kyarabereading's reviews
60 reviews

The Twilight movie series has always had a special place in my heart, so finally I thought it was about time to read the books. Reading this for the first time, it’s crazy seeing that Edward and Bella were this toxically obsessed with one anothe after just a few months 😭

Inarguably, Twilight is not the greatest book of all time, but it was still a really enjoyable read. I loved getting to better understand what drew Edward and Bella toward each other, what made them fall in love. I loved getting to learn more about how vampirism (& other magical elements discussed in the book) works in this world Stephenie Meyer created. And I loved getting to see more of the characters’ personalities - especially Bella and Edward. I was surprised that they didn’t necessarily act the way they do in the movie - they aren’t super serious & brooding all the time. They joked around a lot, were very sarcastic…It honestly made me wish we got to see more of that in the movie. I feel like Bella’s personality especially felt very watered down in the movie. It’s also reading this being completely aware of Meyer being a Mormon because it is VERY obvious when you read the book.

However, there were some things I thought were better done in the movie. I think the movie did a better job of setting up Bella’s relationships with everyone other than Bella. I was surprised at how little time we spent getting to know her friends/family/the Cullens, how long it took before Bella even meets another member of the Cullen family, how little attention the 3rd angle of the Twilight love triangle was given. The movie also did a better job of setting up the main conflict (James wanting to kill Bella) and creating more drama around the big moments of Bella and Edward’s relationship (e.g. Edward revealing he’s a vampire). These were things I was looking forward to learning about more, to seeing how they played out in the book, so it was disappointing not to see any of that. Every moment I was excitedly looking forward to ended up being so anticlimactic.

The book spends a LOT of time focused on building up the relationship between Bella and Edward through a series of very long conversations. I didn’t necessarily mind these conversations - it was interesting getting to learn more about Bella and Edward & getting to see the way they interact with one another. But unfortunately, that meant this book was one were not much happened - and that surprised me for a book about vampires.  It wasn’t until  the last few chapters of the book that something actually happened, and it’s insane that it took so long to get there. 

Nonetheless, I’m excited to continue reading the rest of the series & getting to learn more about these characters and the world they live in. I’m hopeful that now that we’ve set up Bella and Edward’s relationship, we get to learn more about this world & the other interesting characters in it.
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Slightly unrelated to my review, so I’m putting it down here, but is it not insane that Edward literally wanted to kill Bella, stalked her, watched her sleep…& we’re supposed to find all that charming ??? If he wasn’t a vampire - his one excuse for his behavior - he’d be a weirdo like ???

I’ve been a Halsey fan since their Room 93 EP, so I knew some day I’d get around to reading her poetry collection - despite the fact that I don’t typically enjoy reading poetry (I don’t give myself time to dissect & reflect on poems, which I’m trying to get better at).

Like all of Halsey’s work, this poetry collection is deeply personal - a deep look into Halsey’s mind, past, struggles, and more. It covers a range of topics we’ve seen them cover in their other work - her relationship to sex & sexuality (both positive & negative experiences), struggles with her mental & physical health, the hard parts of womanhood, her childhood & growing up poor, her work as an artist & how it impacts her life. I truly commend Halsey for being willing to bare it all in this incredibly intimate & honest way. They truly put so much of themselves into their work - even the parts that aren’t so perfect, the parts that one necessarily may not want the whole world to see. I think it also makes for some interesting reflection, and there were a lot of poems that truly stuck with me because of that. It was also cool to see those bits and pieces from these poems Halsey eventually used in her songs for Manic & even IICHLIHP!

I will say, however, that some poems were definitely stronger than others in this collection - and I personally thought there were fewer strong ones than there were weak ones, which is disappointing to see in a poetry collection. Although I had some poems that I really loved, I feel like there weren’t enough of them for this book to get a 4+ star rating from me - as harsh as it may sound. I think this poetry collection is great in its own way and I genuinely hope that Halsey writes one again in the future, but I feel like there are ways it falls short. It’s missing that oomph that we see in her  songwriting.

I would definitely give this poetry collection a read once some time has passed! I’m still trying to understand how to read poetry so I think maybe there were things I could have missed during my first read-through that I’ll understand better next time.

