I was halfway through writing this in an Instagram caption when I noticed the length starting to look unappealing alongside a picture of my hand with chipped nail polish holding up a book in my bedroom, so here a new blog series is born. In the beginning of 2022 I needed an escape and reading did just that for me; I felt like I was back in the sixth grade reading the Divergent series in the span of one week. I continued reading and now today marks the end of the third month this year and I am already on my eighth book. I am hoping this qualifies me to officially voice my opinion on literary matters now and I know that my content on this platform has transformed a lot over the years but humans do transform over the years and this platform is a direct reflection of me.
Book #8 of 2022
A spoiler-free, honest review:
After seeing It Ends With Us sprawled across social media the past few months I knew I had to get in on the hype, although I quickly came to the conclusion that I actually hated it. I was expecting a cliché romance novel as it was written by Colleen Hoover, but I was not prepared for how juvenile of a read it would be. I had already committed to the $17 paperback and the movement from "Want to Read" to "Reading" on Goodreads, so I pushed through the first 200 pages of hot and heavy love at first sight accompanied by flashbacks to what should have been a simpler time. Regardless of content, the writing style of the novel was giving a little too much Wattpad to fully suck me in, but maybe my stark transition from Sally Rooney's entire oeuvre to the YA section has part to blame for my bias. I will give Hoover credit for still incorporating tropes that she knows her audience would eat up, while furthering them into plot twists that simultaneously twist your heartstrings. Usually my indicator of a good book is if it makes me cry, but maturing is realizing that there may be relatable lines or events and that do not completely override a book's rating. Part 2 of It Ends With Us really starts to pick up the pace and I read it all in one morning. Things finally were not going to plan and I loved it, not that I was praying on their downfalls or anything. These last 150 pages or so finally encapsulated the tension I anticipated when I turned that first page. I would say Hoover redeemed herself to the level of a YA romance novel, but I still am wondering why people are calling it a "must read" that "digs its claws into you and doesn't let go."
This post was unexpected and therefore short, but I know some of my readers also really enjoy reading so maybe I will continue sharing my ratings or you may never hear me speak of a book again. As always, thank you for reading!
-Emma Claire