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| 9798863522722
| B0CN9RMMHG
| 4.42
| 12
| unknown
| Nov 14, 2023
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it was amazing
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i'd give this a 4.5 i did enjoy this very much. you know i was so close to dnf-ing this because i couldn't find it on goodreads and i found out that you i'd give this a 4.5 i did enjoy this very much. you know i was so close to dnf-ing this because i couldn't find it on goodreads and i found out that you couldn't manually add books yourself if you couldn't find it here. i swear that last year you could. this is so irrelevant i'm sorry. thanks to the author for adding this to goodreads! i don't know if you were going to put it on here anyway or my dm did it but either way thanks! also thank you to booksirens for this suggestion! let's get into this "review". this is just a brain dump honestly. SPOILERSSS THROUGHOUT :) PLEASE PROCEED WITH CAUTION. the plot follows myrthe. she's a sylvani. she's a child of the forest. she's green and she's also a flower. i know we get a character description of sylvani but all i could picture was the blue avatar people but make it green. myrthe was out in the forest... foraging when we encounter this intense battle with the humans. the humans are the enemy. they fight it out. but hold on for a second. myrthe has some special skills on her resume. she can conjure. she tricks this mage named ardin. the sylvani escape. nusian notices her skill and recruits her for this mission. they need this gem called the kiss of the sky. essentially, it's a hard drive. it has the information on how to stop the war with the humans. myrthe reluctantly accepts because she also kind of needs to be able to reclaim her other home. rhylla, her mentor (???), gives her this human illusion so she can fit in. they tell her it's a quick mission: steal the gem, and come back. easy. but it's not. rhylla also surprises her with other memories. from this ARBORIS MAGE. mages are born with powers. it's attached to their soul. arboris mages control plants. think layla from sky high. ardin is warren peace from sky high. she's overwhelmed from her human thoughts, her sylvani brain and human memories constantly fighting to the death. anyways she tries stealing but she gets caught by ardin. let's transition to ardin for a bit. he's a fire/ice mage. the leaders are getting him to have children to pass on his powers. he's like fuck no. it's because he had a thing for the princess who was arboris and also died in the war. ardin's also friends with yurial, the prince. there's stevani and tiffi as well. they also have powers. he comes across myrthe because the alarm's triggered. he tries to capture myrthe but she shows off her arboris powers. ardin's shocked and he proposes that he'll give mrythe the gem if she pretends to be his lover. weird ploy he's trying to pull. myrthe agrees. the rest of the book has them getting to know each other, pretending to be in a relationship, walking around the town, there's battles in there as well with briarhearts (they're another human faction that they're at war with). myrthe is found out to be arboris. they try to keep her safe. but she gets stabbed in an orphanage anyway. she heals from that so quick that it's so sus. i don't know why she got away with that so easily. lol. anywayssss... stevani tells her that being arboris means she probs won't get her freedom anymore. myrthe's like... blud i'm out of here. she steals the gem, fights of the alarm system, makes it outside but gets caught by stevani who is in cahoots with the briarhearts. she steals the gem. ardin and co find her. a battle ensues. stevani escapes but not before she tells her to go to this secret location. then this whole ending section feels like a blur to me because myrthe is talking to their leader who is also sylvani? he wants the gem as well??? the people outside unleash their powers bc myrthe's taking too long and then there's a monster now destroying this secret location. the leader escapes. there's a pit at some point that myrthe falls into. ardin releases the full extent of his power to save myrthe, something he wasn't able to do for coventina. his soul starts malfunctioning. myrthe pulls a sleeping beauty. they make out for some reason lol. then she passes out like bella from twilight when edward was sucking on her neck. she rouses on the way back to town. then it ends with her getting arrested. that's the plot. i love it. lots of twists and turns. you''ll read in my notes below how pathetic i was with predicting where the plot was going and failing miserably. characterwise i enjoyed myrthe and ardin. mrythe is quite a strong-willed character. she knows what she wants and she goes for it. she's also an impulsive character to a fault. many times she acts quite recklessly with fighting ardin at the start of the book, going straight to steal the gem the first time she arrives and then actually stealing the gem the second time around at the end of the book. we love a multi-faceted character. i just wish that there was more intention throughout the book as to why she's staying for so long. we understand from the start that she's willing to go through this mission because it'll help her people and help get jayhollow (?) back. but i think we kind of missed that in the book because i didn't feel like she was in much of a rush to get the gem. she was invested in integrating in the town. maybe it's the human memories. we did get a lot of scenes where she's just conflicted with her sylvani self and her human brain so maybe it is actually consistent in her character and i'm just nit-picky. ardin on the other hand is someone i'm not sure i should like or not. that's fine for me because it kept me guessing throughout the book. do i root for you or not? i'm not sure you seem like an ass. but also i get it. your soul is literally volatile. side characters were fine. they didn't seem like they upstaged anyone. they're okay. i don't know how i felt about the antagonists. i didn't feel like there was too much of a threat, given everyone had powers you know? and the fact we're initially led to believe that humans were the enemy and then the sylvani and then there's these briarhearts and then the biggest enemy is yourself. maybe it's all just building for the next book. that's fine. i like the setting too. the fact that it's set in the forest and in faelow and i had ambient forest sounds playing in the background made it just so appropriate and immersive. there's not a lot of things that i didn't like. a few typos here and there but overall it's a great book and i'll probably read the next one at some point. the hidden section are notes from my kindle so don't read it because it's useless without context. however i do enjoy reading how pathetic my theories are. (view spoiler)[ “They eat our kind there. Torture us and then… and then burn us.” kids this is what the plants think when we eat them caught her eyes was a man is this going where i think this going. is this a romeo and juliet thing or another star-crossed lovers kind of story. i've read those before and honestly, i'm kind of here for it. “This mission requires someone with a specific set of skills,” Nusian said. “Skills, it's apparent from today, that you possess.” I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you. “Your mission would be to infiltrate the dead city, the walled citadel of Faelow.” a.k.a. the suicide mission Alatein Maehr, may she be ever.” may she be ever. may she be ever what? why am i giggling at this. lol “I think that out of anyone in the forest, you stand the best chance at succeeding,” Rhylla said. to rephrase: everyone here is shit hahaha “Eltide is for the younger ones,” is this like halloween. the gathering at the beginning was like trick or treating and eltide is the one where everyone parties and gets drunk off their faces. “You don’t have to love someone, Myrthe, but when you do, that’s where you’ll find your home.” cute “You left your unit behind and engaged Harbinger without support or reason.” if this was a comedy movie we would have nusian chastising myrthe for engaging in the fight and cut to lainey yelling at ardin for like the same thing i'm not very funny i'm sorry but i'm laughing way too much at this visual “Her Grace believes it’s time for you to—as she put it—settle down.” oh my god this is happening right??? ardin and myrthe. this better fucking happen because i'm already very invested. “The temple wants to dictate who I fuck?” Ardin sneered. excuse me i accept none of this fucking language. this is a christian household. “We don’t use them very often anymore, but it used to be that sylvani would use a lorestone to store their memories for safe keeping. Only the one who deposited the memories can access them normally, so the lorestone is an ssd Nusian said, “and we believe her memories hold the key to resolving an issue affecting the war. The information within it may help us in reclaiming Jayhollow.” okay nusian *wink wink* it probably has some nasty photos in there he wants deleted and the humans have been pranking him with that information THE SURFACE OF THE river was just smooth enough to reflect Myrthe’s new appearance. it's going to happen. i'm so excited. “We’d be more likely to get the Aspectis to come down and finger them for us,” Ardin scoffed. i just choked on my water excuse me who was fingering who again? they had yet to find even a single arboris mage. wait theory here but will myrthe be that arboris mage that they're looking for??? i know she's sylvani but are the memories she was given, are those memories of an arboris mage and that's why ardin will be drawn to her because of that skill??? that'll be really interesting. instead of drawing the least attention to herself she will possibly be the centre of it all because of the fact that she's embodying an arboris what if these are coventina's memories and rhylla killed her and that's the whole anger that humans, particularly ardin, has towards the sylvani. ooooooooooooo this'll be so cool if this is the case. if it isn't then ignore this note. lol “come back alive.” and rhylla inserts "...with the stone. don't come back without the stone. okay love you bye". imagine if the stone is actually the humans' property and the key to settling the war is by stealing said property and using that as leverage or as a bargaining chip to stop the war. the lorestore is actually just bullshit and the sylvani are the antagonists. but that's just a theory. a book theory. i'm so sorry for that reference. So a rogue mage, and an arboris on top of that. let's fucking gooooo “ —To act as my lover,” this is bridgerton. someone fight me. “I’ll just pretend that you’ve broken my heart after you make off with the Kiss,” he said. “Too distraught to even consider anyone else.” this may just be me but i think myrthe is getting the longer end of the stick here. her benefit in going into this deal is more than him and it's feels like an unbalanced division of reward. myrthe is preceisely right. after the festival he will still need to be married to someone at some point. he loses overall in the long term. i though ardin was a smart boy. when people find out about this mysterious girl who happens to be this rare arboris mage then the chances of her slipping out of this little town is probably next to impossible. it's all just a bit sus in my opinion. “I’m not a thief,” ughhhh and yet you've already stolen his heart It’s not surprising you don’t know,” is he not suspicious of this random person who happens to be an arboris mage??? i don't know if i would be super trusting. i know he established that she probably won't tell him anything but i don't get the feeling that he's that wary of her either. i don't know. Unofficially though, Ardin wasn’t convinced her life would be hers for long. He quickly squashed the burgeoning guilt that rose up at the thought. aaaa did i not say “It’s certainly convenient timing,” Enser added. “Makes me wonder if you’ve been hiding her or if you recently picked her up from somewhere.” i was just going to say. it's been what a couple days and suddenly he's found someone An arboris mage inside Faelow wasn’t likely to live long at all and he could only imagine how the bastards responsible for Coventina’s death would react when they saw Myrthe’s magic for the first time. i know i'm only getting one side to this whole issue between the humans and sylvani but i am being led to believe that the sylvani are evil. myrthe maybe finds out that the sylvani did kill coventina. ruthlessly maybe? being a mage somehow maybe robs the power of the earth and killing mages is a way to get the powers back to the sylvani. is that a fair theory??? The women both claimed it had already been ten years, so it probably wasn’t an issue she would have to deal with, but that didn’t mean she could entirely ignore the matter. how old is ardin exactly??? how old is everyone??? She thought standing there would give her a breath of fresher air, but the longer she stood beside the window, the more her throat burned. coppery air She’d been inclined to search her human memories, but feared coming to rely on them too much. just fucking do it man lol the answers are probably all in coventina's memories and you could just dig in there and search for it. rhylla probbaly had the chance to do it as well and she didn't so jackshite. “Nothing is wrong with me,” Ardin snapped as he dropped into the seat with a careless ease. “I was keeping an eye on Myrthe for the sake of the temple.” i was curious as to why yurial was so upset with myrthe being arboris mage. i was thinking that maybe be was jealous that he was marrying a rare person but i couldn't justify that. but now i guess they're all upset that ardin was lugging around this rare arboris mage with him and potentially risking her life. “So you’re both saying you have no issue using the only arboris mage we know to exist as bait to lure out someone you believe wants to kill all arboris mages?” Enser looked at them both with a dull expression. lol i'm still wrong hahahahahahahahahaha what a dumb bitch “Fine,” she pointed at Ardin, “but you, specifically, are responsible for her personal safety. If she gets killed, it’s on you.” wait no i'm actually right. soz. Ardin, keep her safe.” they're going to be so mad when they find out the best option is to find out who is targeting the arboris mages.” i'm afraid it's the sylvani i don't know why but it's a hunch. “Excellent, then a date it is.” aww cute His throat went dry and he tried to swallow as he imagined running his fingers through that golden hair and along her neck. Imagined following the gentle curve of her shoulders to her back and— AAAAAAAAAAAAA “About two hundred years ago, the sylvani put a curse on Faelow. It caused all plant life to wither and rot, and eventually, we weren’t able to grow anything at all.” did i not sayyyyyy times. Theylooked as we're missing a space there Because the fake lover act was as false as her face and though she wasn’t sure it actually mattered what Ardin was using her for, she didn’t like being lied to. ironic that you lied to him by omission first before he ever lied to you. i love myrthe Though Myrthe hadn’t been around Ardin much the last few days, she wasn’t blind. i love this visual of myrthe just sauntering around the city with ardin with this fake lover story they have and cut to *insert slyvani address* and they're just sharpening their weapons and preparing for an attack because myrthe hadn't returned and they think she's dead. all the slyvani warriors and shouting "FOR MYRTHE!!! AAAAAAAA!!!". “These are all children whose parents were killed by the sylvani or the forest itself.” DID I NOT FUDGING SAYYYYY or maybe it was the other team of humans hey were fighting earlier??? in sylvani disguise??? “Arboris mages should all die,” she screeched as she stabbed the knife straight at Myrthe’s stomach. i wonder if she bleeds red??? i think think this was mentioned before during the fight at the start of the book but i can't remember what if she heals quickly because sylvani can do that and then ardin gets real sus “Why didn’t you just tell me the truth?” but also why don't you tell him the truth if we're being truthful and all that let's tell lovely ardin who you are But what if she left? you know what's troubling... i don't think ardin will know her true identity in this book. i'd like to think there's a sequel. myrthe will probably escape the city with the kiss of the sky with her and she's run off to the forest. ardin will know that she's done this without ever knowing she was a slyvani. he'll think that the sylvani have killed her and the next book is his revenge plot because the've taken coventina before and now they've taken myrthe. how thrilling. It hadn’t even been a full eight days, IT'S ONLY BEEN A WEEK You won’t be able to hide. They’ll find you.” omg imagine if she does escape with the kiss and then if we piggyback on my plot earlier... ardin sees the sylvani in possession of the kiss and he assumes that they killed myrthe. but all along, there was never an arboris mage and it was just myrthe in human form but now she's back in her sylvani era. “Not yet, You Grace,” you grace. lol the pendant Tiffi had given Myrthe was for the purpose of tracking, they gave her a fucking airtag bahahaha “Calm down,” Tiffi said i would've lost my absolute shit if anyone told me to calm down at a time like that bahahahaha wasn’t worth losing Myrthe. bars Tifi looked tifi “I’ve never heard of anyone with three aspects.” it's like horcruxes She’d initiated it, but he was the one who deepened the kiss, grabbing her shoulders and pulling her in tighter. lol everyone around them just standing there awkwardly as these two are making out hahaha Myrthe Forestborn, under arrest i guess she's not leaving anytime soon (hide spoiler)] out of characters! highly recommend! please read this :) disclaimer: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. :) ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Oct 27, 2023
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Nov 20, 2023
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Oct 27, 2023
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Paperback
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| B0C2VVY9D9
| 4.28
| 36
| May 20, 2023
| May 20, 2023
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it was amazing
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what a great read. but why did it take 3 weeks. i'm never going to finish this reading challenge. i'm praying rn. thanks to book sirens for this book! i'm what a great read. but why did it take 3 weeks. i'm never going to finish this reading challenge. i'm praying rn. thanks to book sirens for this book! i'm so happy that i landed on this book because it's a beautiful cover and the blurb was interesting. i was worried that i would get a bad one and i couldn't risk that because i'm in a reading slump right now. nobody should read this review bc it's so spoiler-y it's insane. this story follows saru. he's a god in a snow monkey form. we meet him when he's little. he's just chilling in a tree with his mum. and he's watching this monastery. he's learning from these monks. there's a kid, musuko, that's introduced. they become friends and suddenly this kid disappears and we sort of know what went down. oh i also forgot that we meet akame. he's one of the main bad guys. he's a monk when we start and i thought he was a good person. teaching saru what persimmon was. i thought we were going to a mentor-student route but that was undone real quick. akame unalives saru's mum. saru escapes. manages to wander into this cute little village called otari. we spend a lot of the story here. he's welcomed by the town and this old couple. he meets this cat called neko who we find out is also a god. is neko a girl? i don't remember. anyways... neko teaches saru how to talk in god-level and how to cross the veil. it's this idea of infiltrating other people's thoughts. you can do it when they're asleep or when they're awake. basic rule is not to touch anything. they continue on with their lives in this village. highlight was okina's memories. more life stuff happens. saru's still figuring out what to do with akame. they end up going to the forest to get poison from suzume. her life is tragic. anyways... okina get unalived. i was really sad after that. the emperor also comes to visit. the emperor can also talk to gods which was cool. they had a maneater of some sort. that freaked out saru. akame's in town as well. fuckin shit went down. everyone dies. it's gruesome. saru done messed up with that poison. saru's out for revenge. that did go well either when saru invaded his mind. he escapes i guess. saru gets captured. we meet another god on the way. and neko's alive. they end up going to ihara's mind. i don't think i mentioned... ihara's also a bad guy. he captures animals and feeds it to his sister in a cave. but it's not his sister. it's a demon of some sort. they have a little tussle. they escape. ihara dies. they then decide to travel to another place to defeat akame. that's the next book though. that's the plot that i messily outline. sorry. characters that i like... saru's a great protagonist. naive, hopeful, brave, compassionate, overall fantastic character that we want nothing more than to root for. neko is also a favourite. neko gives wise old person vibes but in a youthful appearance. i think that's literally who neko is. i love their friendship. when they're not scheming, or having lessons, or on an adventure, they're just hanging out and chilling. i love it. i verbally shrieked when neko get stomped. but all was well in the end. akame's a great antagonist. honestly both him and ihara are equally as great. both with such sad backstories that sort of explain why they've become the people that they are. understandable why they're horrible people but also like... what the fuck man??? stop get help. the side characters were great support for our main characters. especially the villagers. suzume was also a standout for me. everyone was great introduction for the following stories. it established all our characters perfectly. the setting. there was a map at the start of the book. i was really intrigued. i love maps on books. i frequently refer to it when i'm reading. i didn't necessarily did that in this book. i just felt a little lost navigating it. there are 3 separate maps to refer to and i don't remember visiting a lot of places that would need that expansive of a map just yet. maybe that's just me. but i did love everywhere that we went. the village was very home-y and warm. the exterior scenes felt very cold. i just imagined that it was winter the the whole time. it's winter now so it was very immersive feeling like i'm in the bitter cold like saru. i loved it. the hidden bit are my kindle notes and highlights. honestly don't open it bc it's mostly reactions to certain plot points that make no sense without context. i just put them on here because the notes disappear when i change devices so i just like to keep a record of them. (view spoiler)[ Demon. Persimmon. God. is the persimmon the fruit??? is this the persimmon we're talking about??? is this a japanese thing i don't know? orange heart-shaped fruit. IT IS i personally don't like persimmon but here in australia there's this place where you can go and pick persimmon. our family gathered a whole heap and we had them for such a long time. it was persimmon all day everyday so maybe that's why i don't like it. it tastes fine but i think i've had my fix. All he wanted was to learn, to explore every tomorrow, this concept is so interesting. non-human creatures have intentions and motivations a will to live? you'd always think that animals exist purely to balance out the ecosystem but it's interesting to sort of imagine and dissect what it would be like if they do want to learn about the human world and want to integrate themselves with it. like, is my dog being stupid on purpose and eating shit on the ground or is there a method to her madness??? Nobody was there, but when he looked back at his mother, Akame was somehow suddenly behind her with his staff in both hands. WHAT THE FUCK. i hate people so much man. jesus. He knew mankind liked to destroy, but also to create. this is true Saru saw something he had never encountered: people eating for pleasure, not just to survive. They talked and laughed and brawled, always exchanging smiles. The hard work of the daytime had become the pleasures of the night, and there was one place that seemed busiest of all: the tavern. i love the visuals of this community. honestly i love the visuals of everything in this book so far. it's been a good balance between world building and character work. it just feels very immersive especially because it's winter when i'm reading this and i have cozy reading music playing. He took a deep breath and yelled in his head as he opened his mouth to say, “Saru.” nice Nature, in all its beauty, was also merciless. how right is this man. fuck. one day we're all going to die because of how we're treating our surroundings. with all these fires and cold snaps that we're having at the opposite ends of the world. it's all just out of balance. it's tragic. The child’s hand still clung there, now torn off at the wrist. holy shite. i'm kind of curious to know whta kind of creature akame is because it's such a shift. from knowing him in that monastery and rearing musuko to the child disappearing and him saru's mom. it's all so jarring. i thought he would've been more of a mentor to saru considering that's who he learned his first words almost. it's weird and i'm super intrigued. For all their pride and poetry, they were more inspired by warfare and the gathering of riches. If humans continued to flourish, he feared for the world. omg ikr lol “So be it. But remember: when great ills befall you or the ones you love, there was always another choice you could have made. It’s better to regret the things you did than the things you didn’t. Wicked men roam the earth and do as they please. It’s so simple to stop them, yet we don’t. To strike down one knave to save countless others—surely anything else is morally dishonest. You’ve seen the way Ihara treats people. Still, they tolerate his wiles. It’s easier to turn a blind eye than take up arms and fight. But humans don’t live the same lives we do. They live in the safe little worlds they’ve built. When something threatens that, it terrifies them, and they’d rather wait out the storm than face it head on.” this cuts me on a deep level. how nice. But Neko did not eat Nezumi that day. Instead, they became unlikely friends who lived in the balmy and bustling streets of Gushu Town. i love this duo. such different beings and yet they found friendship in the most unconventional of circumstances. With its back toward her, a badger sat cross-legged like a greedy child, feasting upon something. cannot trust any of these hufflepuffs Despite it all, he cowered, his amber eyes fixed on the woman. She held the bundle toward him. Its screaming no longer unnerved him—it filled him with pity. this is terrifying. i would die if i was plagued by woman. “Thank the centuries.” She faced the sun and closed her eyes. Her whiskers looked golden in the glorious light. “The longer you live, the less you feel. As young as you are, monkey, when facing real nightmares, merely cowering is brave. In your eight short years, you’ve suffered more misfortune than I faced in my first century. Growing old is a beautiful thing, it’s true. Also, it’s cruel and sad. Although the hardships you face wear lighter, so too the joys taste less. You’ll find pleasures in small comforts and familiarity. The past will seem so beautiful that it hurts to think upon. I suppose it’s why Karasu has lost the taste for flying. Perhaps one day I’ll lose the taste for living, just the same.” this cat is so damn wise. if i ever have the guts to go to therapy, this cat will be my therapist. “I’ve known of him for centuries. The legends, at least. Once he was a normal man, a humble vegetable farmer named Yoshiharu of the Clear Skies from Tobata Village in Hida Province. Now cursed with immortality, he longs for death above all things. To think that all this time he was hiding in the Valley of Orchids.” ooooooooooooooo didn't i just say that i'm super curious about akame. now we know that he's immortal. that seems great at the beginning but then you lose the feeling to enjoy everyday as it comes. when you know there's a tomorrow coming then you can just be lax about everything because there will be a time to do that. the great thing about being impermanent in this world is because we know that we have such limited time and therefore have to make the most of everything that we have left to live. that's the sucky part of being immortal. what do you do when there's nothing left to do??? when the people you loved have died??? nothing has purpose and nothing has consequences. it's freeing but also restricting at the same time. ooooooooooooo And then Saru saw the blood. wtf “Being old doesn’t mean you know where you’re headed.” saru's a savage for this comment Instead, she turned to rice wine and regrets, the tears always so close. this could be a song lyric. i love this line. Nevertheless, Suzume kept treating people in secret. She found that an extract of milkwort root and tiger lily bulbs could bestill a child’s nightmares, that a powder of oyster shells and loquat leaves could soothe a woman’s moonly cycle, that a reduction of peach kernels and sappan wood dulled the agony of consumption. um are these recipes real? No matter how the humans try to sanctify it, death is a bleak and painful thing that few deserve. Watch carefully, snow monkey. Feel all that you can.” it's a really strange feeling watching someone die. i've only really seen a few at work but it's still very weird that they're breathing an hour ago and now we're transferring them to a body bag. For the emperor’s main course, Yuba sliced the tofu into thin strips and deep fried them until they puffed open like pouches. She also marinated larger chunks in soy sauce and rice wine and then dusted them in potato flour before frying until crisp. that sounds fucking delicious “You can understand me?” “Underestimation, then.” maybe when you level up to emperor, the skills you earn is understanding the gods. imagine that saru and neko start talking shit and the emperor could understand them. Men are base and simple. ? lol I cannot hide all night, Saru thought. Akame came here for a reason, and that reason is me. can akame just fuck off saru's moved on with life. granted he's still traumatised but akame should just be gone. nobody's got time for this toxic behaviour And so, he placed the poisoned bottle at the back of the shelf where nobody would find it. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa someone will find it The scent of lavender. i love lavender. i'd be chill if i died from that SARU COULD NOT LOOK. If he kept his eyes closed, he could stay in the darkness where nothing was real. me when my life is spiralling out of control Akame stomped on Neko as if she were a roach and twisted his heel on her head, flattening it into the ground. Saru’s whole body went limp, hanging from Akame’s grip like a sodden rag. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Saru had been so lost in grief, he never realised the obvious: another god was with him all along. “You must be Karasu.” he has a new friend. i still miss neko. i don't think i processed that though. that death was fucked. i don't even want to ponder on it because it makes me sad when animals suffer. i'm going to hug my dog a little tighter today. “Tell me this, snow monkey. If you live your life for others, then who is going to live yours? Everyone you know is dead. As a god, it happens more often than you might think. Humans come and go. That is their very nature, and some are entertaining for the space of their short lives. That is why we gods are all that truly matters in this world. The works of man are little more than idle reveries.” we have one wise creature to another. i love it. “I saw you in a dream once. It was day, but the sky was black, and you led an army at the gates of a dark city. The Necropolis, you called it. Humans, gods and tengu all united against one foe.” is there a sequel in the workssss The town had no real doctor or apothecary, this is tangent but i'm playing this game called octopath traveler 2 and these terms are harking back to that. with mentions of an apothecary, a merchant, and a priest. bruv that's 3 of the main character sall in one chapter. are you going to tell me there's a hunter, warrior, dancer, scholar, and thief too??? Still waist deep in water, Ihara watched her disappear into the darkness. maybe ihara and akame can battle. it's fire vs water. i'm heavily associating these two with those elements. it'll be a battle of epic proportions. “In fact, monkey, she didn’t. She died there, along with all the rest.” Saru’s heart raced. “How can that be true?” Karasu turned away and peered into the woods. In the darkness, a pair of green eyes glowed, and the tabby cat prowled toward them. “Best ask her yourself,” he said. “She’s been following us for days.” what the frick??? if neko's back then surely neko's friend is also still alive??? or is this karasu the whole time. i should go back to that. maybe i'll find it later to confirm if it is neko's friend. They glared at Ihara’s cruelty. No matter his tragic past, finding joy in brutality was beyond reproach. :( Because the host is not asleep, memories here are active instead of passive. can i just say that i love this concept. of invading people's dreams and thoughts. getting a glimpse of their history. and somehow being able to alter the current reality based on what you tamper in their inner consciousness. that's so fascinating. especially with the example of that old man and the knife situation. No one had seen her for decades, not since she disappeared after the eclipse at the carnation field of Adachi. It was the earthly body of Estera, God of Death and Shadow, Lord of the Ten Courts, Winged One of the Lower Reaches and leader of the annihilated Shingetsu Clan. Nadeshiko had come. we have a finite number of pages now and i think the action is only beginning. LET'S GOOOO (hide spoiler)] nice. i would 10/10 recommend this to everyone. i think everyone will be able to take something away from this book. it sure has taught me a lot and it's interesting that i know a little bit about japanese culture. i was deep in researching about the tengu and it's so cool that each culture has their own version of them. like in the filipino culture there's our own version of mythical and supernatural creatures. i'll definitely read the next book but it will take me a long long time before i get to reading it because there's so many sequels that i need to follow up on. please please please read this amazing story! disclaimer: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. :) ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jul 22, 2023
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Aug 11, 2023
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Jul 22, 2023
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Kindle Edition
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| 1959963007
| 9781959963004
| 1959963007
| 4.75
| 147
| unknown
| Mar 01, 2023
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really liked it
