#healing novel

[mibeau]

[Book Review] Not Here To Stay 🕊

🧮 Score: 4.5/5.0

■ When I first bought the book, it was due to my attraction to its cover design and the synopsis. I was intrigued to find out how the author will play out or interweave the fantasy realms with our Malaysian culture and beliefs. And the deliverance is beyond my expectations. Honestly, I was looking forward to reading fantasy adventure and not melodrama. But, as I read on, I put myself in Amani’s shoes. It started to feel like I was underwater, everything was so dreamy, and Amani kept getting drawn into her thoughts and not fully engaging with reality. So, time, as in plots, almost standing still. I kept going in circles. I remember thinking, was the author purposely doing this to prolong the novel with unnecessary fillers?

Until something nudged her. Triggered her combative personality/attitude. That was when the adventure began. Her quest give me the vibes of “The Divergent Series” collided with “The 13 Charms Trilogy”.

■ The book is divided into three parts. A few pages into the reading, we can sense Amani's moody aura. Like someone who has been scarred and full of rage inside, yet, kept a poker face. Throughout Part One, you can feel the cloudiness and heaviness of her surroundings. And when she’s interacting with other characters or situations, the narration is dreamy. Slowly, although it was still hazy by the middle of part two, the heavy cloud has been lifted. Her mind’s getting sharper, and ultimately in Part 3, the air is clear, and we(Amani) can breathe easily again. It’s like we didn’t realise that we were wheezing this whole time, to stay alive. Moving forward, Amani acquired a freshened thought process with no blockages. I enjoy and appreciate these transitions.

There were too many realistic scenes, to be specific, the locations and the abuses. I thought to myself, this cannot be loosely based on real events, it must be a true story, altered with fantasy realms to make it fiction. To send the message out. And my doubts were answered in the Author’s note at the end of the main plot.

■ When it comes to the fantasy world and its descriptions, the narrative was not as eloquent as the emotions poured. I wasn’t properly immersed and teleported there. It keeps pulling me to bits of many books/films I have read and watched before. The Cloud’s Castle reminded me of bits of “Doraemon: The Kingdom of Clouds”, Kira and her child reminded me of the changeling folklore, the worldsmiths’s systems and bureaucracy reminded me to “Harry Potter” plus “Jumper”. Maybe, slightly, “I am Number 4”. It’s all over the place. But, overall, it worked.

The mystical elements are brilliant metaphors for our states of mind, how they are managed and how they affect our actions and reactions. It is true in most occasions, care alone is not enough. Reminders alone are not enough. It needs the right tools and methods to resolve the entanglements. To convey the validations or clarifications of things we subconsciously know and misunderstand. Bottled feelings are never a good thing. It is a ticking bomb. Its eruption is destructive. (SPOILER ALERT: in this book, the feelings were literally bottled! Haha, amazing!)

Amani’s conversations with Najmi, especially in Part Two, were really therapeutic. In Part Three, the plot twist was a surprise, a good one.

■ The book is written in time jumps. Back and forth is totally fine. I enjoyed it, as much as I enjoyed “The Witch of Portobello” by Paulo Coelho. However, I just don’t think the “plus-minus” of “day counts” at the beginning of every chapter was necessary. It distracted me and caused confusion. So after 10 chapters in, I stopped bothering with it. And start gauging the time period based on contexts. . ■ In gist, it is a journey to recovery and closure. It is melancholic with sparkles and deliciously filling quotes. The metaphors were blended seamlessly. I am 100% impressed. High applause for this book. If you want to see things from the lens of a depressed, grieved person, I recommend you to watch a Kdrama titled: Daily Dose of Sushines. If you want to be in their minds instead, you must read this book. Highly recommended!

■ A playlist to keep you company and immersed in emotions.

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IG: reviewbuku_ichamica . FB: Reviu Buku Icha . --- Follow me on Telegram for quick updates!

[bardandbear]

But whose heart would not take flight? Betray the moon as acolyte On first and fierce affirming sight Of sunlight, sunlight, sunlight

[idliketobeatree]

Crowley was God's most dramatic creation.

She was also feeling particularly bitchy and gay that day, and thus, Aziraphale was made.

