Author: Jade Bennett

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Emma by Jane Austen

So, I’ve read Pride and Prejudice, and I loved it; it was a fan favorite of my family. Also, the movie and TV show adaptations slap, especially Pride and Prejudice and Zombies—so freaking good! (Side note: P&P&Z is also a book, and it’s so good as well!) But, I’ve automatically transferred that love for P&P to Jane Austen. I’ve started saying, “Oh, I love Jane Austen!”, when in fact, I’ve only fully read and loved her most famous book. If it really matters, I’ve partially read/listened to Sense and Sensibility, but I never finished it. (It was for a writing competition and I was very busy at the time—give me a break, guys!). The point is, I’ve never actually read an original, un-modernized, or adapted Austen’s work beside P&P. Reading Emma, I felt I could finally change that statement.

Emma just reaffirmed all my opinions about Austen; it displayed her wit, her complex mind, and her wonderful character-building. I had felt that when reading P&P, but it was more beautiful to see it for the first time in another work that wasn’t as familiar.

Now, for my shame; you guys are never going to forgive me for this. I’ve actually seen the 2020 movie adaptation…I know, I know! You can kill me after I post this review—I give you full permission. But, just hear me out: I had never really heard of Emma before then and I was only told afterward that it was Austen. I felt so extremely dirty, you have no idea. Thankfully, even though I can’t undo what I did, it was long enough ago that I can’t specifically remember what happened and so much of the book was still surprising.

I also had some pretty visuals randomly floating around in my head as I read it, which was helpful for setting the scene and giving a flowery, light academia vibe to the book. I’m definitely not going to say I’m thankful for watching the movie before (heavens, no), but it did have some advantages that I liked. Now, after finishing the book, I can rewatch the movie and feel it all over again. (Anya Taylor-Joy, I heart u!)

Emma just gives me pretty, period-piece vibes, which are one of my favorite genres. Also, Austen makes Emma not as perfect as you would think she is. She’s far from perfection, and we see all the rough edges. She reminds me a bit of Taylor, honestly: always scheming, keeping plans quiet, being careful with love, and having a strategy for everything—just overall blonde goddesses give me Taylor vibes!

Austen, as well as just any antiquated book or movie that brings me to olden times just hits different. That’s probably the main reason I rated it so high and loved it, but I think also the entire story is beautiful. I love Clueless as well—go watch it!

Genre: period drama (is this a book genre?), romance, fiction

Age: 14+ (this is more about the reading level than maturity or uncouth language)

Rating: 9/10

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Martinique (pt. 2)

So, this is part two of our stay in Martinique; if you’d like to check out part one, here’s the link: https://jadebennett.com/2023/06/10/tobago-martinique-pt-1/.

Anyhow, I wanted to make a part two to give more detail on all the things we did while in Martinique. We rented a car and spent a few days exploring the island. We loved Martinique and I think we’re planning to sail back there at some point in the next year.

We rented a car last week, and our first order of business was saying “goodbye” to Cleo’s friend who had been staying with us and driving her to the airport. After that, we drove to the botanical gardens on the island, explored the beautiful botany, and had lunch. After that, we stopped by the mall and stocked up on all the food we had been missing. It had felt like forever since we’d had access to a good grocery store with everything we needed, so we ended up with a loooot of bags.

The next day, we drove to a waterfall my mom had heard about and hiked a short distance to it. It was in a cavern, so after descending for a while, we had to walk through the valley-like stone to the beginning of the waterfall. It was so beautiful! And the water was amazing!

Now, we’ve sailed away from Martinique and are currently in St. Vincent. We’re parked here for a bit because Cleo is flying out today, and we’re picking up one of Stella’s friends. Then, I’m flying out on the 23rd to start my summer in LA with theater camp (aghghghgh!!). I’m so excited and will try to capture as much as I can and post while at camp, but I can’t make any promises—I expect to be kept very busy!

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The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Well, this was certainly a deviation from my usual reads, and I had a feeling of being posh and academic when I was reading it. I had to look up so many words I lost track while reading this book, and I am certain that if I had been older I would have understood much more of this book. But, that’s not to say I wouldn’t recommend it to my peers; I just think they should analyze it deeper than other books.

