McEvoy > Recent Status Updates

I know I need to finish this book because it's really good, but the final pages of the 1st half sapped a lot from me: The Empire did not keep track of the name, species, or gender of those they killed in their countless atrocities and genocides, they only kept track of the number they killed. They only kept track of the crimes committed, not the victims

"Mon Calamari, Sullustans, and Wookies were all persecuted in different ways but could recognize in their own suffering the suffering of others. Such recognition bread sympathy and, eventually, cooperation... Cooperation, collaboration, and shared empathy are the antidote to a system designed to destroy and constrict... In many ways the alliance aspect may have existed before the rebel part."

Beaumont Kin is such an intriguing POV. A historian who joined the Resistance because he saw it as his duty and then sets up in Palpatine's abandoned temple perform further research. It's not great watching him deteriorate as the book continues but makes sense when he's trying to warn the galactic public that, yes, Palpatine was an evil space wizard but the true evil was everyone who enabled his rise to power.

"They embraced a society that had seemingly been designed expressly for them, without either realizing or caring that if they were not paying the price for it then somebody else was."

"There will always be those who are prepared to accelerate the death of democracy if they believe power is being given to someone worthy."

I knew this book was an in-universe retelling, but I was expecting a dry history textbook. This is a historian turned soldier turned historian who is trying to entreat readers *desperately* after two galactic wars that the true evil is not the evil wizard emperor but fascism. He wanted to create an empire, it was normal, everyday people that helped him create and maintain it.

Pretty standard Star Wars action, the real highlights are whenever we're with Mon Mothma just being Mon Mothma. A pacifist regretfully forms a rebellion to overthrow a dictatorship and restore freedom, wins the civil war, becomes the new leader of the government, strips herself of emergency powers, says "war is terrible we should never do this again" and promptly convinces the new government to demilitarize.

I really cannot tell if I'm meant to feel intimidated by how many big words Acrasia uses or feel stupid by how many big words Acrasia uses. I think I feel a sense of both, but also a sense of "I think you could be less verbose, I feel like you're trying to make me feel intimidated and stupid"

Oy vey.

I am just obsessed. The enemies to lovers character dynamic, the worldbuilding, the humour, it being an epistolary story. Top 3 things:
1. Druid-esque time traveler
2. The living weapon-esque person v. wild person relationship
3. Throughout all of history across all timelines, every single individual is uniquely capable of tremendously changing the future. I really find that existentially comforting and inspiring

I struggle reading this sometimes, not because it's bad but because it's too familiar a story. I can't blame Lucy for her desperate and self-preserving decisions when choosing to be authentic means actively getting disowned and neglected by her own family. The author is excellent at making me cringe at and along with Lucy's actions while I fully understand why she's committing them. If only her mam loved her for her

The romance in this book is so authentic and idealistic it almost makes me forget that it's a queer love story set in 1990s rural Catholic Ulster. I anxiously see the, at this point, irreconcilable viewpoints of the two partners and fear the growing tension and frustration when there is not a clear reconciliation. The author is adept at disarming this anxiety only to double the tension one sentence later. Loving it

Being stuck in the protagonist's head is frustrating and relatable when you're simmering with her doubts and insecurities and denials while also being able to see through them to the truth. The flipside is the immense catharsis you get alongside the protagonist as she has her moment of realization and accepts that her dreams can be reality. Chloe Howarth writes with a subtle vividness, I am enthralled.

I am endlessly grateful for Stephanie Foo's foreword because I'm unsure how bearable this book would be without it. Page 67 commences Part II, and I'm anxiously ready to see what comes next in this memoir. I read with dread and anguish but, most of all, a trust that it will have been worth it to read. Stephanie Foo says "This book has a happy ending.", and I can't wait to see it myself.