The Folded Page #04
A bit of June and July's instalment of my curated watches and reads
Hi everyone! I hope you’re all doing well. Here’s another long overdue instalment in my new miniseries The Folded Page. I just wanted to say thank you to those who have stuck by me recently despite what has come my way and I will be addressing these shortly in my Monthly Musings. This instalment of TFP will be slightly different too as I’ll be including what I also read and watched in June as I didn’t do last month’s instalment in the series. Let’s get into it!
Monthly Musings
So first of all, I’ve been embroiled in some unnecessary drama twice on here and I absolutely hate that this has been done so as Substack has become my safe space so this has been jeopardised altogether. In the first instance, someone has accused me of conducting a ‘smear campaign’ against her (when I didn’t even mention her name once, pretty hilarious to me) so I’d just like to say I haven’t and if she wants to talk some rubbish about me, she can gladly do so. I know my intentions with the articles and Notes that I put out and the last thing I’d do is conduct something against her name. Get a life babe.
Another thing is that I was brought into some drama between a well known writer and an unsafe boy who has been across Substack. I won’t be going too much into the details to protect her privacy but I do apologise for the mistakes on my part that I made during this time. I was manipulated and coaxed by this boy and I know for a fact his intentions were impure against me so I hope he deeply regrets how he treated us both one day, we were nothing but kind and good hearted towards him and he used this against us.
My summer volunteering with my local library will be starting soon so I’m very excited for that. I feel like this summer hasn’t been that exciting so I think this will be very fun and I know for a fact the kids I will be volunteering with will put a smile on my face (they did so last time so I know it’ll happen again this time).
Watchlist
Love Island UK Series 12, available to watch on iTV2 and iTVX
Rating: 3/5
I’m a huge fan of my reality tv so I’ve been waiting in anticipation for this season of Love Island UK to air this summer. However, I feel like this season has been a bit lacklustre to say the least. Love Island follows a group of single contestants who reside in a villa in Mallorca, Spain who are all in pursuit to find their love story whilst battling constant obstacles and challenges in the villa altogether. Despite the ongoing wave of drama and whatnot, I feel like this season hasn’t been that exciting for me as no one has really been genuine with one another. It’s giving tit-for-tat and high school vibes with some of the Islanders so if you would like to get into the show, I wouldn’t really recommend this series. The All Stars series has definitely been more exciting for me as it involves Islanders in past series of the show but the version with normal Islanders hasn’t excited me that much.
Wicked Part One, dir. by Jon M. Chu, starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, available to watch on multiple streaming platforms
Rating: 5/5
I’m so glad I finally rewatched Wicked during June and I can definitely say it is one of my comfort films now for sure. The film follows misunderstood new student at Shiz, Elphaba Thropp (Cynthia Erivo) who forges a rivalry-turned-friendship with the popular Glinda Upland (Ariana Grande). However, their bond is put on the line when they both visit the Wizard of Oz together and Elphaba realises things aren’t all as they seem in the land of Oz and she must fight against this. I adoooreee everything about this film and could yap about it for eternity, but I especially love the bond between Elpahaba and Glinda and how they love one another despite their individual differences.
TBR
Beautiful World, Where Are You? by Sally Rooney
Rating: 5/5
I think it’s officially comfort reread season as I’ve got out all my comfort books to read once again as 1) I’ve forgotten about them (we love having Dory memory) and 2) how could I not?! Beautiful World follows the intertwined lives between two best friends Alice and Eileen as they update each other on their mundane, day to day lives as well as their love lives whilst tackling the message of; what does life truly mean? They equally philosophise on this together whilst experiencing love, sex and everything in between with their significant others Felix and Simon. I could not recommend this book enough!
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Rating: 5/5
I did a review of this not long ago but I feel like this book is a timeless masterpiece within itself that I don’t need to say much about it for you guys to get the vibe. Little Women follows the story of the four March sisters - Jo, Amy, Meg and Beth as they navigate their childhood and early womanhood during the American Civil War. I was very reluctant whether I’d like this book or not but it surprised me in the best way possible. Something I’ll definitely be rereading again soon!
Substack Favourites
Here are some of my favourite pieces I’ve read this past month on Substack:
June articles roundup
Music
I hope you all enjoyed this new instalment to The Folded Page. Let me know if you’ve already watched or read these pieces and what you think of them. If not, happy reading and watching!
Lots of love and hugs,
Halima <3
the “SQUEE” i let out when i saw the mention of my post 🥹💕 these are always such fun light reads i love them
Girl I can't keep up with all of this content you've been putting out!!! Wicked's one of my comfort movies, too 🥹❤️