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bookishlyem's reviews
75 reviews
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
4.0
Jan. 2, 2022 - Jan. 4, 2022
Genre(s): Occult Fiction, Adult Fantasy
Page Count: 450
This book was very hard for me to get into at first. It had been sitting on my shelf for months until I decided to push myself to read it. I forced myself to read it even though I was struggling to continue at about 75 pages into it. This book is definitely the most "dense" book I've read and seemed longer than it should have. Part of why I couldn't get into it was because of the flashbacks. Yes, looking back, Bardugo successfully executes the use of flashbacks in every other chapter. My problem at the time was that it had been such a struggle to keep up and wrap my head around everything; context or no context given. In the prologue, we were thrown into this situation where there was zero context (rightfully so, because it's a prologue) and I was just straight up confused. That confusion followed me chapter after chapter. The first chunk of chapters where I struggled were even more confusing and the "world building" around both the secrecy of Yale's societies and the situation the prologue handed to us didn't help. Eventually, all of that confusion was immediately cleared up as the flashbacks seemed to catch up wit the present-day chapters. There was a multitude of foreshadowing in the flashbacks that led me to an epiphany each time they came into play in the present-day chapters. All of a sudden, I found myself saying, "It all makes sense now." I am SO glad I kept going. This story made me so emotional and left me begging for more.
I think Bardugo was trying to comment on classism/class structure and wealth throughout the book. It is apparent when Alex talks about (or when we read about) her childhood and life before, and to an extent, during her time at Yale. We see her opposite, Tripp. Tripp is a young, white, cis man who has had everything handed to him. He has grown up around wealth and getting what he wants. Alex has struggled her entire life not just in terms of wealth, but mentally. Because Tripp lived the perfect life while Alex has not. And we can see that through their interactions.
I initially thought this was a standalone novel, but I found out that it would be part of a series right after I finished reading. I'm super excited, because it should be coming out soon! It turns out that Bardugo actually went to Yale and was a part ofd one of the societies mentioned in the book, so that made the book even more impactful after having read it. A few key words for this book include: dark magic, suspense, and plot twists. Bardugo really incorporated these key words into life at Yale and its secret societies top create this fantasy-dark academia universe.
I'm not sure if this is a spoiler or not, but I don't think it is–I wish Alex's mixed background was talked about more and played an even larger role in the story. After we learned about her mixed background, it left me curious (perhaps because I myself am mixed, so I am automatically drawn to other mixed stories lol). Despite that, Alex's development as a main character and as a person left me wanting even more. I feel like there definitely could have been more character development, but as I stated before... there will be more books! I did find some problems with Alexis' mixed background, though. As I said above, it seemed like her background wasn't talked about much. I think it's extremely important to keep talking about something as fragile and intimate as personal ties and backgrounds. It did appear as though Bardugo did her research, similar to her Shadow and Bone trilogy and her other Grishaverse book and the way they were inspired by different geographical locations. There are a few characters that are diverse. I wouldn't say that there were an overwhelming amount of diverse characters, but there were diverse characters. Bardugo is Israeli-American and there was an Israeli character which I thought would have been interesting for her to write. In spite of all of the good things considering Alex's racial/ethnic background or identity, there was one line in the book that rubbed me the wrong way... like... a LOT. I can't find the specific page number or the quote word-for-word, but it was along the lines of someone telling Alex that if she stayed in the sun too long she would look "too mexainca." It sounded really strange in the moment and after the moment. Leigh Bardugo is a white Israeli-American (I hope I phrased that correctly) writing a main character that is not white passing and of Hebrew/Latinx descent, so anytime there is a white author writing POC character I am very wary while reading. Nonetheless it the rest of the book wasn't too bad when it came to POC representation. Speaking of representation in general, Bardugo brings mental illness, addiction, and abuse into the book in such heartbreaking ways. I really enjoyed the representation of all of the above within the book.
The characters were so interesting as well. Starting with the main character, Galaxy "Alex" Stern is not your typical female MC. She is imperfect, she suffers through the book in more than one way battling both herself and the Greys, and she is such a raw main characters. Frankly, it was so refreshing to immerse myself in a book that has a seemingly morally grey main character and "watch" her develop throughout the book. Time and time again we see Alex mention and experience things like wanting more money, wanting to run away, and simply not caring about anything. Moving onto Darlington, Spoiler Dawes is such a sweetheart. At first she was a little strange, but I immediately knew she would become a more prominent character. Dawes experienced some development throughout the story as well and that made me really happy. She was a comfort character for me. Now, I don't want to keep talking about all of the characters, because that would lead me into talking about the entire plot, climax, and the ending.
