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allthatissim
My Rating: 3.5 Stars (I really wish that Goodreads launch the point rating system soon )
WHAT?? This was exactly what I felt after finishing this book. I didn't expected this end at all and it just made me think, what just happened? Is it true or just my mind is blabbering and expected this end?
This was my first political/crime/thriller and this book did proper justice with the genre. I won't say that it kept me fascinated or hooked from the very first page, rather the truth is opposite. It took me really long to get a grip on the story. After reading a few chapters in the starting, I felt as if I am watching a typical Bollywood crime drama and nothing is different. And I also thought, at one point to DNF the book, but I am glad that I didn't and finally completed it.

The story starts with our main character who happened to be a gangster/sharpshooter some 35 years ago and now he is a shopkeeper who packs Jeera (hence the title) and lives a simple life with his wife and son. But wait, what was his name? Did I missed it or was mentioned somewhere?

Other main characters are CM known as Dada, for whom our Jeera packer used to work. Then there was Lal Mani, who is best friend our hero and now is hoe minster of the state and works closely with Dada. There is another friend Abdul, who make him realise that how important it is to achieve your dream and make your own Tajmahal!! God, I loved this line :D

After the realization of his dream, he decided to return to his old job, the sharpshooting, for once and all, for killing the CM. This is the part that I failed to understand and took the rating down. I can't understand why the hell he even decided to kill the CM in just a flash and declared it as the moto of his life, which was rather going simple? Nevertheless, the story is about how he did it or planned to did it, how the political rifts are happening between Dada and Lal Mani, his brother and son, and hw the conditions changed.
The best part of the book was characterization. All the characters were developed really well and are well written. You can tell enough details about each of them after finishing this. The story telling was also simple and was written in simple language. But there was too much use of abusive language (obviously to make the plot real) so it is strictly recommended for 16+ age groups.
There were some great dialogs written, which made the situations humorous sometimes, and also made you think.
"Missed chances do not hurt just you but everyone connected to you "
If you will read it with full attention and if you are a big fan of Bollywood crime movies, then you would really feel as if you are watching a real movie. This is a perfect choice for Bollywood fans.
The first half was slow for me and was not interesting that much, but as the story progressed and reached towards the end, it just got exciting, and the end was just out of the blue.
All in all, this book was a good read. I enjoyed reading it. As a debut novel, [a:Prashant Yadav|16167822|Prashant Yadav|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1481385098p2/16167822.jpg] has done a good job and I feel that in the near future, you may see a Bollywood movie based on this. :D
Thank you Prashant Yadav, Vishnu and Fingerprint! publishing for providing me this book.
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WHAT?? This was exactly what I felt after finishing this book. I didn't expected this end at all and it just made me think, what just happened? Is it true or just my mind is blabbering and expected this end?
This was my first political/crime/thriller and this book did proper justice with the genre. I won't say that it kept me fascinated or hooked from the very first page, rather the truth is opposite. It took me really long to get a grip on the story. After reading a few chapters in the starting, I felt as if I am watching a typical Bollywood crime drama and nothing is different. And I also thought, at one point to DNF the book, but I am glad that I didn't and finally completed it.

The story starts with our main character who happened to be a gangster/sharpshooter some 35 years ago and now he is a shopkeeper who packs Jeera (hence the title) and lives a simple life with his wife and son. But wait, what was his name? Did I missed it or was mentioned somewhere?

Other main characters are CM known as Dada, for whom our Jeera packer used to work. Then there was Lal Mani, who is best friend our hero and now is hoe minster of the state and works closely with Dada. There is another friend Abdul, who make him realise that how important it is to achieve your dream and make your own Tajmahal!! God, I loved this line :D
After the realization of his dream, he decided to return to his old job, the sharpshooting, for once and all, for killing the CM. This is the part that I failed to understand and took the rating down. I can't understand why the hell he even decided to kill the CM in just a flash and declared it as the moto of his life, which was rather going simple? Nevertheless, the story is about how he did it or planned to did it, how the political rifts are happening between Dada and Lal Mani, his brother and son, and hw the conditions changed.
The best part of the book was characterization. All the characters were developed really well and are well written. You can tell enough details about each of them after finishing this. The story telling was also simple and was written in simple language. But there was too much use of abusive language (obviously to make the plot real) so it is strictly recommended for 16+ age groups.
There were some great dialogs written, which made the situations humorous sometimes, and also made you think.
"Missed chances do not hurt just you but everyone connected to you "
If you will read it with full attention and if you are a big fan of Bollywood crime movies, then you would really feel as if you are watching a real movie. This is a perfect choice for Bollywood fans.
The first half was slow for me and was not interesting that much, but as the story progressed and reached towards the end, it just got exciting, and the end was just out of the blue.
All in all, this book was a good read. I enjoyed reading it. As a debut novel, [a:Prashant Yadav|16167822|Prashant Yadav|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1481385098p2/16167822.jpg] has done a good job and I feel that in the near future, you may see a Bollywood movie based on this. :D
Thank you Prashant Yadav, Vishnu and Fingerprint! publishing for providing me this book.
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My rating: 4 super Stars
"If you knew how it feels to run after someone for a brief snatch of time, how the world stops spinning, just for a moment, when you hold them in your arms, and then starts again so fast that you fall to the ground, dizzy. If you knew how every hello hurts more than a hundred goodbyes. If you knew... A letter isn't always just a letter. Words on the page can drench the soul. If only you knew."
There are some books which have a good story and keep you entertained till the end. But then there are a few which are not only good but make you feel the emptions and live the lives of those characters. [a:Jessica Brockmole|6561195|Jessica Brockmole|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1446817108p2/6561195.jpg]'s [b:Letters from Skye|18460071|Letters from Skye|Jessica Brockmole|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1421332892s/18460071.jpg|21908689] was one of such book for me.
This book was unique in the way that the whole story was in the form of letters. Every and each part was in letters. The story is spanning over WWI and WWII. Two different eras are going simultaneously and the love story and lives of Elspeth Dunn and David Graham has been told and captured beautifully.
This story is basically about a poet and her fan who fell in love with each other through their letters. Time tested their love at various occasions. There were relationships sacrificed and families destroyed by the choices they made for the sake of their love, during the WWI. Then there is another story going simultaneously about Elspeth's daughter and her love during WWII. She tries to find the "first imprint" of her mother's life, as she knows nothing about her life while on Skye, through her mother's letters and her uncle.
Rather than explaining the story, I would like to explain more about how I felt while reading this book. Reading every letter , every conversation in it looked real.
"If I gave it all to you, you wouldn't be able to leave. Not that I would've given you any less of myself. How could I?"
