It’s okay if days are not going the way you want them to be. It’s okay if things are going great, and something happens, but it does not make you a failure. My life has been on a roll, I’m busy preparing for so many exams that I have a deadline this month which will decide my future, and today I cut my hand so badly that I’m recording to write this blog post. And guess what, my exam is in a week and I have injured my hand, which I’m supposed to write with. I was kind of panicking, but it’s okay, I am fine again. I am doing great, and I will be better very, very soon. Life is like that, only it will test you at every step, and it comes so suddenly that we don’t know how to deal with it. But again, at this point in my life, where I have seen so much and been an adult for such a long time, I have learned that life works that way; it will test you, but we have to believe in ourselves. Just like happiness, there is sadness, and for the rainbow to be there, the storm has to come. After every difficulty, we definitely get to see the result; we just need to hang in there. I had the habit of always questioning myself if I didn’t accomplish something, I put such pressure on my mind and kept thinking about what went wrong, but later realised nothing was wrong, it’s just a phase of life which will go, I just need to believe in myself that I can do it. If I put pressure on myself and start questioning my existence, that world is going to do the same, and I’m not going to be okay. So let me tell you, it’s okay, you’re doing fine, one setback will not decide your future, but it’s your courage to pass through it that will. So hang in there, do what you love and remember to say this yourself when life gets a little hasty, it’s okay…
You are strong, but you are also tired, and that is okay.
Till we meet again, Be Happy, Be Grateful, and Keep Smiling – a girl who likes to write
I came straight after reading the book to write my review because I felt insane about what I just read minutes ago. This book is insane, and my head is spinning at a high rate. The book follows the story of Alix Summer, a famous podcaster and a woman named Josie Fair whose past is full of pain. Josie and Alix share the same birthday, and Josie has been listening to Alix’s podcast and comes up with a plan that she might be a good subject for Alix’s podcast.
Let’s start with the character of Alix. I can’t believe she is a famous podcaster who interviews so many people and can’t even tell how a person is. I found Alix’s character to be so unrealistic that I hated her; she was the reason why things turned out that way in the end. She is such a famous podcaster and has a family, and she is so okay with inviting a random lady she met by accident just a few days ago to her house and letting her stay as well. I wanted to throw the book at her because she meets so many people and can’t tell a person’s nature, that’s impossible. Definitely the dumb character in the thriller I hate, and guess what, she is also the main character. She is to blame for everything, by the way.
Josie, what a character! She is someone who will gaslight and manipulate people so easily, but only a naive person like Alix, the famous podcaster, will believe it. The author has not exactly gone into her mind, but very simply, through her talks, we get to know her character. Then, too, her character was intense to read. The end was unexpected, actually, that’s more like the plot twist. We might think Josie is the main character, but no, it’s Alix as she gets tangled in her own mess she created, and she can’t even clean that up ever.
The plot is excellent. I won’t say there are any plot twists because it’s very clear what is happening. I think it’s more frustrating to see Alix’s character and realise how dumb she could be given her profession. The book is very fast-paced, and I read it in less than 24 hours. The second half of the book was pretty intense and thrilling.
The book is more like a warning than a thriller about how we should never trust a stranger and not bring them home if we have a family, because we never know what that stranger can do, and it can lead to a forever loss like what happened to Alix.
There are no plot twists, everything is clear as water; however, the last ending, OMG, is what made my mind go spinning because wow. It was definitely unexpected, and in a thriller, we never trust any person, no matter what, and that’s what the ending says.
I highly recommend this book.
Rating: 4/5
Till we meet again, Be Happy, Be Grateful, and Keep Smiling – a girl who likes to write.
