That Inevitable Victorian Thing by: E.K. Johnston

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Historical Fiction
Published: October 3, 2017 by: Dutton
Pages: 330
Rating: 4/5 stars

In an age where the Victorian era never ended, Crown Princess Victoria-Margaret is spending one last summer of freedom before she is married in an intricate match-making process. When she arrives in Canada for weeks of lavish balls and political meetings, she meets Helena Marcus, a brilliant daughter of a geneticist, and August, the heir to a powerful shipping firm. Together, the trio form an unlikely bond, and look to carry on the first Queen Victoria's legacy of tolerance and acceptance.

This book was hopeful, and interesting. The basic premise is that the British Empire has carried on by keeping promises and respecting all different colonies. Basically, colonization never happened. The result is a seemingly perfect world where everyone respects each other and their space. It seems like a dream, but this world is real.

There was some great f/f representation in this book. I would never think that a crown princess in real life would be accepted as a lesbian, but Victoria Margaret's empire is basically perfection. Her relationship was so witty and cute, and I loved her character.

My favourite character was probably August, I thought he was charismatic and charming, but not predictable. All of the characters in fact were very well written and the trio complimented each other well. The plot was also very light and humourous, this book was not hard to get through in the slightest.

I think the only issue I had with this book was how perfect it was. Like I said before, basically it's all sunshine and rainbows in the world, and while there is some minor confrontation in other aspects of the book, the whole "nothing can go wrong" mentality just made it very unrealistic. I actually wrote a story with a world similar to this a few years ago and I grew to hate it because I felt like there were no cracks to get under. And that just makes it seem uncomfortable and fake.

I use hopeful to describe this book because it seems like the author is trying to look forward to a better future. The British Empire cannot fix past mistakes, but it can ensure that they never happen again. While my cynicism prevents me from thinking that a world like this could ever happen, it is nice to dream about.

Have you read That Inevitable Victorian Thing? What did you think?

Emily @ Paperback Princess

My Goodreads Challenge Update

Hello all! Given as we are a little halfway over the year, I decided that I would take a look at my progress on my yearly goodreads challenge. I want to see how things are going so far and which books are looking to be my favourites. I'll be looking at some stats on what I have been reading so far!

My Goodreads Challenge:

My Goal: 50 books from January 1, 2018- December 31, 2018
Books read so far: 37 (13 more to go!)

Breaking Down the Books:

Out of the 37:

8 have been YA contemporary
9 have been YA fantasy
3 have been YA historical fiction
9 have been classics
4 have been adult realistic fiction
4 have been graphic novels

Five Star Reviews:

I have had twelve five-star reviews so far which seems pretty good to me! I only have one one-star review which is so awesome. To me that seems like I have established what I like and have developed a strong rhythm in my reading.

I won't decide officially until the end of the year, but it looks to me that Maus: A Survivor's Tale by: Art Spiegelman is on track to be my favourite book of the year, which is surprising considering it is a graphic novel! I would have never thought that a graphic novel would be my fave, but this book was so amazingly crafted, and I cannot wait to write my review on it.

The Main Things I've Noticed:

I read a lot more adult fiction these past few months! It seems like every other year in the past was filled with YA with a few classics sprinkled in, but I had a lot more of an even match between adult novels and YA novels as a whole. There was also a healthy amount of classics thanks to my literature class last year.

I also have been ahead of the game ever since I started the challenge, and this is probably due to me reducing my goal to fifty books instead of my usual hefty eighty. I decided to stop forcing myself to read an enormous number of books that I probably skimmed through, and instead focus on reading a smaller amount more closely and thoroughly. Reading has become a lot less stressful with this method!

Overall, over these past six months I found that I have been reading out of my comfort zone, and it has paid off! I would never have reached for as much adult fiction in times past, but I have been taking risks in my reading and the result has been that I have been enjoying books far more! In fact, most of my two-star reviews had to do with the YA's I have read. Now this is not to say that I hate YA, I just think it's good that my reading has matured over this year. I'm looking forward to the remainder of the year and hopefully reading a lot more awesome books!

How are your reading challenges going?

Emily @ Paperback Princess

The Princess Diaries by: Meg Cabot

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary
Published: July 1, 2001 by: Turtleback
Pages: 283
Rating: 2/5 stars

Mia Thermopolis is an awkward, nerdy freshman whose world is about to be turned upside down. It started with her mother revealing that she's dating Mia's algebra teacher. Then her long-absent father shows up revealing that he is the crown prince of Genovia, and that Mia will soon have to take over the throne. Documenting it all in her diary, Mia experiences the trials and tribulations of training to be a princess, all while just hoping to pass algebra.

I was very excited to start this book. I am such a huge fan of the Princess Diaries movie and I was expecting to go into this and fall in love. I wanted to become hooked onto the series and have nice, fluffy books to always go back to. Unfortunately, this book did not live up to my expectations, and I will remain adamant that the movie was better.

I was very disappointed with how Queen Clarisse was depicted in the novel. I kept wanting to envision graceful Julie Andrews, but instead this queen was quite tacky and rude. Now I understand the book came first so the movie did tweak many things, but the characters in the movie just seemed a lot more likable to me.

There were a lot of plot points in here that didn't match with the movie, which is unfortunate because a lot of my favourite scenes I was hoping to read about were nonexistent! I feel like Michael took such a backseat in this novel, as well as there was no heartwarming moment between Mia and Michael at the ball when her foot "pops."

I know it's bad to keep comparing the novel to the movie as they are completely separate entities,  but I think most of my dislike for the book does come from the fact that the film is so light-hearted and fun and I just didn't get that in this book. I mean, I got through it quite quickly as it was a very easy read which is a plus, but it lacked anything to make me fall in love. I cannot believe I'm saying this, but I am #teamfilm on this one.

Have you read The Princess Diaries? What did you think?

Month in Review: June

It is so freaking hot in Toronto right now I might die. Seriously in need for things to cool down because it is honestly unbearable outside. Anyways, my June was pretty good! My summer finally got more exciting and to be honest I was so busy I completely forgot to write this post! Here's what happened:

What I Read: 

Half Broke Horses by: Jeannette Walls: 5/5 stars
The Color Purple by: Alice Walker: 4/5 stars
Appointment with Death by: Agatha Christie: 4/5 stars
Hero at the Fall by: Alwyn Hamilton: 3/5 stars

Favourite book: Definitely Half Broke Horses! I am in love with Walls' writing and this story that featured her grandmother was so beautifully written.

What I Blogged: 

I got real about my frustrations with Blogger at the moment. I need to find a good commenting platform, and I discussed it in my post: Blog Commenting Formats- What's Your Preferred Platform? 

Favourite Blog Posts: 

Clare and Veronika review A Thousand Perfect Notes 

Cee asks What the Purpose of the Purpose is 

Charlotte shares her First Year Feelings 

Life Stuff:

This month was very fun! I went to see Phantom of the Opera with my mom, two days later went to see Harry Styles in concert, and now I have friends from Italy staying with my family! It's been a busy few days of taking them around, I somehow feel like a tourist in my own city! But it's been really fun. It's also the Canada Day long weekend so everything is starting to really feel like summer now.

How was your June?

Emily @ Paperback Princess