February Books 2023

Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert - DNF

First and foremost, the cover is stunning; I was drawn to it even before I realized it was Talia. Honestly, it was the only thing that kept me turning the pages. I wish I could say that I pushed through, but I tapped out at page 45. I just couldn't handle Celine's unserious behaviour, the constant and repetitive inner dialogue and the jarring POV switches. It felt like I was reading a draft. On the upside, I traded it in at BMV for half off All About Eve on DVD.

The Odyssey (Abridged) by Homer - 3.5/5 🪩

I was a bit scared of classics written by men after reading 1984, but this was better than I thought it would be. I'm still in disbelief that I read a shortened version because at some points, it felt neverending. I read this while listening to The Batman soundtrack, which made it much more entertaining. The next time you read something, I recommend doing it while listening to a matching soundtrack.

Out-of-context GoodReads updates:

• 8% - the way percy jackson, sparknotes and Wikipedia are the only things getting me through this

• 18% - is that supposed to be rizz?

• 29% - odysseus like was it really that deep...

• 33% - not the read from aeolus like pack it up odysseus

• 37% - odysseus is so unserious like not you have a whole wife at home and you're running around with randos like step up

• 49% - wdym he went back after he already stayed there for a year

• 54 % - poseidon like was it really that serious

• 56% - athena... like why do you care so much about that man

The Tempest (No Fear Shakespeare) by Sparknotes - 3/5 🪩

I only got about a page into the play without the side-by-side translation before my brain short-circuited. Sparknotes really came clutch with this one. Once I understood what was going on, I thought the play was pretty good! I totally ate up the drama between Prospero and Antonio.

Out-of-context GoodReads updates:

• 47% - woah like not antonio truing to rope sebastian into being terrible like him

• 47% - "they'll set their watches to whatever time we say" ATE

• 47% - every time caliban enters i imagine him as caliban from caos and i'm not able to focus...

• 52% - ferdinand is kinda the standard

• 52% - miranda... all that for a man you just met??? like this is the second man you've ever seen in your life like is it really that deep... this is why prosper did what he did bc this is unserious

• 55% - WHAT EIFWOEFJGP RUN MIRANDA RUN

• 90% - the pacing??? like i feel like i'm running down a hill

• 90% - gonzalo STAYS doing the most like

• 99% - okay monologue moment!

The Rest

Other books I read this month

Still Reading:

• The Secret History by Donna Tart

• The Meaning of Mariah Carey by Mariah Carey

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