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Oh boyyy. I've tried to read this 3 times and I finally finished it. I read it because I heard it was Rachel/Quinn (from Glee) coded, THEN I realized that it's the same author as Red White and Royal Blue (which is MUCH better than this book). I really disliked the main character, Chloe, to the point where she was basically the antagonist. I LOVED Shara and her character, I found her really interesting. But Chloe annoyed me so much that it truly did bring the rating down for me. I liked most of the book except the mc which is wild. It perfectly captures the ‘senior year' energy – restlessness where you find out you have more in common with these people that you've seen for 4 years... and you think “damn, what was I doing for all this time that we could have been friends?” Anyways, it's pretty good, but I couldn't stand the actual focal point of the book haha.
This was really good!! This was a story I didn't know I needed, wholesome YA cuteness about being yourself along with surprisingly profound messages about boundaries/family. A love letter to fandom (yep, furry fandom) and Internet culture and found family and just a whole warm hug. Honestly, I was really impressed with how it handled talking about mental health and boundaries. I don't usually like first person but it was necessary for this book. I actually found the main character likeable and honestly relatable to who I was when I was much younger.
Sometimes ya just need happy, warm, fuzzy feelings. Also the cover is a banger.
Oh myyyy gosh.
I saw this on Booktok as a book for those who love reading slow burn fanfiction. THIS IS THAT BOOK. I read it on and off over the course of 13 months(!?) and it was worth coming back to every time. Friends with benefits to lovers is such a cute trope and it's well done here. Just such a good love story with great spice, I loved it!
I really enjoyed this one! I get so irritated at first-person YA with childish protagonists. But Pip was a flawed, stubborn character that was very much a teenager without being too much of a kid. I liked that it switched between third person and first person journals. And good twists in it. I definitely recommend this as a quick read!
Also, the audiobook is pretty cool & has different voice actors for the interviews!
This 4-star review isn't of the book itself, but more of the experience of reading it.
I started reading this in 2020. I ordered it with contactless pickup at a local bookstore just to find that it was signed by Stephenie Meyer herself! The bookseller and I both wore masks as I picked it up outside their door. I read it aloud with my friend, who was quarantined in an army base at the time, and we giggled over the cringe of Edward's narration.
When ‘Midnight Sun' was released, Tiktok was entering my periphery. I talked about Twilight with my coworkers a LOT and my fyp inevitably turned into a trove of Twilight memes. It was cool to hate Twilight for, like, 13 years, until it became ironic and fun again.
Now, as an adult, I can appreciate what it did for me as a kid. People who didn't read were reading Twilight. It was so engrossing, and so terrible, but as I picked it up several times over the past 4 years, I would remember exactly how my 11 year-old self felt, kicking my feet and fawning over how I wished a hot immortal being would sweep me off my feet or whatever. (I was always Team Jacob though, sorryyy. As an adult, I'm Team Charlie. That poor man.)
But boy is it entertaining. The Cullens doing GTA: Phoenix was SO CRAZY and everyone who's read Twilight needs to read Chapter 25. Chapters 24-26 are how the Cullens got to Phoenix and it's BONKERS.
I don't think kids nowadays will understand just how much of a cultural reset Twilight was. It came out at the right time, the peak of MySpace and emo ‘lifestyle' (as I called it lmao). I criticized Edward for being too perfect, Bella for being too perfect. I see now that they were extremely flawed, annoying, and insufferable. The 100 year old falling in love with a fucking 17 year-old is still so bonkers and it shaped relationship ideals for a whole generation.
Anyways, not sure where I was going with this. I had fun reading this even though it's a narrative mess to slog through. I still hate Edward, but 17 years of nostalgia made me love Midnight Sun.
I devoured this book in one sitting. My experience reading 2/3 of it was 5 stars. I'm keeping this book on my shelf forever. But the story itself was raw and painful and I just do not knooow. It's an ode to a lot of my experiences as a teenager. I LOVED it so much, I was like, best book of the year! Then the third act happened.
**SPOILERS BELOW**
I wish it had a happier ending but maybe that's kind of the point... it's not fanfiction, it's painful reality.
But also, what the fuck? I was really happy for parts of it, then completely blindsided to a sad trauma journey that I felt like I did not consent to when I picked this up. “All The Bright Places” had me feeling similar too. I honestly read the ending and I don't feel any hope or joy. I really wish that they stayed “just friends” and had a beautiful, happy friendship that didn't devolve into this romantic attraction with toxic, unhealthy codependence. But I guess that's kind of what fandom is? And how we want to re-write stories to make them to our liking?
I seriously am so disappointed because I really loved most of this, but then the actual story, turning everything into trauma and especially when it comes to mental-health-related stuff, it takes me out of the story since I have so much intimate experience with it in both my personal life and career. And the hyper-reality of her condition destroyed me. I feel a lack of resolve and that this just... wouldn't happen? I mean, I know horrible things happen, but I wanted something happy dammit. I'm just happy I read this in one sitting so that I didn't have to prolong my shock and sadness.
I am a sucker for pop sociology / pop psychology.
