maiahiraya
MAIA HIRAYA
I read and review books. I'm still posting all my Goodreads review here and it might take some time, but thank you for your understanding!
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dreacky
۞☼ℂℴ𝕞𝒾𝕔𝓈 𝕃𝒾𝕜ℯ 𝕃𝒾𝕗ℯ☼۞
healthywealthys
Healtho
vmcalderon
VMCALDERON
thevagabondbard
The Cedar Dreams of a Lost Crow
itismarvelicious
You tell me, Kevin.
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ayt madashi, pillar of the mountain, i offer you a clean blade.
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I have been chosen and trained to carry the gift of the gods for the good and protection of the people, and against all enemies of the clan, no matter their strength or numbers. I join myself to the fellowship of jade warriors, freely and with my whole being, and I will call them my brothers-in-arms. Should I ever be disloyal to my brother, may I die by the blade. Should I ever fail to come to the aid of my brother, may I die by the blade. Should I ever seek personal gain at the expense of my brother, may I die by the blade. Under the eyes of all the gods in Heaven, I pledge this. On my honor, my life, and my jade.
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1.6k celebration: jade city requested by @celiabowens
Lan had concluded long ago that there was little he could say or do if his younger siblings were determined to be cruel to each other.
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The Mountain would come down from the forest and would not rest until the remaining Kauls were dead.
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T H E G R E E N B O N E S A G A
It had almost turned out that way.
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T H E G R E E N B O N E S A G A
It had almost turned out that way.
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🤤
Contact your local Lantern Men for the best deals on any luxury cars!
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i’m on my 2nd reread and YES
PSA: READ THE GREEN BONE SAGA BY FONDA LEE. You're welcome.
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lit meme: series or books [2/10] ↝ the daevabad trilogy by s.a. chakraborty
i do not believe ambitious men who say the only route to peace and prosperity lies in giving them more power—particularly when they do it with lands and people who are not theirs.
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@sanktalina‘s edit exchange — legendborn.
⤷ for @acotars
don’t make your life about the loss. make it about the love.
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“I have become something wonderful, she thought. I have become something terrible. Was she now a goddess or a monster? Perhaps neither. Perhaps both.”
- R.F. Kuang, The Poppy War
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Best Books I read in 2021
Nobody asked, but here are the best books I read in 2021.
1. The Greenbone Saga by Fonda Lee
"Perhaps that was the great tragedy of jade warriors and their families. Even when we win, we suffer."
Now my favorite book series of all time. The Green Bone Saga chronicles the life of the Kaul family of the No Peak clan. This is being marketed as The Godfather meets kung fu meets magic and that tracks, but this series is much much more than that. The Green Bone Saga, at its core, is a family drama - and that's where the series excelled: its interesting and complex characters and their relationships. It has one of the best character arcs I have read (Hilo) and some of my favorite female characters (Shae, Wen, Mada). It also has one of the best worldbuilding in high fantasy. From the first page of Jade City, Fonda Lee will immediately immerse you in this fantasy metropolis. It's very visual and for me it played out like scenes from a Wong Kar-Wai film. Not to mention that it has well-written fight scenes, I think this is the first time I could picture out a fight scene vividly in my head (Fonda Lee's martial arts background definitely came in handy). This series is also heavy on the geopolitics and economics and I absolutely enjoyed this, it's one of my favorite things about GBS. I appreciate that Fonda Lee detailed the logistics of running a crime family, not just the military side, but also the business side. I'm not a fan of gangster/mafia stories and I usually steer clear of those, but picking up Jade City was one of the best decisions I made as this series has become my number 1 favorite book series.
Rating:
Jade City - 4/5 stars
Jade War - 4.5/5 stars
Jade Legacy - 10/5 stars (favorite book of the year and maybe ever?)
Overall - 5/5 stars
TW: violence, death, drug use, murder, torture, sexual content, addiction, abortion, pedophilia, rape
2. The Poppy War trilogy by RF Kuang
"History repeated itself, and she was only the latest iteration of the same scene in a tapestry that had been spun long before her birth."
