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avidbooknerd2028 's review for:
Permanent Record
by Mary H.K. Choi
Thank you Netgalley and Simon and Shuster Canada for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
I own Emergency Contact by Mary H.K.Choi and I keep putting it off. Contemporary and I usually just don't mix well. However, this novel had me intrigued by the synopsis so I decided to give it a go.
I feel silly now that I have finished this novel for putting off her other one. Permanent Record was so beautifully written and I just fell right into this story. I fell in love with the characters and wanted to be included in the friend group. This book touches on being a young adult and trying to find your place in the world. It also touches on being famous and the crap that comes with the lifestyle.
Pablo was an outstanding realistic character, he was failing at life because he didn't know what he wanted in life. Also because he never felt good enough to his parents. This is something I am sure a lot of people can relate with, as well as understand. Pablo was jealous of his friends as they moved on with their lives and got jobs/careers. He had to learn the hard way that he needed to work on himself, by being himself. Not being someone that everyone else wanted him to be. He needed to discover himself, at his own pace.
Lee was also very realistic. She was a singer that wanted to do acting instead. She didn't enjoy her career choice in the fact that she hated singing. She decided to start putting herself out there for acting roles. When she meets Pablo she leans on him for some reassurance as well as some love. As a celebrity who is always under a microscope it can get kind of lonely, so she fell right into how Pablo treated her. The problem I had with Lee was she seemed very narcissistic. She only cared about her career in my opinion, while she lead Pablo on. Now the ending kind of makes up for some of her shitty behaviour but I don't think it made up for it enough.
The friendship in this book goes above and beyond. No matter how bad Pablo started treating his friends they were still there for him. They wanted to see him succeed, and they wanted to be somewhat helpful. As much as they could anyways. When Tice rips into Pablo it was one of my favorite parts of the book. A friend calling someone out for their lifestyle and behaviour and telling them to basically smarten up. YAS!!!! I think that with how tight this friend group was, it is a friendship that anyone and everyone strives for and it was showcased perfectly.
My only issue with this book was the romance seemed very insta-lovey but it was one sided. Pablo seemed to fall in head first meanwhile Lee kept herself distant. I do understand why she did this, but it still rubbed me the wrong way. It seemed like Pablo was just another notch in her belt, she got to experience a realtionship with what she classifies a "Normie" but it still wasn't good enough for her.
All in all this book was amazing and I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. I definitely will be picking up Emergency Contact now as well, because Marys writing is beautiful and very realistic. It is stuff that people actually go through and may need some guidance as well as something to relate to.
I own Emergency Contact by Mary H.K.Choi and I keep putting it off. Contemporary and I usually just don't mix well. However, this novel had me intrigued by the synopsis so I decided to give it a go.
I feel silly now that I have finished this novel for putting off her other one. Permanent Record was so beautifully written and I just fell right into this story. I fell in love with the characters and wanted to be included in the friend group. This book touches on being a young adult and trying to find your place in the world. It also touches on being famous and the crap that comes with the lifestyle.
Pablo was an outstanding realistic character, he was failing at life because he didn't know what he wanted in life. Also because he never felt good enough to his parents. This is something I am sure a lot of people can relate with, as well as understand. Pablo was jealous of his friends as they moved on with their lives and got jobs/careers. He had to learn the hard way that he needed to work on himself, by being himself. Not being someone that everyone else wanted him to be. He needed to discover himself, at his own pace.
Lee was also very realistic. She was a singer that wanted to do acting instead. She didn't enjoy her career choice in the fact that she hated singing. She decided to start putting herself out there for acting roles. When she meets Pablo she leans on him for some reassurance as well as some love. As a celebrity who is always under a microscope it can get kind of lonely, so she fell right into how Pablo treated her. The problem I had with Lee was she seemed very narcissistic. She only cared about her career in my opinion, while she lead Pablo on. Now the ending kind of makes up for some of her shitty behaviour but I don't think it made up for it enough.
The friendship in this book goes above and beyond. No matter how bad Pablo started treating his friends they were still there for him. They wanted to see him succeed, and they wanted to be somewhat helpful. As much as they could anyways. When Tice rips into Pablo it was one of my favorite parts of the book. A friend calling someone out for their lifestyle and behaviour and telling them to basically smarten up. YAS!!!! I think that with how tight this friend group was, it is a friendship that anyone and everyone strives for and it was showcased perfectly.
My only issue with this book was the romance seemed very insta-lovey but it was one sided. Pablo seemed to fall in head first meanwhile Lee kept herself distant. I do understand why she did this, but it still rubbed me the wrong way. It seemed like Pablo was just another notch in her belt, she got to experience a realtionship with what she classifies a "Normie" but it still wasn't good enough for her.
All in all this book was amazing and I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. I definitely will be picking up Emergency Contact now as well, because Marys writing is beautiful and very realistic. It is stuff that people actually go through and may need some guidance as well as something to relate to.