did i think i would love this book? no.
~~was i fully prepared to hate on it?~~ ~~absolutely yes.~~

but instead…i ended up growing strangely attached to it. it’s good. i know it’s cheesy, cringe at times, unbelievable for the most part, but it’s so, so addictive. maybe it’s the fact i've been reading mediocre or difficult books for quite some time now, and this was a fresh of cool air.

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-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

3.75

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman

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adventurous funny lighthearted relaxing tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

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challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

this book was catastrophic, alarming, maybe even ominous, and im not entirely sure if i like it or not. i certainly don’t care for any of the characters, except perhaps heathcliff.

as much as i like nelly and think she doesn't get paid enough for this, i think she acted a little too rational during catherine 1’s breakdowns. i can see how the latter acted like a brat stuck in a shoujo manga, but her indifference and exasperation felt out of place with the whole situation.

i am not one to say a story was too dark, or that the characters were too flawed because i tend to enjoy those traits in a book. but this? this is not flawed characters, it’s toddlers milling about acting like the world is falling around them. the one problem i had was catherine 1 marrying edgar and causing this whole family line to literally collapse. to think that none of the events in this book would happen if only she stopped acting like the main character for one moment! maybe hindley forced her hand seeing how she cared for heathcliff, that would be a reasonable explanation for marrying someone who you barely act yourself around. it’s the way she didn't even accept she loved heathcliff and tried to gaslight herself. i think im not so much irritated with this book as i am with catherine.

i know everyone hates heathcliff’s guts but i can’t bring myself to. he was brought to a home he never fit into, where everyone hated him, and the one person who loved him abandoned him and called him below her class. i pity him. if circumstances were different, he and cathy would be happy together. the chapter where heathcliff reactors to catherine’s death is so, so tragic, and even though i didn’t like any characters at that point, that scene made me tear up a bit. he never got to feel what it was like to be loved; never knew how to be happy with someone, or that anybody could love him for who he was, even when he was unsure of that himself. he never got to be content with just being himself, kept hating on everyone maybe because he felt like he couldn't bear it. im not saying his actions are forgivable, just that he was in a lot of pain himself.

catherine 2’s story was weird, if not weirder than her mother’s. she wasnt as insufferable, but to this day i wonder what the hell she saw in linton that made her love him. im not saying i condone the toxic relationship, or hate this book because it contains one, just that linton had absolutely no personality whatsoever. i do not understand how their love came to be, like it was so random?? definitely felt hatred for linton and can appreciate the writing for that. he was clearly meant to be a character worth hating. i think the contrast between both their natures is that linton seemed to be heavily influenced by his father and so felt less realistically wronged, and more evil, and thus bringing me to hate him more than heathcliff.

~~I PHYSICALLY CANNOT STOP RANTING~~

what i didn't understand was the principles on how cathy 2 could even love linton, i really love the writing and the absolute assortment of emotions i felt with the aftermath of that destructive affair.

hareton, my sweet lil’ boy, you are the one character in this whole saga i actually rooted for. the romance between him and cathy 2 actually had grounds to lay upon, with their constant banter and teasing one another. i suppose cathy 2 left me more confused than annoyed. anyway, hareton, from the moment nelly says he was without a friend and unknown to his misery, was instantly likeable to me. he was never melodramatic, his emotions and reactions were pretty valid considering his whole situation, and he stood up for himself! i especially enjoyed the scene when cathy 2 first meets him and is told he is her cousin. his reaction, the way brontë described it, was just chef’s kiss. i think the way he kept his dignity intact even after everyone tried to shun him was really brave. he never caved in to insults. for someone to have credible feelings in this book that are completely justifiable, you know my guy is special.

for someone who has a lot to say about this book, i still don’t know if i like it or not.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

why am i experiencing book hangover? it’s so overwhelming for some reason, even though i’ve read this countless times before.

anyway, this book is so incredibly wonderful. i love this one so much, it’s my favorite out of the series.

i think the way that peeta changes, the fact that so many of the characters experience trauma that feels so real…it all adds to the experience.

i loved how the ending was so simple, how the confession was real and in the end she lived happily with her kids. im so happy for those two. i hope they lived a great life together

The Cottage Fairy Companion: A Cottagecore Guide to Slow Living, Connecting to Nature, and Becoming Enchanted Again by Paola Merrill

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hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

1.25

from the very beginning when i started reading this book, i knew it wasn’t for. self-help books just aren’t my thing, they keep repeating the same advice and even though there’s countless activities that might help me improve as a person, i am far too lazy to pay heed to any of it.

this book oddly felt like an advertisement of cottages.

it’s not that i think the advice is bad, it’s just not for me. it was too down-to-earth for me, if that makes sense.
too positive. yes, a self-help book is too positive for me.

The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu

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challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

this book was disappointing, to say the least. i thought this would be a fantastic read with high stakes, with alien invasions being mentioned and all. what did i get instead?

whatever the hell this book was. a hidden physics lecture? perhaps.

this is going to be a quick run down: there were politics, a game based on the alien world, than aliens finally mentioned at the end with hopes of an invasion. oh, and can’t forget the random and incomprehensible scientific info-dumps in the middle! i understand that us readers need an explanation for the phenomenons occurring in this book, but were the paragraphs describing the physics really necessary? this book could’ve relied more on the general understanding the readers have, rather than trying to drill something they would possibly never get.

then comes the narrative. the least engaging narrative, with no build-ups of suspense whatsoever. the way i felt absolutely nothing throughout this book.

where was the action? the violence? the actual invasion? this book is obviously a part of a trilogy, because absolutely nothing gets accomplished during it. i can see how it may have meant to show the politics of how the situation came to be, but really, i took no interest in it whatsoever.

i appreciate what the book was trying to deliver but frankly, did not enjoy it one bit.

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chocorb's reviews 27 reviews

chocorb's reviews
27 reviews