Each word in each letter felt real. But there were complications in their lives. How they handle it, how they sacrifice everything for their love, how they deal with their fears- this is a story about that.
"You are the reason I frown at the sunrise and smile at the sunset. Frown because I have to face the day alone, without you by my side. Smile because that's one less day we have to spend apart."
I really liked the story because it was a totally different experience. I haven't read anything so unique as a story told in letters. I agree that in the middle the story was a bit slow. But as it progressed towards end, it took the pace and damn!! There was a twist that I didn't expected and made it a happy ending after a few more twists and turns.
For me, the characters were built superbly. The emotions, confusions and fears portrayed were very real.
"Please don't give away your heart without realising it, because, my sweet girl, you may never get it back."
I would recommend it to everyone who need a light romance read and that too a different one. Its going to be one of my favorites for 2017. [a:Jessica Brockmole|6561195|Jessica Brockmole|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1446817108p2/6561195.jpg] has done a beautiful job for a debut novel.
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"If you knew how it feels to run after someone for a brief snatch of time, how the world stops spinning, just for a moment, when you hold them in your arms, and then starts again so fast that you fall to the ground, dizzy. If you knew how every hello hurts more than a hundred goodbyes. If you knew... A letter isn't always just a letter. Words on the page can drench the soul. If only you knew."
There are some books which have a good story and keep you entertained till the end. But then there are a few which are not only good but make you feel the emptions and live the lives of those characters. [a:Jessica Brockmole|6561195|Jessica Brockmole|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1446817108p2/6561195.jpg]'s [b:Letters from Skye|18460071|Letters from Skye|Jessica Brockmole|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1421332892s/18460071.jpg|21908689] was one of such book for me.
This book was unique in the way that the whole story was in the form of letters. Every and each part was in letters. The story is spanning over WWI and WWII. Two different eras are going simultaneously and the love story and lives of Elspeth Dunn and David Graham has been told and captured beautifully.
This story is basically about a poet and her fan who fell in love with each other through their letters. Time tested their love at various occasions. There were relationships sacrificed and families destroyed by the choices they made for the sake of their love, during the WWI. Then there is another story going simultaneously about Elspeth's daughter and her love during WWII. She tries to find the "first imprint" of her mother's life, as she knows nothing about her life while on Skye, through her mother's letters and her uncle.
Rather than explaining the story, I would like to explain more about how I felt while reading this book. Reading every letter , every conversation in it looked real.
"If I gave it all to you, you wouldn't be able to leave. Not that I would've given you any less of myself. How could I?"
Each word in each letter felt real. But there were complications in their lives. How they handle it, how they sacrifice everything for their love, how they deal with their fears- this is a story about that.
"You are the reason I frown at the sunrise and smile at the sunset. Frown because I have to face the day alone, without you by my side. Smile because that's one less day we have to spend apart."
I really liked the story because it was a totally different experience. I haven't read anything so unique as a story told in letters. I agree that in the middle the story was a bit slow. But as it progressed towards end, it took the pace and damn!! There was a twist that I didn't expected and made it a happy ending after a few more twists and turns.
For me, the characters were built superbly. The emotions, confusions and fears portrayed were very real.
"Please don't give away your heart without realising it, because, my sweet girl, you may never get it back."
I would recommend it to everyone who need a light romance read and that too a different one. Its going to be one of my favorites for 2017. [a:Jessica Brockmole|6561195|Jessica Brockmole|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1446817108p2/6561195.jpg] has done a beautiful job for a debut novel.
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Ahh.. finally finished it. I can't decide what actually I felt after reading this. Though I liked a few parts, but now I feel that this genre is not for me.
I picked this book to basically complete one of my reading challenge prompt: A book more than 80 years old (this book was published in 1922).
Though it was too tough for me, but it is written well. Hermann Hesse throughly researched the life of Buddha and thus has produced such a classic.
Anyhow I am happy that I didn't left it in middle(as I don't like to leave any book or a movie in middle) and completed my one more challenge prompt.
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I picked this book to basically complete one of my reading challenge prompt: A book more than 80 years old (this book was published in 1922).
Though it was too tough for me, but it is written well. Hermann Hesse throughly researched the life of Buddha and thus has produced such a classic.
Anyhow I am happy that I didn't left it in middle(as I don't like to leave any book or a movie in middle) and completed my one more challenge prompt.
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Full review on: FLIPPING THROUGH THE PAGES
Rupi Kaur’s first book [b:Milk and Honey|23513349|Milk and Honey|Rupi Kaur|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1491595510s/23513349.jpg|43116473] was the first modern poetry book that I read and I loved it. That book was a huge success. So when I found out about her new book I instantly pre-ordered it and when it arrived I read it immediately too (yes only the review is late 😛 ). I had really great expectations from this book as well, and I would say that though not AS GOOD AS Milk and Honey, it was quite close to it and I totally enjoyed it (enjoyed in a sad way? ). This collection is an extension of Milk and Honey.
If you are not familiar with Rupi Kaur’s work, then you would find these poems as just written sentences broke abruptly in between. But I guess, that’s the beauty of her writing? I really like how her words fit perfectly together in her poems. This poetry collection was however quite longer than Milk and Honey.
The Sun and Her Flowers is split into five sections: wilting, falling, rooting, rising, and blooming. Each section tackles a different theme. I love how she has compared each section to a flower’s life.
Wilting deals with grief – when a flower is about to die.
Falling is for self-abandonment – when a flower loses all hopes of living
Rooting deals with honoring one’s roots – like a new flower preparing its roots to rise again
Rising is for love – the flower is ready for living again
Blooming for empowering oneself – flower blooming and living again
With each of these sections, Rupi has presented her own traumatic experiences. She is not shy about those experiences, rather she has written about them in a way that you would want to feel her pain. If you are an Indian or belong to a South Asian country, then you can relate to many of her experiences. Being an Indian, I perfectly related to the sections where she talked about infanticide and feminism, which are a kind of big issues here. She talked about her relationship with her mother. I loved the poems in which she talked about her mother and the struggles her mother faced. Those were my favourites I guess.
I have never been out of India so probably I can’t experience the exact emotions of an immigrant. But I guess, I can understand them and Rupi Kaur did a nice job in telling those immigrant experiences. She has added an entire section about immigrants and refugees. You can feel the depth of those and can actually relate to them.
Feminism has always been a big part of her poetry and this book was no exception. All that feminism talk actually make you feel motivated. I really liked how she talked about the women being oppressed in her culture (particularly in Indian culture). Those aspects that she talked about are very important to our present situation I guess. She included topics like rape culture, slut-shaming and how people often oppress the girl power. Some things can definitely offend you, but those are brutally honest. I loved the talk about female feticide in India.
