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my rating |
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| 1974747026
| 9781974747023
| 1974747026
| 4.48
| 1,226
| Sep 01, 2023
| Aug 13, 2024
|
really liked it
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4.25 / 5: “There was someone I lost who I thought I’d never see again, and I found him still there in the music. He found me. It was so clear. So…even 4.25 / 5: “There was someone I lost who I thought I’d never see again, and I found him still there in the music. He found me. It was so clear. So…even if I’m lonely and can never see him again; even if I lose something else…as long as I’ve got music, I believe now that i’ll find memories of what I lost in the noise . That’s why I want to live in music—in the world of music, too.” it feels sooooo surreal to finish a series that had always been a long time coming. i knew about it for years, then read it all in the span of just one—and it was all to journey through a story about grief and longing. i was swept away by the gorgeous way the author depicted these characters’ love for music, and also attached myself to one of them as i saw ugetstu form this sweet bond with mafuyu. both characters have a strong hold on me, and reading about how music was their way to keep moving forward just made me so happy. they both lost people they loved so much, but they have a whole new horizon stretched out before them. for mafuyu, it’s with uenoyama standing by his side; for ugetsu, it’s with not just new york calling for him, but also the whole world!! it felt very bittersweet to finish this manga, but im glad i picked it up sooner than i thought ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Sep 29, 2024
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Sep 29, 2024
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Sep 29, 2024
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Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
| 1510706240
| 9781510706248
| B07HXL1LW6
| 4.16
| 1,929
| Jan 15, 2019
| Jan 15, 2019
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it was amazing
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the thing that will always get to me about this trilogy, the one thing that i’ll never forget about and that leaves me in awe….is the fact that “timek
the thing that will always get to me about this trilogy, the one thing that i’ll never forget about and that leaves me in awe….is the fact that “timekeeper” could’ve easily been just a standalone fantasy. this series grows so much darker and intense as it moves along but the neat way things were handled in the first book would’ve been perfectly fine if left alone. but then this would’ve been a whole different story. and so the author wrote more because she was just getting started. and if it wasn’t for that decision, i wouldn’t be here right now crying because these characters genuinely mean the whole world to me, i can’t tell you how much. the writing was so fucking incredible and had me stunned every single page, every single one of them. there’s so much grief in this series, so much loss, so much death…..and i kept going because i knew there was still a story left to be unraveled. because the characters kept going, each and every one of them with such grisly determination. so when i reached the final page, i let out such a teary laugh ……this definitely feels like a fairytale of its own. something straight out of the grimms brothers’ heads but with a lot more light and a not so gruesome ending. i’ll always love that. i know that certain characters would feel the same. content warnings//: graphic descriptions of blood, injury, and violence; torture; vomiting; kidnapping; gun violence; parental death; fire; loss of a loved one; needles; minor bits of body horror;’explorations of grief; hospitalization; amputation; and murder Merged review: the thing that will always get to me about this trilogy, the one thing that i’ll never forget about and that leaves me in awe….is the fact that “timekeeper” could’ve easily been just a standalone fantasy. this series grows so much darker and intense as it moves along but the neat way things were handled in the first book would’ve been perfectly fine if left alone. but then this would’ve been a whole different story. and so the author wrote more because she was just getting started. and if it wasn’t for that decision, i wouldn’t be here right now crying because these characters genuinely mean the whole world to me, i can’t tell you how much. the writing was so fucking incredible and had me stunned every single page, every single one of them. there’s so much grief in this series, so much loss, so much death…..and i kept going because i knew there was still a story left to be unraveled. because the characters kept going, each and every one of them with such grisly determination. so when i reached the final page, i let out such a teary laugh ……this definitely feels like a fairytale of its own. something straight out of the grimms brothers’ heads but with a lot more light and a not so gruesome ending. i’ll always love that. i know that certain characters would feel the same. content warnings//: graphic descriptions of blood, injury, and violence; torture; vomiting; kidnapping; gun violence; parental death; fire; loss of a loved one; needles; minor bits of body horror;’explorations of grief; hospitalization; amputation; and murder ...more |
Notes are private!
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2
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Aug 11, 2021
not set
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Aug 12, 2021
not set
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Sep 28, 2024
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ebook
| ||||||||||||||
| 0374310599
| 9780374310592
| B07G115CFL
| 3.66
| 6,321
| May 07, 2019
| May 07, 2019
|
really liked it
|
We would start again and do it with eyes wide open. i really liked this book not only because it's yet another glimpse into the k-pop world in fiction, We would start again and do it with eyes wide open. i really liked this book not only because it's yet another glimpse into the k-pop world in fiction, but also because it felt so much more intimate as this is a love story of sorts. it's a love that grows between two young people who share a passion that the both of them are still figuring out for themselves. and they learn a lot about what's really important to them through each other, lucky's love for music a genuinely heartfelt thing that is fervent in moments when she truly gets to sing not just for herself but for others, because that's what had sparked that passion in her from a very young age. jack is a character who does something that from the beginning makes you judge how at opposites he was with himself as he was falling for lucky in this whirlwind adventure through Hong Kong while also sneakily pushing an agenda that he feels will finally give him something that he's wanted to chase after for so long. his interest in photography is so interesting when he really dives into the details of what makes him love it so much, something that lucky can completely understand and while she's living in her own fog, it was ironic that in an art that is as honest and reflective as photography can be, jack seemed to focus on the superficial in the beginning to help keep himself afloat so that eventually he could find his shore. both lucky and jack are lost from the moment they first meet and in all this confusion, the author really showcases the bond that forms between two people in a city as vibrant as Hong Kong, not only waxing a love letter to all the food and sights to behold but in the people that you find yourself getting lost in, reveling in all the wonder and excitement without adhering to a strict schedule or consciously hiding in the shadows. there was this structure that i absolutely loved in this book where not only did i get to understand both characters through their own perspectives, but some chapters would be very short as this author keys into the details of very specific moments that are pivotal for lucky and jack. there's moments of extreme fear and terror when everything and everyone seems to be crowding around lucky, but then there's these others where the characters don't even have to think, they can just be, they can bathe in the glow in these really significant moments where there's no expectations or no second-guessing. it made me appreciate them so much more because reading them as these little snippets felt like watching what is common in korean dramas where in very big scenes, they would be shot in slow-motion to really up the tension and intimacy between characters. the show would even replay these scenes at different angles to really get the viewer invested as music plays in the background--and that's just how it felt sometimes with this book, which i genuinely liked. this book can get really intense because that's what's to be expected when delving into the k-pop industry, but it was also really funny and lighthearted at times. for a good chunk of the time that lucky and jack first hang out together during a single night, there's so much chaos and so many unpredictable moments; it's a night that forges their dynamic and sucks you into what more this story offers. when things do get intense, the author does such an incredible job with showing why these k-pop artists, idols, have pushed themselves to reach this big stage, embracing the passion and pure love that these people have not just for the music but for performing, for getting to engage with fans. lucky never holds back in making sure jack knows that even though there's so much that she feels like she's had to bury, it's important to know that she always knew what she wanted and throughout this story, you see herself push for what feels right for her rather than sticking to this fake image her management company shaped for her. there's this inextricable connection that a fan has for a musical artist, and those saesang fans (stalkers, basically) taint that image but it's there. the love k-pop idols have for their fans is there, and the fans will and always be there to support them because these artists have supported us through their music and that's a very special gift. so it was nice to understand more of the bad that comes with the k-pop industry, but also get to see some of the good that lies somewhere there. this story felt very reflective as it discusses the importance of not just chasing after your dreams but putting your foot down to make sure that in going after that dream, you don't lose yourself or your passion for the sake of what other people want. lucky and jack are a really sweet pair, and they have a long road to go not just in their career pursuits but with each other. i'm glad that i got to this story and could see just a small bit of their journey so i hope for the best for them. something i'll be curious about for a long time is these side characters who as minor as they felt in the wide scope of this story, did hold some significant weight with how things turn out. seeing how this story ends, i'm not sure if lucky and jack will ever see them again but i'd like to think they'd stay in touch, just for the sake of my own sentimentality. Merged review: We would start again and do it with eyes wide open. i really liked this book not only because it's yet another glimpse into the k-pop world in