I Fell In Love With Hope by Lancali #bookreview.

Hello, everyone! I am back with yet another book review. I have been reading so many books lately, despite my exams nearing. I am a bit concerned, but there is no harm in reading during breaks! Thank you to Lancali for sending an e-book in exchange for an honest review.

Book: I Fell In Love With Hope
Author: Lancali
Genre: Romance, Fiction
Age Limit: 13+
Pacing: Medium-pacing
Trigger Warnings: Self-harm, chronic illness, death, eating disorder, child abuse, mental illness

Goodreads Summary:

Against the unforgiving landscape of a hospital, I fell in love with a mischievous, sun-eyed boy who became my only joy in that desolate place. That’s what made it all the more soul-crushing when he committed suicide in front of me.

Since then, I’ve sworn never to love anyone again. With three exceptions: My friends, Sony, Neo, and Coeur, a little gang of rebellious, dying kids. Sony leads the charge with the air of freedom and only one lung to breathe it. Neo, a bad-tempered and wheel-chaired writer, keeps track of our great deeds from stealing to terrorizing our nurse. Coeur is the beautiful boy, the muscle, the gentle giant with a failing heart.

Before death inevitably knocks down our doors, my thieves and I have one last heist planned. A great escape that will take us far from abusive parents, crippling loss, and the realities of our diseases. So what happens when someone else walks through the door? What happens when a girl joins our party and renders me speechless with her mischievous smile? What happens when she has suns in her eyes, and as terrified as I am to lose again, I start to fall?

My Review:

I am so glad that I read this book. It touched my heart in so many ways. The author has beautifully written about how five friends tackle their illnesses in the hospital and are each other’s pillars. She conveys how a sick person is seen through the eyes of sympathy. I really liked the friendship element, her writing made the friendship between the five characters very intimate and deep. Coming to her writing style. It has a poetic style with the normal narrative style. In the starting, it was hard for me, but as I read further I understood and got used to her writing style. The story is so purely written, it is raw, and as I read I could feel the pain the characters went through. The characters are so lovable, they have a charm to them.

Coming to the narration. The main character, sam is narrating the story. But in the ending, something is revealed that elevated the whole story. The author discussed many aspects of life in the book such as the support of family and friends and giving your heart out to someone. Personally, I learned so much about life, relationships, and sickness. The author did a great job of pouring down the emotions. Also, if I had a physical copy, I would have annotated almost every other line. There are so many beautifully written sentences that convey everything!

My Rating:

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Have you read this book? Please let me know your thoughts in the comments!
Happy Reading!
Rabhya.

Five Survive by Holly Jackson #bookreview

Hello, Bookworms! I am back with a book review. After enjoying A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder, I kept the new release on my radar. Thank you to Harper Collins for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review of the book. Let’s get into the review!

Book: Five Survive
Author: Holly Jackson
Genre: Fiction, Thriller
Age Limit: 14+
Pacing: Medium-pacing
Trigger Warnings: Death, Murder, Violence

Goodreads Summary:

Eight hours.
Six friends.
One sniper . . .

Eighteen-year-old Red and her friends are on a road trip in an RV, heading to the beach for Spring Break. It’s a long drive but spirits are high. Until the RV breaks down in the middle of nowhere. There’s no mobile phone reception and nobody around to help. And as the wheels are shot out, one by one, the friends realize that this is no accident. There’s a sniper out there in the dark watching them and he knows exactly who they are. One of the group has a secret that the sniper is willing to kill for.

A game of cat-and-mouse plays out as the group desperately tries to get help and work out which group member is the target. Buried secrets are forced to light in the cramped, claustrophobic setting of the RV, and tensions within the group will reach deadly levels. Not everyone will survive the night.

My Review:

The whole story is set in the time frame of eight hours and an RV. This setting was so interesting, and I think the author did a commendable job of narrating the whole story in a small setting, which made the story unique. Now for the six characters. Well, they weren’t likable. I didn’t like the main character and some other characters, like Oliver. Oliver is shown to be the detestable one among the other characters, and normally authors do add those kinds of characters. But after some point, I found it very irritating in the story. It ruined other elements of the story.

The character developments were pretty bland since the story takes place in one setting. I feel that she could have given more backstory, which would have been great input for the main reveal. One thing I liked in the story is that there was one character who was never present in the RV, but through conversations, the author introduced that character.

In the first half of the book, the author was still building the situation and preparing the readers for a climax in the second half. While reading the book, My emotions while reading the book: stress, anger, and cringe. Some scenes really gave good shocks, but throughout the story, the characters made me so angry to the point where I would close the book, take a moment, and then continue to read it. Some moments made me cringe. Coming to the pacing. Around 80 percent of the narrative is dialogue, so it was a quick read. The ending was unpredictable. Hats off to Holly for managing to put plot twists in such a small setting.

Lastly, “What did the curtains remind Red of?” The author never answered this question!

What I Liked:

• The setting of the story.
• Introducing a character through conversations between different characters.
• Shocking plot twists in such a small setting
• Fast pacing due to dialogue narrative.

What I Did Not Like:

• OLIVER.
• There were some cringy moments.
• More backstory could have been given.
• Bland character developments.

Who Should Read This:

If you are starting with the thriller genre, then this book would be perfect for you. If you are in the mood for a fast-paced read which is set in the span of less than 24 hours, then Five Survive is the one for you!

My Rating:

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Hope you enjoyed reading the review. Have you read this book? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
Happy Reading!
Rabhya.

Spotify Wrapped Book Challenge!

Hello everyone, hope all are doing good. I am still on a hiatus because my exams are approaching soon. But for a change, I decided to write a post. I am so excited to do this challenge because music and books are very close to my heart. I saw this challenge at Ali’s Books, so let’s get into it!

Rules:

The idea of this challenge is to put your 2022 playlist on shuffle, and for the first five songs, you need to pick a book you read in 2022 that fits that song. It doesn’t have to be a perfect fit. You just have to explain why you chose that book for that song.

These songs came on my Spotify Wrapped 2022, so I will be going ahead with this list today.

Song 1: Therapist by Jeremy Zucker

Paired with…

This is an upbeat, chaotic, and fearless song. I get those vibes from The Inheritance Games series. Also, I was continuously listening to this song while I was reading the second book.

Song 2: Hate Me If It Helps by Alexander 23

Paired with…

The pain in this song matches the pain in this memoir. The lyrics in the song tell about, how the person is trying to make his past loved one happy and better by hurting himself emotionally, which is exactly the case with the author and her mom in the book. Impactful song and an impactful read…

Song 3: i70 by Jeremy Zucker

Paired with…

The song is about not driving home anymore and in the book, the main character ran away from his home to explore his new life. This song gives very countryside and chill vibes, which I felt while reading Kafka On The Shore.

Song 4: More Than Life by Machine Gun Kelly x Glaive

Paired with…

I read this book in January, but somehow this song always reminded me of The Naturals. The book is based on a serial killer murder mystery, which was very interesting to read. I must say that this series is very underrated, so please read it!

Song 5: High by Chainsmokers

Paired with…

Reading this book gave me anxiety and listening to this song gave me a serotonin boost because it is so upbeat. Now, both feelings are opposite but somehow the song vibed a lot with the book.

I had a blast doing this challenge! I am not tagging anyone but feel free to do this tag!
Happy Reading!
Rabhya.