Status Updates From Crewel (Crewel World, #1)

I really thought Erik was going to fall out of reality and die. Nope. Looks like we’ll be stuck in a love traingle with an obvious answer from now on.

She really chose to lead with “because they kiss the same.” Not their sinilar appearances and backstories. I was unaware that kissing ability was a hereditary trait, like having the same eyes or coming from the same hometown

I do not like that little blond boy. Or how much this story about systemic issues and sexism relies on men to help out our FMC. But I like the worldbuilding and the tension

EW I HOPE CORMAC DIES! BADLY!

Well, this feels weirdly politically relevant. Very creepy behavior from Cormac

Justice for Enora, best character in the book

And that answers my question! Some men can use magic, they’re just so bent on magic being a gender thing because it’s weaving and weaving is “girly”

And that’s Bury Your Gays. In a very shocking twist. Okay

I don’t know how to feel about this. It’s like throwing the gay character under the bus just to show how corrupt Arras is

First time we recognize lesbians existing in the whole book, right here

Okay but why do they gender segrigate the neighborhoods. Arranged marriage makes sense for a dystopia but why this

This worldbuilding is pretty cool! I have my issues with some parts of the story, but this definitely isn’t a bad idea

Oh she’s definitely brainwashed

And I don’t like the way this guy keeps hitting on her, either. Her sister was brainwashed, her dad is dead, she just learned her mom might be alive, and he’s like “beautiful lady please a kiss for me” ewwwww read the room!

Okay, so Maela is also a predator. Yay

Hm. Don’t like how we’re shaming Priyana for being preyed on by old creeps. So what if she’s encouraging it, that means she was groomed into being this way, and the men are still in the wrong since they should know better

God, Cormac radiates such intense predator vibes

That scene was really pretty and well described…
But now I’m thinking hey, maybe my previous critique about how they used Eastern needs to be adjusted, because they meant the east of their world, but Southern might mean sourthern american in aesthetic but not in reality? Huh?

Not the Winter Solstice drop…

This would be so good if it was good

This pain feels manufactured because she’s so mad at the wrong person, Maela did the damage

Kind of wild for a first assignment. Why aren’t they teleporting vegetables for day 1 of controlling the entire world

Not the coffee skin descriptor…

Okay, I’m very confused by this detail. I feel like they’re trying to suggest this character is of Asian/East Asian descent, but I thought this didn’t take place on Earth. Also, it feels weird to phrase it that way. Like they’re trying not to say the names of actual continents or countries and minimizing her background as a result

It feels like they’re going for hunger games energy, but in hunger games, everyone already knows the tributes die. Keeping up the glamour must be so hard for the big bads in Arras. Glossing over the manipulation with fancy makeovers doesn’t work if you’re making over people who just spent the night in prison. Eventually, someone’s going to complain about the injustice and then the whole dystopia is found out

See, the dystopian elements here are good: the weird gender segregation and reality warping make this world stifling, and even magic can’t fix that. But they really don’t give you the idea that this is a well-run dystopia. Because they’re mistreating the people whose powers they need to operate the world and then pretending they didn’t. It’s jarring

Wait, skipping back a page. I know this info is needed to picture their world, but having it come in while she’s grieving her father’s death and her town’s brainwashing feels hasty. I wish this came earlier or later

Ugh this guy is a jerk, she should punch him

My honest thoughts on this: we already know their world is a dystopia, we don’t immediately need to see the dad die. Have us as the audience assume he’s dead while leaving it vague if he did or not. Kill us with the suspense

I always wonder if people with intersex variations exist in worlds where magic is gender segrigated. What if you were a man in this world, and you developed powers, and that was how you found out you had a chromosone condition