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leitmotif commented on minsuni's review of Story of My Life
Story of my Life is a book that isnāt meant to be taken seriously. Itās goofy, silly, at times a little ridiculous but thatās also what makes it so entertaining and funny.
I really enjoyed how the sibling relationship between Cam, Levi, Gage and Laura was shown and just how realistic it felt. From bickering with your siblings to insulting them in their face and praising them behind their back, being annoyed with them 24/7 but also be willing to do anything and everything for them. It was such a funny dynamic to read and made the characters a little more real.
The chemistry between Hazel and Cam was a little lacking imo and most of their romantic/sexual interactions didnāt feel natural nor like they were driven by love and sometimes not even lust. Some of their moments together came a little out of nowhere without any thoughts first about how they felt about each other before actually making whatever moves. Even at the end of the book, I still donāt think there was a clear indication of why Hazel and Cam liked each other romantically, besides just being sexually attracted to each other.
I think a big reason for this is because the book tries a little too hard to be a comedy. I did really enjoy the humor present and I laughed quite a bit, but a lot of times it prioritizes making the characters act funny and say funny things and lighten the mood with jokes rather than expand on the emotional connection between the characters and focus on individual character development.
I would usually hate with a burning passion a grumpy mmc that can be rude, pushy and possessive, but I actually didnāt mind Cam too much here. It helped that the fmc doesnāt get swayed by this, sheās always ready to match his tone or just completely ignore him and that created an interesting dynamic with a fun banter. Though I still didnāt like how he always felt the need to jump to conclusions and resolve problems with fighting, that just felt immature.
Hazel does suffer a little from ānot like other girlsā syndrome, but I didnāt really feel like it was too predominant for her as a characters to the point of not liking her because of it. A lot of times sheās different, but in an interesting way or making me question and be interested in knowing how sheāll solve her conflicts in her own way. Sheās also very resilient, ready to communicate instead of leaving things unsaid, and I really appreciated that about her.
As expected, this did not need to be 500 pages long. Thereās a lot of repetition of same conversations over and over again, I felt like the pacing was a little slow and focused too much on some scenes that didnāt need to be that long, conflicts that went on for so long with no reason for it. This really affected how I felt about the book in the end cause it just started to get tiring to read.
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Plants, fungi, and trees - oh my!
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Helen of Troy, 1993: Poems
Maria Zoccola
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Playful: How Play Shifts Our Thinking, Inspires Connection, and Sparks Creativity
Cas Holman
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3 š
McFadden sticks with the familiar beats and twists which makes for a fun thriller. Ā
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The Divorce
Freida McFadden
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Sweetbitter Song
Rosie Hewlett
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The Divorce
Freida McFadden
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3.75 š
First time reading Alexander and it wonāt be my last. Ā Moving romance that explores identity and joy, can't wait to read the sequel.
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A Gentleman's Gentleman
T.J. Alexander
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