the backrooms (2026)

 i went to the movie theater todayyy yayy. my brother wanted to watch this movie so i took the day off work (it felt so weird to not be working on a saturday). since i dont have braces anymore i got to eat popcorn!!! 

anyway idk much backrooms lore and i didnt even watch the trailer so i had no expectations. but it was very interesting. i like the liminal-ness of it all. and the grainy camera scenes. and this movie was so creepy esp some of the 'peoples' designs. it had me on edge ngl. ouhh also some of the aesthetics/compositions/camera work reminded me of severance. im still waiting for s3.. 🥲🥲anyway the movie was pretty good. the ending felt unfinished/abrupt tho

also mary (one of the main characters) reminds me of my counselor at school. im crine 

i want to watch project hail mary next. idk when ill see it tho. i tried to check out the book on libby but the wait for it is hella long 💀

Whiplash (2014)

 

I watched Whiplash today......... omg.... it was so peak ngl...... Ok basically it's about this drummer (Andrew) who is in the best music school of the country. His mentor, Fletcher, is extremely unhinged and abusive, and pushes Andrew to his absolute limits in an attempt to help him become not just good, but great to put it simply. 

The cinematography, the acting, the music, the abruptness and tension. Omg. Seeing someone so full of passion, drive, and tenacity. Someone who rejects everything in pursuit of greatness. Absolute cinema. The ending was insane as well. This movie kept going in directions I didn't expect. I watched in on TV so I don't have any screenshots but I also liked the color toning in Whiplash a lot. Everything is very rich and green.

It also has themes of pressure in the creative industry and toxicity (Fletcher is legit insane), depending on how you look at it this movie is a tragedy overall. 

Ts movie the best one I've seen in 2026 so far.. it wasn't dragging or rushing. 🥁

I never knew drumming could elicit so much
emotion like this the acting was so good 

beautiful city

Grave of the Fireflies

 Guys I watched this movie late last night.. I've been wanting to see it for a while. My first Ghibli movie ever!! 

Everyone said this movie is absolutely devastating so I was interested... Even saying they could never watch the movie again. Based on that and the description I thought it would be akin to a manhwa I read before, The Horizon. With these comparisons in mind, GoF wasn't as dark and depressing as I expected it to be. I did cry though and it was definitely still tragic.

Basically there are 2 main characters, Seita, a 14 y/o boy, and his 4 y/o sister Setsuko. After their home is bombed they have to move to their aunt's house. However, she is very stingy and sort of impassive towards the two and treats them as burdens, so Seita makes the decision to leave with Setsuko. They make a home out of a cave. Seita has to steal and bargain to get enough food and the kids still end up malnourished and disease-ridden. Despite that there are happy moments sprinkled throughout the movie and the kids retain hope. Also I like how realistic everyone acts throughout the movie especially Setsuko and there's not really and black-and-white villains/heros (although you could argue the aunt and even Seita are sort of villains). 

The tragedy of Gof is not only the circumstances and after-effects of war but also the devastation of pridefulness and selfishness. Seita being too proud is the point of the movie the author wanted to make. Because of Seita being too proud, some things happen (can't say bc spoiler). It's basically implied/foreshadowed through the beginning of the movie tho. Also kinda related he reminded me a bit of Joe Yabuki during some scenes. Seita is proud because of his upbringing with Japan being so stubborn (?) and nationalistic and viewing going back on things as dishonorable (prob why he didn't go back to aunt's house despite starving). He couldn't even believe Japan would surrender in the war when he got the news. But anyway I didn't really get the pridefulness aspect that much at first. It is shown through scenes, but my thinking was that Seita is literally a traumatized kid dealing with apathetic adults, death, destruction, and he's forced to take care of his sister. He isn't an adult and he's not mature enough to deal with everything and think things through carefully. Ofc he won't make the right decisions. 

Btw GoF is inspired by the author's life and makes the movie even more heart-wrenching. 

Apparently Nosaka felt guilty that he would eat food without sharing it to his sister while they were both starving and wrote Seita always giving food to Setsuko because he wished he would've acted that way. He also liked the ending of the movie because of Seita's fate compared to his. Ugh the ending of GoF made me cry the most. Not to be anj-brained but it gave me the same abrupt feeling as when I finished anj. Bro the ending scenes with Setsuko and the marble candy scene really stuck with me this movie is killing me... These poor kids.... 

