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allthatissim
You Are Here was my first book by Dawn Lanuza and well it was good. This collection deals with love and vulnerability. It talks about accepting who you are and getting used to the whole idea of adulting.
Majority of the poems are written are well and are heartfelt. But i wasn't able to relate every one of them. There are people who would enjoy this collection more than I did. Nevertheless it was a good collection to about self-reflection.
Majority of the poems are written are well and are heartfelt. But i wasn't able to relate every one of them. There are people who would enjoy this collection more than I did. Nevertheless it was a good collection to about self-reflection.
This is probably the best book from Lang Leav in a while. I kept highlighting so many of the lines. The poems that dealt with abuse in relationships and the one about being a strong woman but some of my favorites.
As always, her poems are easily relatable. I could see myself in some of the poems. And the way she represented falling in love was too good. It really touched me. I would definitely recommend this moving and heartfelt collection.
As always, her poems are easily relatable. I could see myself in some of the poems. And the way she represented falling in love was too good. It really touched me. I would definitely recommend this moving and heartfelt collection.
Content warnings: sexual assault (not depicted), rape culture, violence, abusive relationship, suicide attempt, blood
Representation: lesbian and transgender secondary characters
Actual rating: 4.5 stars
This book was like a hard punch that takes time to recover. Before going into it, I thought it would be a simple revenge story. But OH.MY.GOD. It was a bloody, gore-filled and crazy story that left me haunting for days. I have never read Macbeth but I knew the basic and this feminist retelling of Macbeth blew me away. INTENSE is definitely the word to describe this book. It is twisted but leaves you feeling...powerful?! The main theme of the story is sexual assault and rape culture and this book dealt with these in a pretty hard way.
Elle goes to a party with her three best friends on her sixteenth birthday but some famous boys of another school choose her as their next conquest. But she denies calling herself a victim. They swore to destroy them all and stops at nothing! I couldn't stop wondering how supportive Elle's friends were. That group of girls themselves were horrible but their friendship was unchallenging. They believed in Elle and her murderous revenge plan and supported her at every step.
This book is not for everyone, as all won't be able to suspend their beliefs to read about a group of girls set for murderous revenge. Because girls can't be that cruel right? But why not? Look at all that is happening to girls today. Of course, in reality, to imagine such a story would be catastrophic, but again, I can't help myself but feel how privileged men are.
This is a story of girls who are often told to be silent. This is a story of taking things into your own hands when you know that even the justice system will fail you. How many rape accusers get the punishment they deserve? And how many cases don't backfire and blame the women instead? How many of those women are still alive, not eaten up by fear and trauma? Foul is Fair deliver revenge by not letting go men of that crime unpunished.
This book is pretty dark but the writing reads like a classic and will leave you mesmerised. And if you decide to read it (which I hope you would), check out the CW first and read this when you are in the right mind.
Representation: lesbian and transgender secondary characters
Actual rating: 4.5 stars
This book was like a hard punch that takes time to recover. Before going into it, I thought it would be a simple revenge story. But OH.MY.GOD. It was a bloody, gore-filled and crazy story that left me haunting for days. I have never read Macbeth but I knew the basic and this feminist retelling of Macbeth blew me away. INTENSE is definitely the word to describe this book. It is twisted but leaves you feeling...powerful?! The main theme of the story is sexual assault and rape culture and this book dealt with these in a pretty hard way.
Elle goes to a party with her three best friends on her sixteenth birthday but some famous boys of another school choose her as their next conquest. But she denies calling herself a victim. They swore to destroy them all and stops at nothing! I couldn't stop wondering how supportive Elle's friends were. That group of girls themselves were horrible but their friendship was unchallenging. They believed in Elle and her murderous revenge plan and supported her at every step.
This book is not for everyone, as all won't be able to suspend their beliefs to read about a group of girls set for murderous revenge. Because girls can't be that cruel right? But why not? Look at all that is happening to girls today. Of course, in reality, to imagine such a story would be catastrophic, but again, I can't help myself but feel how privileged men are.
