Olympia B > Recent Status Updates

I don’t read romance. Ever. I’ve read a couple of classics (Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights) and that’s where my romance résumé ends. I picked this up purely for the Goodreads Challenge and somehow ended up smiling like a fool. It’s genuinely funny, well written, and far more enjoyable than expected. I may have been tricked into liking a romance. 😅

So far I enjoy the beautiful, vivid writing and love the incorporation of Maya mythology. Casiopea so far looks like a very likeable female protagonist: independent, headstrong, not waiting for anyone to save her, not even the Supreme Lord of Xibalba! Hope she keeps at it ☺️

Hasta ahora, me encanta! La prosa me parece muy cuidada y bonita, me ha atrapado desde el principio. Me siento totalmente dentro de esa Barcelona oscura y misteriosa, y estoy disfrutando la historia como una preciosa celebración del amor por los libros y la lectura.

Last 50 pages or so I find myself struggling even more. I will see it through since I've made it so far, however it is a big disappointment to me. For a book that wants to focus on Women in Vietnam War and its aftermath I expected a lot more. Definitely a strong female model protagonist (not even close) along with other strong women (non existent). A letdown really.

I’m about halfway through, and it still hasn’t hooked me. I find the characters underdeveloped and the plot rather shallow, and feels far too predictable. Most importantly, I don’t feel compelled to pick the book up—I struggle to keep reading and don’t find myself thinking about it between sessions, which is usually the case with books I truly enjoy.

Almost one fifth of the book read, so far I find the main character weak, unrelatable and the story so far seems superficial and shallow, especially taking into consideration the setting of Vietnam War. Hope it gets better and lives up to the hype.

Started this year reading Buddhism seriously, long on my to-do list. The Four Brahmavihāras—mettā, karuṇā, muditā, upekkhā—felt immediately familiar. I’d met them years ago in yoga teacher training, in Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtras I.33: maitrī, karuṇā, muditā, upekṣā. Buddhism treats them as boundless states of heart; yoga as ways to steady the mind. Different aims, same inner work: awakening rests on a steady, open heart