Welcome to Litsy!

Lazy day and a re read of this.

#celesteng
#aboutabook
#withasadending

#52bookclub24 Here are the next 4 books I've read for the challenge. I tagged my favourite out of the four, which made me think a lot. “Go Set a Watchman“ and “The Magnolia Palace“ were disappointments; “Never Let Me Go“ was sad and depressing but beautifully written.

Nothing beats a spa day and a good book. Loved this one by Celeste Ng #pick #EverythingINeverToldYou #spa

I‘m posting one book a day from my massive collection. No description, no reason for why I want to read it (some I‘ve had so long I don‘t even remember why!). Feel free to join in!

#ABookADay2024

I like Ng's proses and her subtle tone. The main focus of the book is on family relationships and how once actions affect others emotions. So many things to learn as a parent, so many things to remember as kids. Overall a good read. If you like Little fires everywhere you may like this one as well.4.5⭐ my best read of #January #2024

This was super! It was quite similar to 'Little Fires Everywhere' in that the types of characters, relationships and messages were similar, but they are so good that it doesn't matter... I love Ng's writing and the awareness she brings to the reader of different life experiences is so important ✨️

I really loved this one when I read it many years ago.

#BookBinge
#InvolvesDivorce 💔💛

This novel centers on the tragic death of a teenage girl from a Chinese-American family during the 1970‘s. As the story progresses, the many ways in which things went wrong are revealed. The characters are well developed and the narrative moves forward quickly. I had avoided this book because it looked too depressing and I was so-so on ‘Little Fires Everywhere‘ by the same author. I liked this one quite a bit — but it did break my heart.

Hardly been reading recently, trying to get back into it with this one! Enjoyed this one, but did have to google the ending as wasn‘t really sure how to take it, maybe I‘m just being dim or lacking imagination, but I do prefer endings to be unambiguous rather than open to interpretation. Will read more from Celeste though.

Wow. I cried, I laughed, I walked away in frustration and came back out of desperate need. Ng weaves together a story of family most won‘t be apart of but can relate to. What happens when the daughter your family has put all of dreams and hopes into dies? What parts of yourself, your family, your individual and collected history will you have to revisit and reconsider? How will you all move forward?

THE BEST! This book unravels the reasons behind a teenage girl‘s suicide… and just when you think you have it all figured out… there is more to be discovered and processed. The characters are very well developed and there is a hidden meaning beneath nearly every sentence. While very sad, the book is definitely worth the read and explores many complex and difficult themes.

Wow! Mixed emotions about this one. Beautifully written! Heartbreaking, frustrating, and sad. I am glad a read it, but definitely not a pick me up. 3.5⭐️

I read a few five star books in February, but this is the one that stuck with me. I don‘t think Ng meant it as a parenting book, but it really did make me think about the ways I communicate with my kids. #12Booksof2022

want to read

I personally think that this is a very special book. I think that one can learn a lot from it. Although it was actually terribly sad, I enjoyed this book quite a lot. Might even be my fav of the year (so far ofc). ❤️

I‘ve never read anything like this. From the first sentence, I was hooked and I couldn‘t put it down. The journey through the family‘s broken past and present was incredible. The flawless writing between characters and the way they were written felt so realistic. This novel was so impactful and moving, I wish it hadn‘t ended. I‘m at a loss of words for my love of it. This book was heart-wrenching and a true masterpiece.

As a child, you always assume that your parents are choosing to treat you a certain way, and that they fully understand how their behaviors affect you. This book goes through the aftermath of one teen‘s death, exposing the truth - that everyone has their own history, their own damages. That each of us brings to parenthood all the pains we had through our own childhood. Well written, well developed characters, heartbreaking book.

#divorce #indeliblemoments @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

Thought I had this ending figured out but it was more complicated than I had imagined. 👍

“All of that will be gone by morning. Instead, they will dissect this last evening for years to come. What had they missed that they should have seen? What small gesture, forgotten, might have changed everything? They will pick it down to the bones, wondering how this had all gone so wrong, and they will never be sure.”

