venusinlove's reviews
343 reviews

i don't think i can say much about this book. i don't want to link it to anything political, just want to look at it as another piece of literature. thus why i give it that rating - it was really captivating and the story kept my attention which rarely happens (oops). no but really, the book is amazing? i know it's about real people and i see the logic, it did make sense. i understand why so many people have strong feelings over it and i also now know why it is so popular amongst everyone around me. i want to say so many things but i'd rather not spoil anything. only that the whole animals vs. humans was done in a way that showed the society at its best. even today. 

in the end, i'll just say that "ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL, but some animals are more equal than others. "

fate really decided on putting 7 angels in a group and calling it BTS. 

seriously want to thank Myeongseok Kang for writing their story so freaking well. i don't think i've read a more thorough memoir with such a great timeline as this one, everything just FLOWED. i'm also quite blown away by the design of the whole book? are you kidding me? it's amazing! so well done! 

being an ARMY ever since 2016, i remember almost everything from then up until now that has happened to them, of course not in such details like what was happening between them. but i do remember when they won Artist Of The Year in 2018 at the MAMA awards and them talking about how they really considered breaking up... it was really hard on us fans too because after all, we really are like family. i swear they love us so much. they do so many things for us. and as people too. there is not a single artist that can step on their little finger regarding the many charities and touching on the social issues of the world that they are involved in. they just care, y'know? i'm getting teary-eyed just thinking about the shit that industry has been throwing at them, they had the right to be mad and yet they were kind and humble about their success. i know it is a phrase that we, ARMY, use a lot out there but BTS really did pave the way for most if not all Korean artists. at least they did so towards the American industry (and all over the world but yeah). 

my review might be long but it's for me, this is my space to rant about my love for these boys. so i'll go on.

back in 2016, i was going through a lot of hardships and the only song that kept me literally going was RUN. i remember how one night, that was particularly awful, me and my brother both listened to the song while running all the way towards home. we were so angry and sad back then but it was such a core memory. i literally owe so much to this group. they don't know it but they've helped me get through so much shit and to see in this book how much they were dealing with is really touching. we were in this together and we have been walking towards our brightest future for the past 7(!!!!) years. they've been with me through family stuff, through my first love and biggest heartbreak, through endless nights where i was feeling so helpless and wanted to end it all, through getting back up and seeing that life really goes on. they've been with me and continue to be beside me so i will be right next to them until i can't do it anymore. 

i don't think there will ever be a group that will top BTS. there will only be a comparison to them because my boys have opened the world for Korean artists already. and we should all be thankful to them. There is no such thing as "the next BTS". i'll wait until 2025 to see them again together as one, as a family. i'll bawl my eyes out with them but we'll stand together. that's what matters. :) <3

the whole concept of grief and how we're taking it as living creatures is fascinating. different people react in different ways and it was quite interesting to see Didion's way of going through something so heartbreaking. there were many moments in which it was as if she was describing my way of thinking regarding a person I've lost (although I can't compare them very much...). I think I mainly liked this book solely because I can relate to it and the things she was transcribing were very on point with my thinking overall but I can't say it really hit me hard only because I have yet to lose a person THAT close to me. 

some things I didn't quite get on were if this was a story based on

losing her husband ONLY or that specific thing AND her daughter being ill and constantly in hospitals. I wouldn't mind if it was both, but I was lost.

I loved her writing regardless. at some point, the language she was speaking regarding most of the medical terms was a bit too intense, and was getting overwhelmed because I felt as if I had to have graduated from medical school or have some background in the medical field to understand it all but at least she did her due to describe the stuff she was referring to. 

overall, I think that I would read that in the (hopefully) very far future when I start to lose people around me but for now the only thing I can do is sympathize and applaud her for getting up and dealing with how shitty life is for taking the people that we love the most. 

I think this book felt less of a Murakami book rather than his usual longer books. It read like a tale, a forgotten myth almost which i really liked! Made me feel as if loneliness and death are pretty much the only two permeant things that are certain in life. It sounds sad and the book is pretty sad. It went REALLY fast so that sadness was a bit dulled due to how fast it ended. The story itself was pretty interesting tho. I liked it. :) And if only Murakami had skipped the whole "giant p*nis" shit and sexual-ness it would have been like a 100 times better. 

