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notebookrambles's reviews
41 reviews
White Fragility (Adapted for Young Adults): Why Understanding Racism Can Be So Hard for White People by Robin DiAngelo, Ali Michael, Toni Graves Williamson
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Felt redudant at times but I feel more knowledgeable for having read the book. It's worth its weight in gold and what I've learned from the book is worth more than what the book costed to buy. Would recommend to others and would I reread? I would recommend but I would not reread.
It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
abuse, flat writing, predictable, big shock factors, gonna read the second book to close down the duology
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse
On the Shortness of Life: Life Is Long If You Know How to Use It by Lucius Annaeus Seneca
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Did I finish this in an entire day? Absolutely. I think that hearing and seeing my own name in the book was quite an experience. Did I get all flustered and blushing? Yes. Was the book very much geared towards adolescents? Yeah, but there were heavier topics like sexual harassment but any 14-year-old that has spent time on Wattpad or AO3 should be able to handle it. Overall, I very much enjoyed the slow burn.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Cursing and Death of parent
Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don't Know by Malcolm Gladwell
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
2.5
I was tempted to give it 3 stars as I finished it but I had noticed that I had skipped through entire chapters because it felt as if Gladwell was neglecting other important factors. However, I really like the FBI/CIA story of how we all default to the truth even at the highest levels of government. So pretty much around 9 hours later, most of what I got from this was that humans are terrible lie detectors.
Another triggering time was when Gladwell indirectly blamed alcohol for rape and another was when he blamed the woman who was murdered in a police shooting.
Do I get the sense that Gladwell is a straight, white, cis-male? Absolutely.
Another triggering time was when Gladwell indirectly blamed alcohol for rape and another was when he blamed the woman who was murdered in a police shooting.
Do I get the sense that Gladwell is a straight, white, cis-male? Absolutely.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Police brutality, and Gaslighting
These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Plot - 3.5
Resonance - 5
I think this was a beautiful read, from beginning to end. Chloe Gong is a great writer and I was surprised to find out that this was her first book. She has a way of building tension and the suspense in her writing is great. Her descriptions, imagery, and literacy devices were used in such a way that kept me wanting more and enticed me until the end. However, I think in the ending, it was slowly building up and things just happened so quickly and then a cliffhanger. There were so many unresolved things. The epilogue was another cliffhanger. I was hoping that the end was going to be a happy ending but I think this is a bittersweet ending that I enjoyed; but still would have preferred a sweet ending with things resolved. I expected the "monster" or "madness" to be more of a dragon description but it just ended up looking like a black blob in my head. I was thoroughly excited when Roma and Juliette were able to find common ground again. I think to be able to see their character development over the course of the story was something I looked forward to but overall predictable. The story itself was also predictable, but what I did find to be interesting was the details in which events happened were completely unpredictable. This was special in a way where if I put it down for a few weeks because life caught up with me and I couldn't read, I come back to the story and I'm taken into a different world right away.
One of the experiences in the book that Juliette was going through, especially, as an Asian American immigrant myself. I felt her experience with Asia society/culture as compared to Western society/culture is something that is worth talking about because not only does Chloe write about the experiences of young adults and Asian Americans, I was really able to put myself in Juliette's shoes. Too Asian for the west. Too western for Asia. And it hit me hard when I realized this because, throughout my entire life, I've felt as if I had to adopt two identities. One at home and in my home country, one in public and in the states. I've felt torn between keeping my identity or trying to assimilate in order to not be an outcast or stand out too much. Since I've begun to read this book, I've begun to take notice of the people and different ethnicities around me. It's very common for me to be in a group, or a crowd, or walk into a room full of people and take note that I'm the only Asian in the room. I don't speak too much about my Asian experience because I felt like I've been "whitewashed," just as Juliette had felt when she was trying to choose between New York and Shanghai. I felt heard through Juliette and through the Asian American experience; both in their home countries and abroad.
In the retelling of Romeo and Juliette, Gong made this story feel extraordinary. It was not something dull like the play that I read in the 9th grade. It was something modern, upbeat, relatable, funny, dark, romantic, playful, diverse, and exciting; and most important; not written by a man in the whatever 1700s or something. I felt as if this story resonated with me much more. It has touched me in ways that no book has before; not even my favorite.
