June Wrap-Up

Little Fires Everywhere ~ Celeste Ng

Started: May 30th 2019

Finished: June 1st 2019

Rated: 5

Likes: Intrigue, Characters, Plot

Dislikes: I'm unsatisfied by the way that the story ended but I understand that it had to be that way. I wish more was done with Mia's backstory and Mrs. Richardson, I feel like more could've been done with that.

Notes: This may be the first and last time I say this but I enjoyed the random flow of the plot. I had no idea where the story was going but I enjoyed it, then when I did understand it got SO MUCH MORE INTERESTING!! I was shook to say the least.

Wonder Woman ~ Leigh Bardugo

Started: June 2nd 2019

Finished: DNF'd June 2nd 2019

Rated: I don't rate books I don't finish

Likes: I didn't get far enough to like anything

Dislikes: Within the first chapter there was way too much description with no explanation and I was already lost and disinterested

Notes: I felt more like I was forcing myself to try and read this rather than choosing to read it.

Rebel of Sands ~ Alwyn Hamilton

Started: June 1st 2019

Finished: June 8th 2019

Rated: 3

Likes: Magical aspect, desert setting, banter between Amani & Jin

Dislikes: Confusing as hell, almost too much background and description

Notes: This book would've been rated higher if I knew what the heck was going on for a majority of the time, but of course I didn't so that was the main thing that brought this book down for me.

The Prince and the Dressmaker ~ Jen Wang

Started: June 12th 2019

Finished: June 12th 2019

Rated: 5

Likes: ART, Characters, Plot, Setting, LGBTQ+ rep

Dislikes: None

Notes: THIS GRAPHIC NOVEL WAS PRECIOUS OMG. Perfect for Pride Month 🏳️‍🌈

With the Fire on High ~ Elizabeth Acevedo

Started: June 12th 2019

Finished: June 15th 2019

Rated:

Likes: Plot, Dynamic between characters, CULINARY ASPECT AH!

Dislikes: This might just be me, but sometimes I didn't like Emoni? Idk

Notes: THE RECIPES FAM. I loved that added part. Like it didn't have to be there but it was and I enjoyed it for that simple reason alone.

Wilder Girls ~ Rory Power

Started: June 2nd 2019

Finished: June 17th 2019

Rated: 3

Likes: Friendships, LGBTQ+, Mystery vibe

Dislikes: Romance?? Cure for Tox

Notes: Received an arc from Net Galley for an honest review. Expected Release: July 16th 2019

The romance was pretty much non existent after the first connection and I'm not sure if I missed something but they never really closed it? I wish the supposed cure had been talked about more. Like progress or something. But even when they were testing on Hetty, they didn't really describe what they were doing or what it meant to combat, other than "they tried another cure, your body fought it off" Also I guess I was expecting more of retelling of Lord of the Flies, In a way this book had that but not enough for my liking. The ending for me was just meh.

The Gamer's Guide To Getting The Girl ~ Kristine Scarrow

Started: June 18th 2019

Finished: June 18th 2019

Rating: 1

Likes: Tornado

Dislikes: Characters, Plot, Insta-"Love"

Notes: Received an arc from Net Galley for an honest review. Expected Release: July 16th 2019

I overall really disliked everything about this.

Resisting Happiness ~ Matthew Kelly

Started: June 17th 2019

Finished: June 20th 2019

Rating: 5

Likes: Made me think about a lot of aspects in my life and about life in general

Dislikes: None

Notes: This book made me cry within the first five pages, it's not important why but that holds significant value to me. It also made me think about my relationship with God, which is something I haven't done in I don't know how long, but I'm very glad I did with the help of this book.

The Lovely Bones ~ Alice Sebold

Started: June 21st 2019

Finished: June 28th 2019

Rated: 4

Likes: MYSTERY, Shows the thoughts and actions of other characters throughout the years

Dislikes: A lot of extra paragraphs full of detail

Notes: So it might not make a lot of sense but this story had so much extra detail. Which some people like, and it makes it a more mature and meaty story, but for me it just elongated what I really wanted: resolve.

The Lovely Bones ~ Alice Sebold

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I wasn't completely sure what to expect from this book but what I ended up reading was something really good. I was recommended this book by my mom because it had a satisfying ending (for my BiblioGames readathon) but I'm not sure the end was my as satisfying as I had hoped.

Synopsis

The Lovely Bones is the story of a family devastated by a gruesome murder -- a murder recounted by the teenage victim. Upsetting, you say? Remarkably, first-time novelist Alice Sebold takes this difficult material and delivers a compelling and accomplished exploration of a fractured family's need for peace and closure.

The details of the crime are laid out in the first few pages: from her vantage point in heaven, Susie Salmon describes how she was confronted by the murderer one December afternoon on her way home from school. Lured into an underground hiding place, she was raped and killed. But what the reader knows, her family does not. Anxiously, we keep vigil with Susie, aching for her grieving family, desperate for the killer to be found and punished.