fiction, but also because it felt so much more intimate as this is a love story of sorts. it's a love that grows between two young people who share a passion that the both of them are still figuring out for themselves. and they learn a lot about what's really important to them through each other, lucky's love for music a genuinely heartfelt thing that is fervent in moments when she truly gets to sing not just for herself but for others, because that's what had sparked that passion in her from a very young age. jack is a character who does something that from the beginning makes you judge how at opposites he was with himself as he was falling for lucky in this whirlwind adventure through Hong Kong while also sneakily pushing an agenda that he feels will finally give him something that he's wanted to chase after for so long. his interest in photography is so interesting when he really dives into the details of what makes him love it so much, something that lucky can completely understand and while she's living in her own fog, it was ironic that in an art that is as honest and reflective as photography can be, jack seemed to focus on the superficial in the beginning to help keep himself afloat so that eventually he could find his shore. both lucky and jack are lost from the moment they first meet and in all this confusion, the author really showcases the bond that forms between two people in a city as vibrant as Hong Kong, not only waxing a love letter to all the food and sights to behold but in the people that you find yourself getting lost in, reveling in all the wonder and excitement without adhering to a strict schedule or consciously hiding in the shadows. there was this structure that i absolutely loved in this book where not only did i get to understand both characters through their own perspectives, but some chapters would be very short as this author keys into the details of very specific moments that are pivotal for lucky and jack. there's moments of extreme fear and terror when everything and everyone seems to be crowding around lucky, but then there's these others where the characters don't even have to think, they can just be, they can bathe in the glow in these really significant moments where there's no expectations or no second-guessing. it made me appreciate them so much more because reading them as these little snippets felt like watching what is common in korean dramas where in very big scenes, they would be shot in slow-motion to really up the tension and intimacy between characters. the show would even replay these scenes at different angles to really get the viewer invested as music plays in the background--and that's just how it felt sometimes with this book, which i genuinely liked. this book can get really intense because that's what's to be expected when delving into the k-pop industry, but it was also really funny and lighthearted at times. for a good chunk of the time that lucky and jack first hang out together during a single night, there's so much chaos and so many unpredictable moments; it's a night that forges their dynamic and sucks you into what more this story offers. when things do get intense, the author does such an incredible job with showing why these k-pop artists, idols, have pushed themselves to reach this big stage, embracing the passion and pure love that these people have not just for the music but for performing, for getting to engage with fans. lucky never holds back in making sure jack knows that even though there's so much that she feels like she's had to bury, it's important to know that she always knew what she wanted and throughout this story, you see herself push for what feels right for her rather than sticking to this fake image her management company shaped for her. there's this inextricable connection that a fan has for a musical artist, and those saesang fans (stalkers, basically) taint that image but it's there. the love k-pop idols have for their fans is there, and the fans will and always be there to support them because these artists have supported us through their music and that's a very special gift. so it was nice to understand more of the bad that comes with the k-pop industry, but also get to see some of the good that lies somewhere there. this story felt very reflective as it discusses the importance of not just chasing after your dreams but putting your foot down to make sure that in going after that dream, you don't lose yourself or your passion for the sake of what other people want. lucky and jack are a really sweet pair, and they have a long road to go not just in their career pursuits but with each other. i'm glad that i got to this story and could see just a small bit of their journey so i hope for the best for them. something i'll be curious about for a long time is these side characters who as minor as they felt in the wide scope of this story, did hold some significant weight with how things turn out. seeing how this story ends, i'm not sure if lucky and jack will ever see them again but i'd like to think they'd stay in touch, just for the sake of my own sentimentality. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
2
|
Sep 21, 2021
not set
|
Sep 21, 2021
not set
|
Sep 28, 2024
|
Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||
| 0369734300
| 9780369734303
| B09SD7YT59
| 4.02
| 1,145
| Jul 19, 2022
| Jul 19, 2022
|
really liked it
|
4.5 / 5: “You know how sometimes the game goes too fast? That’s what it feels like. Like if I stop moving, it’s gonna pass me by.” reid giordano, new f 4.5 / 5: “You know how sometimes the game goes too fast? That’s what it feels like. Like if I stop moving, it’s gonna pass me by.” reid giordano, new favorite fictional character, it’s been decided. also this is a new favorite sports romance, my thoughts about it hopefully better articulated in this goodreads review than it was on storygraph but really it’s just like….i really loved this book. i loved reid & charlie. i loved christine & stephanie, the former who’s relationship with art made for a powerful scene at around the epilogue. i loved zach, who’s our main character in “unwritten rules” but only a brief side character in this story, yet still has a solid presence even while sitting in the background. i think it’s interesting on that note, that this book is our sequel in the overall series and yet it could be considered a prequel as it takes place well before the events of “unwritten rules”. it made looking at zach’s character feel like something unnecessary because again, he mostly sits in the background as he doesn’t have the closest relationship to our main characters here and yet i couldn’t help but just look at him in every scene he was present. while there was a dual timeline in the previous story, this one is focused strictly in the present, which i felt was a strong decision on the author’s part, and for reasons that will be explained soon. i loved the jewish rep, because it’s something i don’t see as often as i should in traditional publishing, and so seeing it here, seeing what being Jewish means for reid, specifically, it added a meaning to his journey that completely surprised me because i didn’t expect for him to mean as much to me as he does now. that journey is what boosted the rating to this book because i felt connected to zach’s character in the previous story, there’s no question about that, but with reid it was just…something else. something about his journey with sobriety and fighting each day from grabbing an alcoholic drink (and succeeding; he never touches one drop of alcohol throughout this entire story) while playing as a relief pitcher on his team, a team he couldn’t even call his own because he felt like any second now he would be pushed to somewhere else. there was something about the way he said in one instance, “Sometimes it feels like I’m making the same mistakes over and over”, and i just…fell very deeply for his character and this story as a whole. i fell deeply for this one part where reid talked about this thing in Jewish culture where you would throw a rock out to the water, the rock playing as a metaphor for whatever weight is being carried on you, and by releasing it out to the water, you’re also releasing that burden from your life. i feel like i bookmarked this page and so i’ve been trying to find it but there’s just so many scenes i tabbed that i’m having trouble finding it so i can explain it better but really :’) when reid explained this part, i started to see what all his persistent pitches were about in the middle of the game, ones that were hopeless and had him ejected, but were thrown because he was desperate to find his way back to his powerful pitches from before his life went awry, when his alcoholism was taking control. “Once I started throwing, I thought I was never gonna stop. I just wanted so bad to be different than how I was. Wanted someone, anyone, to come take away all this stuff I’d been carrying, and realizing I had to do it.” it was everything to see him working on his curveballs and improving his game, getting through one day then the next, his calls with his therapist so easily woven into this story without feeling out of place. to see the small ways he tried in keeping himself above ground, his grandma also a source of comfort which i absolutely loved. he mentions how he lost contact from the majority of his family due to his alcoholism, but with his grandma, she always stuck close and she always worried about him and he worried about the fact he was worrying her, and as someone who’s close to both my grandmas, it hit very hard. it meant a lot to see how he wasn’t completely alone, and even in moments where it felt like he was, where it felt like everything was rushing into his head and he was being pulled underwater, in the aftermath, he was able to settle above the water. the author focusing completely on the present rather than having us actually be there to see reid at his lowest, sort of similar to what we saw with zach in his story, it felt like such a meaningful decision. and this is because even though we were never physically there, every single piece of reid’s pov in this story carries the weight of his past so heavily that it’s impossible to not notice it; like there’s no reason to physically jump back in time to see how everything that happened follows him each and every day. it was impossible to not notice how heavy of a weight he harbors of the time he’s lost to alcohol, time he could’ve spent in the game or with family, and how he’s trying to make up for all that now. and so there being no dual timeline like there was in the previous book, it’s a conscious decision that for this story simply wasn’t necessary. in this present, we’re seeing reid keep one foot going after the next, and we’re seeing the romance he slowly builds with charlie, an intimacy that made me smile because i found so much comfort in the scenes they had together. again, baseball has and probably never will be my thing but it played a strong role in this book and without it, we wouldn’t have characters like reid and charlie, who in regards to the latter, has significant anxiety and whose pov felt so easy to sink into without any trouble, much more comforting than anything else. he has his own trouble with facing up to external conflicts, mainly with other people, as we see in his final stages of the divorce between him & christine, his soon to be ex-wife, and even with reid. yet because of reid, it