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this is great. this is a kid's book but it deals with modern, topical, and contemporary issues. and it deals with it so digestibly (if that's a word). i this is great. this is a kid's book but it deals with modern, topical, and contemporary issues. and it deals with it so digestibly (if that's a word). i know that i'm not the demographic here but i'm happy to read it anyway because it's inspiring to read a story about young trailblazers and i'm hoping that every kid reads this takes away the message that i did. thank you to book sirens for recommending! i'm kicking myself because why wasn't i a kid like these four. i enjoyed the story. there were sort of sub-plots and themes for each kid which is great because it was a fantastic opportunity to learn about each character. serenity shows how to deal with loss and grief, amani's is tackling racism and injustice, and edmundo is illegal child labour. please correct me if i'm wrong and i've missed the whole point. but in the end, the four friends' friendship overcome their trials and tribulations. the diversity in the book is amazing as well. i'd like to think that developed countries are pretty much cultural hubs these days and it's only appropriate to see representations like this. i don't really have much else to say other than this book is awesome and i recommend it. :) my notes are hidden because they're notes that i copied from my kindle and they're basically reactions as i read the book. you can skip it. (view spoiler)[ “A few more steps, Moraline,” how do you say her name? moraline. like coraline or is there another variation that i'm terribly ignorant to. She hadn’t told anybody she was leaving; she had just wanted to get away from them. i literally just finished reading betwen a rock and a hard place and that is rule number one broken there. always tell people where you're going. you don't want to pull an aron ralston and get your hand stuck between a boulder and a wall and have no one have any idea where you are because you didn't leave a note. bruv. It was bad enough she’d had to leave her old friends and home in New York City to move to San Diego at the beginning of the school year. this is inside out. that was my first thought when i read the blurb. this is what happened to riley in inside out. Her trip buddy, Serenity, had curled up with a book right after they’d finished putting up their tent, so Moraline had been left to hover around the other students, fidgeting with her worn hoodie strings and wondering if she should break into any of their conversations. serenity. come on bud. and moraline. i want to give you a hug. it's going to be okay. i promise. “Let’s have some fun! ~this beat is sick i wanna take a ride on your disco stick~ A huge wave of cold water splashed over Moraline’s head. She stood for a moment, completely in shock, water and laughter pouring over her. people don't do this these days right??? is this still a thing??? i'd like to think that this generation is leaning towards psychological bullying rather than physical. doesn't make it any less sick but still. and this is carrie “Listen, please. I mean you no harm.” The man circled into view. this is the wolf from into the woods (or red riding hood). Then he whispered, “Taku Skan Skan.” She almost didn’t hear him, but a moment later, the words were all around her. They were floating through the air, lifting the leaves as they swirled around her. this is a scene from pocahontas. this is colours of the wind. She slipped on another of her favorite oversized sweatshirts. It was bright yellow and seemed to glow in the moonlight as she stepped outside. ummm it's coraline. Would it make things better to tattle on her classmates? yes But will you be there for me if I tell you the truth? it's that sad truth i guess. you count on adults to help you but at the end of the day they're also human beings and they don't know what to do either. i would've whooped thomas' ass back to hell where he belongs. Some tribes thought that the bear was a gift to Mother Earth and their people. It stood for the power of one’s subconscious. has anyone watched brother bear and if you have can we all collectively agree that it is one of the greatest movies of all time. i cried. and god damn phil collins can do no wrong. “Don’t worry about that now. It was just annoying that I couldn’t tell her what had happened to make you run away. So I pointed at Thomas, Amy, and Anita and said, ‘I think they did something, but they won’t tell me what.’” serenity pulled through what a champ i love her. Thank you. Please don’t tell my parents. Please. —A i would totally snitch. fuck anita fuck amy fuck thomasssss i feel like i should censor this bc this is a kid's book. oof and this is pretty little liars with A It was as if a tiny, pin-sized swirl of a cool breeze rested within her, waiting to grow into something new. literally a few pages ago she was wondering if the wind was her ancient foe. am i sensing foeshadowing??? is someone getting betrayedddddd dun dun dun Ever since Mom died, Colonel Wilson seemed to spend every possible second in the garden. He had spent weeks planning and plotting and had finally arranged every plant and flower in a perfectly organized system that, as he had explained to his daughter multiple times, would guarantee optimal growth. this is the sound of music but indtead of captain von trapp organising his kids, he's organising his crops. I’ll find my way. I promise. she really dissected that book didn't she. hahaha it's funny because Every morning, she had been met with the same sight: Serenity’s father standing in his garden. so when they walked together at home and said "ah yeah. i've seen you around". they were literally neighbours. “You don’t understand,” he growled. “This is my place—my fruit. I can’t let it be invaded like this.” ~you think you own whatever land you land on~ i need moraline to sing colours of the wind. right now. “Hey, little guy,” Moraline whispered. “Can I touch you? We’re here to help. I’m sorry you’re so scared.” blessssss “Anyplace can be a place for a fox. We just . . . need to fix it up,” Amani said hesitantly. this is bridge to terabithia vibes going on here “Oh, sorry. No, I want to go. I’m just wondering what’s going on with Serenity.” “She’s been looking pretty sad for the last few days,” Edmundo said thoughtfully. “And she’s been even quieter than normal,” Amani added. i never know what the protocol is when i see this happen. like... do you reach out or give them space and have them come to you when they're ready. i suppose there's really no way except to reassure and keep your hand out in case they need you. but even though Brandon’s muscles and sweet moves were distracting, ahahahahaha “That guy is an ex-colonel,” Amani said. “Remember how angry he was about the snails invading his garden? Imagine how angry he would be if we invaded his house.” uhhh- that's breaking and entering guys. it's a crime? or is it more trespassing??? He twirled his fingers in his own hair. Was it so special? He sighed. Why did other people get to put him in a box and decide he was strange or exotic? People were not meant to be on display. The features of their beauty should not be picked apart. i feel this very much. i hate it when people stare. can i just say.. i hate it so much when they ask permission to touch my hair. or when they just go ahead and feel free to touch it anyway. just stop. don't. back off please. By taking away Thomas’s position of power and forcing him out of his comfort zone, boiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii *rounds of applause all around* ~woooooooohoooooooo~ “I know, right?” she said aloud. Great teeth; beautiful skin; glossy, tight black curls; sincere brown eyes; broad shoulders, she added mentally. if this isn't my brain then i don't know who i am anymore hahahaha “Well, maybe he is a criminal and you don’t know it!” Thomas cackled, and because he didn’t seem to be able to help himself, he chanted, “Your neighbor is a criminal.” AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA He smiled. “It’s a mango seed.” bud that's a bit yuck. BAHAHAHAAHHA someone ate that mango and threw on the sidewalk and you pick it up aaaaaa maybe this is a filo thing but how we eat mangoes is we cut the the cheeks (is that what it's called) off, then we suck the seed portion because there's still a lot of meat on there. maybe that's our family but how i imagined it is this seed he picked up that's all slimy from saliva ahahahhahaha ick Wasn’t Edmundo a little young to have “employment obligations”? uhhhhhh “We have patient confidentiality rules. I can’t just tell you.” The nurse pinched the top of her nose. “I don’t have time to spend with kids. I have more than a dozen patients on my chart right now, and half of them are beeping me out. You need to leave now.” She waved a hand toward the exit. lol i'm a nurse so lol “Rivera? He has occupational asthma. Please leave now.” NOOOOOOOOOOOOO WHY'D YOU SNITCH. THAT'S NOT ALLOWED MA'AM Dear Mr. Walsh, this is one professional email. i could never. my emails are like: Hello Mr. X, Just asking about this matter blahblahblah Cheers Me On the big day, they arrived at 1453 Los Alamos Avenue. it's a bit unrealistic that the boss of this company is willing to be interviewed by these kids about a workplace injury that happened to an underage worker. “Dad are you up for a conversation?” she asked. oh my god i wish i could talk to my parents this way hahahahahaha i love my traumatised childhood self. she is so shattered, it's insaneeee. Brandon skimmed through the papers. “I can’t believe you guys landed a meeting with this bigwig by sending him a letter you wrote in a shack.” brandon asks the right questions Far above, the eagle shrieked once more. CA CAW It was an exhausting destiny that she had chosen to follow. but we already love her activism at an early age. it's honestly inspiring. why wasn't i like this as a kid. ffs. (hide spoiler)] everyone should read this. it's a relatively light read and it's cool. maybe pass this off to your kiddos bc it's a great story. disclaimer: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. :) ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Feb 08, 2023
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Feb 15, 2023
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Feb 08, 2023
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Paperback
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| 9780645497007
| 4.35
| 172
| Feb 21, 2023
| Feb 21, 2023
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liked it
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it's alright. i don't know. maybe it's the fact that i read nevernight after this that my level of expectations for fantasy novels is really high and th it's alright. i don't know. maybe it's the fact that i read nevernight after this that my level of expectations for fantasy novels is really high and that's the reason why this is a 3 and not any higher than that? i can see where we're going with this though so maybe i'll pick up book 2? i don't know yet. it think that the last half of the book was more engaging than the first half. i just wasn't into it when we first started. the vibes that i was getting while reading was that it took so long to establish where were were, what was happening, and who all these people are. that's just me maybe. and i found it really really difficult to root for a main character that... isn't rooting for herself??? i don't know. not to compare this to nevernight but i will bc it's the only book that's super fresh in my memory... but the main character there is someone i feel is a strong character. we know who she is straight away. we know her motivations and her weaknesses and her strengths. she has a more tragic backstory (in my opinion) and she uses that to her advantage??? whereas elika i think just mopes around for the whole book. i get it. you're struggling with the magic inside you and you don't understand what's going on but what she does is... nothing for the first half? she avoids it almost? and when she finally does decide to do something about it... it's to her detriment? she keeps trying to delete her powers and hurting herself in the process. like gorl, it didn't work the first time. let's move on. and then she just does more moping around until the end. bahahahaha. i don't know how to explain it. i just wasn't rooting for her. i wasn't buying her relationship with mite either? i didn't form much of a connection with them. she spends a few moments in the book going back to mite and thinking about him and blaming him for leaving her and whatever but the few moments that we had of them that were meant to be meaningful in their relationship was short and it didn't lead to anything? i just didn't feel like people meshed with each other very well. maybe that's the point? i get what we were trying to get at though. so much of the book is lore and world building and introducing our main character's backstory and what leads her to be the character she'll be for the following books. i get it. i ended up being really invested at the end when she decides to cross the bridge and we find out that there's a newly established world past the bridge. but mind you that this investment happens a few pages before the book finishes. only then was i hooked. and it was all over. lol. but now that i think about it... i spent so long settling into terren and now it's not even the next setting for the next book. i will say that terren is set-up amazingly. i liked the setting we were in. i pictured it all as very medieval. it's cool. the places we go to feel immersive. you know exactly what the vibes are. if you're on streets or in an attic-like space, on the roofs, in gardens, or by the bridge where it all feels dead. i'm embarrassed to say that i didn't actually fully understand the bridge and how it all works. soz. this all jut feel very negative. it isn't though. this is an okay book. i didn't actually hate it even though reading this whole thing back it kind of sounds that way. i like where we end up at the end and it's a satisfying finish and it makes me excited for the next one. i think this whole review will be concealed because it's spoiler-y. my notes hidden below are my notes as i read them. honestly, they aren't really that valuable because i didn't write as much. they're more reactions as i read. save yourself the time and don't open. (view spoiler)[ Bad Penny was right; there was nothing you could say to change their minds. Their hearts no longer lived in this forsaken world. this is a valuable lesson kids. . . . can i be honest from the get-go and say that i'm not feeling it that much? it'll get better i'm sure but it's very waffle-y so far. it's been a few pages already and we're still by the bridge (if that's what i'm gathering from what's happening and where we are). there's a lot of exposition that's being fed to us but it seems overwhelming at this point because i'd rather learn about our protagonist more rather than going straight into lore? but maybe that's just me. i'm not hooked yet. but i will persist! He did not need pity, just understanding. this statement feels very pointed towards me. hahaha. i'm going through something right now okay?! get off my back mom. “... and if you are out there, come to us willingly, so we might free you from the curse of this infectious magic. why would you kill the people capable of defeating the enemy? hey Mite?” this sounds so aussie. if you want to greet your friend... this is what you say Her name was a gentle question on his lips. what what is happening There was such gentle kindness in her face ... and unhappiness. Her smile was sad, the eyes distant as if she gazed into another, better life ... this sentence just speaks to my soul. Northwind, Southfire, Eastrise and Westwater. eastearth hello When Tsarin Reval destroyed the houses of the Sacred Crowns and slaughtered the four kings, he did so not with magic, but with a sword driven by the might of hatred.” THE KINGSLAYER this is some lannister bullshit “Well, it’s like this. They know you’re the mage everyone’s looking for.” welp. it was all for nothing. all the hiding. hahaha it's hilarious to me to know that everyone in town knows exactly who they're looking for and she's clueless about that. she's living her life and everyone's plotting out to kill her already. she hasn't reached that step yet guys, let's back up a little. “But there’s talk,” Billy continued. “They’re thinking of flushing you out, see?” we love billy for this though. a tad bit plot convenient though for my liking but what the hell. i can't picture a scenario where she finds this out organically. Each house had its own crow, a sacred bird believed to be the messenger of the old gods. i thought it was to scare off mice... or bogans or is this an australian thing? What good were men’s prayers, when they went unanswered? amen sis Mite was gone now wait. wtf. i thought the plot twist would be that he was fine. uhhhhhh She thought of Mite, and her heart ached all over again. The thought of facing another day in this shrinking world without Mite made her want to burrow deeper into her blankets and sleep until the Blight reached her. it's a bit funky though that i don't buy any of it. hahahaha like... yeah mite and elika are cute i guess but... we're not even halfway into the story and we've already lost the love interest and i'm supposed to believe that these two love each other... purely because they are childhood sweethearts or whatever? i just don't buy it. maybe if we had kept mite for a little longer? maybe even if they had some semblance of a heart to heart and a little smooch or two then maybe i'd be convinced. i'm just not. it's super funky. Mite had always told her to fight to the end. i would argue with him that he needed to practice what he preached “El, is that you?” you must stink that bad She began to crawl through the slushy grime, imagine crawling through a cesspool of piss and shit *vomit* join the acolytes. that word. for context, the last book i read was nevernight and it was just "acolyte" in every page. lol She should have taken the bridge, should have thrown herself into the chasm, should have died instead, for nothing was worth this. bAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA 2 seconds ago she was like... fuck the bridge. that bridge fucking sucks. well well well how the turn tables “Deaf is the man who cannot listen to the truth and blind is he who fears to see it,” what is it with the quotes in this book. i love it. i feel inspired and ready to face the day. Her skin was leather, it could not burn. "He was no dragon. Fire cannot kill a dragon." Elika startled and quickly pushed aside those murderous thoughts. The magic retreated. this is the i've ever encountered that is trying to get rid of her powers insteadof leaning into. i don't know if i like that about her character. it's not super empowering that instead of harnessing that gift / curse she has for the betterment of the people around her, she chooses to lose it to be "normal" like everybody else? She did not even like Mite. yeah okay lol “You must be the damned witch who married Bill and left him for dead?” cute “In the bridge, huh on the bridge? i may have called in sick when my grade 1 english class learned this but i'm dumb, it's "on" not "in". was she inside of the concrete? or the stone that comprises the bridge? or the flesh of the bridge? And there, beneath its skin, I saw a lump moving. this gives me the biggest ick. Elika shuddered at the awful tale made of nightmares. “Tane Igla ... are you telling me this to scare me? If so, you should know I don’t scare easily. Your tale is as fantastical as Bill’s about a three-headed whale eating a fleet of warships.” she says as she shudders Elika hugged herself. How could the old woman know about the inky mark on her back? No one, not even Penny, knew. would've been really cute if her and mite had a little moment before he got un-alived and he traced that mark on her back and found it beautiful and that's the memory she goes back to when igla mentions the mark on her back. Until now, she had not realized what a deep relief it was to care for just yourself. okay got it. step one: be selfish. hahahaha i love this “I’m not Arala!” she cried. “I’m Elika. Eli Spider of Bad Penny’s pack. I’m a human. My parents were human.” hahahahahahah i just came out of my shifts and she sounds like all my confused patients that insist on their reality being real. it's hard and ultimately useless to argue with them “I’ll walk through first. If you betray me, I’ll kill every one of your men with my magic.” when i said lean into her magic... i didn't mean it in this way BAAAHAHAHAAHAHA the magic curled tightly in fright. like mister kindly when eclipse was around (sorry it's a nevernight reference) Peter Pockets’ can i just comment that peter pockets sounds like a children's book character. Despite being a girly mouse, you’re smarter than most. wtf um hello “Tell your orphans they can come here if they want,” this dude is sketchy he keeps asking her to stay and now he wants the other kids to stay as well what's his deal anyway i don't buy the "not dying alone" crap he's weirrrrd “I’m sorry, Penny,” she mumbled. it's pathetic. just use your fucking magic. we're at the end of this book and i'm sick of it. ffs “I thought you’d be ... hairier,” he said lamely. oh my god Penny and Anten sat by the fire, drinking wine and speaking in hushed tones. From their faces, she could tell they spoke of things close to their hearts, of their fears and the past, of the brief future that awaited. cute “You want to wed.” strange. “I guess I was wrong. Seems there is more to life than moping about the end of the world.” say it louder. and slower. especially to elika. she needs to hear this. (hide spoiler)] i think that's about it really? i don't have a lot to say. if you like fantasy that's very heavy with lore then this would be really enjoyable for you. i'm still debating if i'm wanting to read the next book because i do have a lot of arc sequels that i promised i would read. maybe one day??? disclaimer: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. :) ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Dec 30, 2022
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Jan 18, 2023
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Dec 30, 2022
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Paperback
| ||||||||||||||||
| 1680682563
| 9781680682564
| B0BFZFCDP8
| 4.00
| 35
| unknown
| Sep 19, 2022
|
it was amazing
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i like this. it's a really high four and a half but i'm feeling nice so it's rounded up to a five. :) it's very funny. i'll give it so many props for i i like this. it's a really high four and a half but i'm feeling nice so it's rounded up to a five. :) it's very funny. i'll give it so many props for it being hilarious. thanks to booksirens for the great recommendation! i've found some gems there and this one included :) when i shuffled all the arcs that i could potentially read and landed on this one... i was very intrigued. i'm really enjoying the mystery genre these days. i've read a few this year and a sprinkling of them over the years. investigations are always really fun because i feel very pathetic when i make dumb theories and none of them are correct. you'll read them in my notes. it's sad. i don't remember reading the blurb but i saw the cover and was immediately sold. i'm judging a book by it's cover. sue me. the cover usually gives me an indication on the feel of the book and what my expectations are. i thought it would dark and very blade runner energy vibes. it's not. but it's fine. i think i liked this better anyway. the book is very daytime realness. i love the duo of penelope and basic. they have such a dynamic partnership and they gel so perfectly. i think that the way they were written was impeccable at best. i couldn't have asked for a better protagonist. i enjoyed how they balance each others' chaotic energy. where penelope is a mess, basic grounds her and vice versa. i love them. so much. kellan and holden are great antagonists. i feel like if they were super super fleshed out they could be pulled from a dan brown book. i feel like in their core, they truly believe in the greater good. their means of showing that though... is highly questionable. so i think that's why i root for them but also chill guys. curtis also feels like a good driver of the story. we love a good plot device. i think that's his role. i liked his character anyway. he seems cool. i maybe wished that i had more of miyako. i don't know why. she's seems like an interesting character. i get why we don't need info about her because she's hardly in the book but i just would've loved reading about her. the plot was also good. a lot twists and turns. bad guys that aren't bad guys but were actually bad guys but was the bad guy actually truly a bad guy in the end? i love how were weren't bombarded with tech that's impossible for it to be realistic. suspend my disbelief and give me lore and all that jazz but make it all make sense. this book was really good in having futuristic concepts but it having some sort of realism (?). it's not giving laser beam contacts. none of what i'm saying makes any sense. anyways... it didn't even cross my mind that the whole book happens within 2 or 3 days. that's so funny to me. penelope and this entire investigation have achieved more in those days than i have in my 25 years of existence. they've been productive. the book is basically: murder, penelope's created, curtis hates her, they investigate, investigation is over / continues, curtis investigates without penelope, penelope investigates without curtis, we're at the fortress of solitude, penelope is almost un-alived, holden is a nasty woman, newton's laws are in place, curtis tricks penelope, penelope doesn't fall for the trick, holden's glam sesh is interrupted by our fearless heroes, opera lady has nice tech, penelope head to the morgue, an oopsie doopsie is discovered, curtis is like "hol up", explosions are happening, there's a helicopter at one point (i think?), penny escapes, basic is like "bye sis", her and holden are in hiding, man of the hours rocks up, he's also nasty, but penny is smart, someone fulfils a destiny, basic is back, holden is maybe not nasty at all bc she has no choice at this point, we have a time jump and all is well. i did get a bit lost at the near end but i think i got the gist of it all. i don't remember a lot of fluff going on that was irrelevant... well. maybe one thing? the whole backstory of detective curtis and his identity being concealed and all that. i don't know if that was only added just to serve that purpose near the end when penelope finds out who he is and is able to prevent that accident injuring people. maybe that's the only thing. and that's me being terribly nit-picky. i don't have a lot to say after i just brain dumped everything. my notes are hidden in the spoiler section. they are my kindle notes while i read. if you don't want to read it, it's fine. it's mostly me being an embarrassment. enjoy... or don't. (view spoiler)[ ix ONE i swear that kindle's deleting my notes.... *eye squint* anyways... when i first read the blurb, all i could think of was bicentennial man. it's one of my favourite movies. . . . well... in hindsight, one of the plot points involve andrew falling in love with little miss who he knew as she grew up and eventually, he pines over, dates, and does the nasty business with little miss' granddaughter. actually that's ultra fucked. maybe this isn't my favourite movie anymore. yes we do. it's a tragic human flaw. god i hate humans. I DO NOT WANT TO BE A SPY i love this. the shift between "maybe we're spies" to "fuck me we're SPIES?!" her and her inner voice. name me a better duo. THE LAST INCIDENT OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION WAS RECORDED 78 YEARS AGO well shit. one can only dream. although there was a theory that in the future people's skin colour will even out to be brown??? is that true??? maybe i'm thinking a yes because of how travel between continents is a thing and ahs been a thing for a long time. interracial relationships are accepted and bi-racial kids are fucking awesome. so maybe it's going to be a thing??? YOUR LEGS ARE 15% LONGER THAN THE HUMAN FEMALE AVERAGE BAHAHAHAAHAHAH ii don't know why that's hilarious to me *beep boop* your legs are 15 percent longer *beep boop* bahahahahaha holy shit. being the tall tall height of 5'2... what i would give to be i don't know... 5'4... jesus... maybe make me 5'3 i'll be happy. Pantone 1395? brunettes make the average hair colour... You’ve been built to the precise specification I asked for. cooooool IT IS USUALLY SOMETHING COSMETIC AND POINTLESS LIKE SOFTER HAIR OR BETTER SKIN rude all droids are beautiful the way they are RANKED THIRD WEALTHIEST INDIVIDUAL who's first and second then. i'll fight them for the spot. “That’s one of the big things that’s puzzling the police THEORY: Miyako is his kid. she wrote a letter saying: dear papa, mama told me everything. love, your daughter miyako. or ANOTHER THEORY: IT WAS HOLDEN! where the hell did she disappear to? maybe this is more poirot than bicentennial man she probs went through the vents tho And in that time, nobody could be seen leaving Kellan’s office. well there goes my other theory Chin Bot chin bot I doubt that. I think there’s some sort of hidden subtext here. obvs there is bruv maybe holden only made penelope so that penelope weaves some sort of elaborate plan and theory in order to distract everyone from finding out that it was holden all along! maybe holden commissioned her to not find suspicion in holden. it's biased that she had specifications input herself because we don't know if she did anything sus. “I’m Penelope,” *beep boop* i'm penelope *beep boop* the three-day weekend; picture me saying "the three day weekend" like those little alien toys from toy story that say "the claw". “Interesting,” he said, casting his eyes around the room representing the security droid fell into the exact position one more time. “Very interesting. Okay—switch it off. i think that holden programmed the robot to kill kellan. we've already determined that the robots are defective in some way by way of them not defending their owner so there's very mucha clear possiblity that they reprogrammed to kill. holden had to time it when miyako was in the room to frame her. miyako maybe escaped through the vents??? and the rest is history. this'll be really embarrassing if this isn't what happeneed. ffs locked-room mystery this is giving me massive flashbacks to all the escape rooms that i haven't won. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa “Waiting poses. I think I’ve got six now.” oh my god i love her HONESTLY MEN i guess not much has changed in the last billion years HE DOES NOT THINK MISS NISHIMURA DID IT ah shit i think my theory is way too obvious now. the detective did it. that's it. he did it. i knew he was guilty from the first moment i met him. SO SHE WAS LISTENING TO WHAT WAS SAID IN THE RESTAURANT AFTER ALL HA! “Where are you, Nishimura?” he's so dramatic HAHAHAHAAHHAHAH he's giving off such main chacter energy. i know he's the main character but the way i picture him delivering his line out on the balcony at night with only the moon illuminating him and the gentle sound of the wind blowing his hair with the top button of his shirt unbuttoned and he's just looking out at the sky and piano music starts playing as we fade transition into a new scene. BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA this is so funny. Despite assurances in the user agreement that a droid only retained data in its head and did not transmit anything to DroidTec, the truth was the exact opposite: why am i not surprised though? aren't we all being surveilled by technology. my google home is listening and anticipating as i type this for me to ask it the most mundane things like "hey google, is it raining?" when i literally sit in front of a window and i can just open the curtains to check. the Arctic Circle. so basically the fortress of solitude? “It’s a corrosive agent that reactively changes its chemi-one was twice as long as the one they had just been in, with cal composition to best dissolve whatever material it comes into contact with.” then what's the chameleonic acid contained in??? lol Solitaire. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Disabled BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA this fucking cracks me up I’ve changed my mind. Turn them off again… I LOVE THEM “But I swear … I had nothing to do with this … ” IT WAS SARAH! SARAH DID IT! KILL SARAH! *beep boop* And of course, we’d be steering his investigation in the right direction.” HA! I FUCKING KNEW IT. “I’m saying I killed Martin,” Holden said, i never doubted myself. never. not once. SHE IS RELISHING THIS this is such a classic antaganoist trope that they *need* to disclose their evil plans it's sinister and i love it YOU IDIOT BAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAH WHAT IS BROWN AND STICKY BAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA i love her come on penelope she's trying she's trying really hard even a fake giggle Funny peculiar. I mean, you’d think it would be easier if droids The moment the tips of her high heels touched the dry, weren’t capable of having these thoughts; if we weren’t self-aware, cracked tarmac, a group of three teenagers on the other and just accepted the parameters within which we are programmed side of the clearing looked round at her. They each had to operate. And yet here I am, able to harbour an internal disagree-slicked-back hair, pale skin, and wore brightly coloured, ment with the laws I am forced to abide by, whilst at the same time having that disagreement supressed when it comes to how I act. it wasn’t particularly sunny. Why do you think that is? that's actually really interesting “not today, boys” #girlboss omg i visibly cringed at me saying that i hate myself “You’re here to see Adam about some defective curtains?” aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa why is this book amazing CHARMING all i can hear is basic screaming into the void WHAT IF YOU ARE BEING SET UP ooooooooooooooooooooooo and vowed never to allow anyone to deceive me like this again. holy shit that's actually a really sad story. CURTIS! IT'S GOING TO BE OKAY BUD! I THINK HE IS GOING TO BE VERY UPSET IF HE FINDS OUT YOUR LITTLE SECRET i'm curious if she'll actually self destruct. penelope did reset herself or whatever she did at the fortess of solitude.. who knows? maybe she disabled the bombs in her brain or whatever techno-gizmo she did and holden instructing her to unalive herself doesn't apply because the wires aren't connected??? does any of theat make sense??? i'm just trying to be hopeful here and think of a way to make sure holden is accountable and penelope doesn't die. Then someone would take their shirt off. what is god's holy earth is this opera I never thought I’d actually miss him … ” where they in an affair or is holden just acting real funky and this all just makes her character very confusing for me. i can't imagine her in her girlboss era to be in an affair with her boss and if she isn't then the compassion feels off character for her. i don't know. it's funky. reaaaaaal funky. BUT DO NOT COME CRYING TO ME IF SHE REPLIES TO YOUR QUESTIONS IN D MINOR BAHAHAAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAH i can't with these two people couldn’t be bothered to aim into the nearest bin. :( “What is this?” Penelope asked. “How did you do that?” what if it wasn't kellan that was killed! what if it was someone else! WHAT IF CURTIS IS KELLAN IN DISGUISEEEEEEEEEEEE DUN DUN DUN it's not but leave me alone let me relish in this ridiculousness In a body bag, AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH then where's kellan??????? if you don’t like my methods, take me off the case BAHAHAHAAHAH she called his bluff curtis: if you don't like i'm doing, fire me. I DON'T CARE. gupta: ... okay you're fired curtis: okay let's not make brash decisions here. gupta. i love you. let's talk about this. please. i'm only kidding. ‘Go away!!’ this book is a comedy. it's more of a comedy book than a mystery. i fucking love it. She recognised this girl from the mugshot she’d been shown on her way to the crime scene yesterday—this unfortunate soul was Miyako Nishimura. :( a time he thought no-one would be checking the footage. so no one scrubbed through the footage of this happening??? no one saw that late in the middle of the night, there's this person leaving a dead man's office? wouldn't they have gone through the footage to make sure miyako left the scene. for all they know miyako was still in the office which could've explained why she was never. i would've thought that police in the future wouldn't be so dumb that they would skip the whole process of going through security footage. hello? Penelope wanted to hug the Detective. bless “Detective Callaghan,” she said, it's not kellan i'm stupid. I DO NOT WANT TO DIE BASIC YOU'RE NOT GONNA DIE SWEETIE. IT'S GONNA BE OKAY. YOU HEAR MEEEE Is it just me, or was there something funny about the way one that could have spelt disaster for millions of people if Holden just spoke? WHAT IF PENELOPE IS THE FIRST VERSION OF PROJECT DESTINY DUNDUNDUN Firstly, bees were extinct. i actually had to double take after i read this. because what? ffs what have we done. m night shyamalan's prophecy via legendary movie entitled "the happening" will come to fruition. we can't stand for this nonsense. WHAT NO? (i hope you read that in mark walhberg's iconic interpretation) Waiting for Kellan to show himself. WHAT IF HOLDEN IS KELLAN IN DISGUISEEEEE BOIIIISSSSSSSS get ready i can feel something brewing. note: i read further on and i'm wrong lol “That was you?” Penelope said. “At the recycling facility? I WAS JUST THINKING! WE HAVEN'T SOLVED WHO IT WAS THAT ATTACKED PENELOPE. “I’ll admit—what happened yesterday wasn’t … ideal,” oh my god. i forgot this is all happening within 24 hours wait is it i'm going to have to backtrack and figure out the timeline. it's all just happened so quick “No!” Kellan screamed, no one can make up their mind hahahaha kellan: kill me if you want to stop me holden: okay. mads sweetie kill him. kellan: okay. let's not right now okay. let's take a chill pill. I DID NOT GO AWAY hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujahhhhh “Martin,” she said. “Please—don’t do this … ” i'm still so torn on whether or not kellan is the bad guy... or if holden's a bad guy too. maybe everyone's the bad guy. let's make curtis a bad giy while we're at it. fuck everyone. lol the head separation procedure.” holy fucking shit How could he have been so stupid? i'm stupid too. i don't know what happened. lol They can be real idiots sometimes. i get it. someone explain what happened. i'm quite dense. (hide spoiler)] i'm almost out of characters but please please please read this! it's great. if you like a bit of detective work and also a chuckle here and there then this is perfect. cool. enjoy. go crazy. i don't know what you do in your spare time. i've had a lot of 5 star ratings so far. AND I FINISHED MY READING CHALLENGE WITH THIS! woohoo~ onto the next read! disclaimer: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. :) ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Oct 24, 2022
