Tag: book review

Book review: The Goldfinch

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Hi all!

How are you?

I have been having quite a mixed weeks: some super busy couple of weeks and the latter have been quite chilled which means only one thing: lots of reading!

I’ve been reading such a range of different texts to be honest; mostly fiction, but there’s been a few non-fiction which I have really enjoyed. I’m really trying to finish all the books on my physical tbr before I buy anything new (but I have slipped up a couple of times 🥲)

One of these books is The Goldfinch by Donna Tart. I genuinely can’t remember when I brought this, but I have definitely had it sat on my shelf for at LEAST 4 years 😅 I know, it’s so bad!


I was so conflicted reviewing this. There were parts that I loved, Donna Tart is such a beautiful writer, parts of her prose are sublime and I loved the way the story unfolded through art and it’s peppering throughout the narrative. The backdrop of New York just pulled me in and reignited my desire to go there. And to be honest, the first 200ish pages I was so invested in Theo, his story and where it was going to go. Theo as the protagonist and narrator I didn’t hate, I sort of liked him and yet…

The story dragged SO MUCH. There were so many points during this read I wanted to dnf it but I persevered thinking ‘it must get better, there must be something.’ Now, this wasn’t due to the length, but the boredom of continously reading Theo’s drug and alcohol riddled life events over and over and over…and over again. In all honesty, I must’ve skim read about 250 pages in total and rushed the last 150 pages so that I was done with it.

I felt as though not much happened, especially in the middle 300 pages – Boris and Theo get drunk, again, they don’t go to school, again, they take drugs, again, they throw up…again. Drudgery. Absolutely drudgery. I didn’t like Boris as a character, or what he stood for and represented. I am not someone who feels like they MUST connect with every character, each character should bring a nuance to the story, for better or worse. All of these characters (apart from Hobie and Pippa) did nothing for me. They were bland and one dimensional, bringing nothing to the story. When Theo finally got dragged into the underground drug world, I had become so uninvested in his story – I didn’t care.

Urgh. When will Booker Prize winners stop disappointing me 😢

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Book review: Katabasis

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Hello!

This is going to be a tough one.

Let me start with saying that I LOVE Kuang’s prose and her story building, her meticulous attention to detail through research and her character building – Babel, for me, is just sublime and a 6* read – and it pains me to say this, but Katabasis just fell flat for me.

I was lucky to attend an evening with R.F Kuang as part of Manchester’s Literature Festival and it was a joy to hear her speak about her influences, research and love of literature.


I was so excited for Katabasis off the back of Babel and maybe these high expectations are what let me down somewhat.

Kuang writes so beautifully and the English Literature student in me loved all the classical references to Dante, Virgil and Eliot and their works on Hell, their descriptions, their analogies – she borrows from them and weaves it all together giving the beginning of the novel a gorgeous mystical feeling. And yet…Hell is inherently religious, morality and steeped in culture and Kuang strips Hell of this core factor which, I think, removes the imagination and nuances which the classical stories delve into.


The premise of the story is obviously what drew me in and sounded so intriguing, but, for me, the full potential wasn’t reached and I think it’s because I felt a constant sense of disorientation rather than clarity at Alice and Peter’s descent into hell. The plot jumped from bit to bit, the levels of hell all felt separate rather than being cohesive and feeding into each other – the description and prose of each was beautiful, but at times became nonsensical – massive amounts of exposition – and the narrative amd plot became lost in it. I did like the structure it gave the story and I liked that as they went further into hell the prose took on a darker tone.

The characters. I liked Peter. His story, his silent struggle and his need to keep Alice safe. But his relationship with Alice just lacked…everything. I didn’t feel any chemistry or intimacy between them. I wasn’t invested in their ‘love’ story. To me it didn’t feel anything like a love story – just two people forced to be with each other due to proximity.

Alice. Oh Alice. I don’t mind an unlikeable character with flaws – for me they make a story – I just felt like Alice thought so much of her self, that self arrogance linked to Grimes and then right at the end the romantic feelings for Peter. I couldn’t sympathise with her and by the end I just disliked her. Her acknowledgement of misogyny but refusal to do anything, instead to benefit from it and use Grimes’ attraction to her but then cry when he behaves the way he’s expected. Double standards. But because of this flip/flopping between thoughts and opinions I just couldn’t warm to her.