The drama, the tension, the existentialism—everything felt like dark academia. This is cool because I’ve never really read dark academia before. I did read If We Were Villains, which felt very similar to this, but I like that my taste is expanding. I’m very new to the genre, so comment if I’m using it incorrectly, but I’m starting to be interested in dark academia. Admittedly, I haven’t read any light academia, so I may also be interested in that. Also, comment down below with light academia recommendations!

I recently read something somewhere (haha) that said that you should look for books that you feel inside yourself, to paraphrase. I definitely don’t always follow this, as I’ve read a lot of classics simply because I felt I needed to, not because they made me feel something. But, it’s absolutely super important to look for those books, whatever they may be. For me, I think the books I feel inside myself are romance books, which isn’t something I’m ashamed of. The most prominent one that’s coming to mind is Beach Read, which still has a chokehold on my heart—that book ruined my life, I swear. Still, I felt it inside myself, so that’s all that matters.

The point I’m trying to get at is that I’m starting to feel dark/light academia books inside myself as well (again, new to the genre so help me out!). I’d love to explore it more and get super emo, so I’m going to look for more books in the genre. Always good to explore things you’re interested in.

There was a lot going on in this book, some of which were mildly disturbing, but also some weird plot choices. I didn’t fully understand the ending, and I also thought it could have been shorter (did I really have to read 600 pages for all that?). But, all in all, it was definitely an educating and cool book, especially the class parts with Greek and philosophy. Sorry for not including more specific examples of things that stood out to me, but I don’t want to give any spoilers. Just know, I do recommend this book, though it is for someone who enjoys the genre of dark academia fiction. It wasn’t a soul-crushing, spellbinding book that captured me like no other, but, to be honest, sometimes that’s not what I want to read; sometimes I want an interesting, intriguing book.

Age: 15+

Genre: dark academia, fiction

Rating: 7.5/10

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Tobago & Martinique (pt. 1)

Hey, y’all! Howdy! What a long few weeks it’s been, huh? I can’t remember when I last posted, but I know it was about Brazil and Fernando de Noronha. I think, in retrospect, not a significant amount of stuff has taken place since then, but it just feels like it’s been a while. Anyway, into what’s been happening…

So, Tobago was awesome! It was definitely super great to be back in full Caribbean mode, which wasn’t happening in Brazil and Fernando. The fruit, the heat, the water, the accent—everything feels like deja vu to me! We spent a year in the Caribbean when I was five, so I have very vague memories of things we’re doing now, which is eerie. But we never got to Tobago, so it didn’t feel particularly nostalgic or odd to me when we walked around town. We checked in in the main town, then sailed around to a nicer anchorage where we spent about a week waiting for Cleo to fly in from Guatemala, where she’d been at camp.

Once, she got on board, we spent another few days in Tobago, doing some exploring with her. We rented a car for a few days, ate amazing Tobagan food, and did some exploration of the island. Then, we sailed to Martinique! Martinique we also didn’t get to when I was younger, so it hasn’t felt too familiar either. But, though I haven’t done as much exploring as my family, I did find it super pretty. The French food is just—*french kiss*. Also, the check-in process was heavenly; online, easy, and didn’t even need Cleo and me.

A few days ago, a friend of Cleo’s and Stella arrived. I’ve been focusing on finishing the school year, so we haven’t done much more exploration of the island, but we plan to in the near future, which is why I’ve made this a part one. I’ll post again with a more in-depth review of everything we’ve done in the future! I’ll also try my hardest to post during the summer, but it will probably be as sporadic as the regular year because I’m going away to camp for three weeks and then moving around the US for a while, but I’ll try to be as regular as possible!

Also, sidetrack, I am absolutely living my most nurtured life as a Swiftie rn! With her being on tour, I’m already at my peak existence, but also with the appearances in NYC, the Speak Now TV announcement (*incoherent screaming*), and the break-up with Ma**y He**y, I’m thriving. Although I did die for a second there when she released You’re Losing Me, I was soon brought back to life and have learned to avoid that song if I wish to remain that way. I just feel so blessed and lucky to be under the T. Swift umbrella of karma, where I know she is the best of the best and will continue to produce better and more art than anyone else out there. She is truly amazing and I want her to be so happy! Love ya, Blondie!

