E > Recent Status Updates

This world building is terrible, I think it should have been written as a Young Adult book. The only thing keeping me from DNFing is that I already quit a book this week.

I respect Kate Quinn for trying something different but I wish she would still play to her strengths. A fantastical element is fine (though the world building is clumsy) but her talent is writing about friendships and if she isn't doing that, it falls a little flat. Also, having had to do 'poverty math' in my life, though not to the same degree as Alix, this stresses me out.

Yeah this is not worth reading.

I can see why so much of the second part always gets cut from adaptations. It slows the story down a lot.

I am already considering a DNF. This writing is terrible. She has described a man wearing a backwards ball cap as having 'licks of hair' sticking out from it twice in the span of like 30 pages. The FMC already has a nickname that is being used way too often and has referred to her birkenstocks as 'Birkies'.

Nina and Richie are the only characters I care about at this point. Maybe Adam? Also Sasha really is the worst one, I am glad she is having a terrible party and I hope that Richie spills the beans and Theo leaves her.

Lev is awful and it makes Mia look dumb for dating him. Really all these people are terrible except for Adam, who needs therapy but also needs to escape his shitty friends

I feel like this should be peak nostalgia for me because these people are my age but it's hard to focus on anything other than how annoying they all are. Unless Richie is in rehab after the next time jump, it seems like he is the one who dies. Sasha and Theo are for sure getting a divorce.

I had wondered if the aliens were even real, if it wasn't somehow Earth communicating with its past self through some sort of time distortion but the newest message makes that seem less likely. I hadn't thought about how this would basically create Scientology on steroids.

Just as charming as ever. I know she wrote it for the money but I'd like to think that at least the first half of the story felt like something authentic to her.

Using the aliens as a framing device for what would otherwise be a pretty basic family drama is such a fun choice. The writing is great, I haven't been able to put it down despite really not liking most of the characters (especially the mom), so that's saying a lot.

The timeline aspect is interesting, I wish we had gotten here sooner. Though the redemption of Kyr is still unearned, the author found a way to at least have it make sense.

I feel like there is no momentum to the story now. Days are passing while she is in a simulation learning that aliens are people too?

So many books over 500 pages don't need to be over 500 pages. This feels so boring.

Juggling three timelines is a hard thing to do and I am not sure this author is up to it. Antoine is also not enough of a character, I need to understand why Sebastian falls for him. The vibes and world building are excellent though.

The main character is so insufferable. I get that she is brainwashed but I need her to get a freaking clue.

This character is going to be very hard to redeem. She is basically full Nazi youth, and not even begrudgingly. It's hard to feel bad for her and I am not sure even 400 pages is enough time to give her a redemption arc.

This was a little hard to get into but I think switching from the audio to the paper version helped (the narrator is not working for me). I like the world building and the storytelling structure so far.

This took such a weird direction. Why did the author skip over the most interesting part of the premise where she would reacclimate to post war London in favor of all this? What in The-Summer-I-Turned-Pretty?!

I like the story so far, the way the relationships have developed. So many POVS mad it a little hard to get into and I hate the format, especially the italics and the way one there is not separation when another person starts talking. But overall pretty enjoyable.

While this is still on the horror side of things, it's not as much horror as I thought it would be. The time travel aspect has more fantasy vibes.

The creepy vibes are excellent and I like that there are 3 layers of mystery. Sen and the Samurai stuff are a little over the top but I can reserve judgement on that.

I usually try to give a book at leas 50 pages but this feels real cheesy, like Pirates of the Caribbean, but in space.

I thought the tone would make this more interesting but it makes it feel more trivial

This is painfully slow. The SA seemed unnecessary but perhaps it will impact the plot in some way.

Hmm, I was hoping for more of a Thursday Murder Club vibe but this writing is kind of fussy.

I think my main problem with this book is that it is, by necessity, a lot of speculation and I just don't feel super grounded in the facts.

Jimenez has made this trope more palatable than I expected but I can't believe things are still dragging on with the boyfriend. Get that guy some help! The couple has zero chemistry though, it might be because the MMC acts like the FMC constantly needs to be coddled instead of treating her like an equal. It feels icky because he's basically been lying to her by enabling his friend.

So far I like this, I have a soft spot for retail pharmacists. I really appreciated the trigger warnings at the beginning of the book, Jimenez always deals with some heavy shit in her love stories but financial insecurity is one I can't always handle reading and was happy to have the heads up.

This is a little tough because of how many people share names, which isn't really something the author can help. I appreciate her calling out modern examples of similar political moments so I can better understand the impact of these actions.