I was passing by the places that I used to visit with my Mom, and it felt so nostalgic because of how different I was back then. And the sudden realisation hit me that places never change, they still hold memories; however, what changes are us, the humans. The things and the places we used to look at as a kid and now as an adult are the same, but what changed is us; our interpretation has changed. That’s why memories are so important, they bring us so much peace when we visit places where we have spent such a good time. I never really understood or knew until I visited the place, and then it hit me how much older I have become. The places I once visited with my mom are now places I visit alone, and I’m filled with so many thoughts. And just like that, we grow up, leave the places behind that were once our way to spend time, and now we are looking at places to escape the hectic life of adulthood. What is it like visiting the place after so many years and remembering the life we once lived, and now everything has changed? I think the places we used to visit in childhood will always be precious memories because we remember the phase, the smell, the clothes we were wearing, holding hands with our parents, doing weird poses, exploring everything new, and how our eyes used to go wide with excitement. And now, if we go back to the place we remember our innocence phase and how happy we were with no tension, just excitement to explore the place. When I visited the place a few days ago, I looked like a tourist as my eyes were wide and my heart felt heavy. How the time has changed, and I have grown up to be an adult. That’s how life is, we look back and realise that’s the best time we have spent, and I think that’s the whole point, we should create memories that one day we look back and see how happy we were, and there is no regret left behind of not spending time right. So all the adults out there, this time will not come back again, so make sure you try to enjoy it as much as you can.
and some memories never leave.
Till we meet again, Be Happy, Be Grateful, and Keep Smiling – a girl who likes to write
“Don’t feel embarrassed just because I found out that you like me. Even so, it doesn’t change the fact that I like you more…” – Yoo Shin-jin to Kang Mo-yeon.
No drama can ever be able to match the hype and the aura of this drama. This drama still holds a special place in many hearts, and I don’t think any drama will ever be able to replace it. The drama follows the story of Yoo Shin-jin, a soldier belonging to the South Korean Special Forces, who falls in love with a hardworking and beautiful surgeon, Kang Mo-yeon. However, when their relationship began, their lives took a turn, forcing them apart.
Beginning with the plotline, a soldier and a surgeon, hell yeahhhhh!!!!! I think this drama balances out the romance and the climax part so well that nothing feels overwhelming or underwhelming. The drama was way ahead of its time, and a 2016 drama, it will be forever remembered. The depth of the plotline was so intense, but then their romance balanced it out. The earthquake sequence, the surgery sequence and the ending were amazing to watch.
Talking about Yoo Shin-jin, what a marvellous character. He is such a sweetheart, but at the same time, a magnificent Captain. For a 2016 character to be funny and flirty was a huge thing, especially since there was a trend of cold-hearted male leads. Yoo Shin-jin looks so serious, however, his talks make him a hilarious character. He, as a captain, was a hell of a ride to watch; the depth of his character made him stand out.
Then we have our surgeon, Kang Mo-yeon, who is one of my favourite female lead characters. Her character is balanced so well as we get to see her being smart as well as funny, her expressions were my favourite. The way her character was written showed us some of the beautiful aspects of her and the drama.
Their chemistry doesn’t even have the right words to describe them. When you first watch, you will think how serious the drama and the couple are; however, when you actually watch this, you will realise how silly they are. I think that is what stood out because both are equally crazy and funny together. Their scenes of teasing each other were everything.
The second couple is everything, a forbidden romance between an army surgeon, Yoon Myeong-Joo and an army officer, Seo Dae-Young. I don’t think so, any second couple will ever be able to match them. First of all, their visual screams their forbidden love; we can actually see the pain and love in their eyes when they are standing apart and just looking at each other. The tension is everything, and I don’t think I will ever get over it. Their ending OMG was so beautiful to watch, even though they talk and taunt each other, we can see the care and love for each other in their eyes. Their OST will forever be engraved in my mind about the heart.
“Say it’s just a strategic retreat. Tell me to wait for you, tell me you’ll do whatever it takes to come back to me.” – Yoon Myeong-Joo.
