It’s been a very lacklustre reading year so far! January started off strong, as I usually like to get ahead of the Goodreads reading challenge over winter break. February and March were steady. April was finals month, so I only managed to binge the Twisted series. I kicked off summer break in May with a super casual readathon and kept the momentum going, but it all fell apart in June haha. In the latter half of June, I was hyperfixated on James Cameron, maritime disasters, and Bakery Story, so I barely picked up a book. I’m still ahead of my Goodreads reading challenge though, thanks to the buffer I set up for myself in January. Across these past six months, I’ve read 34 books or 11350 pages, of which 81% were by women authors and 55% by authors of colour. 5 were rereads, and I have 2 new all-time favourites, so all is not lost!
Some bookish highlights include hosting my first ever bookstagram giveaway where I gave away one of my crochet love letter book sleeves, receiving an ARC and signed final copy of Yellowface by RF Kuang from the publisher, and receiving a Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow publisher tote bag and signed hardcover, which Cheryne won in a giveaway then sent to me?? Speechless.
The bookish lowlight was the end of Book Depository, rip. I’ve loved watching everyone’s final Book Depository hauls… but at what cost??? For those in the US looking for UK editions, Blackwell’s is an affordable option, but unfortunately I don’t have any recs for those in the UK looking for US editions. Please share if you know any!
Mid-year book freak out tag
(Rereads excluded from tags)
Best book you’ve read so far this year
No more beating around the bush. My two new all-time favourites are Better than the Movies by Lynn Painter and Seven Days in June by Tia Williams — a YA romance and an adult romance! If you love rom coms, you have to give Better than the Movies a try. Back in middle school and high school, I pretty much only watched rom coms and Grey’s Anatomy, so Better than the Movies was everything for me! Normally I’m very skeptical of YA romances, but this one was so cute and wholesome. The story follows Liz the hopeless romantic, who enlists the help of her obnoxious neighbour Wes to get noticed by his best friend, her crush Michael, in exchange for the parking spot they’ve been feuding over. I had a smile on my face the whole time reading this book. I even made a whole ass reel.
Seven Days in June is a second chance romance following a literary writer and erotica writer who have been secretly writing about each other in their books ever since the end of their whirlwind week of teenage romance. I read this at the same time as my reread of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, and oh gosh, these books got me all in my feels the way the characters were speaking to each other through their art!
Best sequel you’ve read so far this year
There isn’t too much competition in this category. I’ve only read two series so far this year, which have both been romance series. Amongst the romance series I’ve read so far this year, my favourite book was The Score from Elle Kennedy’s Off-Campus series. Most people’s favourite Off-Campus book is either The Deal (#1) or The Score (#3). The Score is a friends-with-benefits romance, which I wouldn’t think I’d care for, but there’s something to be said for a couple that’s just having fun with each other and on the same page about it. No unnecessary traumatic backstories, thank you very much. When the couple eventually developed feelings for each other, they didn’t pretend otherwise. There’s nothing more boring than a couple pretending to not be into each other when they’re obviously obsessed (*cough* enemies-to-lovers *cough* (when done wrong)). I didn’t like the third act conflict, but when do I ever?
New release you haven’t read yet but want to
Not to expose Cindy, but both of us have been in a bit of a reading slump this year. The Postcard by Anne Berest briefly pulled her out of it and she’s been singing its praises, so that one’s on my TBR. The Postcard is a work of autofiction translated from French about the Holocaust. The story begins when a postcard is delivered with four names scrawled on the back: family members who died at Auschwitz.
On a lighter note, Cheryne reminded me of Maurene Goo’s new YA novel Throwback, which I want to give a try, though YA has been a hit or miss for me lately. I’ve previously read Maurene Goo’s I Believe in a Thing Called Love, which follows a high school girl who tries to get a boyfriend by following the k-drama formula. Throwback follows a girl who is thrown back in time after a fight with her mom and meets the high school version of her mom.
