readingaftermidnight007

[readingaftermidnight007]

graham “why can’t everybody just hate conflicts like i do” dunne

[readingaftermidnight007]

(Long Overdue) Reading Update!!

Ahhhh I've been meaning to post for a while but I'm just super lazy soooo....

Last time I updated this, I had just finished reading DJATS I think? Hold on I'm going to check. *pause for me checking*

Ok yeah, the last time I updated this was when I finished Daisy Jones (which i never actually talked about how I felt about and who knows, maybe I'll finally make a post about it)

Anywaysssss.....here's my reading update. We may or may not be eight books behind. Whoops. (Seven if we don't count DJATS and for these purposes I'm not going to talk about it right now)

also dont worry abt spoilers for anything. it's completely spoiler free :)

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First up, we have....

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry

(completed February 23) (i know im sorry 😭)

(3/5 ⭐️)

I read this for a class, and overall I really enjoyed it. I was in a weird place mentally though, so I don't think I fully processed a lot of it otherwise this would have a much higher rating. Its a very enjoyable play though, and it's a beautiful story and beautifully written. Definitely would recommend if you enjoy plays that are grounded in realism and focus a lot around familial themes.

The Crucible by Arthur Miller

(completed March 8) (again im sorry ive been super fucking busy)

(4/5⭐️)

Honestly, I loved reading this play. I also read it for the same class, but I found this one more enjoyable, which is probably because one of my first childhood hyperfixations was on, oddly enough, the Salem Witch Trials. Which if you didn't know, that's what The Crucible is about. Anyways. It's very good, and I would definitely recommend reading it. Its a long play, but it's worth it. It explores a lot of themes of grief and paranoia and sins and it's just so fascinating and there's so much to explore within it.

Homeward Bound by Elaine Tyler May

(completed March 17) (i swear i have good reasons for not updating but im not gonna get into that unless you wanna go check up my vent blog @queenofshadows077)

(3/5⭐️)

i read this for my history class, and i have to say, i enjoyed it a lot more than i was expecting. sure, there didn't need to be a 20 page chapter about premarital sex statistics in the 1950s(seriously, why 20 pages???), but i found it very interesting otherwise. the book basically delves into the post-WWII suburbanization of American families and gender roles and societal roles, etc and I would recommend if youre looking for a nonfiction book about that particular time period.

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennet

(completed March 22)

(5/5⭐️)

I genuinely LOVED this book. Like, seriously. Read it. IT'S WORTH THE HYPE I PROMISE. I could not put it down the entire time I was reading it. I was having way too much fun with it and i was so sad when it was over. Like, so upset. I loved the story of the twins and their lives. It's truly a beautiful, compelling novel and I want everyone to read it. It is 100% ending up on my favorites list of 2023. Please read it. Please. I beg of you. I dont wanna get too much into the plot or anything spoilery so if you wanna know more, read the overview on goodreads please! (and then read the book. do it. do. it.)

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

(completed march 31)

(4/5⭐️)

Ok so this is the third TJR book I've read, and I absolutely loved it!!! I read this over the course of a week on a trip I went on, and it was the perfect book to read for it. I love the way she organizes her books and the way she writes her characters. Compared to Evelyn Hugo and DJATS it's definitely not my favorite, but it was still excellent.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

(completed April 6)

(5/5⭐️)

This has always been one of my favorite books. This is my third time reading it, and I was inspired to reread since I had just finished Malibu Rising and had recently read DJATS. I love this book. I love Evelyn and her story and I love how TJR writes very complex characters. Always brings me to tears, it's soooo good. it's an incredible novel featuring an incredible story of a queer woman and her journeys through success, love, fame, and so much more. if you havent read it, you need to. Like, it is literally a requirement. :)

And finally....

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

(completed April 11)

(5/5⭐️)

This was a beautiful story. Beautifully writen, characters that bare their soul and that you cant help but love, and super addicting. I literally could not put it down. the pacing was wonderful, the storytelling was so vivid and touching and i will remember this one for a long time. it's the story of two boys, Ari and Dante, as they grow up and start their journey into adulthood while also battling their own personal wars. Ari is a really interesting narrator to be in the head of and I honestly think that this author is so insanely good. So yeah. I liked it A LOT.

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That's all of them!!

see you next time!!

