8000+ Words Ranty Spoilery Review of A Throne For Sisters // why instalove rarely ever works

This has truly been one of the most painful books I’ve read in a while.

It’s actually free for download on Kindle and Google Books, so I picked it up on a recommendation from a friend. My friend thought that the premise of the book was my kind of thing: it’s like historical fantasy, with politics and court drama. What’s not to love?

Everything.

Just everything.

A warning, there will be spoilers for the book. I thought about making this non-spoilery and keeping spoilers in skippable dropdowns because I want everyone to be able to read this (I wrote over 8000 words, okay), but that means pretty much all of the review will end up in spoiler dropdowns.

So I’m sorry. Maybe the synopsis won’t sound like your kind of book so you won’t care and will read the post anyway? And I can honestly give a non-spoilery review of this book in like 4 phrases: insta-love; flat and boring characters; i don’t get this plot or world; at the end, i just wanted to melt into a frustrated mess.

That is a very accurate summation of my entire experience with this book. But what’s the fun in a summary?

Without further ado, let’s get started.

Would You Rather Have a Male or Female Protagonist? – Let’s Talk Bookish

Hello and welcome back friends! I hope you’re all doing well. As the title suggests, today we’re discussing whether I prefer male or female protagonists in books.

If you’re new:

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme hosted by me and Dani @ Literary Lion where we discuss certain topics, share our opinions, and spread the love by visiting each other’s posts. Today’s topic is about whether you prefer male or female protagonists in books. Join in on this meme by writing your own discussion on the topic, and sharing your link using the inLinkz available here.

The answer to this question has changed for me over the years, and I currently have a much different opinion on it than I did previously. Without further ado, let’s get started!

Struggling With My Identity as a Blogger – Let’s Talk Bookish (+ i’ve possibly returned from the dead)

It’s been such a long time.

At least, it feels that way since the last new-content post that I did was a review on July 20th. It’s been well over a month, and now I’m feeling slightly more inclined to actually write here again.

I’ve missed my blog, but at the same time I’ve been terrified of it.

Missed it because I miss this community, I miss writing posts and having conversations, I miss taking care of this little creative outlet.

Terrified because it’s been such a while, and I’m kind of afraid that I’ve lost my touch, that this post will be a fluke and I’ll go back to abandoning the blog, that blogging will become that thing that saps all my energy once again.

I think this is the longest hiatus I’ve ever taken. Or maybe not, but it definitely feels like it. Probably because when I’ve taken hiatuses before, it wasn’t because I was starting to hate my blog. It was more because life commitments got in the way and I had to pause for a while.

This time though, I genuinely was tired of my blog.

Tired of always being behind on keeping up with everyone else’s posts, and with comments on my own.

There was a point when opening a new blank page seemed to kill something in me. I couldn’t bring myself to write anything that I wanted to. All my energy and enthusiasm just disappeared.

I finally reached a point where just thinking about my blog made me so tired. So unexcited. So drained.

I’d lost my passion for blogging.

So I stopped. It was as simple as that.

I felt guilty, so guilty, and I still do. Every time I got an email saying someone new had followed my blog, I felt guilty because I’d abandoned it, and wasn’t creating new content for them to read. It was even worse when I thought of all my old followers who were still hanging in there and I was just leaving them with nothing.

And now that I’m possibly maybe back, this feeling has reached an all-time low. Do I actually really deserve to just come back and continue posting like almost nothing happened?

Do I deserve the kindness of this community that’s been so patient with me every time I’ve disappeared?

Do I deserve to even call myself a blogger when I’ve let my blog slowly gather dust?

“Sorry” doesn’t even begin to adequately describe the depths of my remorse for leaving this blog. Because as much as I avoided it and refused to think of it, I still missed it and loved it. Sometimes I’d go read some old posts and laugh at myself, and wonder why I couldn’t do that anymore. Why I couldn’t write something that made even myself laugh. Why I couldn’t even begin to start a post without slowly losing all my eagerness to get back to my old self.

How do you come back from being ready to give up on a hobby that’s been a part of your life for almost three years? How do you come back, and then call yourself a blogger once more?

I remember a naïve younger version of myself that was filled with such love and excitement for this blog.

How she was determined to become the next cornerstone of the blogging community.

How she worked endlessly to go from a small unknown blogger with a rather ugly blog design to a slightly more well-known blogger with a possibly nicer blog design.

How she made friends who she laughed with and cried with over the agonies of books.

How she planned out an alternate universe for her future where her blog continued to flourish and she became an author, further cementing her position in the community.

How she decided that hiatuses would only happen when it was absolutely necessary, because success doesn’t come to those who slack off.

I wonder what she would think of me now. An entire summer with only a single class, wasted, because I couldn’t muster the determination to prepare posts well in advance in anticipation of the next school semester. How she would have despaired over my utter waste of time.

It’s kind of funny to think about my passionate and excited past self, and compare it to me today. Past Me was definitely a blogger. Current Me? I don’t know anymore.

I can’t blame anybody for my blogging rut. It’s just wholly been me battling myself, trying to overcome my mental aversion to my own blog. Maybe if I hadn’t put so much pressure on myself to be a good blogger, maybe things would have turned out differently. Maybe I wouldn’t be questioning if I can be a blogger anymore.

I don’t want to not be a blogger. On the contrary, if I could go back to wanting so badly to post but not having the time to do so, I would because at least then it’s not my fault that I can’t post as much as I would like. I want to go back to being passionate about this space and wanting to make it something that’s completely and truly mine. I didn’t start this blog because of a recommendation from someone. I didn’t start this blog because I was trying to impress someone.

I started this blog because I wanted to, and seldom do I ever do something solely because I want to.