I love the illustrations. All of her illustrations combine so beautifully with her poetry. You will feel so many emotions at once.. sadness, love, frustration, anger, happiness, self-loathing..
Despite having all these positive points, I guess there were some problematic areas too. I felt that some of the poems were not original. I am not sure of this, but a few felt as if she has taken it from somewhere. Also, there is a lot of sex talk and a few such illustrations too. So if you are not okay with it, you should skip this. Also, I felt that a few poems about feminism, the body, the heartbreak, and self-love were repetitive.
All in all, this was really a beautiful and brutal collection of poetry. You will feel connected to Rupi Kaur, especially if you are an immigrant or brown-skinned person. It talks about so many different themes and will make you feel belonged. While Milk and Honey was focused on feminism and self-love, The Sun and Her Flowers is much more than that. And the metaphors using flowers is beautiful. If you have already read Milk and Honey then you should definitely pick it up for a different experience, and if you haven’t read her first book, then also you should pick it up for enjoying Rupi’s style of poetry.
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Rupi Kaur’s first book [b:Milk and Honey|23513349|Milk and Honey|Rupi Kaur|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1491595510s/23513349.jpg|43116473] was the first modern poetry book that I read and I loved it. That book was a huge success. So when I found out about her new book I instantly pre-ordered it and when it arrived I read it immediately too (yes only the review is late 😛 ). I had really great expectations from this book as well, and I would say that though not AS GOOD AS Milk and Honey, it was quite close to it and I totally enjoyed it (enjoyed in a sad way? ). This collection is an extension of Milk and Honey.
If you are not familiar with Rupi Kaur’s work, then you would find these poems as just written sentences broke abruptly in between. But I guess, that’s the beauty of her writing? I really like how her words fit perfectly together in her poems. This poetry collection was however quite longer than Milk and Honey.
The Sun and Her Flowers is split into five sections: wilting, falling, rooting, rising, and blooming. Each section tackles a different theme. I love how she has compared each section to a flower’s life.
Wilting deals with grief – when a flower is about to die.
Falling is for self-abandonment – when a flower loses all hopes of living
Rooting deals with honoring one’s roots – like a new flower preparing its roots to rise again
Rising is for love – the flower is ready for living again
Blooming for empowering oneself – flower blooming and living again
With each of these sections, Rupi has presented her own traumatic experiences. She is not shy about those experiences, rather she has written about them in a way that you would want to feel her pain. If you are an Indian or belong to a South Asian country, then you can relate to many of her experiences. Being an Indian, I perfectly related to the sections where she talked about infanticide and feminism, which are a kind of big issues here. She talked about her relationship with her mother. I loved the poems in which she talked about her mother and the struggles her mother faced. Those were my favourites I guess.
I have never been out of India so probably I can’t experience the exact emotions of an immigrant. But I guess, I can understand them and Rupi Kaur did a nice job in telling those immigrant experiences. She has added an entire section about immigrants and refugees. You can feel the depth of those and can actually relate to them.
Feminism has always been a big part of her poetry and this book was no exception. All that feminism talk actually make you feel motivated. I really liked how she talked about the women being oppressed in her culture (particularly in Indian culture). Those aspects that she talked about are very important to our present situation I guess. She included topics like rape culture, slut-shaming and how people often oppress the girl power. Some things can definitely offend you, but those are brutally honest. I loved the talk about female feticide in India.
I love the illustrations. All of her illustrations combine so beautifully with her poetry. You will feel so many emotions at once.. sadness, love, frustration, anger, happiness, self-loathing..
Despite having all these positive points, I guess there were some problematic areas too. I felt that some of the poems were not original. I am not sure of this, but a few felt as if she has taken it from somewhere. Also, there is a lot of sex talk and a few such illustrations too. So if you are not okay with it, you should skip this. Also, I felt that a few poems about feminism, the body, the heartbreak, and self-love were repetitive.
All in all, this was really a beautiful and brutal collection of poetry. You will feel connected to Rupi Kaur, especially if you are an immigrant or brown-skinned person. It talks about so many different themes and will make you feel belonged. While Milk and Honey was focused on feminism and self-love, The Sun and Her Flowers is much more than that. And the metaphors using flowers is beautiful. If you have already read Milk and Honey then you should definitely pick it up for a different experience, and if you haven’t read her first book, then also you should pick it up for enjoying Rupi’s style of poetry.
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Full review on: FLIPPING THROUGH THE PAGES
Trigger Warning: Slavery, Rape/Sexual abuse, Assault, Racism, Violence, Abusive language
I would like to start this review by telling that this book was NOT easy to read, at least for me. It takes a little time to adjust to the structure of the book. Rather than a full-fledged story, this book can be treated as short-stories about different characters. But this book is a must-read!
Homegoing spans through seven generations, telling the story of one person from each generation so in total there are fourteen perspectives. It starts with two half-sisters – Effia and Esi – who were unknown of each other’s existence. Effia marries to a slave trader while Esi was forced into slavery. Two sisters with totally different fates. One’s fate confides her and her family to mostly in Ghana, while the other’s lead her and her family to slavery in America.
Each chapter is from the perspective of a new character. The story starts in the 18th century and ends in the current world. The book starts with Effia and Esi telling their stories in respective chapters and then end with their future child. The stories are being told in the same manner afterward, from the perspective of that generation character.
As you will read the story of each generation, you would be able to track the cultural changes that took place in both Ghana and America. You would get to know how colonialism, slavery, and racism spread from Ghana to America. You will experience the life during the tribal wars of the 1700s, how that tribal war forced a tribe to be slaves of British and Americans. The stories will transport you from the Gold Coast of Ghana to crossing Atlantic, to cotton plantations, to coal mines, to Jazz clubs, to Harlem during Civil Rights movement.
This is a plot-heavy book, and at several times you would find yourself looking to the family tree. Each of the characters are well focused and [a:Yaa Gyasi|14493315|Yaa Gyasi|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1459660192p2/14493315.jpg] has created them with utmost care. Every character portrayed a depth of emotions that are often hard to understand. I love how well the author has tied up the stories of the people over the generations. Even the time gap between each story is not a hurdle in the whole storyline. At the end of each chapter, you get a sneak peek of the future generation so you don’t feel like you are lost.
Though I would have preferred a different ending, I was quite satisfied with how Gyasi closed the story. I guess she was trying to show that though you are apart from your origin and heritage, it inexplicably binds people together through fate and time.
