[Game Review] Ride-or-die: A Bad Boy Romance (Choices) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Hey dearies! I’m back after weeks of hiding in the cave! Inspiration hit me quite fast this weekend. So I’m writing something down before my inspiration disappears. 

Thanks to another Choices book, I have written again after a while. Kudos to the Pixelberry Team! And thank you for making these wonderful stories. Choices is one of those games I have stayed on. The fresh content always make me come back. 

So this book in Choices that captured my heart is about race cars and crime and romance, aptly titled Ride-or-die: A Bad Boy Romance.

That's one sexy cover!

And as the saying goes “Never judge a book by its cover.” Don’t get me wrong. It’s a beautiful cover. It captures the essence of the title itself. However, it gave me a perception that it’s going to be focused on the romantic aspect only. 

I’m not really into the romance genre. But! I love cars, especially badass ones! And this book has a lot of it. Sexy and fast cars! 

....but this cover is sexy, too!

To be honest, I decided to play this to earn Diamonds. But just like my other favorite, Perfect Match, Ride-or-die became into one where I actually spend Diamonds on. 

And unfortunately, I didn’t take a lot of photos at first so I kinda can’t share with you some deets. But hey, you can play Ride-or-die and see the amazing stuff first hand!

Art and music:

The characters are well depicted. The way their art is done makes it possible for me to imagine the appropriate voice for each. Like uhm... rebellious voice for Logan and sweet girl voice for my MC?

And yep, the customization part is one of Choices’s best features. I got to play a naive high school girl for this book so I chose the perfect look!

My main character in a gorgeous outfit.

Woah! I can’t believe I get to choose how a love interest would look, too. So I decided...

Meet Logan, my chosen Bad Boy.

But the best art in this book are the classy, sexy, and fast cars! They come with cool names, too. Look out for them in the chapters! My jaw literally dropped at that black and orange speed demon. But my favorite car is definitely Logan’s. Too bad I can’t have it. 😲

That's one sleek ride, y'all!

Oooh! Vintage!

And woah! Motorcycles are here, too!

The art and the background music fit like a glove. It changes in every setting and it enhances the mood of the book. 

Vroom! Vroom! That roaring engine sound can be heard in a lot of chapters. It’s the first time I heard that and only in this book. So I guess it’s a new sound. It sure revs up the thrill in every ride. 

Writing Style and Plot:

I like how they presented the plot and the subtle twists and revelations along each chapter. Woah... my character’s dad is a what? Investigating who? It blew my mind in the first few pages. And that gave me a reason to continue playing the book. I even analyzed the contents and think how the writers would fix the conflict. Or how it would play out in the ending. 

I wonder how that would work out?

Ride-or-die explores some issues like teen angst and life-of-crime and first sweethearts. Like in high school but with badass cars. Plus, it adds the forbidden romance trope in the storyline. Well, it’s on the title, right? “A Bad Boy Romance”. Heehee~ 🥰 Didn’t expect it would develop into a good story with substance. 

He's dreamy, isn't he?

One thing that struck me is the feeling of adrenaline. Yep! Whenever there are heists, I can feel my own heart beating fast, as if I’m behind the wheel for real. You know, I went to battle with Kenna Rys a lot times, fought in the fray with Hayden and other androids, and clawed out some vampires with Adrian Raines... but never had I been more scared in a Choices book like in Ride-or-die!

Woah!

Yep... I can feel it while reading, too!

Probably because I’m used to playing battle scenes in video games that going into one doesn’t scare me anymore. But I sure as hell don’t know how to drive! And that, my friends, gave me a fright! I held my breath and concentrated hard on each mission with the Mercy Park Crew. It was then that I fell in love with the story and the protagonists... with Logan, Mona, Toby, Colt, Ximena, and Kaneko. 

And that bittersweet ending just tugged at my heart. I’m gonna miss the characters and most especially, Logan. Nooooo! I can’t say goodbye! It’s too soon! 😭

Conclusion:

My rating: 5/5 stars

Ride-or-die is an excellent and well written story. The art, the music... everything came together to give the audience a great gameplay. The book gave me a roller coaster of emotions, too. It clearly is a work of love, as what Pixelberry promises in every Choices book.

My one regret? I didn’t get the Diamond choice badass car that I wanted. I chose the free car that came with the book. And worse? I don’t even have a picture of it! Ah! This calls for a reread. I’m taking that one sexy car and paint it red or pink or flashy yellow like Logan’s! Or... a motorcycle? I don’t think it was in the options but Colt would definitely agree! Ha! 🤣

Lemme think about it, Colt.

