Five Steps to Happy is an uplifting story about a stroke of really bad luck with huge consequences and getting up from the ashes after it all. Heidi hFive Steps to Happy is an uplifting story about a stroke of really bad luck with huge consequences and getting up from the ashes after it all. Heidi has a life-changing accident while jogging, passes out and wakes up with an amputated leg and not a real idea about what happened and how her life now seems to be in shambles. She is faced with the reality of having to re-learn almost everything she took for granted up to that point, and figure out what to do with her life from that point, and how to stand up both figuratively and physically. However, not everything is all bad – Heidi ends up making a lot of new, different friends and making a place for herself in this new world all on her own.
This has honestly been one of the best books I've read all year so far! I've been trying to remember whose blog post I read that prompted me to buy itThis has honestly been one of the best books I've read all year so far! I've been trying to remember whose blog post I read that prompted me to buy it so I could thank them - but I can't, for the life of me, remember who it was. I guess it was a year ago. But thanks, friend, whoever you were. This book rocked. It was so fresh, I got through it so fast and was incredibly entertained. By the way, I was in a book slump. This book got me out of it!
It's fast paced, it's unexpected, it's quite a wild ride. But also, despite being a twisty adventure tale about a teen - it's not stale or overused AT ALL. Everything is original and surprising! Reading 100-200 books a year, I find that a challenge - it's a rare thing in a book for me. But this one certainly deserves the praise. Especially all that stuff that went down by the end!!!
It took me a while to warm up to The Windfall, but warm up I did. At first I was completely confused about where the book was going. Was it about how It took me a while to warm up to The Windfall, but warm up I did. At first I was completely confused about where the book was going. Was it about how happy it is to suddenly move up in the world, or is it about how sad it is, on the contrary? Is this going to be about their life after their move? But if so, why is it taking them so long to move? And ultimately, it turned out this book isn't about life before or after - it's about change in life. And it's got about as many points of view as it has characters, and that makes it so very realistic.
Perhaps the part I enjoyed the most about The Windfall was the soft middle-age romance. More books should have this! I'm not a big fan of romance because it makes me feel very bad about my own histories and experiences, but if I found more romance stories like that, they would genuinely make me a happier person. The romance isn't a big part of the book at all, and it's so understated - it's not the Hollywood (or, in this case, maybe Bollywood) love story that is literally the meaning of everything - in my 30s, I dread that skewed view of romance. It's the quiet, soft, real people romance. People who have been disappointed in life, people who know romantic films are but fairytales of the modern world. The love story was so light, soft and comfortable it made me all warm inside. Love doesn't need to be world shattering to be love. And to be lovely.
Another great point this book made was how we construct what people must think in our heads, when those people are actually thinking the complete opposite, and are in turn making their own castle of clouds about what we think. It's expressed very well in The Windfall and I felt it was a large part of the book.
And lastly, to a foreigner, this was a great glimpse into the everyday world of New Delhi (I'm not saying India because India is vast and regions can be very different). It's always wonderful to read something genuine like that and have it available in another country.
I really enjoyed The Windfall. If it goes a little slow at first, give it time - it really does grow on you. It's a wonderful book.
How I read this: Free ebook copy received through NetGalley
I am tempted to start this review with a letter to the author. And if I did, it would go soHow I read this: Free ebook copy received through NetGalley
I am tempted to start this review with a letter to the author. And if I did, it would go something like this:
Dear Juliet Ashton,
please write another book. And another, and then another. And just keep going! Also, I know I may be pushing it here, but… Can we have like…One every month? Cause I need another one NOW!!!
Yours, Swooning Fan
If you want to read more about why I feel like that, visit the full blog post and witness me gushing about the quirky but realistic cast, heart-breaking problems, but heart-warming solutions, found families and adorable romance! Here's the full blog post:
This book is as beautiful as it is sad, so there are quite a few triggers. They include: (view spoiler)[death of husband and child. Alcohol abuse. Guilt. Divorce. Car crash. Cheating in marriage. Mentioned house fire and resulting death and loss. Emotional blackmail. Domestic violence (there is a scene of it.)(hide spoiler)] However, you have to keep in mind that while the list of triggers is long, none of them are shocking or unexpected, even overly stress inducing. They won't be sprung on you. Most of them are part of the characters' histories, except for the big ones (view spoiler)[
(addiction, divorced life, grieving a dead family, loss of child)(hide spoiler)] which are part the main character's current life.