This is a story of girls who are often told to be silent. This is a story of taking things into your own hands when you know that even the justice system will fail you. How many rape accusers get the punishment they deserve? And how many cases don't backfire and blame the women instead? How many of those women are still alive, not eaten up by fear and trauma? Foul is Fair deliver revenge by not letting go men of that crime unpunished.
This book is pretty dark but the writing reads like a classic and will leave you mesmerised. And if you decide to read it (which I hope you would), check out the CW first and read this when you are in the right mind.
Girl Gone Viral is the second book in the Modern Love series by Alisha Rai. It is an adorable contemporary romance about Katrina and Jaswinder (Jas). Katrina's extreme anxiety and PTSD makes it almost impossible for her to face crowds and when an uneventful event starts trending on social media, she is on verge of losing control. But then her long-term ex-military bodyguard takes her away on his remote farm to give her the space and peace of mind she needed until that trend fades out.
The story is super sweet while discussing many important themes. It focuses on the lack of privacy because of social media and how things can be escalated super quickly. The anxiety and PTSD are at the heart of the story and have been presented in a humanising way. Jas was with Katrina through all her anxiety episodes while struggling with his own trauma. And frankly, they were so freaking adorable.
The slow-burn romance will give you all the mutual pinning and the backstories of the characters were solid enough to make them understand each other. Jas has been in love with Katrina for as long as he can remember- from his days when he first joined as a security officer to her late husband. But he doesn't think anything would come out of his feelings so he kept all of it bottled up. Until, of course, that gateway!
And oh gosh, I loved Jas's family. They were Punjabis and I was surprised to read about the whole Punjabi farming culture and its contribution to US history, along with the history of Punjabi-Mexican marriages. I loved every scene where Rhi and Jia made an appearance. In short, every secondary character made sure that there wasn't any boring moment in the story.
I wished a few things were resolved in a better way, but overall, I loved this book. If you want to read a story about two super adorable individuals, with basically no-nonsense-drama romance, while discussing the history and mental health, definitely give this a try.
The story is super sweet while discussing many important themes. It focuses on the lack of privacy because of social media and how things can be escalated super quickly. The anxiety and PTSD are at the heart of the story and have been presented in a humanising way. Jas was with Katrina through all her anxiety episodes while struggling with his own trauma. And frankly, they were so freaking adorable.
The slow-burn romance will give you all the mutual pinning and the backstories of the characters were solid enough to make them understand each other. Jas has been in love with Katrina for as long as he can remember- from his days when he first joined as a security officer to her late husband. But he doesn't think anything would come out of his feelings so he kept all of it bottled up. Until, of course, that gateway!
And oh gosh, I loved Jas's family. They were Punjabis and I was surprised to read about the whole Punjabi farming culture and its contribution to US history, along with the history of Punjabi-Mexican marriages. I loved every scene where Rhi and Jia made an appearance. In short, every secondary character made sure that there wasn't any boring moment in the story.
I wished a few things were resolved in a better way, but overall, I loved this book. If you want to read a story about two super adorable individuals, with basically no-nonsense-drama romance, while discussing the history and mental health, definitely give this a try.
content & trigger warnings: rape, sexual abuse, pedophilia, suicide, child pornography, substance abuse, manipulation/gaslighting, death
Rating: 4.5 ⭐️
My Dark Vanessa is a kind of book that makes it hard for you to decide what you feel after finishing it. To just say I loved it, is not justifiable. I felt heavy but light, disoriented but satisfied. Sexual abuse is a hard topic to talk about. And to read a story based on that is a difficult experience for sure.
This book is hugely based on Lolita (which I haven’t read neither planning to read in the near future). Based means, it is not the retelling of Lolita, but rather that the main protagonist, Vanessa (15), sees herself as Lolita because of her relationship with her teacher, Strane (42), who gave her that book to read. That book is then referenced throughout the story by Vanessa.
The story is told in present and the past (when Vanessa’s affair with her professor started). Present Vanessa always thought that what she had with Strane was love. She refused to believe that she was abused. But when an investigation opens against Strane because of accusation by one of his former students, Vanessa recounts the events and tries to figure out the nature of her relationship.
