Status Updates From Tale of the Flying Forest

I loved The Ghosts of Rose Hill when I read it four years ago and I'm glad that I read this book as well. R.M. Romero is a hell of a writer. She is so. Damn. Good!! I'm happy that I bought The Tear Collector on sale and I'm excited to read it at some point this year. 😊

Doom and gloom aside, the end to this book was excellent and heartwarming. Rainer's self doubt and self loathing were sad to read about, but they were relatable and understandable. The text showed that there was hope for Rainer in spite of his shitty upbringing. That was a lovely message.

I don't know why my damn perseverating thoughts came out to play while I finished this book. That's unfortunate AF, but that's what happened. 😔😟

I'll finish this book tomorrow. I've been neglecting Greenwild lately. *feels guilty*

The Birch Witch's demise was written in a clever way. Anne had the last laugh even though the Birch Witch had laughed at her when he got cocky and thought that he'd bested her.

I'm curious about where R.M. Romero is going with the Birch Witch's story since he wasn't defeated. It'll be interesting to see what happens in Miriam and Moshe's interlude/short story as well.

Here is an uncomfortable truth: Evil is not often a dark flower growing at the edge of the universe; it is not a cloud that settles over countries like a suffocating cloak. Evil is a choice. If it is chosen again and again, the person who does the choosing can reliably be called a monster.

That's thought-provoking.

I get why Anne briefly struggled with ruminating thoughts, considering the events of a recent chapter.

I'm captivated by Rainer's magic and I hope to learn more about it when I don't feel like the walking dead. Bedtime for me.

When a person witnesses something terrible, it loops in their mind like a scene from a play.

This reminds me of perseverating/ruminating thoughts, which are a *BEAST* to deal with. They're utter hell. 😥 Who wants to replay negative thoughts in their mind over and over again? 😖 And yet it's such a real struggle.

The worst pain of all, dear reader, is to see someone you love suffer.

I agree with this completely.

That chapter ended on a massive cliffhanger. 😮 Uuuugh!!!

I enjoyed the short chapter about Esther, Simon, and the dybbuk. It was eerie, but it had a happy ending.

The upcoming interlude mentioned a dybbuk. I'm intrigued by that, but my eyes need a brief break from reading.

“Learn, children, don’t be afraid. Every beginning is hard.”

I agree that new beginnings can be hard. I've had some that were easy in my life (i.e. the transition from high school to community college) and others that were difficult. I won't elaborate on the latter.

I'm not surprised that the Birch Witch is using the Dream Machine to create nightmares for kids. 😣

“Let everything happen to you / Beauty and terror / Just keep going / No feeling is final. That’s what a poet whose name was also Rainer said.”

It was sweet of Anne to quote this poem to Rainer. ❤❤❤❤ I agree that no feeling is final. Emotions can be transient.

But the boy’s dark curls reminded Anne of her mother’s, and his eyes were the same as the Magician’s: a striking, forget-me-not blue.

That's a lovely description of Rainer's eyes. ☺️

Anne easily lied to the Birch Witch and she fooled him.

The Birch Witch's house reminded me of Hansel and Gretel. That's probably an obvious comparison, but that's what I thought of when I read the description of his house.

Unlike in Silverthorne where everyone was unique, the people who lived in the second darkest part of the forest looked almost identical. They were milk-pale with cornflower-blue eyes and white-gold hair, and they moved stiffly, like they’d just woken up from a long nap.

This reminds me of the Stepford Wives and not in a good way. 😧

I appreciate how tikkun olam is a recurring theme in this book. And I'm greatly enjoying the interludes that focus on Queen Deborah and her prophetesses. ☺️