I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.
It isn't often that I pry myself away from a book in an attempt to get some sleep already, and yet fail to fall asleep because I keep thinking PLEAIt isn't often that I pry myself away from a book in an attempt to get some sleep already, and yet fail to fall asleep because I keep thinking PLEASE MAKE THIS BOOK A BESTSELLER, GOD, PLEASEEEEE. In fact, this is the first such case. Yes, I have stayed awake because of books before. But I'm not sure I have ever stayed up because I was begging a higher power to make a book a bestseller. Especially with how much I dislike that particular term.*
* I mean, have you noticed that 90% of the authors who follow you on Twitter have "best-selling author" on their bios? And that half the blurbs also claim a book is best-selling..? I mean, yo, we must be living in a damn great selling book world. Somebody just forgot to send me the memo about when we made the transition to that reality.
Anyway, this is one of those books I'd love see as a best-seller.Translated into hundreds of languages. I hope that's the in the future for Have You Seen Luis Velez,because it absolutely, 100% deserves that. It's definitely one of the best books I've read in the past five years. And here's why: (read the full review here)
Let me tell you a weird story. And it's kind of got something in common with this book.
Two or three days ago I finished a book and fell asleep. Now, ILet me tell you a weird story. And it's kind of got something in common with this book.
Two or three days ago I finished a book and fell asleep. Now, I always log my finished books into a doc on my phone, but my phone was off, so I couldn't. So I made myself remember to write it down in the morning. During the day I remembered it in passing and said I will.
Fast forward to two days later, and I can't remember what it was. It's no surprise that I don't, without being prompted – I read like 18 books at a time. If it was a lesser one I was pushing to finish for three months on the side, I could have easily forgotten it. But the thing is, it's in none of my read folders. Not in the trash folder on the kindle either. I didn't put it on Goodreads and there's a gaping hole of a freshly finished book status on my personal book tracking file. I can't press undo because I have switched my tablet off between the last time I used it and now.
For the life of me, I can't figure it out. I finished a book. But I also didn't. I felt like I might have dreamed I did..? But then I'm SURE I did. But it's just not there.
Weird.
And how is it connected to The Heavens?
Well, the main character of the book dreams and then returns to a world where everything has changed and she remembers things wrong. Exactly like how it happened to me just now.
This, just two days before I finished The Heavens.
Creepy. Huh.
So if you want to read my thoughts on the book, you can read them here. And nope, I still haven't remembered the 'other' book. I'm not even sure it ever existed now anymore o.o
A Random Act of Kindness is a wonderful book. It's not one of those 'big' books about some big idea or theme – more like it's a slice of life storA Random Act of Kindness is a wonderful book. It's not one of those 'big' books about some big idea or theme – more like it's a slice of life story, which is easy to relate to, genuine and warm. And yet, it encompasses so much. There's topics of struggling with self-esteem, finding your passion and place in life, the power of friendship, and of course romance. But aside from that, there are also side themes, some of which are very deep– like WWII refugee experiences (not to spoil, but I literally cried after one of the passages about that... caught me unawares), lifelong love and talk about ways we protect ourselves from the adversities of life, and how we all have different ways to do that. So many things! It all weaves together and makes for a heart-warming and genuine story.
Something that is truly unique about this book is the main character's love for fashion and fashion history. We're not talking about a vain chasing of fads here – for Fern, the main character, as well as for some of the side characters, wearing special clothes is a way to defend against the outside, a sort of emotional armor. Myself, I am simple and practical and I could be said to be the last person to care about fashion. And yet, this reasoning of you becoming someone else as you wear your 'armor' really resonated with me. I feel like the love for style and fashion here is presented in a way that is accessible to nearly anyone, and if you're someone who has never understood why some people think it's so important, this book could show a whole new outlook on it.
