Didn't really connect with this tale or feel the appeal of the POV. It felt very detached, and lacked a sort of heartfelt depth in the diary entries. The protagonist also wasn't likeable or even sympathetic, so this further killed any connection I might've felt with the story

DNF. If the story is delivered as a diary, I need to like the main character. Unfortunately, I didn’t like Melina at all and the only thing I saw was her judgemental attitude. After a couple of chapters I didn’t want to know anything about this girl and her life.

The concept of this book really sounded exciting, but sadly it just didn't work for me. I couldn't connect to Melina as a character, which I find important when reading. Her values towards dating, other women, and life in general felt very outdated and were incredibly difficult to read for me. I didn't enjoy this at all unfortunately.

DNF @ 40%

Ah another one of those books with great potential but failed execution. This was one of the ARCs that I was genuinely excited for, but the main character was just so insufferable. I couldn't stand reading from her POV anymore, I just had to dnf this book.

A huge thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for providing me a copy of the ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Overall this book was an easy read to pick up after a long day of work to sort of relax. I didn't absolutely fall in love with the characters, as I found it hard to relate to Melina. I kept reading hoping for a bit more but didn't really find anything that really got me in the mood to stay up all night and finish the book in one sitting. Ive read many books that are in the diary format, and for some reason this one felt really odd. If you are looking for a book and have no expectations and just want something to pick up for an easy read, this one could be an option. Not my favourite book in the end, but not the worst!

Thank you for the opportunity to read this ARC!

I can't remember the last time I disliked a character as much as I dislike Melina. It was to the point that I just couldn't stand her so much and she experienced no growth that I just gave up and DNF'd.

I could go on forever about why I dislike Melina and find her to be a horrible character, but here is a quick summary:
1. Melina is the definition of the worst friend.
2,. She only sees other girls (her friends included) as competition for the affections of the boy that she likes. Which just feeds for women on women hate, and I do not support that.
3. She also seems to hate all her friends (she made a hate list which featured a few of them) and ignores them except when she needs something from them. Again, back to the definition of worst friend.
4. This quote sums it up pretty well - “I want him to be my friend, my close friend who will help me with work, listen to my problems, accept all decisions I make and never ask for anything in return… If, at one point in time, I decide that I do need something from him, I would be offended if he did not oblige.”
5. Melina is also incredibly judgmental. She even says she should not judge people on the basis of their looks but constantly contradicts herself by being one of the most judgmental characters I've ever seen.. For example, Miranda is pretty so she is a threat, and Sean is good looking so he is the only man for her.
6. The whole "fatphobia" thing is disgusting. All bodies and women are beautiful. The shaming is disgraceful..

On top of an atrocious main character, the potential student-teacher relationship, a lot of girl on girl hate, and a lot of people cheating on each other make this book a 0.5/5 star read. Would NOT recommend, to anyone, in any circumstance, ever.

DNF at 60%

This book feels a little dated it reminds me of the annoying protagonists in YA and women's fiction in the early 2000's. I have survived uni and started my life outside of it so maybe I am just not the target demo.

I've read many bad reviews about this book and this will add to those. There were many things I did not like about this book..
Firstly,I seriously disliked the main character - she was annoying and slightly strange?! I couldn't relate to her and I didn't the way the diary was written. I didn't manage to finish this book because of how much I disliked it which I am sad to say.

Thank you to NetGalley for kindly sending me this is return for an honest review.

Having lived in Greece for years previously, Melina is a first year university student who tells her experience in a series of diary entries. I usually quite like the format of diary entries but sadly struggled to connect.

I disliked the character Melina so much from the offset finding her very selfish which has potentially clouded my Judgement overall. I sadly did not connect with the characters and found the way Kevin was portrayed as described as ‘handicapped’ is quite inappropriate and offensive.

I was really hoping that throughout Melina’s time at university she would mature and develop as most young Adults do, sadly she seemed to remain the same jealous, selfish person she started as.

This book has lots of opportunity to be really exciting exploring young adults time at university as freshers, but sadly my dislike for the characters potentially clouded my overall judgement.

I have not read many books like this, this "journal/diary" entry type of narrative, and it honestly just was not my taste. I have read a few YA books that were done in that manner and I did like them but I think the tone of this narrator just seems much older than I anticipated and perhaps a bit more unlikeable?

I like the story and the concept, but the "voice" of the character came off as a bit...haughty and pretentious to me. I liked the description blurb a lot but the work was more than a bit dry, in my opinion.

