Tag: Review

Review: 180 Seconds by Jessica Park

~ A Very Bookish Girl ~ 3 Comments

32487648180 Seconds by Jessica Park
Publication Date: April 25th 2017
Publisher: Skyspace
Genre|Subject: New Adult | Romance
Pages: 302
Rating: ★★★★☆

Some people live their entire lives without changing their perspective. For Allison Dennis, all it takes is 180 seconds…

After a life spent bouncing from one foster home to the next, Allison is determined to keep others at arm’s length. Adopted at sixteen, she knows better than to believe in the permanence of anything. But as she begins her third year in college, she finds it increasingly difficult to disappear into the white noise pouring from her earbuds.

One unsuspecting afternoon, Allison is roped into a social experiment just off campus. Suddenly, she finds herself in front of a crowd, forced to interact with a complete stranger for 180 seconds. Neither she, nor Esben Baylor, the dreamy social media star seated opposite her, is prepared for the outcome.

When time is called, the intensity of the experience overwhelms Allison and Esben in a way that unnerves and electrifies them both. With a push from her oldest friend, Allison embarks on a journey to find out if what she and Esben shared is the real thing—and if she can finally trust in herself, in others, and in love.

What an emotional time. I can honestly say coming out from reading this book I was not expecting it to be like that at all. As someone who suffers from Mental Illness I am always open to reading any book that may touch on the subject in one way or another, despite the type or what kind of trauma it may be from. So while I can’t relate to Allison’s history I could really relate to a lot of her feelings and thoughts and the inner workings of her being through out this book. But what I thought would be mostly about overcoming past traumas and growing as a person, while we did end up getting that, was a heart-wrenching story about finding yourself and how important it is to put faith in others to help grow as a person.

I just want to touch on things lightly because I really do not want to give anything away when it comes to the end plot of this story, but if you’re an easily emotional person like myself I have to warn to please have tissues by your side while you are reading at least the second half of this book. I have not full on sobbed while reading a book like I did while reading 180 Seconds in a VERY long time. To be honest I kind of picked up on what was going to happen from about the 30% mark of the book and just knew what the ending twist to move the story would be. What I didn’t know was how much it was going to affect me and how hard I would take it, despite knowing what would happen.

This book is such a beautifully told story of Allison and gives so much hope that despite how we may be feeling now, despite what we may be thinking now, despite the anxiety the depression the isolation, everyone has a chance at a different life and we are all capable of finding people that will understand us and help us to become the person that we were meant to be. I really read this book in less than 24 hours after taking years to pick it up because I could not put it down and I had to know how things were going to change and what would happen next. Some parts definitely flew by for the timeline and I wish there was a little more, for lack of a better word, a little more meat to some parts of the story, but I can understand how things moved to align the timeline to where it needed to be for the plot points. I highly enjoyed this read, much more than I expected, and am very upset with how long I waited to finally pick this up.

Review: These Deadly Games by Diana Urban

~ A Very Bookish Girl ~ Leave a comment

54653678These Deadly Games by Diana Urban
Publication Date: February 1st 2022
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Genre|Subject: Young Adult | Thriller | Mystery
Pages: 352
Rating: ★★★★☆

Let’s play a game.

You have 24 hours to win. If you break my rules, she dies. If you call the police, she dies. If you tell your parents or anyone else, she dies.

Are you ready?

When Crystal Donavan gets a message on a mysterious app with a video of her little sister gagged and bound, she agrees to play the kidnapper’s game. At first, they make her complete bizarre tasks: steal a test and stuff it in a locker, bake brownies, make a prank call.

But then Crystal realizes each task is meant to hurt—and kill—her friends, one by one. But if she refuses to play, the kidnapper will kill her sister. Is someone trying to take her team out of the running for a gaming tournament? Or have they uncovered a secret from their past, and wants them to pay for what they did…

As Crystal makes the impossible choices between her friends and her sister, she must uncover the truth and find a way to outplay the kidnapper… before it’s too late.

I feel like I have so many thoughts to organize after reading this one. To be honest it has been some time since I read something defined as a thriller/mystery so I was going in to this with very empty expectations, since I can’t remember the last time I read something like this to base any expectations off of. I am going to do my best to summarize my thoughts without giving any spoiler though, as it is a mystery, and to be honest I didn’t figure out who the culprit was until shortly before our main character did herself. Although I did have an ever growing list!

