bookishfoxes's Reviews (426)

i keep
 trying
 trying
 trying
 trying 

but I just
 can't
 like
 poetry 

No but seriously. I guess it's just not for me. Maybe reading the physical copy would've been a different experience than listening to the audiobook. 

The amount of repeats of the same words or sentences got annoying fast. At some point I checked if it was my phone glitching. 

I guess this was better than the 2 poetry books I read in 2020. Those felt like random words on a paper supposed to mean something but only feeling empty. At least here I could see the realness and what the author was trying to say. And how they talked about the topics was very brave and open. 

Why is this rated lower, then? Because I'm more honest in ratings. When I don't enjoy something, I can now give it more easily a lower rating. While first I'd give a 3 rating still because 'it wasn't as bad as something else I'd read'. 

This is the first time - ok, no, second time cause it happened once in 2018 - that I finished a book that is not a novella or graphic novel in one day. I'm normally not capable. I am both a slow reader and easily distracted. And sure there are books where I read like 80% in one day, but it still feels different than finishing a book with almost 400 pages in one day.

I say this often about books, it was a very easy book to read. The writing was comfortable to read - if you get what I mean? Sure there were a few words here and there I looked up because English isn't my first language, but there were no unnecessary difficult words used. It was... light? Not the story, but the writing. I don't know how else to describe it other than comfortable. 

The pages literally flew by. The chapters were a perfect length, not too short and definitely not too long. The story kept being interesting, no boring parts. And I absolutely loved the interviews, articles and other things added in between. 

It really made me think, too.

The story, a gay member of a boyband, immediately spoke to me. I have to admit, 12 year old me, before realizing how creepy it is to read and write fanfics about real people, read and wrote a few- well, not a few, more than a few- fanfics about 5 Seconds of Summer. And while I now know that it's actually very creepy and kinda disrespectful to read and write about real people's lives, I do miss the vibes. The music and band members - not 5SOS specifically, but the type of stories. The amazingly written stories about backstage drama and being in the public eye. 

So yeah, it felt amazing to be in a similar world again. I guess I just love stories about FICTIONAL celebrities.

But this was still so much different. How it focused about all the downsides, the way some celebs have to change for the public. Dress differently, fake date. It made me wonder how much of celebrities I like is real, if they're comfortable, happy. If they experience just as much pressure to be someone they're not. 

I felt the story was very real. I'm no celebrity, maybe it isn't realistic. But it still felt real and honest. And I'm definitely no longer blind to the fact that celebrities have managers and pr people who come up with ideas like things that happen in this book.

Now, I sounds very positive right? Then why did I give a 4.5 star rating, with 4 officially on Goodreads?

Spoilers ahead!

The romance. I didn't trust Kaivan because of the way the story was written. I probably read too many cliche books where the same kind of story happens. 

Slow burn/crush for awhile -> start dating -> having a great time -> the usual drama near the end -> they get back together -> happy ending.

So Kaivan and Hunter getting together so quickly? I didn't trust it. Especially with the interviews in between where Kaivan says shitty things about Kiss & Tell. And sometimes he just acted..m a bit shady. Being different around camerasnand stuff. So I was expecting that in the end it was all fake and he was using Hunter for fame and publicity. 

And because of that, I couldn't enjoy the romance. Because I just had this gut feeling, 'the author is going to break our hearts'. But this wasn't the case.

Maybe I'll need to reread this at some point, knowing it is all real. Maybe then I can enjoy the romance, giving Kaivan a real chance. Because in the end, he is actually a great guy. And if I had know, I probably would've really liked him.

I really expected Hunter to end up single, kinda hoped it.

And then also, the ending felt kinda underwhelming. I can't really explain it, I was just a little disappointed. It felt like the actual epilogue got deleted. It didn't feel like an ending.

Yet still, this is an absolute amazing book. Fantastic. I couldn't put it down. It was refreshing and unique and original and I loved it so much.

Begon erg goed. Zat er snel in en vergat soms dat dit non-fictie was. Maar jeetje wat wordt het langdradig. Steeds hetzelfde hetzelfde hetzelfde. En een duidelijke chronologische volgorde is er ook niet. Uiteindelijk had ik zo geen zin om verder te gaan.

I really wanted to like this, it sounded amazing. It gave me Percy Jackson meets The Mortal Instruments vibes, two of my favorite series. 

In the beginning I definitely enjoyed it. It was deliciously fast paced - as in fast enough to keep your attention, but not too fast that it is rushed. It almost immediately starts with the plot, no unnecessary long explanation or intro. You figure things out at the same time the main character does. 

Some say her denial was annoying, but let's be real, she just found out she isn't human. I wouldn't believe it either, even with proof. 

So, I thought this was going to be a great book. Easy to read and quick to finish. And incredibly fun. 

But then came a sentence, 'Not that anyone could mistake Derek for gay. Something about the way he walked and carried himself was overtly female-loving male'. The sentence... I don't know, I didn't know how to feel. 

I decided to continue anyways, thinking it would just be one weird sentence in the book. But then, another sentence made me feel the same. 'Oh, hell, you think I'm going to let him bite me? No way. It's too risky and too gay.' By now I was getting annoyed and confused. Is this author being homophobic? Is this just something people said in 2011 - when this book was published. 