I appreciate what Kuang was trying to do, it just didn’t work for me 😔

3.5 ⭐️

Book review: Sense and Sensibility

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2025 is the year I have dedicated to reading and re-reading classics. I started the year with Pride and Prejudice because…well do I really have to explain myself 😅

But, whilst I’ve watched tv and film adaptations of Austen’s works, I’ve never actually read them!

So, as part of Canterbury Classics Instagram challenge for 2025, I will be reading ALL of Austen’s novels.

March’s read was Sense and Sensibility. Did I pick this up in April and finish it it May? Yes. But hear me out! Work was busy and I had about 5 books on the go…

How pretty is this cover 😍 I love the Chiltern covers. I think I’m going to collect as many as I can. TK MAXX is definitely the place to go for these! I paid £8 for this copy, and they retail for about £20. Absolute bargain.

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

What does it mean to be sensible?

I was actually pleasantly surprised by this and the way it unfolded. I’ll be honest, it took me some time to get into it, and I was confused by the family dynamics initially. It holds very similar themes to Pride and Prejudice: bad boy love interest, to marry for love or to marry for money and plucky strong female leads.

Marianne. I actually adored her. I can understand why some people might get annoyed at her and her reactions to things, but I loved her character. Open to all of her emotions and feeling them deeply. She knew what she wanted and she wasn’t afraid to go after Willoughby. She is reshaped and redefined by her heartbreak and illness, which makes her a better person and ends up with Colonel Brandon. Hello! The better option of man, in my opinion. She definitely got the better man. I can understand why some people might get annoyed at her and certain characteristics and over dramatic nature, but she is true to her age and who she is.

Elinor bless her. Always in complete control of her emotions, a complete juxtaposition to her younger sister in pretty much every way. She’s never able to openly discuss her wants and desires, but she is the ultimate big sister: kind, trustworthy and compassionate. I do think she deserved better than Edward. He was not a well developed character, or man, that deserved her. Honestly, I kind of wanted her to end up with Colonel Brandon…

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

The bond between the sisters is the core of this novel, I found, not the romantic love. The way they consistently stick up for one another even when they’re fighting. They are both fighing their ‘sensibilities’ and rationale within society trying to make sense of it all. A true sister bond.

Having read this after Pride and Prejudice, I can tell that this was published first:

  • It doesn’t have the same depth of plot or character development (specifically with the men).
  • The pacing isnt great. There are long chunks of the novel where not much really happens, just various visits to family and London.
  • I felt like the ending was rushed.

However, it carries the classic Austen commentary on society and social constructs. She delves into themes or inner turmoil, morality and what it means to have sense and be sensible in a world hindered the growth of women. Austen allows the reader to become immersed in this world through the characters and understand how different people can interact and react to the same situations.

An enjoyable read, if albeit a long one.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

xo

Palestinian book recommendations: fiction

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Hello all.

I wanted to share some fictional books written by Palestianian authors. I won’t spend time talking about all the horror that is happening in Gaza right now because I want to shine a light on the gorgeous words that have come from the people of Gaza.

There are NO spoilers below, but I urge you to read as many of these as you can. The prose is lyrical, beautiful and heartbreaking.

Mornings in Jenin

Starting off with a gut-wrenghing novel. Amal is born into the refugee camp of Jenin after her family was forced to flee Palestine in 1948. But here’s the kicker – her brother, a baby at the time, is stolen away by an Israeli soldier.

The vivid imagery that runs through this really immersed the reader and keeps you engaged and hooked until the very end. She really does get across feelings of hopelessness and grief, which can make it difficult to read, but it’s so necessary.

Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa

Against The Loveless World

Another by Susan Abulhawa – I really do enjoy reading her work!

This novel. Where do I even begin? Following a young Palestinian refugee, Nahr, we listen to her story, which is being told from solitary confinement, as she becomes more and more radicalised.

Abulhawa blends fact with fiction and it haunts me to this day. It’s a book I think about every couple of days to be honest. The rawness of the prose, the gritty nature of what it means to be a women who is dealt a hand and has to make do in a world that is not meant for her at all.

Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa

The Sea Cloak & Other Stories

A collection of short stories from Nayrouz that are drawn from her experience of growing up in Gaza. This is a short book, only 100 pages, with 11 stories.

