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ashleigheva's reviews
60 reviews
Beach Read by Emily Henry
4.0
[3.6/5]
i thought taking a break from romance would give me time to shed myself of the coat of cynicism too much romance had brought upon me, but it seems i've just had a general change of heart
nonetheless i still did enjoy this book
still wish romances would find other reasons to keep the couple initially apart either than boy has trauma and doesn't want to open up because he is damaged
but in spite of that, i do think this book handled it quite well so
i also really loved how the viewing of romance as a "lesser" genre was addressed
interesting because i was all tossed up on whether i should bring this book along with me to school or not because it's a romance and i do not relish in being teased (though of course it's done with no malice and probably speaks more to my own instability in assuring myself of my intellectual capabilities regardless of my choice in reading material. wow i sound like an absolute dickhead don't i.)
honestly sometimes i had no idea what was going on with the secondary cast
i had to go back and try and remind myself who a character was and what their story was
none of the secondary characters felt fleshed out at all which i suppose is fine since they're not the focus but with the way they sort of conveniently swoop in to serve some kind of narrative function/literal function within the story for the leading pair, it kinda just makes it seem like their lives revolve around them
also gus's whole thing with january is that he thinks her outlook on life, which he sees as vastly different from his, is special
i wish we had gotten more on exactly what exemplifies january's outlook, whether it be examples in january's life or what gus saw in her from his perspective
because for most of this novel we see her as the grief stricken girl who had her hopes of happy endings shattered, which hardly proves gus' point
as it stands we kinda just take the author's word for it that gus saw this supposed thing in her i guess
i am sleepy and incoherent and i have an exam why am i doing this GOODBYE
i thought taking a break from romance would give me time to shed myself of the coat of cynicism too much romance had brought upon me, but it seems i've just had a general change of heart
nonetheless i still did enjoy this book
still wish romances would find other reasons to keep the couple initially apart either than boy has trauma and doesn't want to open up because he is damaged
but in spite of that, i do think this book handled it quite well so
i also really loved how the viewing of romance as a "lesser" genre was addressed
interesting because i was all tossed up on whether i should bring this book along with me to school or not because it's a romance and i do not relish in being teased (though of course it's done with no malice and probably speaks more to my own instability in assuring myself of my intellectual capabilities regardless of my choice in reading material. wow i sound like an absolute dickhead don't i.)
honestly sometimes i had no idea what was going on with the secondary cast
i had to go back and try and remind myself who a character was and what their story was
none of the secondary characters felt fleshed out at all which i suppose is fine since they're not the focus but with the way they sort of conveniently swoop in to serve some kind of narrative function/literal function within the story for the leading pair, it kinda just makes it seem like their lives revolve around them
also gus's whole thing with january is that he thinks her outlook on life, which he sees as vastly different from his, is special
i wish we had gotten more on exactly what exemplifies january's outlook, whether it be examples in january's life or what gus saw in her from his perspective
because for most of this novel we see her as the grief stricken girl who had her hopes of happy endings shattered, which hardly proves gus' point
as it stands we kinda just take the author's word for it that gus saw this supposed thing in her i guess
i am sleepy and incoherent and i have an exam why am i doing this GOODBYE
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
4.0
What an incredible book.
This book is potent with an inexplicable force that compels you to see it's narrative through with extravagant grace, beckoning you to explore the foreign familiarities of the human identity.
I am so happy to have the privilege to have read this book.
edit: YOU ARE SO ANNOYING WHY DID I WRITE REVIEWS LIKE THIS
This book is potent with an inexplicable force that compels you to see it's narrative through with extravagant grace, beckoning you to explore the foreign familiarities of the human identity.
I am so happy to have the privilege to have read this book.
edit: YOU ARE SO ANNOYING WHY DID I WRITE REVIEWS LIKE THIS
At the Clinic by Sally Rooney
4.0
i am just going to paste dump the parts that stood out to me since this was a digital read:
Marianne takes significant personal pleasure in having her pain validated by professionals.
