Without Merit by Colleen Hoover

Atria Books | October 2017 | 384 pgs

Source: Library

Where should I even begin this? This novel has struck a deep chord in me in so many ways. Filled with various complicated issues yet thought-provoking in every ways, this novel allowed me to think of things which I've not thought of in another perspective and I'm glad the story has shed some new light in those areas.

To many others, the Voss family is eccentric, flawed and full of secrets. At its core of this story is seventeen-year-old Merit Voss who feels she is the odd one out in her family. She feels ignored, not appreciated and most of all, indifference to her family members. Her father is an atheist who rarely pay any attention to them except himself, her illness-stricken mother lives in their basement and her stepmother is her mother's former nurse. She isn't close with her elder brother, Utah and her little half-brother is too cute to judge. The relationship with her twin sister Honor is anything but close as their personality clashes. Honor is the beautiful and outspoken one, while Merit keeps to herself and is a plain Jane; which is strange given they look identical.

Merit also collects trophies which she didn't earn; she would buy them from the local antique shop whenever she feels miserable. While browsing the shop for her next trophy one day, she encounters a boy named Sagan. She is attracted by him instantly due to his spontaneity and the way he looks at her differently from other people but she quickly discovers that it is because Sagan has mistaken her as Honor. Though Merit tries to keep a distance from him, Sagan continues to attract her with his wit, his artistic skills and the way he portrays life in general.

At this period, Merit goes through a rough patch watching her family's indifference and feeling fed up of knowing (keeping) their secrets while they go through life as if nothing happens until she decides to shatter the happy family illusion that she's never been a part of before leaving them for good. But her plan fails, leaving behind several consequences which leads her thinking if what she'd done is right. And then, there is Sagan and his family because every time Merit asks about them he either clam up or change the subject.

This is my third Colleen Hoover book and I've to say this is poignant and the most powerful among the three I read. Long story short, this is a book about family, friendship, love and it also deals with a few heavy subject matters which I think is important and worth pondering about. For the third consecutive year, Colleen Hoover is a Goodreads Choice Award winner for Best Romance but in my opinion this is so much more than a romance. I loved how this book made me laugh, cry and be hopeful at the same time. Recommended.

© 2018 Melody's Reading Corner (https://mel-reading-corner.blogspot.sg/), All Rights Reserved. If you are reading this post from other site(s), please take note that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Drama Review: Black (黑)

A grim reaper and a woman who is able to foresee death; toss in with a few complicated murder cases and that is Black. Yes, these about sum up what this drama is about and I have to say I enjoyed this drama immensely.

Black (starring Song Seung-heon) is a grim reaper whose soul has taken over the dead body of a detective, Han Moo-gang. Also known as reaper 444, Black is known to be cold-hearted and ruthless in the underworld. Why his soul possessed Moo-gang's body remains a mystery but is also part of its core of the story as it slowly unfolds.

Go Ara played as the woman who could foresee death by the dark shadows surrounding the victims' bodies. Kang Ha-ram has had this ability since young and she sees this more as a curse than a blessing. After losing her father and with a mother who doesn't show her enough attention, Ha-ram lives alone and with a pair of sunglasses as her companion, her life is a simple one as long as she pretends she doesn't see all those dark shadows around her and that she minds her own business. Her peace of mind is shattered after knowing the death of her teenaged crush, Moo-gang.

What follows is Black having to get used to the mortal world and engaging Ha-ram as "his eyes" so he could locate other lost roaming souls. Ha-ram, on the other end, is happy enough to see Moo-gang is back on his feet again although he seems cold and distant towards her. As the duo work together, the crime squad has a few cases on their hands which Black later discovered are connected to Moo-gang's and Ha-ram's childhood.

