Books (September)

(Disclaimer: please read the trigger warnings for all books, they discuss sensitive subjects. Please search up the age rating if you want to know which books are appropriate for you and there might be spoilers ahead in this post)

So, I do know that I am kind of late but lately, I have really rediscovered my love for reading and I have managed to finish quite a few books in the time that I was gone. So here are some book recommendations and my thoughts about them. Hope you enjoy reading it

1. All the Bright Places- Jenifer Niven

Brief description- This book follows two main characters from two different perspectives- Violet Markey and Theodore Finch. They meet on the school bell tower and Finch falls in love with Violet and they go on a journey for their geography project and visit the places in Indiana. They fall in love with each other and explore themselves. But as violets world gets bigger, as she recovers from a tragic incident. Theodore's world becomes smaller. They both have scars and bear the pain together. A very tragic book but the themes of mental health are dealt beautifully

Review- I would give this book a 5/5. It is so beautifully written the story is so tragic but there are such richly written lines in there. It made me think a lot. Easily one of the best books I've read in a long time. She covers the topic of mental health so well, I could not put this down, the ending was absolutely heartbreaking

Lesson- Sometimes life is too short. There is always time for love and sometimes you can’t be all work and no play. Look at things differently. Go to the party you have to, hang out with your friends and be spontaneous. You will never get this day back and every day you grow farther apart from it is one more day you regret the opportunities you did not draw from it

“I think of my own epitaph, still to be written, and all the places I’ll wander. No longer rooted, but gold, flowing. I feel a thousand capacities spring up in me.”- All the Bright Places, Jennifer Niven

2. November 9th- colleen hoover

Brief description- November Ninth is a book about how Ben meets Fallon on you guessed it, November 9th but just his luck that Fallon is moving to New York. They spend the best couple of hours together and Ben wants to see her again. They decide to meet every year on the same date, in the same place, and at the same time but have no contact throughout the year. As time goes on Fallon discovers that Ben has secrets that he left out and the truth she discovers shakes her to her core

Review- 5/5 definitely one of my most favorite novels ever. Everything about the story and the ending and the plot twist left me speechless. Colleen Hoover really does have a way with words and I look forward to reading more of her books. It had so many different twists and turns. The ending left me absolutely speechless and the romance in this book blew me away

Lesson- not all scars are visible. Sometimes people have scars on the inside too but we don’t know that. Whether they are visible or not, it never hurts to be kind to people so we should try being more sensitive and understanding. Everyone is hurting but instead of treating their scars as a liability, we should learn to love them.

"One of the things I always try to remind myself is that everyone has scars,” she says. “A lot of them even worse than mine. The only difference is that mine are visible and most people’s aren’t.” - November 9th- Colleen hoover

3. One of us is lying- Karen M. Manus

One of us is lying is a murder mystery. Five students- Simon Kelleher (runs the gossip site of the school- About That), Addy Prentiss (Homecoming Queen), Nate Macauley (the criminal), Bronwyn Rojas (the brainy one- going to Harvard) and Clay Cooper (star basketballer) end up in detention but only four of them leave, alive. They investigate the death of the student as the four of them are put under fire. They go through a roller coaster together only to reveal the shocking truth- who killed Simon?

Review- 4/5 I absolutely loved the whole plot leading up to the ending of this book. The ending was a tad bit underwhelming. Well-written book and I definitely was dying to read the sequel to this book. The plot was magnificently crafted and it was very captivating

Lesson- Everyone is fighting an internal battle. Sometimes check up on people to make sure how they are doing. You never know what someone is dealing with behind closed doors. We should make an effort to talk to more people (btw- World Mental Health Day was on 10th October)

“I know what it's like to tell yourself a lie so often that it becomes the truth.”- One of Us is Lying, Karen. M. Manus

4. The Song of Achilles- Madeline miller

Brief description- this story is told by Patroclus, who is exiled by his father and lives in the court of King Peleus. He falls in love with Achilles over there but when Helena of Troy is kidnapped. Achilles is asked to be commander of the army. There is a prophecy- If Achilles goes there, he will never return. Patroclus and Achilles go to set up camp in Troy to retrieve Helena but its tests their love and friendship and everything that they have ever known. An absolutely heart-breaking book

