Amy T. > Recent Status Updates

Not the easiest to follow, keeping all the characters straight, but it is starting to get, more interesting.

At this point in the book, I'm confused by Sarah's character. I think I see where the story is going with regard to Hetta, and it's starting to get creepy and sad. The book gradually unfolds and reveals the story and leaves you thinking one thing - like the tisane Anne took - and shows you differently later on. I am enjoying it so far.

Not for me.

"The question came from one of my most dedicated readers, Red Pill Junkie: “Looking in retrospect, did something happen during that year, or these last four years, that proved this announcement to ‘get strong’ was a sage warning"?"

My question is, what is a 'sage warning'?

The synchronicity points in this book are fascinating. More than once, I've backtracked to an earlier part of the book and reread the trigger for the event. Wow. And of course, the further into the book I get, the more connections there are.

This is a slow, meandering journey. I love all the details, being an artist myself, the imagery and descriptions of emotion keeps me locked in. Looking forward to how the 2nd half unfolds as the”Paranormal Thriller” described on the front cover hasn’t happened yet.

Huge red flag: When someone behaves consistently bad or with egregiously inadequate behavior, with frequent plays for your pity. Set firm boundaries and keep him or her at a distance.

How can I tell who not to trust?
The best clue is The Pity Play. The most universal behavior of unscrupulous people is an appeal to our sympathy.

The example stories are great. I will give a summary for the characters with a spoiler warning once I'm done.

I found the text of this part of the book on Google Books - it's BEAR bells, not BARE bells. Now it makes sense! Ha ha ha.

The audio book narrates: "I nailed every window shut and secured plywood across the glass, leaving myself a peep hole in each window. I took a larger piece of wood and nailed it across the back door, before taping my bare bells to the door knob, just in case."

And a moment later:
"I took a larger piece of wood and nailed it across the back door before taping my bare bells to the doorknob."

WHAT ARE BARE BELLS?

The pace of this book is fantastic, something new every chapter. It has elements of Game of Thrones in it, as another reviewer has described. Thoroughly enjoying this with my son so far.

Story is getting interesting. Hmmmm. What's gonna happen next. I love mystery thrillers!

After listening to Ray Dalio's Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order: Why Nations Succeed and Fail,

I'm seeing many parallels between the two. Cyclical events in history make sense, even though this experimental liberal democracy we have going on in the United States is a first of its kind.

Such annoying characters are almost unbearable. But that may be intentional, lol.

Makes sense, you cannot achieve great things alone. I even started noticing this as I'm watching "Better Call Saul." Mike needs someone to launder all his money that he can not use. He knows someone who can help, Gus. He also found out about another Who - local veterinarian with ties to underground jobs, which is partly how he earned all that money. You need your Whos, legal or not.

Finally some interesting plot twists.

Despite how much my tastes have changed since 2016, and especially after 2020, I still like Sedaris' humor. How he remained neutral during his telling of the C19 lockdown in NYC is quite the accomplishment! He is a master storyteller.

About to start reading this behemoth of a book to my kid. Might skip some parts! 😅

"We will turn our hearts into steel, which we will temper in the fire of suffering and the blood of fighters for freedom. We will make our hearts cruel, hard, and immovable, so that no mercy will enter them, and so that they will not quiver at the sight of a sea of enemy blood. We will let loose the floodgates of that sea. Without mercy, without sparing, we will kill our enemies in scores of hundreds..."

Just got through the first plot twist as described by other reviewers. The deliciousness of this twist is that I don't know how it is possible. Eager to learn more.

Malice is an excellent storyteller, bringing history to life that is interesting to read. Learned about the Haymarket Riot in Chicago and Homestead unrest and the main characters behind them in Chapter 2.