what I read this week (1st august-8 august) (spoiler reviews)

 hello earthlings!

after the previous entry, I feel like I should update my "what I read this week" weekly (duh) and shouldn't wait until the end of the month because like the previous entry, I forgot what I wanted to say especially for the best books. for this entry, I will be including ratings I gave them on goodreads and including the spice rating. 

Punk 57 by Penelope Douglas

unfortunately, this was my first book of august. I heard so many good things about this book, including the spicy scenes and a lot of comments (good ones) about the male character named Misha. after reading, I really don't get the hype with this one. like any other spicy books I've read, I would always comment how it is written like a teenager who doesn't know anything about intercourse and is written in a rush after a whole 30 minutes of pleasuring themselves. yes, this book felt like that. I really don't like Misha's treatment with Ryan as well. If this was enemies to lovers, Misha didn't have to get physical with Ryan.(the scene where he throws her to the pool. really?) maybe I'm just basic or vanilla one might say, most enemies to lovers I've seen are only verbal petty fights with one another and a good teasing here and there. even if he was grieving over the loss of his sister, he didn't have to change that way and treat Ryen differently like its her fault and yes, I did note that Misha treated Ryen that way because the first time he saw her, she was like any other girl and isn't as sweet as she seem in the letters she sent to Misha. the spicy scenes are alright but I did not give this plot any justice whatsoever. it ruins the whole point of the story. I did not like both of the characters too. 

Ratings:

Plot: 2/5 stars

spice: 2/5 stars

The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata

this, was my first book of Mariana Zapata. It was also my first love with Mariana Zapata. I was aware that this book was slow burn and I loved every pages of this. Despite the whole thing being fake, how natural Aiden to get to call Vanessa pet names in front of people who flirted with him had me swoon. "My girl" "My wife" all had my stomach churning in all places. I knew this was a slow burn romance but I was expecting when will a spicy scene come up and I was around 400 pages in with no sexy scene at all. But I waited...and it was worth it. I loved how it only happens when both characters realise they love each other and care for each other. and this book was the standard (for me) in all romance novels. literally. because I couldn't move on to reading any romance books if it was not written by Mariana Zapata.

Ratings:

Plot: 5/5 stars

Spice: 5/5 stars

Kulti by Mariana Zapata

Yes, I literally couldn't move on from Mariana Zapata's books. This book was refreshing because every time I read something related to Sports Romance, it's always about Football and not Soccer (although I pretty much prefer soccer as football...). So finding out about my favourite author writing about soccer? Consider me sold! I was really excited about this one and there's a lot of good reviews about this. Despite that, I did not enjoy this as much as I wanted to. It was great but it was not as swoon worthy compared to the previous book.

Ratings:

Plot: 3.5/5

Spice: 2/5

Her Soul to Take by Harley Laroux

I was convinced by a tweet to read this with a little spoiler on what happened in the book so I had to give this a shot. This is my first fantasy romance and I was grateful enough to really like it, and something that has to do with demons and monsters? I'll take that anyday!

Rating:

Plot: 5/5 stars

Spice: 5/5 stars

Hands down by Mariana Zapata

No, I was not done with reading Mariana Zapata's books. I truly loved Zac's character in The Wall of Winnipeg and Me and his friendship with Vanessa and I read the description that its a childhood friends to lovers AND falling in love with your cousin's friend trope. I really had to read this on the spot and not wasting any time to finish this. though I might have to say, I loved this book but I didn't feel the sparks because of the pet names/endearments he uses to call Bianca. Sort of made it seem like it was not special anymore..but I truly enjoyed this one! 

Rating: 

Plot: 4/5

Spice: 3.5/5

From Lukov With Love

Another sports romance but Ice Skating. I love watching Ice Skating sports and finding out Mariana also writes for this sports? Please TAKE MY LIFE!! Ivan is the perfect boyfriend-husband material there is, he's in the line as male characters that had me WISHING there is somebody like him in real life (although, we have to accept this is fiction, no one as perfect as fictional characters..as cheesy as it sounds). he was so gentle about her insecurity, her bottled up feelings and problems with her dad. Ivan was so patient and so loving. Again, my weakness if when a character taking care of the other and they subsciously call them "baby". In fact, this happened twice when he told Jasmine to choose to either stay with her brothers or to stay with him because Jasmine said she has a stalker. Wait, I'm not done yet. She chose to stay over to his place, lo and behold. He has so many babies!! So many pets and his mother told Jasmine that he rescues them. My goodness, Ivan setting my standards so high for men now I'm gonna sue him. He's really grateful that he's only a fictional character, a pigment of my imagination...

Ratings:

Plot: 5/5

Spice: 4/5

Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren

I was sceptical and worried about this because of the synopsis, it made it sound like a Colleen Hoover book but nonetheless, I gave it a shot. Just like how I read Hands Down, this had no sparks to it because they were already childhood friends to lovers before but only with miscommunication that they didn't get to talk about because of the loss the female character had to go through. In fact, this book was really cute as it shows the progress from years before when both characters were young and they've noticed the change on each other. from their personality and their looks. This book wasn't all that bad and I enjoyed reading this.

