more than just words

the home of those who have seen the world friends of experience and enemies of time their blue shorts saddle vespa bikes on narrow roads decorated with limes and lemons you imagine life here is never hard there is no celebration for blue skies or rays of sunshine that always sit on the cliffs edge before sinking with the day when visitors come out to play in their linen searching for a taste of starch still ironing out their itinerary which has become a victim of the scenery and aperol spritz or espresso sorbets desperate to not become a memory desperate to stand still in Amalfi

sometimes the equator begins to feel like a red carpet premiere  the mountains and oceans a supporting cast in a film about you a film that starts and ends with your eyes a world where nothing out of your periphery lies but you’re an extra in the world a member of the audience in its screening another name on the rolling set list that nobody stays seated for you have no responsibility to perform no expectations to be anybody but who you want to be and there’s a beauty in insignificance

Genre: Romance Reading age: 18+ Rating: 7/10 You’ll like this if you’ve read: the Shatter Me series, Ugly Love I’ve been in a reading slump for the longest time, after reading a really confusing fantasy novel. So I was on the hunt for something easy to read, romantic and steamy - and Lauren Asher did not disappoint! This is your typical marriage of convenience, enemies to lovers type book. And even though I knew where it was heading, I couldn’t bare to put this down (Yes, I completed it in 24 hours). It does have some deeper themes of domestic violence, childhood trauma and neurodiversity but Asher touches on these very loosely. The story follows a young billionaire Declan and his assistant Iris, who enter a contractual agreement to help Declan acquire a large inheritance and gain control of his family business. Declan is your typical handsome but cold protagonist with daddy issues and only seems to be moved by a very cheerful Iris, even though he doesn’t like to admit it.

Genre: Fantasy/Romance Reading age: 16+ Rating: 7/10 You’ll like this if you liked The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes or Wicked The Musical. I love a prequel and I love seeing the human side to a villain, so when I found out that this book was a prequel to Alice in Wonderland, and the Queen of Hearts was the main character, I knew it would be right up my street. That being said if you’ve watched or read Alice in Wonderland, you know that the story sort of makes you feel like you’re going mad - Or that you’re reading a 10 year old ‘but it was all a dream’ school essay. Well, the prequel is no different. It's extremely creative and the world building is very patiently curated but it's also by no means an easy read. I kind of felt like Marissa Meyers wanted me to be confused. And although she did capture the magic of the story really well, it sometimes felt so far fetched that it was difficult to properly immerse myself into the plot. That being said once you reach the half way po

Genre: Romance /Coming of Age /Drama Reading age: 18+ Rating: 7/10 You’ll like this if you’ve watched or read End of the F***ing World, It’s Kind of a Funny Story or anything which blends love and mental health. One of my favourite booktokkers always raves about this book, and as it’s black history month, it felt wrong not to read a book by a black author… so I picked up Seven Days in June by Tia Williams. The first thing that must be mentioned is that this story should be plastered with trigger warnings - self harm, substance abuse, suicide, sexual abuse, physical harm, death. You name it, the book has it - which I wasn’t too keen on, I know real life can be shit but I do feel like the story could have been just as powerful without so many different types of traumatic experiences. It almost diminishes the individual experiences in isolation and makes it seem like they must have a culmination of trauma to be worthy of our empathy. That being said it was really well written, very poetic

one day I got tired of complaining then my heart stopped aching to be loved and desired by you my attachment disintegrated as our dreams went up in flames a future cremated a present in purgatory and you did not even notice that your world was crumbling too preoccupied to have me on your mind you never saw it coming and it was happening right in front of you you ignored the signs and continued to take me for a ride but your ride has an end your vehicle only has space for one an incomplete journey caused by a dead end and instead of turning around it is time for me to get off no longer a passenger taken for granted by you