everywhere was love.

celestea / tea / star | 20+ | aquarius | infp i need a place to yell about fiction so here i am. sorry for the venti icon, it's the only aesthetic thing i have, i swear i don't play genshin

[noone-and-nowhere]

dante read heartstopper and convinced ari to read it because he loved it so much and when ari did he ended up liking it even more than dante does. they stayed up until 1 am to watch the show and ari cried when nick was having his gay crisis and when he came out to his mom

[puppymoxley]

when richard siken said “the enormity of my desire disgusts me.” and when angela of foligno said “i could not imagine a death vile enough to match my desire.” and when yves olade said “my rot is as hungry as me” and when cj miller said “there is nothing more humiliating to me than my own desires.” and when benjamin alire sàenz said “what is that thing in the pit of your stomach called desire?” and when richard siken said “desire, like a monster, crawls up out of the lake.”

[metamorphesque]

― Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

[starrylibrarry]

it would have been so damn good if verity and lowen teamed up actually like...verity confessing early on to lowen that she’s trying to escape her husband, both of them in terror in verity’s own house, trying to find a way to escape jeremy and take crew away from that house... jeremy truly being a parent who will prioritize his children at any cost, even if it means his wife...... not to mention verity and her art of storytelling could very much have been used to manipulate lowen into her favor and the reader being left to interpret if she was lying or telling the truth in her manuscript?? god

[starrylibrarry]

Current Reads:

- Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik - Artemis Fowl & the Arctic Incident - Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa

Priority TBR:

- The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune - The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern - Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

To Be Reviewed:

- The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri - Aristotle & Dante Dive into the Depths of the World by Benjamin Alire Saenz

[starrylibrarry]

i’m gonna finish spinning silver and then i’ll read house at the cerulean sea like i am HOPING that book summary is hinting to a found family thing

[starrylibrarry]

Verity

by Colleen Hoover

Rating: 2.5 stars Would I recommend it? Uncertain

Storygraph | Goodreads

This book could have been better.

CoHo has this way of structuring her books. Majority of the book's plot is dedicated to tension and build up of some inevitable situation that will occur towards the end of the book. And then she'll spare a chapter or two on a HUGE plot twist that twists the reader's perception of that build up and tension going on for 95% of the book. I saw this in November 9, I saw this in Confess.  Predictability isn't necessarily a good thing, but CoHo has constantly used this formula and it has gotten boring. So when the big plot twist came, I was like, "Alright, there it is." I finished the book like that.

SPOILERS AHEAD

First of all, Lowen's put through an unnecessary amount of trauma that isn't even integral to the plot. I can let the car accident in the first chapter of the book pass as CoHo trying to set the mood for the story. But Lowen's sleepwalking? I felt like her breaking down in front of Jeremy felt like a checklist to get them to sleep in the same room for fluff. Right after Lowen came from his "comatose" wife's room. I mean, if you find that cute, sure? I was already extremely uncomfortable knowing Lowen and Jeremy were fucking while Verity - Jeremy's comatose WIFE whom he's dedicated to taking care of - "slept" in the room above them.

The big plot twist could have been less predictable? CoHo could have centered that plot twist around Jeremy rather than Verity. It would have been the perfect setup: Jeremy, unassuming, sweet, loving parent, versus Verity, whom we already suspect was a psychopath who hated her children. I would have been more shocked if there was emphasis or hints throughout the book to Jeremy being drastically protective father for his last child, to the point of possibly setting up Verity's death without being guided by Lowen? It would have been fascinating if he was the real mastermind or so.

Part of me also wishes that Verity and Lowen could have gotten to bond, rather than the entire book dedicated to Verity pretending to be comatose. It would have been a nice parallel to Jeremy with Verity, that she's a good mother who will do anything for her last surviving child. There were so many opportunities for Verity to plead her case to Lowen and help her escape. Instead, I would have to read through Verity and Jeremy's sex life. If I wasn't reading their sex life, it would be Lowen and Jeremy's pining turned sex. For a book called a thriller, 'disappointing' would be putting it lightly.

There were occasions where writing of this book was a little stunted and dragging, especially at the first portions of the book where nothing much happens yet. Like so:

"He moves to the sink and runs the water again, and begins washing his hands. I continue to stare at him, unable to mute my curiosity. What did he mean when he said he's seen worse than the accident we just witnessed? He said he used to be in real estate, but even the worst day on the job as a realtor wouldn't fill someone with the kind of gloom that's filling this man." "What happened to you?" I ask. He looks at me in the mirror. "What do you mean?"

Writing like that, which could have been more straightforward or better executed. There's also a portion at the last chapter of the book that feels too 'tell' and too little 'show.' It felt like I was being babied to understand what CoHo was trying to convey with her plot twist. Give your reader a little more credit to infer on their own, maybe?

Verity isn't a bad book, I guess. I will admit, for her first time writing thriller, I admire CoHo for trying to veer out of her usual romance books and trying her hand at Verity. Contrary to what most of the reviews will say, it isn't something that will keep you up at night if you're familiar with thrillers. I can see why CoHo fans hyped up Verity and would be eager to devour a book when they're normally used to reading her romances. But I can imagine thriller fans may find themselves disappointed reading Verity.

