opposite of always by justin a. reynolds

“The things is, you don’t forfeit your whole world to prove your feelings to someone. You bring your worlds together. You get more world, not less.”
Opposite of Always

Where do I even start with this book?

The reason I picked up this book was first the cover, because I loved the art. Second, because the synopsis sounded so unfortunate (and I try to stray from tragedies) that I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

This book made me so sad and happy at the same time because you want to root for Jack so bad but you and even nor Jack can do anything about it because what’s meant to be is what meant to be.

To summarize Opposite of Always, this book is basically about this super cool and funny kid name Jack who meets a girl at a party named Kate and they hit it off. Unfortunately she dies from sickness and Jack gets a chance to time travel back in time to relive the first couple months knowing Kate all over again and having the chance to save her.

Jack is a precious soul that must be protected. Jack has good intentions for everyone but it sucks when he tries to help someone but that action hurts someone else and it just breaks my heart seeing Jack trying to juggle his friendships, family, and his relationship with Kate.

Plus his humor is everything. I wish I was as snarky and funny as Jack because the stuff he says should be hung on a T-shirt and I love his relationship with his friends and parents and it just feels so refreshing to see parents that are THERE in this book.

The ending frustrated me so much because it was the type of ending that was open to your interpretation but I don’t want to decide what happens, I want to know if (minor spoiler) Jack gets his normal life back and stop time traveling but I guess that’s what makes it sadder because Jack possibly won’t turn back until he learns what lessons he needs to learn. SO FRUSTRATING! It didn’t end on a bad note because in a way Jack is happy in the end, but not the kind of happy you know he deserves. It ended more in a pitying note.

I give this a rating of 4.5 stars only because that ending frustrated me but other than that I enjoyed it so much!

Thank you for reading!

Jack Ellison King. King of Almost.
He almost made valedictorian.
He almost made varsity.
He almost got the girl . . .
When Jack and Kate meet at a party, bonding until sunrise over their mutual love of Froot Loops and their favorite flicks, Jack knows he’s falling—hard. Soon she’s meeting his best friends, Jillian and Franny, and Kate wins them over as easily as she did Jack. Jack’s curse of almost is finally over.
But this love story is . . . complicated. It is an almost happily ever after. Because Kate dies. And their story should end there. Yet Kate’s death sends Jack back to the beginning, the moment they first meet, and Kate’s there again. Beautiful, radiant Kate. Healthy, happy, and charming as ever. Jack isn’t sure if he’s losing his mind. Still, if he has a chance to prevent Kate’s death, he’ll take it. Even if that means believing in time travel. However, Jack will learn that his actions are not without consequences. And when one choice turns deadly for someone else close to him, he has to figure out what he’s willing to do—and let go—to save the people he loves.
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we hunt the flame by hafsah faizal

I went into this book with a little to no knowledge of what this story was about. All I knew was there was a girl pretending to be a guy, a prince, and Arabic influence. So I was already sold because I’m already trash for a good book based on Arabic culture such as The Forbidden Wish and The Wrath of the Dawn and I’m a slut for the “girl pretending to be a guy” trope so I was sold already I didn’t even need to read the whole synopsis. Plus, someone even said if you liked Aladdin then you’ll end this story so I’m here expecting an Aladdin story but gender-reversed and instead of Jasmine being a princess, she’s a poor girl who pretends to be a boy and steals and helps the poor. This what I was actually hoping this what this story was about.

Boy was I wrong.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay wrong.

Instead this book was about a girl who pretends to be a boy who hunts in a magical forest for her starving village and she’s known famously at “The Hunter”. A witch convinces her to help restore magic to their kingdom by shipping her off to this island to find this book but there’s an assassin, also a prince known infamously as “The Prince of Death”, who’s sent to kill “The Hunter” and retrieve the book and then stuff happens from there.

Honestly I’m pretty sad it wasn’t what I thought it was lol but the author did tell a good story but there was so much issues I had with this book.

The pacing was so weird. The first quarter of the book was so slow and boring and it was so hard to get into the story that I keep getting distracted by other things. It starts getting interesting right when Zafira (The Hunter) goes on her journey and this book had both Nasir (The prince) and Zafira POV and I was getting excited when Nasir was set on his mission to kill her but that excitement quickly faded away as I continued reading on the book because this characters literally don’t do anything majority of this book until the end and then there’s that cliffhanger.

The plot twists the author threw in this book were really underwhelming. It wasn’t predictable, it’s just when certain information were reveal, it didn’t make me gasp and clench my pearls, like that cliffhanger in the end.

If there was a campaign for the president of brooding men, I would vote for Nasir because I swear this guy can be so depressing and dark to read and he gets kind of repetitive at times. I’m glad we had Altair in the story because his humor not only got Nasir through tough times but me through this book, he was honestly my favorite character in this book and the only character that really shined in this book.