As always, I recommend that you read the work and find out for yourself! :)

Thank you to Net Galley, Troubador Publishing, and the author for letting me read an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest feedback. I just reviewed The University Student by Nadia Maran. #TheUniversityStudent #NetGalley

Upfront, I can say that the style this book is written in is EXTREMELY hit-or-miss for me. Following Melina's life through her diary entries, readers learn about a girl who want something MORE. I want to like Melina but I know that I would not get along with this girl. She often seems stuck up and unaware of her surroundings. At multiple points in the story, I wanted to tell her off because she was just really frustrating. To be fair, I think that this is exactly what the author is going for, but it just isn't for me.

Feeling like you don't fit in at University is a fairly normal thing, but feeling like you don't want to fit in might be even worse. Following Melina through her dairy entries, we discover a girl who is yearning for something more, something else, family, a life, a connection somewhere else. I thought the story was really interesting but I had a hard time connecting to university student Melina. She often felt pretentious, too old for her words, and frankly unlikable. This could be because we're only seeing the story from Melina's eyes and how she sees herself. It also felt like this was a novel from translation that could do with a little more warming up. Overall I thought it was an interesting way to tell this coming of age story and would definitely read more from Maran.

3/5 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Troubador Publishing Ltd., Matador for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was initially intrigued by the writing style of this one, but it was difficult to read. It was hard to really understand what was going on as we were only getting the information secondhand. Melina was a hard character to relate to and an overall unlikeable narrator. I really wanted to love this, but unfortunately, it fell short for me.

Another book I wanted to love. ):
Loved the cover and description but just couldn’t with the writing style.

I DNFd at about 35% of the book.
I in no way liked the main character and whole story line just fell short for me.

THE UNIVERSITY STUDENT: ⭐️⭐️

My momma raised me with “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all” but I’m going by the STEEL MAGNOLIAS rules and saying “if you can’t say something nice, come sit by me.”

I wanted to like this so much, but alas, it was really boring. Written in first person in the form of diary entries, the gimmick falls flat because it reads like I’m reading an adolescent diary entry. I don’t get to know other characters except through short sentences and descriptions.

This one just didn’t do it for me.

NOTE: I was provided an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thanks NetGalley!

dnf 45%: I was really hoping to like this book. but I couldn't bring myself to finish. This isn't a bad book necessarily, but it just so isn't my type of writing style. This book is written in the format of diary entries from the main character's, Melinda, point of view about her life throughout her first year at university in Scotland. Her voice is passive and dislikable, making it so hard for me to push through the 55% I had left.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with this ARC on NetGalley.

I did not enjoy this story.
The main character was extremely unlikable for so many reasons.
She was manipulative, shallow, critical of every person she was friends with and utterly selfish.
Just a very fake and unpleasant person.
There was nothing pleasant about the story.
In the very end there was no closure with what happened to one of the characters that she was writing about throughout the whole story.

Netgalley provided this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I liked how the story is being told through Melina's journal entries. I am so used to reading the play by play of direct events, so for once to have the events being told through one's personal journal entries was quite intriguing. Definitely made the book unique from other romances I have read. Also, being a university student too, I was able to relate to many of the characters when it came to the struggles with school, identity, and fitting in. I felt like I was able to connect with the characters on a deeper level, since I am of a similar age dealing with similar things. Also, I was always rooting for Kevin right from the start, so I was really happy that Melina finally came to her senses about who is really going to be there for her, and got out of the infatuated relationship she was in. A wonderful read!

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.

The University Student follows Melina who has returned from living in Greece with her family for a while before returning to Scotland to attend university. The book follows Melina’s university experience through a series of diary entries. And whilst this form of writing initially interested me, one of my main issues with this book was that I felt so disconnected to the story as we only get daily snapshots of her day and because she is writing in her diary everything has already happened. As we get further into the story I was able to get past this however I really struggled with Melina as a character - she is very judgement and selfish even in regards to her close friends which meant that I struggled to root for her as a character.

There are lots of side characters but because I didn’t connect with Melina as a character I struggled to care about any of the characters and I really disliked the romance. I kept reading the story in the hopes that Melina would learn and grow and in some ways she did but overall the dislikable characters, the judgemental comments and overall premise of the story meant that I just couldn’t give this one more than a 1 star.

This book had potential but sadly this one just wasn’t for me.