shivani_n's reviews
390 reviews

yeah let's not talk about it

i read this for my summer homework, and it was actually quite nice to read some poetry. a lot of the poems in here were great, my favourite was "tablets VI" by dunya mikhail. however, even though all poetry is romantic in its own way, i still think it's a crime there's not a single love poem in this whole anthology lol.

the synopsis of wild ground is so interesting, but i can't say the same for the actual book 😭. i was disappointed by the story as a whole to be honest. i didn't see what was so special about danny and neef's "connection" or how they "loved each other so much". i honestly think they were both kind of shitty and toxic together and it's better that they're apart anyway lmao. maybe that's the point but i don't know i feel like the author was making it out to be some really special relationship that the main character could never really forget, but then didn't actually succeed in letting the reader in on the so-called uniqueness of their relationship. 

i thought danny was kind of a dick, and neef is a boring character. i wasn't particularly impressed by the writing either. overall i would call this book very bleak and just not worth reading, especially because it's 337 pages. so yeah this one just wasn't for me!

had to read this for my AP lit summer homework, but it was boring and i didn't actually learn much.

i was kind of conflicted whether to give this 3 or 4 stars (in my head it's 3.5 but goodreads unfortunately doesn't have that feature.. someone update this app i'm begging), but eventually went with 3 stars. 

here's what i liked: i think the build-up of nathan and bree's relationship was super good, there was so much tension and there were multiple times where i was literally giggling and kicking my feet and/or had to snap the book shut from shock. nathan was a really good book boyfriend, always being so in tune with bree and caring about her so deeply, being so romantic all the time, flirting adorably, etc. i also really liked the premise of the book, specifically the reason why they had to fake date for a publicity stunt. it actually made sense why they would do it, compared to some other extremely outlandish reasons i've read in other fake dating books. additionally, nathan's group of guy friends were really funny and one of the highlights of the book for me-i even wish they had more scenes! usually in sports romance books, "the team" is usually a bunch of toxic jerks who sleep with any woman they can get their hands on, and brag about it too. but nathan's friends weren't like that, they were actually really nice and supportive, like when they helped come up with a plan for nathan to tell bree he loves her. overall just very wholesome and refreshing, i wish all guys were like that!!

here's what i didn't like: bree was kind of stupidly oblivious to everything, and not in a cute way, just an annoying way. she acted too pick-me sometimes. i also didn't enjoy how childish the writing style was at times in her inner monologue, there are so many exaggerated lines and sentences in all-caps that it's just kind of jarring to read, and i think the book could have done without them. towards the end i was kind of disappointed with the book because it just could have been soooo much better. the ending was so rushed, and it was so unnecessary to me that they had to randomly elope in vegas when they were only officially dating for a few weeks. even though they were basically together for six years playing it off as "friends" and secretly pining for each other all that time, but still. why the rush? chill?? idk i'm just not a fan and it didn't add anything to the book, it just felt like the author didn't know how to end the story so she just went with marriage because that felt like the most natural step, except it didn't feel natural for the progression of the story lol. 

overall a cute book but nothing special. it was really short though, which is good, because i need to catch up with my reading goal lmao

this book is so utterly pretentious don’t bother reading it. if someone called me at 4am to talk about hexagons and bees i would actually be so done. just two very unhealthy people in an unhealthy relationship—that’s all i have to say!

"it could be the last time he ever saw james. mungo knew it now. he turned because he wanted to look on him for as long as he possibly could, to remember the smile that made everything better, the mouth full of happy gappy teeth. he wanted to see if his cheeks had turned their usual bluish-pinkish tartan in fresh air."

this book, though gut wrenching, is so, so beautiful. it covers topics like the protestant-catholic divide, pressures of working class boys to “man up” and the damage it can do, the horrific violence faced by queer people, and the struggles of growing up with an alcoholic mother and absent father. 

it seems, from the blurb, very similar to stuart's previous novel, "shuggie bain", but i think it's quite different in a lot of ways. for one, i liked this book a lot better because of its elevated prose and much more developed characters. they were all so unique and well crafted, it made you wanting to read more about them when the book is over. the plot was more engaging, with stuart switching seamlessly between time frames. it’s also much more focused on mungo and james rather than the relationship between mungo and his mother, and there’s more scenes with the siblings as well.

i personally felt so connected to mungo because i feel like we were similar. i really saw myself in him sometimes, with endless love to give to people who often don't reciprocate as much. also just being a very sensitive person when people tell you that that's a bad thing and that you need to "toughen up". i really love him and feel for him, which is another reason i enjoyed the book as much as i did. 

something else i liked was how stuart portrayed mungo and james and how they felt about their queerness in an environment where they were taught it was bad or unnatural. instead of making them hate themselves and constantly feel guilty for what they feel (though those stories are of course valid and need to be told), they revel in it and recognise their love for what it is. it was lovely to read and i thought their characters were so well written. 

this is an amazing book but i would check the trigger warnings before reading because some of the scenes are quite graphic. would recommend if you want to read something sad and emotional--the ending is up to interpretation.

genuinely did not see the point of this book at all. i didn’t hate it but i just don’t think it was my thing. it was boring and completely underwhelming to me. 

“It never ends, does it? Loving you never ends. Whether you're Genevieve or Eva. Whether I lose you for years or wake up to your face every morning. I love you. You're my home. And I want you forever.”

i really liked this romance read. it was kind of cliché and kind of dark sometimes but still cute overall. you could tell that shane and eva had a true deep connection that lasted years even though they only knew each other for a short time—i love a good invisible string trope.

"We burn and bleed and cry, fully aware that the most the sport can give us, in the very best scenario, is incomprehensibly meagre and worthless: just a few isolated moments of transcendence. That's all.
But what the hell else is life made of?"

oh my GOD this book actually shocked me to my core. it was honestly super hard to read sometimes because of its emotionally heavy content and despicable characters+scenes but it's SO SO SO GOOD. i legit read this in one sitting for 7 hours straight on a flight and i loved every second. this is my first frederik backman and now i understand the hype around him, i NEED to read more of his books!!! the writing style and exposition of beartown was so authentic and sinister, i was hooked from the beginning. it's one of those books that makes you want to sit down and reflect about life after you read it--it literally left me speechless. also, apart from the fact that it's just very interesting to read, i think it is a book that many young people should read because of its commentary on rape culture and how thought-provoking it is.

i love character focused books so i loved this because there are a lot of characters and you get to know them all very deeply. it switches from perspectives so smoothly and i felt myself getting so invested in the lives of all the beartown residents. this book is absolutely fantastic and i would 100% recommend if you want something totally "unputdownable". that's the best way i can describe it! SUCH a powerful and transformative read.