Asteria Hecate's Blog

Hey,

Half of 2022 is over now. I’m sure you had some goals at the beginning of the year. Have you accomplished any of them?

If you remember, in the letter I sent at the beginning of the year, I mentioned that I am not setting any goals for this year. The reason was that I was tired of disappointing myself, and I wanted to focus more on building systems than on setting goals.

After all, systems are what we rely on in our everyday life. And as James clear said,

“Don’t rise to the level of your goals, fall to the level of your systems.”

— James Clear

However, I also acknowledge that having goals is essential. It’s what keeps us motivated. It’s the north star that we always follow, and we choose the paths that can lead to these goals.

Goals are important. Yet, most of us don’t accomplish the yearly goals we set. Why?

One of the biggest reasons for this is that the goals we set are too big, or too vague. Most of us have goals like

…etc.

The problem with these goals is that they are neither actionable nor measurable. We need to set goals that we can measure, and where we can see the progress we’ve made.

Instead of “write a book”, try “I will write 500 words every day”

Instead of “get fit”, try “I will go to the gym three days a week”

Instead of “read more”, try “I will read 5 pages every day”

These goals are actionable, and you have a way to measure them.

“You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

Just take the first step. Get started. Good luck.

All the love,

Asteria☽

Enjoying the content? Buy me a coffee!

The post Small Steps to Success first appeared on Asteria Hecate.

The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller

“Alessandra is tired of being overlooked, but she has a plan to gain power:

1) Woo the Shadow King.
2) Marry him.
3) Kill him and take his kingdom for herself.

No one knows the extent of the freshly crowned Shadow King’s power. Some say he can command the shadows that swirl around him to do his bidding. Others say they speak to him, whispering the thoughts of his enemies. Regardless, Alessandra knows what she deserves, and she’s going to do everything within her power to get it.

But Alessandra’s not the only one trying to kill the king. As attempts on his life are made, she finds herself trying to keep him alive long enough for him to make her his queen—all while struggling not to lose her heart. After all, who better for a Shadow King than a cunning, villainous queen?”

Genre: YA fantasy, romance, enemies to lovers

Rating: /5 stars

“They’ve never found the body of the first and only boy who broke my heart. And they never will.”

Now that’s an opening sentence that will definitely grab your attention. This book starts off strong, with a premise that will have you hooked from the very first page. And I was. (Hooked, that is.) I read this book in one sitting because I simply couldn’t put it down.

The protagonist, Alessandra Stathos, is portrayed more as an antagonist or an anti-hero. She is cunning, deceptive, self-absorbed, murderous and downright unstable when she gets angry.
Even though she starts off as an unlikable character, as the story progresses, you start to understand her motivations—what leads her to act the way she does, and why she is the way she is. I couldn’t stand her character at the beginning of the story, but she grew on me.

Then there’s the Shadow King, Kallias Maheras. Quite frankly, I was a little underwhelmed by his character. He is supposed to be this super-strong, intimidating person that everyone fears—but that isn’t something you truly feel with his character. The way that he is described in the story, you expect him to be more than what he actually is. That was something that disappointed me. I felt that his character didn’t quite live up to the expectations that the book created for him.

Then there’s the world-building—or lack thereof. This is one of the reasons why I removed a star from the rating. The world that this story takes place in is never properly established. We are told that the Shadow King has conquered six kingdoms, which is supposed to be a very impressive feat—but we never really feel that because we have no idea of how big this world is. How am I supposed to know if conquering six kingdoms is a big deal?
It is only much later on in the book that the author mentions that there are a total of nine kingdoms.

I believe the story could’ve been much better with a bit of proper world-building. But overall, it was a fun and quick read. I did enjoy it quite a lot.

The post The Shadows Between Us — book review first appeared on Asteria Hecate.

The Secret of Magic: The Forbidden Box by Natassa Louppou is a story about a 12-year-old girl, Tania. She finds a suitcase that belonged to a magician, and this allows her to travel back in time to different years; but always on the same date – April 15th, her birthday. The story revolves around Tania and her companion, Mike, the rabbit, trying to find their way through time.

This book is appropriate for middle-school and teenage audiences.

I rate this book 3 out of 5 stars because I felt like the plot had a lot of potential, but it wasn’t fully explored in the story.

The thing I liked about this book was that the plot was very unique and interesting. I was hooked as soon as I had read the book synopsis. However, what I did not like was that, even though there was a lot that could’ve been done with the plot, the author didn’t really take the risk. The story felt a little bland. It was also somewhat fast-paced, especially in the beginning. It felt as if the main character, Tania, and her bunny sidekick, Mike, were just going from one step to another without really processing anything around them.

But overall, it was a good book and it was well edited as well.

Have you read the book yet? Do let me know what you think in the comments below!

All the love,

Asteria ☽

The post The Secret Of Magic by Natassa Louppou – book review first appeared on Asteria Hecate.

Hey there!

Just like that, the first quarter of 2021 is over. Time goes by so fast sometimes – like when you’re in the middle of a global pandemic. Too morbid? Sorry.

If you’ve been following me on social media, you would know that one of my goals for this year was to read at least 55 books. I read 56 books last year and this year, too, I’m hoping to at least get close to that number.

With 13 books completed in 3 months, I’m exactly on track!

In this post, I’ll talk about the books that I’ve read till now and give a mini-review as well. Keep reading to find out more!

p.s. if I see even 1 (one) comment on how many Goosebumps books I read, I WILL combust. Thank you.

This series is a guilty pleasure of mine. It’s very light-hearted and playful, and the perfect read for when you need a little break from things. It’s hilarious, engaging, and so very adorable. You can not get enough of this.

