Mika > Recent Status Updates

Wasnt in love with this last chapter. It seemed disjointed, the first part being different entirely from the second. I disliked the thought that touched on people following ‘middle aged white men’ as if they r the only kind of person people listen to. As if there arent cults from all ethnicities. I did like she mentioned how counter productive it is to equate crappy leaders with Jim jones.

Got the first taste of how language specifically is used, and in what order, to create an environment that traps people in a group. Some of the writing feels dated even though this isnt an old book. Her points seem fine, but i find shes more focused on telling the cult story than breaking down the language. I appreciated the 3rd part in this section since it did focus on that and stuck to her goal for the book.

I like the stories of various cults to explain the authors point but i dislike her ‘cool hip lingo’ she uses to describe some of her points. It dates the text. Saying “heres a fun little story” on pg 34 before describing an awful hazing ritual seems insensitive. I enjoyed breaking down the meaning (or lack thereof) of ‘cult’ as well as mentioning the need for community that drives people to these groups.

First two chapters down. I don’t think im going to learn anything new in this book, but as someone fascinated by this concept of what makes someone join a cult, im interested in hearing her perspective and other stories of peoples experiences in the modern world of cults. Second chapter I could tell had a lot of repetition of the same point so hope that isnt a whole book trend. We shall see!

End of book. That was a lackluster ending if I’ve ever seen one. There wasn’t even a real climax, just the guys deciding they don’t like the evil billionaire and the sisters didn’t even have a real fight, was just a couple stick slaps and threats and then nothing else. ‘Woohoo the white american gave back feminism and equality to the Japanese’ is how it feels. Not a great ending in my opinion.

End chpt 52. Worst typo ive ever seen appeared at the end of this chapter: “And if isn’t?” Rachael said.
AND IF ISN’T??? No one talks like that. The scene where the AI sedge chased them through the train station was so uncalled for and ridiculous. I wish the book was more old school solving of the puzzles and didnt incorporate this weird super AI villian.

End chpt 43. Crazy that the reason the puzzle was made was due to sexism lol i wasnt expecting that for sure. I liked the scene where Mike solved the puzzle table, it was interesting and fun to follow the clues. The Sedge guy and the chase seems silly, a literal evil billionaire seems kinda cheesy but it’s fine given the rest of the weirdness of the story. There just isn’t strong connectors to everything going on

End chpt 36. Another example of writing I dislike. There were multiple chapters where Sakura tells Mike solving the puzzle will help him and yet as hes about to solve the next step, she questions him starting to solve it because it might be dangerous? That makes no sense. Ive also started noticing inconsistencies in descriptions which confuse me and make me turn back pages to make sure im not crazy.

End chpt 32. Good example of what i don’t like about the story/writing. Sakura tries to explain why this jewel is so important to the faction but it literally makes no sense. Theres no real explanation. And then the vague statement that solving the puzzle will solve Mike’s struggles with his mind is just comical. The action is fun but the books premise is like mist at best. It barely exists

End chpt 30. The real action has started up, mike has started solving the puzzle but was attacked by Sakura’s sister ume. I still enjoyed Ume’s chapters. The twist reveal was fine, but im not overly surprised by anything happening. At least it is entertaining and easy to read.

End chpt 19. The book reads better when its just regarding the events of the puzzle adventure and isnt lore dumping past events. The chapters with ume are oddly well done compared to the other characterization chapters. Wonder what gives. I dislike when the author retells a point she already made a few chapters prior, sometimes verbatim. At least the story has picked up pace

End chpt 10. Easy read, not a great read so far. There has been 80% telling and 20% showing. It’s not my taste at all. Puzzle box premise is intriguing but the characters don’t act like people and have muted or ridiculous reactions to crazy things. So much back story but no emotional connection at all. Feels like a hollow story telling so far.

Reading with my partner! Finished the intro and I’m skeptical already. This man is very opinionated and has a huge bias. Even tho I would agree with some of these points, he seems almost hostile about it, and talking about the birds more from opinion rather than fact. I love non fiction, but prefer making up my own mind, not reading an opinion piece that tells me the authors mind and how i should feel.

End chpt 28, final chpt. Quiet the book this was. I dont feel like justice was served here. Just a damn tragedy all around. So sad this all happened again too. This is a fantastic journalist deep dive into a tragic, and important, accident within American history.