Another thing I loved is how many middle aged or older characters this book had and how it didn't fear to show friendships between people of very different ages. It's often a no-no in society, which I don't really understand. Age shouldn't be a barrier for friendship. And there's more than that. I don't want to go and spoil it, but the book is progressive in an unexpected and heart-warming way. However, the story can be simplistic at times, it does solve some things in an fast and straightforward manner and a questionable outcome. But it's quite often the way in such books that things get resolved just because they have to, to fit the story, and since I knew the book was meant to be simple and uplifting, I didn't really mind that.
I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook through NetGalley in exchange to my honest opinion. Receiving the book for free does not affect my opinion.
I finished Walking to the End of the World several weeks ago, but I am still feeling a reading hangover, so to say – I still wish I was reading it.I I finished Walking to the End of the World several weeks ago, but I am still feeling a reading hangover, so to say – I still wish I was reading it.I keep catching myself stuck in how I imagined the places the book talked about the the way it made me feel. It's like I almost went there myself. If that's not proof of a great book, I don't know what is.
I picked it up over a recommendation by a friend, and also because I had previously read another pilgrimage book that I greatly enjoyed. What appealed to me about Walking to the End of the World was that the author is so much like me: a worrier and an over-planner – I felt an instant connection to the book.
What makes a person with a completely sedentary lifestyle attempt something as extreme as two or three months on your feet in a climate you don't know, in places where nobody can (or won't) even speak your language, and neither can you speak theirs?Walking to the End of the World is a detailed account of the pilgrimage, but it didn't bore me – instead, I felt as if I was walking along with the author and her husband.
If you want to see some illustrations and find out why I connected so well to this one, read the full review here:
I thank Mountaineers Books for giving me a free copy of the ebook in exchange to my honest opinion. Receiving the book for free does not affect my opinion.
How I read this: borrowed through Scribd free trial
This is brilliant, but I don't understand why people think this story is funny (that's said even onHow I read this: borrowed through Scribd free trial
This is brilliant, but I don't understand why people think this story is funny (that's said even on the back cover). I nearly cried.
Maybe they think it's funny because it's not about them. This is about being non-neurotypical, aromantic and asexual, and the peer pressure and unacceptance that comes with this. People like that will just not be allowed to be themselves, and the book is a critique of that. I can't wrap my mind around how this could have seemed funny to anyone. Even the way the character talks and finds everything about society and human behavior was just a clearly autistic way of viewing life, but I guess to an allistic person it sounds like the character was.. joking? A caricature? Well, it's not. And it wasn't funny.
To me, it was kind of tragic, this story. It made me want to cry, because it's so true. If you're just a little bit different, they WILL chew you out. They won't let you be yourself without trying to "fix you". They'll be more content to see you if you're "having normal problems" than seeing you happy in a different way than how everyone else is used to understanding happiness. Because being happy in a non-conforming way is just not acceptable, alien and somehow dangerous to society. To someone who has never experienced anything like this, it may look like an allegory. To me it was all just too realistic.
But it is a brilliant book. You should definitely read it.
Malibu Motel is a book based on a true story of a lottery winner who went from living with his mother to fast cars and even faster parties and wild niMalibu Motel is a book based on a true story of a lottery winner who went from living with his mother to fast cars and even faster parties and wild nights with the means to pay for all of it. But for how long? And ultimately, at what cost? Caish Calloway narrates his sad story from rags to riches, and to rags again, and you don't need a psychology degree to figure out why it all happened.
The narration is very convincing, but I have to say, you might grow tired of the main character. He is quite full of himself, certain he is better than everyone else, because look at all his money! He is always sure every woman wants him, and you witness every little change in the story when he relates it to you or someone else - ways he changes it to fit his truth. Caish can get overwhelming, and it might be a little much for some readers. Some will be happy he got his just desserts because of how he treats everyone and looks down on them. But me, I was just sorry for him right from the start. Because its easy to see he was doomed - a person with no soft skills and a very limited, black and white view of the world could never make it in the real world, let alone the cut-throat world of the rich, where everyone seems to be out to take what isn't theirs. Caish was doomed and kept digging a deeper and deeper hole for himself. And that's why at times it was a hard book to read, but I still couldn't pry myself away.
