shivani_n's reviews
301 reviews
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
"but you always loved your old man, didn't you?"
"i did, dad. and you loved me."
"now, that's the god's honest truth. we had some good times, didn't we?"
"we did."
"never did build that glass castle."
"no. but we had fun planning it."
i know the quote above doesn't seem that great but in the context of the book the symbolism of the glass castle lowkey made me want to cry. this book is jaw dropping in the best way possible, like, i can't believe this is a memoir, that this is someone's actual life. all the stories that jeannette walls recounts about her childhood are soooo interesting and she writes it in such a compelling way that just had me wanting more every chapter, i seriously never wanted to put the book down. i wanna watch the movie now. i loved the book and i would highly recommend!! i
"i did, dad. and you loved me."
"now, that's the god's honest truth. we had some good times, didn't we?"
"we did."
"never did build that glass castle."
"no. but we had fun planning it."
i know the quote above doesn't seem that great but in the context of the book the symbolism of the glass castle lowkey made me want to cry. this book is jaw dropping in the best way possible, like, i can't believe this is a memoir, that this is someone's actual life. all the stories that jeannette walls recounts about her childhood are soooo interesting and she writes it in such a compelling way that just had me wanting more every chapter, i seriously never wanted to put the book down. i wanna watch the movie now. i loved the book and i would highly recommend!! i
Believe Me by Tahereh Mafi
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
"You and I- Aaron, people like us think good things will disappear because that's how it's always been. Good things have never lasted in our lives; happiness has never lasted. And somehow we can only expect what we've experienced. But do you know what I've realized? I've realized that we have the power to break these cycles. We can choose happiness for ourselves and for each other, and if we do it often enough, it'll become our new normal, displacing the past. Happiness will stop feeling strange if we see it every day. I love you, I've always loved you. I'm not going anywhere."
i love this quote and i absolutely LOVE the ending of the book i thought that moment between kenji and warner was BEAUTIFUL. let me make it clear that i absolutely love the shatter me series and i'm so so happy i decided to read it. however.. i didn't like this last novella for a few reasons.
honestly the content itself was just kind of boring.. nothing was happening but it wasn't even in a fun way. it was just boring because like everyone kept having the same arguments over and over again, and since it was in warner's perspective--no offense to him--it's obviously 10x more devastating because, you know, it's warner. his mental turbulence is literally never ending (seriously, that man needs therapy). he just kept on arguing with everyone in the sanctuary and being mean to them and i was just kind of done, which leads me to the second reason i didn't really like this.
warner's relationship with everyone was so tense and i hated the fact that there was literally no character development?? in the last few books it was really fun because you could see that he wasn't heartless and people were actually warming up to him, especially kenji, and their banter was entertaining to read. i was so excited to see more of their friendship developing and just warner's friendship with everyone else (brendan, winston, adam, james, etc) in general, but it never happened?? the ending was a very sweet moment between him and kenji but i think overall there could have been soooo many opportunities to show that they genuinely care about each other and value each other as people. you couldn't really feel that any of the other characters were making connections with him either, the entire book they were just shitting on him, and he was giving them reasons for them to shit on him tbh!! he was acting like such a dick. i love him but like it was just getting annoying. they do obviously care about him, because they planned everything for his big wedding surprise etc, but then again one could argue they did that more because they cared about juliette, not him. like i know they DO care but it just should have been SHOWN more in the book. more of his personality should have been shown in actual scenes interacting with the other characters instead of them all thinking he's a stone cold bitch. i honestly feel like everything in this book, other than the wedding scene, was just so useless lmao.
BUT overall i do love the shatter me series, all of the characters are so, so special to me, and this story will always stick with me <3333 i would 100% recommend.
i love this quote and i absolutely LOVE the ending of the book i thought that moment between kenji and warner was BEAUTIFUL. let me make it clear that i absolutely love the shatter me series and i'm so so happy i decided to read it. however.. i didn't like this last novella for a few reasons.
honestly the content itself was just kind of boring.. nothing was happening but it wasn't even in a fun way. it was just boring because like everyone kept having the same arguments over and over again, and since it was in warner's perspective--no offense to him--it's obviously 10x more devastating because, you know, it's warner. his mental turbulence is literally never ending (seriously, that man needs therapy). he just kept on arguing with everyone in the sanctuary and being mean to them and i was just kind of done, which leads me to the second reason i didn't really like this.
warner's relationship with everyone was so tense and i hated the fact that there was literally no character development?? in the last few books it was really fun because you could see that he wasn't heartless and people were actually warming up to him, especially kenji, and their banter was entertaining to read. i was so excited to see more of their friendship developing and just warner's friendship with everyone else (brendan, winston, adam, james, etc) in general, but it never happened?? the ending was a very sweet moment between him and kenji but i think overall there could have been soooo many opportunities to show that they genuinely care about each other and value each other as people. you couldn't really feel that any of the other characters were making connections with him either, the entire book they were just shitting on him, and he was giving them reasons for them to shit on him tbh!! he was acting like such a dick. i love him but like it was just getting annoying. they do obviously care about him, because they planned everything for his big wedding surprise etc, but then again one could argue they did that more because they cared about juliette, not him. like i know they DO care but it just should have been SHOWN more in the book. more of his personality should have been shown in actual scenes interacting with the other characters instead of them all thinking he's a stone cold bitch. i honestly feel like everything in this book, other than the wedding scene, was just so useless lmao.
