afi_whatafireads's reviews
589 reviews

I think whatever Elsie Silver writes I’ll devour 😂

This one was just an OKAY but it was still good in a way :’)

Again I hate when we have a sudden conflict like can all romance authors just write something realistic but in a way I get why both of them acted the way they did but still 😂

The thing I like about Silver’s writing is how she incorporates Family Aspects and how the problems that both the characters faced are super valid. In this case, both of our leads understands what it felt like to be betrayed by the people that are supposed to love them.

And to think that I would have a thing with cowboys and ranches 😂 The Found Family  aspect in here especially DD THE HORSE OMG I FREAKING LOVE THEIR DYNAMICS AND I ACTUALLY CRIED SO MUCH 😭 I love that Silver incorporated the relationships between animals and humans and honestly its one of the best things that I’ve read in this book. Vaughn is well… something else 🥺 

Pacing wise is okay but otherwise the rest of the story are 😮‍💨🤝 I recommend reading the whole series.

✨Spice wise : 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5✨
(She writes very intimate and good smut scenes which are not over the top)
✅ Found - Family 
✅ Boss - Employee
✅ Enemies - friends - lovers (not really enemies just a very grumpy guy 😂😂😂)

4🌟

Chapters: Ch 14 - Ch 22

This manga keeps getting better and better as I read it!!!!

Personal Ratings : 4.75🌟

I absolutely LOVED Isagi in here and CHIGIRI IS SO BLOODY CUTE FOR WHAT!

I liked that the manga is so intense from the get-go, you don't get a moment's rest. There's something about the manga that has almost no filler scenes, and its very straightforward. The panels are beautiful, but there's something about the panels when the mangaka draws about during the 'peak' of the match, ESPECIALLY on Isagi's part.

There's something about 'the look' on the manga panels that gets me every single time, and honestly, I'm really falling in love with the twists and the plots for each match that they play with.

AND I MET NAGI IN HERE HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH AND EVENTHO IT WAS LITERALLY 1 PANEL I KNOW THAT I WOULD REALLY LIKE HIM my instincts were never wrong

They will be fighting for the final round next to get out of Level 5 and honestly? I can't wait. This manga saved me from a very bad day and lowkey, I'm thankful hehe.

This moment. This moment was when I knew, this manga will be IT for me.
I'm officially in love.

Personal Ratings : 5🌟
Chapters : Ch 5 - Ch 13

There's something about the characters that makes this manga so endearing.
Its the way Isagi never fails to continue to strive, and that EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN THE TEAM is doing the same as well.

Again, the chapters here was so intense and yet, I finished this so fast, it didn't feel like I was going through several chapters. It just felt... complete.

The flow of the game, the intensity of the match, and the way Isagi slowly discovers his talents? It makes me want to give him a huge hug. I liked that he's competitive and his compatibility with Bachira is something. I can see that they will make good team mates with Kunigami.

You know you'll be hooked to the manga when a certain chapter caught your eyes, and for me, this one is it. Literally. So bloody good I was so satisfied after reading this! Can't wait for the next volumes >.<

Yow.... that was HELLA INTENSE .

Personal Ratings : 4.25🌟

Ngl, I actually wanted to read the physical copy of this manga, but, the english translation is hella expensive, so we, gotta make do with what we have :') (My resources are a blessing)

Anyways, going into the manga, I don't know what to expect, and honestly, at first, I felt like it was like... every other sports manga? I think its because I've grown up with literal legends in sports mangas and animes that makes me quite skeptical to start a new one.

But.... I have to say... I don't regret a single thing starting this on a whim, and I thank my mood-reader-behaviour picking this up suddenly, but ending up being a fav.

They say books will find you at the right time, and honestly, I picked Blue Lock at a day in my life that was so hard and bad, and yet the ADRENALINE RUSH that I felt after reading this is insane. If Haikyuu had saved my life once, Blue Lock gave me strength to continue another day.

The introduction was good, and like every first volume, we have to read the second to really know what's going on, but for a start, it caught my attention. Super intense, and I liked that.... It's not cliche :') The competition is bloody intense, and honestly, I'm not surprised because in the real football world, its also as intense ; just that the training centres here exaggerated in a sense.

