tangle of Time, I was intrigued. I typically enjoy time travel and "character out of time" style books, so the premise sounded interesting enough for me to give it a shot. Unfortunately, the reality was not what one would hope. The story is a tangle alright - it felt like the author wasn't quite sure what genre or audience they were writing for. The book is a jumble of trashy romance novel with slice of life elements and action adventure that do not flow together to make one cohesive story, making it feel fractured, and this book clocks in at a completely unnecessary 100 chapters. What do I mean by unnecessary? Let me break it down.
The first four chapters are all, I suppose, character establishing backstory. Except none of what is revealed in them really plays much into the story later. It focuses too much on each of the four lead characters' parents/families that we will never hear about ever again, making the point to make each one of them unnecessarily quirky in some way. Apparently in their world there is no such thing as a normal family. It also establishes the not very likable leads themselves, using a plethora of clichés and what could be seen as blatant cultural stereotypes. These first chapters are also rife with out of place sexual commentary, with the men constantly objectifying women (and sometimes judging other men), a romance obsessed mother lying on dating profiles to snag a man, and multiple sexual conversations and acts between two of the leads. The next three chapters are somewhat setting up the story that is to come, by sending them to the job that is the catalyst for the time travel. This is the core "trashy romance novel with slice of life elements" part of the book.
Finally, on chapter eight, the story shifts towards the action adventure part and it reads like a completely different book. This is where you learn about the circumstance which leads into the story the synopsis is actually selling you. Almost. They still haven't experienced the time travel by the end of the chapter. In fact, the next twelve chapters are just about them traveling through the tunnels mentioned in the synopsis. What took two lines for the preview to explain took TWENTY chapters to reach in the book itself.
Once out of the caverns, injured and greatly malnourished, the leads finally encounter other people who hopefully can help them. When they should be grateful, what they choose instead is to be arrogant, demanding, and to mock the people they encounter, further diminishing any little likability they may have had. No real person is going to go two weeks without actual food then get a bowl of stew set in front of them and go "no thanks, I'm vegetarian." I mean, really? But that's how holier-than-thou the one character was written.At one point she scolded another character for littering - for dropping one cigarette butt in the cavern miles under the ground.
Not only are they arrogant and demanding, but they are over the top obtuse. The next seven chapters cover their experience with the first family they encounter, who lives in a log cabin with no modern amenities, and the whole time the protagonists' commentary is about their "costumes" and "rustic living lifestyle." They get brought to a local native tribe and determine that these people are "quite diligent in embracing their Native American roots,” instead of going "yeah, maybe this is an actual native tribe." Any sane person would have by now realized that THEY were the ones out of place.
Okay, lets add one more paragraph here on the rest of the story (only 73 more chapters) or this review will end up miles long. Actually, I think I'm good for now. I just can't.
If I sat here and nitpicked everything that bothered me about Tangle of Time, I would probably be here all day. But there is one more thing I really want to address. This entire story is hyper focused on sex and steeped in flagrant sexism, to a degree that made me outright uncomfortable. The synopsis mentioned "antiquated gender inequality" so I had expectation of some reference to it, but not to the degree that it is, and in a way that is so distasteful. As previously mentioned, the early chapters are heavy with it. The book establishes its ideal of gender roles and perpetuated stereotypes right from the start, with lead guy Greg fixing his car with the patronizingly insignificant assistance of his girlfriend who is notably wearing her four inch heels, and then he calls her babe and squeezes her butt. In the following chapter another male lead both mocks a man for being out of shape (despite being unfit himself) and then ogles and objectifies his female teacher. Everything just goes downhill from there. I thought at this point that the book HAD to have been written by a man, so when I checked and saw that not only was the writer a woman, but one whose profile claims that she is "passionate about gender equality," I was absolutely floored. This book reads like something written by a hormonally charged teenage boy, all sex and swear words. This book was sold to readers as "look how bad things were in the past" but the inequality doesn't start when the characters are in the past, rather it is solidly present throughout the entire book, just masked in the modern times as being "quirky" parental behaviors or "romantic" actions (that are not at all romantic). This book is a master class on how to not portray gender equality, and fails the Bechdel-Wallace test in the most disturbing way possible.
The main (synopsis) concept of Tangle of Time had such potential, and with the help of another writer or a good editor, maybe it would have been glorious. However with the insufferable characters, unnecessarily drawn out story, and all the other questionable content mentioned above, it was such a massive letdown and I'm sad that I kept it in my reading queue for as long as I did, just to be disappointed in such a manner. All of the promotional materials designate this book as book one in a series, but in the four years since it's release, I have seen no mention of book two. The author could still be writing it, though I am more inclined to believe that the series was abandoned after the poor reception of this introductory volume.
I won a complimentary copy of Tangle of Time from the Library Thing Early Reviewers program, in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions contained within this review are my honest thoughts.
Parent's Guide:
I definitely wouldn't recommend this book for kids. It is filled from front to back with references to sex and drugs, as well as abuse and other questionable topics. An older teen may find something enjoyable - in the way that "edgy cartoons" are, but they would probably lose interest before the actual story anyways.