I’ve also been very out of touch with the bookish community, so I had to hype going in to this either. I found it on my recently added from my library and decided to check it out through Libby to read on my new Kindle. I have to admit, the synopsis seems a lot less sinister than everything that is actually going on in this book. The characters are an easily believable group of friends, but thanks to frequent flashbacks set throughout the novel, we get a good look at how the dynamics of the group were formed, and why things are the way they are.

I’m very mixed with how I feel about the pacing of the novel. While things kick off pretty quickly in the book, I felt that so much had already happened by the 50% mark I was dying to know who was behind everything that was happening and what was the reasoning. To me, that first half of the novel was so detail focused that towards the end of the book we were lacking the same detail and some plot points felt rushed to me. Especially the very end. While there were brief explanations given for things that happened off page, I was still confused as to how these conclusions came to be and disappointed we didn’t get to see them happen to better see the evolution of the plot.

I have been trying to get back in to touch with the booktube community and found something that BooksAndLala mentioned that sticks out to me about These Deadly Games that I think is what helped keep my interest the whole time and me being unable to put the book down. This would be the use of Red Herrings. While a lot of them weren’t blatant and in your face, they did help to guide you to create your own scenarios and conclusions to what was going on, without giving enough away to make you think you had the culprit at the same time. I didn’t have an idea of who it could be until shortly before Crystal uncovered it herself, and the way it happened was still a surprise to me as I read what was happening. This definitely kept me speeding through the book because I was dying (figuratively and unlike our friends in the novel) to figure out who it was and if my hunches were correct.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book, so much so I finished it in just 2 days. While there were things I didn’t like, that ended up lowering my rating to 4/5 stars, I still really enjoyed the book overall and would recommend it to someone else wanting a face paced mystery thriller. With the way the ending was left I would hope for a sequel, but if one does eventually come it would likely require a reread because I’m not sure how many details I would be able to recall while reading another novel in this same world with any remaining characters.

Review: The Guardians

~ A Very Bookish Girl ~ Leave a comment

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The Guardians 파수꾼

Original Air Date  May 22, 2017 – Jul 11, 2017
Country: South Korea
Total Episodes: 32
Genre: Thriller & Suspense

When both the police and the prosecution give up on a case, the victim’s family has no choice but to fight for the truth themselves. In a world where justice does not always prevail, these individuals strive to right the wrong. The Guardian is about such group of people whose worlds turned upside down by the sudden loss of their beloved ones. The main character, Jo Soo Ji, loses her one and only daughter after she falls from a building. To make it worse, it was not an accident but a homicide. She finds out that the killer is a young boy whose father is a very influential being. After the loss of her daughter, Soo Ji decides to only live for her late daughter and to keep the promise they made. Through their full control over the CCTVs, hacking phones and computers, and strong motivation to punish those that the law could not, the Guardians become the protectors for the weak.

So this is going to be my first official review on a drama, so hopefully I can do well with it. After finishing this show I had to give myself a little bit of a break just to be able to process everything that happened in this show.

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This drama is filled with suspense starting right from the beginning. Our main character is Sooji who has lost her daughter and is now willing to do whatever it takes to get justice for her littler girl. Unfortunately, the murderer has strong connections and feeds on the corrupt administration that is currently in place. With the help of some unknown people, Sooji disappears for a year and begins to work unknown to the police to get that justice. I can’t really speak too much more on this without taking away the entire mystery aspect of what was going on during this show.

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Now, for the reason that I started this show in the first place. Kim Kibum, aka Key from SHINee, is one of the main roles in this drama. Brought together is Sooji, Kyungsoo and Bomi share an equally horrible past life and have all been brought together by one mastermind to realize their own personal vendettas from these past traumas. These storylines are what kept me hooked the entire time. Not only were they working on getting their own justice, throughout the show they were working to get justice for other people that were unable to do so for themselves as well. Wanting to know who done it and what was going to happen to get justice.

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Then we have Jang Do Han, a view from the other side. A Prosecutor that is slowly trying to work his way higher, and at possibly something else?? I have to say, Kim Young Kwan’s acting in this drama was brilliant. He really made me have a multitude of conflicting emotions on his character throughout the entire show. Honestly even after the ending I’m still not sure how to feel.

