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Amélia🤍

@read.byamelia

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⋆˙⟡ belgium
beauty wed to meaning 🦢
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the idea of ‘bookstagram dying’ is something that has been on my mind for a while now, so i thought it would be interesting to have an actual conversation about it!

please let me know what you think in the comments, i would love to hear different opinions 🫶🏾

#bookstagram #bookdiscussion #foodforthought #explore taken in Brussels, Belgium by @read.byamelia

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17 days ago

a piece i wrote a year ago right after graduation and freshly in a post-grad existential crisis.

i had a really hard time during my last semester of uni, and partly because i had to learn some very difficult lessons about the way i view myself and the things i seek validation from.
it has taken me close to a year to fully recover and come back from that adversity. though i am yet to fully having ‘found my spark’ again, i am ready to move on.

for me this video is a final goodbye to that version of myself. at her best she showed me i was resilient, hard working and disciplined and her worst she still tried her best to be all those things.

it’s very unique feeling, having to shed something that has been an integral part of your identity and self-concept.
0/10 do not recommend taken in Brussels, Belgium by @read.byamelia

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22 days ago

an ode to the love hypothesis (the book), bc the movie let me down ⭐️

i loveee ali hazelwood, she’s one of my very favourite authors, and the love hypothesis is such an amazing book, but the movie fell flat for me.

ali hazelwood writes BUZZY romances. her books always have me swooning, giggling and kicking my feet but the movie didn’t have me do any of that 💔
the romance didn’t feel real, adam had NO personality and they stripped the plot of all the fun elements that made the story so fun and iconic in the first place.

i do massively respect lili reinhart for campaigning and believing in the movie as much as she did, but unfortunately for me the movie didn’t deliver what i hoped it would.

i’m not terribly disappointed bc i understand film is very different to literature, and i view adaptation as standalone pieces. i just hope for a day in which a book i love gets turned into a movie i love 🤍 taken in Brussels, Belgium by @read.byamelia

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23 days ago

— [???/52] #whatthisweek ₊˚⊹ ᰔ

📖 what I’m reading: i finally finished the knave and the moon, and unfortunately i didn’t love it ❤️‍🩹 i really enjoyed the first 25%, but i think the characters got reunited a bit too quickly bc as soon as everyone was back together a chunk of the stakes fell away and the story started feeling quite mellow. also think that no sequel really could have topped ‘the knight and the moth’ for me, because i just related sooo much to Sybil and her entire character arc in the first book 🥹 Rachel Gillig is a phenomenal author though so i definitely see myself picking up the shepherd king duology this fall!!

i also bought a magazine (cosmopolitan NL) for the first time in forever, and i loved it! i loved feeling like the main character in a 2000s movie, but i also really loved reading all the different articles. from the cover shoot & interview with ashtin earle, the career advice from the cosmo team, and the really nuanced piece about ‘modern’ tradwives & feminism, i was very enthralled with what i was reading! so i would highly recommend to pick up a magazine that sounds interesting to you, it’s sooo fun ⭐️

📺what I’m watching: this may be niche but i’m a hugee fan of the kevin langue show, so seeing all the drama that has gone down has been heartbreaking 😭 i never thought those guys would be involved in drama like this. i’ll be watching the remaining episodes with denny, aaron & herm, but probably not the rest of the season bc i just do not care for a rotating panel!

🎧what I’m listening to: aside from my usual olivia rodrigo, i’ve been really enjoying adéla’s new album, joy by raye & stop the wedding by ashe!

🧸what I’m doing: i have something super exciting coming up in a couple of weeks so i have been prepping for that! 🤭

💌: how has your week been?

until next,

xoxo
Amelia taken in Brussels, Belgium by @read.byamelia

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a month ago

august reading wrap-up ⊱ ۫ ׅ ✧

i don’t know how (though i suspect bank holidays & being couch-ridden bc of the flu played a big part) but august was my best reading month of this year so far!
after being in a reading slump for monthss, i can safely say i made it out of the trenches 🤭

i read 8 books in august, and what’s more impressive than this number is that i thoroughly enjoyed every single book!
so since i’m not rating books at the moment, i wrote little reviews for each book, in the following captions to share my thoughts ⭐️

💌: how was your reading month & would you please give historical romance a chance 😭🤍?

