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“How many grieving mothers did the war create? They don’t all rise up and take revenge. What makes your grief so special? What difference does it make?”

“Achilles. So many bargains had been made, so much persuasion deployed across the islands of Greece to bring this mighty force of men together. But of all the great soldiers famed for their skill and strength in battle, no stories paralleled those of Achilles.”

“…perhaps there was no catastrophe to come. And then I realized… We had known it all for years, from the moment of my mother’s dream. A fire, coming to sweep the city. TROY WOULD FALL. And for all that everyone might disbelieve me if I said it aloud, somewhere in their bones, I knew they knew it too.”

“…hear the swelling chorus of frogs and katydids, punctuated by the distant call of a barred owl. The irony was that I knew those sounds too. Once upon a time I had known them as well as I knew my own name. Hearing them now…felt like coming back to a childhood home gone unfamiliar and strange.”

This struck me. It’s probably nothing to most, but to me, who has not been ‘home’ in 10 years, I can relate.

“You love fully and completely, only to have it returned in less than half.”

“God knows hatred is more resilient than wildlife.”

I’m in a reading slump and praying that a T. kingfisher book can fix this 😩

I was impatient, they’re fucking now lmao. Please disregard my previous update.

This book (according to kindle) is 1292 pages.

I am 108 pages into it, and while I wouldn’t say it’s bad… I’m also just bored? How is this 100 pages already and nothing has happened?

EXQUISITE TORMENT IS CORRECT.

“Kiss me and kiss me again; our tomorrows are so few.”

I literally dropped everything to read this.

Admittedly the only books I’ve read by Veronica Roth is the Divergent series, so this is taken me completely by surprise.

if I didn’t know any better, I’d say it’s different people. Holy shit this is good.

“Corporate jobs do have a tendency to suck the life from people.”

Fucking tell me about it. Also this feels like a Studio Ghibli movie, as a book.

“…the mob doesn’t need to stalk little old ladies in Southern towns. We have the United Daughters of the Confederacy for that.”

I am CACKLING.

“God, there’s just so much Texas. I could handle all the other states, but Texas lengthwise really breaks you. I attempted to express this to my mother, which mostly involved wild arm gestures and the words ‘El Paso’ uttered at intervals.”

This paragraph has me fucking cackling. That’s exactly how it feels to drive through Texas.

“I am tired of trying to hold things together that cannot be held… Trying to control what cannot be controlled. I am tired of denying myself what I want for fear of breaking things I cannot fix. They will break no matter what we do.”

When the author said slow burn, she meant it because holy shit I am halfway through and they haven’t even kissed yet. 0 complaints here.

I am enjoying this book so far! I like that the protagonists are not fucking 20 years old. I love a 30-something protagonist who complains about their back hurting from doing nothing but driving, because same man. Fucking Same.
I’ve never read a book by this author, and I don’t know what it is about her writing, but it reminds me of Rebecca Yarros’s contemporary works. No complaints here!

I don’t know why I marked this as read when I honestly don’t remember reading it, but woo, I’m reading the Night Circus. I’ve been told I’ll cry.

“You see a lot in thirty years. Thirty years lets you watch the transformation of a human, a society, a way of life.”

Pardon me young man, excuse the shit out of my goddamn French, but did you just threaten me? (Flirtatious.)
****
I have never read a book by this author before, though I know she’s quite a favorite for many — I understand the hype. I’m enjoying the hell out of this book, I’m loving the characters, I’m probably gonna finish this today if my migraine doesn’t kill me first.

“even though we may seem to be fragile creatures, of bone and blood, we are also made of stardust, and within the hearts of our atoms lies the same incredible energy that powers stars, the galaxies, and the universe.”

This is… so, so fucking good. It reminds me of Babel. Of Alchemised. Of Fullmetal Alchemist. The writing style, the premise, its alchemy meets academia, and I’m not at all disappointed.

I am once again, reading city of gods and monsters, so I can annotate my copies.

I love this fucking series and Darien Fucking Cassel.

“I really wanted a nap, and if you think you can’t sleep immediately after something dreadful and life-changing has happened, you probably haven’t been a soldier.”