Genre: Comedy


Wednesday, July 10, 2019

Heartbreaking, Swoony & Funny: Symptoms of a Heartbreak by Sona Charaipotra

Posted by 0 Comments

I received this book for free from Imprint in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Heartbreaking, Swoony & Funny: Symptoms of a Heartbreak by Sona CharaipotraSymptoms of a Heartbreak by Sona Charaipotra
Published by Imprint on July 2nd, 2019
Genres: Comedy, Contemporary, YA
Source: Imprint
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
four-stars

The youngest doctor in America, an Indian-American teen makes her rounds―and falls head over heels―in the contemporary romantic comedy Symptoms of a Heartbreak.

Fresh from med school, sixteen-year-old medical prodigy Saira arrives for her first day at her new job: treating children with cancer. She’s always had to balance family and friendships with her celebrity as the Girl Genius―but she’s never had to prove herself to skeptical adult co-workers while adjusting to real life-and-death stakes. And working in the same hospital as her mother certainly isn’t making things any easier.

But life gets complicated when Saira finds herself falling in love with a patient: a cute teen boy who’s been diagnosed with cancer. And when she risks her brand new career to try to improve his chances, it could cost her everything.

It turns out “heartbreak” is the one thing she still doesn’t know how to treat.

Remember how back in 2012 the only book anyone ever talked about was The Fault in Our Stars? I wish Symptoms of a Heartbreak was around back then because it is infinitely better and hits a lot of the same emotional notes that TFIOS hit for many people. While this book is pitched as a medical romcom, I’d actually describe it as less of a romcom and more of a family comedy with a smidgen of romance and a lot of growth and development. 

Saira is Girl Genius and the youngest doctor ever. But all that genius cannot prepare for her first year as an intern at the place where it all started – when she diagnosed her best friend with cancer at the age of 6. It also cannot prepare her on how she should balance her very adult responsibilities with the fact she is still a teen who has never had any real teen experiences.

Saira truly reads like the perfect balance between teen and adult. A YOUNG ADULT if you will. She is prone to irritability, occasionally forgetting to think about people other than herself; but, she is also capable of being mature and making important decisions. Her voice just hit all the right notes for me. Her relationship with her fam was the best and all the food descriptions made me immensely hungry. 

Given that this book is a comedy, it could have been pretty easy for it to brush off all the big bad things that happen in the world, but it didn’t. The health care system in the US is severely broken and Charaipotra didn’t dance around that. Saira had patients who dealt with shitty insurance companies. Not all of Saira’s patients are always okay given that they have cancer… and sometimes people die. 

Charaipotra truly hit the mark with this book and I loved that we could both be immersed within Saira’s family and also within her work place without feeling like one or the other was neglected. I also loved how much character development there was. I love Saira coming to terms with the times she has dropped the ball on her friendships and familial relationships. 

I have yet to say a word about the romance and part of that is because it really isn’t the focus of this book but also part of it is because it’s so soft and I wanted to save the softest thing for last. Link and Saira hit it off as soon as they meet but Link assumes that Saira is also a patient and she doesn’t bother to correct him. Even with this miscommunication, their romance is so sweet and so full of understanding. 

If you enjoy experiencing a rollercoaster of emotions, this book will truly be your thing. You will laugh, cry and swoon. If you were at one point, obsessed with Scrubs, this book will also be your thing (I started rewatching after finishing this book, LOL.) If you are a fan of realistic teens and good character development, this book will be your thing. If you love Punjabi grandmas (+ crazy Punjabi fams) and lots of good Punjabi food-porn, this book will BE YOUR THING. There is something for everyone here and Symptoms of a Heartbreak is absolutely worth the read.

four-stars

4 Hot Espressos

OTP Playlist: Trouble Never Sleeps by Stephanie Tromly

Posted by on 04/27/2018 • 1 Comment

Today, I am bringing to you a playlist that I think encompasses Digby and Zoe’s relationship. This was slightly harder than I thought because well… I started off with a song in mind and like the fool I am, I never wrote it down. This hindered my initial search because all I could think about was WHAT WAS THAT SONG. Anyway. So. The general vibe Zigby & Zoe give me is fun and banter so that’s the general vibe of this playlist as well. Enjoy!

