I enjoyed this so much!! I loved the characters. I loved how Eloise, Austin and Marianne were each in a situation where they didn’t have many (if any) friends, and yet they were all wonderful people (Austin especially lol), so it really took the stigma out of it. Sometimes that’s just the situation you find yourself in because you haven’t found your people and it’s not your fault, nor does it say anything bad about you. The way he said this made her feel dismissed. She wanted to correct him. She wanted to be able to change her mind, wanted him to change her mind. Although he seemed to have convictions, he had the same careless quality as Shelly, a confidence that allowed them both to ride along above the dismal concerns of everyone else. Why did she care so much? Her care felt like a disfigurement, something that made it necessary for people like Shelly and Toby to distance themselves from her. Her care felt like something that would drag down the progress of human development. It made her an awkward, embarrassing person who asked what book you were reading when all you wanted to do was go to the bathroom. She felt her face flush and she returned to her room. She changed into her nightclothes and got into bed and turned off the lamp, but she was too agitated to sleep. this is a character driven book and the plot is the characters lives so don’t go into it saying “omg it’s so pretentious” like that’s the point. it’s a book that you have to go into wanting to put some thoughts into. it’s a book that could be dissected for ages. which then infected the rest of his fingers. They drummed against the threading of his jeans, impatient, while his left hand continued the motion of faux-smoking.

I really think you’ll love LifeCare,” Ms. Holiday says once she realizes I’m not going to reply, and nudges the pamphlet closer. “It’s a great program—” eloise's previous friendships are not wrapped up at all - which, honestly i kind of respect. sometimes friendships just end badly, unforch, and there isn't much you can do about it. i wouldn't have liked a half-assed scene where everyone apologizes and their friendship is now fine again. i appreciate the authenticity. In the New World" a Polish immigrant to the U.S. and owner of a small construction company has problems negotiating relationships with his well-to-do clients and with his teenage son who has gotten a girl pregnant. Anticipating his son’s future reactions to unfolding events, he dips into the past, remembers his relationship with own father, his father’s grief at losing three other children, and understands the universality of parental fear for one’s children. There was only one thing I disliked, which is minuscule and became a less of an issue the further I got into the book. In the beginning, the wording was a bit repetitive when describing Austin as “golden retriever energy”. It happened often in the beginning and slowly died off. I noticed “chain smoked” was used often as well, but wasn’t as bad.You don’t have to worry about that,” he said, brushing a strand of hair from her cheek. “It’ll all come out in the end.” My first book from this author and I absolutely loved it! It is very easy to read, super cute interactions with characters and a very relatable main character. There is also the issue in which medication and therapy are painted as obstacles to true love or feeling anything at all. She says so at some point - that if she was on medication still, she couldn't/wouldn't have loved Aldo. I find this deeply troubling but look, books are not real life, we can't extrapolate...but I can't help but dislike this theme of the book. I received an ARC from the publisher through Netgalley. These are my honest opinions, and in no way was I compensated for this review.** Mm.” Masso already knew that, but the asking was another ritual. “What are you thinking about today?”

I adored the plot and the growth I saw throughout the book from Eloise. I really felt so much of what she was going through and the doubt that anxiety creates. I loved Marianne and learning her story and just how this entire cast functioned together. Think the vibes of Better Than The Movies meets the grumpy x sunshine dynamic and you have All Alone With You ― a spectacular YA romance about friendship, music, navigating anxiety & most of all, love! Eloise Deane and Austin Yang easily captured the banter and sweetness of the grumpy x sunshine pairing and with what's ultimately a very character-driven story, this was a wonderful YA that you should absolutely have on your radar! ༘♡ ⋆˚.ೃ࿐ This book was an incoherent mess (intentional I know) that deserves an incoherent mess of a review. Here we go. What inspires me? The way life is such a messy blend of joy and sorrow. The way we love and hurt one another at the same time. The incredible forbearance of human beings in the face of incredible emotional or physical difficulty. How asserting an identity can save a person but serve to separate them from those he loves best. The huge, ungainly, amazing, frightening thing that is living.For Regan, people are predictable and tedious, including and perhaps especially herself. She copes with the dreariness of existence by living impulsively, imagining a new, alternate timeline being created in the wake of every rash decision. One sec.” Ms. Holiday rests her elbows on the table and props her chin with her hands. “Are you… How’re you doing? Is senior year treating you better than last?” SCENE: The air that afternoon has the crisp, weatherless quality that only happens in Chicago for about a week in mid-September. The sun is bright overhead, and the leaves on the tree above him are mostly undisturbed. Aldo’s right thumb beat against his thigh, percussive to the rhythm of Grieg’s “In the Hall of the Mountain King,”

My room used to be upstairs, next to my parents’, but when my mom had my sister, they turned my bedroom into a nursery and banished me belowground. Just kidding. Sort of. These are very lovely short stories, haunting and tinged with melancholy, though never despairing or maudlin in any way. We watch as the various characters come to see themselves more fully, as unexpected events bring life into sharper, sometimes startling focus. Each story is separate and yet similar in theme, as the beautifully and well-named title reveals. This collection is about the ways in which couples and families connect and the circumstances and character flaws that keep them from connecting more deeply. I lift my eyes from the handout, my stomach already twisting and turning into little anxiety knots. “How many hours?” And then… it got worse. The writing became a little too self-indulgent. It took on that fake-deep/Jared Leto/tumblr circa 2014 tone. It started feeling pretentious.Eloise Deane is the worst and doesn’t care who knows it. She’s grumpy, prefers to be alone, and is just slogging through senior year with one goal: get accepted to USC and move to California. So when her guidance counselor drops the bombshell that to score a scholarship she’ll desperately need, her applications require volunteer hours, Eloise is up for the challenge. Until she’s paired with LifeCare, a volunteer agency that offers social support to lonely seniors through phone calls and visits. Basically, it’s a total nightmare for Eloise’s anxiety. That aside, this book was a delight. I went in looking for something light that would give me the warm and fuzzies and while I cried MULTIPLE times reading that (accurate portrayals of social anxiety just hit different okay) it did in fact deliver on the warms and the fuzzies. The characters were the kind that you instantly wanted to get to know and were definitely the strength of the book. But honestly I almost rounded it up to a 5 star because that cover is everything. A) I want to look half as cool as Eloise looks on that cover (and never will), and B) I love when people do that thing where they hold up an album or a book and like, complete it with their bodies (???) and it kind of looks like that. I boot up the tower, turn on my display, and then sink into the cushion of my gaming chair. Log in to Monsoon—the gaming client for Realm of the Ravager—and wait as it updates. RotR is my go-to whenever life becomes too much—and let’s face it, senior year is off to a shitty start. Plus it’s Friday, and I’ve earned endless hours of gaming.