The Rest Of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness

My rating: 3/5 stars

“Not everyone has to be the Chosen One. Not everyone has to be the guy who saves the world. Most people just have to live their lives the best they can, doing things that are great for them, having great friends, trying to make their lives better, loving people properly. All the while knowing that the world makes no sense but trying to find a way to be happy anyway.”

This was a very enjoyable book, also a weird one but in the best way. It’s not quite a fantasy even though there are unnatural things occurring on a daily basis. It still somehow manages to feel like these are regular kids living in a regular town with just a sprinkle of mystical weirdness which I found really fascinating.

This is also a great story about friendship & acceptance. It can be hard figuring out your place in the world sure but for a high school kid it can be just as hard figuring your place among your group of friends? 

The entire story occurs in the weeks leading to Mikey, Jared, Henna & Mel’s high school graduation. This close-knit group of friends are all going through their own personal issues while also dealing with complicated feelings & the inevitable changes that are sure to occur after graduation/at the end of summer. As they try to balance planning for the future & enjoying their last summer of all being together, they each go through their own self discovery & develop a new found appreciation for their friendships..all while avoiding potential death from immortal gods and other weird blue shining light things. Like I said… a fascinating read.

The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon

My rating: 4/5 stars

This month I re-read The Sun Is Also A Star, partly because I was so excited about the movie release. It was just as good as when I first read it but this time (maybe because I’m 2 years older) the cheesiness, especially at the beginning of the book, was even more apparent to me. However, I did bring down my rating from a 5 star to a 4 star. While I still very much enjoyed the story, and will probably re-read in the future, I felt it wasn’t quite a 5 star. Again, this could maybe be attributed to the fact that I’m older now.

I still haven’t had a chance to see the movie yet but I’m looking forward to it. If you’re interested in my original review of this book, you can find it here.

What It Means When A Man Falls From The Sky by Lesley Nnneka Amirah

My rating: 4/5 stars

“Girls with fire in their bellies will be forced to drink from a well of correction till the flames die out.
But my tongue stirred anyway.“

THIS is why I read collections of shorts stories, because of writers like Lesley Nneka Amirah.


Most of the stories in this book have a common theme, they usually involve: 
– Complicated relationships between mother and daughter
– Navigating life and identity between Nigeria and America
– Societal pressures & expectations of young women

A lot of the stories, if not all, also have inconclusive endings. There’s this sense of not knowing what exactly the ending means. A sense of incompleteness. And this is by no means, a bad thing, in fact it was pleasantly frustrating. 

As with all books of this sort, there are always stories that stand out. For me, I found these ones most intriguing:
– The Future Looks Good
– Light
– Windfalls

Side note: I found “Who Will Greet You At Home” to be extremely disturbing and scary even. And I’ll be very much interested in hearing anyone’s interpretations/understanding of the story “Second Chances”.

Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

My rating: 5/5 stars

“But at some point, you have to recognize that you have no control over anybody and you have to step back and be ready to catch them when they fall and that’s all you can do. It feels like throwing yourself to sea. Or, maybe not that. Maybe it’s more like throwing someone you love out to sea and then praying they float on their own, knowing they might well drown and you’ll have to watch.” 

Daisy Jones is a young girl with an astonishing voice and an addiction to drugs. The Six are a talented band made up of Billy & Graham Dunne, Karen, Eddie, Pete & Warren. When the two come together to make music, their lives are changed forever in the best and worst ways. 

This story is the epitome of Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll. The entire book is written in an interview format, which unsurprisingly works really well for this kind of story. 
Taylor Jenkins Reid captures the entire essence of the music scene in the 70s. Honestly, the detail in this book is remarkable. 

The drama, the passion, the anger, the exhaustion, the struggles it’s all captured so impeccably that I would occasionally forget that this is a work of fiction. At one point, I was trying to find one of the bands’ songs on Spotify and was frustrated when my search would come up empty. That’s how engrossed I was with the story and that’s how real the details of this era felt. 

I’ve also since learned that this book is being made into a tv series and I cannot wait to hear the soul crushing lyrics the way they were intended to sound and see the work, passion and dynamics of these characters come to life.

Every Boy’s Got One by Meg Cabot

My rating: 3/5 stars

Found myself feeling nostalgic for Meg Cabot’s writing/stories and managed to find one of the few Meg Cabot books I haven’t read. 

Mark and Holly are head over heels in love and have decided to elope in Italy. They’ve both invited along their best friends Jane and Cal on this trip. Jane and Cal could not be more different from each other. Jane is an artist and believes whole heartedly in love and marriage; while Cal is an international journalist who thinks marriage is a scam and monogamy is a thing not meant for humans. Cal is determined to stop Mark from making the “biggest mistake of his life” and Jane is determined to make sure Cal is unsuccessful in his plan. Cal can’t stand Jane. Jane can’t stand Cal.

As Cal and Jane spend more time together, they start to develop feelings for each other. Big surprise. Totally predictable story but sometimes you just want to read a nice feel-good romance.