The team of doctors were incredibly funny, I couldn’t stop laughing because each of them was one heck of a character. They made the drama more alive. The cinematography is breathtaking. The camp added such intensity to the plot, and the famous scenes that went viral were magnificent to watch. The OSTs, each of them are beautiful, and I still listen to them on auto-play. Just like how the drama is intense, the OSTs are also intense, so whenever I listen to the OSTs, I get flashbacks of the couples.
I think this drama still holds a special place in people’s hearts because of the vibe, the OSTs, the cinematography, the dialogues, the plot, and how it was so different from other dramas, and I don’t think it will ever be replaced by anything.
I highly recommend this drama, please watch it.
“You are very charming but dangerous. I don’t like it. Every time I catch your eyes, I am charmed. Should I become a girlfriend of this dangerous yet charming man?” – Kang Mo-yeon.
My Rating: 10/10
Total Episodes: 16
Genre: Romance, Action, Melodrama
Till we meet again, Be Happy, Be Grateful, and Keep Smiling – a girl who likes to write.
“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” – Confucius
As an adult, the most important thing that I have realised is that the situation might not be that complicated, but I make it more complicated. I think about it and wonder how I will do it, and every time I am overloaded with work, I get so frustrated that I start questioning my life, but it works out in the end. I handle everything by the end of the day. But that process of overthinking and questioning makes life complicated. In the era of social media, where we get to see people’s personal lives so closely that at one time we even wonder what kind of life they are living and what we are even doing. It is so easy to compare because we can see a huge difference however, I then remember that I have my own life too, which I can make the way I want. The life I want to have, I can have, but I complicate things so much that it makes me frustrated with life. The rule is simple: don’t complicate things in life. You are strong, and just like everything, you are going to be fine. And if it doesn’t work out, it’s okay, one setback doesn’t make you a failure, but it makes you get ready for the upcoming lesson. If something comes up unexpectedly, we always panic and don’t know how to solve it. When things are not going the way we want, when everything feels tough, and when life feels like a burden, we see ourselves break down and do not dare to move on. First of all, it’s okay, everyone feels it, but as we deal with it, we learn to handle those situations, we learn how to manage everything, and I think that’s the whole point. I am speaking from my experience, when we learn how to handle things under pressure, we become experts in dealing with things that life brings to us. You are doing ok, panic is not going to bring you anything, so sit back, relax and understand life is like that, maybe you need some time to figure it out, but you are going to do it exceptionally well. And maybe we complicate life so much that we don’t see how strong we are, and life is all about simple things.
Simplicity.
Till we meet again, Be Happy, Be Grateful, and Keep Smiling – a girl who likes to write
I will start by saying that this book is deceitful. It was one of the few books that gave me such a headache that I wanted to beat my head against the wall. I just seriously wanted this book to be finished as quickly as possible, and I wished I had DNF this book, but as I was early in my reading journey, I thought I needed to finish every book I picked up. The book follows the story of Ellen O’Farrel, a hypnotherapist who works out of the strange beachfront home she inherited from her grandparents. Her professional life is going well, but she can’t say the same about her personal life. Until she meets a young man named Patrick, who is handsome and single. But Patrick has a stalker, his ex-girlfriend, Sasha, who won’t leave him alone, and now Ellen wants to meet Sasha.
Honestly, when I read the blurb, I thought it would be a thriller; however, the whole book, I was waiting to read a plot twist, and legit nothing happened. What was this book? I think I was definitely getting hypnotised because of how long this book was, and I was going in circles. The same thing was getting repetitive, and I was over it. The character of Ellen was written really well. She was someone who got really intrigued by things that normal people would want to stay away from. Sasha is a stalker of Ellen’s boyfriend, and Ellen wants to know everything about Sasha rather than her boyfriend.
Then we have the perspective of Sasha, again, the writer did an incredible job portraying her character. Her actions were kind of nutty, however, as a reader, I did get sympathetic towards her as I got to see in depth what happened to her and her situation. Patrick was kind of an illogical character as he didn’t do much about the situation with Sasha. If he handled the situation well, maybe it would be better for everyone else.