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Nov 12, 2022
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Oct 24, 2022
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Kindle Edition
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| B09ZQ1XCNL
| 3.99
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| Jun 16, 2022
| Jun 16, 2022
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it was amazing
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this is batshit crazy and i love it. booksirenssss comethru the book is so good. plot. engaging. characters. believable. setting. beautiful. ending. une this is batshit crazy and i love it. booksirenssss comethru the book is so good. plot. engaging. characters. believable. setting. beautiful. ending. unexpected. hotel. trivago. i can't fault the book even if i tried. we follow olivia and her desperation and obsession with her new and rich bestie beth. olivia is totally unhinged and she may be my spirit animal if we just tone her down a little. so we're in huntwood, this rich bougie ass neighbourhood and we have 4 new moms, olivia, beth, charlotte, and claire (technically there's 5 moms but i'm not counting faith because she's not entirely part of the main friend group). the plot basically starts when olivia meets beth and is entirely amazed at how perfect she perceives her life is. beth is beautiful, successful, rich, and is too nice to a fault. so a playgroup is formed and these 4 women hang out and talk about mom things and this friendship starts out pretty strong. we love and support female friendships here. as the plot goes on however, tom (beth's slutty husband) is super sus and is cheating on beth. olivia then goes and does olivia things. we have sub-plots with the other moms, claire almost killing someone (lol), and charlotte being ignored by her husband and just her being in her girlboss era. a lot of the book is basically unpacking olivia's psychology. it's fascinating. she has major mommy and daddy issues which have translated to her own parenting and has extended to her friendships where she was projecting onto beth. it's a tragic story. i love it. the character were all written so well. they all have a lot of depth and their own voice and personality. i could just see how everyone was so carefully and well crafted. olivia for one was a great antihero. her entire person was just bursting with complexity like you almost want to study who she is. beth was just a precious soul and again too good ultimately to her detriment. tom was tom in tom-ness. dylan was just one that i felt bad for because he seems like a devoted husband especially in all his ways to try and help olivia but he feels like a yes-man a lot of the time and i guess it's hard to be in that spot where you're supporting someone who has just... lost it and you can't get them back. olivia's mum is also all kinds of ***sirens blaring*** and her mothering was immensely impactful to olivia and if only everything was okay in liv's childhood then maybe everything would be different. i feel like claire is a commentary on like... i don't know... gun ownership??? if that makes any sense. everyone's feeding their paranoia on safety that we end up risking those we want to keep safe. and charlotte is a commentary on sexism and maybe gender roles??? marcus is completely detached from his family maybe because he believes he should be the only breadwinner and that charlotte should focus on being a housewife and instead of them being cohesive and supporting each other, they both end up living separate lives. maybe i've read too much into this. the whole reading experience was good. it didn't feel like too much. even though we have a range of characters and plot devices, everything just felt fleshed out. the pacing was appropriate as well. these days i don't really as often as i would like because i'm all kinds of tired but when i do delve into this, i was invested enough because nothing was fluff. aanywaaayssss i don't think i have a lot of notes. the spoiler section below are my notes and reactions as i read through. it's hidden because sometimes it gets too long and it saturates the space too much. there's no context for the notes so it gets confusing but if you want to witness the rambles and the little exclamations... then they're below :) (view spoiler)[ She needed to make Beth understand. this is some "the roommate" type shit. has anyone watched that??? it's the 2011 movie with minka kelly and leighton meester. i liked that movie. you should go watch it before reading this. i only say this because i read the blurb and frmo what i've gathered it's about the wonders of female friendship... and murder. It was the light from inside the houses— the illumination from each window like a painting, a still life. this kid is poignant. all i thought when i was a kid was "look at all those pretty lights. okay now which pokemon do i take with me to the 5th gym". And there she was, cast away to the bedroom, left to fend for herself with a three-inch tear pulsing across her privates and a rabid newborn. this is what scares me about motherhood. i can barely take care of myself and now i have to do that and take care of this child. bruv. The Kennedy Center. ooo has anyone heard about netlix suing barlow and bear over bridgerton. oof. A button. is this button going to be significant later on??? is she going to use it to attack olivia later??? like beth will chuck this little piece of plastic in olivia's gaping wide open mouth and she'll choke??? and die??? Her mother was sad. Her eyes looked heavy, and after eating her meal, she often wandered back into her bedroom and closed the door. if this isn't a glorious vision of me then i don't know what is. Why did her mother stay? this is always such a troubling question when i think about it. would you stay for the kids??? in order to maintain this happy family person and to therefore be a positive experience for them growing up knowing that they had a whole family but you'd be risking a chunk of your life unhappy and living in lies? or would you leave and pursue happiness and hoping that your kids learn that they need self-respect but you'd also be risking them growing up with a shattered family and a shattered image of their parents who couldn't keep their relationship working and who couldn't keep it together for the sake of the family????? aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa i guess you never really know. you know? i heard someone say that parenthood is the hardest job because you never really know the fruit of your labours until your kid is grown up and by then it may be too late to change things. my brain hurts. She imagined a baby would save her from her dark feelings, the thick soot in her gut. i don't understand why people think this. children take so much work to raise. if raising something will make you feel a sense of worth then isn't that a bit selfish? i have the mindset of people who want kids should want kids in order to raise them to be decent members of society. everyone should be at a default of "not wanting/ expected to have kids". and as they progress through life, they then decide if they want kids or not. it makes me sad when people have selfish intentions because i grew up in the philippines where majority of our people are impoverished and they struggle to take care of their children. i hear stories (and my mum is an example of this) of mothers having many kids in the odd chance that one of them gets to be successful. and that fucking sucks. my poor mother. bless. my poor grandmother who had to raise 7 kids on her own. buddy. aaaaaaaaaa i'm getting tilted. bahaahahahahaahahahahahaha Olivia hated it. She hated the expectations falling on their tiny heads when they were too young to understand they were expected to follow in their parent’s footsteps. And parents were too busy trying to offer everything to their kids to notice if it was all too much for their soft brains to comprehend. is the author in my head They wanted their children not to struggle, but to embrace the bounty given to them. these were precisely my mother's sentiments. author it's like you're in my head What Olivia needed was a break from it all. She needed to breathe without the pressure. She was sick of trying so hard and didn’t know how much longer she could keep her real feelings from bubbling up. me too sweetie. me fucking too. The baby was still screaming in her room, but with her headphones on, Olivia could barely hear her. oh my god is this post partum depression. i've seen patients have this and it is brutal. the life and the joy in these women's eyes were gone. they looked like hollow shells. it's actually sad. What was wrong with her? bless her. it's really hard. i get it. i was a monster child so my mom had her hands full with me. She knew she looked like a mess, unhinged. But it felt like the sky was falling, and she needed to be in the safety of her car before her tears started falling too. i know the feeling. it's a panicky feeling and you can't but cry sometimes because everything's just overwhelming. Each read about the same— 103 degrees. paracetamolparacetamolparacetamol “Now, we wait. Go get the thermometer. If his fever goes down, we are good for the next four hours until he needs more medicine. If it doesn’t go down, we are going to the ER.” olivia's a nurse. she knows. she knows damn well what this baby needs. “No. Why so early?” “Go back to sleep,” tom you fuckhead “I hope everyone likes Lebanese!” i can hear barney from himym and that episode where he was obssessed with lebanese girls. Olivia excused herself from the table, having eaten the entire, perfect triangle of baklava she was offered for dessert. She tried so hard to cut out sugar, but it was almost impossible. Her mouth watered thinking of a second piece. not being being olivia with food. i had two servings of lasagna for lunch today and i could've gone for three. The rest of her new friends seemed like they were shedding baby weight at a faster clip. Claire looked like she never had a baby. Beth was so tall she could hide the little bit around her waist that showed only when she was using a baby wrap to secure Liam around her body. And Charlotte was so blond and cute, the extra puff in her face just enhanced her cherubic appearance. i've noticed that we all just talk so poorly about ourselves. like how we would never say what we think to someone else so why should we say that to ourselves. when i hear these nice things olivia has to say about her friends and i compare it to how she descibes herself it's sad. if we put ourselves in other people's mindsets we would know that people are too self-absorbed to look at you negatively. most of the times all we can see is positive. Before she knew it, she was turning onto Beth’s Street. oof liv. this is creepy. Often, moms will take something for six months to a year and then wean off. It doesn’t have to be forever.” i get that medications are scary. they have their own side-effects and you wouldn't want to depend on them but at the end of the day, if you need it then you need it. you wouldn't judge a diabetic for being on insulin so why would you judge depressed person for being on anti-depressants? What could she possibly want now? lol this is how i think people react when i talk to them bahahahahahahaha Elizabeth Warner-Reeves. that's such a fancy ass name, bitch if i were named that i would be bathed in gold the moment i came out of my mom's vegene. Beth had always told herself that, if she were in a situation with an unfaithful husband, she would leave. But things were not always that black and white. She loved Tom, and they had just started their lives together. that's probably it right? anytime i hear about partners being incredibly toxic, it feels so easy for me say "just leave" but then you see the person agree with you for a split second and then the hesitate and say "but i love them" and i then i internally roll my eyes. but srsly. i have no idea what it's like to be in that situation so it's difficult for me to understand why it's hard to leave such a bad relationship. but i guess it's... love? you want to give that person the benefit of the doubt and you want to be reason thy change for the better. maybe i should start offering a bit more empathy. Her mom was never available unless it was on her schedule. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa The rest of the day, she would be fighting the dark thoughts in her head, the ones that insisted she was worthless and rotten to the core. Just like her mother treated her. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAthe author is my sleep paralysis demon “Fuck you, Marcus. You told me you would be home tonight to watch the baby. You know I have a dinner.” YEAH FUCK YOU MARCUS you tell him charlotte Everyone let loose a chorus of laughter. They were now lounging around the pool, sipping drinks and picking at their salads. omg girlies i wish i had friends *cries in misanthropy* She wasn’t okay. Everything was starting to feel unbearably heavy, too heavy to carry. Olivia made the mistake of thinking things would get better. They didn’t. It was like she knew what she had to do to look normal, but getting out of the house and being social and acting fine were too much. Sometimes, she found she could manage, and other times, she would collapse. Often, her submission would turn to rage— rage at anyone in her path. um facts Dr. Macy did not stir. She sat and looked at her like she had from the very beginning. Olivia didn’t know if this was annoying or stabilizing. lol this is me when my patients cry. i have no idea how to respond because i'm so clinically focussed. “Exactly. I feel alone and abandoned. Like I am the only one who can keep this baby alive. I am supposed to feed her, get up with her, keep her happy, make her sleep soundly, and I don’t want to do it all on my own. And then I’m supposed to operate like a normal human being on top of it. Like, wear real clothing and make friends," liv blessssss i want to give you a hug When it was time for the session to end, Olivia didn’t want to go. She loved the way Dr. Macy listened. She didn’t feel crazy. In fact, she almost felt normal. we all just want people to listen sometimes. most of the time, i don't really want a solution to my problems even though i ask for it.. i just want someone to rant to and say "that fucking sucks". that's it. I kind of thought we would both amicably walk away, but he’s nit-picking everything. I mean, it’s not like we have much to negotiate. Thank God we didn’t have kids.” my cousin just got out of a long-term relationship and he's going through this right now. and all i think about is thank god they didn't have kids because it would've been extra complicated. even seeing how they are trying to split the house is confusing. “I’ll make you some coffee.” coffee's going to make you more anxious AAAAAAAA What else did she have to do but spend time with her granddaughter? ughhhhh i hate this. i hate it when people say this. when they say "what else do you have to do but to attend at my beck and call?". no. i have my own life and how i spend it is not up for your judgment. if i want to play sudoku all day then i will do so. i don't have to help you if i don't want to. my help extends as far i am willing and you shouldn't expect me to be there 24/7 for your convenience. my time is equally as important. some people need to understand that the world does not revolve around them. no one is important. omg this made me mad. bahahahahaahah Marcus didn’t come home that weekend. lololololololol it's marcus and tom having an affair. it's so obvious. If she was going to stay married and be able to go to the pool, then she had to fucking suck her fat in and stop complaining about the damn steamed broccoli and roasted salmon. holy shit. this sentence just went to 100 real quick. bahahahahaha She didn’t appreciate his judgmental attitude. She was fine. Perfectly fine. she's stressing me out. if i were dylan, i'd be scared at this point. i would've been scared a while back but i'd be even more scared now. She took in a deep breath and wrapped her cardigan tightly around her, feeling protective of her body now that she was pregnant. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa His bowels released. BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA he fucking shat himself. there are moments here that i love olivia. We’ll start with your sono.” i saw one of these done the other day. the lady had endometriosis and i didn't understand what was going on but it was cool to see. “Of course. That’s Emmeline, and this is Ryder.” such rich people names She would try the study first. Olivia didn’t bother turning on any lights before heading straight for the computer. girlie what the fuck The woman was a rat. Did she not think they had cameras everywhere? Did she honestly think they had a two-million-dollar home without cameras signaling any disturbance in the house? i know right. what an idiot. It was Faith. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA what an idiot. “How long was he on the floor, Mom?” Carol spoke softly. “A few minutes.” oof She hated these women. Olivia wished they would miscarry and end up right back at the kitchen table, surrounded by five other tear-stained faces, telling their stories of pregnancy failure. holy fucking shit Charlotte still wasn’t over the fact Olivia ruined the twins’ baptism. no. no she didn't. ffs. liv. mate. “Tess is missing.” hand up if we think olivia did this. “I apologized for that. I was wasted, Beth. Aren’t I allowed to let loose and have a few drinks? I had to do something to keep from being bored out of my mind.” holy shit what a fuckhead You’re so vein. isn't it "you're so vain"? but all i hear is the version from how to lose a guy in 10 days. The news showed live footage of the Capitol Police trying to manage the armed crowd of rioters. oooo i didn't realise how recent this book is. the insurgence happened last year. it was so weird to be watching people tweeting this whole event. my groggy ass was in bed on that morning here in australia and i was watching everything unfold. it was terrifying to see what people are capable of and to see them throwing a fit because their orange cheetoh didn't win the presidency. “I don’t know why you are acting so unhappy,” oh my god she's unravelling “You thankless bitch.” aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa livvvyyyy girlie what the actual fuck He really was a beautiful baby. she won? wait. wait. hold up. hold up one second. what??? (hide spoiler)] i'm out of characters. as always. read this because it's great. i loved it. disclaimer: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. :) ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Aug 08, 2022
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Aug 24, 2022
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Aug 08, 2022
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Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||||
| 1631611879
| 9781631611872
| B09YYW65T5
| 3.84
| 116
| unknown
| Jun 20, 2022
|
really liked it
|
this book made me smile like a genuine one i don't know why but i feel lighter after this. maybe it's the ending and how wholesome and positive it is. i this book made me smile like a genuine one i don't know why but i feel lighter after this. maybe it's the ending and how wholesome and positive it is. i love this. i love smiling that my cheeks hurt. it's just precious. i appreciate this book very much because it has a lot of medical elements woven into it. i'm a nurse so it's pretty close to home. i think it has the perfect amount of medical integration without it being overwhelming. it became more reflective for me when i look back at my practice and what i've come across. the differences between there and here is also interesting. the plot was pretty cool. i liked the concept of our characters being in limbo. it must be eerie to be in that state. it's like you've just dissociated and you're watching your world in third person. i love the idea of guardian angels and the guardian angels you're assigned is someone who's an actual human being and not some divine jesus being that has no clue how the world works. the A plot of eve getting used to being half dead and her experiences with her friends and family while she's in a coma and being someone's own guardian angel and also having this romance bubbling with her and luca was cool. the B plot of rob's family and intersecting that with jimmy was also really nice. it was great see it all converge at the end because it felt very separate in the beginning despite it being established that there's a connection via eve and will. the main characters were pretty good as well. eve could be a person in real life and i'd believe her. it's nice to see a character that's genuinely a good person but she also has dimensions to her. she's not some perfect human being, she has her flaws and her shortcomings but you can feel than she's a good egg and she deserves to live. luca's an amazing mentor. shocking that he's an expert at navigating the afterlife when no one taught him how to do that. i don't approve of his relationship with eve. it almost read as... predatory (?) because he fell in love with her when she was still alive and he was supposed to be her guardian angel. his motives are very questionable. other than the whole creepiness of it, i enjoyed their company. i felt like they supported each other very well. the side characters were also well written. they didn't overshadow the everything else that was going on. i didn't get the parts that were italicised. you know, the ones where she's not exactly her ghost self but her asleep self. it just shows us what she's hearing around her while she's asleep. i don't know if it really needed those scenes because when she's in her lucid ghost state, she hears everything anyway. i just don't think it added to much??? maybe that's just me. ...and the ending where she forgets everything. meh. it feel like everything was undone. idk. *** this review was written in pieces for 4 days because i had work so my thoughts are so scattered and the cohesion is non-existent. please someone kill me wtf is this review. i swear that i stopped writing something mid-sentence and i came back to it 2 days later and i have no idea how to finish my thoughts. it's so tragic.*** the spoiler section are my kindle notes while i read them in real-time so it is pretty much... worthless because there's no context but i just added them below because my kindle deletes all my bookmarks and notes without my consent. it's just rude like that. read it if you want :) (view spoiler)[ ‘ICU, obviously,’ said the nurse, patting together her papers. she's going to icu right away? well maybe. she can't recover in recovery because she's in a coma. i get it. ‘Tell them I’ll be down to see her in the morning,’ she said. ‘I just hope she makes it till then.’ you don't really follow a patient's journey all the way to the end. if she's a theatre nurse especially if she's scrub or in anaesthetics she won't know much about this patient when she gets to icu because it's not your place anymore. No heartbeat. this is like if i stay. i accidentally read that book. it's a long story. ‘Surely you’re Miss Thompson, aren’t you?’ said Nathan, spinning to face the surgeon. ‘Not Doctor. Don’t you all drop that title when you get too important for it?’ okay what the fuck. we already don't like nathan's stupid face. ‘That’s incredible,’ said Eve. ‘She felt you, didn’t she? How did you do that?’ i love how this ghost is so helpful to eve whereas i remember watching the movie ghost with patrick swayze and demi moore and he practically had to beg that ghost on the subway to help him do funny tricks. ‘Well, she can’t stay here, love. Just because she’s your mum doesn’t mean they’re going to make an exception for her. We’ll just have to make sure we keep coming in a lot, and that she’s getting well fed and looked after. I’m sure she will be, they’ve been wonderful with her so far.’ omg i love this person. who is this. i will marry them. never once have i heard words like this from a relative. ‘We helped them.’ what are luca's motivations??? why is he helping eve so much??? does he think that it's his mission to help because if he does, then he can go to the good place because he'll earn enough points??? Nurses were the worst, because that generally meant medication and the death-darkness again, or worse still, hygiene-related procedures. we really are the worst though. this isn't sarcastic in any way. i'm literally a nurse and i think we're really the worst. all of us are just pathetically miserable. bahahaha ‘He’s gone,’ said one of the nurses, placing a gentle hand on Elizabeth’s shoulder. ‘I’m so very sorry for your loss. Would you like to sit with him for a while?’ this is sad. end of life care is hard. And then it got me thinking about all those times you get a shiver up the spine, or a moment of self-doubt, and then suddenly you’re able to pull yourself together and get on with things. Do you think that’s what’s happening then? Someone like us is trying to help? It’s a lot to get my head round, to be honest.’ this is such a cool idea ‘Thank you, Luca’ she said. ‘Thank you for making me do that.’ he's been making you do all sorts of other shit. and you're only thanking him now lolol ‘God, Luca, you’re in a worse state than me,’ said Eve, BAHAHAHA that's funny ‘Surely life itself is worth going back for, whatever level it’s on,’ said Eve. i'm not so sure. maybe this is just me but (and maybe it's controversial) but if you don't have a quality of life then what's the... point? i see many people in hospital that are abandoned by the system and by people that should care for them the most because they are exhausted, drained, lonely, or they're just over it or they didn't expect everything to be so difficult. and it sucks to watch people stuck in that. maybe it's a glass half empty kind of view. maybe i'm just stuck in my own bubble where everything's sort of horrible and i don't see the many people that live happily. The crowd had formed a large semi-circle around the busker. A row of children with rapt faces sat on the floor, legs crossed, mesmerised by the talented young man. why is there a busker in the hospital. there's a time and place for everything sir. i get if it's a children's hospital but a general one... probably not. There is always someone worse off than you, Eve, she thought to herself. is this a horrible thing to think? yeah there's someone worse off than you. that's kind of fucked up, huh? you somehow feel better about yourself because at least someone's struggling more than you. like it's a competition. or a hierarchy? almost like an "aww. too bad. sucks to be you. at least i'm not the worst. i maybe at 10th place but i'm not such a loser than i didn't make top 10". don't get me wrong because i have this mindset as well but when i reflect on it... it's just so wrong. why do i feel this need to compare myself to others. am i that insecure that i need to bring others down as well? aaaahhhh all this psychobabble is confusing me. my brain hurts. He was finding it increasingly difficult to grasp the meaning of a world where children had to suffer like that. i've been to dialysis (not the paediatric side though and not with people with end-stage kidney disease) and i haven't met someone new to it yet but from what i observed during my month long rotation... it's not really so traumatising. it's incredibly boring as far as i knew from my patients because you had to sit there for 4-5 hours or so while this machine is filtering out your blood. the only abrasive thing they do is the initial stab at the beginning where they poke your fistula with the needle. but other than that they just sit there and chat amongst each other or they watch tv. sometimes they snack. it's pretty chill sometimes. it might be scary for kids because they don't know what's happening. maybe it's also scary if your condition is severe so i can't speak on that front. once you get around to doing it more often, it's just dull. 4 hours of just sitting there is a lot of "unproductive" time. kids have a shorter attention span so i see why it can get annoying. holy shit this is so long for a tiny little note. *and imagine doing that twice or thrice a week* oof. “Castle on the Hill”. ~i'm on my way driving at 90 down those county lanes singing to tiny dancer and i miss the way you made me feel and it's real when we watched the sunset over the castle on the hill~ i love this song Sometimes I think they just do it to make it look like something’s actually happening in here.’ i hate my job but this is very triggering ahahahah But she was outside. She’d done it. lol so much for waiting for luca ‘Anyway, the wedding is going to be in the spring. Got to get saving! No time to waste, is there? And you’ll be better by then and . . . well . . . I wanted to ask if you would be my matron of honour?’ sweetie she won't be at your wedding. if she does wake up from this, she'll need rehab because her body is probably so deconditioned that she'll need to learn to walk again and add to that the brain injury the dotor said she sustained, she won't be out the hospital right away. it'll take months. ‘I always knew our kids were amazing, but sometimes they do or say something that makes you wonder how they can be so utterly perfect.’ that's actually pretty cool and a mature way to handle that. we love will in this house. There might not be a halo above Eve’s head, but her own wings were certainly no cheap plastic offering. so she's an angel now? aren't angels divine beings? so she couldn't possibly become an angel because angels are already created by god??? i don't know. don't ask me because i am not a catholic anymore. i never listened in bible study. ‘Hey, you weren’t watching me in the shower, were you?’ i would totally ask this question. that's valid. isn't it weird that it ghosts are real then they're watching you from the afterlife doing all sorts of disgusting things. I lost my grip on you and . . . and . . . it was a momentary lapse of concentration, Eve. That was all it took, and I lost you.’ it's just so funky for me to think that she had such bad damage to her brain her face and her whole body for a fall down the the stairs? i'm not discrediting it at all because i've patients in the hospital that fall from such a small height to have bruising all over their body and they develop a bleed in their brain. so i can imagine that the damage would be horrible to fall from that height but... surely there were a lot of people going up and down the same flight of stairs that could've broken her fall. did they just freeze and watch as she plonked down each step??? ‘I’m afraid it’s not quite as easy as that, so please don’t go launching yourself off the roof or anything silly.’ i was sort of thinking of doing precisely this. lol ‘I know what you mean,’ said Eve. ‘I miss the kids. My pupils, I mean. I know my job isn’t a matter of life and death like yours can be, but we both have people who rely on us, and we’ve left them behind. I feel like I’ve abandoned them, somehow. I want to be there with them.’ give yourself more credit dude. teaching is hard. you're with kids in their formative years and in addition to their parents you have a big responsibility in making sure they know skills that are helpful to them as they grow. of course knowing that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell may not be the most helpful piece of information i use on a daily basis but learning how to be patient and working smart is one of those valuable lessons i learned from my teachers. She never realised Luca had feelings for her. Not those kinds of feelings. He had been the best companion she could ever have hoped for, and that wasn’t just because he was her only companion. He seemed to genuinely understand her. So how had they come to this? isn't it like a phenomenon where they would obviously fall for each other because they're the only ones there? As Jasmine came into the room two more fat tears escaped from the corners of Eve’s eye and rolled in tandem down her cheeks. i was going to argue and say that it wouldn't roll down her cheeks because she's lying down. it would probably flood her ears. but then i remember my mental breakdown recently and i was crying so much that my eyes were so saturated with eye sweat that it overflowed to roll down my cheeks. so i guess it's a possibility but i would think it'll fall down the side of her face first??? maybe i'm not crying properly. ‘I know what you’re thinking,’ said Luca. ‘But you have to believe me, Eve, that I didn’t let your accident happen, just so I could have you here with me.’ IS THIS PASSENGERS???? you know... chris pratt and jennifer lawrence??? right? right?? I miss having something to do with my tongue. But that seems to have changed over the past few days . . .’ i think i threw up in my mouth a little bit. ‘Alexa, shuffle songs by Ed Sheeran.’ is ed sheeran sponsoring this arc lol But Ellie had already gone. the author giveth and she taketh away. It was happening again. Someone was in her room. There were no footsteps, no opening and closing of the door, but somehow, they had made it inside. it's probably luca. he turned back into a fishboy after leaving the hospital. edit: i read further on and it's not. unless luca has a feminine voice in the real world. As soon as she opened the taxi door, a cluster of nurses in green scrubs whisked George from her clutches and onto a trolley. i've never seen this happen though. i see it in media portrayals of the emergency department or any hospital where someone in car parks in front of the entrance yells out "help" and they carry the other character in their arms and suddenly a multidisciplinary team with a barouche comes out like they've somehow been expecting the main character to do this and they wheel him in and they almost always go straight to theatre and they shut the doors on the main character and a nurse says "sorry you can't come inside" and the other character and the main character share one last look and if they're holding hands they let go and they're gone. it's such a classic. but it doesn't really happen like that in real life and i've worked in triage. i think the closest i can remember this happening (and this someone else's account) was when the family member rushed inside and tells the triage nurse or a guard (because we have guards in our department) that the patient is unconscious in the parking lot and then the nurse initiated a code or something and they lifted the person from the car to the ground and then to the barouche. we don't really get notified of expected patients that come in as a walk-in. i don't know the relevance of this. please someone kill me. ‘Security Services, let me through,’ Rob yelled, waving his ID above his head. i know this isn't supposed to be funny but one second ago he was like "yeah probably shouldn't brandish my status as a security person so i'll hide my id" and then a second later i can see him flailing his hands around clutching his id and yelling "i'm security! back off people. back off" Eve had failed Jimmy. oof No one knows why he went downhill so quickly.’ kids are pretty strong and their bodies are quite resilient to damage but one thing that i learned early on is that despite this resilience. they are quickest to deteriorate. i was looking after a child that had asthma and presented with an exacerbation. he went into the resus rooms and came out because he was stable enough with just the puffers. he went into the kids area and within the hour his oxygen levels were 88% on 5L of oxygen. emergency bells were suddenly on and we put a hudson mask on him cranked it 10L and then he was suddenly throwing up and his heart rate was disgusting and we rushed him back to the resus rooms. he ended being fine but it just showed me how quickly they deteriorate. thankfully this kid was pretty well versed with what was going on and whilst the emergency was happening, he was just taking it like a champ and doing what the doctors were telling him to do. it sucks because kids shouldn't ever have to think that being in hospital is normal. i don't know. ‘Don’t even say it, love. I know what you’re thinking, but it’s too awful for words.’ is jimmy going to die and he'll donate his kidney to george??? i know it's not possible from a realistic point of view anyway but i have a feeling it's veering that direction. She drifted down towards it. And then, there was nothing. she's not dead. don't even start with me. Five Weeks After Waking Up told ya ‘I don’t remember that,’ said Eve. ‘Don’t remember it at all. It must just have been a coincidence, I suppose.’ i don't know if it's just me but isn't eve forgetting all of her experiences in limbo make this whole thing... useless? what was the point in seeing her progress as a character when we're back to square one? ‘Why don’t you go and grab a seat over there,’ he said, pointing to a cosy booth on the far side of the room. ‘I’ll order. Skinny latte with an extra shot for you, isn’t it?’ i imagine that if he wasn't attractive he would come off as stalker-ish (hide spoiler)] i'm out of characters so go read this if you want to. it's very wholesome. i liked it. sorry this review was messy! disclaimer: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. :) ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jun 05, 2022
