📖 ~ The Song of Achilles

rating: 4/5

it's a good book. overhyped? kinda—but the author deserves the hype because TEN WHOLE YEARS TO WRITE THIS SINGLE BOOK? i admire her effort. and i feel like i can see her hard work in the words too.

it must've been a harrowing task to rewrite the entire illiad within 300 pages lol. and even as someone who has never read that behemoth of an epic, this book is perfectly readable. the symbolism of achilles chasing hector in his armor, who looks like achilles, is something i just realised and am trying to wrap my head around (edit 2025: i didn't know wtf i meant by this at first but i think i was trying to say that achilles might've thought like he was also killing a version of himself coz he felt responsible for patroclus' death in some way). the ending was uhh abrupt. i wanted to see things from achilles' point of view tbh. but the thing that made me shed a tear was patroclus recounting his memories of achilles to thetis. that was the real tearjerker—could really feel the grief through the words. but it really does speak to madeline miller's writing skill that i understood every conflict. all-in-all, it's a very good book. deserves to be called a modern classic, in my opinion.

🎨 ~ Uzumaki

rating: 3/5

the last part dragged like hell and i had to skim read. the ending too was... odd. the purpose of this book was only to show oddities stemming from normal events. oh well. shuichi was kinda nice, i liked him. otherwise, aside from the art, this book was pretty meh.

🎬 ~ The Edge of Seventeen

rating: 8/10

i can't believe i didn't write a review for this movie. i could've sworn i did. here's my thoughts two years after watching this (it's 2025 currently). 

i liked hailee steinfeld's performance (a completely objective opinion, of course. no way i'm a shameik moore kinnie w her haha). her character was so awkward but relatable lol. i'd like to see hailee and woody harrelson in some other project together because they have very good screen chemistry.

i thought the brother was an a-hole at first but that one scene did make me sympathize with him (and shed tears). 

it was a good coming of age movie with a good screenplay. kudos to cast and crew for pulling this off.

📖 ~ Today Tonight Tomorrow

rating: 5/5

TWO 5/5 ROMANCES IN A ROW???? NICE GOING ME. but still, this book gave me the heart flip feels ifykwim. THANK YOU ABEER ALHAMED FOR RECOMMENDING THIS BOOK ILYSM BAE AND NEIL MCNAIR CAN HAVE ME LIKE BRO THE THINGS THIS GUY SAYS I JUST FNDNDNMS. that kiss—it was so hot: think of the keeho reaction clip but it was just me stock still on the bed and getting FEELINGS. AND THE SEX TOO LAWDDDDDD inexperienced guy x experienced girl never felt so good. it wasn't explicit but that's the beauty of writing and words: it doesn't need to be to make one feel everything. I COULD FEEL THE KISS BRO GOT SHIVERS LIKE OH MY GAWD FJDJKSKS. goodness gracious this book is so slowburn but it's so wild to think it all happens in less than 24 hours. i just love this book okay? i felt like i was the protagonist herself in so many moments (hence the kiss shivers shit bro) and yea. i love this book a lot.

🎬 ~ Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

rating: 7.5/10

this was my second zoya akhtar movie, and i gotta give it to her: she knows how to write her characters. they're so real and nuanced, and their conflicts are always rooted from actual life experiences. women directors know their shit. while Dil Dhadakne Do is still my favorite one by her, i feel like for its time, this movie must've been a hell of a release. i doubt any bollywood movie at the time had ever explored such human depth and friendship. but nonetheless, this movie was good, and its themes and messages are spectacular too. hritik and katrina's chemistry was great—hope to see more of them.

🎬 ~ The Grand Budapest Hotel

rating: 10/10

"there are still faint glimmers of civilisation left in this barbaric slaughterhouse known as humanity." in my personal opinion, that really is the ultimate message of this movie. i love how the quote reflects both the supporting characters and ultimately, gustave himself by the end of it all. it felt very nostalgic and sentimental. i suppose that really was the overall vibe of the movie. the segments where mustafa narrates his experiences with gustave and the writer writes about it feels like such a personal account. and of course, let's not forget that this movie is pure cinema at its finest. the colors, the direction, the camera movements, the actors' performances (there were so many big names in this lol); wes anderson was not playing around. and oh yea, this was my first wes anderson movie. half my motivation to watch this was to know what the whole wes anderson trend was about. anyways, back to the review. THE HUMOR OF THIS MOVIE—ralph fiennes' delivery is so good, it got me cracking up multiple times. ALSO TONY REVOLRI?? FLASH THOMPSON?? can't believe this was his debut—he served. so yes, loved the movie. can't wait to check out more of anderson's work.

🎬 ~ Ghosted

rating: 6.75/10

i knew going into this movie not to take it seriously and honestly, i had fun. it was hilarious to see sebastian stan and anthony mackie's cameos, and then them literally dying a minute or something into their entrance. the entire mcu throwback is immaculate. chris evans and ana de armas' chemistry was off the charts in Knives Out so it was great to see them as the leads in this movie. also love how they subverted the damsel-in-distress trope and chris pulled it off pretty well. ana is great in action movies. she gave black widow energy fr. overall, it was a fun movie.