But lowkey.... I look forward to continue this manga because for me? It screams potential. The art is bloody amazing and again, it was so packed with no fillers that injected the boost that I need, and I love that I have a thing to look forward tomorrow to wake up too <3

There's something about Ernaux's writing that feels like you're watching a slow-motion movie, where every single smallest detail mattered. It feels like going through the mind of a person with endless possibilities and through their lenses, we see a world in a light that is quiet but vocal, painted with colours of the community, the country and still remained mundane.

I picked this book up on a whim, and in the first few chapters, the short essays took me a bit by surprise, but once I got used to it, I actually enjoyed the thought process that Ernaux had during the years of her daily life. You'd think that going to the subway and to the supermarket will not encounter deep thoughts, but I guess, that's what makes authors like Ernaux special. There is a deep nuance to her writing that makes it not self-imposing but almost having a cynical way. I can't help but remember Jhumpa Lahiri's thought process in her book, Whereabouts. There is a sort of similarity but in a different way. Whilst Lahiri highlights on solitude, Ernaux's daily life highlighted the class difference as well as socioeconomics and her tones are more deprecating . I enjoyed going through her thought process and showed how observant Ernaux is to the most smallest attention of detail; from the way people were treated at the butcher's to the very thought process of a mother and daughter's privilege in a subway.

There is a mix of growth, I can say during her years from 1985-1992. Her thoughts can sometimes come forward as unhinged but laced with truths that reflects our world now. Her criticism on system of stratification of society by class, the different treatments of health workers , how capitalism divides people and affects its soci0-economics and the abuse of power from the rich was subtly written in her passages, and yet, it can be seen as vocal in how she attributes to the instances that happens in her daily life to show the readers, on the behaviour of humans and how at the end, we are all fickle creatures that puts our own interest first.

This is my first ever book from her, and it would definitely won't be the last. Her observations had definitely left an impact to me, and we can agree to disagree with her thoughts, and her writing may not be for everyone, but I for one had enjoyed this one, and I can see why it won the Nobel Prize in Literature last year. Perfect for a short but meaningful read and qualms on life and human behaviour.

4.25🌟 for this one!

Deep Breaths because ... I WILL BE GUSHING ON HOW GOOD THIS BOOK IS AND HOW KEIGO DID IT. AGAIN

Disclaimers: This is NOT a spoilery review and I advise to go into the book blind. Like just pick it up and blame me if its not good. But I can assure you, you won't regret reading this.

Third english instalment of the Detective Kaga series, and I loved this book most out of the three.
Malice was incredible. It set the tone and the differences from the Detective Gallileo series.
Then Newcomer came in bringing something TOTALLY different and unexpected. This one showed Kaga as a character and as a detective and how it will eventually benefit him in the next book, which is well, the current book now.
Death in Tokyo, is something else.

There is a nuance to how Keigo writes his stories;( and yes I might be biased) which makes the plot and how everything turned out to be .. well... very unexpected at the end. For me, the case for this book took another turn and I almost teared up. Everything came together to form a story that not only addresses the cases in hand, it also addresses a lot of social issues , especially on how Keigo highlighted the importance of closure to the victim's families and anyone involved .

Since I don't want to spoil anything about the book, I will write down some takeaways that Keigo highlighted that made this book one that I will remember for a very long time.

1) The Significance of Kaga as a Character
I liked that Keigo brought something new to the table with Kaga, and his character showed a significance that made him so endearing despite being the oddball that he is. Whilst Yukawa in the Gallileo series highlights the significance of looking through the perspectives of the murderer and the blurred lines of the crimes as well as using STEM as a form to bring another angle and perspective in solving a crime, Kaga highlights the significance of empathy and the importance of closure for the people affected by the victims' murder .

This fact can be missed a lot of times as , once a case is solved, there's nothing much that can be done; and I liked what Keigo did in this series in showing how we need someone like Kaga who is not only emphatic but very persistent in giving closure to the families and solving the case and finding REASONS behind the crime. Yes, its a pretty unconventional way to solve a crime as a detective; and he's doing a sort of profiler's job in a sense, but, I liked how each book showed the impacts of the families that had been affected by the crime. Often, getting closure is a way for families to grief their loved ones, and I liked that Keigo had highlighted that very much in the series; as the case seemed so simple in the surface, and YET, there are so many layers needed to unveil.