The writing is really superb and I really applaud the way the character of Strane has been written. He is manipulative, freak and always made Vanessa believe that everything was happening because she said it was okay. He always asked first! Yeah, you would hate him to your core, but that’s the sign of a terrific character.
This book is, unfortunately, relevant to today’s time when these kind of stories are coming into light everyday. To imagine the inner struggles of those victims is really hard. The amount of manipulation they go through, societal judgment and pressure, and the behaviour of those victims (even the dark side) has been explained really well through the characters.
A powerful debut and a must read!!
November 4th, 2020: I am finally ready to tackle this emotionally tough read. Buddy reading with Vartika and Aakansha.
Rating: 4.5 ⭐️
My Dark Vanessa is a kind of book that makes it hard for you to decide what you feel after finishing it. To just say I loved it, is not justifiable. I felt heavy but light, disoriented but satisfied. Sexual abuse is a hard topic to talk about. And to read a story based on that is a difficult experience for sure.
This book is hugely based on Lolita (which I haven’t read neither planning to read in the near future). Based means, it is not the retelling of Lolita, but rather that the main protagonist, Vanessa (15), sees herself as Lolita because of her relationship with her teacher, Strane (42), who gave her that book to read. That book is then referenced throughout the story by Vanessa.
The story is told in present and the past (when Vanessa’s affair with her professor started). Present Vanessa always thought that what she had with Strane was love. She refused to believe that she was abused. But when an investigation opens against Strane because of accusation by one of his former students, Vanessa recounts the events and tries to figure out the nature of her relationship.
The writing is really superb and I really applaud the way the character of Strane has been written. He is manipulative, freak and always made Vanessa believe that everything was happening because she said it was okay. He always asked first! Yeah, you would hate him to your core, but that’s the sign of a terrific character.
This book is, unfortunately, relevant to today’s time when these kind of stories are coming into light everyday. To imagine the inner struggles of those victims is really hard. The amount of manipulation they go through, societal judgment and pressure, and the behaviour of those victims (even the dark side) has been explained really well through the characters.
A powerful debut and a must read!!
November 4th, 2020: I am finally ready to tackle this emotionally tough read. Buddy reading with Vartika and Aakansha.
The synopsis of Open Water mentioned "A stunning, shattering debut novel about two Black artists falling in and out of love". And yeah that explains pretty much the base story. But at the heart of this 145-page story is grief, duty, trauma, and the fear of being black in today's world.
Two artists in their 20s - photographer and dancer, living in South London, start as friends but soon fall in love. But the journey is not easy as it is often shadowed by confusion and fear. Caleb, a British-Ghanian, captures the essence of being black lyrically. Told in second person through the eyes of an unnamed male narrator 'You', it captures the fresh feelings of young love, to discover the black culture and shared experience through music, art and cinema, to fear of being killed by the police just for being a black man. The themes of racism, mental health and toxic masculinity show the vulnerabilities of the narrator.
This is another theme in the book - the beauty of being seen rather than simply looked at. Being seen for all that you are rather than being seen just for what's expected of you.
Open Water is deeply touching, poetic, filled with raw emotion and feels intimate. Poetical or lyrical writing isn't my sort of thing AT ALL but nonetheless, this book mesmerised me from the first page and I've lost count of how many quotes I've highlighted. This is definitely a debut you shouldn't miss this year, especially if you love poetic writing. There is not much to say about this book. You have to experience it yourself. A love letter to Black art, enlightening, heart-wrenching, mesmerising, important and one of a kind read!
"if flexing is being able to say the most in the fewest number of words, is there a greater flex than love?"
Two artists in their 20s - photographer and dancer, living in South London, start as friends but soon fall in love. But the journey is not easy as it is often shadowed by confusion and fear. Caleb, a British-Ghanian, captures the essence of being black lyrically. Told in second person through the eyes of an unnamed male narrator 'You', it captures the fresh feelings of young love, to discover the black culture and shared experience through music, art and cinema, to fear of being killed by the police just for being a black man. The themes of racism, mental health and toxic masculinity show the vulnerabilities of the narrator.
