Archive for April 2021

Tuesday, April 20, 2021

Top Ten Tuesday #299: Colorful covers

Posted by Tracy

Today's Topic:

Colorful Book Covers

Happy Tuesday! Today's topic was actually a bit of a challenge since I don't read many colorful books. For some reason fantasy seems to be more dark and muted. Most of these are books I've read, but a few are ones I haven't gotten to yet! Are your shelves more colorful or dark?

Lost in the Never Woods by Aiden Thomas

The Kingdom by Jess Rothenberg

Goddess in the Machine by Lora Beth Johnson

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

The Camelot Betrayal by Kiersten White

Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

Replica by Lauren Oliver

The Infinity Courts by Akemi Dawn Bowman

The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

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Sunday, April 18, 2021

Weekly Recap: 4/11 - 4/17

Posted by Tracy

HAPPENINGS OFF THE BLOG

Hi, everyone! This week I didn't get around to posting much because 1) it was my birthday week! and 2) I got my second covid shot. For my birthday I got to go to Animal Kingdom for an outdoor lunch and to walk some animal trails. Things aren't back to normal, but it's nice to be able to go get lunch and not feel like I'm probably going to die of covid. My husband also ordered cupcakes, which was amazing! I will use any excuse to eat cake.

My second covid vaccine was a doozy, but I would do it again and again! I got the shot on Thursday and was exhausted within a few hours, but not much else. That night I slept horribly and Friday was pretty rough. I was sooooo tired, had a headache, and my back and shoulders were killing me. I spent the day doing a puzzle and watching Netflix on the couch, but luckily I slept like a baby Friday night and felt back to normal on Saturday. It wasn't the best experience, but totally worth it to get things back to normal!

NEW BOOKS THIS WEEK

THIS WEEK I READ

Top Ten Tuesday #298: Book titles as Crayola colors

Posted by Tracy

Today's Topic:

Book Titles That Sound Like

They Could Be Crayola Crayon Colors

Happy Tuesday! What a fun topic we have today! I decided to go with titles that didn't actually have colors in them to make it extra difficult, and I also found color swatches to show what I had in mind. I think it's funny that most of the colors I chose are dark or muted. Honestly, it's the same as the colors I used in my house. Haha!

The Coming Storm by Regina M. Hansen

The Dark Tide by Alicia Jasinska

A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir

Winterwood by Shea Ernshaw

RoseBlood by A.G. Howard

The Everlasting Rose by Dhonielle Clayton

Inferno by Julie Kagawa

The Last Harvest by Kim Liggett

Sherwood by Meagan Spooner

Mooncakes by Wendy Xu & Suzanna Walker

Lakesedge by Lyndall Clipstone

Ashfall by Mike Mullin

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

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Sunday, April 11, 2021

Weekly Recap: 4/4 - 4/10

Posted by Tracy

HAPPENINGS OFF THE BLOG

Hi, everyone! I posted this week! More than once! YAY! It has once again been a crappy few weeks. Since I posted a recap last, a lot has happened. Two weeks ago I got a call in the afternoon that a close family friend had passed away unexpectedly. Then later that day I found out my brother had been moved to the ICU after complications from a surgery the previous day that had lasted twelve hours. Knock on wood, everything has been generally okay since then.

Over the last month I've discovered Webtoons and lost a week of reading to them. Honestly, they count though. If manga counts, webtoons count. Speaking of manga, I've been trying to find more to read through my library or Kindle Unlimited but the options are so limited! Anyone have any favorites on Hoopla or KU? I can't even deal with getting into a series that costs $7 per book and has 20+ books. How do people afford it?

NEW BOOKS THIS MONTH

THIS MONTH I READ

Book Review: A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas

Posted by Tracy

Title: A Court of Silver Flames (A Court of Thorns and Roses #4)
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Publication Date: February 16, 2021
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Pages: 757
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Reviews for book 1, book 2, & book 3

Nesta Archeron has always been prickly-proud, swift to anger, and slow to forgive. And ever since being forced into the Cauldron and becoming High Fae against her will, she's struggled to find a place for herself within the strange, deadly world she inhabits. Worse, she can't seem to move past the horrors of the war with Hybern and all she lost in it.

The one person who ignites her temper more than any other is Cassian, the battle-scarred warrior whose position in Rhysand and Feyre's Night Court keeps him constantly in Nesta's orbit. But her temper isn't the only thing Cassian ignites. The fire between them is undeniable, and only burns hotter as they are forced into close quarters with each other.

Meanwhile, the treacherous human queens who returned to the Continent during the last war have forged a dangerous new alliance, threatening the fragile peace that has settled over the realms. And the key to halting them might very well rely on Cassian and Nesta facing their haunting pasts.

Against the sweeping backdrop of a world seared by war and plagued with uncertainty, Nesta and Cassian battle monsters from within and without as they search for acceptance-and healing-in each other's arms.