Quick snippets and insights into a range of different characters and a real focus on what it is like to live in Gaza – forcing the reader to envision life there. Short stories are always so much hard hitting I find, because of their length. The message hits harder, the words are more scathing and the prose is more sharp.

I think my favourite short story from the collection was ‘Pen and Notebook’, but they were all gorgeous.

If you are a fan of Susan Abulhawa, then I think you’d really enjoy this!

The Sea Cloak by Nayrouz Qarmout

Minor Detail

Don’t be fooled by the length. Whilst this is very small, 112 pages, it packs a massive punch in feels. I was gifted this by a friend last year and it has stayed with me ever since. If you can’t commit to something longer, this is a great, but impactful, one to start with.

Shibli intertwines the modern with the past. A Palestinian writer risks her life to find out more information about a young Palestinain girl who is raped, killed and buried by Israeli soldiers in 1948.

The story is hauntingly beautiful. The title encapsulates life – how one minor detail can strike any one of us and change our entire trajectory in life. Shibli’s narrative is sharp and gets to the point – there is no hiding.

Minor Detail by Adania Shibli

Returning to Haifa

Another short read and a play! I have to read the novella, but the play packs a punch. I read this and feeling more and more deflated and desolate as I got towards the end because I knew how it was going to end, but that didn’t take away from the story.

Two families – one Palestinian, one Israeli – are forced to live out their stories side by side. Starting in 1948, after the Nakba, the plot travels through to 1967, the Six days war, where Said and Saffiya dare to travel back to their home in Haifa and the memories that dome with it.

Returning to Haifa by Ismail Khalidi and Naomi Wallace

A Woman Is No Man

Set in America, Rum tells the stories of three generations of one family of Palestinian American women and their struggle to find their place in this world, in this society and within their own culture. We go through their struggles, desires and shameful family secrets that threaten to tear apart the whole family through the three women – Deya, Isra and Fareeda.

The women, and men, in the novel adhere to and break stereotypes that are forced upon them, and so many others around the world.

A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum

I can never do these stories justice. They’re meant to be read. Meant to be cried over. Meant to stir anger and passion.

All of these books were 5 stars for me. They were achingly, heartbreakingly beautiful reads. The imagery, the pain that is at the heart of each story, connecting it. They were all sublime.

Happy reading!

🇵🇸🤍🍉

xo

Book review: ACOTAR 1 – 3

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Hello!

This has definitely been a long time coming…

I recently went through, sorted and cleared out my MANY boxes of books. A woman on a mission, I vowed to get through my physical tbr this year and force myself on a book buying ban (I have already broken this of course🫠). So, I spent a few hours sorting books into piles and came up with a few piles to read.

Whilst sorting, I found A Court Of Thorns and Roses, A Court Of Mist and Fury and A Court Of Wings and Ruin as a trilogy…wrapped in cellophane…with a receipt from 2017. That should give you an indication of how far back my physical tbr goes 😭 But I thought why not, they seem to have had a resurgence lately. About 8 people I work with are reading them, so I thought why not see what all the fuss is about?

Sarah J Maas has worked on creating a universe that is interesting to delve into – all the courts and their personalities – was definitely something that’ll interested me as I read the trilogy and kept me engaged. I did like how she spent time fleshing out these different courts and their High Lords, differences, similarities, unique aspects. With fictional universes, so many times this aspect is rushed, I find, so this was definitely a nice breath of fresh air. A lot of the characters were fleshed out, given somewhat complex personalities. Only so much can be achieved over the course of three books, especially when you have a diverse range of characters.

Freyre

Ah, our protagonist. I wasn’t sure how to feel about her in all honestly. Over the course of the three books, I didn’t feel like her arc progression amounted to much, but maybe she wasn’t meant to. A stable 1st person narrative that allows the reader into the mindset of a girl trying to manage herself in a new and volatile world. It’s a trope that’s been done, of course, time and time again. Set against the backdrop of magic and faeries the strong-willed, fiesty, snarky female didn’t really feel that much different from other fantasy females. I did like seeing the inner conflict and how she dealt with that, the way she loses and then remakes herself in this new world.

Rhysand

I mean. I love me a chaotic good character. Couple that with enemies to lovers…ooh! Rhysand. A white Knight saviour, hidden under the mask of being a prick. I get it. He’s the guy who treats you right, gives you the choices, doesn’t force you into doing something you don’t want. Respectful. But coupled with being messy, willing to be sneaky to get what he needs, all whilst having peoples best interest at heart. I think I would have just liked to see a bit more push and pull between Freyre and Rhysand. Once the mating bond kicked into place, then everything became really easy for them as a couple. No fights or disagreements, really. I think having that would have just added to their relationship.

