Crazy Rich Asians | Book Review

Hello!

So I finished my second book for the year.

I finished reading “Crazy Rich Asians” by Kevin Kwan. I started reading this book at the same time last year as “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff… OMNIBUS” when I experimented with trying to read multiple books at the same time. 

Anyways…

Initially, I was struggling with reading the book probably because I wasn’t focused since I was reading two books at the same time and I was inconsistent on when I would read which didn’t help me with recalling details from both books. Also, since I already watched the movie, I was kind of anticipating the scenes I saw in the movie so I got impatient easily. But when I got into my reading mood, that’s when I really got into the story and I stopped being impatient.

So just to summarize the story, the book has different narrators but the book is mostly about Nick Young and Rachel Chu. They are a couple who has been together for about two years. Then, they agree to spend the summer together in Singapore because Nick will be the best man at his best friend’s wedding and he wanted to show Rachel around the country he grew up in and introduce her to his family. But what Rachel didn’t know (and what Nick failed to tell her) was that he came from a very wealthy family.

Initially, Rachel seemed to be doing fine but eventually, she feels overwhelmed and burdened by what was happening, what was being said behind her back, and Nick’s family and some of his old friends. So to prove his love for her and because he believed that she was the one for him, Nick wanted to propose to her. But his family, mostly his mother and grandmother, were against Nick marrying Rachel because she didn’t have the pedigree to be married into the Young family. They were also scandalized by what they found out about Rachel’s parents’ history.

So as I mentioned before, I struggled initially with reading the book because I had scenes and story pacing in mind based on the movie. So I was pleasantly surprised by the differences between the book and the movie because it didn’t feel like I was just reading what I saw in the movie. I think I prefer the book because the events seemed to make more sense and the characters had more depth. It actually made me want to buy and read the next two books because I want to know what happens next.

I was also not so okay with the shifting narrators initially because I was impatient and I felt like I only wanted and cared about Nick and Rachel’s story. But as I continued on, I realized that I liked the shifting narrators. It made the story more interesting because you get multiple perspectives on the events that were happening. I was also surprised at how much it helped me get immersed in the story because I can see where the different characters were coming from, how they think, and how they react and perceive the situations that they are in.

Aside from Nick and Rachel’s story, I also liked the story of what was going on in Astrid’s life. Astrid is one of Nick’s cousins and the one who was probably closest to him. On the outside, it seemed like she had a perfect life but in reality, she was going through a tough time. She thought her husband was cheating on her and that devastated her because she thought the man she loves was cheating and she was asking herself so many questions as to what pushed him to cheat. She was also worried also about how it would affect their son if they divorced. She also worried about what her family would think and how they would react.

I thought the author was really good at describing things. He was really good at giving an idea of how different these crazy rich Asians lived. I also liked that Asian words, expressions, and culture were incorporated so nicely.

So all in all, I would say that I enjoyed reading this book and I want to read more from its author.

That’s all for now, bye!

Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff… OMNIBUS | Book Review

Hello!

I finally finished my first book for the year last July!!!

I’m so happy because I’m finally moving forward with my goal of reading more books. 

I kind of went through a couple of techniques to try to reach my goal faster. And in the end, I learned that I’m the type of person who is better at focusing on one book at a time. It was easier for me that way to retain information on what I was reading because I noticed that I tend to forget things quickly when I tried to read two books at a time. 

Also, I got myself into the habit of reading more frequently and I’m now in the process of teaching myself to read more consistently and to read more in a day.

Anyways…

The book that I’ve recently finished is “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff… OMNIBUS” by Richard Carlson. This book is a collection of three of Richard Carlson’s books. His books which are part of this collection are: 

• "Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff… and it’s all Small Stuff"
• "Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff at Work"
• "Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff about Money"

I got this book a few years ago because my mom recommended for me to read “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff… and it’s all Small Stuff”. I don’t even remember anymore when exactly she recommended me the book but she was previously reading that book and since I’m a worrier, she told me to read it too to help me put things in perspective and not worry about everything. I initially planned to just borrow her book but one day, while I was perusing the aisles of one of the bookstores that I frequented, I saw this book and thought why not buy it since it’s a collection of three books related to not sweating the small stuff. 