i had hoped that reading the shampoo effect would be like watching really messy but highly entertaining reality tv.
and while it was very messy at times, i was a bit underwhelmed by the unfolding of the second half.

my biggest gripe is that aside from emotional turmoil there were barely any negative consequences to everything that happened. there is one plot point in particular where it really frustated me that this character was not confronted and called for their cowardice. so while this ending does make sense, it felt a bit too hopeful for my taste

i did really enjoy the writing style and the story got me hooked, so i would highly recommend it!

i had hoped that reading the shampoo effect would be like watching really messy but highly entertaining reality tv.
and while it was very messy at times, i was a bit underwhelmed by the unfolding of the second half.

my biggest gripe is that aside from emotional turmoil there were barely any negative consequences to everything that happened. there is one plot point in particular where it really frustated me that this character was not confronted and called for their cowardice. so while this ending does make sense, it felt a bit too hopeful for my taste

i did really enjoy the writing style and the story got me hooked, so i would highly recommend it!

this was just a nice romance. there was nothing really terrible about it, but i wasn’t swept of my feet either.
ashley poston is still an auto-read author for me, but i have yet to read a book by her that captivated me as much as the seven year sli taken in Brussels, Belgium by @read.byamelia

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a month ago

this quote has been haunting me @rmgillig by @read.byamelia

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a month ago

i finished two books in july (my highest number since april), let’s get into them ⊹ ࣪ ˖ ໒꒱

⟢ when the moon hatched, sarah a. parker — one day we’ll have a conversation about the way books are described on the internet. before reading wtmh, all i heard was talk about its intricate language. language so complex and flowery, it threw people off from the story. that was not my experience at all. i actually think that there was a slight disconnect in the writing. there were a lot of beautifully written descriptive passages, but the dialogue was often very much giving romantasy 101, and got painfully corny at times.

the romance was also missing something. the beginning was reallyy promising, but i think this is another story that suffers from having an ‘obsessed mmc’. in my opinion, having the mmc be obsessed with the fmc from the get go removes tension from the story. because if i’m starting off the story with him already being head over heels for her, then what am i reading for? he is already madly in love, so by the time she falls in love it feels less like she’s truly falling and more like she’s just accepting/going along with his advances. knowing the context of their romance, it does make more sense, but i still would have preferred for *their* initial connection to have been fully nurtured before they got into what happened next.

i do really want to read the next book, bc the ending got kinda crazy and i want to see how everything will play out!

⟢ notes on your sudden disappearance, allison espach — i went into this thinking it was gonna be a literary type of romance with a touch of mystery. it was none of that, but i still really enjoyed it! i would describe it as a coming-of-age story of a girl who’s entire life gets centered around grieving her sister. and there’s not much plot, but there is a romance, and it’s a bit odd, but it worked and i was here for it! as a little sister myself, i connected to a lot thoughts our fmc had, but it didn’t really feel attached to who she was as a character beside that.

ᯓ★ what was your favorite read of july? taken in Brussels, Belgium by @read.byamelia

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2 months ago

— [???/52] #whatthesepastfewweeks .₊˚⊹ ᰔ

📖 what I’ve been reading: i recently finished ‘the someday garden’ by ashley poston, and for me that book solidified that i’ve morphed into a different type of reader. my beloved contemporary romance books are just not doing it for me right now, but i’m kinda excited to explore different genres and find stories that do speak to this current me <3

📺 what I’ve been watching: sterling point🤭 i was starting to see people talk about or make edits of the show, so i jumped on the bandwagon and binged it in two days😭 it’s such a fun teen drama, it’s not cringy, the characters are great, the romance plot eats…it’s a 10/10 for me! i really hope they make a season two bc i’m team ellis and i NEED to see more of him and annie

🎧 what I’ve been listening to: i’ve been trying to listen to noah kahan & gracie abrams new albums, for what feels like weeks and idk why the songs are just not sticking? it’s not even that i think they’re bad but usually when you listen to an album for the first time, songs tend to sound similar but as you keep on listening you start being able to distinguish them. instead of that happening, every time i put on either of those albums it feels like it’s the first time (in a ‘bad’ way)