Though the book is only 300 pages long (but with the small font-size), it is so vast in scope that it manages to showcase almost every crucial event in African American history. Be it the slave trade with British, the passing of the Fugitive Slave Law or the Great Migration. I am not a history buff and so I was not aware of many of the events mentioned. But I am glad that now I know.
This book is a true testament to the scars of slavery. Though I am not an African so my understanding might be little different than the natives. But I do feel that [a:Yaa Gyasi|14493315|Yaa Gyasi|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1459660192p2/14493315.jpg] has managed to portray the history of slavery very well. Besides slavery, [a:Yaa Gyasi|14493315|Yaa Gyasi|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1459660192p2/14493315.jpg] has also managed to pull the dynamics of family and relationships.
You also get to know a lot of things about African culture. I wish there were some kind of glossary given in the end because in the initial chapters there were many African words used and sometimes it was hard to decode it.
This book is a must-read, though I agree that the narrative is a little complex to grasp. With a wide variety of characters, this story is rich in its meaning. Gyasi has managed to include so many details in only 300 pages and yet it doesn’t feel rushed. This is a good book to know and experience about all that slave culture and the African movement. This is a fine mix of history and storytelling.
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Trigger Warning: Slavery, Rape/Sexual abuse, Assault, Racism, Violence, Abusive language
I would like to start this review by telling that this book was NOT easy to read, at least for me. It takes a little time to adjust to the structure of the book. Rather than a full-fledged story, this book can be treated as short-stories about different characters. But this book is a must-read!
Homegoing spans through seven generations, telling the story of one person from each generation so in total there are fourteen perspectives. It starts with two half-sisters – Effia and Esi – who were unknown of each other’s existence. Effia marries to a slave trader while Esi was forced into slavery. Two sisters with totally different fates. One’s fate confides her and her family to mostly in Ghana, while the other’s lead her and her family to slavery in America.
Each chapter is from the perspective of a new character. The story starts in the 18th century and ends in the current world. The book starts with Effia and Esi telling their stories in respective chapters and then end with their future child. The stories are being told in the same manner afterward, from the perspective of that generation character.
As you will read the story of each generation, you would be able to track the cultural changes that took place in both Ghana and America. You would get to know how colonialism, slavery, and racism spread from Ghana to America. You will experience the life during the tribal wars of the 1700s, how that tribal war forced a tribe to be slaves of British and Americans. The stories will transport you from the Gold Coast of Ghana to crossing Atlantic, to cotton plantations, to coal mines, to Jazz clubs, to Harlem during Civil Rights movement.
This is a plot-heavy book, and at several times you would find yourself looking to the family tree. Each of the characters are well focused and [a:Yaa Gyasi|14493315|Yaa Gyasi|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1459660192p2/14493315.jpg] has created them with utmost care. Every character portrayed a depth of emotions that are often hard to understand. I love how well the author has tied up the stories of the people over the generations. Even the time gap between each story is not a hurdle in the whole storyline. At the end of each chapter, you get a sneak peek of the future generation so you don’t feel like you are lost.
Though I would have preferred a different ending, I was quite satisfied with how Gyasi closed the story. I guess she was trying to show that though you are apart from your origin and heritage, it inexplicably binds people together through fate and time.
Though the book is only 300 pages long (but with the small font-size), it is so vast in scope that it manages to showcase almost every crucial event in African American history. Be it the slave trade with British, the passing of the Fugitive Slave Law or the Great Migration. I am not a history buff and so I was not aware of many of the events mentioned. But I am glad that now I know.
This book is a true testament to the scars of slavery. Though I am not an African so my understanding might be little different than the natives. But I do feel that [a:Yaa Gyasi|14493315|Yaa Gyasi|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1459660192p2/14493315.jpg] has managed to portray the history of slavery very well. Besides slavery, [a:Yaa Gyasi|14493315|Yaa Gyasi|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1459660192p2/14493315.jpg] has also managed to pull the dynamics of family and relationships.
You also get to know a lot of things about African culture. I wish there were some kind of glossary given in the end because in the initial chapters there were many African words used and sometimes it was hard to decode it.
This book is a must-read, though I agree that the narrative is a little complex to grasp. With a wide variety of characters, this story is rich in its meaning. Gyasi has managed to include so many details in only 300 pages and yet it doesn’t feel rushed. This is a good book to know and experience about all that slave culture and the African movement. This is a fine mix of history and storytelling.
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Full review on: Flipping Through the Pages
Actual rating: 3.5 stars
Trigger warnings: suicide, seizures, mentions of rape and AIDS
[b:Tell Me No Lies|35489153|Tell Me No Lies|Adele Griffin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1519614279s/35489153.jpg|56889526] is an entertaining read. It is set in late 80’s and follows the life of Lizzie, our MC, and the changes she is acquiring to. Lizzie has Epilepsy and she often fights with mild concussions and rare seizures. This is a secret she never wants to talk about with anyone because she was ashamed of it. When a new girl Claire enters her school, Lizzie finds a new friend in her and tried to be free and bold as her. Claire is also hiding a secret about his ex-boyfriend Jay. Matt was a long-time crush of Lizzie and when he finally shows her that he feels the same for her, she was happy but terrified at the same time. But when the friendship between Claire, Matt, and Dave started growing, Lizzie finds herself out of the loop and then finds a hard-hitting truth.
I’m really conflicted in my opinions about this book. While I really enjoyed the plot, somehow I wasn’t able to connect to any of the characters as much as I wanted to.
What I Liked
-----------------------
* The plot of the story was my favorite. The story starts in summer and goes all the way till April next year. Lizzie was in the senior year and she goes through so many changes in that year. She befriends with Claire, Dave, and Matt while handling her seizures. In each part of the story, there was some plot to get you hooked to the story and turn the pages.
* I loved Gage and Mini’s characters. They were Lizzie’s childhood friends and was always there for her. However, when Claire enters Lizzie’s life, she very much parted distance with them because of the things she wanted from her life. Mini and gage were kinds of a nerd, as was Lizzie before meeting Claire. It definitely hurt me when Lizzie was drifting apart from them.
* Though I don’t know much about the era of the 80s in foreign, I loved some of the backdrops. I have no idea about the 80s music for other countries but it definitely sounded like the good ones, as many have definitely praised for the music.
* As the title states, there are so many secrets involved with everyone. Lizzie kept her epilepsy as a secret and doesn’t want to tell about it to her new friends. Claire has this whole kind of secret about her ex. Matt and Dave had their own secrets. All these secrets perfectly align with the title of the book.
* This story perfectly captured the changing lives of teenagers. Each of them had different ambitions but at the same time, they were not sure what they want from their lives. While deciding their future, they go through acceptance and love, along with changing relationships and how they affect them.
