Paula Nguyen > Recent Status Updates

his writing goes hard

tuned out a little

lobsterman - this guy? was surprisingly really on topic in terms of what I think I need to be hearing rn; how to navigate life ?? adulthood ?? college ?? leaving home ??; also like the tone of her writing it’s casual but feels very authentic and is relatively quotable, wish I could write my college essays like this 🥲 thought she would be that breed that tries too hard to be funny but there’s a good balance

it is such a good idea to start another book rn

I feel so elite this is the SECOND book I’ve read in verse; am I well vErsed in literature or what

uhhh Telemachus a misogynist on the low ?? 🤨🤨

just realized it was actually a really good time to start song of achilles because it takes place before/during the trojan war and the odyssey is odysseus's return home after it :o really getting the full context

easy to get through and surprisingly engaging considering that not much happens in the beginning 🤔 not sure exactly how I feel yet 😌 only time will tell

actually the 🍆🙅‍♀️ was Thetis ew

Chiron lowkey a c*ckblock

forgot about it and now it’s like a week overdue and so many people are waiting gotta speed

good storyline, concept, and characters that are likable without being cliché very into that, lowkey haven’t seen it in a while; I think this type of story can really appeal to a certain group of people and I am nott fully in that group; I still enjoyed it a lot I just see the potential for how much more I could’ve liked it; glad I ended up finishing it this time :) solid 3.5, above expectations, expected worse

not sure where this is going but I kinda like it

I guess imma just return this and song of achilles late because I’m not in the mood to speedrun this :D

it’s giving 3 star vibes but we’ll see 🤠

It felt so slow but so rushed at the same time; so many things happened so quickly and none of those plots were wrapped up very well; the freaking 30 year long muRder plot was wrapped up in 5 pages ?? this seemed more serious but ok; anyway the pacing was just really weird it didn’t feel like the characters had time to do anything especially Linh but somehow they did everything and had time to date? wtf; 2.75 ig

The whole collaborative restaurant review was set up to be the driving plot but they only did that twice; the writing was :| so bland none of the characters except the main ones felt real; the relationship was not super believable the chemistry was not very well developed and even when they were dating I didn’t believe it they just don’t seem that compatible

kind of embarrassing how many Vietnamese phrases there were that I couldn’t translate; wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be in the beginning; Linh lowkey sucks, Bao’s random turn to journalism was kind of weird; why didn’t Ali and Viet get together I feel like Loan Le was setting them up but nothing ever happened ?? Even though the book was kind of long it feels unfinished somehow

BOLSA and Santa Ana their restaurants are so close to where ze cousins live 😳😳 it’s starting getting better after the introduction of the food review thing but I’m still not feeling Bao; the dialogue is kind of dry; don’t really see it getting that much better but I’m trying to stay open minded :)

chapters near the end about living in Tokyo to quit smoking were funny; beginning and end were memorable the middle was a blur 🥴; not sure how I’d rank this against his other books because I do not remember what happened in the middle at all; hoping to read at least one more of his books by the end of this year :) also might wanna buy this as decoration bc the cover is cool

first reread since middle school I think?? THIS WAS GOOD I wanna own it now :) Michael is definitely written by a woman as they say 😤 best male romance protagonist I’ve read so far; Stella is also cute; Debussy part reminiscent of Edward and Bella; note to self start using the vk thing more; I should’ve read one of my holds that are due next week instead :)

Bao has no personality neither does Linh but at least she has motivations; uh kinda dry so far the characters just so :| bland literally all of them; didn’t know this was a YA should’ve expected it; lonely wishes she could be helen hoang 😔

2 viet love stories about a girl working in a restaurant back to back?? we love the rep; this is def not gonna be as good as the bride test I can feel it; hope it doesn’t suck though

3.75/5 stars bc seduction arc sucked

not as good as kiss quotient, kind of feel like rereading it now; still pretty good, met expectations; some parts (bathroom scene, every dress moment, I cAn’T LoVe) were kind of cringe in a way that I didn’t expect because it wasn’t like that in kiss quotient 🙄; I was still pretty invested even though the chemistry wasn’t as good as Michael and Stella; READY FOR QUAN’S BOOK; Helen Hoang delivered 👌

reading this rn even though I have 4 library books due next week, none of which I have started, 3 of which I can’t renew; I’ve also been reading 3 other books and an audiobook at the same time that I don’t feel like picking up but don’t want to drop haha ok

this is a solid 3 I get why people like it a lot but personally I am just not thaat invested; the worldbuilding is solid, was really confused in the beginning but it gets cleared up; art is pretty good; I really like the parents on the cover if they die I'd be v sad :( I'll read book 2 next time I'm at the library and want to avoid doing work

Sunja no :( he’s married

it is getting harder and harder to concentrate on listening :)

beginning and end were average middle was pretty good; the banter was annoying because no one is that clever 24/7 ... unrealistic :/ ; everybody hurts scene was very cringe so was the Taylor Swift notebook thing; their problems were dramatic but written realistically? their inSeCuriTies about the relationship were believable given their pasts A- on that; very much a 3 star read no doubt