Here are some of my favorite quotes from the story:
Resonance - 5
I think this was a beautiful read, from beginning to end. Chloe Gong is a great writer and I was surprised to find out that this was her first book. She has a way of building tension and the suspense in her writing is great. Her descriptions, imagery, and literacy devices were used in such a way that kept me wanting more and enticed me until the end. However, I think in the ending, it was slowly building up and things just happened so quickly and then a cliffhanger. There were so many unresolved things. The epilogue was another cliffhanger. I was hoping that the end was going to be a happy ending but I think this is a bittersweet ending that I enjoyed; but still would have preferred a sweet ending with things resolved. I expected the "monster" or "madness" to be more of a dragon description but it just ended up looking like a black blob in my head. I was thoroughly excited when Roma and Juliette were able to find common ground again. I think to be able to see their character development over the course of the story was something I looked forward to but overall predictable. The story itself was also predictable, but what I did find to be interesting was the details in which events happened were completely unpredictable. This was special in a way where if I put it down for a few weeks because life caught up with me and I couldn't read, I come back to the story and I'm taken into a different world right away.
One of the experiences in the book that Juliette was going through, especially, as an Asian American immigrant myself. I felt her experience with Asia society/culture as compared to Western society/culture is something that is worth talking about because not only does Chloe write about the experiences of young adults and Asian Americans, I was really able to put myself in Juliette's shoes. Too Asian for the west. Too western for Asia. And it hit me hard when I realized this because, throughout my entire life, I've felt as if I had to adopt two identities. One at home and in my home country, one in public and in the states. I've felt torn between keeping my identity or trying to assimilate in order to not be an outcast or stand out too much. Since I've begun to read this book, I've begun to take notice of the people and different ethnicities around me. It's very common for me to be in a group, or a crowd, or walk into a room full of people and take note that I'm the only Asian in the room. I don't speak too much about my Asian experience because I felt like I've been "whitewashed," just as Juliette had felt when she was trying to choose between New York and Shanghai. I felt heard through Juliette and through the Asian American experience; both in their home countries and abroad.
In the retelling of Romeo and Juliette, Gong made this story feel extraordinary. It was not something dull like the play that I read in the 9th grade. It was something modern, upbeat, relatable, funny, dark, romantic, playful, diverse, and exciting; and most important; not written by a man in the whatever 1700s or something. I felt as if this story resonated with me much more. It has touched me in ways that no book has before; not even my favorite.
Here are some of my favorite quotes from the story:
- Time was both hurried and unhurried at once, the days becoming scarce yet dragging on far too long. (7)
- Straight-faced, Juliette replied, "You know me. Running around. Living life. Committing arson." (9)
- "That when you assume someone cannot speak English right off the bat, they tend to make fun of you." (11)
- The Scarlet Gang was not simply above the law; they were the law. (13)
- Guns pulled from pockets and knives pointed outwards, bodies stirring with animosity. Juliette stepped out of the shadows and lifted a hand to the closest table. The motion was simple: wait. (16)
- Her thoughts had constantly revolved around the chaos, the injustice, and the burning fury that broiled in these streets. (16)
- She had sworn to herself a long time ago that she would do a damn good job of being who she was because she could be no one else. (17)
- Men who assumed they had the right to go wherever they wished because the world had been built to favor their civilized etiquette. (23)
- Moral compasses meant nothing in the face of starvation. (26)
- In their eyes, no matter how legitimate, she would never be good enough. (34)
- When they buried her corpse, her palms were still embedded with the thorns. (70)
- His title gave him power. Power kept him safe. It gave him authority, it held his threateners back. (72)
- Monsters and things that walked the night were, but they were not powerful. There was a difference. (73)
- In any circumstance where there was silence, he took it upon himself as a favor to the world to fill it. (96)
- Is it fear or loyalty preventing her from talking? (105)
- The madness had come knocking on her doorstep. (110)
- This is why we shall not love more than we need to. Death will come for everyone in the end-- (110)
- "You're going to trip on a pebble," Benedikt warned. "You're giving me a headache," Roma added. (120)
- Even the thickest blood from the womb could run thin if given the empty space to bleed. (124)
- A belief that if he achieved one impossible thing, then perhaps every other impossible element in his life would click together too. (149)
- "Those who do not care, those are violent, those who delight in that which is terrible." (153)
- "We stay quiet about the injustice of all this simply because it hurts his feelings?" (166)
- "These days, Juliette," he said, low and warily, "the most dangerous people are the powerful white men who feel as if they have been slighted." (166)
- Those with power were harder to control. (189)
- "There is always a choice." (198)
- If the possibility if saving her people meant risking her reputation with them, then it was a sacrifice she had to make. (220)
- "Power is something achievable by few." A shrug. "Anyone can be the master to a monster should their heart be wicked enough." (248)
- "You destroy me and then you kiss me. You give me a reason to hate you and then you give me a reason to love you. Is this a lie or the truth? Is this a ploy or is your heart reaching for me?" (349)
- The stars include us, they do not bind us. (360)
- You chose me four years ago. Would you choose me still? Would you choose this version of me--these sharp edges and hands far bloodier than yours? (363)