That said, there is one thing about Malibu Motel which might not appeal to everyone. It is LONG. And I mean it's super long. I'd venture to say it even drags a bit. For me, it was still okay, but on the verge of too much, cause it was detailed in places where I felt like maybe it didn't call for it. It's told in a style where the main character almost painstakingly lays out the detail of everything he does. It puts you in the shoes of the main character very well and it shows you how clueless he is, but it can get repetitive and for some readers it might get tiresome.
The main character is a by-product of his upbringing, the values of his society. The things he says and believes are simplified truths of the capitalist society - money is everything, status is everything, and what you truly need is only the most immediate gratification of the senses - sex, power, status - nothing beyond that. Everyone is valued solely judging by these qualities, and it's no wonder Caish thinks that he's of a different breed than anyone else - more noble, better - only because he has more money. (Or, HAD more money at one point.) What's more, this story is also about how our current society seems to think that the rich are somehow exempt of disease or any sort of risks. Or even stupid decisions! Because that doesn't happen to the rich - or, at least, that's the idea Caish keeps operating on (and I'll be it's not just Caish who thinks that.) And he certainly wouldn't have it in his head if he wasn't raised with it.
Ultimately, in this society we view wealth as a fairytale - am unreachable one to most, so it's the stuff of myths and legends to most people. Malibu Motel is a story that explores what happens when someone from a different background is dropped into this fairytale. It really just goes to show you that we manufacture our own heaven or hell, and it may be through smaller means or larger means, but that is about the only difference. If a person blames everyone else around him for his situation, it's most likely he'll blame everyone else even in the case of an unexpected windfall, as Caish does. It's a truly sad story, and even more sad when you realize it was based on someone's actual life. But it's also a reminder to maybe not wish for that fairytale, because sometimes we don't know whether we actually need something we're asking for, and whether we're actually up for handling it.
Triggers: a lot. (view spoiler)[Losing money through a scam, losing friends and family, drugs, alcohol, HIV. Being homeless and being on trial and probation. (hide spoiler)] Basically this whole book is a trigger because it's about the fast, quick fix kind of life.
I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook through NetGalley in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.
While this book is definitely interesting and very immersively written,you also have to keep in mind that essentially, it's a book about (view spoileWhile this book is definitely interesting and very immersively written,you also have to keep in mind that essentially, it's a book about (view spoiler)[how a relationship doesn't quite work out. So you go through stages of falling out of love, conflicts and breakup with the author. (hide spoiler)]That can be truly emotionally draining, so I'm warning you.
However, if you're struggling in a blended family yourself, or are looking for similar experiences to your own from the past, then you will definitely find this book a wonderful source of info. The book is very emotional, easy to relate to and the author's way of presenting her own past choices in a way where you shake your head along with her is very easy to read and follow. She doesn't refrain from using humor at her own expense either, so you won't find it a boring read by any means.
But like I said, it's a painful read all the same.I am one of those people that easily identifies with other people's emotions, so I found myself often anxious or stressed out while reading this, because it talked about how (view spoiler)[spouses mistreat each other, how vindictive people can be or how essentially most relationships are doomed to fail because of the rosy glasses we wear when we fall in love. (hide spoiler)]Overall, I'd say it's a great read for someone who is looking for relatable stories about blended families, or just anyone who's struggling in a relationship, really. It can help you understand that the problems you're going through aren't unique to you, and help you feel better about it being relatively normal to encounter those. It might also help see the things you don't see in your own relationship because you lack the necessary distance or a point of comparison to see them. It's definitely a good book, but before reading it, you need to know whether you're at a place emotionally where it won't bring you down.
I thank the publisher for giving me a free ebook on NetGalley in exchange to my honest review. It has not affected my opinion.
