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julianameiyan's reviews
140 reviews
Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner
Did not finish book. Stopped at 68%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 68%.
really did love it but once i truly saw the extent of the miscommunication i could not stay on board. i was not strong enough to persevere
Beartown by Fredrik Backman
5.0
so damn good. i trust fredrik backman with my life. when people say “not all men” they’re right because fredrik backman would never do that.
Kiss Her Once for Me by Alison Cochrun
3.0
messy as hell but entertaining enough. also the audiobooks narrator did not have distinct enough voices and i couldn’t take jack’s voice seriously. the main character was also very frustrating at times and yes it was understandable but i did not enjoy it.
Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert
3.75
absolutely adorable. i only really was able to focus during the second half of the book but i thought their pining was super cute and the characters and struggles were super interesting. a very good time and i love talia hibbert
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
3.5
after finishing this i’m realizing i was using this book as almost a study of gabrielle zevin’s writing and how it works when preceding tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. i think her writing is really deceptively neutral and doesn’t really evoke a ton of emotion right away and then suddenly you’re almost done and you’re crying in public. the storied life of aj fikry was very charming and sweet and an apt predecessor to tomorrow and tomorrow. it operates on a much smaller scale but still has a similar impact. probably the most kindly i’ve ever rated a 3.5 star book
Happy Place by Emily Henry
5.0
despite not having read many (or any) second chance romances, i was very adamant i would not like them. especially if they're a straight couple i would just assume the man was in the wrong, they don't belong together, and she can do better. but knowing emily henry i put those doubts aside and purchased this book and i have no regrets. this woman really does not miss and there's so much heart and authentic emotion in all of her characters and their conflicts. its structure made it so easy to both agonize over the awkwardness of them seeing each other again, fall in love with them falling in love, and understand completely why they broke up. also this book is just funny. i feel silly laughing aloud at books sometimes but it just cannot be helped when they're mocking montana the way they do. wyn and harriet are just so easy to fall in love with and their friend group is so likable and real. the messages on friendship were so good they made me want to die a bit and they hit way too hard as me and my friends are leaving for college soon.
i really was writing this review to figure out what my faults with this book were and if it had any demerits to warrant below five stars but i really am coming up short i just loved this book. i am genuinely impressed that it handled the character's motivations for breaking up so adeptly i think have no choice but to give it five stars.
i really was writing this review to figure out what my faults with this book were and if it had any demerits to warrant below five stars but i really am coming up short i just loved this book. i am genuinely impressed that it handled the character's motivations for breaking up so adeptly i think have no choice but to give it five stars.
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy
4.0
looking into suing charlie mackesy for emotional damages. nearly every line in this made me cry unreasonably hard. i do prefer books with a more cumulative storyline but it was still a very sweet book with a lot of good messages
Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield
4.5
aimless in the best way and so so weird. left me wanting more at every possible turn. i literally read the notes on the text and the acknowledgments just to get something more from this. i just feel empty. i can’t explain what i liked about it only that i didn’t want to stop reading it and i enjoyed every word of it. no plot just strange mysterious ocean vibes with no resolution.
side note this is a fantastic and terrifying beach read but at least now my copy of it is appropriately sprinkled with salt water
side note this is a fantastic and terrifying beach read but at least now my copy of it is appropriately sprinkled with salt water
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
4.25
like really slow and lowkey plotless but nonetheless entertaining. despite nothing really happening it was able to keep my attention and stay memorable to me even when i went a week without reading it. the tension and stakes build so slowly but everything in it is so well crafted and details are brought back at the perfect moments with nothing left out. the romance was as compelling as it needed to be but i was very content hearing from any character that came up and it’s not a very romance focused book. all in all very good
Counting Down with You by Tashie Bhuiyan
3.0
i have such mixed feelings about this so we’re gonna go pros and cons.
pros: the beginning part of their relationship where they were absolutely obsessed with each other but sort of poorly veiling it was great and fun and the right amount of cheesy. i thought the anxiety stuff was handled well and it didn’t have too much of that melodramatic optimism (?) that a lot of books depicting mental health have. it didn’t linger too much in it it said what it needed to about it and moved on. the family issues seemed like a good representation and even if it wasn’t like fantastically accurate i thought it was a conflict i don’t see explored too often in young adult romance books oddly enough so i think the fact it exists earns it some points. ace and karinas dialogue was pretty enjoyable and i did like both of their characters their motivations and everything were very clear. overall it was a sweet read/listen and i did very much enjoy these parts of it.
cons: i absolutely could not stand the narrator of this book. i think it was a combination of the egregious teen speak and the narrator but she was just far too positive for some of the lines. her voice makes enough sense for karinas thoughts but when it’s ace speaking it just does not fit at all. and cora’s voice was so irritating. it was just the most valley girl sounding stereotypical teenage girl voice and i hated it so much. aside from the voice acting the teen speak was awful and unrealistic i never wanna hear someone reading out “o-m-g” again. the poems were really cheesy and bad. for someone that likes english so much you think she could write some poems that don’t sound like rupi kaur’s. like please you love shakespeare and this is what you make. sometimes their relationship got disgustingly cheesy and i just couldn’t take it. like i have an extremely high tolerance for romance book cheese and even this made me roll my eyes. the whole lionheart and spark and inferno thing i just could not deal with it. i thought ace as a stereotypical bad boy with a soft spot for karina just didn’t make sense at the beginning. he has no reason to have developed a soft spot for her immediately especially when he’s supposedly such a prickly person.
in conclusion i think my problems with this books are mainly because i’m too cynical for this level of sweetness which for the most part is just a me thing and objectively this is still a solid book that i will not be rating very highly.
pros: the beginning part of their relationship where they were absolutely obsessed with each other but sort of poorly veiling it was great and fun and the right amount of cheesy. i thought the anxiety stuff was handled well and it didn’t have too much of that melodramatic optimism (?) that a lot of books depicting mental health have. it didn’t linger too much in it it said what it needed to about it and moved on. the family issues seemed like a good representation and even if it wasn’t like fantastically accurate i thought it was a conflict i don’t see explored too often in young adult romance books oddly enough so i think the fact it exists earns it some points. ace and karinas dialogue was pretty enjoyable and i did like both of their characters their motivations and everything were very clear. overall it was a sweet read/listen and i did very much enjoy these parts of it.
cons: i absolutely could not stand the narrator of this book. i think it was a combination of the egregious teen speak and the narrator but she was just far too positive for some of the lines. her voice makes enough sense for karinas thoughts but when it’s ace speaking it just does not fit at all. and cora’s voice was so irritating. it was just the most valley girl sounding stereotypical teenage girl voice and i hated it so much. aside from the voice acting the teen speak was awful and unrealistic i never wanna hear someone reading out “o-m-g” again. the poems were really cheesy and bad. for someone that likes english so much you think she could write some poems that don’t sound like rupi kaur’s. like please you love shakespeare and this is what you make. sometimes their relationship got disgustingly cheesy and i just couldn’t take it. like i have an extremely high tolerance for romance book cheese and even this made me roll my eyes. the whole lionheart and spark and inferno thing i just could not deal with it. i thought ace as a stereotypical bad boy with a soft spot for karina just didn’t make sense at the beginning. he has no reason to have developed a soft spot for her immediately especially when he’s supposedly such a prickly person.
in conclusion i think my problems with this books are mainly because i’m too cynical for this level of sweetness which for the most part is just a me thing and objectively this is still a solid book that i will not be rating very highly.