Was a Happy Place necessary? - Emily Henry

A happy place has been everywhere since it was announced that Emily Henry, Tik Tok’s favourite romance author, was coming out with a new rom-com. I had recently finished two of her books, Book Lovers and Beach Read, which I immensely enjoyed, so I was equally excited as the rest of the internet. I read it the second it came out and am now disappointed.

A Happy Place takes place in two periods: Happy Place and Real Life. One of which, the past, describes how the relationship between our two main characters started and eventually ended. And the other explains how they survive a week with all of their friends while fake dating to convince them that they are still together to get their friends married. As exciting as that might sound to some people, I was very disappointed when I found out after having expected a fake dating trope, that that was just a poor excuse to sell more titles. And worst of all, that marketing strategy made it even worse.

Emily Henry is not a wrong author; this story is not terrible. However, it lacked so much care, work, and depth that I hoped it would end soon. Yes, I enjoyed the parts where she wrote about their past and how their relationship had started and ended. There was no unnecessary fluff and no boring parts. I was pretty invested. It made sense and needed to be there. However, whenever we switched to real life, I felt the depth was thrown out the window. Not only was it scene after scene of unnecessary hormones and the worst, “Will they, will they not”, it was boring. Emily Henry was trying to create a fluffy romance, trying to go in-depth into the themes of love and, at the same time, trying way too hard to get the whole “Sally Rooney” essence of the friend group who explore human connections without actually examining the friend group nor the human relationships.

Following that, the side characters were not only dull but forgettable. I do not remember a single one of their names, nor do I know anything about any of them. The only thing I know is that one of them, I forget, had a father who has married many times (which, again, was never explored in the least). They were there to get the Sally Rooney-similar author’s target audience to join the Emily Henry scene, but, as a fan of both romance and the no-plot-just-vibes scene, I was disappointed in both parts. I don’t think the idea was terrible; I think it could have worked; if she had had fewer scenes of the world, they would not thing of the main characters and more of the genuine friendship being like family stuff.

Finally, the good stuff and the banter are terrific. Emily Henry knows how to write dialogue. I think it works, is funny, realistic and flowing, and it helped me get through the entire book without throwing it out the window.

In light of what I have said, if you are a fan of Henry’s books, you might enjoy this one. However, as a passive reader of her books, I did not like this one now I think I’ll be reading her next one.

The cosiest romance - The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

Once in a while I start dreaming about the perfect cozy romance but I have never been able to find it. Until now.

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches follows our main character Mika Moon who is a witch who belongs to a club of witches who meet every three months. One day she receives a message from someone who needs a witch tutor to teach witchy things to three young witches. Eventually she accepts and finds herself in Nowhere Home where she falls in love and finds her new family.

That is the entire book, yes, it’s that simple. I might be missing a few things but that is what it’s all about. The novel is not super exciting or the most romantic thing ever. But what it is is cosy.

The writing is so funny and quirky and just amazing that it just makes you want to curl up with a blanket and tea and read the entire day.

The romance in the book is not mind blowing and if you are looking for a very spicy book, this is not for you.

This is a book for all of those who love something with a lot of passion because the way Mika loves magic is just incredibly heartwarming. This is also for those who love The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune because it has very similar cosy vibes.

The characters are not perfect, they are quite simple but they are good enough to keep the story going.

Although it is not the perfect book, it’s the best cosy romance.

The Most Beautiful book you will ever read, Open water - Caleb Azumah Nelson

Open water takes you on a 140 page ride into the most beautiful narrated piece I have ever read. Every sentence is assembled with the most care and precision and fits perfectly well into the story of a young Black man in London falling in love with a Black woman.

The plot is very simple: boy falls in love with girl in London. But this book is so much more than that. It explores art and beauty and depression and love and family. The voice of the main character carefully describes these happenings with maturity and attention to even the smallest detail. I felt myself tearing up at every single book in this book not because of the sadness but at the utmost beauty that it holds.

Not only do we see the narration of a romantic love story but we also see a young Black man explore life in a modern London. It makes references to art, film and music by Black people that affect the protagonist as a Black man himself.

The mix between poetry and fiction narration really shows how Nelson is a master at the craft of writing. He uses the second-person narration with a perfection that I have never before encountered.

It is a short and concise book and although I wished it never ended, everything that needed to be said was said. Caleb Nelson has created a masterpiece, a work of art and my favourite book from now on. I will surely be checking out anything he puts out and I cannot wait how he grows as an artista and story teller.

Evelyn Hugo, a fake Celebrity in everyone’s hearts - Taylor Jenkins Reid

Tiktok and instagram have bombarded me with this book. I ended up accepting my fate and I bought the book. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo has been a new modern classic in my little library since I finished reading it. It has captured my heart like many others before me and I can’t wait to share how I feel about Evelyn on this article.

Evelyn Hugo is a well-known celebrity in this world where our narrator lives. She gets to interview her and write her biography but, she can only release it once Evelyn dies. This book is not a love story for me it is rather a mystery where we find out why Monique, this young journalist, gets to be the one to write Evelyn Hugo. But the real mystery lies in front of our eyes; we have to find out who the real villain in Evelyn life is. We read Evelyn’s life story only to find out that she is the real villain in her own story. Taylor Jenkins Reid is true mystery writer. The clues lie in front of us when we read but the real truth is only revealed at the end.