Here’s to hoping for Book 2! The ending held a lot of potential for another high octane love story. And please, more riding shotgun with Logan. 🚘

Godiva Chocolate in KR

Lotte Tower was one of the destinations that we visited during our trip to Korea. It got me into another chocolate adventure as I spotted a Godiva cafe along the way to the Seoul Sky. It was such a luxurious show of chocolate! It instantly got my attention. 

The last Godiva cafe I visited was in Singapore. The soft serve was very delicious and I have been craving for it. And that was enough for me to make a stop and try another in Korea.

The displays of chocolate were so beautiful and they all looked delicious, as I’m sure they are!

Rows and rows of chocolate!

... and moarrrr chocolate! :D

Wanted to try this.. but time ah!

Boxes and boxes full! 

I wanted to stop by and take a  breather for a while in the cafe. You know, try their coffee, too. But we were rushing, on our way to the Han River. So, I decided to have another scoop of the famous dark chocolate soft serve.

Range of drinks and other cafe snacks

Gotta have the new flavor! Yum!

See, they had a limited edition flavor! Part of the Carnival Gold Collection, here comes Mango Raspberry soft serve! And you know me, I just had to have it! 😃🍦

I’ve contributed to the #godivaicecream photos on Instagram once more! 

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Another chance at Godiva when I was in Korea! I saw it and I just had to have another of their delicious, ultra creamy, and luxurious chocolate ice cream. This one is a new flavor, Mango Raspberry. Gotta agree the toppings make it all the more regal! 😋🍦🍫 🇰🇷 #AngelMarielInKR #godiva #godivaicecream #chocolate #korea #latepost #seoulsky #mangoraspberry #icecream #yummy #nomnom #foodphotography #foodie

A post shared by Angel Mariel (@myangelmariel) on Jun 6, 2019 at 4:49am PDT

A close up of this uber delicious soft serve! Luxurious!

The dark chocolate ice cream was velvety and soft, just as I remembered it in Singapore. The sprinkles give it a contrasting texture of roughness. And the yellow and red syrups gives out the mango and raspberry flavors, respectively. The sweetness is just right. Overall, it is a heaven-on-earth experience! 

And because it’s so yummy, I finished it in a fleeting moment! Noooo... there’s no satisfying my cravings for Godiva chocolate from where I live. Hopefully, there’s a Godiva cafe in the next country that I’ll visit. 😃

See you soon, Godiva! :)

Subway Food in Seoul

The Seoul subway does not only house one of the best train systems in the world, but also delicious food! Our main transportation while we were in Seoul is the train. And yep, it also allowed me to take part in a great gastronomic ride!

This is my second post for my Korea Trip series, my first one is about street food. And yes, the subway food is as good as the street food!

Subway food can be found in stalls before you arrive at the train platform. I’m sorry if I get the location or the exact station wrong here. As a foreigner, it was hard to take note of the place. The subway was a labyrinth to me, you know. And Seoul has like... a lot of train lines! Haha! But I’ll try my best.

Pastries are always my weakness. One particular store I fell in love with is this one selling croquettes at Dongdaemun History and Culture Park station. My favorites are the sweet whipped cream filled and Italian croquette. The cheese was unforgettable for the latter.

The croquette stall in DDP station.

This whipped cream croquette is the champion!

I had the Italian Croquette at the right and it was filled with cheese and other meat. It was a savory treat.

These are simple but it reminds me of childhood! :D

Another pastry stall that I like is somewhere in Sindang station, where I’ve tasted the best coffee bun ever! Sadly, I forgot to take a solo photo of it. But it’s among the pictures below.

 That coffee bun at the top is awesome! 

More cakes and rolls!

And colorful macarons on display

Subway eats also have the traditional Korean street food on sticks, like Odeng (Fish Cake). Below is from Jamsil station, where we stopped by before going to Lotte Tower.

A selection with Odeng.

Odeng FTW!

More choices of food on sticks!

Manjoo! Who here likes manjoo? A custard filled pastry that's filled with happiness! Manjoo Cafe is also in Jamsil station. They were selling waffles and coffee, as well. But time constraints made me try only manjoo. 😋

Bring me back to Manjoo Cafe! :D

Fresh and hot manjoo is the best!

You know it's good if there's more custard filling. Yum!

The subway is full of people every time. No wonder it gives a lot of choices when it comes to food, as well. These few I’ve tried in my visit there only proves that there a lot more subway eats Korea can offer. Next time, I think I’ll try going on a train joyride, stopping at every station just for the food. 🤔😃😋