What I loved about this drama is because it has all the elements I love - fantasy theme, intricate suspense plots and last but not least, romance. The story is well crafted and there are lots of twists and turns when the murder cases are concerned and what amazed me is while each of the case seems isolated (and mind-boggling at times), they are all linked nicely towards the end. And I especially enjoyed the tender moments between Black and Ha-ram; Black may be in denial over their so-called relationship but his concern and his actions speak volumes and I think it is romantic despite their exchanges stated otherwise. All in all it was a great fantasy and suspense drama alongside a great cast of characters. I was sorry to see it ended and would have given this a 5-star rating if the ending was better explained but nevertheless still a satisfying one. Recommended. 

© 2017 Melody's Reading Corner (https://mel-reading-corner.blogspot.sg/), All Rights Reserved. If you are reading this post from other site(s), please take note that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Drama Review: While You Were Sleeping (当你沉睡时)

While You Were Sleeping is a story about dreams, connections, justice and not to mention, love.

At its core of this drama is our protagonists, Nam Hong-Joo (starring Bae Suzy) and Jung Jae-Chan (starring Lee Jong-Suk) who both have the ability of dreaming what might happen in future, usually circumstances involving them. Both share the same fate of losing their fathers when young over a same unfortunate incident, but each doesn't know the existence of each other until the funerals, which both deceased families held their respective wake within the same building. Jae-Chan mistaken Hong-Joo's gender due to her boyish look and her dressing style, for she always wore a baseball jacket and a cap and had her hair cropped really short. They shared their misery, and most importantly Jae-Chan had comforted her in some ways which no one else could.

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As an adult, Hong-Joo is haunted by seeing the future deaths of others in her dreams; one including her mother. Jae-Chan, on the other hand, is a rookie prosecutor and together with his younger brother they move house and become Hong-Joo's new neighbour. At this stage, they're unaware of each other and their minds didn't connect with each other's identity given the years passed and that they're both grown up. Their acquaintance only begins when Jae-Chan has dreamt of an accident which allowed him to prevent Hong-Joo's dream from becoming true. What they didn't know is that this course of direction might change or have an impact of other course of events and along the way they'll befriend a police officer, Han Woo-Tak (starring Jung Hae-In) who has the same ability as them.

(Han Woo-Tak, starring Jung Hae-In)

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I enjoyed this drama immensely due to a few factors - actor Lee Jong-Suk (so far I've loved most of his works), the fantastical concept of dreams and the inter-connections among the three characters, intense lawsuit cases and last but not least, the romance between Jae-Chan and Hong-Joo (I loved it that fate and their shared abilities have brought them together). I also have to highlight actor Jung Hae-In for his fresh look and the ability to turn heads in his smart police attire. In the story he has a crush on Hong-Joo and while some viewers would expect a love triangle relationship, I've to say there wasn't any because the relationship between Jae-Chan and Hong-Joo are already set in stone (think of how they met and what pulled them together) and plus, Woo-Tak is too sweet and a gentleman to do something outrageous and unthinkable (I've to admit his adoration towards Hong-Joo melted my heart). There are a few other heartwarming and emotional scenes as well but I'm not going to delve into them. Better still, watch it and you and I can talk about it. 

© 2017 Melody's Reading Corner (https://mel-reading-corner.blogspot.sg/), All Rights Reserved. If you are reading this post from other site(s), please take note that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Tangled Webs by Lee Bross

Disney-Hyperion | June 2016 | 400 pgs

Source: Library

There are two sides of seventeen-year-old Arista. By day she is Lady A - a notorious blackmailer in the London city who sweeps into lavish balls and exclusive events to collect and sell secrets whoever who pays the most for the information he wants. Behind her mask and lovely gowns, Arista is merely a slave to her abusive master, Bones, who had trained her to be a thief since she was five. Her partner-in-crime, Nic, is also another slave who works as her bodyguard whenever Lady A goes to her "businesses". 

Arista is then approached by Jonathan Wild, the infamous Thief Taker General who operates like Bones after the latter attempts to dispose her for good. Wild is well aware of Lady A's capabilities but Arista is not sure if she wants to escape from a hellhole to another hellhole despite Wild promises of split profits and freedom until he saved her from a fire in Bones' property. It seems Arista has no choice but to partner with Wild until her encounter with Grae Sinclair, the son of a wealthy merchant whom she has met once during her servitude to Bones. 

