xenization. > Recent Status Updates

a. i'm screaming

b. i know it wasn't the point but WE DIDN'T SEE THE RELATIONSHIP TAKE OFF

c. i'm obsessed

d. unearthing falconer's other books as we speak

e. brother william? death to you

a) i finished this months ago, whoops

b) maven when i CATCH you maven

c) cal you silly boy

a. is this where the og fantasy love triangle started, although it's more of a strange diamond situation

b. i have a feeling i know who's gonna win and i don't think it's the dude she's kissing

c. i'm so excited for the rest of the series

a. i'm team maven but i can see that's going to bite me in the ass

b. did mare's feelings for kilorn just like vanish the second she saw pretty sparkly crowns?

c. i like the pacing but it also feels like there's something missing, it's definitely being driven by characters

d. i smell a betrayal on the horizon

a. i've barely put this down over the past 8 hours, i am so in love and addicted to these characters and this world

b. while i found the main plot beats either slow or repetitive, i never got bored? i never wanted to stop reading, it was like an addiction.

c. i didn't giggle and kick my feet at the romance, you did

a. you can tell this is from the hunger games era

b. i thought this was a full blown fantasy, i wasn't expecting mentions of electricity or guns, especially given the use of swords and metal armour still

c. saying all this, i absolutely love this book so far

d. poor gisa :((

a. i love the cutesy interactions but i'm still team jacob i fear

b. love me a floppy hardback <33

a. it's common sense in a way that doesn't make you feel inadequate for not realising it before.

b. the beauty of this book is the way most of us would see this as too simple an answer so it couldn't possibly be this easy to navigate these situations, but when it's laid out in front of us like this it just makes sense.

c. you could almost notice a style shift depending on who was writing, but i loved the humour.

a. i complained about the writing style, but i take it all back - it's so... just perfect? i adore that it's not overly frilly, the descriptions are just enough you can get a basis but you don't worry about not picturing anything the exact way the author does.

b. the dialogue, the wit, the characters <3

c. this is the first time i haven't felt bad about guessing part of the end? i actually felt smart because of it.

a. the writing style manages to pack so much into such a small amount of space but in a way that makes sense? i'm genuinely confused as to how it's been accomplished. there are details and explanations, they're just not in depth.

b. i'm not sure about the pacing? we're a good chunk in and there's not been any GASP moments, you know?

a. this reads like a history textbook but in the best way possible

b. all of the war and politics of GOT without having to actually remember any side characters

c. oh how i do love a targaryen

a. cos probably has my least favourite start to a harry potter book, while this arguably has one of my favourites.

b. i wish they translated this into welsh so i could see how they tackled stan's... unique grasp on the language.

c. the start of the potter sass

d. this book feels like just the right size to hold and read.

a. at what point did it become acceptable for authors to go "speech" (character name)?? 3 times in 2 pages, no less.

b. the only redeeming factors are nico and raina povs.

c. i don't want to read this but i want to consolidate that this book is mediocre at best - i'm excited to finally have my first 2 or 3 star read.

d. the potential this has, and yet it lays rotting.

e. woo friendship is magic i guess

a. in theory i should love this writing style but it is driving me utterly MAD - it is so convoluted and unnecessarily showy, it's like the author is trying to prove it's a dark academia by writing in a scholarly fashion. it's not working. there are no character descriptions, little to no environmental details, who the HELL are gideon and max?? clearly blake is doing something right but what it is is beyond me.

a. june hur, i utterly and absolutely adore you and everything that you write.

b. HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO WAIT UNTIL 2026 FOR ADORATION? I NEED MORE MURDER MYSTERIES AND I NEED THEM NOW.

c. hyeon and eojin <3333

d. the twist was twisty, i didn't work out the intricacies but i feel like the information that lead to the twist was revealed rather early on? unless i made it up.

e. i want to read lady hyegyong's memoir

spoilers(?)

a. my heart is aching but in a really good way :((

b. i cannot believe it's taken until book 3 for june hur to include a romance but i am all for it, i am shipping and giggling and kicking my feet like a FOOL

c. okay so [redacted] really did kill SOME people but maybe not the ones we think they did??

d. i thought the secret sibling would be madam mun, but i don't see why khun is scared of inyeong

a. it's not a full-blown romance yet but just the little moments make my heart feel a little warmer.

