readeronrehab > Recent Status Updates

I’m already on page 53, and Inez is still lying about being a widow. Now there’s a subtle hint, dragged out over who knows how many chapters, that her parents were either murdered or kidnapped, and that Hayes is a criminal. The scenes feel so overly orchestrated that the characters no longer sound like real people. I’m out and don’t intend to give this story another go.

The novel is an open-ended one.
Tanner survives the war abroad, the riots, and the covert operations but his family is still under threat as he continues fighting a broken system. Btw, the Beast is his survival self that emerges under extreme threat, moral injury, and trauma.

“This ain’t your world… This is CHAZ, Motherfucker!” Page 340. The events now become more chaotic and reminds me of the UK because it exposes coordinated extremist violence. The chaos does not break Tanner; instead, it makes him more committed to stopping the Comrades from CHAZ (an armed, coercive zone), who have their eye on Tanner’s family, while Tanner seeks vengeance for Nico’s death.

Adding more notes. Tanner and his colleague
Moss disguise themselves as masked civilians and enter the city. Tanner bypasses an armed barricade manned by civilians. He realises that no police presence is visible or responsive. The future doesn’t look bright!
Public order collapses into armed chaos.
Tanner needs to take control of his team and the field.

Adding more notes. Nico’s funeral Tanner acknowledges internally that this is where he as leader of the forces battling the enemy.
The team treats him as Alfa without questions.

Adding more notes. Tanner and Nico’s family watch a recovered footage from Taco Libertad. Nico is shown being ritually tortured and executed by organized extremists Tanner realizes the attackers are disciplined, intentional, and politically shielded. This section is brutal. The killing is not spontaneous. 😬

There’s a riot in Venice and Tanner finds out the riots were not spontaneous but permitted. Nico disappears during the riot.

“They entered Venice and headed south. Did you get Nico? He’s not answering.” Holden’s frantic demeanor added more concern.” Page 142

I’m having a break from this book. Its pace is too 🐌 for my liking!

Lockdown ideology quickly moves from government decree into everyday social enforcement. Tanner’s world is shaken by the pandemic. Neighbours, schools, and local politics become instruments of fear. The danger is no longer distant. It is intimate, social, and moral.

The opening pages are reminiscent of life before COVID. A family plays in the snow. People are genuinely happy. The main character, Tanner, and his close friend Nico are both part of the U.S. military, living in a world that still feels stable. Then the pandemic breaks out and what spreads faster than the virus is panic. Political commentary grows increasingly extreme as civil order begins to thin.

So far the story is overly planned and doesn’t have good hooks. How likely is it for someone to fly you to the other side of the world and then ask you to go back home the same day? Probably because the uncle was the one responsible for Inez’s parents’ disappearance. How likely is it for someone to make up a story about being a grieving widow just to deal with her own grief? I’m not buying Isabel’s story.

It started well, but the author decided to change points of view without any justification, and the story’s energy dropped. The chapters felt rushed, and the characters’ entire world became limited to brushes and statistics. The plot is circular, and, funnily or perhaps sadly enough, it ends with a circle. (See comment.)

I’m lost. The author changed POVs and it’s not Ethan or his assistant’s. It’s written in 3rd POV but I don’t know who it belongs to😳

“At 5:47 PM, Lily submitted her first daily progress note through the artist portal. It was the kind of language that traveled well upward. Continued detail work on primary commission. Focused on color relationships in upper-right quadrant. Good progress.” page 134

Now the story is picking up. Lily moved to the new apartment to start the commissioned work for Ethan’s company. I think he planned the whole eviction thing to get to know her. They are falling for each other. This novel has a Corin Tellado feel to it.

So, Lily is an artist who finds herself nearly homeless after her paintings are removed from a gallery due to poor sales, and she is evicted from her apartment. She has also broken up with her toxic boyfriend. Lily has nowhere to go and cannot afford to rent a new place. She goes to the company that evicted her and comes away with a contract to paint for the company. All expenses paid.

It took the character 26 pages to make a decision 🤦🏻‍♀️

Inez arrives in Egypt and meets her uncle’s assistant, who insists she take the next flight to Argentina. Inez is not pleased, and I don’t blame her. Her uncle doesn’t seem to care about her. The chapter’s arc is flat like a 🥞. The story hasn’t hooked me yet. 🤷🏻‍♀️
The author mixes too many Spanish words with the English, which can be distracting for readers who don’t speak Spanish.

Since my last entry, Sherina, her friends, and the Dream-Changers were captured by the evil Barush, the Lizarian warlord. Her father arrived in a desperate attempt to save her…but failed. Now, the story has taken an unexpected turn. Sherina and Barush find themselves in a dynamic reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast. The end’s😳

I’m almost done with page 258 already and realising that most chapters don’t engage characters in dialogue. Yes, they talk here and there, but most of the narrative remains descriptive. Anyway, since my last entry, there’s war on their planet. Not aimed at the Azura kingdom but the Salamanders. The Lizarians, led by their evil ruler Barush, will not stop until they destroy the Salamanders entirely.

There are two parallel stories in the novel: one about Sherina, who is now a high priestess, and the other about her father, King Dranchku, and how he defeats the evil Vermont. The author mostly sticks to the king’s story, which can get a bit tiring, and it feels like she almost forgets about Sherina and her friends. The world-building scenes and prose fit the genre well.

Using the power of love and teamwork, the trio defeats a Shadow Hunter. I have the feeling that there are more of these creatures where it came from. I will rethink the name, though. The Shadow Hunter absorbs other forms of energy, so it does not make sense that such a creature would hunt shadows, as they are dark forces themselves. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I’m hooked! What I like about the author’s writing style is that it reminds me of L. Frank Baum’s. Chapter one has a magical feeling to it as the author takes their time describing the main magic characters and their purpose in the story. Also, the main characters’ illustrations are beautiful. 😍
I’ll add my notes to the comments.

This one will have to wait because I have to finish the Chronicles of Beauty on Dec 22 😬

I read the prologue, and honestly, I don’t think it needed to be stretched to sixteen pages to establish that Inez’s parents died overseas and that she missed them. Yes, it helped me understand her attachment issues, that her parents were archaeologists, and her relationship with her aunt and cousins. But she’s on her way to Egypt, where they lived, and will have plenty of opportunities to remember them.

Never say you know the last word about any human heart.
-HENRY JAMES

I picked this book because it has mixed reviews and I don’t believe it’s that bad!

Poor koala. She’s accident prone. Koala is learning that life is full of ouches and that she can ask for help when life gets too complicated.

“We rinse it with water, then pat it all dry, A plaster goes on, and I don't need to cry.
Ouch to okay, I'll be all right - With care and love, I'll soon feel bright.” page 9

“I skip and I tumble, I climb and I run, Exploring the world is how i have fun.
Sometimes I'm busy with games and play.
And little accidents can happen that way.”

Beautiful organic illustrations and catchy rhymes :)

Your joy is sweeter than a peach’s juice ❤️ page 61

“…her heart was free and she was alive again. Then she was gone.” p285. Victoria defeats the heartbroken Lenore, a ghost who was Gabriel’s lover. Lenore and Gabriel grieve the death of their daughter, whom Victoria saves and frees from her mother’s grief, p285. Victoria and Lily, like Lenore, belong to a bloodline cursed by the house’s energy. The scene’s resolution was a bit abrupt, ngl.

“A woman’s wail. A child’s death. And Gabriel’s tone…sharp and
icy. A crack in his iron mask for the briefest of moments.” page 98. Lily continues haunting Victoria and she has a brutal accident in the garden.🤦🏻‍♀️