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bookishwelshie's reviews
881 reviews
Dollface by R.J. Powell
3.0
What the fuck did I just read? Dollface is an extreme, splatter-punk, novella - which is only readable because the extremes are done as revenge against the most deplorable excuse for a “human being” ever (the character of ‘Papa’).
Dollface has seen Papa hurt/kill countless young girls, and has been unable to do anything about it - because she actually is an inanimate object; a doll. But now, she has awoken, and she is filled with anger and rage. She’s going to make Papa pay for all she has had to witness and endure at his hands.
Dollface has seen Papa hurt/kill countless young girls, and has been unable to do anything about it - because she actually is an inanimate object; a doll. But now, she has awoken, and she is filled with anger and rage. She’s going to make Papa pay for all she has had to witness and endure at his hands.
Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
emotional
reflective
4.0
Daisy Jones & The Six is a story told in the style of interviews with the characters, which makes for a unique narrative experience. It’s a book that slowly grew on me more and more as I read it, even though I assumed that the style would be like this because I’ve watched the television adaptation. The book definitely made me feel closer to the characters though, and made me like them more. Even though I do get the point is that they are all supposed to be unlikable and flawed. But flaws make them seem more real.
Why do I feel as though I would have gotten even more out of this story if I had listened to it as an audiobook though? Maybe I should have listened along as I read on my Kindle.
It really does feel as though you are reading about a real band from the ‘70s; with all the sex, drugs, and rock & roll you’d expect.
I did assume the twist before I read it, but it still had an emotional impact.
There were so many memorable quotes, so please be prepared to highlight!
(Finally) read to achieve the <i>Era Explorer GR Reading Challenge achievement! (1/6) 🖤
Why do I feel as though I would have gotten even more out of this story if I had listened to it as an audiobook though? Maybe I should have listened along as I read on my Kindle.
It really does feel as though you are reading about a real band from the ‘70s; with all the sex, drugs, and rock & roll you’d expect.
I did assume the twist before I read it, but it still had an emotional impact.
There were so many memorable quotes, so please be prepared to highlight!
(Finally) read to achieve the <i>Era Explorer GR Reading Challenge achievement! (1/6) 🖤
Let Go Now: Embrace Detachment as a Path to Freedom by Karen Casey
informative
inspiring
5.0
Learn to let go of what you cannot control, to find inner peace, with Let Go Now. 💖
Read on the Headway app, which condenses non-fiction books by their key-points to maximise quicker and more helpful learning. ✨🧠🖤
Read on the Headway app, which condenses non-fiction books by their key-points to maximise quicker and more helpful learning. ✨🧠🖤
Everything is F*cked: A Book About Hope by Mark Manson
3.0
Of course the nihilist in me was drawn to the Everything Is F*cked title.
If you are familiar with this type of philosophy, then there really isn’t much new information or perspectives here. This is very much optimistic nihilism.
Mark Manson interestingly poses what if Newton’s Law applied to our emotions instead of to motion. And I do agree that X (Twitter) is one of the greatest evils next to death, disease, hatred and envy lol, there are some humorous moments in here.
Read on the Headway app, which condenses non-fiction books by their key-points to maximise quicker and more helpful learning. ✨🧠🖤
Read on the Headway app, which condenses non-fiction books by their key-points to maximise quicker and more helpful learning. ✨🧠🖤
The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery by Ian Morgan Cron, Suzanne Stabile
4.0
Do you know who you are?
This is a question which can be more complex than one realises. It feels as though we do spend the majority of our lives figuring ourselves out.
You must give yourself, not only the power, but the time to change. We can feel upset about certain aspects of ourselves, or our lives, but the one thing that can be done is to change it.
Self discovery is never a waste of time. Self-care is never selfish.
Rather than ruminating over the past, or worrying about the future, we must embrace the present. We must embrace our uniqueness and individuality, no matter how much that might frighten us. For the personality is quite often a mask for ourselves.
The nine Enneagram types are:
* Type 1: The Perfectionist - Ethical, dedicated, and avoids blame.
* Type 2: The Helper - Caring, warm, and yearning for love.
* Type 3: The Performer - Image-conscious, productive, and failure-adverse.
* Type 4: The Romantic - Creative, sensitive, and often misunderstood.
* Type 5: The Investigator - Private, analytical, and avoids relying on others.
* Type 6: The Loyalist - Practical, witty, and always considering the worst-case scenario.
* Type 7: The Enthusiast - Fun, adventurous, and does everything to avoid pain.
* Type 8: The Challenger - Intense, confrontational, and hates feeling vulnerable.
* Type 9: The Peacemaker - Laid-back, accommodating, and always striving to keep the peace.