After reading this book, I definitely think it was really worth buying because I learned and realized a lot of things while reading it. 

Some of my takeaways from this book are:

• I may not have the power to control everything happening in my life but I have the power to control my thoughts. So, instead of sulking and whining about the negative things that are happening, I should focus my attention on the positive things and take charge of my life by using my energy on trying to change the things that I can control or would improve my life.
• I should avoid being reactive and panicky because these would affect the clarity of my thoughts which would then affect how I decide and how I go about the situation.
• I should listen better because by doing that, I’ll understand other people better and I’ll get to learn more from them. Also, by genuinely listening to people instead of planning what I’ll say after they stop talking, I won’t stress myself out while in a conversation and I’ll actually understand what they are actually trying to communicate to me.
• I should also be kinder and avoid taking part in gossiping or talking bad about other people behind their back. 
• I should also stop doing things out of fear because it just adds unnecessary stress.
• It’s great to always have a plan but I must not forget to enjoy the present.
• I should learn to be genuinely happy for others.
• I should always strive to be kind and understanding because people respond better to kindness and understanding which would definitely help me avoid a lot of unnecessary stress.

I felt like reading the book definitely helped me reflect on things I already knew but I guess I just never really put them into consistent practice.

I definitely recommend this book especially to people like me who tend to worry a lot. This would really help you reflect on the little things that cause you unnecessary stress and how not to let them get to you.

That’s all for now. I hope to finish another book this month.

Bye!

All The Bright Places | Book Review

Hello!

It’s been such a long time since I last posted about a book that I’ve read. I think it’s been about a year. But from that time, I’ve only finished three books and bought a lot more to add to my growing pile of books to read. Since I’ve currently started trying to read more consistently again, I thought why not go back to writing about my thoughts or reviews of the books that I read. I’m not sure if I’ll write about the other two books that I’ve finished already but I’ve decided to write about the most recent book that I’ve finished.

So the most recent book that I’ve finished is “All The Bright Places” by Jennifer Niven. I think I’ve had this book for a few years. I don’t remember exactly when I bought it but I do remember that it was kind of an impulse purchase because I was in a bookstore buying stationery items but I felt the urge to buy a book as well so when I saw the cover, I was drawn to it. It doesn’t feel nice to say out loud or write about but I kind of judge books by their covers. I get drawn to books with pretty or interesting-looking covers.

Anyways… Just a short warning. I will be including some spoilers in this post.

So going back to “All The Bright Places” by Jennifer Niven…

At first, the story wasn’t very interesting for me because I was looking for when and how these two seemingly different characters lives will get entangled. Although, in retrospect, I do appreciate the building up of the characters’ separate stories because I knew who they were as individuals and how their meeting changed their lives. Fortunately, this build up made me want to keep going. It was interesting to see how Finch and Violet were so similar to each other yet so different. They both had something in their past that contributed a lot to how they viewed their present and future. But their personalities and circumstance were so different with each other which seemed to affect the way they went on with life. Violet, before the accident that took her sister’s life, seemed to be a part of the popular kids’ crowd while Finch was more of an outsider. Since it seemed like Finch had gotten used to his depression, he was aware of his feelings and he was living to the fullest on the days when he felt good. And since Violet seemed like someone who had things going right for her then suddenly experiencing a tragedy, she seemed guilty for surviving and wanted to escape their small town to escape the grief and feelings of loss.

Their difference in perspective was evident in the chapters where they were narrating. I thought that that was a really nice strategy in showing the difference between these individuals instead of just writing about it through an omniscient narrator. Their chapters showed what was going on inside their minds in relation to how they acted with the people around them and the situation that they were in.