I honestly think this book was more centered towards the character than the plot since majority of the book the characters didn’t do anything and I find Benyamin (or however you spell his name) and the girl (whatever her name is) so random because they came out of no where and I don’t exactly know how they even came into the story and what were their purpose in this story. I really wished we could’ve seen more character development with the girl because she was honestly this warrior princess with no personality and I wish her and Zafira had some type of friendship or showed some girl power.

I’m also a little disappointed in the romance. It wasn’t insta-love but I was really hoping for some enemies-to-lovers vibes and we barely got any and I really couldn’t tell why they like each other except the fact they’re attracted to each other.

What really bugged me was SHE WASN’T EVEN A DUDE FOR THE MAJORITY OF THE BOOK! I was looking forward to that the most and plus basically everyone already knew she was girl so I’m here in confusion as to what was the point of her disguise???? Like I know the message this book sends on feminism but I was really looking forward to the “girl disguised as guy” trope and love interest questioning his sexuality (I’m going to assume homosexuality is a taboo in the story since it’s based on Arabic culture).

I think my expectations kind of got in the way of the book but honestly the author did tell a good story and I did enjoy reading it. I will be looking forward to the second book. This review was a big expection vs reality.

I rate this book three stars!

Thanks for reading!

People lived because she killed.
People died because he lived.
Zafira is the Hunter, disguising herself as a man when she braves the cursed forest of the Arz to feed her people. Nasir is the Prince of Death, assassinating those foolish enough to defy his autocratic father, the king. If Zafira was exposed as a girl, all of her achievements would be rejected; if Nasir displayed his compassion, his father would punish him in the most brutal of ways.
Both are legends in the kingdom of Arawiya—but neither wants to be.
War is brewing, and the Arz sweeps closer with each passing day, engulfing the land in shadow. When Zafira embarks on a quest to uncover a lost artifact that can restore magic to her suffering world and stop the Arz, Nasir is sent by the king on a similar mission: retrieve the artifact and kill the Hunter. But an ancient evil stirs as their journey unfolds—and the prize they seek may pose a threat greater than either can imagine.
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eliza and her monsters by francesca zappia #relatable

Her story is a phenomenon. Her life is a disaster.

In the real world, Eliza Mirk is shy, weird, and friendless. Online, she’s LadyConstellation, the anonymous creator of the wildly popular webcomic Monstrous Sea. Eliza can’t imagine enjoying the real world as much as she loves the online one, and she has no desire to try.

Then Wallace Warland, Monstrous Sea’s biggest fanfiction writer, transfers to her school. Wallace thinks Eliza is just another fan, and as he draws her out of her shell, she begins to wonder if a life offline might be worthwhile.

But when Eliza’s secret is accidentally shared with the world, everything she’s built—her story, her relationship with Wallace, and even her sanity—begins to fall apart.

I love this book so much.

This story in a way saved my life.

Here’s a quick gist of the book is about in case you were too lazy to read the synopsis. This book is about a girl name Eliza who is a webcomic creator to this popular series called Monstrous Sea but no one know’s she’s the author since she displays herself anonymous. She meets a guy from school named Wallace who’s a fan of Monstrous Sea and then stuff happens!

I will say this again.

I love this book.

Although the cover is cute, it is not your cute quick contemporary reads. This book is actually pretty dark and involves mental issues such as anxiety, depression, and suicide.

What makes me really love the book is how much I can relate to characters. If I were to name this review, I would name it #relatable because everything about Eliza is just so dang relatable.

Raise your hand if you’ve been personally victimized by parents who just don’t understand you.

Image result for mean girls raise your hand gif

Raise your hand if you’re socially awkward

Raise your hand if you get anxiety being in a public setting

Raise your hand if you’re just a nerd who rather spend time in their room on the internet than go out in the real world and socialize

If you raised your hand to all of this, then you’re an Eliza as well.

Most of my reviews are more discussions than actually reviewing the book but as a reviewer I have no major issues in the book I really want to talk about. Like I said I loved it and all I want to do is hold the book and forever because it was just so #relatable!

And not only with Eliza but Wallace too. He comes from a home where his stepfather doesn’t believe in writing as a real career. I understood Wallace’s frustration towards his stepfather and how can you live life without doing the things you’re passionate about?

“What’s the point of being alive if you don’t do what makes you happy? What good is a career that makes you money if you hate yourself every day you do it? I don’t have a family to support. I don’t have bills to pay, at least not right now. Sure, I’ll have to pay student loans, but we only have enough money for me to go to community college anyway, so I’ll pay it of with whatever job to get after that. I don’t need to be a doctor, or a lawyer, or whatever important job he wants me to get. I just want to write.”
Eliza and Her Monsters

#relatable

I think Wallace and Eliza are cute together! I like that even though they got together, they were still friends. Usually I get kind of bored after the two love interests get together and start being all couple-y but not Eliza and Wallace and their moments were just too adorable!

I also like how Eliza starts being close with her brothers after her identity has been found out and Eliza starts realizing her family are actual people with actual lives and she starts to take notice the smallest things they do.