This left me thinking, what about those of us with personality disorders. How does this apply to us?
Upon reading more details about each of these “personality types”, I feel as though I relate the most to The Helper and The Investigator. An interesting fact is that Type 5 is apparently the rarest, and seems very much in line with being on the Autistic Spectrum.
Read on the Headway app, which condenses non-fiction books by their key-points to maximise quicker and more helpful learning. ✨🧠🖤
This is a question which can be more complex than one realises. It feels as though we do spend the majority of our lives figuring ourselves out.
You must give yourself, not only the power, but the time to change. We can feel upset about certain aspects of ourselves, or our lives, but the one thing that can be done is to change it.
Self discovery is never a waste of time. Self-care is never selfish.
Rather than ruminating over the past, or worrying about the future, we must embrace the present. We must embrace our uniqueness and individuality, no matter how much that might frighten us. For the personality is quite often a mask for ourselves.
The nine Enneagram types are:
* Type 1: The Perfectionist - Ethical, dedicated, and avoids blame.
* Type 2: The Helper - Caring, warm, and yearning for love.
* Type 3: The Performer - Image-conscious, productive, and failure-adverse.
* Type 4: The Romantic - Creative, sensitive, and often misunderstood.
* Type 5: The Investigator - Private, analytical, and avoids relying on others.
* Type 6: The Loyalist - Practical, witty, and always considering the worst-case scenario.
* Type 7: The Enthusiast - Fun, adventurous, and does everything to avoid pain.
* Type 8: The Challenger - Intense, confrontational, and hates feeling vulnerable.
* Type 9: The Peacemaker - Laid-back, accommodating, and always striving to keep the peace.
This left me thinking, what about those of us with personality disorders. How does this apply to us?
Upon reading more details about each of these “personality types”, I feel as though I relate the most to The Helper and The Investigator. An interesting fact is that Type 5 is apparently the rarest, and seems very much in line with being on the Autistic Spectrum.
Read on the Headway app, which condenses non-fiction books by their key-points to maximise quicker and more helpful learning. ✨🧠🖤
Don't Let the Forest In by C.G. Drews
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
4.5
Creepy. Weird. Eerie. Hauntingly beautiful. Don’t Let The Forest In had me gripped right from the start with its wonderfully-written prose. The cover art is absolutely a visual representation of what’s to expect inside. It leaves you feeling grief-stricken and bereft, rare is it for a horror novel to tap into the reader’s emotions this deeply, and in this way.
It’s filled with teenage angst, and queer longing by the main character who is trying to repress his sexuality because he wants to maintain being a wallflower.
My only (very slight) critique is that it does take some time to get into the main, horror, plot; but once it does, it’s filled with gorgeously creepy illustrations and dark poetry.
Wow. There is such a heartbreaking twist and then that emotive ending. I feel like re-reading this knowing what I know now would push me to rating it the full 5 stars potentially.
Also, I can’t be the only person who fan-cast Troye Sivan as Andrew, right? As soon as it said that he was Australian. 😅
Things haven’t been the same for twins, Andrew and Dove, with their friend, Thomas, since an argument at the end of the previous year. This is about Andrew’s determination to make things right between them all, yet he is trying to conceal his romantic feelings towards Thomas. Andrew has a love for dark fairy tales, he writes them, and Thomas draws dark artwork to accompany them. They help each other through the darkness inside their own minds.
”To write something nice, he’d need something nice to say. But his ribs were a cage for monsters, and they cut their teeth on his bones.”
4.5 Stars 🖤
It’s filled with teenage angst, and queer longing by the main character who is trying to repress his sexuality because he wants to maintain being a wallflower.
My only (very slight) critique is that it does take some time to get into the main, horror, plot; but once it does, it’s filled with gorgeously creepy illustrations and dark poetry.
Wow. There is such a heartbreaking twist and then that emotive ending. I feel like re-reading this knowing what I know now would push me to rating it the full 5 stars potentially.
Also, I can’t be the only person who fan-cast Troye Sivan as Andrew, right? As soon as it said that he was Australian. 😅
Things haven’t been the same for twins, Andrew and Dove, with their friend, Thomas, since an argument at the end of the previous year. This is about Andrew’s determination to make things right between them all, yet he is trying to conceal his romantic feelings towards Thomas. Andrew has a love for dark fairy tales, he writes them, and Thomas draws dark artwork to accompany them. They help each other through the darkness inside their own minds.
”To write something nice, he’d need something nice to say. But his ribs were a cage for monsters, and they cut their teeth on his bones.”
