al_exposition's reviews
19 reviews

• the fact that we open up with olive talking to ~mystery man~ about her why for wanting to go to graduate school?? that was toooo good imo. i think it hits extra hard for me because i literally am in graduate school, and because a lot of my internal monologue when thinking about what to do for my future has just been "well why do i want to do this??" and it's genuinely a tough question to answer. for me, im in grad school because i need to be in order to get a job. but i've also asked myself this question in relation to other things as well, so that personal connection immediately got me hooked.

• if there's smth i love between main leads, it's their mf BANTER! the little inside jokes they have and the way their communication gradually became more friendly and fun felt so natural and not rushed
• speaking of pacing, i LOVE that we dived into the plot asap. i m tired of 100 pages of context like - we got so much of olive and adam's characterization in the first 20 pages, but then also throughout the book. again- the pacing was so good where we got information about each character in an organic and need-to-know-basis kind of way (the ending was a littleeee rushed imo but that's fine)
• lord how i love that they communicated when they had their first disagreement

• tom. woof this was tough. on one hand, i appreciated it being there because it's a horrendous reality that when trying to advance your career as a woman, there are men who will use their power to coerce and force you into giving them sexual favors. but on the other hand it's like - did i miss a tw? i feel like i missed a tw because no way they the author dropped in sexual harassment sans-tw.
  • aspects about this plot point that i genuinely liked:
    honestly tom's monologue about how people wouldn't believe her and that her accomplishments were only because of adam...? that HURT to read but it was so well written like even EYE got gaslit.
    • the depiction of olive's turmoil about it. being scared that nobody would believe her, that it would ruin adam's future, and most importantly: HOW HER FRIENDS REACTED. reading how malcom and anh reacted. i cried. i crode. i crew. they were so supportive in the way that they needed to be, and they made sure to reassure olive that they would be there for her every step of the way. and they were. idk i just love the scene of them all huddled together.
      top 5 scenes in the book imo
  • aspects about this plot point that i wanted to die at:
    other than the fact that it happened... adam's reaction. LKSADJFLAKSJDFLASDK JUST- HIM SCREAMING OUT "THE WOMAN I LOVE" AND BEING AN ALPHA MALE ABOUT IT. AT HIS JURASSIC AGE... yeah... and then olive having to step in and be like "it's me!!! this isn't u!!!! he isn't worth it !!!!!" oh lawrd i can't it's cringe central but yk what yolo dolo man.

• olive being demisexual <3 like ik it's not explicitly said in the text but come on yawllll iykyk and i knoww. i really like the representation sprinkled throughout the book like where malcom is queer and anh is a poc who cares about uplifting women in stem. 
• were someee of the depictions of these two stereotypical? just a tad like malcom being sassy and anh's main character arc being about her women in stem journey. like ik they were more than those things, but they felt central to their character. meanwhile, olive being demisexual was secondary to her actual research. does this make sense? anyways, this is the main reason why my rating got knocked down a little bit.

• hehe,,, strangers to
  single-sided crush
  to mutually beneficial fake dating to miscommunication to
  double single-sided crushes
  to lovers to ~lovers~ to strangers to lovers to MY FAVORITES!!!

disclaimer: i am just a girl who wants to read more

i went into reading the book without reading the synopsis, so i truly believed jane was just a mysterious girl on the train the first 100 pages LMFAOOO. but once it was revealed that she was, in fact, not a normal girl, i really got into the book.

tbh the first 100 pages were just a lot of setting up getting to know the main character, august, as well as her group of friends. if you're into that, great! but for me personally it started to drag, i started to skim the pages, and after reading the book i don't feel like i missed much in not fully reading the first 100 pages.

once the mystery aspect of the book kicked in, i was fully invested and it was honestly a real page turner for me. some things about the plot were predictable, but i'm okay with that.

the only thing for me is like

Spoiler

why did jane / biyu return 3 months later? like why at that specific point? part of me is saying it's bc there was so much electricity and excitement in the air, and ik that's the most likely reason.

