Let’s see how long I can last with consistent blog posts!
Bout of Books wrapped up yesterday and it was a lot of fun to get so immersed in reading. It was a rough start because I got some tough news at the start of the week but I was still able to read quite a bit.
I was tracking my progress on Twitter so you can see that here but here are my final stats:
How is Bout of Books going? I finished one book and I’m working on finishing another — hopefully I can finish at least one more before the week is up!
Today I’m part of a blog tour, thanks to Legend Press, for the latest book by Matt Wilven! I reviewed his debut, The Blackbird Singularity, back in 2016 so I was excited to revisit this author. Read on for my review and where to find other reviewers on the tour!
Farzaneh and the Moon by Matt Wilven
Genre: Literary FictionWhen N meets a charismatic outsider called Farzaneh, he realizes that something has been missing in his life. They fall for each other and begin an intense and passionate relationship. However, Farzaneh starts to isolate herself, becoming obsessed and embroiled in her mysterious connection with the moon.
N is forced to reappraise everything he knows, searching for meaning and identity while he violently collides with the limits of intimacy and love.
This one was a bit of a rough start for me but it did turn for the better around the second half. It felt a lot like it was continuing the manic pixie dream girl trope, with Farzaneh as this odd, mysterious girl that our unnamed protagonist becomes obsessed and infatuated with. I found it difficult to connect with either of the two main characters as well, especially from the beginning. They spend a lot of time just getting high (N shows up in London with little more than a backpack full of weed) and most of the people they hang out with are also very into drugs and excessive drinking and partying. It feels overdone and there’s little else about the characters to form any real connection.
First day of Bout of Books so what better time to post a long overdue review! I received this poetry collection last year from the author and it was a really beautiful read over the holidays. And then school happened and here we are! So about that review:
Wild Flowers: A Powerful Poetry Collection of Love, Loss, Healing and Empowerment by Michelle S. Smith
Genre: PoetryThis collection of Poetry and Prose is an explosion of femininity, empowerment, and personal growth. Michelle celebrates her triumph over mental illness and promotes resilience and self-love in her readers.
Get it here: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
This was a really lovely collection, and quite easy to read through in one sitting. It does touch on some pretty heavy themes as the blurb and title indicate — loss, mental illness, abandonment, but also the other side of that in moving towards healing and empowerment. The collection is grouped into several sections recognizing this movement – ‘Loss, Pain & Depression’, ‘Abandonment’ and then ‘Love’, ‘Empowerment’, and ultimately ‘Healing’.