[youngyoo-apologist]

Kim Roksoo’s parents must have been really sweet and loving people.

Even with all the pain he experienced because of his uncle, and losing his parents, he still didn’t become a bad person when everything was set against him.

Like with the children averaging whatever years old, KRS takes care of them and is in general a good father(I mean I question his lack of communication towards his children, like please tell them you have a healing ability at least tell your kids dude please please please please please) but that’s just a general KRS problem coming from the years and years he spent relying only on himself for various reasons.

His parents probably loved him a lot, they cared for him and they showed him what it was like to be loved. That just makes the fact that they died so early on in his life more terrible. Kim Roksoo may not remember them well, but I like to think that when they were alive, he was happy.

[rui-drawsbox]

hmm im curious. whats olba about :0?

Oh anon you have no idea of what you just asked-- let me get my teacher costume

AHEM

OLBA or Our Life: Beginnings & Always it's a visual novel where you can play the perfect life you never got and cry about how much you wanted it after you finish it :DD (available on Steam for pc and Itch.io for both pc/mac and android!)

You play as-- well, you (or not, you choose)! You can choose your name, last name, pronouns, appearance, personality, hobbies, everything except your family, but you wouldn't like to change them for anything after you meet them.

You start the game as an innocent 8 years old kid that meets a random guy that tells you that he just moved across the street, he also tells you about his son: Cove! who has the same age as you. This guy tries to bribe you with 20 dollars, you can accept or refuse (or run! i like that option), either way you end up in a poppy hill behind your house and find the so famous Cove! He tells (cry) you that his parents just divorced and that he miss his mom ( :c ), you can comfort him or not, but you two still will be found by both of your families and have to go home.

That's the prologue! Gameplay aspect: it consists in 3 Steps of your life: 8, 13 and 18 years old! Each Step comes with 5 Moments, where you can spend time with (mainly) cove, if you're playing the base game. Talking about base game! You can complete it in around 5 hours (that's what took me the first time i think), and it comes with a 4th Step that work as an epilogue!

There are 6 paid DLC's (and a free one that is a name pack), 3 are other 15 moments for the first 3 Steps, 1 is a wedding dlc for our lovely Cove <3 (we'll get to him in no time), and the last 2 are extra content for two characters you'll meet in your very first playthough: Derek in Step 2 and Baxter in Step 3 (you should know this one very well if you follow me lmao), each with 5 moments extra for their assigned Step and their own Step 4 where you can follow and give proper closure to their stories!

I'll try to not ramble a lot because it's something you just need to experience yourself to get it but-- i will introduce you to the love interests! (or friendship interests, you don't need to crush on anyone to have a great time)

Cove Holden! Our lovely neighbor that we see almost everyday for like 10 years! You could also call him the second main character after you, since you learn more about him and his family during all the game. He's an introvert and ocean nerd (in the cutest way possible), depending on your choices you can shape his personality/style and become best buddies, the sweetest couple or just remain neighbours that never really got along. (you'll learn to love him, platonic or not, trust me)

Another perk of the game is that no matter what you do there's not "wrong or right" (unless you feel bad for the characters, like me), your actions does have consequences but there's nothing like a "bad ending/good ending", after all it's just your life, it goes on no matter what! Unless you want to reach a specific scene you found online you'll never have to use a guide for anything.

Derek Suarez! A caring guy! mabye a little too much, he's the oldest brother of 3 and that shaped him in a way that he always feels responsible of everything😔. During his storyline you'll help him to learn how to relax and lean on other people :D!

Baxter Ward! A monochromatic gentleman, mischievous as a cat and emotionally repressed like a pressure cooker <3. Struggles a lot with making deep conections and being emotionally vulnerable, you can imagine about what goes his storyline lol.

He's my favorite, if you haven't noticed. He has that infuriating charm that only someone that unironically says "Hallelujah" has. A very dramatic route, he's a very dramatic guy, you should see how he texts in step 3 aghsdas.

Also! all the side characters are super likeable, from your family to the baker of that bakery that is metioned a few times!

