Casey (ish-i-ness) > Recent Status Updates

I noted in the cover of my copy that I purchased it in March of 2011. It’s been 14 years since, and 22 since publication. It still feels fresh on this renewed reading. Based on marginalia I made it to p99 last time - about halfway through. I wonder if I’ll finish it now?

Ok I love this book. I’m gonna go buy a copy tomorrow.

It’s fine but it doesn’t feel different enough from Stephen Kkng for me to want to keep going

I really wanted to like this. There are lots of elements that are right up my alley. Questions of identity and privilege mixed up in a sort of haunted house. Definitely my thing. But I’m just not engaged…

Struggling a lot with this one. I may not actually like cozy fantasy….

Yeah I have to DNF this. Unrelenting misery isn’t a thing I can handle. I might skim but I can’t read this cover to cover if it keeps going like this.

Wow this is taking a long time to get interesting isn’t it? I guess I’ll keep going. I don’t feel like I have a good enough understanding of it yet, but I can’t say I’m enjoying it. The discussion of translation and colonialism is ok I guess? I’d like it to have more purpose though.

Ok so… it’s fine. I guess I’m just… really bad a book with such an obvious argument needed to be written. It’s an illustration that was already made clear with Hunger Games and Bebe that seemed obvious to me. It’s depressing another book needed to be written but maybe this one will make an impression on someone who needs it. I’m not sure I can keep reading.

I see why this is popular in the midst of the romantasy avalanche. I’m not very interested. The question of the value of relationships is less interesting to me than the way genius effects it, but the book is only slightly interest in the latter.

I think I’m DNFing for now. Will I pick it up again in the future? Im finding it very hard to care about what happens next. Too reminiscent of too many other things for me. Im bored.

I see why people have been enjoying it. The epistolary structure means you have to puzzle out what happened, and it plays out like an investigation, world building and plot doled out slowly. I don’t think I’ll be finishing it but I’m glad I took the time to experience what I did of it

Almost a cozy fantasy but it’s a lot of politics. The central couple is a nice change from the usual young protagonist romance. I’ll be recommending it and will be curious to see how others react to it, but it’s not my kind of thing so I won’t be finishing it. I’m glad I spent time on it.

I guess I’m in the right mood for this for some reason. Normally I would hate this kind of book. It’s the same story with the same characters I’ve seen in a handful of other books and several Bollywood films. It’s told in precisely the same way, it is not new or innovative. And yet I’m ok with listening to it right now. I could not tell you why.

Uh oh. This book might be too sweet for me…

I think it’s too weird for me. I like weird but this is a different kind of weird.

Mostly skimmed. I guess I need to admit I just don’t like the stuff this author likes. The friend groups annoy the crap out of me and there’s no message beyond their dynamics.

I’m surprised how much I’m liking this. I haven’t even reached the weird part yet. So far it is almost a more accessible version of Sally Rooney’s conversations with friends. You know without the excessive attention to wealth and snobbishness? And more obviously but still vaguely Marxist.

I’m just not that into it?

The beginning was so good! Why is it not as good now? I might get a physical copy to skim and see if it gets better. I’m done trying with the audio.

I’m really bored. I’m trying to decide if I should get a physical copy so I can skim it. The audio is not working for me.

A bit too light for me. Slice of life romance with plants and magic, both of which I generally like, but I’m just bored here. Too much of a romance, not enough of anything else.

I’m enjoying this but I’m worried. It’s not quite what the romantasy crowd is into but it’s close. There’s a haunted house and two young people of the opposite sex being slowly pushed together by the plot. I, being a form of queer, find that tired. But I think the magic system will be cool and I like the worldbuilding so far. Very autumnal.

Very much enjoying. Reminds me of Green Knight. Love that it’s a woman trying to get back to her family, not intentionally running away, despite her misgivings about her life. Unique and a nice change.

I’m miserable reading this. I guess I’ll skim to the end, but I’m chalking this up as my general distaste for dark academia tropes.

I listened to this while I did other tasks today. It’s great for that, but if I were reading it directly, I would find it filled with common tropes and not enough originality. It’s entertaining enough though.

Well I’m loving this.

I think I’m picked this up because someone mentioned Unclean Jobs and I was curious, but I didn’t realize it was the source for the TV show of the same name. Now I don’t think I want to spend the time reading it. I skimmed and it seems pretty similar to the show. Different, but not enough for me to commit.

I kind of like this? There’s pieces of it that remind me of Becky Chambers, but it feels a bit more sinister than anything between her characters. I’m not sure I want to see where this goes.

I was really hoping for something more unique than this. This is just reshuffled tropes from all the shifter romances with a bit of ritual magic thrown in. How disappointing. I’m starting to feel more appreciation for Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House than I ever thought I’d get, because at least it’s more interesting than this.

It’s an interesting concept but it’s just too silly for me