Para sa Hopeless Romantic (PsHR Review-esque)

Para sa Hopeless Romantic

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Author: Marcelo Santos III

Genre: Romance, Young Adult, Contemporary

Publisher: Viva PSICOM

Synopsis:

"Para sa Hopeless Romantic" by Marcelo Santos III is a novel composed of 5 love stories of people who embark on a romantic search of their own happy ending.
Meet Ryan, Rebecca, Nikko, Maria and Jackie. Each one has their own love story to tell. One character is afraid to love again, the other is hoping to find love. Another character is trying to forget while the other one is longing to reunite with a former flame.
Heart-tugging, passionate, and romantic, fall in love with the stories “Bag at Folder”, “Upuan”, “Jeepney”, “Dota vs Girlfriend”, and “Katol.” The characters are so relatable that after reading all 5 stories, you may find yourself changing your relationship status on Facebook! get while the other one is longing to reunite with a former flame. [from starmometer,com]

My Review:
Some of my friends have been gushing over this book - especially now that it has been turned into a movie. I was curious as to what the hype was about so after a very long time of contemplating (and as my college friends says, in support of my fellow PUPian), I decided to give this story a shot.

Reading this, I found myself skipping on some parts (well, i think i kind of skimmed the book ✌) still understanding the plot (very predictable; somewhat cliche) and cringing on some lines (some grammatical errors and too sappy dialogues! i think i need to read more tagalog romance novels ☺).

What I really liked was how the lives of the characters are intertwined and the contemporary approach of the story every teen can relate to. The book is okay, considering that this is the author's debut novel.

P.S. Jackie's very cute and funny! I loved her character!

My Rating: 2/5 stars

The Review of Right Now (The Good Luck of Right Now review esque)

The Good Luck of Right Now

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Author: Matthew Quick

Genre: Fiction, Adult, Humor, Contemporary

Publisher: Harper

Synopsis:
For thirty-eight years, Bartholomew Neil has lived with his mother. When she gets sick and dies, he has no idea how to be on his own. His redheaded grief counselor, Wendy, says he needs to find his flock and leave the nest. But how does a man whose whole life has been grounded in his mom, Saturday mass, and the library learn how to fly?

Bartholomew thinks he’s found a clue when he discovers a “Free Tibet” letter from Richard Gere hidden in his mother’s underwear drawer. In her final days, mom called him Richard—there must be a cosmic connection. Believing that the actor is meant to help him, Bartholomew awkwardly starts his new life, writing Richard Gere a series of highly intimate letters. Jung and the Dalai Lama, philosophy and faith, alien abduction and cat telepathy, the Catholic Church and the mystery of women are all explored in his soul-baring epistles. But mostly the letters reveal one man’s heartbreakingly earnest attempt to assemble a family of his own.

A struggling priest, a “Girlbrarian,” her feline-loving, foul-mouthed brother, and the spirit of Richard Gere join the quest to help Bartholomew. In a rented Ford Focus, they travel to Canada to see the cat Parliament and find his biological father . . . and discover so much more.


My Review:
I had read a lot of nice things about this book. I wasn't really sure if I'll like the book (it's an adult novel and i'm a sucker for ya's) at first but as I read more chapters, I came to realize that this one's good. I love everyone's peculiarity and oddity: naive main character, a defrocked priest, an abused grief counselor, the odd girlbrarian and a dude that says the f-word in between his sentences (or words). They all differ from each other but a remarkable friendship developed as Bartholomew lives a new chapter of his life.

This is an epistolary novel , the entire story is written in forms of letters. It is quirky and it's very unusual to meet such characters in other books. I must confess, this was the very first book by Matthew Quick that I read, I guess I need to read more of his books.

My Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Originally posted on January 28, 2015