feels like he manages to learn how to speak up more about what he thinks and what he wants. charlie’s a star in the baseball world and a millionaire to add on top to that and this story doesn’t make you forget that, but his relationship to the game and to other characters, to himself, made him feel so grounded and i loved that about him. i loved this book, again, and reading the title after finishing the story feels like it could be interpreted in more ways than one, and that’s stellar. content warnings: alcoholism, some injury/injury detail Merged review: 4.5 / 5: “You know how sometimes the game goes too fast? That’s what it feels like. Like if I stop moving, it’s gonna pass me by.” reid giordano, new favorite fictional character, it’s been decided. also this is a new favorite sports romance, my thoughts about it hopefully better articulated in this goodreads review than it was on storygraph but really it’s just like….i really loved this book. i loved reid & charlie. i loved christine & stephanie, the former who’s relationship with art made for a powerful scene at around the epilogue. i loved zach, who’s our main character in “unwritten rules” but only a brief side character in this story, yet still has a solid presence even while sitting in the background. i think it’s interesting on that note, that this book is our sequel in the overall series and yet it could be considered a prequel as it takes place well before the events of “unwritten rules”. it made looking at zach’s character feel like something unnecessary because again, he mostly sits in the background as he doesn’t have the closest relationship to our main characters here and yet i couldn’t help but just look at him in every scene he was present. while there was a dual timeline in the previous story, this one is focused strictly in the present, which i felt was a strong decision on the author’s part, and for reasons that will be explained soon. i loved the jewish rep, because it’s something i don’t see as often as i should in traditional publishing, and so seeing it here, seeing what being Jewish means for reid, specifically, it added a meaning to his journey that completely surprised me because i didn’t expect for him to mean as much to me as he does now. that journey is what boosted the rating to this book because i felt connected to zach’s character in the previous story, there’s no question about that, but with reid it was just…something else. something about his journey with sobriety and fighting each day from grabbing an alcoholic drink (and succeeding; he never touches one drop of alcohol throughout this entire story) while playing as a relief pitcher on his team, a team he couldn’t even call his own because he felt like any second now he would be pushed to somewhere else. there was something about the way he said in one instance, “Sometimes it feels like I’m making the same mistakes over and over”, and i just…fell very deeply for his character and this story as a whole. i fell deeply for this one part where reid talked about this thing in Jewish culture where you would throw a rock out to the water, the rock playing as a metaphor for whatever weight is being carried on you, and by releasing it out to the water, you’re also releasing that burden from your life. i feel like i bookmarked this page and so i’ve been trying to find it but there’s just so many scenes i tabbed that i’m having trouble finding it so i can explain it better but really :’) when reid explained this part, i started to see what all his persistent pitches were about in the middle of the game, ones that were hopeless and had him ejected, but were thrown because he was desperate to find his way back to his powerful pitches from before his life went awry, when his alcoholism was taking control. “Once I started throwing, I thought I was never gonna stop. I just wanted so bad to be different than how I was. Wanted someone, anyone, to come take away all this stuff I’d been carrying, and realizing I had to do it.” it was everything to see him working on his curveballs and improving his game, getting through one day then the next, his calls with his therapist so easily woven into this story without feeling out of place. to see the small ways he tried in keeping himself above ground, his grandma also a source of comfort which i absolutely loved. he mentions how he lost contact from the majority of his family due to his alcoholism, but with his grandma, she always stuck close and she always worried about him and he worried about the fact he was worrying her, and as someone who’s close to both my grandmas, it hit very hard. it meant a lot to see how he wasn’t completely alone, and even in moments where it felt like he was, where it felt like everything was rushing into his head and he was being pulled underwater, in the aftermath, he was able to settle above the water. the author focusing completely on the present rather than having us actually be there to see reid at his lowest, sort of similar to what we saw with zach in his story, it felt like such a meaningful decision. and this is because even though we were never physically there, every single piece of reid’s pov in this story carries the weight of his past so heavily that it’s impossible to not notice it; like there’s no reason to physically jump back in time to see how everything that happened follows him each and every day. it was impossible to not notice how heavy of a weight he harbors of the time he’s lost to alcohol, time he could’ve spent in the game or with family, and how he’s trying to make up for all that now. and so there being no dual timeline like there was in the previous book, it’s a conscious decision that for this story simply wasn’t necessary. in this present, we’re seeing reid keep one foot going after the next, and we’re seeing the romance he slowly builds with charlie, an intimacy that made me smile because i found so much comfort in the scenes they had together. again, baseball has and probably never will be my thing but it played a strong role in this book and without it, we wouldn’t have characters like reid and charlie, who in regards to the latter, has significant anxiety and whose pov felt so easy to sink into without any trouble, much more comforting than anything else. he has his own trouble with facing up to external conflicts, mainly with other people, as we see in his final stages of the divorce between him & christine, his soon to be ex-wife, and even with reid. yet because of reid, it feels like he manages to learn how to speak up more about what he thinks and what he wants. charlie’s a star in the baseball world and a millionaire to add on top to that and this story doesn’t make you forget that, but his relationship to the game and to other characters, to himself, made him feel so grounded and i loved that about him. i loved this book, again, and reading the title after finishing the story feels like it could be interpreted in more ways than one, and that’s stellar. content warnings: alcoholism, some injury/injury detail ...more |
Notes are private!
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2
|
Aug 03, 2022
not set
|
Aug 06, 2022
not set
|
Sep 27, 2024
|
Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||
| B0DDJXY8TP
| 4.41
| 34
| unknown
| Sep 26, 2024
|
really liked it
|
4.5 / 5: “Whatever patch of universe I end up as, I always wanted it to be right next to yours.” this was so comforting |
Notes are private!
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1
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Sep 26, 2024
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Sep 28, 2024
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Sep 26, 2024
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Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||||
| 1250085624
| 9781250085627
| B01CXON3NQ
| 3.73
| 4,859
| Oct 04, 2016
| Oct 04, 2016
|
liked it
|
3.5 / 5: i love how i'm practically working my way through caleb roehrig's backlist and now there's only about two or three more works from him to get
3.5 / 5: i love how i'm practically working my way through caleb roehrig's backlist and now there's only about two or three more works from him to get into. like i’m just that dedicated to reading everything he put out into the world. this was sort of an impulse read, even though i did have plans to eventually get to this book--i just didn't expect myself to pick it up so soon. i was looking for something to get sucked into and this ya mystery seemed very convenient, only to then have become the perfect selection because of just how fast-paced it was. this story takes place over the course of two weeks and yet so much happens that it feels like it could've happened in less than three days. throughout the course of this story, there's so much to unravel about the mystery behind january's disappearance and the one thing that really nailed the story for me was how the author portrayed her and flynn's relationship, both past and present. while we don't necessarily get to see january much during everything that occurs, there are little flashbacks of moments between her and flynn and just flynn's general connection to her as he persists to uncover the truth of why and how she was suddenly missing. i have to be honest in saying that from reading the synopsis alone, i sort of had a different expectation of flynn and january's relationship when it's alluded that flynn carries a secret of his own, which means there must be this incredible distance between him and his girlfriend. and that distance is there, we learn how he and january drifted apart shortly before she went missing, but the love he carries for her was so big it made the story feel that much more tense. because while you can infer what flynn's secret could possibly be (i had the experience of reading two other works from this author before this one so i had a pretty good guess), i don't think i gave that much credit to how deep his and january's relationship was, all secrets and barriers aside. there's a moment where flynn explains how even though there was this one thing that prevented himself from being physically intimate with her, he genuinely cared for her in a way where as friends, they were the closest you could ever be to someone, and as lovers it seemed like something natural to ease into. but of course, it's really not the case as far as in their relationship, and so there's some mistrust and disconnect that i think spurred flynn even further to try and make up for all that by finding her. by giving her the justice she deserves as the people who are supposed to protect her completely miss the mark. i have a very...grey view when it comes to law enforcement, like i'm a huge fan of "criminal minds" but it's fiction, and even then i have a few issues at some aspects of the field. and the detectives in this one? they just left a bitter taste in my mouth and really made this mystery feel even more tense as it didn't seem that they were really much on a trail; and that wasn't enjoyable to read. i think considering all the secrets that both flynn and january did have, there's the notion that "well yeah of course you don't like these detectives, you don't have to like them. they have no connection to these characters, meaning they have to ask the hard questions" but i just really did not care for them that much as they felt really distant to the story, and then also there's the fact that they were so persistent