Ratings: 

Plot: 4/5

Spice: 3.5/5

what I read in July (spoiler alert: all of them are romance)

 hello earthlings!

after stumbling upon a TikTok video of people recommending They Both Die At The End, I couldn't wait to get to read the book once all of my classes ended (note that I said once my classes ended, not when the semester ended. I was just too excited to get back to reading). without further ado, here's 22 books I've read in July.

They Both Die At The End by Adam Silvera

coming across reviews from both TikTok, Tweets, Youtube and Goodreads, I am fully aware that this book is angsty and as the title have said, they both die at the end. somehow, reading and seeing how the story progress gives me a light of hope that the title would tell me otherwise but I was so so wrong and I was so naive for that. It did made me tear up in some scenes and I truly loved this book. even though it was depressing, you can pick up something that you can learn in the book.

Shipped by Meredith Tate

I don't have much to say about this book other than it was really cute and its the strangers/enemies-irl-but-friends-online type of trope. it was really a cute book but the female mc was too focused on her studies and I wanted more of how she fell in love with the male mc because we could only see that from the male mc. other than that, I think I really liked the female mc because I could feel her in terms of academics and her fixations of her favourite tv show. 

People We Meet On Vacation / You and Me On Vacation by Emily Henry

this was my first adult contemporary romance, first friends to lovers book and my first Emily Henry book and I didn't think I would love it so much. fun fact, I read the first few chapters while I was waiting for my turn to be vaccinated. I thought the book will be a cringe at first but to my surprise, I really liked it. I loved both characters as well, the many times Alex was described as "handsome" got me swooning. Just how good looking is Alex?! that we had to be reminded that he is, in fact, so hot?! After reading this, I saw that Beach Read was as good too but I haven't picked that up yet because I want to savour it, I loved Emily Henry's way of writing romance so much. 

Dare to Live, Dare to Love by Nicole C Moon

this was a spontaneous read, I saw this book on my twitter timeline and it was tweeted by the author. since Emily Henry's book, I fell in love with friends to lovers trope and I was hoping if there's any good one but nope, this one did not disappoint. 

The Roommate by Rosie Danan

this book felt so sinful to me, might be the slight flu I had or the fact that this book was so steamy caught me off guard that I almost drop this one and kill myself with not finishing it but yes, I made it through and this book was wonderful.

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

a book highly recommended on BookTok and it was said to be spicy. Not that I was searching for the spiciest book or anything but this book was far from that.  I feel like the previous book I've read (the roommate) is much more spicier than this

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

can you believe I gave up on this twice? I just couldn't understand what was going on but it was all worth it at the end, Michael being one of the characters that stayed rent free in my head for days and I wouldn't even complain about it.

The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas

I meant to read this earlier and have seen good ratings about this and oh boy, I never realised this was a slow burn romance (that I forgot this genre existed) and I had the nerve to leave a review saying "everything isn't rushed" T^T this had me went on a search for more slow burn romance and please, who can be Aaron at this point. Him and Michael can stay in my mind for how many days they want.

Meet Cute by Helena Hunting

to be honest I never understood what was meet cute and I've seen this phrase everywhere in books but yes I decided not to search about it lol anyway, I was a little skeptical of this considering the male mc is a former celebrity (but a child celebrity!) and why you might ask. I just couldn't see the romance between celebrities and a normal person, maybe that's just me T^T overall, this book was amazing, I do think it's a little rush!

The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams

I have seen so many good reviews of this as well and it's my first time reading "second chances" type of trope in books. I have to say, it became one of my favourite trope because of how well Lyssa Kay Adams deliver this with this series and it makes me curious about the rest of the book in the series too!

Isn't it Romantic by Lyssa Kay Adams

This was released just right after I wanted to read the second one but I read this as soon as I saw the description was about the Russian's marriage with his wife who happens to be his childhood friend too. I am a sucker for childhood friends to lovers and this book was amazing at it.

Undercover Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams

I love all the books in the series (I have yet to read the third one but I know it's gonna be good anyway), but I was excited to read this one knowing Mack and Liv were gonna be enemies to lovers. I didn't like Liv as much in the first book because she seems to appear hard headed but I had a hunch that I was gonna relate to her and it did, we had a lot of common when I read the second book. So this book was really good and I enjoyed reading every pages T^T

Hand The Moon by Alexandria Bellefluer

again, this book is also childhood friends to lovers trope with falling in love with your best friend's sibling type of trope. But! the synopsis of the book had said that the male mc tries to convince the female mc through dates that reminds him of romcom movies and is optimistic about love, hence he is the CEO of a dating app. I was a little skeptical about that because any characters that claims to believe in love because they watch, they read romance books or movies makes me scoff. nevertheless, this was fiction and I read this while listening to 98 degree's I do and it enhanced my reading experience with this book. I'm not really a fan of romantic movies but I do love romance movies from the 80's-90's, and this book made me yearn for those movies, one of the reasons why I gave this a 5 star.

Josh & Hazel's Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren

another friends to lovers type of trope, I was honestly so excited for this. halfway through the book I don't think there's a major conflict but the constant reminder of how the female mc is "crazy" throws me off a bit. another pet peeve of mine when reading is the pregnancy trope. I don't mind when it comes later in the epilogue but during the story progressing? is the baby is the product of the conflict? I honestly would love to see the story progress that they love each other and realise their partners qualities. not some "she's having my baby so I shall love her and the baby" type of thing. so this had the potential, big potential! but it ruined it with the pregnancy trope. maybe I might give pregnancy trope another chance in the future but maybe not now..

