Alright here we are, the first Rating and Ranking of 2023! I have 7 books out of 54 of my total year goal, so here we go wrapping up the first two months of reading! This might be a longer one, so hang on for the ride…

I cannot say enough good things about this book!!

Adeline “Addie” LaRue was originally from France, in the 1700s, but she doesn’t want to be tied down to a husband and live in the same village for her whole short miserable life. To be forced to give birth and have kids, to lose her belief in magic in the world around her.

She has a friend, an old woman named Estelle who hasn’t quite yet converted to Christianity and still believes in ‘the old gods’. One thing that Estelle warns of is ‘don’t pray to the gods that answer after dark’. But on the night of Addie’s wedding, in a moment of desperation, she prays to the old gods, waiting for someone to save her, but when nobody answers, she reverts to praying when it’s dark. And someone answers.

Addie wants freedom. That’s what she asks for. And it comes with unforeseen results.

Addie is now going to live forever, but she will end up being forgotten by everyone who meets her the minute they turn their back.

The book goes between the 1700s and the 2010s between chapters and technically has three points of view: Addie in the 1700s, Addie in the quote un-quote ‘modern world’, and a boy named Henry that she meets in a bookstore in New York. What’s special about Henry, you ask? He’s the only one who remembers Addie.

“Three words, large enough to tip the world. I remember you.”

V.E. Schwab, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

This book was ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE! I think, alongside Red, White and Royal Blue, it’s my favourite standalone book ever! The yearning from every character, the heartbreak, the troubles, the romance and the heartwrenching quotes, it’s everything you could ever want in a standalone. At one point, I almost cried because of how absolutely beautiful the writing was. I wish I could write as beautifully as V. E. Schwab.

Sometimes when you read, your favourite characters are the side characters, but Addie is beautifully charming and just such an amazingly developped character that she blows your mind.

I can’t find enough words to explain how beautiful this book is. Go read it, that’s what I’ll leave you with. 10/10, 5 stars, you get the point. Absolutely stunning.

(Also, shoutout to my friend who got me this for Christmas! Thank you so much!)

If you’ve been around my page for whatever period of time, you know that I am a die-hard Tolkien fan. I’ve read the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings many times, and watched the movies. So when Indigo’s newsletter told me that this book, which would be talking about the island kingdom of Numenor and the second age, I had to read it.

It was incredibly interesting, because while I know the events of the second age from other sources, it was really eye-opening to see it in so much detail. This was made almost exclusively from the late J. R. R. Tolkien’s notes on Middle Earth, and put together by his son and a team of others, and it just goes to show how much work Tolkien put into designing the world that he did, full with religions, hierarchies of all sorts, different fantasy races such as dwarves, elves, humans, and so much more.

There are maps and images and there’s even whole paragraphs describing the flora and fauna of Numenor.

To those of you who aren’t Tolkien fans and might have no idea what I’m talking about, Numenor was a set of islands gifted to humans for their service against the powers of Morgoth (basically the baddest of all bad guys at the time). The Numenorians could live longer, more plentiful lives as well. Numenor was a prosperous kingdom full of mariners and craftsmanship.

Sauron was one of Morgoth’s servants, but when Morgoth fell, he said he wanted to unite the peoples of Middle-Earth under his rule, not destroy them, but it was all a ruse. So when the Numenorians ended up trusting him, it led to their eventual downfall.

It was definitely a different read than what I’m used to. It followed a coherent storyline but at the same time almost felt like a non-fiction read, since it not only chronicled what happened in the second age but told also of various, more informative things. You know how, when writing fiction, people tell not to ‘infodump’ because it adds nothing? This book is the one and only exception where infodumping is a 100% nessecary.

Personally I am not as big of a fan of non-fiction as I am of fiction however this was both masterfully written and it’s about a subject that has always interested me.

It’s a 10/10 and a 5 star read. I was considering giving it 4.9/5 for the textbook-esque vibes but I can’t do that. Not to Tolkien.

