venusinlove's reviews
343 reviews

Зелда by Елин Рахнев

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hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

2.75

Стори ми се леко претенциозна, но от друга страна... не е ли всяка поезия, в която се обясняваш в любов по свой собствен начин претенциозна? И все пак, оставям настрана изразяването на чувства, колкото и дълбоко и докосващо душата беше, защото референциите към radiohead ми бяха малко в повече. Разбирам, че е нечия любима група, но ми се стори, че в книга, която е 42 страници, е напълно достатъчно да чуя за любовта на Елин и неговите чувства и да продължа с живота си. Звучи като оплакване и може би е. Но всъщност оплакването ми е към фразата, където ставнява чувствата си с wi-fi? Сериозно ли?

Като игнорирам тези теми, беше доста есенна книга, но може би не бих дала пари, а по-скоро ако имам бъдещо желание да я препрочета бих се обърнала към Storytel. Прочита бе чуден. :) 
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

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challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

so that was fucking great! i loved the book a lot, it was v well written and the whole meaning of everything inside it was really well put out.

in my mind tho, no book can beat Babel: An Arcane History and it's entirely Kuang's fault for setting up the bar so damn high. i do not mean to say that Yellowface was "a not good" book but i like my reads to be more serious and with less "funny" stuff inside. not to say that racism is funny but it was written in a much less overly explained in v v v detailed text way and i looooved especially that in Babel.

still, that book was so good and it's always a pleasure to read anything by Kuang. :) i wish i could time skip so i could read her next book. 
Неделният продавач на книги by Даниел Вълчев

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reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

Доста разочароващ роман. Интересното, което забелязах бе, че много се приближава до стила на Георги Господинов, а след като приключих със самата книга усетих колко много допирни точки има с Времеубежище. Не бих казала, че книгите са съвсем еднакви, но са с доста прилики, което не ме оставя с добро впечатление откъм прочита на "Неделният продавач на книги".

Идеята беше добра, интересна бе и историята, която се развиваше, но всичко беше толкова мудно изразено, че ми уби желанието да я приключа за ден-два, както очаквах, че ще стане.

Проблем имах и с няколкото plot holes в разказа. Едновременно с това историята с Мария и Сидел не бяха развити изцяло и седяха малко фалшиво на фон на цялостната картина, което не ми позволяваше да "заобичам" този роман.

Корицата от друга страна е феноменална и ме заплени от пръв поглед. :)

Дргу интересен аспект,който не очаквах да ми направи толкова голямо впечатление, бе частта с влизането в църквата на протагониста. За пръв път в българска книга срещам подобен детайл и за мен беше удоволствие, че е в книга, въпреки мимолетната си значимост. 
Are You Listening? by Tillie Walden

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

i'll be forever in love with tillie walden's artwork! her art is so good! so pretty and the colours!!!!! sadly, the story itself wasn't one of my favourites mainly because of how fake the dialog felt and i would have said that it got better over time but i just noticed that this graphic novel was posted in 2019 while On a Sunbeam was published back in 2018. I'd say that "Are you listening?" is not even close(!!) to how excellent On a Sunbeam is! but! the book overall deserves more love and i simply cannot give it 3*. 

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Линия девет, или когато пресъхнаха чешмите by Теодора Николова

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lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

3.25

Не бих казала, че тази книга беше "за мен". Беше твърде хаотична и ме объркваше много често. Разбрах единствено, че са кратки истории, но почти нито една от тях не ме "докосна" и не я усетих както например стана с  Едно възможно начало.

Оформлението на книгата от друга страна бе толкова впечатляващо. Искрено съм впечатлека от красотата и стила на илюстрациите. Краят на книгата също беше интригуващ. :) Ще ми се да я бях разбрала малко повече все пак. 
Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 21%.
I think the art made me want to quit it mainly, it was way too much for me and I didn't vibe with it :)
They Hate Each Other by Amanda Woody

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dark emotional funny hopeful reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

i can't believe i'm rating an YA with 5*. and also it making it into my "favourites" list? unheard of from me, i know.