The Mistake by Elle Kennedy

yes, I indeed have a list of "tiktok made me do it" books and this is one of them. this is more like an obligation and the book community on tiktok LOVED this one, so I had to try. it wasn't as amazing as people claim it to be and I hate when the girl changes her appearance and suddenly she's valuable and she knows her worth. but isn't the girl is a little too easy on the male character? my girl really did a list of ways to embarrass the male mc but then accepts his apology just like that. and then the radio announcing scene is also cringe. 

The Score by Elle Kennedy

I read this willingly..I have no idea why. but safe to say I loved this one out of all books because the conflict was real, love both characters and their banter was funny. 

Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn

I read this willingly, through scrolls from goodreads and here I am, reading this. this almost put me on a reading slump that I do not look forward to and maybe because I'm dumb, I had to read them twice for each pages. I did not even bother to read the epilogue for this one too.

Love at First by Kate Clayborn

I am a sucker for a love interest that works in a medical field and made me read this straight away after reading the other book. this did not disappoint however I was scared if this ended up bad and not dumb friendly for me to understand. there's this one specific scene that made my heart flutter and will be one of my fav scenes in any book where the girl is unconscious and the male mc calls them "baby" subconsciously. makes my heart soar!!!!!

Passion on Park Avenue by Lauren Layne

all I have to say is that, I had high expectations for this but the ending did not sit right with me, not that its harmful or whatsoever but it was so bland?? it had its potential. as if its like, you had no romance books to read in this world and you're left with this, unwillingly giving this a 5 star book (which I did not) because this was your last chance of rating a good book but it was bad. I don't even know if that made sense but I did not like this at all. 

The Man Ban by Nicola Marsh

a day after its release, I went ahead and read this book with no time to waste. yes, I am a sucker for medical field love interest. I was honestly so shocked this was fast paced but in a good way. it was really good, both characters have good banter with each other. (flex: after leaving a review on goodreads, the author sent me a friend request...)

Heartbreak for Hire by Sonia Hartl

the last book of my July goes to this gem!! I was waiting for this one and I was happy it did not disappoint. it could've been more emotional and tear jerking scenes but I guess if we needed that we could've read colleen hoover's books..am I right? :D (no one asked but I do not ever want to plan on reading her books after reading one..I was a teenager then but now as an adult I feel like its too messy. call me basic or vanilla but I don't want my feelings and thoughts to be distraught)

finally, we've reached to the end of the entry. I'm sorry if this seem half ass because I did not remember some of the scenes and the names of the characters as well. but I had fun reading these and happy I get to read more than 10 books (my initial goal on goodreads) this year and planning to read more in the next few months. Goodbye!

where I've been

 hello earthlings!

its been a whole year since the last time I updated my blog, I've been meaning to post another entry to announce that I got accepted to one of my preferred universities studying politics (not mentioning the name here for privacy reasons if one of my uni friends would somehow find out about my blog, even if they did it's not like I'm here to talk about them - maybe in the future but who knows what :p). As someone who's not used to receiving good news about my academics and is really used to being the bare minimum (not saying I'm actually successful now and on top of my game.. I am still struggling with that after years of not trying hard enough T^T), it's completely a shock to me. new chapter just means new discovery of things like going to the airport for the first time, going to new places and meeting new people.  truthfully, it is been hard trying to adapt to things from going to middle school, to going to sixth form and now to university. but going through six form helps me mature in terms of productivity and my work ethic. 

just about a semester into my first year (which I spent learning online, how sad is that), I was given a position in a club and then another one in my second semester of my first semester. sort of regret of being so active in joining activities that my seniors actually recognise my name and my face. one of them actually said how they like seeing me around and appreciated me because of that. I don't know if I would feel honoured or regret over that statement.

anyway, in a few months I'll be in my second year. I don't expect much other than studying hard. I don't think there is much to be expected of when you're in university though. Right? Other than that, I've been reading a lot lately especially reading romance books. i honestly thought I could read 100 books by last year considering I had a lot of time in my hands but I only get to read 22 books. quite sad. however, after finishing my second semester of my first year, I get to read a lot of books and I plan to do reviews of it. last month, on July, I've read a total of 21 books that I properly read (did not finish book doesn't count). I was honestly quite shock as well because I couldn't even read more than 1 book in a day. other than that, my best friend (Sha) convinced me to play Genshin Impact and yes, I got addicted to it and spent most of my time in the first few months of 2021. it is quite addicting, the story is great and the characters are lovable too.

