“I wanted to yell at him, but instead I said nothing: a pretty good strategy for dealing with Dad.”

-Lily, Page 19

this is so me bro lollllll

read: january 20-23, 2022

love love LOVED this book! friends to lovers trope was phenomenally done; it was giving massive love, rosie vibes. alex and poppy are such lovable characters. i am a sucker for romance and i love their love so much. i sobbed for two straight hours after finishing this book and i couldn‘t stop talking about it for days. absolutely adored the storytelling and watching their relationship grow out of being strictly platonic!

“It hurts to want it all, so many things that can‘t coexist within the same life.”

-Chapter 29, Page 285

“But everyone gets lonely sometimes, and whenever that happens, I buy a plane ticket and go to the airport and—I don‘t know. I don‘t feel lonely anymore. Because no matter what makes all those people different, they‘re all just trying to get somewhere, waiting to reach someone.”

-Poppy, Chapter 21, Page 217

“Love is the all-mighty inspiration…”

- Alice, Chapter 30, Page 270

“With only the stars as my witness, I kiss him again, deeper, and to my surprise, it doesn‘t feel like scratching an act off a list or completing a quest: it feels like coming home.”

- Wren, Chapter 21, Page 207

🥹🥹🥹!!!! 🥰🥰🥰!!!!!!!!! 🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“Chosen family or found family? I‘m not sure, maybe both, but either way I‘m happy to have them always.”

- Chapter 18

my favorite part of this book is indeed the friendships. mainly between the 3 bee gees, but also the whole friends-to-lovers plot as well as the friendships made between wren and alice, a retired and hermit movie director from the 70s. it‘s all so wonderful to see the vast range of support systems, all full of so much love!

“What if the world were a place where being queer didn‘t necessitate a crisis of conscience, as he put it, but rather was just accepted as part of the norm?”

- Wren, Chapter 11, Page 105

read: november 28, 2022-january 1, 2023

it took me ages to read this book, but the story was beautifully written and the plot is so depressing yet so empowerful. totally didn‘t know there was a sequel, so the ending was a little disappointing; i‘ll have to get on that soon! the story opens up for many different kinds of discussions and overall just makes you think, which i can appreciate from any novel. absolutely enjoyed this story for sure!!!

question 4 of the Reading Group Questions and Topics for Discussion is:

Each sister believes that her parents loved the other sister more. Who is right about this? Why?

i‘d like to think they‘re both right in their own way. it‘s always an issue of perception. i think my parents like my sister more because they don‘t think lowly of her, but because of their high expectations she is put more under pressure. parents just need to be kind.

“Parents die, daughters grow up and marry out, but sisters are for life… ‘When our hair is white, we‘ll still have our sister love.‘”

- Chapter 25, Page 309

“I didn‘t think he‘d kill himself.”

- May, Chapter 24, Page 295

does anyone really think that of someone else though? suicide is always unexpected, regardless of whether or not you know just how much someone is hurting.

“You can always count on people to crowd your party when you are in glory, but you should never dream of people sending you charcoal in the snow.”

- Pearl, Chapter 24, Page 291

“We‘re told that men are strong and brave, but I think women know how to endure, accept defeat, and bear physical pain and mental agony much better than men.”

- Chapter 19, Page 228

“That‘s what sisters do: we argue, we point out each other‘s frailties, mistakes, and bad judgment, we flash the insecurities we‘ve had since childhood, and then we come back together. Until the next time.”

- Chapter 16

“… there‘s no point in promoting beautiful girls when the world‘s turning ugly.”

- Pearl, Chapter 7, Page 84

“Tell is the one about the moon sisters.”

- Chapter 5

this story is actually quite lovely… it marks women as cunning and smart and it also gives a naturalistic backstory like a lot of ancient tales. i loved it!

“Maybe we‘re all like that with our mothers. They seem ordinary until one day they‘re extraordinary.”

- Pearl, Chapter 4, Page 58

“I will always and forever be above her, even if my family doesn‘t love me as much as they love her.”

- Pearl, Chapter 1, Page 9

Though I don‘t necessarily feel the same way, I can see how the favorite child can get a bigger ego, which in turn makes them more of a spoiled and awful person to be around.

“I don‘t want to believe in all that obey, obey, obey stuff girls were taught in the past.”

- Pearl, Chapter 1, Page 5

“I always slump when I‘m near him, but I slump even more in those occasions when Baba takes his eyes off my sister to look at me.”

-Pearl, Chapter 1, Page 3

I think this is a very relatable quote, as an older sister who constantly feels lesser than her younger sister, majorly in part to her father. That constant feeling of being compared SUCKS.

got the paperback for christmas this year and read immediately! i forgot how the netflix series totally went into multiple volumes but ugh i love this series!!!

“I‘m afraid men are not always quite as clever as they think they are.”

-Mrs. Wormwood, The Platinum-Blond Man

a must read for an elementary schooler, i cant believe this was my first time reading a book by mr. dahl! i loved that it showed a somewhat dark reality to childhood, and dahl writes brilliantly in his personal narration. i adored this, even with my constant comparing it to both the film and musical adaptations!

