Status Updates From To the Farthest Shores

“In trying to spare the girl’s feelings by ignoring her embarrassing overtures, Abigail’s fantasies were allowed to spiral out of control”.

Again, Ryan is responsible for another woman’s actions and emotions. Because of course a woman can’t be reasonably asked to control her own emotions or think beyond her own misguided justifications for things.

Abigail physical hurt Ryan (black eye) and she is supposedly justified for him “sparing her feelings” even though he turned her down after she proposed marriage & everyone acknowledges how insane Abigail is in her continued and relentless pursuit (read: harassment) of him. Seriously this man and Lily deserve so much more.

“Was it so wrong to want to come first in a man’s heart?”

Actually biblically yeah it is.

Her selfish, self-centred nature has been in flashy display, especially this 2nd half of the book. Trying to pass off, “oh my oh me, I’m just a woman wanting love and devotion is that so wrong” but all the examples is a toxic blackhole of self-serving ideals.

“Maybe it was her bad nature, but Jenny didn’t think what Finn had done was all that horrible.” Yes, our mortal nature is bad which is why we need connection and communion with Jesus.

“Reckless and study, yes, but she wishes Ryan had put her need to have her guilt absolved over his own shame in participating…”. Jenny is Toxic personified.

… why does Ryan need to tell her he bought HIS DAD’s (the only thing he has left of his father) back after SHE PAWNED IT and told him that she DIDNT FEEL GUILTY ABOUT IT b/c she is a big butt hurt who doesnt know how to forgive. As if she is justified in putting herself on that high horse.

… omgsh spent a whole chapter to justify her breaking his trust by BREAKING IN to his locked drawer. What toxic, criminal behaviour. Boy needs to run fast and he needs to run far (but ofc he won’t).

“These warring emotions were his fault, and he hadn’t don’t much to alleviate her anxiety.” Dude her emotions are not on Ryan. She needs to pray.

Also, that’s such a huge order!! Is girl okay having the weight and expectation of being someone foundation for their whole world? Yikes. That just sounds a recipe for failure; unnecessary pressure for perfection.

“She needed to believe she was the foundation of Ryan’s world, but he had not been able to make her feel that way.”

Yo. Our boy Ryan needs to run.

They both do, they need to run to Jesus.

That is toxic thinking. She wants god-like worship.

This is ridiculous it wasn’t infidelity. It was a broken promise because well, life happening. They were together a few short months, he told her “hey sorry we cant be together anymore”, and she just hasn’t been able to move on. She’s entitled to feeling hurt and distrustful but girl you are not owed his whole life and attention and thought and being his absolute everything.

I hope I’m just jumping the gun in my irritation & the story addresses this.

..forgiveness is ascribed to Ryan because of his childhood being raised by missionary parents + upbringing raised learning cultural (Japanese) views in tolerance etc etc RATHER THAN the fact that as Christians, our heart posture is that of love and that love “keeps no record of wrongs” 1 Corinthians 14:4

Again a situation that involves forgiveness without even mentioning that’s what needed/what it is!! Yes Jenny had a hard background but that she holds grudges is something that as a Christian she should take to the Lord AND other a Christian characters aren’t point this out!! They just shrug and say “you’re just different”, “must be your hard childhood”. Esp infuriating when the act/trait of

The heck. I’m pretty sure offers of immunity don’t work like that especially murder attempts, which are criminal cases. It doesn’t matter whether/not Ryan won’t “press charges”, which would be civil suit. I don’t think a town Sheriff, another town’s lawyer, a retired criminal lawyer, and a private citizen (though currently discharge from military) don’t have the authority to make immunity offers.

This story and the characters is now making me so irritated. I think it’s time for me to eat and rest (shoutout to Elijah in 1 Kings 18 & reference during today’s sermon).

So the who man “charged at him” with a knife months ago was the same man who sold a bunch of stuff in the Sheriff’s pawn shop; he has identifiable features and sold stuff like a durama doll which is very rare for this part of town at this period setting. Sheriff didn’t catch on & Ryan didn’t think it’s weird even with his paranoia about the oyster farm and Japan??? What??

Jenny and Finn’s blatant disrespectful to the non-Jenny and non-Finn people (so mostly non-SF townies) in Ryan’s life, yuck. Ryan was supposed to be a competent spy for almost a decade but still seems to have weak self-preservation skills, esp with threats to his life in a short time span is so weird.

Jenny thought Sheriff Cuthbert was “dim witted” b/c it’s a small town and he was also moonlighting as shopkeeper for an odds and ends store who also tried to sell a used prosthetic arm? Like admittedly that was a weird reveal but that’s super judgemental of Jenny and it doesn’t even make sense. How does that matter WRT his investigation skills what.

Also, why is propose discussions forgiveness and grace so missing between characters who identify as Christians and are supposed to be So Very Moral and Good.

… right ok. Girl needs to pray & take her insecurities and weaknesses to Jesus. Stop going to church just like another task to checkmark when absolutely exhausted from a 20+ hour shift.

Excuse me what. Dramatically it’s interesting that he had them within reach for almost a month but it’s unbelievable and a huge impossibility for a mere human & lifelong addict to abstain that temptation. Esp given previous instances. Inconsistent characterization for sake of drama.

3.5 stars for the first half (well-paced and no overly-drawn out drama from lack of communication) but second half is unravelling like an spool, uninteresting, unmanaged and with uneven pacing.