Welcome to another edition of Tracy's unpopular opinions! It isn't a secret around the blog that A Court of Wings and Ruin was my least favorite of the ACOTAR series, at least until A Court of Frost and Starlight. I couldn't even finish that one. Then I tried and failed to read Crescent City. It shouldn't be a surprise then, that I was a little nervous about A Court of Silver Flames. Still, I was excited to see how Nesta and Cassian's story came together. Big yikes.

This book picks up not too long after ACOFAS, with Nesta drinking away her sorrows and bringing home a new fae male (cringe) every night. I think we can all agree that she needed therapy, but the whole set up for this book - that Rhysand and Feyre gave her an ultimatum of either leaving Prythian or training with Cassian - was kind of gross to me. I understand the concept of tough love, but something about this didn't sit right. This really outlines one of my big issues with Silver Flames: what happened to Super Feminist Rhys? In this book he's constantly threatening women, making decisions for them, keeping secrets to protect them... This ain't it. But I digress.

I've seen a lot of people say that this book has no plot and is all romance, but honestly I felt like the romance was lacking too. I totally bought Nesta and Cassian in Wings and Ruin, so their love story shouldn't have been a stretch, but something about the way it was written did not work for me. While I did love Cassian, Nesta continued to be a raging bitch throughout the entire book, both to Cassian and those around her. I really could not see what Cassian saw in her.

Then there was the smut. There was so much of it and it wasn't particularly well written, which is surprising because SJM did it pretty well in Mist and Fury. It seemed as if she got clearance to write an adult book and decided to cram as much sex as she possibly could into the second half (because there wasn't much in the first, which was just Nesta moping). She also seemed to think that Nesta and Cassian enjoying things a bit rough was super scandalous, when it was actually just a bit cringeworthy. Although, maybe a lot of her readers would agree based on the shock and awe I've seen over Nesta's one sentence super scandalous fantasy. :/

Before this review gets ridiculously long, let's jump into the speed round. I hated the plot set up with Feyre and Rhysand. It was stupid and out of character and created unnecessary drama. I hated the entire ending to the Nesta's training plot point and found it to be utterly nonsensical and required way too much suspension of disbelief. I hated that Nesta was essentially given a free pass for being such an absolutely horrible person to everyone around her. I hated that SJM brought in a paper thin villain and random new mythology that didn't need to exist. I'm also not impressed with Tamlin becoming a literal animal and no one staying to help him overcome HIS trauma.

It may sound like I totally hated everything about this book, but I honestly didn't. I did really enjoy the treasure hunt feels I got from Silver Flames. I liked the new female characters who befriended Nesta and the further exploration of the library under the House of Wind. Seeing Nesta overcome her trauma was satisfying, although I do wish she'd given a better apology at the end. I really, really loved getting to know Cassian and his backstory better. The House itself was also a really cool addition to the story.

I know that Sarah J. Maas has it in her to write amazing stories and I just don't understand what happened here. There was obviously a lot of potential for a great story in A Court of Silver Flames. Here is an established world and established characters that we already love and I really wish she had done more with it. Instead, her writing style has completely changed from the beginning of the series and the plot has fallen to the wayside to make room for more cringeworthy sex scenes.

Will I continue the series? Yes. But from here on out I will go into SJM books with low expectations and the understanding that nothing will top the first two.

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Tuesday, April 6, 2021

Cornerfolds 7th Blogiversary Giveaway!

Posted by Tracy

Somehow it has been seven years since I started this blog and honestly how? I started Cornerfolds in 2014 when I was feeling isolated and needed something to give me a purpose and it absolutely has done that. Things haven't always been wonderful, but I've always had this blog and the amazing friends I've made in this community to anchor me.

If we're being honest, the last year has been completely awful and I know that's definitely come across in my posts. Last year I didn't even make a anniversary post because it was so insane! It seems like my weekly recaps are always filled with doom and gloom (this week won't be any different, hurray!), but you amazing blogging buddies of mine have always been here when I drag myself back after whatever ridiculous thing has come my way. I just... I love you guys. Thank you for sticking with me and letting me come and go as I need to.

That's enough moping for today though because this is a celebration of SEVEN years of blogging! Things have certainly changed around here, eh? BookTube, Bookstagram, and BookTok weren't things when I first started, for sure. No matter how things around us continue to evolve, I'll always love this community and the support I've found in it over the last seven years.

BIG HAPPENINGS

April 2020: Quarantine birthday with ACNH
July 2020: I have to say goodbye to my puppy Kovu
August 2020: My brother falls off a mountain (literally)
December 2020: Danielle becomes a regular contributor on the blog
March 2021: First vaccine dose signals a possible return to normalcy??
April 2021: Upcoming quarantine birthday with ACNH

Top Ten Tuesday #297: Disappointing Sequels

Posted by Tracy

Today's Topic:

Disappointing Sequels I’d

Gladly Throw Into the Ocean

Happy Tuesday! It's my favorite time again! Time for unpopular opinions. I didn't HATE all of these, but most of them were true burn them in a fire quality. I'll even continue reading some of them. I leave it to you to guess which is which. 😁 There is NOTHING worse than loving a series and being totally hyped for the next book or the spinoff, then being totally let down. Some of these don't even feel like they belong in the same series. Oh well, better luck next time.