Monique Pardillo > Recent Status Updates

Breathtakingly amazing accounts of bravery, self-discovery, courage, and identity. Ill say this again, this is the best blind buy book ever!! Every aspiring journalist should read this book.

The last essay has changed me and I don’t think I’ll ever be the same. Identity politics, gender, and the intersectionality muscle that requires to be exercised to understand how power is weaponized against the oppressed, particularly women.

I'm only a few essays in and the first one has already captured my heart entirely. Riveting and heartbreaking altogether but a very necessary read.

The passion oozing off from the main characters is so delicious that I'm giggling

Took me this long to get back into it but here we are. I don't have much to say other than that my favorite YouTubers highly recommended this book and now I'm reading it. My expectations are high and I hope I don't suffocate from the stratosphere in which they are placed.

I swear to God women need to stop accomodating for emotionally unavailable men who seems to do everything but nothing for the one person who, for whatever fucked up reason, are willing to run to the ends of the world for them.

There's something profoundly universal of, once, dating a man whose emotional maturity is comparable to a doorknob. Both Elizabeth and Julia are both strongly driven and highly accomplished women in their own right but are unwilling to find middle ground in grieving the man that they loved.

There is something about a witty and humorous woman with so much character and mirth that she literally can't help herself but just simply be.

Carrying a burden so heavy that you'd considered it truth, one that has greatly impacted your own self-perception on romantic dating that you've carved and burrowed yourself into its grotesque shape only for it to shatter because of a shallow truth from a man who couldn't get it together???? oh aisha how have you written the quiet plight of literally of a woman who's always left wondering

Up to this point, grisly honesty is making its way up in the worse way possible. Two women coming to terms with what happened to the one man that they loved and dated yet not willing to give way to a narrative that contradicts their own.

It's not a cat fight but the tension is teeming because of how these two are performing for each other.

This is truly one of those novels that doesn't use too many twists and spins (so far) create a compelling story. The magic really is in the writing. How Aisha narrates with so much eloquence and clarity on the muddiness of grief of not just a person but a world that refuses to do so.

It has just the right amount of wit, nuance, and proper storytelling whether it be establishing the setting through dialogue or clever writing.

"There was no bride. There was no groom. No seating chart with my name in calligraphy -- a blue dot next to Julia, indicating a preference for fish".

OhHhHhhHh they’re were making out in a cornfield and the second male lead found them and got angryy oh noo.

"Is this fucking play about us?" is the line that repeatedly comes into mind as I turn from one page to the next. The way that Camus described the gurgling anxiety amongst the experts and their hesitance to call it for what it is to placate public opinion up until the Plague ravaged the town of Oran. Part II dissected the morbid reality that the townspeople had to endure. Yet, Camus injected so much humanity to it.

"There have been many plagues in the world as there have been wars, yet plagues and wars always find people equally unprepared". The first 30 pages brought me back to the 2020 pandemic and up to this point, it has touched onto another relevant issue that is prevalent since the steady rise of modern-day Fascism - stupid wars.

Albert Camus has always been my favorite philosopher but reading so far, reading into this book, it hasn't prepared me from fully realizing the brilliance and poignancy that Camus does so masterfully in his writing.

why is everyone and i mean EVERYONE in this story so GRRR??!!! I love character driven stories but this one just isn't cutting it. the mom being unable to communicate and the dad, from being a helicopter parent and doting father, suddenly becomes so uninterested in her daughter when she moves away?? bffr

as much as im loving the fall vibes, the characters are flat and just barely anything happening despite the stakes and drastic changes that the FMC endured.

Elli's mom is a professional rage baiter but i KNOOW this is some cheap tactic to make me more empathetic for her by the time the "truth" comes out as to why Ellis had to leave and go away from the home that she only knew.

I don't like the pacing anymore. At this point of the book, things are going a little too fast. I wanted to see more of Lou's struggles in running the Comeback Inn but she somehow became a whiz of running the place after her disastrous attempt of making scrambled eggs. But there are some poignant parts of the story where I really really like Lou's advice and she's dealing with her breakup while crushing hard on Henry

Im still hooked and very much interested to see where Henry and Lou are going with this ring around the rosey situation that they’re in. Breakups are messy and I love how this book explores, not extensively, but, to a degree that everyone can see themselves in. and also i dont think lou being an unlicensed therapist is really doing much to the story while other than being a cheap subplot to an already decent story

So far I'm loving it! The story is steadily gaining traction as Lou is figuring out how she will heal her broken heart, save the home that she deeply loves, and please the land lord, Henry. The pacing is just right and I hope it builds into something more.

I might be having a good time but reading this after Funny Story aint the best experience. Although the autumn atmosphere is very strong and i like it. I just wish the characters more fleshed out through dialogue rather than just outright saying it.

The dialogues can use a little bit of substance rather than just building it up to the sex scenes (it's really that predictable but hey im still enjoying it). The story could also benefit from going beyond the grouchy x sunshine trope.

The narration is a bit of a drab. Teenager me would've eaten this shit up but I'm still having a good time. The Inn and the small town is so far the story's saving grace. The atmosphere is truly fall and I love it!!

Everything about this book is just perfection. The right amount of whimsy without compromising the rationality and grounded reality of problems that most people face and carry. Emily Henry is just amazing.

idk why i cried when daphne quickly confessed to miles that she no longer wanted to play the game that she started and miles kissing her hard stop to prove that nothing was ever for show. it was so intense and raw. the buildup from comparing herself to petra and peter trying to make her feel small to the kiss was just perfect

Miles: A stoner, simp, lover boy, i would move mountains for you typa love is being FRIENDLY(??) to Daphne. Furthermore, I love how Daphne is a self-deprecating, socially awkward, and flawed human being. How she’s is honest about leaning heavily towards the emotional safety net that ex fiance gave to her that she was deprived from all her life, blurring her identity to his preferences, lifestyle and social circle.

Why is Daphne me but just acerbically funnier?

I started a new supervisory job and it has challenged and scared me in many ways. This book couldn’t have come at the right time and place.