I also liked how their romance bloomed from an unlikely friendship. It wasn’t very sudden and they even met at a low point in both of their lives. So to me, it was a nice and slow build up to a point that I was really rooting for them to fall in love. I think that that’s what made the ending so heartbreaking because I was so invested in them and how they were helping each other and giving each other some form of reason to live and some form of hope for a better future when they got out of their little town that it makes Finch’s death so unexpected. Even if I knew at the back of my mind that it might happen because of how the story was progressing. I hoped for the opposite and for them to sort of live happily ever after.

Overall, I loved the story. I felt like it was able to portray the reality of suicide and depression really well and in a tasteful manner. But if you’re someone who might not be comfortable with the idea of suicide and suicidal ideation, this might not be a book for you since Finch is a character who often thought about ways that he could go and often noting facts he knew about it. 

Another thing that I liked about the book was how at the end, in the author’s note portion, Jennifer Niven included her experience as a survivor of suicide after losing loved ones because of it. She also included a list of organizations who could help along with their websites and some contact details for suicide prevention, diagnosing mental illness in teens, survivors of suicide, bullying, and abuse.

So that’s all for now. Sorry for the rusty writing. I haven’t written in so long and I have not been practicing my writing. Hopefully I can write again soon and share with you more of the things that I’ve been into and what I’ve been doing.

Thoughts: “P.S. I Still Love You” by Jenny Han

Photo taken from Google Images.

Hello!

So last May 28, I was able to finish reading my third book for the year. I actually went through probably the second half of the book within one day. I actually finished it during the work day while I was working from home. I was feeling kinda unmotivated to work that day and I didn’t really have a lot of tasks that I needed to do that day. So the situation really helped in making me feel immersed in reading and the chapters were really interesting for me which made it difficult for me to put the book down.

The book that I had finished was “P.S. I Still love You”.

[If you don’t like spoilers, please read the book first because I will be putting a short summary of the book.]

The story continues from where “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before” ended after Lara Jean and Peter had a falling out around the Christmas holidays. The story started around New Year’s Day. After going to their grandma’s house to celebrate a traditional Korean New Year, Lara Jean decides to be dropped off at Peter’s house to finally talk to him and tell him how she feels about him. After finally talking to each other, they start actually dating. Unfortunately, the same reconciliation didn’t happen for Margaux and Josh who ended up breaking up for good.

After starting to date for real this time, Lara Jean and Peter kept facing a lot of obstacles in their relationship which started with a video of them making out in the hot tub during the ski trip around their winter break. Someone took a video of them and posted it on “Anonybitch” which is like a gossip site. This started to put a bit of a strain on their relationship because Lara Jean believes that the person responsible for this was Genevieve who was her ex-best friend and Peter’s ex-girlfriend. However, Peter didn’t really believe her because he felt that he knew Genevieve better and he thinks that she isn’t capable of doing that. (By the way, we learn that Genevieve really was behind the filming and spreading of the video and Peter learned the truth but didn’t tell Lara Jean about it because he felt like that would be best for Lara Jean. Of course this made her furious when she found out.)

Peter and Lara Jean also broke up for some time because Lara Jean felt like she was always number two for Peter and that he always seemed to choose Genevieve over her. She said that she wanted to be someone’s number one. However, we learn that Peter was only trying to be a good friend for Genevieve because her father had been cheating on her mother so she was having a hard time and she needed a friend that she trusted. This was also the time that Lara Jean realized that she was the one who couldn’t let Genevieve go because she kept comparing herself and her relationship to Peter to what he and Genevieve had. We also learn that Genevieve resented Lara Jean because Peter kissed her when they were in eighth grade and Genevieve had already confided in Lara Jean about liking Peter at that time. What hurt her further was that Lara Jean never tried to tell her about it.

We also get more of John Ambrose McLaren in this book. We get to meet him and learn more about him. We learned that he had liked Lara Jean when they were younger and when they met again. However, unfortunately, it seems like it wasn’t meant to be. Although, it seemed to me that he and Lara Jean had a lot in common and if he had plucked up the courage to ask Lara Jean out to the formal when they were younger, they could’ve probably ended up together.

