Media Pendeja

Off the bat, 2.5.

I had TBR’d this. I am actually not sure who recommended this or what Instagram page might have fed this to me. Still, it was a mistake.

The premise, at first glance, does not seem terrible. It is a romance with a different take. The protagonist gets a paper each time she meets a new love interest that tells her how long she’ll be with him. Halfway through, the author introduces a twist that just doesn’t land. Maybe I didn’t care enough about the main character for it to really make an impact, but it just felt unnecessary.

The book would have been better if we got more information on why this specific person is getting these notices. It was just not the vibe for me.

3.5

This was my book club’s spooky read for October. It was not scary in the way that I was hoping, but it was a pretty good read.

The main character, Soren, ends up in a version of hell where he will roam a huge library until he finds a book containing the story of his life.

I loved how short it was. I am, for the most part, a one and done reader. I don’t re-read books often. You can get through this book quickly. It makes you think a lot. I’d definitely read this one again.

It made me anxious, not going to lie, but not about heaven and hell. I am not very religious, although I did grow up Catholic. The version of hell that Catholics sell you, it just never sat right with me. (don’t tell my mom)!!! This version just seemed like another silly take.

For me it was more about thinking how long an eternity really is. I just don’t know if I want to exist for eternity, but ceasing to exist is also terrifying.

The main character mentioned he relived his memories as a human for years on end!!! This is also a quote from the book that made me get goosebumps:

I ceased to think, to perceive. I was no more aware of my existence than a snail or even an amoeba might be.

It made me think of the term ennui which I’ve seen writers like Plath and Hughes use. Now, I understand, in their respective works, they have different messages, but this idea of extreme boredom and not being able to find excitement was really in your face while reading A Short Stay in Hell.

Ennui is something I feel like I experience now. Can you imagine having that feeling for all of eternity? Well, not all of eternity, but pretty damn close. Go ahead and kill me over and over again.

4

If I had to recommend one book from the four I read this month, it would be this one.

I started this book a few months ago and then dropped the ball on it. Not sure why, but I am glad I picked it back up.

This book is about a suicidal woman, Phoebe, going to a hotel to off herself and ends up sort of crashing the wedding of Lila and Gary. The plot is a little out there, but oh, was it very cute. It was also much funnier than it needed to be.

Phoebe talks so out of turn, she is just at this low point in her life that she speaks with honesty without really thinking things through. I related to that hard, especially because it stems from wanting to push back from being a wallflower. This book was a nice reflection on what it means to be human. The ending was exactly what I needed it to be.

This is one of the quotes at the end of the book and I thought it was like taking a breath of fresh air:

“It feels like something huge is ending, but she knows it’s not. She knows this is a story she will tell again and again for the rest of her life, and that one of these days, she’ll tell it as a beginning.”

3

SO we know Isabel is not the biggest fan of sci-fi, fantasy, or long book series. If we (really, you) didn’t know that, this is just a note for the future.

I do like to read outside of my preferred genres because sometimes there are nice surprises. My first five star read of this year was a sci-fi book, so it is nice to eat my own words every once in a while.

The book is supposed to be about this super badass assassin, but it was not giving what the marketing team was selling, okay. It was very focused on the love triangle, and I frankly didn’t care about either of the two guys being pitched.

Am I going to read the next book in this series? Yeah! I need to know if the story builds or keeps the same energy before giving up on it.

That is really all I have to say on it for now.