when it came to flynn possibly being a suspect that it eventually leaves him to confess something in a moment when he wasn't even ready. concerning january, there's that idea where you have to wonder what secrets are best left kept under wraps and what others can do good if revealed. with that, i like that the author really went deep into exploring how traumatizing it could be to uncover some truths while for maybe other characters, it can be a relief. still didn't like the detectives, though. i've always really liked all the main narrators in roehrig's stories, and flynn is no exception because alongside the fact that he's just so earnest and desperate in avenging january, there's a lot of moments in the story where we see him at his most vulnerable, little insights that he's snuck away from even her and the other close people in his life that come to light during the present events of this story. reading this book, and it's the same with a lot of them but with this one, i just genuinely enjoyed how much i really wanted to see it to the end in order to know what happens. that same drive that flynn has transfers directly to the reader and you become just as fervent in finding out what could possibly have happened to january. i wouldn't say i necessarily liked january's character from what we do see of her, but it was hard to ignore how much she does go through and how important she is to flynn. so thus, it becomes important to you as the reader to see if she's safe and if not, see her not have to suffer any longer than she did well before she disappeared. and so loose pieces starting to connect together by the end, along with a sort of open ending as far as one thread goes, just really tied everything that happened in this book in a cohesive way. so even if it might seem some predictable at some points, the author is really good at sucking you into this story and portraying these revelations without making it feel lackluster or a even bit anticlimactic. that's why i'm so interested in reading all of his books, because of that amazing ability so yeah there's that. content warnings//: graphic: suicide, descriptions of blood & injury, and explorations of grief moderate: physical violence, pedophilia, forced outing, use of homophobic slur(s), alcohol content, murder, and medical content minor: sexual assault, rape, drug use, and gore Merged review: 3.5 / 5: i love how i'm practically working my way through caleb roehrig's backlist and now there's only about two or three more works from him to get into. like i’m just that dedicated to reading everything he put out into the world. this was sort of an impulse read, even though i did have plans to eventually get to this book--i just didn't expect myself to pick it up so soon. i was looking for something to get sucked into and this ya mystery seemed very convenient, only to then have become the perfect selection because of just how fast-paced it was. this story takes place over the course of two weeks and yet so much happens that it feels like it could've happened in less than three days. throughout the course of this story, there's so much to unravel about the mystery behind january's disappearance and the one thing that really nailed the story for me was how the author portrayed her and flynn's relationship, both past and present. while we don't necessarily get to see january much during everything that occurs, there are little flashbacks of moments between her and flynn and just flynn's general connection to her as he persists to uncover the truth of why and how she was suddenly missing. i have to be honest in saying that from reading the synopsis alone, i sort of had a different expectation of flynn and january's relationship when it's alluded that flynn carries a secret of his own, which means there must be this incredible distance between him and his girlfriend. and that distance is there, we learn how he and january drifted apart shortly before she went missing, but the love he carries for her was so big it made the story feel that much more tense. because while you can infer what flynn's secret could possibly be (i had the experience of reading two other works from this author before this one so i had a pretty good guess), i don't think i gave that much credit to how deep his and january's relationship was, all secrets and barriers aside. there's a moment where flynn explains how even though there was this one thing that prevented himself from being physically intimate with her, he genuinely cared for her in a way where as friends, they were the closest you could ever be to someone, and as lovers it seemed like something natural to ease into. but of course, it's really not the case as far as in their relationship, and so there's some mistrust and disconnect that i think spurred flynn even further to try and make up for all that by finding her. by giving her the justice she deserves as the people who are supposed to protect her completely miss the mark. i have a very...grey view when it comes to law enforcement, like i'm a huge fan of "criminal minds" but it's fiction, and even then i have a few issues at some aspects of the field. and the detectives in this one? they just left a bitter taste in my mouth and really made this mystery feel even more tense as it didn't seem that they were really much on a trail; and that wasn't enjoyable to read. i think considering all the secrets that both flynn and january did have, there's the notion that "well yeah of course you don't like these detectives, you don't have to like them. they have no connection to these characters, meaning they have to ask the hard questions" but i just really did not care for them that much as they felt really distant to the story, and then also there's the fact that they were so persistent when it came to flynn possibly being a suspect that it eventually leaves him to confess something in a moment when he wasn't even ready. concerning january, there's that idea where you have to wonder what secrets are best left kept under wraps and what others can do good if revealed. with that, i like that the author really went deep into exploring how traumatizing it could be to uncover some truths while for maybe other characters, it can be a relief. still didn't like the detectives, though. i've always really liked all the main narrators in roehrig's stories, and flynn is no exception because alongside the fact that he's just so earnest and desperate in avenging january, there's a lot of moments in the story where we see him at his most vulnerable, little insights that he's snuck away from even her and the other close people in his life that come to light during the present events of this story. reading this book, and it's the same with a lot of them but with this one, i just genuinely enjoyed how much i really wanted to see it to the end in order to know what happens. that same drive that flynn has transfers directly to the reader and you become just as fervent in finding out what could possibly have happened to january. i wouldn't say i necessarily liked january's character from what we do see of her, but it was hard to ignore how much she does go through and how important she is to flynn. so thus, it becomes important to you as the reader to see if she's safe and if not, see her not have to suffer any longer than she did well before she disappeared. and so loose pieces starting to connect together by the end, along with a sort of open ending as far as one thread goes, just really tied everything that happened in this book in a cohesive way. so even if it might seem some predictable at some points, the author is really good at sucking you into this story and portraying these revelations without making it feel lackluster or a even bit anticlimactic. that's why i'm so interested in reading all of his books, because of that amazing ability so yeah there's that. content warnings//: graphic: suicide, descriptions of blood & injury, and explorations of grief moderate: physical violence, pedophilia, forced outing, use of homophobic slur(s), alcohol content, murder, and medical content minor: sexual assault, rape, drug use, and gore ...more |
Notes are private!
|
2
|
Aug 17, 2021
not set
|
Aug 18, 2021
not set
|
Sep 26, 2024
|
Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||
| 1735589829
| 9781735589824
| B08TB5STDG
| 4.27
| 1,050
| Oct 01, 2021
| Oct 01, 2021
|
it was amazing
|
"There isn't anyone else, sunshine. Only you." you know how like there’s always that one book that has everything you’ve been looking for in a story, e "There isn't anyone else, sunshine. Only you." you know how like there’s always that one book that has everything you’ve been looking for in a story, even if you weren’t consciously aware of it? it just feels like it’s for you, like you’re the perfect target audience for the book and every page that you read, the story gets better and better as if the author knows the exact spots that will hit you deeply? i don’t think i have enough emotional capacity to explain how much this book fits that perfectly for me. my journey with this series was a brief one due to how quickly i tore through all three books, but it’s surely become quite memorable due to the fact that this book is most certainly going to be on my “favorite reads of 2022” list. it hit all the right spots for me, not just as a reader who has my own preferences and all when it comes to fiction, but simply as someone who enjoys reading because of how many characters i’ve met who i could feel connected to. and in this one, jae & junichi are absolutely everything to me, no question. i’ll always be thankful towards the author for that first book with haruka & nino because i had read it at the most perfect time, and these characters felt so warm & familiar it was hard not to want to hide myself in the pages as a source of comfort. that emotional attachment i built was quite a big one and it helped tide me through the second book as there were certain parts in the vanishing that was just not as satisfying as i may have hoped for. it was still amazing, but out of the three books, the second one felt a bit faded. then this came out a couple months after, jae & junichi’s story, and just…wow. i thought my feelings were strong enough about the first book, and it definitely stems from the fact of how comforting it was for me to read it, but this one? this one is absolutely brilliant in every single way. jae & junichi’s characters didn’t just provide me some comfort or give me a sort of escape, they were quite literally the best example of how strong this author’s writing has clearly become over time as they were writing these books and i love that for them so much. it isn’t just about how compelling this world of vampires was, that allure that drew me in to this series in the first place, it was about how vast & truly diverse this group of characters were and how deeply their bonds move the reader in an incredible way. the author has always done an amazing job from the beginning with exploring these characters’ backgrounds, not simply labeling them according to their respective heritages/traits but actually delving into what makes them them, along with all the little things that piece them together throughout each of their stories. i was blown away with the japanese representation, especially as this series is set majorly in japan, but then there was the dominican representation here in the awakening…it wasn’t there just to be there, like