Props to John Ambrose McLaren that he respected Lara Jean’s feelings and decision to reconcile with Peter despite his feelings for her.

All in all, I thought that this was a good sequel. I loved that we finally get properly introduced to John Ambrose McLaren who we met in the first book for a brief period when Lara Jean went to a model UN conference to catch a glimpse of him to see how he turned out. I actually really liked him and he seemed like a strong contender for Lara Jean’s heart against Peter. I think if we didn’t meet Peter first, I would’ve probably rooted for him and Lara Jean to end up together.

From some of the reactions that I’ve seen about the movies, I thought that I would probably not like Peter here very much. I read that he made a lot of questionable choices in this sequel that made him less deserving of Lara Jean and could lead some fans to vouch for John Ambrose to be with Lara Jean instead. As I was reading, I did kinda get mad at him for seeming to choose Genevieve more or prioritizing her over Lara Jean and then he proceeded to defend his choices by saying he was only trying to be a good friend. This made me a bit mad because by doing that, he wasn’t being a very good boyfriend to Lara Jean because he knows that she wasn’t comfortable with him being so close to his ex-girlfriend who was her ex-best friend. However, I realized that that didn’t necessarily make him a totally bad person because he and Genevieve were still somehow close friends and he was only trying to be a good friend when she needed to confide in someone about the problems that she was going through. I also understood why he couldn’t tell Lara Jean about Genevieve’s problems and secret because it wasn’t his to tell.

For this book, I was actually proud of Lara Jean for wanting to end her and Peter’s relationship when she felt like he was choosing Genevieve over her all the time. I think that was a bit empowering to read about because she felt like she deserved to be number one so she decided to leave a relationship where she felt like she was and will always be number two. I think that that was a nice way to show self-love because she put herself first instead of trying to always compete with the idea of Genevieve and Peter’s past relationship despite knowing that she’ll also get hurt with her decision.

That’s all for now, bye!

Thoughts: “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before” by Jenny Han

Hello!

Last April 30, I was able to finally finish reading “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before” by Jenny Han. This is my second finished book for the year. I actually thought that I wouldn’t be able to finish this book until at least May 01 because ever since I started pushing myself to read, I still had days when I didn’t feel like it. And April 30 was one of those days when I didn’t really feel like reading a lot. But then when I set myself a timer, I was so absorbed by what I was reading that I was actually able to finish the book. I’m also really proud of myself for doing this because I think I’ve read more books this year compared to the past two years. I’ve actually started reading the sequel to this book as I’m writing this.

Anyways…

I guess I should start by saying that I watched the movie first before reading this book. I actually watched the movie in 2018 with my sister when she had just discovered about the 30-day Netflix free trial. So it had actually been about two years since we had watched the movie and I decided to purchase the books. I actually promised myself that I wouldn’t watch the movie sequel until I actually finish reading the books just so that I could avoid waiting for certain movie scenes while I was reading the book. Also, reading the books first would help me get to know the characters more.

Moving on to the short summary of the book. [If you don’t like spoilers, this is a warning that spoilers are coming up.]

The book centers on Lara Jean’s experiences during the first half of her junior year in high school up until the Christmas holidays. In the beginning of the book, we learn that Lara Jean’s elder sister, Margot, is going off to a university in Scotland. This made her really sad that her sister is moving so far away because the three sisters had always been together especially after their mother’s death with Margot taking on the responsibility of caring for her younger sisters.Margot’s move definitely became a life-changing experience since the whole family would be adjusting with Lara Jean taking on the elder sister responsibilities previously done by Margot. Not only that, we learn that Margot also broke up with her boyfriend Josh who is a close friend of all he Song girls.

One day, all the letters that Lara Jean had written as a form of goodbye or moving on letter to all the boys she had loved before got sent out. At first, we didn’t know who did it but in the end we found out that it was Kitty who sent it as a to get back at Lara Jean for teasing her about wanting to name the dog that she wants to have after her crush who was Josh. She didn’t really mean to harm anyone with what she did, she just thought that Lara Jean told Josh that she had a crush on him and she just wanted to get back at her for it.