it actually shocked me how good this book is! this is literally the best example that even if the characters talk out their problems there still will be a great book! once in a review i said how a friend of mine told me that "if people were to talk it out every time there won't be a story and no point the book to be written", a lie! this book is such a great example of a really well-written rom-com with likable characters, not too many modern references (which was my problem with [book:Seven Days in June|55648820]) and it's plainly *chef's kiss*!

there were some moments that felt a bit off but there's nothing perfect in life so it's okay. i know I'm very critical when it comes to unrealistic dialog or storyline but these few instances i am very willing to ignore and enjoy life.

both of the characters' stories were so well described and overall written that they got me very emotional (a rarity for me lol) and wow,
the way jonah and dylan were helping each other through panic attacks actually made me cry so many times because i know what's it like to have one. and to have a person next to you? helping you through it? insane. well thought out, too. i loved(!!!) that, that literally made me so freaking happy.
most of their dialog also felt real? which is pretty uncommon for most YAs and I'm forever grateful when something like this feels authentic.

all in all, i literally read this in a few hours instead of studying for a final so i wanna thank my friends for bringing it up to my feed, lol. it was such a nice read! I'm still quite shocked at how much i enjoyed it, haha. 
Seven Days in June by Tia Williams

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dark hopeful reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

my hopes for this book were set up so high! like, the title was insanely good the cover itself is amazing! i loved it all! sadly i couldn't say the same thing while reading it and of course just like with any other book i have icks with i'll list them below. :)

okay, one thing i do not(!!!) understand is how shane came into her life after what seems a pretty horrible past and there is this one scene where they go for ice cream and start talking and he suddenly goes "oh btw you never told me about your mum" AND SHE STARTS SHARING HER LIFE STORY? out of fucking nowhere? that is so unreal and fake and it made me so angry without a practical reason. but see, they have been friends or together or idk for so long and i know they've had a rough past but he's showing up after years of not talking and she starts telling him all the personal detail just like that? ain't no way it works like that in real life. (do not come for me with the "it's just fiction" bc i will throw hands)


that whole character of audre felt so off-putting and it was an overexaggerated form of a teen. i am aware of the fact that it's difficult to write about a teenager without you being one yourself but i did not need all the "peace sign with the tongue out selfie" being made or the whole excessive social media usage. which brings me to my next point why i did not vibe with the book overall and that's because of all the pop/modern references such as stranger things, snapchat (really?!), lizzo and literally anything that exists now. it put me off and i know this is more of a me-problem rather than the author's work one but i really disliked it and it made me want to quit the book every time i met such mentions. 

I'm so upset that the execution is so bad...
especially the part where we get to know why Eva is not a virgin and the fact that she was rap*d. I'm partly angry at how rushed it was because you can't just drop a bomb such as this one and leave it.


the story between eva and shane felt so flat, it didn't make me feel anything and as it was progressing(?) i realized that i didn't care what their childhood story is.
(spoiler, it's literally not that deep, except all the drug use and alcohol)


one thing i did like was the ending when shane met eva and she didn't make a fuss but just listened to his explanation. i very much appreciated that, it was v grown-up. the whole epilogue (aside from the structure and the spongebob-esque "a few moments later" part) was actually great! i loved knowing about eva's past generations. :)

tl:dr, this would have made a great movie, a sweet little rom-com if you will, maybe then i would like it better.

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Етюд-и-те на София by Иван Шишиев, Наталия Чайкина

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hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

4.75

Перфектен албуми за хората, които обичат София или са готови да се запознаят с това колко е красив този град. :) Фотографиите са фантастични!
Втора кожа by Катерина Стойкова-Клемър, Люба Халева, Katerina Stoykova-Klemer

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

Тази книга неочаквано дойде точно днес - 1-ви юни. За по-малко от час вече я бях прочела и не смятам, че има по-подходящ ден от днес за подобен прочит. Никое дете, ничия майка не заслужават да преминат през такава болка. Всяко дете заслужава най-чудното детсво и прочита на тази книга ми даде много ясна представа как един ден като днешния не всяко малко създание може да си позволи да празнува. 

Поздравления на авторката и на самото издателство за смелото решение за издадат тази книга. Мнението ми за ICU винаги е било позитивно, но наистина се изисква кураж за изписаните редове и от двете страни. 

Думите са излишни, запознайте се сами с произведенията на Катерина. :)

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