As i grow and read more (better) literature, i start to see the flaws of Murakami. I really appreciate his style of writing but do we really need all that unnecessary sexual orientated stuff? No, we do not. I hope he learns someday. Or i hope i find an author who has similar writing style but is less creepy and misogynistic. :)

absolutely fascinating! i really liked the three linked women and their stories about womanhood and witchcraft! it really gives off autumn vibes and the whole nature and animal theme was so lovely! (although at parts it creeped me out lol) one thing i couldn't figure out but i don't think it needed any figuring out was

if altha and grace were in love or just "buddies". if they were i'd rethink my decision of giving this book only 4*, lol.

 

a really great read for the autumn/winter season and the cover is just so pretty! that's what pulled me into reading such a lovely book. :) the writing was also pretty well done for the many different times the stories were developing which really made me giddy inside because i tend to see it as a rarity. 

the stories themselves were so full of twists and turns that maybe more so towards the last (third) part of the mook i was reading it with my mouth fully open due to the surprising scenes, haha. so many unexpected things were happening, it was great! i love a good plot-twisting book!

that being said, i feel like i needed some bit of a warning regarding some pretty heavy topics so if any of my friends on here want to read it too - i advice you to check up on those TWs! :)

wow, so much angst and unhinge-ness.

that was literally Our Wives Under the Sea but make it gore-y and mermaid-y. i know I've been comparing almost every book i read recently to one that I've read months ago but that keeps my mind in track with the many books i might go through. it might seem stupid but many of the themes overlap and it kind of becomes a rarity to find something gut-punching good. so now, me comparing this absolute gem of creativity to a similar one is not a bad thing! they are both similar only in the sense of being surrounded (lol, good pun) by the theme of different bodies of water and something i will not spoil. but damn!

this book is so fucking original? like? i know it's something that's not necessarily uncommon but it's the first mermaid book that i've read and I'm quite shook. maybe it was the body horror that got me, i honestly don't know but when i read that specific part my jaw dropped. i love me some gore-y shit and that was amazing. i realize also the fact that many people have one certain scene that they want to include solely because they rely on the shock value of that moment and i've read many books like that but this one seemed natural? maybe because you expect it but when it happens it still fucking shocks and scares you a bit. nevertheless, i still can't find my jaw, help. the way it was written, oh my god.

honestly, i think the book has some flaws plot-wise and maybe even character-wise (to me!!) but i was so invested with the story that they didn't really matter. the flow was good and so was the writing so i was v happy, lol. that was a pretty nice read. <3 

 ah, so good!

describes depression as a "black hole" in such a distinct way that it's way too real. i could relate to so much of the book - the job, the constant nudge from your family to be an "adult", to be social, to work and push yourself to the limit constantly. it amazes me sometimes the world we live in, the jobs being so gray and similar, not a single creativity in sight, nor freedom to express oneself. the book touches on many important topics such as loneliness, rejection, mental health, class difference, the way that the world is working right now which felt so surreal. somehow it felt as if it isn't happening right now - the sameness of tasks, the panic about what the future holds for us. maybe that's also the reason why this book very much reminded me of some of the Japanese books I've read. maybe The Factory or Convenience Store Woman or even Diary of a Void (more of the last one, tho). or you're just stuck in that one black mirror episode, lol.

i think it's not an uncommon theme about the whole "working and being socially inept" theme but this one felt too genuine! almost like a memoir and that i really loved (can i say that for a book so upsetting?). that theme will never get tired and i can see many more people writing about how depressing their 9-17 job makes them, how depressing and how they don't know any other way to live outside of it. even i felt it and I'm only 23.

one thing i REALLY liked too was the (view spoiler)

another thing i want to say is about the black hole. not many people can transcribe the feeling of dread and hopelessness but here it was as if the author took my mind and threw it on the pages. the panic of it, the way consumes you, the feeling of it eating up your whole energy and leaving you alone in the middle of the room with no sound, no vision - it was exactly how I've been feeling for the past 6 years.

i'd love to read this again, in another, more stable point in my life when i am no longer lonely and scared of the future. worth the read! and probably the re-read too. :) 

I was expecting more out of this one. the blurb sounded more like a coming-of-age type of book and it was more a relationship(s) through time. the timeline was HELLA confusing and I didn't know what was happening most of the time which honestly sucked. btw, I don't remember the ending at all and it's only been a day since i read it so that says it all. 3.5*.

the art itself was so cool!!! but the story was all over the place and i was confused most of the time. again the art - phenomenal!! the colours and shapes! :)

short and perfectly describes my mentally built city where i have all the control i need. but it's also very lonely out there. 

i'll never stop praising tillie walden's art skills!