Status Updates From Menagerie (Menagerie, #1)

She showed herself free and unshackled to Clyde.

Why is she so fucking stupid

"But I swear on the solemn honor of my name that I will keep my word. Evan Clyde will pay for what he did to you. He will pay in pain, and in terror, and in pints and pints of glistening blood."

No one talks like this. Might be justifiable once we know his backstory but for now it just sounds odd

1) Elizabeth was replaced with Delilah (a changeling) by a fae
2) Delilah's DNA results show her to be 100% human
3) Furiae manifest in people randomly to mete out justice

So... Most likely, the tests are inaccurate bc why would a fae replace a human child with another human child? Surely her DNA should have shown her to be fae. If the test is accurate, how did the fae birth/have an identical human child?

Gallagher refused to give Clyde to Delilah so she could kill him, but he doesn't care if Wallace dies? Clyde is objectively more abusive than Wallace is, and Gallagher doesn't even seem to know why Delilah wants to punish Wallace so as far as G knows, W is an innocent carny (as innocent as any of them can be).

It's concerning that G craves violence. Sanctified by the personification of justice, sure. But still :[

"[Eyes] were the windows to one's thoughts. Which originated in the brain."

...Duh??

Gotta admit that I'm more intrigued by Gallagher, though I find it ridiculous that he's "never been needed". A capable, able-bodied, strong man is useful and needed in many areas of life. It's also suspicious that he's never been needed by his family, friends or partners? Maybe it's because of his supposed "grim cravings".

"[Gallagher] suspected she was one of the strongest people he'd ever met."

Delilah claims that she is not a martyr, but the narrative certainly paints her like one. She retains her dignity in humble silence and is respected for it - Ie. one can be beaten but not broken. It's the kind of platitude that feels false in the face of accounts from actual survivors of slavery, IPV, SA, etc. It feels naive at best.

"My word is my honor." - Gallagher

Idk if this good cop/bad cop routine is working for me. I'm curious about why Gallagher is upholding the slave system when he seems to oppose it. Otoh, the parallels to slavery and the prison industrial complex aren't touched on enough to draw the reader into a deeper discussion about them, so this story (so far) just feels like 'WW's first time imagining herself as a slave'

"...I was less than human, therefore unfit for concepts like liberty and justice."

Why does the author avoid having the character call herself a slave? I really have to wonder if it's because she is unaccustomed to seeing a white person fitting the mould, even when other white people (Metzger employees) uphold the slavery system as they have done so historically. Any POC can see the blinders for what they are

"When the world rushed back into focus, I found him watching as I recovered from suffering he'd dealt out as casually as he might slap at a buzzing fly." Missing a 'the' in there, but even with it this sentence runs too long and is clunky af. This is pretty consistent throughout the story, on top of the telling over showing

The writing craft isn't where I wish it would be. And she needed a better editor

-telling over showing
-why doesn't Delilah just call her circumstance "slavery"? Sure she isn't technically a human but she is a sentient and intelligent person. Legally it isn't slavery, but for all practical purposes, it is. Feels like the author is trying to dodge the racial history of slavery in the USA
-the impassioned speech was dumb. Keep your plans to yourself and learn how to use your powers, dumbass