paulaks's Reviews (171)

Main concept was interesting and potential was there but the execution lacked in creativity and complexity. The ending felt rushed and "easy" compared to the beginning, overall disappointing. 

This was so bad, basic, 2008 coded and fan fiction like but I was a bit invested ngl... I´ve read worse books and I wouldn´t recommend it but I was entertained. Sometimes you just need a light silly romance and this definitely did the job.

A sweet love story between two young people who both struggle with cancer. It´s raw, authentic, weird, imperfect, emotional and funny. I don´t think it will be a favourite but I really appreciate the novel for what it is!

I liked the beginning and the mother-daughter relationship a lot! I think the second half was average and predictable. Not gonna lie, I was a bit disappointed by the second half and felt detached from the characters I kinda liked in the beginning. Don´t think I´ll go back to this romance, overall an average novel. 

Well, this was disappointing. Sally Rooney is such a good writer and has an incredible vocabulary but this book was a miss. Some parts of the novel would work great as a short story or a poem but not as a novel. It didn´t have a plot or connection, just watching characters. 

Speaking of the characters.. They were so disappointing! I actively disliked three of them and kinda "liked" or appreciated Felix as the only self-aware and honest adult. The characters were unlikable and confusing. Most of the time I was bored or felt neutral about the story. This is really rare for me but I simply didn´t care about them. Most emails between Eileen and Alice were unnecessary but helped getting through the book. Like in Normal People, Rooney loves to have her characters being over-educated about politics and throws topics and words at the reader like a mad woman. Another thing I disliked is the relationship between Simon and Eileen. They met at the age of 15 and 20 (which is worrying) and the way she "admires" him is simply unhealthy. 

I understand how people enjoy this novel but it wasn´t for me. It had a lot of potential with mentioning or showing intruiging topics but Rooney never developed these in the way I would have liked. Same with the title and the blurb but the actual story was a let down. Personally, I liked Normal People a lot more than Beautiful World, Where Are You.

Woah what an ending! I was very attached to this series and a bit overwhelmed with this finale.. This book consists of two "unofficial" halfs. In the first half Pip deals with herself and what happened in the past

which includes her having panic attacks, being dependent on drugs for her sleep and being  a traumatized teenager.

. This part was very realistic but also very hard to get through. Pip tries to deal with everything by herself and shuts down her honest relationships.

Half way through, this whole coin flips and the pacing starts picking up. I really can´t tell you what´s about to happen but it´s intense and quite disturbing. We still get the most lovely interactions between Ravi and Pip which melts my heart just thinking about it. I really liked the topics that were indirectly questioned like morality and justice.

I´ll keep it short: I was really suprised by the twists, turns and details, maybe it was a little bit crazy but I guess that´s the vibe. Didn´t loved reading the beginning because of the topics which made it hard to get into the book but overall enjoyed it!
Check content warnings! (I tried to list some)

Thoughts:

Conclusion: I think Jennifer Lynn Barnes is a genius and I would love to see her behind the scenes process because the details were AMAZING! The characters felt flat to me, especially Jameson, Avery and Grayson, Eve and the new person (not going to spoiler you). Still enjoyed Oren and Xander! 

Honestly, it was a lot. This whole book felt like a fever dream. The main ending was unsatisfying, Avery´s ending was still quite nice. Even though this last book was a little disappointing, the series is averaging out at a 4 star and I absolutely admire the author´s cleverness (excluding the messy characters). 

To all my character-driven book fans: this one´s for you! The characters are EVERYTHING in this novel: Well fleshed out, flawed, driven, realistic and lovely! The story switches from the present to the past every few chapters and the reader will slowly discover the background behind our grumpy protagonist. A lovely and sweet story with a satisfying ending. Definitely worth a read! -> Maybe check content warnings 

This book is a great follow-up to "The Inheritance Games". I loved the atmosphere and the plot was incredible! The pacing was a bit off a few times (too slow/fast) and some plot twists felt a bit unnecessary but overall I enjoyed it. A good better-than-the-average 4 stars! 

A clever story about the complexity and supression of trauma in your youth, anxiety, depression, loneliness and relationships. This classic is timeless and intriguing but also chaotic and boring. I´m gonna be really honest here... While the novel is so smart, fast paced and humorous it tends to be repetitive. The repetitive language was great though! Phony, goddam, moron and so many others made it unique and funny. What I mean are scenes that bring across the same point over and over again. That´s why reading it can be "dry" and boring. Holden (MC) keeps challenging the reader with his annoyance towards everything. That can be hard to bear through but also funny. His hatred made me laugh out loud a few times because it was so hilarious! Lastly I want to mention that there are problematic statements especially about women and girlhood that definitely aren´t okay but the novel is 70+ years old so based on aged opinions. 
I understand people that loved this or hated it but I have to say it´s really clever wether you enjoy this novel or not!