Welcome to Litsy!

Marcelo brought me this book from Ireland. I blew through it in Italy in 2 days. Wish this kind of obsessive, self-annihilating relationship were unknown to me and to all women but the book was spot on. Loved it and couldn‘t wait for her to get to the other side of it.

Megan Nolan's first novel is a depiction of what love should not be.

Raw… heavy… beautiful 🩵

Nolan has a way of making you feel uncomfortable, but it is done so brilliantly that all you can do is surrender.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#BOOK2BOOK @AllDebooks
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*(Annotated Book)!
Please comment down below if you are interested in receiving this book. If more than one person is interested, I will be randomly pulling names and letting you know who wins!
@Bookish_Gal @LiteraryinLawrence @Chrissyreadit @Clwojick @bcncookbookclub @Cuilin @Tineke @julieclair @Catsandbooks @TheAromaofBooks @Soubhiville @BookwormAHN @CSeydel @Lizpixie @TheBookHippie @dabbe @AllDebooks

This is the most depressing book I've ever read! As a woman reading the words written in this book was absolutely heartbreaking because I've been here, I've felt some of these feelings and lived some of these pages! Life is about learning from our mistakes and not regretting them so we can build ourselves up and come out stronger. Check trigger warnings!

I'm not sticking to my monthly TBR....again 🫣! Picked this one up yesterday while out book shopping. Chloe Bunny on YouTube stated this is one of her favs, so I had to give it a go.

A book that I have identified with was Acts of Desperation by author Megan Nola. This is a non fiction book about a toxic romantic relationship. I don't necessarily relate to the plot of the story but more how the author illustrates the characters. They're shown very realistically and the book explains how emotions feel in a raw sense that makes it relatable. I identified with the female protagonist.

Wow, this is painful and yet powerful. I was all-in with the unnamed Irish narrator and her obsession with bf Ciaran. Incredibly handsome, but aloof, and nonchalant about their relationship, he often communicates with his ex which drives our narrator mad. Destructive, possessive behavior with plenty of cringeworthy moments but I found it riveting and so relatable to one‘s early twenties. (Though mine was much more mild lol) Sally Rooney vibes!

Raw, honest, relatable, parts of it at the very least, well written. I won‘t lie, I powered through this book to rid myself of the level of toxicity. I wouldn‘t read it again because of this. But yet, what a naked account of human vulnerabilities, of life stories, of love. I don‘t read romance and I embarked on this after reading many reviews labelling it an ‘anti-romance‘. I now disagree, for it is a romance, albeit a sad one. Love gone wrong.

I read good reviews of this one, but I had to bail on it. Beautifully written, but it was too painful for me to endure the character‘s way of seeing herself. Maybe it‘s a sign of Nolan‘s talent that the book had such an effect on me.

Here‘s my February wrap-up! I‘m tagging the book that stayed with me the most, not counting The Wicked King, as we all know it‘s one of my all time favorites and this was just a reread.
#februaryreads
#febwrapup
#februarywrapup

Quick #bfc22 update. I‘ve done pretty well at staying motivated January and February - few days when I was ill aside.

The first week of feb I‘ve managed a nourishing breakfast every day, two HIIT workouts, one yoga class and a lot of books. Tho tbh the books were never gonna be the difficult part of the goal.

@wanderinglynn

First book in my reattempt to read a book a week for the year.

Not for everyone but I loved this.. so much! Perceptive and raw. Yes it was uncomfortable, as I saw my younger self in this unnamed protagonist. A dark psychological portrait of an insecure young woman, and it really got under my skin. She defines herself by a love unrequited, a toxic relationship with a beautiful cruel man. So many TW, for self harm, disordered eating, verbal and physical abuse. This girl felt familiar and alive.
#12booksof2021

This book is written well and there‘s no plot to speak of so I think many will judge it on how it resonates with them. I could relate to the narrator in how her body is responsible for her self esteem. In the toxic relationships I recognize the stories of many a friend and reading about it l made me think that I‘ve heard it all before (I‘m really getting old 👵🏼😂). ⬇️⬇️

#doublespin
(Pic: Paros, Greece)

2 recent releases for 99p each. #UKKindleDailyDeal Tagging the Brits whose handles my Swiss cheese brain can remember right now. ☺️

#Midyearfaves #Day2 of 10
Loved this.. so much. Perceptive, raw and uncomfortable. I saw my younger self in the unnamed protagonist. It‘s a dark psychological portrait of a girl, heart-breakingly insecure in her own skin, self-destructive, lonely, damaged. She defines herself by a toxic relationship with a beautiful cruel man. So many TW, for self harm, disordered eating, abuse. Yet I couldn‘t stop reading.....This girl felt familiar and alive.

"The pleasure wasn't often pleasure; it was release from pain."

Raw is the term that comes to mind for this book. The narrator's thoughts, the language & style of the writing, the way I was left feeling-all of it raw. The life issues that are addressed- codependency, substance abuse, depression, self-injury, attachment styles- provide a glimpse into the madness of humans. This was a tough read for me but absolutely worth it.

this book is so RAW and i needed to take breaks from it & come up for air but honestly, feminine abjection & destructive sexual voracity are topics that keep on giving bc there truly is no bottom to the pain. ouch

#UnPopularOpinion This really wasn‘t for me. First, its difficult to read this novel, as the unnamed narrator makes so many terrible decisions, she‘s so self destructive and self loathing. While she‘s aware of her harmful behavior she does nothing to help herself or implement necessary changes. I‘m just to old to become invested in a narrative about a toxic relationship especially when there really isn‘t any storyline. 👇🏼

So.... it‘s good not great for me...I‘m not relating to the young narrator/ I‘m old & I don‘t have a lot of patience anymore for obsessive longing/ love/ desire/ It‘s reminding me of Queenie ( a young woman who keeps making BAD decisions)

Added #audio 👍🏽🎧Love the Irish accent 🇮🇪 💚so far, I‘m engaged @BarbaraBB @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @TheNerdyProfessor @Megabooks @KarenUK

Like the title states...I succumbed #KindlePurchase #BlameItOnLitsy or more specifically @KarenUK @Megabooks @BarbaraBB #NextUp

The portrait of a dark, aching young woman. The book builds to a devastating crescendo. Quit comparing Irish millennials to Sally Rooney; however, I liked this better. Utterly brilliant!

Wow - this book is breath-taking. The writing is an honest and raw examination of the lengths we go through to be loved by others. How much of ourselves do we forfeit to be desirable to another? How much abuse do we take? Through the narrator we learn that sometimes being with someone is lonelier than solitude. This is a book about self-loathing, desire, and desperation. Dark, difficult, and full of depth. Highly recommend. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

#bookmail - blame it on @KarenUK 📚🥂

Also I rearranged my shelves for even more rainbow!!! Will share pics soon when I‘m done fussing. So far, I‘m really happy with it!

Loved this.. so much. The writing is so fantastic. Perceptive and raw. Yes it‘s uncomfortable. I saw some of my younger self, and of so many young women, in this unnamed protagonist. It felt real and sad and painful.
This is a dark psychological portrait of an insecure young woman, and it really got under my skin. She is heart-breakingly uncomfortable in her own skin, self-destructive, lonely, damaged.
(Review continued in comments)