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Normal People by Sally Rooney

Hey all! I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump, so not reading as voraciously as usual, but I did manage to read Normal People by Sally Rooney. I wanted to post another review so I can keep up with my goal of posting regularly! To be honest, I didn’t entirely love this book, but that might be explained by the fact that I would absolutely not recommend this book to any of my peers—it was a bit past my age group!

In the simplest of terms, I did have a few reasons for disliking the book, but there was a certain aspect of it that drew me in; it was the story of messing things up in your love life royally and still having love and possibility in your life. I feel like a lot of the books I read, stories I am told, or songs I listen to are about either the romantic idea of a soulmate or being in love with the absolute right person immediately in your life without messing anything up. Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea that there is a soulmate out there for me, and think if you find your soulmate, you are the luckiest person ever. But, if we strip away everything and face the real, cold world, it’s hard for me to say that I’m going to find my soulmate immediately and not going to fall in love with the wrong person or get my heart broken. I can’t just wait around for my soulmate—that’s not how it works, I have to be kidnapped by a handsome fae—and if I do I’ll miss out on all the real, ugly parts of love in the real, hard world. I know that sounds scary, but I feel like I want to have that pain so I can finally understand those feelings I hear in books.

Normal People was beautiful in that it showed two real people living in the real world and falling in love with the wrong people, making mistakes, and generally messing everything up—they didn’t cling to finding the “one” but allowed themselves to experience all the pain of doing things wrong. I liked reading this book because it reflected how I’ve been trying to synthesize the love I see in books and the love I want to have in the real world. What the characters go through is messy, difficult, and full of mistakes, but those are all part of real life and I liked that Sally Rooney didn’t shield me like other authors had.

This is getting far more honest than I imagined, but I would like to say that I do love a bit of shielding now and then; the world is cruel and love is scarce, so it’s nice to escape to a perfect world of perfect love stories. But, as I’m growing up, I guess I do want to know what’s waiting in store for me and have my shelter taken down a little bit. I have enough armor that it doesn’t hurt to realize that I’m going to make mistakes in love, hurt or be hurt by people, and most probably fail completely. I applaud and thank Normal People for making me feel that it’s okay to make those mistakes. For a moment there, reading fantasy and romance books, I was getting deluded by the idea that my love life would be a perfect 200-300 page book with a wonderful, picturesque love, so it was refreshing in a weird way to get grounded in the real and surprisingly not-scary world by Normal People.

For everything else, I didn’t really enjoy the book. As I said, I would have been fine reading it a bit later than I did, as well as maybe discussing it with someone—you guys don’t count! So, I do advise all of you to evaluate honestly whether you want to read it and I’d love to know your thoughts as well; I think it’s a very thought-provoking and dividing book.

Genre: fiction

Age: 16+

Rating: 5/10

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Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

I’m pretty ashamed of how long it’s been since I posted a review, but I have some valid explanations I think I should tell you guys. Firstly, as I stated in my most recent post, I’ve been prepping for my AP exam these past two months, leaving little time for recreational reading. Secondly, even when I have found time to read, I haven’t found a book that’s really captured my interest. For a while, I was in a bit of a reading slump, then I saw that my sister purchased the second TOG book on Kindle, so I did finally had something good to read, but you guys know how much I hate reading on Kindle. So safe to say, my inner book nerd has been starved of good fantasy and romance for too long.

That is until my mom managed to get a copy of Six of Crows about a month ago, when, like always (I think I’m seeing a theme), my sister snatched it right up. To be fair, I’d already read it and she was leaving soon and didn’t want to have to bring it with her. But, still, come on?! She didn’t even give me a chance!

Anyway, after she was done with it, I finally got to dive back into the Grishaverse, one of my absolute favorite book worlds, apart from the ACOTAR universe. I highly recommend Leigh Bardugo’s books because they’re generally geared toward a younger audience than me, and Shadow and Bone is a great introductory to fiction that makes you fall immediately in love with the genre. I was so ecstatic to get a real copy of SOC because I’d only read a borrowed version, but also because I’ve recently finished the second season of Shadow and Bone! If you guys haven’t seen it, GO WATCH IT NOW!!! It is 100% the best book-to-screen adaptation I’ve ever seen, hands down. And, the crows are in it, so: AGHGHHGH!

