more than just words

Genre: Romance Reading age: 16+ Rating: 8/10 You’ll like this if you’ve ever experienced a long term romantic relationship. They say third times a charm, so I decided to pick up another Taylor Jenkins Reid book, and let’s just say I truly think she might be becoming one of my favourite authors. Every book I’ve read by Miss Jenkins Reid is so different, from the themes to the way it’s formatted. If it wasn’t for the same quality of writing, you’d think that the books were all written by different people. After I Do is a love story in its core but more than that, I think it’s a story of self love and self discovery. Like most of us, I usually read to escape my reality, so I don’t like reading things that hit too close to home. But in a way it was refreshing to read about different approaches to love and the different journeys relationships can take. There is a real beauty in realism, and knowing that you’re not alone. The story follows the lives of Lauren and Ryan who were college (unive...

we are eggs in your basket filled to the brim perfectly identical so you never have to choose you never have to lose out on what could have been you let us be chosen by you and to be chosen by you feels like a dream a basket so full but still you cater to the team you make us feel like we are the only one chosen by you but when you take us out the basket and juggle us all at once you may get a fun party trick a tick of our approval or your hand may slip and just one may fall because you wanted us all but we all wanted to be the one chosen by you

the pressure of the day ahead my mind is already filled with dread i am stuck in an open box easy to find but constantly lost and i can leave but i am scared of the commitment scared to die but struggling to live in a world where i am separated from the best scenario because optimists always fall and i would rather jump to my demise be in control of my own destruction at least it wont be a surprise that it did not work out and even if it would have i will never know because prevention is better than cure a life collaterally damaged by anxiety a life wondering why i have not achieved happiness

Genre: Romance, Coming of Age, Mystery Reading age: 11+ Rating: 6.5/10 You’ll like this if you’ve read: The Sun is Also A Star and any high school coming of age book ever! I didn’t have many expectations of this book, I just knew that I wanted to read a light hearted romance and support a black author, and to be fair, it gave what it needed to give. There’s not really much to unpack with this book. It’s largely about the intersectionality of class and race. The class element was interesting to me because I feel like the story shows that even through social mobility, you can’t run from your race… but more positively, you can always find comfort from people experiencing the same race struggles as you. You might hate this concept if you’re a passionate Marxist though! The story follows Quinn Jackson who is a compulsive list maker, like myself, that loses her journal full of lists. These lists contain very private information about herself but also bring her a lot of comfort… and without t...

every time you try to connect the signal fails you find something to agree on but reality tells you that you are too different a bond that should be effortless requiring more effort to maintain not enough water to aid its development a tug of war between nature and nurture a product of an environment where nature cannot thrive a flower grown in a dark room where time had to suffice an unfortunate predicament and they wonder why the harvest they produced was dry and limited the intention was there but the actions were not visible and although nature shows that you may be the same nurture proves that that similarities is not enough to sustain a signal that constantly fails you are just too different

Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance Reading age: 16+ Rating: 9.5/10 You’ll like this if you’ve read: Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I read this book shortly after watching the recent Elvis movie, which at the time didn’t feel very significant to me as I didn’t know what Daisy Jones & The Six was about, I just knew I wanted to read another Taylor Jenkins Reid book. And after reading this, I can truly say I have become mesmerised by the world of old school rock and roll. Jenkins Reid has this amazing way of writing historical fictions that feel so real, you almost don’t want to believe the characters never existed. I didn’t know much about 70’s rock but I feel like Jenkins Reid did it justice, for how well rounded the story was. You get an insight into the world from all angles, those steering, those spectating and those escaping. The good, the bad and the ugly, or in rock and roll terms - love, sex and drugs, although I’d add ‘fame’ as an honorary fourth adject...

they say trauma causes memory loss a way to cope with the pain the vision is fragmented yet the feeling remains but you do not remember why so you wear your heart on your sleeve covering the scars carved by a past clouded with rain  but the truth lies in her eyes  yet you just choose not see  you feel guilty that you love him  when hate should precede  she’s an extension of you  but so is he  and when he hurts her he hurts you  and he hurts himself too  so the memory fades  a way to cope with the shame  your vision is fragmented but her feelings remain and deep down yours do too  still you wear your heart on your sleeve  covering scars carved by a past filled with pain