bella613's Reviews (551)

I LOVE Priyanka's voice and listened to her audiobook slower than I normally listen so that I could enjoy it. 
I thought there would be more... strife, I guess? Not that a good memoir needs tons of conflict. I just was surprised at how little I felt that I learned about her through it. 

Read this for my first book club meeting!! 
Tbh it was way better than I expected and I probably wouldn't have read it on my own based on the description, so I'm really glad my new book club read it. During our discussion I felt like I might have been the only one in the group who's actually been suicidal and experienced the weird little things that end up keeping you alive because you get invested. But I don't really know these girls yet, so maybe they didn't speak up on that in the same way I didn't. I'm so excited to keep talking to them about books!
This book handles grief pretty realistically and I love dark humor so I really connected with it. I didn't love the ending- I hate that

she implicitly leaves the female friendship behind to get with the groom. Neither of them are in the right place to be looking for a partner and hes a huge red flag for acting like that at his own wedding. It was weird that the ex husband showed up, and Juice's story never really felt closed. I would have been much happier if it ended with friendship and mentorship than with a weird almost romance.

However, despite the ending I really liked the focus of the book and the details like Juice mentioning "it doesnt matter, were all going to die anyway" (not a direct quote). In chapter 2 the main character says (paraphrased) "A story can be beautiful not because of how it ends, but because of the way its written" and I think that applies well to her own story.

That was a lot sadder than I expected.

I really enjoyed this collection, even if it took me a long time to read. Throughout the different styles, Wordsworth keeps a very strict cadence to match the rules and is amazingly good at rhyming. Besides the obvious, I'm not very good at critiquing or analyzing poetry. 
I marked quite a few to come back to later. It was cool to see the notes on some of them that tell when and where they were composed. I really like the naturey ones most. 

I love this webtoon! 
The art is gorgeous and the story is super unique and meaningful. The characters are allll incredible and I can't wait to see more when it's back from hiatus with a new season! 

I felt really called out when she said being overly helpful means you are trying to control because of distrust 🙃
This is a good book and I felt like it is super relevant to my life. It might not be that in depth or helpful for everyone, but as someone who used to trust way too easily and now can't seem to at all, it's a good message and it feels good to know it's not just me. I really liked how much scripture was quoted. 
I'm really trying to work on being brave lately, and expanding my relationships. So this is a good time for this book and I will definitely read more by Lysa soon.

This is quite similar in style to Group. 
I liked it but there's not a lot of real self reflection. It's not a therapy memoir and it's not a book that outlines self improvement, but more like a storytelling with a very dynamic character. She gives the impression with a lot of choices she makes that she has very low ability to feel empathy- she needs to see consistent direct displays of other peoples flaws in order to think of them as a friend and not feel threatened. She seems to realize this in hindsight and describes it but doesn't make effort to change her perspective, only her actions, and only motivated because she keeps losing friends. 
We all want connection for selfish reasons but I find it really intriguing that she cares so little about understanding other people's minds when she's written two books like this about relationships.
I felt that way about group too, but in that one it was easy to see it was just a subpar therapist with slightly problematic strategies. This one felt more like a memoir by someone who hasn't been in therapy. Every little step in communication was pulling teeth. 
I wonder if people looking at my life from an outside perspective would feel that I'm so slow to learn and grow. (Not trying to sound mean, it's not a race and everyone is different. Plus we all start at different places and most growth just brings new challenges and weaknesses) 
It's easy to empathize with the author and I like the way she writes.

I don't know if my parents are really a strong fit to the checklists in this book but I strongly identify with the internalizing child that is described. I definitely didn't get the emotional support that I needed as a child, but I think depending on a child's needs and a parents habits especially after having several children, this can happen in very subtle ways that don't categorize easily. 
This book is not necessarily breakthrough new information, but its very well done and definitely worth reading even if just to organize your own thoughts. I really like the personal stories included throughout the book as examples. The format and layout of the information is very well planned and fits the subject well. It's relatable and thoughtful, and if you don't read it because of your own relationship with your parents then it can help you understand other people.

I haven't actually watched any of the shows. I'm not sure who recommended this book to me but it's pretty good. I think it would hit more if I knew more detail about how she grew up.