Thanks Mom and Dad for this lovely Christmas gift 🙂

Buckle up because this is a heavy Jane Austen filled month…

Mansfield Park follows the story of Fanny Price, brought up with her cousins at their estate of Mansfield Park after her immediate family falls into poverty. She is a very delicate kind of girl whom everyone has to almost tip-toe around (so to speak) and her old friend is her cousin Edmund.

A lot of classics I find have plot in the beginning, no plot in the middle, and plot in the end. Mansfield Park seems to drag for a lot longer than nessecary. If I am to keep the end a secret for those who might want to read it later, this is really all I can say.

I was not as big of a fan of Mansfield Park as I thought I would be. As a general rule I tend not to like ‘delicate female flower who can’t do anything for herself’ characters. I like feminine characters, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t like helplessness. So when everyone’s always doting over Fanny and treating her like a small child, it gets kinda boring to keep reading.

There’s also no real conflict, no reason for me to care about any of these characters. There’s no romance (and if there is, it’s problematic) and Fanny herself, even if she’s the main character, has very little actuall screen time.

I have very little to say on this one. It’s a 2 stars out of 5 for me.

This one gets better!

Persuasion is about Anne Elliot, who, after a bit of a financial struggle, moves to Bath, England with her family. There she has to get used to the new society and make new friends, but the problem occurs when she meets Captain Wentworth.

Captain Wentworh was an officer in the navy when him and Anne met for the first time, 8 years ago, but not a very well-known or renowned one. He wasn’t rich, either, so he wasn’t the kind of man that the Elliots would approve of Anne marrying. So they broke it off, and thought they’d never see each other again.

But now, eight years later, he’s become a captain, a higher respectable rank, and he has money and more prestige. Anne at first is very awkward around him, and vice versa. She tries to convince herself she doesn’t have feelings for him, but it’s possible that he deserves a second chance?

This probably wouldn’t be a very acceptable relationship dynamic in modern society. The whole arc of ‘oh he was a nobody and I didn’t marry him, now he’s a somebody so I can’ doesn’t bode well nowadays and could even be considered borderline toxic.

But given that this is Victorian England, and marrying for money (especially for a woman) was nessecary and even expected, there’s little to no problem with it.

I liked it. I can’t say it’s the best book I’ve ever read, but it’s not the worst either. Anne is likeable and there is conflict and suspense (moderately so). I give this book a nice, comfortable 3.5/5 stars. (On Goodreads you can’t do half-stars so it’s rated a four over there, but oh well. 3.5/5 is the final rating).

This one is even better!

This book follows two sisters: Elinor and Marianne Dashwood. They move out of their home in Norland after it is given to their brother and his wife, and move to the country with their mother and younger sister, Margaret, who isn’t featured much, but still.

The two girls are very different. Elinor is reasonable and level-headed, while Marianne is more of a romantic, emotional and arts-oriented. The two find men that they admire in their new town. Elinor meets Edward Ferrars, and Marianne meets John Willoughby.

Edward and Elinor’s relationship seems steady, and it seems that they will be on track to marry. Marianne and John, who is mostly referred to as Willoughby in the book, seem also to be on track to marry, however Willoughby isn’t a very suitable guy for her.

However, both girls end up losing their relationships because both are engaged to somebody else!

Edward is engaged to a woman named Lucy Steele, one of Elinor’s friends. Willoughby runs off with another, richer woman.

While Elinor is doing her best to conceal her disappointment, Marianne falls into what can really only described as a heartbroken depression. Everything that reminds her of her old beau can make her cry. Nobody can say his name around her. And so on and so forth.

I won’t spoil the ending but needless to say it does end with everyone getting what they deserve and everything getting tied up nicely.

I will rate this 4 stars out of 5.

This book is about two girls: Alex Blackwood and Molly Parker. Alex is headstrong, a flirt, not really good with commitment, and struggling with an alcoholic mother. Molly is shy, socially awkward, and hopelessly in love with a girl from her high school named Cora Myers.

