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dearrivarie

"We were musician; we were intimate with silence."

    isbn: 978-1534468214 | pages: 368
    publication date: March 09, 2021 | source: netgalley/e-arc
genre: ya contemporary
trigger warnings: racism, abuse, suicide, mental health, micro-aggressions 

    A M A Z O N *    |    G O O D R E A D S    |    B O O K S H O P *
B O O K D E P O S I T O R Y    |    B A R N E S A N D N O B L E S    |    I N D I E B O U N D

a heart so broken and full
When We Were Infinite is beautiful, powerful, and so freaking painful to read. Beth Claire's life centers around her friends, Brandon, Sunny, Grace, and Jason. With their senior year comes their final Homecoming, college applications, and the inevitable change that comes with the next page of life. Before the toils of college acceptances and rejections, Beth's relationship with her friends is altered after private matters in Jason's home come to light. This book has truly left me feeling hollow in a way I haven't felt in a long time. Being in Beth's head for the entire story is exhausting but at the same time I have never experienced a fictional character's thought mirror my own so accurately. 

Beth's emotions are like bullets that just ricochet all over the place and it takes her a while to find out where they come from. That creates an incredibly turbulent reading experience and I cannot even tell you how many times I wanted to shake Beth out of her thoughts. The ironic thing, is that many of Beth's thoughts are ones that have come across my mind as well. The desperation of wanting to keep everyone happy and doing everything to mediate tense situations, I couldn't hate Beth without hating myself. Seeing Beth's journey throughout the story is like watching the sun come out from behind the clouds and finally shining brighter after being stuck inside a storm. As she reconciles her fear and her anger with herself, she is able to rebuild her relationship with her friends and most importantly, her mother and finally find the comfort she's been craving.

rebuild
Despite its difficult topics, When We Were Infinite also made me reminisce and miss my friends so much. The relationship that Beth, Sunny, Grace, Brandon, and Jason have with each other is so uplifting no matter how up/down things get. I loved how Kelly Loy Gilbert didn't forget to include the reason why we as people create relationships and friendships in the first place - the comfort of companionship, of feeling seen, of knowing that someone will always be there - that makes the dark times bearable in the end. 

As the characters embark on their college chapter, the story shifts its delivery format to more of a vignette style and highlights the group experiencing life away from each other. It felt kind of jarring at first because I was suddenly taken out of being very interconnected with everything to seeing events unfold from more of a distance but I appreciated being able to watch them, especially Beth, grow out of their comfort zones and mature in their outlooks on life. When We Were Infinite is a story that highlights the messy and the good when it comes to friendship, the fears of growing up, and learning to understand the space that we take up in the greater world community. 

*Links with an asterisk are affiliate links where when used, will give me a small commission at no additional costs to the buyer (as of 2/21/21)

9:00 AM No Comments
Hello everyone! I honestly had to rewrite this intro paragraph because when I first started drafting this post there was the slightest possibility that a contract extension was in the works, but April 2021 will officially mark the end to Mnet's Produce48 girl group IZ*ONE. I didn't think I would end up getting so attached to a project group but their discography continuously ends up on repeat whenever they make a comeback and after two years I'm a fan.

In honor of their time together as a group, I thought that I could compile a list of my of IZ*ONE tracks and comp them to books based either on title, vibe, lyrics, etc. 

la vie en rose 
strange the dreamer by laini taylor

This is honestly one of my favorite debut songs ever, it's just so catchy and the members embodied the elegant concept so well. The most iconic line of course is "this is my la vie en rose" so I wanted to pick a song with a really elegant and beautiful writing style. One of the first titles to pop into my head was Strange the Dreamer. While I definitely struggled getting through this book, Laini Taylor has one of the most beautiful writing styles out there and that makes her stories so enchanting even if I wasn't 100% on board with the characters or plot.

violeta 
gods of jade and shadow by silvia moreno-garcia
The lyrics translate to wanting to be with someone who might be a bit mysterious or reserved. A pretty catchy song that holds a lot of yearning. One of my favorite slow romances that killed me with the yearning between two characters is hands down Gods of Jade and Shadow. A girl and the overthrown god of death have a very little possibility for a future but damn did their little moments hit me right in the heart.

panorama
the song of achilles by madeline miller
This song is a testament to IZ*ONE absolutely slaying and getting better with each comeback. Probably my favorite title track, Panorama is all about capturing the memories of unfinished stories to remember them forever. The Song of Achilles is one there I just want the characters to be happy and innocent forever and unfortunately with the source material propelling them towards a tragic ending, I would want nothing more than to capture those bright moments for Achilles and Patroclus forever.

          

ayayaya
beyond the ruby veil by mara fitzgerald
Probably hands down my favorite IZ*ONE track and one that I could not stop playing all of last year. The lyrics themselves speak about reinventing oneself and owning one's natural allure so I thought I'd pair this with a character who just completely captivated my attention while reading. Emanuela is anything but elegant and veers more towards blood-thirsting and ruthless in her ambition. In all cases, she'd probably be the last character to associate with this concept, but her magnetism is undeniable. She just has a pull that just makes the reader incredibly invested even if she's not the most likable person.

o sole mio
the house in the cerulean sea by t.j. klune
Direct translation for this phrase is "oh my sun" so I had to pick a book that I adore and that reminds me of the brightest sunny day. The House in the Cerulean Sea makes me smile every time I think of the lovable characters and after picking up a physical copy for my shelves, I've definitely reread certain scenes that will immediately lift my mood and give me all the warm happy feelings.

really like you
night of cake and puppets by laini taylor
I wanted to choose my favorite bookish couple and without fail Zuzana and Mik end up on the list even if I already featured Laini Taylor. While I'd probably classify their relationship as more high energy than this melodic ballad, I can definitely see Zuzana listening to this song in the middle of the night, post-date, where she's just filled with all the butterflies and feelings. 

          

This post includes just a couple of my favorite IZ*ONE tracks, I might do a part two of this in the future because I had such a hard time cutting down which songs I wanted to include. If you've listened to any of these songs and/or read the comp'd titles, do you think they match together or do you have any pairing? 

2:00 PM 2 Comments
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DearRivarie

DearRivarie
Hi there! My name is Rivalie (Riv for short). Welcome to my blog where I share book reviews, discussions, and more fun things! Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a fantastic day! 🌸

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