Booked with Boba: favorite power couple

"WITH ALL THE DESTRUCTION HAPPENING DOWN THERE, IT'S SO EASY TO FORGET THE BEAUTY THAT'S UP HERE. THE SKY IS SO BEAUTIFUL AFTER RAINFALL."

Salama Kassab was a pharmacy student when the cries for freedom broke out in Syria. She still had her parents and her big brother; she still had her home. She had a normal teenager’s life.

Now Salama volunteers at a hospital in Homs, helping the wounded who flood through the doors daily. Secretly, though, she is desperate to find a way out of her beloved country before her sister-in-law, Layla, gives birth. So desperate, that she has manifested a physical embodiment of her fear in the form of her imagined companion, Khawf, who haunts her every move in an effort to keep her safe.

But even with Khawf pressing her to leave, Salama is torn between her loyalty to her country and her conviction to survive. Salama must contend with bullets and bombs, military assaults, and her shifting sense of morality before she might finally breathe free. And when she crosses paths with the boy she was supposed to meet one fateful day, she starts to doubt her resolve in leaving home at all.

Soon, Salama must learn to see the events around her for what they truly are—not a war, but a revolution—and decide how she, too, will cry for Syria’s freedom.

publication date: september 13th, 2022 | source: owned

page count: 417 pages | genre: historical fiction, contemporary, fantasy, romance,

⩇⩇:⩇⩇ » review time .ᐟ

꒰ જ⁀➴ 5 depressingly beautiful stars ☆ ┆ tropes: soulmates 💕 ꒱

౨ৎ ⋆ ｡˚「🍋」» every lemon will bring forth a child and the lemons will never die out «「🍋」౨ৎ ⋆ ｡˚

HEY YALL IM ALIVEEE!!! Ahaha did not mean to ghost for um ~~7 months~~ a while but reading slumps and burn out from mf school is actually the biggest pain ever and frankly I'm not sure how I'm still alive. I might be dead here but on Goodreads, I'm actually pretty active and occasionally I get the bright idea to make an aesthetic review because I don't want to do my homework so I'm going to transfer some reviews over in a new format so here come a wave (not really only like 3 or 4) of reviews!

────୨ৎ────

i am still quite traumatized but i did just finish my ap lang exam so i have some time (and im also ignoring my upcoming tests/projects/finals hehe) so i will attempt to untraumatized myself (very unlikely) and write a review about a book that made me ugly cry in public!!! please excuse any incoherent sobbing and screeching down the line :D

˚₊‧꒰ ♯ now playing ▸ love wins all, iu ↻ ꒱

‧₊˚ ⤿ 💌: dearest, darling, my universe ᡣ𐭩

꒰⚔️꒱ ➷ the story

okay so like the story actually broke me?? i was 27 pages in when i cried for the first time and proceeded to tear up several times in school as the book went on. salama's story was nothing but heartbreaking and i think i cried a little each time the hospital was overrun with all these children sustaining critical injuries. reading about it only broke my heart more and i think i was so close to crying when reading ahmed's story bUt i cOuLdNt because i was in cLaSs. katouh did a perfect job weaving salama's trauma and amplifying hopelessness of the syrians and i am now forever traumatized but also in awe by how much suffering people can go through yet still be inspired to fight for their freedom and lives. it was beautiful yet devastating and reading this broke me in the best way possible.

⋆.˚🦋༘⋆ "we fight while we're still here, salama, because this is our country. this is the land of your father, and his father before him. your history is embedded in this soil. no country in the world will love you as yours does." ⋆.˚🦋༘⋆

꒰🏰꒱ ➷ the romance

the romance? oh my god the romance. kenan and salama were actually soulmates and you cannot convince me otherwise. he's the pazu to her sheeta and together they make each other stronger and so much better and give each other something to fight and live for. i was incoherently screeching while watching salama slowly fall in love with kenan and their love story was genuinely so beautiful i now want to curl up in a ball and cry.

"you're my sheeta."~♡~"you're my pazu."

꒰🥀꒱ ➷ the trauma

the trauma is trauma-ing!! i am now forever scarred, never recovering, bawled my eyes out public and died a little inside as the story went on. katouh wrote salama's trauma perfectly and as much as i hated khwaf in the beginning, his personification only reflect the struggles so many war veterans and refugees experience in their head. those drowning thoughts that assume the worst of the worst, that eat you up from inside out, and essentially prey on your worst regrets and fears is the worst possible thing anyone should ever had to go through. i wanted to cry and then scream at khwaf so many times to leave salama alone yet at the same time, i hated that i understood where the irrationality of all her fears and regrets came from. khwaf is a forever going to be a part of salama, but katouh showed that she can overcome it with kenan by her side. also can we talk about chapter 29??? respectfully, ms. zoulfa katouh, please pay for my therapy.

˚˖𓍢ִ໋🕊️˚ “for every life I can’t save during my shift, one more drop of blood becomes a part of me. no matter how many times i wash my hands, our martyrs’ blood seeps beneath my skin, into my cells. by now it’s probably encoded in my dna.” ˚˖𓍢ִ໋🕊️˚

────୨ৎ────

okay im done yapping and im going to go back to sobbing!!! go read this book but make sure u bring a hefty amount of tissues because you will cry but it would be nice to not bawl in public like my dumbass did so- happy readingg lovelies <33

「🌷 」ೀ⋆｡ » and to all the syrians who loved, lost, lived, and died for syria.

we will come back home one day.「🌷 」ೀ⋆｡«

FINAL RATING:

what was the most traumatizing book you've read?