Grae and Arista are attracted to each other, but the former has no idea of her identity and while Arista feels sorry about her lies to Grae, it is nothing as compared to the scheme which Wild has wanted her to deal later - to infiltrate into the Sinclair's household under the disguise of a young widow in wait for Wild's instructions as the merchant has owed Wild a favour. Little does she know that the transaction she is going to deal would crush not only the Sinclairs but her future with Grae. 

Tangled Webs has an interesting premise set in 1725, London. Here we have a feisty heroine under disguise and her role as a notorious blackmailer sounds very intriguing isn't it? Alas, I've to say my excitement ends there as I felt the characters are one dimensional and underdeveloped. I liked the characters, in particularly Arista and Grae but they aren't fleshed out and I didn't feel any connection with any of them although I sympathised with Arista as well as a few others who are under Bones' grasp. The attraction between Arista and Grae seemed more like insta-love to me and while I've nothing against it, it just feels unreal to me (maybe in fiction but not in reality, I suppose). Truth be told, I think this story has potential but it fell short when characters development and story dynamic are concerned. I liked the story but it wasn't enough to wow me. 

© 2017 Melody's Reading Corner (https://mel-reading-corner.blogspot.sg/), All Rights Reserved. If you are reading this post from other site(s), please take note that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Drama Review: Live Up to Your Name, Dr Heo (名不虚传)

Live Up to Your Name, Dr Heo is a story between two doctors from two different time period set in the present and the Joseon period.

Heo Im (starring Kim Nam Gil) is an oriental physician well known for his acupuncture and moxibustion skills. Although his medical skills are well recognised by civilians as well as the royals, his lowly status (he is born to a concubine) often earns him much lower respect as compared to his peers despite his skills is the best among all. However, his fate is about to change when he accidentally finds himself travels through time to present Seoul.

Choi Yeon Kyung (starring Kim Ah Joong) is a cardiac surgery third year resident who only believes in modern medicine despite her grandfather is an acupuncturist. Emotionally scarred by her father's accident when she was a child, she vows to become a doctor so she could save people's lives. Her initial encounter with Heo Im was full of misunderstandings and mistrust as their personalities and ideologies in medicine clash. However as the time goes by, she begins to see him in a new light and their love blossoms. But Heo Im doesn't stay in Seoul forever; he has a help mission he hasn't accomplished in Joseon and he accidentally found out that by impaling pain to his body or a narrow escape from death he could be able to time travel to and from Joseon. And this time around he wants to remedy his past mistakes and to prove his worth even though there's a war with Japan and that he might never return to the modern day for good.

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I was totally immersed in this time travel medical drama. I loved the premise and thought it was rather refreshing to see the cross between oriental and modern medicine and how each works differently yet effectively according to each patient's health condition and considering the circumstances. I may not be a huge fan of time travel genre but I thought this was quite well done, with a balance between medicine, time travel and romance. I liked the overall concept of the old versus new (referring to the time period here) and likewise the traditional medicine versus modern medicine in this package, and finally not forgetting the age-old definition of love and the compassion for humankind.

© 2017 Melody's Reading Corner (https://mel-reading-corner.blogspot.sg/), All Rights Reserved. If you are reading this post from other site(s), please take note that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Drama Review: Bride of the Water God (aka Bride of Habaek) (河伯的新娘)

I'd been anticipating for this drama after seeing that poster and knowing that this would be a fantasy romance between a water god and a psychiatrist. It sounds intriguing, isn't it? On top of it, it is based on a manhwa of the same title by Yun Mi Kyung and though I haven't read it, I understand there's a slight difference from the original comic based on what I read from the drama forum.  

