The Bookish Island's Book Review:
Love Charms and Other Catastrophes by Kimberly Karalius
Are there spoilers?
I don't really think so.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is one of the books I read after the passing of Hurricane Maria here in Puerto Rico. With no water, electricity or internet I took to reading my books.
I decided to not do this for the books I've read on 2018. But it has been 4 months since Hurricane Maria. And I'm happy to announce that now we have water, and electricity.
Title - Love Charms and Other CatastrophesBy - Kimberly Karalius
Publication - May 17th 2016 by Swoon Reads
Copy - Paperback, 360 pages
Genre - Young Adult, Cotemporary, Romance, Fantasy
Sometimes love comes gift-wrapped…literally.
Aspiring love-charm maker Hijiri Kitamura was excited to come back to Grimbaud for her sophomore year—until she learned about the upcoming charm-making competition. She, along with her friends and fellow rebels, had worked too hard to free the town from Zita’s tyrannical love fortunes to allow some other charm maker to move in and take over. The only solution is for Hijiri to win the contest herself.
Unfortunately, that’s easier said than done, especially when Love itself has decided to meddle in Hijiri’s life. Concerned that its favorite charm maker has given up on finding a love of her own, Love delivers a very special gift—the perfect boyfriend, specially crafted just for her.
The Rating:
My Review:
For me its much easier to divide reviews in parts. I don't know if it has anything to do with my English or that it just looks cleaner and aesthetically pleasing. Like the way I used to do it last year. But I stopped doing it that way to easily write a quick review and post it. So I'm going to go back to the 2017 version but much smaller. Using 4 questions.
Who is it by?
Love Charms and Other Catastrophes is by the author, Kimberly Karalius. Who wrote the first book in the series, Love Fortunes and Other Disasters. Which is the first book in the Grimbaud Series.
The way she writes the stories of these teenagers in the town where Love fuels the citizens and the way they live and feel is so simple and reads so smoothly. At least for me it did. I never felt that all the characters where all over the place. Mostly because I already knew the characters from the first book and felt they were fresh in my mind.
What is it about?
And in this book, it is told by Hijiri, who is a secondary character in the first book. A character that didn't make that much of an impact until the second half of the first book. But in this one she shined brightly. Having to get the boy, save the day and find out just who she is in her circle of friends.
Hijiri is a charm maker but she's shy about her gift. But she enters a charm making competition so that no other bad spirited person comes in and takes over the town of Grimbaud again. Like in the first book. And she also gets a gift from Love himself, a special made boyfriend she doesn't want but ends up not wanting to spend a day without him around. They fall for each other. And even though it was a weird relationship, it wasn't a quick romance. It was slow and real, despite the magical element.
Why did I read it?
I read this book because I had it on my shelves for a long time and also because I won it on aa Goodreads First Reads giveaway. Initially I let it sit on my shelves and "collect dust" because I didn't own or had read the first book. But then I did read the first. So I didn't have any more excuses for not reading Love Charms. So as Hurricane Maria passed by I took the time and read it in a day. No electricity or internet left me with so much time and reading was the logical thing to do with that much amount of time.
&
Did I like it?
I started and finished this book on September 24, 2018.
For me its much easier to divide reviews in parts. I don't know if it has anything to do with my English or that it just looks cleaner and aesthetically pleasing. Like the way I used to do it last year. But I stopped doing it that way to easily write a quick review and post it. So I'm going to go back to the 2017 version but much smaller. Using 4 questions.
Who is it by?
Love Charms and Other Catastrophes is by the author, Kimberly Karalius. Who wrote the first book in the series, Love Fortunes and Other Disasters. Which is the first book in the Grimbaud Series.
The way she writes the stories of these teenagers in the town where Love fuels the citizens and the way they live and feel is so simple and reads so smoothly. At least for me it did. I never felt that all the characters where all over the place. Mostly because I already knew the characters from the first book and felt they were fresh in my mind.
What is it about?
And in this book, it is told by Hijiri, who is a secondary character in the first book. A character that didn't make that much of an impact until the second half of the first book. But in this one she shined brightly. Having to get the boy, save the day and find out just who she is in her circle of friends.
Hijiri is a charm maker but she's shy about her gift. But she enters a charm making competition so that no other bad spirited person comes in and takes over the town of Grimbaud again. Like in the first book. And she also gets a gift from Love himself, a special made boyfriend she doesn't want but ends up not wanting to spend a day without him around. They fall for each other. And even though it was a weird relationship, it wasn't a quick romance. It was slow and real, despite the magical element.
Why did I read it?
I read this book because I had it on my shelves for a long time and also because I won it on aa Goodreads First Reads giveaway. Initially I let it sit on my shelves and "collect dust" because I didn't own or had read the first book. But then I did read the first. So I didn't have any more excuses for not reading Love Charms. So as Hurricane Maria passed by I took the time and read it in a day. No electricity or internet left me with so much time and reading was the logical thing to do with that much amount of time.
&
Did I like it?
I liked it. I did.
I actually think I enjoyed the romance in this book just as much as I did with the romance in Love Fortunes. Both where perfect in their simplicity as YA romances. And the story of Hijiri in Grimbaud was great. The whole time I was rooting for her to do the right thing and be happy and not as stressed and nervous and shy. Because even though those traits made her awesome I wanted her to just let go, even for a little bit and she did just that.
Get a copy at:
Barnes&Noble | Amazon
Barnes&Noble | Amazon
Or get it here using my affiliate link. Please:
Book Depository