Duckett and Dyer was the wackiest read ever!! It has funny, it has serious, and it even has aHow I read this: book gifted by the author
★★★★✬ 4.5 stars
Duckett and Dyer was the wackiest read ever!! It has funny, it has serious, and it even has a bigger plot coming for the next books. I am excited to read the next ones, I gotta say! If you’re looking for some fun evening reading, you should definitely pick this one up – it’s worth it. Especially if you’re a fan of the scifi comedy novel.
What I loved about this book was how easily it read, how wacky it got and how witty it was! I love G.M. Nair’s talent for putting the serious dialogue into the wacky parts as seamlessly as he did. It had just the right balance of fun and serious. The wackiness got a little confusing for me in parts, and I guess that’s where the half star went, but it may as well have been me as any other thing. I feel a little sad that I chose to read this book during a trip and then came back home as I was only halfway into it. When you come back from a vacation, a lot of hassle tends to manifest, and that’s exactly what happened to me. I didn’t manage to remain in the same frame of mind and had to abandon the book for a while, and coming back to it was tough. So I feel like maybe it’s just really unfortunate circumstances, because if I read it as one block, I would have enjoyed it so much more! (And forgotten less details!) So don’t let my missing half star judge for you. It really is a great story and I keep worrying that maybe I’m just not cutting it slack because of my own personal reasons, completely unrelated to the actual book. Ah, #bookbloggerproblems...
Anyway, the characters are quite interesting! Michael is too serious about life, and Stephanie is his exact opposite. She’s almost like a cartoon character – her behavior is ridiculous to an unrealistic degree. But as different and clashing as they are, they do make a good team… sort of. Because while Stephanie needs to be more responsible and less hyper, Michael also needs to open up his mind a little and ease up on the anxiety. As happy go lucky as Stephanie is, her own character does not prevent her from seeing the world as it is – even when it’s being ridiculously unrealistic. And it’s being way more than ridiculously unrealistic! (Hence the aforementioned ‘wacky’ part.) So at first you question the morality of what Stephanie and Michael are doing, but after a while you just… Stop. Because things are going head over heels and things are just too wild to follow. That’s when you start wondering where it will take you.
This book is a mixture of wacky and serious, sad and just way over the top and out there. It will talk about friendship, responsibility, anxiety and finding your place, but it will also have people with apple heads and giant bunny rabbits as horses. Exploding, for some of them. It’ll have details of the wackiest things, like Dogpile being there instead of Google and a number of other things you would imagine yourself if someone asked you to come up with a weird alternate reality. But they’re all really fun and make for good, dynamic reading.
There are many reasons I liked Black Indian. First of all, it was very, very poetic! I'm surprised at myself that it took me so long to look up the auThere are many reasons I liked Black Indian. First of all, it was very, very poetic! I'm surprised at myself that it took me so long to look up the author – I had almost finished the book when I did – and it was even stranger to me, after I looked it up, that I didn't put two and two together and realize Shonda Buchanan, the author of the book, was a poet. Black Indian is written in an incredibly poetic, wonderful style. I can't even describe it, but it's amazing, and that's why I enjoyed it enormously – although I was stuck on the first part of the book for a long time, because, yes, of course it's triggering. All of these books will be. It's not Disney we're talking about here.
The second reason I really enjoyed Black Indian was because it's intersectional – there are (probably) very few books that deal with being a mixed race minority – and a lot of the book was about how hard it is to be mixed race, because you're both everything and nothing at the same time – no single side will claim you and they'll both keep telling you you belong with the others. Shonda Buchanan does a really good job explaining this to me, a foreigner – how it works, how hard it is to find your own individual path, and how you must finally allow yourself to embrace ALL of your identities – not just say "I am this one thing and that's final". Because none of us are just 'the one thing' – but it's just easier to see this for a person who has a mixed cultural heritage. It's hard to belong when you belong to multiple identities.
