Olivia Reichenbach > Recent Status Updates

I’m very close to not finishing this book at all, it feels like a waste of time where I’d rather Google who the killer is so I can move on with my life

I am reallllllllyyyyyy not enjoying this book. The main cop, Emmy, sucks and makes bad decision after bad decision while wallowing in self pity, then later in the book we switch gears to a rando in the FBI who is supposed to be a long lost character and it doesn’t transition well at all. Some of these scenes are longgggg with descriptions about stuff that doesn’t matter- WE KNOW EMMY’S PARENTS WERE GETTING OLD

“I was angry. It wasn’t rational, I mean what ever really is. But as irrational as it was, I was livid. I was furious, there was rage in my chest. We are talking about probably the first one in my life who really saw me, really understood me, who had so much in common with me..& he still didn’t love me. When you find that rare person who really knows who you are, &they still don’t love you… I was burning”

“She had written something that felt like I could’ve written it, except I knew I couldn’t have. I wouldn’t have come up with something like that. Which is what we all want from art, isn’t it? When someone pins down something that feels like it lives inside us. Takes a piece of your heart out and shows it to you. It’s like introducing you to a part of yourself.”

Perfectly worded

“Knowing you’re good can only take you so far. At some point you NEED someone else to see it too. Appreciation from people you admire changes how you see yourself. And he saw me the way I wanted to be seen”

I loved this line from Daisy

“The thing is, I’m a person who survives despite his instincts.”

This resonated with me because I think my instincts make me want to turn my brain off and hide from pain even when it’s necessary or inevitable

~Nanny is convincing a woman to let Elphaba play there, and Melena the mom is watching~
“Let her play, let her learn, let her come here and be minded by you. You know more than we do!” Said Nanny.

The cunning old cow, thought Melena. She is trying that rarest of strategies, telling the truth, and making it sound plausible”

Lollll

~Elphaba’s birth~
Look what we get for our troubles,” said the maiden. “A little green pat of butter. Why don’t we kill it? You know what people will say”

🤨😧

One of the characters (Frex) refers to a phrase “take custody of the senses” and have self control. I liked the phrasing

“She was astonished at the vigorous opinions of these random nobodies”

I liked this line because I’ve absolutely embodied this sentiment before in public situations 😂😂

The Nanny is my fav character I’ve read about so far, I respect her diligence to get things done

I just got completely thrown off in my train of thought.. the detective in this book is troubled by the death of young teens and thinks
“It was always worse when they were young. One of the girls was only 16. You looked at them and couldn’t help thinking “That womb will never give birth, those breasts will never feed a child.”

WHAT. This book is on thin ice

Philipose’s “meet the bride” and wedding/night is soooooo sweet😭😭

I feel like every time we hear a younger male character’s perspective on a female character, they’re regarding her as the most beautiful woman they’ve ever laid eyes on.. and I wonder if that’s because of how separate the boys and girls are within the social interactions growing up in the book. Like are they just purely charmed from the fact that this isn’t another teenage boy/man?

😀🙂😦😟 Philipose’s school journey.. damn

The parallels of Elise’s hand holding Digby’s, to then Digby’s hand holding Philipose 😭🙌🏽 those moments were written SO well, I was nearly in tears. I love the descriptions of Digby’s drawing after he and Elise finish. So powerful!!

“She is naive participant and horrified observer”. I hate this for her, and I hate how she feels so much pride over the smallest interactions with him, but it makes sense. He barely interacts with her and she has all these expectations to what her duties are, so she looks for crumbs in terms of praise/acknowledgment.

“She feels stupid & ashamed for not knowing that what was supposed to “unfold in its own time” meant this breach of her body. Meant taking him wholly into her insides. She feels betrayed by all the woman who withheld this knowledge from her, who might have better prepared her” and she’s having an experience with a gentle guy!! Did they not want to prepare her in case her husband was aggressive? This is bad.

Yikessss there are so many sad parts of this.. first of all, she’s been married to him for HOW many years and that whole time they had no books/she’s not been able to read a book or a Bible in years?? Hasn’t been able to see her mom or speak to another woman/girl her age in years? THEY GOT HER IN THIS ARRANGED MARRIAGE AND NEVER EXPLAINED SEX???

I enjoyed the part about the colonizers trying to bring Christianity to India, and their bewilderment because St Thomas had already been known in the area. It prompted me to start googling about St Thomas Christian’s and the background with Thomas the apostle

Spoiler alert


Im trying to understand why so many people in this book intentionally pick idioms and metaphors to get their points across, instead of just telling Molly a straight statement.. like obviously you know she struggles with stuff like that, so why are you, Sunitha, telling her that there’s a snake in the grass instead of “R****y is a criminal and here is why/how”

Spoiler alerts


I wonder if I’m just a hater, because I’m so disappointed that Molly’s life aspirations are so hopeful sounding “save enough money to go back to school”, & then end so disappointingly “go back to work full time at the Regency Grand, just with more knowledge 😀” These people disliked her, made her feel ostracized, encouraged the police to look into her, and she wants to stay??

Everything after the point of Molly getting arrested was utter ridiculousness. Her and the friends’ plan would’ve never worked and it’s frustrating to watch Molly swing between “I’m a fool, I’ve been duped, I was misled” and then “I do this in secret because I trust my instincts”.. and Gran has so much “wisdom” quotes throughout the book but didn’t leave her with enough practical wisdom!!

This book is conflicting for me.. I know there are people with autism who display characteristics like this character but sometimes I wonder if her mannerisms are exaggerated or she’s acting outside of her character in order to further the plot. Also it’s infuriating how the people around her will know she is less likely to pick up on social cues or sarcasm and they’ll still do it anyway and act confused!!

*man says he thinks you’re disgusting and the hardest thing he’s ever done is have sex with you*

“Well, he must be a homosexual”😂 or he just doesn’t like or respect you?????

If someone tells you they’re locking you on the balcony for 2-4 hours so you need to go to the bathroom now if you have to and grab whatever you need,

I’m hesitating whether to finish this book. This girl is basically being held hostage and when he smiles at her, she momentarily forgets she’s been repeatedly threatened and frightened by him… this book sometimes feels like someone sat down and decided to write a bad guy with the inspiration prompt of “what would the worst person ever do or feel right now?”

“That I, an intelligent 32 year old woman” uhhhhh… are you serious right now? You just made like 7 of the dumbest choices AND REPLAYED THEM IN YOUR HEAD ALONG WITH WHAT YOU SHOULD/COULD HAVE DONE, and I’m supposed to NOT feel like you’re playing in my face right now??

I really enjoy how this author shows the multiple sides of her characters. I feel like I’m imagining her picking them up like a gemstone and turning them in 360 motions to look at them from all sides. I’m curious of how the end of this book will turn out and I already sincerely hope she gives something good to Francis by the end!

Camille has the most messed up mindsets sometimes, honestly all of these people have their streaks of insanity it’s just wild