I tried looking up reviews that mentioned it, surely I couldn't be the only one noticing this or feeling weird about it, right? Well, apparently I am. I couldn't find anyone mention it, not even the lowest ratings with reviews mentioned this. 

On top of that I accidentally spoiled myself on the ending of the love triangle at the end of the series. 

I was questioning if I should continue. I was kinda invested in the story, but those sentences just didn't sit right with me. And already knowing a part of the ending takes away some fun. 

Then I thought, I'll finish this book so I can write a review about it and share this with others who in the future might feel the same and go looking if someone else had noticed it. But the series... no, probably not. 

So, I move on. A bit annoyed, but the book reads quick so I'm hoping it won't take me too long. And the story itself is pretty fun, so I probably wouldn't struggle. 

Que in, an ableist word. Yay. Yes, yes, this is written in 2011. I know. Doesn't mean it makes me extremely uncomfortable. I'm disabled, I'm lucky no one has called me the r-word yet. But reading the word still makes me incredibly angry. But yeah, the character that everyone seems to love, Della, says it casually as a swear word. Yay for me, once again questioning, will I continue. 

By now I already know, this won't be higher than 2 stars. Maybe 2.5 if the story keeps being interesting. But is it worth it? Isn't it better to spend my time reading a book I'll love? 

But then I remember how freaking excited I was for this book, how I used to stare at it in my bookshelves, wanting to read it asap. I should at least try to finish it, right? Some people hate read, I don't often. But DNFing is also something I struggle with. So on we go. 

After that I did struggle a bit with reading. While it was still easy to read and the story itself interesting, the previous point made it that my passion and excitement to read this book were gone. I was only reading it so I could say I read it and write this review. 

Kylie's attraction for Derek and Lucas felt rushed. But ok, it's a 2011 YA, that's to be expected. But what annoyed me a lot is that her ex Trey, who is a giant douchebag, was still in the picture. And she compared Trey and Derek every time. The first few times, I was like 'ok then', but at some point I just started rolling my eyes. She has been there, what, two days? And already is so attracted to Derek she starts to compare him with Trey, who she's not sure of she wants to get back with, and then also starts dreaming about Lucas, the guy who killed her cat, supposedly. 

Sorry, but if I think you killed my cat, you're dead to me. 

Also, the way she's obsessed with the way the boys looked. Constantly comparing their bodies, their chests. Like... huh? I get finding someone's body attractive but... if a male writer wrote about a male character doing this to female characters, people would speak up about it. But this... just keeps happening and I don't see anyone talk about how obsessively she starts comaping them. A day after she met 2 of the 3 boys. Or I think a day because it read like a day later but later what day it is after she arrived got confusing. 

At some point she keeps confusing Trey for Derek - still a few days after she met Derek. She even calls him Derek??? What the fuck?? Honestly, Trey being more than just an ex boyfriend that gets mentioned once in a while was unnecessary. 

Talking about unnecessary, the amount of slutshaming in this book, damn. I definitely understand Kylie wanting to be ready and her first time to be special. But constantly slutshaming other girls who have had sex, please stop. 

I think there were also some mistakes. Either that, or the sentences just didn't make sense. 'His touch felt good. Familiar. Normal. Life the way it should be. Like the way it was less than a month ago.' Is it me, or does it feel like 'life' is supposed to be 'like'? 

This isn't the only one, sometimes there is an 'a' too early in a sentence. Or a missing " when someone says something. Honestly, I don't normally really notice mistakes, I often look over them or forget about them in 3 seconds. English isn't my first language, so I probably make some mistakes as well. No idea if here it is just so obvious, or if I was just so annoyed that I start noticing every bad detail. I wonder, this was published in 2011. It is now 2022. 11 years later. Why has no one in those 11 years said to the author or publisher, 'hey, maybe you should fix these mistakes'. 

At some point, the book gets boring. At page 270 there still isn't any action. Just boy drama, the same 'I'm not supernatural' drama and friends drama. Even her seeing the ghost got boring. 

Maybe I'm just reaching here for bad things to say, but I don't think I've ever read a book where the main character's breatst are mentioned as much as this book. Every scene with a boy, the main character thinks about her breasts or has a boy staring at them. It got very annoying. 

Around page 300 there was finally some mystery. And I couldn't. Care. Less. 

The way the stuff with the animals was solved was very underwhelming. You have this slow build up and then it just gets revealed and the guilty person just gives themselves up. 

The reveal at the ending about the ghost... okay, I didn't see that coming, and I thought it was interesting. It almost made me want to continue this series. Almost. I read the sneak peak at the end of the book, but no... the few things I'm curious about, I'll look up the answers on the internet. I'm not going to continue this series.

Wow. Oh my God, wow. I loved this so, so much. I literally couldn't put this down, I had to keep reading. I loved every page.

This made me so emotional. Books don't often do that to me, but multiple times I had to take a few minutes because I felt like I was going to cry. So many times I had to blink away tears. 

These characters. They were amazing. Normally with multiple point of views I have a least favorite pov to read about. Not this time. I loved all three.

I loved that even though there is some romance, it is a story about family. I love books that focus on family.

I am in love with this book. I am so in love with this book. Wow.