This, esteemed ladies and gentlemen, is the Emoji Book Tag!
I've basically chosen five of my most used emojis (which took some effort, because I had to translate all of my funny Samsung smileys into the Apple ones everyone knows and loves) and paired them with books that made me feel those emotions. It was so much fun, mostly because I'm a little too obsessed with those smiley little faces . . . :-) :-D :-0
Let's go!
Thumbs Up - Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
This emoji must be the most used one of ever. Everyone uses it, to say a variety of things: I myself have meant "I understand", "okay", "great", "yes", and "THIS IS AWESOME".
Those last three describe this book to a T.
I chose Eleanor and Park because all I could think when I finished it was that there was practically nothing bad to say. Very few things are black and white - even in the questionable morals explored within the book - but I felt like this is one of the few stories I've read that could be awarded a straight thumbs up. Somewhere between poverty, body image issues and unpredictable parents, Rowell found a recipe that I dare say was as close to perfect as it could be.
Lipstick - Angel by L.A. Weatherly
I don't use the lipstick emoji because I want to give people lots of kisses. Shoving hardbacks in their faces to show affection is more my sort of thing. But it is very pretty (the picture, that is) and that is my defence.
The characters in Angel do like to kiss each other. But that's okay, because IT IS WRITTEN SO WELL AND I SHIP WILLOW AND ALEX VERY HARD. Their connection is very carefully built up; that means that you really understand what's going on behind the romantic scenes, and they make sense.
I don't use the lipstick emoji because I want to give people lots of kisses. Shoving hardbacks in their faces to show affection is more my sort of thing. But it is very pretty (the picture, that is) and that is my defence.
The characters in Angel do like to kiss each other. But that's okay, because IT IS WRITTEN SO WELL AND I SHIP WILLOW AND ALEX VERY HARD. Their connection is very carefully built up; that means that you really understand what's going on behind the romantic scenes, and they make sense.
They make so much sense.
I like this book for other reasons, too. There are evil angels and religious cults and adrenaline-filled chases. Fun.
Party Klaxon- All of the Above by Juno Dawson
The characters in All of the Above have a lot of excuses not to party. There are parents who don't let them be their real selves, a school where their individuality makes them weird, and an eating disorder. That's not even covering the whole gender / sexuality questioning thing, which is handled in the best way possible. No debate.
But the important thing is that they found each other. And they found reasons to party simply because they were alive.
That's why I feel like the party emoji is such an appropriate comparison here. I use it to celebrate the good things in life, mostly when bad times have made those highlights even brighter, and that's exactly what All of the Above is about. Finding light in the darkness. Party emojis.
That last bit sounded a lot more profound in my head.
Phone Off - Am I Normal Yet? by Holly Bourne
My wonderful parents gave me this for Christmas last year, and I'm pretty sure they regretted it almost as soon as I ripped the paper off, because it was so good that I ignored everyone for hours, and this isn't considered proper on December 25th. This seems awfully unfair. I mean, I'm given books, piles and piles of them, and then I am expected to socialise with family members. Who don't want to talk about books.
It's torture, I tell you, and this book was so fantastic that I had no choice but to completely ignore social convention. (Please - feminism and OCD and trying to date in the real world? It sounds like a recipe for awfully captivating disaster.) This means that I also had to ignore basically everyone I know, and this is the emoji I use for that. It says please-go-away-you-are-less-important-than-this-book, but in a somehow polite manner. This is good for bookworms.
Sassy Girl - Matilda by Roald Dahl
Before I had a phone, this was the emoji I would use to tell people I was sending texts from my Mum's, that the random gibberish had come from my awkward brain and not her meticulously organised one. It represents me. And this is, has always been and will always be a Lara Book - although loving to read so much it hurts is probably it for similarities between me and Matilda (I absolutely promise I have lovely parents).
Matilda is one of the books I most related to as a younger reader, and I honestly think I'll never forget it.
In the comments: Which emoji do you use the most? What book do you think it describes? And are you sick of me asking you all these questions yet?
The characters in All of the Above have a lot of excuses not to party. There are parents who don't let them be their real selves, a school where their individuality makes them weird, and an eating disorder. That's not even covering the whole gender / sexuality questioning thing, which is handled in the best way possible. No debate.
But the important thing is that they found each other. And they found reasons to party simply because they were alive.
That's why I feel like the party emoji is such an appropriate comparison here. I use it to celebrate the good things in life, mostly when bad times have made those highlights even brighter, and that's exactly what All of the Above is about. Finding light in the darkness. Party emojis.
That last bit sounded a lot more profound in my head.
Phone Off - Am I Normal Yet? by Holly Bourne
My wonderful parents gave me this for Christmas last year, and I'm pretty sure they regretted it almost as soon as I ripped the paper off, because it was so good that I ignored everyone for hours, and this isn't considered proper on December 25th. This seems awfully unfair. I mean, I'm given books, piles and piles of them, and then I am expected to socialise with family members. Who don't want to talk about books.
It's torture, I tell you, and this book was so fantastic that I had no choice but to completely ignore social convention. (Please - feminism and OCD and trying to date in the real world? It sounds like a recipe for awfully captivating disaster.) This means that I also had to ignore basically everyone I know, and this is the emoji I use for that. It says please-go-away-you-are-less-important-than-this-book, but in a somehow polite manner. This is good for bookworms.
Sassy Girl - Matilda by Roald Dahl
Before I had a phone, this was the emoji I would use to tell people I was sending texts from my Mum's, that the random gibberish had come from my awkward brain and not her meticulously organised one. It represents me. And this is, has always been and will always be a Lara Book - although loving to read so much it hurts is probably it for similarities between me and Matilda (I absolutely promise I have lovely parents).
Matilda is one of the books I most related to as a younger reader, and I honestly think I'll never forget it.
In the comments: Which emoji do you use the most? What book do you think it describes? And are you sick of me asking you all these questions yet?
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