b. i feel like i always forget quite how brutal june hur crimes are until i'm reminded by her simple yet harrowing descriptions - if you think about it for too long, or too in-depth, it becomes chilling.

c. jieun just loves love, i hope she finds someone :((

a. every time i focus on hyeon i get reminded of shin saekyung in rookie historian even though their characters are a bit different - i am using that drama as my outfit references for this book, however. 😅

b. june hur, i love you <33

c. when i'm rolling around whining i want to watch a crime/mystery kdrama with less serious elements, THIS is what i mean, THIS is what i want to sob about for 20 hours.

a. hur just gets better and better with each and every book she releases.

b. i love that we were mostly straight into the action - not that we weren't in the last two books, this was just instant.

c. every time damos are mentioned i think of seol.

d. i have finished afosg but i don't remember anything that happens nor when i actually finished it 😔

e. dare i assume peasant police man is eojin

a. well. wow. /pos

b. finishing this felt akin to drawing in a breath and releasing it with a satisfied and content air.

c. did this end as a 5* read? absolutely. do i think this would make an AMAZING drama? absolutely, but they have to keep in the gore and grittiness and keep zilan not annoying.

d. had me tearing up a little, and it has been a long time since a book has done that to me.

e. SEQUEL IS IN OCTOBER??

a. new criticism unlocked: the writing/story quality fluctuates. it was hard to connect to the characters, and once the story really started at around 60 pages it got so good because we had that conflict, that struggle, that story. but now the tests are over and she's in the palace, everything is falling flat. the alchemist's names feel incredibly immature, and yet there's human skin hanging around?

b. ducky-ducky

a. li hong is so adorable, he has pet duckie-wuckies and he was devastated when he found out he could have hurt them, protect this man at all costs because he's just a big old softie :((

b. wenshu in his brother era

c. you cannot understand the pure joy i feel with these floppy pages, it is truly beautiful.

d. i do love myself a palace romance <33

a. i actually started this like two months ago and got to page 61 and just forgot to update. woo.

b. the start was a little tiny weeny bit boring, however i really like the dynamics of wenshu and yufei, their little secret was really interesting to find out - i didn't expect it at all. i'm not a fan of how they don't tend to believe zilan.

c. i love how floppy and easy to read my copy is <333

a. well. that was certainly... something.

b. my copy has this weird grime and smell to the pages and it's sorta ick.

c. the last part of this was surprisingly easy to read, i flew through the last 149 in 4 hours. or at least it felt like flying before i realised it's been 4 hours.

d. i will never not be team jacob, how red flag is it that both edward and bella would rather die than be without each other? hardpass.

a. oh my god

b. i actually finished this a couple of days ago but it had the short story in the back and i didn't realise goodreads had a separate listing for it

c. if fennus was a hoyoverse character, players would be all over him like a rash

d. i have some... icks with how easily viv gives away parts of her business

e. i do be vibing with the found family, i do believe i've found myself a new subgenre to read

a. i really don't want this to end :((

b. i don't know how to feel about how much i'm relating to viv - it's nice to see someone who almost works the same way mentally but it's unnerving, too.

c. my edition as an ebook has 60 pages of non-story related stuff at the back when that could have been 60 pages of more coffee shop found family shenanigans <\3

a. I FORGOT TO MENTION THE GINORMOUS CAT THEY'VE GOT WHO JUST DECIDES WHEN TO ROCK UP

b. i don't even like cinnamon but this has got me craving a nice cinnamon roll :((

c. i love and hate how easily things are solved, i was expecting more bite to the madrigal but it seems they've got the same cravings as i

d. i wish this book had a sequel rather than a prequel <\3

a. i LOVE thimble, you don't understand, he's so sweet and quiet and wholesome and all he wants is to bake his little treats and have his little lattes and :((

b. on the topic of food, cal is hinting enough about food and ovens, viv better bloody hire him as a chef, i love him and i want him to keep turning up in the book.

c. i love this found family viv has managed to acquire. :((

a. at first i was unsure how to feel about this one, the writing style is quite plain yet the descriptions feel complicated in that certain elements appear skipped, there's a 50/50 chance that when you think about it they work.

b. i'm undecided on viv as a character, though her interactions with cal have made me feel quite happy and i'm not entirely sure why - it felt rather wholesome.