Sebold creates a heaven that's calm and comforting, a place whose residents can have whatever they enjoyed when they were alive -- and then some. But Susie isn't ready to release her hold on life just yet, and she intensely watches her family and friends as they struggle to cope with a reality in which she is no longer a part. To her great credit, Sebold has shaped one of the most loving and sympathetic fathers in contemporary literature.

Almost all of this book was truly incredible. I was hooked from the catchline on the back of the book that said something like "My name is Susie Salmon, like the fish, and December something was the day I was murdered." I assumed it would be told strictly from the perspective of Susie watching people down on Earth. However it was more than that, there were bits of information about her killer Mr. Harvey (not a spoiler, you learn this in the first chapter) throughout the book, like what made him into a serial killer. Things about Susie's mother and father, Ray & Ruth, Lindsey & Samuel, just all the characters had depth and that was something that I really enjoyed. At one point, later in the book, I started crying at the reconnection of two characters (Susie's parents in the hospital) and their quiet moment together, I don't know why but it struck something in me because their relationship fell apart but they were able to come back together for a brief moment to remember their past.

One thing that made this book a four star read was that there was also a lot of extra, not important, information that just dragged this book on and on. I ended up skimming these sections and getting to the parts of the book I was actually interested in. Although this extra detail that I found too much, was what made this book full of meat and shows that it is a mature story. This is one of the few young adult books that I've read that has more depth as a whole, rather than just individual plot points having depth. I'm praising this, but still it is something that made this book less enjoyable because I felt like while there could've been this intense depth, there should've been less in my personal opinion.

The whole time I was reading the book, I kept saying to my mom that "If the ending doesn't have some sort of resolve I'm going to be upset with the entirety of the book" and this still holds true, however I'm somewhere in the middle on what I thought of the ending. It wasn't the exact result I was wanting (which would've been catching Susie's killer and having some resolve to the murder) but it wasn't a complete disappointment. There were parts of it that I enjoyed, including some wrap-up with characters and such but it wasn't the ending that I had been anticipating for the whole book and that's why I'm kind of torn on whether or not this was truly a satisfying ending. I guess part of it was satisfying.. and therefore it counts.. but I'm still just thinking about it like I wanted a little more.

Resisting Happiness ~ Matthew Kelly

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I picked this book up in May (2019) after experiencing one of the most difficult life changes of my entire life this April. I wasn't really sure what to expect from this and I wasn't completely ready to pick it up when I first bought it. But I've already taken a lot more steps since the beginning of May into June and I finally felt it was time too figure out what it means to resist being happy.

Summary

A true story about why we sabotage ourselves, feel overwhelmed, set aside our dreams, and lack the courage to simply be ourselves... and how to start choosing happiness again! Are you happy? It may be the wrong question. Most of us think we are relatively happy, while at the same time knowing that we could be happier -- maybe even a lot happier. Ordinary people and the finest philosophers have been exploring the question of happiness for thousands of years, and theories abound. But this is not a book of theory. Resisting Happiness is a deeply personal, disarmingly transparent look at why we sabotage our own happiness and what to do about it. Are you overwhelmed? Do you procrastinate? Do you sometimes feel like you are your own worst enemy?

The revelation this book made me have was not the one I was expecting before I even picked it up. I was expecting this book to heal me, to be the bandage to cover the wounds I don't want to look at anymore. But it wasn't my bandage, it was the removal of the bandage I had put on my own wounds. It made me realize that I have to be the one to heal my own wounds, or I can resist and let them sit open and prone to my own mental infection. (Just to clarify, I don't have any physical wounds!). This book made me aware of the constant resistance in my daily life and I tried to look back to see when that resistance started but I cannot come up with even a general point in time; it has simply been there as long as I can remember. Which makes me feel horrible as a person but it makes me feel better to know that I've realized this at nineteen years old. As described in the book, some people don't realize this until they are near death and can do only little, if anything, to change how resistance affects them. Even after reading this and realizing that I am the only one capable of starting the process of my healing, I don't feel completely ready to start that process because part of me is still hurting. But that could very easily be resistance, letting me wallow in the pit of my own sadness. My resistance has a lot to do with my thoughts and mental health and sometimes it is hard for me to combat them, but I am going to start to try harder to fight the things holding me back. This book taught me that resistance has a thousand different faces and I took a second after reading that line to reflect on the many different faces resistance has taken throughout my life and there were way more than I realized. This book taught me a lot of things, but it has, most importantly, given me the knowledge that resistance exists and now that I know that I feel more prepared to begin my journey to combat it.

This book also made me realize that I haven't had a very direct relationship with God. This may not be important to some people and I completely understand because every person believes different things. This book didn't simply show me that I had been lacking in continuing to build my relationship with God but it made me want to start building it again. I am not the most religious person; I went to church when I was little but sports got in the way as I got older and since then I haven't really built my own relationship with God, my own way without someone forcing me. I do believe in God and have my entire life but this book ushered me towards the fact that I want a better relationship with God than the one I currently have and that I am going to have to push through my own resistance to have one.

Overall, this book really made me think and I enjoy books that make me question myself, my thoughts and my life. This book was the first book I can remember doing that for me. It was always hold a significant value to me and I hope that I can take the knowledge I've learned and apply it to my life.