Sully rolls his eyes. Mom and Dad are too old to get it. They didn’t even have cells phone when they were younger. Maybe Googling it wouldn’t have helped them.” He rubs his nose. Anyway, if you need to, like, talk to someone, you know where to find me and Church.”
“That’s-that would be nice, actually.” My voice is small, but Sully’s expression opens up. After a moment’s hesitation, he slips into the room, shuts the door behind him, and sits with his legs curled up on the opposite end of my bed. “Thanks,” I say. Sully smiles at me for the first time I can remember.
Eliza and Her Monsters

There’s just so much messages in this book that I wish I had a better way of telling. If I were to give someone a book about me, I would honestly hand over this book because it just gets me, you know. The anxiety, the parents not understanding you, the parents that have their opinions on your future, and enjoying the internet.

This books means so much to me in every way and taught me so much that I’m going to use towards real life. All I want to do is hug this book really.

I recommend this book to nerdy and geeky people like myself who rather sit in their room all day on the internet. I rate this five out of five stars!
Thanks for reading!

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the sun is also a star movie review and RANT

Image result for the sun is also a star movie

On the day May 22, 2019, I went to the movies during the afternoon and watched The Sun is also a Star. Since none of the people in my life know the importance of this movie to me since I read the book, no one was interested in seeing the movie with me (not even my mom who was a book geek like me but she likes fantasy more). So I went to the movies by myself and even had the whole theater to myself. In all, I enjoyed the movie. It was cute and a little funny sometimes and if you’re willing to ignore the missing stuff from the book in the movie, it’s basically another cute contemporary movie about love and finding it in the unexpected places.

Hope you don’t mind some minor spoilers and this very long post.

Although the movie didn’t stick entirely to the book like Daniel’s long hair, his red tie, the back story of the side characters, and even the ending, I still enjoyed it. I watched interviews of Charles Melton and Yara Shadihi, the two main characters that play Natasha and Daniel, and they’re so adorable!

Also did you guys know Daniel is 28? He looks so young! I swear those Asian genes are something else!

If someone didn’t read the book, they would see it as another romantic teen movie but as a reader and someone who read the book, I can see why people didn’t enjoy it and I’ll start why.

Aside from the minor stuff like Daniel’s hair and tie…

WHERE WERE THE SIDE CHARACTERS IN THE MOVIE?

WHERE WAS IRENE STORY? WHERE WAS NATASHA’S DAD STORY? WHERE WAS THE GUY FROM THE IMMIGRATION OFFICE GUY STORY?

AND THAT ENDING?!

The part that bugged the most was not having the side character’s story! Especially Irene’s! The point of their stories in the books is to show how our actions can have an affect on someone’s lives, even if it’s the smallest thing, it can cause a shift. That’s the point of Irene story and how Natasha examining her phone at the security place a little longer than usual is the reason how she met Daniel! Natasha’s simple “thank you” to Irene saved her life! And even that immigration guy that was supposed to be Natasha’s last hope stupid decision to miss the thing with the judge because of his adulterous decisions!

They didn’t even show Natasha’s dad background story and I’m not even sure they even stated why they’re being deported. They barely even show that big argument between Natasha and her dad.

It’s those things that makes the story real in the book and that’s why it would seem like another cheesy teen romance movie to someone with no knowledge of the book.

SERIOUSLY NO IRENE!?!?!

IRENE IS THE REASON DANIEL AND NATASHA MET!

SHE’S THE ONE THAT SET IT OFF! WORD TO LIL BOOSIE!

Like how can you not put that in the movie? I simply do not get it. Maybe Irene attempting suicide could be triggering and looks dark to the audience but if people can read it on the book then I’m pretty sure it’s no problem looking at it on film.

This film could’ve been so much more if they would just add the small stuff that made the book so good. Really those small things like Irene, Natasha’s father, and even the waitress at the Korean restaurant is what made the story.

This is one of the reason why I strongly dislike book-to-movie adaptions. When you read the book, you know everyone’s thoughts and feelings. So as a reader, when you watch the movie, you know what the character’s are thinking and experiencing but for someone who didn’t read the book, they wouldn’t understand and watching as a movie critic. It’s just another cheesy love story when the reader in me knows it’s really not.

I really loved the book and I wish they would just stick to the words on the pages but who knows maybe they didn’t have the budget but aside from my frustrations, I enjoyed the movie.

I love the scene where Daniel takes Natasha to his family beauty supply shop and seeing all the haircare products made me so happy. If you didn’t know I’m a black girl with big curly hair and seeing all the natural hair brands made me so happy. Also the argument between Daniel and his brother was hilarious. Also even though the museum part in the movie wasn’t in the book, I think that scene was pretty cute.

The movie wasn’t entirely horrible, like I said it was another cheesy teen romance. If I were to rate the movie, it would be three and a half stars.

Thanks for reading!