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Jun 16, 2022
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Jun 05, 2022
|
Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||
| B09FY9VC5G
| 4.35
| 34
| unknown
| Nov 04, 2021
|
liked it
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this is okay. i literally just finished reading this. everything just happened so quick within those last 15 minutes that i was reading this. it had su this is okay. i literally just finished reading this. everything just happened so quick within those last 15 minutes that i was reading this. it had such chaotic energy. did i like this??? sure. it was fine. i didn't hate it but i also didn't super love it. i really enjoyed the characters the most. eleni and tasia's duo was fun to read. i loved reading them play off of each other. maybe it's a twin thing. henry humble i also really liked as a character. he felt super creepy to me. mr teledis also was a convincing antagonist. spiro and the mother were also fine. everyone just felt very animated to me. they all feel like big and bold characters. which is great because i don't have to analyse them because their personalities scream at me from the pages. the plot was okay as well. it was easy enough to follow. i wasn't as invested in it as i would've liked because i was more interested in what the characters were actually doing. lol. the story sort of follows eleni and tasia as they help their mother run her inn. one night, a stranger from the storm arrives and the twins find him super sketchy. they follow him around and discover hints that he might be the Specter, the mass child murderer in Odessa. as the twins were fishing through his belongings, they un-alive him and dismember him (my favourite scene by the way). they dump his body in the catacombs. they find their way back home through the tunnels because there's this creepy old fart in the sewers stalking on of the girls. they find out the piano teacher's the bad guy. a chase ensues. the stalker dies. the teacher dies. eleni dies... or does she??? she doesn't. they get away with murder and they live happily ever after. we love it. easy. the thing i didn't like about this book was that it was set in the 1900's but i didn't really feel like it was??? i don't know how to explain it but when i've read books that were set in the 1900's, i feel it in the way that the characters talk and interact with each other and their surroundings. it's not all about like saying it's in this time period and telling me that they live in like a rickety inn and they walk on cobblestone pavements or whatever... if they banter like they're in the 21st century or something??? idk. it just takes me away from the immersion. maybe it's just nitpicky and none of this matters. i also just thought that the villian's motives would be more believable. i don't know what i'm saying. i liked mr teledis as the villian. he feels like a good villian. this nicholas kid embarrassed him by being a little shit but... killing so many kids just to cover up the fact the you only really genuinely wanted to kill one child is a bit much. i usually have a lot of notes... but i don't know if it's worth putting them all in my spoiler-y section below because there's not a lot. this book was pretty light to read. it went by so quick. but for consistency, i'll just plop them here. just no one open it. it's a lot me saying "lol". just continue reading til the end. these are my kindle notes copied and pasted here so it's garbage because there's no context. (view spoiler)[ Odessa, 9 July 1900 we support ukraine on this review. Tasia put down the scissors, flipped back to the front. Hmm… Sounds like Welsh. that's funny. The monster fell a full story to the alley and disappeared into the storm." you're leading me to think that it's this man that just came in but past experience tells me that it's not. "Killed all his wives." my name's katherine of aragpn was married 24 years i'm a paragon of loyalty... just me singing ex-wives from the musical six She rolled away. "Kiss me again, Spiro. Mother's not home…" eleni's hilarious She saw Spiro disappear into the tunnel. we love spiro's chivalry here. "Little fat nymph. Can we go home now?" that's fucking rude anastasia Eleni reached into her dress pocket and withdrew something white, narrow, and flailing at one end. In her palm was a small, skeletal hand. lol "How do you know all this?" asked Tasia. theory but what if spiro is the killer. dun dun dun just because he knows an awful lot about medical shit and he's in the police force or whatever. they would totally know how to dodge the authorities. right??? They kissed. Again, Tasia felt sick. gag Do you think Scotland Yard wrote Jack-the-Ripper saying 'Dear Jack, you've been a naughty boy! Leave the girls alone'?" i don't know if i can count this as a strike to the book but they talk a bit like they're not from the 1900's??? it just gives me that vibe. idk. "We've lost him now." it's funny to me how eleni's veyr much against tasia's antics and yet she's still following her around and stalking humble. sure she might be tagging along so her sister gets out of trouble but also... "He's got a mask. Spooky." is it tho "I think he's dead." lol these two are crazy. i love them. "I think mine is leaking," pleaded Tasia. holy shit these two dismembered him. bahahahahahaha "I don't know about hanging, but I once read a guillotined head can survive ten or fifteen seconds after the cutting. I wonder what they think about, rolling around in that little basket?" i'm just going to trust that there was research conducted in the 1900's about this theory then. i'm not super convinced though. "I did," said a gravelly voice nearby. wait. who is it??? it's not spiro. is it her piano instructor??? who is it??? i have a sinking feeling it's the music teacher The Specter was no more. okay. "I don't know, Tasia. We may need it." wtf. are they planning another murder??? (hide spoiler)] nice. i would recommend it. it's not bad. maybe the kiddos would like it. disclaimer: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. :) ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Mar 08, 2022
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Mar 14, 2022
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Mar 08, 2022
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ebook
| ||||||||||||||||
| 1955373027
| 9781955373029
| B09QXBH3S8
| 4.41
| 27
| unknown
| Apr 19, 2022
|
really liked it
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dooky. lol. let's give it a 4. why not? before we start! thank to booksirens for this. love your work buddy. i liked this book a lot. it was very enterta dooky. lol. let's give it a 4. why not? before we start! thank to booksirens for this. love your work buddy. i liked this book a lot. it was very entertaining. i read this consistently pretty much. which is saying a lot because i get bored quickly... the plot was good. even though we've had stories like this already, this one has a different take to it. we establish the treaty straight away. generations of people have to select one person to sacrifice to trahern in order to stop him from killing everyone. cool. you would think that they would train their champion to kill trahern but i guess they missed the memo on that one. then we see our other protagonists traverse through the shadowlands to save our champion. ~spicy spicy~ things happen during that. then more spoilery stuff and THEN THE ENDING. oof. i was surprised i'll say that much. i loved that our main characters are brothers (sort of our main characters). gedran and roarke are the main driving forces in this story. it's different that we get siblings rather than love interests which is most commonly what you see. although we had the addition of eislyn in the story, her romance with roarke doesn't overshadow the main plotline of saving gedran. i enjoyed the journey roarke and eislyn had through the shadowlands to save gedran. there was a lot of character development going on during that. their relationship was cute. i think i say that a lot in my notes below. the subplot of this development was a great way to make the adventure lighter. the tone of venturing through the shadowlands seems dark and ominous but this cutesy couply things going on made their situation.......less dark and less ominous lol (i have no words ffs). i was going to complain that they really went to l-word territory so soon but apparently they were in the shadowlands for weeks . the pacing of the story was also great. we didn't waffle around too much which i find with some other books. i did think that we had one too many scenes of them roarke and eislyn just camping but that's super minor. the characters were all well written. roarke in particular i think was very believable in his intentions. he loved his brother very much that he was willing to betray his dooky in order to save him. i think saving him was rooted in his love and longing for his parents because he's the only family that he has left. eislyn one of the few female characters that i've read that i think truly embody female empowerment (?) is that a thing. when i read about her i just think she's cool. she's a cool lady. she does suffer from nlog vibes. but i don't hate it. she has a katniss energy that i like. gedran, to me, feels very helpless. for someone who i initially perceived as this strong character was not... that. at all. lol. especially at the end. do something. you know. roarke's out here kicking demon tush and you're sitting there being all captured and chill. it was very funny to me. but also soz. i don't really have that much that i disliked about the book. i sort of go through the nit-picky ones in my notes. but i think the main one is that i wanted more magic. the testing was incredibly simple and i don't think showcased the magical potential the competitors have. i thought they would go a battle royale route when i imagined the testing but it's just copying someone else's spell. i also didn't think trahern was that much of a villain as he was made out to be based on that final battle. i just wanted magic. especially because that testing sequence was so interesting to me and i just left wanting more of it. ... and i don't know if it was just my copy that i got but there were two typos? but again super minor. i see it all the time with arcs. my initial notes of this are so shit. i'm so sorry. i usually have a lot to say but it's been 4 days of attempting to write this review but i'm just sleepy. let's just do my kindle notes! by the way the spoiler section are my real time notes transferred here. they don't make a lot of sense because there's no context but whatever. lol. (view spoiler)[ Chapter One to start off my notes: how do i say "Duchy". i know that i can totally just look this up but this'll be my lame attempt at pronouncing it. is it "dooky" (which is making me inappropriately giggle right now because that means poop) or is it "duh-chi" (like how you say "duchess"?) or "ducky" (like the character from land before time) i could look this up but leave me alone. i'm calling it dooky. lol. “There is a prophecy about me, Grainne, i love how trahern is explaining this. he's doing a monologue like grainne has no idea what he's talking about. surely grainne knows what the deal is. this has happened for many generations. every few years i imagine grainne having this meeting and sighing every time trahern has to explain the prophecy again. it's all just for us readers that we have this exposition. it's funny. After a testing, which shall occur every twenty years, the victor shall be sent into the Shadowlands by a portal, wherein he will forfeit his human belongings and titles. i feel like the competitors would just prefer to lose then if they know that winning will result in their death. i look at it as "so what if i prove that i am the most powerful man in the dooky if i will end up dying anyway. if i'm smart, i'll just lose on purpose" or maybe i'll send the most disposable person in the dooky with powers as a sacrifice. maybe someone on death row or something or someone who's done the most heinous crimes that they deserve to perish in the shadowland. why would you sacrifice your most powerful? maybe there's an explanation to it. it's too early to tell. “You want me to... to sacrifice each generation’s most powerful magic wielder to you. You want me to send one… one of my subjects into the Shadowlands, where you will take possession of him in order to protect yourself. WAIT HOLD UP. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THIS IS HAPPENING IN THE DOOKY. I WAS UNDER THE IMPRESSION THAT THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR GENERATIONSSSSS um hello if you don't know i'm very stupid. But, should you fail to do so…. You will all suffer. i feel like he should've consulted the residents of his dooky before making this decision. He signed the document, using his own lifeblood as iron-scented ink. this scene is like ariel signing that contract from ursula Throughout the duchy, the citizens rejoiced at the traditions that surrounded the testing. ahhhhhhhh i get it. we're fast forwarding through time and space. While each man sent into the Shadowlands became a hero of the duchy, Roarke had no desire to be a hero, nor did he want to see his brother become a martyr. so they're a hero because they sacrificed themselves for the good of the dooky. i see where you're coming from but also... no. “have you ever thought about purposely not performing well during the testing?” see roarke knows what's up. i declare him as my favourite character! i also realised that this is some battle royale type shit. or is it? “For these tests, you must pay complete attention to the spell I weave. Each spell must be completed by each of you. it's a charms lesson. swish and flick. A cheer went out from the crowd as the duke stood and raised his glass. that was it? i thought that we'd have like a full-on experience. not half a chapter of the testing. it's fine i guess. i really liked reading what was going on so i wished that there was more. Roarke tried to scream, his voice caught in his throat as his mind chanted “NO” over and over again. ... and they didn't even wash the dishes before they left. rude. She desperately wanted to be a part of it. ooooooooooooooooo eislyn. new character. i feel like i already like her. even with this short section about her i already feel like we'll be seeing more from her and her ass-kicking skills. Their once-close relationship became fraught with conflict as they both gave up their dreams in order to keep the farm afloat. i definitely know a thing or two about giving up ones dreams in order to keep my family afloat. it really sucks. but I kept holding his hand until the burial was over. omg cute. roarke and eislyn sitting in a tree k i s s i n g Chapter Five Gedran ooooooooo the chapter i was looking forward to. i am pretty excited to see the pov of the winner as they traverse through the shadowlands. i was expecting it to all be in roarke's pov and his travel to the shadowland but it's so much more full that we have gedrans perspective She flung her bow across her back she's an archer. nice. I hope they’ll forgive me for running off. DISHONOUR ON YOU. DISHONOUR ON YOUR COW. -Roarke’s travel journal. i love how he ends it with -roarke's travel journal -kafide's kindle notes not to mention that moment at his parents’ wake, he was blinded by his tears and what if you were actually a stranger to him what were you doing holding their hand during their parents funeral eislyn's the best Roarke looked her up and down as she stood, admiring the curve of her bottom. roarke you creep Me, though… I was expected to sit still, dress prettily, and apply myself to my embroidery.” um arya is that you What had she called it? He thought to himself. Something about fish? I should ask her again, but I don’t want her to think that I wasn’t listening to her the first time. this is my overthinking brain at work. She stroked the mare’sher flank and nuzzled her side before removing Roarke’s saddlebags and bedrolls. i see a typo. or is it a typo? “Not much,” she said. it's funny how she said "not much" but also proceeds to tell the tale of the shadowlands and trahern's existence. lol He slid into unconsciousness from the pain. cute. “No, we aren’t. You’re being foolish.” i don't appreciate this gaslighting behaviour sir “If you don’t want to listen, if you’d rather argue, then go home, Eislyn. I don’t need or want you here.” He watched as her eyes flashed with anger. honestly this is all just escalating really quickly. one second they're sleeping together and now they're breaking up. He knew he shouldn’t speak to her that way, but he couldn’t help it. um --- yes you can hello? “I won’t push you away again.” bahahahahahahhahahahahahah the turnover of emotions in this scene is ridiculous “Don’t be thick, Roarke. We save him. Let’s go.” let's add defeating trahern to the plan guys. it's pointless if you only save gedran because trahern will definitely know that one of the citizens of the duchy went into the shadowlands to save their champion and what is trahern going to do? kill everyone. “I’m not leaving, you idiot. I love you.” they've been really cute and all but i'm not exactly sure if i buy this. i'm so sorry. “And you love her,” Gedran interjected. “I’d have to be blind not to see how you’re looking at her right now.” why is this just so funny to me Her stomach growled, and Roarke chuckled quietly. i love how everyone is suddenly so chill your brother was kidnapped by trahern directly. can we please have some urgency. what's with setting up camp. go find your brother. “This is my life, Roarke. Mine. Not yours, not my father’s, not my mother’s. now that we've been with these characters for a bit... i'm now too scared to ask... how do you pronounce roarke. i'm saying it in my head as "rorke" buti know it's wrong. send help pls. But Gedran does.” Gedran is a fainting princess. a chagrined look on his face. we've had 2 chagrined faces in this book so far. i've never seen it used before let alone see it be used twice. we love chagrining in this book. You’re not like the other girls from the village.” I'm not like other girls *tucks hair behind ear* Roark tossed an extra set of saddlebags across the back of the horse and tied the reins to his pommel, you spelled your character's name wrong. oops. What’s his name again? Trahern thought. Putrus? Tumnus? mister tumnus from narnia Chapter Twenty-Two i just made note of this now but i've noticed it chapters ago but we're not getting pov's anymore??? i sort of understood before because roarke and gedran were together so the perspectives combine but now they're separated again and we're getting pov from tudras and trahern and from the two boys. i mean it's not difficult to know who's speaking but some consistency would be nice. “I read it, you know. Your journal.” eislyn sweetie this ain't cute you shouldn't be reading that. periodt. “Ok, then let’s plan. How do we want to do this?” Roarke asked. i love how we quickly just shied away from the obvious privacy invasion that's happened here. lol. Eight-legged, with wide, hourglass-shaped bodies and large, clicking mandibles, the strange creatures ran toward Eislyn, following the direction of her scream. eislyn keeps blowing their cover. is that just me? hahaha he walked back toward his horse. these horses are amazing. they've survived days probably not eating the right stuff because these two probably brought food for themselves. they also survived the terrible conditions they're under. none of the creatures have chosen to attack the animals standing to one side and just watching their owners get destroyed. if they have this plot armour surrounding them, i'd have them go save gedran tbh. He swung his sword in a showy arc, i just imagine his pose. and i hear yelena's voice in my head when she criticised natasha for posing. Gedran’s neck snapped, the sound echoing in Roarke’s mind as he watched his brother’s limp body sway from the momentum. this is the face crack of the century what a fucking waste. BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA “I finally remembered the phrasing of the prophecy. ‘Under a red sun, the strongest man will face the Demon Lord. Driven by what is just and right, only he can bring these shadowed lands back into the light.’ It never mentions magic, or where the strength comes from.” i don't recall reading the actual prophecy. but then again i am pretty stupid. i may have to go back and check if the actual prophecy was said. Roarke raised his sword and swung, striking him in the neck and severing Trahern’s head from his body. for someone who's half god half succubus he sure is pretty lame. i didn't really see any actual spells used. he's been hoarding all this power from the sacrifices and the final battle is reduced to weapon fighting When I call on her tomorrow, assuming her father doesn’t kill me on sight, we’ll find out, I guess. Oh Gods, I’ll have to meet her father tomorrow. dude you killed trahern. get it together. “What are your intentions?” i asked my cousin's (then) boyfriend/ (now) fiance this exact question and he was livid. BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA we went all feminist with me. it was really funny. They reminded me of you braiding the corn flowers into your hair after we defeated the Demon Lord.” i thought that they would have at least a celebration dedicated to them considering they defeated trahern but the town was pretty much like " oh yeah. yous guys are back. didn't even know you left. what? demon lord's dead. cool. cool cool". “Eislyn, will you marry me?” Roarke asked. excuse me. sir. “If you require further proof, ride west to the Shadowlands. They are no longer under a red sun, and the land has become fertile again,” Roarke said. “Trahern is gone, and the Shadowlands are no longer. They’ll need a new name now.” if you needed further proof... here's his head! OH WAIT I DIDN'T BRING IT BECAUSE I'M AN IDIOT. (hide spoiler)] nice. do i have any final thoughts? YES! please read this :) it's good. would def recommend. i was reading this and playing fire crackling sounds in the background and it's very immersive if you do it that way. it's a chill read especially if you're into adventure. disclaimer: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. :) ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jan 11, 2022
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Jan 22, 2022
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Jan 11, 2022
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ebook
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| 0960017720
| 9780960017720
| B09HQ5WWQR
| 4.48
| 46
| unknown
| Nov 15, 2021
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really liked it
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i was teetering between 3 and 4 but i ultimately, i gave it a 4 because i read this in 3 days contrary to the actual dates listed. my first impression i was teetering between 3 and 4 but i ultimately, i gave it a 4 because i read this in 3 days contrary to the actual dates listed. my first impression of this book was not the best. the cover looked very photoshopped. i hear you. it's a woman with her hair on fire. of course it's going to be photoshopped. it just doesn't look super polished. but i read the blurb (shoutout to booksirens) and i was intrigued. medical conditions, illicit affairs, star-crossed lovers, POTENTIAL MURDER AND LITERAL FIRES WITH FLAMES AND EMBERS AND ASHES. sign me up. i found myself gripped by the book once the actual affair started. it took me a while to pick this up for real once i got approval to read this (mostly because i was busy) but because i wasn't really that interested. when larry started doing illegal shit, i was suddenly glued to my computer. i don't know if it was the anticipation of my girlie erica's bff dying or the super cute chemistry between her and adam that kept me going. either way, i really enjoyed it. the plot was pretty easy to follow through. i was happy enough that there wasn't a lot of fluff going on. it progressed at the pace that was comfy. i like the plot. it's creepy and scary to think that grooming is a thing but it is. i think that younger people should be made more aware of the signs that they're being groomed. it will hopefully avoid trauma. and if this does happen to anyone, that they get help and justice. i hope that people who read this who have friends (i worded this that way bc i don't have friends), that they keep them accountable because erica is very tolerant of lindsay's behaviour. that's not right. also because this is pretty YA, i imagined the setting as a bulk standard YA small town. the characters were fleshed out enough that i don't really have any questions about them. erica was a good character. she feels like a real person. i believe her struggles with syncope. i believe her complacency with lindsay's affair because we turn a blind eye for the people that we love. i believe her crush with adam was rooted in insecurity but is very pure. lindsay's well written as well. i think she echoes the same sentiments when we're told that what we're doing is wrong. she defensive and naive which is typical for people at that age. i don't know why i wish she dies in this book but i think it's the conclusion my brain was leaning towards and when it didn't happen, i was mad. lol. adam feels very much like a manic pixie dream girl. think of a boy version of that. that's adam i think. i just kept thinking... no one's like this right. maybe that's my cynicism talking but legit no one is like this... right??? larry a shithead for everything and he's really well written. he written pretty convincingly. i can see why young girls would fall for him. i also love josephine. lol. why is this a 4 and not a 5? because it is very trope-y. that's it... and maybe because a particular character *lindsay* doesn't die. my hidden notes are my kindle notes so it's totally skippable. in hindsight, they don't really make a lot of sense because they don't have context when i transfer them onto here but it's below if you're at all interested. otherwise... my final thoughts are at the end. (view spoiler)[ “Sheep’s eyes, Erica, remember?” Lindsay said. “We’re dissecting today. You’re not the only one who felt like fainting, trust me. Half the kids in this class are green.” holy shit. for a second there i though that she died and then she woke up during her autopsy. hahahaha. “Mr. Taggert,” Lindsay explained. “His real name is Lawrence. But he told me to call him Larry.” is this grooming. this is totally grooming. lindsay is going to killed or something. “Like on CSI?” I asked. why does she sound like an airhead? aren't you smart? and 17? like on csi. okay. lol. “What flavor do you want?” he asked. “Interracial.” what the fuck. that's actually a pretty cool way to order that though. is it too risky to try this in real life? “Anyhow, Josephine doesn’t exactly make herself presentable for her husband. I think a woman should try to be sexy all the time, whether she’s at a picnic or sitting in a hospital cafeteria.” no one has to do anything to be something for someone. if she wants to be sexy then she can do that but she doesn't have to be if she doesn't want to. But still, it would have been nice if Jack had at least asked for my number, or asked to see if I was okay after I took a bite out of the dock. Maybe he was afraid he’d pick me up for a date and I’d get into his car with a snaggletooth smile. :( i want to tell her that it's not her problem that jack didn't want her number. it's jack's problem. but then on the flip side, i can understand both sides. he's being honest with himself that going out with erica is not something he can do. straight off the bat, he's being honest and not giving her flase hope into going out with her so that she can move one and find someone else. “You broke up with Adam by text? That reeks, Linds.” it does fr “That’s because my dad’s a loser who doesn’t give a crap about his family.” isn't that how it goes though? she's only attracted to larry because she didn't have a role model father. classic daddy issues. “That’s exactly why you shouldn’t rely on a man to begin with,” I told her. “Any man. No matter who he is.” tell her erica! “Do you plan to— you know— do more than just hang out with Larry?” i think the problem here is that erica is complicit to lindsay's behaviour. if this were my friend, i would call them out on this because it's not right. Did he have to leave an awesome dream to hold the large hose for the firefighters? what is this obsession with adam lol Lindsay closed the drawer, opened the medicine cabinet, checked out the labels on a few bottles, and grabbed a container of men’s deodorant. She popped off the cap and took a whiff. “Larry,” she breathed, rubbing the stick against her wrist. this is fucking disgusting. lindsay. ffs. “She’s probably delusional. Remember what we learned in psych class? How some people believe stuff that isn’t real because it makes them happy?” I wanted to say, Maybe that’s what you’re doing, Lindsay. But I did not. lol erica is my favourite character. i imagine that she should be considering that she's the main character. “Aw,” Lindsay said. “Larry says he misses me. And that he’s counting the minutes until Friday.” she's totally gonna die this friday. i can feel it in my bones. Lindsay, wearing an oversized fireman’s T-shirt below her made-up face and super stylish hair, swished back and forth on the swivel chair at my bedroom desk while I sat cross-legged on my bed. fuck. i wanted her to be dead. “So,” I said, “I was thinking, if this keeps up, I’d like to get my learner’s permit.” “To drive?” okay. even I wouldn't allow this. sorry erica but you're still at risk of syncope and driving is way to risky for you and for other sriver. I shut the bedroom door behind me, changed into my jammies, and crawled into bed, the idiotic grin never leaving my face. eep. that driving lesson was super cute. i ship it. oh and i think lindsay is super dead now. Lindsay stopped at the BP station on our way to school Monday morning. ...and she's not. One boy shouted, “This is so going on Youtube!” He hovered over me with his cell phone a foot from my face. no one says this. ...wait do they do this??? are there still high school students that do this??? I think they said. The other one is an abandoned building down in the warehouse district.” yes. fuck yes. i hope josephine burned down the warehouse. that's a bad-ass moment right there. her burning the love nest of her husband and his secret lover. i support arson in these circumstances. unless of course larry burned the building with lindsay in it to cover up his affair because josephine was catching on. “Red-flagged?” “Arson.” imagine me with a huge grin on my face with red flames in my eyes saying the word "arson". “I’m way too tired to argue,” she said. “Besides, I like you, Adam. I trust you, too. Anyway, it’s been a long time since I’ve babysat. Maybe dirty diapers will bring back some fond memories.” but like... you're a stranger. if larry or josephine suddenly rock up, then they'll see some random woman looking after their kids. that would be weird. A blond female. ffs i totally forgot than lindsay was out at the beach. i really wanted her to die in this fire. we're already half-way. am i going to get the satisfaction of her death??? “He’s only being nice to you to keep a paw on me. I’m sure there are other things he’d rather be doing on a Friday night.” that's so mean. my jaw just dropped. like wtf. But I couldn’t stand the thought of losing Adam’s friendship, especially if I was the reason. I had misdirected my anger, unconsciously shoving him between Lindsay and me like a hefty chunk of insulation. no shit sherlock “Your hair looks good like that,” he said. My stomach twisted. I tried to throw away the compliment with a joke. “The windblown look is tres chic these days.” Larry laughed. I pretended to join him. this is precisely what i would do if i felt uncomfy with anyone. lol. “As if you didn’t know,” Larry said. “And why wouldn’t he? You’re pretty and sexy and a great listener. You seem way older than other girls your age. Adam’s a lucky guy. Make sure you let him know that.” what the fuck larry. sir. Outside, the wind blew harder, causing the fake shutters to rattle against the siding. The chime on the front porch made a tinkling sound. this sounds like the opening to a horror movie. Larry Taggert was madly in love with fire. larry was totally causing all those fires. it's obvious now at this point. larry is to fire how i was to arson earlier in my notes. “I just needed a couple of days to chill,” Adam said. “I knew you were taking your anger toward Lindsay out on me. But it still hurt.” aww. “Of course you can,” she said, smiling. “You two are— what do the kids call it today— hooking up?” josephine is a hilarious gem. i hope she started the fires. He hesitated, leaned into the cab, and gave me a quick peck on the lips. a bit inappropriate in its timing but i'll take it. But that doesn’t mean they should be saved every time they do something stupid.” that's... actually correct. wow. “You’ll be wasting your time.” theory: not that this theory is based on sound information but what if adam is the bad guy dun dun dun It was Josephine. I FUCKING KNEW IT twist his arm what is it with people twisting other people's arms??? His little wifey wasn’t needed anymore; I was just another peon expected to bow down to him. i see where she fails in herself here. she based a lot of her validation from her husband instead of herself. how lucky can one woman get?” it's so trope-y yet again. the villian catching our hero and sharing their evil plans with them. then the hero will say "YOU WON'T GET AWAY WITH THIS" stuggles a little bit in their restraint and the villian says somthing snarky and chucks her cigarette in the fire and the whole thigns goes ablaze and the villain walks out and by some miracle, the hero has a secret weapon in her pocket and she break free from the restraint and she escapes before the explosion and she kicks the bad guys' butt. King Larry i read this the other way. larry king live. i used to watch his show as a kid. pretty cool old man She laughed like a madwoman. she's so evil i love it. bahahahahaha God is a woman, you believe god is a woman~ yuh. “Car keys,” I said. Adam pointed to his side pocket. they managed to steal his wallet but not his car keys? “I flew like a mother-clucking pterodactyl. Thank God that cop spotted me. Can you believe he thought I was drunk?” lol (hide spoiler)] this book is actually really good. definitely would recommend especially if you just want a light read but you still want to experience the excitement from mystery and the flutter from a romance. disclaimer: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. :) ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Nov 2021
