Status Updates From Pictures of You

Peace of mind versus presence of mind.

It's remarkably boring and predictable given how little sense it makes.

Well that was a long, drawn out disappointment. I love Malerman but this isn't Derry, Maine. The whole premise of someone having this kind of amnesia because of a single instance of fairly mild abuse is silly, but the fact that the plot depends on it is pretty unforgiveable. The only way this makes sense is if the person who did the slapping was an interdimensional shapeshifting clown with sharp teeth.

There's a very, very slow reveal that's still developing here. That part is fine (though the story seems pretty complete without the twist), but the plot is frustratingly circular. Reading the experience of waking up after being drugged again is tedious.

It's strange to be so far into a book and have the protagonists still essentially where they began, but it's been damn entertaining along the way. Reminds me of a good Michaelbrent Collings. Some of them are one-dimensional, but they're so damn good in that dimension that they're still pretty great stories. Much less repetitive than Ferencik's Blooming.

Doing a lot with very little material. Malerman's use of metaphor is really impressive.