~Scarlett

[readingaftermidnight007]

Will you stay with me forever? Will you chase me in my dreams?

-Daisy Jones, "The River" from the Aurora album

[readingaftermidnight007]

its been a long, emotional couple of weeks y'all. i havent been on here all that much and it might be a little while before i really get back to the point i was at before but i promise y'all im ok. or at least, i will be. im going to try and take this weekend off so i wont be on here a lot but hopefully i'll be back to normal within a week or so. i will still reply to messages (or asks in the off chance i get one lol) but i probably wont be keeping up with this blog or my sideblog (@readingaftermidnight007) bc its just too much and i need to get back in the right mental state in my real life :)

thanks for understanding y'all

[readingaftermidnight007]

ackk i really dont want them to do that...i feel like it ruins camila's character for me. one of the best things about camila is how she loves billy so unconditionally despite everything he's done, and it feels like cheap drama that both eddie and camila dont deserve to have that be their plot.

plus it ruins it for me and other readers of the book bc one of the most beautiful parts of the book for me is the camila/billy/daisy dynamic and how that is portrayed throughout their lives and the story and i dont want that to be ruined bc of some sort of eddie/camila/billy love triangle on top of that or for camila to be explained away by being paired with eddie so shes out of the way for billy and daisy because thats so cheap

gonna be honest with y'all. as much as i liked the start of the show, I'm... not really vibing with eddie and camilla being childhood friends. it feels like eddie vs billy is gonna be centered around a love triangle when the whole point of that "rivalry" is that billy is an arrogant approval seeking guy and eddie has anger issues.

pls, God, don't let it all fall down into ship war territory

[readingaftermidnight007]

Don't get me wrong, there have been a lot of excellent moments in this show so far, but my favorite is definitely "why are we in the closet?" "I didn't know what was in here I thought it was just another room"

[readingaftermidnight007]

i love how pete is used in the book by being the most grounded one out of them, and then by being the one who doesnt care enough to relive the past. and i think it makes sense that he's not in the show bc it wouldn't fit with the formatting. it worked for the book but doesn't necessarily translate to the screen and thats fine with me.

it's so funny seeing people be mad at the show for cutting pete because I honestly forgot that man even existed.

[readingaftermidnight007]

Daisy Jones Show

ahhhh ok i know this isnt technically the promised book review of Daisy Jones but I NEED TO TALK ABT THE FIRST 3 EPISODES OF THE SHOW

*SPOILER WARNING OF THE FIRST THREE EPISODES*

.

First of all, I literally love the band so much, especially Suki as Karen. She's fabulous. Also Will as Graham. And the other two. And Sam Claflin lasdjkfljsdlfj i love him.

I love Camila. I was worried they were gonna do her dirty with the show but they surprisingly havent *yet* so thank god for that. She's got the same personality from the early half of the book, she's just as strong and determined and loving and complex as she is in the book. They all are. They've captured the complexity of the characters really well for the most part. I also love that we're seeing more of Simone because I always wished we got more of her.

Also the interludes with the interview clips from both Teddy and from the band members are amazing. The actors are doing so well as really leaving these subtle emotional hints that you get in the book through their words. (especially sam as billy and riley as daisy)

i will say i kind of wished they'd kept pete. i get that theres kind of no need to but i think it wouldve been interesting to have him there but never see his interview. but i guess it makes sense because it would be hard to include it in the format they're doing it in.

the honeycomb recording in the episode three is my favorite part so far. that entire chunk of the episode is so good and im so happy that they did it justice.

There's obviously certain things that aren't perfect or exactly how i imagined it, but overall i love it and it has lived up to my expectations. and im so happy for that.

[readingaftermidnight007]

[readingaftermidnight007]

"Will the life we want wait for us?/ Will we live to see the lights coming off the bay?/ Will you hold me, hold me until that day?" - Daisy Jones, "Honeycomb"

friendly reminder that this was the beginning of the best musical collaboration to ever exist in the (fictional) world

[readingaftermidnight007]

I've finished Daisy Jones & The Six!

well technically I finished it yesterday but thats not important

im writing a review right now so stay tuned...

[readingaftermidnight007]

Another Reading Update: Daisy Jones

(265/355)

*spoiler warning if you haven't read the book!!!*

my thoughts:

This book is going to wreck me. I know it's going to wreck me.