And I don’t want it to end because it means so. much. to me. When I think of the future, I still factor in that my blog will continue to be alive and well, and maybe this is the start of it coming back to life.

But before I give this another try, I want to say I’m sorry despite how useless that word currently feels.

I’m really sorry for everything. For just leaving y’all hanging. I never really did do a proper announcement saying I was on hiatus, just a mention at the end of my last post before this one.

I’m sorry that I’ve not been a better blogger, that I’ve fallen so helplessly behind with comments and with blog hopping and commenting on your blogs. I love you and your posts so much, so forgive me for not being more consistent with keeping up with you all.

I’m also sorry to everyone who has been tagging me, and who I haven’t responded to. I’m going to try and find all those pingbacks, because I do really appreciate the fact that you were still thinking of me even when I was gone.

And to all my wonderful LTB friends, I am so sorry for not being a better host and for not keeping up with your discussions. I’m forever grateful that you’ve been participating in this meme, and I hope that you do continue to do so, despite my faults.

Maybe I can try and start this whole blogging thing anew with a better mindset and a goal to be and do better.

Maybe I can reach a point where I can convince myself that I am a blogger and deserve to call myself one.

At the least, I hope I won’t have to be disappointed in myself for abandoning this blog ever again.

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Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme hosted by me and Dani @ Literary Lion where we discuss certain topics, share our opinions, and spread the love by visiting each other’s posts. Today’s topic was about having a blogger identity crisis. Join in on this meme by writing your own discussion on the topic, and sharing your link using the inLinkz available here.

You know, I actually contemplated making this a more light-hearted self-deprecating post but I guess heavy, serious, and very self-deprecating still works too. Jokes aside, I’m so glad that I got that off my chest, and I really hope that this is a permanent return. I’ve missed y’all, how have you been? I’d love to catch up, so share any new favorite books, blogs, etc that you have below.

Should Books Have Content Ratings? – Let’s Talk Bookish

Hey friends, welcome back! Today, I’m doing last Friday’s Let’s Talk Bookish discussion. As always, Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme, hosted by me and Dani @ Literary Lion, where we discuss certain topics, share our opinions, and spread the love by visiting each other’s posts.

This Friday’s topic was: Should Books Have Content Ratings? (Dani)

This is Dani’s topic for the month, and it’s an interesting question that I haven’t really thought of before. I feel like books kind of do already have content ratings, but it just isn’t on the level of the ratings for movies/tv shows.

Without further ado, let’s get started!

Prologues and Epilogues – Let’s Talk Bookish

Buenas tardes, amigos! Welcome back to the blog. It’s time for another Let’s Talk Bookish discussion. As always, Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme hosted by me and Dani @ Literary Lion, where we discuss certain topics, share our opinions and spread the love by siting each other’s posts.

Today’s topic is: Prologues and Epilogues: Are They Necessary? (suggested by Fives @ Down the Rabbit Hole)

Thank you so much to Fives for suggesting this topic and being a part of LTB! I haven’t really ever thought about how prologues and epilogues affect stories, so this will be interesting to discuss.

Without further ado, let’s get started!

What’s the difference between having something as a prologue vs. a chapter 1?

I think prologues tend to be set several years before the action of the story, or they tease the climax part of the story. If it’s set some years before, it’s usually used to share some important event that explains how the character reached whatever situation they’re in.

For instance, if a character is set on revenge in the main story, the prologue might show the event that set the character on their vengeful path.

I think I’ve only seen one series that uses prologues to tease the climax of the story, that is the Keeper of the Lost Cities series. It always starts with a dramatic moment where the main character is realizing that someone is a traitor, or something terrible is happening. You don’t know who or what of course, but it serves to get you excited. It also kind of makes me try extra hard to guess everything before it happens.

Based on this, there’s a major difference between first chapters and prologues. First chapters dive into the main story right away, while prologues are setting the scene or trying to get you excited. And sometimes, it’s crucial for a story to have a prologue just to help the reader get oriented with the plot or to keep them hooked until the big reveal happens.

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Is it too much to have both a prologue and epilogue?

First of all, I think an epilogue’s role in the story is to basically tell what happens after the main events of the plot. Usually it’s set a little while after a dramatic ending where you hopefully get to see the characters living their best lives and being happy.

I love having epilogues, because they are usually so wholesome and make you feel relieved that everything worked out nicely. In mysteries/thrillers, they can also serve as a chance to show what happened to the murderer, or abductor, or whoever the bad guy is if the book didn’t follow their trial. And that is definitely necessary for some closure.

Is it too much to have a prologue and an epilogue? I don’t think so, mostly because I don’t really care that there are two more chapters. And you can’t even really call them chapters because they tend to be much shorter than the normal chapters. So there’s really nothing bad about them. They just help to enhance the main plot and don’t really have a negative in my opinion.

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A few other thoughts:

There are times when a book doesn’t have an epilogue and it frustrates me because I would like to know what happened after the main events of the story. In contrast, if a book doesn’t have a prologue, I don’t care. It doesn’t really change anything because whatever information is included in a prologue will no doubt find its way into the main plot eventually.

However, not all endings offer a look into how everything turned out after the dramatic finish, so I find myself wanting an epilogue to give me that happy ending. Sure, sometimes an ambiguous ending is just perfect for a book and is almost necessary to keep my heart pounding or breaking after the book ends.

But you know, every once in a while, a nice tidy happy ending is very good for my heart too.

And that’s all I have to say on epilogues and prologues for today. Be sure to visit Dani’s post to join the linkup!

Some questions for you:

• Do you like prologues and epilogues? If not, why?
• Do you think epilogues have more value than prologues and vice versa?
• What’s the best prologue/epilogue you’ve ever read? Has one ever ruined a book for you?

Share your thoughts in the comments below!