Anyways, we learn that Peter and Josh are two of the recipients of these letters after talking to Lara Jean about them. We also learn that there were other boys who have been sent the letters which I think makes it about five letters in total. To save face in front of Josh and to avoid anything that might affect his future reconciliation with Margot, Lara Jean and Peter agreed to pretend dating. (FYI, Peter also had a motive for pretending to date Lara Jean so it made the agreement kind of mutually beneficial)

Eventually, Lara Jean and Peter start to develop feelings for each other and they start falling in love. In the end however, they ended up fighting but Lara Jean wants to make up with Peter because she truly loves him and she didn’t want their relationship to end just when it started for real.

All in all, I loved the book because it kept me interested. I wasn’t just waiting for parts that I saw in the movie which I think is really good because it was able to offer me something that was so much more than what I saw in the movie. It actually had a lot of parts that I don’t think was given enough highlights in the movies such as the close relationship of the sisters and their friendship with Josh.

I was also quite surprised that Peter wasn’t as lovable as he was in the movie. There were actually times that I kind of felt annoyed or upset with his actions.

Finally, the book had short chapters which I think is really good for people who want to read but finds it hard to focus. It was kind of rewarding to be going through so many chapters in a few minutes so that makes it feel proud of yourself which helps you to keep reading.

That’s all for now, bye!

Thoughts: "The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up" by Marie Kondo

Hello!

So I’ve finished my first book for 2020 last February. 

I finally finished “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” by Marie Kondo.

I learned about this book about two years ago while watching some of my favorite Youtubers at that time. A couple of them have mentioned this book while tidying and organizing their spaces. And as someone who loves to clean and organize her space, I was naturally curious about it.

I am someone who kind of struggles with decluttering because I often get sentimental on most of the things I own or I become afraid of letting some objects go because I become afraid of needing it in the future and not having it in my possession. I know that this is not really a very good way of living because I have a tendency to accumulate stuff that takes up a lot of space even if I don’t necessarily need them or use them anymore. This is also really bad since I also share a room with my sister who also owns a lot of stuff.

Anyway, I got curious about the book because these people who I follow kept talking about the KonMari method of cleaning and organizing.

So around mid-2018, I decided to buy the book. I remember that I had dinner with my officemates that day and while waiting for my parents so that we could go home together, I went inside a bookstore. I was just browsing around looking at books. I had no intention on buying one but when I saw it, I immediately decided to buy it and find out what all these Youtubers were going on about.

Anyway, I didn’t get to read it immediately because at that time, I was trying to finish the books that I had accumulated throughout my college years. I had my books lined up on when I bought them and I decided to read them in that order. So naturally, this book ended up being unread until the end of 2019 when I finally started reading it around December. 

I started reading the book around December after finishing the books that I bought before it. It took me until February 2020 to finish it because I don’t read consistently which is something that I’ve also been trying to change.

—Warning: Spoilers ahead. Read at your own risk.—

Anyway, I thought that the book was interesting because Marie Kondo related it to her experiences as a person who loved cleaning and organizing ever since she was little. I also liked that she talked about the difference of her method versus the other tidying methods that she had tried in the past.

I think I really related to her frustrations when she was organizing and decluttering by getting rid of stuff as opposed to keeping stuff because they made you happy or they sparked joy in you. I am the kind of person who puts discarding stuff as my main goal for decluttering. However, I know that my method of cleaning and decluttering makes it so difficult to maintain keeping my space tidy because I often get demotivated to clean and tidy especially when I’m feeling sentimental. It also takes me super long to decide whether to get rid of something because my mind often wonders about what would happen if I don’t have those items anymore. So I end up keeping some items for a while and then letting them go after a few months when I’m feeling less sentimental.

I was also pleasantly surprised by how much I learned about tidying given that I thought it was something that was so easy and something that came naturally to everyone. I think I got more than what I thought I would when I read the book because I’ve gained so much insight on what I probably was doing wrong with the way I was tidying.

