Paula Nguyen > Recent Status Updates

Blurbs say it’s “the perfect thriller” and I definitely would not call it that; it was moderately fast paced but it’s just not as fast and I would have liked it; the last 20% was really good (4 stars) but the first 80% was ok/good (3.75 stars) so I guess that averages out to a 4? not sure if I want to give it that though; writing was straightforward, plot was well crafted, pretty fast to read

⚠️spoiler⚠️ just so I remember later the plot twist is the psychotherapist’s wife was cheating on him with Alicia’s husband so he did this elaborate tying them up scheme and made the husband confess to cheating which drove her to shooting him; tbh didn’t see the twist coming, I usually don’t so not surprising; not sure how to feel about it, hovering between 3 and 4

anonymous girl kinda vibe with better developed + more complex characters ok I see you Alex Michaelides 👀👀 usually I have a pretty solid idea about my rating 1/3 in but it could go anywhere from here; much anticipation :)

good for a school book; personal rating of 3 stars but school rating of 5

wow I’m so ashamed I mispredicted the ending I really thought I had it all figured out; ending was kind of sad, definitely the best part of the book; writing style kind of grew on me 2/3 through; I can see why people would like it but the Shakespeare was just too cringe; the characters were good(ish) but for a character driven book it just wasn’t enough for me; solid 3/5 though

oop just wanted to get to 75% before I continue later

I knew Oliver wanted James I KNEW IT; I just cannot get over the secret history parallels; the same pretense to the “murder,” the same character archetypes, the same stress following the murder; I think I would enjoy this a lot more if I knew the plot of the plays they were acting in, I literally only know Romeo and Juliet and Much Ado about Nothing; kinda curious about how the murder happened doe

Donna Tarte needs to sue for plagiarism

k the dark academia lowkey cringe with this one can they stop throwing out random Shakespeare lines like it’s their only personality trait (oh wait, it is); can’t tell if Oliver wants to get with Meredith or James; I’m a simp for James though he do b kinda fine; the writing style kind of isn’t my thing, not horrible; character focused but idk how much I like the characters right now; girls were written badly

Chapter 11 and 12 paired well with my udon 😌

kinda weird how my physical book has 200ish pages and the edition I’m reviewing has 300 and I didn’t notice; stories were more than a LITTLE weird; definitely did not get most of them, they felt kind of aimless; a few of them were really good but the rest had me like 😴; I’d give this like a 2.5 which is slightly generous but writing was pretty good/quotable; I’ll round to 3, might change later

I’d simp for (pre war crime) Obama too

geranium and code of Hammurabi 👏

rufus can go die f him

kinda hor-KnEe; was way too invested in the main plot to fully appreciate the relationship, the whole matchmaker situation had me STRESSED; if the business and romance plots were separate stories they’d be inadequate (is that expected?) basically the mix of them together made it good but both elements just had the potential to be better yknow; ship was alright but didn’t make me feel much; had higher expectations

👀 interesting

Reading this bc kat said it was good and I desperately want to trust her romance taste even though she said Chloe brown was good (it was sh*t) BUT I really want a solid source of romance recs so imma just give her another chance; also reading this at the same time as a physical book, and audiobook, and a school book further showing that I am ✨ incapable ~ of doing anything in moderation; ok it’s 2am imma start

getting used to how weird this is ✌️ not sure if I like it though gotta keep going

so what I’m hearing is this bitch has never been sad

I cannot believe Rufus told his dad that he's horny

I kept tuning out in the middle of stories because I didn’t know what was going on; I would read a paragraph and be like “what?” then I’d just forget what she said because it didn’t make any sense; anyway I think I’m too small brain for this; I like the writing style / format but it’s just too abstract for me yikes

I think I would’ve given this a higher rating but after taking a break for so long I just wasn’t as invested in the storyline; I still think the story and themes were good but I wanted a little bit more drama from it; personal preference I guess?? It just moved a little slow for my taste but still managed to be engaging even after the 2 month gap 🥴

waittt I feel so bad for doubting Kelley I should’ve known he wouldn’t release the grocery store video; Alix is so twisted and obsessed with Kelley and Emira can she chill with the white savior complex bruv; even without the video conflict Kelley was sus, maybe the breakup was good but I still hate Alix for thinking releasing the video was “the right thing to do” like respect her privacy ?? dis cos tan

idk if it’s just because I stopped for so long but can this move faster already plz thank you

finished 6:20am on a Saturday night nice; I don’t really like what this book says about cheating, I feel like the author didn’t mean to justify it but it just makes it...too okay; I liked the premise because it was RoMantiC but I swear the MONOLOGUES and cheesy text messages just weren’t doing it for me; didn’t get what I wanted from Colleen with this one, have a feeling I never will but I still like her ig

It was engaging but definitely kind of meh overall; the buildup was pretty good but after the fell in love it got a little annoying when they were alone and all HoT and BothEreD trying not to make out; I found myself tuning out from the story in the middle of their “no I can’t do this” moments; it was kind of nice and I hate using this word but maybe it was “sweet” even though he freaking cheated

wow Hoover REALLY provided that slow burn; the dramatic love monologues were getting kind of old around the middle; I was kind of invested but after the initial relationship building their love was described super weirdly; they just described how DEEPLY and AGGRESSIVELY they loved each other and it had the opposite effect I think I was supposed to feel; still feel bad for the ex gf Maggie