GOT BORED

I stopped reading it digitally as I wanted to purchase the physical copy! 

I might pick this up in the future as I decided to read via the e-reader route and not the physical book. The font size is too small the mass paperback edition I borrowed.

However, did not finish it because the main protagonist's constant pining for the handsome but has a scar on the face boy (and the constant questioning of how he got the scar with her friends) honestly threw the entire vibe of the book off. I understand it's for the teens because the romance feels a little like reading a John Green romance novel. I'm also confused by the pacing of the book as to when the actual plot develops instead of just getting to know this mysterious handsome hockey player with the scar (something im only repeating because they emphasised that a lot!). 

Honestly, I was going to put the book down the first time I heard Jude say "Carbs are evil" to a five-year-old child. That alone would have made me place this friend of mine far away from my child, or at least have a proper adult conversation about what can be said versus what cannot be said to an impressionable kid. The fact that this book seems to talk about feminist teachings a lot, I was shocked to see how Jude's constant unhealthy talk about the food was never addressed. Yes, characters get to be annoying and say the wrong things but every time Lauren puts her aside to talk properly, she never seems to address the way Jude is talking about food in front of her child. 

I do not recommend this book if you are sensitive (like me, and that's ok!) to fatphobic language and unhealthy eating habits/verbiage. 

So, I guess I have a limit to how many white people whining over their existential problems and this book reached it. Just not for me. I see this being compared to Sally Rooney's writing and yeah so, killed two birds with one stone. It confirmed me that I will not be reading Sally Rooney's works. I recommend picking it up Ottessa Moshfegh's work if you want unhinged, messy & whiny white protaganist with more complex lush writing. 

I just couldn't get into it. I have never read The Great Gatsby as I have absolutely no interest in it. But, I picked this up because the premise sounded so lush and vibrant. Sadly, it did not measure to what it was promised. The main character feels so detached from the story, as we kept following Daisy and Gatsby, two characters I cannot care for. Nick is another character that is so one-dimensional as well. I love magical realism as a genre and I love historical fiction, so not being able to finish this book feels like a disappointment. I echo so many of the reviewers here to say that I genuinely do wish the writer would have stuck to exploring the magical realism of the world - separate from Gatsby himself. I am still interested to read any books by this author because I can see the potential in their writing! 

I wrote a review on goodreads, so I'm just going to copy and paste it here. 

I DNF-ed at 32% by falling asleep. I was so eager and excited when I heard the book pitch and how excited the booktubers I followed were talking about it. Unfortunately, I just cannot get into it. The writing style was just not for me. The exposition dump was too much, but maybe it's because I already knew the historical context in-depth as I have studied it prior. A lot of telling, no showing to explain the history of the world which... is weird as it is marketed as a historical fantasy. The pacing was off as we had years of growth between one chapter to another but nothing for us to know what we could have missed etc.

I wished this book was paced better - pacing that would have allowed me to be invested in the main character and the world that was built. We could have explored the grief, the struggle, the joys of being accepted into the monastery, the grit of survival and desperation, the difficulty of being a "boy" a lot more but it was a touch-and-go situation.

it is boring as heeeell

This book is written by a Chinese Singaporean man about a retelling of the Little India riot. Apart from the really lackluster writing at the beginning, he begins the book by literally utilizing all the stereotypes of migrant workers and Indian women. He wrote Hashwini to be an irrationally angry Indian woman when her safety was threatened and he wrote the migrant worker that committed the offense to be drunk and hypersexualized. I DNF this book on page 12 because I was severely uncomfortable and unimpressed by Sebastian's writing.  To me, this was lazy and uninspiring writing that uses all these stereotypes to further a plot.  Should I have given this book a second chance? Maybe. Maybe I am just tired of Chinese Singaporean authors only writing about minorities that are typecasted or the model. Maybe I just want more dimensional writing.