I think this should be it for this entry, the next entry would be me rambling about books I've read in July. See ya!

i cried watching toy story 4, reminiscing wwe but also here's my spotify playlist

hello earthlings!

after what seems like a few days after the previous entry, i just feel like i need to update again eventhough i have nothing to say about. i live pretty much a boring life, nothing to do but always somewhat content with my introverted, hermit crab, vampire lifestyle. i don't go out as often as i would like and i don't go around hanging out with my friends that much. to do it, i have to go through 50 questions. thank goodness i have understanding friends, i'm not always present in someone's mind when a plan to hang out is being decided. not petty, just like being cooped in my home and watch bon appetit videos all day ANYWAYS! 

i have finally watched toy story 4. i knew what the end of the movie would be because of a tumblr post i saw. i expected i wouldn't be crying but darn it! it got the best of me. especially knowing the fact that whenever there's woody, there would always be buzz. after that handshake they had and woody's line "so long, pal" made me weep. i had a lump in my throat trying to not cry when my mom's watching the movie with me, but i couldn't held it in. cried the balls out of my eye. 

besides watching bon appetit videos on youtube, i have also wandered around wrestling videos. wrestling videos, i meant WWE. i grew up watching WWE because of my dad and two of my grandfathers absolutely love WWE.  i have stopped watching WWE after 2013, i had interest in other things. being a teenager, everything that you watch as a child just completely fades away from your mind until there's a sudden memory card in your brain that's being inserted in your brain after a few years, almost forgetting that chunk of memory that you've always had in your brain.

i got a sudden waves of memories flashing after watching a 2 weeks old video of Edge returning to WWE after 9 years since his retirement. listening to his theme, makes me realize that wow, i am so glad i recognized Edge and could connect to the people in the stadium screaming at his sudden appearance. i know it might sound ridiculous to people who don't watch WWE, and getting a shock waves of memories from just listening to a wrestler's theme song is somewhat dumb. but it gets me that now I watch WWE, i couldn't recognize any of them. back when it was around 2008 and 2009, i recognize almost all of them. its sad to see that some kids out there won't realize how legendary wrestlers are, eventhough you know the whole thing is scripted and fake. that's the least thing i'm worried about, at least i still had a fun memory watching WWE when i was a kid. i still remember how The Undertaker's and Kane's theme song made me terrified. i remember when i was around 11, i was at a supermarket with my mom. suddenly Randy Orton's theme song was playing and i shouted at my mom saying "It's Randy Orton's theme song!!!!" and i had my entire day made. thank you for whoever that played the song, i hope you're as dissappointed as i am that WWE seems to be flunking nowadays.

now moving on to my spotify playlist (link available on my sidebar). i've started using spotify playlist only recently, wanting to explore new music with my free spotify, couldn't even afford a one month free spotify premium. i have a total of 8 public playlists in which of their own has their own purpose of existing, depends on what type of mood im feeling at 3AM.

the first playlist is: 

this playlist is pretty self explanatory, i made this playlist after listening to a slowed and reverb version of fifth harmony's that's my girl. as a women, a girl myself who wouldn't love songs that makes you feel powerful. which is why, i made this playlist, to hype up myself and feel good about myself.

second playlist:

this playlist was made after listening to the american rejects's moving along. the first 5 seconds of the song already takes me back to when i was just 7-8 years old. when i used to wake up early on the weekends just watching whatever is on the tv. this playlist includes songs from the early 2000's. songs that i grew up listening, it just hits different at 3AM. although some songs might be upbeat but it gives me waves of emotions, feeling sad and just wishing i could be that 8 year old again.

third playlist:

 again, this playlist is self explanatory. had a really sappy mood one night and listening to billie eilish's everything i wanted on loop. which is why, i created this playlist. this playlist is good for someone who likes to make up daydreams that upsets out own minds. love weeping out of nowhere a night while i have this playlist on blast to my ears.

fourth playlist:

this playlist is one of my favourite out of my 8 playlist. made this one because i was listening to the wallows and dayglow. both bands makes me feel like i want to blast it in a car on late night drives. its bittersweet escapes, because imagine escaping one night, running to somewhere unknown. makes me feel sad just to escape but with good songs? it makes me feel good. listening to this playlist makes me feel like im in a 90's movies settings.

the fifth playlist:

before naming this as "delusional daydreams", i named it as "cliche but i like". reasons why is that i feel like some of these songs can be everyone's favourite. but i want to stick with my own "aesthetic", i had to name it a differently and make people (if there's even someone listening to my playlist) question what the playlist would be about. this playlist includes song that has more recent, upbeat but soothing kind of feeling to it. makes me feel like im just daydreaming.

the sixth playlist:

other than bittersweet escapes, this playlist is my second favourite. i have always loved old r&b songs, nowadays people don't seem to make this kind of gem anymore.

the seventh playlist:

this playlist contains songs from my favourite youtubers like TMG and pewdiepie. had to make a playlist of it eventhough just one day, it might just be a TMG playlist.

the eight playlist.

the irony is that i have a botched second name after christina aguilera, i prefer listening to britney. i have always listened to her other songs other than her biggest hits that leads to what she is today.

my taste of music might be the worst. at least i know what's good for me, i'd be fine. although i had favourites of my playlist, but i love all of them. took time to even look for the picture of each playlist and botched names for each of it to suit the mood.

anyways, i will be ending today's entry. somewhere, if there's ever people reading this blog, have a nice day. bye! see you again in another entry.

what i read in January + reading plans

Hello earthlings!
Now I am back again with another entry to talk about books I've read in January and about my reading plans. To be really honest, I was pretty much lazy about reading books and totally forgot my goals and my new year resolution. I don't really have to start on January but it seemed like I don't really have things to do other than reading. So why not, start early so that I can make sure this hobby will be constant and with be a habit of mine (and of course, i have a lot books i havent read..in my bookshelf..).

