Maya > Recent Status Updates

Why do I care.

(The opening is overall unexciting and fails to set the tone -- even with heavy expositions.)

😴

Scarlett isn't nearly cool enough to be a serial killer. Too nervous about people investigating on her. I just miss queer serial killer icons like Villanelle and Hannibal...

Carly is so ridiculously nervous and scared and kind of an indecisive pushover I can't imagine rooting for her. This is the worst kind of protag to read about.

Fucking cliche but I wanna bawl my eyes out. The case is fine. Nicely complicated as usual.

Like I'm just really confused if cops can beat people up like that without consequences. Isn't that police brutality? Violence isn't a proper response to hate speech, especially if you're a civil servant.

Was (still am) very frustrated at the emotional immaturity that srsly hindered the investigation (I came into the story expecting crime with romance as side plot, but the dudes were so annoyingly fixated on their relationship). But then Daisy appeared and I was immediately hooked. The plot development after that is pure gold. Reminds me of why I'd decided to get book 2 as soon as I finished book 1.

Not looking good. Ashe had created distinct personalities and distinct skill sets for the protags, but this book threw all that into the fire. Sommers could be talking abt being subtle one moment then become a blundering idiot in the next, and Hazard would attempt some cringe gestures meant to comfort which is just jarring. The premise of the murder was also dumb af; Sommers' incompetence was just impossible.

Prediction 1 confirmed; not because there are any clues pouting to the suspect, but because the way the detectives interpreted those two incidents without allowing any space for doubts (even when Hazard was supposed to think logically of all possibilities instead of jumping to conclusions) -- it seems the narrative is very actively stepping around that one suspect.

Prediction 2 is also creeping up on me. We'll see.

Still Agatha Christie-ing. It's her formula through and through. Worse still, I wonder if things are getting a bit too predictable... Too many options have already been eliminated but we're only at 68%.

Ew why the hell was everyone horny... This is worse than the last book. Some typos that suggest this book can do with one more round of proofreading.

Also this is just an Agatha Christie knockoff.

Was Hazard even more selfish and hypocritical and emotionally immature than he'd been in book 1, or am I just losing the last bit of my patience with him?

Classic Agatha Christie setup...

Wtf that could definitely count as an SA committed by the protagonist even though he didn't go all the way. I doubt the author would frame it as an SA tho and I already knew I'm going to hate the reconciliation scene.

Kicking my feet giggling.

Peak escapism esp if you share a vendetta against everything homophobic.

Originally quite concerned about the bully-turned-lover prospect in this but that aspect is quite well handled so far.

Both protag have their own flaws and surprisingly it was Hazard that pissed me off with his lack of tact during investigation but he's improving so that's some major character growth.

More like a fiction than a nonfiction. Some data handling is purposefully misleading.

In for some bro-on-bro action, but the sci-fi snags all of my attention. Now I just want the romance out of the way.

Is anything so self-evident that it cannot be doubted? ...this is a linguistic problem.

If you prefer analytic over continental and lean towards empiricism, hard determinism, utilitarianism/rule-deontology... then you may fail to get the 'wtf?' moment with most of the cases here.

Random thought: At some point in history equality would make a crazy thought experiment.

Tho so would a nuclear weapon.

Wtf man. Thoroughly enjoy the dark twist, but (1) I'm very confused about what the focus of the story is - war against Saxons? the rise of a King? the fall of a royal family? love triangle (isosceles)? - and (2) many of the characters' decisions and actions LACK CONSISTENCY. In particular their anchor of morality and their take on magic & Christianity.

Brilliant battle scene omg. Realistic tactics and REALLY immersive. The utter CHAOS of it all damn. How do I write scenes like this? ಥ⁠‿⁠ಥ

The battle is definitely the saving grace of this middle-grade (jk) fairytale with incompetent adults and petulant jealous teenage girls with raging hormones... I swear, the only character I MIGHT be able to relate to is Keyne.

Vague characterization; don't hate the protags, don't love them. Language fluctuates between YA and middle-grade. A disappointing lack of historical context. Everything lacks THICKNESS (the life in a fortress, the culture, paper-cut characters, ma✨gic). The protags' thoughts are all too modern to be taken seriously. A bit preachy at times. *Shrug* It's an easy read.

My eyes kept glazing over. Writing style is totally not my thing; long sentences (most of them expositions) all strung together with little breathing space -- where's the focus, man. Characters are cynical in an impulsive and childish way (angsty teen vibe) which is unexpected given their social status and worldly experiences. Monologuesssss.