Most anticipated release for the second half of the year
The Deep Sky by Yume Kitasei (Jul 18) is a sci-fi thriller about a space mission gone wrong. On the eve of earth’s environmental collapse, a ship carries the last of humanity, whose mission is to repopulate in space, but an explosion occurs halfway to their destination and the only surviving witness becomes the prime suspect. The top Goodreads review hilariously writes: “Among Us fanfiction???”
Let’s Go, Let’s Go, Let’s Go by Cleo Qian (Aug 15) is a short story collection exploring the alienated, technology-mediated lives of restless Asian and Asian-American women today. Say less!
This Spells Love by Kate Robb (Dec 5) is a witchy romance — a growing sub-genre I’m loving more and more! When Gemma gets dumped, she and her best friend Dax perform a love-cleansing spell to forget about her ex involving a platonic kiss, but it doesn’t turn out as she expects. Gemma wants her old life back and needs Dax’s help to reverse the spell, but the only problem is, in this alternate reality, Dax has no idea who she is.
Biggest disappointment
No one is more disappointed than I am about DNF-ing The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin. It’s blasphemy!! You know this is unexpected because I owned the whole trilogy before reading a single page. Luckily I got the books for free through a trade so I didn’t sink any money into it. This was supposed to be a buddy read with Kyra, but neither of us got through it. I binged half of the book because I was thoroughly confused and just wanted to know what the heck was going on. I didn’t understand the magic system or the prejudices in this world, and I wasn’t interested in any of the characters except for Alabaster. In the end, I read the recap and called it a day.
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black was another disappointment, but I didn’t have as high expectations as I did for The Fifth Season, so I’m not quite as heartbroken, but my hopes were still dashed. I don’t consider myself a very picky YA fantasy reader (I enjoyed A Court of Thorns and Roses!), but The Cruel Prince was so blah. The world building left me with some questions, lots of things didn’t make sense or were convenient, and I didn’t care about any of the characters except for the main girl’s older sister. I would have DNF-ed this one too, but it was an easy read to finish.
Biggest surprise
I didn’t expect to love Better than the Movies as much as I did or that it’d make me so giddy — a booktok rec, no less! Another one that caught me by surprise was Boy Parts by Eliza Clark. It’s not an all-time favourite or anything, but there were two points in the book that completely reframed what the story was about to me. It would be an interesting one to reread!
Favourite new author (debut or new to you)
This is tough! I usually hold off on bestowing this label until I’ve read and loved at least two books from an author, which hasn’t happened for me yet. I’m absolutely smitten with Better than the Movies and romance authors are often reliable for giving more of the same, so Lynn Painter could be a contender (though I think it’s an even greater treat if an author can give more of something different that you love just as much). Her other books are quite popular too, but I think Better than the Movies is most people’s favourite so there’s nowhere to go but down, and I’m kind of afraid that reading her other books will retroactively taint my memory of Better than the Movies. I’m happy with just rereading Better than the Movies tbh!
Newest fictional crush
I don’t know if I’m the kind of reader that crushes on fictional characters? I love romances, but I more so love the couples with each other than want to be with any of them, if ya know what I mean. I haven’t had any “I want to be you” moments either. Everyone’s got issues.
Newest favourite character
Again, none really come to mind. Maybe Wes Bennett from Better than the Movies? He’s a sweet boy.
Book that made you cry
None of the books I’ve read so far this year have made me cry, but the most depressing book I’ve read so far has been Ripe by Sarah Rose Etter. It captures the futility of modern life, getting at everything that feels so discouraging and exhausting about the corporate world, tackling toxic workplace culture, socioeconomic inequality, and depression and anxiety. Capitalism bad lol.
Book that made you happy
I read sad books far more often than I read happy books, but this one’s easy. Better than the Movies had me cheesin’ the whole time :’) Ugh, I just love rom coms!
Most beautiful book you acquired this year
Besides books I’ve been gifted, I’ve also spent ~$30 on 9 books: 7 for $1 each from my library’s sale, 1 bought secondhand online, and 1 bought new in my final Book Depository haul, rip. My favourite aesthetic amongst the books I’ve acquired is Boy Parts by Eliza Clark, but I also love the gold foiling on The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali and You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi. YMAFODWYB also has a gorgeous spine. Spine design is underrated!
