morgan's Updates

Wed, 30 Apr 2025 09:55:17 -0700

morgan liked a userstatus

Tue, 29 Apr 2025 11:06:36 -0700

morgan liked aila ��.*'s status update

aila ��.* is starting The Ballad of Never After: if this isn’t the best book i’ve ever read i’m billing all of you the $35 i spent on this and ouabh

morgan added 'A Little Life'

Tue, 29 Apr 2025 10:52:51 -0700

morgan gave 5 stars to A Little Life (Paperback) by Hanya Yanagihara
bookshelves: reviewed, my-lit-loves
I say I read for comfort, and then I go and pick up a book like this. It is true that the last thing this book brought me was comfort, though it did not fail in bringing me a wealth of pain, anger, terror, grief, anxiety, and frustration. There is one thing you should know about this book above all else and that is that it is, truly, a tragedy—one I reckon not even Shakespeare could conjure.

I have been in a daze since finishing this book; I simply cannot stop thinking about the characters, and their shocking yet beautiful stories—or really, singular story, as everything and everyone is all so intricately interconnected. I find myself feeling like a part of this very junction—so connected to this story and these characters—that I’m struggling to let go. So, here is my raw and honest review as I am writing it in the fresh hours and tender emotional residue since finishing this book.

First, I feel it is important to say this as a precursor: do not, by any means, take my star rating as an objective or definitive assessment of this book. Truthfully, I have absolutely no idea what to rate it.
Though this is a work of fiction, it feels wrong to rate it at all in the same way one might struggle to rate a biography—feeling like they are rating someone’s life rather than a piece of creative fiction. From an introspective lens, I suppose this is a reflection of how very real this story feels to me, how sensitive I feel toward these characters.

That said, something objective I can easily critique about this book is the 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴—it is beautiful. The prose is poetic, laced with emotion in even the most mundane of thoughts. Yanagihara’s storytelling contains VERY intimate and thorough character exploration. The book does have a pretty slow and meddling progression—maybe even a little too dragged out at times—but I ultimately came appreciate this in the end, as it is what allowed for such deep connection to the characters, and, in parallel, a heavier emotional weight. Yanagihara has a way of unexpectedly and almost intrusively introducing the (many) scenes that will make your jaw hang open, will make you have to put down the book. These moments are so sudden, so without warning or prelude that the impact is a million times more profound.

Now I will say, however much I can appreciate her way with words, I found myself hating the author consistently throughout the entire book. How can you create a character so tender, so soft and beautiful and pure and innocent, and then put him through all of that?
Yanagihara’s cruelty lies in her mastery of crafting characters who feel profoundly intimate and authentic, drawing you into their lives so deeply that you come to know them better than you know yourself. Then, putting them through unimaginable pain.
𝗝𝘂𝗱𝗲 is a character for whom I feel a VERY specific tenderness. Just thinking of him and the unfathomable weight of his story brings tears to my eyes, every. single. time.
𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗺 stands as one of the most beautiful characters I’ve ever encountered. He remained loyal, selfless, and unwavering in character to the very end. His love for Jude truly transcends any portrayal of love I’ve come across in literature.
Together, their love is one that is both mature and juvenile, both complex and effortless. It is especially beautiful because it manifests in various forms—platonically and romantically—but it remains steadfast and organic, no matter how it evolves or changes over time.

Accounting for every book I’ve ever read, this one was by far the hardest one to get through—not because of its length, or writing, not even the tiny text size (but yes, I will point these things out anyway to accredit myself for the rare accomplishment of reading a 800+ page novel that is dialogue-scarce and ample with narration/long passages in below-average font size); but because of the pure traumatic nature of its contents. On several or more occasions during my reading, I found myself having to put the book down and just sit in silence for a few minutes. There were times I felt physically sick to my stomach. There were times where, I surely don’t need to tell you, I sobbed.

