Hey everyone I wanted to find a book like the movie Everything Everywhere All at once. I want to read more books discussing complex mother daughter relationships. I have a passive aggressive mom who’s nice to everyone so it’s hard to call out her actions. Trying to find some books to cope and understand the dynamics better. Thank you.

I've been very intentional about taking my time reading through this, and it's been such a healing experience as a woman.

I very unexpectedly lost my grandmother last month. She was like a mother to me and I have found that in my grief there are pockets of time that I cannot properly account for. In this month that has passed, I have only been able to complete Behind fFve Willows by June Hur. Which I am very grateful for, as it was a very comforting Pride and Prejudice inspired title.

Sunday would be my grandma's birthday and I would just like something that's whimsical and fantastical to take my mind off things a bit.

It could be a novel or a manga. I love shoujo and josei manga. Novels I have loved this year include: Never Even After by Sue Lynn Tan, and The Ellsewhere Express by Samantha Sotto Yambao. I did not enjoy The Sun and The Starmaker. I found the female lead to be insufferable. Some of my favorite ongoing manga include: A Sign Of Affection, Fall In Love, You False Angels, and Choking On Love.

In terms of my reading habits, I am someone who under normal circumstances can finish up to four or five novels in a week. As well as half a dozen manga. So the fact that I have only been able to finish one novel in all this time, and not even a single volume of manga, really speaks to how deeply I have been affected. The year my mother passed away, I read over 120 books and at least 90 volumes of manga. This was in 2023. I usually find great solace in reading.

I haven't recovered from what Roots by Alex Haley did to me. I very rarely cry at books, and that one got me HARD.

It got me thinking about the other books that have really had that emotional pull on me because of the season of life I was in when I read them. The Amber Spyglass got me bad as a teenager because of the character losses and separations that happen. Little Women (IYKYK) got me so badly that I don't remember anything else that happens in that book, except for the IYKYK. And the legend of Icarus! I read it in grade school and cried in the middle of class. It just really got me.

What books have made you cry? Were there any that were really formative to you as a reader?