Week 19
This week, I re-bleached and re-toned my hair back to grey. I attended a work meeting with new responsibilities for the first time (nerve wracking!). I received a lot of work-praise for things I had spent literal years worrying over, and it feels like a switch in my brain has been turned off. Yes, I’m good at my job. Time to relax.
It’s been 2 months since I’ve updated this blog. I am returning, I promise!
Consider Yourself Kissed by Jessica Stanley
This is a novel about Coralie and Adam, who meet unexpectedly when Coralie is feeling aimless. They meet, they fall in love, their lives merge into one. Or rather, it seems like Coralie’s life merges into Adam’s. The book leads up to a big decision Coraline has to make, carefully laying down the contextual jigsaw pieces.
This is another book I should’ve loved. 2 characters we meet, and follow. All of the intricacies and nuances of their familial and non familial relationships. I really liked how realistic it felt, like these were actual people with actual problems, who lived with grudges until they didn’t. That felt very realistic. I think the writing let me down, though. It’s very specific, but I found myself skipping over useless words that added nothing, useless paragraphs that added nothing. I thought the book would have some kind of crescendo but it never really struck me, and I spent the entire book waiting for something to drop. It never did.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden
I really enjoyed this! The Safekeep is about Isabel. She starts up by meeting with her siblings, and her fickle older brother introduces her to his new girlfriend, Eva. Isabel hates Eva. And then a week or so later, her brother needs to head off and leaves Eva in the care of Isabel. Like a dog and a cat, Eva and Isabel live together, with Isabel glowering, always suspicious of Eva. But they’re in such close quarters, something is bound to happen, and something does. It’s a novel about identity, unreliable narratives, it’s about home, guilt, a clever entwining of history and excellent writing. I think once certain events had happened in the story, I felt the otherwise strong characterisation slip, but other than that, this was a very good book. The descriptions of home, the clever weaving in of themes and motifs throughout the book - just very well done for a debut novel.
Rating: ★★★★☆
Poets Square by Courtney Gustafson
Oh my god, I loved this. I loved loved loved this. Courtney Gustafson moves into a house with her boyfriend and finds that their home is also home to a number of stray cats. Courtney starts to take care of them, offering them food, care, and love for the first time in their lives. She sets up an Instagram account to journal their daily lives, gives them funny names and adapts to their equally funny personalities. Over time, she starts to help other people in her city capture stray cats, help them and give them homes. I found myself brought to tears at certain points, laughing at others, nodding along for the most part.
Gustafson is a good writer. I found her relatable, funny, and showing an insane amount of insight that whilst she helped these cats, they helped her far more. It’s about cats, care, community, money, companionship. There are soft layers of self deprecation that left me feeling sooo fond of Gustafson and the colony of cats she took care of. I waited a very long time for this release, and it was nothing like I had expected, in the very best way.
I would recommend this to everyone I know.
Rating: ★★★★★