BOOK! Roasted > Recent Status Updates

I'd almost think this was a different author the writing is so improved, except there's still the unhinged lack of foresight regarding scene timing. Like, who writes their character as coming back to their murdered besties apartment hours after her death to investigate and having the FMC getting frisky with the LI on the dining room table at the crime scene...

Let it be known, Scarlett St. Clair's writing quality has improved SO MUCH.
jury is still out if the story will be any good and there's still jankiness to her style BUT my god this is leagues ahead of touch of darkness thank the lord

Buckle up, Scarlett St. Clair's top 1% hater is looking for a redemption arc. Please Lord let this book be a 6000% improvement on Touch of Darkness so I can believe in shoddy romantasy author growth

700 page hate read? Go on then

SETTLE DOWN GEORGE R R MARTIN

Okay George R R Martin settle down

nobody talk to me I'm reliving my childhood

kuang with the research as always

I really hope there's a MORSEL of plot. So far this is reading like every scene is created just as an excuse for the two mains to get together and flirt and nothing is actually happening.

Ngl the 'your mom' jokes from the 1600s hit different

Damn these people are awful

Monk: *old, literally rotting in a filthy cramped cell, with a history of seizures, getting no food and actively increasingly ill*
Toranaga: but why did the monk die? Is this sabotage

Already not sure how I feel about this y'all.
Yes, it was written in the 70s. Yes, I am aware that racism is going both ways. But I am also catching the scent of 'classic white male protag', and I just checked in to see who the top reviewers are, and the most upvoted reviews are 5* by other white men... #donttrustit

Okay I still think Nick is a POS but now I just think Amy is clinically nutso. So you're telling me Amy only stopped being 'cool girl' Amy because Nick hugely took that for granted and she finally stopped catering to him? Like yes she's still certifiable but Nick my guy I am not currently feeling bad that you're the one that got gored by the horns of the bull.

🖕🏼U NICK!!

Damn Nick sucks

First page and I'm dead. I'm sorry . 'Like a child, I picture opening her skull and unspooling her brain, sifting through her frantic centipede-esque thoughts...' dog NOBODY THINKS LIKE THIS.

One of my biggest pet peeves in books is when people sacrifice realism for prose. It's so tacky. Like, you're going to fabricate some behaviour that nobody does to try and shove fancy imagery in there.

Either a very promising fourteen year old wrote this or a very cringe adult on a 48hr manic episode

Wut. So we established through the book several times that Raihn is just a little stronger than Angelica. We have also established that Oraya is a very capable fighter. And the two of you can't 2v1 her? Convenient continuity

I'm sorry I'm lost, since when has Oraya actually given a shit about that city??? Like girl it's been 20 years, and you're mad that now you can't go check if your fam was down the road??

So currently this book is 20% plot and 80% character study except the character study on the MFC's part is just constantly talking about how she's in danger at all times? Not hating it but I really hope the distribution becomes more plot/world building oriented because I'm still not really sure why/ what is going on.

So far, writing is good. No complaints. But I have a couple questions, which I'm hoping will be answered throughout the book.

A) why is this tournament happening, and why is a human even slightly on par with vampires as opponents? This has not been explained well.
B) why did Ilana live with the vampires? 'Its interesting' is not a valid reason to face a gruesome painful death on the daily.

Okay so this is very clearly someone's two day, didn't get up from the chair writing splurge where they typed out a stream of consciousness and didn't really worry about continuity or sense or plot or plotholes and honestly it's such a kick lol

Full disclosure, I'm reading this because Reads With Rachel said it's one of the worst books she's ever read and now I have to see if it's as bad as she says

Dog what the f#ck

Ready 2 Cry

Oh God. Did Day confuse Magpies with Cuckoos?

Plot prediction: Kate is actually Jake's wife and they can't have kids so he fakes being in love with Marisa then once the baby is there theyre going to gaslight her into thinking she's crazy etc and frame her as an unfit mother.

Okay I just read here that someone's 'sexual core memory' was getting their first ever boner in a pizza hut and now because of this, they get an erection every time they smell cheap pizza.

Instantly, Pavlov style, when they pass by little caesars.