"But we're limited, aren't we. We've all got some limitations. And we bump up against them, and it hurts, sure, but it's the only way to find them out
"But we're limited, aren't we. We've all got some limitations. And we bump up against them, and it hurts, sure, but it's the only way to find them out." Pg 74
This was such a unique and mind-twisting read! I have been wanting to pick up another Ottessa Moshfegh book since reading (and loving) My Year of Rest and Relaxation a few years ago. I love Moshfegh's writing style, and really think that is where her strength lies in her books. I will admit, I was fairly confused for the first half, however with an unreliable, alcoholic narrator, that is understandable, and I am glad I pushed through because I really enjoyed this book overall. I highly recommend McGlue to any fans of Carmen Maria Machado! ...more
"Only a mother can walk with the weight of a second beating heart" Pg. 20
Per usual, Ocean Vuong's Night Sky with Exit Wounds was filled with beautifu
"Only a mother can walk with the weight of a second beating heart" Pg. 20
Per usual, Ocean Vuong's Night Sky with Exit Wounds was filled with beautiful, yet heartbreaking poetry! I liked this collection more than his most recent one, Time Is A Mother, especially the poems in part 1, that section was nearly perfect to me.
The poems that had the biggest impact on me were 'Telemachus', 'Aubade with Burning City', and 'Immigrant Haibun'. I highly recommend checking out this collection if you're a fan of Ocean Vuong, or if you were a fan of Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head by Warsan Shire! ...more
"It makes me wish you could film a whole entire moment. Not just the visuals and vocals. I want to hold every piece of this. I want to save the detail
"It makes me wish you could film a whole entire moment. Not just the visuals and vocals. I want to hold every piece of this. I want to save the details for later: the breeze ruffling my hair through the open car windows, the soft warmth of my flannel. The feeling of being sixteen on a Friday night in September." pg. 238
Kate in Waiting is a YA romance following Kate and her best friend Andy who are notorious for pining over the same guy, which they call their ‘communal crushes’, but it is always from a far. That is until their summer crush from theatre camp, Matt Olssen, shows up at their school on the first day of Junior year. Both of them end up developing real feelings for Matt, but neither of them don’t want to hurt one another or lose their friendship.
Becky Albertalli is one of my favourite YA authors, but Kate in Waiting was my least favourite of the books of hers so far. One of my favourite things is her ability to write friend groups that feel really authentic and who you can’t help falling in love with. There was a lot of focus on platonic friendships, and diverse representation across the cast of characters, which was great! I loved all of the scenes where they were rehearsing for the musical, this was honestly the ultimate theatre kid book! Within her internal dialogue, Kate did give slight pick-me energy but didn’t we all at 15? I really enjoyed how both Kate and Andy’s romances played out, they felt really sweet and giddy, which in my experience is exactly how it feels to fall in love for the first time/in high school.
My issue with this book ultimately came down to a mediocre concept and the fact that it felt really repetitive. Kate and Andy kept having conversations about not wanting to hurt one another by having a crush on the same guy, but then one of them would get annoyed about something the other one did, and then they would apologize to one another and be best friends again. It was very cyclical, and a few of the “problems” that took place were unrealistic and juvenile (even for a YA book). As an older sister, Kate and her brother Ryan’s relationship really tugged at my heartstrings, I just wish Kate would have given him more credit as the novel progressed when it came to him moving to college and wanting to spend more time with her.
I did read this in one evening, which has become a theme for me and Albertalli’s books, which I love. I would recommend Kate in Waiting to anyone who was/is a theatre kid in high school, and to fans of the show High School Musical: The Musical: The Series!
Set the Record Straight is a Christmas-themed romance novella that follows Clara and Evan, lifelong friends who enter into a fake dating relationship Set the Record Straight is a Christmas-themed romance novella that follows Clara and Evan, lifelong friends who enter into a fake dating relationship to help one another out, but ultimately end up falling in love.
I really loved Out On A Limb by Hannah Bonam Young, which was my introduction to her books back in August, but I was actually kind of disappointed by this book. It felt a lot like insta love, despite the main characters being friends for 20 years, and the fake dating trope did not hit. It used to be one of my favourite tropes but nowadays it feels so overused if there is nothing unique added to the situation or arrangement. The story progressed too fast, so each event felt very rushed. I think this could have done really well as a full length novel, so that each character and plot point had more time to develop, rather than just being one short chapter. I did love that this takes place in Toronto, but their hometown was never specified, and if it was I really think that would have helped deepen and detail the story. Overall it was short, steamy, and sweet, so if you’re looking for a novella that will take you under 2 hours to read, pick this up!
