charvi_not_just_fiction's reviews
695 reviews

This book was absolutely beautiful.

I went in with zero expectations but I love how the author managed to weave together so many lives and stories. We have Julian, an old man with regrets. Monica with her failing cafe and unfulfilled life desires. Hazard, an addict trying to get better. Riley, absolute sunshine personified and many others are added to this eclectic cast as we go on. Each character has a differnet story and I love how they interact with each other to support and bring out the best in their friends.

There's so much life and love in this book. One of my favourite themes was old age and how one's life deteriorates as you age, socially, physically and emotionally. Another core theme was friendship and connections and how we are really nothing without our support system. Different characters and their arcs taught me so many lessons and I love how the author's simple language style was so heart-touching and beautiful at the same time. 

And even though I didn't expect it from this contemporary/literary fiction, there were plot twists that caught me off-guard! All I'll say is nobody is really authentic until the very end and none of these characters are simply good or bad (except maybe Riley and I wish the author had done something about that rather than just making him say he's not always sunny and left it at that.)

The only reason I docked one star is that I hated how certain people ended up romantically set up with others, I was literally fuming and yelling and I'd have preferred them to either stay single, true to themselves or have an open ending leaving time for the romance to develop because it came out of nowhere. Kinda made me feel that the author just wanted to wrap everything up in a neat bow.

Other than that, this book was so perfect and even ended beautifully, in the best way possible (except for that romance).

All in all, I'd highly recommend it!

This was so adorable!

Hats off to the artist for doing a 365-day art challenge, it was so interesting to see different kinds of sketches and paintings from him. You could tell the days he was fed up and the days he was struck by inspiration. Regardless, it all made a lovely compilation.

I am so disappointed that I couldn't end up loving this book.

Honestly, as an ownvoice reviewer, I can say that the aro-ace representation gets a 10/10. I think Dear Wendy absolutely knocks it out of the park with the discussions on asexuality and aromanticism and the intersection of those identities as well. It goes deep into what it truly means to be on the ace-spectrum and I truly love it from the bottom of my heart for that.

I could really connect with Sophie (I'm a complete type A like her) and the Wellesley experience in the book at least, felt very similar to my university experience. Unfortunately, apart from that, everything went downhill.

At its core, this book brings up important and thought-provoking topics around gender, sexuality, immigrant children, bipocs and many such themes but it feels like the book is just that. It reads like a discussion happening in a college class where people are trying to get all their points across as quickly as possible. Or an essay converted into a fictional story. That's to say, there's very little life to the story on its own. There is no such plot or plot structure which becomes incredibly frustrating because the entire book is based on the Wendy and Wanda Instagram beef which is extremely childish, nonsensical and boring. 

I was just so bored reading this book. The main characters sound so same, I literally couldn't differentiate between their POVs. The humour seemed forced, and oh my god, I got sick of all the Wellesley details. It's clear the author loves her university but I think the details could have been cut way back down.

The third act confrontation was kind of predictable and I was so annoyed with Jo by that point because of what they'd been doing regarding their roommates. Granted I knew the source of their actions was a deep-rooted fear but at that point, I was ready for the book to be over. It still did not end, there were like fifty pages more that I skimmed through.

Do I recommend this book?
Um I think yes? I still stand by the fact that the aro-ace rep is so tremendously wonderful and refreshing and I crawled through the book for it and it was kind of worth it. And it does seem like I'm in the minority here when it comes to enjoying the plot and narrative so maybe you'll end up enjoying it.

But yeah, as much as I loved the aro-ace rep, this wasn't it for me.

What an addictive read!

We have morally grey characters left and right, lol.

I loved reading about Lucca's journey and her many identities as she navigates her jobs and tries to survive while staying two steps ahead of everyone. Overall this is a fast-paced and engaging read where you're trying your best to unravel all the mysteries before the book ends. 

Love a good mystery-thriller like this one <3

This book has recently joined the hype train and I expected to love it... unfortunately, I didn't quite enjoy it.

Let's start with part 1: which truly was the highlight of the book for me. I absolutely adored how the writer explored the magic of bookstores and the joy of reading and unravelled Sotorou and Takako's personalities through the narrative. It was beautiful and well-written.

Part 2 is where everything started going down the hill. I kind of hate Momoko. She single-handedly spoiled the book for me. I could rant forever but that would include spoilers. Let's just say that I found her to be a selfish woman with bizarre behaviour and her relationships felt strange and forced. I couldn't condone any of her actions and her overall plotline left me frustrated.
I guess the only ray of sunshine was Takako and Akira's sub-plot but I wish it had been explored more because I saw a lot of potential there.

Overall the book struggles a bit with pacing in the sense I found myself bored in the second part and there were no clear indications of the time leaps so I was often confused for a couple of sentences before I adjusted to it.

Sadly, this was a very average book.

It’s been a while since a book made me feel so many emotions. Icarus destroyed me.

The book introduces us to our protagonist Icarus, the softest cinnamon roll to exist. Actually, this book is filled with soft boys and I love it. Most of Icarus’ life has been spent stealing and replacing artworks with forgeries in Mr. Black’s mansion to exact revenge for the death of his mother. His father has some rules: no friends, don’t get to know others, no social gatherings and never ever inviting people home. So you can only imagine the kind of hell Icarus’ life is. But then he discovers Helios, Mr Black’s son who has been imprisoned in the mansion.

