Alexander Allen > Recent Status Updates

"Delicious is a drink of cool water when you're very, very thirsty" I mean...not where I thought the story and Ardis's involvement was heading, but yeah, I guess that's acceptable.

I like how the key/whistle comes back into the story after the prologue. Very nice writing detail, imo

I like the woldweller

King keeps saying "by Harry" and idk if it's just a figure of speech like our "by Jove" or if Harry is actually an important figure in the history (probably not in a story this short).

"Of course [arguing over what "delicious" means] is silly," said the Prime Minister impatiently. "But a lot of serious things start silly."

Start silly/stupid and started by people with the most power, ain't that the truth...

Ooh, I love the little map at the beginning. I'm a sucker for books with maps that show the land and everything. I am wondering what a "woldweller" is, though...

Apparently I have 33 ratings with a 3.21 average...yikes. I need to read some better books.
First I have to find out what I'm reading next, though!

DONE. FINALLY. Oh my gods that took forever. It was like walking through mud.

"And I was learning that sometimes you had to let go for the people you loved."
So you're telling me that between NYE and spring break--which is the span of like, MAYBE six months. Ari has already come to terms with his father dying? After it was made to be such a big deal that he had no connection with his father and then he suddenly did?? Sigh...

Yaaaayyy another random, throwaway character! And this one's name is...David. Gods, I can't wait to be done with this book. I'm trying to get it all done tonight so I can start something else.

How to tell you've lost the plot/have nothing to write about: Every chapter is a single page. A single page of nothing important.

"Hey so I know your dad--my husband--just died, but could you write his obituary so we can have it in the newspaper by one o'clock?" IS FUCKING WILD TO SAY. (Not said exactly like that, of course, but still) You've gotta be fucking kidding me. That's insane.

Oh. His Dad died. That's what the big loss was about? I thought Dante was gonna die of AIDs or Soledad was gonna die in labor. I feel really bad that I just...don't care. I feel like there wasn't enough bond there with his dad for it to really impact me as a reader. For most of the first book, they never interacted, and even in this book, Ari's spending most of his time with Dante, so...?

How is it that there can be a conversation with SEVEN characters, and they all seem to have the same manner of speaking? The same tone? Absolutely fucking baffling.

And in a matter of four fucking pages, one of THE most important plot points was just...thrown away. All of Ari's nightmares and thoughts about his brother, and the way his parents acted about him and his absence and then we FINALLY meet him and it's just...four pages. Four pages of nothing substantial. And suddenly Ari is free of all those negative feelings?? Just like that? Ugh...

Oh? What's this? Some plot, finally??

"We don't talk about racism because we don't know how :)"
Brother...I'm pretty sure people know how to talk about racism. Even in the 80's. Jesus fucking Christ...

"On Thursday, November 24, 1988, at 10:43 P.M., Sophocles Bartholomew Quintana was born..."
1. I forgot this was taking place in the 80's, which makes so many things seem out of place in this book
2. SOPHOCLES BARTHOLOMEW???? I'm gonna put my head through the wall. This is one of those moments that just...violently rips you out of the book because it's so outlandish...

Insert more random people for some random reason. I really hate that it feels like every chapter I have something to nitpick about because the plot feels like it's going NOWHERE. If there even is a plot to begin with.

"And I just busted out crying."
I don't think I've ever read a book with so much random, unexplained laughing and crying. Why are you crying?? Why are you laughing?? That thing wasn't super funny and that thing wasn't super upsetting. Maybe it's just because the way things are written don't make me feel as connected to the characters and their emotions? Maybe it's just poor writing?

[Insert random Halloween chapter]
Seriously. So many of these chapters could've just...been cut from the book, and it really wouldn't make much of a difference. Maybe they also feel super insignificant because they're all so short.

Part 34975 of Ari saying things that No One Ever Says, Especially Not A Random Teenager: "I am in a play. It's called life, and I already play a role, Gina. I'm a gay guy who plays a straight guy. And it's fucking wearing me out. And it's not play, it's work. So, if you don't mind, I'll just wear the false face I wear every day, the one that makes me feel like a fraud."

[Insert random chapter about Ari getting glasses]

Is Mrs. Livermore supposed to be contributing to the plot in some way?? Because it doesn't feel like it...Feels like just another throwaway drama mini-plot

So the ending for the blurb of this book is "But when Ari is faced with a shocking loss, he’ll have to fight like never before to create a life that is truthfully, joyfully his own." And I'm halfway through the book and there's been no "shocking loss" of any kind so far.

"The guy behind me was laughing his ass off." Bro. Nothing in the past 2 pages have even been remotely funny enough to make anyone laugh their ass off. Not this one guy, and definitely not the entire class watching this exchange between you and some teacher go down.

HOLD ON A FUCKING SECOND. So this teacher is just...blatantly interviewing Ari in front of the whole class on why his fists are bloody, and then INVITES THE CLASS TO ADD TO THE DISCUSSION??? H U H? What the fuck even is this book

Boom, random 2-page English teacher moment.
Boom, random 2-page nurse who apparently knows Ari's mom since grade school, but has never been mentioned once? Also she doesn't have a name.
Man, I love the characterization in this book :) /sar

And then, out of nowhere--boom! Tatted up random guy with a Boston accent! In Texas. How much are we betting we never see this character again?