I love the backgrounds in this movie though

rare happy moment </3333333333333

The rice field scenes were so nostalgic

Man I've been trying to watch more movies lately so this was nice tho. Yesterday (well technically 2 days ago now) I finally watched Fight Club. Might write a review on that idk. And before that I started "It's a Wonderful World" but I've yet to finish it. (It feels a little hard to watch a B&W movie.) I want to watch more Ghibli,, maybe My Neighbor Totoro bc I have a plush of Totoro lol. Princess Mononoke sounds interesting too. 

lost souls meet under a full moon

 i just finished this book.. i havent done a book review in a long time so writing one

basically this is like a collection of a few stories following different people who lost someone they loved. and the story revolves around this boy named ayumi who is a "go-between," someone who arranges meetings between the living and dead. but only for 1 night (there are a bunch of rules)

i like how each story explores different forms of grief (kinda), the storytelling is simple but in a nice slice-of-life way. my favorite sections were kirari and tsuchiya, and arashi and misosno.. bro they were genuinely so heartbreaking 💔💔 actually this book reminds me of echo because theyre both books that follow different people. and by the end everything is sort of connected together. also! i like how you slowly learn more about ayumi's lore and it ends with a chapter just for him, finally explaining all of the mysteries in the beginning 

ngl though at times it was hard/boring/confusing to get into some of the sections. but i ended up getting hooked later on so its ok ig. also, the meetings between the living and dead felt a little lackluster. theyre supposed to go from 6pm to morning ish and be very poignant but the dialogue/scenes are so short. maybe the author thought it'd be boring to show too much of it. 

i wonder how the original japanese version would read like since this is translated 

anyway, overall it was pretty good and enthralling despite some issues .. 7/10 

also broouugh i found out there's a sequel to this and it came out recently. but its not available on libby 😭😭i want to read the books back-to-back but i cant 

oh, and i like both covers for this. feels like the cover art style matches the writing style

Kantaro: The Sweet Tooth Salaryman

 I just finished watching this insane and silly show called Kantaro: The Sweet Tooth Salaryman. It's basically about this dude that decided to become a salaryman at a publishing house so he could play hooky and secretly eat various sweets after work. He posts reviews of the food on his blog, Ameblo (I think this blog exists irl too). This man loves sweets so much he genuinely starts tweaking out after trying each dessert 💀 He's very expressive. It was fun to learn about the different Japanese (and some European) foods. The close-up shots looked really good. Watching this show made me wanna go to these stores too lol. If I ever visit Japan again maybe I could... 

Ok back to the show, it's so over the top and absurd lol. I love how Kantaro quotes people like Nietzsche and Winston Churchill and ties the quotes into his relationship with food 💀It's surprisingly entertaining. I kinda wish there was more on Dobashi (his coworker, she keeps trying to prove Kantaro is the one behind his blog) cuz it kept going nowhere. She seems to be a sweets fanatic too, so I think they could have fun visiting desert shops and discussing food together.

Also, surprisingly, there were a lot of English words when they could've used Japanese instead. I wonder why they did that. It was nice to try to see how much Japanese I could understand though. The show is only 12 episodes so it was easy to finish :D I wish there was a S2 so we could see the winter and spring desserts common in Japan but it's not gonna happen </3 

Finished When Life Gives You Tangerines......

 I finally finished WLGYT this morning!! Holyyyy it was actually so good, I didn't know what to expect going in bc I just decided to watch it on a whim one night. But omg.,, I don't think I've ever cried so much over a piece of media before😭Literally every single episode got me tearing up crying my eyes out. It's a simple yet complexed and a beautiful story with amazing acting. The whole thing felt so raw and real. Watching this was such an experience can't even put it into words... 

Loved all the themes of resilience despite adversity, poverty, love, the burdens of parenthood, the role of women changing in society, personal growth, how fleeting life is etc through multiple generations. Ngl I didn't think I'd like that WLGYT would span multiple generations, but it actually worked out well and I didn't mind it in the end.

Also this kdrama got me thinking about my parents and how they're getting slowly older .. and what they had to go through in their own lives. Idk it's really depressing to think about. The stuff about parents/parenthood got me crying the most. I've never wanted kids before but this got me thinking about it a little... how different a life with kids would be. 

Also also, I think WLGYT hit me emotionally just as much as or more than Ashita no Joe did 🤯 They're not super similar exactly, but it gave me the same feelings as AnJ did. The more I think about the ending the sadder/more bittersweet I feel omg.... just like AnJ fr. 

