I thought the writing was beautiful, I got the main gist of the plot and I enjoyed that. The final page is one of my favorite pieces of writing ever. That being said, it’s a very dense book with a lot of allusions and a unique structure that makes fully understanding the book difficult. I understood the surface level well enough, and I loved the surface of the book.
Ulysses by James Joyce. I read it and loved it, but did I understand it? Absolutely not. I need to reread it now that I’m older but it’s a hard book to want to read.
Nona from Red Sister, Paul from These Violent Delights (mostly cuz I find him way too relatable), Charlie Spring from Heartstopper, Joshua Hutchins from Swan Song.
My number one though is Benji from Beartown. I love that man with all my heart and he deserved better than what he got. A fantastic character who’s stuck with me for years.
If it’s a fantasy or sci fi series I’ll usually read them straight through if they’re all out. Any other genre they kind of have to justify their existence to me, especially if they’re seemingly a one off and then get a sequel down the line.
Yeah I stuck with it hoping it would get better because I wanted to love it. I wanted to check out the new sequel but I haven’t heard many good things and I don’t want to waste more of my time lol
I found these books to be so disappointing, I was so in love with the covers and aesthetics. The second book is easily the worst, but the third isn’t much better sadly. It has high highs but I couldn’t shake the feeling that the story of the books did not matter as nothing significant happens or changes by the end of the series. I hate the new covers with a burning passion but at least they better match the quality of the books.
Don’t get discouraged. It’s not something that you just intuitively know how to do, it’s something that’s learned. You’re putting in the work by watching videos and using other sources to get a deeper understanding of a text. That’s half the battle. It is something that will start to come naturally to you and you’re not stupid for having to use outside sources to understand a certain work better. I’ve been studying literature for years and I can make my own interpretations but I still use other peoples analyses as a jumping off point for my own, especially when there’s historical references and context that we’d have to take multiple history classes to understand. It’s an ongoing education and a lot of textual analysis builds off itself. You’re doing great and you’re not stupid or slow for not immediately grasping it!
When I was in high school I forced myself to read nothing but classics. I enjoyed them but I definitely did not “get” them. I thought If I read anything recent or YA I would’ve been seen as “lesser” and ultimately missed out on a lot of fun stories that I can’t enjoy to their fullest now cuz I’m older. It did leave a lot of worlds for me to discover when I got back into reading years later though, so I can’t complain too much.
When I was in high school I forced myself to read nothing but classics. I enjoyed them but I definitely did not “get” them. I thought If I read anything recent or YA I would’ve been seen as “lesser” and ultimately missed out on a lot of fun stories that I can’t enjoy to their fullest now cuz I’m older. It did leave a lot of worlds for me to discover when I got back into reading years later though, so I can’t complain too much.
The Sun Down Motel
I hate hate hate this book. It’s so dull and predictable. The killer is exactly who you think it is, the ghosts literally serve no purpose, and the resolution to the big mystery of her aunt is so predictable idk why she bothered. She even introduces a pointless character to act as a villain in the final act because the actual main villain is already dead, but then handles this villain off screen in the lamest way possible. Not to mention the fact that the weird ass moralistic bullshit about justice at the end was god awful. Just such a shitty book that I only finished because I spent money on it.
The Sun Down Motel
I hate hate hate this book. It’s so dull and predictable. The killer is exactly who you think it is, the ghosts literally serve no purpose, and the resolution to the big mystery of her aunt is so predictable idk why she bothered. She even introduces a pointless character to act as a villain in the final act because the actual main villain is already dead, but then handles this villain off screen in the lamest way possible. Not to mention the fact that the weird ass moralistic bullshit about justice at the end was god awful. Just such a shitty book that I only finished because I spent money on it.
Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield and These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever
A day hasn’t gone by since I’ve read these that I haven’t thought about them.
“He couldn’t stand to look at the truth, even now. All they were—all they had ever been—was a pair of sunflowers who each believed the other was the sun.” -Micah Nemerever, These Violent Delights
“My mother is a fish” -William Faulkner, As I Lay Dying
“There was a star riding through clouds one night, & I said to the star, ‘Consume me’.” -Virginia Woolf, The Waves (honestly I could put the entirety of the waves here)
“You are nothing at all. Just a crack where the light slipped through” -Sophocles, Electra (trans. Anne Carson)
“Yellow? Even in dreams he doesn’t know me at all” -Anne Carson, Autobiography of Red
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. I listened to the audiobook years ago and hated it but my coworker made me give it another try. Reading the physical copy just made me despise it more. Nonsensical, overwritten and Feyre is so committed to being an idiot that it feels intentional at points. Just insufferable and I really do not understand Maas’ popularity.
Controversial, but I also hated Project Hail Mary. I found the writing to be irritatingly bad, and the audiobook narrator did not help. He did a good job of encompassing who Ryland Grace was supposed to be but the problem is I cannot stand Ryland Grace. Besides finding the writing insufferable, I just found everything else to be so bland and boring. There’s no tension and there’s no interesting characters to latch onto. I don’t want to spoil the “big twist” so I’ll leave it there.
Hub by Matt Shaw and Playground by Aron Beauregard. I wanted horror that would actually affect me, but the only thing that affected me was how bad the writing was. I regret them but at least they taught me extreme horror is extremely bad.