Books I Read in September 2021 - Part 1

I've read a lot in September and most of them seems to be series. I honestly try not to read book series because I find I don't really like them unless they are short books. Anyway, here are the books that I read in September that are part of a series.  (Click on the link for info about the book.)

01 | A Problematic Paradox and The Unspeakable Unknown (Nikola Kross) by Eliot Sappingfield > link1, link 2
Some reviewers compared this to Harry Potter and yes, there's a school with some things that are almost like magic but this is more science and technology than magic and it's more fun. The classes Nikola attended are a lot of fun, although, the idea that you might get seriously injured might have dampened my thoughts of wanting to attend such school - it's really not for the weak or the dumb. I don't always understand the science and technology talk but I appreciate they are included. Sometimes I forget Nikola wears glasses as they rarely mention this but I really like that she's a bit of a nerd. Summary: This duology are crazy, wacky, slightly creepy, kind of nerdy, fun reads. These are probably the most fun books I had read this year.

Favorite quote from The Unspeakable Unknown, Chapter 17:
"I'm employing tedium and diversion to occupy myself in order to avoid frank consideration of harsh realities. Besides, being murdered tomorrow will pretty much render the issue of long-term emotional development completely moot, so who cares?"

02 | Girl Giant and the Monkey King (Book 1) by Van Hoang with illustrations by Nguyen Quang and Kim Lien > link
This is Chinese mythology that has to do with the Monkey King and an eleven-year-old girl who have super strength which I really liked. It took a while to get to anything exciting and then came the end. I was a bit disappointed because they created another problem that was not solved so it seemed like an incomplete story to me. It drives me nuts to finish a book and find the real ending another is in the sequel. Summary: I did enjoyed this and the illustrations are cute but I didn't like the direction it was going so I'll probably won't read the sequel or sequels.

03 | The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter (The Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club Book 1) by Theodora Goss > link
Some (mostly bad) thoughts on this book:
    A) The idea about daughters and man-created female creatures of mad scientist and how they came together to solve murders in a gothic-style-ish way, was a great idea but that is not this book, not entirely. It is more like 10% is about the murder while 90% is about the introductions of daughters/female creatures and their back stories, lots and lots of back stories. There are even chapters titled such as Diana's Story, Justine's Story and so on. The few murders seems to be there only to get the ladies together but then again, I don't think they need the murders to do that since they are already tied together by the scientists. (The murders were solved but it was quickly dismissed.)
    B) I had thought the ladies, Mary Jekyll, Diana Hyde, Catherine Moreau, Justine Frankenstein, Beatrice Rappaccini, would be the ones to do the sleuthing but they mostly just run from one place and if there are actual things happening, well, they don't seem all that important, unless it ties to a back story of one of the ladies.
    C) Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson was a bit of a surprise mainly because I have not thought these two men would play a somewhat large part in the story. They seemed rather flat characters who occasionally have something to do with the ladies because of the murders. But honestly, if Holmes and Watson were replaced by other people like two generic detectives, it really wouldn't change the story.
    D) The worst thing about this book (according to me): is the commentaries/interjections in between the narrative from all the characters (just not Holmes or Watson or any men) and from characters yet to be introduced to the reader. All the main characters Mary, Diana, Catherine, etc. and even the side characters Mrs. Poole and Alice - they all have something to say. 
    These comments really test my patience as a reader. What kept me going was maybe the chance that the story would get better or that these comments would become more meaningful to the story after a while but sadly, neither came true. Here are what these comments are talking about:
    - the ladies offering information that occasionally removes all the suspense or even surprise from the story
    -- the ladies scolding or complimenting each other
    -- the ladies agreeing to what had just been said in the story
    -- the ladies having conversations with each other about something
    -- the ladies complimenting the writer (Catherine Moreau the character writing this story, not Miss Theodora Goss)
    -- the author (Catherine) even defended her excuse for using these commentary - an insight to let us know how annoying or affectionate these characters are - so the story doesn't do that?
    -- Catherine advertising her non-existent books
    -- two of the ladies told some bits of a back story of their life (that is probably a page or two long) which could have been put into the narrative but they don't have any bearing on the story so it's probably why they put in these comments
    -- while looking down at a murdered victim whose brain was cut out - they also had comments in between in this scene which I sort of thought the ladies were being a bit condensing toward the dead woman but I could be wrong
    -- one comment seems to be explaining a previous event mentioned in the narrative which is a bit odd since they could have put it in the narrative but whatever.
    E) The best thing about this book is the cover. That's really the only thing I like.
    F) This story is told in the perspective of Mary but somehow it moved to other characters for a bit and then back to Mary and then somehow, it's told by Catherine. Justine's story is told in first person while the others are in third person - don't know why the switch around. Since there are so many characters, perhaps this should have been  written in third person omnipresent or at least stay with Mary as she is the titled character.
    Summary: I think this book (and the rest of the series) would have been better if this was told without the silly comments and perhaps it's not a bad thing to make it a true gothic story and remove the so-called humor to the story. Sometimes I can't take what's happening seriously. Sometimes it feels like I'm reading the story with another person who likes to talk a lot so we know they are there. Sure, some of the comments have useful information (once or twice) but they could have been put them into the narrative, couldn't they?
    I hardly knew (with all the commentary interruptions) what the heck I was reading - is it a murder mystery or a story about a bunch of women getting together under one roof to form a club (the Athena Club) to sort of solve their own missing bits of their fathers'/creators' lives or to find out more about the Alchemist Society (or whatever they call it) so they can assure themselves of their own existence? I don't know and I don't know really want to know. I did sort of enjoy the idea of the story but just not the way it was presented. I'm not going to read the two sequels as the writing style is the same with the silly, unnecessary commentaries.