🧸what I’ve been doing: meeting up with friends, visiting antwerp but most importantly, going to the movies!! i watched the odyssey in imax 70mm and it was such a fun experience! everything from the size of the screen to the sound was overwhelming in the best way, bc it really made like you were apart of the grand journey ⭐️ and then last week i watched spiderman which i also really enjoyed! (tom holland looked SPECTACULAR btw)

☁️what i’m looking forward to: enjoying the last bits of summer ☀️ this has probably been the least summer-y summer i’ve experienced in a while, so i still want to soak up the time that is left 🥹 i’m also turning 24 in a few days, but 24 sounds like a very serious age, so idk if i’m looking forward to that 😭

💌: what have you been up to?

until next,

xoxo
Amelia taken in Luddites Books & Wine by @read.byamelia

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2 months ago

this paris trip deserved a classic photo dump <333

— off topic but i’ve been watching the off campus series and why is unironically REALLY good???? i expected it to be a little cringe and there are a few moments here and there but 99% of the time it’s sooo good! i’m on episode 5 right now and i’m having great time 🤭

💌: are you watching off campus?

#parisaesthetic #parisianvibes #pinterestinspired #photodump #eurosummer taken in Paris, France by @read.byamelia

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5 months ago

— [???/52] #whatthesepastfewweeks .₊˚⊹ ᰔ

📖 what I’ve been reading: everyone and their mom was right about ‘the knight and the moth’ it’s really THAT good! it’s written so so well, the characters are great, the romance feels real and the plot keeps you on your toes ⭐️ if i did have to put my critic hat on, the only thing i would note is that the pacing felt off in the last 20%, but even that was easily forgiven after that ending! i had a few theories but i did not expect things to go the way they did 😭

i started the second book immediately after and barely got to take a breath before i was shook again ❤️‍🩹 the weather has also been pretty gloomy here and there’s truly nothing better than reading a gothic fantasy when it’s raining outside 🤭

📺 what I’ve been watching: i just started watching ‘earle meets world’! i’ve not been super into reality tv shows lately but the tiktok clips got me curious, and i’m really enjoying it so far 🤭

🎧 what I’ve been listening to: you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love has been playing on repeat!! my current faves are my way, maggots for brain & drop dead 🤍 i’m so bummed she’s not doing a stop in belgium next year, but i’m gonna have to find a way to see her live bc there’s no world in which i don’t get to see her performing this album!!

🧸what I’ve been doing: i celebrated my 24th birthday last month! the day itself was really chill but we had a fun bqq get-together a few weeks later to celebrate all the summer birthdays and i had such a fun time 🥹

💌: what have you been up to?

until next,

xoxo
Amelia taken in Brussels, Belgium by @read.byamelia

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a month ago

it’s been a little while… but i thought i would share some gems from my journal again <333

i cannot believe it’s already september, idk if this year has really flown by or if time just moves faster as we age. taken in Brussels, Belgium by @read.byamelia

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2 months ago

emily henry is one of my favorite authors, and yet it took me a year to take great big beautiful life off my shelf. partly because of lackluster reviews i had encountered and partly because it wasn’t my time to meet this story 🤍

reading it a year ‘late’ i love what gbbl gave me. i love that it gave me something to be excited about, a plot to be curious over, characters to reflect upon, so in many ways i really enjoyed this book. however, i think i liked the book because of what *I* projected unto it, and not so much for what it truly was.

the beginning started off great with a clear plot, three dimensional characters and understandable tension, but somewhere along the way all those great things fizzled out.
a core issue for me was margaret ives’ story. her story was hinted to be this crazy glamorous, legendary old-hollywood tale but in my opinion it did not live up to those expectations. the ‘twist’ at the end was fun but it also made the plot less solid, because i think she could have been way more straight-forward in acquiring what she wanted.

i really enjoyed the romance at the start, the initial connection was great and the attraction was palpable but again things went downhill towards the middle. after their first kiss things got messy and their connection felt slightly odd to the point where i just did not believe in their final love declarations.

i’m in a phase where i’m really trying to find my reading groove again, so i’m not rating books because i don’t want to feel like i have to quatitfy my reading experiences. so i’ll just say that though great big beautiful life is my least favorite emily henry book, i would still recommend it to anyone who just wants to float along with a story. taken in Brussels, Belgium by @read.byamelia

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3 months ago