The ending is VERY open ended. So if that is something you do not life then I would suggest avoiding this. Things all come to a conclusion, whether they were good or bad, but some things we are left in the unknown about, or at least that’s how I took it. Overall I liked the storyline of the show and how things progressed. At some parts things seemed a little sloppy and rushed, but at other parts things just worked. In the end, I would recommend this to someone that enjoys thrillers, and needs a break from the romance of most shows.

Overall I ended up rating this drama 8/10. It kept me wanting to continue watching after the end of every episode. I NEEDED to know what happened. While I may not have been happy with absolutely everything, it still made for a very good show. If you are in to Asian dramas and have yet to check this one out, I would add it to your list and give it a go.

Review: Children of Blood and Bone

~ Taylor ~ Leave a comment
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Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
Published: March 6, 2018
Publisher: Henry Holt Company
Pages: 544
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction
Rating: ★★★★★

Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls. But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope. Now Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good. Danger lurks in Orïsha, where snow leoponaires prowl and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest danger may be Zélie herself as she struggles to control her powers and her growing feelings for an enemy. 

This is a book that I bought as soon as it came out but for some reason, it took just shy of two years before I picked it up. I am ashamed that it has taken me so long but I’m so happy I have finally gotten to it. Tomi created a glorious tale that tackles current events in our world as she pieced her fantasy tale together. My heart was breaking left and right as I read though this first novel. I am shocked this was a debut novel but I am not surprised from all the wonderful things I had been hearing for this book. The magic system was so intriguing as well as the mythology created to go with the world.

Tomi Adeyemi created such a stunning piece of work that I was shocked to find out this was a debut novel. I knew she has never written a book before but with the way she weaved a story together made my heart feel otherwise. Tomi confused my heart in more ways than one. I would love and then quickly dislike a character before loving them once again. Each chapter that lead me closer to the ending squeezed my heart more and more. Zélie is a character who is flawed yet still so agreeable. I loved her and her friendships as well as her relationship with her family.

While this is easily a five star novel, there was one thing I wish I had more of. The magic system was created from scratch and I love created mythology and magic systems. There are the tables to help explain the system as where it came from but I was still left wanting more stories and more magic development. I wanted more of the world created but knowing this was the first book in a trilogy, I am going to get more of the mythology and more of the magic system.

Review: The Guinevere Deception

~ Taylor ~ Leave a comment

The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White
Published: November 5, 2019
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Pages: 352
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Retelling
Rating: ★★★

From New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White comes a new fantasy series reimagining the Arthurian legend, set in the magical world of Camelot. There was nothing in the world as magical and terrifying as a girl. Princess Guinevere has come to Camelot to wed a stranger: the charismatic King Arthur. With magic clawing at the kingdom’s borders, the great wizard Merlin conjured a solution–send in Guinevere to be Arthur’s wife . . . and his protector from those who want to see the young king’s idyllic city fail. The catch? Guinevere’s real name–and her true identity–is a secret. She is a changeling, a girl who has given up everything to protect Camelot. To keep Arthur safe, Guinevere must navigate a court in which the old–including Arthur’s own family–demand things continue as they have been, and the new–those drawn by the dream of Camelot–fight for a better way to live. And always, in the green hearts of forests and the black depths of lakes, magic lies in wait to reclaim the land. Arthur’s knights believe they are strong enough to face any threat, but Guinevere knows it will take more than swords to keep Camelot free. Deadly jousts, duplicitous knights, and forbidden romances are nothing compared to the greatest threat of all: the girl with the long black hair, riding on horseback through the dark woods toward Arthur. Because when your whole existence is a lie, how can you trust even yourself?

I was approved for the e-ARC of this book through NetGally in exchange for an honest review.

The idea of this book was so fun and so interesting! I wasn’t as obsessed with Arthurian times as a lot of people seem to be but I do know the stories and always enjoyed seeing cartoon moves about this time period. I think not knowing much about the original tale might have hindered my experience with this book. I was confused a solid 40%-50% of the story and while I feel it can be partially my fault, it can also be with the story telling. The reveals were too slow or they would come at a time that made no sense. Things did pick up after the 50% mark but by then I was just waiting for the story to be over. It was saved by the ending though because when I say things picked up, they PICKED UP!

