i wanted to update on my summer readingggg... as you guessed. I was going to do a post for each individual book, but oof I don't want to. So i'm just going to do a quick summary of what i've read. ready!:
Love in the Time of Cholera
5.6/10 | This book took me a minute to read, and technically, I started it last year, but I read the majority of it during the summer, so I'm counting it as summer reading. I enjoyed it a lot, but it gets major points off because of what happens towards the end *SPOILERS* the main character who at the end of the book is like 60/70 yrs old grooms his teenage niece... it was so nasty and completely unwarranted it ruined the book for me tbh... seriously if that storyline wasn't included I would've rated the book higher, but it was so disgusting and then at the end the niece offs herself like omg. I really enjoyed the writing style, and I've heard good things about 100 Years of Solitude, so I may give that a chance! But ya... You can pass on this one.
10/10 | Recommended to me by Jack. Oh. My. Freaking. Gosh. Literally amazing. It's four books, hence quartet lol, and i'm not going to talk about each one because that's dtm... though tbh you could consider the four books as one really cause it's all the same story... anyways, truly a fantastic read, I read them so fast and I would get antsy waiting to read them. The best book is the second one IMO, not that the others aren't as good, but the plot is best in the second, and when I finished it I was literally out of breath like I had just gone on a run or something... oh my gosh so good cannot recommend this series enough. 😭😭♥️♥️♥️♥️
7/10 | Interesting enough, I wasn't particularly captivated by anyone or anything. The arena was interesting and some of the characters too like Maysalee (or however you spell it) and Plutarch. But overall, it was like fine. Tbh I'm kind of sick of prequels/sequels/remakes just in general, which is why I was reading this book really harshly cuz dudeeee the original Hunger Games series was so. effing. good. Not that this book was bad, but why fix what ain't broke ++ who asked for Haymitch's backstory anyways... Which while interesting to learn about (like his experience in the arena) fell flat in some ways *SPOILERS* his constant mentioning of Leonore Dove was so irritating 😭😭 I know he was in love or whatever, but oh my god... every other sentence was "And what about my beautiful Leonore Dove.. oh my Leonore Dove." Like ok... I get it. And then the way she died was really abrupt, kinda... to me at least, I don't know. Either way it was entertaining, it was cool to learn about some of the characters from the OG series, and I'm excited to see how it's adapted into a movie!! Especially some of the mutants oooo and Elle Fanning as Effie EEEE 😊😊😊
8/10 | My most recent read, I finished it last Sunday. I really enjoyed it ooo I had read Eva Luna by Allende a couple of years ago, and I think I enjoyed that more, even though I have my issues with that book too... but anyway, back to this book. I liked how it goes through three generations of women; I'm a sucker for stories that span generations. At first, I was confused by the narrative structure, but then at the end you find out why it's like that,and it's so satisfying. My favorite character was Clara, and I wish we could have seen more of her supernatural powers, as that's what initially drew me to the book, but the magical realism genre isn't about fantastical superpowers and her powers did impact the plot in a way that I didn't expect still appreciated. I enjoyed reading about the three generations of women, the parallel love lives of Blanca and Alba, and the last quarter of the book which is so sad. A really great read, I love how much detail was given to the family, even the brothers, who are kinda secondary to the story, but I wish Amanda were featured more since she was a really interesting character who we aren't given a lot of information about (but maybe that's the point oooo). My only issue with the book is the outdated language (Oriental, Indian, etc.) and the description of indigenous people, although the book is told through the perspective of wealthy landowners of the time, so again, maybe the point? Either way, a good read! I recommend this book, especially if you enjoy very detailed, slow-moving stories, but not in a boring way, more like a story that takes its time.
Those are all the books I've read so far! I feel like 7 is a small number... but that's ok, everyone moves at their own pace, amiright? My current read is The Alchemist, which is a classiccc allegedly, and though I'm not too far into it, I'm liking it so far!