I haven’t really full on committed to the KonMari way of tidying because I’ve been so demotivated lately about a lot of things. But I do plan to start committing to it soon because I want to live in a tidy space and be surrounded by what makes me happy. I think that by doing that, I would be happier and have a more positive mindset.

That’s all for now. Bye!

What I Got Up To

Hello!

In the past few months that I was away, I got up to a lot of things. One of these things was that I finally finished another book for this year. I finally finished “Me Before You” by Jojo Moyes. I have been reading and trying to finish this book for months but it took me so long to finish because I haven’t been consistently reading again. I’ve been trying my hardest to read more books because I do love reading but as you may know, I haven’t been doing a good job in allotting time for it in my life.

I actually bought this book after watching the movie for a couple of times. I didn’t immediately want to buy it because I just wasn’t interested in reading it. Watching the movie was actually enough for me. It wasn’t one of those movies that immediately made me want to go and purchase the book that it was adapted from. I actually bought this book impulsively because I was only supposed to buy a different book and on the way to the cashier, I spotted it. For some reason, at that time, I decided that I wanted to give the book a shot.

Now that I’ve read the book, I’m so happy that although it was an impulse buy, it wasn’t totally regrettable because I actually liked the story. Although, admittedly, there were times that I kind of grew bored of it because it was taking me too long to reach parts that I’ve seen in the movie. 

Anyways, I think that reading the book was good and it did let me get to know the characters more. I think I would have enjoyed it more had I read it before seeing the movie because I wouldn’t have been rushing to the parts that I knew and I think it would have left more room for my imagination to visualize everything instead of seeing what I saw in the movie while reading those parts.

Another thing that I got up to was buying Kpop albums. This is not my first time to buy albums because I used to buy Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, and Jonas Brothers albums years ago. I got my first Kpop albums recently during the Lazada 11.11 sale. I was able to purchase three albums at the price of one. I was super excited about this because I’ve been thinking of buying at least one for such a long time now ever since I started getting really into Kpop but the lack of nearby CD shops and the price of the albums stopped me from doing that. So when I came across this shop from Lazada and I saw that it was selling albums, I was super excited. And to top it off, they took part in the sale and slashed the prices to about 50% off. Since I wanted to buy Kpop albums so much, I decided to go for it as an early birthday present to myself. And since it became cheaper due to the slashing of the price, I decided to buy three since they would be equivalent to one normal priced album. I chose Blackpink’s “Kill This Love”, BTS’ “Love Yourself: Answer” and “Map of the Soul: Persona”. I wasn’t able to get a Got7 and Twice album because they run out before I was able to include them in my cart. I got lucky I got these three because as soon as I checked out and completed my transaction, they were also sold out. The delivery was great because it arrived within the time frame given and the packaging was in great condition.

When I finally got my hands on the albums, I was super excited and happy. It brought back those old feelings that I got whenever I used to buy albums. I’m a really sentimental person and buying these albums and having my collections help me document the times that I’ve loved these groups and the songs that I listen to.

I’ve also immediately went ahead and bought other albums in a physical store. I bought Astro’s “All Light” and Blacpink’s “Square Up” in a mall somewhat near our home. Unfortunately, I was unable to buy more because they didn’t sell a lot of albums that I was actually looking for.

And finally, I had my birthday last month and it was the first time that I felt like it was the new year. I don’t usually feel like it’s a new year during my birthdays but for some reason, this year,I felt really moved to improve my self-discipline and to be more confident in myself. I’ve been trying to do this for some time now but this is the first time that I’ve actually been trying to be more aware of what I’m doing and I’m being more experimental when it comes to what and who I really want to be.

Anyway, that’s all for now. I’m not going to include pictures in this post but I might post a year-end post that would include things that I’ve loved and made me happy this year. So stay tuned for that.

Bye!

Book Review: "Persuasion"

Hello!

I have finally finished reading “Persuasion” by Jane Austen. I actually finished it about a week or two ago but I just wasn’t able to sit down and keep writing about it. So, I started reading the book early last year but I only finished reading it this year because I kept pushing it off last year to do other things.

