lidia🌷
writing short stories and making each one of them engaging is really fucking difficult. brandon taylor's writing is so beautiful that it has you sticking around even when you don't feel that much for characters you didn't know three pages ago. but suddenly, 5 pages into a new short story you're already invested. i loved lionel and im really glad he's the one character that got more than one story. it is true that some of these chapters felt unfinished, but i think that made sense with the plot and the intention of this book—after all, we're just getting a few glimpses into these people's lives, we're not staying. i can't give it 5 stars simply because i had to skip the two stories that dealt with cancer and terminal illnesses, i would've appreciated a warning. i loved loved loved this.
60 pages into this book i said it was very easy to read, halfway through it became a //struggle//
i was excited when i read the premise because I thought the concept was cool and interesting, but it quickly became so incredibly repetitive and BORING. im disappointed because i think its a lot of wasted potential. the idea was good, but i wish it had been executed differently. exploring multiple characters' lives would've been far more interesting, but instead we stuck with nora the entire book, and the secondary characters floated around like ghosts with no real depth or personality.
there's one chatacter (i forgot their name) that says “Nora, love, it's okay, I don't need a monologue” toward the end. that was me throughout the entire book. this might be the least subtle story I've ever read, the author kept spelling out his (cheap) message and advice in never-ending monologues i had to skim through because i got so incredibly BORED.
lastly, i have to point out that i /hated/ the way this writer dealt with and spoke or depression and suicidal impulses, which SUCKS since those topics are such a big part of the story. im just gonna say i didnt agree with his point of view at all, and that this story felt like a too long self-help book.
I can't believe this one is supposed to be one of the best books of 2020
edit on 03/09/21: i dont even think this is a bad book, i just cant imagine anyone rereading this for fun. how can you write a book so impossible to enjoy? i keep thinking about it and i can't feel anything but negative emotions, its terrible
things i liked:
- jordan and matthew's relationship
things i disliked:
- everything else
i guess this trilogy is just not what i was expecting. i got so excited when i found out a series about one of my all-time favorite characters was coming out, but it barely feels like a book about ronan. all i wanted was to see the lynch brothers together, working out their life-long issues while trying to live in this dream shitshow they've gotten themselves into. what did i get instead? two phone conversations and one (1) scene where ronan and declan stand in the same room. i was so frustrated all the time, seeing declan and Matthew together getting all the much-needed relationship development while ronan was away in the most boring mission ever with the most annoying character I've ever read about.
and the ending, bryde waking up while ronan is still asleep. if the third book is about bryde, if ronan stays asleep as if //he// is the dream, i don't think i'm gonna be able to get through it. I haven't HATED a character so much in SO LONG.
i won't even talk about adam because it feels like maggie stiefvater herself doesn't even want to write about him or his relationship with ronan.
i could complain about so many more things, but i'm pissed off and tired. this book was 300 pages long and 200 pages of it were boring as hell. that's all.
i am crying
—–
well. i finally FINALLY read this and. eh. that's all i can say.
its not that this book is a //bad book// i just feel like it was pointless and that makes me very sad.
i LOVE carry on. my favorite thing about it was how lightheaded and easy to read it was, and obviously the tone changes in the two following books. i do love the idea of exploring the chosen one's life once he's lost everything, once he isnt needed anymore. its something new and very interesting, but it wasnt executed properly. maybe Rowell should've focused on simon's feelings and self-exploration instead of making up a storyline that was lacking in so many ways.
im gonna start with agatha because what the FUCK happened to her
