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chapterfern's reviews
14 reviews
Spider-Man: Fake Red by Yusuke Osawa
inspiring
fast-paced
4.75
I LOVE SPIDERMAN.
this has been sitting on my shelf for so so long and i finally got around to it today. IT'S SO GOOD. the story, the art, the characters; i want to see side stories of this universe just on the characters alone (like Emma and Sarah! ). they have my heart.
kinda upset i only got to this story now... i would've loved the slowburn and anticipation of reading each chapter upon release. oh well!
this has been sitting on my shelf for so so long and i finally got around to it today. IT'S SO GOOD. the story, the art, the characters; i want to see side stories of this universe just on the characters alone (like
kinda upset i only got to this story now... i would've loved the slowburn and anticipation of reading each chapter upon release. oh well!
Love, Creekwood: A Simonverse Novella by Becky Albertalli
4.0
re-bought this book after i gifted my original copy away. i miss these characters from when i was younger :D
Good Intentions by Kasim Ali
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Kasim Ali's Good Intentions is a story about a 4-year relationship, and relationships as a whole: romantic, platonic, familial. The conversations–of love, of race, of cultural duty and tradition–in this book are so important. My copy is filled with annotations and tearstains as a result.
Nur is a character whose thoughts get to him, and who dwells on the possibility, the act, and the consequences of saying the wrong things.
His girlfriend, Yasmina, has only ever wanted for Nur to love her wholly as she is. The only caveat to this is that Yasmina is black, and subsequently, Nur has yet to reveal her to his Pakistani family in fear of what they will think.
While a good book, boy does it feel slow. Reading this book singlehandedly put me into a reading slump so hard that I had to read other books in conjunction to fight out of it. I feel this book would benefit from being chronological instead of time-hopping, so we can feel slowly as the book goes along Nur's back-and-forth actions and Yasmina's growing resentment. That's only my opinion as a reader though.
This was originally supposed to be a 3.5 star review, but after the 65% mark of the book, it gripped me. It is an understatement that I was brought to tears. I believe I am just destined to only read about romance that is doomed by the narrative. What an incredible debut novel.
Nur is a character whose thoughts get to him, and who dwells on the possibility, the act, and the consequences of saying the wrong things.
His girlfriend, Yasmina, has only ever wanted for Nur to love her wholly as she is. The only caveat to this is that Yasmina is black, and subsequently, Nur has yet to reveal her to his Pakistani family in fear of what they will think.
While a good book, boy does it feel slow. Reading this book singlehandedly put me into a reading slump so hard that I had to read other books in conjunction to fight out of it. I feel this book would benefit from being chronological instead of time-hopping, so we can feel slowly as the book goes along Nur's back-and-forth actions and Yasmina's growing resentment. That's only my opinion as a reader though.
This was originally supposed to be a 3.5 star review, but after the 65% mark of the book, it gripped me. It is an understatement that I was brought to tears. I believe I am just destined to only read about romance that is doomed by the narrative. What an incredible debut novel.
Content Warnings
Minor: Racism, Self harm, and Suicide attempt
At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
never in a million years could you have made me guess how this book ended. i am beyond words.
the unreliable narrator, the descent into Alfa's insanity and loss of identity, Diop's writing beautifully encapsulates the brutality that comes with war.
the last three chapters completely turned the book on its head for me. the ambiguous ending lends to thinking and rethinking about this book, about its different interpretations and what they mean to the story as a whole. i want to re-read this book with the knowledge i have now.
the unreliable narrator, the descent into Alfa's insanity and loss of identity, Diop's writing beautifully encapsulates the brutality that comes with war.
the last three chapters completely turned the book on its head for me. the ambiguous ending lends to thinking and rethinking about this book, about its different interpretations and what they mean to the story as a whole. i want to re-read this book with the knowledge i have now.
The Worst Perfect Moment by Shivaun Plozza
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Thank you to NetGalley and Peachtree / Holiday House for the eARC. Regardless, this review remains my personal opinion on this book.
The Worst Perfect Moment by Shivaun Plozza is a book about Tegan Masters, a 16-year-old girl who had just risen to heaven as a result of her untimely demise. Though when heaven greets her in the form of the Hotel Lodge she considers her worst memory, she doesn't chalk herself as amused. Worse, when it turns out her personal angel, Zelda, apparently designed her heaven based on her happiest memory, Tegan could not be more displeased. A book about life in the afterlife, Tegan ultimately realizes what it truly means for her to be happy.
I really enjoyed this book. I found myself empathizing a lot with Tegan and Zelda as the people (and angel) they are as opposed to characters in a book. I also liked how they interacted with each other, their dynamic, and their relationship. They are quite literally everything, and have really, really cute scenes together. I also really enjoyed how the plot developed and moved along; there were plenty of times where I picked up the book as soon as I had the free time to because I just had to know what happens next and where the story goes.
Not too much of a thorough review of this book because this was very much one of my "turn off your brain, read, and enjoy" books that I was reading in my rotation. Though as for recommendations on who this book is for, I would especially recommend it to sapphic teens looking for representation and to teens who are struggling with handling how heavy their emotions are and want a fictional character that they can relate to regarding such.
This isn't the best book in the world by any means, but this is definitely a book I would pick up and reread to get out of a reading slump or just to read a cutesy littlesapphic love story about two girls my age trying to get a grip on their emotions, face life experiences (and embarrassments!) that they'd rather forget, and slowly fall in love along the way .