For a moment she pretends to be engaged in reading. He can see she’s deciding what to do or say. The workings of Marianne’s mind become transparent to him in brief flashes like this before they recede again.
the latex of the dentist’s gloves tastes sadomasochistic
She hopes that her brash curiosity appears dismissive.
Marianne takes significant personal pleasure in having her pain validated by professionals.
For a moment she pretends to be engaged in reading. He can see she’s deciding what to do or say. The workings of Marianne’s mind become transparent to him in brief flashes like this before they recede again.
the latex of the dentist’s gloves tastes sadomasochistic
She hopes that her brash curiosity appears dismissive.
Normal People by Sally Rooney
4.0
reading connell's experience with cbt made me realise how much better i've gotten even within the past two weeks and that filled me with so much hope, that was lovely.
finishing this, i feel like i still don't really understand the characters, but in a good way. it's like how in real life people kinda just elude you in all of their earnest individuality.
finishing this, i feel like i still don't really understand the characters, but in a good way. it's like how in real life people kinda just elude you in all of their earnest individuality.
The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee
4.0
as much as i plodded through this, honestly it was enjoyable. i think i might've just been overly critical in equating taking a long time to finish a book to necessarily despising it
it touched on a vast myriad of important issues in ways that gave the characters added depth and the narrative more emotional weight
however towards the end i found myself dreading it when i could feel that the narrative was setting itself up for a new conflict to be added
though perhaps that just reflects more on me than on the book itself
although i enjoyed this, i don't think i'll be reading the book on felicity or any of the others
while felicity was decently interesting, i think henry was definitely the character of greater personal intrigue
it touched on a vast myriad of important issues in ways that gave the characters added depth and the narrative more emotional weight
however towards the end i found myself dreading it when i could feel that the narrative was setting itself up for a new conflict to be added
though perhaps that just reflects more on me than on the book itself
although i enjoyed this, i don't think i'll be reading the book on felicity or any of the others
while felicity was decently interesting, i think henry was definitely the character of greater personal intrigue
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
4.0
man the last 100 ish pages were so so so good, it was a series of huge payoffs one after another, delivered so excitingly
but the 350 pages before that got hard to follow at times, although i am not sure if that is perhaps just a symptom of my own intellectual incompetency, as well as occasionally overtly contrived in the sense that things were clearly happening to serve a narrative function but it felt like there weren't enough more natural moments to really balance things out and justify why the characters were doing certain things if not for that aforementioned reason.
although for some reason, even at the times when i felt like i had no clue what was going on, i knew i couldn't give this book anything less than a 4/5
ahh yes and i enjoyed the development of alex and dawes' relationship. go female friendships in prose!!
also wow a fantasy crime mystery. very very out of the norm for me but i think there is something to be discovered here. perhaps more to come.
but the 350 pages before that got hard to follow at times, although i am not sure if that is perhaps just a symptom of my own intellectual incompetency, as well as occasionally overtly contrived in the sense that things were clearly happening to serve a narrative function but it felt like there weren't enough more natural moments to really balance things out and justify why the characters were doing certain things if not for that aforementioned reason.
although for some reason, even at the times when i felt like i had no clue what was going on, i knew i couldn't give this book anything less than a 4/5
ahh yes and i enjoyed the development of alex and dawes' relationship. go female friendships in prose!!
also wow a fantasy crime mystery. very very out of the norm for me but i think there is something to be discovered here. perhaps more to come.