Icarus and Helios were made for each other, it’s a fact and there’s no denying it. Their romance is the sweetest, purest thing and both of them just made me cry with how raw and untethered they were. Except together, they made sense.

The friendships in Icarus were the shining light, they made me feel warm and happy and reminisce about my college days. Celestina, Luca, Julian and even Sorell add so much light and life to Icarus’ life. Time and time Icarus does his best to push everyone away but they find a way to make him a part of their lives.

If you’re looking for a retelling, I’d say this was a rather loosely based retelling but I loved it all the same. All in all, I’d highly recommend this book.

Also, here's the full review on my blog, including details on how the author's note just had me full-on sobbing. 

 

I fell in love with a book by this author like 5 years ago but ever since then, I've been unable to even finish any of her other books. I think this is where I give up...

I really liked the concept of this book but the writing felt very tell not show, every lesson that Sunny needed to learn was laid out so plainly and there were just so many monologues. I can't relate to Sunny, I don't find her particularly interesting or likeable either.

Everything about this book makes me feel so indifferent and bored so I decided to finally dnf at 41%

I gave it a shot, but it's not for me.

This book was hyped up so much and while I fell in love with it when I started reading, unfortunately the spell didn't last.

We start with getting to know the characters - Shizuka, Katrina and Lan - their lives and where they live. I buddy read this with Sonali and she and I both fell in love with the writing. Aoki's writing style is hauntingly lyrical and can make the most mundane string of words sound beautiful. While I'm no musician I was able to keep up with the narrative and truly experience the fascination and the pull of the violin.

However, after about the first 30 to 40% the book started to get extremely technical. I loved the edition of Lucia in the book, even though all she could talk about were the technicalities of violin, I thought she added a very important perspective to the narrative and I truly enjoyed her story. But after a while the musical details became a hindrance to my reading and I started skimming which of course affected my experience. I feel like the average reader with no knowledge of violin and classical music (me) would get a bit lost from time to time which is really a pity.

Another one of my issues was with the tone of Hell in this book. Shizuka Satomi has delivered six souls to hell and with a seventh one (Katrina), her soul will be set free. This is the central plot point of the book. The more we get to know about Shizuka the more we realise that she may appear to be the Queen of Hell but she is kind-hearted on the inside. But it became so difficult to put together the images of the kind and nurturing Shizuka who took Katrina under her wing and defended her with the Shizuka who was quite ready and eager to sacrifice Katrina to the demon. Yes, her feelings change and waver over time but the point is this makes us take Hell so lightly. 
The characters' attitude towards discovering the hell bond and trading of demons is so bizarre at some point you would think people in LA just always go about trading souls to to demons. What with characters switching opinions on the morality of this deal in the span of seconds and the casual way it is presented, I couldn't be serious about it at all. Up until the very end, I truly couldn't believe that breaking the bond might even have any consequences.

You know, apart from these issues I love the different themes the book picked up on - trans lives, found families, the power of art and music, morality and immorality, artificial code and how human can they be, feminism, love and family and so many more. I don't talk much about Lan and her family in this review but I adored them. They had such a fun and interesting dynamic going on and whenever we got to the donut shop I would have a blast reading about them. I was worried at some point whether all these narratives would get tied together by the end but thankfully the ending was brilliant. The author ended on a high note(pun intended) and I love how everything was wrapped up.

I did sadly not enjoy the climax as much because the technical musical descriptions yet again interfered with my immersiveness. 

But overall, this was a good book, just not incredible for me.

This might be the first Roshani Chokshi book I finished and wow, the hype is truly worth it.

I could wax poetry for the prose, it's the strongest point of this book. Every line flows beautifully and seamlessly, captivating the reader to keep going. If you're listening to the audiobook like I was, it's like the lull of a dream. I was just hooked.

The characters are mysterious: Indigo, Asher and the Bridegroom. It's fascinating to read about Indigo and Asher's bond over the years and see who Indigo is now and the secrets she is hiding. There was an element of mystery to the Bridegroom as well. I for one was completely invested in finding out what happened to his brother. 

As someone who loves myths and fairytales, this book is an ode to them. The book is magically charged and mentions os many tales, weaving them seamlessly into the narrative. The plot itself was so intriguing and I couldn't help but gasp at the revelations. I did figure out the main plot twist a few pages ahead of it and I'm keeping my lips sealed but it's kind of a trope I've seen around and although it's not my favourite, I think it worked beautifully for this book.

All in all this was an enchanting adventure and I can't wait to read more books by the author!

This book is so dry. It's all explanation and intricacies of being a forensic anthropologist with none of the excitement. Like hello?? The premise was a child's bones (acc. to the blurb) like how could this be so dull??
Not to mention it's being carried by the most two-dimensional characters ever which means they're carrying the story to its downfall. I kept reading in hopes it would get better but there's literally no mystery? Nothing to pursue as a reader, like the easiest dnf I've had in a while.