Like I said, the idea of this story is amazing. Female empowerment during a time like this was unheard of but the fact that Kiersten spun a world where there were feminist themes just intrigued me. I had the feeling something was off the moment the first chapter ended. From then on, I was confused and just questioning everything. While I feel like that was meant to happen, I do not feel like leaving the reader in the dark for 40-50% is good writing. While this could have been totally my fault, I found out that I am not the only one who felt this way.

It took too long for anything to get solved and when it did, it would give me one or two more questions! When a big reveal happened about 60% of the way through the book, things really took off. Action packed and I found myself just turning page after page to find out what was going to happen. Then, it was over. I was sad because I felt like things were finally happening and then, it was all over. I did like the ending enough to give this book three stars, otherwise it would have been a solid two stars for me.

I am looking forward to the next book but currently, I am not dying for it. I will give this book a shot in it’s final form before the second book in the series comes out but I am in no rush to reread it right now. I feel like the audiobook might be a good way to go because I know when things get confusing, hearing the story helps me to keep everything in line. So when a reread is due, I will give the story a listen.

K-Drama Friday!

~ Taylor ~ Leave a comment

The first K-Drama Friday on the blog in a long time but I have managed to finish a drama and I am currently 94% of the way through another. Today, I want to talk about the drama that I finished early this month.

Abyss

“Abyss is about a man and a woman who tragically die and are given another chance at life through soul-reviving marbles in a magical abyss.
Go Se Yeon was a tough, accomplished, and an unrivaled beautiful female prosecutor who worked in the Seoul District public Office but gets into a fatal accident and dies. However, due to the mysterious magical marble—Abyss—Go Se Yeon is revived, but now in a totally different appearance. Go Se Yeon now possesses a common appearance based off of how “good” her spirit was in her previous life.

Cha Min was the highly intelligent heir to Korea’s top cosmetics company but was also a smart, humble, and a kind-hearted man. Although he has both the brains and an astounding amount of wealth, he considers himself unattractive and is insecure about his looks. Like Go Se Yeon, Cha Min gets into an accident and dies. Due to the mysterious magical marble—Abyss—he comes back to life with a different appearance as an exceedingly handsome man just as bright as his spirit he had in his previous life.

Go Se Yeon and Cha Min begin to work as a lawyer and an administrator at a private law firm and decide to investigate the magical incident. Romance blooms in the office as the two intertwine together to accept their same fate.”

Abyss is a drama that helped me to realize my love for crime dramas. Anyways, I loved this show but it took like a solid four episodes for me to love it. It stared off a little confusing but as it progressed, I just accepted that I wouldn’t know where the Abyss, the magic reviving marble, came from and why Cha Min ended up with it.

Besides that confusing bit, I loved everything about it. I cried, I laughed, I gasped. There is a . . . a something . . . about this drama that I will beg people to watch so that they can love it as much as I do. I think it is the smile of Cha Min and just the awkwardness that comes with Cha Min in a new, more attractive body.

Seriously, if you have not watched Abyss, it is on Netflix. I beg of you to watch it so I have something to talk to about the love I have for this show and about all the feelings that I still have.

Review: Damsel

~ Taylor ~ 1 Comment

Damsel by Elana K Arnold
Publication Date: October 2, 2018
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Pages: 320
Rating: ★★

“The rite has existed for as long as anyone can remember: when the prince-who-will-be-king comes of age, he must venture out into the gray lands, slay a fierce dragon, and rescue a damsel to be his bride. This is the way things have always been.
When Ama wakes in the arms of Prince Emory, however, she knows none of this. She has no memory of what came before she was captured by the dragon, or what horrors she has faced in its lair. She knows only this handsome prince, the story he tells of her rescue, and her destiny to sit on the throne beside him. Ama comes with Emory back to the kingdom of Harding, hailed as the new princess, welcomed to the court.
However, as soon as her first night falls, she begins to realize that not all is as it seems, that there is more to the legends of the dragons and the damsels than anyone knows–and that the greatest threats to her life may not be behind her, but here, in front of her.”