It’s a shame this book wasn’t longer because it’s a really interesting premise that I believe could have been taken a lot further. I think if it was a bit longer, we would get that opportunity to flesh out those characters and their stories. We would get to learn more about this world they’re in. Something about it felt slightly incomplete to me. It felt like there were whole plot points that could have been explored a lot further.

But I do think Woolston achieved plenty in the 224 pages she worked with. Considering this book was written a little under a decade ago, I couldn’t believe how on point it is with its exaggerated version of where society could be headed under a capitalist surveillance state. 

A lot of the things she wrote about are things we see today due to capitalism - climate change, lack of individualism, people assigning their worth solely to their productivity, not having time or money to have a life outside of work, push towards high consumerism even during times of extreme struggle, the criminalization of homelessness, etc. 

And I think the thing that I appreciated the most is that all of this is told through the lives of totally ordinary people. Zöe isn’t going to be this dystopian world hero - she’s just a girl who feels powerless against what’s happening in the world around her, a girl who is just trying to survive, a girl who just wants to find her own piece of happiness in a very tragic world. 

Aspects of the book I was kind of half-and-half on…

Not my favorite book I’ve ever read, but it’s definitely interesting & I enjoyed the social commentary it provides. I liked it more than I expected.

Elizabeth Oliphant is Completely Fine is a true “weird girl” story in a way that really made me fall in love with it. I love Elizabeth’s voice as a narrator - so unique & so her. I also love the lessons that the book teaches us when it comes to dealing with loneliness, building a community with those around you, and finding joy in the little things.

It’s not a perfect book by any means. For one, it’s a book where not much happens. Usually, I don’t mind that, but I would often put the book down for long periods of time because it would bore me a bit. But I stuck with it because I really wanted to know what would happen next. Also, the ending left me feeling a bit unsatisfied as a reader. I don’t mind that it left things a bit open-ended - I think it makes sense for this story - but I feel like Elizabeth had really serious trauma to work through that didn’t feel like it could be wrapped up that quickly. The ending felt a bit rushed, honestly! 

After reading this manga the past few years, my journey with this new version of Fangirl has come to an end! I loved this final part of the manga - the story was beautifully wrapped up & I loved seeing the character development from the first part to now. They’ve all grown so much and learned so much from their experiences and that was really nice to see!

Fangirl has always been my #1 comfort book and the manga truly perfectly reflects that comfort in the way that made me fall in love with the original book: by not being afraid to show you the harder parts of life, and what you can learn from them. It’s comforting in a lot of ways but to me, it’s mainly because it serves as a reminder that this is what life truly looks like. It can be messy and simple and fun and sad and mundane…

It’s a good representation of how we’re shaped by our experiences, how our pasts can affect how we navigate the world. It’s a reminder that you’re never truly alone in what you’re feeling because someone out there has felt the same way before. I’ll always love Fangirl and I’m really glad I got to read it in full in this unexpected & new way. 

When I first started reading this book, I thought it was a bit slow-moving with a writing style I didn’t think I’d love. I assumed too early on that I wouldn’t like it, but I’m glad I gave it a chance, because in the end I really loved it. This is a book you can tell was written by a songwriter - poetic with the types of lines that feel like a punch in the gut. I fell in love with Zauner’s writing style - the level of detail she gives when describing food and music and art. You can really tell her connection to it all/love for it all and how it all helps her feel more connected to her mother.

This book was incredibly sad and honest and reflective. I appreciated Zauner’s honesty when it came to her relationship with those around her (especially her parents, especially her mom), as well as her honesty when it came to the disconnect she felt to her Korean culture. I think what she described is an experience that unfortunately a lot of people could relate to. Although it can be saddening, I hope it makes the readers of Crying in H Mart dealing with similar experiences feel a little less alone. 

It can’t be easy to write about such a tragedy and I commend Zauner for sharing her story with the world! 

