Books (Jan, Feb, March)

(Warning: This blog may contain spoilers for some books, so if you have not read them please skip over them)

I am back with another reading wrap-up. So, I have been kind of in a slump lately but I am trying to get out of it. So here is a review of the few books that I did read. I am still trying to fully get back into reading. So hopefully you leave here with some recommendations-

1. Beautiful World, Where are You? - Sally Rooney

Brief description- We follow four characters in this book, who are trying to find themselves, trying to find out their place in this world and who they truly are. They talk about a lot of topics like friendship, break-ups and so much more. Alice is a novelist and meets a man called Felix and they go to Rome together (Felix is invited quite spontaneously might I add) and Eileen has gone back to flirting with her childhood crush. It shows us a glimpse into these characters' lives.

Review- 3/5- It was not the best book that I have read. I had really high expectations from this book. Sally Rooney has a very unique writing style where she doesn’t use quotations marks because she believes it blurs the line between the dialogue and text. Well, I do not know how she pulls it off but she does, it works beautifully with the novel. Personally, I could not relate to the characters much as they were much older than me so I could invest in them much and the main focus of her books is the characters. There are a lot of topics that I am still to educate myself on so some of the stuff kind of went over my head. Nevertheless, the writing is beautiful.

Lesson- life is beautiful and we have so much to be grateful for. This book really focused on the importance of friendships which I think is so beautiful. We have so much around us to make us happy, we simply have to find it. We should go on an adventure to find who we are and our place in the world. People say we only live once, but as Dwight (from The Office says)- “False, you live every day and die only once.”

“I was tired, it was late, I was sitting half-asleep in the back of a taxi, remembering strangely that wherever I go, you are with me, and so is he, and that as long as you both live the world will be beautiful to me.” - Beautiful World, Where Are You? – Sally Rooney

2. All Your Perfects- Colleen Hoover

Brief description- Graham and Quinn met on the worst day of both their lives (read the book to find out why). They fall madly in love and make the worst day of their lives into the best. They eventually get married but their marriage is full of flaws. “If you shine light on your flaws all your perfects will dim.” Colleen hoover dances around the concept of divorce which leaves us with the question is their past strong enough to save their future? Will they ever be happy again?

Review- 3/5- I love colleen hoover but this is not one of my favorite books because I found it quite repetitive and it was a little slow pace according to me. It was absolutely heartbreaking but I feel like the climax didn’t give me all that it was supposed to give. The book had given such a build-up but I feel like it did not deliver. I loved the writing and the heartbreak.

Lesson- nothing is perfect. Not even love, no matter how glamorous marriage may look, it has its downsides. We are only humans, after all, we have emotions and we have our differences. This book gives a realistic approach to what divorce is and how it kind of feels. We do always say love prevails all but sometimes the best thing you can do for someone is to let them go

“No matter how much you love someone—the capacity of that love is meaningless if it outweighs your capacity to forgive.” - All Your Perfects, Colleen Hoover

3. They Both Die in The End- Adam Silvera

Brief description- Rufus and Mateo were just informed that today was their last day on earth and they are given what’s left of it, to tie up loose ends and make amends. But things go horribly wrong for Rufus and Mateo is too scared to leave his house until… two strangers become friends and then they become strangers with memories. In the end, you can guess what happens…

Review- 4.5/5- this book is really hyped up and I feel like you will either hate it or love it. For me it was an absolute hit, I really enjoyed reading it. It was so beautifully written and I will say, it is a little slow but when it picks up it is so captivating. I could not put it down. It was like I knew exactly what was coming because it was the title but I was never fully prepared for it. I will say that there were these chapters in the middle of other characters' points of view which kind of broke my flow of thought, they were kind of essential to the story but interrupting the main flow of the plot could have been avoided. The romance and friendship were just amazing. I would definitely recommend this book

Lesson- everything is connected. The way this book interconnected everything was literally mind-blowing. In the end, it was kind of left up to interpretation but when I made the connection I was amazed. Whether we would like to believe it or not, we all are interconnected. Our stories will always cross even if we don’t realize it. This book shows us the beauty in love, the beauty is making connections

“No one goes on, but what we leave behind keeps us alive for someone else.”- They Both Die at The End, Adam Silvera

4. The Love Hypothesis- Ali Hazelwood

Brief description- Olive’s friend is apprehensive to date Olive’s ex-boyfriend Jeremy because she does not want to overstep but she does not have feelings for him anymore which her friend is not willing to believe. She told her friend she is dating someone from a science course. She was a Ph.D. candidate studying pancreatic cancer. She then crosses paths with Adam, one of the grumpiest professors of her course, and convinces him to fake-date her to convince her friend that she is over Jeremy. However, we all know how the fake-dating thing ends…

Review-4.5/5- this was one of the cutest romance books that I have ever read. I mean all I can say Olive and Adam>>> they are so good together and this book really showed me how the women in STEM are treated. This was one of the better fake-dating trope books I have read because Olive really did have so much depth to her character. At times I literally had second-hand embarrassment for her. For the people who have read the book, THE BEGINNING PLEASE.

Lesson- everybody is not who you think they are. In this case, I mean it in kind of a positive connotation. If or when you read the book you will understand when you read the beginning of the book. Also, I saw the reality of how people underestimate women in STEM so much. Sometimes we should give people a chance, they might surprise you. I also mean the “everybody is not who you think they are” thing in a negative connotation, when Adam's friend reveals his true colours, I was shocked.

“I’m starting to wonder if this is what being in love is. Being okay with ripping yourself to shreds, so the other person can stay whole.”- The Love Hypothesis, Ali Hazelwood

5. It Ends with Us- Colleen Hoover

Brief description- Lilly meets Ryle, a neurosurgeon on a rooftop. They hit it off and she assumes she probably would never see him again. She then proceeds to try opening a flower shop where she is aided by Alyssa who turns out to be Ryle’s sister. Ryle and Lilly fall in love, but Lilly has things in the past which soon she is faced with. Crumbling her whole future as she knows it. Ryle is not who he seems to be, what will Lilly do?

Review- 5/5- you already know I saved the best for last. OHMYGOD I wish I could literally invent another star for this book. I was absolutely broken. You might want to read the trigger warnings before you start. This was such a beautifully written book. I usually do not annotate books but I could literally highlight every single line of this book. I was captivated from the beginning to the end. The whole story was heartbreaking but I am so excited for the sequel. I was invested in each character and their stories, especially the letters. Just for the record, I was always team Atlas. For those of you who have read the book- does it bother anyone else that Ryle wears his scrubs outside the hospital?

Lesson- just because our cycles are familiar, does not mean they are right. Sometimes we have to break them. Sometimes things seem familiar but it is a sign for us to break out of what we know. Just like Lilly did with Ryle eventually, she could not keep giving chances when he hurt her like that. It is not always as easy as it looks. Sometimes the best thing you can do for someone is let them go like Ryle should have at the beginning of the book. Love can be cruel sometimes

“Just because someone hurts you doesn't mean you can simply stop loving them. It's not a person's actions that hurt the most. It's the love. If there was no love attached to the action, the pain would be a little easier to bear.”- It Ends with Us, Colleen Hoover

I love doing reading wrap-ups, they are my favorite kinds of blogs to write. So, I hope you liked this blog because there will definitely be a lot more of these coming. If you end up reading any of these books, let me know how you liked them.

Thanks for reading,

Xx Mahika

(Question of the day: Who is your favourite author? Mines- probably John Green or Colleen Hoover)

(Ps: follow my Instagram: @blogbanterandbigwords where I share polls and put teasers for my upcoming blogs, you might also find some nice quotes in there)