February's Books 2022

I read 4 books in one week this month! That's crazy! I don’t believe it!!! How did I find the time?!!
When I was growing up, I found that the best way for me to isolate and ignore all my problems was to read a book. I would spend every weekend in bed or on the couch reading and I wouldn’t even feel hungry because I was so caught up in the stories I read. It was such a wonderful feeling... books always made me feel safe. They truly were a safe haven. Books are a wonderful place to scape to when there are things we don't want to face... 

So.. that first week in February I hid in my books again and I loved it!! It felt so energizing and I felt so much joy!!! Don't ask me what I was escaping from, because as I write this I can't even remember... I was probably hiding from work... LOL... Obviously there were some books better than others, so here is a list of my recommendations:

Life’s too short
Full honesty, I got this book because it was recommended after reading “Love Hypothesis” and I was in desperate need for something that wasn’t as toxic. Romance books are a feel good kind of story, we know we will get the happy ending even before we start the book and it’s always a quick read. I have nothing against a good romance novel, but this one was hard to read... the narrative style wasn’t great and when I thought it was gettin better it got very unrealistic.
I have the same thought about this book as I had with The Love Hypothesis... it’s toxic to set unrealistic expectations for teenager!
I did think the narrative style, including different points of view, was better; it gave a more holistic approach to the story and we got to read the character’s thoughts and get a better understanding of their personalities, fears, desires, etc. But I couldn’t get past the writing and the idealization (unrealistically) of a the man’s thoughts. I have met men that love deeply, but none of them have the chain of thought the main character had. It seems a very female voice coming from a guy. It just didn’t sit well with the story for me... and I think it got worst as the story progressed. I didn’t think his point of view was unrealistic until I was half way through the book, so I thought it was promising, but then I got very disappointed.
I am very picky when it comes to writing styles. It’s make it or break it for me... If you are not as picky as me, you’d probably enjoy it. It was a light read, which is what I was looking at the moment, so if you just need to scape reality... this is a good book.

The Guest List
Not worth the hype tbh... I don’t know if I have great detective skills, but this book was very predictable to me. I also thought it was a mystery novel (maybe it was my fault for setting that expectation) and it was definitely not a mystery at all! At least not to me... I never got hooked trying to figure out who was the bad guy; it was all too obvious. Maybe I need to stop being so good at uncovering mysteries... LOL.
I also think that the author was trying to get into each of the characters and show a more psychological side for each, which I truly appreciated. This made the story more interesting, just not enough. The writing style was good, I really liked the representation of the characters, I just didn’t think the plot had a lot of substance to it.
I do recommend the book, but I also recommend to not get your expectations up, because you don’t want to be disappointed like I was.

The Upside of Falling
I got this book for free... and it seemed like something my students would read (setting in high school), so I thought I would give it a try... but, this was a big disappointment.
The book was very poorly written! So many typos and the style of writing was too cheese and choppy. I would definitely not recommend. It’s not worth it and I honestly don’t have anything else to say about it... LOL

The Lost Apothecary
Loved this book and definitely recommend!!! It was a bit difficult to get into it at first, but once I got into it , I really got into it!!! It was good, slow, intriguing ... the narrative style was similar to what I’ve been complaining about lately; the same estructure of parallel stories (one past, one present) that are tied together at the end. However, this time it didn’t bother me, probably because the book was very well written. I also thought it was a very interesting psychological perspective, there was depth to the main character and she did not need anyone to “save her” or to be happy. The way this re-defined happiness as not something meant to be, but something that comes from or own choices was very powerful and I really appreciated the message. We have to get to know ourselves to be able to make the decisions that are best for us and our future, regardless of who we choose to share that with at the end. Happiness or striving for it is our choice.

​I hope you enjoyed this month'e recommendations... Happy reading!!! 

​Un abrazo,    
- Jimena