Really interesting getting to see President Snow’s POV after having read the Hunger Games series. A lot of people may see this book as a way to humanize Snow to justify the decisions he made later on in life, but I slightly disagree. I think it humanizes him to show how an ordinary person can be capable of evil even when faced with every opportunity to do the right thing. And Coryo had MANY opportunities to do the right thing, but in the end he chose a life of power and greed over one of love and community. I don’t think Coryo had love in his heart for anyone - not even Lucy (he never really tried to understand her, mostly just to control her) - so every decision he made was led by fear for his own self-preservation. And that was very saddening to see considering the amount of love he had around him.

Coryo is a smart, capable individual. In another life, Coryo could have seen the circumstances he and other citizens of Panem and realized that they were all under the same boat - all under the Capitol’s control. He could have chosen a life with Lucy Gray. Instead, he let years of propaganda and fear of the unknown (the districts and its people) & fear of perceived disorder (the removal of the current class system) get to him to the point he treated district people like the enemy instead of the ones actually responsible for his hardships (the Capitol). 

I think this book, like the entire Hunger Games series, is a very interesting commentary on our world today. On the way propaganda works to make us hate one another. On the way the elite treats & views working class people. On what it takes to create real change in world and how quickly the government will try to shut it down. On the excuses one can tell themselves to not do anything about the pain and suffering of others even when you have the power to do so (SLIGHT SPOILER: like multiple of Coryo’s classmates not approving of the Hunger Games despite being active participants in it and deciding that ultimately there was nothing they could do). A heart-wrenching read because of how  much it parallels to the real world. 

There were some places I think this story fell short however. I think the writing was not as captivating to me as Collins’ past books in the series, but I think that’s probably mostly because I loved seeing the world through Katniss’ eyes. I felt much more connected to her as a reader. I think this book serves as a very self-reflective book, and it’s evident in the amount of time Coryo spends just thinking and planning and asking himself questions and reflecting on the state of the world. The long passages of Coryo going over the same topics over and over again got a little meh after a while. But I do think that Coryo is a very interesting narrator nonetheless, and I think those passages were meant to make us reflect on our own biases and understanding of the world around us, and for that I appreciated them. 

A beautifully written book with characters you just can’t help but love as if they were your own family. Reading this book was a beautiful journey, and I loved seeing all the little adventures that helped the characters within it change & grow. 

As a woman who grew up with a single mom & two sisters, this book ended up being very near & dear to my heart. It
kind of surprised me because I’m a WOC living in the 21st century & yet this book feels very relatable. I could see so much of myself & the people around me in these characters, which is a true testament to how universal this book can be & how relevant the lessons within it are to this day. I think a big part of that is due to the fact that  Alcott was insanely progressive, and it truly shows in her writing. 

When I learned that there was a short story focused on Reagan from Fangirl, I immediately had to give it a read. Reagan was one of my favorite characters from Fangirl, and I was excited to get a look into her world/her mind/her life after college. It was nice getting to learn more about Reagan, her family, and what she has been up to in recent years. It was a cute little slice-of-life story, and it was definitely fun to read.

However, I didn’t love it as much as I hoped I would. For one, it surprised me to see that it mentioned Covid. I guess it makes sense since it’s set in 2020-21, but unfortunately, it made the story read more like a Covid safety PSA than a short story at times. I appreciate that this story is so honest about how necessary yet isolating it was to have to be that cautious during the start of the pandemic, but they spent so much time talking about Covid, this barely felt like a love story.

I also felt like the story felt rushed and didn’t really feel like it was going anywhere. I feel like this would have worked better as a more drawn out story to give the reader time to understand these characters better and see how their relationships grow over time. I’m still glad I read it of course, but it was definitely not as good as I hoped it would be. 

This short story collection has the types of short stories that stick with you long after you’ve read them, that make you reflect on what these stories say about life, identity, womanhood, etc. A lot of them were tough reads, and sometimes I’d have to take breaks between stories, but this book was definitely worth the struggle. I also found Machado’s writing style really beautiful and unlike anything I’ve read before. This book definitely had a lot of lines that made me go “How did she come up with that?” 

I’ll admit that not every story was a hit for me - some felt on the nose while others went above my head. Sometimes the message got a bit lost for me. This was my second read, but I think if I gave it another read some time in the future, I may feel differently about that.