love notes 12: books i think you should read, part 2
5 book recommendations, what i read this week and other weekly recommendations
This week I’ve been obsessed with: welcoming in the winter solstice, baking cookies, slowing down, writing by lamplight, chai lattes, easy dinners, blaring the tortured poets department in the car, deep decluttering and nightly hot chocolates.
I love sharing my book recommendations with you all — so here’s part 2 of my ‘books I think you should read’ series! You can read part 1 here.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab: The book that recently took over as my favourite book in the world, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is a heartbreaking story of yearning to live a life that is deserving of being remembered. Despite the heart-wrenching sadness that drips from the novel’s pages, this tale is surprisingly quiet and the pace is more leisurely — reminiscent, I feel, to The Secret History’s vibe. So it might not appeal to readers who like more fast-paced reads and stories with clear resolutions. But it does provide a deep and compassionate examination of its three main characters, as well as the question of what it means to leave your mark on the world.
The main protagonist of this exquisite story is Adeline ‘Addie’ LaRue, who made a desperate and life-changing deal with a god in the forest in France in 1714 to live forever. However, this god of darkness and shadows also curses her to be forgotten by everyone she ever meets… until she crosses paths with a boy with a broken heart who surprisingly remembers her in New York 2014. Three hundred years is a long time to be alone, so the connection Addie soon develops with the sweet and kind Henry Strauss of the twenty-first century feels so beautifully sacred. This is a stark contrast to the darker connection between Addie and the forest god, Luc. I won’t delve into the rest of the story though — you’ll just have to read and see!
But overall I think The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is so beautifully written, as glorious as poetry, with so many transfixing descriptions that made me feel like I was being wrapped up in a cosy blanket. If you only take one book recommendation from this list, let it be this one.
These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever: This book absolutely gutted me. It is wicked and obsessive and disturbingly violent, and fits perfectly into the dark academia aesthetic if you enjoy this genre of books.
These Violent Delights follows Paul, a talented but socially unconfident young man from a working class family, who enters into college feeling like an outsider after his father’s death. Paul begins an unlikely friendship with Julian, who is wealthy and effortlessly charming, but their inseparability soon spirals into an obsessive and shockingly dark romance that sets them both on a very disturbing path. Both of them have suffered from the difficulties life has thrown at them, but it is nothing compared to the brutality they can inflict on each other. Soon these private inflictions lead to them committing a more violent act together and what unfolds from it may shatter them completely.
If you’re looking for a book where the writing is lusciously descriptive and the characters are simultaneously unlikeable but also deliciously intriguing, These Violent Delights is the one for you.
Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu: One of my all time favourite classics, Carmilla is the cult classic story that inspired the more well-known ‘Dracula’. This ground-breaking novella explores the period’s anxieties of female sexuality and women’s empowerment, while also enamouring its readers with beautiful descriptions of wild forests and remote gothic castles — as well as terrifying them with frightening visions of vampires. But its real shining jewel is the surprisingly intimate and all-consuming relationship between the book’s main characters: Laura and Carmilla.
Their friendship-turned-relationship soon becomes strained as Laura starts to be tormented by nightmares and bewildering creatures, that terrified me too, and her body starts growing weaker every day. And Carmilla’s behaviour, in turn, slowly becomes more volatile and her strange night-time wanderings sets everyone on edge. At the same time a mysterious plague seems to be draining and killing other young girls in the region. As the story ventures further into these darker and more troubling plot points, I found myself feeling more and more unsettled. One scene in particular made me shiver.
Despite Carmilla being only 156 pages, I connected deeply with the small cast of characters, could vividly picture the decaying landscape and remote castle, and found the story captivating until its final pages.
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid: There will never be a moment where I don’t recommend this captivating and painfully emotional book. Following the extraordinarily talented and rebelliously spirited Daisy Jones as she joins forces with the equally talented Billy Dunne and his band The Six, we receive a story of addiction, infidelity and the price of fame as we learn about the downfall of this fictional rock band. The characters are devastatingly human and I loved every single one of them, making the twists and turns revealed by each character the more heart-breaking. The book is also written in interview style, which only adds to the concept of Daisy Jones and the Six being a historical account of a real rock band from the 1970s — when in reality this story is entirely fictional.