WLGYT did feel a little slow/boring at some times (which is why it took me a while to finish), but it's a slice of life and it always managed to pick back up after a while. It's better if you don't binge it probably. But still, this is a 10/10. Best kdrama I've ever watched for sure. Idk if anything like this could be made again. I wish I could watch this all over again, already miss the story and characters and it hasn't even been a full day </3 My eyes were swollen from crying after finishing the last ep lol

Bibliomania

 Just read this short 11-chapter psychological horror manga on a whim and finished it in one setting. It's about this girl, Alice, who wakes up in a mysterious mansion. And she has to get through hundreds of rooms to escape. Ok first of all omg the art is sooo intricate, spectacular and amazing, many panels look like they took hours to draw ngl. I especially really liked the chapter with the bird. Anyway this manga was pretty trippy and sometimes confusing, not a lot is explained until the end so it leaves you with a lot of questions throughout the story. Alice is not a very reactional character for most of the manga, so you wonder why she so desperately wants to leave the mansion. Idk how to feel abt the ending itself, but it explains a lot abt Alice.. it was def a twist.

I guess Bibliomania tries to show how greed/unlimited wants/desire corrupts people and leaves you feeling forever unfulfilled. Wish it was more popular so I could read more ppl's interpretations on it haha

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb

Yesterday I finished reading this book.. I think it's really good :) It's a memoir about the author, who is a psychotherapist that decides to attend therapy following an unexpected breakup. And the whole thing is basically reading about Lori's therapy sessions and about some of her clients while also learning about/improving yourself as well. Ngl I thought it was fiction at first because it reads like a fictional book. 

Anyway, it was interesting to read the psychology parts of the book (and connect it to what I'm learning in psych class 🤯). There are a lot of great insights in this memoir!! It's kinda long (620-ish pages on the e-book I was reading it on, maybe 400~ for the irl book), but it was entertaining, so I got through it in a matter of days. This memoir lowkey fueled my previous aspiration to be a therapist again ngl. I was really invested in all the different characters in the book. I do wonder how much of the convos were changed/censored though? Bc therapists aren't supposed to disclose information about clients. However, despite this, it's still a good read. Felt good to genuinely enjoy and be invested in a nice book again. 

Recommend if you're interested in therapy/psych/mental health stuff! 

February Book Reviews

 Haven’t done any sort of review in a long time so I’ll do some on the 3 latest books I’ve read:

1. Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick. Synopsis: On Lonard Peacock's birthday, Leonard Peacock plans on killing his former best friend with a P-38, which he intends to leave as a gift, along with four others, to his true friends, as a way of telling them it wasn't their fault. Then he plans on killing himself, too.

This book’s protag reminded me a lot of Holden from Catcher in the Rye. I feel as if many lines from it sound like it could’ve come from CITR ngl. The letters incorporated into the book were a little confusing at first, but ig it adds to the book. Didn’t really like how the author kept putting some of the sentences into little fragments that spanned multiple lines of the page, like a poem almost- it happened so many times that the intended dramatism of it felt almost nonexistent. I really liked Leonard’s Holocaust teacher, Herr Silverman. Leonard himself was so… he’s a hypocrite and kinda pretentious, looks down on other people. Again, reminds me of Holden. I think maybe there were too many different elements crammed into this book, so some things felt a little underdeveloped. Idk I read this first so I don't remember the fine details. 6.5/10. 

2. Bang by Barry Lyga. “Sebastian Cody did something horrible, something no one—not even Sebastian himself—can forgive. At the age of four, he accidentally shot and killed his infant sister with his father’s gun. Now, ten years later, Sebastian has lived with the guilt and horror for his entire life. With his best friend away for the summer, Sebastian has only a new friend—Aneesa—to distract him from his darkest thoughts. But even this relationship cannot blunt the pain of his past. Because Sebastian knows exactly how to rectify his childhood crime and sanctify his past.”

The premise seemed interesting and I loved the writing style of this novel (also liked how Sebastian had a large lexicon). Sebastian and Aneesa felt like real characters. It was fun to read about their pizza channel and food descriptions! Those lighthearted scenes helped undercut the more tragic parts of the novel.

The last third or so of the novel got me tearing up. I also liked the twist near the end of it, didn’t expect that at all. The actual ending wasn’t very memorable for me, but it was still enjoyable to read. Oh, and I liked how the author didn’t make this into a romance book! Love the message of how just because a boy and girl become friends doesn’t mean they inevitably have to fall in love with each other 💯 8/10 overall. 

3. The Bunker Diary by Kevin Brooks. Read this one in a few hours the other day. It’s very intense. The writing style was simple and punchy. Jenny and Russell were my favorite characters :)

“People are really quite simple, and they have simple needs. Food, water, light, space, privacy. Maybe a small measure of dignity. A bit of freedom. What happens when someone simply takes all that away?” 

