Of Life and Lies by Catherine Dellosa | Book Review

Of Life and Lies by Catherine Dellosa | Book Review

Photo by Cerize Sicat

About the Book:


Is it still worth it if it costs you your humanity? In Book Two of the “Of Myths And Men” trilogy, an ordinary girl joins forces with mythological creatures to save the world and grapples with the lies we tell ourselves to survive along the way.

“Masterful storytelling and world building. Action-packed and a page-turner.” Eva Wong Nava, author of magic realism YA novel, The House of Little Sisters

The end of the world changes things. But most of all, it changes people too.

Six weeks after the world began counting its days in fading sunsets, Ava finds herself at a complete loss. Cassie is away, Roy is gone, and the last time she saw Brad, he was bleeding from three stab wounds to his chest with his right leg chopped off. With Connor by her side, all she knows now is that she has to survive – because real life is no game.

When rumours on the whereabouts of the Lightbringer – the elusive leader of the Pure – begin to surface among the myths, Ava and her friends decide to buff up their chances of survival with a welcome addition to their party. But the search for the alien leader is filled with uncomfortable truths, and, with the Ferals and the Hostiles taking over the Earth, Ava once again feels she’s way underleveled for the big battle ahead.

In the company of a cheery half-spider woman, a loyal dragon-horse, horned battle elves, and a host of stiff hopping corpses, Ava will have to unlock her own strength to fight the horrors of what’s to come.

An Extra Life token would really come in handy right now.

Rating:
4/5 ✨

Review:


I’m so happy that I ended up reading the first book several months after I got it from the Bookworm Meetup last April. And it just so happens that the second book came out the same week I finished reading it!

I went to the Manila International Book Fair 2023 and purchased this! I knew Miss Cath was gonna be there for her book signing so I chose to go on the same day. She was so nice and even remembered me – one of her readers from bookstagram *cries*. Anyway, I just wanted to include this before continuing with the review.

Finally going back on an adventure with Ava and her group of aliens. I’ve been wondering how Connor found her in the middle of it all but all of my questions from the first book’s cliffhanger was answered immediately in here.

Poor Brad, everyone thought he was good for dead but Ava kept faith. Luna has been as reliable as ever. And there are new additions to the team as well! Elves has always been one of my favorite mythological creatures, I find them fascinating because of Lord of the Rings (Thranduilllll ♡).

The book shows you human nature where the first half are the ones who would help each other and then the other half are people who want to become the leader and basically be in power. The nature where we kill anything in our path if we don’t understand it. So many terrifying deaths in the first few pages.

The person/alien Brad wanted to meet the most turned out to be nothing but disappointment. They were left to their own devices and it was such a let down but they couldn’t let earth perish. Connor helped a lot with their mission but we are still far from succeeding.

I personally couldn’t wait for the third and final book. I want to know asap what would happen but we would have to wait for that. I can’t help but imagine how fun it would be if this was turned into an animation. So many fun creatures and sights to see.

Congratulations Miss Cath on an amazing book yet again! Can’t wait for the third one. ♡

Want your own copy of Of Life and Lies by Catherine Dellosa? Get it here! 📚

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Of Myths and Men by Catherine Dellosa

Of Myths and Men by Catherine Dellosa

Published: February 2022
ISBN: 9789814954297
Length: 224 Pages

Synopsis:


Eighteen-year-old Ava has saved the world 152 times – ever since she got her hands on her first console. It’s all fun and games, but after a mysterious encounter with not-a-vampire Brad, she discovers that the mythological creatures she’s only ever seen in video games are actually totally real. Brad reveals they’re alien refugees living among humans – bonus points because Ava finds the guy really, really cute.

As she’s suddenly thrust into a quest with a surfer wendigo, a friendly manananggal, a telepathic nine-tailed fox, a Sudoku-loving centaur, and a huggable Bigfoot, Ava embarks on an actual mission to fend off an alien invasion – and she soon realizes that this time, she just might need to save the world for real.

Where’s a save point when you need one?

Photo by Cerize Sicat

Rating:
4.5/5 ✨

Review:

I got this book from Fully Booked’s Book Worm Meetup last April and I’m so happy I picked this up. Just a disclaimer before I give my thoughts on this book, even though I got this for free this is going to be an honest review.

The synopsis got me so interested since I’m very into legends and folklore. I also have deep fascination with South East Asian legendary creatures since I personally find them the most unusual and terrifying. This book also talks about gaming and there’s a lot of usage of gaming terminologies but I’m happy to at least know a few of them and this did not hinder my reading. I have to admit though that I am not very into computer games. I have little to no knowledge of the games introduced starting from the late 2000s.

I enjoyed Ava’s adventure and loved all the creatures she met along the way. I like the fact that she was told then and there that she was NOT a chosen one like the ones we see in movies or read in books. It was the other way around – she chose to save the world. I’m so in love that Filipino mythological characters are also involved in this. I’m so happy they’re finally getting their deserved spotlight.

And then there’s Brad. Lovely Brad and his silver hair. He’s the epitome of a good guy who every one wants to marry. I, on the other hand want to meet his friend who lives in a castle and sleeps in a coffin.

The flow of the story is nice with introduction of new characters every now and then. I feel bad for Cassie’s body guards who died just because they were doing their jobs and wonder how Connor found Ava at the end of the first book. They’re trying to save the world and I can’t wait to find out what would happen next.

Overall, I loved it and would definitely recommend it to fiction junkies like me.

I’ll be attending the next Manila International Book Fair this September and hopefully I could meet Miss Catherine and get the second book of this series there!


🛒 Add to cart Of Myths and Men by Catherine Dellosa now!
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To Something New

To Something New

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A month ago, a bookstagrammer asked me if I wanted to be an administrator of a bookish community made up of Filipino readers. I – a social butterfly – would really love to get to know more people who enjoy the things that I fancy. I immediately said yes and I do not regret it one bit. Allen was the creator. I could not believe he’s only 16 years old (ahhh he makes us all feel so old! But we love him.). Then there’s the admins: Ari, Yumi, JM, Elle, and of course me. (Click their names to visit their blogs!)

In just a month, we’ve already reached more than 500 Pinoys all over the globe. We’ve established good name with local shops and even partnered with Mermaid Crate for our July giveaway. It’s a fantastic experience and I enjoy chatting with my fellow administrators. They’re all very jolly and so artistic. The members as well are all so friendly.

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There are so many beautiful posts in instagram where our members tagged us or used the official hashtag #BookstagramersPH. I can’t believe that there’s already a thousand post with this hashtag and it’s crazy! They take such wonderful photos that we’re having a hard time picking the weekly favorite, especially the Photo of the Month. We’ve concocted so many activities so the members wouldn’t be bored. The challenges are fun and the giveaways we have in store is simply crazy.  We’re sure that the members will enjoy the surprises we have for them in the future.

We’ve launched our first Book of the Month Discussion with Furyborn by Clare Legrand last June and I was surprised to see members to be very accommodating and excited to share their different opinions of the book. I’m looking forward to seeing what our members have to say for our July pick.

It simply amazes me how fast this thing is growing. We have merch, collaborations, meetups of members at random places in Manila, and so many plans for the future. I hope more people will join because this is really an amazing community that shares the same passion for reading.

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We’re planning to see each other on the Philippine Reader’s and Writers Festival hosted by National Bookstore on August where JM will be one of the speakers. It’s all so exciting and new for me. I can’t wait to meet them all in person.

Photos by Allen, Yumi, and members of the BGPH.