In January, I have only read Pet Sematary by Stephen King and The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon. It's kind of dissappointing because I've seen people reads like 5 or 10 books in a month. But I feel like it's okay, this just means that I have to pace up my reading by trying the 100 or 50 pages a day challenge. Currently doing that with the book I'm reading now. Anyways, I've done a book review about both books, I really liked Pet Sematary. Took me about 20 days to finish by completing the last 200+ pages in a day and I also did that to TSIAAS. I really can't go to sleep knowing that I'm halfway to the end of the book.

I know I've said somewhere in my entries that I won't be updating about what I will be reading, but I'm going to do it anyways ♡(｡- ω -). Currently, I am reading To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Next book is 1984 by George Orwell. Two classics that is really recommended by any book clubs or any book readers out there. I have only read one classic which is The Catcher In The Rye by JD Salinger. I really like the book but not the character. It is depressing and I had to read that in 2 days because it was a classmate's book.

I have also recently went to a local bookstore and found Doctor Sleep by Stephen King and Loveboat,Taipei by Abigail Hing Wen. Might want to buy that someday and read it..(♡°▽°♡)

Okay, this will be end of the entry. See you in the next entry!

Feeling dumb is the strive for 2020

Hello earthlings.
Back again calling nobody as earthlings because this is another entry where I ramble about anything that I thought about as I'm typing.

So yesterday I just got my third semester of my sixth form studies and all I can say is, it could've been worst. Now one is done, I have two more results coming out this week. Yes, I'm calling that as a brain tormenting week. It's a lot that I can take, it is tormenting me but couldn't hide the fact that I managed to handle 12 papers in one month. ~sike~

Anyways, now that it is February, I want to step up the amount of books I'm reading. However, I'm not going to pick up a book this week because I feel like I'd rather read with a peaceful and not having a war with my mind while reading. I'm afraid that my feels will get in the way while reading. But what better ways for me to cope with my anxiety of waiting my results at 10 in the morning by just laying down on my bed while think of nothing. I kid you not a few days before the announcement of results day was out I cried at night thinking how bad my results could be and thinking about enrolling in universities. I try not to discuss about my preferable uni and course as of right now because I think its best to let your plans be a secret to yourselves than telling the whole world about it (although no one is possibly reading this entry). My anxiety does not hit me at normal times but it hits a lot harder at 3.00am while I struggle myself to sleep. My current coping mechanisms are listening to podcast and watching youtubers like simtubers (plumbella) and commentary and comedy videos like kurtis conner, cody ko and noel miller and also I couldn't forget reading bible verses to help calming my nerves.

I've been watching sims 3 videos lately and it really triggers me to have sims 3. I already have sims 4 university and compared to sims 4, sims 3 feels more flexible and so lively. Maybe I might but i feel like my laptop is on the verge of dying due to the insufficient space

I guess this marks the end of this entry.
I'll be back and hopefully it will be a book review (ง ื▿ ื)ว

My first romance book of the year - its kinda wack

Hello, fellow readers!

Like I mentioned in the last entry, the next book I'm reading is a romance genre to cool off my horrified soul. I was going to do an entry the morning after I read this book but I was too lazy, didn't feel like I was going to do analyzation and a review of this book. Well that's because how wack it is to me. I rated this book on goodreads for 3 stars. And here's what I said in the review: 

First of all, I said I love it. I love how the characters aren't just white people romance. It's about a Jamaican girl and a Korean boy who fell in love, who met each other in the end, proves that fate really works. I love the whole idea of the book. Its about fate, the universe and how the characters are the exact polar opposites of each other. I mean, that's technically how romance genre is about though, right? About two characters not agreeing about a certain topic and somehow they turned out okay in the end, right? Second, a book that felt like reading a fanfiction is not wrong though I tell you that. And that's the end of what I like about the book. Moving on to what I'd say it's a wack. Everything, for some reason happens so fast. Halfway through the book I realized, its all in the same day. I did not liked that. The book also focuses on love at first sight. In my very honest opinion that no one asked for, I never believed in love at first sight. Show me anyone who's had a love at first sight, I would just probably mentally judge you. Sorry not sorry.

For the characters, I don't like anyone at all. I'm not attached to anyone in this book. Natasha, which is one of the main characters in the books annoys the soul out of me. She just seems quirky to me, not like it's wrong but there's this type of energy that I don't like from her. Her dialogue? Chaotic in a bad way. Confusing. Indecisive. Selfish. A so-called stand up for yourself but didn't do it because COWARD! For Daniel, he just seems like every dreamy non-existent Korean boyfriend that exists in this world. He's so cheesy that I hate it a lot. He's too perfect to even exist. I don't know, reading him is like someone who haven't encountered a Korean boy and expects him to have this dreamy personality. 

There's a lot of side characters in the book. Everytime Natasha or Daniel meets someone, there will be a chapter for the character. It just proves how the universe or fate works. Like how Natasha and Daniel met the same person for her lawyer and his interview and how the attorney had an accident with the guy who almost hit Natasha (who told her to look at her phone while crossing the road, dumb)

I guess that's all for the book review. It's not that bad, it could've been better. I would have been 90% convinced that fate exists if things in the book happens more than just a day. Give me more than just a mess between parents (very minimal in this book). Give me more than just...finding each other on the same city, place, country. Give me that long distance kind of fate. It happens later in the book but not quite enough for me.

well, alright.

that's enough for today's entry.

not telling you what i'm reading next haha

(i seem mad in the entry but i swear its the book haha)

My first Stephen King book!

