E > Recent Status Updates

The Kona bird's name was Kee. So Kola told me. His body was firm, his feathers tough but light. He smelled like orange peels and was partial to making a deep clucking sound followed by a shrill *keeeeee!* He did this just as we took off, waking everyone in the camp. As if I was paying attention.

I draw the weather, filling pages with loops, zigzags, swirls, spikes, circles, and blinking eyes. All the white space is occupied. My drawings are dense like the jungle.... [D]rawing, or what I prefer to call scribbling, it's like an umbrella in a rainstorm.

"You stroke the side and it hums," Nusrat said, rubbing the seed shooter. It made this sound that was oddly like the purr of a cat. You could feel it, too. Like it was more animal than plant.

**mild spoilers**
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The narrative continues to be blistering in its not-so-oblique critique of fatness. And for what reason? I'm having a hard time getting past it. To the point that it's distracting and detracting from my enjoyment of an otherwise intriguing story so far.

**spoilers**
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The blistering take our narrator has on being fat feels over the top and unnecessarily cruel. Is this just meant to be the personal bias of the POV character, or is the narrative as a whole making a moral statement about what it means to be fat? I'll be curious to see if the story comes back to this theme and transforms it. Or if it just continues to perpetuate a tired stereotype.

Turton has a delightful way of turning phrases. So far the characters are memorable without being *too* over-the-top -- which is quite a feat, given an ensemble cast like this. I'm really burrowing into the brooding, atmospheric tone and I'm eager to find out what happens next...

**mild spoilers**
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She gave Sammy the friendship handshake and a tight hug. "Hurry. Remember to listen and learn," he said, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

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Absolutely criminal that they didn't all go together. I *suppose* Ejii needs to grow and learn how to be on her own, but Arif and Sammy better show up again later. That's all I'm sayin'

Forgot my other Turton book at home, so I "had to" buy another one to read in the meantime. ^^;

"I round the folding screen like a man possessed, nearly leaping out of my skin when I discover a wild-eyed creature lurking on the other side.
It's a mirror.
The wild-eyed creature looks as abashed as I at this revelation."

"The strength of the wave forced Ejii to inhale deeply as it passed. It smelled of a thousand roses blooming at the same time in the same place for the same reason."

Is the kid growing on me as a villain? Maybe. Insufferable at first, but it's interesting to see how his interactions with Abby seem to be affecting him (if not outright changing him). Really curious to see what Abby does next.

"The most re-watchable movie of all time--all due respect to Shawshank, but the prize has to go to Jaws"

Teenage me would absolutely agree with this. In the 90s I saved up a stack of proof-of-purchase codes from English muffins just to get the world's worst "free" Jaws t-shirt. Wore that thing till it crumbled to dust in my hands lol

"It was just a car wreck," Shannon said, but she wasn't arguing. She said it in the way you did when you wanted to make something big small again.

Not taking to this one as quickly as I have his other books. But that might be because I accidently ordered a secondhand copy that turned out to be large print. Ha. For whatever reason, the pace feels slower than I'd like. Not terribly attached to any of the characters yet, although Abby is growing on me.