Mr. Sueldazo by Sally Rooney
3.0
[listened to the audiobook]
i think i spent the most of this wondering whether or not they were related, so much so i was finding it hard to actually focus on what was going on
i think i spent the most of this wondering whether or not they were related, so much so i was finding it hard to actually focus on what was going on
Shine by Jodi Picoult
4.0
[listened to the audiobook]
[3.75/5]
the initial introduction of so many characters at once without even letting us get to know anything more than their names and their relationship with ruth was overwhelming and left me pretty confused, but perhaps it's just my pea brain doing its pea thing
maya actually made my blood boil so woohoo i suppose that indicates good writing of the antagonist
i think for a short story, it touched on intersectionality to the best of its abilities
i also really liked that last part with ruth and the gym teacher and how the teachers question gave an illusion of choice
makes you really think about how socially nuanced a lot of our means of communication are, and how important it is to break that down for kids to make sure they can understand what's being said
[3.75/5]
the initial introduction of so many characters at once without even letting us get to know anything more than their names and their relationship with ruth was overwhelming and left me pretty confused, but perhaps it's just my pea brain doing its pea thing
maya actually made my blood boil so woohoo i suppose that indicates good writing of the antagonist
i think for a short story, it touched on intersectionality to the best of its abilities
i also really liked that last part with ruth and the gym teacher and how the teachers question gave an illusion of choice
makes you really think about how socially nuanced a lot of our means of communication are, and how important it is to break that down for kids to make sure they can understand what's being said
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
3.0
[3.5/5]
the last 100 pages were great but man the 200+ pages before
it just took way too long to see where it was going
and i still don't know why it is but this book still feels kinda hollow to me
maybe because there is no explicit display of emotions of any character in particular? i guess there are moments of emotional tension but no such immersive moment i think
i think it would've been cool if the definitive boundary of klara's limitations would've been explored
because she clearly defies the idea of robots as having no emotions, and yet she also shows deficiencies in that department
so how much exactly is she programmed to know?
that being said, i do feel that it its partly in this novel's nature to be inherently vague
it's more of a brief exploration into a specific experience of a possible outcome of our world rather than a mass documentation
i wonder if this is the kind of book whereby people in the future look back on it and think "damn this book saw it coming" like people do with orwell's 1984
the last 100 pages were great but man the 200+ pages before
it just took way too long to see where it was going
and i still don't know why it is but this book still feels kinda hollow to me
maybe because there is no explicit display of emotions of any character in particular? i guess there are moments of emotional tension but no such immersive moment i think
i think it would've been cool if the definitive boundary of klara's limitations would've been explored
because she clearly defies the idea of robots as having no emotions, and yet she also shows deficiencies in that department
so how much exactly is she programmed to know?
that being said, i do feel that it its partly in this novel's nature to be inherently vague
it's more of a brief exploration into a specific experience of a possible outcome of our world rather than a mass documentation
i wonder if this is the kind of book whereby people in the future look back on it and think "damn this book saw it coming" like people do with orwell's 1984
What's Your Type? by Merve Emre
3.0
[3.25/5]
maybe it's my fault for going into this not realising it was less on the inner workings of the mbti system itself but instead on the creation of the system in a historical and cultural sense, but i found myself trudging through the parts dictating the founders' personal lives for the most part
i feel bad for not being interested enough to care but hm
but i definitely enjoyed it when the psychological experimentation involved was discussed, that really was of utmost excitement to me :-)
still it was good to learn about the history of something so prevalent in culture, even if it was unenjoyable at times
ps i don't know if it's coincidence or what??? but in this book it mentions that isabelle kept a bunch of elephant figurines in her office
is fact that rachel's therapist in milk-fed also does the same a reference to that or sheer coincidence?
maybe it's my fault for going into this not realising it was less on the inner workings of the mbti system itself but instead on the creation of the system in a historical and cultural sense, but i found myself trudging through the parts dictating the founders' personal lives for the most part
i feel bad for not being interested enough to care but hm
but i definitely enjoyed it when the psychological experimentation involved was discussed, that really was of utmost excitement to me :-)
still it was good to learn about the history of something so prevalent in culture, even if it was unenjoyable at times
ps i don't know if it's coincidence or what??? but in this book it mentions that isabelle kept a bunch of elephant figurines in her office
is fact that rachel's therapist in milk-fed also does the same a reference to that or sheer coincidence?