it felt so real and it made me connect to junichi in a way i didn’t expect. i became so enamored me with his & jae’s relationship as they took the time to get to know each other and deal with their own respective “baggage”, as they themselves claim. the development of their bond was so incredibly moving, it touched me straight through the heart, and it genuinely did feel like something human the way that the author wrestled with their fears and showed the dark parts of a vampire aristocracy and how far it can push you away from it. in the case for both of these characters, this story provides so much depth as to just how significant it is to live in a time where humans & vampires live alongside each other and how they both affect each other. jae himself is a character who you only meet briefly in the second book and yet you feel like you got a good impression of him, only to realize just how much there’s yet to know about him, things he didn’t even know about himself. seeing the author take his & junichi’s journey so slow and with such careful hands made the emotional impact hit that much harder, and it did almost make me cry, i have to say. they both have experienced and still experience trauma connected to the vampire community that created this divide so hard to ignore as the story moves along, and to see how they grapple with it and try to keep themselves afloat felt harrowing and i was in it every step of the way. the decision to have this book in first-person dual pov was yet another creative choice on the author’s part that at first, i was really wary of but it quickly became probably one of the most genius things that came out of this entire book. i don’t know how to explain it well, only that first-person obviously is much more personal, and it gives a deeper exploration of how chaotic a character’s feelings can get as they experience turmoil in their own story. here, it was so clear how taken jae & junichi were with each other but outside of that, being in their respective first-person pov’s offered a more sharp picture that reflected their personal fears & desires. both characters felt so distinct, i enjoyed every minute of their perspectives—jae with his passion for healing those in the vampire community; even as self-sufficient as they might seem, his kind & ambitious heart pushes for there to be a much wider scope of care to give to those who are in need of it. as for junichi, having small insights into his career in fashion was an absolute delight. the amount of detail paid attention to the styles of all these characters in this book was phenomenal, an extension of each individual as they battle with internal forces. junichi wears such bright and daring clothing, but hides himself away from building any sort of intimate connection with a ranked vampire due to his traumatic past. jae, at least near the beginning, wears mute colors that seem to have him fade in the background as if to pass off as just some ordinary human, but whenever he’s with junichi, his charm and personality practically exude with pure confidence, it was hard to not be so enchanted by him; hence why junichi inevitably starts calling him “sunshine”. i love them together, i loved seeing them shed so many layers, even if it does get them hurt, because they learn so much more about themselves that they didn’t think was possible before. i loved how other characters we’re very familiar with added more depth and support in the longest book of this entire series, haruka & nino having such integral roles even without being the central pov’s as i was used to with the previous books. the author did a fantastic job in this book when it came to switching pov’s, because in this story, there was nothing directly in haruka & nino’s povs, which could’ve gone very badly if the second book wasn’t indicative enough. but jae & junichi’s characters are just phenomenal….i wish i could get to read more about them, they captured my heart completely. this world of vampires is such an ambitious and captivating landscape, i definitely can’t wait to see what more stories the author has to tell. content warnings: sexually explicit content, descriptions of blood & malnourishment, death, emotional & physical abuse, exploration of grief & PTSD Merged review: "There isn't anyone else, sunshine. Only you." you know how like there’s always that one book that has everything you’ve been looking for in a story, even if you weren’t consciously aware of it? it just feels like it’s for you, like you’re the perfect target audience for the book and every page that you read, the story gets better and better as if the author knows the exact spots that will hit you deeply? i don’t think i have enough emotional capacity to explain how much this book fits that perfectly for me. my journey with this series was a brief one due to how quickly i tore through all three books, but it’s surely become quite memorable due to the fact that this book is most certainly going to be on my “favorite reads of 2022” list. it hit all the right spots for me, not just as a reader who has my own preferences and all when it comes to fiction, but simply as someone who enjoys reading because of how many characters i’ve met who i could feel connected to. and in this one, jae & junichi are absolutely everything to me, no question. i’ll always be thankful towards the author for that first book with haruka & nino because i had read it at the most perfect time, and these characters felt so warm & familiar it was hard not to want to hide myself in the pages as a source of comfort. that emotional attachment i built was quite a big one and it helped tide me through the second book as there were certain parts in the vanishing that was just not as satisfying as i may have hoped for. it was still amazing, but out of the three books, the second one felt a bit faded. then this came out a couple months after, jae & junichi’s story, and just…wow. i thought my feelings were strong enough about the first book, and it definitely stems from the fact of how comforting it was for me to read it, but this one? this one is absolutely brilliant in every single way. jae & junichi’s characters didn’t just provide me some comfort or give me a sort of escape, they were quite literally the best example of how strong this author’s writing has clearly become over time as they were writing these books and i love that for them so much. it isn’t just about how compelling this world of vampires was, that allure that drew me in to this series in the first place, it was about how vast & truly diverse this group of characters were and how deeply their bonds move the reader in an incredible way. the author has always done an amazing job from the beginning with exploring these characters’ backgrounds, not simply labeling them according to their respective heritages/traits but actually delving into what makes them them, along with all the little things that piece them together throughout each of their stories. i was blown away with the japanese representation, especially as this series is set majorly in japan, but then there was the dominican representation here in the awakening…it wasn’t there just to be there, like it felt so real and it made me connect to junichi in a way i didn’t expect. i became so enamored me with his & jae’s relationship as they took the time to get to know each other and deal with their own respective “baggage”, as they themselves claim. the development of their bond was so incredibly moving, it touched me straight through the heart, and it genuinely did feel like something human the way that the author wrestled with their fears and showed the dark parts of a vampire aristocracy and how far it can push you away from it. in the case for both of these characters, this story provides so much depth as to just how significant it is to live in a time where humans & vampires live alongside each other and how they both affect each other. jae himself is a character who you only meet briefly in the second book and yet you feel like you got a good impression of him, only to realize just how much there’s yet to know about him, things he didn’t even know about himself. seeing the author take his & junichi’s journey so slow and with such careful hands made the emotional impact hit that much harder, and it did almost make me cry, i have to say. they both have experienced and still experience trauma connected to the vampire community that created this divide so hard to ignore as the story moves along, and to see how they grapple with it and try to keep themselves afloat felt harrowing and i was in it every step of the way. the decision to have this book in first-person dual pov was yet another creative choice on the author’s part that at first, i was really wary of but it quickly became probably one of the most genius things that came out of this entire book. i don’t know how to explain it well, only that first-person obviously is much more personal, and it gives a deeper exploration of how chaotic a character’s feelings can get as they experience turmoil in their own story. here, it was so clear how taken jae & junichi were with each other but outside of that, being in their respective first-person pov’s offered a more sharp picture that reflected their personal fears & desires. both characters felt so distinct, i enjoyed every minute of their perspectives—jae with his passion for healing those in the vampire community; even as self-sufficient as they might seem, his kind & ambitious heart pushes for there to be a much wider scope of care to give to those who are in need of it. as for junichi, having small insights into his career in fashion was an absolute delight. the amount of detail paid attention to the styles of all these characters in this book was phenomenal, an extension of each individual as they battle with internal forces. junichi wears such bright and daring clothing, but hides himself away from building any sort of intimate connection with a ranked vampire due to his traumatic past. jae, at least near the beginning, wears mute colors that seem to have him fade in the background as if to pass off as just some ordinary human, but whenever he’s with junichi, his charm and personality practically exude with pure confidence, it was hard to not be so enchanted by him; hence why junichi inevitably starts calling him “sunshine”. i love them together, i loved seeing them shed so many layers, even if it does get them hurt, because they learn so much more about themselves that they didn’t think was possible before. i loved how other characters we’re very familiar with added more depth and support in the longest book of this entire series, haruka & nino having such integral roles even without being the central pov’s as i was used to with the previous books. the author did a fantastic job in this book when it came to switching pov’s, because in this story, there was nothing directly in haruka & nino’s povs, which could’ve gone very badly if the second book wasn’t indicative enough. but jae & junichi’s characters are just phenomenal….i wish i could get to read more about them, they captured my heart completely. this world of vampires is such an ambitious and captivating landscape, i definitely can’t wait to see what more stories the author has to tell. content warnings: sexually explicit content, descriptions of blood & malnourishment, death, emotional & physical abuse, exploration of grief & PTSD ...more |
Notes are private!
