monthly wrap up: may, ’22

Hello, friends!

May is FINALLY OVER!!!!!!!! Anyone else felt like this month lasted for approximately 32 lifetimes? It was certainly one of the most exhausting months ever and I couldn’t wait for it to be over. Also that Mercury in retrograde absolutely ended my will to live for a while there. But, at last, it is over! So we get to celebrate Pride Month feeling refreshed and much better.

HIGHLIGHTS

1. We finally have the casting for the Big Trio! This is such exciting news and I can’t believe a Percy Jackson TV series is finally a reality. I was very surprised to see Annabeth being casted as a Black girl, mostly because, before, the fandom had bullied the producers of the movie enough for not having a “book-accurate” casting for Annabeth that they literally dyed Alexandra Daddario’s hair blonde for the second one. While there was definitely some backlash after the recent news, I was happy to see that most of the fandom is now mature enough to see that Annabeth and all characters are so much more than their physical descriptions!
2. And I have moved! I am now typing this from an apartment, which is insane, because I’ve never lived in an apartment building and it’s definitely been taking some adjusting to. However, I am so much closer to my job and university now and I take only about 15-20min, whereas I was taking 1h+ every day in commute. It’s certainly an improvement and I’m sure I’ll adapt eventually.

i’ve only had the big trio casting for a few days but if anything happened to them i would kill everyone in this room and then myself

BOOKS READ

May was so busy and I fell into a bit of a reading slump halfway through the month, so I ended up not reading as much as I wanted to and not enjoying everything I read.

★★★★★

First, I did my re-read of Always and Forever, Lara Jean. The conflict in this book is genuinely so good?! While the movie focused a lot on the future long distance aspect of Lara and Peter’s relationship, the book talks a lot about Peter feeling like Lara Jean is saying goodbye to him already, which is the first time LJ’s nostalgic and overly romantic self is shown to have negative repercussions. Also the Covey’s development as a family made me very emo.

★★★★☆

Portrait of a Thief had been very hyped because of the gorgeous cover and I personally had a good time with it. A lot of things felt convenient and very easily resolved, but I definitely admire the author for being able to balance very well the adventure aspects of the heist, the characters’ dynamics and the introspective conversations on the Asian-American experience and their connection to China.

★★★☆☆

I was really into the idea of Give Love a Chai because of the second chance romance + childhood friends to lovers. And while it was very well written and the sexual tension between the characters was definitely there, I found the resolution of the main conflict happening off-page to be very unsatisfying. Also, why IN HELL did the author think a pseudo-break up was a great thing to add to her LAST CHAPTER????

★★★☆☆

While I hadn’t loved Tashie Bhuyian’s debut, I wanted to pick up A Show for Two because the novel was inspired by an actual experience the author had with Tom Holland! I liked the complicated family dynamics and the exploration of depression. But the romance was a bit over dramatic, especially towards the end, and the conflict between the MC and her best friend & sister made me sooooooo mad.

★★★☆☆

I also had no idea This Is All Your Fault was a fanfiction-esque book for this 90s movie called Empire Records so this had no impact on my reading experience. The writing was a bit clunky, with some sections feeling “overly written” and others missing key details. However, the development of the main characters’ made me very emotional and was a satisfying conclusion to a book set in a 24 hour period.

★★★★☆

In a surprising turn of events, Super Fake Love Song was my favorite book I read all month! It wasn’t perfect, but I had such a fun time with it. Sunny was a delightful protagonist, I loved the friend group, the romance was actually sweet and the family dynamics brought legit tears to my eyes. Considering my first experience with this author, this one was certainly an improvement!

 

MONTHLY PLAYLIST

This month, I mostly listened to Billie Eilish’s Happier than Ever (yes, I am very late, don’t @ me) and the Heartstopper soundtrack. I also have to talk about Isaac Dunbar because he’s one of the best artists I’ve discovered recently and I am obsessed with his music right now.

LOOKING FORWARD

I have ambitious reading plans for Pride Month and a bunch of 2022 releases I can not wait to get to. I am also looking forward for the release of Ms Marvel and being a month closer to the second part of Stranger Things S4 and S3 of HSMTMTS.

How was your May? Did you read any great books this month? Also: what are you currently listening to? Let’s chat in the comments!