2. Darknight (The Witches of Cleopatra Hill #2) – Christine Pope | 3/5 stars

I have mixed feelings about this book. The first half of the book felt like filler – like nothing was happening, and I’ll be honest, it did get quite boring. But it picked up the pace near the ending, and I was really amazed at the last part. The book is well-written towards the ending, but the first half? Not so much.

3. Revenge of the Invisible Boy (Goosebumps SlappyWorld #9) – R.L. Stine | 3/5 stars

Frankie Miller is a psychopath. That’s all I have to say.

4. The Gap and The Gain – Dan Sullivan | 4/5 stars

This book is short and is designed to be read within an hour. The concept of the Gap and the Gain is very interesting and innovative – the switch of perspective is a simple thing, but I don’t think people usually make that connection and actively change their perspective, that’s why this book is so important. At times, it felt as if the author is repeating the same thing over and over, but then again, maybe that is required to drive the point home. I really loved this book, and I think everyone needs to read this.

5. 10 Steps to Earning Awesome Grades (While Studying Less) – Thomas Frank | 4/5 stars

This book was a Godsend. I’ve spent 90% of this school year trying – and failing – to get good grades and the problem was I couldn’t figure out where I was going wrong.
But with the help of this book, I was able to do that.

I swear to God, Thomas Frank is a lifesaver.

6. Monster Blood II (Goosebumps #18) – R.L. Stine | 3.5/5 stars

The only thing I have to say about this book is that Andy is so frigging annoying. I get that they’re all middle-schoolers and that’s how they act, but it’s still annoying. That’s all.
Good book, overall.

7. The Only Astrology Book You’ll Ever Need – Joanna Martine Woolfolk | 5/5 stars

This book is the perfect place to start if you’re looking into learning astrology. Everything is written in such a simple language that even a person who knows nothing about astrology would be able to understand everything, and it also covers pretty much everything you’d need to know as a beginner. Really helpful book.

8. Percy Jackson and the Greek Gods – Rick Riordan | 5/5 stars

Re-reading this after so many years, I’m slowly being reminded of why I used to love Rick Riordan’s writing so much. It’s so witty and humorous, I love it! Have I mentioned that I love Percy Jackson? Because I freaking love Percy Jackson.

9. Published.: The Proven Path From Blank Page to Published Author – Chandler Bolt | 4/5 stars

This book is really helpful to anyone that’s even remotely interested in publishing a book. It covers almost every area – from the planning of the plot, to the post-publishing. It’s full of helpful insights and anecdotes, and it can be very helpful to beginners in the writing and self-publishing field. No matter how experienced you are, I believe you’d still find something useful in this book.

10. Full Moon Fever (Goosebumps 2000 #22) – R.L. Stine | 4/5 stars

I must say that this book really lived up to the promise of “2000 times the scare” that this series promises. The story is from the POV of Robbie, who’s turned into a beast – and all the gruesomely detailed thoughts he has about eating animals, ripping apart human limbs, etc. was indeed creepy. The plot itself wasn’t the best I’ve read, but the creepiness made up for it.

11. Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative – Austin Kleon | 5/5 stars

This book was really so insightful and full of some really great advice. Navigating life as a “creative” can be hard sometimes, but this book covers pretty much everything. I really adore this book and I’d definitely recommend every creative person to give this a read.

12. Show Your Work!: 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered – Austin Kleon | 5/5 stars

After reading Steal Like An Artist by Austin Kleon, I had very high expectation from this book. It exceeded all of them. Kleon is really out here giving such amazing advice, and simultaneously also giving you the push you need to get started. Go ahead and read this book, you won’t regret it.

13. The Haunted Mask II (Goosebumps #36) | 3.5/5 stars

One thing about R.L. Stine is that you can always count on him to leave you with a good cliffhanger – and that’s also part of what makes the Goosebumps series so interesting. I really enjoyed this book.

That’s pretty much it, for now! Let me know what books you’ve read so far

All the love,

Asteria☽

The post First Quarter Book Update first appeared on Asteria Hecate.

Hey there!

Since this is my first post here, let me start by introducing myself. You can find all the basic stuff on the Homepage, so instead, let me talk about what led me to this point, and where I hope to go from here

I’ve always been a very creative and curious person. Ever since my early childhood, I’ve only ever felt like my life was “meaningful” when I was creating something. I know now that that’s probably a very extreme way of looking at things – and that my worth isn’t defined by how much output I can create – but it sure as hell felt like that to younger me.

That’s why my content creation journey started at the very young age of 11. I started by taking art classes and I used to post my artwork on Instagram; I was also writing tiny poems and short stories on Wattpad in my free time. By the age of 14 I had expanded to the beauty and makeup community on Instagram. By age 15, I started writing novels and by the time I was 16, I had started my spiritual journey as well. Then at 17, I published my first book, started a tarot consultancy service, and started offering my other skills as “gigs” on the Internet. All this time, I was also building up my Social Media Marketing skills through direct exposure and trial-and-error. I’m 18 now, and I don’t plan on stopping my journey anytime soon.

My friends always tell me, “you do so many things” but the truth is that I simply started earlier than most. I’m only able to say that I have so much experience because I’ve had so much time to try out different things and refine my skills. That, and the thought that I might fall behind if I wasn’t always running at full speed – the FOMO that has followed me everywhere since I was a kid. Fun, isn’t it?

One of my goals for this year, however, was to have my own website, my own little space on the internet. That’s the reason why I’m here and why I’m starting this blog. I hope to turn this into a meaningful community one day. But the baseline remains, I love creating content for other people – it makes me happy. And I hope to continue to do so for as long as I can.

I suppose that’s enough for now. Have a lovely day ahead!

All the love,

Asteria☽

The post Welcome to my little corner of the internet! first appeared on Asteria Hecate.