End chpt 27. The remains were found and the final verdict reached. I was very intrigued by this chapter since the salvage operation was the main star of this one. The detail about the unbroken jar of jif peanut butter being found in the crew cabin under the sea after the previous chapter where the wife kept accidentally buying it at the grocery for her dead husband was heart breaking.

End chpt 26. Ill say it again, mcdonald and boisjoly are truly incredible for standing up to nasa and their company. I agree with the statement that mcdonald was an american hero for this act. It’s also fascinating to read about the salvage mission. So morbidly cool to see how that was handled. The detail about the morning families, specifically june accidentally buying pb for her dead husband is heartbreaking

End chpt 25. This is where stuff gets interesting. Now all the threads are being pulled and the coverup is coming out. Im very happy the engineers at Thiokol had empathy and ethics, reading about McDonald speaking up at the hearing while his superiors were trying to cover up their involvement is inspiring. I hope i always have such resolve for justice and truth even in the face of huge pushback.

End chpt 24. All about the immediate aftermath and shock of the tragedy. The whole chapter really envelopes the feeling of intensive shock that happens after tragedy. It’s the quiet during the eye of the storm, just delt with a storm prior but have much more to go.

End chpt 23. If the last chapter was the most enraging this one was the most sad. The incident finally occurring and over. The scene where the closeout specialist saw terror in Mcauliffe’s face was so heart breaking. The excitement of Greg to go to space only for his life to end like this is tragic beyond words. Very well written chapter, I was full of anxiety while reading it.

End chpt 22. This is an infuriating chapter. Pure negligence and concealment. Shout out the engineers and mcdonald for not being willing to go along with this shit and trying to convince NASA to stop the launch. Shame on the Thiokol exec team for not standing up for their people and saying no to NASA all because NASA threatened them if they postponed the launch.

End chpt 21. If so many people recommended not to launch this thing then wtf did it launch? God i feel bad for the o ring task force, they wanted to make this thing safe so badly.

End chpt 20. Its getting more emotional to read these chapters since I know their deaths are so close. What horrifically bad luck it was that the launch was scrubbed on the day it would have been perfect to fly, it could have saved everyone’s lives. Seeing how everyone’s families were excited and nervous just makes me feel awful.

Mcauliffe’s quote about tuning in on day 4 to watch her two lessons taught from space fills me with a type of grief I don’t often get the chance to feel. The grief of knowing exactly what could have been and what never came to be. What a treasure we all were deprived of witnessing, her two special lessons taught from space.

End part 2. The final characterization of all the astronauts and the people responsible. I think the next few chapters are going to be very intense. Mcauliffe is so personable it is a damn shame she dies so tragically.

End chpt 18. Man it is so sad to see how hard Boisjoly worked to fixed this and how little he was heard. His colleague Ebeling also tried to make people listen to no avail. I’ve never been so enraged by negligence in my life. Mcdonald tried to help too but was really stunted by his manager Mulloy too. It’s so sad seeing how anxious these people were about a disaster only to know as the reader that it’s coming.

End chpt 17. This chapter is infuriating. It is just blatant corruption and people wanting to keep their jobs that killed these astronauts. Huge respect for Boisjoly who really did all he could to get this issue fixed before it killed someone. He really really tried. Hindsights a bitch, but it’s so clear that the o-ring failures are getting worse, how did no one ground these shuttles?

End chpt 16. This was a good chapter. Shows the dichotomy of the happy new teachernaut against the failing equipment during shuttle launches. Mcauliffe seems so lovely as a person from the way the book describes her. Just a perfect fun normal american!

End chot 15. We are introduced to Christa, the teacher chosen for space. It’s super interesting to see the difference between them choosing a civilian vs a proper astronaut pilot. Christa is so unbelievably relatable I’m not surprised she was chosen. It really did seem like the adventure of a life terms vs a career.

End chpt 14. First half discussed escalating issues with the Or rings in the rocket boosters. One section stuck out to me about accidentally widening the frame work of what is considered acceptable risk. All people are prone to that, but it is egregious to see it in this setting. Second half was about the grand feat of the first salvage mission in space that lead to a ‘perfect’ image of nasa.

End chpt 13. Mostly learned more about our primary astronauts involved in challenger. About judy, ron, and a new one , greg. Greg and his wife are absolute goals, it was adorable to read about their life. Also learned about judy’s first space flight which almost ended in disaster. I like the characterization chapters a lot, gives some personality to our main cast.