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Nov 10, 2021
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Nov 01, 2021
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Kindle Edition
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| 6072926657
| B08YY1L9SM
| 3.94
| 985
| May 14, 2021
| May 14, 2021
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really liked it
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ahhhhh my heart. first of all. 2 weeks ain't bad. my reading has been terrible for the past few years and i don't mind the pace i'm going with the book ahhhhh my heart. first of all. 2 weeks ain't bad. my reading has been terrible for the past few years and i don't mind the pace i'm going with the books i'm reading. shall we discuss the book... i love this. i'm sorry. i thought i wasn't going to like it. i requested this book from booksirens and i wasn't intending on getting this book to hate on it. luckily i wound up loving this read. if you don't know, i run all the available arc's on a random number generator and the book it lands on is the book i read. even if the cover is the worst or the synopsis seems like something i wouldn't read, i will still have to read it. first impressions i loved the cover art. it's very artsy. whoever did the cover art will need to be given a raise. the blurb says something like "if you loved emily in paris then you'll love this". i cringed a little because of that because i've only heard terrible things about emily in paris so the description about this book was not very promising. i lowered my expectations a bit but now that i've read this in its entirety, i can see the why target demographic is the way that it is and why it's true to your expectations. the plot seems easy enough to follow. it feels like a coming-of-age type of situation. we start with billie's 20th (?) birthday and her eventual move to new york where she begins to live a semi-independent life. that's pretty coming-of-age right??? going into this with that theme in mind, it's good but it's also very trope-y. you sort of already know what to expect. some people like the formulaic nature of these books so i think it's well-written in that regard. the characters are also good. they all feel very independent of each other. for example, when i read "thomas" vs "william" vs "caleb" i picture their voices very differently which i appreciate because i've read a few books where the characters were so poorly written that all their voices melded together. billie's characterisation is appropriate because she has this naivety that we expect from someone who's been pigeon-hold her entire life (or the past 6 years). She's too trusting of all types of people I think maybe because she hasn't had the opportunity to experience the good and the bad. She makes poor choices which I find very human and very flawed of her. Which is great. love that. I'm a bit torn with Caleb because he's looking after Billie for work and I just found a lot of the scenes with the both of them very inappropriate (not a sexual way but like an unprofessional way). He feels very controlling of Billie but also caring. and the ending annoys the heck out of me because i don't want to be invested but i am. i thought thomas' character was going to go to a whole crazy different way but it didn't. he turned out to be a bulk-standard douche ivy league crazy insecure boyfriend. nice. william was a surprise sneak attack for me because i fucking hated his stupid face. from the whole brooding manner and his non-consensual ways, he was for sure someone i would burn slowly in a pit of fire. i just don't like the whole "no means keep trying" thing he has going on. but wow was he written well that i convinced myself that i was rooting for him. all of the other side characters were really good as side characters. there were a lot of them but they didn't overshadow any of our main characters. there were a few reasons why this isn't a 5 for me and mostly it's because a book has to compete with all of my other 5 star books. i hope no one browses through them because i haven't updated it and i have very questionable 5 stars but it has to be so impactful or a literary gem for me to rate it as a 5. i personally didn't find much in the book i could relate to. i know this is fictional and when would any of billie's experiences be true in the real setting??? having a super rich and politically powerful father, country-hopping every so often, having bodyguards with you 24/7, moving to new york to a big-ass apartment that you didn't pay for yourself, with your own personal household help, and 3 hot boys (and one of them's a fucking celebrity) swooning after you AND YOU'RE JUST AN NLOG. hello??? how is this real. coolbeans. there were a few dead-ends with the death of her mom, her friendships back in paris, or the relevance of cj, nina, juan pablo, mimi, david, grant, the many other relations of william (other than lily and joel), that could've been removed and it wouldn't have changed anything too drastically. the spoiler section you can skip just because it's just my kindle notes and thoughts as i read them in real-time (view spoiler)[ I turned around and asked my security detail for help. i read further ahead and i was confused why she had security and idk maybe it's a joke and that she called her male friends her "security" but now i'm thinking that she has actual security guards along with her. Wearing too much makeup wasn’t my thing, but a slightly tinted lip and peachy rose blush was my usual look. what an nlog I’m sure he found them way more exciting than dull, book reading, stay-at-home on the weekends me. i just choked on my water. “Time to go, Miss Murphy,” Caleb said in the thickest accent I ever heard coming from him— a small, and probably fake, smile drew on his face. But his full attention remained on Thomas. okay. i'm warming up to these two. “Is there anything else you know about— what happened that day?” jesus just tell us what "that day" was. “You know I’ll always be there for you.” that's such a nice thing to say. this line is so wholesome. “If you ever need a tour guide, Miss Laurent, you can always hire my daughter,” my father joked. I chuckled under my breath with embarrassment. let me guess. she's going to get this job by the time we finish the book. They knew food was my weakness— especially paella. what is this book's obsession with paella. lol For your new key to your new apartment. We’ll always have Paris. paris holds the key to her heart~ (this was an anastasia reference) soz April 17, 2009 i just realised this but why is this dated so long ago? is there going to be time jump so we get back to present day? i mean it's not a problem but i don't know why it needed to be 2009 when it can easily be 2019? “It’s okay. Please don’t worry about it. nathalie's super sus. no one's ever okay about stuff getting spilled on them “Who’s Christopher? I don’t think he’s authorized,” Caleb said with a deep crease in between his eyes. this is cute but also very wrong. i ship it but i also don't. “He’s quite gay.” Nina pressed a kiss on CJ’s cheek. i was gonna say that three boys lusting over billie is exciting but i guess cj is gay which is great because gays are superior beings I assumed Nina had told Juan Pablo about my mother, so he tried to dazzle us with the oracle act. what if juan pablo is an actual medium tho??? vanilla body splash. vanilla is pretty gross as a fragrance. fight me. If he only knew … that’s the last thing I wanted. what is this. is this a formatting issue. i know that once i copy and paste this into goodreads the font and font size will be the same but the copy i'm reading has this sentence in a smaller font size. it's weird because now this reads to me that her inner thoughts have their own personal inner thoughts. i think i had this similar problem with another book. “but I love— that you’re eating bread with butter because I love it too.” wow. game changing. 1. she loves to read books 2. she's a bit of an introvert 3. she doesn't like wearing makeup 4. AND SHE EATS CARBS. I felt for him. he's so sus though. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. i'm so conflicted. thomas and billie both have pretty heavy emotional baggage to bring into their relationship that i think they may need to settle first but then on the other hand, caleb and billie's relationship feels very toxic in a controlling way??? Thomas made me feel like I could do that with him— that I was safe. ...but then if you feel safe with someone then you know that that's your person. gahhh ffs. she felt safe with caleb too. my brain hurts. So yeah, Caleb and I weren’t as close as we used to be when we lived in Paris. :( He then told me something that absolutely no one knows. holy shit what if thomas was the one who killed his brother??? He kissed me as he’d never kissed me before— with urgency. caleb and aaron are watching with binoculars from the opposite building His eyes met mine, and a simple nod from me— an answered invitation— assured him that I was ready for him to keep deciding for me. i was gonna say "CONSENT. YES!" but then did he ask??? Caleb summoned the elevator for me and waited for it to arrive. caleb summoned the elevator. what fucking dark magic is this bahahahaha “Come on, Billie.” Lily gestured for me to follow her. billie and lily “Guille.” He pronounced it Ghee-ye. now that i know how to pronounce the name, i'm starting to like it. But he twirled me by the shoulders and crushed his lips against mine. I recoiled immediately by pushing his chest and slapping him in the face. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa “She’s a supermodel.” ~supermodel~ “It wasn’t. I mean not before—” she broke off. ooooo there's a scandal. “Promise me you won’t go anywhere without me.” His gaze begging every word to me. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA red flag red flag red flag Me: Stop texting me. W.S.: Never. just block him you idiot “It’s too short. Go change,” he said, rubbing his jaw and looking away. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA Red fucking flag. yesyesyesyesyesyesyes. all of the boys that are romantically involved with billie are toxic in a way ffs His jealousy wasn’t cute anymore. this is a stretch but this line reminds me of that viral tumblr poem from acutelesbian: A lot of people ask me what my biggest fear is, or what scares me most. And I know they expect an answer like heights, or closed spaces, or people dressed like animals, but how do I tell them that when I was 17 I took a class called Relationships For Life and I learned that most people fall out of love for the same reasons they fell in it. That their lover’s once endearing stubbornness has now become refusal to compromise and their one track mind is now immaturity and their bad habits that you once adored is now money down the drain. Their spontaneity becomes reckless and irresponsible and their feet up on your dash is no longer sexy, just another distraction in your busy life. Nothing saddens and scares me like the thought that I can become ugly to someone who once thought all the stars were in my eyes. Daddy must be proud.” holy shit. i didn't even go there. what if he's literally just dating billie just to get his dad off his back. bruh. “That’s it. We’re leaving.” welp. this is a disaster. I knelt beside him to check on his lip, and he winced as I slowly tapped it with a small disinfectant cloth, but he allowed me to finish cleaning the wound. it's such a cliche thing is media where the guy gets into a fight and gets injured and the girl pulls out a first aid kit or a cloth of some sort and starts cleaning up the wound and the guy always flinches away because it hurts or something. If his father gave his brother a hard time about being gay, maybe he pressured Thomas into dating only a specific type of girl. From what Thomas had mentioned, his father did sound like the controlling type of person. maybe this isn't it because now it'll be too obvious. “Radiohead? You’ve got a varied taste in music.” lol my brother loves radiohead and it's getting annoying. You appeared out of nowhere, gave me a glass of water, and left. That was it.” ffs what if she ends up with william *eye roll* then they're billy/billie or bill squared i'm already resenting this book for the ending that i know probably won't happen. hahaha I never knew I needed this— for someone to hold me while I felt like drowning. why would you want someone to hold you when your drowning. sorry i know this is supposed to be emotional but i'm giggling because if you're actually drowning and someone's holding you... you sink and you die. and Thomas took me away to my apartment, where he delivered on every single thing he whispered to my ear. that's gross lol We were supposed to be friends, nope. he's your bodyguard. he's doing his job. I looked at the list, and I was assigned with Benjamin Miller and Nolan Murray. i wish it weren't alphabetical. i still have chilling memories of this grouping from school and i would always be stuck with "my best-friend at the time" / "now i realised was a bully to me" person. it was a degrading time because i would always be regarded as the stupid one in those group assignments. oh! and more boys. there are so many boys we're introduced to since we began this journey. how many lady characters have we met??? the 2 friends from paris, mimi, nina, and lily. and maybe the non-present mom. and a stretch would be that girlfriend at the party. Thomas is cheating on me. Thomas is definitely cheating on me. OR THOMAS IS GAY (if i'm guessing that there were girly stuff under the bed) TWO EMPTY CONDOM PACKAGES. oh. oops. but then. maybe??? he still is??? Oh. Sweet. Mercy. this chapter's name is "Wishing and Hoping and Slapping and Punching" and this line made me giggle. it's funny. “You look a bit thinner than the last time I saw you, too. Don’t push yourself too hard. Is everything okay?” lily is an actual gem. i love her. “And you’re one hundred percent sure he didn’t use those with you?” what if he bought the packages and would take a few packets with him when he went to see you??? ever think of that??? And no, I’m not drunk.” lol at least people can get drunk. i burst out into rashes. “I’m so tired of people telling me what to do— especially you. GO OFFFFFFF ~whoo “Wait. What condoms? I would never—” WAIT. HOL UP. WHAT IF CALEB PLANTED THOSE. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Lily extended her hand and held mine for a few seconds. lily is super sus to me now. “I was having the shittiest day until you arrived.” that's cute. but NO! we musn't be swayed by william. He licked his lips and kissed me. this is precisely why we don't like william and billie together. this is unacceptable. WILLIAM’S BEDROOM was the largest one in the house. why does he have a bigger room than his parents. WAIT HOLD UP AGAIN. so...we know that william is swedish. and he's super rich or something. billie's mom was killed somewhere in europe by some unknown assassin. what if this is all a conspiracy as well??? it's the sjoberg's out to kill the murphy's??? this is probably wrong. “So, why do you get the coolest room in the house? Are you like the favorite son or something?” I asked humorously. hahaha “I don’t have Facebook.” I shrugged. facebook sucks anyway “Can I kiss you?” there we go “Your SIM card’s been installed on the new phone. Same number, company, everything.” IT'S BEEN HACKED!!! After all, we’ve been through, are you going to throw it all away just like that?” After all [pause] we've been through lol Maybe he was a private jet pilot? idiot. he's a musician or something???? or producer???? W.S.: The good news is you are going to be my wife. eep. i'm super invested now, Finally, his warm, rosy lips meld with mine, and his wandering sweet cinnamon-tasting tongue sought mine out. BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Caleb behind them like twiddling his thumbs awkwardly looking around or he's furious and steam's coming out of his ears He’s our family doctor, and um— we insist he takes a look at her.” holy shit. what if william is the family doctor. “Are you her brother?” lol if there's anything i learned in the 2 years i've been nursing, it's that you don't assume. i had a patient who was having heart attack and the lady with him stepped out for a bit and i was being casual and i asked him while he was writhing in pain "is your daughter coming back?" and he stopped, looked at me dead in the eyes and said "that's my wife". i ran away and i haven't been a nurse since. He leaned in to kiss me, and I allowed him to do it. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I fucked up. Bad. you did. AND THOMAS DID AND WILLIAM DID BY SMASHING HIS FACE INTO YOURS MINUTES AFTER YOU BROKE UP WITH THOMAS AND EVERYONE HERE IS FUCKED. “So, you’re into fucking celebrities now? Is that what this is about?” ah. he's a celebrity. “So, who’s getting the fuck out?” Aaron asked BAHAHAHAHA aaron's hilarious. And William was the promise of a future that had shattered into pieces— it vaporized in front of me in the blink of an eye. okay now we're being dramatic here. I was convinced that Thomas’s behavior resulted from his poorly dealt with grief, seeing his mother suffering all the time, plus all of the trauma generated by his father. you're making excuses for his bad behaviour. don't do that. “You really need to get Netflix, kiddo. These DVDs will be obsolete soon. The tendency is moving toward online streaming.” was netflix a thing before??? way back in 2009??? i looked up when netflix actually began streaming and it's 2007. maybe it's me but i doubt that streaming was as popular as it is today back in 2009. i feel like this is trying to be way ahead of its time??? “Hmm, from the old ones, Episode V. she's a smart one. THREE WEEKS HAD GONE BY, oof “I don’t know … Paris in New York? But I had a feeling things would change here. I thought I’d be able to stomach it.” :( Caleb placed his hand behind my neck and kissed me. i'm actually so sad rn “Okay,” he breathed softly into my selfish lips. ffs. i thought he would still end up leaving. that would've been a better ending. (hide spoiler)] overall, i really enjoyed this book soo....... the true test if a book is good especially if it's a series is if i want to read more. and i do :) disclaimer: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. :) ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Aug 28, 2021
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Sep 10, 2021
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Aug 28, 2021
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Kindle Edition
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| 1735801712
| 9781735801711
| 1735801712
| 3.62
| 274
| Feb 01, 2021
| Feb 01, 2021
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it was amazing
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points roberts has broken my 3-star streak it's a respectable five stars because i love it. it sucks that this did take me a month to read. there's no e points roberts has broken my 3-star streak it's a respectable five stars because i love it. it sucks that this did take me a month to read. there's no excuse as to why it took me a long time. i've just been in a reading slump. it's not because of this book so please please please read this. it's amazing. mostly it's because i've been non-stop reading since 2017 and it's been book after book after book and also that my brain cannot fathom another year where i am playing catch up with this reading challenge aaaaannddd i'm stressed about work. excuses excuses *sigh* okay. let's talk about point robertssss I love this. When I shuffled my Book Sirens recommendations and I landed on this I was a very happy chap. The cover alone was enough to have it rank high up. It's simple. minimalistic. intriguing. mysterious. eye-catching. it tells me all i need to know about the book. that there's a mystery going on and this girl is trying to solve it. The premise and the set-up is unique. From the get-go, the idea of a small town that deletes February from their system is a good concept. It hooks you right in. It makes you ask all the right questions. It's such an interesting plot where murders were exclusive to February. I love how the driving force of the plot is Liza and all of the shenanigans in the town during her first February began and ended with her. The twist at the end was something I didn't expect and I was thinking it would go one way but it went another. I'm very stupid so maybe everyone else who read it got it but I certainly didn't. This is why we should pay attention kids. Essentially, murder and mystery are genres of fiction I like reading. I love that even with how big the cast of characters are, they all seem relatively fleshed out. The characters are strong enough to stand on their own. They have their own voices and they feel distinct to me. The five main characters are unique characters and they all bring something different. The antagonist didn't feel super convincing and the cop-out motive of craziness was not my favourite but I think it still works. The tone is dark and mysterious but there are periods of levity and lightness. I especially loved the scene where the Liza, Maude and Colette were in Honey B's and having a Girls Night. And that coughing fit Theodore had at the end. it still makes me giggle. The book also has a lot of contemporary references which were nice to read. This book made me listen to La La Land again. As much as I would love to praise this book, the ending did drag for a bit. I found that it's such a trope that all antagonists MUST reveal all their motives right around the end and they have to do a whole spiel when they disclose all this information. I'm glad that there was enough self awareness that the characters acknowledged that it was taking too long otherwise it wouldn't be super realistic. I also didn't find Liza's connection to her Pa that convincing??? Grant and Colette were a bit meh overall. It felt like I was being pushed to be invested in their relationship when there was none to begin with??? there was one typo somewhere in the book. I don't know that I have much to say so I'll just get into my notes because knowing me... I will run out of characters. By the way! It's all hidden under 'spoiler' purely because it's a copy-paste of my kindle notes as i was reading so if you don't want to read it then you don't have to open it. It's large and in charge. (view spoiler)[ Part I The Town That Skipped February straight off the bat: I am intrigued. A map at the beginning means we're going on an adventure. "The Town That Skipped February". Please tell me more. With no high school in the town itself, she and the other local teenagers had to ride a bus up through Canada and back down into the mainland of the United States just to get to class every weekday. that's a weird set-up. i can understand that canada's schools are closer in proximity but also you're going into a different country everyday? the amount of times you have to present your passport must be abysmal. He lost his balance immediately, his eyes connecting with Liza’s in shock before he fell backward, i was about to make a joke saying that he died but he actually dies and now i'm really sorry. oof. “I’m sorry Mr. Price, they seem to have been temporarily misplaced. I’m sure we’ll find your husband’s ashes in no time. we love an old gay couple <3 but also RIP. His own HIV-positive status had yet to progress to AIDS, as his late husband’s condition had before his death, but he was kidding himself if he thought he had the same amount of energy as he used to. HIV/AIDS is a now a chronic illness. you can live as long as you possibly can if you look after yourself well enough. science is amazing. cup of mint tea mint tea is vile and i will fight anyone who argues with me. why would you drink something that gives you that toothpaste feeling. it's disgusting. the teenage girl who had sprinted past his house yesterday in such a hurry, holding the book he had thrown into the ocean the night Bill died. did you weigh it down. are you an amateur? pffffffft his brilliant plan— what if you have a medical emergency. are people allowed to be helicoptered in and out of the premises??? My favorite month of the year,” Emory admitted without guilt. it's controversial yet brave. in all honesty i would be curious to live in point roberts in february. maybe i'd like it tbh. Colette reached for a paper bag and slid one in his direction. It flew across the counter and hit him in the center of his enormous belly before plummeting to the ground. that's a bit much. it's also very rude. And my beloved wife, Amelia Schultz.” here i was theorising that emory was the murderer and now i find out his wife was killed. it does still make me think that had his wife not been murdered, he would've continued to ignore the changes that needed to be made in order to stop the killings. but that's just me. As I’m sure you know, she was killed the year after your grandfather. what. okay. i'm scared that i'm not reading properly. i thought it was 1 murder every year? so if fisher was 5 and dawkins was 7 and she said a year after your grandfather, then it's not 1 murder a year??? i need to re-read again. aaaaaaaa Our goal is to find answers and to end the regime of Mayor Schultz. the way you do that is by voting for other politicians that align to your beliefs. “My name is Bianca Schultz. I am the daughter of Emory and Amelia. plot twist of the century. she was a weird, reclusive old woman who lived in a spooky-looking house from which she never emerged. i would gladly be a maude. “Dad told me about her. He was the only one the Schultzes let visit Bianca from the outside. He was her doctor. Once he was gone, they asked me to replace him.” this is me theorising even though i know it's definitely wrong but please indulge me. JON IS THE KILLER??? jon's totally the killer i'm going to be mad if he is because this makes it really obvious. Maude’s triumphant return to society was truncated by the force of a redheaded girl who ran into her at full speed, knocking Maude to the ground and tarnishing her spotless yellow dress. what if liza's been running since that day on the beach. that's funny. or maybe this is the same day??? and all the other events were in the past and we're now getting into present day territory. Part II Stranger Strangers what a good intro so far. i'm getting ahead of myself but o'm feeling like i could give this book a 5 stars right away aaaaaaaaaaaaaa i'm so excited I mean, imagine, five murders happening within one month in a town as small as this. It was insanity.” ooooooooooooh okay. i get it. it was weird that there was one murder a year and there were 15 and then it's been 20 some odd years later. February in 1987, so the murder spree only spanned 3 years??? 5 murders a year. roughly one murder every 5-6 days??? Robert Turner. it's jon. don't lie to me book. it's jone isn't it. i'm going to keep harping on that it's jon and watch me near the end it's revealed that it's actually someone else. Susan Kaiser was shot in the face aaaaahhh wtf “You’re starting to sound like a character from some thriller show on ABC. I don’t like it.” why does this book feel like it's happening in real-time? i find that most books would just make up shows or books or famous people as minute details but because this book actually mentions current and real-life references, it feels more genuine??? i don't know. “That’s one I haven’t heard before. It’s hard to believe he’s really the president.” “I still can’t believe he beat her,” how recent is this book??? was this in reference to the 2016 US Presidential Election? i would've preferred cheeto but meatball is acceptable bright-orange man in DC okay. yup this is donald we're talking about. bread dust in her hair, but she didn’t care. bars It was sad she had to use such tactics, but she had an inkling that Emory was attracted to her. Bending over in her short, fitted dress— her long legs on full display— would distract him further. sweetie no ffs Had the mayor figured out the identity of the Slayer? now i'm worried that it's not jon because he's the main suspect and it's tooooo obvious. throw me curveball why don't you I watched Jon Templeton kill my mother, Amelia Schultz, right in front of me. IT IS JON TEMPLETON HAHAHAAHHAHAHAHA and here i am going bat shit crazy because i refuse to believe that it was that simple. “Jon Templeton is dead.” oh. Instead, he had to tiptoe over the messy piles of blood he found spread all over the kitchen and dining room, being careful not to leave any footprints that would tie him to the crime. wait what. i thought jon killed amelia???? huh??? hello??? is this a mistake??? “He had a heart attack a few months ago while going for a morning jog along the ocean not far from our beach house in Moclips. how uneventful. I don’t know much about her identity, but I know she’s here, somewhere in Point Roberts, and I’m going to find her.” it's liza isn't it? I saw her yesterday morning coming out of that hotel. what if jon's not actually dead though “Liza . . . I’m your mother. And this is your grandfather.” it is liza ...add maude to the list as her grandmother. let's not gloss over that revelation too. And for the very first time, she would drink wine. are you even allowed? La La Land see what i mean? this feels very real. i love it. can i also just say that its winter here in australia right now and this feels so much like a winter book. i love the comfort feel that it gives even though it's mystery novel. Not La La Land. It shows that the ending you expect is not always the one you get. i'm getting a strange feeling that the author really loves la la land A rerun of Friends isn’t going to make you feel that way. i take offense to this. hahahaha “Amelia Schultz, my mother, killed fourteen people in Point Roberts between the years 1987 and 1989. I just have one remaining question to find the answer to.” aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa “Well, Amelia Schultz is dead. So the question now is . . . who killed her?” it was bianca. if you're telling me that she has sections of her subconcious blocked and she had periods of forgetfullness during that night then she would've definitely repressed something so vile and gruesome such as killing her own mother This was the story of an evil mayor hungry for power and the return of a daughter who’d long been forgotten. i hope this is the actual story now. you know what would've been helpful. if the chapters were broken into dates throughout february. because i don't how far into the month we are. he told me forming a society to discuss the Fifteen was a waste of time. this society hasn't really achieved much for the many years since its inception so i think theodore was pretty much correct in not accepting the invitation. he had hindsight. “It wouldn’t have been weird,” Grant said. “We would have welcomed you in.” omg they should totally kiss Toward the end of that February in ’89, his lifeless body was found tied to a ship at the marina, bobbing in the water alongside the boat’s hull like an inflatable buoy. surely it's not just amelia. how would she have done all of this on her own??? “Emory fucking Schultz,” bahahahahhahahahahha where is everyone???? you have 2 people attacking your 15+ membered group. hello??? can someone else help in restraining these cloacked figures??? Liza had met the Point Roberts Slayer on the first day of February. this is such a good callback though. i love this. Theodore, Colette, Grant & Maude this is actually so thrilling to read. the break from this chapter feels like when i'm watching a movie or a show where the protagonsist finally confronts the antagonist and the camera pans to them and they're looking at each other all intensely and the screen cuts and cut to commercial break and when we come back it's the same scene and still so intense and the next second, action happens. I momentarily lost myself. are we in first person now? oh. okay. umm--- I scolded him, all the while my heart melting just a little as I registered his reappearance in my life. wait. are they going to be together now??? i didn't expect this. at. all. what??? i didn't think it'd be a thing. i liked them better platonic. i always pictured grant as middle-aged-old type of person and very haggard so it's weird to think this classic parisian woman image i see of colette would be into scruffy old man such as grant This was not the time for romance. you are very much correct. I want nothing more than to talk to Amelia, to figure out why she did this. so far we don't have much a motive other than she's just plain crazy. i would love a legit explanation instead of that cop-out answer. It had been four days since Liza and Bianca had been kidnapped, i think we're past february or we're literally at the tail end of it and you guys haven't found them yet. they're all probably frolicking out in canada for all we know. i'm stressed You weren’t even born when I left Point Roberts. okay. maybe he's not old. i figured he'd be a recluse like maude 11 months of the year so i thought he'd be scraggly but i guess he isn't. can i just say... this is an excellent arc. a giant fit of hacking coughs check it: everyone else in a semi-circle around amelia serious and all while theodore is having a coughing fit in the background It already felt as if they’d been listening to this wicked woman talk for hours. At this rate, it’d be morning before she was done. lol He was a homosexual. he was a ~homosexual~ Liza was tired. i love how everyone was just over it. like wrap it up sis. you're taking too long. “You can’t let your conscious rest easy just because my seizures stopped for a while after those murders. ***conscience*** or maybe conscious works and i'm just an idiot? And then she ran him over with his own car— ten times— before disappearing back into the dark from which she’d emerged. holy shit. lol. A dark bird had killed him. this book has a thing about birds. hmm. the bird who killed pa, this white bird now with liza and then the bird that perched on collette when she attended bgs “I hate to break it to you, but throwing a book in the sea as a means of discarding it definitely doesn’t work in Point Roberts,” Theodore said. “I know from experience.” hahaha. that's funny. So I gave them my hand. HUH??? SHE'S BEEN HAND-LESS FOR THIS ENTIRE TIME did i miss something??? “So you’re saying this huge charade that’s been going on for nearly thirty years was designed to keep one woman out?” twas a good plan in a way Bianca had been dead for half an hour by the time the police arrived. it's a bit slow for a small town. initially struggling with a way to secure Amelia since she only had one hand. how do you handcuff someone with no hands? (hide spoiler)] cool. i really enjoyed this book and i recommend it to everyone. please read this and please love it. it's winter here in australia and it's such a winter/rainy/thunderstorm/night book to read. you know what i mean. thanks to booksirens for blessing me with this and the author for conceiving this. i've been desperate for a good one for a while. disclaimer: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. :) ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jun 03, 2021
