beanie baby worm blog

I did not enjoy Book Lovers nearly as much as I had hoped when I picked it up, hoping to cure my case of FOMO from seeing everyone and their mom post about Henry on this platform. I promise I’m not a contrarian. I really wanted to like this a lot, and I’ve heard nothing but good things about Emily Henry. So, I had to know what’s up with Henry’s work because I am a self-proclaimed romance connoisseur and I have quite a few romances under my belt. But honestly, I was pretty bored by this. But I think my bar is just set pretty high. I didn’t feel particularly attached to any of the characters, and the story was kind of forgettable. It was cute but didn’t touch me deeply or make any sort of mark on me. It dragged a bit, and the ending was a tiny bit rushed. I didn’t find the male lead swoon-worthy or the female lead very interesting. I suppose there’s some emotional back and forth in the story, so there was a bit of tension and such, but nothing really monumental. I think that the new age...

Where do I begin with this one…. I was not prepared to be impressed by this one, but I was actually pleasantly surprised. I know, I’m usually a D1 hater and make it my mission to read popular books and discuss my honest thoughts which are usually less than impressed. However, maybe, just maybe, my first Reid is worthy of some praise! It's been too long since a genre fiction novel has been thoroughly enjoyable. Basically the premise of this entire book is that a woman marries a guy and then he disappears because of a plane crash and she moves on after a year or two and gets engaged. But the plot thickens when the original husband is actually alive and comes back. She finds herself being pulled in both directions because it’s impossible for her to decide which guy to stay with. Because marriage is serious business, and she doesn't take it lightly that it is her literal husband who just came back. But she loves her current fiancé deeply, so what is a girl to do? There is a lot of ...

This has been staring at me from my shelf for the past two and a half years so I finally grabbed it and finished it in two days. If anything, I'm just glad to be rid of it from my unread shelf. But onto the review: In short, this was enjoyable overall, but did not impress me. The book is written by an author who interviewed the man who this story is based on, so it’s based on a true story, but I think one must take the events in the novel with a grain of salt. I’ve heard inklings that this isn’t completely historically accurate. So fine, that’s not a big deal. But something I noticed was that the writing relies on listing facts and events and feelings that the main character feels rather than an expression of a visceral response to such horrific events that Lale must witness. If the author had been trying to write an autobiography or memoir that’s completely accurate, then I understand why she couldn’t exactly put words and feelings into Lale’s mouth. But she's already taking l...

My favorite book when I was fourteen was It Ends with Us . I didn’t read Hoover's other books at the time, but this was when I was blowing through romance novels with no sense of how it may be affecting my pubescent brain or my focus on more important things, like school. I kind of forgot about her until she blew up in 2020, and initially, I was laughing at how everyone caught on years after I had. However, that changed when many began to criticize her, and for good reason. Her writing doesn't always promote the healthiest relationships or depict the most sensible women, or most respectable men. I wanted to know what all the fuss and attention was about in 2021, so I read more of her work and was pretty disappointed, November 9 , Ugly Love , and Confess were all sort of childish and the writing was even quite bad at times. I realized that I've grown out of such novels that over-explain things in a way that isn’t beautiful or insightful the way that Hoover does. I recently ...

I am a big fan of LGBTQ+ romance; I enjoy the layers and complexities to the stories unfolding on the pages, they usually offer many insights and retrospections that are not as commonly found in run of the mill genre romances that tickle the readers' ears with lovey stories where everything works itself out, a happily ever after is basically a guarantee. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy both genres and categories of stories immensely, I find both to be beautiful in their own respective rights. But when I picked this up at the secondhand store, the back cover's description drew me in with its grittiness and I knew this would not fall into the category of a rosy romance; I'm not even sure if I am able to describe it as LGBTQ+ romance, although it paints an illustration of a man deeply obsessed with another man.  What Belongs To You  fell into the category of books that I'm sure are objectively enthralling and artful in its execution and delivery. However, I found that I di...