The book is a beautiful love letter to rock and roll, and an even more incredible love letter to the individuals who refuse to fit into the role society has cast them in. It celebrates those like Daisy Jones who forge them own path, who will never settle for being the muse of somebody else’s story. And, in my opinion, it’s a love letter to love itself. What constitutes as real love and what is a true soulmate? Taylor Jenkins Reid examines these questions through the extremely complicated relationships of Daisy and Billy, and Billy and Camila. Both of which are written exceptionally well.
And once you have read this compelling story, I urge you to watch the live adaption. The performances from the entire cast are incredible and actually hearing the songs adds another layer to the reading experience.
Wilder Girls by Rory Power: I’ve read a lot of peculiar books, but this has to be one of my favourite strange young adult books. Wilder Girls is weird at times and gross at others, and in places so intensely horrifying that I wanted to close the book forever. Seriously. The body horror in this book is so well written that I have no doubt you’ll find yourself cringing too.
This terrifying survival story is set at an all girls’ boarding school on a remote island that has been overtaken by a plague that transforms the girls from the inside out. They have been quarantined for eighteen months, all slowly turning on one another, and it doesn’t seem like an antidote will ever be found. But the story narrows in on a group of three ‘friends’: Hetty, Reese and Byatt. When Byatt mysteriously goes missing, Hetty and Reese must venture beyond the fence surrounding the school and face the island’s horrors. There’s also a romantic relationship between two of the girls that I loved watching unfold.
But remember, I said there was body horror. A lot of it. So expect extra spines and scaled skin and one girl’s eye swollen shut with something slithering disgustingly behind it. If Wilder Girls was a movie, I would have my eyes hidden behind my hands for at least 50% of it. It’s very, very creepy.
part i: what i read this week
I finished reading The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab, and I loved it so much. Like I said, this book has become my all time favourite read and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since I finished it. If you’re looking for a beautifully written, magical book, I definitely recommend this one.
I also started and finished My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh. I have such complicated feelings surrounding this book. The main character was selfish and despicable and I hate her so much. At times I even wanted to strangle her. But that was the point of the book. I’m actually in complete awe with how Ottessa Moshfegh wrote this nameless character to make her so hateful and yet weave such an interesting story at the same time. But I’m still not sure how I feel. I think I need to let my thoughts marinate for a bit.
I’ve also stepped into my Sally Rooney era and started reading Normal People. The lack of quotation marks intrigues me!
And finally I have a few article recommendations that I found particularly interesting and inspiring this week:
part ii: what i wrote this week
I’ve been working hard on chapter two of my contemporary fantasy rewrite. I had ideas for some changes regarding the main characters, which created a small domino effect and I had to rework my outline. I’m so happy with these changes though and feel like they’ll make the book stronger.
However, a lot of my writing time this week was derailed because of normal life things. We’ve been working on house renovations a lot — decluttering the inside and building a new deck outside for the summer. And one of the kids spent a day at hospital. Everyone is fine though! Hopefully next week we can get back on track.
part iii: what i watched this week
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There’s been a lot of television watching this week!
My husband and I have started season two of House of the Dragon and it was an incredible start to the new season. As someone who has not read the book, I was definitely not prepared for the end of that premiere. The gasps that escape my lips were probably heard halfway across the world.
We then watched the latest episode of The Boys season four, which was absolutely terrifying. I swear that Antony Starr needs to win an award for that episode’s performance, it was unhinged. And we finally finished Invincible season one and started on season two. If you’re looking for something monstrous to watch, I recommend checking it out.
And that was this week!
Next week is my husband’s final week of holidays before he returns to work, so we’re hoping to have lots of family time. Fingers crossed I’m not too tired to finish reading Normal People by Sally Rooney and get some writing time in.
In the meantime, let me know if you’ve read any of the above books? Did you enjoy them as much as I did? Part 3 will probably come out in a couple of weeks.
Until next time,
- Madeline
I’ve tried Sally Rooney so many times but the lack of quotation marks stops me every time 😫 maybe audio book is the key for me there??
Congrats on the writing breakthrough though! I love it when that happens and one small change sparks a few others. It sounds like you really have your spark back with it all 😊
Loved Addie LaRue and did a re-read of Daisy Jones prior to watching the show. Great recs.