The Poppy War trilogy is a grimdark military fantasy inspired by the second Sino-Japanese war, particularly the Rape of Nanking, and the Chinese Civil War. If you're familiar with those events, then you'll basically know the general plot of the series, just add shamanism and drugs and lots of heartbreak. Before Jade Legacy came out, this was my number 1 fantasy series, it's still in my top three though. This series is INTENSE. It will break you. It certainly broke me and I still haven't recovered since I finished the trilogy in July. Actually, I still haven't processed the entire and I want to break this series down because there's lots to think about (the commentary on colonialism and that ending alone give me lots of food for thought). Rin had one of the most interesting arcs I have read. She's an already unhinged girl becoming more and more unhinged as the series progresses. Watching her descend into madness and her realizing she's actually the villain and not the hero was both fun and heartbreaking. This also has my favorite platonic relationship ever (rinkitay, my babies). The series is not perfect, I have some issues with it but it's still one of the best I have ever read.
Rating:
The Poppy War - 5/5 stars
The Dragon Republic - 5/5 stars
The Burning God - 4/5 stars
Overall - 5/5 stars (still like it as a whole despite some issues in TBG)
TW: graphic violence, war-related violence, rape, sexual violence, substance addiction, massacres, genocide, self harm, abuse, human experimentation, cannibalism
3. The Sword of Kaigen by ML Wang
"Wholeness, she had learned, was not the absence of pain but the ability to hold it."
The more time passes, the more i realize i love this book, and it has cemented its place as one of my all-time favorite books. This is so underrated (only 7k ratings in goodreads, it's still underrated compared to other popular fantasy books) and you should read it now. The commentaries on propaganda, war, misogyny, family, and parenthood were written well and I enjoyed reading those. The characterizations were on point. The book had two POVs: Mamoru - the son, and Misaki - the mother. Misaki had one of the best character arcs I have read and is now one of my favorite female characters, the book is basically one giant character study of Misaki. The book also had an unusual structure, it had two climaxes, one leading up to the battle near the middle of the book, and another battle (this time more internal) near the end. The magic system is also interesting. The battle scenes were amazing. These people are basically waterbenders and they took waterbending to a whole new level. This book also made me legit cry, lol. It's intense, it's heartbreaking, but it's also hopeful. If you enjoyed the poppy war and would like to read a mature version of a:tla, then go read this book now!!!!
Rating - 4.75/5 stars
TW: death, violence, miscarriage, rape, suicide
4. The City of Brass and The Kingdom of Copper by SA Chakraborty
"People do not thrive under tyrants, Alizayd; they do not come up with innovations when they're busy trying to stay alive, or offer creative ideas when error is punished by the hooves of a karkadann."
City of Brass and Kingdom of Copper satisfied my craving for something MENA-inspired after We Hunt the Flame massively let me down. The first book was the very definition of no plot, just vibes but the vibes were immaculate and I had a fun time reading it. It was slow and focused on worldbuilding and politics. Characters still felt surface-level in the first book but I began to like them better in the second book. Shoutout to Prince Ali, my precious economist. As someone who previously worked in the government, I super enjoyed the fantasy economics and politics of development here. I have yet to read the third book but I hope it delivers a good ending.
Rating:
The City of Brass - 3/5 stars
The Kingdom of Copper - 4/5 stars
5. The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang
Favorite nonfiction book this year. This chronicles the events before, during, and after the Rape of Nanking. The book is easy to read but difficult to digest because of the subject matter but it's very eye-opening. The world made sure that Germany never forgets the holocaust. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Nanking, as there are still groups of people persistently denying the true nature of the massacre, or claiming that it never happened at all. RF Kuang dedicated the first poppy war book to Iris. In the epilogue to the 2011 edition, Iris' husband revealed that it was Iris' dream to have her books be made into documentaries or films, and RF Kuang dedicating her book to Iris made me emotional, lol.
TW: rape, sexual violence, death, gore, genocide, racism
Rating - 5/5 stars
6. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
No need to say anything, I think everyone likes this.
Rating - 4/5 stars
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Next backlog papercraft is inspired by The Poppy War trilogy by R.F. Kuang! Featured on the July 2021 Illumicrate mug!
Whaaaaaa I had so many feelings working on this. 😭 I think I was just starting The Burning God when I began the sketch concept for this papercraft with Illumicrate, and by the time I was assembling the final papercraft, I felt like each sliver I was gluing down were the scraps of my heart falling to pieces as I finished off the trilogy. Freakin’ A, I’m so glad I was allowed to binge this series. 😭😭
This was such an epic fantasy to experience, and I hope I was able to convey the power of these two characters had; the burning and eveloping rage of Rin, and the swift and elegant pragmatism of Nezha. The title of the mug refers to a quote in The Dragon Republic, “Between us, we have the fire and the water,” when Rin is attempting to convince Nezha how much of a force they are when working together; but how true that they are just as much as a force when they are not.
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