This book is about this boy named Linus, who gets kidnapped into a bunker. Over time, 5 other people join him. To sum it up, they basically spend the entire time suffering and trying to escape the bunker. This book is just depressing ngl, especially the ending. There was something I missed about the ending until another person pointed it out and omg 😭 the more I think about it the worse it gets. 

Anyway, throughout the book I was waiting for more information about the man that captured these people, but we never got to know anything about him. Also, it really annoyed me how his name/pronouns were capitalized for no reason. Maybe “The Man Upstairs” is a commentary about God but I hated it 😭 I didn’t really get any takeaway from this except that “life is unfair” … it’s just a really bleak book about people getting tortured. 6/10.

Just realizing I’ve read a lot of books with more depressing themes/mental illness in February 💀 these 3 were the most intense ones. Does anyone have any good book recs that aren’t super bleak… I’m running out of books I fear. 

The Cellar

 Sooo I just finished this book today. And it was.... something 💀 Here's the premise: The Cellar is a thriller novel by Natasha Preston about a girl named Summer who gets kidnapped by a man named Colin, who calls himself Clover. Colin keeps Summer, who he renames Lily, and three other girls, Rose, Poppy, and Violet, in his cellar, where he forces them to be his “family” and abuses them. Summer tries to escape and hopes that her boyfriend Lewis will find her.

The plot drew me in because it seemed unique and interesting. But the actual book is kinda mid ngl. During the early/middle parts of the book I felt like the author was just putting in chapters from different perspectives because they didn't know what to put in for Summer's perspective on the book. Lewis's and Clover's chapters were also a bit boring. Many aspects of the book were stereotypical and cliche too. + This book seemed more romance than thriller, like I thought it would be.

Also, Clover is such a ridiculous and annoying character. He had such a boring predictable oh-woe-is-me backstory and is a hypocritical "OCD insane!!" incel typa guy. Man, the number of prostitutes he murdered (all bc his dad cheated on his mom with one during his childhood) in front the flower girls was insane. He's just super insecure and has hella mommy issues. 💀 And ofc he doesn't get caught at all somehow until Lewis figures everything out...

I did finish this in less than a day though because it intrigued me enough to want to know what happened next. The ending was a little bit underwhelming but whatever. I really wanted to know more about the other girls Summer was trapped with, what they were thinking. And the number of obvious grammar mistakes was a little weird, was there no editor?? Also!! This booked seemed sooooo repetitive. I felt like I was reading the same chapters over and over. Summer was always thinking the same things too. And it was annoying how they really couldn't come up with ANY way to possibly escape/hurt Clover, think the fear aspect was emphasized too much.

Anyways I don't think I would recommend this book to anyone. 5/10. 

An Emotion of Great Delight

 Just finished this book and I wanted to write a review bc I have nothing else to post :) Also want to get better at analyzing critiquing whatever cuz I feel like I just sort of mindlessly consume content and don't come up with unique opinions or anything. 

Ok this book I'm just pasting a short synopsis I found: An Emotion of Great Delight is a searing look into the world of a single Muslim family in the wake of 9/11. It's about a child of immigrants forging a blurry identity, falling in love, and finding hope--in the midst of a modern war.

Overall I think it was pretty good and entertaining. I absolutely adore Mafi's writing style, it def stood out to me and felt a little more unique than other books I've read. It's very poetic and eloquent, beautiful and emotional. Her imagery is vivid as well, you can really feel the emotions of Shadi (the protag). I also enjoyed the little contradictions within the book; within the meanings of things, how character feel about each other, and in the writing/how characters feel about other things. I liked how romance wasn't the main focus in the book. Also loved the emotional turmoil and the drama..!! It was interesting, but a little frustrating to read sometimes. 

I wish there was more on the characters' relationships to each other though. Esp Shadi and Zahra, it felt kinda unfinished/too open ended. (And Shadi and Noah? He felt underdeveloped.) Also not sure on the ending of the book. I didn't expect it to finish that way at all. Don't really like it. And the book was way shorter than I thought I'd be. I flew through most of it today😭I think some topics maybe could've been explored further but idk. There's a lot of diff topics, like unhealthy family and friendship issues, mental health, betrayal, grief, loss, how people react to Muslims/hijabi after 9/11 (which I feel was maybe a little less mentioned as the book went on?? I thought it would mostly be about this topic when I went into it tbh), loneliness, and identity.

I'd give this an 8/10, it's an interesting and captivating book despite everything, love all the different themes and ideas within it.