Book Review: Symptoms of Being Human

 

                                                 Symptoms of Being Human Review

 

Symptoms of Being Human is about a gender fluid teenager named Riley Cavanaugh who is struggling with deciding whether to come out as gender fluid. Riley's father is also a politician who is running for reelection and Riley has recently started at a new high school as junior as well. Riley is encouraged by a therapist to start a blog to get her feelings on what it means to be gender fluid and Riley ends up starting a blog on a site that basically tumblr but isn't called that and after like five text posts venting about personal about gender fluid Riley somehow ended up becoming super popular with the blog having over ten thousand followers within a week or two of her starting.

The story follows Riley going about life at a new school and dealing with sudden illogical internet fame, Riley at school has to deal with people rudely asking about gender Riley identifies as which is something brothers Riley. Riley ends up getting an anonymous message on the blog that calls Riley a freak and claims to go to the same school and threatens to out Riley if the blog doesn't stop. Riley instantly believes that person goes to the same school despite their being literally no information on the blog to reveal Riley identity.

Overall this book was pretty bad, it had little to no plot and Riley isn't a likable character with how hypocritical Riley was with being offended whenever Riley someone had assumptions about Riley's gender identity despite not being out but Riley multiple times through out the book in correctly genders other people. This book also didn't feel believable with the whole Riley becomes internet famous off of off brand tumblr and the whole literally no one including Riley parents ever  pronouns to address Riley despite Riley not even being out, this just isn't how the English language works not gendering someone is something that is conscious choice. Please tell me your thoughts on this  book in comment section below.

Book Review: The Dangerous Art of Blending In

                                        The Dangerous Art of Blending In Review

The Dangerous Art of Blending In is about a seventeen year old named Evan Panos who is Greek and has recently came to terms with being gay but he isn't out since he knows it wouldn't go over well with his mother. Evan's mother is extremely harsh on Evan with how she doesn't allow him to have friends over ever, doesn't approve of him having friends who aren't Greek and constantly calls him lazy even though all evidence suggests that Evan is pretty hard working. Since Evan's mother has been saying that she believes that is possessed by the devil since he was around five and already physically abuses him he knows that coming out isn't an option for him since it would only makes things worse in his already bad home life.

Evan's best friend Henry and long time secret crush reveals that he has discovered that he is gay over the summer and this makes Evan's life more complicated now that there is real possibility for a relationship between the two of them since Henry seems to be hinting that he likes Evan too. Evan feels like he can't come out because of his home situation and feels like he can't admit even just to Henry that he likes him since he can't imagine having a relationship without admitting that his mother abuses him and he can't bare to admit that. Evan plans on keeping everything in his life the same way it's always been because even though it isn't good things could always get worse but life has a way of changing without giving Evan much of a say as to how.

Overall I liked this book, this book had a strong main character who had understandable conflicts that really drove the story. Please tell me your thoughts about this book in the comment section below.

Book Review: Girls with Sharp Sticks

                                                Girls with Sharp Sticks Review

Girls with Sharp Sticks is about a group of girls at an elite boarding school that allows very little contact with the outside world and is ran entirely by men despite being an all girls school. The school seems to be more focused on making sure that the girls are prepared to be good obedient wives rather than furthering the girls academic education. The series starts with Mena realizing that one of her classmates is acting odd saying things about how the flowers need to wake up and openly rebelling against one of their guardians which makes Mena curious about what is going on with her. Another thing that causes Mena to question the way in which things are run at the school is when one of her classmates go missing in the middle of the night and no one will tell her what happens to her.

As the book goes on Mena becomes more aware that things are not right at her school after she accidently throw ups the medicine that she was given the night before and finds out that all of her friends can't seem to remember certain events from the night before. Another thing that leads her to question things is her encounters with a local boy who is suspicious of her school who acts differently than she's been taught that men would act around and doesn't seem to except the things that she's been taught that they would. Mena takes it upon herself to find out the school's secrets and to do everything she can to ensure her friends safety which is in a lot more at risk than she ever thought it would be.

Overall I loved this book, this book had an atmosphere that made you worried about the girls safety from very early on and it made you desperately want the characters to learn the truth because even though I wasn't sure what was happening at the school I knew from the start the girls weren't safe there. I really love the friendships between all the girls and I love that they banded together even though the school didn't want them to. Please tell me your thoughts about this book in the comment section below.

Book Review: The Lying Game: Seven Minutes in Heaven

                                                   Seven Minutes in Heaven Review

Seven Minutes in Heaven is the final book in The Lying Game series and this book starts off with Emma being sure that Sutton's ex-boyfriend Garrett is responsible for Sutton's murder. At the start of the book everything seems to point to Garrett being the one that killed Sutton but as time goes on it becomes clear that it was someone else that was behinds Sutton's demise. Things become much more complicated for Emma when Sutton's body is discovered and everyone now knows that Sutton had an identical twin and since Emma was tricked into giving a DNA sample everyone finds out that Emma isn't Sutton but that she has been pretending to be her for months which makes everyone believe that she is the one that killed Sutton.

In the second half of the book Emma feels more pressure than ever before to solve Sutton's murder because if she doesn't she'll be the one that goes down for it and with no one but Ethan believing that she's innocent it makes it even harder for her to investigate. Emma ends up finding out that the killer is someone close to her that she thought she could trust and finds herself in dangerous position with the killer.