Hello earthlings!

It has only been a few days since I left you with my first post of 2020 with another series of me rambling on this blog that sounds sad (almost), in fact I was feeling down when I was typing. It gives me a heads up that I should not do an entry when my feelings are getting in the way. Instead of just doing ramblings on this blog like how many fillers we've watch on Naruto that we almost forgot about the actual story line, I figured out I should do a book review. How come I didn't think of that and it only crosses my mind now that I don't have anyone to tell what the book is about. So for the next books I'm reading, if I feel like I'm going to do a review, I would do an entry. the review of this book was posted but it felt like i was throwing up all the words that i can make of after reading the book so i guess this entry sounds a lil professional than the original entry..oof

I am a fan of horror myself and it only focuses on horror movies. This time I thought I wanted to read a horror book, preferably by Stephen King. I avoided reading IT because I've watched the movies (uncultured swine). After some time, maybe I would give a shot since there's a probability a lot of scenes did not make it to the movies. Right of the bat when I was reading the Pet Sematary, Stephen King mentioned on the introduction of the book that he said one of the most frightening books he had written is Pet Sematary. As soon as I read that sentence, all I can think is "Honey! You got a big storm comin!". This was my first time reading a horror book that focuses on the age range of young adult or adult (perhaps my guess) because I've read a few books of Mr. Midnight  and it is also my first book of 2020. GREAT! 

I was not expecting a book review but I couldn't help as I was reading more and more I noticed details about characters and things that I wanted to discuss about. It is also my first time annotating/tabbing but the thing is I forgot the purpose of each colors as I went through of details that I wanted to focus on. Might want to improve that bit to be more focused on the story and learn through the author's writing.

Moving on to actually talking about the book, I spent 20 days reading because I have an attention span of a goldfish. Read the last 200+ pages in a day (almost) and finished it right on midnight. All I could say is, I felt the grief and sadness portrayed in the book (will be discussed later on). I didn't actually think that I could be attached to the characters and it blew my mind how things just happens in the book makes me bawl my eyes out to cry. I rated it 5/5 stars on goodreads, I could see why it was one of Stephen King's best book and everyone's favourite.

***SPOILER ALERT***

This part is split up with categories in which it will be : Story line, Characters, First Impression, Character Development and Movie Adaptation. please note that these are all my opinions, not a professional book reviewer but i knew as i read this in a few years time i might cringe a little 

• STORY LINE

It is my first time reading a horror book, I honestly can't help to think now and then there's going to be a page that will chase my soul away while reading. But this book, it started off slowly to give you the atmosphere of the Creed family, the Crandalls, their house in Ludlow and also the Pet Sematary. The book has 3 parts in it where each part starts as another terrible incident that's about to happen or an incident has happened in the book.  In "Part One: The Pet Sematary",  important events happens such as Victor Pascow's death, Winston Churchill's death and their tour to the Pet Sematary lead by Jud Crandall and Norma Crandall's death and Rachel's breakdown about Zelda all happened in part one. Part two of the book which titled "The Micmac Burying Ground" includes Gage's death and funeral, Irwin Goldman's fight with Louis Crandall, Ellie's dream, etc. In part two, there's a lot of things happening to the family that it takes time to process all of it. The dialogue gives you a feeling of rush because of Louis's plan. In part three, titled "Oz The Gweat and Tewwible". Despite the book being cutely titled like how a toddler would pronounce it, this is where all hell breaks loose. Gage is back from the dead, Jud Crandall was stabbed using a scalpel by Gage, Rachel was dead and etc. Couldn't really list off what happens in detail about what happens in the last two chapters because things went chaotic, just like how Louis went mental at the thought that he can actually bury a person in the Pet Sematary.

• CHARACTERS

The characters in this book includes the Creeds which is Louis, Rachel, Ellie (short for Eileen) and Gage, the Crandalls which is Jud and Norma  and Winston Churchill which is Ellie's cat. There are side characters too which is Victor Pascow, Steve Masterton, Irwin and Dory Goldman and Missy Dandridge. In this book, it provides point of view more on Louis Creed. As it reaches to the end, we are given dialogues of Rachel, Jud and Steve Masterton. 

• FIRST IMPRESSION

In this part of the review, I would give my first impression of the book and the characters. Frankly saying, I've watched the trailer of Pet Sematary before finding out that it was an adaptation from a book. The trailer did not give me the spooks at all because what I initially thought was its a movie about burying animals and when they'll come back from the back to seek revenge. I guess I was close (enough). I think I saw a booktuber recommended Pet Sematary as their monthly reading, I decided to give it a try on the horror genre. Didn't actually think that Pet Sematary would be THAT scary at all since I have higher taste on what would scare me, well guess what. Couldn't really sleep at all at imagining what would Zelda and Gage coming back alive would look like. 