"It's one thing to be looked at, and another to be seen."
This is another theme in the book - the beauty of being seen rather than simply looked at. Being seen for all that you are rather than being seen just for what's expected of you.
Open Water is deeply touching, poetic, filled with raw emotion and feels intimate. Poetical or lyrical writing isn't my sort of thing AT ALL but nonetheless, this book mesmerised me from the first page and I've lost count of how many quotes I've highlighted. This is definitely a debut you shouldn't miss this year, especially if you love poetic writing. There is not much to say about this book. You have to experience it yourself. A love letter to Black art, enlightening, heart-wrenching, mesmerising, important and one of a kind read!
"Sometimes you forget to be you is to be a Black body, and not much else."
"We are all hurting. We are all trying to live, to breathe, and find ourselves stopped by that which is out of our control. We find ourselves unseen. We find ourselves unheard. We find ourselves mislabelled. We who are loud and angry, we who are bold and brash. We who are Black."
August 6, 2020: Can I say how much my #desi heart is happy after reading one of my most anticipated reads of the year? I.LOVED.IT.SO.MUCH ❤️ I always wanted to read an Indian inspired fantasy, by an #ownvoices author, as an ownvoices reader and this book fulfilled that wish of mine.
Content & trigger warnings: murder of parents, chronically ill parent, sexual slavery, classism & discrimination, animal cruelty, blood, and violence.
Representation:Indian mythology, ancient Indian setting, desi culture, sapphic side character
Hunted by the Sky is a fantasy inspired by medieval India. The large part of the story is based on the age-old prophecy in Svapnalok that promises a girl with star-shaped birthmark to overthrow the tyrannical ruler of Ambar, King Lohar. Gul's parents were killed by sky warriors, who came to kill Gul because of her birthmark, while saving their daughter. Juhi, the head of The Sisterhood of the Golden Lotus, then takes Gul under her protection where Gul gets her training to wield magic and forms her plan to take revenge from king Lohar. On the other hand, Cavas is struggling to survive by making a secret deal that can cost him his life. But a passionate encounter between Gul and Cavas, changes the course of their lives in a way they never imagined.
World-building certainly is one of the strongest aspects of this book. Svapnalok, or the 'world of dreams', is divided into four kingdoms: Ambar, Prithvi, Jwala, and Samudra; clearly inspired by the four elements of nature: sky, earth, fire, and water. The authentic mention of things like outfits (sari pallu, ghagra choli), food (prasad, kachori), salutations (didi) and greetings (shubsaver, anandpranam), made my desi heart super happy
Content & trigger warnings: murder of parents, chronically ill parent, sexual slavery, classism & discrimination, animal cruelty, blood, and violence.
Representation:Indian mythology, ancient Indian setting, desi culture, sapphic side character
Hunted by the Sky is a fantasy inspired by medieval India. The large part of the story is based on the age-old prophecy in Svapnalok that promises a girl with star-shaped birthmark to overthrow the tyrannical ruler of Ambar, King Lohar. Gul's parents were killed by sky warriors, who came to kill Gul because of her birthmark, while saving their daughter. Juhi, the head of The Sisterhood of the Golden Lotus, then takes Gul under her protection where Gul gets her training to wield magic and forms her plan to take revenge from king Lohar. On the other hand, Cavas is struggling to survive by making a secret deal that can cost him his life. But a passionate encounter between Gul and Cavas, changes the course of their lives in a way they never imagined.