The inner circle

Definitely very well fleshed out, interesting characters that added richness and depth to the story. Azriel definitely needs a whole arc to himself. Mor…it’s been 500 years, just tell him already. And Cassian, the glue holding them together. Odd love truangle – that wasn’t really a triangle – but was forced to be was odd for me, especially when nothing came from it? It had been teased for two books and then nothing? I delt slightly cheated if i’m honest. I felt like Amren just disappeared from A Court Of Wings and Ruin, appearing sporadically and not really doing much when she arrived.

Writing and pace

The pace of the trilogy was pretty decent. I didn’t really feel like there were any major sections that were unnecessary. The plot itself tied together quite neatly with no plot holes and a somewhat happy ending for all involved. I do think the writing of the courts and the world building could have done with more  “show not tell”. I never felt 100% immersed in the courts. I could envision them well enough, but I wanted to feel like I was there, the smells, the sounds, the fell of the grass and roughness of the bark and ash trees.

I understand why people are raving about this series. For me, it was okay. Nothing special, but an easy read with decent pacing. Would definitely help to get someone out a reading slump if need be.

Overall rating for the trilogy: 3/5

xo

Book Review: Alice

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Hello everyone😊

Hope you’re all having a fab day!

I recently read Alice by Christina Henry and I loved it! I really enjoyed the way in which Henry distorts the story and the characters I grew up reading. The plot we’re accustomed to reading becomes sinister and the story itself takes on a much darker tone, while all the while being imbued with the magical elements that captivated us as children. Our beloved characters are re-imagined and Alice is no longer the wonderous child-like protagonist we know and love. Instead she follows a much darker path.

Henry’s adult interpretation of Carrol’s beloved characters allowed me as a reader and a lover of classical literature, to envision a whole new world for Alice. A world that isn’t fairytale like, but gritty and real. I connected with Alice’s struggle in this novel – her quest to find answers, her need to know more, to find her place – and Henry’s writing ensures the story is easy to follow, the characters relatable and this new world that we find Alice, in fascinating. Henry has appealed to the masses with adding a dystopian spin to the plot (Hunger Games, Maze Runner etc etc), but what sets this apart is the incorporation of well known characters.

One of my issues with the story was the lack of character development for Alice herself. I really would’ve loved to have seen her come into her own and become the rebel with a no-care attitude. At times her character development felt rushed or stilted, but this is a trilogy and I can’t wait to read the next instalment to see where the story and character development goes!

“Beware the claws that catch…”

xo

Waiting for my Heathcliffe

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Hello!

I hope you’re all having a lovely day!

I have had the best day today😁 I travelled along to Haworth in West Yorkshire to visit the Brontë Parsonage to have a wander and a gander.

It’s so beautiful😍❤

I am a Jane Austen girl at heart, but the depth of characters and raw emotion you feel when reading Brontë novels is inspiring. It’s no wonder that Austen and the Brontë sisters are constantly compared – on the surface they’re similar, women writers talking about love and romance – but once you get into the stories they differ wildly.

It’s no secret that that Brontë sisters, especially Charlotte, disliked Austen and her literature. They felt she didn’t write about real women, real passion, or anything of real, solid substance. I disagree, but when you read them side by side it’s not hard to see the differences. The Brontë sisters romantic plots are darker and their men wilder – Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre are perfect examples, while Austen focuses more on satire, social realism and class through romance. Could you imagine Mr Darcy roaming Derbyshire stricken with grief like Heathcliffe does on the Yorkshire moors?

Jane Eyre takes a lot from Charlotte Brontë’s own life – the death of her sisters, her schooling and her anguish at these. They say write what you know, and Charlotte certainly does this. The theme of wanting to belong runs throughout the novel and we see Jane try and find her place and her worth from the classes of Lowood to the halls of Thornfield. She must find herself without jeopardising who she is and what she stands for. Rochester is not her happy ending nor the man who saves her. He is the man she chooses, and who is her equal.