Speaking of the climax, that was such a twist! I didn't expect it at all, yet there were several hints as to what would potentially happen throughout the book. It was built up so much and I wasn't disappointed. Although, it did seem a little short, but I was probably reading as the speed of sound during it! The shock I experienced was raw and genuine and it was so exciting. The end...! O.M.G.! If you know, you know.
And I think that's the end of my review. Sorry if my tense usage was all over the place. I'm so tired lol. Anyway, WE NEED THE SECOND BOOK RN!
Genre(s): Occult Fiction, Adult Fantasy
Page Count: 450
This book was very hard for me to get into at first. It had been sitting on my shelf for months until I decided to push myself to read it. I forced myself to read it even though I was struggling to continue at about 75 pages into it. This book is definitely the most "dense" book I've read and seemed longer than it should have. Part of why I couldn't get into it was because of the flashbacks. Yes, looking back, Bardugo successfully executes the use of flashbacks in every other chapter. My problem at the time was that it had been such a struggle to keep up and wrap my head around everything; context or no context given. In the prologue, we were thrown into this situation where there was zero context (rightfully so, because it's a prologue) and I was just straight up confused. That confusion followed me chapter after chapter. The first chunk of chapters where I struggled were even more confusing and the "world building" around both the secrecy of Yale's societies and the situation the prologue handed to us didn't help. Eventually, all of that confusion was immediately cleared up as the flashbacks seemed to catch up wit the present-day chapters. There was a multitude of foreshadowing in the flashbacks that led me to an epiphany each time they came into play in the present-day chapters. All of a sudden, I found myself saying, "It all makes sense now." I am SO glad I kept going. This story made me so emotional and left me begging for more.
I think Bardugo was trying to comment on classism/class structure and wealth throughout the book. It is apparent when Alex talks about (or when we read about) her childhood and life before, and to an extent, during her time at Yale. We see her opposite, Tripp. Tripp is a young, white, cis man who has had everything handed to him. He has grown up around wealth and getting what he wants. Alex has struggled her entire life not just in terms of wealth, but mentally. Because Tripp lived the perfect life while Alex has not. And we can see that through their interactions.
I initially thought this was a standalone novel, but I found out that it would be part of a series right after I finished reading. I'm super excited, because it should be coming out soon! It turns out that Bardugo actually went to Yale and was a part ofd one of the societies mentioned in the book, so that made the book even more impactful after having read it. A few key words for this book include: dark magic, suspense, and plot twists. Bardugo really incorporated these key words into life at Yale and its secret societies top create this fantasy-dark academia universe.
I'm not sure if this is a spoiler or not, but I don't think it is–I wish Alex's mixed background was talked about more and played an even larger role in the story. After we learned about her mixed background, it left me curious (perhaps because I myself am mixed, so I am automatically drawn to other mixed stories lol). Despite that, Alex's development as a main character and as a person left me wanting even more. I feel like there definitely could have been more character development, but as I stated before... there will be more books! I did find some problems with Alexis' mixed background, though. As I said above, it seemed like her background wasn't talked about much. I think it's extremely important to keep talking about something as fragile and intimate as personal ties and backgrounds. It did appear as though Bardugo did her research, similar to her Shadow and Bone trilogy and her other Grishaverse book and the way they were inspired by different geographical locations. There are a few characters that are diverse. I wouldn't say that there were an overwhelming amount of diverse characters, but there were diverse characters. Bardugo is Israeli-American and there was an Israeli character which I thought would have been interesting for her to write. In spite of all of the good things considering Alex's racial/ethnic background or identity, there was one line in the book that rubbed me the wrong way... like... a LOT. I can't find the specific page number or the quote word-for-word, but it was along the lines of someone telling Alex that if she stayed in the sun too long she would look "too mexainca." It sounded really strange in the moment and after the moment. Leigh Bardugo is a white Israeli-American (I hope I phrased that correctly) writing a main character that is not white passing and of Hebrew/Latinx descent, so anytime there is a white author writing POC character I am very wary while reading. Nonetheless it the rest of the book wasn't too bad when it came to POC representation. Speaking of representation in general, Bardugo brings mental illness, addiction, and abuse into the book in such heartbreaking ways. I really enjoyed the representation of all of the above within the book.