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Jun 29, 2021
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Jun 03, 2021
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Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
| 9781734511208
| unknown
| 3.69
| 35
| unknown
| Jul 07, 2020
|
liked it
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“I’m your one-and-only love machine.” bahahahahaha i'm going to be honest and say that this book is okay. teetering on meh territory. and i hate that “I’m your one-and-only love machine.” bahahahahaha i'm going to be honest and say that this book is okay. teetering on meh territory. and i hate that i'm saying that. i don't hate this by any means but i don't necessarily love it either. i got this book from booksirens (shoutout) and how i choose my arc's is to shuffle all of the titles and i get picked one by random by random.org and when i landed on this, i wanted to give it a fair shot. i've read books on there that didn't strike me as interesting but after reading it, i loved it. so i wanted to give this the benefit of the doubt. first impressions. the cover was... not my favourite. i get that this is an arc but it just looks... not good. when i read the prologue (or chapter 1), i was really interested because my imaginative juices were flowing in how the scene was playing out. the whole negotiation thing was very mysterious in its feeling. nice. love that. but then we get into gay stuff. WHICH IS FINE. i was the idiot and i didn't read the genres and the first one was "gay romance". when i saw the title and the cover, i went immediately to "sci-fi". so i was under the guise that this book would be exclusively sci-fi with a trickling of romance in there and i went into this with the wrong expectations. my fault. i'm not giving a strike to this book because of that. the book holds true to the genre it presented to me. it was half-and-half of those two genres. darion and tolrek was okay. the sex scenes were a bit excessive and sometimes out-of-the-blue. their romance was the aspect that kept me reading. everything else plot-wise was okay. it wasn't exciting. i just felt very passive the whole time. the story didn't really grip me even with all the revelations at the end. the worldbuilding was okay. the sci-fi bits were easy to digest. i'm still a little confused as to where this is all going but i'm thinking this is purposeful because it should build up to the next book in the series? i don't know. i think that i just didn't feel like i cared enough for these characters. i think it's because i didn't really know them at all and so it was difficult to be super invested??? i make no sense. the characters were a bit funky in that everyone's characterisation felt similar. i think it's just me. like all of the characters sound to me like they're impulsive but they have a soft-side to them. the timing in the book is also very funky. time doesn't exist in the book. or at least we're not told right away that a period of time has elapsed until later in the plot when they're reminiscing. i don't know if i've explained anything properly. i mention this in my notes but think GOT season 8. everything happens so quickly. it's a 3 out of 5 because it's just... okay. let's go to my kindle notes. you can skip these because these are my thoughts as i reads through the book. (view spoiler)[ Chapter 1 the cover. of this. book. oof. The Prime Minister i love that it's not a monarchy for a change. most dystopian novels are predominantly led by the monarchy (at least the ones that i've read) cue in several people enumerating books that don't have the monarchy system. note: my brother pointed this out to me because he's obviously more intelligent... but he said that they fact that there is a prime minister means that they are working under a monarchy. like how us in australia have scomo as our PM and we still serve the queen liz or something. idk. it makes sense. i'm just very dumb. the majority possessed warm brown hues. isn't it intersting that there's a prediction that many many years later the world population will have a brown-ish complexion because all the races would have converged? i guess this theory is a reason why supremacist behaviours are happening. “From what I’ve learned about Tolrek, he has a strong ego.” i read one of the genres to this book and it said "gay romance" eep. is it darion and tolrek. aaaaaaaaa That’s why we need to affect him on a deeply personal level.” omg love. Tolrek had been sentenced to serve two decades in prison. that's not bad though. 20 years in prison. he'd be 48 when he's let out. there's still heaps that he could do. “Fine. I won’t hurt him.” Fei shimmered away, leaving with an echo. “Unless it’s necessary.” fei is my favourite character. :) “I call this the Negotiation Room,” umm------- we're getting into the 50 shades of grey territory this early on into the story. at least let me get to know these characters first jeez. no need to rush. Darion processed the mix of lust and confusion that flooded Tolrek’s eyes. i love how this isn't awkward at all. somehow, there's a feeling of normalcy that people of the same sex are going at it. it's not questioned. we can only hope to progress into a society where we get to a point of comfort and acceptance. ...then again, maybe darion is naturally a confident person and that's why this doesn't feel weird? (not that it should it feel weird. idk what i'm saying) as they gave into the curiosity that had started years ago. wait. they were having thing years ago??? pray do tell. “Twice a month, since I turned 15, the VSB’s staff has taken my blood and semen. That didn’t stop, even after I was sent to prison.” this made me chuckle. they've just been taking samples from him for no reason. or they've been using his semen to good use and he's now the dad to millions of children. Darion cursed, slipping a hand below the water to finish what Tolrek had started. he just came in the water. bahaahha that's gross. baths are really gross. aren't you just stewing in a pot of your own filth? that's disgusting. showers the way to go. Get to the Negotiation Room.” okay. it thought this book would be more focussed on sci-fi stuff with a little sprinkling of romance (?) but i think i'm wrong? i feel like we're heading into eroticism here and there's nothing wrong with that and maybe it's my fault for not reading the exerpt and i judged the book by the cover and i read the title and thought it would be sci-fi but it actually isn't? there nothing wrong with the direction this book is taking but if we get majority of the plot points with these two wanting to fuck each other then i'm going to not enjoy it as much. i'll finish the book but now i have to re-frame my expectations to suit the intended purpose. “If we’re talking about relationships, what of you and Reya?” Darion asked. omg everyone's gay in this book. love that. i was watching carrie hope fletcher's reading vlog and she read this particular book where the premise was a world where people looked at single people the way they look at people in a relationship??? does that make sense??? in this reality we look at single people in a pitying way sort of like "aww. you'll find someone one day. don't worry" whereas in the book, it was in reverse where you judge a person in a couple like "aww. you'll break up someday. relationships aren't forever". ths note is completely unrelated. i just wanted to share because maybe it's this concept where everyone's just gay and being cis is the minority... or maybe it's all equal??? “I didn’t want you to be miserable.” what is darion's motive. i know i'm early on into the story but i cannot grasp what motive he could have. surely it's not just sexual because that's too obvious? i think it's involving his imprisonment? but would'nt darion know because from the beginning these two were involved? idk. Tolrek took a bite and hissed in pain. it's such a trope that i see in movies that a person (oftentimes a man) will take any punch and torture but the moment the littlest of discomfort happens (i.e. dabbing a wound with a piece of cloth) it's suddenly the most painful thing in the world. When Halsam left, Darion went to the window and stared out into the night. Trees swayed in the wind, as clouds drifted over the moon. Heavy raindrops began falling on the window panes, distorting the view of the landscape. so dramatic. hahaha He felt heat under his skin, as experiences he’d hoped would remain private were paraded on film. this breaks my heart. tolrek trusted darion. wrong of him to do so “I didn’t know this would happen.” Darion stared pointedly at his friend. “It wasn’t intended for the public.” WHAT DID YOU THINK WAS GONNA HAPPEN this is frustrating Tolrek breathed in deeply, as he sat cross-legged on the floor of the multipurpose room. tbh tolrek has no right to sulk because he's someone's pet. darion could literally tell him what to do and he has to do it because he owns him. this is controversial but this is the system that i'm gathering from the book. darion owns tolrek, right??? nevertheless, you should never own other people. people are not items to own. they are their own person with rights. “Oh good. I have your attention.” Tolrek gave him a wide grin. “Let’s take a trip to the Negotiation Room.” wait did tolrke do something??? i thought that grin beofre was because he forgave him and they're going to boink like crazy but now i'm thinking that tolrek has somehow manipluated the tech around him and is influencing the darion's head ache. lol what if i'm legit reading into this too much. Warmth grew in Darion’s heart, when Tolrek remained silent but squeezed his hand. what is this sentence? Arjan shook his head and laughed. I honestly don't know if I should take this book seriously because everyone feels like they're buddy buddy with each other even though there is some ranking/ power dynamic in the household “I should have returned sooner, hyakon,” Darion said. “I am sorry to annoy you.” is hakyon is mispelled or is hyakon mispelled? Darion put his hands on Tolrek’s hips and looked up at him. “I want to be with you.” darion. you lieeee. why are you inviting your ex to meet your new boyfriend though. why have dinner with him there. why interact past that. why be left alone with them. why act so defensive if you definitely have no feelings for your ex? boiiiii wat “On your thigh or on your ass?” Javio asked Darion. “You choose.” AH FFS chase after tolrek you fucking idiot aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa “I’m staying at Javio’s place tonight.” this is gaslighting behaviour and i don't like it. “You can control what you do because of them.” tolrek has a good point. #TeamTolrek He wondered what it would be like to live here with Darion, without being a Pet. i'm very cynical and there's a huge part of me that's not buying this? like... once the collar's off, tolrek will escape??? An empire can’t call itself powerful, when its children are suffering.” tildar is the ideal that earth wishes it is. but humans are selfish and greedy. ...and there's my cynicism talking again Makena waved a hand. “You shouldn’t deny Tolrek a unique pleasure. Must this trip only be about you?” makena is a gem. all grandmothers are gemssss. “Do you need this spectacle to feed your ego? Have you no pride?” bless whenever he explored Darion’s patterns. i don't like the idea of people exploring other people's patterns. it makes me uncomfy. it's like that avatar hair sex thing. *shudders* “For one thing, I doubt you’re Vaironian.” just send tol's spit to 23 and me. we'll find out through that. it's that easy. For one thing, you’re not an orphan. Would you like to meet your mother?” what wait. this information was just sprung out of nowhere. slow down. wtf why are we rushing into this information? time is a construct in this book. it feels like we're going so fast with the narrative but it's actually been a significant period of time. i wouldn't have noticed that it's been weeks since the release of the video had darion not mentioned that it's been a few weeks. the time progression in this book is very much game of thrones season 8 “All right. You’ll no longer be a Companion. see what i mean. it's done. he's no longer a pet. nolan didn't think about it. it was instantaneous. it doesn't make any sense why he would rush into a decision of this magnitude. we're talking about someone who was a (maximum security?) prisoner who has untapped potential and who is pretty pissed right now and not thinking straight and you grant him his freedom willy-nilly. excuse me? “Director Khane can brief you. Do we have a deal?” i feel like tolrek shoud've heard the restrictions first before jumping into this. why is everyone so reckless in this book “So, you’re still speaking to him, even though he left me.” he left you because you're toxic sir Parts of the ceiling fell and he released his bioelectric powers, creating a shield around himself and Izaria. He was trying to enlarge the shield to protect others, when an electromagnetic pulse rippled through the area. Darion’s sphere flickered, and he hissed in pain, as his skin sizzled under the force of the EMP. ahhhh so he's like violet from the incredibles? Tolrek has rare aspects, which make him especially dangerous and valuable. to be honest tolrek should've seen this coming. i think i pointed this out earlier about how they kept getting samples from him and i thought that was weird and i said that he was fathering millions of kids but it turns out his dna is being used to create superhumans??? (hide spoiler)] would i recommend this book? i honestly don't know yet. you can if you want to but i don't think you're losing anything if you don't read this. would i read the next book? probs not??? maybe??? if i'm absolutely out of things to read??? you know what. just go read it maybe you'll love it. disclaimer: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. :) ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Apr 14, 2021
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May 07, 2021
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Apr 14, 2021
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ebook
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| 9798686197770
| B08QFLFV28
| 4.47
| 109
| Dec 15, 2020
| Dec 15, 2020
|
really liked it
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I like this a lot. Please read it. BookSirens had my back this time round. Have you ever had that feeling of when you are reading a book so good that yo I like this a lot. Please read it. BookSirens had my back this time round. Have you ever had that feeling of when you are reading a book so good that you look forward to finishing it? I think I haven't had this feeling since Gone Girl? and I read that a little over a year ago. I took more time out of my reading time to pick this up. I read this before going to bed because I was gripped by it. I was *that* invested. This is the first time in a looong time that I've read a full length novel in a week. It is unheard of from me. The reason it's not a 5 (which was initially a 5) was that the ending bit was not exactly my favourite. It did follow a lot of tropes. There was a plot hole - ish. I wasn't fully convinced with the main characters' ability. There were a few typos. It's very (in my opinion) heavily reliant on the sex scenes (which i don't mind pop off sis but it was one too many for me). Little nit-picky stuff like that. It's a high 4 so it's not a bad thing. I love this. The story was good. I think I mentioned it in my notes that it's like That's So Raven with Sydney's visions. We follow the trials and tribulations of Scowling Tucker as he navigates his new life in Madisonville where he meets Sydney. They have this trope-y haters to lovers relationship with a heaping amount of sexual tension. You almost just want to lock them up in a room and get it over with. Throughout the book, Tucker is haunted by his past life in Chicago that involved the death of his brother Garrett. As their relationship progresses, Sydney attempts to rid him of his demons with the help of her gift. Cool. Again, it's very trope-y. Predictable at times. But I like the book. It's a very easy read. The setting of Madisonville is so clear in my head. i just looked up what madisonville actually looks like and holy shit it looks exactly like what i imagined. I don't remember from reading this if the settings were vividly described but I appreciate that it read so easily that it wasn't a struggle to see the characters where they were. Characters. I like Sydney. I still don't understand the potential and limits of her gift though. I don't get it. She gets fragmented visions that come true? But then we would have scenes where she was in a church and everything was all bloody and at the end Garrett was calling her "Little Bird" but I thought that it was Tucker who called her that? I don't know but she's a good character though. I love her hustle. She has 4 different jobs? I know some of those are volunteering but still. It's refreshing to see someone who's genuinely a good person. One really major flaw that I have of Sydney is that I think she exists to serve the progression of Tucker. Like she's not a solid character. I know she had that story line about her parents but I don't think it was super fleshed out. But that's just me. I feel like I was more invested in Tucker than I was for the both of them. I don't know what I'm talking about. I like Sydney. soz. Tucker's a great character. Aside from the fact that his defining character trait is him scowling a lot. He's a flawed character and I enjoyed reading about his development. He drinks a lot which I'm concerned about his liver for. I love that, like Sydney, he's also a good person. The resolution he had with Lexi's family was a good scene, it showed his vulnerability even better than when Sydney was trying to coax it out of him. I was going attest to him being a good cop but then I realised that no one decided to check if actually fired two bullets that day with Garrett. lol. All of the other side characters were amazing. They all stood out so well and they all felt like they supported the main characters in their own way. p.s. I kind of sort of picture these two as Rachel McAdams and scruffy Ryan Gosling The Notebook era. High-key you should read this :) If you don't want to read my notes then skip this spoiler-y section. It's literally a collation of my Kindle Notes. (view spoiler)[ "I will always love you." and iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii will always love youOUouOUou What can a reoccurring sex scene be trying to tell me other than, “ you really need to get laid”? yes. everyone's just horny. i don't know if anyone's reading this inevitable "review" but currently as of January 2021, we're in covid times and everyone's getting pregnant or getting engaged and then getting pregnant. it's hilarious how this is a thing. everyone's just stuck in their pod. i have to listen to stuck with u now. The only therapy I need is made in Belgium and has four point eight percent alcohol content. with how sad i am most days, i should be an alcoholic but i'm alergic so i can't even use that as a coping mechanism. I need anonymity. you and me both budddyyy. i think tucker is... relatable? Yahoo Maps. what? weren't you literally googling something??? who uses yahoo maps when you have google maps which is far superior??? Funny word, gift. this is exactly like that's so raven Even at thirty-one, I’m constantly struggling with it all. you know what's great so far? is that we have a protagonist that is not a teenager??? most protagonists that struggle with life is an adolescent and it's sort of a given that they will have difficulties in finding out their identity and purpose. when you're an adult, people generally assume that you already have your life figured out. so reading that this character that we follow is having a crisis is reassuring that me at 23 like it's okay that i don't know what i'm doing yet and i'm figuring it out and i have time. I’ve come to the conclusion I’m not meant to have that kind of connection. Not a real one with romance and butterflies and all the other things that come wrapped up with love. aww sweetie. don't give up. you'll find someone. stop being in my head. He’s so pretty for a man. sydney is me everytime i see ash. it's disturbing It’s actually kind of nice to look at. i was about to comment on the fact that i don't feel *ANY* spark or chemistry between these two characters and now i kinda sort of do. aaaaaaaaa No harm in enjoying the view while spiraling into oblivion, right? ha! I find a small strip mall with five or six stores: groceries, liquor, hardware, hair, and one of the tiniest bookstores I have ever seen in my entire life . What else could one possibly ask for? sounds like a great life to be honest I ignore the goosebumps I get from the sound of his voice. the tension is killing me When I’m finally within reach, I finger the waistline of her skirt. The curiosity is killing me, much like she is. do you know that michael scott meme where he just scream no. that's me now. dude i get you're fucking horny and i bet she is too but please don't touch her. it ain't cute. it ain't funny. it ain't anything but inappropriate. i don't like it. IS ANYONE AROUND??? DON'T YOU HAVE A DATE RIGHT NOW SYDNEY. "Not tonight, Romeo." if this isn't the best line delivered by any character then i don't know what is hahahah Just 'cause he's older, doesn't always mean he's right, Tuck. hmm. That I believe him to maybe, possibly, potentially being my husband at some point in time. the fact that she's verbalising this makes me feel like this isn't going to happen. please dear god don't ruin this for me. His scowl tells me he’s bitter and tired. he's always scowling. "It's okay," nope. it's isn't okay. what are you doing? “I need to speak to you about Tucker Chase and his possible involvement in some suspicious activity back in Chicago." okay what the fuck??? didn't you just slide your tongue down her throat? I don’t hesitate at her command; i love imagining a flustered tucker. sets him in his place, you know? he must be really sober right now. he's not scowling. "How about you take me out to dinner?" THIS IS A RUSE. THIS IS ALL A FUCKING RUSE. IT'S A TRAP. IT'S A TRAP. DON'T DO IT TUCKER. NOOOOOO he's going to jail Men. They're all the same. uh-huh "Oh, so it's Tucker now, is it?" She giggles. gran is my favourite person. protect her. I could give her grief, press her for answers about her own social life, but I let her go. i can imagine her with her old lady friends in a getaway car outside of the restaurant with binoculars and just spying on their date. She swallows again. "I want you. " i don't think i've made a note in a hot second. i'm just so engrossed in all this. He breaks the kiss long enough to reach for his wallet and ask if I’m sure. we love a man who asks for consent but why is he reaching for his wallet? ok i just read further and he's getting a condom. bahahahaha PROTECTION IS NECESSARY. The front door opens suddenly. oops. BAHAHAHAHAHAHA pov: you're gran and you've come home and you walk to the front door and hear fornicating sounds inside your home also.... this interrogration has gone completely sideways. The radio to the Chevelle turns on out of nowhere. is the tv turning on and the chevelle turning on and off randomly all connected somehow??? "Garrett, stop!" i'm not sure if this a rule or something but you're not supposed to say another during this time. this is ross' wedding all over again "Shooting your brother." aaaaaaaaaaa i knew this was coming aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa "That maybe she's wrong about you." is this a trope. is a trope happening???? isn't this a common trope that happens. a protective figure (mostly parental) tells the protagonist's love interest that they're not good enough for the protagonist. then the love interest reflects, realises this to be the case because they're too torn from their past. so they run away. but the protagonist notices this. they confront the protective figure and says something along the lines of "you don't know what's right for me. i do and i love them!" then they storm off to find the love interest and stop them from leaving and they profess their love for each other but not before the love interst enumerates all the things wrong with them and the protagonist reassures them. they kiss and they live happy ever after. the end. is this what's happening??? if it isn't then this whole paragraph has been for shite. "You're right, I don't. But first impressions aren't exactly speaking on your behalf, if you feel me." "Oh, I'll feel ya." heh. they start just touching each other. lol i'm a child. fuck off. So I turn and deck him. He stumbles backwards, almost into the river, is this not illegal lol imagine he actually falls into the river and gets eaten by the alligators. "And maybe a list of potential places that are small, dank and—" She kisses me. syndey's character is so weird. she somehow can't read situations. like... yelling out tuck's brother's name while having sex. forcing him to open up about garrett when he obviously doens't want to talk about it, making advances when he DOES want to talk about serious shit. "Are you aware of the top five erogenous zones on a woman?" um i thought there were as as per monica on friends "I'd rather send someone to jail than give them an easy out, Sydney. I typically shoot to wound, to stop them. Not to..." okay this is me predicting something. hear me out. it's christian??? or whoever it was that was with him when he found garrett??? christian shot garrett then said what have you done tucker and then he thought he had done it? that's why christian's always calling because he wants to have a feel if he's getting sus??? i don't know. i'm readinf further on and christian is just so sus Chicago might be where I was born, but Sydney’s home. awwwwwwwwww bahahahahhaaha i can't leave me alone I figured that at some point I must have fired at him again because we found two bullet wounds. One in the shoulder, the other..." uuuuuuuuuuu i'm so mad what is thisss ooooooooo this is like a plot hole or something. i don't know. wouldn't there be like an investigation or something????? can't you trace the bullets from which gun it was fired from??? that's a thing, right??? wouldn't you have checked your gun after and saw that only one bullet was fired??? this is dumb. i hate it. TEQUILA MOCKINGBIRD ... "Look, I know it must be hard for you..." He gives her a smirk and a glance toward me. "Tucker's quite the catch and all..." Then he’s back to eyeing Sydney. is it me or is this scene well-crafted. i can see it all unfolding in my head like i'm watching a movie. I need to revisit and dissect that last day of Garrett's life. Right down to his very last breath. yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasssss omg i fucking hate that i just said yaaassss unironically. holy shit. By six a.m., I’m watching Gran leave the house to go into town for groceries. "groceries" I hold his head in my hands, willing him to stop before I lose him all together. oh my god are they gonna have sex again. this is a recurring theme i sense. they're always having or thinking about wanting to have sex. this book is like porn and it's hilarious. Just remember, if they're talking to you, they're not killing people. with just enough distraction, you could chuck him into the river Glass shatters somewhere. All three of us duck and cover, not knowing where in the hell it came from. imagine if this joshua. i read further on and it issssss but who clocked him in the head??? it's 3 against 1. huh? The car. i actually love this scene. it reads to me like a representation of something. the car is tucker's last "thing" of garrett's and with that is some associated trauma and him wrekcing the car is him breaking and letting go of that hurt. the fact that he repairs it after it's been broken is tucker attempting to rebuild some semblance of positive relationship with his brother because they both had a lot of happy memories in there. It’s just one word, really. A simple one. But it’s powerful enough to inspire tears in my eyes. "Finally." in an alternate reality: Thank God your husband's dead. As we began to sway around the outskirts of everyone else, we’re silent for a little while. cue in my favourite song: so close by jon mclaughlin form enchanted. you know. you know this scene. don't tell me you don't. Sydney has shown me that you take whatever scrap of light you can find and you fucking hold on to it, no matter what. this shouldn't be applicable at all times though. (hide spoiler)] don't have enough characters. read this if you can. 10/10 would recommend. disclaimer: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. :) ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jan 15, 2021
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Jan 23, 2021
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Jan 15, 2021
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Paperback
| |||||||||||||||
| unknown
| 3.94
| 17
| unknown
| Dec 15, 2020
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really liked it