Orphaned at a young age, Zephyr took control of her fate by becoming the realm’s most powerful strategist, serving under a leader whose cause jeopardizes their survival in a war where one must betray or be betrayed.
When Zephyr is forced to infiltrate an enemy camp, she encounters the enigmatic Crow, the only strategist who has ever rivaled Zephyr’s talent. But mastermind though Crow may be, he is no match for Zephyr. She will defy the heavens to win and no one―neither human nor god―can stop her.
Featuring gorgeous map art and black-and-white portraits, Strike the Zither is the first book in Joan He's riveting Kingdom of Three duology that explores human greed and ambition in a war-torn world. Don't miss the epic conclusion in Sound the Gong!
My Thoughts:
Strike the Zither is the first part of a two part fantasy story based loosely on the well known and often adapted Chinese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms (often shortened toThree Kingdoms - which is also the designation for era when the story takes place). There are omissions and distinct changes - most notably that most of the main cast is women, where in the original tale, all of the important players were men. The lead character Zephyr is based on Zhuge Liang, and her lordess Xin Ren is based on the hero Liu Bei. I've actually never had the opportunity to read Three Kingdoms, and in fact have only seen one adaptation - the Taiwanese drama K.O.3an Guo (part of the KO One franchise). And I watched that probably 10 years ago, so I don't remember the entire story. If you are familiar with the Three Kingdoms story, you will definitely see similarities in personas and certain happenings, but there are a lot of differences as well. Strike the Zither completely holds up as an independent story and will be just as enjoyable to readers who are not familiar with the Three Kingdoms story.
The main quartet of characters, like those seen in Three Kingdoms, is a trio of swornsisters and their military strategist. Each of these characters has unique personalities, are likable, and you can empathize with them and their motivations. The focal and secondary players of the story are clearly Zephyr and Xin Ren, so you get more background on them than on the other characters. Miasma, the villain of the story, is written to be perfectly detestable, though her strategist Crow is someone I couldn't decide if I loved or loathed.
The author paints a lovely picture of the scenery with her words (and provides a map in the index for context). She describes the action in vivid detail - which is sometimes quite violent, as to be expected in an epic story about war. Much of this story, however, was not what one would expect. Around halfway through, there is a bit of a twist - that I wouldn't dare spoil - and the narrative shifts drastically. As someone who dislikes when books are overly predictable, I absolutely relished the unexpected change.
I stumbled across Strike the Zither at the local library and the cover art is what drew me in first. I've been on a bit of a Xianxia drama binge lately, and this book looked like it would be right up my alley. If I'm being totally honest, the first couple of pages were a little overwhelming to me. It introduced several of characters very fast, and jumped right into the action; so it took a little while to get my bearings and remember who everyone was. It turns out that when you are reading a book instead of watching a show where you can learn faces, that much information up front can be a lot. Once I got a few more pages in, I was invested in the story and really didn't want to put it down. I finished this book in a week, but only because I was busy. This was the type of book that I could usually complete in one sitting.
Overall, Strike the Zither was a delightfulread. As mentioned previously, it is the first of a two part series. It doesn't really end on a cliff hanger, but with an incomplete feeling and a bit of last minute suspense. I cannot wait to start the second half. I was really grateful that I did not discover this book before the library had both volumes.
Parent's Guide:
This book has a lot going on, but isn't too complicated. It is a war epic so there is quite a bit of violence, sometimes graphic. I wouldn't advise this for younger or sensitive readers, but it has a good deal of entertainment value for more mature teens.
Cat_Gamer Vol 1-6 (Following stats on Vol 1 only) By Wataru Nadatani
ISBN: 9781506727417 192 Pages Available in Paperback and on Kindle/ComiXology Trigger Warning: soft Mental Health mentions, cartoon violence
Synopsis:
Riko, a twenty-nine-year-old office worker with an obsession for video games, finds her quiet life upended when she takes in a stray cat in this adorable manga series!
Her coworkers can’t quite figure her out—she never talks about her personal life, she never works overtime, and she never joins them for happy hour. Is she antisocial? Nope, she’s rushing home to play video games! One day, a stray cat is found in the office parking lot, and before Riko knows it, the cat has moved in with her! Having no experience with pets, Riko uses lessons drawn from video games to guide her in cat care, while her cute companion tries to understand her behavior through a cat's worldview.
My Thoughts:
I stumbled upon the first three volumes of Cat+Gamer at one of the county libraries affiliated with mine while I was wasting time waiting for my car to be repaired. I had never heard of it, but it had a cute cat on the cover and that's usually enough to sell me. Well, let me tell you - it did not disappoint. The story is about Riko, a 29-year-old socially reclusive office worker who lives on a daily schedule that is optimized to efficiently play and clear her adored video games. Riko has no outside of work friends and passes on social gatherings so that she can go straight home and game until bedtime.
