shaye
[spoilers ahead] this book perfectly hits the niche spot of falling in love with celebrities and later, becoming a celebrity and the other extra niche spot of “you fit right into the family and the children love you”. i love, love, love this book and i love nora, and i even love the stupid little miscommunication that fucks them up for a bit, even if it was incredibly stupid!
love the way this fic subverted the single mother trope re this beautiful quote: “You're not a victim here. Or anywhere. That's what this whole movie's about.” nora is so refreshing as a character who's narration and emotion felt accessible. she's straightforward and it comes out as someone in tune with themselves but also with their reality! nothing more i love than extremely capable main characters!
When a book goes “Oh, come on, Stig,” Leo said on a low, throaty laugh, his lips pressing
against the soft skin under my ear. His next words were whispered just
below it, sparking chills down my legs. “Let me put a baby in you.”, you just gotta give it 4 stars. What was I supposed to do!!!!"
two star stickers out of five, so close to being a three. if only.
interestingly enough, i DNF'd at 95% but if i've learned anything in math, it's that i should always round up to make myself look better! this is absolutely what all of the characters in the book do: justify inane choices to make themselves look better. for a book advertised for fans of crazy rich asians, it sure does lack the self-awareness that makes vapid characters and shallow writing look good. i couldn't finish myself to finish the last 5% because if i've learnt anything from andrea, i should take a step back when things aren't for me anymore.
the only saving grace are the two leads, suresh and andrea: they were the only ones i was rooting for the whole duration of the book. the two stars are for the focus on interracial relationships, work-life balance, character agency (particularly andrea! go girlboss).
i felt a little silly reading this book and didn't want to mark it on goodreads but actually i don't care. this is great. read this book. i don't care if you've only read penguin classics your whole life read this book anyways. the banter has me using words like banter like i'm british. anyways
TFW you finally get your hands on the book (red white and royal blue, in the PHILIPPINES???) and now you just want to cry because it's been more than a year since you first heard about it and the hype was real this whole time
I'm so happy, I cried. I also spent twenty minutes face planting into my floor trying to get over THAT scene in the club, which really shows the range of reactions this book can incite. (I was either bawling or screaming, there is no in between)
This story is so, so important. It is such a beautiful, hopeful representation of identity and acceptance. It is a balm to my soul, a mirror to my very own identity. I didn't think I could identify with a biracial, bisexual son of a president- boy have I never been more glad to be wrong.
(So are we gonna get a book 2 or-)
You know how a rollercoaster goes up the hill and you're preparing yourself for the drop below and everyone's screaming? My thoughts precisely heading into this book. But instead of a fun drop where the kid behind me most likely throws up and someone drops their phone (tbh, the only indication that it was a 10/10 rollercoaster- if no one threw up was it even a rollercoaster?), this rollercoaster just drops straight down into a vat of disappointment.
Anything with a diverse cast and a plot about any of the following: celebrities, secret romance, and snark, is crack cocaine to me. Permanent Record hits my entire checklist, but for all the wrong reasons. What sounds like an exploration into the way society views fame and the expectations of being in your twenties and having it all quickly turns into (extreme spoilers here) an example of a seemingly toxic relationship and the vague idea that Leanna Smart might've killed her parents, definitely had a fling with her manager which, I mean, what the FUCK?
But hey, points for Pablo being an extremely relatable millennial.
[ cue loud screaming as this person realizes we're getting jamie and charlotte in college, IN ENGLAND. ]
not bad? hmm. i do enjoy jared as a person and there were several lines that had me rolling around on the floor. the writing just felt a little juvenile!
This book owned me so hard I needed to take a month long break from reading any other form of literature due to the sheer whiplash I experienced reading anything that DIDN'T start with “Can you come into my office?”
so like, am I ever going to get over this book? the likely answer is no, and to be honest- that's perfectly fine with me. just leave me in grishaverse hell, this is nice. i also really need a place to vent out all of my feelings that came outta nowhere after hearing about the netflix adaptation.
(if only cillian murphy could be aged down he'd make a PERFECT kaz brekker thanks)
but seriously, if you haven't read the book whatareyoudoing? it's the perfect balance of everything, thanos would be HIGHLY pleased with this book. it's dark, gritty, and twisted but with interwoven threads of humour and some genuinely light and hopeful moments that make us remember what every single other ya fantasy/dystopian book tries to make us forget: the fact that they're teenagers.
thank you and god bless leigh bardugo for utilizing the character ages in order to create a book i sure as hell haven't read anywhere else. the heart of the book really lies within the fact that these kids are still kids despite going on a mission to retrieve a political prisoner from an impenetrable ice fort, and that they're more likely going to die instead of becoming the richest teenagers alive.
god, i love this book so much.