monthly wrap up: march, ’20

Hello, friends!

I hope y’all have survived March well. I know the news worldwide have been pretty scary and I hope you are all staying healthy and safe. My month was pretty uneventful, because of everything that’s going on, but I read a lot of great books for Women’s History Month, so at least there’s that!

HIGHLIGHTS

• I got tickets to watch Niall Horan in November! Niall Horan was my favorite One Direction member and I absolutely love his solo work too. He released his new album, Heartbreak Weather, this March, and I am so glad I loved it just as much as I loved his debut. It will be my second time watching him live and I’m really excited to see some of my favorite songs being performed live.
• And I quarantined – much like everyone else. Corona virus hit Brazil as well, and because of that, classes were cancelled and I didn’t have to work either. Even though I’m somewhat used to staying home, it’s pretty annoying having to stay indoors for so long, especially because the weather is absolutely PERFECT. I won’t get much into it, because I feel like everyone else in the world is doing it, but yes this virus absolutely sucks and I’m lowkey terrified but pretending to be fine.

BOOKS I READ

★★★★☆

I started the month with a new release I absolutely adored. Only Mostly Devastated was the gay Grease I never knew I needed. I loved everything about it, but what got my attention the most was the incredibly accurate representation of teenagers. The dialogues felt so real, the characterization, just everything. I related quite a bit to Oliver, our protagonist. It was just a very *giddy and adorable* read and I loved it.

 

 

★★★☆☆

Saints and Misfits was quite a weird read. I liked our protagonist, I liked the themes, I loved how the book was unapologetically brown and Muslim. I was sort of lost sometimes, but I appreciated that a lot. However, I hated the side characters; and I feel like the writing style was choppy and difficult to connect with at times. It focused focused too much on the plot, and not enough on the characters’ emotions. I still enjoyed it enough for the themes it discussed, especially sexual assault and religion.

 

 

I Was Born For This is my second Alice Oseman and, well, it didn’t go how I expected. I related so much to the main characters’ obsession with The Ark; it reminded me so much of my own obsession with One Direction from back in the day. And, at the beginning, I was really excited with the idea of this book being very fandom-positive. But I feel like every chapter was there to remind me over and over again, about the ugly parts of fandom – the stalking, the disrespect, the shipping -, that even though I am not a part of, I’m still uncomfortable to be indirectly attached to. In the end, it was making me feel so fucking bad about myself, like being a fan is being a part of an awful community, dedicating your life to fandom is being naive and irresponsible, and that my feelings are not valid because celebrities are constantly lying to their fans. So I DNF-ed it, because I don’t need this kind of negativity in my life at the moment.

★★★★☆

I picked up another Brigid Kemmerer this month and I may be obsessed with this author. This book is your classic fantasy, with a badass female character, and a reserved but deeply passionate male character. It had a lot more political intrigue than I anticipated, as I expected more romance from a Beauty and the Beast re-telling. I liked the characters enough, and even though I found the story to be a bit dramatic and predictable at times, it was still a solid read.

 

 

★★☆☆☆

I also finally picked up Loveboat, Taipei and found it to be quite overdramatic, so I was eyerolling through most of it. While I expected this book to follow reckless teenagers, it was a bit too cliché at times and I found myself not carrying for any of the characters. It also rushed through themes I wish had been more deeply explored. I couldn’t really connect with our main character and felt like most of her actions were written as “reactions” to others rather than like she was actually taking responsibility for it. (Also lowkey pictured all the guys in this book as those Asian e-boys on TikTok and that alone made me want to punch every single one of them).

 

 

MONTHLY PLAYLIST

This playlist is the most chaotic playlist I’ve ever done in my whole life. This is what being inside my brain looks like, y’all: there are indie songs, pop songs, Nelly Furtado and The Beatles. So it’s definitely not one for everyone, but I had a lot of fun!

LOOKING FORWARD

I’m expecting April a lot, mostly in terms of reading, as Magical Readathon is happening and I’ll be taking part ofc! That’s pretty much the only thing I know for sure will be happening in April, as everything else has been put on hold for the past few weeks and I still don’t know where we’re heading next. Oh, so much for planning, lol.

How has been quarantine for you? Did you read any amazing books this month by female authors I should know about? Let’s chat in the comments!