The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde - UPDATED REVIEW

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde  Genre : Classics Blurb (on back of book) : Oscar Wilde’s only novel is the dreamlike story of a young man who sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty. In this celebrated work Wilde forged a devastating portrait of the effects of evil and debauchery on a young aesthete in late-19th-century England. Combining elements of the Gothic horror novel and decadent French fiction, the book centers on a striking premise: As Dorian Gray sinks into a life of crime and gross sensuality, his body retains perfect youth and vigor while his recently painted portrait grows day by day into a hideous record of evil, which he must keep hidden from the world. For over a century, this mesmerizing tale of horror and suspense has enjoyed wide popularity. It ranks as one of Wilde's most important creations and among the classic achievements of its kind. UPDATED REVIEW MY OPINION : ****** I would like to start out this review by stating that this is undoubtedly m
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More Happy Than Not - Adam Silvera

More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera
Genre: YA Fiction
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Blurb (on back of book): Part Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, part Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Adam Silvera's extraordinary debut confronts race, class, and sexuality during one charged near-future summer in the Bronx. 
The Leteo Institute's revolutionary memory-relief procedure seems too good to be true to Aaron Soto - miracle cure-alls don't tend to pop up in the Bronx projects. But Aaron can't forget how he's grown up poor or how his friends aren't always there for him. Like after his father committed suicide in their one bedroom apartment. Aaron has the support of his patient girlfriend, if not necessarily his distant brother and overworked mother, but it's not enough. 
Then Thomas shows up. He has a sweet movie-watching setup on his roof, and he doesn't mind Aaron's obsession with a popular fantasy series. There are nicknames, inside jokes. Most importantly, Thomas doesn't mind talking about Aaron's past. But Aaron's newfound happiness isn't welcome on his block. Since he's can't stay away from Thomas or suddenly stop being gay, Aaron must turn to Leteo to straighten himself out, even if it means forgetting who he is.

 MY OPINION: *****

Yes, let me start with the usual apology: this review is late. I finished this book at least a few days ago, something that we can call a "while" ago and I never got around to reviewing it... SCREW YOU, PROCRASTINATION

I had a LOT to do. Between writing my novel, revising my past fanfiction, hanging out with friends, VACATION, and trying to meet my Goodreads reading goal of the year, I've been pretty busy. Not to mention the fact that there's school and that's a whole other ordeal. The musical DID finish so I can't complain about that but life has been pretty busy.

Anyways, enough about all that. Let's just jump in and talk about this book.

I recently read History is All You Left Me, another book by Adam Silvera, and thoroughly enjoyed it. So I decided why not read this one?

Woah. This book was literally breathtaking. Adam Silvera's writing is SO powerful. A short sentence means so much and just imagine how amazing this book was with SO many sentences?

I'm not going to lie: this book was not what you call "enjoyable". It was quite depressing and at others really overwhelming. SO much happened in this book and sometimes it was hard to catch up with so I took a break and read something "light and fluffy" as some of you like to call it.

But I did get through this book, though it took me way longer than I anticipated (22 days??!) And by the time it was over, I was shocked and I honestly couldn't write a review just yet.

I showed certain passages to my friend and she was instantly hooked and this book became a Christmas present. The writing is so packed full of power and honesty and it was just like... wow.

This book was full of red herrings that I didn't catch until the end. Honestly, I was so wrapped up in the story that I didn't think too much about the other stuff.

I'm going to give a short rundown about what this book was about: (WARNING MAJOR MAJOR SPOILERS)

*There's a boy named Aaron whose family is poor and he lives in basically a one-room house
*His father killed himself
*There's this thing called the Leteo Institute where you wipe your memories of something bad happening or whatever
*He lives in a neighborhood with some... strange people, though his friends are nice enough at some points
*He's dating a girl named Gen and she's an amazing artist
*One day, he meets this guy named Thomas and they become friends 
*As the book progresses, Aaron is suddenly hit with the realization that he is gay and that he's falling for Thomas
*He kisses Thomas and then Thomas tells him that he (Thomas) is straight though Aaron believes otherwise
*Aaron leaves rather angrily
*A few other things happen and then Aaron's friends legit BEAT HIM UP (great friends, AM I RIGHT)
*Aaron's MEMORIES come FLYING BACK
*Aaron realizes that he's always been gay but he wiped his memories with the Leteo procedure
*He realizes that his DAD KILLED HIMSELF BECAUSE HIS SON WAS GAY
*He remembers an old boyfriend of his
*He wants to take the Leteo thing again but in the end, he never does

 So yeah. For those of you who skipped over the spoilers, I can't say much, but basically, this book had A LOT in it that honestly, I can't really voice unless you read it. So you should go check it out or buy a copy and start reading this book. I recommend this to all MATURE readers who are ready for a LONG, IMPACTFUL story!

Main Character: Aaron
Sidekick(s): His friends, Thomas, Gen, Collin, etc
Villain(s): Suicide, memories, "being gay and the consequences of stupid people", etc
Fiction Elements: Though many of this could occur in real life, certain elements were entirely fictional.

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