I have to say the writer’s writing was really hypnotising. The book and the story are very unique, but I wish there was more depth to the plot. As the book was super long, it got me frustrated to just continue reading it without seeing any dramatic structure to the plot, as the blurb says it will. The plotline would be excellent if there were plot twists and more drama in the book.
The blurb is deceitful; that’s all I am going to say.
Rating: 2/5
Side Note: I just want to clarify that this is entirely my opinion; you are free to love this book, and I am free to give my opinion on this book. I would be very happy if you loved this book, but please do not take this review to heart; it is okay to have different tastes. Thank You.
Till we meet again, Be Happy, Be Grateful, and Keep Smiling – a girl who likes to write.
Sometimes there is no next time, no second chance, no time out.
Sometimes it is NOW or NEVER.
I will start by saying, take that opportunity, it has come your way, which means you were chosen for it. As an adult, you need to come out of your comfort zone, you can’t hide forever, you need to take that risk, no matter how much you are afraid. At this age, you have to test your ability, and this will happen when you take on the opportunity that scares you. Being an adult is scary; however, it also allows you to explore and find yourself. I really want to see how much I am capable of things, and that will only happen if I take risks, no matter how nerve-wrecking it is. I know the feeling of saying no to something and then regretting it so much and thinking if only I took it, maybe I would have failed, but at least I tried and learned. Taking the opportunity to learn and teach how to do things right and better as we move on in life. Everything is scary at first because you have not tried yet, you won’t know how much you are capable of, how much you can do, unless you try. You have to try and start somewhere to keep going and make the life you’ve always dreamed about. I recently learned how to drive a car, however, I was so afraid at first, even though I can drive well, my confidence was so low. But I know I have to start the car and keep going to actually see my progress. And guess what, I drove so well and now my confidence level has increased because I know what my flaws were, and I worked on them, and now I can control the car. Nobody is perfect, and people we see who are so good at their job started somewhere, started imperfectly, to reach where they are so perfect. No matter what, never say never. Life is all about risk and especially in matters where your whole future lies ahead of you. Taking that opportunity will give you some result, but saying no will never allow you to move ahead, and the result will always be nil. So take the opportunity, I know you have a lot of courage to rule the whole world, so never say never…
You have to fight for what you want.
Till we meet again, Be Happy, Be Grateful, and Keep Smiling – a girl who likes to write
“We’re all just trying to survive, but what’s the point of surviving if we lose our humanity?”
I love action movies, especially when zombies are involved. I know I need to watch Train to Busan as it has everything I love, and I was not disappointed. Basically, Train to Busan is a Korean movie that follows the story of a daughter and father who have a strained relationship. Seok-Woo and his daughter, Soo-an, are on the way to Busan; however, the journey becomes a nightmare when a virus breaks out, turning people into zombies. And now they are trapped inside the train, and Seok-Woo needs to do anything to save his daughter.
If we start with the character of Seok-Woo, he is a father who sees nothing but his work. He has a hard time expressing his love for his daughter. He doesn’t really understand his daughter, or we could say he is so invested in his work that he doesn’t try to. The character development of Seok-Woo was phenomenal to watch; however, looking at him, we understand that we never know how much time we have. So we should learn to care about our family when we have time, otherwise it could be too late and only regret is left behind.
Soo-an, her character is such a sweetheart. She is so kind for her age that even though his father doesn’t understand her, she understands him so much. It is so good to see her lecturing her father and making him realise. During the hard time, she gets to repair her relationship with her father, and her father did everything to keep her safe.
Sang-Hwa, another masterpiece character of the movie. He is in contrast with Seok-Woo, and it was amazing to watch him. He has a heart of gold and is ready to help anyone, regardless of being in danger himself. He is one of my favourite characters that I will not forget. Nobody would have survived if he hadn’t helped. Sung-Gyeong, the wife of Sang-Hwa, another favourite character of mine. She is the epitome of beauty with kindness. The way she took care of Soo-an and how her bravery was beautiful to watch.