There's too much to tell about Black Indian – I can only recommend you to read it yourself. Yes, it's triggering and sad, but it's full of so many important things. Growing up without anyone to protect you, the vicious cycle of domestic abuse sufferers repeating the pattern in their own damaged families, drug abuse and emotional manipulation, lack of education and the damage poverty does, and how people who are trampled tend to stay down. Also the tough, painful love of a dysfunctional family. And finally, trying to belong, finding where you belong and how it puts everything in perspective. Even aside from that, Black Indian attempts to start a dialogue about things we never talk about – like intra-tribal racism – the fact that Native Americans had to deny their Black family members because they could lose rights in the eyes of the government or the right to schooling their children and other such things. I'm surprised at this now, but it's like Black Indian removed a veil from my eyes, because before reading it, I never figured that Native American and Black cultures intersected... A LOT. Because both groups were oppressed and well, they made families. Or other ties. And there were a lot of mixed children which weren't recognized, so they had to choose one or the other. Histories lost only because of artificial labels – it's really quite big. And you have to read about it.
Triggers: (view spoiler)[I might be missing some, but there is rape (lots and lots), there is death, suicide, there is drug abuse and alcoholism, poverty of course, homelessness, domestic violence and just plain old violence. Children die, teens die. I don't know where to start and where to finish. I may have missed a lot, but you get the picture. (hide spoiler)]
I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook through Edelweiss in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.
Okay, so for those who want the news here and now and won't care to read the whole post – The Boy Who Steals Houses was awesome! You ABSOLUTELY neOkay, so for those who want the news here and now and won't care to read the whole post – The Boy Who Steals Houses was awesome! You ABSOLUTELY need to buy it now! I loved A Thousand Perfect Notes, so I was a little worried to read the book that came after it. What if I didn't like it as much? What if its not for me?
Fortunately, I never needed to worry. It's not just as good – it's BETTER. It's so adorable, moving and full of feelings, with so many squishy soft and lovely characters that you'll just gobble it up. I can't wait to hear more about these characters. I want all the spin-offs!
If I could, I would give The Boy Who Steals Houses 15 stars. Of gold. Because it's just that good. It's a quick read, and you will just not go to sleep until you've read it in one sitting!Everything forms a cohesive story, and everything talks about the same thing. And that is that the way monsters are made is when people are completely starved of love. Everyone needs to be loved. Even if they sometimes don't seem deserving of it. And everyone needs a family. (Especially if that family is the De Laineys. Trust me. I dare you to not fall in love with them.)
I thank the publisher for giving me a free e-copy of the book through NetGalley in exchange to my honest opinion. Receiving the book for free does not affect my opinion.
Wow, this book was something. It was really really good, but in a way also not what I expected it would be?
I have to say, I did expect something more Wow, this book was something. It was really really good, but in a way also not what I expected it would be?
I have to say, I did expect something more as I started it - but that may come from the fact that it was incredibly overhyped. I mean, back in 2019 all people talked about was Daisy Jones this, Daisy Jones that, have you read it?
So when I did get to the book, it felt like it was shorter than I expected it to be, and things weren't snowballing enough. It does feel a lot like a true documentary about a band! A lot of times I felt as if I was watching it rather than reading it. I don't know if a movie is in the works yet, but I hope there will be. It would be an evening well spent.
For the first third of the book, I felt like things just weren't happening. Everything the band went through was just sort of glanced over. It really did have the band life vibe, and the pacing was great. But there were a lot of characters and they each got like a paragraph every now and then, so you didn't really get to know them all very deeply - it's pretty fragmented. It was a bit much to take in and I found it hard to connect to anyone. But I admit that the story was was only bland until Daisy and The Six started singing together. It just sort of took off from there. (That's like a third into the book.)
Then it got rolling, and it REALLY got rolling. Every line of the text became interesting, and it all came together as if I was watching their lives through a window, like a movie maybe. The characters opened up, there was tension in their relationships and everything seemed much more real than before.
Again, I think this would have been fine if I wasn't reading it as a hyped book - I was expecting things way too early.
