Yuhan

Y'all if you plan on reading this book (and do, it's great) don't read up literally anything on it - any sort of content discussion would be a massive spoiler so I'll talk about something else instead.

Heads up - I read the original in Chinese, and I've heard that a lot of people think the translation is great, and I knowwwww that translation is a tough job, but man the translated text is dry (I read this as a buddy read with someone reading the english translation). I wish y'all could experience the original and the cultural contexts that come with it, the translation loses a couple of dimensions. The translation also shuffles some chapters around, which honestly I disagree with a lot of those decisions especially the flashback being taken to the very beginning of the novel - honestly I think this is probably the most confusing/dry part for any english readers not familiar with that part of history, but also changes the weighting of the different narritives of the book , but yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

Frankly this book feels more real than my actual life LOL and for me that's what makes it shine. No exaggerated characters (well, one, but let's face it we kinda love him), no silly grand mission, no magical chosen ones, just real people going about their real lives and playing their piece. The horror at the beginning with the photos - ik this isn't even a big thing but it really stayed with me honestly made me 👀👀👀 DDDD:, I frickin love the VR segments it so doesn't take itself seriously it's almost serious I reaaaaaalllly appreciate the watertightness with plot holes and justifications.

Anyway I need to get back to work and will stop gushing about my million opinions on this book lol. I'm almost tempted to give it five stars but I'm currently reading the second book and that's EVEN MORE REAL and I LOVE THAT so I can't ceiling the scores just yet LOL ok right imma get back to writing my diss

my therapist recommended that I read this book, and it'd taken me so long to track it down that I actually forgot why she recommended it to me. Immediately remembered after literally a page or two lol, it was very obvious, and this book is very straightforward in what it's talking about.

I can't lie, this was a lot more wishy-washy-energy vibes than media that I usually consume, but as long as you can take it with a pinch of 'it's just an explanation rather than a literal description' it's not too bad. And as much as that did bother me, I hate to admit that it did give me a couple of good lightbulb moments. Pretty effective therapy (at least for me), I'm glad I read it.

((the straightforwardness also starts getting a bit dry to read, which is a shame cus it kinda takes away from the messages, but also I guess it makes sense since it's intended to be read in any order. Anyway, I'd love to see a more logic based rendition of this work))

Certainly made me think - I am persuaded that this is an issue that everyone should be made aware of. I do strongly believe that being more intentional with our time is one of the best ways to actually achieve happiness and any of its proxies - how do you advocate for something you want without knowing how to get there! I feel a good job was made of explaining and including different views, and that makes for an agreeable read. Despite thinking that I was decently caught up on the area, there were plenty of new points and discussions included that are sensible but just not mainstream. My only qualm is that in the introductory sections the writing was maybe a bit over-enthusiastic, but then again if someone feels passionate about something to write a whole ass book about it, maybe that would make sense AHAHAHAH