#BookReview: How to Be a Rule-Breaking Letterer by Huyen Dinh

Synopsis: Break the rules, embrace imperfection, and express your unique self through lettering art!

This book is for anyone who's felt the pressure of perfection. As a schoolgirl in Vietnam and later in online lettering classes, Huyen Dinh was always told to perfect her penmanship. Instead, she started embracing her own imperfect style—with squiggly lines, cheeky messages, and pastel colors.

In this upbeat guidebook, Dinh walks you through the basic rules of lettering and then teaches you how to break them in clever and creative ways. She shares challenges and triumphs from her own artistic journey and offers inspiration as well as technical tips. You can use your new lettering skills to tell your personal story, support a cause you care about, or decorate your tote bags and sneakers! Fully illustrated in Dinh's signature pastel palette, this book is the perfect companion for any aspiring creative. 

EVERYTHING YOU NEED IN ONE BOOK: This fresh and fun guide includes: 
Affirmations for a positive mindset
Lettering language 101
A step-by-step guide from brainstorming to finished art
Inspiration for telling your story through lettering
Fun DIY projects with how-to instructions
And much more
MAKES LETTERING FUN: No need to sweat over creating technically perfect calligraphy. Instead, let this guidebook infuse your creative projects with fun. Lettering is a chance to explore your personal style and share your passions with the world.
 
EMPOWERING MESSAGE: By sharing her own story, Dinh offers inspiration for anyone who dreams of a creative career, especially other young Asian American women. This is an approachable and inclusive handbook for pursuing your artistic goals.
 
RISING STAR: Huyen Dinh's refreshing honesty and irresistible illustration style have resonated with thousands of fans online. Her lettering art has graced murals, sweatshirts, magazine covers, and more. With this book, she welcomes anyone to join her in creating perfectly imperfect lettering.

Perfect for:
Letterers, artists, and illustrators looking for a fun and practical resource
Students of all ages looking for a creative outlet
Casual creatives and hobbyists who love hand lettering, drawing with letters, and font, alphabet, and script design
Fashionistas who want to add personal flair to their accessories
Engaged couples doing hand-lettered DIY wedding invites
Pinterest addicts and bullet journaling enthusiasts seeking new letter design ideas and inspiration

#BookReview: A History of Glitter and Blood by Hannah Moskowitz

Publisher: Chronicle Books

Recommended Age: Young Adult 

Genre: Fantasy 

Goodreads | Amazon

About the Book:

Sixteen-year-old Beckan and her friends are the only fairies brave enough to stay in Ferrum when war breaks out. Now there is tension between the immortal fairies, the subterranean gnomes, and the mysterious tightropers who arrived to liberate the fairies.

But when Beckan's clan is forced to venture into the gnome underworld to survive, they find themselves tentatively forming unlikely friendships and making sacrifices they couldn't have imagined. As danger mounts, Beckan finds herself caught between her loyalty to her friends, her desire for peace, and a love she never expected. 

This stunning, lyrical fantasy is a powerful exploration of what makes a family, what justifies a war, and what it means to truly love.

#BookReview: The Fallen Kingdom (The Falconer #3) by @_elizabethmay @ChronicleBooks #Netgalley

  The long-awaited final book in the Falconer trilogy is an imaginative tour-de-force that will thrill fans of the series. Aileana Kameron, resurrected by ancient fae magic, returns to the world she once knew with no memory of her past and with dangerous powers she struggles to control. Desperate to break the curse that pits two factions of the fae against each other in a struggle that will decide the fate of the human and fae worlds, her only hope is hidden in an ancient book guarded by the legendary Morrigan, a faery of immense power and cruelty. To save the world and the people she loves, Aileana must learn to harness her dark new powers even as they are slowly destroying her. Packed with immersive detail, action, romance, and fae lore, and publishing simultaneously in the UK, The Fallen Kingdom brings the Falconer's story to an epic and unforgettable conclusion.

#BookReview: The Vanishing Throne (The Falconer #2) by @_elizabethmay @ChronicleBooks #Netgalley

  Everything she loved is gone.

Trapped. Aileana Kameron, the Falconer, disappeared through the fae portal she was trying to close forever. Now she wakes in an alien world of mirrors, magic, and deception—a prisoner of the evil fae Lonnrach, who has a desperate and deadly plan for his new captive.

