Amanda Smith > Recent Status Updates

Nesta is definitely my favorite.

Writing my review for The House in the Cerulean Sea made me real this book, A Court of Thorns and Roses, is excellently paced. It keeps moving. It has stakes and introduces them clearly. I've rolled my eyes at the mating and the scenting and the orgy festival, but at least this book isn't boring or slow.

Would the word "house arrest" even exist in the vocabulary of a medieval culture? Though I suppose this is fantasy, not historical.

She's the only one in her family who does any work. Of course. 🙄🤦

I don't get it. It's so preachy. The bad people are obviously bad and have no depth. It's all black and white and I suppose that's nice and simple for people.

I can't lie, there have been long stretches where I was bored of this book, and wouldn't have made progress if it wasn't an audiobook.

It is starting to win me over though: Chauncey's infatuation with bellhops, and most specifically the moment that Arthur leaves Lucy and Talia (the two most difficult children) under Linus's care during the town outing, a clear moment of trust and minor revenge.

This is like a bedtime book. Something you could fall asleep to, cuz there's no stakes, except 'Will the kids like him?'. Spoiler: They will.

It's a short book. I was admittedly interested because I'm a vegetarian myself. This isn't exactly a story of a woman trying to find her own path; she becomes a vegetarian because she has bloody, disturbing dreams of eating raw meat, because she craves it incessantly. She's running away from violent thoughts. She gets thinner, and thinner, not eating well. She needs help. And her husband is the most useless fuck.

This book is already pissing me off. Those who 'failed' to save for retirement, those who fall to the 'greed' of spending.

Lady, why don't you stop talking to the dwindling middle class, and talk to those of us who make less than the cost of our basic needs?

I got fed up and frustrated with the abridged audiobook. Will this version be the same? Probably. But I waited two months for it at the library, so I'm going to try to hold my temper, and hope there's something worthwhile.

Might be a DNF. It's not bad. I just can't focus.

Ugh, you can't have actors say lines of dialogue to a room of people without explaining WHICH person in that room they're talking to!

Murderbot is threatening Gurathin, but new listeners would think he's threatening Mensah, as she was the last person to speak.

Poor script writing. You can drop the descriptors around dialogue if the dialogue is between only two characters, but that won't work for groups!

The main actor seems to have finally realized he isn't playing Peter Parker. 🙄👍

The audio design is good, but the acting is...not bad, but under developed. Makes me realize how much character work Kevin Free did for his performance.

Why does Mensa sounds like she's in her twenties?? She's an older woman in a leadership position, she should be 40 minimum. 😑

Is Ratthi Irish??? Scottish?? What's happening????

Again, but with the full cast versions now.

The new actor for Murderbot is a little...perky. 😑

I have absolutely no memory of this book, even though I've apparently read it before. O_o

Stop buying, you don't need stuff, blah blah blah. So far nothing about what to do during actual life crises. These assholes only talk to people who "have enough but spend too much". I'm so tired.

Going back to an old comfort read.

Finally able to start this.

This might be an immediate re-read. There's a lot of world-building, and it might take multiple listens to pick it all up. I am intrigued enough to relisten. I wonder what the witches' original bodies in the underworld look like. We've got body jumping mechanics in this lore.

While I wait for more Murder Bot (and all the horror books I requested on Libby) I'm going to try the other Martha Wells series my library has available. Not that I both bother with her wingfic/Raksura series if it was available. I hate wingfic. But swords and sorcery and gays? I can read that.

Not sure yet. The Darkness Outside Us didn't need a sequel, and I'm not sure there was a good reason for this book. There are times, especially during Ambrose's flashbacks, that I just want to roll my eyes. Totally pointless scenes. There are other times where the story is genuinely intriguing, like with Yarrow's strangeness.

Life got hectic for awhile, but I'm back with this book. And wow, it's so good. It's a survival story, dressed as a love story. But the love story isn't secondary... Survival stories tend to be built on the hero's determination (and usually manliness) and willpower to survive. This is falling into the an acceptance story, and how their relationship truly is the most important thing in their lives.

Oooh, that is clever cover artwork.

I don't know what's happening and I love it

I'm not big on romance books - not because I don't like love stories, I do - but many books in the romance genre are, well, kinda boring to me. I like high stakes, not so cozy mysteries, science fiction, thrillers, horror, fantasy, etc. HEA is optional.

Does this book satisfy that itch? I'm getting SIGNALIS and 2001 Space Odyssey vibes so far, which is a good sign! 👍🏼👍🏼

Yes, I checked it out because the cover artwork is pretty.

My friend Amy gave me her library card, so I'm pouring through the Libby audiobook catalog, and trying out books I wouldn't normally be willing to spend money on.

I picked this book because I'm intrigued by Count Dooku. So why is Ventress narrating the story? Why is Ventress talking about her past, instead of talking about Dooku? Why are we getting new characters from her past, instead of new characters from his past? Why is Dooku torturing Ventress, making us feel bad for Ventress, when this is a book about DOOKU?