Still, despite my conflicting feelings towards the book, I'll give it a 2.5 and give props for CoHo's efforts to write this book. I'm not part of her usual demographic, and I begun Verity since it was book of the month in a group I'm a part of. But CoHo's writing and plot have definitely reminded me why I don't read CoHo books often.

[rosiethorns88]

New Sketch-a-Wish voted on my wonderful Patreons for January! Featuring Kaz and Inej from Six of Crows!

Who’s ready to see scene this in live action? 😩✨🧡👀

[starrylibrarry]

why won’t goodreads let me post my review :” ) i’m suffering

[starrylibrarry]

This Is Where the World Ends

by Amy Zhang

Rating ★☆☆☆☆ Would I recommend it? No

Storygraph

I read Zhang’s Falling Into Place years back and vividly remember the irritation I felt when I read this book, and that may be why I don't remember much else in it present day. I gave this book a chance despite my low opinion of Falling Into Place because another thing I remember from this book was how Zhang's writing was so appealing to me. It flows well, her language is flawless, and the way she writes things stuck with me, to the point that it makes me feel a little bad that I have to give the book a low rating. But only very little, because while I did enjoy reading it, I did not enjoy what I was reading about.

SPOILERS AHEAD

I think the largest problems in this book are essentially Janie, and the way Janie is handled.

I'd first like to preface that it totally would've been fine if this book purposely meant to portray toxic friendships. It was what pushed me to continue reading the book because I wanted to see where "Janie and Micah" were heading, especially when Micah blatantly likes Janie. I was clapping when Micah got his shit together and told Janie she was a terrible friend and he wanted to break their friendship.

But the ending felt like the author ran out of ideas? There was literally only one chapter for Micah to address him remembering that specific memory of Micah breaking things off with Janie. It itches at me how there wasn't much time for Micah nor us the readers to process such a revelation. It just... ends, and not in a satisfying way.

At this point you'd probably think I like Micah, but no, Micah is literally so boring and I dislike him. Most of the book is just rephrasing his amnesia, or being Janie's punching bag. The only one closest to likeable in this book is Micah's guy friend whose name I don't even really remember, but it bothered me immensely when Micah chose to kiss the guy who has Janie's eyes. At this point Micah already had an inkling that Janie was dead, so like, what the hell? But I understand Micah's role in this book as a victim of a manipulative friend.

Then there's... whatever Janie is.

I don't understand why her character is the way it is? It's implied she has awful parents, but this isn't a detail thoroughly gleaned on, like the only reason I can remember why her parents don't like her is because she moves away to some other point in town because she's been neighbors with Micah all her life and there will be lesser chances to hang out together. For some reason, her parents dislike Micah too? I don't know. And the thing is, she pretends Micah DOESN'T EXIST at school despite their """soulmate bond""" and literally for what? Like can't this book just say it's because Janie's a 'popular girl' and Micah's a 'weirdo' than whatever the hell sort of mental gymnastics Janie kept telling herself? Literally why get angry at your parents for a reason you could easily fix, Janie?

TRIGGER WARNINGS AHEAD

And then halfway into the book, while Micah's still in his limbo amnesia stuff, it's revealed to the reader that Janie is raped. This, among factors of """terrible""" nonexistent parents, the school going against her, and Micah getting the balls to tell her that she's a terrible friend, it's then revealed that Janie committed suicide at the end.

I think the author was trying to get us to empathize with Janie and the teenage torture she was going through, but Janie is so unlikeable. I can sympathize with Micah because we can tell he's a victim of toxic friendship, but what is there to Janie that makes you think she's someone to sympathize with? She ignores her best friend at school, she has the tendency to rebel against parents who literally only appear once or twice and have given me no reason to see why Janie dislikes them other than her "fairy tale" diary, and she actively CHOOSES to date a boy who has red flags over Micah, who we definitely know early on she has feelings for as well.

What doesn't sit right with me is that not only is the ending not able to make me sympathize with Janie, it also leaves Micah blaming himself for her death. What kind of message does this send to readers? That suicide is the solution to your problems, rather than owning up to your mistakes.

If you like Riverdale and its edginess and strange dialogue in book format, then I guess I can say this book is for you. But I finished this book without finding any value in whatever it was trying to say. There are probably better books out there that handle the topics of rape and suicide and toxic friendships more carefully than this book. This Is Where the World Ends was definitely not it.

[starrylibrarry]

“this is where the world ends by amy zhang” more like riverdale as a book

[starrylibrarry]

hello!

i go by star! i needed a little corner to talk into the void about feelings and thoughts i have on fictional stories. presently, i’ll be focusing on books since that’s what i’ve been keeping up lately, but i hope to expand my reach later on with webtoons and visual novels or so!

i’d also love to make new friends who like to have engaging & fun discussions about stories. i’m totally open to hearing your recommendations.

i mostly aim to keep this blog casual whenever i feel up to it. i hope we can have a good time together!

thank you so much!

main blog | goodreads 

[kyaato]

[layaart]

The plants in the soil around them and the silt of the rockpool shivered. The air went still. There was a sound. A splintering. The remnants of the needle-flower essence had furled into new life, splitting through the bottle until it was in shards, falling to the ground.

Priya & Malini from The Jasmine Throne.

[mafuyus-hairclips]

[repswitf-deactivated20250108]

omggg 😩😩😩