this was a really cute addition to the heartstopper universe! the art style was beautiful as always and i liked learning all of the little fun facts athis was a really cute addition to the heartstopper universe! the art style was beautiful as always and i liked learning all of the little fun facts about alice oseman's journey over the years of creating and publishing the heartstopper graphic novels. it was really cool to see the characters in all of the holiday-themed and alternate-universe art, i especially loved the "regency era" style art of nick and charlie at the end!...more
Bright Young Women is a historical fiction thriller following the case of a notorious serial killer, who is only referred to as ‘The Defendant’ througBright Young Women is a historical fiction thriller following the case of a notorious serial killer, who is only referred to as ‘The Defendant’ throughout the novel. One POV follows Pamela, who is the sole witness of ‘The Defendant’ the night he broke into her Florida sorority house, brutally beat two of her sisters, and murdered two of other her sisters. The other POV follows Ruth, a previous victim of the same serial killer during his atrocities committed at Lake Sammamish in Washington. The stories intersect when a woman named Tina, who was a close friend of Ruth at the time of her murder, comes to Pamela, convinced their friends were murdered by the same man.
This book was a page-turner, even though I knew how this tragedy ultimately wrapped up, that didn’t take away from my interest in the book. My only complaint is that the names of some of the victims were changed, but the names of others were their actual names, which I found a bit confusing since there did not seem like any rhyme or reason for doing this. I think it should have remained consistent throughout with all of the names being changed since this is a fictional story based on true events.
I enjoyed seeing how the two main storylines intertwined, and although the timeline seemed jumpy at the beginning, it really ended up coming together in the end. It was haunting to read about how dismissive the police were to these women, which I know was the situation in real life for this case, but as I mentioned before, 'The Defendant' remaining nameless (even though it is clear what case this book is about) helped to reclaim these women's experiences and shed no more unwarranted light on the despicable man who did this. I appreciated how Knoll did not sensationalize the story but rather positioned the women and victims as heroes seeking justice, and as the title suggests, bright young women.
box hill was a very interesting read! i hadn't heard of it ahead of coming across it at the library, so i had no clue what to expect. it follows the nbox hill was a very interesting read! i hadn't heard of it ahead of coming across it at the library, so i had no clue what to expect. it follows the narrator, colin on his 18th birthday when he meets a biker, ray, who is significantly older than him, in box hill. he has his first sexual experience with ray, goes home with him, and doesn't leave for 6 years. it describes their dominant/submissive relationship, while also revealing the biker's secret poker group, where some questionable things take place. i really really enjoyed colin as the narrator, the writing style and the setting!
i couldn't really figure out how the author meant for the reader to feel while reading this, especially about ray and colin's relationship. i interpreted it similarly to the concept in 'my dark vanessa', where the narrator is reflecting on a past inappropriate relationship where they were being taken advantage of. when reading reviews after i finished the book, i found mixed interpretations, some people thought it shed light on sub/dom relationships in a positive way, as they are often looked upon with shame. others found the narrator frustrating and hard to sympthize with, which is to be expected as the extended title is box hill: a story of low self-esteem. overall, my conclusion was that it was an incredibly thought-provoking book, and shed light on situations that aren't often discussed in literature. i also found this interview with the author, adam mars-jones really really good to watch after finishing the book, and i highly recommend checking it out regardless of if you're going to read it. https://youtu.be/IzPHwEmTNAU it definitely helped me put together my thoughts after reading box hill!...more
happy publication day to falling back in love with being human by kai cheng thom!
falling back in love with being human: letters to lost souls, is a mohappy publication day to falling back in love with being human by kai cheng thom!
falling back in love with being human: letters to lost souls, is a modern poetry collection of 'letters' addressed to various people, groups, things, etc., written by canadian writer kai cheng thom. the poems were well-written and easy to follow, which is not always the case with poetry. however, overall the poems fell flat for me, i wasn't highlighting much and there were so many pop culture references - although i did really enjoy the poem addressed to jk rowling!
if you're a fan of poetry, definitely check this out on or after august 1st when it is published, but if you're not, this is a good one to skip. i don't think this will be the most memorable poetry collection, however, i am really looking forward to picking up thom's memoir since i enjoyed the writing style so much!
thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for the e-arc of falling back into love with being human: letters to lost souls by kai cheng thom in exchange for an honest review....more
this was undoubtedly well written and i can totally see how it was nominated for a goodreads choice award last year. i expected it to hit3.5/5 stars!
this was undoubtedly well written and i can totally see how it was nominated for a goodreads choice award last year. i expected it to hit me a little harder because of the topic, but the vagueness left room for my mind to wander a lot. i only ended up highlighting 3 passages and then 'the santa ana' entirely (prob my fav poem in the collection) but was kind of hoping for me. ...more
This is How You Lose the Time War is a really interesting novel that follows two time travelers on opposite sides of a time war, who start writing letThis is How You Lose the Time War is a really interesting novel that follows two time travelers on opposite sides of a time war, who start writing letters to one another. They go by Red and Blue, Red being on the Agency side of the time war, and Blue being on the Garden side of the time war. Throughout the book they fall in love through these letters, but Red feels suspicious that they are being watched, and the story unfolds from there.