|
2
|
Feb 17, 2022
not set
|
Feb 17, 2022
not set
|
Sep 26, 2024
|
ebook
| ||||||||||||||
| 1488055238
| 9781488055232
| B08GSPVMZ8
| 4.22
| 1,744
| Feb 09, 2021
| Feb 09, 2021
|
really liked it
|
4.75 / 5: “How do I look?” Rory said pointedly. Arthur opened his eyes, so blue, even in the dim light. “Happy,” he whispered. quick, everyone, take a s 4.75 / 5: “How do I look?” Rory said pointedly. Arthur opened his eyes, so blue, even in the dim light. “Happy,” he whispered. quick, everyone, take a shot every time the author tacks on the “with feeling” line after a character delivers a passionate line (which there is many in this series) /j on a serious note, im genuinely happy that i’ve gotten this far with this series after it having spent so long on my tbr shelf. arthur & rory’s romance was sweet & emotional as hell, and the background of such a wide range of characters added for a dazzling story bursting to the seams with magic & history. while in this final installment, things certainly got even more twist-ey and so it was hard to follow up at times, the author’s careful exploration to how dangerously creative magic can be made for a very thrilling finale that gripped me tightly. i’ll always feel so delighted at getting to read a historical fantasy that’s set in our real world and comes with real issues, and we also got to see such a diverse cast that have their own histories and insights to share. this story is majorly set in an America that actively despised any immigrants (that problem is still here today) and yet it was these characters and their ancestry that carried out the most significant roles to keep any curses at bay. the magic most of them carry add even more significance to their role in the story and the legacies they carry as immigrants are both enlightening and a very heavy weight to bear. seeing the different ways they all bonded with each other while also breaking a few ties for the sake of neutrality added a lot tension as there’s a found family element at play here, so it made it difficult to see them all in potential danger and wishing each other to survive what comes next. there’s a lot of adventure to explore in this book, more cities dazzling the page despite the ominous tone pervading all of them. the author was so brilliant in how vivid a picture they painted of a world that arthur & rory dream to explore together, and i loved how in all the excitement & terror that magic creates, the softest moments were found between both once star-crossed lovers. a small critique i have (very small, in fact) is how in light of all the chaos that does occur in this story, certain conflicts & insecurities that arose regarding the romance between our two main characters felt a little….repetitive? which isn’t the right word, but it’s close. there is an age gap between arthur & rory, one that from the beginning isn’t made light of and many characters (like including the lovers themselves) certainly have made this remark. rory is this powerful psychometric with the ability to touch objects and see its history depending on the people who’ve interacted with it—and he’s also perhaps the youngest paranormal we meet in the series. with that youthful age, comes points in the story where he certainly feels much younger than the other characters because he is. i liked seeing how even in that simple fact, we see rory overcome others’ expectations of him and feel more secure in what he wants and how he’ll go after it, arthur the one anchor that from the beginning has always told rory he could rely on—and that never changed. despite how certain parts made out rory to seem very immature for his age, because again he is, he was one of the strongest characters in this series and i’m so happy to have gotten to read his pov to the end. the balance of his & arthur’s povs added a depth to the narrative that i always enjoyed with duel pov stories, and i loved how much more angst & tension it brought as we see them get separated and also uncover secrets that were bound to be unfolded sooner or later. in all those secrets, arthur & rory still find each other with every struggling step, and the love they share for each other was so endearing it was a complete magic of its own that could never be replicated, i think. other characters have their romances, and that’s sweet and all, but i’m glad it was arthur & rory’s that i had the gift to follow. i wish them the best. content warnings: descriptions of blood & injury, some violence, and murder Merged review: 4.75 / 5: “How do I look?” Rory said pointedly. Arthur opened his eyes, so blue, even in the dim light. “Happy,” he whispered. quick, everyone, take a shot every time the author tacks on the “with feeling” line after a character delivers a passionate line (which there is many in this series) /j on a serious note, im genuinely happy that i’ve gotten this far with this series after it having spent so long on my tbr shelf. arthur & rory’s romance was sweet & emotional as hell, and the background of such a wide range of characters added for a dazzling story bursting to the seams with magic & history. while in this final installment, things certainly got even more twist-ey and so it was hard to follow up at times, the author’s careful exploration to how dangerously creative magic can be made for a very thrilling finale that gripped me tightly. i’ll always feel so delighted at getting to read a historical fantasy that’s set in our real world and comes with real issues, and we also got to see such a diverse cast that have their own histories and insights to share. this story is majorly set in an America that actively despised any immigrants (that problem is still here today) and yet it was these characters and their ancestry that carried out the most significant roles to keep any curses at bay. the magic most of them carry add even more significance to their role in the story and the legacies they carry as immigrants are both enlightening and a very heavy weight to bear. seeing the different ways they all bonded with each other while also breaking a few ties for the sake of neutrality added a lot tension as there’s a found family element at play here, so it made it difficult to see them all in potential danger and wishing each other to survive what comes next. there’s a lot of adventure to explore in this book, more cities dazzling the page despite the ominous tone pervading all of them. the author was so brilliant in how vivid a picture they painted of a world that arthur & rory dream to explore together, and i loved how in all the excitement & terror that magic creates, the softest moments were found between both once star-crossed lovers. a small critique i have (very small, in fact) is how in light of all the chaos that does occur in this story, certain conflicts & insecurities that arose regarding the romance between our two main characters felt a little….repetitive? which isn’t the right word, but it’s close. there is an age gap between arthur & rory, one that from the beginning isn’t made light of and many characters (like including the lovers themselves) certainly have made this remark. rory is this powerful psychometric with the ability to touch objects and see its history depending on the people who’ve interacted with it—and he’s also perhaps the youngest paranormal we meet in the series. with that youthful age, comes points in the story where he certainly feels much younger than the other characters because he is. i liked seeing how even in that simple fact, we see rory overcome others’ expectations of him and feel more secure in what he wants and how he’ll go after it, arthur the one anchor that from the beginning has always told rory he could rely on—and that never changed. despite how certain parts made out rory to seem very immature for his age, because again he is, he was one of the strongest characters in this series and i’m so happy to have gotten to read his pov to the end. the balance of his & arthur’s povs added a depth to the narrative that i always enjoyed with duel pov stories, and i loved how much more angst & tension it brought as we see them get separated and also uncover secrets that were bound to be unfolded sooner or later. in all those secrets, arthur & rory still find each other with every struggling step, and the love they share for each other was so endearing it was a complete magic of its own that could never be replicated, i think. other characters have their romances, and that’s sweet and all, but i’m glad it was arthur & rory’s that i had the gift to follow. i wish them the best. content warnings: descriptions of blood & injury, some violence, and murder ...more |
Notes are private!
|
2
|
Jun 06, 2022
not set
|
Jun 07, 2022
not set
|
Sep 21, 2024
|
Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||
| B01MSICPW3
| 3.63
| 210,343
| Jul 18, 2017
| Jul 18, 2017
|
really liked it
|
Look at him tripping at the same broken step as always, pausing to look down in surprise. Look at him turning to take the last few steps toward the on
Look at him tripping at the same broken step as always, pausing to look down in surprise. Look at him turning to take the last few steps toward the one who awaits him. His face tilted upward toward home. Look at him, look at him. How could I not love him? it’s just so beautiful how much a book could surprise you in the best ways. it was so absurdly written and convoluted—and it was all written in the hands of a narrator who absolutely adored our protagonist even when split across the world. this whole mysterious narrator bit really motivated me to the end. it was such an anticipatory kind of tension, among all those details here & there in all of less’ crazy adventures. arthur less is such a deeply flawed character with a persona described as very innocent & youthful even when nearing 50……i loved seeing him in all his bumbling confusion and self-pity, yet getting to do things that i could hardly tell if most people would do. going on a cross-country itinerary of literary events as a failing novelist has such an amazing hook to it, and there was a genuine longing that touched me a lot. i wasn’t expecting how invested i'd be in the love story that unfolds here, and i loved watching arthur less make these stumbles and yet manage to reach such high places. it’s as a side character tells him: ”You are the most absurd person I’ve ever met. You’ve bumbled through every moment and been a fool; you’ve misunderstood and misspoken and tripped over absolutely everything and everyone in your path, and you’ve won. And you don’t even realize it.” i adored the reveal at the end, so….slight boost in rating ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Sep 15, 2024
|
Sep 19, 2024
|
Sep 15, 2024
|
Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||||
| 4.31
| 953
| Dec 19, 2019
| 2019
|
it was amazing
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“On that day you found me, the moon was especially bright and the night was peaceful. When I managed to stick my head from the corpse pile, I saw you
“On that day you found me, the moon was especially bright and the night was peaceful. When I managed to stick my head from the corpse pile, I saw you slowly approaching in the moonlight. You walked with no sound and my vision was weak, so if the moon hadn’t been so bright, I would’ve missed you.” sobs, this story caught me completely by surprise, i love it so much ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Aug 26, 2024
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Aug 29, 2024
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Aug 26, 2024
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| 4.16
| 829
| unknown
| 2020
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really liked it
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4.75 / 5: ”When I first met him by the river, the Phoenix flew into my heart and because of it, I disregarded everything and wanted to save only him..
