I wanted to love this book more than I did 😬

it’s essentially the world inside the head of a troubled teenager - his thought process, his discussions with his parents, his headteacher and those around him. he’s struggling with his mental health and how to find himself in the world.

I can appreciate the abstract writing - the way the dialogues of different people filter into one another is a clever way to make you feel as chaotic as he feels inside himself. but it also didn’t fully work for me 🫣

it was hard to get into at first - which could just be because I don’t identify with a teenage boy - and I found that it was so clever it almost lost its plot. there were no parts to really cling onto and feel connected to.

it’s disappointing because I do feel like max porter is a good writer. I’m kind of more interested in watching the film adaptation on netflix now 😅

I don’t even really have words to describe this book and it’s not necessarily in a good way? 🤨

this book is depressing (trigger warning ⚠️ ). it’s about the abduction of a young girl and how this transcends into the lives of those she gives birth to in the coming decades and the trauma that stops them from living “normal lives”

and yet, at the same time, it’s a very matter-of-fact written book. despite the subject matter, I didn’t feel as distraught by the scenes as I should have been - it didn’t quite have the emotional depth it could have had.

it was one of those books where you think it can’t get more disturbing, and it 100% gets more disturbing with each chapter 😅 it really does make you think that the world is a scary place and you really never know what’s happening behind closed doors…

the best part of this book was thinking about the psychology of the characters and why they do what they do, and how this affects generations down the line.

but overall, it was a 3.5⭐️ for me

and can I say, the ending seems like it’s meant to be hopeful but I really just felt like, wow, everything sucks and sometimes things can’t ever be fixed 😞

now, time to move on to a happy christmas read! 🎄✨

wow, when I say this is the best book I’ve read in a long time (and maybe even of all time) it is not an understatement…

this book was DEVASTATING in every single way, but it was beautifully written, with so much depth and metaphorical description it rips your heart out 💔

it’s inspired by the chillicothe six - the lives of women in ohio and how they disappeared one by one to the river. and it’s also about abuse and addiction - how it weaves itself amongst family roots, and the pain, hurt and grief it causes everyone around them.

but most of all, this book is about the parts of society and ourselves that we don’t want to acknowledge. the parts that we allow privilege to cause judgement, ignorance to mean unloved, loss to mean never enough. but there is love in all of these places and more, no matter what we see on the surface.

the savage side may look savage, but it is only because sometimes finding the beautiful side is not always so easy - and we don’t always have the tools to make it there.

the characters in this book may be characters but they felt real and are real in many places around the world, and reading this book felt like an exercise in empathy for those who we may not understand, but could be better at accepting and loving.

I loved ‘the summer that melted everything’ and ‘betty’ but this was my favourite of tiffany mcdaniel’s ❤️

and DAMN that ending… 🥲🥲

if you pick up any book next, it has to be this one

surprisingly I enjoyed this one much more than the pumpkin spice cafe !! ☕️

the first book was an easy read but made me ✨cringe✨ a LOT, but this one had more depth to it and I really loved the chemistry between Hazel and Noah. it felt more real and thought out and three dimensional.

definitely flew through it a bit too quickly - now to find the christmas tree farm on vinted 🎄