January 2020 Wrap Up

Hello, readers! How has the new year been treating you? Are you keeping up with your reading challenge?
I, surprisingly, read more than I had planned. I read a total of 6 books this month, which I am extremely happy about. Here's a quick wrap-up of all the books I have read!

1. Beyond Our Melancholy

✨Beyond Our Melancholy' revolves around the life of Zinia, who, along with her unwell mother, moved into her uncle and aunt's home after her father's demise. Although Zinia is loved by her uncle, her aunt despises her for an incident Zinia was subjected to, and often, torments her for the same.
✨Fazal is a successful billionaire who settled in America after his parent's demise. Although he's found peace with life, there's one dream that won't stop haunting him.
✨Even though Zinia and Fazal are countries apart, there's something that binds their lives. When destinies bring them together, will Zinia and Fazal manage to look beyond their melancholy and discover their bliss?
That's for you to read and me to dot dot dot (...)
✨ Although the author does employ the use of Urdu words and phrases from the Quran, that just increases the beauty of the story; the amount of grammatical and spelling mistakes were too hard to ignore.

✨ Rating: ★★★.5

TO PURCHASE THIS BOOK, CLICK HERE.

2. The Perks of Being A Wallflower

✨ I cannot describe my emotions after having read this book. It just transported my focus deep into my mind, upon feelings I often try to ignore. It made me emotional, it made me happy. My emotions resemble a roller-coaster right now. I absolutely loved this book. It made me feel infinite ❤️
✨ The entire book being in the form of letters written by Charlie was an initial shock for me, but the feeling soon faded away when I got absorbed into the story, into the life of Charlie. I am not going to describe the plot because I'm sure almost everyone has read this book. 😂
✨ Since I had already watched the movie twice, I did know the storyline, but when people say books are better than the movies, they're absolutely right. The movie now seems a little hazy to me, but the book just describes every situation, every emotion with such perfection. I think this will be the first book that'll re-read. I've finally found a book that I love so much. ❤️
✨ Rating: ★★★★★
TO PURCHASE THIS BOOK, CLICK HERE.

3. Fangirl

✨ The story revolves around the lives of twin sisters - Cath and Wren. While moving into university, Wren decides to move away from Cath and enjoy her independence, whereas Cath finds the idea rather uncomfortable because the two had spent their entire lives together. So unlike Wren, who spends her days in university with her friends and boyfriends drinking and partying, Cath - being an introvert, decides to stay hidden in her dorm and write fanfictions about her favorite characters - Simon and Baz all day.
✨ Cath's peace is often interrupted by her roommate Reagan and her boyfriend Levi. Reagan is a lady of very few words and emotions. Whereas Levi is an extremely fun and happy character, one who can never wipe the smile off his face. Cath found it intolerable to live around the two of them.
✨ Cath makes acquaintance with Nick -- her classmate in writing classes and spends a few hours of her day with him writing stories.
✨ The story basically describes the struggle of an introvert/socially awkward girl -- who is worried about her dad and her distant twin sister and tries to cope up to adjust with the environment and find comfort.
✨ Fangirl is so close to my heart because I feel like I connect with Cath on various aspects. The various issues dealt with in this book -- the love, pain, trauma, social anxiety, need for comfort -- the author has done an incredible job of describing the emotions so delicately. Also, the art on the front and back cover of the book was beautiful.
✨ The only thing about this book that set me off was the detailed fanfictions. Having not read any book related to Simon and Baz, I couldn't really understand what their story was about and also found it rather uninteresting.
✨ Rating: ★★★★.5

TO PURCHASE THIS BOOK, CLICK HERE.

4. The Fault in Our Stars

✨ Most of the time, I know the book is going to be a huge disappointment, even before I start reading it. But there are certain books that I pick up with huge expectations. The Fault in Our Stars happened to be one of those books, that crushed my expectations.
✨ I was told to keep a box of tissues with me, and that got me excited. Because (weirdly) I love when books make me cry.
✨ Although I like the story, the writing style of the author was a let down for me. I really liked Augustus Waters. And I did feel bad for Hazel and Gus' parents. But I just couldn't feel any of the emotions. The writing style just fell flat.
✨ It's probably because I had seen the movie long ago, and haven't forgotten much of the details. Maybe that killed the intensity for me. 🤷‍♀️ But (I never thought I would say this), I prefer the movie over the novel!
✨ Also, I can't help but look at the irony in the story. It's water that hurts Hazel Grace, and yet, she falls in love with Augustus 'Waters'. 😂😂
I may give this book a try again sometime soon, and hopefully, probably, I'll like it?✨ Rating: ★★.5

TO PURCHASE THIS BOOK, CLICK HERE.

5. Made in China

✨ The story revolves around Raghu Mehta, a shopowner from Surat, who was facing great losses. He decides to tag along with his friend Dev to China for business purposes, that is, to find a new product to deal with. He stumbles upon a store that sells "tiger soup", which although it was unconventional to be sold in India, had caught Raghu's attention.
✨ The story describes the struggle of a person to carry out a business in India that is considered to be against the culture and attempting to succeed in the politics involved in it.
✨ I was hugely disappointed by this book. Because there was neither any shock or suspense. The blurb of this book encapsulates the entire story. Other than the main plot, there were quite a few double-meaning jokes, which didn't do any good either.
✨ Rating: ★

TO PURCHASE THIS BOOK, CLICK HERE.

6. The Little Teashop of Lost and Found

✨ The story revolves around Alice Rose, who was abandoned by her mother as soon as she was born and was later abandoned by her adoptive mother, following the death of her adoptive father. Although she had her best friend Lola and her family's support, she decided to move across various countries in the UK to find a place she could call home. After having her heartbroken by Robbie, followed by Dan, Alice makes an impulsive decision of buying a teashop in Haworth, Yorkshire -- the same place where she was abandoned by her birth mother. Alice sets out on a journey to make a living on her own through her love for baking and writing, along with finding the truth about her birth parents.
✨ I truly loved this book. The emotions were so raw. The writing style of the author was captivating. Although the book was slightly lengthy, it wasn't boring at all. The author has given enough emphasis on the hardships one has to face to start off their own venture while going through a mental breakdown alongside. The ending of the book had me smiling like crazy!! 😍
✨ Rating: ★★★★★

So that was all about the books I read this month, and although a few of the books disappointed me, I  found three books that I absolutely loved and look forward to re-reading them soon. 💗