BUT overall i do love the shatter me series, all of the characters are so, so special to me, and this story will always stick with me <3333 i would 100% recommend.
Imagine Me by Tahereh Mafi
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
"to the world, she is formidable. to me? she is the world."
i am literally never getting over that short simple quote it's so beautiful. i loved this book and i can't believe i'm almost done with the shatter me series, i only have one novella left 😭😭😭
i am literally never getting over that short simple quote it's so beautiful. i loved this book and i can't believe i'm almost done with the shatter me series, i only have one novella left 😭😭😭
Reveal Me by Tahereh Mafi
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
kenji's pov slayed but this novella was one of the more boring ones.
Defy Me by Tahereh Mafi
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
OH MY GOD THAT WAS SO GOOD I'M LITERALLY GONNA CRY I'M BEING SO SERIOUS RN THIS MADE ME SO EMOTIONAL I AM A MESS HOW DO I MOVE ON FROM THIS?????????????
the first 80% of this book was literally just so much trauma.. but then it got better and the vibes were good again. i mean as good as they can be while the world is literally at war. but anyways the way they all threw warner a birthday party actually made me so happy i'm deceased. there is just something so special about the found family trope but SPECIFICALLY where a character does technically have family but that "family" never treated them with any love or respect or care, so they eventually find solace and love within a group of misfits. i'm obviously talking about aaron warner; his character arc is just so, so special to me because he's never even had his own birthday cake or blown out candles before, never had a family to celebrate with, never been surrounded by love and warmth, never been allowed t show his emotions, never been allowed to break, but rather his whole life he was raised to be a ruthless monster, treated like he was nothing and like he wasn't worth it at all, but now he has a real group of friends who care about him deeply, and he has juliette/ella his fiancé and they are so, so in love😭. it makes me soooooo happy and he's literally not even real guys i'm so attached to these characters it's not okay..
the first 80% of this book was literally just so much trauma.. but then it got better and the vibes were good again. i mean as good as they can be while the world is literally at war. but anyways the way they all threw warner a birthday party actually made me so happy i'm deceased. there is just something so special about the found family trope but SPECIFICALLY where a character does technically have family but that "family" never treated them with any love or respect or care, so they eventually find solace and love within a group of misfits. i'm obviously talking about aaron warner; his character arc is just so, so special to me because he's never even had his own birthday cake or blown out candles before, never had a family to celebrate with, never been surrounded by love and warmth, never been allowed t show his emotions, never been allowed to break, but rather his whole life he was raised to be a ruthless monster, treated like he was nothing and like he wasn't worth it at all, but now he has a real group of friends who care about him deeply, and he has juliette/ella his fiancé and they are so, so in love😭. it makes me soooooo happy and he's literally not even real guys i'm so attached to these characters it's not okay..
Shadow Me by Tahereh Mafi
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
"I'm so happy for my friends. I love them, even when they piss me off. I care about them. I want their joy. But it still hurts a little when it feels like, everywhere I look, everyone seems to have someone. Everyone but me. It's crazy how much I wish I didn't care. I wish, so much, all the time, that I didn't give a shit about this sort of thing-that I could be like Warner, a frozen, unforgiving island; or even like Adam, who's found his happiness in family, in his relationship with his brother- but I'm like neither. Instead, I'm a big, raw, bleeding heart, and I spend my days pretending not to notice that I want more. That I need more. Maybe it sounds weird to say, but I know I could love the shit out of someone. I feel it, in my heart. This capacity to love. To be romantic and passionate. Like it's a superpower I have. A gift, even. And I've got no one to share it with."