4.75 / 5: ”When I first met him by the river, the Phoenix flew into my heart and because of it, I disregarded everything and wanted to save only him..." "One thousand three hundred and fifty-one failures, negative 135,100 points is the proof. No matter how many missions I do, I will always answer it wrong and save the wrong person." Song Qingshi wiped away his tears and said, unbending. "Because he was a mistake I was most willing to make!" okay well this book got to me. this was yet another one of those stories i always had on my radar but wasn’t that compelled to read—just the same as it was with golden terrace!! what both have in common is that some of even the smallest coincidences finally moved me to give them a chance, and for that, song qingshi’s words on the butterfly effect took me by storm. i really enjoyed how epic this story felt. it had this awe-inspiring mix of comedy and tragedy all rolled up into one, along with some heart-pulsing action and sincere romances. i got really attached to characters like an long and bai zihao—so much, in fact, that there was a point i longed much more for scenes of them, despite knowing they weren’t the main characters of this story. thankfully, i did still find song qingshi & yue wuhuan’s story really compelling. there was something so inexplicably sad about the fog that lied behind yue wuhuan’s character, seeing all the ways he was taken advantage by even the cosmos themselves. i very much wanted to know how his story would end, and his connection with song qingshi really just sealed it for me. i still wouldn’t be completely opposed to reading more bonus stories about an long & his roaring adventures and/or bai zihao & his weirdly sweet romance with a character we only meet near the end of the story, and yet has such a huge presence, i could hardly forget him. so much to like about this story, and many more to come!! i loved song qingshi’s narration, and i loved it even more when certain secrets were revealed. the fantasy genre is my favorite for a reason, and this story is an example why. (i also loved that in yet another tale of the transmigration trope, this one crafted a narrative in where a character like yao wuhuan, who was never intended to be saved, kept rising like a true phoenix. it’s very on the nose, but it still hit hard) content warnings: major: slavery, medical content, sexual violence, death, and descriptions of war moderate: attempted suicide, emotional/psychological manipulation, animal experimentation, and torture ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Aug 19, 2024
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Aug 25, 2024
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Aug 16, 2024
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ebook
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| 0593726820
| 9780593726822
| 0593726820
| 3.66
| 4,575
| Jul 08, 2020
| Aug 20, 2024
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liked it
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3.75 / 5: Music for a wounded heart… what a sweet & comforting story this was!! :’) thank you to the publisher for sending this ARC over to my booksell 3.75 / 5: Music for a wounded heart… what a sweet & comforting story this was!! :’) thank you to the publisher for sending this ARC over to my bookseller job. me & my coworkers will absolutely cherish and root for this story when it’s officially published!! was it particularly life-changing? no. but was it like a sip of coffee that spilled a rush of warmth through my veins every once in a while? yes; which is exactly what this is for. in short, there was a comfort in the way the author tied the lessons of astrology to these characters’ lives. as easy as it might be to dismiss the wonders of the cosmos, there’s something so healing about the idea that just as we are made up of the stars, we’re also intrinsically connected to them in all aspects of our lives. the world is a complicated place, made up of complicated rules governed by complicated beings—and at the end of the day, the idea of talking cats and mysterious mobile cafes is much less disbelieving than most things we have to face everyday. if anything, it’s a life-saver, as all fantasies are. the character i loved the most was in our very first pov, our “down-on-her-luck screenwriter”, mizuki serikawa. once a schoolteacher and a prominent writer in the television industry, mizuki’s life in her 40s has reached a stalemate that’s led her to believe she deserves nothing grand and without misery. something small in particular i loved about her pov were the little details about the job she’s working with now by helping write a script for a mobile dating game. it’s such a niche type of career that i don’t read about often, so even when she was stuck writing drab storylines for the throwaway side character, i was fascinated with the amount of work that still had to obviously be put into it. despite knowing her misery, it speaks a lot to her potential that career-wise, she’s someone i could root for—no matter how down in her luck she may be. i also liked the encouragement that came from her experience meeting with the talking cats—the acknowledgement that she’s still young in life and has a lot more to learn; that you could be as successful as possible in what may be your “roaring 20s”, but even when that road trails down a dead end, that doesn’t mean your journey is over. mizuki has so much left to give to the world, and so many more ideas to share as the entertainment industry grows & changes. probably the biggest impact she could’ve ever made is that she’s done so much to help her students back in her time as a schoolteacher, reflecting the change her presence has brought to them well into their futures. rather than having the povs be of completely separate characters, all of them are as intertwined as the stars are to human beings. i loved the way their stories all lined up with each other, and it made the lessons they learned feel more profound. 3.75 may seem very picky, but again, it wasn’t a story that left a deep crater in my heart. it was more just a warm hug. and i’m glad to have received it!! now onto sharing this ARC to my other coworker!! ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Aug 11, 2024
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Aug 11, 2024
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Aug 11, 2024
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Hardcover
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| 9798400901614
| B0CRR1KYVT
| 4.64
| 984
| Jun 21, 2021
| Jun 18, 2024
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it was amazing
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4.75 / 5: I don’t have skills like “combat sense” or “blade proficiency”. A powerful sword does not make a powerful swordsman …but I’m not a swordsman
4.75 / 5: I don’t have skills like “combat sense” or “blade proficiency”. A powerful sword does not make a powerful swordsman …but I’m not a swordsman. I’m a reader. A reader should fight like a reader. this was so epic ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jul 29, 2024
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Jul 30, 2024
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Jul 29, 2024
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Paperback
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| 9798400901294
| B0CL3ZH8NS
| 4.62
| 1,249
| Dec 22, 2020
| Mar 19, 2024
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really liked it
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4.5 / 5: “May the blessings of the stories be with you.” cant even begin to describe to you how surreal it felt to finally read kim dokja & yu junghye 4.5 / 5: “May the blessings of the stories be with you.” cant even begin to describe to you how surreal it felt to finally read kim dokja & yu junghyeok’s first meeting :’) fun fact: not only have i known about this web novel for quite a while, but ive also been familiar with the popularity of a certain fanon (?) ship, so…… that + the scenes between kim dokja & the goblin, bihyeong, were my most favorite parts of this volume. the former carried a lot of tension as reader and OP protagonist meet each other for the first time; while the latter made me laugh in how much kim dokja caught bihyeong off-guard with his supreme knowledge of the story. the way he managed to find a lot of loop holes to carry him through made him a much more compelling character. it feels so interesting knowing that it’s like we’re the constellations ourselves, overseeing the actions of these incarnations and determining how or if we wish them to survive. the fourth wall skill kim dokja activated may make it seem as if this game would be too easy, but as seen in his confrontation with yu junghyeok, he’ll have to be very careful in wading through this narrative!! it’s all so exciting!! phenomenal artwork, of course, and i cannot wait to see more of it!! content warnings: moderate: violence, and death ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jul 29, 2024
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Jul 29, 2024
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Jul 29, 2024
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Paperback
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| 1975398629
| 9781975398620
| 1975398629
| 4.47
| 1,190
| Dec 04, 2023
| Aug 20, 2024
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really liked it
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4.25 / 5: “But if I’m a god, why’m I so troubled…?” idk other-hikaru, but i love that we’re getting more deep into the mystery arc!! depressing as hik 4.25 / 5: “But if I’m a god, why’m I so troubled…?” idk other-hikaru, but i love that we’re getting more deep into the mystery arc!! depressing as hikaru & yoshiki’s relationship is, there’s a comfort in the way yoshiki yearns so hard and wants to protect hikaru, even if it’s not the real him…. the ending caught me so much by surprise, and i can’t even imagine how yoshiki is going to cope however long it takes *** to recover, if so :’) content warnings: moderate: body horror, and exploration of grief ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Aug 29, 2024
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Aug 31, 2024
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Jul 28, 2024
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Paperback
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| B0D9BYH6NL
| 4.46
| 1,826
| Aug 06, 2024
| Aug 06, 2024
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it was amazing
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“…No more lessons, right? Just… me and you.” “Yes.” Unable to resist, I lowered my mouth back to his. “Just me and you.” be still my freaking heart, beca “…No more lessons, right? Just… me and you.” “Yes.” Unable to resist, I lowered my mouth back to his. “Just me and you.” be still my freaking heart, because this book exceeded my expectations by being the sweetest thing with the most bizarre backdrop ever. and i love the author dearly for it. thank you so much to the publisher for gifting me this e-ARC. a very passionate and happy review is to come soon before this title is published just two weeks from now on august 6 ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jul 23, 2024
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Jul 25, 2024
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Jul 23, 2024
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Kindle Edition
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| 9798400901065
| B0CCNFHFZD
| 4.63
| 5,466
| 2020
| Dec 12, 2023
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really liked it
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4.5 / 5: “This is not a film shoot. This isn’t a dream or a novel, or reality as you knew it! You got that? You’ve all had quite the cozy lives, haven’ 4.5 / 5: “This is not a film shoot. This isn’t a dream or a novel, or reality as you knew it! You got that? You’ve all had quite the cozy lives, haven’t you? From the day you were born, you had a free ride! Breathing, eating, and shitting without a care in the world. Breeding like flies! Ha! What a wonderful world you lived in! Well, too bad. The good times are over.” this read was a long time coming lol i have a very vague memory of reading the beginning of this story on webtoon and just never getting around to continuing it…… me and graphic novels didn’t mix well at the time :’) the story itself always sounded so thrilling, but i couldn’t seem to try and search for an alternative way of reading it (maybe light novel??). either way, i finally did get into it, with my love for the scum villain’s self-saving system and the disabled tyrant’s beloved pet fish making me enjoy this story even more. the transmigration trope is one i didn’t even think too clearly about before, but now it just made me even more happy to pick up this wildly popular once-a web novel. this first volume was really fast-paced—hence why i was able to clear through it so quickly in less than two hours. i loved how much i was able to appreciate the art more than i would’ve two years ago; the sense of urgency and despair as these characters are dropped into this apocalyptic landscape was drawn so well. i loved kim dokja’s introduction to the story, and how seamlessly he seemed to step into survival mode once he realized the story he’s painstakingly read for a whole 10 years of his life was brought into his reality. the author did such a good job with already endearing yourself to the main character within the first few pages (i connected quite easily to his interest in reading ofc but also the heartfelt comments he always left as the only reader of his favorite web novel was sweet as hell). once the action got started, he only became even more interesting when i particularly saw him face off with one of the title characters of the original web novel, kim namwoon. that face-off was so tense and invigorating, and it must be exactly what elevated kim dokja’s status to the constellations presiding over these characters. speaking of the constellations, im also loving the insight into the once-fictional world kim dokja spent years diving into. learning about these cast of sponsors who aid the players of the game in surviving the apocalypse added more structure to what we know these characters will have to face up against. (i thought the goblin character really livened the world up as well; as you could probably tell from the fact i used their quote for this review haha). overall, i loved this very much, as was expected. i cannot wait to continue :’) because of how fast paced this all was, i might space out my reading of this series (key word: might—im a huge mood reader -.-) to help keep from feeling too overwhelmed. im already having such a great time and im happy to have finally started this story!! content warnings: major: animal death (specifically, insects), murder, and descriptions of violence ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jul 15, 2024
