Julia > Recent Status Updates

I was really liking this book until this moment. And instead, we've got our fmc losing her mind and blowing everything out of proportion instead of asking a question. She thinks to herself "what was their plan? use my body and discard me?" no, dummy. the only reason they even came close to "using your body" that first night is because you were somewhere you weren't supposed to be in the first place.

i was having a good time until we got to the part where violet gets told she probably shouldn't go anywhere alone and she goes "i got snatched. once. it won't happen again." as justification for why she doesn't want a body guard.

wasn't once enough??? also considering they killed everyone they could get their hands on that escaped, why are you so stupid as to think they wouldn't come after you too?

i am liking this book less and less. why in god's name is she fucking two alphas in the parking lot of the grocery store where she ran into the man who held her captive. that seems like a great time for him to i dunno, get into a car, wait for you guys to leave, and follow you home.

this book is driving me nuts. it has so much potential, but almost no one in it feels like a fully realized character. i understand that rose has a lot of trauma and doesn't really have a concrete sense of identity, but at this point we're 60% through the book and she hasn't really progressed at all?

no one has progressed? and half of the characters that we're introduced to just feel like afterthoughts.

this is the second (or third?) book i’ve read from this series and i’m thinking it just might not be for me.

all of these characters are so emotionally stunted and unable to communicate that it’s physically painful. skylar has been in love (??) with this guy she’s met like 5 times…for years. and saved her virginity for him despite never intending to see him again.

she feels psychotic.

this book is driving me crazy. the writing is beautiful, do not get me wrong.
but the characters are all insane.

there are multiple instances of characters saying clearly, loudly and repeatedly "i don't want to do this," and the rest of the characters whine and get mad at them...for not wanting to engage in mysterious, unexplained sex rituals with people they spent one (1) summer with when they were children.

i absolutely loved the first two of these books. this one?? awful.

now i love a good age gap romance. but for me, the age gap is not the problem. the problem is that’s she’s barely an adult.

which is to say, if this book were about someone 28 dating someone 48? cool. no problem.

but the fact that she’s not even 20? no. her brain isn’t even fully developed. not to mention, she’s a manipulative liar.

i didnt love rynn in the first two, and this one is making me hate her. she’s cocky, despite the fact that she’s gotten herself kidnapped because she’s too damn stupid to shut the fuck up.
she’s actively endangering all the guys she claims to love, but if they keep her safe, she whines.
she doesn’t want to have her choices limited or taken away, but she sure doesn’t mind doing it to her “loved ones.”

okay the first two of these i had no notes. they were perfect.
this one is a little rough. the first time he meets her kid, the baby calls him dada?? why?
not to mention adam spending all of one second before saying “it doesn’t matter to me, now i get two for the price of one” when she tells him connor’s her son??
it’s just…rushed and sloppy for no reason??

i loved this book until this moment, even though i knew it was coming.
max did not lie to her and does not owe her his heritage after officially becoming her boyfriend like 2 days ago.
he deserves better than her because she is reacting exactly like he thought she would. he has trauma behind his decision and he should be allowed to reveal that in his own time, and she is disrespecting his choices by acting this way.

max is apologizing and saying he thought he was doing the right thing…you were. saving a victim of a stabbing is definitely more important than your idiot girlfriend who thought locking herself in a bathroom would somehow solve her problem.
a problem that wouldn’t have been a problem if she would’ve just stayed where she was since, surprise, her determination to know what was going on was what fucked it up.

yet again, when i really like a character, something happens that makes me hate her.
she’s weak, still in heat, sore all over, and yet she somehow thinks she will be helpful and not a liability in a confrontation.
not to mention, there’s a nearly dead woman left out in the snow, and she’s getting all shitty and pissed about her unfounded jealousy instead of being like “someone is trying to harm us.”

i really liked this book until right now. briar literally says out loud “it hurts to consider that he thinks me being pregnant somehow renders me overwhelmed and too irrational to make decisions.”
which would be okay if it didn’t happen in the middle of her running away instead of using her big girl words and talking to the pack like adults.
girl, you’re too overwhelmed for conversation, let alone decisions.

i thought this one would get better. but now, in addition to jenna’s “i’m very different” thing, we also have her being stupid.
WHY do authors make characters think “i know i’m being stupid. logically i know how to handle this situation correctly, but i can’t because i’m busy throwing a tantrum. i’m gonna do the dumb thing.”
it tells me the author wants me to think their character is stupid.

i was liking this book until we got here. i’m annoyed that krampus comes to save her, even though it’s obvious that that’s what’s going to happen.
but olivia is playing childish, manipulative mind games because she doesn’t feel appreciated. and instead of using her grown up words, she goes “maybe i should leave,” and he says “okay.”
but if she wants to act like a toddler, then she can save herself.