Anyways…

“Persuasion” is my first finished book this year. I’m finally taking a step towards achieving one of my little goals this year which is to finish at least four books this year - one for every quarter of the year.

I know that not everyone will enjoy reading this book because it uses 18th century English. Some people may find it a bit difficult to read especially when you’re not very fond of reading. But bear with me… this book is not as difficult to read compared to Shakespeare’s writings. Trust me. One of the things that I have noticed with how Jane Austen writes is that she doesn’t really follow a rigid structure. I think she writes in narratives that flows and uses emotions which I think is a lot similar to novels we read today. So I think that once you get over the fact that it’s in old English, you can love it.

So what I got from the story was that it was mostly about a second chance at love. 

To give you a short summary of the story…

Anne Elliot was engaged to Frederick Wentworth when she was in her late teens. However, she was persuaded by Lady Russell, their family friend who was also a mother figure to her, to call off her engagement to Frederick Wentworth because Anne’s father, older sister, and Lady Russell thought that Wentworth was not a good match for Anne. Anne’s family was wealthy and well-known. I think they were a noble family because Anne’s father was a baronet. Anyways, after their engagement was broken off, Wentworth left and became a well-known naval officer. After a couple of years, due to certain circumstances, Anne and Wentworth met again. Anne is still in love with Wentworth however, Wentworth was still mad at Anne for breaking off their engagement. But after a couple of twists and turns, they learn that they are still very much in love with one another and they confess their feelings for one another. And they lived happily ever after.

To be honest, I initially thought that the book wasn’t as fascinating. I even thought about not continuing to read it and just giving it away. I felt like I was just reading it for the sake of reading. However, around December, when I got really inspired to read again, I decided to give it another chance and actually sit down to read more. Now, I’m really thankful that I didn’t give up on this book because I think this story was a bit different from other romance novels that I’ve read before. This was a love that endured opposition and years of separation. To me, their love was so beautiful because even if they could have ended up with another person, it seemed like they were really meant for each other because the love they had when they were initially engaged was still the same, probably even grew deeper and more mature.

Anyways, that’s all for now. Have you read this book? And what did you think about it?

Bye!

Book Review: “Belzhar”

Hello!

A few days ago, I was able to finish another book. The book’s title is “Belzhar” and it was written by Meg Wolitzer.

I was so happy when I finished it because even if I’m still kind of far from reaching my goal of reading more books this year compared to last year, I’m once again one step closer to reaching that goal.

Another reason why I’m happy about finishing this book is because I typically read books that can be classified as romance novels/books. I’m not really used to reading books that don’t center on that. 

In case you don’t know about the book, I’ll try my best to give you my summary. It’s about a girl named Jam who was sent to The Wooden Barn after the death of her boyfriend. The Wooden Barn is basically a place where they send young people like Jam who people consider to be emotionally fragile.

That’s all I’m giving in the summary because I don’t want to give too much away because I do believe that it’s a really good book and that it’s definitely worth the read because it talks about loss and how people deal with it to get closure.

And I know that some might say that they don’t want to read it if it’s about loss because it’s going to be sad. Let me tell you now that I didn’t really feel that way while reading the book. I can’t really find the words to explain why I felt that way but it’s really not sad.

So moving on to my thoughts while reading the book…

Initially, I felt that it was a bit dragging. I wasn’t initially hooked on it as I was while reading the middle to end parts. However, it might just be because I was waiting for something to happen. (Which I don’t want to spoil for those who wants to read the book.)

But don’t get me wrong. It really does get interesting because the story lets us get to know more about the characters’ stories about the reasons why they were sent to The Wooden Barn. There’s also a lot of plot twists to look forward to in the story which could keep you up at night to get to the bottom of it.

So I think that’s all I want to say. If you want to discuss about it you can comment below. 

That’s all for now, bye! 

Book Review: “Girl Online: Going Solo”

Hello!

It’s so good to be able to write again. I was super busy for the past few weeks which was the biggest reason why I was unable to write.