Tortured. Time after agonizing time Lonnrach steals Aileana’s memories, searching for knowledge to save his world. Just when she’s about to lose all hope, Aileana is rescued by an unexpected ally and returns home, only to confront a terrifying truth. The city of Edinburgh is now an unrecognizable wasteland. And Aileana knows the devastation is all her fault.

Transformed. The few human survivors are living in an underground colony, in an uneasy truce with a remnant of the fae. It is a fragile alliance, but an even greater danger awaits: the human and fae worlds may disappear forever. Only Aileana can save both worlds, but in order to do so she must awaken her latent Falconer powers. And the price of doing so might be her life… 

#BookReview: The Falconer (The Falconer, #1) by @_elizabethmay @ChronicleBooks #Netgalley

  One girl's nightmare is this girl's faery tale

She's a stunner.
Edinburgh, 1844. Eighteen-year-old Lady Aileana Kameron, the only daughter of the Marquess of Douglas, has everything a girl could dream of: brains, charm, wealth, a title—and drop-dead beauty.

She's a liar.
But Aileana only looks the part of an aristocratic young lady. she's leading a double life: She has a rare ability to sense the sìthíchean—the faery race obsessed with slaughtering humans—and, with the aid of a mysterious mentor, has spent the year since her mother died learning how to kill them.

She's a murderer.
Now Aileana is dedicated to slaying the fae before they take innocent lives. With her knack for inventing ingenious tools and weapons—from flying machines to detonators to lightning pistols—ruthless Aileana has one goal: Destroy the faery who destroyed her mother.

She's a Falconer.
The last in a line of female warriors born with a gift for hunting and killing the fae, Aileana is the sole hope of preventing a powerful faery population from massacring all of humanity. Suddenly, her quest is a lot more complicated. She still longs to avenge her mother's murder—but she'll have to save the world first.

The first volume of a trilogy from an exciting new voice in young adult fantasy, this electrifying thriller combines romance and action, steampunk technology and Scottish lore in a deliciously addictive read. 

Get It Together, Delilah! by Erin Gough #BookReview #Netgalley

  A story about falling in love, literally.

Seventeen-year-old Delilah Green wouldn’t have chosen to do her last year of school this way, but she figures it’s working fine. Her dad is on a trip to fix his broken heart after her mom left him for another man, so Del’s managing the family café in his absence. Easy, she thinks. But what about:
- homework and the nasty posse of mean girls making her life hell
- or how one of Del’s best friends won’t stop guilt-tripping her
- and her other best friend is so in love with his tutor he might go to jail for her if Del doesn’t do something

But who cares about any of that really, because above all else, she can’t stop thinking about beautiful Rosa who dances every night across the street until one day Rosa comes in the café door . . .

And if Rosa starts thinking about Del, too, then how in the name of caramel milkshakes will Del get the rest of it together?

#Review of Gena/Finn by @hannahmosk and @katmankat & #Giveaway via @ChronicleBooks

The story follows the unlikely friendship of two young women forged via fan fiction and message boards, and is told entirely in texts, chats, and blog posts.

Gena (short for Genevieve) and Finn (short for Stephanie) have little in common. Book-smart Gena is preparing to leave her posh boarding school for college; down-to-earth Finn is a twenty-something struggling to make ends meet in the big city. Gena’s romantic life is a series of reluctant one-night-stands; Finn is making a go of it with long-term boyfriend Charlie. But they share a passion for Up Below, a buddy cop TV show with a cult fan following. Gena is a darling of the fangirl scene, keeping a popular blog and writing fan fiction. Finn’s online life is a secret, even from Charlie. The pair spark an unlikely online friendship that deepens quickly (so quickly it scares them both), and as their individual “real” lives begin to fall apart, they increasingly seek shelter online, and with each other.

#Review of The Vanishing Throne (The Falconer #2) by @_ElizabethMay @ChronicleBooks @Netgalley

    The second book in the Falconer trilogy is packed with surprises and suspense. 

Aileana Kameron, the Falconer, disappeared through the portal that she was trying to close forever. Now she wakes up in the fae world, trapped and tortured by the evil Lonnrach. With the help of an unexpected ally, Aileana re-enters the human world, only to find everything irrevocably changed. Edinburgh has been destroyed, and the few human survivors are living in an uneasy truce with the fae, while both worlds are in danger of disappearing altogether. Aileana holds the key to saving both worlds, but in order to do so she must awaken her latent Falconer powers. And the price of doing that might be her life. 

Rich with imaginative detail, action, fae lore, and romance, The Vanishing Throne is a thrilling sequel to The Falconer.