Paula Nguyen > Recent Status Updates

Saying Your Names

I wonder if MKs other books have the same plotless vibe, I’m interested in breasts and eggs but probably won’t get around to it anytime soon; her writing style really made the plotless vibe work for me, it kind of reminds me of sally rooney where things kind of just happen except sally rooney doesn’t have the ~rich prose~ that MK does, so it doesn’t work as well; rating floats between 3 and 4, leaning 3 prob

*mild spoiler*
I’m really glad she didn’t end up with Mitsutsuka in the end; initially I felt myself wanting them to be together but when it came to the flash forward and she said it didn’t work out I was like wow thank god; this is definitely the type of book that people describe as no plot just vibes, and honestly it’s not really my favorite type of book even though I definitely enjoyed this one

a random thought came to mind during the mini glow up scene before her date … this book is definitely walmart eleanor oliphant; calling it the walmart version is kind of disrespectful because it’s definitely not a bad book, but eleanor oliphant just had more happening; I would’ve dropped this book if I read it at a different time in my life, but I think I’ve been craving something slower paced and lyrical

the writing is so wuaw + the plot is not plotting but that is ok

Out of the last three books I’ve read, two of them are about editors? Peculiar

oops

Saw this recommended as “a book that feels like a studio ghibli movie” … somehow I doubt that after reading the synopsis but I like the title so I’m reading it anyway … also haven’t read a Japanese author in a while

the only thing that I remember about this book is that the 🌶️ scene was surprisingly good ? like usually I cringe a little bit but this one was written kind of well ?? idk ali hazelwood lwk did something; also that one booktoker who said AH just writes the same book over and over again … so true

LMAOO wait I read this like months ago and never put it on my Goodreads how uncharacteristic of me 🤪 I’d just like to say my reading challenge wrap up this year is gonna be embarrassing because I didn’t read very many books that are actually substantial .. mostly because I used reading as a break during school so I never wanted to try anything challenging .. better luck next year ?

I’m actually not sure if I like this more than summer frost even though it’s supposed to be the best in the forward collection … I still think it was good, it always surprises me how little time it takes to get invested when in short stories; obviously that’s the point but I can appreciate the skill; lack of dialogue from mc was lowkey confusing but added to the desired effect ig

First few were insane

Scheherazade and Dirty Valentine >>

quick addition, I understand why Nora is as clingy as she is given the backstory with her mom but the whole time I was just screaming at her to let Libby live her life like she’s an adult with 3 kids 😭 maybe if she even had ONE friend outside her sister she would stop fixating and obsessing when she really does not need to

I could not wait for this book to be over, was genuinely counting down the pages; worst Emily Henry book I’ve read so far, PWMOV>>BR>>BL; every male protagonist in her books are the same; I never found myself invested in the plot or the couple I just did not buy their chemistry; last few romances I’ve read were way better; giving this a 2 on a romance scale not objective; Emily Henry = overrated 👎

I wasn’t expecting much after the first few pages but it was surprisingly really good; the concept seemed really interesting but corny, it still was a little corny but I enjoyed it nonetheless; I genuinely never see plot twists coming, this one was so obvious but I still didn’t expect it; writing isn’t lyrical by any means, kind of male but he makes it work; weirdly good setting descriptions; got invested

The mc is especially frustrating because her desperate need for escape is so unreasonable but also the driving force behind her actions I just don’t believe that’s how people act/think in real life; also the ml genuinely does not seem like a real person his only singular flaw is the fact that he leaves his clothes on the floor?? he had no charisma or appeal other than his “washboard abs” 🙄 disappointment

I keep on forgetting to mark stuff as complete … finished this a while ago, disappointed bc it wasn’t nearly as good as things you save in a fire; it’s weird how KC skipped all of the build up? she was like they frolicked around in the fields and went to the river every day slowly falling in love ?? show me instead of telling me lol; the characters were all two dimensional, especially the boss, bff, and ex

Fueling my man hating era

Somehow I have a feeling that this is the type of book that has no discernible plot, no story just vibes; we’ll see if that holds up; could also see myself getting bored easily, will dnf around 30% if 🥱👎

I’m so glad I finally got around to finishing this 😭 got distracted by school and moving out , lowkey forgot about it for a second; the story is so good though the first 60% reads a bit like fiction because the county officials + prosecutors for Walter’s case were so shitty they didn’t even seem real; def a top 5 memoir, glad I read it instead of audio so I could process it better and pace myself

finished this a few days ago and never marked it as complete; kind of forgot what I specifically liked/disliked about it; overall it was entertaining but the first one was better; female mcs in both of AJs books are a little red flag but that's ok :) better than the other way around; I think I like the ml better in this one because he appeals to me more personally lol

Daniel was green flag and Alexis was lowkey red 💀 it makes sense given her background but showing up out of the blue to try to catch him cheating is so :/ I did get really into the story and the writing / quotes were way above average for a romance + the resolution was well crafted but it could’ve been less repetitive , ruined the immersion for me tbh; first 3.5 star rating in a while, rounded up or down idk

I wouldn’t say the conflict is this book is super realistic but the way that AJ writes about it really makes it feel real; I don’t like how she kept hammering the nail on the head with 😍 oh my god we’re so in love we can’t live without each other; like yes they love each other but it was so frustratingly angsty at points I got icked; Abi/Ari whoever the bff was singlehandedly saved this relationship

I had no idea this was so popular 😭 I just saw a random TikTok recommending it and decided I had nothing better to do; didn’t have high expectations or anything but consider them exceeded; it’s really hard for me to give any romances 4+ stars now because I just read so many and they’re all somewhat similar but this one is kind of making me think

So when I started this I thought it was gonna be a pretty easy 4 star but somewhere around 25% I was at a solid 3; the writing was pretty good and I never was completely bored or uninterested, I totally get why some people loved it and why other people didn’t vibe; personally I would’ve liked it better if it were more character focused .. story was super plot driven + star crossed lovers trope fell flat tbh

Marco rizz 😮‍💨😮‍💨

I was very interested to know why everyone I follow who has read this had such inconsistent opinions 🤔 I get it now

I feel like it’s been a while since I’ve read a normal book? I always find myself listening to audio memoirs or reading romance just because they’re so easy to get into but they never hit as hard as contemporary / fantasy / historical .. trying to get back into it since summer is starting ☀️😎

This I won’t f*ck the man whore so he knows I like his personality instead of his body trope is so tiring 😭 like there’s no way this happens in real life as much as it does in books (ahem @ hook line and sinker); this couple is more interesting than TSFR but the build up was not written nearly as well; somehow I come back to a romance binge every few months

I think this book came to me at a time where I just really needed some escapism and it was great 💀 objectively I can tell it’s kind of shit but wow I was eating this book up; I was thinking about giving it 4 stars but I cannot do that in good faith because I would never recommend it lol; the side couple is 👌👌 ; tropes in this book were funny