Status Updates From Emerge (Hosting Gods, #1)

Taking way to long to get to the plot and boring. Everyone is pissing me off

This was definitely interesting.

What Xander went through was rough but does it excuse the way he treated Gwen, who had never done anything to him? Not even a little bit. He let his experience twist him into a messed up abusive version of himself & that's on him. Gwen letting it all go so easily because he'd been through something bad made no sense. She's been through 10 years of bad experiences & she wasn't awful to him. He ENJOYED hurting her!

I knew Joaquin was a creep from the start & yet she agrees to go inside his house with him alone to talk? First, even if he seemed super sweet, that would be a dumb move but she already knows what a pervert he is & if she really wanted someone to talk to, at LEAST do it INSIDE the freaking library! This girl has NO common sense & on top of everything else, she knows there's a fire giant after her who looks normal.

Ok, Xander just went from mega douche bag to one scary, unhinged, cruel, emotionally & physically abusive SOB! If I were her, I'd tell Zeke & maybe all the brothers how he treats her, EXACTLY what he says & does when they're not there. Then, at least they wouldn't make her get rides from him anymore.

Xander is such a disgusting, egotistical asshole & yet even when he's treating her like shit for no reason, she still wants him! How the Hell am I supposed to respect her if she won't respect herself? I get that you can't always control how your BODY reacts but she CAN control how she responds & what she says to him. Her verbal sparing needs A LOT of work. I REALLY hope we see some MAJOR GROWTH w/her SOON!

That was A LOT of info dumping!

Neil's wife died only 2 yrs ago. I wonder how she felt @ adopting 4 kids & keeping it from them. Did she know about Olivia's vision & what happened in the hospital the night Neil met her & if so, did she believe him? Or did he just pretend he wanted more kids? There is SO MUCH that isn't explained. Like how could they NOT have KNOWN that at least 1 of them was adopted since Xander & Zeke are ONLY 6 months apart?

The mean girls are officially out to get her. I knew this was going to happen but Gwen was so excited for school. Why didn't Peyton take her shopping first & at least give her a fighting chance?

Gwen, get a grip!

"Maybe I could kiss him without him noticing. Is that super creepy?"

Umm, yeah it Is creepy AF! Something is seriously messed up with this girls hormones & her thought process is so crazy!

Also, all of her CONSTANT inner monologues about how much she wants to touch her step brothers is repetitive & annoying as fuck. Especially with Xander. He's literally so hateful & cruel, I can't see why she'd want to be near him. I am excited to see her relationship with Peyton develop since I've never read a reverse harem that included another girl & it was a big reason I picked this up.

This girls social skills are TRAGIC. She touches her knee to Finn's, gets nervous & blurts out "itchy!" Then she goes on to explain her knee was itchy but not from bugs, "I don't have fleas or anything." I get she hasn't been to school or had a friend in a decade but she's had her mom to talk to, but those weren't exactly normal conversations. I guess I can see why she's so awkward but maybe try saying LESS.

Despite a lot of plot holes & things that don't really make sense, I'm finding this pretty fascinating and unique.

Neil tells them they AREN'T twins or even related. They were just born on the same day at the same hospital & he adopted both of them, but why? Where are their mothers? Did he know them? Why was he at the hospital? Were the adoptions planned? WHY aren't the "twins" asking ANY questions??? This makes no freaking sense!

She has got to stop expecting everyone to behave exactly the way they do in books! For one thing, the way characters act in books isn't always realistic & secondly, there's no way to predict how people react, there are too many variables & it depends on the person & their motives & moods. Sadly, you can't learn everything from books. Plus, she's acting like the novels are fact, not fiction.

I feel bad for how excited she is to finally be going to school since I'm pretty sure she's NOT prepared for the reality of high school. I mean, her mom's broke, they were homeless, she doesn't exactly have anything nice to wear & we all know how much image matters, esp.in high school. Why didn't Peyton take her shopping for school clothes or at least let her borrow something? Poor thing.

Xander is SUCH a prick!

"Soon you will understand. Today, accept your new family. This is where you belong. Where you always belonged. Now you are one of them."

Then WHY the hell did you make your daughter live in a car, never go to school, go hungry at times, go weeks without showering & basically live in fear, always on the run, if there was a safe home where "she belongs"?

Her mom says Neil isn't dangerous, so then WHY was she ruining from him? Obviously she's keeping a lot of secrets from her daughter but Gwen never asks her mom the most obvious questions! Like why did you run from him if he's not dangerous? It's maddening!

"Memories were strange things. They didn't work like photographs. They weren't visual." 📷

What the hell is her mom up to? She said she just met Neil on a chat line, which is weird enough to move you and your TEENAGE daughter in with a man you've NEVER met, but there's clearly more to it than that.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know she was like this. I don't know how much she told you, but I've been looking for you for years." -Neil

"And I knew girls could devastate each other in ways guys couldn't even comprehend."