Alex is going to university for pre-med, to be a doctor, and for a bit of an escape from the responsibilities and trauma at home. It brings a pretty sizeable paycheck in and job security, but other than that, Alex isn’t that fond of pre-med. Molly wants a new start from the shy, awkward introvert from high school whose only friend is her mom.

Alex also recently broke up with her most steady girlfriend: a girl named Natalie. Alex’s uncertainty with commitment, and inability to respond with ‘I love you too’ ruins a special moment, and the two leave on less-than-ideal terms.

Both of them are going to the University of Pittsburgh, and after they meet unexpectedly at a party, Alex finds out about Molly’s crush.

Natalie is in a band called the Cereal Killers, and she’s going on tour. Alex suddenly gets an amazing idea: If she can help Molly get with Cora, then she can prove to Natalie that she’s changed and that she deserves a second chance. That she actually has friends, not just random hookups saved to her phone.

But of course, things don’t go as expected when Alex finds herself falling for Molly…

I really liked this book. It was fairly fast paced and the characters were great, but something about it didn’t hook me in as fast as I thought it would. I only really got invested closer to the end, and read it twice within the span of about a week to see if that would have helped me like it more. It didn’t, and all the surprises that come with reading a new book weren’t there the second time around.

I definitely recommend it. It does swear so I would say it’s a read more for people in high school and above, but also contains sensitive topics (e.g. alcoholism) so it’s a ‘read at your own discretion’ kind of book.

Another thing cool about this book is that the authors are married in real life, and from what I was told by the cashier when I bought this book is that the story is based on their own love story!

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars!

Afterlove is such a cute book. I don’t see why it isn’t talked about more on the internet. I was given this by my friend before her exchange program was over and I’m so thankful for it and for her!

It follows the story of Ashana Persaud and Poppy Morgan, who meet on a boat ride when their two separate schools — Whitehawk and Roedean — go on a field trip. The two end up falling for each other quite fast.

They go on a lot of cute dates, but have a bit of a secret relationship because Poppy isn’t out to her parents, and Ash’s parent’s aren’t the most accepting. Finally on New Year’s Eve, Ash stays out a little later than she thought and gets herself in trouble with her parents, who really want her home. Unfortunately, Ash gets hit by a car before she can make it home.

Since Ash is the last person to die that year, she becomes a grim reaper, in charge of teenage sudden deaths. She meets Deborah (kind of like the head grim reaper), Dev, and Esen (two other grim reapers around her age… sort of).

As a grim reaper, she gets sticky notes from Deborah when someone’s going to die, and then she has to go and reap them, bring them to the beach where Charon takes them to whatever afterlife they believe in.

After visiting her grave site with Esen, Ash finds Poppy, who recognizes her. She’s not supposed to be recognized, because if she is, then that means that Poppy will die within the span of the next few days.

So they spend the next few days together as Poppy says goodbye in her own ways to her life before she eventually dies (I’m not going to spoil how that happens).

This was such a cute book! I read it in three-ish days, and it was weirdly comforting and cozy even with all the death and stuff involved. I loved reading about Ash and Poppy’s relationship unfold as well as how they come to terms with their own death.

I give this book 5 stars, which I didn’t think I’d do when I first opened the book up!

So my final ranking of all the books I’ve read in these two months:

1. Afterlove by Tanya Byrne, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab, and The Fall of Numenor by J. R. R. Tolkien (5/5 stars!)
2. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, and She Gets The Girl by Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick (4/5 stars!)
3. Persuasion by Jane Austen (3.5/5 stars!)
4. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (2/5 stars!)

This was a long one, so if you’ve stuck around for this long, great! Thank you so much!

Subscribe so you can see future posts as they come out, and leave a comment and tell me how your 2023 is going thus far!

Life is a story. How will you write yours?

Until next time,

Catherine Khaperska