ANYWAYS, in conclusion: this is a very relaxing game! If you like visual novels you should definitely give it a try, the amount of replayability this game has is insane. My recommendations for when you play are:

Try the base game first! If you like it you can buy the moments dlcs (theyre only 3$ each!), mabye the wedding dlc after that (if you want to marry cove that is, this one is 2$ btw), Derek's dlc and Baxter's dlc (5$ each) for last. Those are pretty much the release order but i that's also the order i enjoy the most!

(play this game at least 2 times trying different choices/personality, the differences are ughhhh/pos)

When you're playing for the first time you should play the moments left to right. On later playthroughs you should change the order to find new dialogues! theyre small things but omg theyre so fun

Have fun! do whatever you want, i literally said there's no bad or good ending, take advantage of it and be as foward or shy as you want, be a little shit or a literal angel! That is your life we're talking about.

[ennaih]

Every Film I Watch In 2023:

259. Doctor Sleep (2019)

[yrrtyrrtwhenihrrthrrt]

So I've been trying to think about how Nimona (Comic Ver.) Would come back to Ballister and when and I think I came up with a cute idea.

First off I think it'd be way longer than movie Nimona, who took ~6mo to a yearish, as the Comic epilogue seems to have a similar time skip length and Nimona is notably not back yet. I typically ballpark it at like 5ish years. And since it is so long, I don't think she'd just pop up on his doorstep like "hey b0ss"

One idea is that she shows back up at the old lair where he no longer lives, and hangs around until he comes back to pay respects or something (similar to the movie) but I had another thought I like better

Ballister and Blitzmeyer get an application for a new lab assistant. She kinda sucks at her job but she does what she's supposed to do so they keep her around and she's kinda quirky and weird like they are. She reminds Ballister a bit of Nimona, but they aren't identical in personality.

She works at the lab for a year or so, during which time she learns about Ballister's life, about his relationship, his work, his friends, she learns whether or not he can be trusted again. And once she decides he can, the two are working late at the lab and he tells her to head on home while he cleans up, and instead of addressing him with "M'Lord" as usual, she smiles and says "Sure thing, Boss."

And he immediately realizes it's her

[tryingtowritestuff24]

I've just released my first novel and the first in a trilogy! The Bonds That Bind Us is a story of trauma, healing, found family, and growth. It is a literary fiction with a gay romance plot, and is currently FREE ON KINDLE FOR EVERYONE!

[poemsbysafia]

I think the most difficult part about growing as a person is unlearning the unhealthy coping mechanisms that kept you sane all this while, it’s like losing a part of yourself only to find out that it wasn’t really helping you to cope with the pain it was just distracting you from it.

[annasellheim]

Almost done

[touchlikethesun]

i like to think when regulus moves in with james and like finally cuts ties with his parents, he’s finally able to relax. i like think about regulus, who always used to keep his hair short and straight, letting it grow out and letting the natural curls show. about regulus slowly over time adding more and more colour to his wardrobe because his parents aren’t dictating exactly what he has to wear. about regulus being comfortable enough to leave a dish in the sink because he knows he won’t get yelled at anymore. about regulus playing piano covers of pop songs instead of strictly classical just because it’s fun. yeah.

[spiderfreedom]

Not a female separatist but I'm forever grateful to them for introducing the idea of just centring women in our lives. Focusing on women artists, scientists, writers, showrunners, businessowners... and where we don't see women in those positions, asking why, and what can we do to help. Focusing on female friends and female family. Building relations and community among women to help women. Spending your $$ money $$ on women. You don't need to be a full separatist to incorporate this into your life, and imagine what women could accomplish if we just decided to focus on uplifting women as a class.

[pdalicedraws]

When you have an opportunity to draw a rolling kitty, you draw a rolling kitty, even if she’s doing it to deflect an emotional conversation.

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By the way, I have slightly more of a buffer than usual and I’m excited about this conversation so we’re doing THREE pages this week! There’ll be another one on Thursday before the usual update on Saturday. I am impatient haha

[snowangeldotmp3]

i am so serious when i say i think nancy wheeler should get her own YA novel like max and robin and lucas.

[blue-eyed-author]

You got this! Keep going!

[moondaepuppy]

I really want a TeStar backstage mishaps compilation