“I need you in my life like I need to fly. Like I need this Alaskan air. More than I need this air.”
Oh man, this series. These characters. This writing. This author.
Gushinggggg but it’s so good.
This sequel didn’t quite contain the magic that the first book did for me, but it was very well done, nonetheless. I really appreciate what the author did with the story and how she handled the continuation. 4.25 stars if we wanna be precise 😉.
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“People are much more dangerous than anything your mind can make up while you’re sleeping.”
“Like people you can’t trust?”
“Yes,” he answered and his voice was quieter. “They’re the most dangerous.”
“How can you tell who they are?” I asked.
“That’s easy,” he said, inhaling slowly from his cigarette. “They’re the people who are the hardest to stay away from.”
This was such a great book. For a debut author, this was an impressive and promising novel. I thought it was so well done and am excited to see what more the author comes up with!
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“Yes, it certainly seemed like the human instinct, to get high on someone else, an external entity who could make life more exciting and relieve you of your own self, your own life, even just for a moment. Maybe once that person became too real, too familiar, they could no longer get you high – no longer be a drug – and that was why you grew tired of them.”
This book was so bizarre. For some reason, I have been drawn to the cover and the concept of it since it came out and when I heard that Whitney from WittyNovels on Youtube liked it, I decided to give it a try.
I actually really enjoyed a lot of what I read here (in a disturbing, introspective kind of way). The writing is fantastic, the story and the characters very unapologetic. And it is truly out there. I wanted to give it 4 stars for most of the book, but somewhere near the ending, I settled on 3.5 stars, overall.
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“That’s not the way it works. You know that. Sins—crimes—are not supposed to go unpunished.”
I’m really glad I finally read this book! You know when a cover just sticks out to you and you can’t seem to help but get drawn to a book, because of it? That was Montana 1948 for me. I saw it so many times at thrift stores and finally picked it up, because I just love that cover! I am very happy I got to it quickly after that and I enjoyed the story. I ended up giving it 3 stars.
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“I would stare at the grains of light suspended in that silent space, struggling to see into my own heart. What did I want? And what did others want from me? But I could never find the answers. Sometimes I would reach out and try to grasp the grains of light, but my fingers touched nothing.”
This book was so simple, yet so powerful at the same time. It was transparent and open, but also layered. This was my first Murakami and I was deeply moved by his way with words, his symbolism, and his knack for making a little love story mean so much more than that. It was also incredibly sad, but so meaningful and poignant. I will 100% be seeking out more of his work. Spoilers below!
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“Why does that obstinate little voice in our heads torment us so? Could it be because it reminds us that we are alive, of our mortality, of our individual souls – which, after all, we are too afraid to surrender but yet make us feel more miserable than any other thing? It is a terrible thing to learn as a child that one is a being separate from the world, that no one and no thing hurts along with one’s burned tongues and skinned knees, that one’s aches and pains are all one’s own. Even more terrible, as we grow older, to learn that no person, no matter how beloved, can ever truly understand us. Our own selves make us most unhappy, and that’s why we’re so anxious to lose them, don’t you think?”
Wow wow wow! This book was absolutely amazing. I loved everything about it. 5 stars!!
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“But these thoughts broke apart in his head and were replaced by strange fragments: This is my soul and the world unwinding, this is my heart in the still winter air. Finally whispering the same two words over and over: “Keep walking. Keep walking. Keep walking.””
Oh my god. This book. It was so amazing. I was expecting to like this book, but I had no idea it would be so moving and powerful. It is beautiful. 5 brilliant stars.
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“Only here’s what I really, really want someone to explain to me. What if one happens to be possessed of a heart that can’t be trusted–? What if the heart, for its own unfathomable reasons, leads one willfully and in a cloud of unspeakable radiance away from health, domesticity, civic responsibility and strong social connections and all the blandly-held common virtues and instead straight toward a beautiful flare of ruin, self-immolation, disaster?…If your deepest self is singing and coaxing you straight toward the bonfire, is it better to turn away? Stop your ears with wax? Ignore all the perverse glory your heart is screaming at you? Set yourself on the course that will lead you dutifully towards the norm, reasonable hours and regular medical check-ups, stable relationships and steady career advancement the New York Times and brunch on Sunday, all with the promise of being somehow a better person? Or…is it better to throw yourself head first and laughing into the holy rage calling your name?”
I finished it! I feel so accomplished. Wow wow wow, this book was a masterpiece! So good. 4.5 read for sure, with just a few very minor hangups.
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“The only way to influence another’s fate is by destroying them. It’s the only thing that can be done permanently and by an action within your control. To try to protect someone is to try to intervene in the actions of the world against them but that’s something you can’t face alone or entirely because if fate has bullets for them you can only take one.”
This was a really interesting book! I was excited to read it ever since I started following Rae on Instagram. She seems like such a cool lady, with her beautiful horse and cow rustling and reading Faulkner in woods. Her debut novel was very much what I was hoping it would be and, despite some flaws, turned out to be a solid 3.5 star read! I would warn you, though, that this novel is extremely violent, not just to people (cause who cares about them?), but also to animals, so keep that in mind before picking it up.
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“Perhaps her mind would go on flexing psychic muscles that no longer existed; would be betrayed and mocked by a phantom self as the amputee is by a phantom limb. Someday she might replace whatever of her had gone away by some prosthetic device, a dress of a certain color, a phrase in a letter, another lover.”
I finally got around to reading this book and I am so glad I did! Don’t you just love the feeling of finally being able to move a book from your TBR pile to your read shelf? Mmm it’s a good one. That being said, this was a bit of a difficult book to review. While only being about 150 pages, this little novel was chock full of dense language, insane conspiracies, crazy characters, and nonsensical dialogue. So, basically, it had all of the characteristics that I love about a satirical, postmodern, meta social commentary, parody fest. Woo!
Let Them Read Cake 