I can already tell that Daisy Jones is going to be one of the best books i've ever fucking read oh my god

the chemistry/tension between billy and daisy---

watching as the tension between all the band members grows and grows----

its amazing. everything about this book is amazing. this is going to be one of those books that you never forget no matter how long you go without reading it. i love the complexity of all of the characters, i love the writing style, i love the songs

everything is amazing and perfect and i love it and yes. just yes.

the song im really feeling for them all right now is dreams by fleetwood mac. i dont think i need to explain this but i will anyways.

its obviously that this book takes some inspiration from fleetwood mac and their writing of rumours, which is one of the best albums of all time if you ask me and so obviously i had to pick a fleetwood mac song so yeah

i have so many other thoughts but i think i'll probably end up putting them in my final review. in the future with these posts ill probably try to compile my thoughts as i go so that theres actually more for me to say but right now im so obsessed with this book that i refuse to put it down long enough to sit alone with my thoughts

anyways ill update you again later!!

xoxo

Scar (Raven) <3

[readingaftermidnight007]

Reading Update: Daisy Jones & The Six

(51/355)

*minor spoiler warning*

my thoughts:

OH MY GOSH I LOVE THIS BOOK SO FAR

THE WAY ITS WRITTEN IS FABULOUS

THE CHARACTERS ARE SO INTERESTING AND COMPLEX AND BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN

ITS SET IN ONE OF MY FAVORITE TIME PERIODS FOR MUSIC ABOUT ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS---ROCK N ROLL LAJFKLSKJDF

ackkk ok imma stop with the caps

seriously, i am in love with this book. i think the way its shaping up, it might be a top five read of the year. it might make it onto my list of favorite books of all time *right next to evelyn hugo obviously lol*

So far, the song that this book is making me think of is Star Star by the Rolling Stones which was released in 1973 and it just feels like a song that i can imagine billy singing and prowling across the stage with his signature growl and its kind of what i imagine their sound to be - a mix of the stones, queen, bowie, and electric light orchestra

i'll update you as i keep going but these are my thoughts for now :)

xoxo

Scar (Raven) <3

[readingaftermidnight007]

i updated my blog name to fit better with my overall blog theme :)

[readingaftermidnight007]

“we are married, and we will remain married, and in love, until the stars burn out of the sky.”

Cordelia and James from Chain of Thorns by @cassandraclare

[readingaftermidnight007]

MINI BOOK HAUL

went to barnes and noble yesterday with the intention of running in, buying daisy jones, and leaving. that obviously didn’t happen lol

i managed to limit myself to two books, but i did end up sitting in the kids section of the store bc i discovered someone had written a modern graphic novel adaptation of anne of green gables and i couldn’t resist picking it up. i hadn’t read the back tho so i didn’t find out it was gay until halfway through and let me just say, as much as i love anne and gilbert together (they are my otp i love them with my entire heart) anne and diana are pretty adorable together :)

and i was also just so proud of the kid’s graphic novels for including lgbtqia+ rep and mentioning pronouns in a simple way that doesn’t have to make it into a teaching lesson it was just there and none of the characters seemed to have an issue with that and that warms my cold dead heart so much

i’m going to update my goodreads and come back with a full review for the graphic novel

byeee

xoxo

Scar (Raven) <3

[readingaftermidnight007]

Reading update: Wonder

(73/310)

*spoiler warning if you haven't read wonder*

thoughts:

ahhh this book literally gives me life. its been years since i read this book for the first time but it never fails to make me smile, laugh, cry, feel all the feels, etc

i used to have a wonder shirt with the book on the cover and it was one of my favorite t-shirts. the movie is one of my favorite movies of recent years. i will never grow out of my love for this book.

anyways, i've almost gotten to the end of Part One, meaning im nearing the Halloween chapter...and i always hate getting to that chapter because i love auggie and watching his heart break when he realizes jack is talking badly about him....it hurts my soul. yeah ok thats my update.

normally id talk about predictions and my opinions about the character but since ive reread this book so many freaking times thats not going to work. however, im going to start a new thing where i put a song that i think fits the part of the book ive read or a specific character or whatever so for this part of the book/the whole book i feel like "beautiful boy" by John Lennon just...speaks to my feelings about this book so well.