We go through Evelyn Hugo’s life through the timeline of her husbands. We get to find out who the love of her life was and the reasons for all her dramas. The writing if full of emotion and it fast paced which leaves you with hunger after every word. We connect with the characters and we fall in love with her life stories as time goes own. This book explores themes of growing up, family and love through the lenses of one single person and we can’t seem to get enough of this fake celebrity.

Further on we read about other themes such as sexism, homophobia and domestic abuse. We get to see this through Evelyn, a strong woman who has to go through the prejudice of the whole world, which is a great example of what woman in her industry, and many others, have to go through every day.

The praise in this book is endless but I must say that it is not perfect. Even though I have enjoyed this book and I will continue to recommend it, I do have to say that some parts were less exciting than I expected. Taylor Jenkins Reid is exceedingly good at story telling but in some parts specially towards the start and the ending, I felt like there were some plot holes I couldn’t ignore. The start for me was dreadful and the ending felt uncohesive.

This book will now be a classic read that I will recommend to whoever loves to read. Taylor Jenkins Reid has been a new discovery and I can’t wait to see what her journey will bring.

Don’t you wish you were in The house in the Cerulean sea? - TJ Kune

A gay love story, a found family and a fantasy world. This wonderful story captures your heart from the start, it’s charming, heartfelt and just beautiful but still comes from a dark and sad story. TJ Klune captures my heart and many others and creates a beautiful story that will for ever be one of my favourites.

The story revolves around the clumsy Linus Baker, the lovely Mr Baker who works for the organisation DICOMY who is in charge of the protection (or rather the control) of magical youth. He is sweaty, clumsy, rather big and poorly respected in his own company. He is however very good at his job and therefore sent to a special mission to one of the orphanages. this orphanage is special, possibly dangerous? But, they’re are kids right? Well because of the discrimination that these kids have to go through, this orphanage has to be kept in secret with the six children, the master and the housekeeper being kept in a far-away island. Linus has to stay there for a month and recollect information on the children and the mysterious master of the orphanage.

Linus is hesitant at first, he believes that he has to be impartial when writing the reports. Mr Baker, to his surprise, forms an unforgettable bond with the children and ultimately falls in love with the master. TJ Klune creates unforgettable characters that all have a special place in my heart and Linus’ heart. Every kid has their own back story and own strong personality. A new family for Linus and a beautiful ending to the story.

TJ Klune has not only created one of my favourite books but he has also created a story where discrimination, acceptance and love is portrayed. With a touch of light he has discussed a hard topic that most people could find disturbing. The ending is happy and a good ending but it does not oversimplify the fact that discrimination is hard to overcome so, he shows how hard it is through a positive view.

This novel is filled with hope and love and I would recommend this book to anybody that loves fantasy. I would also recommend this book to anyone who loves to read love stories. this book not only shows the love that Linus has for the children but also for Mr Parnassus. I hope to read every TJ Klune book that he comes out with and i hope this book gets the love it deserves.

My heart was broken after reading The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller.

Finding something that can make me cry as much as this book has, is difficult. This is a different take on Illiad's classic story, but it is as enjoyable as the classic is. The story is filtered through the eyes of Patroclus, which takes a different take on the happenings. It is quieter and more serene. The fantasy is toned down as Madeline Miller uses the real myth to make it more charming; she does not overuse it and doesn’t use too little to make it just a romance story. It discusses both the positive sides of humanity and the opposing sides of the take of power and stubbornness.

Patroclus takes the story to another level. We know the ending to his story and the Trojan War's termination, but that does not drive us to keep reading but rather his view on the happenings. His beautiful words show how much he adores Achilles, but that does not mean that he is affected by his thirst for power. It shows what the 2004 film ‘Troy’ did not want to show, actual homosexuality, and we get to see it from the gentle Patroclus, which made me feel like the story was filled with gold.

The prose is magical, charming and enchanting. The language is straightforward and straightforward, while the description is forward and deep. The combination of both makes the read an easy but drowning experience. I enjoyed the imagery used as it uses light as a powerful tool to show Achilles power and stubbornness. If you like poetic writing, this is for sure a read you should take on as it manages the words to feel golden on the tongue. I have read people mentioning the prose as purple prose, but I could not disagree more. It is extravagant in a positive way. The description moves us in thousands of patterns and takes us back to 1180 BC.

As mentioned before, the story seen through Patroclus eyes takes the theme of thirst for power further into the choking feeling of inflexible thinking. However, it keeps discussing the beauty of faithful and innocent pure love. It makes us wonder whether we, as ordinary people, might belong with this type of epic love in our lives. It is portrayed beautifully, organically and perfectly. They grow up from young boys to powerful grown men, making the passing of time makes sense.

Achilles is not the perfect hero, as Miller discusses in the Center of Fiction in November 2012; it shows the authentic and exciting life that greek mythology has. It has many historical facts taken for the Iliad, which are accurately portrayed and changes others to make the fictitious side of the story more prominent in our minds. Even though known by most of us, the ending of the story does touch us in many different ways that the Iliad does not.

This story drips with emotions. There could not be enough words to describe the effect this story has had on me and how much I have loved it. The golden story of Achilles is made ten times better when Patroclus tells it to us which, makes it love it even more.