So, I had a lot of the show’s visuals fresh in my mind when I read SOC, which made it so enjoyable—highly recommend. The book is just fantasy perfection: worldbuilding (check), romance—but not overt and plot-driving—(check), found-family (check). Also, it’s one of the only fantasy books I’ve ever read that isn’t based around a “chosen one” plotline. What I mean is that a lot of fantasy books have an MC that has a special power/mysterious fate/dark past, but SOC isn’t like that at all. It’s about a group of teenage criminals, none of them supernatural, who manage to pull off a never-been-done-before heist. SOC really introduced me to that narrative style, and I definitely feel that it’s one of my favorites; there’s just something about feeling like the MC could actually be you and isn’t some far-fetched person you can’t relate to.

This book is just perfection and was exactly what I needed to get out of my reading slump and give my book-loving soul a balanced meal. Granted, I didn’t finish it immediately—I’m still doing school, so it’s not like I don’t have any responsibilities—but I still loved every minute of escaping into my room and curling up with that beautiful cover and one of my all-time fave books.

Genre: fantasy, Y/A

Age: 11/12+

Rating: 9/10

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Recife, Brazil (Pt. 2) – Fernando de Noronha, Brazil

Hey, I’m back—finally!! It feels like it’s been so long since I posted and a lot has happened, both in my own life and in the general world! Of course, by “the general world” I mean the Swiftieverse, but you guys already knew that. It’s so exciting to see The Eras Tour begin over the past month, and see tons of clips of the different eras. I’m definitely okay with seeing spoilers because they help to hype me up for when I get to see her in August. I still have to get through the school year but all I can think about is TET! Aghhh!

And, on top of that, she fricking announced Speak Now TV! What?!?!? Is she trying to make me fail all my classes by taking up 100% of my brain mass? Seriously, I’m convinced she’s trying to kill us all. Hearing that Nashville crowd go absolutely berserk was exactly what was happening in my brain. Anyway, I can’t spend my entire post talking about how T. Swift is trying to give me serious medical conditions; I have to actually tell you guys what’s been happening in my life.

I took my AP Psychology exam on May 2nd, which I’ve been prepping for throughout the past two months, basically. I felt pretty good about it, but we’ll get my scores back in July, so plenty of time to nurture my anxiety and convince myself that I failed the test! Yay!!

After my exam, we spent a few days relaxing in Recife, then packed up the boat and sailed for two days to an island off the coast called Fernando de Noronha. The passage was a little tough, just because we haven’t sailed in a while and Cleo left while we were in Recife. That means Dafne’s crew is down to only three members, which makes my watch schedule longer. I definitely felt a bit overwhelmed by the added responsibility, but we still have time to find the right balance. We’re planning to only spend a few days in Fernando, then head off on a two week passage to Tobago.

However, we’ve encountered some maintenance malfunctions in Dafne, so my dad is trying to fix those before we start that passage to Tobago. I also have some school and classes to catch up on, so that’s what the last few days have been. I do like being on passage, but it’s going to be tough to try to do school on passage these next weeks. Ugh. I wish I was in the US going to Taylor’s concerts every night. Well, at least I can live vicariously like all other international Swifties!

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A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas (ACOTAR Book 5)

Oh my golly, lord-and-savior, divine intervention, holy magistrate, goodness gracious! I feel like I say this every single time I read a book I’ve been dying to read for the first, but I have been WAITING for this one! I read ACOTAR for the first time months ago—I think I read the first book in December—but it has been living in my mind rent-not-needed-I-will-be-paying-you-sir ever since. I don’t even want it to leave at this point; the ships give me sustenance and the banter makes me die inside.

Anyway, it’s beside the point to say Ms. Maas holds the key to my soul, I definitely have a bit of a story to tell about reading this final book in the series (so far). I finished ACOFAS a while ago and have even gotten around to re-reading all of the books again. But, even though I bought all of them at the bookstore before we left civilization to cross the ocean, the bookstore didn’t have A Court of Silver Flames! Noooooo! On top of that, I was near certain I wasn’t going to finish all of them before we got someplace with a good enough bookstore to buy ACOSF. Never make the mistake of underestimating the power of addiction, my friends. I swear, it took me record time to burn through those books and then I was left with an itch I could scratch in the form of ACOSF.

