Fav posts from 2022 👻

Top voted posts from 2022 (self votes only lol)

Plain Bad Heroines and Where the Crawdads Sing

I have been writing in journals since I was 10, my journal entries always slightly changed based on the books I was currently reading. When I was in middle school, this often looked like including a “State of the Union” entry, or a “What’s Hot and Not” list - thank you “The Clique” by Lisi Harrison for that one. Each of my Christmas gifts were rated into a list of ones I found “hot” and “not” for about three years. Following that I developed a very dystopian writing style when I became super obsessed with “The Hunger Games” and overly (and inappropriately) toxic love obsessed during my “Twilight” era. One of my fav journal entry eras - and most continued - was “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”, which may have become part of my journaling personality.

I was excited to find out that this trend continued into my book reviews. My favorite reviews envelope the author and the story into an all encompassing rendition of their work, but in my own words. My best reviews have been the ones where I feel like I became part of the story, using the same poetry the author used to write the book.

I feel that Now Remember Readers… and Where the Crawdads Sing, did this best. I felt so involved in the book's stories that I was able to recreate reviews that embodied the same tone of the authors, creating a review that felt very authentic and realistic to the type of reading ahead. Reading has always been my passion, writing was a secondary passion. This cross section is where I feel like my writing flourishes.

Granted, I find this to also be my writing downfall. I get stranded when I try to develop my own ideas because I incorporate the ideas of others so heavily into my own writings.

So welcome to my purgatory of writing, beautiful reviews that I have yet to transform into my own ideas - yet still creating review poetry.

❤️ Jess

American Tabloid PT. 2

My final review of American Tabloid by James Ellory was by far one of my favorite posts. This novel was so wild, it gave me the freedom to speak freely without regret. This novel, although historical fiction, puts things into some perspective. I absolutely strapped on my tinfoil hat, debated a flip phone, and thought about what it would be like to live in another country.

Ellroy’s choppy sentence structure and conversational writing style gave me anxiety at first. It is honestly something that you have to get used to. It gets you on edge, like a pitch black scene in a horror movie when the hero is peering around a corner to the villain you inevitably know is there… except it’s every sentence.

After re-reading this review, there was so much more I wish I could have written about. This timeless noir novel deserves a three page review at least. It has so many themes, and the characters themselves could have pages of review. They had so much depth. The characters didn’t weave into a story, the characters created the story, they WERE the story. Nonetheless, without an extensive literary deep dive, I thought I did a decent job of giving our readers the tip of the iceberg, to interest them in this slow burn of American historical fiction.

It also allowed me to express some personal opinions, which otherwise, I’d often feel uncomfortable with. People get very sensitive over American pride. If you say otherwise, people get extremely offended. This book gave a realistic backdrop to what life was truly like in the 1960’s, and it was pretty fucked up… Everyone was judged by race, color, and wealth. In 2022 people have the decency to at least hide their faces as they call someone a racial slur LOL. This novel pulls no punches on life and bureaucracy in America. Nothing is what it seems, who you think is running it never is, and if you think you're safe… you’re dead wrong.

In a time of such turmoil, and let’s be honest, the lowest point in American history since the early 80’s, this book made clear to me how disgraceful our history truly is. We’re a hateful country that is built by stacking bricks of greed on the backs of others and that hard work is not rewarded but that illegality with the correct protections based on elite connections is truly how people create generational wealth. That secrets are currency. That the law is strict for some and guidelines for others. That what you are born into is more important than your accomplishments. That who you know is just as important. This book may be fiction, but these are all facts.. Even today.

American Tabloid is a classic noir novel that builds using its character development, interaction, and mysteriously slow burn storyline.

👻 Flip