I really enjoyed this book. I found myself empathizing a lot with Tegan and Zelda as the people (and angel) they are as opposed to characters in a book. I also liked how they interacted with each other, their dynamic, and their relationship. They are quite literally everything, and have really, really cute scenes together. I also really enjoyed how the plot developed and moved along; there were plenty of times where I picked up the book as soon as I had the free time to because I just had to know what happens next and where the story goes.
Not too much of a thorough review of this book because this was very much one of my "turn off your brain, read, and enjoy" books that I was reading in my rotation. Though as for recommendations on who this book is for, I would especially recommend it to sapphic teens looking for representation and to teens who are struggling with handling how heavy their emotions are and want a fictional character that they can relate to regarding such.
This isn't the best book in the world by any means, but this is definitely a book I would pick up and reread to get out of a reading slump or just to read a cutesy little
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Death and Car accident
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Be More Chill by Ned Vizzini
Did not finish book. Stopped at 13%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 13%.
wanted to read this book because i liked the musical. realized i only like the musical because of the songs, not the story. totally on me though, my bad
Aubrey Mcfadden Is Never Getting Married by Georgia Beers
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Thank you to Bold Stroke Books and NetGalley for the ARC.
Aubrey McFadden is Never Getting Married is a book about Aubrey, who—on the day of her wedding, wedding dress on—gets broken up with by her college sweetheart, Cody. The reason? His best friend, Monica, talked him out of marrying her. Aubrey has hated her ever since. Ten years later, her college friends have all arranged to get married within the year. And in all 5 weddings, Aubrey vows to avoid Monica in every single one.
This book is full of cliches and predictable plot points but... I kinda enjoyed it? It's like a guilty pleasure. Sometimes you just need a cliche cutesy little romance book in you can turn off your brain to in your life.
Now, onto the reasons I rated this book the way I did.
I wish Aubrey and Cody's relationship before them breaking up at the start was more expounded upon. It sucks that she got broken up like that, but I only felt a disconnected empathy for a character I didn't know very well yet, when that moment could've been so much more.
I also wish exposition on Monica and Cody's friendship came earlier and was shown more, again to further add impact to the conflicts and to the enemies to lovers, "you ruined my wedding!" archetype the book wanted to achieve. The enemies to lovers wasn't as strong or present as I was expecting, and had me disappointed.
Now, my first qualm. Never in the first third of the book do they say or even imply Aubrey had attraction to women at all. Which made me very confused when suddenly it was introduced into the story like it was common knowledge. I wish we were more introduced to who Aubrey was a person, and that goes for everyone else in the book for that matter. I wish the characters had more depth.
Another qualm I have is the over repetition of some words. Examples being: "blue eyes" (we get it, her eyes are blue), "delicious", and the worst offender of all for me, "de-escalating escalated phone calls". The fact that the call requires de-escalation already illicitly implies that the call has escalated, so the phrasing of it irked me the wrong way. That's falling into nickpick territory, though. We move on.
The ending conflict was just... conflict. I don't really see what its point was for the story, aside from just to have said conflict. I wish more of the conflict in this book came internally from Aubrey figuring herself out and actually taking in and accepting her feelings, rather than what actually happened.
Overall, I found the book fun and entertaining. Though, that was it. I enjoyed it, but I wish this book had given me more.
Aubrey McFadden is Never Getting Married is a book about Aubrey, who—on the day of her wedding, wedding dress on—gets broken up with by her college sweetheart, Cody. The reason? His best friend, Monica, talked him out of marrying her. Aubrey has hated her ever since. Ten years later, her college friends have all arranged to get married within the year. And in all 5 weddings, Aubrey vows to avoid Monica in every single one.
This book is full of cliches and predictable plot points but... I kinda enjoyed it? It's like a guilty pleasure. Sometimes you just need a cliche cutesy little romance book in you can turn off your brain to in your life.
Now, onto the reasons I rated this book the way I did.
I wish Aubrey and Cody's relationship before them breaking up at the start was more expounded upon. It sucks that she got broken up like that, but I only felt a disconnected empathy for a character I didn't know very well yet, when that moment could've been so much more.
I also wish exposition on Monica and Cody's friendship came earlier and was shown more, again to further add impact to the conflicts and to the enemies to lovers, "you ruined my wedding!" archetype the book wanted to achieve. The enemies to lovers wasn't as strong or present as I was expecting, and had me disappointed.
Now, my first qualm. Never in the first third of the book do they say or even imply Aubrey had attraction to women at all. Which made me very confused when suddenly it was introduced into the story like it was common knowledge. I wish we were more introduced to who Aubrey was a person, and that goes for everyone else in the book for that matter. I wish the characters had more depth.
Another qualm I have is the over repetition of some words. Examples being: "blue eyes" (we get it, her eyes are blue), "delicious", and the worst offender of all for me, "de-escalating escalated phone calls". The fact that the call requires de-escalation already illicitly implies that the call has escalated, so the phrasing of it irked me the wrong way. That's falling into nickpick territory, though. We move on.
The ending conflict was just... conflict. I don't really see what its point was for the story, aside from just to have said conflict. I wish more of the conflict in this book came internally from Aubrey figuring herself out and actually taking in and accepting her feelings, rather than what actually happened.
Overall, I found the book fun and entertaining. Though, that was it. I enjoyed it, but I wish this book had given me more.