Books you need to read before the end of the year
Ursula K Le Guin’s short story collection The Wind’s Twelve Quarters has been on my TBR ever since americanbaron reviewed the story “The Ones Who Walked Away from Omelas,” and it’s been sitting on my shelf for a year already. Maybe this will be the year I finally read it? Michelle‘s author study has also been inspiring me to start my Le Guin journey.
In the spirit of reading off my shelf, I want to prioritise the books I bought this year. So far I’ve read 3 of the 9. Of the 6 remaining, 1 is a chunky poetry collection that I’m okay with not reading from start to finish but I’d like to at least start, 3 are classics, and 2 are contemporary. Classics are a challenge for me, but I definitely want to at least finish the contemporary books: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson and The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. I’m intimidated though, since they’re separate series and they’re both chonkers.
Some other books I want to get around to are True Biz by Sara Novic, Solito by Javier Zamora, What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo, and Ace by Angela Chen. A reread I want to get around to is A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara, which I’ve been meaning to reread ever since I read Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow last year. I’ve now already read tmrx3 a second time and still haven’t reread A Little Life haha. I’ve also wanted to reread The Poppy War trilogy by RF Kuang since finishing Yellowface, and maybe Babel too, for good measure, but I’ve read these more recently, so they aren’t as high priority.
All the books I’ve read so far this year
Classics
The most effective way to get me to read a classic is to give me a pretty cover. I finally read these three classics off my shelf. You can see part of my vintage paperback collection here and one of my favourite contemporary editions here.
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie: This was my first non-Hercule Poirot Agatha Christie, my third Agatha Christie ever. She did it again. The best mysteries are the ones you didn’t see coming (or the ones with too many plausibilities to choose between), but once revealed, you realise couldn’t have been any other way… albeit I don’t read many mysteries, so maybe my skills of deduction are a bit rusty. The dwindling figurines really added to the suspense. This would be a fun one to read with friends and try to guess who’s killing everyone off, but it might be hard to find people who aren’t already familiar with the story haha.
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov: The plot-driven chapters were wacky and adventurous, but the episodic feel didn’t give me the urge to pick the book back up between reads. Book 1 introduced lots of different characters but they all felt peripheral, and I kept wondering when we’d come back to them. The scenes with Homeless and Woland were fun, but the Pontius Pilate chapters were difficult for me to get through. Book 2 mostly focused on Margarita’s POV, but I wasn’t as concerned with her and the master as I was with enjoying Woland & co.’s antics, especially any scene with Behemoth. This is a book that definitely requires a reread for me to fully appreciate, but I did notice themes of art and authenticity, bureaucracy, and housing.
The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux: The book was an interesting experience because the author was trying to convince people that the Opera Ghost was real, not some fantastical story, so there was lots of information that tried to normalise/rationalise the Ghost, whereas the Broadway show felt so magical. The book wasn’t as glamorous or immersive as the show either, but to be fair, the show is tough competition armed with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s score. With the book, lots of the narrative was characters recounting what happened, such as Christine explaining her disappearance to Raoul, and the Persian explaining how he guided Raoul to the Opera Ghost’s lair to rescue Christine. A last note is that Christine wasn’t really the main character in the book, which focused more on the opera managers then Raoul and the Persian. The epilogue revealed more about Erik’s backstory.
Literary fiction
The Secret History by Donna Tartt (reread): This was my first physical read through, as I only listened to the audiobook previously (I would not recommend the audiobook). This time around, I had fun picking up on all the foreshadowing. Reading along with a book club, I developed a new appreciation for how silly this book is and embraced not taking this pretentious read too seriously.
Sirens & Muses by Antonia Angress: I would have preferred if this book focused on Louisa and Karina’s fraught relationship and just dropped Preston’s and Robert’s POVs completely. I think the intention of the four POVs was to explore their different relationships with art, but the artists were all so uninspired. There was so much that could have been done with four POVs, but it felt like as soon as any interesting conflict between characters were raised, the POV would switch, leaving the story on a cliffhanger, then time would pass without the characters interacting, the characters might wallow internally if they thought about it at all, and by the time they crossed each other again, they’d have found their peace or whatever and would pick up as if everything was fine. The conflicts were never addressed and almost never came to a head, the POVs felt disjoint, and there was no forward movement or build up of tension. In a word: anticlimatic.