Okay, so, this book . . . was not good. There was so much potential with the story but in the 300 pages it had to wow me, it failed. There are trigger warnings out the ass and do not even get my started on the shit-stain that is Emory. Originally, I had this book rated at 3 Stars but after discussing it with my coworker and bitching about it for a solid 20 minutes, I took it down to a 2 Star rating.

To start off, there are a ton of trigger warnings for this book. Sexual assault, verbal abuse, sexual abuse, hinted infidelity, and animal abuse. Not to mention some kind of weird sexual act with a stab would in a dragon, so I guess that is considered bestiality. So many rape threats. Like I said, trigger warnings out the ass.

Now, that the trigger warnings are out of the way, let me talk about the little shit that is Prince Emory. So, in the beginning, I had no issues with him. He is following tradition of going to slay a dragon, rescue a damsel, make the damsel his queen. The issues I ended up having with Emory came later. He liked to throw in Alma’s face that he saved her and he liked to use that as a bargaining chip, which is so not cool. He was verbally abusive. Emory would humiliate Alma and expect her to be thankful. I came to HATE Emory by the 100 page mark.

As I said above, I originally gave this book 3 Stars but took it down after really talking and thinking about it. This story had SO MUCH POTENTIAL and really fell flat for me. Alma had potential to be a strong character and I see what the author was trying to do with her but it just fell short. The writing was beautiful but the story was not. This is a case where the cover was beautiful and I had such high hopes of the insides being as stunning but, I was wrong. Remember, never judge a book by it’s cover.

Review: The Upside of Unrequited

~ Taylor ~ 1 Comment

30653853The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli
Publication Date: April 11, 2017
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance,
Pages: 337
Rating: ★★★★★

“Seventeen-year-old Molly Peskin-Suso knows all about unrequited love—she’s lived through it twenty-six times. She crushes hard and crushes often, but always in secret. Because no matter how many times her twin sister, Cassie, tells her to woman up, Molly can’t stomach the idea of rejection. So she’s careful. Fat girls always have to be careful.
Then a cute new girl enters Cassie’s orbit, and for the first time ever, Molly’s cynical twin is a lovesick mess. Meanwhile, Molly’s totally not dying of loneliness—except for the part where she is. Luckily, Cassie’s new girlfriend comes with a cute hipster-boy sidekick. Will is funny and flirtatious and just might be perfect crush material. Maybe more than crush material. And if Molly can win him over, she’ll get her first kiss and she’ll get her twin back. 
There’s only one problem: Molly’s coworker Reid. He’s an awkward Tolkien superfan with a season pass to the Ren Faire, and there’s absolutely no way Molly could fall for him. Right?”

The thing about this book is, I see too much of myself in it. Molly is basically me while I was in high school and even in college. I was ready to DNF this book because it was causing me some serious issues and even caused me to have a depression episode for a few hours. That being said, I loved this book so, SO much.

What I loved most about Molly, besides the fact that she is me, 10 years ago (oh god, I’m old) is that she has moments where she stands up for herself. I never did that when I was in high school. People would talk shit about me and my size and I would just shrink away, not saying anything. This would include family, much like Molly’s twin Cassie and their grandmother.

I do wish there had been some trigger warnings for this book. Molly is the victim of fat shaming and and also suffers from anxiety because of it. Had I been prepared, I feel like my own issues would not have come to the surface as harshly or unexpectedly. I have never had a book effect me the way this one did. I even told Chelsea I was having a hard time with it messing with my brain.

All that being said, I loved this book. I loved it so much it might becoming one of my favorite books of all time because I am finally seeing myself in a character and relating to her on such a level I did not think possible. If you have not read this book, please do yourself the favor and pick it up.