4.5 Stars 🖤
Untamed by Glennon Doyle
3.0
This is how you find yourself
Most of the points made in Untamed were agreeable, until I got to the questionable chapter about racism? It seems almost *too* forgiving towards white supremacists, stating that society shaped them to be this way. Whilst that may be true that their upbringing etc. would have a major influence, it is never okay. If it is something ingrained in them since childhood, then as they grow older and start to learn more then they should rebel against a reprehensible upbringing. Unlearn the behaviour that causes so much damage.
Am unsure if I need to re-read that part as surely that cannot be entirely what they mean, otherwise I would be rating this a lot lower, of course.
Other than yet, yes it is important for us to find our own inner peace, and learn to release our destructive emotions, to start living our best lives. Authenticity is key.
Also that people should be treated equally regardless of gender.
The author, Glennon Doyle, becomes the woman she was always meant to be after falling in love with a woman whilst she is married to her husband. It is interesting to hear how she navigated these emotions.
Most of the points made in Untamed were agreeable, until I got to the questionable chapter about racism? It seems almost *too* forgiving towards white supremacists, stating that society shaped them to be this way. Whilst that may be true that their upbringing etc. would have a major influence, it is never okay. If it is something ingrained in them since childhood, then as they grow older and start to learn more then they should rebel against a reprehensible upbringing. Unlearn the behaviour that causes so much damage.
Am unsure if I need to re-read that part as surely that cannot be entirely what they mean, otherwise I would be rating this a lot lower, of course.
Other than yet, yes it is important for us to find our own inner peace, and learn to release our destructive emotions, to start living our best lives. Authenticity is key.
Also that people should be treated equally regardless of gender.
The author, Glennon Doyle, becomes the woman she was always meant to be after falling in love with a woman whilst she is married to her husband. It is interesting to hear how she navigated these emotions.
Love, That's an Understatement, Volume 2 by Fujimomo
4.0
cute & silly romance mangas are good for the soul 🥹🥰💖
Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Blue Sisters is the extraordinary, yet realistic, story of four sisters. It is about how they navigate their sisterhood, grief, and individualism. The Author, Coco Mellors, really does an excellent job at showing the trials and tribulations of a family-dynamic, as well as showing the sisters’ need to be seen, heard, and loved by one another. The theme of addiction is heavily prevalent within their story, how each sister individually battles her own demons.
The eldest sister, Avery, is a heroin-addict/alcoholic turned lawyer; living in London with her wife, Chiti. Bonnie is a boxer, who has been working as a bouncer in L.A. Lucky is a model living in Paris, who is quickly spiralling out of control with her own drug addiction. And Nicky… Well, Nicky, Is dead. She died at 27 years old, after what appeared to be an addiction to pain medication.
Avery, Bonnie, and Lucky do often have communication issues, and this is explained by their living in vastly different countries, living vastly different lives.
The story begins whilst the sisters are still in the midst of grief for Nicky, she passed away a year earlier, and as we know grief has no linear time-frame, and affects everybody differently. The women are bound to be making mistakes at this time, which can feel frustrating to read, but of course realistic because of their grief.
Nicky is the one shown in the most favourable light, because it is through the lense of the sisters’ collective loss and sadness surrounding her.
It was a book I easily could have rushed through, as there were many points where I didn’t want to put it down, but I decided to really savour it.
I’ve seen critiques of this book being that it is so character-driven, and just, what ??? That’s entirely the point.
Wow. I might have managed to find what could end up being my Book Of The Year, in January. We shall see.
5 Stars, and adding to my Favourites ✨💙
The eldest sister, Avery, is a heroin-addict/alcoholic turned lawyer; living in London with her wife, Chiti. Bonnie is a boxer, who has been working as a bouncer in L.A. Lucky is a model living in Paris, who is quickly spiralling out of control with her own drug addiction. And Nicky… Well, Nicky, Is dead. She died at 27 years old, after what appeared to be an addiction to pain medication.
Avery, Bonnie, and Lucky do often have communication issues, and this is explained by their living in vastly different countries, living vastly different lives.
The story begins whilst the sisters are still in the midst of grief for Nicky, she passed away a year earlier, and as we know grief has no linear time-frame, and affects everybody differently. The women are bound to be making mistakes at this time, which can feel frustrating to read, but of course realistic because of their grief.
Nicky is the one shown in the most favourable light, because it is through the lense of the sisters’ collective loss and sadness surrounding her.
It was a book I easily could have rushed through, as there were many points where I didn’t want to put it down, but I decided to really savour it.
I’ve seen critiques of this book being that it is so character-driven, and just, what ??? That’s entirely the point.
Wow. I might have managed to find what could end up being my Book Of The Year, in January. We shall see.
5 Stars, and adding to my Favourites ✨💙