Boy Parts* by Eliza Clark: Irina was narcissistic, manipulative, and fascinating. I couldn’t look away. She liked to make people feel bad in small ways, making them question if they were insecure and going crazy or if this bitch was really that petty haha. Then there were the big ways. There were two points in the book that completely reframed what the story was about to me, and that’s kind of cool? It started out as just another unhinged woman/sad girl book then almost turned into a horror novel, and I wasn’t expecting that! One Goodreads review aptly describes it as “american psycho but for hot girls.”
Ripe* by Sarah Rose Etter: A bleak read following a disillusioned woman one year into working her dream job at a Silicon Valley startup. It’s a story that feels like a haze, more conceptual than narrative-driven, capturing that futile sense of modern life, tackling toxic workplace culture, socioeconomic inequality, and depression and anxiety (which manifest as a literal black hole that has followed our protagonist around ever since she was born), getting at everything that feels so discouraging and exhausting about the corporate world — the job hunt, the workplace, the burnout — so it’s one you might want to save for when you’re in a good headspace. I was surprised by how 2020-coded the book got as it progressed, hinting at the pandemic and including anti-abortion protests. (See my full review here)
Y/N* by Esther Yi: A psychological satire you’ll either love or not get. I tried to get it haha. I thought the unnamed protagonist’s earnest online interactions with her idol were hilarious at first, but as the story became increasingly erratic, I was just trying to figure out what was going on in this fever dream. There were some interesting meditations on how maintaining the fantasy of intimacy is to maintain a distance, illusion and delusion to transcend the confines of your singular experience, and collective adoration.
Contemporary fiction
♡ Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow* by Gabrielle Zevin (reread): I’ve lost count of the number of reviews that start with “I’m not into gaming but…” But this is a book about so much more than gaming. It’s about the heart that artists and creators of all sorts put into their work, whether it’s a game, a book, a song, a painting, an Instagram post. It’s about finding someone to do that with, opening yourself to intimacy, pushing each other’s ambitions. It’s about creative collaboration, love and friendship, art and storytelling. It’s extraordinary how many different meanings this book has for people, and at the same time, how so many people have also said how this is one of the most personal-to-them books they’ve ever read, me included.
Yellowface* by RF Kuang: I loved the discussion about exploitation of trauma and other people’s stories, but I found the middle a bit repetitive with June attempting to write her next novel, doing something problematic, getting cancelled, waiting it out, then rinse and repeat. I think it would have been more fun to forget about June’s attempts at writing for a bit and lean into more thriller vibes, do more detective work, maybe even build on the minor theme of ghosts, weave in some magical realism, and see June’s descent into madness. However, that is not this story, so this isn’t a critique so much as a personal preference. The end I found satisfying thematically, but not plot-wise. (See my full review here)
Central Places* by Delia Cai: Audrey was unlikeable, both self-centred and full of self-loathing, yearning for that white “all-American” family, embarrassed and dismissive of all the ways her parents show their love. There was too much love lost in this family. While I understand that Audrey’s actions and superficial complaints were indicative of deeper feelings, her character was underdeveloped, leaving this portrayal of an Asian American experience feeling rather generic. Her dynamic with her parents was interesting, but we didn’t get that discussion until the third-to-last chapter, when Audrey and her mom resolved everything between them in one conversation. It had potential. I liked how her mom’s pet name for her came full circle by the end, and I liked the one chapter with her dad.
YA fantasy
As I was sorting my 2023 reads by genre, I realised that although I’ve read a fair amount of fantasy so far this year, I haven’t read any adult fantasies yet. Perhaps I haven’t felt in the mind space to commit to one, but maybe an adult fantasy is just what I need to pick up the second half of the year. Anyways, I could probably give the same review for all three of the YA fantasies I read. They all read on the younger end of YA. The characters were juvenile and underdeveloped. There were gaps and inconsistencies in the character motivations and world building. The romances detracted from the story. Not for me, but maybe for younger YA readers. I still have hope that I haven’t outgrown the older end of YA though.