The characters were so interesting as well. Starting with the main character, Galaxy "Alex" Stern is not your typical female MC. She is imperfect, she suffers through the book in more than one way battling both herself and the Greys, and she is such a raw main characters. Frankly, it was so refreshing to immerse myself in a book that has a seemingly morally grey main character and "watch" her develop throughout the book. Time and time again we see Alex mention and experience things like wanting more money, wanting to run away, and simply not caring about anything. Moving onto Darlington, Spoiler Dawes is such a sweetheart. At first she was a little strange, but I immediately knew she would become a more prominent character. Dawes experienced some development throughout the story as well and that made me really happy. She was a comfort character for me. Now, I don't want to keep talking about all of the characters, because that would lead me into talking about the entire plot, climax, and the ending.
Speaking of the climax, that was such a twist! I didn't expect it at all, yet there were several hints as to what would potentially happen throughout the book. It was built up so much and I wasn't disappointed. Although, it did seem a little short, but I was probably reading as the speed of sound during it! The shock I experienced was raw and genuine and it was so exciting. The end...! O.M.G.! If you know, you know.
And I think that's the end of my review. Sorry if my tense usage was all over the place. I'm so tired lol. Anyway, WE NEED THE SECOND BOOK RN!
Mistakes Were Made by Meryl Wilsner
4.0
WOW.
This was such a fun read. Romance. Comedy. Spice. Growth.
Cassie, a college senior, and Erin, a beautiful woman that caught Cassie's eye, meet at a bar during Family Weekend at Cassie’s college and hook up. Little do they know that they both share a commonality: Parker-- Cassie’s best friend and Erin’s daughter. The two cannot seem to shut off their feelings for each other and continue to see each other behind Parker’s back. Can Cassie and Erin manage to hide their relationship from Parker and can they continue to ignore their deeper feelings for one another?
This book was something else. I do not think this is a 5 star read by any means, but I do rate it 3.75-4 stars. In this review I will be sharing my own personal review of this book along with my thoughts as I read, starting with some of my problems with the book.
The plot was easy to follow and straight to the point from the very beginning which was very nice and made complete sense, but at the same time it felt like it was lacking. Lacking in what? Something that I can’t quite put my finger on. It felt like I was having such a fun time on a roller coaster but the steep, vertical drop I was expecting and geering up for was a small barely steep one. The ride was still fun and I had a great time, but the one thing I was expecting to make my eyes pop and my stomach drop didn’t happen the way I thought it would. The entire point of the plot was them sneaking around because of their relationships to Parker, yet the climax was so underwhelming because of Parker (so to say without adding a spoiler).
I understand that skipping time to get to the end of Cassie’s senior year was needed, but because there were time skips (days, weeks, months even), I felt as if what had just happened before the skip couldn’t fester and couldn’t properly develop in the eyes and mind of the reader. The feelings of what happened before the skip were just left back there and couldn’t… be handled?
Additionally, the 3rd person POV that switched from Cassie to Erin felt confusing at times. Because there was no “I” to differentiate between all the “shes” being dropped, I had to reread sentences and think about them instead of getting on with the story. That did not take away from my enjoyment at all, but it was just another thing that takes away from the potential 5 star rating one would give this book.
There are certain sentences and overall wording that the book could have done without. There were lines relating to race, misogyny, and even fatphobia and ableism that the book could definitely do without. These lines don’t really add much to the story and if they were supposed to add to the story, the author could just use something entirely different and non-offensive. At times, I found the writing to be somewhat…informal and immature. There was a lot of annoying dialogue. For example, Parker and Cassie would say things along the lines of “Okay, thanks babe.” The repeated use of “definitely,” “like,” “y’all,” “right?” and the one time use of “Ya think?” made me cringe. There was just a lot of cringe dialogue, and this book being very dialogue heavy might need to be tweaked just a little bit in terms of that. So in brief, there is a lot of unnecessary wording and sentences used throughout the book.