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I'm on the bus on the way to the city so I'll be reviewing this when I get home. it's 2115. i'm back home sirs and madams. let's get into this. 10/10 wou I'm on the bus on the way to the city so I'll be reviewing this when I get home. it's 2115. i'm back home sirs and madams. let's get into this. 10/10 would recommend :) when i randomised all the arcs on book sirens and i landed on this one, i was so tempted to reshuffle everything so i could get another book because the title was just not working for me... and the cover was just... meh. but i had to read this because this was specifically chosen for me. and i'm so glad that i read this because it was actually really good. i love the premise of the story. it was a good mix of drama, mystery, and action and maybe sci-fi??? the idea that you can cure or treat dementia using an armband. sign me up. i'm in the healthcare field working with people with dementia so i'm all about anything that will help people with this disease because it's fucking awful. anyway... i really like the way that the chapters are split using the different perspectives of various characters. although it did go a bit inconsistent somewhere in the end where instead of people it became places. that was a nit-picky thing that i wish was just correct. otherwise, i liked it. it became easier to identify where i was in the story based on who i was with. with john, harry, maggie, melanie, or walter. they all felt distinct and with their own motivations and voices and i like that. my favourite character is john and melanie but i think that's who the author wants us to root for anyway. john because he's mysterious and cold and distant but he has a heart under all the trauma and hurt that he's in. even though he's done with old life, he knew that his creation was being misused, he didn't think twice to stop that. i like his development throughout the book and i loved the parts where he was grappling with grief because that's when we fully got to know his character. i don't think he had the most growth but i like him as a character. melanie, i think, is one badass character. i realise that she's 14?????? what was i doing when i was 14??? i think she had the best development out of everyone. i didn't like her in the beginning because she seemed really dull but when harry's plan started to unfold and she was in the middle of it, i really loved her character and i found myself rooting for her all the way. this book could be a movie... i think that's why i enjoyed it very much. the adaptation from book to movie would be epic. while i was reading, i could see all of it in head. i hope this does become a movie. i would watch it. what did i not like about this??? not much. i think the ending was very underwhelming. i think i was reading it on the bus home and thought "that was it???". i thought there would be more of a confrontation after harry and john meet. it's been years since they last saw each other and both of them harbouring such resentment and by the time we get to the end where it all converges together, harry's dying at this point after melanie shot his sorry ass and john is also dying after being subjected to the forces of new york city in an apocalypse (that hit to the back of his head wouldn't help much either). i don't know. i wish there was... more. i don't know what "more" would be like but it certainly wasn't it. maybe i also wasn't fully sold on harry's motive for doing this. in the end, what exactly did he achieve??? nothing. i would've thought that his resurgence would spark him to do something meaningful. even in his antagonistic ways, i thought he would at least do something else??? i don't know. it was just weird when i tied everything together. so basically, harry's family member has dementia, harry and john make armband to treat it, harry and john want to sell it at a reasonable price, harry is betrayed by john, harry gets pissy and kills john's family by accident, mark "kills" harry but he's now a cyborg, harry escapes and kills mark, harry gains control of the armbands and uses them to control people. i would've thought that he would be evil but still had his initial motivations in check like i will still treat dementia but also fuck everyone commercialism must die. but that doesn't happen??? he's just evil for the sake of it??? he doesn't seem convincing as a villain. let 's get to my notes :) these are my kindle notes and they're basically comments in real time as i read through. if you don't want to read it then it's cool too. it's hidden anyway (view spoiler)[ But, will anyone recognize the apocalypse? boi it's 2020 we're living in it now Even if Harry had lived, the boy who lived. sorry i'm so distracted. side note: i'm liking how this has started :) His medical degree burned blue as the ink melted down the paper. dude. i can only dream of getting a medical degree. why are you burning it. dear lord. Find John and kill him. oh. The drive home was short, don't drink and drive kids. He had aged remarkably well and only had slight pains in his joints now and again. His muscular chest and shoulders could have easily been mistaken for a man half his age. His stomach was flat, lacking the characteristic paunch of an alcoholic. The long muscles of his back and shoulders showed prominently beneath the skin. okay. character description. come thru. this book. not bad. yet. He smiled broadly. Life with his two favorite women was perfect. Then the scene shifted; they were on the patio behind Harry’s house. Elly was lying limp in John’s arms. Behind them, Abby was already dead. well this escalated quickly. a little side note on how i love how this scene was set up and how his backstory was weaved in really well. i think that the set up was good. we were introduced to john as this miserable person and is basically a shell of who he once was because of what happened to his family. we are explicitly told why it was this way but it wasn't elaborated so fully. the mystery then remains as to what happened. it keeps you intrigued to read further on. now we find out a little but more about his life and what happened to his family but the author is holding back as to the reason why his family was killed. the mystery persists. i like that because i want to read more to see what happens. He went to the kitchen and returned with a full plate of fries which John smothered in vinegar. uhh----- what To be sure he was dead, John reloaded the shotgun as he approached and put another shot through the man’s head. if only we have a john (isn't a john a pimp?) in every horror movie. you never assume that they're dead the first time! She remained still, her eyes scanning the distance intensely for any sign of movement. So far, she had seen neither the black truck or the man, John Malley. you would think that harry would've programmed her to be more mindful of her surroundings? john legit just left and you're in the parking lot. how in god's name would you have missed him? he even had to go out and grab his blooming shotgun. sis really? Despite all the evil he planned, killing the man who helped create the armbands was the line that Harry Davis could not cross. oooooooooooooooooooo plot twist. john is the evil one??? It was a bloodstain on a white shirt; a memory that would never completely fade away. oooooooooooooooooooooooooo another plot twist: john (under the instructions of the armband) killed his family??? The silver rays of moonlight reflected off his metallic body as he scanned the earth below. is harry the tin man??? Her ensuing screams of agony were short, for no sooner had she stopped sliding than a sedan rolled over her limp frame, killing her immediately. well i guess my investment for maggie is gone Harry was dead, he's a robot now sir "Good! It’s going to be special.” is every going to die at mass? You have provided a cure for dementia,” aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa i had an inkling that this bracelet/ armband was a cure for something. a for dementia? this is fucking great. what a concept. :) “I trusted you, John. I trusted you!” okay i think i'm getting it now. i just read further on and what i thought it was was harry killing john's family for the lulz for betraying him and it was all an accident. yikes. When he woke and was walking in the mechanical suit. huh “Maggie. Maggie Wu,” wait. this is the same maggie Do you remember how much time we spent reading about the Nephilim? i love how this hits too close to home. my 14 year old brain researching about nephilims after i read the hush hush series. lol “We are the light. Repeat after me,” Pastor Perry said. “We are the light.” i was about to say that i would start going back to church if our priest was one aggressive son of a bitch and just yelled at us for an hour but then the whole chanting thing makes this feel really cult-y and is one of the reasons I stopped going in the first place “Yea. I’m right outside,” she said. “You are coming down? Ok, see you in a minute.” The man didn’t bite. He continued to watch her. By the grace of God, a light came on in a room a couple of stories up. Melanie saw his eyes dart to the light above. close call. why are people gross though. She hated crying. this is me when i feel like a failure. hahahaha Inside the swarm we have a perspective from inside the swarm. i'm annoyed but i guess there's no getting around this. i wouldn't know how to reformat it for it to make sense. i'm still loving the story though. Jeff my name's jeff At Daryl’s i feel like it's a bit too late the start shifting the headings of the chapters from one character's perspective to using it as a setting for the chapter. i don't know if it makes sense. i feel like it would've bene more consistent to keep every chapter as people instead of sometimes using places and sometimes using names. you know? it's nit-picky. Chapter Thirty-Six Melanie this an the chapter before this are my favourite. it's action-packed, fast-paced and intenseeee as heck. my hands are sweaty. Tears rained down her cheeks. She didn’t say anything. Instead, she sobbed quietly over their bodies until her eyes were red and puffy, and no more tears would come. this will be such a turning point in her story. i love all of it. i can just visualise her sobbing and going into gasps of air and she wipes off the tears looks up and rage is just in her eyes and we cut to black and bad-ass music starts playing in the background. bissssshhhhh He pulled a Marlboro from the pocket on his jacket. he's bleeding but his first priority is to smoke. it's so alpha. He had to find out. aaaaaaaaaaaaa it's all coming together now ooooooo She was no longer the curious fourteen-year-old girl she's only 14? that's badass She kept a distance between herself and the girl. is everyone coming together??? this is so cool. i love this, I imagine she would have looked something like you, Maggie.” but she's asian “You took everything from me,” she repeated. Melanie: the best protagonist in this story Like a fog that obscured her vision, everything before her faded to a hazy grey before going white. wait is she dead? He would have to kill every single person still alive in this city if he were to be successful. is it me or did i miss his whole reasoning behind the killings??? what's your motive??? i get that mark tried to monetise your creation (that you built for good) but we've established that mark is dead and you could revert back to your old plan and continue selling the armbands at a reasonable price??? “What did you do?” Walter yelled. walter is crazy “I was going to kill you; John. i still think that harry is actually stupid. you killed his family harry. how is he getting punished now??? The deeper John fell into the darkness, the brighter and larger the light grew. was that the ending? well that was pretty underwhelming. (hide spoiler)] coolbeans. final thoughts... go read this book. it's great. i loved it. wished the ending was better. make this into a movie sir and i wish there was a second book. i think this had a sequel potential. disclaimer: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. :) ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Oct 16, 2020
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Nov 05, 2020
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Oct 16, 2020
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| B07NS3G5V9
| 4.20
| 40
| Feb 14, 2019
| Feb 14, 2019
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really liked it
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this book made me so uncomfortable. in a good way. in a way that makes me think about my privilege as a girl who grew up in comfortable circumstances. it this book made me so uncomfortable. in a good way. in a way that makes me think about my privilege as a girl who grew up in comfortable circumstances. it's a pretty short read (obviously because it's a collection of 5 short stories) so i'm formatting this review a little differently than my previous reviews. W I know the concept of female genital mutilation. I don't know where I learned this but I was aware that it's ritualistic and traditional to some cultures (* i learned this from watching The Good Doctor* ). I think this practice is so disgusting and such a violation to women and especially the young girls who are subjected to this. It's troubling to think that there are women out there that can't give have children or give birth, can't experience their sexuality without constant pain, and the likelihood of infections and diseases they could get after going through FGM. I'm just hoping that the abolition of this happens soon (because I know it still happens) and happens through education and awareness. I loved the way it's told in the story. The way that it's presented as a delirious episode during childbirth because of how many drugs she's on just demonstrated how traumatic the experience was for her to undergo FGM and potentially getting her "treasure" taken away. I'm glad that it had a happy ending. My favourite part in the story: "No one could feel the lifelong agony of a girl who was growing into a woman without her treasure. No one but the girls could know what it was like. There was no pride in this, just like there is no pride in the mind of a soldier after a war, no matter how lofty their decorations may be. It was so easy for someone to shout how sorry he was for what had happened to her or admire her strength. The UN resolutions sounded nice to the ears of most people, and they were certainly nice, but not to the ear of a mutilated woman. Only they could sense the truth." O ooooo breast ironing. i didn't this existed to be honest. the whole i was reading this i was incredibly frustrated. I get that it's also cultural, similar to how FGM is cultural but putting that aside, it's disappointing that this is being done to young girls in some parts of the world because of the fear that men will rape said young girls and that will deter them from their future. somehow, flattening someone's breasts causes unattractiveness and therefore, they will be less appealing to men and that consequently will lessen their chances of being sexually assaulted. what the actual fuck. it's baffling to me that this is still a thing. It's never the victim's fault why they are abused, it's the abuser that is in the wrong. this shouldn't be rocket science. instead of telling women to dress modestly or make themselves "ugly" so that they don't get fucking raped, ,maybe men (not just men btw, people in general) should be taught not to... i don't know... touch someone without their consent?????????? another layer to this is that her own mother is subjecting her to this. she had to drag her literal child to have her breast flattened. bish. huh. my favourite line from the story: adventure.” She looked at me with one of the kindest expressions I’d ever seen. “I cannot understand such dreams because I was raised as a woman in a home that was trained by its leaders to hate women, a land where dreams didn’t have a place. But still, I want that life for you.” M oh god. this one. aaaaaaaaaa my frustrations with this is related to the the above story. firstly, i loved this story because it demonstrates the all-encompassing struggles every woman may encounter. because the first 2 stories were rooted in culture and tradition, I was beginning to think that there wouldn't be a story like this; a story where it describes a situation that a modern, working woman may experience. The relevancy of this short story is perfect in its timing. We're seeing more people standing up for themselves and demonstrating their power and their voice. And that's so admirable. I love how this story has a happy ending where she decides to go after her rapist. Because people who abuse other people (especially their subordinates) should never be allowed to retain that position of power. Also, how disgusting is it that even in today's era, people would rather ignore the red flags than doing the right thing. People shouldn't be able to get away with these... and they do most of the time. My favourite line in the story: Nancy started to wonder what mistakes she’d made. What about her body or behavior had aroused his instincts? A i honestly had no idea that this was about arranged marriage or child marriage. I missed the memo with this one. I hope that I didn't miss anything and that from the beginning, it was already alluded to and I just am a literal idiot and missed that. I thought this was about this dude hiding his wife's acceptance letter and she divorces him for that. In these senses, I didn't like this short story as much as I did the other ones. I still enjoyed it because we have such a strong woman at the forefront. I don't have much to say with this one so I'm going to skip this. My favourite line: Then I said, “I have a master’s to pursue.” N this one my favourite of the bunch. I think it's because it's a bit more action-packed than the others stories. It has a definite plot and setting and the characters are well-established considering that this is a short story. We follow Kanya's journey in the sex industry and the unfolding of her relationship with this journalist / photographer dude. One of the most disturbing movies I've ever watched is Masters of Horror: Imprint. Like this story it involves a white guy saving an Asian girl from the sex industry and plans to take her away from that place and to his home country. This information is so irrelevant that I shouldn't have put this in here. But what the heck. Anyways... I don't have a problem with sex workers. Get that coin gorl. What I do have a problem with is human trafficking. People aren't belongings that you get to sell. What's worse is that this still exists today. Children are being probably being trafficked around us and we don't even know it. This is awful to those involved because they don't receive basic human rights. Kanya has been in this business to provide for herself and her sister and now that her sister's older, she fears that she will eventuate into this line of work. She knows first-hand the dangers of it so when the photographer manages to get them both out of there, she dies because of it. She saves her sister but Kanya dies and never gets to live as a free woman with the person she loves. At least the ending was good. Her sister is now free. It's terrifying to think that this not fictional. This happens today and I don't know how to help. Maybe this is something that I need to research. I will do that. I don't have a favourite line from this short story because it didn't come across as a reflective point of view. It's more narrative-driven so I didn't fund much that was quotable. Nevertheless, I love this. Final thoughts: BookSirens recommended me this book and I'm glad it did because a.) my brain juices are flowing and b.) i needed a short book to catch up with my Reading Challenge this year. oof disclaimer: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. :) ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Aug 23, 2020
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Aug 27, 2020
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Aug 23, 2020
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Kindle Edition
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| B078HTLP32
| 3.89
| 64
| Dec 18, 2017
| Dec 18, 2017
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liked it
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i read this for a month??? excuse me i was under the impression that i read this in 3 weeks ffs okay let's get into this. i honestly thoroughly enjoyed thi i read this for a month??? excuse me i was under the impression that i read this in 3 weeks ffs okay let's get into this. i honestly thoroughly enjoyed this. i know i put this down as a 3 star book but only because this was just exuding chaotic energy and i love it for that but there were a lot of things that brought this down and i'll get to that. first impressions... i did not choose this book. i put in 70 random books into an online generator and it picked this for me. the title immediately struck me as YA. i was hesitant because i wouldn't pick this for myself and the last book i read from BookSirens was not that good. but i stuck to my guns and decided to give this a shot because i don't quit (i'm fully aware that i'm ignoring the luminaries which i dnf-ed). now let's talk about what i liked :) i love the concept of the story. i will admit that the plot is so chaotic that this aspect also belongs in what i didn't like about this. the story is chock full of lore. the five races are interesting. i am intrigued by the idea of gifts and vessels and gift-vessels (i still don't get how it works but i did like it in the book). the progression of the plot was slow??? in a way??? the story isn't rambly or anything but spoiler alert but by the end of the book, june only got 2 of the 8 that she was after. the world building is relatively okay. there is a lot to take in but the scenes were set up enough for me to picture the setting in my head. which helped especially because i read this intermittently and going back into the story after days of not reading was not that difficult. i managed to get invested in a few characters. vesi was my favourite. ..and now what i didn't like my main gripe with this book, and you'll read this in my notes, is that i was just... so lost and confused all the way through. i thought that we would be following through june's storyline but not even halfway through and we were reading about somebody else and i just kept thinking... "okay when is this side story going to end??? can we get back to our actual protagonist???". there were TOO MANY characters. it was so confusing for me to get invested in some of them because it was just so overwhelming. I understand that we're laying the groundwork for the future books by introducing all the potential characters but holy shit was it a lot. the author also did this weird thing like renaming characters??? champ became light and lacey became curves (?) and then became lacey again and a lot of character names that begin with the letter "C" another book that i've read that has an ensemble of characters is GOT (and crucify me for comparing these two). But the way that characters come and go in that was effortless. And what was a bonus for that was that a lot of them were main characters and they were all written well and fleshed out and I knew exactly who was who. With this one, I got the feeling that we just needed to have more names in there so that the scale is bigger. if that makes any sense??? we would get introduced to a character and get an in-depth backstory on them and they just... disappear or die?????????? i just had a look at the table of contents and the book is separated into parts but it didn't feel like there was a separation. It was just generally very difficult to follow. there were also a few typos and there were also weird issues with the author referencing something from "the real world". i don't know if i'll be able to explain this properly. i'll try. this is a fictional world and the characters are other-worldly but why are there references to pop culture or human terminology almost as if the characters who aren't Humans are going to get it??? i don't know what i just said. it just ruins the immersion while i was reading. i get into it in my notes... i think. whatever. ignore this. i don't know what else to say. so let's get to my kindle notes if you want to read them below. if not, then i'll see you at the end :) (view spoiler)[ a white man why was this important to note? soz. probably not important but whatever This must be RADIOACTIVE!” so far... this reads a kid's book. maybe i should get this established right away so that i proceed with caution and knowing that i'm not the demographic and i judge this for what it is. the flow is something i'm not particularly used to. it's very... sequential??? it like "i'm doing this and i'm going here and i'm reaching for this and yadda yadda". not that it's a problem but i feel like i'm being fed the events instead of me using my imagination. it's very basic so far. A fragile female who apparently had tried to take her life. The marks on her wrists and arms were clear indications of a desperate soul in despair. this is a bit dark for a kid's book June could see her light-blue hands. it's the blue avatar people Not a dog anymore, he was now a huge animal thingy—a chameleon with the body of a wolf that could blend perfectly with the forest at will. i hope no one else mentions that champ is a wolf-chameleon hybrid. twice is too much especially because we already had an in-depth explanation prior. por favor? why is she speaking Spanish if they're speaking in a foreign alien language? “Oh, my ... June, heh, you need to place your rear in the indentation in the wall and do what you need to do. For men, they pull some of the rocks that stand to the side of the indentation for urination. Males and females squat with their bottom in the indentation. The moment you place your rear in the area, water will start to flow. The water will take your urine or waste and clean you at the same time. Once you finish, all you need are linens to dry yourself.” i don't know why this information needed to be in here in all honesty. hahahaha like... everything else is normal? why must the toilet be different???????? i'm so confused bahahahaha I just got out of a tree in a land that makes no sense to me. ...but you just said that you understood the land. "She learned about the land." *a few pages ago* a new thing to make her even more unattractive. i don't think i like june very much. she's very self-centred. very into her looks, i think? very much into "her" i don't know how to explain it. very narcissistic... so far. confusing too. she's like whoa this new place is weird, but i don't want t stay here, but also i sort have to so i'll stay here but also i wanna go home now but i hate my home because i'm miserable but that's just me. Having been a camerawoman and photojournalist for fifteen years, covering war-ravaged areas in the Middle East and Africa, she knew about weapons. okay. okay. this information would've been really helpful in the beginning especially for context. just so we understood why she's the way she is. hats off to all people who work in these areas. but what the fuck?” also me: what the fuck i thought this was a kid's book June was surprised to see the Headmistress at her door with her breakfast. i thought shasso was a child However, about 480 years ago, the leader of Quetza, Tatiana Falesto, went to war against an entire ethnic group called the Geners. everything keeps going back and forth. we've had this conversation, haven't we? “We believe the curse will break by having a new Assembly of Thirteen, and having the eight Gift-Vessels and the four Companions together, who will call for representatives and select a new Quetza ruler to replace the Falesto. this is so confusing. “June, you remember when I explained about the Gift-Vessels and there were only eight per generation?” asked Starr. wasn't it carmen who explained what vessels were? i'm so lost oh god help to have a tumble with the wenches this is not a very nice word said Seamus. this whole dialogue of seamus is so unnatural with how normal conversation go. it sounds very brain-dump-y ensuring to rub his groin in the process. i legit just cringed and looked away bahahahhaa i could throw up right now The fourteen let the freedom of the many be controlled by the will of the one empress, Tatiana Falesto. this book has so much chaotic energy and i love it Picture if you can: the tone of the book is so weird. it's in third person but it's sentient almost because it's talking to the readers. strange. like prima ballerinas dancing the nutcracker. umm... i don't think we were ever told if Opal was a human or if she's on of the other races but... if I don't think she's human so then why would she know what prima ballerinas are and what the nutcracker is? i know this isn't dialogue but considering that his is opal's perspective, she shouldn't be aware of what those are??? idk he, he, he. he, he, he. What Happens When You Eat a Lot? Indigestion what a weird chapter title three sons—Cliff, Clifton what is it with the names that begin with the letter c??? Princess Coventry’s THEORY: is princess coventry june's mum??? and she disappeared to earth??? Claire and Clara Graham more names with c's Claire could teach things to other people, so claire has the same gift as opal??? or is claire opal??? and clara is dia??? edit: i just read on and nope. The next day. Late in the middle of the afternoon. Not in Kara’s diary. there seems to be no consistency with the writing style. we're in diary entry territory now. All Tom knew of his parents was that they had drowned. what is it with the background characters in this story??? hahaha. they either disappeared or they died.' the beautiful Kuroi. i ship it Nope, he took his horse Raven and rode with determination to his granny. Tom "Red Riding Hood" Arrensen They were bound to the Falesto Royal Family, but Kara and June were not. we don't really know kara that much so this is very strange that you're asking me to root for her when i don't know who she is. The Gener people have not been heard of in well over four hundred years. is this going to try to pull off a district 13 scenario where they've just been hiding underground this whole time and plotting their plan to defeat the emperor??? i think it is. oof redheaded maid wait who had red hair??? kara had red hair so was this kara going undercover?? i'm so obviously not paying attention now. soz. edit:i have read further on and nope. not kara. Later on, when she had the chance to release Opal, the Teacher-Magi, she took it without hesitation. release her from what??? we don't know their connections and this getting really confusing even when i was paying attention. aaaaaaaaaa Casandra’s unbound hair covered her face and one of her breasts. wtf aren't they related baahahahaha ew When Casandra opened her eyes when Callo was holding and cleaning her face inside the pool, she saw Callo directly to his eyes. what is this sentence? My Spirit Demon destroyed her!” is this spirit demon a new concept? or did we learn about this before and i'm just lost? edit: it has been mentioned before but wow i'm still lost Do you understand? We must have an Assembly of the Thirteen. if gaston is planning to overthrow klastos and in essence... the athany are also doing the same... can't they work together??? both parties have no idea at this point if we are being led to believe that the athany people are the good guys then what about gaston??? is he also an antagonist in this story??? WHERE'S JUNE??? we haven't had her narrative in a hot minute “Thank you, Mother. I love you, Ma.” are two different people talking? “Gregor, Klastos will never kill his brother and Gaston will never hurt Klastos. My son’s animosity comes from the way the throne was bestowed on Klastos. Gaston knows he can’t be king after he lost his place of ascension. Klastos worries for nothing; Gaston is just angry. I asked Klastos to give Callo and Gallo dukedoms in the Southern Kingdom, which will make Gaston happy. the names have just merged at this point. what am i even reading The Family Business i've just finished this chapter and it was so hard to get through because my brain is just so fried with how many people are in this story The Assassin, Keme we have a new character. aaaaaaaaaaaaa “Lace. That was my name,” said Curves, who now went by Lace. ffs Tuan did not know what had possessed him to say that, but he did not want anyone near Lace. i hate myself for saying this because alce is technically owned by tuan and i don't condone this but ***i'm shipping these two***. there i said it said Mr. Sung i do honestly love the diversity in this book though. no joke. I’m not sure if this is a real Gift or if it’s the way a broken Gift manifests. i'm not convinced that this gift-vessel thing is rare biw considering how many people haave it It no longer matters we are part of the Royal Family and in line for the throne. This way of ruling must end; we must make sure it ends. we have 3 separate parties that are working to overthrow the empire. this is stressing me out. All Comes in to a Full Circle but will it though? I am a Gift-Vessel. we have another one ugh These he used to stab Casandra straight through her head and chest. wtf That’s when they kissed. awwwwwww Despite Karl starting his fighting career to gain the heart of the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, Tamla, in the end she married the baker’s son. karl buddy YOU'RE GOING TO BE OKAY BUDDY YOU'LL GET THROUGH THIS I had her Gift suppressed by giving her plenty of sun. I knew because she was half Lavei she needed to be near the forest, so I kept her weak with the sun and the dry air to keep her abilities quiet. this is actually a good strategy “Mother, I assume this is my father and I'm happy we’re united, but I must get outside. when i hear this in my head, she says it so nonchalantly and it's hilarious “Old man, I’ve about had it with people popping up out of the armpit of the earth and crazy shit happening. If you try to call something forth from the pit of Hell—any silly, horrible, Freddy Krueger’s first cousin’s neighbor—I promise you I am going to kick your behind so hard your hemorrhoids will be on fire for a month! Capisce?” threatened June. ... i know we haven't seen june in a while but i'm impressed that she still feels very distinct to me. (hide spoiler)] i will read the next book :) i like this. the chaos is very appealing. 10/10 would recommend. no characters left in this review. oof disclaimer: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. :) ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jun 18, 2020
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Jul 19, 2020
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Jun 18, 2020
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Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||||
| 3.50
| 10
| unknown
| Apr 13, 2019
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did not like it