Anyways…

Last week, I was able to finish reading another book. I read “Girl Online: Going Solo”. It took me some time to finish it because of the numerous things that happened in my life and the fact that I think I don’t read as fast compared to my early teenage years.

Moving on to what I thought about the book, I really loved this story probably more than I liked the second one maybe because of how I think it was more focused on Penny and how she grew and improved herself. I think that that’s what I loved about it because it kind of taught me that we should want to improve ourselves not for someone else but because we truly want to. I also loved how she improved and matured when she was away from Noah instead of when she was with him because I think that it really drove home the point that she didn’t really need him beside her to become better.

I also loved that Elliot seemed to be in the story more compared to the first two books because he’s one of my favorite characters in the story. I think that the book allowed us to see more of his relationship with Penny and get to know him more as a character. I think this showed more dimensions of him beyond being Penny’s best friend and the fashionable and smart friend.

All in all, I think that it was a great end or follow-up to the first two books since it definitely showed more character development and we got to see Penny mature and grow more.

I would definitely recommend this book because it’s fun and easy to read. Also, if you’re someone who might be feeling like you’re stuck in a rut or you feel like you’re not growing as a person, this book might give you a bit of a jolt to boost you.

That’s all for now, bye!

Book Review: “Girl Online: On Tour”

Hello!

I was finally able to finish another book this year! Yay!!!

The book that I was able to finish was Girl Online: On Tour. It took me quite a while to finish it because I wasn’t able to progress much while school was ongoing. I was only able to properly sit down and read it after school had ended.

So without further ado, here are some of my thoughts on the book.

In summary, the story was about Penny’s experiences on the road with Noah’s band. Compared to the first book, I liked this one better because it was kind of fun imagining Penny in those situations. Most especially, I liked reading about her experiences as a girlfriend to a rising rockstar.

Overall, I enjoyed reading the book especially towards the end because of the surprising turn of events. (I don’t really want to spoil the book, so if you haven’t read it, read it to find out.) I also appreciated that the way the book was written was very descriptive because it was able to really help you imagine a clearer picture of what’s going on.

I highly recommend this book if you want something that’s easy and not heavy to read. It’s quite a good book to read if you’re looking to pass the time because the chapters aren’t too long and you don’t need to have a lot of attention or concentration to be able to understand.

So… that’s all for now, bye!

Winning the Heart of the Crown

Hello!

I’m so excited to say that I was already able to finish a book this year.

Last year, I started reading “The Crown” by Keira Cass. It took me a while to finish because I didn’t really have enough time to read books for fun. Also, the amount of things that I have to read for school sometimes wore me out and sometimes made me think “Do I want to read more today?”

So… during my holiday break from school, I set aside some time for reading. I can’t believe how much I missed being able to read fast and go through lot of books. I decided to try to learn to read fast again and get back to enjoying reading a lot.

Moving on… I really liked the story of “The Crown”. I felt that it had a nice ending even if it was a bit of an unexpected surprise for me since I already had a guy chosen for Eadlyn. I already had someone that I wanted her to be with while reading the previous book which was “The Heir”.

My first choice for her was Henri because I just thought that he seemed so adorable for her because he was so sweet and devoted to her even though they had a language barrier. Also, for some reason, Henri kind of reminded me of Peeta from the “Hunger Games”. It’s probably because they both bake but I just really loved them both.

My other choice for her was Kile just because it seemed like they were already getting along quite well. Also, I thought that it would be kind of cute for her to end up with one of her childhood friends and a guy whose family is a family friend.

But I guess her final choice was for the best since from the start, it was already made clear that she was someone whose life if filled with unexpected surprises. I also thought that it kind of showed how far she’d come from who she was at the beginning of “The Heir”. I also guess that with that kind of ending, we were able to see a side of her which more vulnerable and at the same time more lovable.

Finally, I think that the book’s storyline was quite good and worth reading. It was filled with some surprising moments that you can’t really believe would happen.

That’s all for now, bye!