In terms of characters, I felt as if we got to know Erin more than Cassie. I don’t think there was a single main character seeing as the POV switched between Cassie and Erin every two-ish chapters, so I can’t tell who we are supposed to have gotten to know better. We know the basics of Cassie’s life, but we know more in depth about Erin’s and why she does the things she does and what drives her as a person. I found Parker to be kind of annoying throughout most of the book. She was kind of immature even if she was supposed to be a freshman in college. Cassie and Erin were both immature at times, but I think that adds to the plot and character development looking at them in the beginning vs. the end.
I really liked the banter between Cassie and Erin. I always find banter to be kind of difficult for me to enjoy, because sometimes it’s either just flat out mean or annoying. The banter in this story was really enjoyable to me. There weren’t many pop culture phrases that I noticed, but I didn’t find one that made my heart jump and smile creep up on my face: Empire Records! It’s one of my favorite movies and when I read that line I did a little happy dance in my chair.
I also liked how in the beginning Cassie’s and Erin’s character-types were quickly established. Cassie: bold, sly, and has been hurt in the past. Erin: responsible, anxious, looking to fix her relationship with her daughter. The development in both of their characters throughout the book was interesting and enjoyable to experience. Again, I really enjoyed how the book jumped into the plot and had very minimal buildup if there was any at all. I did, however, find Cassie and Parker’s friendship introduction to be a bit strange. Cassie made friends with a freshman who slept with her ex-boyfriend? That was just something I never expected!
I pride myself on being able to predict certain plot aspects about the books I read, and I was glad to have guessed what was to happen in this one. Once it was revealed, it was so fun to look back on the little clues left behind by the author and put them together. To be honest, it was fairly obvious, but it was nonetheless a fun adventure.
The spice was… WOW. As a bisexual woman, this made me flal even more in love with women. Thank you, Meryl Wilsner lol. Looking back on Cassie and Erin’s relationship makes me smile, especially the epilogue.
Big thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for this opportunity!
This was such a fun read. Romance. Comedy. Spice. Growth.
Cassie, a college senior, and Erin, a beautiful woman that caught Cassie's eye, meet at a bar during Family Weekend at Cassie’s college and hook up. Little do they know that they both share a commonality: Parker-- Cassie’s best friend and Erin’s daughter. The two cannot seem to shut off their feelings for each other and continue to see each other behind Parker’s back. Can Cassie and Erin manage to hide their relationship from Parker and can they continue to ignore their deeper feelings for one another?
This book was something else. I do not think this is a 5 star read by any means, but I do rate it 3.75-4 stars. In this review I will be sharing my own personal review of this book along with my thoughts as I read, starting with some of my problems with the book.
The plot was easy to follow and straight to the point from the very beginning which was very nice and made complete sense, but at the same time it felt like it was lacking. Lacking in what? Something that I can’t quite put my finger on. It felt like I was having such a fun time on a roller coaster but the steep, vertical drop I was expecting and geering up for was a small barely steep one. The ride was still fun and I had a great time, but the one thing I was expecting to make my eyes pop and my stomach drop didn’t happen the way I thought it would. The entire point of the plot was them sneaking around because of their relationships to Parker, yet the climax was so underwhelming because of Parker (so to say without adding a spoiler).
I understand that skipping time to get to the end of Cassie’s senior year was needed, but because there were time skips (days, weeks, months even), I felt as if what had just happened before the skip couldn’t fester and couldn’t properly develop in the eyes and mind of the reader. The feelings of what happened before the skip were just left back there and couldn’t… be handled?
Additionally, the 3rd person POV that switched from Cassie to Erin felt confusing at times. Because there was no “I” to differentiate between all the “shes” being dropped, I had to reread sentences and think about them instead of getting on with the story. That did not take away from my enjoyment at all, but it was just another thing that takes away from the potential 5 star rating one would give this book.
There are certain sentences and overall wording that the book could have done without. There were lines relating to race, misogyny, and even fatphobia and ableism that the book could definitely do without. These lines don’t really add much to the story and if they were supposed to add to the story, the author could just use something entirely different and non-offensive. At times, I found the writing to be somewhat…informal and immature. There was a lot of annoying dialogue. For example, Parker and Cassie would say things along the lines of “Okay, thanks babe.” The repeated use of “definitely,” “like,” “y’all,” “right?” and the one time use of “Ya think?” made me cringe. There was just a lot of cringe dialogue, and this book being very dialogue heavy might need to be tweaked just a little bit in terms of that. So in brief, there is a lot of unnecessary wording and sentences used throughout the book.