Water god, Habaek (starring Nam Joo Hyuk) is a charismatic yet a narcissistic deity of the Realm of Gods. Before his enthronement to be King of the Water Country, he is being sent to earth in order to locate some sacred stones to help him claim his throne. He finds Yoon So Ah (starring Shin Se Kyung) as there was a pact made between So Ah's past ancestors and the deities and that they will serve the water god for generations. So Ah, on the other hand, is a psychiatrist with her own practice but her life is a misery as she is saddled with debts and an unhappy past surrounding her father. Habaek and So Ah struggle to tolerate each other as expectations and their living lifestyle differ, but soon they'll discover that there's a lot more meaning to life and finally how they've come to a solution with their circumstances after they've fallen in love with each other.  

I suppose I'd expected too much from this fantasy because what turns out to be an interesting premise became a huge disappointment. I think the major issue lies with the worldbuilding (of the deities) as not much information or explanations are being made except for little snippets or flashbacks here and there. I thought the deities' world was interesting and it'd be so much better if there are more focus on them but alas, no. And there's also a character who's half-deity, half-human (starring Lim Ju Hwan) disguised as a CEO of a famous resort and I felt his role here are underrated. And then, there're some scenes featuring the disputes between a wind god and this half-deity which left me perplexed because I'd no idea why the wind god is continuously picking on him simply because the latter is a half-blood. Finally, while I found the romance between Habaek and So Ah sweet and romantic, they tend to drag at times. Despite my disappointment, I was perseverant in watching this through and I was glad I did because the final episode was quite a good one even though it was a little too late. My verdict is, if you're expecting a more fantasy theme and a fancy worldbuilding you'd be disappointed, however this will appease to fans of the romance genre so it is all about personal preference and expectations. 

© 2017 Melody's Reading Corner (https://mel-reading-corner.blogspot.sg/), All Rights Reserved. If you are reading this post from other site(s), please take note that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

The Traitor's Kiss by Erin Beaty

Imprint | May 2017 | 352 pgs

Source: Library

This is the first book of The Traitor's Trilogy and it's a tale revolving around secret identities, espionage, lies, wars and of course some romance what with that title. 

16-year-old Sage Fowler is unlike any other young ladies in Demoran. Raised by her uncle after her parents' pass, she is often viewed as a courageous yet an obstinate girl who would not be married. With her unruly temper and wit, she is then apprenticed to a matchmaker, Mistress Rodelle, and their current task is to wrangler other young ladies to be married off for political alliances on their way to the quinquennial Concordium. 

With a treason to overthrow the king and a kingdom on the brink of war, Captain Alexander Quinn and his army are assigned to escort these brides-to-be across the borders alongside a spy mission as they make their long journey towards the capital city of Tennegol. Although not a beauty like the other young ladies, Sage caught the attention of the captain through her intelligence and her quick response to matters. Already disguised as one of the "brides" for mingling and observing the other girls for the matchmaking assignments, Sage is glad to help their escorts on a spy mission and as fate could have it, she finds herself attracted to a soldier and vice versa. But with so many uncertainties and dangers lurking around, Sage doesn't know who to trust the more she finds herself deep into the infiltration. And most of all, would she even come out of the mission alive? 

The Traitor's Kiss fulfilled my fantasy fix and I was so glad to discover this new trilogy series featuring a brave heroine (yay, girl power!) and an unforgettable love story that have me anticipating for the next book. Right from the beginning I knew this story would keep me engaged not only with the world building (Demoran is one of the many nations which is divided by class and very often connections are established through matched marriages within and outside Demoran) and the characters but also there are enough espionage and twist that had me on edge alongside the action. I liked a few characters here, and I found myself rooted for Sage and her brave soldier. Though the end read like a standalone without an intense cliffhanger, still I couldn't get enough of this story. I hope the second book will release quickly. 

© 2017 Melody's Reading Corner (https://mel-reading-corner.blogspot.sg/), All Rights Reserved. If you are reading this post from other site(s), please take note that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.