The prose in this book was beautiful! I loved how unique the concept was, especially since I'm not usually a scifi fan. The whole time I was imagining the two sides of the time war to reflect our current world, the Garden representing the climate crisis, and the Agency representing technology and innovation. My only complaint is that I was confused for the first 100 or so pages during the "regular" parts of each chapter, but not during the letters. But the book is just shy of 200 pages so it felt like by the time I finally understood what was going on in the world, it was over. My friend Lauren (who also lent me this book thanks bestie) said when we were talking about this book, that it could have used a place/year at the beginning of each chapter so we knew where the characters were, and I couldn't agree more. Either that or I wish there had been some kind of blurb at the beginning of the book explaining the two sides of the time war, and what strands, braids, and shifts meant. But overall it was a beautiful love story, I highly recommend it to any scifi/time travel lovers!
Here are some of my favourite quotes:
"My memories of you spread through millennia, and each highlights you in motion." pg. 96
"They would make this war, she thinks, if there were not a war already made for them to make." pg. 98
"How I love to have no armor here." pg. 112
"She wants there to be a God, so she can curse her." pg. 169
"Word can wound - but they're bridges, too. Though maybe a bridge can also be a wound? To paraphrase a prophet: Letters are structures, not events. Yours give me a place to live inside." pg. 95...more
may 25th, 2023: the other weekend lauren and i tried the Guayaki Organic Yerba Mate drinks!! we got the 'classic gold' and the 'grapefruit' flavours amay 25th, 2023: the other weekend lauren and i tried the Guayaki Organic Yerba Mate drinks!! we got the 'classic gold' and the 'grapefruit' flavours and they were so so good! i still want to try yerba tea hot, but it was fun to finally try!
march 23, 2023: the only thing i knew going into this book was that its nina lacours first adult book, and the only other work ive read by her is 'we are okay', but i read it in 2017 and don't remember anything about it. anyways im happy to report i enjoyed yerba buena, it was a quick read and definitely kept me on the edge of my seat, even with the longer chapters.
i really enjoyed sara and emilies stories and perspectives. i do wish more of the story covered their time together rather than alternating between their two lives, but they kinda gave normal people vibes i wasnt sure how the story would end! this honestly could have used even 75 more pages for a bit more development, espeically with all of the tougher topics this book deals with, i think it would have benefited from being longer. i enjoyed colette and spencer, but there were so many other side characters that i also wish she would have developed more, or maybe there could have been less of them because i really couldn't keep them all straight, especially with the alternating chapters.
overall i enjoyed my time reading, and i loved how yerba buena was incorporated throughout the story, i want to try it now!...more
this was really comforting to read because of the characters - i love reading about nick and charlie in a novel format and loved the few pictures inclthis was really comforting to read because of the characters - i love reading about nick and charlie in a novel format and loved the few pictures included throughout the story! but it was a little emotional to read because i’m doing long distance right now <3...more
i’m not really sure how to rate this, i’d probably say like 2.5 stars?
i didn’t know what to expect going into this other than the fact that i’ve seeni’m not really sure how to rate this, i’d probably say like 2.5 stars?
i didn’t know what to expect going into this other than the fact that i’ve seen a lot of negative reviews and that it was horror. it definitely made my stomach hurt while reading and i’m not really sure i get the point of it. there were things redacted by the police which i thought we would get to see in the end or know what they were alluding to but the last email was pretty straightforward to how agnes died. i’d like to read about zoe’s trial if i were to get anything else from this story and these two characters. ...more
extraordinaries was me and my brother jack's first ever buddy read/book club pick together! we had so much fun reading it and talking about it togetheextraordinaries was me and my brother jack's first ever buddy read/book club pick together! we had so much fun reading it and talking about it together - it was a great pick!
everything about extraordinaries was awesome. it is about a place called nova city where there are these superheroes called extraordinaries. nick, the main character writes fan fiction about Shadow Star, the extraordinary he has a crush on! it was action-packed, totally adorable, had a great father/son relationship, and awesome ADHD and queer rep! i only wish we could have had more fanfiction chapters integrated throughout the book since there were only a few, but i loved them!
it kind of gave me scooby doo 2: monsters unleashed vibes but in the best way EVER! i highly recommend this if you're looking for a YA or book club book!...more
A heartwarming first 5-star read of 2024! This series does a beautiful job at discussing important and universal teenage experiences in such a loving,A heartwarming first 5-star read of 2024! This series does a beautiful job at discussing important and universal teenage experiences in such a loving, accessible and healthy way. I will forever adore and recommend this series, I can't wait for the last and final volume!...more
Emma Griffioen
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