The Keeper of Night by Kylie Lee Baker: The world building felt incomplete, and Ren the half-British reaper, half-Japanese shinigami had a uninspiringly human conception of death. I wanted this book to transport me the way Scythe by Neal Shusterman did (another book that plays with the idea of death). I did like learning about Japanese mythology through the yokai quests, albeit the quests were formulaic plot-wise.
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black: Cardan & co. gave middle school bully energy, and you could tell he liked Jude from a mile away. That said, I’ll give it to him that he was the only faerie who got around the inability to lie in an interesting way. I didn’t get why Jude wanted to be part of this faerie world that disdains humans when she could just live in the human world like a normal person or why she’d be at all invested in faerie politics, which goes back to my critique about character motivations. Her schemes toward the end of the book were intriguing, but I don’t care enough about any of the characters or what happens to them to continue with the series.
The Luminaries* by Susan Dennard: This book felt like a set up for another book, and to be fair, it is the first book in a series, but it felt more like the first half of the first book in a series. The plot pretty much just consisted of Winnie participating in the hunter trials to become a Luminary (the people who protect the town from monsters) to restore her family’s honour, and telling the council that there’s a new monster on the loose and no one believing her (like Harry Potter trying to tell the Ministry that Voldemort is back lol). The trials were repetitive and Winnie didn’t have any skills. All she’d do was panic and revert to her tic of reciting the monster encyclopaedia from memory. As for the dealio about nobody believing there’s a new monster out there, Winnie never tried to investigate herself or come up with different ways to convince the council. She just kept telling them and hoped they’d eventually believe her. The whole mystery about her dad was completely unresolved, as well as the mystery about Jay and all the other little mysteries.
Cosy fantasy
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree: A high fantasy, low stakes story following Viv the orc who retires from a life of dangerous adventure to open a coffee shop. It was heartwarming to read about a retired monster easing into small town living, to make roots instead of chasing the next thrilling quest, to nurture people instead of battling them. I loved watching Viv’s coffee shop grow — the menu expanding drink by drink, pastry by pastry, each with the most enticing description — the community gathering to begrudgingly discover the pleasures of milky bean water. That said, the fantasy/world building and romance were underdeveloped. Okay, but not a story I’d think about again. I pretty much agree with Maddie‘s review. A fine pick if you’re a big cosy reader.
The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa: A boy closing his late grandfather’s tiny secondhand bookshop is called on an adventure to save books by a mysterious talking tabby cat. If you love books about books, you’re in for a treat. And if you’re on bookish social media, you might have even more fun with this one. There isn’t any social media commentary, but there are characters with tendencies that might remind you of some trends and characteristics we’ve all seen on bookish social media (like superhuman reading goals and glorious home libraries). I lovedd the first quarter of the book and it almost inspired me to throw out my book collection — almost! The rest was a little more cliche and less memorable, but it’s a short little book and worth the read for the first quarter.
Magical realism
Bliss Montage by Ling Ma: My immediate reaction after reading each of the eight short stories was confusion about what I was supposed to get out of them, but I was able to gain an appreciation for a select few upon a reread. “Office Hours” was a thrilling read about a secret passage in a film professor’s office, appealing to my interests in sci-fi and parallel worlds and selves. “Peking Duck” gave me more to contemplate and is one I often find my mind wandering back to. It follows an Asian American writer who tells her mother’s experience working as a nanny, raising discussions about appropriating stories and experiences. The form was clever and thematically appropriate, blurring the boundaries between the story and the story within the story.
Sci fi/horror
Walking Practice* by Dolki Min (x2): A weird, violent, and grotesque but also unexpectedly vulnerable story about an alien stranded on earth, seducing humans to kill and feed on by transforming their body into their preys’ sexually desirable form. This short little book isn’t one to read for the plot necessarily, which doesn’t really get into how the alien ended up on earth or plans to get home, but more for the alien’s inner monologues and sociological observations, particularly on the performance of gender and incidentally, the surveilled woman. The translator’s note puts it well: Walking Practice a profoundly queer novel about literal alienation. This was a book that I finished feeling confused, but grew on me as I sat on it afterward.