Review- 4.5/5 I have no words to describe this book. This took Greek mythology to a whole new level and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was blown away by Madeline’s writing, every word felt like it had been crafted so beautifully. I couldn’t put it down. I really loved the way the Greek Mythology was told. It was so tragic and one of the most heartbreaking books I have read to this day. This book really makes you think about the world

Lesson- love always finds a way. Whether you end up on earth together or you end up with the Gods, above. No matter where you are, your love will always find a way to grow, bloom and flourish even in the darkness and the rains. Never give up hope because love makes life beautiful

“He is half of my soul, as the poets say.”-The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller

5. One of us is next- Karen M. Manus

One of us is next is the sequel to the hit book – One of us is lying. Aside from the new characters, we are introduced to Maeve Rojas (Bronwyn’s sister), Knox Myers (Maeve’s best friend), and Phoebe Lawton. The force in Bayview High is back to expose their secrets and this time it is in the form of truth or dare. If you chose dare, it could be a life-threatening one that goes horribly wrong and if you choose truth, your secret will be exposed to the school. Things take a turn and shocking facts are revealed

Review- 5/5. This is the sequel to the first book. I possibly enjoyed it better than the first book. It kept the main characters from the first book and showed us a glimpse into their lives while the new generation of characters were all somehow intertwined with the first set of characters and the plot is so fantastic. I could never have even anticipated the ending, it was so well crafted. I have to say, I like the characters better in the first book but the plot better in the second one

Lesson- Friends are really important and don’t talk to strangers on the internet. You will understand why after you read the book but it is important that if something is going on in your life or you are dealing with something, don’t let it bottle up. Talk to someone about it. There are always so many people around to help you.

“I don’t understand why the world insists on stuffing kids into boxes we never asked for, and then gets mad when we won’t stay there.”- One of Us is Next, Karen M. Manus

6. We were Liars- E. Lockhart

We Were Liars is a novel about how a very wealthy family, the Sinclair’s spend their vacations on an island. Cadence, Johnny, Mirren, and Gat are the group called The Liars but nobody knows why. One day Cadence wakes up with her head in pain and the doctors by her side and she has no recollection of what happened before that. No one is telling her and even when she visits the island to ask, she does not get to know why until she figures out the truth by herself which left her speechless

Review- 4/5. The book was slightly hard to follow as there were way too many characters (there is a family tree given at the beginning of the book to help identify who is who). I still feel the author could have done a better job with the characters and kept them to a minimum. I was slightly lost in the middle of the book, there were so many things happening and the timeline was a little bit confusing but the ending was absolutely amazing and made up for the entire book. I would have never seen that plot twist coming in a million years. The end did not disappoint and I am glad

Lesson- Money cannot buy happiness. The entire family was dripping with money but every single one was unhappy because they wanted something bigger and better which drove the entire plot and led to the outcome that did end up happening. Sometimes you have to just appreciate the people around you and stop focusing on everything you don’t have

“Be a little kinder than you have to.”- We Were Liars, E. Lockhart

7. Beach Read- Emily Henry

January Andrews is the author of multiple bestselling books but so is Augustus Everett. They have slightly different notions to happily ever after. When January is up at the beach house, her neighbor Gus is there too and they make a deal as they both are in a slump. Gus will write a happily ever after and January will write literary fiction. They embark on a journey to research for their respective novels but it turns into something much bigger than that

Review- 4/5 is one of the cutest romance novels out there. It really visited the depths of each character instead of solely focusing on the romance. It was filled with so many emotions. You can pick this up at any time and enjoy it. Very well written. The back story to each character was lovely and exchanging genres was a brilliant idea

Lesson- life will not be perfect forever but you can just take in the now. A few years from now, you do not know what will happen but enjoy what you have right now. Who knows how much or how little we will have in the future but if you take a few moments to appreciate the present, it will make all the difference. We also learn that if you are in a slump, try changing it up a bit, push yourself a little bit and see how far you will go (You will probably understand this better when you reach the end of the book)

“Sometimes life is very hard. Sometimes it demands so much of you that you start losing pieces of yourself as you stretch out to give what the world wants to take.”-Beach Read, Emily Henry

I hope you enjoyed reading this and actually take some recommendations. I want to make this a monthly thing where I review all the books I have read in the month (or a few)

Thanks for reading,

Xx Mahika