(also please Kaga was so endearing in here I want to give him a huge hug)

2) Social Issues
This book highlighted a lot of social issues that are we can often observe in the real world as well. Some of them like,
❌ Corruption in workplace
❌ Exploitation of temporary workers
❌ Exploitation of the dead
❌ Unethical journalism (wow this one really made me want to slap someone)

Keigo brought forward that humans are fickle beings that, at the end of the day, resort to only protect themselves when they're in harm, and it really showed in this book.

Honestly, I can write more about this book, but it will be very spoilery so I will leave my thoughts only up till here. Please, please read this book. It was straightforward, left me heartbroken, tugged my heartstrings and above all, made me realize that there is nothing more in life than to appreciate the ones that you love. This book really shone Kaga as a character and I highly highly recommend everyone to read this. Its that good.

4.75🌟 for this gem

Biggest thank you to @definitelybooks for this copy <3 I truly appreciate it.

I picked this up at 1.40 AM and finished it at 3.40 AM on the very same night.
Reading this in the wee hours, to be honest, is the sure way to go. The intricateness of Murakami's writing and paired with the lives of the people that are still awake in the hours of the night, to me, heightens the reading experience. There is a sort of intricacy and helplessness whilst reading the book. It felt like going through a lucid dream, in which you're neither awake or asleep. You're somewhat experiencing from the point-of-view of a video camera that is constantly watching from the sides but never interrupting.

Is it possible to feel so much for a book that feels like it has nothing but is also packed with everything. You can either really hate Murakami's works, or really love what he writes; and I am on the spectrum where, even the weirdest stories of his doesn't turn me off. In fact, I thrive off them. After Dark has more of a nuance of a noir film, as its set in the red-light district of Tokyo and how the lives of complete strangers are somewhat intertwined with one another. It makes you feel that, somehow, humans are somewhat interconnected in a huge web, and we somehow at some point of our lives, have come across someone that we've yet to know but will soon become apart of our lives. Murakami has a sophisticated way in making things seemed simple on the surface and yet, there's so many things to unpack, if you dare to dive deep down.

The storyline of the book is pretty simple and yet we go through a series of somewhat parallel worlds that I translate it to Murakami showing how Depression and Darkness are related. The feeling of floating and your body is there but your soul is nowhere near the surface showed how the darkness is a friend that can help you during the state of your mind at its very lowest. Its interesting how Murakami showed that you can read the book in a different angle and perspective and yet it all seemed real; albeit it felt like a dream. One thing's for sure, you're left to ponder if its better to live in your nightmares in the dark or being awake but still living in a nightmare. The portrayal of the exhaustion of humans that leads to seek something in the wee hours of the night, where honest conversations and characters unveil, one by one.

Murakami's books has no definite ending and it will leave a lingering feeling that stays with you for a very long time. This book was somewhat like walking through a dream and even writing my thoughts out now, felt surreal. Its everything and nothing all at once, and I for one, need this kind of books in my life and I'm happy that Murakami's writing exists for me to devour.

4.25 🌟 for this gem

Ada sesuatu yang menggamit rasa damai setelah membaca Stesen Titik Nol. Perasaan aku bercampur-baur setelah habis ke penghujung cerita pengalaman penulis di tiga negara di Asia Tenggara yang tidak jauh lazim daripada kita; Thailand - Kemboja - Vietnam. Menariknya, penulis telah ketiga-tiga negara ini hanyalah dengan menaiki tren yang menunjukkan betapa tidak asingnya mereka daripada kita. Sebuah travelog yang bersahaja tetapi padat dengan isi, santai tetapi tidak meleret. Digandingkan dengan penulisan yang mantap, Johan Radzi akan menjadi penulis lokal yang akan aku cari lagi karyanya.

Aku sejenis yang jarang akan membaca travelog, kerana akan banyak unsur 'self-insert' dalam travelog-travelog yang aku pernah baca. Prejudis aku terhadap genre ini telah disangkal oleh penulis ini, kerana ternyata, selama ini aku salah memilih travelog untuk dibaca. Pentingnya untuk memilih penulis untuk melihat inside-thoughts mereka ketika mereka megembara, dan lensa yang dibawa oleh penulis bagi aku chill and easy, but filled with precise information without unnecessary fillers .