Thriller/mystery
The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson: I haven’t read a thriller in years because I find the misogyny exhausting and I don’t find unreliable narrators that compelling. I found Part 1 boring and almost DNF-ed, but Parts 2 and 3 had me hooked. Plot. Twists. Everyone was sus and I didn’t know who to trust. It was all a gamble. Sure, Ted was misogynistic but Lily literally murdered someone before?? If I were stuck in this situation and had to figure out who to trust, it’d be too much for me to handle. Just kill me at that point haha. Worth the read if you’re looking for a thriller.
Miracle Creek* by Angie Kim (reread): Reread in anticipation of Happiness Falls, which unfortunately isn’t going too well for me at the moment. Kim’s experience as a lawyer really added to this courtroom mystery, showing how facts can be framed and reframed with frightening dexterity. On my first read, I was really focused on the mystery and the moral question of: What are you willing to do for family? Upon a reread, the moral question that jumped out at me was: Is it okay to tell a lie in order to make the truth more clear? I did find the conclusion (to the story, not the question) less satisfying on the reread — too much explaining from one character, making the ending feel forced. But overall, enjoyable like the first time I read it and rec if you enjoy procedurals.
Romance
♡ Better than the Movies by Lynn Painter: Liz the hopeless romantic enlists the help of her obnoxious neighbour Wes to get noticed by his best friend, her crush Michael, in exchange for the parking spot they’ve been feuding over. If you watched rom coms throughout middle school and high school, you have got to read this book! It is the sweetest YA romance, and I had a smile on my face the whole time reading it! :’) I even liked the third act conflict?? Unheard of! My only tiny, tiny complaint would be about how Liz treated Joss. It was the little niggling thing in what would have otherwise been a fun and sweet story all around, but anyways, it was 99.99% there already. (Check out my reel for a preview of the cute vibes ;))
♡ Seven Days in June by Tia Williams: A second chance romance following a literary writer and erotica writer who have been secretly writing about each other in their books ever since the end of their whirlwind week of teenage romance — swoon! Yes, it’s a bit unbelievable that this all started from seven days of knowing each other, but you still can’t help but feel that Shane and Eva are meant for each other. They’re soul mates! Even though they’re dealing with a lot individually, they’re not toxic toward each other. They understand each other’s darkness in a way beyond words. And there’s lots of joy and humour in this story too! Honestly a travesty that People We Meet on Vacation won for Best Romance for the 2021 Goodreads Choice Awards over Seven Days in June.
The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali: I loved when Roya and Bahman were first getting to know each other and the stolen moments in the stationery shop, but I did feel the characters/relationship stagnate once they got together, giving way to the political turmoil of the 1953 Iranian coup. When we circled back to the love story, it was very wistful and I would have been interested in more about the greater political repercussions post-coup. However, the focus on Roya and Bahman is perfect for those seeking out historical romance. (See my full review here)
5 Centimeters per Second by Makoto Shinkai: I wasn’t that invested in the romance or any individual character, but I could relate to the growing pains of changing relationships and growing up: writing letters back and forth trying to hang onto a relationship but only making the distance between each other even more apparent, feeling disassociated from your own life, feeling like you’ll never be as uninhibited or feel anything as deeply as when you were a kid.
You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi: This book is so unserious. Wildly entertaining. A fun one to giggle with a friend about and judge all the characters’ questionable decisions together. My review would just be a list of all the characters and their transgressions, but I don’t want to spoil the book for anyone. I’ll just say that Feyi was a train wreck I couldn’t tear my eyes from. Fast paced, addicting, opulent. Not good per se but very entertaining haha.
New adult romance (smut lol)
Blame it on TikTok (which I’m not on, but it’s infiltrated bookstagram haha). I just want to know what all the hype is about! Plus, new adult is so easy to read. It’s one of the genres I turn to to get out of a reading slump. The new adult novels I’ve read this year all happen to be part of a series, but these series are low commitment since the books are companion novels, so I can skip a book in the series if I’m not feeling it and still be able to follow the next one.
