Article by Sydney Loder
Over the past few months I have gone through a slight reading block. However, November was able to bring me back to life as I read Broken Throne, by Victoria Aveyard, Stunning, by Sara Shephard, and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, by Taylor Jenkins Reid. During the months of September and October I worked through These Violent Delights, by Chloe Dong. These novels detailed time periods from the 1920's in Shanghai all the way to a new era in what can only be described as a dystopian future. I read about the glamourous Hollywood in its glory days and the beginnings of the internet and its perks when you're a stalker (it'll make sense later). Furthermore, many of these novels portrayed real world problems such as the need for popularity, the aspect and downfall of secrets, gender roles, individualism, and sexuality. The genre of these novels range from romance, fantasy, and a mixture of thriller with murder/mystery.
These Violent Delights, by Chloe Dong, was a retelling of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The two main characters Juliette Cai and Roma Montagov are members of rival gangs called the Scarlet Gang and the White Flowers. When a supernatural threat begins to make its way through Shanghai killing thousands, Juliette and Roma are forced to rekindle their relationship and secretly work together to save their home. As they do this the battle between love and the duty to ones family becomes a common theme for both of the main characters. I enjoyed this novel, but also found it to be quite boring at times, which explains why it took me so long to get through. I don't know if I would recommend it but am hoping for the story to make its way to my heart in the sequel.
Broken Throne by Victoria Aveyard, made me want to read again. This book was a collection of short stories and histories pertaining to the Red Queen series. I won't say too much about it as I don't want to spoil the series, but I would absolutely recommend anything by Victoria Aveyard. Her work is absolutely spell-binding and she'll have you falling in love within the first book. Stunning, by Sara Shephard is the eleventh book in the Pretty Little Liars series. This novel details the power of secrets while giving the reader a fun and easy murder/mystery read. The main characters within the story are being stalked by someone calling themselves A, while trying to uncover who A is, the girls find themselves in countless dilemmas. I enjoy these books as they are almost mindless reads while still being extremely captivating and entertaining.
The last book I read was The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, by Taylor Jenkins Reid. In this book writer, Monique Grant, sits with the worlds most famous actress, Evelyn Hugo. At the time she was in her late seventies, but she went back in her past in order to tell Monique her full life's story, so that she could write her biography. While going through every aspect of her life, Hugo digs into the topics of gender roles, abuse, sexuality, bodily confidence, and independence of the self. She defied what it meant to be a women in the fifties through inspiring women around the world to embrace their full selves, to focus on their careers, and to rather look for what makes them happy rather than the world. This novel was inspiring and utterly heartbreaking, but I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who is even slightly interested. Reid was able to steal all my attention through her writing and it quickly became my favorite read of the past few months.
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