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... i have a lot of things that i want to say but i can't comprehend any of them. i hate this so much it's ridiculous. I finished this is 6 weeks. I would' ... i have a lot of things that i want to say but i can't comprehend any of them. i hate this so much it's ridiculous. I finished this is 6 weeks. I would've finished it in a few days because i wanted to dnf it and then i would've read something else with more substance. disclaimer before we get into my thoughts: I got this copy from BookSirens for free~ love the service hated this book :) these are also just my opinions. take it with a grain of salt. *peace* okay let's get into it i'm the type of reader that likes to be hooked from the beginning. i don't know about other readers but i love good beginnings. it makes me motivated to keep reading. this book didn't start very well so it went downhill real fast. i've read other books where they had a poor start and it slowly became better. it was slow but it was worth it in the end because i stuck to it and stayed. great. no issues there. this one though... it didn't turn up. i kept telling myself that this was probably just a bad start but once we settle into it, then it'll be good but holy shit where was the good in this book??? idk. The main gripe i have with the book is that the tone feels very off. It's formal at times and very informal a lot of the times and it becomes very confusing. You get inner dialogue within an inner dialogue and it's usually off-hand remarks and it sounds very pseudo-intellectual to me. I don't know. I just didn't like it. All the characters sound the same to me. I could've forgiven Ava's because she is young and a teenager but the adults also sound childish. There's just no separation that I felt between characters. No one that was distinctive enough that if you show me dialogue with no indication of who's talking that I'd be able to tell you who they are. In addition to the tone, everyone just speaks so unnaturally. I'll touch on all of these on my notes. I didn't like any of the characters. Even from the beginning, I already was so annoyed with Ava. It just got progressively worse as we see her "character development". I think I talk about it in my notes but she just sprouts as a perfect character. We never see her fuck up with her skills for her to develop them. She's just given her powers and she just happens to be good at them from the get-go and that's bad. I want to see characters struggle and that never happens here. Characters are also really inconsistent with their personalities and traits. The characters suck but maybe the story is plot driven??? Nope. Everything is solvable and there's no feeling of fear because you know that everything's going to turn out well anyway because of plot convenience. There were parts where I feel like the author forgot that a plot point had to happen or a plot point was a dead end for characters and therefore had to fix it quickly and it made scenes occur inorganically. You'd think that it's sci-fi so the world building should be fucking epic. but it isn't. I don't ship Ava and Klarion at all. When you've marketed your character as "cold", convincing me that she's able to love is going to be difficult. You can argue Har'Mon causes her to change but okay. whatever. I still don't ship them and every interaction with them when they're lovey-dovey is actual cringe. There were also typos littered throughout the book. Granted that I had an e-book version and maybe the actual published paperback or hardcover version is spotless but really??? you misspell your main character's name??? really??? There were formatting issues that I had a problem with. Sometimes inner inner dialogue is italicised and sometimes they're in parenthesis and sometimes they're integrated into the normal inner dialogue. There was a section where everything was in bold . I only liked Chapter 14. That's the only positive thing I can say. I was just fuming for the majority of this read. soz. Notes are hidden. Read them is you must. It's literally my Kindle Notes. Otherwise, read my final thoughts :) (view spoiler)[ shoe—ah, those annoying red laces—and *sharp breath* the inner dialogue has an inner dialogue. okay. the first one, i forgave but oooboi if this frequents, i'm going to be so annoyed So Paul and Marcia Johnson are not my parents? i was going to complain that this statement sounds like she's already detached because of the formality of calling them by their real names instead of mom and dad but then she also did mention that she suspects there is a reason that she can't get close to people. so maybe that's it? and the character is being consistent??? The presence of Arcon DNA would also explain my somewhat withdrawn, even cold nature. It could also explain my talent for science and curiosity. If I got out of here, the only possible future for me was with the Resistance—if I could find them. The main “if” was about escaping this Arcon nest. i get that the effects of having Arcon DNA is being explained and i'm not annoyed at this. it's that it wasn't so subtly mentioned before and this explanation feels repetitive. we get it. i think we've connected the dots that she's distant because of her special DNA. no need to tell us again. if this paragraph needed to be in here then the first mentioning of it should have been handled differently and not so explicitly said. in turn, when this paragraph did show up, it would be an 'aha!' moment because we, as a reader, figured it out and not as a 'yeah, we get it' moment. i'm not making sense am i? CHAPTER 2 getting to this chapter was so long. i'm only 12% into the book and i feel like i want to quit. i won't though because i've committed and i have 3 months to finish this, which is ample time (hopefully) I REFUSE TO QUIT. i also haven't picked this up in a while. i just started my job and this kindle refuses to sync, let alone open, on my phone so it's been difficult to take notes when i have had a few minutes to read. of course, maybe this is the style the author is going for? a more conversational feel to it. it feels like a story is being recounted to me and that's why it would be natural to litter exclamations and little commentaries in there. As my legs and back muscles began to succumb to lactic acid build-up and the lack of oxygen in my bloodstream (the biology and physiology books of my adoptive parents were well read) is the author a teenager??? i don't want to do any background checks while i read because then i'll be biased but i feel like the author is young and maybe inexperienced because there are so many trivial detail on here. this one for example, they probably picked up a biology textbook and found this fact and plastered it on here thinking it'll sound smart??? i don't know. meadow about a mile from the base. the world building is very poor “I’m sorry, Three, but you were going to play dirty and I could not let you hurt our prisoner too badly.” character check: ava's known about her abilities and her potential strength quite recently and her action demonstrate that she's figured out how to be a leader and role model and her empathy shows her diplomacy and actions that characters would develop into further down the track. i'm surprised that she's already grown as a character in 4 chapters instead of what i was expecting. normally (at least in my opinion), protagonists who would've recently discovered their abilities would be impulsive, reckless, confused and struggling with their new identity and then a turning point in the story would cause change and they would be better versions of themselves but ava doesn't go through this. she's immediately this quality character and i would've wanted to see her growth. Even before mastering it, I was good enough to organize the information he sent, and now I was fluent in a language I didn’t know a few days ago. it sounds to me like the author has just made her into a flawless character. i don't like that. this would've been okay if we had an inkling that she's hyper-intelligent in her introduction or at least some demonstration of her being able to master her abilities quickly. you could argue that she used her powers earlier on Klarion and she mastered that quite quickly but i can also counterargue and say that the first time she had done it on Klarion, it was an accident and it's her realising that she does have these powers. I assume that Mr. Tal is already skilled in piloting this ship, which is why we brought him here to confirm the similarities and differences to the more modern ships. I don't think it's wise that you brought your prisoner (who I assume wants to escape and tell his superiors his evidence) to familiarise himself with a shuttle that he could potentially infiltrate and use to... I don't know... fly away??? but that's just me. “If you mean a girlfriend, as the humans understand the term, well, no. Arcons love once in their entire life. Maybe I have not found the love of my life yet,” he answered with an enigmatic smile. so far, i don't ship these two but i have a feeling that they'll end up together anyway. oof Star Wars. why must there be pop culture references in here. i appreciate it but it's not doing anything to progress our story. it's a useless conversation. i thought maybe she'll ask him out or something but she didn't. maybe this'll be significant in the the later chapters and they do go out and they watch superman? or star wars? idk maybe. “I understand you,” I said. “Forgive my outburst.” I looked at him carefully. Even in the light of dusk, something seemed to have changed with him. it's so casual how they kind of bring up how their feelings for each other are developing. i still don't really ship them. the interaction is cute... i guess but it's also conflicting because they don't seem to act like teenagers (i'm guessing that ava is but klarion, i'm picturing as 18). i'm not feeling it at the moment. side note: ava's mental dialogue has disappeared. i know that i wished it were gone but also... consistency??? uh where are you? Many feelings overwhelmed me at once. Memories of my arguments with Ava, the moments when her kindness warmed my heart through this time spent with the human Resistance—all left me with the feeling of an irremediable loss and with an anger I did not think I could feel. the level of cringe that i'm experiencing right now is unfathomable CHAPTER 9 Ava this is a bit weird to me. this chapter. i think it's because we've never gone back in time. i'm not talking about time travelling. i mean that chapter 8 was klarion's pov and ava "died" at the end of that and we're essentially starting off chapter 9 at the beginning of chapter 8's day. which is weird. it would've been okay if it was how it was done before but we're been used to reading the chapter chronologically that this throws the pacing of the story out of whack. i would've liked if the chapter started with ava rousing from that attack. but that's just me. EDIT: I've just read further on and what the fuck??? i'm so confused. hahhahahahahahahahahahaha EDIT (again): i've finished the chapter and dear god it's a disaster. i'm still so confused but i can't be bothered re-reading it and attempting to understand anything “I have to admit, I had some hopes that you could be my mate. Now it does not seem to be the case anymore.” And Kyla left without any another word. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa i'm actually getting fucking angry with this book. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa i hate it. i'm saying it. i hate this. this'll probably be a one star. i'm so sorry hahahaha but i actually hate it. like who the fuck is this chick??? why must you introduce this kyla to me and possibly never bring her up again. it's so stupid. this har'mon thing is always explained when it's brought up. we get it. shut up now. “Because I need your help. And Arconia needs our help.” i'm actually so mad. because we've done a time jump nd we have no fucking clue what ava's been up to since klarion came back. all of a sudden she's got these extra powers now. she's becoming an all-powerful being now so what's the whole point of this whole novel. we're only halfway and she's already powerful enough to beat the bad guys or something? idk Ava is like a daughter to me. ava one isn't. maybe the other ava's but not this one buddy. AND WASN'T IT MENTIONED EARLIER THAT PARENTS DON'T REALLY BOND WITH THEIR KIDS??? THAT'S WHY THEY SEEK THAT VALIDATION FROM OTHER PEOPLE??? or is this just me imagining things??? pragmatic Arcon, we're halfway into the book and we're still introducing our characters' personalities. aaaaaaaaaaaaa let's just conveniently put this point here because we'll need it for later. why should be bother weaving it into the story earlier on when the readers are stupid and we must feed them everything “I’m Captain Her’xan, and I need some reason to not destroy you right now. How can I believe that an Arcon ship will not harm us?” i read another sci-fi book 2 books before this and it also had aliens involved. one of the notes i had was that everyone spoke english and there was no indications for foreign languages but that was completely resolved because it became canon that there were other languages out there so i appreciated the diversity. for this one, i'll forgive this for now but if i finish this book and there was no acknowledgment of other alien languages, i am going to be upset. :) Ava and Meg, for example, had tears in their eyes when they hugged and said goodbye, knowing that their next reunion was uncertain. isn't ava... devoid of emotions??? let me recap her character description in the beginning: LOCATION 200. refer to that. "The prescence of Arcon DNA would also explain my somewhat withdrawn, even cold nature." I'll give you character development but also... wtf “Your father had some matters to attend to here, and I took the opportunity to see our house on Arconia. so the general that is responsible for everything on earth has abandoned his post to go back to arconia prime because it's convenient for the plot to have klarion's parents with him when he got home??? “Did Tylar know that Fylat Pal played a role in the killing of his mother?” I asked. are we literally just patching up holes right at the end??? this revelation didn't come organically and it feels forced just because we're nearing the end and there was no way to smoothly end this arc. i hate it. new gift of teleportation, i know that we found out earlier that she can teleport but dear god we're still giving her powers at the end??? (hide spoiler)] i'm running out of characters. and i didn't get to include all my notes. don't read this. it's bad. or read it. maybe you'll like it. i wouldn't recommend it. soz. disclaimer: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jan 08, 2020
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Feb 20, 2020
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Jan 08, 2020
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Kindle Edition
| |||||||||||||||||
| B07QCG9WPC
| 4.10
| 811
| unknown
| May 12, 2019
|
really liked it
|
This is not a book that I would normally pick up. If my selection wasn't random, then I probably wouldn't have chosen this and when I found out that I
This is not a book that I would normally pick up. If my selection wasn't random, then I probably wouldn't have chosen this and when I found out that I had to read this I was pretty hesitant and was actively looking for ways to not read this. Sci-Fi isn't really my choice of genre. The only sci-fi series I've read is the Across the Universe Trilogy by Beth Revis. I loved the series. Come to think of it, I probably shouldn't have doubted myself on whether or not I'd like sci-fi because I've read them already and loved them. Moving on... I'm glad I read this. I actually did enjoy reading this and kinda sorta looking forward to read the rest of the book in the series??? maybe??? It's a 4 out of 5 for me which isn't horrible because I'm pretty forgiving anyway. The story was easy enough to digest. There were twists that I didn't expect which I like. The characters were fairly good. Box is definitely my favourite character (I imagine that everyone else who reads this can agree). Everyone was quite distinct in their characterisation. The settings were described well and since I don't have that much sci-fi background behind me to conjure up elaborate locations, it was easy to set up the scenes because it was laid out really well in the book. Overall, the pacing of the book was good. Ignoring one issue I had, which I will bring up later, the story wasn't rushing or dragging. Maybe this is because the book is simple enough to follow that it was pretty predictable at times. I don't know the target demographic so maybe this is YA or for kids and that's why it was basic but I felt like I knew what was going to happen and although I can forgive this book for that because I honestly enjoyed it, I would've castigated other books for it if they did the same thing. There were a few editing errors in there. I don't know if it's only in the e-books but if it isn't then boiiiiii wat. Oh! I don't think I've mentioned it above but I got this copy from BookSirens! :) My notes are my direct notes that I made on my Kindle while I read so I'm literally just going to copy and paste it on here. It's very nonsensical and it doesn't make any sense so I don't know why I have to put it here but if you want to read my opinions as I read the book then continue on! (view spoiler)[ “I knew there was a reason I gave you the piloting job,” Cas replied. There was no way a human— even an amazing pilot— could have pulled that move off. We're only a few pages in but I already love the dynamic between Cas and Box. “Never again. Thank you. I knew you were one of the good ones.” This isn't good, right? Showing mercy isn't always good. Look what happened to Jon after he saved Ollie. “Two blind men walk into a bar. The third one ducks.” BAHAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA “I really hate you sometimes.” ooooooooooo i ship these two. i'm imagining this but there's some tension here ooooooooooooooooooo “High Priestess Veena,” oh. i thought veena would look more worn out. I visualised her as this middle-aged rocker-type woman with a cigarette in between her fingers and she probably has an eyepatch because she's missing an eye and she's slumped on her throne and has bags under her eyes and she's scarred and really pissy. I didn't think she'd be... regal. “You’re no different to me than Mr. Robeaux here.” I like Evie :) “We’re half an hour out,” i've already read further pages in but i thought i'd come back and put a note. i really wished that there was at least a chapter during the 5 day travel they had. it was a missed opportunity to build relationships between the 3 characters. i'm not too far into the following pages to see how this pans out if whether or not a more solid relationship builds with them so maybe i'm overanalysing this and the whole 5 days that went by don't really matter in the grand scheme of things. “We’re like soul sisters. We tell each other everything.” box is now my favourite robot “Great. Looks like we’re evenly matched.” eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep When they returned here, to Eight, Robeaux was court-martialed and Rutledge got a promotion.” okay. it's pretty obvious what's going on though. From a reader's perspective, this narrative seems pretty predictable. Corrupt government, high ranking person gets assigned a mission, realises said government is corrupt, does their own thing to save the world or something, gets framed as the bad guy, the realbad guy gets framed as a good guy, person escapes and goes on exile, comes back to right what's wrong, defeats og bad guy, overthrows corrupt government and he finishes his redemption arc... bonus that he kisses the girl in the end. am i right in guessing where this is going??? “Except it’s bothering you. You and women.” Box tsked. “First Veena now the commander. Is it because neither of them gave you any sex? Is that it?” box is fucking amazing. hahahahahaha “Why?” Evie asked, skeptical. Though she had lowered her voice. lol i don't know if the mess hall is the best way to chat about this. i mean really. the mere fact that you two are speaking let alone in hushed voices is suspicious and will inevitably get back to rutledge or greene and oopsie everyone will think you two are in cahoots. i have a feeling that evie will trust him and they go on a separate mission while "pretending" to complete the current mission they're on. Cas could only assume she was about to make a report to the captain. that would be a good plot twist though. something i wouldn't expect, maybe? *sigh* side note: even through what i assume is the predictability of this plot, i am quite invested :) the Untuburu That's an error I spot! Sentences should start in the uppercase? Right? I literally had to Google to be absolutely sure. aaaaaaaaa That's an error I spot! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa <3 “This is more than just respecting a superior officer, isn’t it?” wwwwwooooaaaaaahhhhh :) i wouldn't be too opposed if evie and laura ended up together! I’m not attracted to him.” NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 3 ugh, my heart hurts :( although i just said that i'm fine with laura and evie together, i still did ship evie and cas more and now that door is closed forever and my heart hurts aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Evie would file that one away for later. ~file it away in the loooove compartment~~~~ Why did he care so much about what she thought? because of loveeeee~~~~~ “It doesn’t matter,” Okay. In all seriousness, this feels very off just based on her character. This line seems like she's unreasonable and completely goes against what we know about Evie: that she isn't quick to assume unless this person cannot be trusted with certainty. she said in perfect English. cool! one little note i was going to add that bothered me but i didn't think it was too big of an issue so i didn't bring it up because i thought that maybe it was subliminal and it was self explanatory and i'm just really stupid: everyone (human and non-human beings) spoke English. but this proves that there are other languages in the space-verse. i was gonna make that complaint but i put myself under the impression that everyone spoke different languages but they all just understood each other anyway. so i'm glad that we've cleared up! She smiled. eeeeeeeeeeeeep stop “So will you be having sex now?” BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA gambling and… entertainment… debts this huge gap here is annoying me *there is a huge gap between the words on my kindle* **i'm explaining it because without context, this note doesn't make much sense**. i know it's probably an editing mistake and maybe the formatting is different because i'm reading this on my kindle and it's not a big issue but aaaaaaaaaaaa “Somebody call me,” ffffuuckk that's smoth. i just picure flynn rider's smoulder when he said this aaaaaa once inside doors disappear. i kept re-reading this because i couldn't understand it. i'm actually stupid. i was reading it as: once inside doors disappear but it's: once inside, doors disappear reveal page. ooooo wut? do you mean 'Page'? Page said. Page sounds like a bitter little boy. It's comical how annoying he's being. Now, tell me how to enable the self-destruct.” PLOT TWIST: EVIE IS THE BAD GUY (or gal?) Sure Cas would probably go to jail for the rest of his life but at least his conscience would be clear. Is this character development I read??? eeeeeeeeeep we've come a long way “You’re alright, Diazal. why are you calling her diazal? call her evie bruh “I mean he’s been the one transmitting all this wonderful information to me,” WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?! BOX???? WHAAAAAA?????? “I promise.” noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo “Fortunately, records of the incident have been conveniently misplaced.” i'm smiling because i'm happy but also this is maybe illegal??? he couldn’t help but feel a pang in his heart as the doors slid closed. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa (hide spoiler)] ...or you can just proceed here to read my final thoughts :) Can I just get to a few talking points? The little pacing issue I had was when Cas agreed to go with Evie and they were going back to the Coalition and it was a 5 day travel on the Reasonable Excuse but the chapter ended with them about to leave and the next chapter began with them arriving. I explained my issue with it somewhere in the notes section above but I wish there was a chapter allocated because it would've been good to get to know the characters more. I was really excited that the author was possibly going into the LGBT+ route with Evie and Laura and I'm sad because I wanted Cas and Evie to end up together but sadder that the side storyline didn't progress... at all. I'm expecting it in the next book but I wish there was more in here than the angry glances Laura made when Cas was with Evie. I like Evie as a character but there were times she went off-character and it was confusing when it happened and I talked about it in my notes so I won't elaborate. I feel the arrest of Rutledge was glossed over. We're told by Cas that the higher-ups ordered everything so it was weird that that was the end of it. Maybe there's more in the next book??? I hope so. Final talking point! Even though I've said that it was quite predictable and it still is, there were moments where I was caught off-guard. It was when we found out that Box was the one feeding Veena everything and poor Box didn't know what was going on and he needed to be shut down. But then you knew that he was going to be booted back up anyway. Cas sacrificing himself was also predictable and Cas actually not sacrificing himself was also predictable. It was laughable how quick he was to change his mind. I like the book and I will probably read the rest of the series *hopefully* soon. I won't read it after this because I'm reading from my physical copies next and my Reading List has told me I'm reading Game of Thrones next. Don't fret! I will read the rest of the series because I am invested. disclaimer: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. :) ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Nov 11, 2019
|
Nov 22, 2019
|
Nov 11, 2019
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Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||||
| B07TN3FVHS
| 3.56
| 90
| Jan 01, 2013
| Jul 03, 2019
|
really liked it
|
I'd give it a 3.5 and it's rounded up to a 4 because I like it enough to round up. :) I got this copy from BookSirens so that's cool because I've been I'd give it a 3.5 and it's rounded up to a 4 because I like it enough to round up. :) I got this copy from BookSirens so that's cool because I've been *reviewing books for 4-5 years now and I didn't realise that there's a place you can do it for real. *I say "review" like I know what I'm doing but it's basically just me going through my notes* Initial thoughts before we run through my spoiler notes! I like it for the YA-ness that it is. It was a pretty light read (even though I know it took me 2 weeks BUT I'M BUSY SO GET OFF MY BACK MUM). If I were a teenager, I would eat this up and probably say that it's my favourite book ever because knowing me, love triangles were my thing because it was unholy and scandalous. I enjoyed how I didn't really figure out were it was going. Once we get to my notes, you'll see moments where I theorised something and it's not really what ends up happening. So I guess I love that aspect of the book where I questioned myself the whole time. It was quite entertaining. I think Rachel is a well-written character. You can empathise with her and I can feel that she's a nice person but she's also flawed which is nice to see because many times with other main characters, they only have flaws because the author didn't really want to make their character too perfect so they'll sprinkle in minor imperfections but you can tell that it's not genuine. With Rachel and the conflict that she goes through, it feels like it's on purpose and it happens organically. It's annoying but it feels real. But everyone else in this book feels one-dimensional. I know that supporting characters are meant to be that way because they're not the main focus of the book so maybe this isn't too much of an issue. I think that the main thing that this book suffers from is redundancy. A lot of the plot points were repetitive and I found myself rolling my eyes when the cycle would replay. I think I touch on it on my notes so I'll get to that later but personally, that's the main downfall of it. The story. I thought the concept was good. I thought it would go into the horror genre for a while because the first chapter and the introduction felt ominous to me but it completely went into a different direction so that was a surprise. I thought it would be like Poltergeist but it became Casper and the Friendly Ghost real quick. Because it's YA, I can forgive how cheesy the story is with all the lovey-dovey scenes but I'm also mad because the book could've been cut down because of how repetitive some of the scenes were. Shall we go to the notes? we shall? these are literally just my notes page on my kindle so it's very scattered and nonsensical. The italicised portions below are from the book (i thought i'd reference it here) ~SPOILERS FROM HERE UNTIL MY FINAL THOUGHTS~ (view spoiler)[ The disappointment in her tone punched me in the gut. I was ruining this for her. “It’ll be great, Mom. Let’s check out the other rooms.” Straight off the bat. I really like Rachel's character. She seems like a good kid. Someone you'd sympathise with. With its scratched wooden floor, it would be a great place to tap dance. ...and she freaking tap dances. I love that for her. *i wish i could tap dance* I distracted myself by getting on my phone to see what my friends in Omaha were up to online, but reading their posts depressed me. They were moving on with their lives, and I wasn’t part of it anymore. I’d probably never see them again. these were my thoughts when I moved to Australia 5 years ago so rachel is already such a relatable character and i love her and i want to give her a hug Well, until Parker met me at my locker and offered to walk me to class. We’d been making small talk all week, and every time I looked at him my face flushed. But I did my best to act normal as we strolled down the hallway together. This is so cute. I ship it Did Parker live in a mansion or something? OKAY HOLD UP. How pretty is this rachel chick that she attracted the richest boy in maine? she's been here a week and the extent of their conversations prior to this date can be reduced to small talk and um excuse me wat? how to be rachel? Should I tell him it was fine except for living in a haunted house? hun you've had 2 "paranormal" experiences. let's not go to haunted house yet. okay. i sound like a shaniac even though i'm a boogara (please someone get these references) But the only thing I could think about was the feeling of his fingers laced with mine and whether he’d take me to his bedroom. What would he expect if we went in there? I wanted him to kiss me, but I wasn’t ready for more than that. Butterflies invaded my stomach again. If he kissed me, I’d better not mess it up. I like the writing style of the book so far. It's almost like I'm listening to her thoughts. In retrospect, should be common sense because this in in first person so this note is stupid i'm sorry. “Parker doesn’t deserve to look at you let alone kiss you. You moved here—into my house—because you’re supposed to be with me.” WHAT THE FUCK “Rachel?” A soft voice said. “It’s Noah.” what is going on this concept is actually really interesting. i am intrigued to say the least. this is poltergeist isn't it??? “He’s my brother. I won’t cross over without trying to save his soul.” i like noah ooo i know this isn't going to go this way but hear me out... rachel and noah? ehh? anyone? but I needed a bodyguard. i love how there's an immediate trust forming here between wendy and casper I found him very cute. THEORY: PARKER IS NOT A GOOD BOY. HE DID SOMETHING TO THE THOMPSON BROTHERS AND THAT'S WHY THEY HAVEN'T CROSSED IS BECAUSE THEY NEED TO FIND OUT WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED AND IT'S FREAKING PARKER. “I’ll show you what.” He lowered his mouth to mine. hasn't it been more or less 2 weeks and this shit is happening already??? this whole thing is going quite fast and i don't like it when books do this because there's little development on how we got to the relationship part. they've been on ONE date and they don't really know each other that well and i'm probably reading into this and i know we only have a limited amount of pages to actually make this romance work but holy shit i wish there was more build-up introduce me to Ellis and Jane. i love how she's being formally introduced to the ghosts like she's a part of the clan now or something Noah’s arm tightened around me as we watched Ellis pull a folded piece of paper from his jeans pocket and press it into her palm. She unfolded it and started to read. How did Ethan get paper? How does this work? Is there a floating sheet of paper that normal humans can see? Or is the paper used a spirit of paper? This makes no sense to me because how do ghosts get a hold of physical objects if they're dead and do those items that they get or borrow transcend into the spiritual world? Don’t trust him. Ethan.” ooo is noah also a bad guy?????? “I can project some things I used to own from memory. You could argue with me that the note thing was also Ethan projecting pen and paper but I still don't buy it though. If they can project anything from their memory then they could project the most outrageous things like a car to drive to California to see Ella??? That's creepy no don't do that no one should do that. I wondered whether I would ever get used to seeing him become visible. If he can materialise, what would stop him from materialising in front of his parents and just go on living? It seems like he can interact with his surroundings so literally what's up? Pretend your not dead or something. Just because I thought he was hot didn’t mean he thought I was. hahahaha true My stomach twisted into a knot at the thought of never seeing him again. aaaaaaaqrs Part of me wanted to be with Noah. guuurl you problematic as heck i liked you at the beginning and now i'm slowly not liking you “Slut.” heh? how are we supposed to trust you is if you attacked rachel when you first met her and then calling her derogatory names during your second meeting? what? No one would’ve guessed Ethan would do something like this. boi what if it was noah because, going back to my theory, parker and her hooked up and noah found out. everyone is evil. “He’s sneaky. maybe you're sneaky noah. hmmm What if this was my last Christmas with Mom? And this would likely be my only Christmas with Noah. I’d have to do my best to make the holidays special and stay positive for both of them. What a great way to start that out by being hella negative about it! We have a ton of DVDs.” not to sound like the gen-z that i am but DVD's... really Happiness is the best revenge. i don't think this is the right response to someone who has just been assaulted aaaaaaa Charlotte would destroy that tree in seconds flat. i read that as "Charlotte would destroy that in 'tree' seconds flat". And I laughed thinking that a pun was inserted in there and then I read it again and I realise that I'm stupid. Why couldn’t we just be two people in this world living at the same time? This whole thing is making me angry bc it's so wrong. “Is this okay?” WE STAN CONSENT Somebody slap me. you need more than a slap hun. i want to kick you in the shins I grabbed my novel. “Yeah. Me, too.” this section feels pretty useless tbh we get the same old rachel and noah hanging out and her feeling guilty that he's dead we could do without this section in the chapter because in all honestly, a lot of it is getting redundant and i don't know how to feel about this Sophie stood at his side. okay so i don't hate that sophie is here bc this is probs a small thing that i'm nitpicking but i don't know if the fact that she's there is consistent with the character. we know them as pretty absent people and suddenly they're always there and it would've consistent if they weren't there i don't know if this makes any sense or if it's important bc it probably isn't and i'm reading too much into this In one swift move, Ethan flung me to the ground and my head hit the floor. to reiterate my previous note, things are getting quite cyclical and we're only halfway. My eyes pleaded with his, asking for something I couldn’t speak aloud, and my gaze lowered to his lips. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaathisissoproblematic He wasn’t mad anymore? My head spun. she dogged the boiiiis man no noah don't talk to her “I’ve got you. I won’t let you go.” i swear that if parker's an asshole i will punch someone in the face “I’ll worry.” He pulled me close again. “But I won’t interfere.” ooooooooooooooo parker seems too perfect it's fishy “Someone who has something against Rachel, or her mom,” new theory: what if sarah was behind ALL of this?????????? I drifted off to sleep. what the fuck was this scene in for??? i don't get it. He pulled out his phone and typed a message. suspicious It sparkled in the bright lights, and just looking at it made me feel a little safer than before. you better go to the church and have that thing doused in holy water or else it won't be as effective it's not about how shiny and pretty and expensive it is, it's about whether or not it's blessed that'll ward off demons *scoffs in catholic* Our lips touched in a gentle, slow kiss and a familiar ache stirred in my chest. they're always making out are teenagers this hormonal? She unzipped the dress about halfway, and hugged me again, before shuffling out of the room. I can picture the "Slipping Through my Fingers" scene from Mamma Mia! playing. “You have to stay. Just stay here until I cross over. Please.” this sounds really selfish it's getting really hard to like you rachel “No.” He pulled away and stood, glaring down at me with pain in his eyes, his jaw clenched. “In this life, we can only be friends. If I act on my feelings for a living person it’s considered selfish and going against God’s will. I might not be able to cross over to heaven.” YEAH NOAH TELL HER! I was an idiot understatement of the century hahahahah i'm getting really fired up I floated downward. how do you float downwards? just say sink A second later, I hovered above the scene, gazing down at what was happening. wait. i've read past this and i'm doing a double-take but wait. hun is rachel dead aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa i love this aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa “I’m sorry for everything I did to you, Rachel. I didn’t deserve your help, but you saved me. Please go back to your body and live.” okay. i almost killed you just but hey i'm sorry amiritemydudes *highfive* Should I return to my body and set his spirit free? rachel wtf why is this even a fucking question?! Maybe it really wasn’t my time to die. i'm annoyed that this is even a discussion I lifted my chin and our lips met simultaneously, both of us eagerly kissing the other. does it count if she cheats on parker in the spirit world??? i don't know how she'll move past this tbh. i don't like where this went. escape the prodding nurses who showed up every time I tried to sleep. i feel personally attacked by this bc i'm a nurse and hun the reason why we keep "prodding" you is to make sure you aren't dying so a little thank you would be much appreciated “I’ll wheel her out.” well we need the wheelchair back so are you returning it back to the ward once she's in the car??? But it wasn’t fair for me to be with him when another girl could give him her whole heart and all I could offer was broken fragments. no. no no let's re-word this: It's not fair for him to be with you considering that you've been cheating on him with a ghost. “I still love you.” #JusticeForParker RACHEL YOU DON'T DESERVE PARKER And going to prom with Parker tonight was just the beginning of my journey. what is it with high schoolers and prom? prom's not really that exciting tbh “I won’t forget, either.” ...maybe when noah and i are in heaven, i'll forget about this (hide spoiler)] Coolbeans. Final thoughts. I enjoyed the book for what it was and I think its suits the demographic that it's for. I think they'd be able to overlook the minor problems I had with it and just be immersed in the story. Tbh I like the concept and I don't know what I'm looking for to elevate my liking of it but I just wish it were better. idk what i'm saying. THANKS TO BOOKSIRENS :) disclaimer: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. imma go read gone girl now kbye ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Oct 04, 2019
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Oct 17, 2019
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Oct 04, 2019
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Kindle Edition
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