the quote above literally made me want to cry thanks. like please the way he is so loving and caring and the mom friend of his group and he absorbs other people's pain. the way he just feels things deeply and experiences things intensely and just wants someone to show his love to and have it be reciprocated. the way most of the time he just plays it off when he's upset but sometimes it gets too much to handle and he just breaks down and there's so much going on inside his head. i want to give him a hug :((. i relate to him so much, especially when he said "i feel it, in my heart. this capacity to love. to be romantic and passionate. like it's a superpower i have". no other character in any book (or media in general) has ever articulated that feeling so perfectly. genuinely some of his thoughts feel like they were extracted from my own brain. i don't think i've ever felt that way about a character before, never seen so much of myself in one, which is why he's so special to me. he's my new comfort character i love him so much i would literally do anything for that man. i really really enjoyed this book from his perspective. <3
the quote above literally made me want to cry thanks. like please the way he is so loving and caring and the mom friend of his group and he absorbs other people's pain. the way he just feels things deeply and experiences things intensely and just wants someone to show his love to and have it be reciprocated. the way most of the time he just plays it off when he's upset but sometimes it gets too much to handle and he just breaks down and there's so much going on inside his head. i want to give him a hug :((. i relate to him so much, especially when he said "i feel it, in my heart. this capacity to love. to be romantic and passionate. like it's a superpower i have". no other character in any book (or media in general) has ever articulated that feeling so perfectly. genuinely some of his thoughts feel like they were extracted from my own brain. i don't think i've ever felt that way about a character before, never seen so much of myself in one, which is why he's so special to me. he's my new comfort character i love him so much i would literally do anything for that man. i really really enjoyed this book from his perspective. <3
Restore Me by Tahereh Mafi
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-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? Yes
4.0
“How I wish I'd ripped this heart from my chest long ago.”
bro what the FUCK was that ending my jaw is on the floor???????? even tho i liked ignite me the best so far, this one was still really good. it was so depressing tho like so many things just kept going wrong and it was so SAD especially cuz we got warner’s pov this time as well. one thing about this series is that there’s so many layers; any time you think you know what’s going on BOOM huge plot twist lmao. it’s so entertaining. anyways this slayed.
bro what the FUCK was that ending my jaw is on the floor???????? even tho i liked ignite me the best so far, this one was still really good. it was so depressing tho like so many things just kept going wrong and it was so SAD especially cuz we got warner’s pov this time as well. one thing about this series is that there’s so many layers; any time you think you know what’s going on BOOM huge plot twist lmao. it’s so entertaining. anyways this slayed.
Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion by Jia Tolentino
slow-paced
1.0
the title of this book is "trick mirror: reflections on self delusion" and i fully believe that said "reflections" are just the author's braindumps of random crap that make no sense. i had to read this for AP lang and it was one of the most boring, useless books i've ever read in my entire life. all of the pop culture references were so random and out of pocket, the writing style was not engaging at all and was in fact deeply uninteresting and bland, just like everything she wrote about. i would rather watch paint dry. i recommend that you don't waste your time reading this absolute dumpster fire of a book.
Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
so far this is my favourite book in the shatter me series, i LOVED IT!!! the constant action and drama kept me so invested the whole time, i didn't want to stop reading. also, i really liked juliette's character development in this book and the way she's no longer afraid of her powers but actually embraces them and harnesses them to her benefit. she stopped being a weak, petulant child and actually started learning how to be strong and use her powers (and her brain LMAO) to help herself and others. she just became way smarter and more likeable in general bc i fr thought she was so annoying for the first 2 books lmao.
aaron/warner's character development is also amazing bc he turns from this awful guy you're supposed to hate into this loving (hot af), adorable boy who has so many layers and is so much complicated than you think (much to unpack here lmao but we won't get into that). i love him, and i love him and juliette together they're SUCH a power couple.
i also liked how we got to see a bit more of the rest of the group in this book like winston, brendan, james, sonya and sarah etc (adam is irrelevant). kenji is still my favourite of course <3 i really hope he gets a love interest later on bc man i would love to read about kenji in love also he deserves is pls he's so sweet!!!
aaron/warner's character development is also amazing bc he turns from this awful guy you're supposed to hate into this loving (hot af), adorable boy who has so many layers and is so much complicated than you think (much to unpack here lmao but we won't get into that). i love him, and i love him and juliette together they're SUCH a power couple.
i also liked how we got to see a bit more of the rest of the group in this book like winston, brendan, james, sonya and sarah etc (adam is irrelevant). kenji is still my favourite of course <3 i really hope he gets a love interest later on bc man i would love to read about kenji in love also he deserves is pls he's so sweet!!!
Fracture Me by Tahereh Mafi
fast-paced
2.0
it was fine i mean i finished it in like 40 minutes cuz it’s only around 60 pages. tbh i don’t really care about adam (sorry) to me he’s kind of useless and doesn’t really have a personality except for the fact that he’s obsessed with juliette and his hypothetical future with her. however he rlly deserves better cuz he’s kind of irrelevant, no one really listens to him, juliette left him, he has no parents (abusive father), and his brother almost died😭 anyways everyone says the 3rd book is the best so i’m really excited to start that. isn’t that the one where the famous “lift your hips for me, love” is?!?!