In A Nutshell: Cherish Hard, Head On, and Crazy Rich Asians
Hi! I am back today with mini reviews of a few books that I’ve finished recently. I went through a reading slump recently but it’s slowly coming back to me. With summer around the corner I hope to get even more reading in. I rarely spend a whole weekend reading but I think it might be nice to do my own little weekend read-a-thon this summer. Do you guys ever spend a whole weekend reading or is that impossible? I don’t have kids so I think I could do it. At least maybe Friday night – Saturday evening. Hmm, I’ll have to think about this. But while I do, please enjoy these short reviews.
Title: Cherish Hard (Hard Play #1)
Author: Nalini Singh
Publication Date: November 14, 2017
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Find It: Goodreads
Source: Purchased
Rating: 4 stars – stay up late
I was a little bit confused when I started reading this. All of the characters seemed so familiar, and I asked myself if maybe I had read this one already. After a little sleuthing, I recalled that even though this book was published later, the events in it actually occur before the events of Rock Hard, which I read a couple of years ago. In Rock Hard, Sailor and Ísa are already married with two adorable children. Cherish Hard is the story of their HEA.
Nalini Singh is one of my favorite authors and this book did not disappoint. Sailor and Ísa are a fantastic pair and I loved watching their courtship develop. Sailor’s playful personality makes him a great foil for Ísa, who doesn’t think that Sailor is the type of man that she needs in her life. He soon proves her wrong though and sparks fly! I love how sweet and thoughtful Sailor is while courting Ísa. He really cares about her and shows her in many different ways. Ísa is so supportive of Sailor’s dreams, even when she thinks that those dreams might be the thing that will eventually push her away. Words to describe this book – sweet, sexy, surprising, and very, very charming. I loved seeing an early version of the Bishop clan as well. Overall, a very fun and quick read.
Title: Head On (Lock In #2)
Author: John Scalzi
Publication Date: April 17, 2018
Genre: Sci-Fi
Find It: Goodreads
Source: Library
Rating: 3 stars – stick to your bedtime
Lock In was a surprise hit for me a couple of years ago when I first came across it. It has that elusive combo of being a sci-fi story that’s still extremely accessible. I read it with my book club and pretty much everyone liked it (which is very rare in my experience). I was super excited when Scalzi announced that he would be writing a sequel. Fast forward a couple of years and I was lucky enough to snag Head On a couple of weeks after it was released, at my local library.
The book leaves off soon after the events of Lock In. FBI Agent Shane is attending a Hiketa (the world’s version of football but much more violent and played by robot bodies manned by athletes with a disease that makes them prisoners in their own bodies) match when the death of a player sparks an investigation that points to a larger conspiracy. Head On has all of the same elements that I loved in Lock In – great world building, likable characters, great dialogue (I love Agent Vann), and a mystery that keeps you guessing. And while I enjoyed Head On, it didn’t capture me quite the same way as the first book in the series did. Thinking back on it, I am still not sure why. It could be that the story revolves heavily around the Hiketa sport and, as a person who isn’t into any kind of organized sport, my brain tends to shut off when sports are discussed. There’s a lengthy article at the beginning of the book which lays out all of the rules of Hiketa. Truthfully I almost skipped over the article after reading sports info for a couple of pages but I persevered. Maybe the stakes weren’t as high. The story of Lock In definitely felt more personal to the main characters and that might have been why I was more invested in the story. While I enjoyed Head On, I didn’t feel the same page-turning urgency that I did with Lock In. I would definitely still recommend it for anyone who enjoyed Lock In. I could see Shane and Vann investigating many different cases and it would be cool if this became a longer running series. I don’t know if Scalzi has any plans for more books in this series, but I hope he does. I think there’s still a lot more to explore in this world and I hope to see more of it in the future.
Title: Crazy Rich Asians (Crazy Rich Asians #1)
Author: Kevin Kwan
Publication Date: June 11, 2013
Genre: Fiction
Find It: Goodreads
Source: Borrowed
Rating: 3 stars – stick to your bedtime
Even though this book has been out for awhile now, I only recently picked it up because of all the hype surrounding the movie coming out later this summer.
I have mixed feelings about this book. While I’m glad that a book like this exists and is well regarded, a book focusing on Asian characters and culture, I had a very hard time connecting or feeling empathy for any of the characters in the book. Most of their problems seemed petty given all of the privilege they had in their lives, and perhaps that’s the point. I just wish I could have rooted for more people in the story instead of not caring about what happened to most of them. Rachel and Nick were probably my favorite characters, even if they were a bit bland sometimes. I found myself pulled in to Astrid’s story but even she seemed pretty ridiculous most of the time. It was interesting learning about a lifestyle that’s so different than mine and about a country I don’t know much about. I definitely want to try some Singaporean food after reading this book. I don’t feel the need to read the two sequels though I did go to their respective Wikipedia pages to get an overview on what happens to everyone later in the series. I think the book will lend itself well to film and I can’t wait to see all the opulent splendor in the big screen.
If you got through this, thank you very much for sticking around. I’d love to know what you are reading and loving at the moment. Are there any new series or books that I must check out? Let me know in the comments below. Have an amazing day!