World-building certainly is one of the strongest aspects of this book. Svapnalok, or the 'world of dreams', is divided into four kingdoms: Ambar, Prithvi, Jwala, and Samudra; clearly inspired by the four elements of nature: sky, earth, fire, and water. The authentic mention of things like outfits (sari pallu, ghagra choli), food (prasad, kachori), salutations (didi) and greetings (shubsaver, anandpranam), made my desi heart super happy
Full review on: FLIPPING THROUGH THE PAGES
This was a feel-good book by all means. It was cute and healthy. Healthy in terms that I have read a happy book like this, after so much time, in which there is no big problem as such. When I first saw the cover of the book, I knew that I would love this book. Isn’t the cover makes you more hungry? And the girl with pink hairs? It definitely is a feel-good cover
This was a feel-good book by all means. It was cute and healthy. Healthy in terms that I have read a happy book like this, after so much time, in which there is no big problem as such. When I first saw the cover of the book, I knew that I would love this book. Isn’t the cover makes you more hungry? And the girl with pink hairs? It definitely is a feel-good cover
Actual rating: 4.5 stars
Rising Like A Storm was one of my anticipated books of the year and this sequel was everything I wanted it to be. Rising starts a few months after the end of Hunted by the Sky. The relationship between Gul and Cavas is different now; one is soaking in his desire for revenge and another in fear of killing innocents by her magic. But as the story progresses, we see how much they are strong-willed now and are closer than ever. The parallels between Gul and Cavas's story and that of Neel and Sunehri's was something I hadn't expected and was mesmerising to read. Gul and Cavas were strong individually with their own powers and mind. But what Subodh did was amazing as he taught two powers to combine to fight in the war against Ambar's new queen, Shayla.
There are lots of inner monologuing and practice sessions of the Legion of Star Warrior at the beginning that makes the pace a bit slow. But once we reach mid-point, the story picks up and then there are lots of turns and twists. The writing perfectly captures the rage, sorrow, love, despair, doubt and every other emotion of the characters.
My favourite part of this story was probably the secondary characters. There is Subodh, a Pashu, who is certainly the most important character apart from Gul and Cavas. We also have a few chapters from Rani Shayla's povs and that did surprise me because the author didn't try to show her as a good person in her pov chapters. She was fueled by rage and feared by betrayal. I loved that we got to see Juhi and Amira again. Kali was ferocious as the last book. But Sami was someone that mushed by heart. Kali and Sami's dynamic was amazing. The specters and women of the Legion were also fun and lively. I didn't care much for Raja Amar honestly, but it was good to see him in a good light and his intentions to create a better future for Ambar.
The climax was done superbly with enough foreshadowing and it wasn't something that you could guess easily. Tanaz has nicely wrapped up the story in this sequel, tying all the ends neatly. The entertainment quotient was high and it is the sequel that delivered. I would highly recommend this series!
Rising Like A Storm was one of my anticipated books of the year and this sequel was everything I wanted it to be. Rising starts a few months after the end of Hunted by the Sky. The relationship between Gul and Cavas is different now; one is soaking in his desire for revenge and another in fear of killing innocents by her magic. But as the story progresses, we see how much they are strong-willed now and are closer than ever. The parallels between Gul and Cavas's story and that of Neel and Sunehri's was something I hadn't expected and was mesmerising to read. Gul and Cavas were strong individually with their own powers and mind. But what Subodh did was amazing as he taught two powers to combine to fight in the war against Ambar's new queen, Shayla.
There are lots of inner monologuing and practice sessions of the Legion of Star Warrior at the beginning that makes the pace a bit slow. But once we reach mid-point, the story picks up and then there are lots of turns and twists. The writing perfectly captures the rage, sorrow, love, despair, doubt and every other emotion of the characters.
My favourite part of this story was probably the secondary characters. There is Subodh, a Pashu, who is certainly the most important character apart from Gul and Cavas. We also have a few chapters from Rani Shayla's povs and that did surprise me because the author didn't try to show her as a good person in her pov chapters. She was fueled by rage and feared by betrayal. I loved that we got to see Juhi and Amira again. Kali was ferocious as the last book. But Sami was someone that mushed by heart. Kali and Sami's dynamic was amazing. The specters and women of the Legion were also fun and lively. I didn't care much for Raja Amar honestly, but it was good to see him in a good light and his intentions to create a better future for Ambar.
The climax was done superbly with enough foreshadowing and it wasn't something that you could guess easily. Tanaz has nicely wrapped up the story in this sequel, tying all the ends neatly. The entertainment quotient was high and it is the sequel that delivered. I would highly recommend this series!