I hate that people say you’re either a Brontë fan or an Austen fan, they offer very different things through their literature. So just because you favour one over the other doesn’t mean you can’t still love and enjoy the other. I know I’m still waiting on my version of Heathcliffe/Darcy😊

xo

Book Review: The Night Brother

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Hiiiii 😊

So i just finished reading the ‘Night Brother’ by Rosie Garland and oh man, I loved it! It was such a sublime mix of poetic and descriptive language and all set in my beloved home town of Manchester❤ As a Manc I was super invested as soon as I read the ‘set in Manchester’ sentence of the blurb😅

the_night_brother.jpg

The Night Brother

It has a Jekyll and Hyde theme that runs throughout, and the book really plays with this in a number of ways – characters, journey’s, day and night. Through the protagonists, Edie and Gnome, the novel goes on winding and difficult journey’s of self discovery and is set in the early 1900’s which helps give, and keep, the air of mystery surrounding the plot. It also allows you to lose yourself in a period set piece of fiction and go back to a time free from the constraints of modernity. Touching upon today’s prevalent issues such as women’s rights, what it means to be a man and gender fluidity, they’re all mixed together with a touch of intrigue, flair and vital importance.

The theme of duality that runs through the entirety of the novel is such an interesting one because we all have different personas depending on who we’re with and the situation we’re in. A lot of people (myself included) probably feel like they are living separate lives sometimes. The novel deals with sexuality and gender fluidity in a way that shows you that you are more and can be more than what you are born into. Edie and Gnome differ in every way, they are complete opposites. But, they need each other. They’re constantly battling against each other for freedom and you do, like with Jekyll and Hyde, get the sense that this could easily be interpreted as someone battling with their inner demons. They desperately yearn for freedom from each other, fighting against their restraints and bonds, but if one of them does win in the end, can they really be whole? To survive one cannot be without the other no matter how hard they try – they are indeed 2 halves of a whole.

Some people might say the ending is anti-climactic, and while I can see where they might be coming from, I have to disagree. The ending, for me, wrapped up the story of the 2 siblings and their arduous journey and provided a sense of comfort. Not just for them, but for us the reader. You become invested in their stories and you really (or I did anyway) want to see them find stability and safety in a world where they would be chewed up and spit out.

I adored reading this and I don’t want to give too much away, but I highly recommend😊

xo

A book for every mood

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Hello😊

Does anybody else have a book they automatically reach for when things get a bit shit and you’re feeling a tad insecure, low and generally down? Mine’s North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley. I picked this up, ooh, about 8/9 years ago when I was around 15/16 I think. I remember cruising Amazon not looking for anything in particular (like I do most nights🤣) and I happened upon it. The first line of the blurb grabbed my attention, “how far would you go to find true beauty?” I mean what a question. When you’re a teenager that’s one of the most prevalent questions really isn’t it? ‘What can I do to be prettier/liked/popular/cool…?’ take your pick, there’s a dozen more interchangeable words you can use.

The story follows a young girl, Tessa, who goes through a journey of self discovery and self acceptance. A port wine stain covers her cheek and dictates how she portrays herself to the world. It’s the age old tale of a young girl who doesn’t quite fit in, trying to navigate her way through society and the world she finds herself in through her passion of cartography and art. As the story progresses she’s forced to realise that the way she’s been living her life, through her own choices and the circumstances around her, isn’t the path she has to continue on. With a controlling and emotionally manipulative father who cages her into a box, it’s takes a boy called Jacob (obv) and a trip to China for her to break down the walls she’s built around her self worth and recognise that her flaws are what make her beautiful, and not her quest to change herself to be the epitome of societal perfection and beauty, “flawed, we’re truly interesting, truly memorable, and yes, truly beautiful.”

The first time I read the novel I remember feeling peace, a stillness within me after I turned the last page. As a 15/16 year old, Tessa’s journey of self acceptance and self love spoke volumes to me. I don’t know why this particular book and the story spoke to me, but it did. Right book at the right time I guess. Every time I read it I felt so much better within myself. Happy. Content. Proud of who I was. I always turned to it whenever I was feeling low, upset, unhappy with who I was, inadequate, or a mixture of all them, and once I’d finished I’d make a mental note of my self worth and why I was important.But unfortunately this feeling didn’t last long and as it faded I needed more reminders. It reached the point where I was reading it at least 2-3 times a week, finishing it and literally picking it up again the following day. And then without realising it, as time went by, I was reading it less and less. Once a week. A couple times a month. Once every 6 months. Now I can’t remember the last time I read it. It’s definitely been at least 2/3 years, but the time frame is slightly hazy.

