Drama-Lovers Book Club

Hello, I would like to join the book club :)

Thanks a lot :)

I'm currently reading Meine geniale Freundin by Elena Ferrante (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35036409-my-brilliant-friend) - German translation of the first book from the Italian L'amica geniale series, also known as The Neapolitan Novels.

It's about the life of two friends set in the 50s on the outskirts of Naples. I recommend the book to people who like character-driven stories and coming of age stories.

My plan is to post monthly overviews of what I have read.

I look forward to sharing our passion for books here. :)

 Paloma_Josse:

I've read the first two books in this series and plan to read the third one soon! I think those book have very deep and complex portrayal of female friendship, it's all very well-written and compelling. I love that we get to see the progression of the relationship between two main heroines throughout their life! Will look forward to read your updates! Btw do you know there's an adaptation of those books? Italian HBO series with the same name!

Oh nice! Yes I agree, I also like following their personal growth through the pages.
I have heard of the series but haven't looked into it yet as I prefer to read the books first.

How is the second book compared to the first?

 Paloma_Josse:

The second book is darker and has more serious tone, but quality-wise I'd say they're on the same level! 

I first discovered the tv adaptation and only then figured out that it's based on the series of books! So our journeys are a bit opposite lol. 

Oh interesting, I am curious to read more of their lifes

Ah yeah, I see :')

Hi! I would like to join! I love to read but due to my personal schedule I can't read as much as I'd like (although I do read a lot), I think being in a book club and seeing what other people are reading will motivate me to read even more.

guys please recommend books with likeable female characters preferably YA thank you!

 Paloma_Josse:

Tell me three things by Julie Baxbaum

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

We are okay by Nina Lacour

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

Girl made of stars by Ashley Herring Blake

Thank you!!

So I did thought that I would read nothing this month and solely focus on my studies but I couldn't do that so here I am lol. I finished one book, put one book on hold and am currently reading one book haha . Let's see my thoughts on all of them!

If we were villians by M.L. Rio

This was so good! It's a dark academia themes murder mystery revolving around a group of 7 friends who are theatre kids studying in a prestigious university that only teaches Shakespeare's plays. Now, I'm not a big fan of Shakespeare's( nor  his  hater) and that's becuase in India, schools don't really teach you about Shakespeare's plays or Greek mythology but this book is still super enjoyable!

If you're a Shakespeare's fan, you'd really enjoy this cuz central theme, the storytelling technique, its all as it's a love letter to Shakespeare. It's beautiful.

The characters are all pretentious thespian who talk using Shakespeare's play lines in their daily life but still they are super endearing and they grow on you. The mystery is super good too and i just don't how to praise this book without spoiling it but trust me it's good.

The last 50 something pages are what made me give this 5 stars from 4 so I'd advise not to drop it  . By the end, i was definitely crying haha.

Also trigger warning, the protagonist doesn't take his sister's food disorder seriously. It's a very minor part of the book but I think everyone deserves a heads up.

My rating = 5/5

Golden stage by Cang Wu Bin Bai

This is the novel I've currently on hold. It's not a bad novel per say but it's just super boring. I was so excited to read it since it was palace drama and two powerful officials falling in love and their healthiest relationship bit my god is the politics boring. I am person that LOVES reading historical politics but either this novel has it badly written or it's just not my cup of tea. I think it's the former cuz the whole politics storyline feels...nothing new. It's like it got stollen from another novel but not from one novel but many. It's like the author has read many political stories and now is just weaving some parts of every story into this novel and i just don't like it.

That being said, the main couple are super enjoyable. They are super cute together, they are healthy and i just love their cute banters but i also have a problem with how quickly they fell in love. Maybe it's a ME problem but I love slow-paced romances so it was very strange for me how quickly they both fell in love with each other. But if you lIle fast-paced enemies-to-lovers this is definitely your thing.

I put this on hold becuase the politics was boring and because I found another novel with interesting politics. I'd definitely pick this up again cuz I really like the couple.

My rating so far - 3/5

Lord seventh by priest  

This is the novel I'm reading currently and I'm loving it!

It has a unique concept ; It follows Jing Qi who has lived 6 of his 7 lives and this time he gets a chance to relive his first life for the last time to fix whatever went wrong. It's a classic reincarnation story but what i like about is that Jing Qi has spent all his 6 lives loving one person that is Helian Yi and the latter has always killed him haha  so normally when a reincarnation occurs in that kind of story you'd  think this time he will clear whatever misunderstanding that happened and Helian yi would get a redemption arc and then they would live happily ever after.

BUT THAT DOESN'T HAPPEN!

cuz Helian yi is not the main love interest for Jing Qi ( he's still a main character tho ) ! It's Wu Xi who is not a new character in this lifetime cuz he was not present in previous life of Jing Qi.

So that plotline is what I find interesting and new .

Now let's talk about the politics. So the novel is heavy in politics like all priest's works so be prepared before starting but my god do i love the politics. It's my favourite part about this novel. It's super well written and fun to read. All the things that Jing Qi and his gang do are brilliant.They also do a lot of bad things for the greater good which ivlove cuz I love morally grey protagonists. So yes the politics is the most enjoyable part but the romance is...questionable. 

I love how this novel is the opposite of Golden stage. The politics is great but the romance not so much. Don't get me wrong, like i said the concept of Wu Xi being the male lead was awesome and I loved him in the beginning but I'm in the model of the novel he started doing some really creepy stuff...like not respecting boundaries,forcing himself on Jing Qi and it also feel like Jing Qi said yes to him as if saying a yes to a child so yes the romance is definitely lacking and could be better. 

These are the things that make me sad you know cuz it's a good novel but when a good novel has lacking aspects like this, it's really hard to rate. The politics alone deserves a 4 to 4.5 rating but because of this aspects in the romance i can't give it a full 4 even...



My rating so far - 3.75/5

Anyways, Happy New year!❤