* I really liked the writing style of the author. This book was definitely long but because of her writing style, I was able to end it sooner than expected.
* I loved how the author ended the story. There is no definite conclusion but you can sure make it as you like it. That ending left many possibilities but in the end, friendship was the outcome that I gathered.
What I didn’t like
-------------------------------
* I was not able to connect to the main character Lizzy as much as I wanted to. Lizzy was sure a wonderful character but sometimes her decisions felt flat. I hated when she abandoned her childhood friends Gage and Mini for being with Claire.
* This book was definitely slow in the beginning. It took a lot of concentration to continue reading it to 20%. But I am glad after that it was quite easy to go through it.
* I love a book with friendships. Though this book had many aspects of friendships, I am sad that none of them felt real. Gage, Mini, and Lizzie were a friend since childhood and yet Lizzie always finds herself drifting apart from them. Lizzie and Claire’s friendship too took a hard turn.
* While I appreciate the lots of turns and secrets in the story, I somehow felt that these secrets stopped the overall growth of Lizzie’s character. Those secrets turned her from her real ambitions and friends and she found herself in many difficult situations at times.
* It was good to read the 80s references. But being a person who doesn’t know much about that era, it was really difficult to get all those music references.
* I really rooted for Mimi’s brother Theo. I really wished there was more part of him in the story.
Overall, this was a good read and an entertaining one. The plot of the story is really good and the author’s writing will keep you hooked until the end. The story captures so many aspects like friendships, love and more than that, acceptance. It is a perfect read for the people who enjoy stories set in the 80s. It also covers a lot of issues and I loved the way authored has handled epilepsy. It’s definitely something to look out for this summer!
** Thank you Algonquin Young Readers & the author for providing me a copy n exchange for an honest review.
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Actual rating: 3.5 stars
Trigger warnings: suicide, seizures, mentions of rape and AIDS
[b:Tell Me No Lies|35489153|Tell Me No Lies|Adele Griffin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1519614279s/35489153.jpg|56889526] is an entertaining read. It is set in late 80’s and follows the life of Lizzie, our MC, and the changes she is acquiring to. Lizzie has Epilepsy and she often fights with mild concussions and rare seizures. This is a secret she never wants to talk about with anyone because she was ashamed of it. When a new girl Claire enters her school, Lizzie finds a new friend in her and tried to be free and bold as her. Claire is also hiding a secret about his ex-boyfriend Jay. Matt was a long-time crush of Lizzie and when he finally shows her that he feels the same for her, she was happy but terrified at the same time. But when the friendship between Claire, Matt, and Dave started growing, Lizzie finds herself out of the loop and then finds a hard-hitting truth.
I’m really conflicted in my opinions about this book. While I really enjoyed the plot, somehow I wasn’t able to connect to any of the characters as much as I wanted to.
What I Liked
-----------------------
* The plot of the story was my favorite. The story starts in summer and goes all the way till April next year. Lizzie was in the senior year and she goes through so many changes in that year. She befriends with Claire, Dave, and Matt while handling her seizures. In each part of the story, there was some plot to get you hooked to the story and turn the pages.
* I loved Gage and Mini’s characters. They were Lizzie’s childhood friends and was always there for her. However, when Claire enters Lizzie’s life, she very much parted distance with them because of the things she wanted from her life. Mini and gage were kinds of a nerd, as was Lizzie before meeting Claire. It definitely hurt me when Lizzie was drifting apart from them.
* Though I don’t know much about the era of the 80s in foreign, I loved some of the backdrops. I have no idea about the 80s music for other countries but it definitely sounded like the good ones, as many have definitely praised for the music.
* As the title states, there are so many secrets involved with everyone. Lizzie kept her epilepsy as a secret and doesn’t want to tell about it to her new friends. Claire has this whole kind of secret about her ex. Matt and Dave had their own secrets. All these secrets perfectly align with the title of the book.
* This story perfectly captured the changing lives of teenagers. Each of them had different ambitions but at the same time, they were not sure what they want from their lives. While deciding their future, they go through acceptance and love, along with changing relationships and how they affect them.
* I really liked the writing style of the author. This book was definitely long but because of her writing style, I was able to end it sooner than expected.
* I loved how the author ended the story. There is no definite conclusion but you can sure make it as you like it. That ending left many possibilities but in the end, friendship was the outcome that I gathered.
What I didn’t like
-------------------------------
* I was not able to connect to the main character Lizzy as much as I wanted to. Lizzy was sure a wonderful character but sometimes her decisions felt flat. I hated when she abandoned her childhood friends Gage and Mini for being with Claire.
* This book was definitely slow in the beginning. It took a lot of concentration to continue reading it to 20%. But I am glad after that it was quite easy to go through it.
* I love a book with friendships. Though this book had many aspects of friendships, I am sad that none of them felt real. Gage, Mini, and Lizzie were a friend since childhood and yet Lizzie always finds herself drifting apart from them. Lizzie and Claire’s friendship too took a hard turn.
* While I appreciate the lots of turns and secrets in the story, I somehow felt that these secrets stopped the overall growth of Lizzie’s character. Those secrets turned her from her real ambitions and friends and she found herself in many difficult situations at times.
* It was good to read the 80s references. But being a person who doesn’t know much about that era, it was really difficult to get all those music references.
* I really rooted for Mimi’s brother Theo. I really wished there was more part of him in the story.
Overall, this was a good read and an entertaining one. The plot of the story is really good and the author’s writing will keep you hooked until the end. The story captures so many aspects like friendships, love and more than that, acceptance. It is a perfect read for the people who enjoy stories set in the 80s. It also covers a lot of issues and I loved the way authored has handled epilepsy. It’s definitely something to look out for this summer!
** Thank you Algonquin Young Readers & the author for providing me a copy n exchange for an honest review.
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Overall this collection of poetry was decent one. There were a few poems which I loved a lot while a few just went straight above my head.
These poems compiles every aspect of life, basically the author's life, from his childhood to his current age. He talks about his rough childhood and the experiences he has gained over the years.
Every poem is kind of attached to the next one and thus feels like a story. However, I was not able to connect to all of those poems. If you like a decent poetry collection, you could try this.
** Thank you NetGalley and eTreasures Publishing for providing me an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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These poems compiles every aspect of life, basically the author's life, from his childhood to his current age. He talks about his rough childhood and the experiences he has gained over the years.
Every poem is kind of attached to the next one and thus feels like a story. However, I was not able to connect to all of those poems. If you like a decent poetry collection, you could try this.