In terms of characters, I felt as if we got to know Erin more than Cassie. I don’t think there was a single main character seeing as the POV switched between Cassie and Erin every two-ish chapters, so I can’t tell who we are supposed to have gotten to know better. We know the basics of Cassie’s life, but we know more in depth about Erin’s and why she does the things she does and what drives her as a person. I found Parker to be kind of annoying throughout most of the book. She was kind of immature even if she was supposed to be a freshman in college. Cassie and Erin were both immature at times, but I think that adds to the plot and character development looking at them in the beginning vs. the end.
I really liked the banter between Cassie and Erin. I always find banter to be kind of difficult for me to enjoy, because sometimes it’s either just flat out mean or annoying. The banter in this story was really enjoyable to me. There weren’t many pop culture phrases that I noticed, but I didn’t find one that made my heart jump and smile creep up on my face: Empire Records! It’s one of my favorite movies and when I read that line I did a little happy dance in my chair.
I also liked how in the beginning Cassie’s and Erin’s character-types were quickly established. Cassie: bold, sly, and has been hurt in the past. Erin: responsible, anxious, looking to fix her relationship with her daughter. The development in both of their characters throughout the book was interesting and enjoyable to experience. Again, I really enjoyed how the book jumped into the plot and had very minimal buildup if there was any at all. I did, however, find Cassie and Parker’s friendship introduction to be a bit strange. Cassie made friends with a freshman who slept with her ex-boyfriend? That was just something I never expected!
I pride myself on being able to predict certain plot aspects about the books I read, and I was glad to have guessed what was to happen in this one. Once it was revealed, it was so fun to look back on the little clues left behind by the author and put them together. To be honest, it was fairly obvious, but it was nonetheless a fun adventure.
The spice was… WOW. As a bisexual woman, this made me flal even more in love with women. Thank you, Meryl Wilsner lol. Looking back on Cassie and Erin’s relationship makes me smile, especially the epilogue.
Big thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for this opportunity!
Don't Overthink This by Kelly Piazza
5.0
Don't Overthink This? Well I thought about this A LOT.
This book really surprised me. I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy it as much as I did. I give Kelly Piazza's book a 4-4.5/5 stars!
Spoilers :)
I thought this story would be more about Matty and Keelie's love story, but it turned out to be more about Matty's journey and finding his way back to Keelie. Matty's story really grabbed my attention and I was hooked from the moment I started reading to even now when I finished the book at 3 in the morning. I have not grown up around addiction in the way that it is presented in the book, so I cannot fully resonate with the story on a personal level, but man...this really tugged at my heart strings.
Let's talk about the characters, but mostly Matty. Matty was so interesting. What really caught my eye when I started reading was that the main character is a man and not a woman. I haven't read many stories with a male MC written by a woman. That was also one of the reasons why I enjoyed this book so much. In so many books where there is no MC, men are traditionally depicted as strong and "emotionless" with a fleeting moment of emotionality inserted in their story to add depth. This MC on the other had is male and his emotionality and negative experiences are what make the story. Matty's journey and struggle with addiction as it plays out in the book is heartbreaking, raw, and fulfilling. Seeing (or reading) Matty say no to pills or a drink made me so proud of a man that is a) fictional, and b) I have only "known" Matty for a few days. His relationship with his nieces made my heart flutter and Chris and Michelle were so amazing. I felt for him when Sam said that they lost him even before him and Keelie broke up. That must have been awful for him to experience sober, because Matty would generally drown out any negative emotion with pills back then.
Keelie's character was only fully introduced in Part II. I was pleasantly surprised at how calm and nice Keelie was despite Many having drained her savings and ruined much of their life together. But she still loved him despite all of that. Despite all of his faults and how he ruined her life and their life together, she still loved him. I want a love like that and I think I have it. Keelie was patient with Matty and he was ready to let her go if that's what she wanted. What really threw me for a loop was when Matty and Keelie [almost] hooked up on the roof at the wedding reception. I didn't take Keelie for a hook up kinda gal, but in the flashbacks she was also pretty laid back and fun. Keelie gave off a pure, wholesome vibe, so when that scene popped up I was like...woah.
Let's talk about the plot. I really enjoyed this plot. It was original as far as I know from the books I've read. It was captivating. It was magical. it took all of us on a journey that I'm sure we're glad to have been apart of. Addiction and especially opiate addiction is a really tough subject to talk about and bring lasting attention to, but I think Piazza has cemented a really important conversation into time with the creation of this book. From relying on pills to refusing to take them, Matty has really shown a lot of development and has given us all a great story to recommend.