04 | The Epic Crush of Genie Lo (Book 1) by F. C. Yee > link
The first half of the book was fun and entertaining and then hints of a romance started and then it just became a bit annoying (the romantic bits, not the story). I really just hated the romance. I don't like the pairing mostly because they just don't fit, almost as if, they shouldn't be together.
    [SPOILER >I knew who Quentin was right away, there's no doubt. Let's just say I hated the way Quentin aka Wukong aka The Monkey King is portrayed here. Yes, the author have a right to change the character's appearance but did he have to make him a good looking teenager with a six-pack and a tail? Quentin is supposed to be a monkey demon-god with furs so this shiny looking teenager doesn't work for me. The only reason he is turned into a good looking teenager is so he can romance Genie, so that people won't say yuck to the romance, isn't that right? I could not think of any other reason for this change.
     If Quentin is an reincarnation of the Monkey King instead of actually being the Monkey King then I would believe the romance between him and Genie more. Instead Quentin is a five-hundred-year-old (not certain of the age but he should be at least over a hundred here) romancing a 16-year-old girl and what makes it weirder is Genie is the incarnation of the Monkey King's cudgel. As the character Quentin claimed while she was kissing him, "This is so wrong. It's like King Arthur having feelings for Excalibur." I also dislike the idea of Guanyin, the goddess of Mercy, having some sort of past romantic relationship with the Monkey King - that relationship idea is just so wrong! Her character is supposed to be older than Quentin and even she's not older, she is basically like his mother, ugh, whatever.
    I guess since this is a YA book, they have to make Quentin a good looking teenager. But does he looking like a teenager causes his brain to be a teenager as well? Quentin doesn't even know how to fight demons he had slain years ago. I guess wisdoms doesn't come with age for him. And the worst thing is, Quentin is more like  Genie's sidekick, not her equal nor her partner as the pairing seems to suggest. Sorry, but Genie got all the powers and Quentin is reduced to being just another demon-god with a few powers and some knowledge which is not how the monkey king should be and there is no explanation why some of his power went to Genie.
    I really hated whenever Genie gushes over Quentin's six-pack or his muscles or basically anything that has to do with his appearance which I guess I can accept for a teenage girl. I thought the scene where he showed her his tail with his shirt opened was a bit weird. All I know, if I were to see a teenager boy with a tail, I would freak out and run off instead of trying to touch the tail. I could made some crude jokes here because that scene is awkward-crazy but maybe teenagers go around showing each other's their half naked bodies all the time and is perfectly okay with it?<END SPOILER]  
    Summary: This was fun and entertaining and I really did enjoyed the first half of the book. The second half seemed too quick and yet kind of slow but probably because I hate how teenager-like Genie was behaving with all those romantic thoughts. The villain that was mentioned was barely a threat as the real villain was someone else who was also barely a threat. I was a tiny bit surprised by this but at the same, it was kind of lame but then again, I suppose they really would not have introduced the villain so late so it makes sense it was someone that was there earlier in the story.
    There are Chinese phrases throughout the book but most of them are not translated. Even though I sort of understand what they are saying, it would be nice if they have a glossary. I'm not sure I'll read the second book as I really just couldn't stand the romance and it seems to be more present in the second book.

05 | The Dragon Warrior and The Fallen Hero (The Dragon Warrior) by Katie Zhao > link 1, link 2
I think I would enjoy these books a lot more if the children, Faryn, Faryn's younger brother Alex and their friends Moli and Ren aren't 11 and 12 years old as they do seems so much more mature than their age. This is a middle grade book so I guess they could not up the ages. I don't like how they are settling up the romances. These children are 11 and 12 and yes, they can have crushes but I think it's a bit embarrassing whenever they mentioned how one of them would blush when they touch or hug or whatever but then again, these children acts like they are 15 or 17 so maybe it's fine?
    I was surprised by one of the character's death - it really didn't seem like the type of book to have main characters died but here, death seems almost pointless because after these people die, they go on living in some other way, sort of still alive but not really. But it was still surprising.
    Book 2 have two new main characters which I didn't like because I was attached to the four - Faryn, Alex, Moli and Ren - but I guess it has to be this since two of the characters had something happened to them but I was hoping the four would get back together. The new characters, Ashley and Jordan, seems like replacements to me. They aren't bad characters but it just seems like they were added in because they needed to make up four people? I don't know.
    Summary: I was really disappointed by the ending of book 2 since I thought this is the end of the series, all those problems should be solved but nope, they only solved maybe two things that had started in book 1 and left three or four things unsolved at the end of book 2. I enjoyed these two books but it seems they were dragging out the story when it really should have ended. I doubt I would read a third book.

Have you read any good books in September?