Status Updates From Black Water Sister

Well, well, well. Look who’s having a paranormal family reunion in order to take down a corporate gang boss while also going blonde…

I feel like the thematic elements weren’t executed as well as they could have been; I also wasn’t a fan of the pacing or writing style. For a novel that seemed to want to emphasize family dynamics & intergenerational dilemmas, there wasn’t much closure in that department or fluidity. Idk. This book wasn’t unbearable, but I didn’t particularly enjoy it either 🫪

—like the inclusion of the SA scene either, it felt unnecessary. The treat of violence & feeling of danger were present already via the kidnapping; the SA took me off guard & felt like it was for shock value tbh. I have liked where Jess has expressed her anger & frustration, both through supernatural stuff & conversations, & I’m hoping she comes out by the end of the novel 🫪 we’ll see.

Unfortunately, I feel like the pacing was rather slow in the first half+ of the book. It’s high stakes, but doesn’t feel like it. I’m also not very personally invested in the characters. I wish that, for a novel incorporating the complexity & importance of family, the family interacted more with one another. It’s usually just family member + Jess. Even Jess’s parents don’t interact much. I don’t—