Let's talk about the writing. Describing Matty's personality through the writing and not explicitly describing his personality was really clever. The italics let us look into his mind for periods of time and gave us all an idea of what kind of person Matty is. Matty is anxious, an over-thinker (hence the title), and relies on how people see him and equates that with his worth. I really enjoyed how Piazza felt with mental illness in this book too, There was no sugarcoating, there was just describing how it felt and affected the people around it. Rich's bipolar disorder was really heartbreaking. Even before it was specifically mentioned that he was bipolar, I could immediately tell. And the fact that Matty and the other kids couldn't tell at that age really struck a cord with me. It took Chris having to tell Matty that Rich could be dangerous when he was manic and Rich k*lling himself for the reality of Rich's illness to sink in for Matty and Keelie.
I found the flashbacks to be a little bit confusing. Going from 3 years ago, to 7 years ago, to 6, then 15, to 4, and so on was somewhat difficult for me. Because the flashbacks were not really linear, it was hard for me to keep up. There were a few different stories going on at the same time. At the beginning of the book, there were a few questions that were posed: What happened to Matty and Keelie? What happened to Rich? Is Matty going to recover? All of those were eventually answered, but the first two questioned specifically dealt with the flashbacks. The order of the flashbacks don't make or break the book, but it did kind of add an extra element of "huh?"
Eventually toward the beginning of Part II, I came to this realization that Keelie was another one of Matty's addictions. Similarly to how he was addicted to oxy, Matty was addicted to Keelie. Her skin, her scent, her being. When they slept with each other, he would equate the taste of her lips and skin to the phantom taste of oxy. I don't know if I felt good or bad about that, but I did feel better that he wasn't satiating his craving with pills, her was satiating his craving with Keelie. Sometimes there are just some people in our lives that we never forget, whether it's their scent or their image, we find ourselves craving them. keel was that for Matty.
Overall, well done Kelly Piazza!
This book really surprised me. I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy it as much as I did. I give Kelly Piazza's book a 4-4.5/5 stars!
Spoilers :)
I thought this story would be more about Matty and Keelie's love story, but it turned out to be more about Matty's journey and finding his way back to Keelie. Matty's story really grabbed my attention and I was hooked from the moment I started reading to even now when I finished the book at 3 in the morning. I have not grown up around addiction in the way that it is presented in the book, so I cannot fully resonate with the story on a personal level, but man...this really tugged at my heart strings.
Let's talk about the characters, but mostly Matty. Matty was so interesting. What really caught my eye when I started reading was that the main character is a man and not a woman. I haven't read many stories with a male MC written by a woman. That was also one of the reasons why I enjoyed this book so much. In so many books where there is no MC, men are traditionally depicted as strong and "emotionless" with a fleeting moment of emotionality inserted in their story to add depth. This MC on the other had is male and his emotionality and negative experiences are what make the story. Matty's journey and struggle with addiction as it plays out in the book is heartbreaking, raw, and fulfilling. Seeing (or reading) Matty say no to pills or a drink made me so proud of a man that is a) fictional, and b) I have only "known" Matty for a few days. His relationship with his nieces made my heart flutter and Chris and Michelle were so amazing. I felt for him when Sam said that they lost him even before him and Keelie broke up. That must have been awful for him to experience sober, because Matty would generally drown out any negative emotion with pills back then.
Keelie's character was only fully introduced in Part II. I was pleasantly surprised at how calm and nice Keelie was despite Many having drained her savings and ruined much of their life together. But she still loved him despite all of that. Despite all of his faults and how he ruined her life and their life together, she still loved him. I want a love like that and I think I have it. Keelie was patient with Matty and he was ready to let her go if that's what she wanted. What really threw me for a loop was when Matty and Keelie [almost] hooked up on the roof at the wedding reception. I didn't take Keelie for a hook up kinda gal, but in the flashbacks she was also pretty laid back and fun. Keelie gave off a pure, wholesome vibe, so when that scene popped up I was like...woah.
Let's talk about the plot. I really enjoyed this plot. It was original as far as I know from the books I've read. It was captivating. It was magical. it took all of us on a journey that I'm sure we're glad to have been apart of. Addiction and especially opiate addiction is a really tough subject to talk about and bring lasting attention to, but I think Piazza has cemented a really important conversation into time with the creation of this book. From relying on pills to refusing to take them, Matty has really shown a lot of development and has given us all a great story to recommend.
