September Wrap-Up

We Have Always Lived in the Castle - Shirley Jackson

Started: September 6th 2019

Finished: September 12th 2019

Rated: 3

Likes: Creepy and Weird, Feelings of Irritation, Unique

Dislikes: Not really a plot

Notes: Bobbing for Apples (Fall Challenge 2019)

Gala 13

Stargazing - Jen Wang

Started: September 13th 2019

Finished: September 13th 2019

Rated: 5

Likes: Characters, Friendship, Adorableness, Harsh Topics discussed

Dislikes: None

Notes: I love this book with all my heart. Jen Wang is one of my favs.

Aphrodite Made Me Do It - Trista Mateer

Started: September 18th 2019

Finished: September 20th 2019

Rated: 4

Likes: Raw Authenticity, LGBTQ+ rep, Mythology

Dislikes:

Notes: Multiple Trigger Warnings listed in beginning of book

Received an arc from NetGalley for an honest review.

Expected Release: October 1st 2019

Finding Beauty - Patrick Lindsay

Started: September 23rd 2019

Finished: September 30th 2019

Rated: 3

Likes: Heartwarming

Dislikes: Lacks Personal Experience and connection, snippets are short

Notes: Received an arc from Edelweiss+ for an honest review.

Finding Beauty - Patrick Lindsay

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Received an arc from Edelweiss+ for an honest review.

This was a good read however, there was something lacking for me. It's still hard for me to pinpoint exactly what it was, but I think more could've been done with this idea of looking on the bright side. It was only 170 little snippets that sometimes I felt didn't fully grasp the idea of looking on the bright side throughout your life.

I wanted more personal experience from Lindsay not just little opinion snippets about each situation. Don't get me wrong, some of the snippets were heartwarming but I wanted something more.

I would still say this was decent read and that it did lift my mood but it left me wanting more than other nonfiction "self-help" books that I have read in the past.

I would also try picking up another Patrick Lindsay book to see if my opinion on how he writes changes with a different type of book.

Aphrodite Made Me Do It - Trista Mateer

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Received an arc from NetGalley for an honest review.

Expected Release: October 1st 2019

**Trigger Warnings**

Body Image, Sexual Assault, Rape, Eating Disorders, Queer-phobia, Emotional Abuse, Physical Abuse, Gore, Blood, Death.

I love poetry. I discovered Trista Mateer by finding out about one of her other works, The Dogs I Have Kissed. I know little to nothing about what this about about but I know it's a poetry book and the title itself makes me want to read it. Then I found this Trista Mateer book on Net Galley and was lucky enough to be given a copy of it.

This is the poetry that I feel I don't read enough of; The raw and authentic. This is the kind of poetry that opens my eyes to the perspective of other people. How they live their lives and how others treat them. How they suffer and how they survive.

Trista Mateer did a beautiful job interweaving different poetic thoughts with mythological references and metaphors. It made it somewhat mythical and just out of reach while still touching the back of my mind with the hard hitting topics that are looked over too often in society.

The write about such experiences is real and it's important to me, and I hope to others, to know the thoughts of these people. The ones discriminated by family, the ones abused by others, the ones with the internal struggles, or even all of these mixed together. I'm trying not to glorify it, but I think it's important people know the authentic stories, the plasters created by people who have no idea what it means to deal with these hard hitting subjects. I just want to thank Trista Mateer for writing this and I am thankful that I was given the opportunity to read this. It truly was a beautiful and poetic story.

I am definitely going to pick up the other things Trista Mateer has written because of this book.