Well damn hello I am alive again! We’re going to ignore the fact that I have been dead for 2 months and that I’m hella behind on my reading goal and instead talk about a drama that I just binged over break! This drama literally broke me; like quite sobs broke me and now I’m never recovering thanks!!! I don’t think I’ve written a k-drama review for at least over a year now (hi editor yienne here. i checked and the one and only kdrama review i wrote was in 2022 so this is actually pretty accurate and depressing but hey at least i’m writing one now!) but I’m coming back stronger than ever with this freaking adorable kdrama that honestly made me feel more single than ever. I am not quite over my post drama depression yet but I figured that since literally 2 months have passed into the year, I should probably alive myself on my blog and write a review. With that being said, grab some boba and let’s pair up the beloved cast of Twinkling Watermelon with some books and a song!

TWINKLING WATERMELON follows a music-loving high school student who is mysteriously transported back to the 1990s . There, he finds himself befriending his future father. They two play in a high school band, but their relationship is complicated when our hero's father starts crushing on a girl that's so not his future mother and he must figure out a way to ensure his future by fixing the past.

ha eun-gyeol:

when we were infinite by kelly loy gilbert

god of music by seventeen

Welcome our protagonist Ha Eun-gyeol! A child of deaf parents and the only one who can hear within his family, Eun-gyeol becomes his families bridge to the rest of the world. A model student by day but unable to give up his passion of music, he joins a band at night without telling his parents. Under mysterious circumstances, he finds himself suddenly transported back to 1995 and runs into his father from when he was 18 years old. From there onwards comes a beautiful coming of age story full of tears, laughter, and many beautiful memories. I actually had a hard time pairing him up with a book and song to be honest but I eventually settled with the equally beautifully written novel When We Were Infinite. I think Eun-gyeol will find his desires rather similar to Beth’s as both navigate a difficult time in life caught at crossroads of some sort regarding music. As for God of Music, you know I can never turn down a Seventeen banger so obviously it seemed like the guitar prodigy was fitting for this song. God of Music showcases the unity music can bring to people and I think that’s a beautiful message that Eun-gyeol would definitely agree with.

ha yi-chan:

the queens of new york by e.l. shen

here's to never growing up by avril lavigne

My personal favorite thing about teenage Ha Yi-chan is how accurate the drama was able to portray him and the contrast from what we see of him as an serious adult to a carefree teenager back in his youth. Although perhaps the largest surprise to his son from the future is that his teenage father is crushing on someone who is 100% not his mother. Yi-chan’s portrayal of youth and wanting to “twinkle” in his last years match perfectly with the absolute banger that is Here’s to Never Growing Up by Avril Lavigne. A childhood classic brought back to life by a lively youth who wants nothing more but to stay in this bliss forever. As for The Queens of New York, I honestly think that Yi-chan who I suspect hates reading (except to learn some sign language hehehe) might just find the overall story of Queens of New York warming. The hardships Jia, Everette, and Ariel go through are challenging but they find out that they’re stronger together and I think that’s the message that Yi-chan needs to hear in the end of the drama. Yi-chan’s character growth is no joke people and I absolutely loved watching it. He’d absolutely be cheering to never grow up for as long as he possibly can.

yoon cheong-ah:

starfish by akemi dawn bowman

enchanted by taylor swift

I honestly adored the way Cheong-ah was still so expressive and her ability to convey her feelings through her expressions throughout the drama so now I’m certain that she and Yi-chan have become one of my favorite power couples of all time. Also I will shamelessly admit that I have watched way too many FMV of Cheong-ah and Yi-chan to the point where the ones with Enchanted by Taylor Swift caught my eye. Apparently its decided that this song will be her and Yi-chan’s song which low key makes a lot of sense. Meeting Yi-chan changed Cheong-ah’s life. She tried to get out of the way knowing that he liked someone else but what she didn’t realize is that he had fallen for her instead. Her plead of wishing him not falling in love with anyone worked; Yi-chan is absolutely smitten with her and I am all here for it. Excuse while I go cry in a corner about how single I am!!! I do think Cheong-ah would relate to Kiko’s story and find a bit of strength in knowing she isn’t alone; shitty parents shouldn’t be the thing holding you back and you should never let them define who you are. In the end, I was so proud of Cheong-ah’s character growth and who she grew to become. Needless to say, she really was enchanted to meet Yi-chan.

choi se-keyong:

everyone wants to know by kelly loy gilbert

stronger (sung by dawon & yeonjun) of WJSN

Se-kyeong was honestly a very complicated character. Snobby and rude but also caring and kindhearted. I can’t say too much without spoiling but she is definitely a character I grew to love as the drama progressed. I think that the emotional rollercoaster of a book Everyone Wants to Know would resonate with Se-kyeong a lot. Both Honor and Se-keyong have shitty parents who put their children on display as their own trophy but disregarding the whole human whom they’re parading. Se-keyong would definitely connect with Honor as a character and hopefully realize that she has the ability to change her life for the better. As for the depressingly beautiful ballad, I think the overall message of overcoming a difficult time in life would be something that Se-kyeong will find solace in.

And that’s a wrap! I honestly adored every single one of the cast members but the main four are the only ones I’m covering today; partly because I don’t think I read enough for the remaining band members. I grew to fall in love with the drama with every episode I binged. The character growth between the main cast, story dynamic, and overall portrayal of the importance family and identity could not have been done better. Seriously, this romance was so freaking perfect and I think Yi-chan and Cheong-ah have become one of my new favorite power couples. I didn’t particularly love the ending if I’m being honest considering if felt like the ending was cut short and there wasn’t a chance to explore what happened afterwards to some of the characters which was kind of lacking. Nonetheless, I still adored this drama with all my heart and I don’t think I’m recovering from my post drama feels for a long longg time <3

FINAL RATING:

who's your favorite k-drama power couple?

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