it's not a bad thing, i think it's cute, but i personally don't like that cliche of

Spoiler

a person coming back after weeks of the mc grieving and sad.

i wasn't aware that there would be smut in the book, but it was cute LOL. i liked the explanation that their

Spoiler

sexual chemistry translated to electrical energy and was what was helping jane / biyu get her memory back

overall great book !

disclaimer: i'm just a girl !! who is trying to get into reading!!

so i got this book as a gift and the gifter had annotated in the pages, so my perception of the book is heavily skewed as a result of that. but! i will try to not let the annotations skew my review.

i genuinely think it was a good book, and it really made me think a lot about the importance of just one day, and how small actions can lead to big consequences. the plotline with irene was especially interesting to me because it really shows that you don't know what a person is going through, and that we're all just silly little characters in a game.

ik that isn't something groundbreaking, but i still liked it and the impact it had on me while reading.

the book does change perspectives every chapter, and it's not just the two main characters that we're able to follow. i like being able to understand the motivations behind different characters and how a "small action" to them would greatly impact another person's life.

now do i think that it's stupid that

Spoiler

natasha really could've had a chance to stay but didn't because her lawyer thought it was more important to have an affair that would ultimately end that same day

? yes, yes i do. but i also think it drives home that idea that a small action has big consequences. was i disappointed in the ending? also yes. but to me it didn't seem like it was a

Spoiler

- ha got u! - moment. since the whole story is about those butterfly effects, it made sense to me.

Spoiler

i know it would've been unrealistic for them to remain together after she was deported to jamaica, but damn can't a girl read a straightforward romance these days???

overall, i think it's worth the read and that their romance is worth the rollercoaster of emotions

I HATE LEAVING ONE STAR

am i dumb? maybe i am stupid. maybe i don't have a brain that's capable of understanding the symbolism and depth that this book requires a reader to have. upon reading and watching other reviews, i was so excited to read this book.

themes of loneliness when you're not alone? lgbt+? yearning and a reunion after time apart? a person not being the same after a trauma? sign me uppppppppp... but that was not what i got.

and maybe that's my fault. i should have entered the book with the idea that it's moreso a fantasy book where i had to suspend my disbelief. but if you're just a girl and find yourself resonating with other books ive logged here, then here's my thoughts! everything will be marked as a spoiler because im lazy xoxo

Spoiler

the ending. i'll admit that i do not understand it. leah loses her eye and becomes one with the ocean. her body gradually becomes pearlescent then transparent and then she literally becomes water. i thought that the later 1/4 of the book would lead to more answers regarding why she came back "different." but it just left me even more confused.

i thought that the mysterious creature down in the ocean did something to leah and matteo. but it just looked at them? what are the voices that they heard? it's probably a metaphor for something. who was the centre? what was that eye symbol on the center console? again, probably a metaphor for... looking inwards? tbh i don't really know and maybe if i was in the headspace to want to be artsy and introspective i would've gotten it, but i don't get it.

the end of the book also introduces a journal that leah wrote in a lot. i thought we were gonna get to see what was in there. im assuming it's the book where she wrote her name for the sea creature, but what else was in the book?

i can see the themes of like - staying where you shouldn't even when you know it's not good for you. we see that with matteo's fingers and leah staying when the power comes back on. but what does it all meannnnnn. i feel like i'm going crazy.

it just feels like there were so many threads that just get cut off with no satisfying ending. maybe this was a stylistic choice, but it's not my style.

originally read it for school, then reread after i got it as a gift from my cousin!!

im an audiology student in the states, and wow this book really hit. i love the way cece bell was able to showcase the minute details of what it was like for her as a child. sometimes it's easy to forget that children are... well... children. and the way she depicted feeling self conscious about her hearing aid and how she just wanted to fit in and have fun with friends? yeah, that brought me wayyy back.

the only other graphic novel i really loved was [b:Blankets|25179|Blankets|Craig Thompson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1460925949l/25179._SX50_.jpg|781193], and i just love how both of these books delved into their material.

the illustrations are so adorable!!!!!