Review: Red, White, and Royal Blue

~ Taylor ~ Leave a comment

41150487Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
Publication Date: May 14, 2019
Publisher: Griffin
Genre: Romance, Contemporary, LGBT, New Adult
Pages: 423
Rating: ★★★★☆

“A big-hearted romantic comedy in which First Son Alex falls in love with Prince Henry of Wales after an incident of international proportions forces them to pretend to be best friends…
First Son Alex Claremont-Diaz is the closest thing to a prince this side of the Atlantic. With his intrepid sister and the Veep’s genius granddaughter, they’re the White House Trio, a beautiful millennial marketing strategy for his mother, President Ellen Claremont. International socialite duties do have downsides—namely, when photos of a confrontation with his longtime nemesis Prince Henry at a royal wedding leak to the tabloids and threaten American/British relations.
The plan for damage control: staging a fake friendship between the First Son and the Prince. Alex is busy enough handling his mother’s bloodthirsty opponents and his own political ambitions without an uptight royal slowing him down. But beneath Henry’s Prince Charming veneer, there’s a soft-hearted eccentric with a dry sense of humor and more than one ghost haunting him. 
As President Claremont kicks off her reelection bid, Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret relationship with Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations. And Henry throws everything into question for Alex, an impulsive, charming guy who thought he knew everything: What is worth the sacrifice? How do you do all the good you can do? And, most importantly, how will history remember you?”

This book had something I didn’t know I was looking for at the time. Humor. I listened to this book on audio while I was with my mother after she had her knee replacement surgery. It was a week full of no sleep and high anxiety for me. While I would lay in bed unable to sleep because I would open my eyes at every sound thinking she had gotten up, I would just put this audiobook on and giggle to myself while my mom slept through the night.

The characters are incredibly easy to relate to as well. Ellen, the female president and mother of Alex, brought a realness that made me think of my own mother. The relationship Alex had with his sister made me think of my relationship with my brother. We’re siblings but we’re also best friends and it was nice to be able to see a dynamic sibling duo like that. Henry was everything, just total swoon worthy prince.

Another thing that I loved about this book was how real Alex was. I mentioned before that it is very easy to relate to the characters and to kid of see yourself in them. As someone who just came out as bi-sexual, Alex struggling to find out if he was attracted to women or men or both, was something I battled while I was younger. Like I said, all of the characters in this book are relatable in one way or another.

While I did only rate the book at a 4.5 stars, there was nothing really wrong with the novel. I enjoyed it and if given the chance, it is a book I would read again and I am sure I would enjoy it just the same. I think because I listened to it instead of physically read it, there was just something missing for me. That is just my experience. I want you to read the book to find out how you feel about it yourself!

Review: Birthday by Meredith Russo

~ A Very Bookish Girl ~ Leave a comment

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Birthday by Meredith Russo
Publication Date: May 21st 2019
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Genre|Subject: Young Adult|Contemporary | LGBT+
Pages: 288
Rating: ★★★★★

Two kids, Morgan and Eric, are bonded for life after being born on the same day at the same time. We meet them once a year on their shared birthday as they grow and change: as Eric figures out who he is and how he fits into the world, and as Morgan makes the difficult choice to live as her true self. Over the years, they will drift apart, come together, fight, make up, and break up—and ultimately, realize how inextricably they are a part of each other.

Before I delve in to this I do want to drop some Trigger Warnings. This book, and maybe even parts of my review, involve the mention of Suicide, Parental Death, Alcohol Abuse, Homophobia, and Transphobia. Now while I do belong on the LGBT+ spectrum, I do not identify as Trans so this also will not be own voices in any way.

What I do want to say about this book is please read it. We follow the two main characters, Morgan and Eric, over the course of six years on their Birthdays. While I was worried about reading something that time hopped so much, Meredith did a wonderful job of filling in any missed information we would have needed had we read about the two’s entire year together. I felt like I was really getting to see these two characters develop and grow even in such a short amount of time. We witness such massive events in their lives that you can very easily get sucked in to this book emotionally.

One of the main things that this book really centers on is the importance of Mental Health. I feel like coming in to this new generation a lot of people are more aware of Mental Health but with older generations it still has such a taboo to it. So to see Meredith write, for lack of a better word, very bluntly about it to make people realize that Hey, this is a thing. People feel like this. People in these situations and acting these ways are having issues. Please reach out to them. Honestly I couldn’t have asked for a better depiction of depression and anxiety as someone who suffers from both themself.

I don’t think that I can iterate enough how amazingly written this book is and emotionally beautiful it is. I know that there is a lot to get through and a lot of ups and downs while you may be reading this, but I really suggest giving it a chance if you’re in the proper head space for this. This is definitely one of my favorite books of the year, and I have at this current time only borrowed this from the library, but I know that I will be going out to purchase this to add to my collection so when I feel in the mood I can go and pick it up to read.