I have heard about this being comparable to the Kiss Quotient Series by Helen Hoang, and I am always interested in what romance is currently popular in the market. I thought this was overall pretty good, it had some common tropes that we all know and love such as bad boy, nerdy/good girl, and forced proximity as they are living in the same apartment complex, but it was unique and not cliché at all. I liked the diversity and the representation of those with disabilities was nicely done, Chloe has fibromyalgia but the story neither avoided it nor revolved around it; It was actually quite sweet to witness Red take care of her as he slowly enters her life. I was fond of the cute moments between the two of them and how they slowly grow on each other; I thought that the dual POV was well done, I liked how Chloe’s POV was obviously her, with the more extensive vocabulary than Red, it’s the little things that add up to a well executed romance and novel in general.  Unfortunately, I just fe...

I found Normal People  to be very unique and interesting, I thought it was well done for I interpreted as what Rooney was trying to convey, but isn’t personally my favorite book or piece of literary fiction I’ve ever read. The writing style many have heralded as the next big thing, and account for their love for her works was very sparse, so much so that I caught myself accidentally skimming at times. The most minute of details of their days and relationships are displayed, as the teenage to twenty something year old characters move through their life throughout the span of the book. Being struck by random nuggets of deeply impactful lines and moments between Marianne and Connell throughout was a pleasant surprise, I love when a book has moments that really make me stop in my tracks mid-read Despite the widespread success of Normal People  as Rooney's most popular work, I can see why people criticize this one, the characters fell a little flat at times and I was left for ...

The Lucky One was my first Nicholas Sparks novel and I went into it with curiosity and an open mind. I’ve been contemplating what exactly makes romance so compelling as a genre, not only for me but for its widespread audience, so what better novel to read than one by a household romance author name?  In The Lucky One , Sparks sells the idea that that love is simple when its right; that everything turns out okay when it’s with “the One,” and everything will simply fall into place when this is the case. The novel was also distinctly American, with the Southern setting, lack of diverse characters, and the main character Logan being a veteran which is revered in the story. After indulging in hundreds of romance novels, spanning many genres, tropes, times of publication, settings, and more, I've realized that good romance has a way of packaging the author's intended ideas in a way that suspends disbelief, and Sparks did a good job in this novel. It was an enjoyable reading experien...

November 9  was less emotional for me than I'm sure it was intended to be due to its sheer absurdity, but it was overall decently entertaining. For context, It Ends with Us also by Colleen Hoover was my favorite book when I was 14, far before any Colleen Hoover hype hit the internet and her work saturated the market. I've attempted to return to her work after its explosive manner as of late, by reading this book, Ugly Love , and  Confess,  but none of them has had nearly the same effect it had on me as It Ends with Us  all those years ago. I am afraid to reread It Ends with Us  after hearing how underwhelming it is from current, more mature readers, as well due to as my personal reaction to her other works now that I am older.  November 9 was ultimately another disappointment to add to the collection of mediocre at best Colleen Hoover novels I have consumed. Her narrative voice and writing style tend to come off as a bit juvenile to me, and her over exagge...

This was a sweet and short romance done in a way that I’ve never experienced before. Somehow Laurain manages to craft a perfectly paced story about a relationship between a man and a woman who have never met before, and manages to keep the reader's attention throughout the entire book as they only meet in the last couple pages. It’s not quite a slow burn that drags on, but it’s engaging and the characters are carefully developed to what feels intentional and meaningful, I felt like I knew them despite the short length of this novel. Overall, I’d recommend this to anyone who wants a light quick read that still manages to be deeper and more unique than most run of the mill romcoms or genre fiction novels on the market. 

My attachment to the novel Call Me By Your Name has never been something I feel particularly comfortable discussing with anyone. Despite its popularity and impact on popular culture due to the release of the critically acclaimed movie adaptation in 2017, it has always felt like a secret I must keep close to my heart. As what always seems to be the case, it’s easier to feign indifference than reveal just how attached I am to something so publicly available; Anyone can read and judge and interpret it in their own way. God forbid we disagree on the value of the book when it is something that is so personal to me, it feels as though it was written for me; I’ve laid claim to it in my head. How do I explain the three copies I have on my bookshelf, my inability to part from my copy when I move from location to location? The masses of neon sticky notes peeking from the pages, painstakingly color coded? I’ve read voraciously since I was a child, I’ve spent all my days in between pages that have...