“Listen, I don‘t give a damn what Joanne has to say, Remus John Lupin is gay as the day is long, and I won‘t hear a word against it.”

-Henry, Chapter 7, Page 160

“… it doesn‘t matter where you come from or who your family is—you can always be great if you‘re true to yourself.”

-Henry, Chapter 2, Page 45

read: november 22-24,2022

i absolutely adored this book! it was steamy but not smut, romantic but not annoyingly gushy, and very well written! there‘s a healthy balance between the hopeless romanticism and the more serious aspects of grief and anxiety, but this book revolves around being shamelessly queer and i absolutely adored it. loved every character and every plotline, and i didn‘t want it to end ever!! i also love anything british :)

“Keep fighting, keep making history, keep looking after one another.”

-Casey McQuiston, Acknowledgements, Page 421

“History, huh?”

-all over the damn book

i absolutely love how mcquiston writes this theme of changing history for the better. i‘ve been longing for this to actually happen in the US.

“But the truth is, also, simply this: love is indomitable.”

-Alex, Chapter 14, Page 373

“I love him on purpose.”

-Alex, Chapter 13, Page 344

“I completely fucking love you.”

I JUST WANT THEM TO BE HAPPY, OKAY?!?!

“You are the thistle in the tender and sensitive arse crack of my life.”

-Henry, Chapter 3, Page 73

“Sooo… But you gotta act like you like Briar once in a while. Before she like… really figures it out… It is what it is, you know? You‘re her mom.”

-Chapter 26, Pages 294-295

this chapter really broke my heart! the class and wealth divide throughout this whole novel really shines at this one line, because caregivers tend to know the kids better than their own parents! and alix never really knew how to not let her wealth influence her decisions :(

read: november 9-19, 2022

this book was such a great read! it really makes you think about race and class, and allows you to reflect all while being entertained by the drama and sometimes lighthearted plot. the relationship emira has with briar as her sitter is so heartwarming, especially since i want to work with kids. there are some great moments as well as some more serious moments that deserve these kinds of discussions! so well written!

chapter 27

this chapter! such a revelation chapter right before the book ends. i like that reid writes in a way that you definitely know whose side you‘re on by the time the book is over and this chapter will help you make your decision!!

“Some days she carried the sweet relief that Briar would learn to become a self-sufficient person. And some days, Emira would carry the dread that if Briar ever struggled to find herself, she‘d probably just hire someone to do it for her.”

-Chapter 28, Page 305

read: october 4-22, 2022

this book kept me on the edge of my seat and the plot twist is probably one of the best i‘ve read in a jodi picoult novel. this book has you rooting for the bad guy, because he really isn‘t a bad guy. you experience every scene with the characters and the plot is one you hope to never ever experience in your lifetime. such a powerful depiction of something so real in our nation‘s timeline. it emphasizes the heartbreak.

“But true character showed when you could find something to love in a child everyone else hated.”

-Chapter 5, Page 126

“A gun was nothing, really, without a person behind it.”

THIS! we talk about this concept all the time when advocating for gun safety laws. it‘s so important and also so crucial in understanding the foreshadowing of the novel.

read: september 20-october 2, 2022

jennette mccurdy does a fantastic job at revealing the most vulnerable and traumatic parts of her life in a way that keeps readers both interested and curious to learn more. the structure in which she writes is organized and well thought-out, and as you read you feel for her in facing emotional abuse from her mother and that abuse‘s aftermath in her mental illness. wonderfully written, and i enjoyed it a lot!

“Is Dwayne Johnson God?”

-Chapter 89, Page 299

“Fuck being a good sport, I‘d rather be playing charades with Tom Hanks.”

-Chapter 58, Page 198

“…says my OCD voice, formerly known as my Still Small Voice, but which I‘ve since accepted as the pounding voice of mental illness.”

-Chapter 40, Page 138

“My life purpose has always been to make Mom happy, to be who she wants me to be. So without Mom, who am I supposed to be now?”

-Prologue, Page x

read: september 15-18, 2022

the fastest i‘ve ever gone through a book! i was a little wary at first; the dialogue is quite vulgar. but i absolutely adored this book and all the romance that it captures. the two main characters are so well written and very beautifully developed and i absolutely loved watching their love story come to life. the subplots were also filled with drama and craziness! such an engrossing novel my heart‘s still beating!!!

-Chapter 52, Page 513 (Crew‘s POV)

THEY FINALLY SAID IT!!!!

-Chapter 51, Page 505 (Wren‘s POV)

i absolutely love the relationship between wren and her mom. the misunderstandings of her childhood turning into clarity and appreciation as she reaches adulthood. the respect and trust her mom has for her and the way wren returns it with love and gratitude

“Merry Christmas. I bought you every shade of lipstick Chanel carries, so you can create your own million kisses in your lifetime. Hopefully you‘ll share some of those kisses with me.

Love,

Crew”

-Chapter 51, Page 503 (Wren‘s POV)