** Thank you NetGalley and eTreasures Publishing for providing me an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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Full review: Flipping Through the Pages
Trigger Warning: Sexual & physical abuse, marital rape, domestic abuse, violence
When I Hit You is a hard-hitting reality. Sometimes, you read books which give you nightmares, make you think about the reality and give you goosebumps. THIS book is one of those books. Before we progress further, I want to tell that this book is not for the soft-hearted persons. This is brutal and horrifying. This book is full of paragraphs like this:
The unnamed narrator falls in love with a university lecturer because of his Marxist ideologies and revolutionary thoughts and marries him. Soon after the marriage, they move to Mangalore and she realizes that she is all alone there. Her husband decides to show her “right path” and soon her marriage becomes a training camp for her. He dictates her what to do, how to behave in public, whom to talk and even he limits her online presence time. He demands all her passwords and took the control of everything from her. She is constantly under his radar and finds herself totally cut-out from the outside world.
She was a writer but her husband deletes all her old emails thereby deleting her existence of being a writer. She was trapped in an unknown city within a house of three room with a husband who was always ready to punish her with his belt and other gadgets in case if there was even the tiniest mistake. And he calms down his anger by raping her.
But before losing her identity completely, she decides to fight back. She refuses to forget her words and that she is a writer and instead started writing letters to imaginary lovers, within the limited time that she was allowed to use a computer. And one day when her husband threatens to kill her, the realization dawns on her and she finds enough courage to leave him and return to her parents.
The most dangerous words for Indian parents is “what will we tell the world? What will they say?”. They fear more about what the people in the community will say, rather than what their daughter is going through. When the narrator tried to tell her parents about her husband, they told her that it will get better with time. And because hers was a love marriage, it puts more pressure on them, because ultimately the culture is of arranged marriage and if you have done a loved one then you have already crossed a line.
The thought of equality has been well put through this book. Kandasamy has referred that often the system of thought that talks about maintaining the equality, itself oppress other people. The husband claims to be a true communist but whenever his wife behaves in a way which he doesn’t like, she suddenly is a bad comrade and a whore to him. behind the curtain of Marxist ideology, he beats and rapes his wife. While telling her the consequences of abandoning the capitalist system, he tries to take away the identity of his wife.
While reading this, the first thought that you will get is how a well-educated, informative, intelligent, feminist girl ended up with a guy like this. But the truth is, you can’t figure out the real motive of anyone. It is hard to believe how a man can be so toxic and heartless. But kudos to [a:Meena Kandasamy|3027717|Meena Kandasamy|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1360459496p2/3027717.jpg], she has portrayed this beautifully. At one point, you would think that is there is nothing redeeming in this man? But I am afraid, you won’t get what you want to find out.
[a:Meena Kandasamy|3027717|Meena Kandasamy|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1360459496p2/3027717.jpg] writing is raw and brutal and yet honest and fierce. There are honest accounts of violence. So in order to read this book, you have to be strong. Though the book is said to be a fiction, we find a very thin line between this fiction and the reality of the author’s life. In this dark story, I applaud the author to find the humor wherever possible. Her language is kind of poetic and full of sarcasm.
However, within these circumstances, the narrator found her piece in writing and creating the new characters. She starts writing a page or two daily, recounting the various persons in her life, her ex-boyfriends and friends, the good time she spent and how she overcame from her first serious relationship. That writing time was her happiest time each day. She starts living a different life within her characters and on paper, she was able to express which she wasn’t able to do in real life. Her husband made fun of her writing and gave her threats to kill. That threat proved to be the final toll that she could take. I am really glad that at that point, she decided to left.
This story is not just the author’s own story. This is a story of many Indian women. There are women who are not that lucky to escape. There are the ones who were burned because of dowry. There are many such cases. However, the important thing is how we, as a society, are addressing these issues and how important it is to support the women instead of thinking “what will they say?”.
Overall, When I Hit You is real, raw and brutal but it is an important story which needed to be told. This is not just important for the adults but is equally important for the youngsters too to learn that doing suppressing the another in terms of a relationship shouldn’t happen and that everyone needs a personal space. This book will definitely make you angry and will leave you to think afterward. The author has bravely put forward the issues that we all have seen at one time or another, for sure, but fails to talk about. She admitted that no one forced her to into this relationship, yet she went into it because no one knows what future holds. This was undoubtedly a tough read but undeniably an important one.
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Trigger Warning: Sexual & physical abuse, marital rape, domestic abuse, violence
When I Hit You is a hard-hitting reality. Sometimes, you read books which give you nightmares, make you think about the reality and give you goosebumps. THIS book is one of those books. Before we progress further, I want to tell that this book is not for the soft-hearted persons. This is brutal and horrifying. This book is full of paragraphs like this:
"That is the aim of the rapes, all this rough sex. Not just a disciplining, but a disabling. He believes that after him, I will have nothing in me to love, to make love, to give pleasure. This is a man breaking his own wife. This is a man burning down his own house."
The unnamed narrator falls in love with a university lecturer because of his Marxist ideologies and revolutionary thoughts and marries him. Soon after the marriage, they move to Mangalore and she realizes that she is all alone there. Her husband decides to show her “right path” and soon her marriage becomes a training camp for her. He dictates her what to do, how to behave in public, whom to talk and even he limits her online presence time. He demands all her passwords and took the control of everything from her. She is constantly under his radar and finds herself totally cut-out from the outside world.
She was a writer but her husband deletes all her old emails thereby deleting her existence of being a writer. She was trapped in an unknown city within a house of three room with a husband who was always ready to punish her with his belt and other gadgets in case if there was even the tiniest mistake. And he calms down his anger by raping her.
But before losing her identity completely, she decides to fight back. She refuses to forget her words and that she is a writer and instead started writing letters to imaginary lovers, within the limited time that she was allowed to use a computer. And one day when her husband threatens to kill her, the realization dawns on her and she finds enough courage to leave him and return to her parents.
The most dangerous words for Indian parents is “what will we tell the world? What will they say?”. They fear more about what the people in the community will say, rather than what their daughter is going through. When the narrator tried to tell her parents about her husband, they told her that it will get better with time. And because hers was a love marriage, it puts more pressure on them, because ultimately the culture is of arranged marriage and if you have done a loved one then you have already crossed a line.
“I must learn that a Communist woman is treated equally and respectfully by comrades in public but can be slapped and called a whore behind closed doors. This is dialectics.”
The thought of equality has been well put through this book. Kandasamy has referred that often the system of thought that talks about maintaining the equality, itself oppress other people. The husband claims to be a true communist but whenever his wife behaves in a way which he doesn’t like, she suddenly is a bad comrade and a whore to him. behind the curtain of Marxist ideology, he beats and rapes his wife. While telling her the consequences of abandoning the capitalist system, he tries to take away the identity of his wife.