The worst part was that I could’ve just ordered it on Kindle and read it just to get that desire satisfied, but I don’t love Kindle reading. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against Kindles in general and have used them happily for the better part of my life. But, for me, once I bought real paperback books, there was no going back. There’s just something about the physical feeling of a book that I loooove.

So, yes, my stupid laziness convinced me to not bother looking for ACOSF while I had the chance in Cape Town and my stupid pride wouldn’t allow me to buy it on Kindle in an inferior form than I wanted it in. Also, for those who understand the meaning of bookshelf beauty, I wanted the physical copy of ACOSF to put on my bookshelf next to the rest of my ACOTAR series to give me an endorphin boost whenever I looked at it. If you get it, you get it.

Eventually, my sister (there seems to be a theme here) gave in to her temptations and ordered ACOSF on Kindle. I was annoyed when she did it, but also slightly glad because then I could finally read it while not compromising my standards—though that bookshelf remains sadly incomplete. Either way, I was just super excited that I could finally read ACOSF and dove right in.

First of all, I’d like to give a general review that comes to mind: shield your eyes, children. I will definitely be giving a higher than usual age rating for this book, certainly older than the rest of ACOTAR, because…wow. I don’t know how many times I had to just put the Kindle—:(—down and clean my eyes. Everyone was literally so h0rny all the freaking time! And, I mean that’s saying something because this is ACOTAR we’re talking about—come on.

Anyway, there was definitely a spice increase I should mention, and other than that, I absolutely loved the rest of the plot. I know that there are people who aren’t Nessian shippers—I personally think they should be removed from the planet—but I would like to say that I have been a Nessian shipper from Day 1. From the very first time Cassian and Nesta met in ACOMAF I was like, “Oh yeah, this is gonna be good!” Although Feysand remains 100% my OTP and LOML, Nessian has been in the back of my mind forever and has just gotten better in ACOSF.

I would also like to give a quick mention of a new ship that has surfaced that I will defend until my dying breath: Gwynriel. I absolutely love Gwyn, I didn’t know how much I needed a Gwyn in my actual life until she appeared in this book, and I would walk over hot coals to give this woman (excuse me, female) a hug. Combined with the love I feel for Azriel, I was gobbling up the Gwynriel crumbs that are sprinkled throughout the book. That has been the new occupier of my mind at the moment: how ready I am for Gwynriel to surface fully. Azrelain can go die in a pit, sorry not sorry.

The thing I love about the book is the insight into Nesta that we get. I loved Feyre and I love her story, but I’ve also been eyeing Nesta and wondering what her deal was since the beginning. It’s so easy to see her as the nasty, mean older sister, but I think any reader can recognize the inner turmoil going on within that head. I for one was super excited when I realized the whole book would be focusing on Cassian and Nesta with a particular inside look into Nesta’s character. I don’t know, I guess there’s something about the ferocious, backtalking female MC for—it’s just my fave.

This book checked so many boxes for me that have been churning away in the back of my mind since finishing ACOFAS and being left on a teetering cliffhanger for the future of Nessian. More Cassian and Nesta representation, hinting at more deep dives, hopefully, into more Inner Circle characters (pls, pls, pls, Azriel, SJM, pls)? Check. More focus on Nesta and seeing a representation of PTSD, self-destructive tendencies, and bottling up of pain? Check. So much smut from Nessian it was putting Feysand to shame? Check. Not my total top favorite of the series, especially because more books are coming, but it felts so great to dive back into the world of ACOTAR fresh.

Genre: adult fantasy, romance

Age: honestly? 100+ realistically? 16+

Rating: 10/10

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Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

I’ve been waiting for this one! Bring the beat in, indeed, Queen Bey! I swear I’ve been wanting to read Throne of Glass since I found out that SJM had another fantasy series apart from ACOTAR. And, I know, my ratings and opinions on it may be controversial, but everyone is allowed to have an opinion—especially me—and we are all equal here.

I absolutely loved ACOTAR. Hands down. No questions asked. It had been on my list for a while, but then I found a used copy of the first book and absolutely needed the get the rest. I have been nonstop thinking about it since, like, November, when I read it! That’s how much I love this series and these characters. I’ll say it: Feysand is 100% my OTP!

