Hanna Jibu

Again a over hyped book. Normally I finish reading book in a few days but this took me a while. Simply because, for half of the book it was quite boring. At times I felt like reading a recounting events. ‘Show, not tell.’ The middle of the book was definitely too long however when the down started coming towards the end it got sad. Daisy’s character annoyed and for some reason I always felt proud of Billy Dune because he always tried to be faithful to his wife even though he wasn’t always the band leader. The only connection and emotion I felt toward was the last bit where each band member reminisce on their old and new life. It really shed light on the no so perfect picture of rock bands. The reality. I see why people may like but I personally found the middle a bit dry

Im grateful to have read this book as it has opened my mind to the 'reality' of domestic violence & abusive relationships. I personally thought that this was achieved by Hoover because we were in Lily's headspace, her almost perfect relationship with both Atlas & Ryle. Her relationship with both these men evoked many emotions and vitally it allowed me to understand why is it so hard to leave abusive relationships. However, some flaws in this book certainly doesn't make it deserve all this hype. Firstly its cliches: like how alyssa is connected to ryle, how they are soooooooo freakin rich but Alyssa wants to work for Lily for free. And also how all of the sudden Atlas went from this poor homeless to a very successful businessman, and Lily's floral business is so freakin perfect too, everyone is so freakin perfect, the only flaw there is— that someone has to be abusive to make the book an actual tearjerker. However, it is possible to argue that these cliches don't entirely stop it from being unique and touching.

I was looking forward to read this book because of all the hype this book received. Although this took me only a day to read, it left me confused & disappointed. Firstly, the characters- they never attained enough depth, they merely evoked any emotion or connection out of me ruining the plot twist even more for me. The protagonist Cadence felt nothing more than moody, depressing and winchy. The only character I was in awe off was Gat & his relationship with the grandfather due to the racial bias inflicted upon him. There was no character development and at the beginning, instead of bringing these characters to life I was trying to tell them apart and figuring out how they are related: it was confusing. It was also quite boring especially the middle when she comes back to the island after her injury, nothing really interesting was happening. There was no depth in any of these random conversations, between these characters except for the one where Gat talks about how he feels in the Sinclair family. This conflict had so much more potential in this text. There should have been more of that where themes, values and relationships are explored and give more depth which allows for the readers to better connect with the characters. Lockhart should of written more about the ending than have us reading like 100 pages about the protagonists boring conversations and boring events. The plot twist was so sudden, confusing and took me some time to register (I searched it up) Overall this book was so not worth all the hype, characters were bland, i literally felt like reading the dairy entries of a moody person interacting with characters who are merely interesting and lack depth.

This book was good. I read this in one sitting and although we can question its 'logic' in many ways, it didn't take away the fact that this novel was gripping.

I was contemplating whether to give it 2 or 3 stars considering all the hype it got especially for its twist and climax. Firstly, as already critiqued the beginning is slow and for me not only was it the beginning, but until the last chapters, where the secrets were unravelling I found it NOT a page turner. It was only decently gripping though & nothing really in the writing that was captivating. I enjoyed its psychodynamics; it would off been nice if Alicia's life had been more juicer. But alas, the twist- reading this in 2022, the connection to Theo the narrator was a very good twist. Overall its it a decent psychological thriller that definitely dragged out through the chapter, as the reader just wanted to get to the end of It. Not because the information vital to the twist but the ability for it to captivate or grip me as i found myself bored at times.

I am very grateful for the book 'Being Reshma' which I have found myself to pick up many times over the course of many years. It still remains as one of the vivid expressions of a special women's life that was turned by a matter of seconds. The text's essence of warmth and simplicity powerfully expressed every moment that led up to Reshma's both dire fate and success. It entwined of social and political themes questioning the Indian society and government. Moreover, this inspiring story of this acid-attack survivor, brings hope and teaches us the qualities of empowerment, confidence and strength. Truly inspiring!