I have to say though, I hated Daisy throughout most of the book and that contributed to my feeling 'meh' about a lot of it. And yet, at the same time I felt sorry for her. Daisy Jones is such a complex character with a problematic past (and problematic present, really), that it's hard to hate her, because a lot of the things are really not her fault - her history made her who she is. But still, at times she acts like such a brat, completely disregards the well-being of others and can be so ridiculously entitled that sometimes you just can't stand her. However, I think this was intentional in the book. Like I said, Daisy is a complex character and her entitledness is what comes with being incredibly gorgeous and just as talented, plus growing up without having to worry about money. It's a revisited theme that Daisy has never had to work for anything and she just doesn't really get that concept. This really shows in her decisions throughout the book. The interesting thing is that you can see where they came from, and you do feel sorry for her, but at the same time you just really want to roll your eyes at this pretty little brat, because seriously. (view spoiler)[(I mostly felt like that because of how entitled she felt at trying to break up a family. As if SHE'S the one that's suffering from not getting what she wants here. Except if she did, three kids and a woman would suffer. But of course Daisy is the victim! Because nobody loves her, right? I felt really bad about this aspect, and it's written well - you can say it's written amazingly if that's how it makes me feel about a fictional character.) (hide spoiler)]
The dynamics between the rest of the band members are interesting as well. The relationships get strained and for good reason - I would bet that the problem Daisy Jones and The Six had in this book is one that many bands have had in the past. In this story, it's mostly a problem of several people thinking they ARE the band and completely disregarding the creative ambitions of the other people in it - despite those ambitions of theirs being completely reasonable. We see these stories in many histories of bands, and the way fame in bands works is that you can't help the fact that some people will be in the spotlight, and some will sort of be in the background. It's the way it works - and it's a sad fact of the industry that this doesn't do any favors to the people embroiled in it. As I was reading this, I wondered whether (view spoiler)[the story of one of the bandmates' first song having been sold to a rival band because Billy wouldn't have it wasn't borrowed from The Beatles? Wasn't it George who had to do the same? (hide spoiler)] If it was inspired by that, then it's awesome how well thought out the story is.
Anyway, this was a complex story that's written in a very good way, and it was definitely and engaging, memorable read. I believe this book will be popular for a long time! And definitely deservedly so.
This was such an amazing book. It's definitely one of the best books I've read this year. I stopped reading it for a brief while because it was so emoThis was such an amazing book. It's definitely one of the best books I've read this year. I stopped reading it for a brief while because it was so emotionally engrossing I was too worried about the characters to simply read on. This book is more of an experience than just a story. I know I'll never forget it....more
Her Silhouette in Water is one of those books where the final moments either or make it, or break it. For me they absolutely made it.Up to the point Her Silhouette in Water is one of those books where the final moments either or make it, or break it. For me they absolutely made it.Up to the point of the resolution, I wasn't quite sure about it – but the ending completely changes everything and might even blow your mind.
First of all, a lot of things have to be said about how the rep in this book!I can only judge from the outsider's perspective
(lol I haven't even been to the US and we are a pretty homogenous society so things are different here)
, but I thought the Latinx characters being in center stage was awesome. Then there's also the queer rep – the main character and two other women are all queer. In fact, they are the core characters and there's basically no one else. And two of them are married. So, queer Latinx characters! And even aside from that, a lot of the book is about PTSD, anxiety and emotional trauma. So yes, I loved the rep.
But this book is about so much more.First of all, it's about persecution and censorship. About the government getting into your affairs and regulating who's safe and who is not. And who should be detained before they've really done anything. And the worst thing is, you don't even know who's telling the truth. Terrifying, no?
But even more than that, the book is about love. It's about loving someone else, but more than that, it's about loving yourself and forgiving yourself. We allow ourselves to feel so much guilt about things we've done – and even things we may have never done! This is the core of the book, and this is what made it for me. So I won't expand – read it and find out for yourself :)
Triggers: (view spoiler)[concise, but open sex scenes, cheating and emotional betrayal, guilt, violence and bodily harm, imprisonment, discrimination, political persecution, memory and identity loss.... AND HUGE BUGS. (hide spoiler)]
I thank Tor.com for giving me a free copy of the book in exchange to my honest opinion. Receiving the book for free does not affect my opinion.