i think i’ve found a way to articulate what frustrates me about books like this. gabriel is waxing poetic about how calla is the kindest person he’s ever met.
and i just do not think we’ve been given any explanation as to why.
what makes her kind? what makes her smart? what makes her brave?
we have gotten no examples to support this.
granted, other than gabriel, we haven’t gotten that for the guys either.

why am i reading this series? why is calla so dumb? “i want to be able to protect myself, thank you very much.”
a vampire ripped out another vampire’s heart with her bare hands while standing in front of you…and you don’t want to be turned into a vampire…how the fuck is being taught how to throw a punch going to help you in this situation?

fucking hell.
the compound gets raided.
our main characters pull up. gabe says “stay here!” emilia says “no” and gets out to go in with them.
WHY???
you don’t have a gun, you don’t know how to use one. what fucking help are you going to be other than distracting everyone, including your father, by making them worry about protecting you?
it doesn’t make you brave or tough. it makes you fucking stupid.

two pages later she is about to throw a tantrum because a guy she is not dating is just…near (??) a woman for an assignment for the club.
and she’s whining about being treated like a child.
girl…maybe everyone would treat you like an adult if you acted like an adult.
not everything is about you and your hurt feelings. also he’s not doing anything wrong, you have not talked about this “relationship.”

i wish everyone in this book were older. i wish emilia and gabe weren’t so annoying. i wish reading why choose books didn’t result in SO MANY repetitive narratives with bitchy fmcs, emotionally immature mmcs, and incomprehensible plot lines.
yet again, here’s a fmc who has absolutely no fucking clue what she’s talking about, getting mad that people are “making decisions for her” when she’s doing it too.

“i let out a huff of frustration that i know probably makes me seem petulant. but it is excruciating not knowing what’s happening with seth and draven right now, and i am holding the solution in my hands right now. i know i am.”
you are petulant. and if you’re so sure you’re right, then i need you to explain why. convince me.
also don’t say “right now” twice in one sentence, it sounds stupid.

okay, i was more interested in this one.
but it feels like the major conflict was exposed and dealt with in the first ~100ish pages. but i guess there’s more.
calista was fine until now. where she whines some more about not getting to go somewhere because of actual strategy.
she chooses to deal with this by saying “oh i have to stay with the other women??”
and hawthorne rightly is like “don’t be dumb.”

for the record, i don’t even really want to read this. the first one made me too angry at callista for being so stupid.
but i need to know what happens, so here we are.
also i tried to start this a few nights ago when i finished the first one, but my kindle app wasn’t letting me download it.
so i’m a bit late, but i finally got it downloaded so i guess i’m gonna read it.
callista is now stupid AND whiny. yay.

ugh ugh ugh ugh frost thinking to himself “i’d always thought she was stupid, but she was just strong” is so fucking annoying. because it’s like the author is trying to catch the reader. like “i’m making my character make objectively stupid decisions, but i have to tell them that it’s not stupid.”
nope.
she’s just stupid.

literally two pages later she’s like “i should’ve left when i had the chance, i’m not strong enough for this yet.”
yeah, OBVIOUSLY.
god, i fucking hate when the fmc is so fucking stupid.
and they’re still all acting like teenagers.
i kind of hate all of them.
why is this book 600 pages?
if there’s no character development in this where everyone behaves like grownups, i will riot.

i should dnf this because it’s incredibly annoying, but it’s just entertaining enough to keep me reading.
so, the dragon attacks and salem literally thinks to herself “surely most of these people aren’t new to magic like me?” and SEVEN sentences later, she gets all pissed off about them not wanting her help.
girl…you answered your own question.
they’re not letting you help because you’re NEW TO MAGIC.

i want to like this book, but i’m having a rough time. the outfit descriptions are very My Immortal coded, with the “my goth outfit is weird” or whatever the fuck she says in the beginning.

also she’s fighting with River for no particular reason, instead of talking to him like an adult. actually, now that im thinking about it, i don’t actually remember how old they’re supposed to be.

i hope they mature.

here's another book that i'm genuinely enjoying reading, except for the fact that i want to throttle the main character. i think lina is fun, most of the time. i like the way her brain works and her little tangents, and how tangible and real her frustration feels.
i hate the fact that she's continuously like "i'm grown, i know what i want, i know what's best for me" and then immediately is wrong. over and over again.

this book is killing me. i cannot stand mira. edward's behavior is bad, but i am prepared for that because of the literal series title.
but mira?? she has known this man for like 3 weeks and is like "wah why won't he tell me all about his horrible past?"
he threatens to go to the kink club and her way of "calling him on his bad behavior" is by fucking him.
maybe i'm being picky, but their relationship makes no sense.

okay i kinda hate to say it, but i do not love rosie. i understand she wants to shed her sheltered good-girl identity, but there's something so short-sighted and self-centered about the way she goes about this.
she keeps pestering grayson to do things and teach her things about stuff he's clearly not comfortable with, as though she's owed it. and then she acts like he owes her an explanation. he does not.