The plot is phenomenal yet heartbreaking. At some time, it was so heart-wrenching to see what keeps happening to the people and their families. Because what was happening to their loved ones was happening in front of them, and after surviving, they will never get back to normal. The dialogues, cinematography, and everything are top-notch and kept me on the edge. The acting of each and every character made the movie so haunting and realistic.
I highly recommend it, but please be ready to witness heart-wrenching scenes and an ending no one is ready for.
“Even if we make it to Busan, what kind of world will we find there?”
My Rating: 10/10
Genre: Horror, Action, Supernatural
Till we meet again, Be Happy, Be Grateful, and Keep Smiling – a girl who likes to write.
“Life is divine Chaos. It’s messy, and it’s supposed to be that way.” – Keats
I love calmness, but I also adore the chaos of life. When you are walking on the street surrounded by thousands of people and wonder what kind of life they are living and what kind of life you are living, but at the same time, you are in the same place. Life is something; if we look upon it as a queen of mischief, it will throw you down, but like a magic flying carpet, it will catch you. I believe in the chaos of life. I like trying things that seem so out of this world, things that bring drama to my life, because we only live once, and no one knows what will happen next, so why not do dramatic things? I believe that embracing the chaos of life gives you a whole new perspective on it, you find beauty in things that you never even thought about, and you get to know the beauty and the chaos it carries, bringing you the ultimate comfort. All great things are embedded with chaos; chaos is constant in life, but we must find peace within it. Messy things can be beautiful, like abstract painting that might not make sense to a common person, but it looks phenomenal. Maybe the chaos of life will make you go mad, but it’s okay, everyone is a bit mad, so instead burn it, let go and just dive into the chaos life has brought. Maybe this will help you find where you truly belong. Embracing life makes everything so easy, and we actually get to see the beauty of it, but it also comes with a lot of chaos that we need to hug in order to go past it and find the beauty and peace in it. I have heard that to survive, you need to be wild in chasing your dreams, and that will happen when you know how to embrace the chaos of life…
And she embraced the chaos as it painted her life with purpose.
Till we meet again, Be Happy, Be Grateful, and Keep Smiling – a girl who likes to write
Another thriller book by John Marrs, and just like the previous book, it is one of the weirdest books I have read, where I figured out every plot twist and wondered what I was reading. The story follows a couple named Mia and Finn who are busy turning a derelict house into their dream house. As their dream house gets ready, Mia discovers a chilling message: I WILL SAVE THEM FROM THE ATTIC. Following the clue, the couple discovers that their dream house was once a house of horrors.
I picked this book up because the blurb looked freaking interesting however, the book was not. I probably went into it thinking something totally different, so maybe that is the reason I didn’t like it. Every character in this book is weird and predictable because the twist is just out there. The characters, even though they were predictable, were all so unrealistic, and I cannot picture them as humans at all, especially Mia and Finn’s baby.
The plot was kind of questionable because what was even that? It was so clear who the culprit was and what the plot twists and I think that is what shocked me. The plot was so unrealistic, and the plot twists made no sense, as everything was hard to believe in what was happening in the book.
It was like a horror movie where we know something is going to come out of the dark, and we are going to scream. But this book didn’t make me scream, but it made me so frustrated that I had to pause and think about my book and life choices.
You probably won’t be missing much if you don’t read this book.
Rating: 2/5
Side Note: I just want to clarify that this is entirely my opinion; you are free to love this book, and I am free to give my opinion on this book. I would be very happy if you loved this book, but please do not take this review to heart; it is okay to have different tastes. Thank You.
Till we meet again, Be Happy, Be Grateful, and Keep Smiling – a girl who likes to write.
A girl who likes to write 