Reading, Writing, and Me

Anita de Monte Laughs Last  by Xochitl Gonzales Overview: Anita de Monte was shoved out the window by her husband and fellow artist Jack Martin. But he got acquitted and scrubbed the story and Anita from the legacy of his work. Though dead, Anita will not sit quietly by and let that happen. While Anita dies in 1985, it isn't until 1998 that Anita truly gets an opening to correct her legacy when Raquel starts working on her thesis on Jack Martin in junior year at university. While Brown doesn't teach Raquel about de Monte, she eventually learns about the artist whose life mirrors her own more than any she's been presented in class. Overall: 3 Characters: 2 The ideas here are good. The concept of the book is incredible, but the execution leaves so much to be desired. Anita and Raquel are positioned as direct foils for one another. Anita was an artist who fell in love with another famous, rich artist with tons of cultural capital. She was abused by him and ultimately died beca

Beautiful World Where Are You  by Sally Rooney Overall: 5 This is going to be an unconventional review because this is not only a re-review but a re-review of a re-review. I first read the book shortly after it was published in 2021 when I was 18. Then, I read it again when I re-read all the Sally Rooney books in 2022 for an English paper. Somewhat famously, this paper and re-reading the books caused a seismic shift in how I viewed Rooney's writing for the better. But, apparently, my 19 year old self wasn't particularly impressed with Beautiful World Where Are You, either, since the first re-review moved my estimation of the book from a 3 star to a 3.5 star.  Now, we've made a massive leap from calling the book mediocre to it being among one of my favorites as I near 21 and my college graduation. Perhaps it makes sense that I've slowly grown into Rooney's novels, first understanding her college novels in a new light and taking longer for this late twenties story to