Suanne Laqueur > Recent Status Updates

The writing is a little simplistic with lots of telling. And I wish novels about art and art history had more pictures in them. Wouldn’t that be nice?

(Sigh) I’m such a sucker for British wartime fiction. This is just lovely.

I don’t know who told Paulo Coelho he should write about women’s experiences from a woman’s POV, but I hope they eventually lost their job. Jesus, this is terrible.

Me every few pages: “Damn, this is bleak…. Oh wait, it’s a retelling of Jane Eyre. Duh.”

Well, fuck me, this is good!

I love me some John Irving but holy fuck this is a weird one.

OH MY GOD!! 🤣🍿

This book demands a Pinterest board because the clothing descriptions are out of this world.

A good book can be so daunting to an author. This one is so fucking smart that the possibility of ever again writing a remotely intelligent sentence leaves me in despair. I mean what the FUCK?!

OK, how about I just highlight the entire book and then un-highlight the parts I don’t like?

Dayum, the writing is s*p*a*r*k*l*i*n*g

As an author who loathes inventing careers for her characters and making them exist therein, can I just say I am uber-impressed and wildly jealous of this Introductory Client Brief and the emails surrounding it? Like, how long did it take Joukovsky to think of all this?

Brutal. BRU. TAL. If this book ends hopelessly I’ll be so upset. I don’t need a perfect ending, but give me just a little hope.

Woof, this is rough…..

Here’s the deal. I like the premise of the world this is set in. And I kind of know what’s going on. But I kind of don’t know what’s going on. It’s one of those books that I read the same way I carry a tune. Like I’m just quietly getting by.

This would be better if it had a map. Many maps. Just saying.

This is good. Wait, this is going to be like Strange the Dreamer good, right? RIGHT?! (Runs to make popcorn)

Crying at this solitary Seder scene…. “After such pains, to think it had all been swept away, burnt to cinders like the chametz, Brand himself the last remaining crumb.” 😭

Very grateful I binged the entire Empire podcast otherwise I wouldn’t have as good a historical context for the setting of this book.

This is like “All Fours” in that I’m not sure I like the protagonist, not sure I like the story, but I am highlighting the fuck out of this book.

Gee, it’s kind of hard to read when you’re busy highlighting something that resonates on every page. 🤭

“Even sitting three chairs away from Florence was almost too much for me to bear—lightning bolts of anger shot from my vagina to my extremities. I’ve always felt the origin of anger in my vagina and am surprised it is not mentioned more in literature”…….. All righty then. 😳

Yeesh, this is sordid. And fuck Jasper.

The 18th century style is very particular but I find the more time I give to this, the more it is giving back to me. It’s really really really good, but you have to be patient with it.

The style definitely takes some getting used to.

It’s growing on me. It’s a little like Christopher Moore.

I’m enjoying the story and the premise and the historicity, it’s just... (stop me if you’ve heard this before) The first person present POV is annoying. Yeah, yeah, I know. I wish I didn’t have this quirk but I do. Also when writing dialogue for young children, it’s not necessary to! use! all! these! exclamation! points! Kids yell. I know, I get it. I don’t need the visual to hear them in my mind.

I wanted to like this but there is just no plot, the protagonist is annoying, and I don’t feel like sticking with it. That’s part of my menopausal journey: learning it’s OK to abandon things that don’t bring you joy. I tried. Next.

How do authors even write a heist?! I couldn’t do this with a million dollars on the line.

This is like the perfect blend of historical, mythological, realism and magic. And hello—it has PICTURES! Really enjoying it. I don’t typically like first person POV, but I like this.