Recently I picked up a copy of If We Were Villains. I’ve already been quite interested in the Dark Academia sub-genre, despite my conflicted feelings on the sub-genre as a whole. Generally, this issue comes with the romanticization of books that are meant to be critiques of the cutthroat elitism of academia, such as The Secret History and If We Were Villains – something I will touch on later. However, I found If We Were Villains to be incredibly compelling and well written, I even enjoyed it more than The Secret History!
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Book Review: They Were Here Before Us10/7/2022 CW: This novella contains themes of horror, graphic descriptions of gore, corpses, and animal death. Reader's discretion is advised.
Everyone who is even remotely interested in horror literature has heard of (or at least should have heard of) Eric LaRocca by now. Their nail biting, suspenseful and brilliantly written novellas have shaken the horror community ever since the viral sensation Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke was released in June of 2021. Since then, LaRocca has continued gracing the world with his talent and serving beautifully grotesque queer stories that keep readers satisfied, but hungry for more. Almost Heroes by Mar'Sai Mitcham8/9/2022 Review by Aamna Rehman
First and foremost, I love the title. I think it fits the themes represented in the story perfectly. It also is a simple way to tell us that the characters, although they think of themselves as heroes, are flawed. They suffer from moral conundrums and prejudices instilled within the fabric of their society. Of course, some of these characters strive to gain power while others strive for justice but none of them are without a moral gray area. This dynamic adds a complexity that made this book enjoyable. At first, I didn't like Margery because she seemed too unlikeable and power-hungry. But as the story goes on, you start to peel back her layers and discover her emotions. In particular in the second half of the book, I felt more attached to the characters, even side characters like Rem, Darrien, and Toothless. The intriguing history between them added an extra layer that made me want to know more. I wouldn't necessarily call them realistic, but their vulnerability and fears made them easy to get attached to. Beautiful World, Where Are You is Sally Rooney’s third and most recent novel. It follows four different characters throughout a portion of their lives. Alice, Eileen, Simon and Felix all have difficult and overlapping relationships with one another. The book kicks off when Alice meets Felix on a dating app and then invites him on a trip to Rome with her. The book then follows all four of the characters, as they come to terms with their adult coming of age.
The Great Gatsby Review7/25/2022
Gatsby's story is quite complicated. A class man, who lives in a large mansion, a person full of secrets and with thousands of regrets from his past and younger life, which he now tries to placate through parties in the gossiping societies where he shares with people he knows and others that he had never seen in his life. A true lover of literature and sports as much as the old school, a person with whom it is very easy to identify because of the characteristics that he presents while the story unfolds, the ambition, the loneliness that sometimes surrounded him, in addition to the memories that sometimes tormented him, reminding him of a past life that he already left behind and that now it is trying to overcome as a way to make a difference. Anne of Green Gables Review7/24/2022 1. Review by Ezann Kuai
Delightfully satisfying, Anne of Green Gables is a heartwarming feel-good book. We follow the journey of an orphan, Anne Shirley, as she is raised by the Cuthberts. Her fierce love for the world and life is sure to charm you, just as she has captivated the people in town. Although she makes mistakes, she tries her best to improve, becoming the lovable character that she is. Witnessing her mature into a better person (while getting up to a lot of mischief on the way) was gratifying. It is evident her childhood before Green Gables shaped her insecurities, and it made her subsequent development in overcoming these shortcomings ever the more impactful. The Daughter of the Pirate King7/21/2022 1. Review by Gunita Singh
When a person enters booktok, they are expected to read some notable books in order to join the club. Apart from The Selections Series and ACOTAR, The Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller has also carved its mark. It is often recommended to someone who loves the enemies to lovers trope. So when I picked up this book to review for TYWI’s Summer Book Review, it was understandable that I had high expectations from it. The title is self-explanatory and reveals what the book has in store for the reader while its cover reinforces the idea of the protagonist being a sassy and self-sufficient woman. This book follows Alosa Kalligan, daughter of the ruthless Pirate King, who in order to earn her father’s respect takes on a dangerous mission of finding the Final Piece of a Treasure Hunt Map. She is one of those pirates who are undermined because of her gender and are always able to prove them wrong. The book starts with the successful execution of her kidnapping so that she has a better opportunity to find the map. She hilariously describes Riden as a “cocky bastard” and she constantly makes him lose his patience by trying to understand him. Christmas Short Story Recommendations12/27/2021 The season of snowfall, gifts, and Santa Claus - The Christmas season is almost here. And if you are someone, who like me, prefers to stay in their rooms on Christmas Eve, with warm blankets and hot chocolate while reading Christmas stories, then I got you covered!
The following are some short story recommendations that will help you get through the Christmas Eve. During the wintertime, I like to shut myself in my room and read some of my favorite books. I often come back to Blankets, a graphic novel by Craig Thompson.
Review of Forget Me Not by Anca Antoci12/17/2021 Surprisingly, for a lover of horror, it’s not often that you’ll find me reading a book about vampires. This may be in part due to the saturation of them in the media, or my preference of werewolves (#teamjacob) but this only makes it more intriguing for me to find well written pieces of vampire fiction. That’s why I was lucky to come across the Forget Me Not book tour and engross myself in its first chapter.
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