#alphabetgame #letterE @alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

#alphabetgame #letterE @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
Everything I Never Told You is a book that has really stayed with me.

Book 36 for 2022. Great read, a little heavy for a summer read but makes you think about your dreams vs the dreams others may have for you. Definitely recommend

Everything I Never Told You is a propulsive read, but not an easy one, if that makes sense. It‘s much darker than I remember Little Fires Everywhere being, with darker themes and content. Trigger warnings for depression, suicide, infidelity, and racism - but Ng‘s writing shines, despite the darkness. She knows just how to drag a reader‘s eyes down the page. Full review: https://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/everything-i-never-told-you-celeste-ng/

#bookmoods #toldinverse @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs
According to Google, this is one of it 😊

I stayed up way too late reading this book last night. It was heartbreaking in all the best ways.

Just came back from perusing the local library and got a great haul of new books! Looking forward to diving right in! First must finish Every Vow You Break.

Ominous.
So good.
At times it felt a bit chaotic to me, but overall I loved it and concur with the ravishing reviews! Dysfunctional family dynamics, zeitgeist and fate intertwine.

#everythinginevertoldyou #celesteng #novel #dysfuncionalfamily #fate #chineseamerican

Ng really out here self in this novel. She tells the story of expectations through societal norms of a Chinese American family in the 1970s.

#celesteng
#everythinginevertoldyou

This is an incredible read. It shows the individual struggles of five family members and how each of them deal with the death of the oldest daughter Lydia. On top of that they tell their occurrences with racism where they lived and how it affected who they are. I fully recommend this book to anyone who likes to read.

Omigosh, I'm sure I can't be the only one who felt like crying when I got to the end & realised what the title meant! Loved it & made me very grateful I have a loving, open relationship with my parents despite Dad ticking me off every second visit lol! 💗💔📚😊
🌟🌟🌟🌟

"More than this: the second he touched her, he knew that he had misunderstood everything. When his palms hit her shoulders, when the water closed over her head, Lydia had felt relief so great she had sighed in a deep choking lungful. She had staggered so readily, fell so eagerly, that she and Nath both knew: that she felt it, too, this pull she now exerted, and didn‘t want it. That the weight of everything tilting toward her was too much."

everything had gone askew, like a teeter-totter unevenly weighted. Everything in their life—their mother, their father, even he himself—slid, now, toward Lydia. Like gravity, there was no resisting it. Everything orbited her. Later on, Nath would never be able to disentangle what he said and what he thought and what he only felt. He would never be sure whether he said anything at all. All Nath would know, for sure, was this:

This was a journey, and what a hurtful journey it was. I just finished this book and it's 2:30 in the morning. And I don't have any idea if I'll ve able to sleep tonight. This book really hurts. I don't have any words to describe it other than that. It just hurts so bad. But still I'm glad I gave it a chance. It's one of the few 3rd person pov books that I could finish and I'm truly glad I did.

Ps. This was my August #bookspin @TheAromaofBooks

An amazing book and an even better Audiobook 💜

This was a heartbreaking look at one family torn apart by the death of the 16 year old daughter. It explores marriage, racism, fitting in, communication, emotional abuse and the unrealistic expectations parents put on their children. It was a little slow at times but overall a good read.

Unpopular opinion! While I really enjoyed Little Fires Everywhere, I did not enjoy this. The characters are very flat and one note, and those notes did not come together to create an artful harmony. The emotional abuses by the parents are horrific. The story itself is very heavy-handed. I found it all very unpleasant and this book ended up sending me into a serious reading slump. I didn‘t like it at all, but am generous so I‘m not gonna pan it.

Day 10: #Mourns #MayCharacters

This was one of the best books I‘ve read.

There‘s so much to say about this book: The expectations we put on each other, transactional relationships, living vicariously through our children.. And I‘m sure others can speak upon these things more eloquently than I. This book left me with a lovely melancholy ache when I finished. If you love books that do that, as I do, then you‘ll love this.

"But at that moment she had known, with a certainty she would never feel about anything else in her life, that it was right, that she wanted this man in her life. Something inside her said, 'He understands. What it's like to be different.'"