Let's talk about the writing. Describing Matty's personality through the writing and not explicitly describing his personality was really clever. The italics let us look into his mind for periods of time and gave us all an idea of what kind of person Matty is. Matty is anxious, an over-thinker (hence the title), and relies on how people see him and equates that with his worth. I really enjoyed how Piazza felt with mental illness in this book too, There was no sugarcoating, there was just describing how it felt and affected the people around it. Rich's bipolar disorder was really heartbreaking. Even before it was specifically mentioned that he was bipolar, I could immediately tell. And the fact that Matty and the other kids couldn't tell at that age really struck a cord with me. It took Chris having to tell Matty that Rich could be dangerous when he was manic and Rich k*lling himself for the reality of Rich's illness to sink in for Matty and Keelie.
I found the flashbacks to be a little bit confusing. Going from 3 years ago, to 7 years ago, to 6, then 15, to 4, and so on was somewhat difficult for me. Because the flashbacks were not really linear, it was hard for me to keep up. There were a few different stories going on at the same time. At the beginning of the book, there were a few questions that were posed: What happened to Matty and Keelie? What happened to Rich? Is Matty going to recover? All of those were eventually answered, but the first two questioned specifically dealt with the flashbacks. The order of the flashbacks don't make or break the book, but it did kind of add an extra element of "huh?"
Eventually toward the beginning of Part II, I came to this realization that Keelie was another one of Matty's addictions. Similarly to how he was addicted to oxy, Matty was addicted to Keelie. Her skin, her scent, her being. When they slept with each other, he would equate the taste of her lips and skin to the phantom taste of oxy. I don't know if I felt good or bad about that, but I did feel better that he wasn't satiating his craving with pills, her was satiating his craving with Keelie. Sometimes there are just some people in our lives that we never forget, whether it's their scent or their image, we find ourselves craving them. keel was that for Matty.
Overall, well done Kelly Piazza!
Seoulmates by Susan Lee
5.0
I literally devoured this ARC. Thank you to InkYard Press and NetGalley for providing me with the ARC! Such a wonderful story to envelop myself in. From the friends-to-Strangers-to-Lovers trope, to the bucket list/"blackmail," to Mama Kim and Mama Cho meddling, to the K-Pop references, this was such a delight. At first glance, the plot is fairly simple. But when I read it, everything became more complex than the summary made it out to be. The discussions about strict Korean talent culture, accepting and being proud of your culture, and so on...these themes really hit home for me. I didn't know anything about Korean culture going into this, and I didn't quite understand some of the K-Pop references like so many other people might have understood, but I got the gist and was pleasantly surprised as to how invested I got into this book. I am definitely going to recommend this book to my friends, especially those who would understand these references more than me, and I feel like they would enjoy just as much as I did. Other than the two spelling errors I found in Ch. 18 & 23, I really enjoyed the writing. I am trying to be less critical of writing (unless it's unbearable), and I can honestly say that I enjoyed the writing. Hannah's inner dialogue was so funny--normally I would cringe at some things she said, but I ended up laughing to myself. I really feel for Jacob. His job is so difficult and to take on such a large role as the breadwinner and a "prestigious" actor at such a young age must have been so difficult. To be honest, I feel more for Jacob than I do for Hannah. Of course, I feel bad for her because she lost her best friends and she thought when he said he hated his life in SD, he was saying that he hated her, but still. The loss of his dad was the first of many stressful and miserable events of Jacob's young adult life. Like Hannah, I, too, can hold a grudge for a long time--maybe not 3 years, but sill. The amount of drama in this book was basically just enough for me to feel satisfied and complete. As Hannah mentions in the book, her life that summer is almost akin to a K-Drama. I also felt like Jacob had more development than Hannah. Technically speaking, Hannah still ended up in a place where she ran away from her troubles and shut everyone out. Jacob made a huge sacrifice, but it felt really good knowing that even if it didn't work out, Hannah would still be his friend and support him. Hannah and Jacob are first and foremost best friends, and I feel like that foundation in a romantic relationship is so special. All in all, I love this book and will defiantly be rereading this book when it comes out in physical form. Such a fun, light hearted yet heavy read.