DO NOT BELIEVE THE QUEER MOUNTAIN LION PREMISE

real rating 3.5

there’s a lot of things that we can hate about the book - like the fact that the lion understands english words but somehow doesn’t know what money is? they understand that a phone can be used to talk to people but not what a freeway is? but i digress.

i feel like the author might not mean it to be, but the story reads a lot as one about trying to find your community and being rejected whenever you think you found one. the subtext reads like it’s about immigration and being a person of color, so everything im about to write is from that point of view. idc if the author didn’t mean that to happen so whatever.

the fact that his name is “not made of noises a person can make” and the whole idea that mountain lion (now ML because im lazy) had to travel dangerous conditions to flee their abusive father?? yeah u cant tell me that isn’t a story of immigration. and just the whole idea that ML knows that it isn’t human (it’s a minority) but that it wants so bad to assimilate and BE a human. and the way that even though ML tries so hard to show others that they’re docile and won’t hurt anyone, a majority around him don’t trust him and want him gone and dead. it all just feels so reminiscent of a story about the persecution faced by those not in the majority.

and i think that’s what makes the storytelling so upsetting to me — i see the themes that the author wanted to showcase. i see it! right in front of me! but there’s just that lack of commitment to pinpointing things. all of those themes could’ve been explored more because it’s a story that we see so much in queer coming out stories. but maybe thats a good thing! we think that ML is getting persecuted because they’re … a lion. but maybe lion is an allegory to queerness. idk it just bugs me that ML being queer was on the synopsis when the book really isn’t about that.


me personally, i love a little stream of consciousness story, but let's stop trying to sell this book as something that it's not

isabella when i catch you...

was the plot pretty predictable? yes but i loved every minute of it.

i LOVE the love between ben and florence. the way they're able to heal separately and together. i love that they've BEEN having ties to each other --multiple ones-- meaning that there were multiple red strings of fate connecting the two. i mean, fate isn't real but it felt real enough here.

i wish we saw more of ben

Spoiler

tweaking out when he really thought he was dead

. i wish we would've dug into his back story a bit more and what exactly shaped him into the cold and meticulous person that he is. but honestly i don't mind because we were able to experience his development and how him and florence shaped each other.

the depiction of grief and mourning was just toooooo good. it really isn't a void - it's a space filled with all that was and what could have been. corny! but it's loud, non linear, and messy. it gets pushed aside until it can't anymore, and it's just... there. the family dynamics shown were done so well - nobody was the villain. they were all just hurting and didn't know how to bring it up. loved those relationships within the family, honestly.

it still doesn't make sense to me that flo never put in her contract that she would get residuals from the books she wrote, but i digress.

tldr: lee's an asshole, and i love this corny lil book

ALSO i love when books have discussion questions at the end hehe

disclaimer: i'm just a regular shmegular girl who doesn't even read that often

oh my god. i just finished reading this within around 3 hours and i honestly!!! all the twists and turns were quite insane and i literally had to stop every few chapters to just sit in my shock.

ill admit, the first 30-40 pages were a bit of a drag considering they have to dump exposition, but it wasn't bad. the dialogue and thought processes behind each character (that are revealed to us) bring so many questions and answers.

like it feels like all of my questions have been answered up until 30 pages later when im once again shocked. it's such a good book, truly. i kept thinking it wouldn't get better but it just did. right up to the last page.

i will say i understand some people's frustration about

Spoiler

how "it was all a movie" and how dumb charlie was in a lot of the instances,

but i'm just a girl who thought it was thrilling and fun to read. i'm also a sucker for

Spoiler

romance and i LOVE how the whole time i was in the same boat as charlie in thinking that josh/jake was cute before we all thought he was crazy.

but again, im just a girl !!!

i listened to the audiobook a while ago, really liked the ending and how real it all felt. mommy issues, commitment issues, and inside jokes? what else can a girl ask for. really liked how they fleshed out both characters relationships with their families. only 4/5 because sometimes it felt like the girl's friend was only there to make MC talk about the male love interest.