The only characters I had an impression on is Louis and Jud. Being the main character in the book, I really thought he was a terrible father with a bad temper because of the single line in part one, page 8, that said "His hand itched to slap her and he grabbed his leg hard". As I continued to read, he's a good father to his kids and a sweetheart to his wife. There's a lot of scenes between his kids and his wife in the book and I love every one of them. I really did let those scenes clouding my mind not realizing that there's going to be hell happening in a few chapters or so. (Proof is that I was shocked to find out that Gage died as soon as I was finished with the previous chapter, where they spend time together with Gage and then boom, the kid died)

The last and second character I had an impression on is Jud. Jud Crandall was the one who told Louis about Pet Sematary and brought him there to bury Churchill, lead the family to the Pet Sematary to introduce them what was "up" there and telling Louis there is, in fact someone really did buried a person in the Pet Sematary. So let me explain why was I so suspicious about Jud. Without any explaination, he told Louis to bring Churchill's dead body to the Pet Sematary. He messed up the reasons and the timeline about when and why his pet dog Spot died.  He even lied about there's nobody who would bury a person's dead body to the Pet Sematary. But in part two, he told Louis why he lied about it in page 290 of part two, saying "Because you didn't need to know..but now you do". After he said that, he explained about what happened to Timmy Baterman. Basically, a man who died and brought alive. When Louis asked what Timmy was like, his behavior after coming back alive. Jud told Louis in page 298, "Timmy Baterman was like that, Louis, like a zombie in a movie, but he wasn't. There was something more. There was somethin' goin' on behind his eyes, and sometimes you could see it and sometimes you couldn't see it. Somethin' behind his eyes, Louis". In my take, he explained this as in saying that  a person wouldn't come back the same even if you brought them back. Despite Jud's little story time, Louis still had that plan at the back of his head, that he's going to bring back Gage alive again.  I could say that Jud's plan to bring Louis to the Pet Sematary to bury Churchill was because he knew that Louis didn't want to make his daughter felt sad as she was so upset about the idea of death. The least Louis could do is not terrorize his daughter with Churchill's sudden death. However, the burial and the Pet Sematary really did went to Louis head. He became selfish and it leads to a lot of horror happening to his family and to Jud. 

• CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

The character development I've noticed here is Louis and Ellie. In page 14 of part one, after Jud introduces himself to Louis, he invited Louis to his house for a little hangout. Louis was almost hesitant and had monologue saying "The next thing would be an informal (and free) diagnosis of Norma's arthritis on the porch..". Louis thought that Jud is a nice old man but not in a way that he would give a free check up on Norma's arthritis. Soon enough in page 111, Jud told Louis that lately Norma have been having chest pains. This leads to Louis saying, "I'll be happy to examine her..No problem at all". This tells me that after spending some time with the Crandalls, he realized that they were close in his heart. The Crandalls treated Louis's family like no strangers and so as Louis's family towards both Jud and Norma. 

For Ellie, she's a child at the age of 5-6. We've all know that children is hard at accepting death or maybe we just don't talk about death at all in front of children. This happened to Ellie as she was curious about death after her visit to the Pet Sematary. She asked if death will soon come to Winston Churchill, the cat she loved dearly. For short, Louis did explained the meaning of death and it is inevitable for both human and animals. This gave Ellie quite a shock and refused to believe that Churchill will be gone one day. In page 117 after Norma's heart attack incident, she told Louis that soon enough Norma will die of heart attacks. This also made Louis questioned that why was Ellie so calm at the thought of Norma Crandall dying but the thought of Churchill's death gave her a shock. (i'm beginning to think that it was just the sugar rush ellie had that night because she went trick-or-treating)

• MOVIE ADAPTATION

Finally, to the last category of my book review. After finishing the book, I watched the movie. I believe that there was another movie made about Pet Sematary back in 1989 and another recent one was 2019. Both movie was made different, as in Gage died (like in the book) in the 1989 version but Ellie dies in 2019 version of the movie. Haven't watched the 1989 version but will it dissappoint me any less if I have watched it? guess not.

The movie did not portray the emotional roller caster as I was feeling in the book. It was weird to me because watching the movie felt like I was skipping through the book, by luck I was reading the important events of the book. I could understand that movie shouldn't be so long, I am convinced that audiences might be bored if they were watching a slow-burn horror movie. But I will doubt that if it was made into a Korean movie because korean movie productions could grasp emotions so well. Like the horror movie, A Tale of Two Sisters (recommended!). 

Anyways, I do not know how to actually rate the movie, it did not meet my expectations for it after 

reading the movie. The book was scary but the movie was not. I only appreciate the cat's acting skills. I hope the production team paid the cat enough. 

So, the book is great. I still get scared thinking of Gage and Zelda. It was a fun book to read, I would read it again and I like each characters really well. I could definitely see why Stephen King chose this book as one of his most frightening books he had written. Especially at the end, where Louis brought his wife back alive. It just ended with "A cold hand fell on Louis's shoulder. Rachel was grating, full of dirt. "Darling," it said.". Wow, I had chills while writing that out. Who gave me the right to do a scary book review at 1:04AM!!