The Deal (reread), (The Mistake), & The Score by Elle Kennedy: I remember really enjoying The Deal the first time I read it, but on this reread, I really didn’t like how Hannah thought she was broken and how Garrett tried to fix her. I DNF-ed The Mistake because I didn’t get why Logan was so obsessed with Grace, but the last straw was him still being hung up on his crush on Hannah, who was still with Garrett, by the way. The Score was a friends-with-benefits romance, and I liked how Allie and Dean were on the same page and just having fun with each other, and when they eventually developed feelings for each other, they didn’t pretend otherwise. Got burnt out from the series by this book though, so probably won’t continue on.
King of Wrath by Ana Huang: A solid pick if you’re looking for a billionaire romance. This isn’t a case of rich boy/poor girl. They’re both rich so there’s plenty of extravagance to go around. I liked Vivian and I thought her internal conflict and her complicated relationship with her parents was interesting. It was interesting to see how she was a strong independent woman but would defer to her family out of respect, how she easily adjusted herself to her environment in an empowered way. Despite whatever conflict Vivian had with her parents, it was clear she loved and respected them. As for Dante, his communication skills (or lack thereof) got old really quick — always going hot and cold with Vivian. Man child lol.
Twisted Love, Twisted Games, Twisted Hate, & (Twisted Lies) by Ana Huang: Twisted Love, Twisted Games, and Twisted Lies are all pretty much the same. All the male love interests were “protective”/controlling and obsessed with security, but since the love interest in Twisted Games was a literal bodyguard, that made more sense. The dynamics were all grumpy/sunshine. The guys were supposed to be these strong, cool, stoic men, but they were sooo bothered by the women. You could tell they were simping from a mile away. There was no chemistry in Twisted Lies, so I DNF-ed. Twisted Hate was an enemies-to-lovers, best friend’s brother romance and stepped away from that “protective”/controlling thing, so that was refreshing. Anyways, I think that’s enough Ana Huang for me.
(The Fine Print) & (Terms and Conditions) by Lauren Asher: Didn’t get very far into The Fine Print or Terms and Conditions. The Fine Print was too trope-y (grumpy/sunshine, to be exact), to the point where Rowan and Zahra didn’t feel like real people and they had no chemistry. The way Rowan kept Zahra’s number and texted her as “Scott” felt out of character, and the way Zahra texted back was too friendly to be believable — meaningless actions to advance what little plot there was. Terms and Conditions didn’t make sense either. Why would Declan’s assistant Iris volunteer to marry him to secure his inheritance? Why’s she so invested? Declan didn’t even ask! Didn’t bother trying Final Offer.
Memoir
Tiny Moons: A Year of Eating in Shanghai by Nina Mingya Powles: A tiny and tender collection of essays that made me want to write and document my own anecdotes. While I’m not mixed like Powles, I relate to growing up outside of my heritage as a Taiwanese person who grew up half in the States, half in the expat community in China. I also relate to feeling the strongest connection to my heritage through food; everything I know about Taiwanese culture is taught, but my love for Taiwanese food feels innate. The first few essays were my favourite, and I enjoyed the discussions about understanding culture through food when language fails, the untranslatable language of food, the memories attached, the literal imprint of ourselves cooked into the food we make. Rec if you enjoyed Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner.
A Stone is Most Precious Where it Belongs* by Gulchehra Hoja: A memoir by Uyghur journalist and activist, following Hoja’s childhood growing up in East Turkestan, her rise as a successful TV personality, her growing discomfort with Chinese state media, immigrating to the States, and her activist work since. It was fascinating to learn about her family history, who were influential in shaping and preserving Uyghur culture. I’d say that this memoir is more about cultural history than internal introspection, and while it doesn’t discuss the ongoing Uyghur genocide that much, it’s an important read for context and to bear witness to a culture under threat.
*e/ARC gifted from publisher
PS: 2022 in books, 2022 Q2 reads, 2021 mid-year reading check-in