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Jul 15, 2024
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Jul 15, 2024
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Paperback
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| 9798888438183
| B0CM5PBTPY
| 4.38
| 291
| unknown
| Jul 2024
|
it was amazing
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If you believe your existence is insignificant, no one else will take you seriously either. I’m different from you. I am who I am. Even if I fall ill, If you believe your existence is insignificant, no one else will take you seriously either. I’m different from you. I am who I am. Even if I fall ill, even if I’m on the brink of death, even if my limbs are crippled, no one can replace me, Cui Buqu. it’s only the first volume and i already have a favorite character………cui buqu really is just that mystifying. set in the same world as “thousand autumns”, it’s only natural for me to think of “peerless” as a continuation of a series i grew to love. the difference is that this story has shifted so that we see through the eyes of new characters whose roles prove more enlightening for the future of the Sui dynasty. and it’s actually really interesting, too, because after reading QQ’s extras, yan wushi & shen qiao’s own musings predicted for far more to come for the central plains. feng xiao and cui buqu’s povs already have me completely obsessed—hence the 5-star rating—but it’s the shift in focus from the jianghu where the grandmasters of martial arts reside to the center of the empire that really gripped me. while feng xiao holds a renowned reputation not just for his peerless beauty but also his unmatched martial arts skills, cui buqu shows a different set of skills that already tip the scales very heavily towards his goals—even snaring feng xiao into his traps. he’s already become a huge favorite character of mine in all his wit and observations; seeing him acknowledge his physical weaknesses due to a chronic illness that ails him only made me admire him more. and it’s that ailment that for all in the jianghu will signal him to be someone hardly worth noticing. but despite being set in the same world, this is not the “thousand autumns” that we’ve become familiar with—this is a very different story. and it’s in this same story where prominent QQ characters like yan wushi knew very well that an empire’s longevity is guaranteed much more than just in its martial arts prowess. learning how to navigate political snags between territories and uncover dubious mysteries is work we will be getting to see most in depth with feng xiao & cui buqu’s respective agencies, and it’s all so exciting!! cui buqu is most capable in this respect, and some of the supporting cast marvel in how much he shows that that weakness of his makes a perfect weapon in this game of chess. This kind of man—even if his life could be extinguished at any moment, he burned so brightly that no one could ignore him. the mystery dived into this first volume is only the beginning of a much larger deception at work, and to have both of these characters’ wit and charm narrating it makes me happy. there’s something about meng xi shi’s writing that has become really comforting, and by uncovering this other work of hers, i already am kinda obsessed with it :’) so much so that i legitimately have been considering to already re-read it…. the dynamic between feng xiao & cui buqi is exactly what i’ve been promised by long-time fans of this series—every conversation they have is filled with barbed insults and sweet nothings, and it just makes their chemistry feel that much stronger. and again!! the story has only just begun!! they’re both subjects under the famed emperor and empress, respectively, but instead of the harmony & love that’s so bountiful between this empire’s reigning leaders, we have two chiefs who will never pass up an opportunity to trip over the other. i can’t wait to see how that contempt will soon grow into a nameless yearning. it feels like feng xiao is already falling down that well, but it’s still very early, so i will just see!! content warnings: major: descriptions of violence, chronic illness, after-effects of a lethal poisoning, and blood moderate: murder, and injury/injury detail ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Aug 02, 2024
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Aug 05, 2024
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Jul 15, 2024
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Paperback
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| 4.14
| 207
| unknown
| Aug 30, 2022
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it was ok
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2.5 / 5: In the future, I don't expect perfection. Just spending each day with Phi Yenn is enough for me. Whether it be a sweet or bitter day. oh, wun 2.5 / 5: In the future, I don't expect perfection. Just spending each day with Phi Yenn is enough for me. Whether it be a sweet or bitter day. oh, wun….. :’) wun has my whole heart and yenn makes him happy—which is great ( ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jul 09, 2024
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Jul 10, 2024
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Jul 09, 2024
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Paperback
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| 1668022249
| 9781668022245
| 1668022249
| 3.65
| 7,226
| Jul 16, 2024
| Jul 16, 2024
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really liked it
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4.5 / 5: "Tell them about me, won't you? Tell them I burned bright, at least for a little while.” the end of this book almost making me cry……. :) tolly 4.5 / 5: "Tell them about me, won't you? Tell them I burned bright, at least for a little while.” the end of this book almost making me cry……. :) tolly driver and his…epic way of storytelling—dragging out long sentences and really setting the scene for the summer of 1989 & its endless slaughter, which was absolutely scary for tolly & his victims but wicked for the reader. it wasn’t just the blood of these characters on his hands but also this sense of free falling. there was this feeling of impending doom as the slasher in tolly took control of the narrative, even when he wasn’t fully conscious of it. it added an almost supernatural tone to the story, and through that, made it all the more tense. the idea of having this book be an autobiography written by his own hand immediately hiked the story to the next level, and the execution made it even better. that fear that was described as he stalked up to his victims, and the euphoria that crawled when he caught the sight of his final girl—it was all so well-written. this is my first stephen graham jones novel and i loved tolly’s narration the most. i loved how meta it was; practically a homage to the slasher genre, and a lot to tolly’s grief as well. he had this really witty way of bringing his past to life and making very self-aware comments as a slasher, which charmed you to him immediately. but then there was also such an irrevocable sadness to it all….the details about his recently passed father and him mourning over what’s been lost with his mom was an aspect of the story that made it hit really hard, in particular. everything that tolly recounts has already happened, and even when flashing back to the days he became too far gone, you still want to believe there’s something better at the end, but there won’t. he’s a character who’s marked himself in my memory, because there was so much heart to someone even as killer as him. just as well as his closest friend, amber, who this book was dedicated to. very gory story to be expected, but the doomed friendship got to me, too. content warnings: major: body horror, murder, graphic descriptions of a near-fatal allergic reaction (to peanuts, specifically), and violence moderate: injury/injury detail, exploration of grief, and blood minor: death of a parent, and allusions to suicide ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jul 20, 2024
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Jul 28, 2024
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Jul 01, 2024
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Hardcover
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my rating |
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| 4.48
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really liked it
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Sep 29, 2024
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Sep 29, 2024
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| 4.16
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it was amazing
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Aug 12, 2021
not set
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Sep 28, 2024
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| 3.66
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really liked it
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Sep 21, 2021
not set
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Sep 28, 2024
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| 4.02
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really liked it
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Aug 06, 2022
not set
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Sep 27, 2024
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| 4.41
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really liked it
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Sep 28, 2024
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Sep 26, 2024
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| 3.73
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liked it
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Aug 18, 2021
not set
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Sep 26, 2024
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| 4.27
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it was amazing
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Feb 17, 2022
not set
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Sep 26, 2024
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| 4.22
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really liked it
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Jun 07, 2022
not set
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Sep 21, 2024
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| 3.63
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really liked it
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Sep 19, 2024
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Sep 15, 2024
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| 4.31
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it was amazing
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Aug 29, 2024
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Aug 26, 2024
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| 4.16
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really liked it
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Aug 25, 2024
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Aug 16, 2024
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| 3.66
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liked it
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Aug 11, 2024
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Aug 11, 2024
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| 4.64
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it was amazing
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Jul 30, 2024
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Jul 29, 2024
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| 4.62
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really liked it
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Jul 29, 2024
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Jul 29, 2024
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| 4.47
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really liked it
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Aug 31, 2024
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Jul 28, 2024
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| 4.46
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it was amazing
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Jul 25, 2024
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Jul 23, 2024
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| 4.63
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really liked it
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Jul 15, 2024
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Jul 15, 2024
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| 4.38
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it was amazing
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Aug 05, 2024
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Jul 15, 2024
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| 4.14
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it was ok
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Jul 10, 2024
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Jul 09, 2024
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| 3.65
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really liked it
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Jul 28, 2024
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Jul 01, 2024
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