About the Book About the Author

Stephanie Tromly was born in Manila, grew up in Hong Kong, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, and worked as a screenwriter in Los Angeles. She is currently on leave from her PhD program in English literature at the…

Book Aesthetic: Wesley James Ruined My Life by Jennifer Honeybourne

Posted by on 07/05/2017 • 3 Comments

If you’re expecting this book to change your life, you’re probably going to be disappointed but it IS a perfectly, enjoyable summer book and not everything we read needs to revolutionize our lives. I, for one, have been too tired and too overheated lately to read books that will change my life so Wesley James Ruined My Life was the perfect read for me.

Is Quinn Hardwick stubborn as fuck and will you want to shake some sense into her? For SURE but the book also has so many feel-good vibes and part of the fun is when she does realize she is in the wrong. Quinn is stubborn and holds grudges for all the wrong reasons but we can all be stubborn sometimes and I for one am still angry…

Review: The Boy is Back by Meg Cabot

Posted by on 09/01/2016 • 8 Comments

Earlier this year, Remembrance came out – an adult add-on to one of my favorite series growing up – and I was d.i.s.a.p.p.o.i.n.t.e.d. I had come to expect so much from Meg Cabot but the book failed to deliver and I was filled with sadness. But when I heard about The Boy is Back, I was pumped and ready to dive into the book. Fortunately, The Boy is Back is as amazing as a Cabot book should be and filled with all the sugary goodness that makes me squeal with delight.  

I am trash for good second chance romance novels and even though it was Meg Cabot,  I was a little vary because I hate the second chance romances where two people were in love in HS and 10 years later,…

Review: Macbeth #killingit by William Shakepeare and Courtney Carbone

Posted by on 12/02/2015 • 3 Comments

I know that I have already review a few of these books, well actually all of them so far, and they are getting harder to review. I can only say how fun they are so many times. Macbeth is one of stories that I really enjoyed reading back in the day when I was in school, so I really liked getting to read it in this format. What’s even better is that the Macbeth movie comes out Friday. Yup, that’s right, December 4th and it looks pretty good. I can’t wait to see it. So, if you haven’t read Macbeth, you should check out the movie, then pick up this book when it comes out in January to see how entertaining reading in this format makes a dark story.

Review: A Midsummer Night #nofilter by William Shakespeare and Brett Wright

Posted by on 11/25/2015 • 1 Comment

Every time I have read one of these books I can’t help but smile. They are great fun!! I have actually never read A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I have read little bits, but never the whole thing. Of course, I knew what the story was about, but reading it in this way made it so much fun. Once again, I have to say that these books are amazing because they make learning about these stories entertaining, and in my case, want to read the real thing.

Text and social media are such prominent things today that this is such a great way to write a book. Especially books that some may find boring otherwise. Or have trouble understanding the language since we all know that Shakespeare can be a…

Review: SRSLY Hamlet by William Shakespeare and Courtney Carbone

Review: SRSLY Hamlet by William Shakespeare and Courtney Carbone

Posted by on 06/30/2015 • 6 Comments

This book was all sorts of fun!! Another book from the OMG Shakespeare line and it’s full of OMG’s WTF’s and tons of emoji’s to make the story interesting. Like the previous book I reviewed, YOLO Juliet, it’s not a replacement for this classic, but a fun way to get people interested who might not be to begin with. I vaguely remember reading Hamlet in high school and I liked it well enough, but this made me want to pick it up and read it again. This tells the story well enough, though not completely. It’s a good start for those who don’t get Shakespeare, or find the writing hard to follow. I mean, it really is like another language. But so is this. A language that is modernized in…

Review: The Doublecross: And Other Skills I Learned as a Superspy by Jackson Pierce

Review: The Doublecross: And Other Skills I Learned as a Superspy by Jackson Pierce

Posted by on 04/29/2015 • 3 Comments

OKAY, THIS IS PROBABLY THE MOST ADORABLE AND FUNNIEST SPY-KIDS NOVEL I HAVE EVER READ.

Sorry for the all-caps, but seriously, I never thought a premise involving elite spy kids… or, err… pseudo-elite spy kids… would be in the same sentence as “cute” and “adorable”. In less than 3 hours, I finished from A-Z and I was like, “I NEED MORE SPY KIDS IN MY LIFE.”

Heroes don’t always look like heroes, and villains don’t always look like villains.

I had to work out who was who. I had to work out the truth.

Meet Hale Jordan – the son of two of the most elite spies of the SRS and the brother of a possible spy prodigy – a young soon-to-be-and-still-in-training spy who could not be anymore “unfit” for the role….