In this marriage in which I’m beaten, he is the poet. And one of his opening lines of verse reads: When I hit you, Comrade Lenin weeps.
While reading this, the first thought that you will get is how a well-educated, informative, intelligent, feminist girl ended up with a guy like this. But the truth is, you can’t figure out the real motive of anyone. It is hard to believe how a man can be so toxic and heartless. But kudos to [a:Meena Kandasamy|3027717|Meena Kandasamy|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1360459496p2/3027717.jpg], she has portrayed this beautifully. At one point, you would think that is there is nothing redeeming in this man? But I am afraid, you won’t get what you want to find out.
[a:Meena Kandasamy|3027717|Meena Kandasamy|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1360459496p2/3027717.jpg] writing is raw and brutal and yet honest and fierce. There are honest accounts of violence. So in order to read this book, you have to be strong. Though the book is said to be a fiction, we find a very thin line between this fiction and the reality of the author’s life. In this dark story, I applaud the author to find the humor wherever possible. Her language is kind of poetic and full of sarcasm.
However, within these circumstances, the narrator found her piece in writing and creating the new characters. She starts writing a page or two daily, recounting the various persons in her life, her ex-boyfriends and friends, the good time she spent and how she overcame from her first serious relationship. That writing time was her happiest time each day. She starts living a different life within her characters and on paper, she was able to express which she wasn’t able to do in real life. Her husband made fun of her writing and gave her threats to kill. That threat proved to be the final toll that she could take. I am really glad that at that point, she decided to left.
This story is not just the author’s own story. This is a story of many Indian women. There are women who are not that lucky to escape. There are the ones who were burned because of dowry. There are many such cases. However, the important thing is how we, as a society, are addressing these issues and how important it is to support the women instead of thinking “what will they say?”.
Overall, When I Hit You is real, raw and brutal but it is an important story which needed to be told. This is not just important for the adults but is equally important for the youngsters too to learn that doing suppressing the another in terms of a relationship shouldn’t happen and that everyone needs a personal space. This book will definitely make you angry and will leave you to think afterward. The author has bravely put forward the issues that we all have seen at one time or another, for sure, but fails to talk about. She admitted that no one forced her to into this relationship, yet she went into it because no one knows what future holds. This was undoubtedly a tough read but undeniably an important one.
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Full review on: Flipping Through the Pages
Sheets is a cute and heartwarming story. When I first saw the book, I was expecting a funny story but the story was much stronger and serious. This is a story about a young girl Marjorie who has been left alone to run her family’s laundromat after the death of her mother. Her father is too lost in grieving. Marjorie was struggling to save her laundry from the wicked neighbor who wanted to acquire it. her laundry suddenly a ghost starts to haunt the laundry.
I liked the plot very much. From the starting, we can see the struggles of a young girl managing her school and family business while also handling a selfish neighbor. The story will definitely make you emotional. When Wendell, the ghost, enters into the story it becomes more interesting. The story is basically about grief and unlikely friendships and about the determination to move forward even in the worst conditions.
The artwork is the highlight of this book which is definitely better than the story itself. I like how the author has designed Wendell, as a sheet. It was something fresh to see. I really like the color palette that has been used which is mostly pastel.
The story is little slow in the beginning considering how it focuses on Marjorie and how she feels and thus we get to know about Wendell a little later. Also, it takes some time to understand the ghost world properly.
Overall, this is an adorable graphic novel which is hard to resist. I would definitely recommend it.
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Sheets is a cute and heartwarming story. When I first saw the book, I was expecting a funny story but the story was much stronger and serious. This is a story about a young girl Marjorie who has been left alone to run her family’s laundromat after the death of her mother. Her father is too lost in grieving. Marjorie was struggling to save her laundry from the wicked neighbor who wanted to acquire it. her laundry suddenly a ghost starts to haunt the laundry.
I liked the plot very much. From the starting, we can see the struggles of a young girl managing her school and family business while also handling a selfish neighbor. The story will definitely make you emotional. When Wendell, the ghost, enters into the story it becomes more interesting. The story is basically about grief and unlikely friendships and about the determination to move forward even in the worst conditions.
The artwork is the highlight of this book which is definitely better than the story itself. I like how the author has designed Wendell, as a sheet. It was something fresh to see. I really like the color palette that has been used which is mostly pastel.
The story is little slow in the beginning considering how it focuses on Marjorie and how she feels and thus we get to know about Wendell a little later. Also, it takes some time to understand the ghost world properly.
Overall, this is an adorable graphic novel which is hard to resist. I would definitely recommend it.
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Full review on: FLIPPING THROUGH THE PAGES
Guys, THIS BOOK WAS SUPER-DUPER ADORABLE and if you haven’t read it yet, I don’t know why you are waiting? Even I don’t know why I was waiting till date? No idea!! If you love Oreos, you have to read it! 😀
I don’t think there is much that I can say that has not been said already a million times about this super-freaking-adorable book. But yet, without delaying further, I would simply like to give you 10 reasons to read it:
1. Simon is freaking cute and awesome a.k.a the best character ever!
I think I haven’t enjoyed any character in YA as much as I enjoyed reading Simon! He was super adorable. He was not a complicated but a very simple character. You would like to see him in real life for sure. I was enjoying reading about him throughout the story. He is honest with his friends and most importantly to his family. He is a gay teenager with a perfect grammar. Yeah, grammar is important to mention here. You’ll understand when you’ll actually read it. he doesn’t have so-called-perfect friends but yet he tries to enjoy all the time he can get with them. And yeah, he has the best humor 😀
2. Wonderful relationship of Simon and Blue a.k.a. wonderful romance
Ahh, Simon and Blue make a perfect couple. They haven’t met each other. They communicate through emails and you’ll fall in love with them right from the first email. Their emails are full of general talks and wit and humor. But they both made sure to not disclose their identity to each other as they were not ready yet to come out to the world, though they go to the same school. Through their talks, you would feel as if you are part of their sweet romance. And this is a kind of online relationship that you can actually enjoy reading. And yes, there was lots of flirting too!! 😀
3. Amazing yet flawed side characters
I loved how [a:Becky Albertalli|7579036|Becky Albertalli|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1392414949p2/7579036.jpg] didn’t try to show all of them perfect. In fact, I loved how imperfect they were. Simon has a kind of close group with Nick, Abby, and Leah. Abby is the latest member of the group but Simon is close to her. At first, I didn’t like Abby that much because of her equation with Leah, but later she became one of my favourite characters. I have to admit that her character was super real.