It is a beautiful book, without doubt; but it’s beauty is the kind rooted in tragedy, and that can only come from something so horrendously dark that it makes you see the world in a whole new light.
I don’t want to either recommend or deter anyone away from this book—both feel wrong in their own way. I think with this book you just have to know what you’re getting into, and if you choose to read it, then that’s up to you. (And if you do, I dearly hope you have a strong support system in your life).

morgan started reading 'Ruthless Vows'

Mon, 28 Apr 2025 19:30:02 -0700

morgan started reading Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross

morgan commented on addi 𝜗𝜚 (ia for a lil bc of school)'s review of Great Big Beautiful Life

Mon, 28 Apr 2025 18:12:05 -0700

New comment on addi 𝜗𝜚 (ia for a lil bc of school)'s review of Great Big Beautiful Life
by Emily Henry

Happy reading!! Hope you love it 🩷

morgan liked a review

Mon, 28 Apr 2025 18:11:31 -0700

morgan liked Grace Harper's review of Gild (The Plated Prisoner, #1):

"3.75🌟 (rounding up)
Soooo excited to see where this series goes from here!! Thought this was a good introduction to everything. Finished this in one sitting and I’m starting Glint right now!"

morgan liked a userstatus

Mon, 28 Apr 2025 18:11:30 -0700

morgan liked Av! 's status update

Av! added a status update: Am I watching Spirit Stallion of the Cimarron for the 2nd time in the last 3 days? Yes. Yes I am.

morgan commented on Denisse 🦋's review of Divine Rivals

Mon, 28 Apr 2025 18:11:18 -0700

New comment on Denisse 🦋's review of Divine Rivals (Letters of Enchantment, #1)
by Rebecca Ross

I completely agree! My expectations were blown away with this one! So glad you also loved it 🩷

morgan commented on morgan's review of This Is How You Lose the Time War

Mon, 28 Apr 2025 18:10:00 -0700

New comment on morgan's review of This Is How You Lose the Time War
by Amal El-Mohtar

nataliee 🌱 wrote: "AHH THIS BOOK WAS SO GOOD!! Im glad you enjoyed it 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕��"
Thank you sweet!! It really was <3

morgan added 'This Is How You Lose the Time War'

Mon, 28 Apr 2025 05:34:48 -0700

morgan gave 4 stars to This Is How You Lose the Time War (ebook) by Amal El-Mohtar
bookshelves: reviewed
This book is like being sung to in a language I didn’t understand but still somehow felt. It is euphoria wrapped in vertigo. It is a fever dream of beauty and ache.
In other words: I’m not entirely sure what just happened, but I know I loved it.

~

Through a series of astral confessions, two distinctly brilliant correspondents betray the rules of war, stretch the boundaries of worlds, and test the confines of timelines, in order to alter not only their futures, but their fate as one. And it’s kind of stunning.

Something about an epistolary novel just gets straight to my heart like no other. There has yet to be a more authentic or elegant way to portray love than through written words of affection derived from the fuel that is physical separation, and the aching desire to close that gap.
But have you ever heard of a letter so sacred that its sender encodes it in lava, etches it into bone, burns it into feathers, and weaves it into seeds?

The devotion, the angst, the yearning, the LOVE, truly transcend the ordinary with this story.

The writing here is something truly special. Every single event, every thought, every feeling, is delivered with poetic flair and utter intimacy. This book transforms even the most mundane aspects of a science-fiction into something elegant and fantastically romantic.
Think less “sci-fi tech talk��, and more “two souls dancing across opposing timelines to the rhythm of their mutual longing and devotion, in hopes of crashing into each other and ruining the show��.

Granted, I completely understand why so many people say this book was confusing for them, or that they had issues with the writing. The world-building is purely impressionistic, and the writing can be overwhelming in its evocative and intensely poetic tone. It’s simply not going to be for everyone. But if you’re in the mood for something that reads like love letters penned by prophets, you might just do what I did—fall in love with this. Hard.

—�Ĕ��

�� 𝙋𝙧𝙚-𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙
Anything—and I mean ANYTHING—with a premise of love through letters = I’m sold.