Pertama sekali, Penulisan Johan Radzi is so easy to read, and he is the kind of author who manages to capture the essence of each place through the words that he wrote. . Seakan penulis berjaya merakam setiap momen-momen di setiap negara dengan lensa kamera, tetapi bezanya, beliau menggunakan aksara untuk menzahirkan rasa yang ada. Aku seolah berdiri dan berada di tempat yang diceritakan di dalam pengembaraan beliau. Seolah setiap bait perkataan dapat menggamit pelbagai rasa ketika aku membaca entri-entri penulis di setiap negara. What makes him a good author is his ability to bring readers to the places that he had went thru. From the places that he went, to his feelings upon seeing the places of genocides and war, even to the smallest details of the sun and wind during his cycling endeavours in the city. Penulisannya halus dan teliti dan aku seakan dibuai dengan bait kata penulis.

Travelog yang aku pernah baca sebelum ini kadangnya sarat dengan too much info-dumping . Lain dengan buku ini kerana penulis dpaat menyampaikan sejarah dan backstory di setiap tempat yang beliau lawati dengan ringkas dan padat. Ia membuatkan kita dapat mengenali sesebuah tempat itu tanpa merasa bosan dengan penjelasan penulis. There is a nuance in his writing, and how he wrote about the history of each place felt raw. Its a wonder how as Malaysians, we often forgot that our neighbouring countries has just recently ended the war in their country. We forget that we also share the same culture and there are other Malays living there as well. Travelog ini telah membuka mata aku untuk melihat negara-negara jiran dengan perspektif berbeza.

Secara keseluruhannya, buku ini akan aku recommend kepada semua orang. Pembacaan yang ringan, padat dengan isi dan kita juga dapat rasa mengembara sekali bersama-sama penulis.

4.25🌟 untuk buku ini!

There's something almost ethereal but also very grounding to Banana Yoshimoto's writing. This book, despite it being a short read, packs with everything, emotion-wise, theme-wise, and above all, it somehow relieved me of the sadness that is within me and comforted me in a sense that I can't fathom.

The Lake has a simple prose, where Chihiro who just lost her mother fell in love with her neighbour, Nakajima, who had experienced a very traumatic childhood; and these two lives intertwined with one another. A story of grief, loss, hope, handling trauma and overall, touching the quiet sadness that we hold in our hearts, and mostly of love.

Personal Ratings : 4.5🌟

I didn't expect to love this book as much as I thought I would. I came in with no expectations and came out feeling...... healed, in a sense that Banana Yoshimoto's writing worked to untangle whatever complicated feelings that I had in my heart. This book is so simple , and the fact that its just a short read, and yet; it held everything, from social critics, to relationships between parents, of budding love, of trauma and implications, to drug usage, depression; like I said EVERYTHING . Surprising how this short novel had hooked me and tore me apart only to put me whole again.

Honestly I can't unveil much of the plot, but, just know that, go into this at a time where you need something to ground you in life. I feel that Yoshimoto excels in writing stories that slowly disentangle your woes and lays it out one by one, leaving you stripped, bare and forcing you to acknowledge your feelings in a gentle way. Her writings are quiet and peaceful and yet it speaks volume, and that is how I know how good the author is. The ability to pull a reader in and make it seemed like they're reading in a dream, but also pulls you in to the reality that is harsh.

Highly recommended and I am absolutely in love with this book.

An introspective view in the world of Dazai, we are introduced to three short stories in this collection, on which I feel is not the best of Dazai's work; but I feel its the most different from the rest of his collection.

The fact is; he Excels in writing stories that dives down deep into the human's psyche and questions your existence in the world. Its not considered a Dazai writing if he isn't musing about death and his self-hatred , but I also love that this collection showed a different side of his writing, in which there are truths but also comical in a way that makes you chuckled at certain parts of the story.

In Early Light, which is set during the pre-war is a story of hope and loss, and mostly of the hardships during the war; in which you'll have to have your lives to your own means. I liked this story and it has the same style that Dazai usually writes.

The second story is somewhat comical and yet, I feel this story shone most. I liked that it showed a different side of Dazai's writing, and its almost poetic and beautiful in a sense.

I liked that the character in the second story mostly made a reference to Mount Fuji in a sense that is self-absorbing and yet self-discriminating as well. Dazai knew how to play with metaphors and the way I see it, the second story hooked me.

The closing of this collection brings back to the darkness that can veil when you're reading Dazai's works. It can often shock you but also surprise you as well on how much you'll be very into the lines and between the phrases.

I devoured this collection in one seating and definitely an addition to my love for Dazai's works.

4.25🌟 for this collection!