My university years are when I grew the most as a person, learning to love myself for who I was and North of Beautiful, along with a few other books and supportive and loving friends helped me come to terms with who I was as a person and to not feel like I had to hide myself away because I wasn’t ‘pretty enough’ like I’d been told during my teen years. I hate that. No one should be told they’re not pretty enough, or fit enough, or man enough, or if they did X they’d become more appealing. I still get this, but my skin has grown thicker and I’m able to brush it of much easier than I used to. This is the society we live it, but it shouldn’t be the norm, especially in the social media age we live in. It’s so easy to fabricate a life well led for others to be envious about and to edit images, that’s it’s no surprise depression rates are high and most people feel like they will never be ‘enough.’

This week however, I’ve felt the urge to pick up North of Beautiful for the first time in a long while but it’s okay. Everyone’s insecurities and inadequacies spring up from time to time and this week’s been my turn. Reading the book after such a long time away has been like an old friend welcoming me back. Warm and comforting, enveloping me into a world of safety. Below is one of my favourite passages from the book. It’s the turning point really where Tessa begins to re-evaluate her life and the impact she can have on others if she only learns to love herself and the talents she possesses:

“This is beautiful,” I said, ignoring the shop window to trace the gleaming stone walls fronting another boutique.
“You know what’s funny?” Jacob asked. He didn’t wait for my answer. “You can see beauty in everything, except for yourself.”
I swallowed hard. Erik thought my body was beautiful, Karin that it was enviable. At random times, people had noted that my hands were beautiful, or my hair. The Twisted Sisters had called my art beautiful. Mom had the best intentions and always told me before and after my laser surgeries that I would be beautiful. But no one had ever said that I was beautiful, all my parts taken together, not just the bits and pieces.”

Self love and self worth is so important, but it takes time. No one is perfect, and we should all take the time to recognise our flaws and accept them. Easier said than done I know. I’m definitely still learning to accept all my flaws and I probably will be for the rest of my life. But hopefully as time goes on, they’ll fade further and further away from my consciousness until I don’t fixate on them.

“That’s when it struck me: how gorgeous we all were, even with cellulite and stretch marks, scars and tattoos.” ❤ ❤ ❤

xo

Review: How to be interesting?

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Hello! I hope you’ve all had a lovely Monday😊

I picked this up from the clearance section at my local supermarket for £2! Such a bargain, I love clearance sections😌

The title and red pages drew me to to it and for the price I thought why not. I mean who doesn’t want a step by step guide on how to be interesting? This was a YA read (which I didn’t realise), but on the whole it was an enjoyable, quick and easy going read. It was the overall message that stood out for me, being really relevant for today’s society. So want to be interesting? Well follow these rules and all will be well:

  1. One must be attractive.
  2. One must make friends with attractive people.
  3. One must fall in love with someone forbidden.
  4. One must lose all sight of oneself, get into a huge emotional mess, and break down as a person.

I mean of course we know that there is no step by step guide or miracle that can just poof can make you interesting and appealing to everyone, and like our protagonist finds out, popularity isn’t everything. This novel deals with school social hierachies, the repercussions of social media and technology, and what’s deemed as perfect and ‘interesting’ in a modern and clever way. Starting off as a ‘social experiment’ our main character goes through the motions of being the nobody to the popular girl, to the fallen, to finally coming to terms with her own self worth. It’s your standard coming of age and finding yourself plot, but modernised and for the generation today. It’s not about keeping a journal of thoughts any more, but rather blogging about them online (😉). I felt like it was almost a collision of worlds: the literary and the technological. The main character is desperate to be a writer and holds this passion for writing and literature, which is interwoven with her online blogging and the way social media plays a part in her life.

For young people in this age of social media where everyone and everything looks perfect and ‘interesting,’ it’s hard to differentiate what’s real and what’s not. It’s no wonder that depression, self confidence and low self esteem are at an all time high, and that online bullying is becoming more and more frequent. While sometimes it’s easier said than done to have self confidence, self love is so important and healthy for everyone. You have to love yourself first and foremost and know that you’re important, perfect, and interesting just the way you are.

Be bold. Be brave. Be unstoppable. But most of all be inspired in whatever you do❤

xo