4. Underlying issues of a typical teenager
This book was not just about romance and gay relationship. It has covered many issues related to typical teenager lives. Simon portrayed very deep thoughts sometimes. This book is a lot about acceptance, to accept who you are and to prepare yourself to deal with the society. There is also a lot of bullying shown in the book regarding how the gay people are often treated once people discover about them. I loved that friendships in the book have been shown like in real life. The author has shown that often a strong looking friendship can be fragile and this concerns most of the teenagers. Also, throughout the book, the social media has played an important role. Though it seems to be a good part for Simon and Blue, later it has been shown that, yes, social media can be your biggest nightmare.
5. Wonderful mystery
Believe me, throughout the book till ending, I was so sure about who Blue was. But yes, I was wrong. I hadn’t expected that person to be Blue. And the ending? It was super cute, seriously. I never wanted the book to finish. In fact, now that I knew who Blue was, I wanted to read more of their story 😛
6. Everything felt real
I really loved how Becky Albertalli created a book that felt so real? I don’t know, maybe I am wrong. I haven’t met any gay person in real life. But reading Simon and Blue’s story gave me the feeling of watching a real life story. I loved how all the shown characters felt real. I even loved their teachers, especially the theatre teacher.
7. Supportive family (not so typical YA family)
I am sure you must have heard how the parents in YA are shown as not so supportive and having an awkward relationship with their kids. well, not in this book. Simon’s parents were super supportive when he revealed his sexuality to them. Also, I loved how funny they were. I enjoyed their dinnertime conversations. Trust me, you would find some good jokes there. His sister was also fabulous.
8. Humour
Trust me when I say this, this book was funny. From the first page itself, I was grinning till the end. They were humor in each page. I loved how Simon made jokes about even himself.
9. Wonderful and flowing writing
I loved the writing of [a:Becky Albertalli|7579036|Becky Albertalli|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1392414949p2/7579036.jpg]. This was my first book of hers and I am eager to read more of her books. There are only a few handful books that made me hooked to the story from the first page and this book was one of them. The writing was so easy and flowy that you will feel as if you are the part of the whole thing.
10. For the love of Oreos
Last but not the least, for the love of Oreos, read it. There is all that mention of Oreos that will actually make you hungry throughout the book. Since the day I finished this book, I had a craving for Oreos 😀 In other words, yeah this book is better than Oreos 😛
Now I can't wait to see the movie! I am sure it is going to be as awesome as this 😀
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Guys, THIS BOOK WAS SUPER-DUPER ADORABLE and if you haven’t read it yet, I don’t know why you are waiting? Even I don’t know why I was waiting till date? No idea!! If you love Oreos, you have to read it! 😀
I don’t think there is much that I can say that has not been said already a million times about this super-freaking-adorable book. But yet, without delaying further, I would simply like to give you 10 reasons to read it:
1. Simon is freaking cute and awesome a.k.a the best character ever!
I think I haven’t enjoyed any character in YA as much as I enjoyed reading Simon! He was super adorable. He was not a complicated but a very simple character. You would like to see him in real life for sure. I was enjoying reading about him throughout the story. He is honest with his friends and most importantly to his family. He is a gay teenager with a perfect grammar. Yeah, grammar is important to mention here. You’ll understand when you’ll actually read it. he doesn’t have so-called-perfect friends but yet he tries to enjoy all the time he can get with them. And yeah, he has the best humor 😀
2. Wonderful relationship of Simon and Blue a.k.a. wonderful romance
Ahh, Simon and Blue make a perfect couple. They haven’t met each other. They communicate through emails and you’ll fall in love with them right from the first email. Their emails are full of general talks and wit and humor. But they both made sure to not disclose their identity to each other as they were not ready yet to come out to the world, though they go to the same school. Through their talks, you would feel as if you are part of their sweet romance. And this is a kind of online relationship that you can actually enjoy reading. And yes, there was lots of flirting too!! 😀
3. Amazing yet flawed side characters
I loved how [a:Becky Albertalli|7579036|Becky Albertalli|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1392414949p2/7579036.jpg] didn’t try to show all of them perfect. In fact, I loved how imperfect they were. Simon has a kind of close group with Nick, Abby, and Leah. Abby is the latest member of the group but Simon is close to her. At first, I didn’t like Abby that much because of her equation with Leah, but later she became one of my favourite characters. I have to admit that her character was super real.
4. Underlying issues of a typical teenager
This book was not just about romance and gay relationship. It has covered many issues related to typical teenager lives. Simon portrayed very deep thoughts sometimes. This book is a lot about acceptance, to accept who you are and to prepare yourself to deal with the society. There is also a lot of bullying shown in the book regarding how the gay people are often treated once people discover about them. I loved that friendships in the book have been shown like in real life. The author has shown that often a strong looking friendship can be fragile and this concerns most of the teenagers. Also, throughout the book, the social media has played an important role. Though it seems to be a good part for Simon and Blue, later it has been shown that, yes, social media can be your biggest nightmare.
5. Wonderful mystery
Believe me, throughout the book till ending, I was so sure about who Blue was. But yes, I was wrong. I hadn’t expected that person to be Blue. And the ending? It was super cute, seriously. I never wanted the book to finish. In fact, now that I knew who Blue was, I wanted to read more of their story 😛
6. Everything felt real
I really loved how Becky Albertalli created a book that felt so real? I don’t know, maybe I am wrong. I haven’t met any gay person in real life. But reading Simon and Blue’s story gave me the feeling of watching a real life story. I loved how all the shown characters felt real. I even loved their teachers, especially the theatre teacher.
7. Supportive family (not so typical YA family)
I am sure you must have heard how the parents in YA are shown as not so supportive and having an awkward relationship with their kids. well, not in this book. Simon’s parents were super supportive when he revealed his sexuality to them. Also, I loved how funny they were. I enjoyed their dinnertime conversations. Trust me, you would find some good jokes there. His sister was also fabulous.
8. Humour
Trust me when I say this, this book was funny. From the first page itself, I was grinning till the end. They were humor in each page. I loved how Simon made jokes about even himself.
9. Wonderful and flowing writing
I loved the writing of [a:Becky Albertalli|7579036|Becky Albertalli|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1392414949p2/7579036.jpg]. This was my first book of hers and I am eager to read more of her books. There are only a few handful books that made me hooked to the story from the first page and this book was one of them. The writing was so easy and flowy that you will feel as if you are the part of the whole thing.
10. For the love of Oreos
Last but not the least, for the love of Oreos, read it. There is all that mention of Oreos that will actually make you hungry throughout the book. Since the day I finished this book, I had a craving for Oreos 😀 In other words, yeah this book is better than Oreos 😛
Now I can't wait to see the movie! I am sure it is going to be as awesome as this 😀
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