So, when I heard that SJM had another series, I was excited, but not certain that I would love it. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely loved ACOTAR and SJM enough to try Throne of Glass, but I wasn’t positive I’d love it. I’ve read stuff from authors that I loved, then tried other books from them and not loved them at all; in my opinion, it’s a hit-and-miss.

But, I definitely wanted to try it, and I saw that my sister had pirated a copy of it onto our kindle account. Ugh, I know. I hate reading on the kindle and I love that I have paperbacks of ACOTAR to reread, but you gotta do what you gotta do when it comes to fantasy.

Reading it, I loved the writing and the third-person narration. I instantly fell in love with how strong Caleana was, and I’m like 98% a Chaol shipper—the thing is, that other 2% is pretty important because how in the heck do you pronounce his name? Ch-uh-oll? ChAol? Is it like a funny spelling of Coal? Anyway, I just had so many reactions when reading ToG that I knew it was a good book. You know when you have those moments where you smile and giggle to yourself, have to put the book down and fume to yourself, or rant about certain characters not confessing their true feelings? Yeah, those are always indicators of a great book that connects with a reader and I felt those when reading ToG.

The only downside (and I’m not even sure if it’s a downside) is that I have a bad tendency to search up fanart or TicToks on Pinterest of something I’m reading to get a reference to appearances or simply to feel closer to a book. But, this is bad because sometimes I see spoilers (which I’m usually fine seeing) but proved fatal when reading ToG. I realized my mistake when I saw stuff on Pinterest about characters I didn’t know yet and now I’m super confused about who Aelin, Rowan, and others are. So, the series isn’t ruined for me, I’m just now at a confusing crossroads where I don’t have any more books in the series but still have a lot of questions. I should probably stop going on Pinterest when I’m reading a new series, especially because then I have so many wonderings I end up reading the whole series just to find out the full story. Nevertheless, I’ll definitely find a way to get the rest of ToG (cheaply)and read it, right after I finally read A Court of Silver Flames at long last!! Now that’s definitely been a long time coming!

Genre: fantasy, fiction, Y/A

Age: 13/14+

Rating: 9/10

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Recife, Brazil (Pt. 1)

After being disappointed by St. Helena, we set off for the longer of the two passages, heading to Recife, Brazil, on the coast of South America. I’ve been excited to visit South America for years—it’s super high on my bucket list—so I was excited when we planned to spend the last few months of the school year and my AP exam in May in Brazil.

The passage was about two weeks long and actually flew by without any hiccups. I did a ton of schoolwork, however, mostly centered around the AP Psychology course I’ve been taking this year. I plan to take the exam in May and wanted to finish the course with plenty of time to review and feel secure in my knowledge—though I have a feeling I’m not going to do super well. So, over the passage to Brazil, I buckled down on the course, not focusing on my other classes (which is paying off now), and instead finishing it before we pulled into Recife. Since then, I’ve refocused on my other classes and caught up in time to begin meeting with my teachers again.

We’ve been docked in Recife now for about a week and we’ve cleared into the country, explored some of the city’s history, and gotten familiar with the layout of the marina. For me, I’ve been focusing on school, but we all took a break yesterday for my dad’s birthday to explore all the cool stuff he wanted to know about Recife.

This past week, we’ve been marking Recife on our checklist of a new place that I mentioned in my St. Helena post. So far, we’ve run into some basic problems: the water is dirty, there are rats at the marina (a really big “no, no” for us!), and the climate is so different from Southern Africa, we’ve been sweating nonstop. Even as I sit here after the sun’s set, I am still sweating illogically! After that, some other frustrations we’ve had is with the language barrier here. Recife is a large city in Brazil, but not as big as Rio, so it’s not exactly centered around catering to English-speaking foreigners. All the same, we’ve been super surprised by the lack of any English and had to quickly up our game in Portuguese. Also, of course, it’s Portuguese—of course! They just had to be the only Portuguese-speaking country in South America! Argh!

Other than that, we had a ton of fun exploring everything about the city, and the history is super novel and interesting to us. If we can get past the basic problems, I can see us loving it here for the next six weeks!