Overall I liked the book, the plot was interesting and I was still invested in the characters even though it had been years since I read the last book. I feel like this book and the first book did a fairly good job at setting up who the killer was but I feel like the four middle books in the series didn't really leave any hints of the killer's true identity which makes me not entirely happy with the reveal. Please tell me your thoughts on this book or series as a whole in the comment section below.

Anime Review: Orange: Letter 01(1.01)

                                                         Orange: Letter 01 Review

This episode starts with a twenty-six year old Naho Takamiya and her friends which leads Naho to thinking about all the things she wishes she would have done differently in high school if she knew what she does now back then. The episode then transition to being about Naho when she was sixteen and she ends up finding a letter from her future self. The letter Naho gets mentions specific details about this particular day and correctly predicts that there would be a new student transferred into their class that day. The new transfer student is a boy named Kakeru Naruse and the letter that Naho got from her future self says that she shouldn't invite him to hanging out with her and her friends after school, Naho's friend end up inviting him to hang out with them anyways and they all end up having a good time.

The days following Kakeru is absent from school which worries Naho and she wonders if it has something to do with the letter. On the day Kakeru returns to school Naho's letter mentions how she regrets not batting in a softball game which leads her to doing so even though she felt really uncomfortable doing so. Naho ends up scoring a winning run for her team which her feeling happy and assures her that listening to the letter was a good thing. Naho and Kakeru ends up sharing a moment and Naho who now believes the letter is real reads that Kakeru is dead in the future and that her future self fell in love with him.

Overall this was a pretty good episode it introduced us to the main characters and the world and people that she surrounds herself with. I enjoy the small moments between Naho and Kakeru with Kakeru noticing when something is bothering her even though she refuses to speak up because she doesn't want to make anyone else's life more difficult. Please tell me your thoughts about this episode in the comment sections below.

Book Review: The Boy and Girl Who Broke the World

                                 The Boy and Girl Who Broke the World Review

The Boy and Girl Who Broke the world is about a boy named Billy Sloat who is endlessly optimistic despite having a pretty awful life and Lydia Lemon who is more realistic and cynical about her own awful life. The story is set in a Washington in a world that is similar but worse than our own world and more absurd and may have a fantastical element to it. Billy has been raised by his grandmother his entire life since he's never knew who is father was and his mother was a drug addict who died when he was very young, Billy has never had any friends despite being very friendly he was never had any friends. Lydia is a mixed-race girl who is raised by her single father and she has given up up her dream of being a dancer.  Billy ends up befriending Lydia on the first day of school which is something that Lydia is skeptical about but doesn't think it's worth the effort to fight him on his assumption so the two end up having lunch together and sometimes hang out together.

After sometime the friendship between Billy and Lydia become more mutual which is when Lydia starts to worry that Billy doesn't seem to be able to see things as they are and that he may not be able to keep up his positive outlook up forever when he's constantly being rejected. Billy in turn thinks that Lydia should be more open to giving people a chance before she decides the worse about them and that overall she should look for the good in things.

About midway through the story Billy's famous singer uncle Caleb comes into town and Billy makes it his mission to take care of him hiding him from both the press and his grandmother. Lydia dislikes Caleb because he's kind of a dick so she refuses to came over to Billy's house until he's gone which ends up causing some distance between the two of them. Lydia ends up starting a dance class after Billy tells her about a scholarship for a class and Lydia ends up making up making another friend in the class which leads to her and Billy spending even less time together.

Overall I really liked this book, I think that the main characters and there relationship with each other was really good and I enjoyed watching their story unfold. I thought that the world building was interesting yet confusing. Please tell me your thoughts on this book in the comment section below.

TV Review: Romance is a Bonus Book

                                               Romance is a Bonus Book Review

Romance is a Bonus Book is about Kang Dan-I who is  thirty seven years old and recently divorced with a daughter, Dan-I is having trouble finding a job since she took several years off of work to raise her daughter. Dan-I is stuck in a very bad position when it comes to finding a job since because of her gap in employment she's not qualified for upper level jobs but on the other hand entry level jobs won't hire her because she is overqualified for those jobs. Dan-I's living situation becomes so bad that her house ends up getting not just foreclosed on but actually ends up getting torn down so this means she's left with pretty much nothing with nowhere to live and this leads her to secretly living in her friend Cha Eun Ho. Eun Ho is five years younger than Dan-I and he is writer and a chief editor at a publishing firm, he has known Dan-I since he was fairly young after she saved his life and he visited her frequently in the hospital after that. Eun Ho has had a crush on Dan-I for years but she only sees him as a friend or a younger brother.

The publishing company that Eun Ho works at ends up looking to hire people to work for them from any background regardless of experience or age which leads to Dan-I ending up applying for that job but deletes her previous job history in marketing and her college education because she's learned from all of her rejections that a job would feel more comfortable hiring her if they believe that she is beneath them. Dan-I ends up getting the job which is great for her and she ends up being the best new hire they end up getting both because of her experience and how hard working she is. Dan-I applying for the job obviously tips Eun Ho off that something is going on with Dan-I since he knows that she was lying on her resume which leads to her telling him about everything bad that has been happening for the past year, Dan-I and Eun Ho end up both living and working together.

This series is one that has a lot of love for the book publishing industry and shows how hard getting a book to be published can be and how much time and energy everyone who works on it puts into it. This series is one that has a lot of good supporting characters as well who all get their own subplots that you'll end up getting invested in has well that makes the series even better. Overall I really liked this series. Please tell me your thoughts in the comment section below.