I have a lot of habits I want to build, not necessarily ones that I want to break. This isn't a guide book for habits, but an analysis on how they frame society. Even if this book is 12 years old (wow), the lessons are still applicable and fascinating. I enjoyed reading this a lot.
Some of the language (namely weight loss/diet related language) is outdated, and I would love to see an updated edition with more analysis about social media and the habits created behind it. Some of the examples are messy and logical links aren't as strong. Nevertheless, it's a good read and helpful to make me more mindful of the habits I do have.
3.5 rounded to 3
Honestly an enjoyable reading experience, I just don't think slow burns are for me. I recommend to anyone who likes Annihilation or The Descent. The imagery was chilling, but I just got kinda bored in some parts. I wanted to like this SO BAD because a bookseller at my favorite bookstore recommended it to me. Still a cool concept though.
3.5 rounded up to 4
This was really really cute! It felt a bit preachy at first, which was frustrating, but I enjoyed Georgia's character development, the setting, and relationships that grew between the characters for better or worse. I found Georgia really likable and relatable, especially for someone going to college for the first time. It felt like getting a big hug. There were some pacing issues, it drags a lot through the second act, but it was really fun to read. Also, I love friendship quotes. There's some beautiful lines in here that I highlighted and I will cherish them.
3.75 rounded up to 4 • When I was in high school, there were two kids in my Spanish class that were hosting a meeting with free Vemma energy drinks. High schoolers were getting indoctrinated into an MLM! Thank God my parents stopped me from signing up. I will never forget that. Anyways, this book was decent. I liked the mix of exposition, statistics, and reflections. She defends herself almost the entire book, which has a bit of a weird tone (especially the political chapters), and it feels a bit unnatural. That said, it was still an entertaining read that gave some interesting insights and statistics I wasn't aware of. I'd recommend to anyone interested in MLMs, honestly. I liked it!
I really enjoyed this! I deeply related to the main character. If I didn't relate to her so much, I would have been annoyed, but because she is high school me I could not consciously be annoyed. Compelling characters that I loved. Beautiful quotes from this book and I will recommend it as a lighthearted, quick read! I loved reading it but there's absolutely some cringe within it.
SPOILERS
Sadie is physically and emotionally unstable lol and Julius is absolutely the protagonist. I hated how much she tried to hurt him and I wish there was more of a connection from her mistreatment of Julius to the attachment issues she has with her dad. I was fangirling over their interactions and I felt like a kid again. But their relationship was reeeally toxic and cringe at some points.
This book had such a fun premise and I was dying to know what happened. But man I just could not get into the mc and I couldn't stand her. The pacing was not great and could have stood to be 50 pages shorter. That said, it was still a fun read and there's some people out there who would LOVE this book. I enjoyed reading it, and even the author's writing style, but I couldn't stand the character's decisions.
SPOILER AHEAD
I was hoping the ending message would be less self-serving, about how friendship is important or how you have to focus on yourself over getting a partner. Or even meeting someone ‘organically' and learning to love them. But no... it was still about being happy with a random husband, I guess?
tl;dr - engaging and interesting story with poor execution.
This book was a fun read. The first act is really good and made me go “what the hell else is gonna happen in this book?” It gets graphic but not gratuitous, some imagery that will stick with me for a long time.
I think the book is needlessly confusing — it's non-chronological for no reason. It's presented in a few different perspectives when it really could have executed the twist while being mostly chronological. The characters are also kind of annoying.
That said, I really enjoyed reading it. I was invested to know what the hell was happening next. But the final twist happens in the last couple of chapters when more hints could have been scattered throughout.
Honestly, the story was pretty good and I'm excited to read Ward's other work. I just looked it up and I guess this is her most recent book? It feels like it was written much earlier. But I've been wanting to read Sundial for a while and The Last House on Needless Street so I'll pick those up soon.
also major trigger warnings, check Storygraph before reading!
Ah how I love pop sociology.
In the same vein as “Stolen Focus” and the Netflix doc “The Social Dilemma,” Filterworld reflects on the impacts of algorithms on our every day lives. I really enjoyed this book, but I felt like there needed to be a few more chapters (and I NEVER say that). There's a lot of examples but not a lot of analysis. It does make me want to be more mindful of algorithms and what they feed us. Even though I delete Instagram probably weekly (just to redownload it), and I consider myself to not use social media that often, there's an undeniable influence that algorithms have rewired our brain to enforce capitalism and our own perspectives.
How many artists did I discover from Spotify radio or other algorithms? How much have social networks affected my humor or aesthetics? We're at a time that a curated radio station is more ‘organic' discovery than TikTok is. It's no secret that art is derivative, but it makes me worry that my thoughts and preferences were dictated to me instead of the other way around...
“Filterworld” isn't all doom and gloom though, which is one of the reasons I like it. I think it needed a little bit more analysis on its implications and what type of advocacy we can do on a broad scale to prevent the homogeneity that “Filterworld” creates. I recommend this to anyone curious about how our online lives came to be and how they meld together with our hardly-offline lives.
I do have to give the algorithms credit — because of them, I met my girlfriend! It can't all be bad after all.