Her life changes abruptly when a cat is found in the parking lot at work. The office asks for a volunteer to take it home and nobody else volunteers, so Riko impulsively agrees. She then panics when she realizes that she knows absolutely nothing about caring for a living creature and, in doing what she does best, she starts looking at the situation as though it was one of her video games.
Nothing could go wrong here, right?
What follows is a hilarious mix of adorable cat stories and assorted video game comparisons. Every time the cat - now named Musubi - does something new, it is compared to a behavior that Riko recognizes from her gaming experiences. At one point she inadvertently makes a friend, in the form of the shopkeeper at the local pet supply store, whom Riko sees as a great and knowledgeable master. Around volume four, the shopkeeper comes over for a pet play date and suggests that Riko get a second cat to give Musubi a companion. So in comes Soboro, and with her a whole new set of pet experiences.
The art work in these graphic novels is cute and elements of story are relatable to cat owners. Like when Riko shares a photo of Musubi online, which goes somewhat viral, and inspires her to start a social media account for her pet - something many a pet owner is familiar with. This actually leads to funny moments, where coworkers follow the account without realizing that the cats belong to Riko. Other references may be lost on those who aren't familiar with particular games, but the writer did an awesome job of breaking down those references so they would be understood my most readers. Overall, it's a very reader friendly series of books.
I loved all six of the currently available volumes of Cat+Gamer. There are two more volumes out in Japanese, but they have yet to be released in English. Volume seven of the manga is due to be released soon. It is currently available for preorder and will be released on February 25, 2025. The final volume recently got an English release date of August 26, 2025, and is now available for preorder as well. I can't wait.
Parent's Guide:
This book is rated 11+ but is appealing to younger kids due to the fun and relatable content. Cat+Gamer was the category winner of Excelsior Award Blue 2023. The books on the Blue shortlist have been designated as suitable for children aged 11+ (or Key Stage 3 in schools). Cat+Gamer was also the Overall winner of the 2023 Award. Learn more about the Excelsior Awards here.
This month's reading list is 2 months in one, because I am posting late in the month. The books included are a combination of titles chosen to clear review backlogs and TBR lists, reading challenge books, and one that I am hosting a Buddy Read (book club style read-along) for on TheStoryGraph. (You can find me on there as @paperbackgoddess)
I will hopefully get around to posting some past reviews that never made it up as well. I still have quite a backlog to post. I was never able to get the reviews off of my lost laptop, despite recovering the harddrive. Everything I have tried will not read the data. But I am trying to rewrite what ones I can. So check back repeatedly. (I also mention new posts on FB and Insta.)
And, as always, I am open to and love discussion, so I invite you to grab a book and read along!
It's 2025. Time to make (and probably break) resolutions, and to see what the future holds. Many people are anxious, which I completely understand, but we can't let that anxiety stop us from being us.
My last year was a rough one. I got in a pretty bad accident in the summer, which resulted in a week long hospital stay, 5 procedures, and ongoing physical therapy on my hand and arm. But I'm ready for some normalcy. So back to the book cave. ^.^
While I have tried to post occasionally on Facebook or Instagram - mostly stories, quite a bit of time has passed since my last post on here (plus a lot has changed since this blog started in 2011), so I'm going to do a bit of a re-introduction for anyone just recently finding their way here, due to things like Threads or Bluesky.
"Who is PaperbackGoddess?" you may be wondering. I am just a normal, book loving nerd. My kids are mostly grown now, with the youngest being 16. I still enjoy sewing and crafting. I make silly things that I sell on my Etsy store. I still love anime, but now it shares screen time with assorted Asian dramas (mostly Taiwanese). I haven't gotten to do nearly as much cosplay since the move to upstate NY in 2022, but I am hoping to change that this year, because I miss it. I also miss planning and organizing events, but it's probably for the best that I stepped back from most of those due to the physical strain that caused. I am still an ordained Priestess, and I hope to start booking weddings again when I no longer look like I got punched in the face with a truck. As I have always said, there is no greater feeling than being able to unite two people who are deeply in love.
In what spare time I have - which has been a lot lately since I have been unable to work - I read. I love reading. Reading a book is an escape, an exploration, a trip that you don't have to leave home for. I have so many books - mostly in boxes since I don't have enough shelves. I am active on PaperbackSwap and have a giant wish list. If you join there, add me as a referral and it will add you to my friends list! I am also active on Goodreads and TheStoryGraph, where I am currently hosting a Buddy Read and participating in about 11 reading challenges. You can see the challenges I am participating in on my profile. Join in with me!
My favorite genres to read are historical fiction, fantasy, and regency romance, but I read all kinds of things - from mysteries and ChickLit to new age and metaphysics books.
My reviews cover many different types of books. So if you have been looking for a new read, hopefully I can suggest something that suits your tastes. I promise to do my best to avoid spoilers.
As always, I am excited for the opportunity to share my literary experiences with others and to hear other people's opinions and have great discussions on the books that we read. So stop in any time and please feel free to interact!
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