Kate > Recent Status Updates

Ugh. Michael. He comes across as a teenage boy dating an older woman. He acquiesces to Rowan almost constantly. When he’s not fixing up the house all he can think about is having sex with her. There’s nothing wrong with being sexually attracted to your partner but it feels like that is all that is drawing him to Rowan. It’s…weird that a man his age would be acting like this.

Ugh. Now that the family stuff is over I get to meet the real Rowan and Michael. And I gotta say…not a fan. Michael is obsessed with Rowan and so deeply in love with her. He’s doing a lot of “I’m not naive!” And “I agree!” Ugh. Ew.

Oh thank god. Pg 669 of 1044. I think the family history is finally done with. Sheesh.

Pg 272 of 1044. That’s where story of Deborah Mayfair, the first witch and Peter, the talamasca tasked with learning about her. They are the origin of the Mayfair family. Making note so I can see how many pages this is. Pg 399 of 1044 is where we get to see every single Mayfair from 1689 onward. I’m on pg 510 and still it’s all family shit. WTH.

Lotsa pedophilia and lotsa incest. Wasn’t prepared for that.

Michael and Rowan spent one night together and they’re obsessed with each other. It’s annoying. I want Rowan to kill Michael just bc it’s annoying. Dude. You’re in your late 40s. Quit acting like a 14 year old with his first girlfriend.

I’m not a prude. But…right before Michael and Rowan have sex, he talks about her mouth being virginal and like a child’s in its innocence. Umm. No. That’s weird. Stop.

Damn this is wordy.

HA! I knew it! Jack snuck her way into the life insurance company and heard the phone call setting the policy up and it was Cole who did it. Ha! I knew it!!

Halfway through. About 30% of the way in, I decided Cole is the one who set all of this up. 50% in, and I’m still convinced I’m right. Lol

Ok. I think I gotta stop here. Kristen goes into detail about how different she and Tyler (bf) are. Ummm. Why are you with him then? Then Josh goes on a date, bails so he can eat pizza and beer (which his “too much makeup” and vegan/vegetarian date doesn’t eat) with Kristen. He’s disappointed she isn’t dolled up even though he knows she has a boyfriend. Just. So much no.

Also don’t like the “we’ll stick around and see if the girl and her man make it or not and if not, you’ll be there to jump her bones” storyline either. The more I write about this, the more I suspect this is gonna be a dnf for me. I’ll give it 4 more chapters.

Also…I’m not a big fan of FMC who are always “Oh, I always speak my mind, too bad for you if you don’t like it.” It’s always a justification for them being assholes to people, but it’s never “I speak my mind, I have a boyfriend who’s moving in with me but I’m gonna fantasize about you, the super hot manly man whose working in my garage.”

I wanna like it. I really do. I found this author on TikTok. She has 4 amazing dogs and her videos kill me. But…6 chapters in and I’m struggling. What grown ass man stammers and freaks out at buying female hygiene products? Especially one who is currently deployed in the Middle East? C’mon. That’s so cliche.

I’ve never seen such overuse of names in dialogue. Every time a character speaks, the other person’s name is given. “Derek, yes thank you. A coffee would be great.” “Tristan, I need to focus on work.” “Alex, I just want to help.” Staaaaaaahp.

“It’s clear that you need a break. Why don’t we step out for a bit and grab some lunch? There’s a local sandwich place nearby that makes the best sandwiches. It’ll give us a chance to clear our minds and recharge.”……. Ok I had to actually pause and type this sentence out bc it’s a prime example of why I’m not finishing this book. It’s full of redundancies and unnecessary info. Wtf.

Ugh. I thought this would be a good one for me. Smutty serial killers and a profiler. Maybe I read too much true crime and actual police procedural novel but the writing of this is god awful. I’m only 9 pages in and maybe it gets better with the smut. But if by page 50 it’s not, this will be a dnf for me.

Unimpressed. Elli is a victim of related SA. Sin is a predator. The Ritual made it very clear The Lords had a very specific set of rules, yet Sin skipped his ceremony into the group and now he’s just branded Sin…making her what? Chosen? Wife? Idk. This isn’t good.

I don’t even know. This was all over TikTok as being not for the faint of heart. Right now I’m not seeing it. The main character is treated like shit by his older “brother” (kidnapper). This is tame. Like. Tamer than Stephen King. Like…YA tame.

I’m struggling. I’ve always loved the Carol/Tony books and I get that there’d be severe fall out from the death of Carol’s brother and his gf and the maiming of one of Carol’s police but Tony and Carol seem like strangers in this one and not strangers I particularly care for or about.

I don't know why, but I don't like this one. It isn't poorly written, but I'm just not connecting with the characters like I did in the first two. The whole, "well, my time with xxx is limited....they are going to leave me and I'll be so sad," was repeated so often by all three characters that it started to grate on my nerves...I'll finish it, but...I just am not connecting with anyone in this.

Okay, so I'm more than halfway through this...I have no idea how to feel about this so far. I feel like the idea is really cool and I should love this book...and yet, right now, I'm lukewarm at best. There are 14 participants...and yet, it took about 100+ pages for me to really even be able to tell them apart, other than the main character. The author, I think, tries to make them individuals but I struggled.

Well. This has picked up. I had wondered if this is where it was going. Olivia, the cat, and Lauren, Ted’s “daughter,” are the same person. Ted has systemically abused Lauren (not her real name) so badly, she splintered into multiple personalities. We are now to the point where Lauren is trying to integrate those personalities so that she (they) can escape.

I honestly do not know about this book. I’m hoping everything pulls together by the end….but it’s so weird and disorienting.

I haven't been making notes lately, but this seems worth it. It's been awhile since I've read Lisa Jewell but I was quickly reminded how hateful she sometimes makes her characters. I'm not quite sure how I'm supposed to feel about Kim, the missing girl's mother. She's so damn arrogant. She thinks the other grandmother is a lesser mother/grandmother. She comments about how some man wants her. She's a lot.

As war breaks out between Ukraine and Russia, now seems like an apt time to read this one that’s been sitting on my shelf for the last 10+ years….

Kacey is Thomas’s mother (fathered by Simon). Mickie took him because Kacey was still on drugs. Mickie’s brief partner Lafferty looks to be the killer. Mickies dad is alive and Gee kept it from the girls. Kacey was born addicted to drugs. Everyone knew Kacey was alive but they kept it a secret (as requested by Kacey) from Mickie. Kacey is pregnant and sober and living with their father.

Paula doesn’t say the cops name but she accuses him of demanding sex from the working girls. Mickie takes this info to Ahern. He says he’ll pass along the info to Nguyen but he needs the informants name. Mickie tells him it’s Paula. I have a bad feeling about this.

There’s a video of the suspect and one of the four victims, Katie. When Mickie sees Kacey’s friend Paula later in the day, she shows the video to her and asks if she recognizes the man. Paula says it’s a cop.

Mickie gets into 2 colleges. She needs Gee to fill out FAFSA papers. Gee laughs in her face. She turns to Simon for comfort. She’s 18. He kisses her for the first time. He tells her she should become a police officer. She eventually does. She saves up enough money and buys her own house away from Gee and Kacey, who progressively becomes more addicted and troubled.