Therefore, this marks the end of my entry. I did not want to end the book review by saying what I have learn by reading the book because I....do not learn the lessons after doing regrettable things..ahhaha..OR! Maybe I did, I guess everyone had different views so I'll just keep it to myself. The next book I will be reading is The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon. It's a romance genre, like a desert for my brain that's filled with horror.

sincerely,

i was excited to post this review but i was too lazy

im a young adult?????

hello earthlings.
today marks 21st of January 2020, while im typing it's currently 9.39pm. after what seems like a year since my last entry, i am back. coming back without any worries that im going to have a dreadful week of school assignment.

i have completed a year and a half of my sixth form studies. i didn't even think that i could make it since i had so many anxiety in the morning and sweaty palms just by entering the school. i was so scared of the school and the teachers due to their intimidating faces and energy. i had really smart school mates and i really felt like i don't blend well with them. after months had passed, everyone was cool. we complain about the same thing, we finish our homework together, we had anxiety if we're going to have another afternoon class or another economics homework that needed to be done before the teacher enters the class and scream at us like lioness.

my sixth form studies teaches me a lot. friends, teachers, privacy, discipline and etc. all the time i was doing my homework and studying, i just wished i had this discipline when i was in my middle school. doing assignment was a tough one especially if you have to deal with a broken printer and telling your friends to print your assignment for you. i am so lucky that i had a lot of nice, friendly and willing to help friends. i hope for the best of them with good results and be able to enroll to their preferred universities.

now that it is 2020, which means i am turning to a young adult. technically still 19 since my birthday is on september. anyways-  the things that i could do in this age is beyond my mind.  but still i do have a mind of a child. i don't expect that adults will mature by the second the clock's turn to 12 at new year's midnight, but you can't help but think..what are the changes going to bring to you when you finally reach an age of what society or science or psychology seem to say as "adult" or a "young adult".

i don't expect much for 2020. i don't expect for a "new year, new me".  never once in my life i have thought about "new year, new me". maybe that's just me having this permanent self-doubt and being self-conscious that i am never changing physically or mentally. the only thing i'm determined about is reading. i have always been a fan of reading books. i love books and i can never go out without going to a bookstore and buying at least one book. lately, i've bought a lot of books just to stack it up and to read for many months coming. i have set my goals for reading which is 100 books in a year. what strives me to have this new year's resolution that i have been inspired by a lot of booktubers and even the biggest youtuber at this age which is pewdiepie. he mentioned that he had a new year's resolution which was to read more. i was so inspired and amazed by his statement so i decided to do the same. this also leads to me having a deteriorating english. i had english exams for my sixth form studies and i can guarantee you, i had a fun-full of writing block. i don't even think i can speak english anymore and my grammar has gotten worst. you can tell by reading this entry and maybe my future self could cringe at it.

alright, that marks the end of my entry.
ciaoooo

still holding on 🐙 [ ramblings #3]

hello everyone!
i thought i needed to update again about how im doing in form 6 after 2 months since the one month holiday. although nothing special has happened? i just thought i needed to keep a track of how im doing these past few months in this blog.

after the one month holiday,the next month we had our first trials which i totally flunked. i do study and remember quite a few things but still,i still can't get familiar towards some questions and how to answer. im very dissappointed but it'll just encourage me to do EVEN better and aim higher for my first semester. because if i would to pass my trials with good results, i might take it a little too easy because i'm a person who gets easily overwhelmed over good results.

im going to have my one week holiday after this which totally means i have to buck up all of the things that i have to study. to be honest,i havent been studying besides doing homework (which has very little amount) and i find myself procrastinating a lot after the trials. maybe its just my brain has totally shut down after the trials. but still,i really have to go all out during the holiday after completing the homeworks i've been given in a span of maybe 3 or 2 days and have one week of my holiday by studying and do some revisions.

i really hate the fact that i have so much time but i dont spend it by endlessly studying,it bothers me so much eversince i had my SPM. i hate knowing the fact that im not working as hard as i could be and as everybody else is.

so im getting a lot of books to read to expand my vocabs even more and a lot of memorizing to do!

this will be the end of this entry.
thank you for reading! 🌹💓

flashing back old memories [ rambling #2 ]

hello everyone!

i have finished watching Whisper Of The Heart (1995) and its really good! i really love it~
i suddenly have an idea on what to update but i'm still going to categorized this entry as a rambling.

anyways,have your 13 year old self ever just look around and how are things going to change in some way? your friends changing (either good or bad),the places around you.your thoughts and your attitude seems to be changing every year as you grow up?

i have just come to realize that when i was around 13-16,i have never come to appreciate the things going around me. i have realized that when i was that age,i never thought of feeling like "what if all the things around me change" or "what would i be doing now if i were 18". i always thought as if i don't have time to think about how my future self in 4 years would behave/be like because i felt like i still have a long way to come.

now that i'm 18,i have major realization to things happening around me. usually,i'm really good at ignoring the things around me and just studied myself off.  i appreciate the things around me a lot more and the friends that i'm with now. i'm also currently trying to stay positive as much as i can and trying to strive for the better,when i struggle a lot that's when i realized how much your support system matter. even if you've got a big or small support system or even you don't know if someone is actually supporting you,i put it in this way - ; everyone else is struggling even if they've got their favorite subjects to study.  maybe there are students out there studying their favorite subjects at their favorite university but they are still missing their homes and wish they could be back aand have a chit chat with their family,or even missing their pets and wanting to pet them.

honestly,i feel like the ramblings section might have just be me struggling about school. i'm just going to keep it that way to keep my mind off of things.

this will be the end of today's entry for ramblings. have a great day to whoever you are in the world.