**spoiler alert** Light from Other Stars is certainly not an easy book to review. It holds a lot of meaning and very deep emotion, and the idea be**spoiler alert** Light from Other Stars is certainly not an easy book to review. It holds a lot of meaning and very deep emotion, and the idea behind it is definitely interesting – a science experiment gone wrong that sends the whole town into a temporal bubble and makes it effectively disappear for some 50 years, after which it surfaces like some real life nostalgia in a futuristic world of our day. So while it's a great premise, it's just... So, so sad.Light from Other Stars is largely about the trauma the main character went through in losing her dad, her childish innocence, her best friend and the tether to a safe, carefree reality – something we all lose sooner or later, as we grow up. Those kinds of topics are no walk in the part, so I kept stopping as I was reading because it would just keep bringing me down.
Light from Other Stars is told through two perspectives, the past and the present for the same character, Nedda.She witnesses the deaths of a group of astronauts during a NASA launch, but more than that – the very next day something terrible happens in her town and her father is to blame. It's also something really, really weird and nobody will even believe her at first, and she has to deal with it both physically as well as emotionally. The other perspective is also Nedda, but years later, on a colonizing ship to Mars, trying to not die with complications of the trip. Things on Earth also don't seem to be going that well. So none of these storylines are by any means cheerful. However, the biggest problem with the Light from Other Stars for me wasn't that it was sad, but the fact that it dragged. I only became invested way past the halfway point, so if I was a quicker DNF'er, I would have never read on.
Light from Other Stars is about loss, love, pain and regret, lost time. But it's also about science, the future and building a new life somewhere else. It's about parents and children, loners and friends. It's about growing up, growing apart and moving on. These emotional concepts are presented through a temporal anomaly and this makes them even more real. How would it be if you could see your parents as children or meet them young? Or if you lost them for reasons other than old age? What if you could talk to your child before they were born to you? What would your feelings become and how would you deal with the loss, the grief, the confusion? Light from Other Stars deals with these questions and more, and the pain explored is profound, but so is the growth and understanding gained.
I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy for review through NetGalley in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.
How I read this: Free ebook copy received through NetGalley
Everything is fine with this book - I simply DNFed it because it was too rough a tDNF @ 36%
How I read this: Free ebook copy received through NetGalley
Everything is fine with this book - I simply DNFed it because it was too rough a topic for me. It's about a woman whose child has died and she nearly killed herself over it (not a spoiler), and now lives in the aftermath. There's other stuff going on too, and it was just making me too anxious. I've been trying to read it for some 4 months now and I just can't force myself to come back to it.
Other than that, it reads nicely and it's probably a great book. But not for me.
I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.
Hard to say how I felt about this book. It was definitely a good story, especially that little ending bit (you'll be wondering why the book is called Hard to say how I felt about this book. It was definitely a good story, especially that little ending bit (you'll be wondering why the book is called that right up to the end). But there's just something in it that didn't hook me. The story is quite sad, and then there's the whole thing of me being skeptical of lifelong love stories when the people are not together. So I think it's just me! And you might love it.
The book is wistful, sad and it has some very strong characters that I truly admired in the end. It's told in quite a simple manner, and it's actually two stories in one - the story of Violet, a lady with a complicated life, but of unrivaled elegance and bearing, and then there's Ronni - a nurse with a heart of gold, an unrealized dream of writing and a sore need to be loved. Ronni has low self-esteem, partly because she was barely ever appreciated, bounced between adoptive families and partly because of how she feels about her body and her own self, just in general. Violet is the one that fills the hole in Ronni's life, and not just that. She is the one that will propel Ronni towards her dream of becoming an author - by putting her in her will for a hefty sum, but only if she finishes a book about Violet's life.
So Ronni starts writing. And she finds out more and more, and the more complicated it gets, the more respect and admiration Ronni develops for Violet and her strength. The secrets never stop coming though. And they keep getting more and more bitter.
It's a story about life not always being the way it seems from the outside - what might look perfect to an outsider, can feel broken to the ones actually living it. It is quite a shocking idea, and it made me wonder how many times I've also misjudged people's lives to be wonderful, when they're actually nightmares, only nicely gift-wrapped. But it's also a story about love and forgiveness. And about how wild life can be.
I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This has not affected my opinion.
Evelina | AvalinahsBooks
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